Lewis was confined to an interview room in a building he hadn't been allowed to see and had gone on such a long route he wasn't sure where he was at all. He'd been given a meal and some water, but only a plastic spoon to eat it with. He'd drank the water and left the food. The knowledge that someone else had his daughter now made him sick. If he only knew if they were friends or foes he could at least stop feeling so twisted up inside. He looked at himself in the large mirror on the wall in front of him. His eyes looked bruised with the lack of sleep and bloodshot too. He ran a hand through his sandy hair. When did I last brush it? Have I even brushed my teeth or washed in the last two days? I don't remember…
The door to his right opened, causing Lewis to twitch nervously. A man in another black suit came in, but then stopped, pressing a finger to his ear. "Understood," he said and walked out. A few minutes later another man came in. Lewis could only stare. This man was certainly intimidating, and Lewis did not doubt that if this man wanted to hurt him he'd be feeling more than pain. There was also an air of secrecy about him as he came over and sat down on the other side of Lewis's table. Lewis stared at the man's face for a while before dropping his gaze to the table. He had a feeling staring at this man's eye patch would only serve to annoy him.
To his surprise, when the man spoke there was kindness there. He had a firm, no-nonsense kind of way, but still there was some kindness. "Your daughter is safe and sound. She's upstairs and you'll be allowed to see her once you answer a few questions for me. And I suppose you'll have some yourself."
Lewis was already cried out but still wiped his eyes as more tears threatened to surface. "Thank you." He hesitated. "Is she hurt?"
"A little shaken, but she's with one of our agents right now who's keeping her entertained. We ran some tests and she's clean and healthy inside and out."
"How…How did you find us?"
"We've had a few attempted hackings and break-ins over the last three months and were tracking the amateurs of this group attempting to infiltrate us. Two of our agents ambushed and collected them in a warehouse a few miles away, and your daughter was in there. She said her daddy was being forced to do something and after an interrogation of the men responsible we quickly found you." He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk. "I apologise for scaring you like we did, but we had to be sure that you didn't have any company in your home."
Lewis could only nod. Amy is alive…I'm okay…Or am I? "Am I going to be arrested?"
"No. We'll sweep this under the rug and keep an eye on you both for a while. We think you were just chosen at random for this."
At random…So it was all just a horrible piece of bad luck… He nearly laughed, although he didn't know what was so funny.
"Now, I need to know what these men wanted you to get."
Lewis cleared his throat. "They…Wanted information on…On the 'Avengers Initiative'. They wanted agent names and details…Incident reports and relationships, budgets…"
"Do you know who you were talking to?"
"No. Can't you trace it on my computer?"
"We tried," replied the man sharply. "Believe me, we tried. Your entire hard drive was nuked."
Lewis gaped. "W-What? She…She killed my computer?"
The man nodded. "We'll replace it. Who were you talking to?"
Lewis swallowed and answered slowly. "I don't know her real name. 'Ari' or 'Miss Aristotle' is what she's nick-named as online. You find her details on forums and discussion pages and things…They say she can get anything you want or need…"
"Was she apart of this?"
"No." Lewis shook his head. "I was told to make contact and ask for information. They didn't want anything to be traced back to them so used me instead…Ari never seeks people out, they seek her. She asks no questions except how much you're willing to pay."
"We suggest you don't contact her again unless we ask you too. We need to track down this Ari."
Lewis nodded. The rest of the interview was him walking this agent through every step he'd taken to contact Ari, and when he'd noticed Amy had gone missing and how he'd been contacted about her. He had to give a lot of details and explained about how the library and code words worked to get the correct books. He had to write out his online conversation several times to make sure it was correct and word for word. The intensity of those moments had burned it into his mind. Lewis was then sworn to secrecy. Eventually, the agent allowed him to leave and was escorted by another agent to Amy.
He saw her on an indoor archery range, using a tiny bow to shoot arrows at a close target. Her sandy hair that matched his gleamed in the light. She missed her target and he nearly laughed again. It was so odd to see her with a weapon, his little girl who still played with dolls. A muscled man was instructing her before Lewis's escort tapped on the window and alerted Amy and her instructor to their presence. Amy looked up and shrieked in delight before running to the door, dropping her bow. The instructor picked it up and walked out the room from a different door. Lewis picked Amy up and buried his face in her hair, the both of them sobbing. A car was waiting for them downstairs that would take them anywhere they wanted to go for the rest of the day. First, he'd go out and buy her a new dress, then take her out to dinner and then home where she'd be safe.
He carried her out to the car, hoping he'd never have to hear from any of these agents again.