The trip there didn't take long at all.
In fact, it was the actual getting in to the fucking building that took time. After being shoved none too gently in to a sleek black car by a large man dressed very similarly in colour to his elder sister, Oblio and Snow were driven to a large building he'd never seen before (and he'd only lived in the city for what, two years now?), driving in to park before the large front doors after being let through the gate by a security guard who looked way too tired to be where he was.
After getting in to the building, they were led straight to an elevator, of which Dare, MacCoy, Oblio, Snow, and two other black and purple-clad men stepped in to, before Dare punched in several numbers, and Snow felt his stomach lurch slightly as they began to drop down.
Down?
Yes—they'd been going down, and now he stood outside the elevator beside Oblio, gaping at set up before him.
Several rows of computers sat lined up vertically before where he stood, a man or woman dressed in the same purple and black as Dare sat behind each screen, tapping away furiously at their keyboards, speaking in hushed, monotone voices in to the microphones hooked around one ear, some making calls, others glancing up at the large screen positioned at the far wall directly ahead, where two people stood, watching the group expectantly.
Both Dare and MacCoy advanced forward, and Snow was pushed yet again by the man, of whom he turned to sock angrily in the face.
Or so he would have, had a tanned hand not grabbed his wrist and halted the movement, in turn pissing Snow off further. Jerking away from the hand that held him, Snow retreated to Oblio's side, grabbing the ravens left hand in both his own as he turned to face whoever had stopped him.
A young man looking in his mid, maybe late twenties stood before them, wearing a full grey-black suit, topped off with a striped purple tie, of which he straightened as Snow stared at him. Light green eyes regarded him politely, and the man smiled, moving a hand from his tie only to bring it to his head, slicking dark hair away from his face. This man had at least two excruciatingly annoying physical tics, Snow could tell already.
"You must be Snow. I'm Rasa, head of this establishment," he began, hand extending out to said boy. The whitette blinked, shrinking further in to Oblio's side as he watched the hand as though it were a poisonous snake just waiting to strike out and bite his own hand. He was sooo out of his element here.
"Fuck off," he hissed back in return, though not even for a second did the polite smile the man wore falter.
"Snow!" Dare snapped, though the man held his hand up to her, shutting the girl up. Wow. Snow could get used to that.
"It's quite alright, agent. We've been watching this boy a while now, we understand the reasoning for his actions. Though he's just like a kitten, isn't he?"
Snow blanched. Oblio chuckled quietly at his side.
"Excuse me, what?"
The man, turning back to him, fixed his already perfect tie, and Snow felt as though he could strangle him. He'd only fixed it twice so far, but if he so much as lifted a finger toward the piece of material once more…
"All in good time. Anyway, I'm sure you're curious as to why we've bought you here—of which I can answer. Follow me."
He did so—after a moments hesitation and a glance at the oddly quiet raven beside him—and found himself at the far end of the large room, where the woman still stood, back to them. She turned at their approach, smiling gently at Rasa, before turning to face Snow. Her expression changed to one of curiosity and wonder, and she leaned in a little, pointer finger hovering at his forehead. Before he could react, Snow had been poked in the forehead, and he all but snarled at the woman in recoil, baring his teeth as he growled angrily. Just who the fuck did these people think they were?!
"Sorry, let my curiosity get the better of me," she laughed a moment later, leaning against the computer keyboard behind her, reddish-brown curls swirling around her face at the movement. She was a lot less uptight than her companion, at least. And no tics yet…
"I'm Lima, and from the confused expression on your face, I see Rasa here has yet to actually explain to you what is going on. Do you know where you are?"
"Uh, no," Snow grimaced, folding his arms across his chest. An arm fell around his shoulders, and he glanced questioningly at Oblio, who smiled at him encouragingly. Just what the hell was he smiling about?
"You're in DCI," Rasa said after Snow looked back to the pair, turning to tap the keyboard behind him. In an instant, the lights around then dimmed, and all attention turned to the large screen, of which had come aglow at his touch.
"Over the past few years, we've been keeping an eye on one of this cities most wanted criminals, the once head of Tan Industries – Doctor Tan. We managed to shut down his business early last year, but there's been rumblings from him and his newly formed M.O.C. Elite organization, something of which has been swooping time and time again beneath the government radar."
Snow's attention was brought to the screen as an image was brought up, of an older greying man with an outfit far too tacky to allow for any slight hint of intimidation to be about him. Yuck. Damn he was ugly.
"This," Rasa continued, "is Tan. At this point in time, his full intentions are not entirely clear, but we do know this – Tan has created a drug of sorts that's recently been spreading around the black market, passing through from people to people, to the parties throughout the city. You've surely been to many parties around Snow, have you ever seen this being drunk or injected by anybody?"
The images changed, and a vial of bright purple liquid was brought up, bubbling like fizz.
"Never seen it in my life," he shrugged, growing bored of this conversation. Just what did all this have to do with him? "I go to parties to dance, not get myself high on some weird unknown drug. Well, for the most part anyway."
"Well either way," Rasa nodded, adjusting his tie, much to Snow's chagrin. He was going to strangle the man with it. Right now. "This is where things get a little strange…Tan has not only been distributing the drug throughout our city, but throughout different timelines too. Through the past, so it will in turn affect the future."
"Wait wait wait – hold the fuck up."
Rasa paused, and for a moment the room fell silent, before the sound of typing picked up once more, the hushed buzz of whispers blowing through the room again as though it had never gone.
"Yes?"
"Are you trying to tell me," he stepped forward, pointing to the large illuminant screen, where a picture of Tan flashed again. "That this senile old geezer, has created some weird fucked up drug, and is handing it off to junkies in different timelines. Is that what you're saying? That he created time travel?"
"Well yes?" He really didn't seem to get it.
"Oh my fucking god I'm high," Snow muttered, turning to Oblio, grabbing the raven's collar between his fingers. "Quick, have dream sex with me, before I wake up and have to face the reality of the after effects of whatever the fuck it is someone slipped me."
Oblio smirked devilishly, though lifted the whitette's chin to turn him back to face Rasa and Lima, who stood patiently, waiting for him to finish.
"Let them finish explaining first, Princess. We can have dream sex later, if you really want to."
The two agents before them hardly seemed fazed by all this, and Snow, despite his state of confusion, was impressed. Most people generally didn't take that well to gay couples. Not sober anyway.
"This is where you come in," Lima took over the explanation, and gestured toward the screen, where a long timeline was brought up. "We've sent DCI agents to each of these timelines; the 70's, 80's, 90's, and 2000's to investigate the concoction and Tan's actions within, and are sending Dare and McCoy through to infiltrate Tan's labs at this current point in time. We would like you to travel to each of these times and meet up with the agents designated there, give them a hand in getting back."
"Why not just go yourselves?" he sighed, rubbing his chin where Oblio had squeezed a little roughly. Not that he was complaining though. "Can't have the bosses getting fucked up, so you send your little minions in all kamikaze-style? How thoughtful."
"Each pair of agents knew the consequences, and chose this for themselves. We have better usage here. And in terms of why you were chosen," Lima smiled, and Rasa copied the action. These two were creepy on several really not cool levels.
"You have something special that none of our agents nor we have…you have the ability to move others like no one else, to make them believe in you. We believe that using this, you may draw the attention of Tan and his cronies, and give us the chance to expose them for what they are. What do you say?"
"I say I'm not interested," Snow flipped them off none too subtly, moving to turn on his heel and leave, though not getting far as he was blocked by two thickly built men towering above him in height.
"Fuck, can you guys please leash your dogs? They're blocking my walkway. Thank you."
"Snow," Oblio grabbed his wrist, and the shorter teen turned to look up at the man, confused. At once, a question dawned upon him, and he grimaced.
"There's another thing I don't get. Are you an agent too or something? You never told me about any of this, about me. Why not?"
"You didn't need to know yet," the black-blue haired man sighed, rubbing his visible eye. He appeared clearly apologetic, and so Snow took it in stride, silently forgiving him. "And I'm not an agent."
"Then?"
He shrugged, grinning mysteriously.
"I just have connections DCI needs, and I help them out from time to time. Plus, some of their agents know how to throw some of the most delightful parties. You've not been to any yet, but you will eventually."
Tugging his wrist from Oblio's hand, Snow sighed through his teeth, dragging a hand through thick white hair. Purple eyes flickered from Oblio's glorious face to the expectant expressions of Lima and Rasa. The latter begun to raise his hand toward his collar, and the teenager leaned forward, grabbing his wrist, stopping the suited man. He looked at him in surprise, while Snow stared back, expression one of grave seriousness.
"I'll help. Though only so long as you stop adjusting your stupid fucking tie, it's killing me."
Rasa smirked, holding out his hand to Snow, who took it after a moments hesitation.
"Welcome aboard, agent Snow."