Chapter 8

This awakening was much better than his last one, Tim decided. Whatever had been sitting on his chest and squeezing his lungs was gone. That was wonderful.

After a few minutes of savoring the sensation, he noticed that there was someone's hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and stared up at the night sky.

"Awake, Tim?"

Tim craned his neck and saw Tony sitting by him. He smiled.

"Yeah. I'm awake."

"How are you feeling?"

"A lot better." He started trying to sit up. Tony leaned over and helped him.

Tim felt a little lightheaded, but not too bad, otherwise.

"We're still here?" he asked.

"In the...right place," Tony said.

Tim nodded, feeling tired but much better than he had before.

"Where's Sani?" he asked.

"I don't know...but I guess ghosts don't have to be around all the time."

"Ghosts?" Tim asked, feeling shocked. "Sani is a ghost?"

"Yeah. You didn't know?"

"No. He looked...really solid to me."

"I wish. I saw him walk through the walls of the house. He vanished and appeared out of nowhere."

"But...I could have sworn he was holding onto me. He closed my eyes...with his hands. I didn't imagine that."

"Yeah. That's why this is the right place, I guess."

"Oh."

Tim looked around. This didn't look like a special space. It was different, but it looked like they were just in an interesting part of the desert.

"It's nighttime?"

"I guess."

"You guess?"

"It's looked like that for...hours. More hours than it should."

"Oh. So...am I okay, now?"

Tony shook his head. "You're asking the wrong person, Tim. I have no idea what's going on in this crazy funhouse. Do you feel better?"

"Yes. Very much so."

"You look much better, Agent McGee."

Tim looked over Tony's shoulder and saw Officer Lapahie walking toward them.

"Officer Lapahie...I didn't realize you were here. I guess I should have."

Officer Lapahie crouched down in front them. He looked intent on getting answers.

"You can understand Sani when he speaks?"

"Yeah. Obviously," Tony said.

"How did you learn our language? Why pretend that you didn't know it?"

"We didn't," Tony said.

"I don't speak Navajo," Tim said.

"That's what Sani speaks," Officer Lapahie said.

"Are you sure?" Tim asked.

"That's what I hear from him."

"You do?"

"Yes. He speaks English to you?"

"Yeah. Always. ...well, except for when he was chanting or whatever. I didn't understand those words," Tony said.

"It's called a sing," Officer Lapahie said. "It's meant for healing. I've never heard that one before."

"Why not?"

"Because it's to heal from the corpse poison."

"Corpse poison?" Tim asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sani said that's what you were given."

"Sounds disgusting."

"I'm sure it is," Tony said.

"And it's all gone, now?" Tim asked, looking at Officer Lapahie.

"Sani seemed to think so. I think you'd be dead if it weren't."

"Okay...uh... So...how do you know who Sani is, if he's supposed to be dead and all?" Tim asked, feeling awkward. Officer Lapahie had been holding them back constantly since they'd come, and now, he'd somehow become an ally. He'd helped save Tim's life.

"He's...the old man," Officer Lapahie said, clearly feeling awkward himself. "That's what Sani means. Old one. He's a kind of...protector for our clan, has been for so long that no one remembers when he wasn't. ...but most don't see him."

"You have?" Tony asked.

"Yes. When I was a...teenager. Old enough to know better but young enough not to care."

Tim smiled. Somehow, it was comforting to know that the same sense of irresponsibility could cross cultural lines.

"I went out into the desert to be alone, to...prove that I could manage on my own. My parents didn't want me to, but I did anyway. I got lost. Really lost. I was starting to get worried that I wouldn't make it back home. And then, I saw this old man. He asked if I needed help. I said no. He knew I was lying, but he just smiled and started to walk away. I swallowed my pride and asked him to help me. I complained about my clan doing nothing, living out here in the back end of nowhere, even compared to other places on the Rez, that it was embarrassing and I couldn't wait to leave."

"Really?" Tim asked. "I would never have guessed that. You seem so...content here."

Officer Lapahie nodded. "He brought me here, told me the story of my clan...of our clan. He's my ancestor, and he explained why we live out here. It gave me a goal, a purpose beyond just being angry at my situation."

"Why?"

"Because...we were tasked with suppressing those who would follow the evil Ways. There are always a few of them. Robbie's brother...he's following the Witchery Way, but there are others...and there have always been those who do so. This place is so isolated that it became a harbor for them. We are here to keep them from growing strong in secret. It's hard enough to fight them in small numbers."

"And every time we think we've got them all, another one shows up, no matter how well we think we've hidden the evil Ways. Somehow, they have always survived."

They all jumped and turned toward the voice. Sani was there.

"You're looking much better, Tim," he said.

"Thanks...Sani. That's not really your name, is it? You weren't always old."

"No, but then, Derrick isn't his name, either," he said with a smile at Officer Lapahie.

"It isn't? That's what's on his record," Tony said, looking at Officer Lapahie.

"It's not illegal, Agent DiNozzo," Officer Lapahie said with the merest hint of an eyeroll.

"It's a form of protection," Sani said. "Knowing someone's true name gives you power over him. That can be for good or bad. The yee naaldlooshii that killed me long ago... he didn't know my name, but I knew his. That's how I was able to kill him."

"I don't get it," Tim said.

"I spoke his true name. A witch cannot hear that and live."

"We have two names. What we all use from day to day is a nickname of sorts," Officer Lapahie said. "Many of the Diné have chosen to use the English naming conventions of a first name and surname, as I have. That's not what we used to have, and most of us here in this clan still have another name that very few know. We don't talk about it to each other. Usually, only family members know the names but they are rarely used...to keep us safe."

"Then...how did you...?" Tim began and then trailed off at the expression on Sani's face.

"He was my brother," Sani said. "He learned the Witchery Way from my father's brother. It is often passed down in families."

"I'm sorry," Tim said softly.

"When I died, I chose to stay to help in whatever capacity I could. It's only here in this small place that I can have a physical form."

"Why here?"

"Because this is independent of time and space."

"The right time and place?"

"Yes, because here, I can be alive...more or less," Sani said with a smile. "Out there, I'm dead. In here, I can be alive."

"So...no one knows the name of PFC Natani's brother?" Tony asked.

"Only his nickname," Officer Lapahie said. "He's probably killed the only person left who might have known. If Robbie knew he chose not to use it, probably hoping to convince him to give up the Witchery Way and return. Their parents died years ago. They had a grandfather who disappeared and we never could find him."

"Do you think that his brother–?" Tim asked.

"We don't know," Officer Lapahie said.

"What are you going to do about him? Is there another way to kill him?"

"I don't know. Nothing as certain as using his name."

"He's not...invincible or anything, is he?" Tony asked.

"No. If you could hit him, he'd be hurt."

"So what's the problem?"

"Hitting him. You saw how fast he was, how easily he was able to get away. That's the problem."

"And we didn't help, coming when we did," Tim said, realizing how difficult Officer Lapahie's job had been. "Just another complication for you, weren't we?"

"To a degree."

"Well..." Tim paused, hesitating a little to make the suggestion that had popped into his head. "...maybe we could help, now, instead."

"How?" Officer Lapahie asked, justifiably skeptical.

"What if someone who had been a target was...bait?"

"Whoa! Wait just a minute, Probie," Tony said. "You don't know what you might be getting into!"

Tim laughed. "Tony...with all due respect, I think I do know what I could be getting into. I've already experienced it once."

"He's not stupid, Agent McGee," Officer Lapahie said. "He'll expect something like that. He'll expect us to try trapping him."

"But that doesn't mean it can't still work. All we need to do is distract him long enough for someone to take a shot, right?"

"And if he's ready for a trick, how will you distract him?"

"I should be dead...shouldn't I?" Tim said, looking at Sani.

"Yes," Sani said. "It was a near thing. I wasn't sure if you were too far gone to save."

Tim swallowed, trying not to dwell on that too much.

"So...if I suddenly show up alive in a place where we might expect to see him..."

"That might be enough of a surprise that he'd investigate," Officer Lapahie finished. "Maybe."

"But who's to say that he won't just run at you, rip your throat out and go on?" Tony asked.

"Thanks, Tony," Tim muttered.

"Gotta think about that, Tim."

Tony was right, even if Tim didn't want to admit it. He looked at Officer Lapahie.

"What do you think, Officer Lapahie?"

"He's always been proud, arrogant. That's one of the reasons he was able to be swayed to that Way. He might take the time to find out how you survived. Might. I can't say that Agent DiNozzo wouldn't be right about him simply trying to kill you to finish what he started."

Tim took a breath and looked at Sani again. Sani said nothing. He seemed content to listen.

"I'm willing to take that risk if it'll help."

Officer Lapahie was quiet for a moment.

"I can't make this decision myself. The council will have to weigh in. This affects all of us, not just me and not just you."

"Understood."

"How much longer do we need to stay in here?" he asked Sani.

Sani closed his eyes and then opened them and looked up at the sky.

The stars were gone. It was day.

"Whoa," Tony said. "I don't know if I like the implications of that."

Sani chuckled.

"No implications. I just cued this place up with the outside. I can't change the Sun and the Moon at will. Coyote already did that."

"Huh?"

"First Man and First Woman wanted the Sun and Moon to move regularly, evenly with perfect order," Tim said. "But when First Angry, Coyote, found out that they were planning without keeping him in on it, he got mad and messed it up."

Tony raised an eyebrow, and Tim looked at Sani.

"Right?"

Sani nodded.

"Good memory."

"What you showed me here was...unforgettable. How did you make me see all that?"

"The world outside of here might call it hypnotism. I prefer to describe it as helping you open your mind."

"So...no peyote?" Tony asked.

"No. That particular method came into use by the Diné long after I lived."

"How long ago were you alive?" Tim asked.

"A long time. That's all you need to know. It's safe to leave now."

He walked over to Tim and held out his hand. Tim hesitated and then took hold of it. It felt solid and Sani's grip was strong.

They began to walk out of the space, back into the world. Just before they stepped out, Sani grabbed Tim's arm and made him pause while Tony and Officer Lapahie continued.

"Tim, I'm glad you survived, but there's no guarantee that you'll be able to survive a second time. This isn't your fight."

Tim smiled a little. "He made it my fight when he chose to kill a member of the U.S. Navy. I can't walk away, not if I can help. If you think my idea won't work, then..."

"Actually, I think it will work, but you should know how quickly they move." He held out his arm. Tim could see a long gash. "This is what killed me, but I would rather have died from bleeding out like I did than I would have if I had listened to his words while I was dying."

"What do you mean?"

"If this works, you will be very close to him. He'll try to fool you. He'll try to take control of your mind, make you into a puppet. Don't listen to him. The followers of the Witchery Way have no good left in them. They have determined to do evil and only evil. No matter what he says, don't listen to him, don't believe him. He might tell you some truth, but it's safer to believe he's lying."

"There's no chance of them changing their minds?"

"Don't even consider it. That was Robbie's mistake: thinking that he could bring him back. This is a man who has killed his brother, perhaps his grandfather. He killed one of the Navy men. He tried to kill you. If you looked into his eyes, you would see nothing left of a human being...but don't look in his eyes."

Tim nodded.

"All right. I'll remember that."

"Do. Your life...your soul may depend on it."

Then, Sani pushed Tim forward and they left the protection of the place and returned to the real world.