Disclaimer: I do not own any of the ROTG characters. I only own the plot and my OCs. Enjoy!
Jack was starting to get a feeling that the Andrews girl didn't just tell Neo. As he started going to the department's other offices, he was noticing that the employees were acting weird around him. He had at first brushed it off as him still being new and they weren't used to him yet, but the glances were varying from absolute disgust to borderline eye sex. At least from the men. The ladies of the office would just giggle and wave at him cheerfully, like he was their new best friend. Jack sighed and shook his head. At least Guardian Agency seemed a little more open minded than some of the other places Jack had worked for before. After picking up most of the finished cases and get a quick report of the open ones, Jack headed back to his office and put the stack down. He would need to go through them and start putting some into the system before giving the rest to Bunny so that he could write up the final report and send it to the therapy section of the company so that they could decide if the victim needed any extra care and for how long.
Sitting down in his chair, Jack looked at his phone curiously. Talayeh probably found out earlier this morning and that was why she was acting like a wackadoodle. And she did give him her extension number in case of questions and all that. And this was a question, technically. Jack started reaching towards the phone when there was a sudden banging on the door, making him jump out of his skin.
"Uh…come in?" Jack said, wondering who was at his door that thought they had to knock. Most people he knew would just walk in. The door slammed open and revealed a rather flustered and familiar IT girl. Venus rushed in, her uniform skewed and hair down. Jack didn't want to know why.
"I am so sorry! I just wanted to tell Neo and set you guys up because he actually a great guy and I thought you would get along but he wasn't at the office when I got back so I email him but I used my work email and that automatically goes out to everyone on my email list, which is almost everyone in the office and it was too late by the time I figured it out and I can't believe I did that! I'm an idiot! Please please-" she rambled on, hands waving in frantic motions.
"Venus!" Jack called, stopping her. "It's fine. I don't have a problem with people knowing. I didn't see why you were so adamant about keeping it a secret in the first place." He told her. She looked at him in confusion.
"But, you never said anything and most of the time that means you don't want anyone to know because you are afraid of their reactions." She said. Jack shrugged.
"I never said anything because no one ever asked and I didn't see why I should announce it to anyone. It doesn't change anything about me. I like guys, so what? If people would have asked me, I would have answered. I guess this just makes it easier."
Venus sighed in relief. "I still feel bad. I told you that I would keep it a secret and I didn't, whether it matters to you or not. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" Venus asked, put her hair up in a ponytail again. Jack shook his head.
"I'm good. I'm actually going to lunch with your friend Neo. He asked me out, so I guess he got your email too." Jack joked. Venus smiled and started walking to the door.
"He really is a great guy. Loves to hang out and have a good time. Well, I'll see you later Jack. Have fun on your date!" Venus called as she turned into the hallway, obviously more at ease. Jack leaned back in his chair. Well, that mystery was solved. Now it was time to get some work done before Bunny blew a fuse and took back his lunch break.
. . . . . . . . .
Jack entered the meeting room with a raging headache. Why did he decide to go with Camille and Karma to the club on a Wednesday? Oh yeah, because he's an idiot. He slumped down in the chair next to Bunny, much to the Australian's amusement.
"Rough night, mate?"
"Never go clubbing with two single girls that are still in college. It never ends well, especially if you don't swing that way." Jack answered, putting his head on the cool table. Bunny chuckled.
"Well, look alive mate. We have a rough case ahead of us." Jack lifted his head a little.
"What type of case?"
"Kitnapping. Two kits, brother and sister, got kidnapped. Barely got away. Rumor has it that the bloke is severely traumatized." Bunny stated. "This will be the first case we work on together, so look alive Jackie. North will be 'ere any minute ta give us the run down."
"A kidnapping huh? So, what station we hooking up with to solve the case?" Jack murmured. Bunny shrugged.
"Only North knows right now." They were silent for a minute. "Hey Frostbite?"
"Hm?"
"How did ya date with Neo go? Ya didn't come back after lunch and made Talayeh tell me ya left early." Bunny felt that he was prying slightly, but it had been bugging him for the past 2 days. Jack's eyes shot open, but before he could reply, North walked into the room.
"Good, you two already here. Down to business now." North said gruffly, causing Jack to sit up. The tension in the air told everyone that it was a serious case. North slid two manila folders to them. Jack grabbed the closet one and flipped it open. It was a picture of two children, a boy and a girl. The boy looked about 8 and the girl couldn't be any older than 4. They were smiling in the first picture, but after that, it was the police file and evidence.
"Burgess? As in Burgess, Pennsylvania?" Jack asked, his eyes widening at the familiar name. North nodded.
"You two will be flying there tomorrow to interview children. Stay there for a week for now to see how the case will go." North said, looking over file. "This is tough one, boys. Both children have yet to talk, except to tell police they were kidnapped. Mother is in tears. Town is going crazy. More details will be told at station. Any questions?"
"Are we staying in a hotel while we're there?" Jack's mind was whirling with everything that could go wrong. A week in Burgess. Great.
"Yes Jack. Small inn has a room for you two to share. Why?" Jack shook his head.
"I know a place we can stay for free. And we should take Talayeh with us. She will be a great help." He stated, still reading the case file. Bunny raised an eyebrow.
"Why's that? What does the sheila have anythin' ta do with the case?"
"The boy, Jamie, is an ice skater right?" Jack asked. Bunny nodded. "The owner and teacher of the rink in Burgess loves Talayeh to death. He thinks she is such a great person. And he hates my guts the last time I checked. The locals know Talayeh too. And me, but they are more likely to talk to Talayeh than me." Jack closed the file and looked at the other two men.
"How do ya both know this town? And what place are ya talking about?" Bunny asked. Jack sighed and leaned back.
"Burgess is actually my hometown. My parents don't live there anymore, but they still own the house and we can stay there. I took Talayeh to meet my parents and sister for winter break back in college a couple of times and the locals love her. Think she is the sweetest girl ever. I don't know how, but they do. She can help with the case." Jack explained. He wasn't looking forward to going back to that place. Too many memories. North nodded.
"Ok, Talayeh can go with you two. Meeting is over. I suggest you two pack. I'll tell Talayeh she is going with you two." With that, North left the room. Bunny looked over at Jack as the white haired boy stood up.
"So why does the locals love Summers and not ya? If ya grew up there, shouldn't they be able to talk ta ya?"
Jack shook his head. "Let's just say that Burgess is about to make this case twice as hard. Pack your big boy pants Kangaroo, because it is going to be a bumpy ride."
I am so sorry that this chapter is so late. I got my new laptop, but then school started and I was applying for stuff and my childhood book series was coming out with its last book so I got whirled into that and I just was looking through my fanfiction account and realized how long it had been since I updated so I started on this right away. I should be updating more often, but I am taking two science course and pre calc this year so I don't know. I will try though.
Now that my apology is out of the way, what do you think? We are going back to Jack's hometown to solve a case. What will happen? The plot is thickening now. More characters will be introduced and the drama will pile on! Yay!
Now for the reviews that have accumulated since I last updated:
To Guest (Jun 28):
Thank you!
To Sky Art:
Love the name. I am soo sorry! But I really couldn't do anything about the laptop and then stuff happened and I feel so bad about abandoning this story for so long! Forgive me!
To kitty.0:
All of your reviews made me so happy and so guilty because they were all so nice and I hadn't written anymore but thank you for reviewing at almost every single chapter! It was a great thing to see that people were still finding this story after it going for so long being unupdated.
To Blackesca:
Thank you! I love it when my readers read my other stories, mostly because I use the same OC's and it is interesting to see them go from the spirit world to the real world. Thank you! I hope you stick around for the end.
And finally, To AmaraEveinson:
I would first like to say that you were the person that finally got me off my ass and started getting me to write this because I realized at that point how long it had been and that I didn't want this story to die off either. I was really happy that you found this and that you left a review or who knows how long this would have sat unfinished. Thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed reading SoS too.
That's all. Once again, I am so sorry. I am planning on updating all of my ROTG stories and getting the hang of them again before starting anymore projects. As always, leave a review. Ciao snowflakes!