A/N: I'll make a disclaimer here. I don't own Wicked. I'm just using the play as part of my story.
Chapter Eleven – Working the Case
After the craziness that happened last night, Katherine's announcement that she could see ghosts shouldn't have shocked anybody as much as it did. But Nick and Leland allowed Katherine to reveal that she conversed with them before, and it made their rendezvous much easier. Harley quickly accepted the fact that Leland had been around her all this time, especially when she saw how happy Finn became. Leland even went the extra mile to formally introduce himself to the group, and Nick mimicked him.
Once that finished, Harley brought everyone up to speed from the security of Finn's hotel room in Alamo. "So my research has been on and off productive." Harley explained. "But I did find some good stuff about Dean Waller."
"Have we figured out his methodology for taking psyche human powers?" Nick asked. Everyone cast him a look. "What? I may be a fake cop, but I did some real research."
"Well, Finn and I have concluded that Waller truly is hunting down psyche humans and taking their powers." Harley said. "We tracked suspicious transactions and communications that pointed to him being our unsub. It looks like he watches students at APS for a term or more, and then he tracks them down when they leave the school. He isolates them and slips them something that causes their powers to literally disappear overnight. Finn and I believe this 'something' might be a serum he injects into his victims or some form of powder or liquid he tricks them into ingesting."
"Motive?" Blade asked.
"No idea." Harley shrugged. "That's what bothers me so much. He doesn't seem to have a specific reason for doing this."
"Maybe he's thinning the herd." Katherine suggested.
"Taking out the psyche humans he believes are unfit to reproduce." Leland added.
"What if he wants to show his dominance as a more powerful psyche human?" Nick offered.
"That would sound logical, except for one thing." Finn said. "George Waller isn't a psyche human."
"Really?" Leland asked, surprised.
"I looked up everything I could find on this guy, even his birth certificate and medical records." Harley said. "He wasn't born as a psych-man."
"Maybe that's the key, then." Sky suggested. "What if he's taking psyche human powers so he can have them for himself?"
Harley nodded in thought. "Maybe. But then the question arises: how does he take their powers and then put them into himself?"
"It could be a matter of taking DNA samples from the psych-mans he steals powers from." Blade said. "Take away their powers, use the information he gathers about them to give himself those abilities."
"Have you done a medical scan on him?" Leland asked Harley.
"A medical scan?" Katherine repeated.
"It's something I can do with my powers." Harley said. "You're power transfer theory might hold some ground, Sky. I've scanned him once before. Even from a distance, I could pick up that he had traces of psych-man power in him."
"You know, if he created something chemical or medical-related to take away psych-man powers, he must have someplace where he creates the stuff." Nick noted.
"Like someplace at the school." Blade suggested.
"Already checked." Harley said. "I searched Waller's office and the entire school several times, but I haven't found a single trace of a serum or any kind of research on it."
"I too have searched the school quite a few times." Leland said. "Even in the science building, I have found nothing."
"What about his house?" Sky asked. "He sounds like the kind of guy who would keep such important work close to home so he could avoid suspicion."
"Even if it didn't work." Katherine said with a smirk.
Harley thought for a moment. "Now that I think about it, Finn mentioned that Waller lives relatively close to the school." She pulled out her laptop and typed a few things. "Ah ha! He has a house out in the country in New Mexico, not a long ways off from here. His permanent residence is in Florida."
"I can contact Siddeley and search the Florida residence." Finn offered.
"Then we'll look at his vacation house." Sky said.
"But we'll have to do it when he won't be there." Katherine said. "If we disappear in the middle of the day, he's bound to get suspicious."
"How about after Wicked?" Nick suggested. "Everyone will be busy with final exams, he'll assume you all will be too."
"I think I saw in his calendar that he usually has meetings during the final examinations." Leland said. "It would be a prime opportunity to investigate."
"Double check that." Harley said. "We'll make a plan to sneak into the house after the show."
Now that they were all part of an investigation, life became much more hectic for Sky, Harley, and Katherine. But they attempted to lead a "normal" school life, including their continuing Wicked rehearsals. Things seemed to go well for them, and Sky became excited to hear that Skipper, Sparky, and Dusty were going to fly out to see the show. Harley also had some of her family coming out to see her.
Katherine wasn't so sure about herself just yet. Blade and Nick, who often sat in on rehearsals, noticed she would conceal herself in a corner when she wasn't onstage. They approached her about this one day.
"I'm just concerned that I'm not doing well." Katherine explained, smoothing out her costume. "I've memorized my lines, my music, my blocking, but even the director tells me something is missing."
"You want some advice?" Nick offered.
"You act?" Katherine asked.
"Yeah!" Nick nodded enthusiastically.
"Nick and I are experienced in Hollywood." Blade explained. "We worked on a show together before his death and my career change."
"Interesting." Katherine mused. "Well, you two are the experts. What do you think I can do?"
"Well, for one thing, you're just thinking too hard." Nick said. "It's great that you memorize you're lines, but you can't just speak 'em. You gotta feel 'em."
Katherine's eyebrows furrowed. "I don't understand."
"By accepting a role in a show, you essentially become your character." Blade said. "It's important to know everything you can about this character so you can portray them effectively onstage. Once you go past the curtains, you're not Katherine Achebe. You're Nessarose, the Wicked Witch of the East."
"Like this!" Nick hopped over past the side curtains so he was onstage. "Nessarose!" He leaped back to the other side of the curtains so he was offstage. "Katherine!" He went onstage and offstage, back and forth several times. "Nessarose. Katherine. Nessarose. Katherine. Nessarose. Katherine. Nessarose. Katherine."
Blade rolled his eyes and, after making sure nobody could see him, gave Nick a small shove to make him stop. Nick snickered, a jack-o-lantern-like grin on his lips. Katherine giggled. "All right. I think I understand now."
"Just keep in mind who you are once you enter a scene." Blade said. "And ignore any crazy things Nick does." Nick stuck his tongue out, and Katherine laughed again.
"Katherine!" Mr. Street called. "We're going to be starting 'Dancing Through Life' in a minute! You ready?"
"Yes sir!" Katherine called. She thanked Blade and Nick again before rolling off to her place. Remember you who are onstage. I think I can do that.
If Mr. Street's post-rehearsal comments were any indication, she would be just fine.
Ever since Harley told her Waller pretty much stalked her, Sky found herself constantly looking over her shoulder to see if she could catch Waller in the act. But she never saw him. Harley advised Sky to just go about her business as normal. Showing that she probably knew something would only prove to be dangerous. So Sky forced herself to focus more on her schoolwork and the play rather than that tingling feeling that told her to be alert.
"Did Professor Wheeler say whether or not we'll have to demonstrate abilities for our final?" Sky asked as she, Harley, and Katherine studied in the library. Leland and Nick rested nearby, assisting how they could.
"He said we could demonstrate proper healing techniques for extra credit." Harley said. "But most of our exams are going to just be question-answer based."
"I hope I can remember what we need to know for history class." Katherine said. "I've been rather distracted lately."
"We all have." Harley assured. She looked around, but nobody else was in earshot. "There are times when all I can think about is the case."
"You mean during times when you should be studying?" Leland asked with a teasing smirk.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Harley huffed.
"I've been thinking about it too." Sky said. "For one thing, how does one take away the powers of a psych-man? I mean, we're born with these abilities."
"We're also born with lungs, limbs, and many other things that can be impaired by injury or illness." Harley said.
"Wise words." Nick mused.
"Still, I wonder if it's been done before." Sky opened up an internet page on her laptop. "When in doubt, use the Internet."
"What are you searching?" Katherine asked.
"'How to get rid of psych-man powers.'" Sky shrugged. Her friends snorted a little to stifle their laughs. Sky rolled her eyes and looked to her results. "Huh. The Salem Witch Trials."
"The Salem Witch Trials?" Leland asked. "What are those?"
"They were a collection of ludicrous trials done in colonial New England." Harley explained. "Many women and even some men condemned as witches and warlocks who served the devil. They were imprisoned, hanged, burnt at the stake, you name it."
"Yeesh." Nick said.
"Someone even wrote a play about it." Katherine said.
"According to this article, some of the 'witches' and 'warlocks' actually proved their abilities to receive lighter sentences, only to be hanged as a result." Sky said.
"They proved their abilities?" Harley raised an eyebrow.
"Apparently, several of the condemned were actually psyche humans." Sky said.
"Though a terrible fate, it makes sense why people of the time would assume our kind to be witches." Katherine mused.
"Have you ever thought about how we got our powers?" Sky asked. "I mean, are they magic? Psychic?"
"Yet they can be stolen." Harley reminded her. "I think they're ingrained in our very DNA."
"Sure would be interesting to take a trip down memory lane and research our ancestry." Sky murmured.
"One problem at a time." Harley said.
"Like our exams." Katherine said. "Come on, now! We promised ourselves we'd go get ice cream if we did an adequate amount of studying today."
Sky checked her watch. "We've been here for three hours. I'd say that's adequate enough."
"Seconded." Harley said. "Let's get ice cream."
"All in favor?" Sky asked.
"Aye!" Nick said excitedly.
"Aye." Leland shrugged.
Katherine shook her head with a smile. "Aye."
Nick returned to Sky's dorm after his talk with Blade to find Sky still awake and reading a book in bed. "Come on, Cuervo. It's 11 p.m. Time for bed."
Sky giggled. "I see we're playing father now."
"You bet." Nick chuckled. "Now get to bed."
"I'm in bed." Sky replied in a snarky tone.
"Then get to sleep." Nick laughed. Sky laughed too, setting her book aside.
Nick took a look at the cover. "You reading about those Salem Witch Trials again?"
"Yeah." Sky shrugged. "It's…intriguing."
Nick narrowed his eyes in thought and concern. "How so?"
"Just interesting to know the reason people hold prejudice." Sky said.
"The only reason people do that is because they're idiots." Nick huffed. "I'll spare you the sob story of the idiots I had to deal with when I was a kid."
Sky cracked a grin. "Yeah. Must've been hard. Being hated for just being you."
It suddenly dawned on Nick. "You're thinking about your parents again, aren't you?"
Sky shrugged. "Kinda. As a kid, I never understood why they gave me up. But now that I'm older, I understand that they just held prejudice against me. They don't like psyche humans. Why? No idea. Maybe they just had a bad experience with them."
"That doesn't excuse their actions." Nick huffed.
Sky rubbed the back of her head. "Well, I mean….."
Nick moved so that Sky was forced to look right at him. They locked eyes, Nick's determined and Sky's surprised. "Skylar Amelia Riley." Nick rarely used Sky's full name, so she now gave him her full attention. "Don't you ever try to defend your parents' actions. They left you. They abandoned you. It is inexcusable. Got me?"
Sky blinked a few times, and then she smiled. "Okay."
A couple days before opening night, Harley hopped on the bus out to Alamo with the intention of seeing Finn. She felt more comfortable touching base with him in person rather than over the phone. Besides, he had reported to Harley that Waller's Florida home checked out as unsuspicious, so they had to make a plan for sneaking into his vacation home near the school. At first, Harley began to think about how she would do this without Sky or Katherine knowing. But she knew that would be futile. They and even Blade and Nick would want to join in on the investigation. Having extra backup wouldn't hurt, anyway.
Harley felt someone tap her on the shoulder, and she turned a little ways to see who it was. A young man and lady sat in the seats behind her on the bus. The man had dark brown hair, cocoa brown eyes, and fair skin. He wore a navy blue dress shirt, black slacks, black loafers, and a black blazer. The woman had a petite figure, with tanned skin, bright blonde hair, and dark brown eyes. She wore her hair in a bun, and she dressed in black sweatpants, boots, a black V-neck shirt, and a black leather jacket.
"Harley Hudson?" the man asked.
Harley raised an eyebrow. "Who are you?"
The man cleared his throat. "My apologies. We just want to talk to you about something important."
"My name is Lacey Largo, and this is my brother Quinn." The woman introduced. "I think you know our sister: Emily Largo."
Harley tensed up, and her hand flew to her pistol hidden under her jacket. But she paused. There were three other people on the bus. Could she really pull out a gun right now? What would she do? Leap out the window? Demand the driver stop?
"We know you must be surprised." Quinn said hurriedly. "But you must listen to us."
"Give me one good reason why I should." Harley hissed.
"We want to make amends." Lacey said. "May we talk with you and McMissile?"
Harley narrowed her eyes, but she relaxed ever so slightly. "I'll text Finn. One wrong move, I'll shoot you both." Quinn and Lacey nodded, and they sat back in their seats. Harley wished Leland were with her, but he had been with Finn all day doing some catching up. So she pulled out her phone and sent a text.
Largo siblings. Code Grey.
When Harley, Quinn, and Lacey got off the bus, they walked out to a secluded area outside an abandoned building and waited for Finn to arrive. It only took a few seconds before the Aston Martin tore up the road and screeched to a halt, unloading his guns and aiming them at the Largo siblings. Leland placed himself protectively in front of Harley.
"Whoa, whoa!" Quinn held up his hands. "We come in peace."
"Really?" Finn growled. "Why do I have a hard time believing that?"
"How did you find me?" Harley demanded.
"Emily put a tracking device on you while she was stalking Agent McMissile." Lacey replied without hesitation. "We followed it because we wanted to talk to you."
"Why?" Finn demanded.
"And where is that tracking device?" Harley snapped.
"Check one of the wheels on your skates when we're done talking." Lacey said.
Harley blinked. "I don't even want to imagine how she got that there."
Finn didn't put his guns away, but he relaxed on his chassis. "All right. You want to talk. Talk."
Lacey and Quinn exchanged a look and each took a breath. "We just want to apologize." Lacey said sincerely. "What Emily did was beyond crazy. Had we known we were helping her hurt you, Agent McMissile, we never would've agreed to her request for help."
"Honestly, she just said she was going to pursue a romantic affair." Quinn said. "So we helped cover for her at the agency so she could do it. But we had no idea who she was going after, nor did we expect things to take such a terrible turn."
"So you're not mad that your sister is dead?" Harley asked, her hands on her hips.
"We were mad at first." Lacey said. "But when we heard the whole story, we were just sad. Thanks to us, Emily was able to go through with her plans and she seriously hurt the both of you."
"So, even if we don't receive your forgiveness, we'd like to offer something to you so we can bury the hatchet." Quinn said.
"How do we know we can trust you?" Finn demanded.
"Because we aren't anything like our sister." Quinn said. "We thought we were helping with a good cause, when in reality she was sort of using us."
"To make amends, we'd like to offer our services." Lacey said.
Harley and Finn didn't stop glaring at them for a moment. Harley put her hand on Finn's fender, activating their connection. Can we trust them?
Not sure. Finn thought. But perhaps there may be some use for them.
Like what? Harley asked.
Information. Finn said. Harley nodded, and she removed her hand. Finn finally put his guns away. "Very well. Do this for us, and we'll consider the hatchet buried."
"What do you need?" Lacey asked eagerly.
"Information." Finn said. "We are investigating a case involving the mysterious disappearances of psyche human powers. You two can help by doing research on genetics and chemistry. Find out if there's any science to back this up that might lead to a potential weapon our suspect is using."
"Done." Quinn nodded. "I can email what I find to you, Agent Hudson."
"This suspect of yours." Lacey said, her eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Is it George Waller, the dean of the Academy for Psyche Students?"
"Questions like that will likely get you shot." Harley growled.
Finn noticed the look on Lacey's face. "Why do you ask?"
"I know the dean." Lacey said. "Well, sort of. See, I had a friend who was a psyche human. Back when we were in high school, she came here to attend APS. I came to visit several times. One day, she and I were dared by some friends to sneak into a professor's office to steal some trinket. But we heard someone coming, so we hid in a closet. We heard the dean and a professor arguing about something."
"Do you remember the topic?" Harley asked.
"No." Lacey sighed. "My friend and I were so freaked out. I had blocked out that memory until just now. The dean was talking about some plan he didn't want ruined or something like that. We heard a struggle, and it sounded like someone was choking. The dean left, and my friend and I walked out of that closet to see the professor dead."
"Dead?" Finn repeated. "How?"
"Poison? Bludgeoned? I have no idea." Lacey said. "My friend and I got out of there as fast as we could, and my friend dropped out. Witnessing a murder can certainly scare the heck out of you."
"Did you tell the police?" Harley asked.
"No." Lacey said. "We were too freaked out. Besides, we didn't even see anything. We just had what we heard to go off of. Who would believe us? If we had gone to the police, they'd probably have arrested us for trespassing."
Finn nodded in thought. "Can you still get the information we need?"
"Of course." Quinn nodded. Harley and Finn nodded in satisfaction, and they turned to leave.
"Hey." Lacey's voice made them pause. "You two need to be extra careful with this case. People like the dean can be dangerous and crafty. Play your cards right, or he'll slip away."
A/N: "Code Grey" is a hospital emergency code, indicating a Combative Person with no weapon. For those of you who don't remember or know about the situation with Emily Largo, see my collection of oneshots titled Psyche Stories and go to the three-part story "Sparks Fly."
