A SECRET CHORD

Chapter Twenty Nine

London, 1975

Thomas never saw the pair of eyes that watched him as he slipped out of the girls' bathroom with his reluctant friend in tow. Leading Sam up to her dormitory by the safest route, he left her there, in linen-scented silence, to recover herself. Then he clenched his fists and set off back down to the headmaster's office. Passing the senior common room on his way, he could hear the low buzz of cheerful voices through the closed door. The sound made him feel quite strange, as though, by sharing in Sam's ugly secret, he had slipped into some kind of alternate dimension, filled with faint echoes of the real world.

"Don't be stupid," he muttered to himself. "You're helping a friend, that's all. Mr. Garriman will know what to do."

During school hours, the headmaster's inner sanctum was fiercely guarded by its own personal gatekeeper. Luckily for Thomas, six o' clock had come and gone, which meant that Miss Blanchard had already left, as she did at precisely the same time every evening. Her immaculate desk, with its leather-bound datebook and fierce little lamp, was no threat without the Gorgon that usually lurked behind it. Thomas marched straight through Miss Blanchard's domain, looking far more confident than he actually felt, and knocked on Mr. Garriman's dark, wooden door.

Please be in there, he begged silently.

"Come," said a muffled voice.

Dizzy with a mixture of relief and apprehension, Thomas obeyed. The door creaked when he pushed it open. Mr. Garriman was standing by the window, on the other side of the room. There was a glass in his hand, half full of amber-coloured liquid that glowed as the evening light filtered through it. A bottle sat on the window ledge beside him, also half full. The headmaster's face was a disturbing silhouette. Thomas blinked, and tried to work some moisture back into his dry throat. "Um," he began.

Mr. Garriman sighed. "You shouldn't be here," he said. "I was expecting Finch. Pupils aren't allowed in the North Wing after six. What is it…?" The rest of his sentence fell away, as he searched his memory and came up empty.

"Thomas, sir. Thomas Lawson."

Garriman shook his head. "I knew that, boy. Don't presume to correct your elders. I take it this is a matter of the utmost importance?" The headmaster's tone was challenging and, for a moment, nerves stripped Thomas of his senses.

What was he doing here?

"Um," he said again.

The headmaster moved away from the window. Now his expression was plain to see – and it was not a happy one. He squinted at the boy in front of him.

"You're wasting my time," he warned, every syllable wrapped in the warm, cloying smell of whisky. "I'd leave now, if I were you."

"No. Wait!" Finally, the words came flooding out of him, so full of urgency that Thomas could barely control them. "Mr. Finch - he's the one, you see. I need to tell you, before he gets here; it's bad, sir, really bad, and you need to know…"

"Need to know what?" said a pleasant voice behind him; a voice he knew well. It belonged to a man he had always admired; a fair man, a good man, the kind of man he wished that he could be some day…

A man who was the enemy, it seemed.

"Ah, Finshhh," said the headmaster, slurring badly as he raised his glass in a gesture of welcome. "Lawson here was just about to enlighten me. Concerning you, he says. Must be serious; look at his face. Go on, Lawson - we're all waiting."

Help me, Thomas thought. I'm trapped in the middle. He felt small, and utterly powerless.

And then, just when things couldn't get any worse, he saw the girl who was standing behind Mr. Finch, smiling sweetly.

-x0x-

Arizona, 1985

"Please, Mister Thomas," Adam begged. He fidgeted, shifting his weight from one bound foot to the other. "I put the pieces back, okay?" The words were random, just something to say as he stared at the blank white door.

On the other side, in the invisible room, there was silence.

"Thomas?" Adam said fearfully. When breathing stopped, it was bad, he knew…

The door swung open.

"Oh!" he cried, gazing up at the man who stood before him. Instinct warned him to flinch, but somehow he managed to resist. Instead, he reached out his hand, palm up, fingers curling loosely. "Come and play," he said. "I promise I won't ask any more questions."

Thomas knelt down and took the offered hand. "Adam, I'm sorry. Your questions weren't the problem. I shouldn't have run off like that." There was a gleam in his eyes that spoke of tears unshed.

"Sometimes," Adam whispered, "running helps."

Thomas gave him a wobbly grin. "And sometimes it doesn't."

"I know," the boy said solemnly. "Is it very bad?" he ventured.

"Is… what?"

"The thing that's making you sad. Is it…?" Adam shuddered, briefly, as he spoke the difficult words. "Is it your daddy?"

Thomas let go of Adam's hand and sank down even lower, until he was sitting cross-legged on the bathroom floor. Carefully, Adam sat down in front of him, mirroring his posture exactly. The open doorway rose up between them – like a force-field, Adam thought; and I have to get through somehow. Then I can help Mister Thomas, like he helped me.

"It's not my daddy," Thomas said at last. "I don't… it's not the sort of thing I can really describe to a little boy like you."

"I'm not little," Adam grumbled, puffing out his chest in a vain attempt to make himself look bigger. "I know stuff."

Thomas gave an unexpected laugh. "Yes, you do," he admitted. Pausing, he looked down at his long hands, turning them over to study the whorls and callouses, as though he had never seen them before. "Okay then," he said at last, much to Adam's relief. "I'll try and explain what happened to me in a way you'll understand…"

-x0x-

New York City, 2005

"I'm startin' to get that déjà vu thing," Flack complained, shifting in the passenger seat and staring out of the window with a moody expression.

"You know why that is, right?" Danny said. Flack held up his hand.

"Don't. Don't floor me with some weird-ass scientific explanation. It's too early in the day, Messer."

"What I was goin' to say," Danny went on, with a twisted little grin, "was that it's easy to get déjà vu when you've been here before. Though I hope you're not suggestin' I remind you of your girlfriend."

"What – Kaile Maka? Be serious. Anyhow, the way I hear it, she's got a thing for you."

The thought was flattering but Danny shrugged it off. "Nah. We're just good friends. She's not my type."

"Are you kiddin' me, Danno?"

"You do know she does all that kung fu stuff on the side, right? I'm not sure I ever want to date a girl whose hands are lethal weapons."

Flack had to laugh. "Wuss," he challenged his friend.

"Maybe so - but I'm a wuss who's still in one piece, thank you very much. Besides, I don't see you takin' a chance with her." Catching sight of the shifty look in Flack's eyes, Danny gasped in triumph. "You did! You did, an' she turned you down…"

"So, anyway…" Flack interrupted, staring resolutely through the windscreen at the familiar building that rose up before them. "Let's go over the plan one more time, shall we?"

Danny gave in graciously. After all, it was easy to be the bigger man when you had just scored the winning point. "No problem. Number one – we keep tabs on Allan and report his location. Done and done. Number two - we wait for Mac to call back and tell us Ross has the suspect well an' truly hooked online… Does that sound crazy to you?" he added, genuinely curious to hear Flack's take on the whole situation. "Pinnin' our hopes on the game playin' skills of one rookie lab tech?"

"You callin' Mac Taylor crazy?" Flack said pointedly.

Danny reconsidered. "Um – no." he admitted, with a low chuckle. "You're right. I guess maybe he knows what he's doin'. Okay, so then, Ross has a cosy little heart-to-heart with his new best friend…"

"…Mac tips us off when it's gone far enough…"

"….and we bust in, to catch Allan right in the act of tryin' to lure another 'kid' into his clutches," Danny finished triumphantly. "You're sure you know what floor he's on?"

"I got it all worked out," Flack nodded. "Kaile an' me, we did our research yesterday. Not much else to do, sittin' out here for hours. The law firm checked out – no link to Allan or his 'familiar'. The technogeeks – no offence…"

"None taken."

"They're just a local branch of a larger firm that operates outta Silicone Valley. Also legit. Troubleshooters, mostly."

"So you're sayin' 'freaky game design' ain't number one on their list of services?" Danny quipped.

"Somethin' like that. Which makes me think our best bet is Mr. Ferdinand Roper. Seventeenth floor. Allan hit one of the top three buttons when he buzzed himself in yesterday, and the same again today. That's as close as I can call it."

"And Ferdinand Roper is…?"

"A bit of a mystery," Flack admitted. "Turns out, he didn't exist until two years ago. When I called his number, I got a message that claimed he offered some kinda 'Personal Service' - discretion guaranteed."

"Sounds perfect."

"You mean dodgy, right?"

"That's what I said," Danny told him smoothly.

-x0x-

There were dark circles under Adam's eyes. He felt their presence keenly. He couldn't quite recall the terrors that had plagued him through the night but, even so, they left him with a lingering sense of unease that was hard to shake. Waking early, he forced down a meagre breakfast and two cups of strong, black coffee. Then he left his apartment and headed for work, with a fixed look of determination on his face and a jittery feeling in his limbs.

Arriving at the crime lab well ahead of time, he found Mac in his office, staring at the pictures of the missing children. Vampires and lab geeks, Adam thought grimly, remembering his first conversation with Danny Messer. Did the Boss Man ever sleep?

He knocked on the glass door and waited in silence for Mac to acknowledge him.

Moving across to his couch, Mac beckoned the lab tech in. "Good," he said, as Adam drew near. "Sit down. I want a word with you in private before we do this."

Adam perched on the edge of the seat. "Okay…" Here we go again, he thought, but Mac made no more comments about his lack of experience. Instead, he scrutinised Adam with a gaze that seemed to pierce right through him. Jarred by the sensation, Adam felt an uncontrollable need to defend himself. "You're thinking I look tired, right – and maybe a little nervous, but I'm not, okay; I got plenty of sleep and I'm ready, sir…"

"I know you are," Mac said quietly.

Adam's awkward speech shuddered to an unexpected halt. "You do?"

"I do. But I have a request."

Full of curiosity by now, Adam waited.

"Agent Darrow would like to sit in with us. Does that bother you? Things may well get even more personal for you today, and I take it…" Mac paused but his meaning was already clear. Keen to reassure him, Adam clenched his hands together and began to speak in a low, earnest tone.

"Darrow doesn't know. About my dad – you're right. At least, I haven't told him any details, though we did have a conversation yesterday… He's cool, okay? He can sit in; I really don't mind." And somehow, he didn't. Feeling the need to elucidate, Adam went on. "I get what you're trying to do for me, Boss, and I'm grateful. But I trust your judgement too. This case means so much to Agent Darrow. It wouldn't be right to keep him out just because of me. I'd like to think I'm not that selfish." He raised his eyebrows hopefully. "Does that make sense?"

Mac gave a smile of approval that made Adam feel as though everything in the world was just as it ought to be. "Yes, it does. Thank you, Adam. That was a generous statement. Dredging up the past is never easy."

"Sounds like you know what you're talking about," Adam said, and immediately wished that he had held his tongue. "I'm sorry, Mac; that was… Look, I'm sure your past is none of my business."

"Adam. Do you have to apologise for every single word that comes out of your mouth?"

"No, sir. I'm sor… It won't happen again." Adam's cheeks were pink but there was the hint of a grin about his lips. He had seen the twinkle in the other man's eye.

It was only after he had left the room that he glimpsed the consummate skill of Mac's diversion.

I need to learn how to do that, he thought, full of awe, as he turned back to stare at his boss through the glass.

-x0x-

The doors were closed. He hadn't even noticed them before, but there they were, locking him into the AV Lab with not one but two imposing figures sitting next to him and a world of trouble before him.

The image of the pipe spun randomly, marking his save point. Adam reached out – and hesitated.

Going back was so much harder.

"Maybe he won't be there yet," Darrow said, keenly observant, as always. Adam could feel him watching closely and knew that the agent had marked his hesitation.

"Something tells me he will," Mac muttered, glancing at his cell phone, which lay nearby on the worktop. Danny had called him, moments ago, to say that Allan was back inside the same mysterious building as yesterday. Clearly, that was the Piper's local access point to Aurora. As soon as the call had ended, the three men had stared at each other in silence – and Adam had fired up the game.

Think about the kids, he reminded himself now, gazing at the screen. The spinning of the pipe was almost hypnotic. Don't think about the monster. You've done this before; you can do it again.

"When you're ready, Adam," Mac said.

Which, of course, meant 'do it now'. Adam squared his shoulders. "Okay – you want me?" he told the floating pipe. "You got me…"

Boo stood in the empty pavilion and looked around. There was no sign of the Piper. "Pan?" he said, experimentally. "Are you there? It's me, Boo - I've come back."

Time passed…

"Something's wrong," Darrow said. "He's not coming."

"Just… wait." Adam was focussed now. The world of Aurora was wrapping itself around him. "Listen - can you hear the music? He's coming alright…"

The spinning pipe had disappeared, but there was a faint, elusive echo running through the tent. Boo tried to be patient but it was hard. Suddenly, Pan the Piper stepped out of nowhere, filling the tent with his overwhelming presence.

"Boo," he said. "I'm so glad to see you."

He seemed shorter this time, much to Boo's surprise. Their heads were almost on a level. His smile was friendly and his eyes were kind. He was dressed in a suit of red and yellow.

"I'm glad too," Boo said shyly.

"I wasn't sure if you'd return." The Piper moved in slowly. "You were very brave yesterday."

"What do you mean?"

"I asked you some difficult questions. I hope you'll forgive me for that."

Boo hesitated. "I'm not angry with you, if that's what you're asking. Look, you said you'd help me for sure. Did you really mean it?"

"Honesty." The Piper's remark was a cryptic one. "That's the key to your quest, Boo."

"I've told you the truth, I swear."

"And I've shown you the same respect. I always keep my promises. I said I would help you, yes – but in order for me to do that, I'm going to need certain details…"

"Whatever he says," Darrow told Adam, suddenly, "don't give him your real name."

"No chance," Adam said fervently. "Trust me, guys, I got this. Call Detective Flack, okay? He's hooked. I'll keep him talking…"

"You want to know who I am," Boo said. "In the real world, right?"

"It's the only way that I can save you."

"Like Fizzle?" The question was tentative. "You'll take me to the Mountain?"

"Like Ruth Eggar," Pan said firmly. "Yes, you'll be safe, just as she is right now."

Boo took a moment to stare at the curious figure who promised so much. The web was closing in around him, and he welcomed it.

"My name is Thomas," he told Pan, at last. "Thomas Lawson. I'm fourteen years old - and you're my only hope. If you can't help me run away from my father, I'll do it all by myself..."

Mac picked up his cell phone and pressed speed-dial.

"Flack" he said urgently. "Now."

-x0x-

A/N: Having recently discovered 'Arrow', I saw Kelly Hu, the actress who played Kaile, in a whole new light and I thought I'd pay homage to her skill - hence Danny's flippant remark about 'all that kung fu stuff'.

Hope you enjoyed the update. Cornish Pasties - I hope it was long enough for you ;) Thank you, as always, to everyone who has been reviewing, following and favouriting this story. I'm so thrilled that you like it!

I'll try and update next weekend, as usual, but this week is crazy so please forgive me if I'm a little late.