Chapter 37

North Stafford High School
Stafford VA
11/22/05

Joey

The next day Joey couldn't decide if he was thrilled to go to school or terrified.

After lunch on that first day he and Thom, or "Doc" as he was now being called by the robotics team, had headed into the robotics lab. They had shown him what they had, which wasn't much, and started knocking around ideas, many of which came straight from the Jet Propulsion Lab's design board, most of which Doc had on his laptop. Joey had always wondered what the term 'ringer' meant. Now he knew.

After that period they had independent study. While Joey tackled his homework Doc looked to be working on a completely different project. "You're not doing homework?" He'd whispered.

"No, I've got other stuff to do with my time."

"You know it's a quarter of your grade, right?"

Doc had kind of smirked over at him. "If I fail will it keep me out of college?"

Right. "What are you doing?"

"Compiling a database of psychiatrists and therapists in the DC metro area, taking into account specialties, training, papers they've written, gender, that kind of thing."

"Why?'

Doc looked over. "Don't you have homework to do?"

The last period was PE. Doc stuck close in the locker room, but only kept an eye on him from a distance on the field. He was trying out for the soccer team, he said, and so went to their training while Joey ran laps and did conditioning exercises. Not a clue if Doc was any good or not, but the other kids seemed to accept him, which probably meant that he wasn't bad.

After PE he got dressed right off. And so did Doc. "Hey!" Coach yelled at them, "Showers!"

"I…I have a waiver." Joey stammered out. His mother had insisted, saying he was too young to be getting naked with the bigger boys.

"Same here," Thom told the Coach, handing him a copy of the slip getting him out of them. "Don't worry; I'm going to go take one at home."

Thankfully Matt and his crew weren't waiting in the parking lot. "So how are you getting home prefrosh?" Doc asked.

"The bus;" that's where they would find him, probably.

"Want a ride in the Dianamobile?"

"Sure!" Anything to avoid the bus. Even… "Does this thing even run?" That was the oldest and ugliest car in the lot by far.

"Yeah, like a top. Unfortunately." Joey climbed in, this thing was wild. "It belongs to my partner; he's letting me borrow it for the duration."

"It's kind of a death trap." Lots of metal and maybe sharp edges and the seatbelts didn't match.

"It's supposed to be one of the safest cars ever made."

The engine purred to life and the local classical station came on. "Can I change it?" Joey asked.

"Not without a pair of pliers and maybe some hoodoo. Hang on."

They made it home in one piece. The next morning the Dianamobile pulled up at the bus stop. "Get in prefrosh." Thom called out to him.

The car smelled like the bag from the Wawa station. "Don't you eat breakfast at home?"

"No, I'm trying to stay out of people's way during the week."

Now they were at school and Joey couldn't decide if he was thrilled that he had a guardian angel looking over him or terrified that his new friend was going to bite it bad and soon. It was a confusion that was not helped by the tracts and pamphlets that had been stuffed into every possible crack in Thom's locker. "Well chalk that tree up to Stoddard." Thom said mildly as he pulled them all out and pitched them in the nearest can without a look.

Then it was homeroom, and Doc was kind of quietly reading the student body handbook while they watched the in-the-classroom news thing. "They need all this for what we did in one sentence." He chuckled.

"You mean the CalTech Honor Code?" Joey could just imagine living in a place where the people were so together that was all that was needed.

But Thom didn't answer. When Joey looked over he found his friend looking at the TV, a dark, complicated look on his face. Then, without a word, he got up and walked out.

Thankfully they were right by the back door and the teacher didn't see. Joey watched the report for a moment while he gathered his things. "…from her home in the Pasadena area." The screen showed a picture of a pretty, young redhead. "Because Dr. Bennett is engaged to an FBI agent, officials are not discounting an act of terrorism. Any individuals with any information are encouraged to call…."

Joey didn't stick around to hear the rest of it. He slipped out, only to find Thom sitting with his back against the lockers, looking down at nothing. "The report said she's from Pasadena. That's where CalTech is." Joey said. "Do you know her?"

For a moment Thom's face screwed up like he was in the worst pain. But when he answered it was as calm and mild as ever. "Yeah, she's one of us. Galois House. She gave me this." He held up his hand, showing the silver band on his finger.

"The report said she's engaged to an FBI agent."

"Yeah, she is. He's one of us too. I'm driving his car."

"How long has she been missing?"

"Too dammed long," Thom sighed. "It's complicated prefrosh, and your momma wouldn't like us talking about it. Today's a short day, isn't it, because of the holiday? So all we have is independent study this morning?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Think Mrs. Cardenas would let us skip out earlier to go to the library?"

"Probably."

"Good. Let's go ask her." Thom got up and dusted off. As they headed for the IS room he pulled out a cell phone. "Hey, Mr. Hotch, am I catching you at a bad time?" Pause. "Yeah, I'm sorry to bother you at work but I need something parental…."

Wawa Food Market
105 Garrisonville Road
Stafford, VA

After they got permission from Mrs. Cardenas to leave school early they had stopped at the office where Joey's Mom worked. Thom was clearly the kind of kid all adults trusted at first glance, and Ms. Grossman was no exception. Still, she took the time to call Agent Hotchner and make sure Thom was safe and trustworthy. "Just be home by supper." She said after she got off the phone. "Have fun at the library."

Once outside Joey asked. "He sounded too old for Galois House."

"He is. That's Spence's boss. He's helping us out until we get Milly home. I'm crashing in his basement."

"Oh." Eventually that would make sense.

From there Thom drove here, a gas station and kind of halfway decent fast food kind of place. They filled up the car first, and as it was filling Thom jotted some notes down on a small notepad. Then they parked. "Here," he said, handing Joey the note and three twenties. "Pay for the gas, get this, whatever you want to eat today, and a copy of every map they have in there. I want to cover the area." The note was his lunch order.

"Where are you going?" Joey asked.

"The lav." He pulled a bag out of the trunk and headed off. "Make sure you put the coffee in the holder up front, and keep the water handy."

Fifteen minutes later Joey was settling the last of the chow into the back seat when Thom came back. For the first few moments Joey didn't even recognize him. He'd changed from jeans, a t-shirt and Chuck Taylors to dress pants, shoes, a shirt and a sweater vest, with a tie hanging loose around his neck. He'd even combed his hair differently. He carefully placed a tweed jacket in the back so it wouldn't wrinkle and then stepped around to re-open the trunk. "Got the maps?" He asked.

"Yeah," Joey was flummoxed. "You look, like, way older. I thought we were going to the library."

"We are; the one at Georgetown Medical. Now tell me how to get on the highway from here, you're navigating." His cell phone chirrped an incoming text. "Check that." He said to Joey.

Joey fished the cell phone out of the cup holder. "It's from an S. Reid. It says 'going to TX. Don't watch the news.'"