Special Chapter 04: Sarah - Part Four
May 18, 1994
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
Lloyd hurriedly jogged to the front door, the towel he'd been using to dry his wet hair falling onto his shoulders,
"Got it!"
He expected it to be Sven, anyway, as he was running a little behind.
When he opened it, though, he frowned,
"Jeremiah? What are you doing here?"
The raven-haired man, who looked as though he had not slept a wink the night previous, smiled to him warmly,
"Ah, yes...I-I was wondering if I might ask you a few things."
"Ask me a few things? I don't see why not. What's on your mind?"
"The vision eye."
Lloyd straightened, his eyes widening at how casually the man regarded it,
"Excuse me?"
"It can see into the future, yes?"
The bespectacled man frowned, swallowing hard. He hadn't told anyone about the vision eye; not even Sven, really. The most he had let on about the foreseeing powers he had was that he was a pretty good guesser. In fact, the only ones who did know about it were his wife and the doctors in charge of the yearly physical that all field agents were required to take part in. A cold feeling hit him,
"You went through my file?"
"Only a little," the raven-haired man shrugged, his voice very soft,
"When the chief told me you had a bit of a sixth sense, I became curious. So, what is it like, Lloyd? Seeing the future?"
"It's nothing special, really," the man said quickly, his hand firmly on the door,
"Why do you ask?"
"Because, I was thinking...with a power like that, you could really change the world. Mould it, shape it to what you want it to be. It could become a paradise, a place of peace where nobody got hurt or had to die."
Lloyd swallowed hard. The ominous tone in this man's voice...this was not good. Wherever this was going was definitely not good.
"I'm going to be leaving the IBI soon, Lloyd. Why don't you come with me? There's an organisation that could really use that eye of yours. We could join together. It's called Chro-"
"I don't really care what it's called, Jeremiah," Lloyd snapped quickly. It didn't make sense, any of what this man was talking about. And the terrible feeling he got just by looking at him. He didn't remember him being this way before.
"That's why I joined the IBI. To use my power to help people. I'm quite happy where I am, so thanks, but no thanks."
Jeremiah looked broken at his quick words. Clearing his throat, Lloyd awkwardly straightened,
"I think you should leave, now."
The raven-haired man stared at him a moment, then bowed his head. He nodded shortly and darted back across the lawn to the brick house next door; Sven pulling up moments later. The lime-haired man stepped out of the car and started up the walk, cigarette on his lips,
"Sorry, I'm late. Traffic. We got a search warrant for the warehouse today. You ready?"
As he reached the porch, Lloyd didn't respond. He didn't even acknowledge him. Sven raised an eyebrow at this and reached out to him, grabbing his shoulder,
"Hey, you all right?"
Lloyd's eyes widened.
-ø-
Sven was standing alone ona dark street, when from behind him came a burly man with a wrench. The lime-haired man turned as the man reached him; the wrench coming down swiftly on the right side of his face.
"Lloyd? Hey!"
-ø-
The bespectacled man gasped as he came out of the vision, finding himself sitting on the floor. Sven was kneeling down next to him, and Susan had come down stairs as well. They were both staring at him. Susan lightly took hold of his arm,
"Sweetheart? Are you okay?"
He blinked at her, then shook his head and coughed,
"Y-Yeah..."
Quickly, he stood and took a deep breath, nodding shortly,
"I-I guess I just didn't eat enough this morning..."
"You sure you'll be all right," Sven began, eyeing him suspiciously,
"Maybe you should sit this one out. I can get William to back me up-"
"I told you it's nothing!"
They both straightened at his sudden shout and Lloyd bit his lip, bowing his head as he hurried upstairs,
"Sorry. I'll be down in a minute."
Sven glanced over at Susan as his partner disappeared and she at him; both of their faces filled with concern.
A few minutes later, Lloyd came back down fully dressed; coat under his arm. Giving Susan a kiss on the cheek, he nodded to Sven and started out of the front door,
"Okay, let's go."
Glancing once back at Susan, Sven jogged down the walkway after his partner,
"Hey, wait up a minute!"
Lloyd stopped as he reached the passenger door and glanced back at Sven, sighing.
Sven frowned, shaking his head,
"You sure you're up for this? You seem off about something."
"It's...it's nothing, Sven, really. My blood sugar dropped, I guess..."
"You guess? You're a bad liar, Lloyd. Now, you want to tell me what really happened?"
The brown-haired man sighed, glancing a ways on down the street,
"Not really."
"Oh, look who it is! Morning, you two!"
The two men glanced up to see Sarah standing in the driveway with Merrick. The little boy had his back pack on and was wearing a little blue and white school uniform.
Sven smiled and waved at them, his lime green hair fluttering slightly in the breeze,
"Morning!"
Lloyd remained oddly silent. Jogging over to them, Sarah smiled, elbowing Sven in the side,
"Off to another tough case, Inspector?"
"I guess you could say that."
She patted Lloyd on the shoulder as she smiled,
"Well, be careful, then, both of you. I'd hate it if something happened to either of you."
"We will. You be careful, too, all right?"
"Sure."
Jogging back to the car, she helped Merrick buckle himself in. She then hopped into the driver seat and backed out, waving to them warmly,
"Take care!"
Sven waved back as they drove on down the street and turned the corner. He glanced over at Lloyd, frowning. There was something dark hovering over his partner...but he couldn't place what it was.
~ø~
They reached the warehouse after about 30 minutes, Sven pulling out his pistol as he stepped out of the car,
"Now, are you gonna tell me what was going on with you earlier?"
Lloyd remained silent at that and readied his gun as well. The lime-haired man sighed deeply,
"I saw Sarah's husband leaving when I showed up. What did he want?"
"Sugar."
"For what?"
"His cereal. Now, will you stop with third degree? It's just as I told you. I didn't eat enough this morning and my blood sugar dropped. That's all."
"You sure?"
Lloyd bowed his head.
"Yes," he began, the image of Sven being beaten with a wrench returning to him,
"That's all."
Sven stared at him a moment, then sighed deeply,
"Fine. Whatever you say."
He then turned his attention back to the building and started toward it,
"Just keep your ears open, all right?"
"Right."
They spotted a tan-skinned man with a bushy mustache standing outside the warehouse, and Sven nodded to him,
"Hey, there...you're one of the Rodriguez boys, right?"
The man groaned, his balding head gleaming in the sunlight as he rolled his eyes,
"You again? How many times do we gotta tell you dogs that you ain't getting in without a warrant?"
To that, Sven promptly raised the paper in his hand so that the man could see it; blinking dully,
"Then, what do you call this, hot shot?"
He snatched the paper from Sven's hand, and read over it, snarling in annoyance,
"It's not like ya's gonna find anything, anyway. We ain't got nothing."
"We'll see about that," the lime-haired man motioned to his partner,
"C'mon, Lloyd. Let's go take a look."
~ø~
Jeremiah sighed deeply as he sat at his desk, his mind racing as he continued to gaze at the picture of his family.
'The vision eye...with a power like that...I could protect millions of people. I could save so many lives...but Goldwynne...he doesn't want to do that. He thinks too small; believes this small scale police force will do him just fine. But what about other countries? What about the people there? Don't they deserve to be protected?'
He picked up the photo, touching his fingertips lightly to it. It was a photo of his wife with her arms wrapped around their adorable son. It had been taken just a week ago, when they had gone to the park for a picnic with the first grader's class. He narrowed his eyes,
'How can I even hope to protect my family without a power like that?'
"Warren!"
The raven-haired man jumped as he spun around to see the chief standing behind him,
"Ch-Chief!"
The red-haired man patted the startled man on the shoulder,
"Good job with that warrant. Wish it hadn't have taken you two months, but still, good job."
"It couldn't be helped, sir," Jeremiah coughed, nervously adjusting his tie,
"The judge kept giving me the run around, not to mention the Rodriguez boys had their lawyers try to halt our progress."
"Well, good on you for sticking with it. You're a great asset to the team. I sent Vollfied and Goldwynne to check it out. When they get back, I'll need you to document their findings."
"Yes, sir."
The chief walked away then, and Jeremiah sighed, dropping his gaze back to the papers on his desk. Moving the latest case file out of the way, he picked up the manila folder that had been buried under his paperwork. The name on the side read 'BERNADO'...
~ø~
"I just finished checking the other side of the warehouse," Lloyd sighed as he walked back over to his lime-haired partner and shook his head,
"Empty. There's nothing there."
"And there was nothing here, either..."
Sven groaned as he stood from his spot and dusted off his hands,
"I find it hard to believe that it would take two months to get a search warrant for an empty warehouse."
"You think there's more to it, then?"
"Hell yeah, I do," the lime-haired man scowled as they started toward the exit,
"If these guys really had nothing to hide, we would have been done with them already."
Lloyd nodded, sighing again,
"The judge must be in their back pocket."
"Exactly," Sven nodded, pulling out a cigarette as reached the door,
"They probably paid him to stall while they emptied out the warehouse. With the size of this place...I'd wager it took them two months to do just that."
His phone rang then and he groaned, pulling from his pocket as he popped the cigarette into his mouth,
"Yeah?"
"Sven. You and Lloyd need to get down to King's Street, pronto. There's been another one."
"Right, on it."
He snapped his phone shut and turned to Lloyd, taking out his lighter,
"That was William. Got another victim on King's Street."
"Did he say if it was the assassin?"
Sven shook his head as they briskly started back toward the car,
"Won't really know until we get there."
~ø~
The entirety of King's Street had been blocked off. Lloyd's eyes widened as they pulled up to the scene. Debris littered the road. Trash bins had been destroyed. Bullet holes riddled the walls of the surrounding buildings and parked cars. They stepped out of the car, Sven letting out a whistle,
"Damn. More like a war zone rather than the scene of a murder..."
"Five murders, actually," said a strong voice as a man with sleek, black hair came up to them. His eyes were small, squinting as he looked to them, the sun beaming down right on his face,
"We got a call about a gun fight a half an hour ago, between our cartel and another family. Our assassin showed up. Killed all five involved."
Sven glanced around at the covered bodies strewn about the street, and the large burn mark on the asphalt,
"I can see that. Were there any witnesses?"
"One woman. Rogers is taking her statement now. Said she was standing down the street, watching from the coffee shop when it all went down. The call was from her."
He glanced over at the nearby police cars and spotted a woman with short, blonde hair. She looked gruff; wearing a heavy, canvas jacket and blue jeans.
"She got a name?"
"Annette Pierce. Said she's a sweeper. Guess she was looking to nab the assassin herself..."
"Great. Just what we need on this case. Some fool-hearty dumbass running around and getting in the way of our case."
Lloyd groaned at the disdainful tone in his partner's voice and sighed deeply,
"Sven..."
"What? I'm just saying. Having a sweeper coming after our assassin is the last thing we need, right now."
William shook his head, nodding in the woman's direction,
"Nah, I've met Annette once before. She's pretty good. And level-headed. If we ask her to butt out, then she will. Begrudgingly so, but she will."
"Good," Sven said, ducking under the crime scene tape as he started over to one of the bodies,
"I'd hate to add a woman to the list of casualties this assassin is making. So, do we know who they are, yet?"
KATINK-TINK.
The lime-haired man straightened as his eyes followed the sound. On the ground, lying a few feet away from him, lay a grenade with it's pin missing.
William, who was right behind him, cursed and grabbed the lime-haired man by the arm; pulling him down with him,
"GET DOW-"
BAKOOM.
Lloyd cursed as he ducked behind one of the nearby trucks. There was no time to think before that blast had gone off. Sven and William...they had both been right out in the open. He swallowed hard, cautiously standing as the ringing in his ears subsided. Pulling out his gun, he started into the dust cloud, trying his best to peer through the smoke,
"Sven! William!"
No response. Ducking under the tape, he glanced down upon hearing a groan,
"Sven?"
A figure in the dust began to move at that and Lloyd hurried over to them, kneeling down as he recognised it to be the lime-haired man,
"Sven! You okay?"
Sven, nodded, momentarily dazed as he rose up onto his elbow,
"Y-Yeah...I think so."
He winced upon feeling a stinging in his head and touched a hand to the jagged cut on his scalp. Blood was already caking his hair. He cursed as he got to his knees, the warm liquid now beginning to run down his face,
"Where's William?"
"Inspector Smith!"
They both glanced up as the smoke began to clear, and Sven straightened. William was now lying five feet away from him, face down in a pool of blood. A rookie officer, one he recognised to be Forrest Rogers, was kneeling down at the man's side trying to stop the bleeding as he called for help,
"Officer down! Officer down! Need an ambulance at King's Street, now! West end!"
Sven cursed at this and rose to his feet; ignoring his partner's protests to stay still. Charging forward down the road, he pulled out his pistol and glanced around as he reached the intersection. The assassin had been watching them the whole time. He'd tried to kill them, and in one case, he might have just succeeded. He growled angrily at the thought, glancing from building to building. Where was he? Where was that bastard?
Lloyd rushed over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder,
"The ambulance is on the way. C'mon, you need to sit down."
"He was watching us, Lloyd. That bastard had his eye on us the whole time."
"I know," the bespectacled man said, shaking his head,
"But he bailed. When that bomb went off, it's not likely he stuck around to see who he got. So come on...you need to go sit for now."
With a curse, the lime-haired reluctantly lowered his gun. He felt the world beginning to wobble under his feet, and gingerly touched a hand to the gash on his head.
It was probably a concussion; just what he needed, right now...
~ø~
A few hours later...
"How's William?"
Lloyd sighed as he came back into the waiting room and sat down beside his partner, scratching his head,
"He lost a lot of blood, but he should be okay. They're giving him a tranfusion, now."
"I see."
"And how are you," Lloyd began, nodding to the bandages on his head. Sven shrugged, casually brushing at his nose,
"Slight concussion, but I'll be fine. I've had worse."
He then stood, shoving his hands in his pockets,
"I'm gonna go grab some coffee. You want anything?"
Lloyd shook his head at that, pulling his cellphone from his pocket,
"No...I think I'm gonna call my wife. She probably heard about the blast on the news...no doubt she's worried."
"Yeah, no doubt."
The lime-haired man then turned and left the room; Lloyd sighing in his wake. He clapped his phone shut and pulled some papers from his pocket; staring down at them silently. On the top most paper, were the words "REGISTERING FOR ORGAN DONATION" in bold, black letters.
~ø~
"The princess waited in her tower for days on end, wondering if someone, anyone was going to show up to defeat the evil witch who kept her locked away. To her delight, a handsome knight in shining armour appeared one day at the tower door."
Flipping to the next page in the book, Sarah straightened her posture and put on a deeper voice as she raised her fist,
"'You will release the princess now, you evil sorceress!' He cried, brandishing his sword from the sheath at his side. The evil witch cackled wildly at him, throwing her head back, 'Nonsense,'" she continued, putting on a sneering voice this time around,
"'I'll never let you take her from this tower...alive!'"
The children seated around her laughed at her whimsical motions and she smiled, readying to read the next part as she caught sight of a man with lime-green hair standing by the door. His head was bandaged. Turning to the nurse beside her, she coughed and smiled warmly to him,
"Rick, do you mind taking over for me a minute? There's something I need to go check on."
The blonde man smiled and took the book from her, clearing his throat as he turned back to the children,
"All right, where were we?"
She hurried over to him, an angry look on her face and he swallowed hard, quickly backing out of the doorway. He started down the hall, the woman in hot pursuit. She grabbed a hold of his trenchcoat as it flapped up and tugged hard on it; tripping him. He fell flat on his face.
Pushing himself up, he growled at her in annoyance and rubbed sorely at his nose,
"The hell is wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? You show up outside the door all bandaged up and try to walk away without me noticing that!"
He stood and brushed himself off, shrugging,
"I was on my way to get coffee."
"So, why did you stop?"
The lime-haired man shrugged, scratching the back of his head nervously,
"Dunno. Just did."
She folded her arms, her anger dissolving into worry,
"So...are you okay? And Lloyd? Where's he?"
"He's in the waiting room. One of our buddies got hurt in the blast-"
"The blast? You mean that explosion on King's Street this afternoon?"
Sven swallowed hard.
"Yeah."
She stared at him blankly.
SLAM.
He coughed harshly as she drove her fist into his gut, and she shrieked at the top of her lungs,
"I said be careful, you jackass! That's the complete opposite of careful!"
"I can't help that! Danger is in my job description!"
He pressed his hand to his temple as his world began to spin again, and narrowed his eyes at her,
"Jeez, with friends like you who needs enemies?"
Sarah sighed at that and carefully took his arm, leading him over to a nearby bench,
"C'mon you. Let's go sit down. You look like you're about to drop."
They sat down, Sven groaning as his vision began to fuzz up. He closed his eyes lightly, clearing his throat,
"So, you work in the children's ward?"
She nodded shortly, letting out a deep sigh,
"Yes, I'm a children's nurse. I'm actually taking classes to become a pediatrician."
They both silenced for a moment and to which Sarah finally sighed,
"Well, I'd better get back to 'storytelling'. Those kids aren't gonna be happy if I don't come back to finish the story. The guy I left them with doesn't do the voices."
"Ahh, right."
As she stood, she turned to him and pointed to her left,
"The coffee shop is straight down that hallway. You'd be much better off with their coffee rather than the cafeteria's."
"Ah, thanks."
As he stood, she stepped forward and gave him a warm hug; the lime-haired man blinking at her in confusion. She pulled away, offering him a smile,
"I'm glad you're okay."
Blushing slightly, he turned away from her, and waved,
"Me, too. See you."
For a moment, she watched him walk on down the hallway, waving politely back. Then, with a sigh, she turned and started back the other way. She was thankful that her husband didn't have the same attraction to danger that Sven or Lloyd seemed to. These men in her life were going to be the death of her.
~ø~
Jeremiah trembled as he stood at the end of the hall; the flowers in his hand dropping to the floor. He had watched them from afar; the way his wife had so easily run to the lime-haired agent's side. How friendly she had been with him, and the way she'd wrapped her arms around him. It may have seemed like a simple gesture, but that embrace was one of deep affection, he could tell. Clenching his fist tightly into a ball, he slammed it against the wall; his eyes burning with rage and his heart filling with anguish. He glared at the lime-haired man's back as he walked down the hall, his blood boiling,
'Vollfied...!'
~ø~
Sven frowned as he strode up behind his bespectacled partner, glancing over his shoulder,
"Organ donation? You planning on dying soon?"
Lloyd jumped at that, sighing deeply as he turned and stuttered,
"N-No! I was just...I figured now was a good a time as any to sign up. With what happened today...the explosion and all...you can never really be too sure about what the future holds, you know?"
"Yeah."
Lloyd calmly handed the filled out documents back to the nurse, and she smiled warmly to him,
"Thank you for your time, sir."
He nodded at that, a strange feeling flooding through him. It was a cold sensation; the hollowness that accompanied a lot of his visions. But it was different this time, the feeling...it was heavier somehow.
He then sighed and turned to Sven,
"Now, c'mon. Let me give you a ride home. You really shouldn't push yourself anymore today with that injury of yours."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I am kind of tired."
"Kind of? You nearly got yourself blown up and you're only 'kind of' tired?"
"Yeah, slightly. I blame it on the concussion."
~ø~
Lloyd arrived back at his house late in the evening, his mind and body both completely drained. He staggered out of the car and swung his coat over his arm, trudging up to the front door. Taking out his key, he carefully unlocked it as not to disturb anyone sleeping inside. He stepped through the threshold and shut the door quietly behind him. It looked as though everyone was asleep.
"Lloyd?"
He jumped as he turned around, his eyes settling on the figure of his wife. She was standing behind him, dressed in pink pajamas and one of his robes. He smiled to her; relieved,
"Susan."
Quickly, the woman ran and threw her arms around him, squeezing her eyes shut,
"I saw the explosion on the news. I tried calling you so many times."
He squeezed her tightly, burying his face in her long hair as she continued,
"I was so worried about you."
At that, he sighed and held her even tighter.
"I'm sorry. I'll call next time."
"You'd better," she said pulling back from him with a smile as she wiped her eyes. Taking him by the hand, she lead him toward the stairs,
"Now, come on. Let's get you into bed. You must be exhausted..."
"Yeah...I really am."
A/N: So, the next chapter should be the last of the flashback. I'm not looking forward to this.
Lloyd... ;^;
