Author's Notes: Brackets [] denote places where telepathy is being used.
A Union of Souls, Chapter Six
"A guy gives you his business card and you get paranoid? Geez, Ami, most girls like to be hit on."
With a frustrated groan, Ami pressed her face into her pillow, recalling precisely why she had wanted to talk to Adam -- and only Adam -- about what happened at Club Indigo and on the quad. As much as Megabyte Damon was her friend and fellow Tomorrow Person, there were times when she wanted to strangle the red-haired American. And this was one of them.
"I knew that you wouldn't take me seriously." With her face buried in the pillow, Ami knew that her words came out muffled, but she didn't really care. "You never take anything seriously, Megabyte."
She heard her friend snort with indignation. "I'm hurt. I teleported all the way from London just because you were upset and this is –"
Lifting her head, Ami shot him a disbelieving glare. "You were just hoping that Celia would show up in her athletic bra and bike shorts again."
"No, not exactly," Megabyte protested, but his words lacked vehemence and fire. As Ami continued to glare pointedly at him, he lowered his head and began shoving potato chips into his mouth.
"I can't believe this." Sprawled on her bed, Ami rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. "I'm being stalked and the only thing one of my best friends is concerned about is seeing my roommate half-naked." Ami tried to summon a hint of guilt as she heard Megabyte choke, but couldn't seem to manage it.
"All right you two, knock it off," Adam gave a handful of her braids a playful tug. "I swear, sometimes you two are as bad as Kevin and Jade. You know, I'm beginning to think there's something to that theory about repressed attraction."
This time it was Ami who choked, strangling on the bubble of laughter that swelled up in her chest and throat. The strangled laughter turned into a violent coughing fit that left her throat raw and hoarse, and left Megabyte glaring indignantly at her when she finally recovered.
"It wasn't that funny," Megabyte muttered.
"You're right," Ami gave a little cough and took a sip of water, "It was actually a rather frightening and disturbing thought."
"As disturbing as your stalker?" Megabyte challenged. "That's if, you really are being stalked?"
She ignored his disbelief. "Then what do you call it? I run into some really weird guy at the club last night and then this woman today – it has to be more than coincidence."
"Or they could be just coincidence," Adam said softly. He held up his hands to ward off her objections and hurriedly continued. "I'm not saying that Angel wasn't weird or that it's your imagination that you were being probed today, but I think that maybe – maybe you might be misinterpreting things with this Angel?"
"Oh, you too now. Thank you so much, Brutus."
"Brutus?" Megabyte frowned in confusion at her words.
"Julius Caesar." Adam explained the reference. "The play?" When Megabyte continued to stare blankly at him, Adam shook his head sadly. "Megabyte, there are other things in the world besides comic books and science-fiction novels."
"I know that," Megabyte muttered, "I just haven't gotten around to reading that stuff yet."
Adam turned to Ami, evidently deciding that Megabyte was a lost cause and to just ignore him for the moment. "I'm not against you, Ami. You know that. But, you admitted that you were tired last night, there were all sorts of things going through your shields. Couldn't you have just overreacted to a random thought or emotion that Angel was having?"
"I could have but –" Ami paused, looking down at her lap. She tugged on a few of her braids, a gesture that was both nervous and comforting. "I just have a feeling. I can't even put it into words, but something's not right."
"I have to admit, when you put it like that, I start to take you seriously," Megabyte admitted. "Trust Ami's feelings. That's one thing you're good at – bad feelings that are always right."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Ami looked up, feeling a chill creep over her bones. Teasing she could handle; the reminder that her feelings tended to be 'right on the money,' as Megabyte was fond of saying, was not what she wanted to hear. She hated mysteries, especially the ones that centered around her and her fellow Tomorrow People. Especially when the mystery in question didn't appear to have any clues.
"No," Megabyte said honestly. "But it doesn't make me feel any better either."
"Then let's say that you're right," Adam supposed. He leaned back against the foot of Ami's bed, reaching out to pull the braid of hair from her mouth. She hadn't even realized that she was chewing on it; it was a nervous habit that she was trying to break, with very little success. "This woman and Angel are somehow connected and they're following you. This man, Angel, is our only connection. We could go talk to him at his office."
"No," Ami shook her head. She didn't know why the thought of going to Angel's office seemed less than viable, when that had been precisely her plan before Adam and Megabyte showed up in LA. "I mean, what if you're right and he was just a really strange guy. He's a private investigator. He'll get suspicious or curious if we start asking questions."
"Hey I know," Megabyte pushed aside the bag of potato chips. "You could hire him."
"What?" Ami and Adam asked the question in unison.
"Well, if you go talk to him and he seems level, then you hire him to find out who the weird lady is."
"And what exactly do I say, Megabyte? Hello, I'm Ami. I'm a telepath and I happen to know for an absolute fact that there's this psychic woman hanging around campus trying to read my mind. Do you think you could find her for me?"
"You really need a date, don't you?"
Before Ami could word an objection the door opened and Celia flounced into the room. At the sight of Adam and Megabyte, she gave a delighted – and somewhat annoying --squeal, "Company! Great, are you guys staying for dinner?"
One glance at the admiring look on Megabyte's face told Ami the answer to that question.
She really had to hand it to her roommate. She did have the most impeccable of timing.
[Don't worry about it,] Adam's telepathic voice sounded clearly in her mind, relaying support and understanding. [We'll figure it out. The answer is out there. We just have to find it.]
[Whatever you say, Mulder,] Ami responded with a grateful smile. Then hearing Celia's flirtatious giggle at whatever Megabyte said to her, Ami rolled her eyes. [Can we just make sure he doesn't drool too much? I kind of like that rug.]