Note: I like Gwen… I haven't liked any of Jess' other replacements, so I'm submitting my own. If you like her, she'll probably be in future fics.

Chapter 2 -- Searching

"Here you go, Counselor." Gwen, Mel's latest attempt to find a replacement for Jess, smiled slightly as she handed Jonas Carr his drink.

He took a small sip and smiled back. This one might actually last. She was quiet, practical, down-to-earth, and great at mixing drinks. And, best of all, so far she had neither come close to burning down the bar or to getting Mel arrested. She was a grad student originally from some small town in Indiana, Jonas knew from Mel, who spent much of her free time with her nose buried in textbooks.

"You can call me Jonas, Gwen..." he told her with a smile.

She smiled and nodded. "Okay, Jonas."

"Mel tells me you're studying psychology?"

She nodded. "Yes, sir. Forensic psychology."

He nodded. He had heard the tale-end of a conversation about criminal psychology between Gwen and Cole the week before. Mel had told him later that they had been at it for almost five hours before Gwen had been forced to break it off because she had work to do. Cole, Jonas recalled, had seemed intrigued by what she had to say.

"Convenient, that. You want to go into law enforcement and you work in a cop-bar."

She smiled and nodded, absently washing glasses as they talked. "Beats my last job..." she muttered.

"What was that?" Jonas asked.

"I was a stripper..." she admitted, bowing her head. "Good money, but not the best job. You know..." She shook her head and glanced over Jonas' shoulder to where Mel was pacing around the bar. "She always like that when Mister Hauser doesn't call?"

"Pretty much." Jonas looked over his shoulder with a sigh. "How long has it been?"

"A day and a half. He was supposed to be back today, I guess, but he wasn't and he hasn't called."

"Hmm..."

"They must be pretty attached."

"They are. She really cares about him."

"He cares about her, too. You can see it every time he looks at her." She smiled sadly. "God, look at her. She's going to give herself an ulcer."

Jonas nodded and walked over to Mel. "Why don't you come sit down?" he asked gently.

She looked up, startled. She had been so preoccupied worrying about Cole that she had not even noticed him come in. "Oh, hi, Jonas." She gave him a forced smile.

"Mel, come sit." He gave her a gentle smile and steered her towards the bar.

Mel sat down and glanced at Gwen. "Could I have a--"

"Gin martini?" Gwen guessed. She had a good memory, so once a person had ordered a drink more than once, she was good at associating it with them.

"Please." Mel nodded. "Big one."

"One big, very dry gin martini coming up." Gwen found a shaker and filled it with ice. She splashed vermouth onto the ice and looked up at Mel as she swirled it around in the shaker a few times before dumping it. "No word from Mister Hauser yet, Miss Porter?" she asked, adding gin to the shaker.

Mel shook her head with a sigh. "I'm... sure it's nothing serious..." she lied as Gwen poured the martini into an oversized glass and handed it to Mel.

Gwen glanced up curiously. Mel was, from her tone of voice, clearly lying through her teeth. "Does he forget to call often?" she asked quietly.

Mel shook her head. "He knows I worry. He's probably... out of range, or something."

"Where is he, Mel?" Jonas asked gently.

"Canada. Vancouver."

Jonas glanced down as his pager went off, irritated. Thanks to Mel, he was starting to rebuild his practice, but there were times when it was annoying to be in demand again. "Mel, I've got to go now."

She nodded. "Okay, Jonas."

"If you need anything at all, you call me. Night or day, Mel. I mean it." He squeezed her arm gently, worried about her. She had obviously only grown more attached to Cole since she had talked Jonas into defending him. The poor thing was obviously worried sick about him.

Mel smiled. "Thanks, Jonas. Talk to you later. Bye."

He nodded. "Bye, Mel. Goodbye, Gwen."

"Bye, Counselor." Gwen waved after him as he left, then picked up his half-empty glass and dumped it. As she washed the glass, she looked up at Mel. "You okay, Miss Porter?" she asked quietly.

"I will be, Gwen." Mel nodded.

"Maybe you should file a missing person's report..." Gwen suggested tentatively.

"Oh, no I can't... It's too..." Mel shook her head, reluctant to bring Cole's name to police attention. "No."

Gwen sighed. "Look, I uh... overheard this conversation you two had before he left for Vancouver..." she admitted.

"What?" Mel looked up, alarmed. "What did you hear?"

Gwen bowed her head. "Voices were raised, I couldn't help but hear..." she explained anxiously, afraid that she was about to get fired. "I'm sorry..."

"What did you hear?" Mel repeated more gently.

"Um, that he doesn't really do tech support. He's some kind of cop or something, and... he was going after some perv who gets his jollies by killing little girls."

"That all?" Mel asked cautiously.

Gwen nodded. "Yeah, that was it. Look, Miss Porter, this Ansen guy... he sounds really dangerous."

"Believe me, I know that..." Mel whispered, draining her glass.

"Miss Porter, I don't understand. If he's missing, shouldn't his agency know or something?"

Mel sighed. It would have been the easiest thing in the world to file a report. But after his brief capture by the government and after his arrest, she was reluctant to bring his name to official attention again. His situation on earth was just so tenuous...

"Gwen, please. This is... complicated. Cole is... very deep cover. It's, um..."

"Complicated?" Gwen ventured.

Mel nodded and tapped her glass. "Make me another, will you?"

Gwen nodded and complied. "If it were my boyfriend..." she began.

"Cole is not my boyfriend!" Mel snapped, shaking her head. One more thing about life that sucked.

"If he's hurt somewhere... Or sick..."

"You think I haven't thought of that?" Mel demanded, glaring at the girl.

It was, in fact, something that she worried about every time Cole left the house. What if he got hurt? Or captured? Or killed? Every time he went after a fugitive, she had to face the fact that he might not be coming home. That was why she got so worried when he did not call. Not having a relationship was one thing. That she could handle. Not caring about him, though... that was impossible.

Gwen bowed her head. "I'm sorry, Miss Porter. I know you must be so worried..."

Mel looked up at the girl with a sigh. "You have no idea, Gwen. Look, going to the cops with this would be a very bad idea. I can't explain why..."

Gwen nodded, accepting this. "Mister Hauser is a nice man. I hope he's okay. I'll, um, say a prayer that he's okay..." She smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure that it's really nothing, you know. Maybe his plane got delayed or something..."

Mel smiled, grateful. It had only been a day and a half. Anything could have happened to delay Cole that long, she reminded herself firmly. Nothing was necessarily wrong. If he had not contacted her by Monday, she would consider filing a report, but the idea continued to trouble her. Cole had no official identity: no birth certificate, no social security number, not even a driver's license. Would she even be allowed to file a missing person's report without so much as a date of birth on him?

She gave Gwen a forced smile. "Yeah, you're probably right. I worry too much."  Sighing, she rubbed her forehead. "I'll be upstairs if you need anything."

She nodded. "Okay, Miss Porter. Try to take it easy."

Mel nodded. "Yeah, Gwen. Thanks."

She rose and walked up the stairs, pausing outside of Cole's room. Shrugging, she entered. Not that she had any real reason to be there, she just wanted to be inside the room. Everything about it was a reminder of Cole, and he spent so much time inside of it that it was as if it had somehow become an extension of him. She spent a lot of time in the room when he was away, always careful never to actually touch anything. Sometimes it was just comforting to be in a place that had so much of Cole in it.

It did not help that this had been the last place that she had seen Cole, though. Gwen had been right, voices had been raised, and a disagreement that had started in the bar had ended here. Cole had explained, very calmly, as he always was, that Ansen was a Vardian child-killer. He had killed several of Cole's colleagues before his capture. Ansen had started killing again shortly after his arrival in Chicago and once the police were on his trail, he had fled for Canada. Cole had quickly discovered a string of murders with the same M.O. in British Columbia, near Vancouver.

Mel had pled, with increasing vehemence, for Cole to just let the local police handle it. The last time, with the twin Orsusian assassins, had just been too close. Cole, with his normal quiet certainty, had simply refused to be moved by her arguments. Ansen was a killer and if he was allowed to vanish into another country, he would be able to continue unchecked for some time. That simply could not be allowed. Having said that, he had returned to his room.

Mel had followed, not ready to end the conversation. Looking surprised that she had followed, Cole had once again explained that he could not allow Ansen to kill again. He had lightly touched her throat, the way he sometimes did, and spoke in gentle, reassuring tones. Mel had touched his chest and whispered for him to be careful, almost a plea, and he had assured her that he would be. Another gentle caress of her throat, a light touch of her cheek, and he had been gone, leaving Mel staring after him.

Rationally she had known that Cole was right, but it had not made her any less worried, and it had not stopped her from sitting alone in his room, quietly crying, for several minutes. She always worried when he left to pursue some new fugitive, this time worse than normal. Even knowing that there was little that she could do to help him, she hated letting him go alone, wanted to be by his side, to help him.

And now she sat alone in his room again, quietly crying and cursing herself for having let him go alone. And in a day and a half, she knew, she would have to go down to the police station and report him missing. Whatever had happened, it was nothing minor. With Cole, it hardly could be. Mel lowered her head to his desk and sobbed silently.

***

"Social security number?" Detective Parker asked Mel quietly.

For what seemed like the hundredth time, Mel shook her head. "I'm sorry..."

"Any way you can find it?" Detective Parker was in her forties, pale, gaunt, and obviously overworked, but she kept her voice gentle and understanding as she worked with Mel to fill out a missing person's report in the absence of any personal information about the man.

Mel shook her head. "I'm sorry, but he doesn't really keep that kind of information around the house."

She sighed. This was more frustrating that she had thought it would be. There were too many questions that she simply did not have a satisfactory answer to. With many of them, she was lying through her teeth to the Detective, giving the day they had met as his date of birth, for instance. With others, though, there was no good answer she could give.

Detective Parker had been working Missing Person's long enough to know that sigh when she heard it. She casually reached into her top drawer and produced a box of Kleenex, extending them to Mel just as the tears started forming in her eyes. Mel grabbed a tissue and dabbed at her eyes, furious with herself for behaving like she was. She mumbled an apology and took a deep breath, trying to compose herself.

Detective Parker rose and closed the door to the office. "You're fine, Miss Porter. Would you like a glass of water?"

Mel shook her head. "No. I'm sorry... I'm not normally like this."

"You're worried about your friend. It's understandable." She smiled reassuringly at Mel and patted her shoulder.

"I, uh, have a picture..." Mel offered, reaching into her purse and pulling out a photo of Cole and herself that Jess had taken in London. Mel had an arm around Cole's waist. Cole was staring curiously at the camera, trying to figure out what it was for.

"That's wonderful." Detective Parker took the picture and glanced at it, thinking that the man looked a bit like that underwear model. "We'll attach a copy of this to the report." She smiled at Mel. "Does he have any distinguishing marks? Scars? Tattoos? Anything like that?"

Mel shook her head. "No, nothing like that."

"And does he have any friends or relatives in Vancouver? Anywhere in British Columbia?"

Mel shook her head. "No. Pretty much everyone he knows is here in the city."

"Any e-mail relationships with anybody?"

Mel shook her head. "No, nothing like that. Look, I know that a lot of times when men disappear it's just because they're sick of their lives wherever they are, but Cole's not like that. He's too tied here to just leave without a word. And... he left things behind that he would never have left if he were leaving..." Like a storage unit with over a dozen alien convicts inside.

Mel, who had not slept since Saturday, fought an urge to giggle at the thought of what the Detective's reaction would be if she mentioned this. She grabbed another tissue and held it over her mouth, disguising the stifled giggle as a stifled sob.

"Don't worry, Miss Porter. We will find him, I promise you. I've got some connections in Vancouver. I'll get right on this."

Mel nodded and composed herself. "Thank you, Detective."

Detective Parker glanced down at the form one more time. "Why don't you go home and see if you can't get some sleep. Victor tells me that you haven't been."

Mel's eyes widened. "Vic? You've been talking to Vic?" That could complicate things. Vic hated Cole and was more than a little jealous. He could tell Detective Parker a lot of things that would make her think that Cole was unstable enough to vanish under his own power.

"You used to date him, didn't you?"

"Vic? Yeah..." Mel nodded cautiously.

"That's what I thought. He's worried about you, Miss Porter."

"He's jealous of Cole..." Mel told her quickly, not sure why she was doing so. "He..."

Detective Parker nodded. She had gotten that impression from Vic. "I know. Don't worry about it. Separating the facts from the opinions is a big part of what any Detective does. You leave this in my hands. I'll be in touch."

Mel nodded gratefully. Detective Parker sounded too sincere to be brushing her off. "Thank you." She rose.

"Miss Porter?"

"Yeah?"

"Try not to worry too much."

"Okay..." Mel nodded and left.

Detective Parker stared at the half-finished form in her hands for a moment, then picked up the phone and punched a few keys.

"Homicide, Vic Bruno."

"Hey, Victor. It's Parker. Drop by my office when you get a minute."

"I just happen to have a few free minutes now."

"Then get your ass down here."

Vic laughed over the phone. "You charmer, you."

She hung up the phone, shaking her head. "Close the door..." she told Vic when he arrived a few moments later.

Vic complied and sat down. "So, what's up?"

"Just had Mel Porter in here."

"Ah, yes, the case of the incredible vanishing weirdo."

"Stop being a jealous git and listen to me for a minute."

Vic blinked in surprise but nodded. "Listening."

"You had a girl like Mel to come home to, would you choose to disappear?"

Vic reluctantly shook his head. "No, guess I wouldn't. Cole Hauser may be a weirdo, but he's not that much of one."

She nodded. "Victor, I think you need to prepare Miss Porter for the possibility that he is not coming home."

Vic sighed. He was more than a little suspicious of Cole and all of his bizarre behaviors, but he knew that if something happened to Cole, it would kill Mel. "You think he's dead?"

"Dead or very badly hurt... Or maybe he really is unstable enough to just up and vanish for no good cause." Detective Parker shrugged. "Now, I do plan on pursuing this thing, but I'm not holding out a lot of hope for a successful recovery. When people that age, tied to a place socially and economically, disappear, we don't usually get them back in one piece."

Vic nodded. "Poor Mel."

She nodded. "Give her a few days, then start gently preparing her."

Vic nodded. "Will do. Thanks, Parker."

"No problem, Victor. Let me know if I can help."

"Help by doing your job."

"Yeah, Victor." She nodded as he left.

This was definitively a strange case, she reflected. Most men who went missing were young, unattached or in bad relationships, and generally had financial problems. Cole Hauser was older, devoid of financial problems, and, in spite of Miss Porter's insistence to the contrary, probably very seriously and happily involved with her. His entire life, according to Miss Porter, was in Chicago: his work, his friends, everything he knew. The man that Mel Porter had described would not just vanish into thin air unless something had happened.

But what could happen to such a man? He did technical support on the Internet. How could a man like that have enemies or get into trouble?

Now, the man Vic Bruno described just might decide to vanish without a trace. According to Victor, Cole Hauser was little more than a bundle of weird mannerisms and bizarre behaviors, irresponsible and probably mentally unstable as well judging by some of his behaviors. The first time Victor had met the man, he had been lying in a chalk outline at a homicide-scene.

Such a man might easily have many enemies. According to Victor, he went out of his way to find trouble. Even if he had not simply decided to vanish, it was not inconceivable that he could find himself in very serious, and potentially life-threatening, trouble.

So which account was accurate?

She shook her head with a sigh. She would pursue, but she suspected that, one way or the other, she would just be going through the motions…