The Adams' house was completely dark – except for a porch light – when the taxi pulled up in front of it.
"This the place, kid?"
Ian nodded, and handed the cab driver a twenty.
"Thanks."
"Want me to wait around?" The driver asked, resetting the meter.
"Nah, I don't know how long I'll be."
He stood on the sidewalk and watched the cab pull away, and then turned and headed for the house. Dotty and James didn't have any pets, so he didn't need to worry about that, and the spare key to the front door was right where Alexander had said it would be; under the third rock around the corner to the left.
Feeling like an intruder – mainly because he was – Ian let himself into the house and closed and locked the door behind him. Then he turned on the hall light, and headed for the basement stairs, which were also exactly where Alexander had said they'd be.
OOOOOOOOOO
River waited almost an hour before he began to wonder where the hell Ian was. He'd checked the bathroom – but who was in the bathroom for an hour? – and he'd checked the cafeteria, thinking that maybe the New Yorker had changed his mind and they'd missed each other somehow. He wasn't there, either, and none of the members of their 'platoon' had seen him there in the last half hour or so.
So he went roaming the halls of the Academy, checking in various classrooms, thinking that maybe he'd sought out a quiet place to sit and think – away from his annoying roommate. Nothing there, either.
"Mr. Hayden…"
He looked over his shoulder as he came out of the advanced engineering room, and saw the Commandant himself coming down the hallway towards him.
River snapped to attention – trying to remember if it was against the rules to be in the classrooms when they weren't in use, and trying to come up with a better reason than the fact that his roommate was missing – which was sure to get Ian in trouble.
"Yes, Sir."
"How are you doing?"
Surprised by the question – mainly because he could see and hear the sincerity in it – he dared to look over at the General.
"I'm still a bit numb about the whole thing, Sir. It's a bit of a shock."
"Yes, I imagine it is. You spent the Thanksgiving holiday with Mr. Adams and his family, didn't you?"
Wondering how on Earth he knew that, River nodded.
"Yes, Sir."
"Well, if you decide you need a 24 hour pass as well, feel free to come and ask for it."
"Pass, Sir?"
Now it was the Commandant's turn to frown.
"Mr. Brooks didn't tell you he was leaving for the night?"
Feeling a pang of worry, River shook his head.
"No, Sir. In fact, I was looking for him." It was safe to admit it, now; since it was obvious he wasn't missing.
"He came to my office a couple of hours ago and asked for permission to leave the campus – citing personal reasons. He'll be back by 1700 tomorrow."
"Yes, Sir. Thank you."
The Commandant looked at his watch.
"You'd better get to your room, son. Lights out in an hour."
River nodded, and snapped a salute, which was returned just as sharply, and then he headed back for his room.
He wondered where Ian had gone. Jack's? That didn't really seem to be something he'd do – especially the way he'd refused to see Shawn earlier. And judging from the way Shawn was acting, River hoped that Ian hadn't gone there, because right now Shawn was capable of saying almost anything, and in the state of mind he was in, Ian would take it a lot more personally then he'd ever take it another time. He couldn't think of anywhere else he'd go, though. Ian wasn't from Colorado Springs any more than River was and there weren't all that many people in the area that he knew. Just Shawn and Jack and the Fraiser's.
Maybe he went to see Cassie, then? River frowned as he went into his room and shut the door behind him. That didn't really make sense, either. Ian wasn't in a state of mind to visit his girlfriend – even though he refused to call her that. He was way too moody to think he'd be good company, and that probably meant he was off by himself somewhere, either sulking, or brooding.
Ah well, maybe he needed the time alone. It wasn't like he wasn't going to be back at 5 o'clock the next day. How much trouble could he get into in less than 24 hours?
OOOOOOOOOOO
The basement looked like every other basement Ian had ever read about or seen in stories - he'd never actually had one in any house he'd lived in, so he didn't have any personal experience to draw on - but there were odds and ends and pieces of unused furniture stacked more or less haphazardly in one area. In another area, however, the place was clear and accessible, and this was the direction he went.
The small panel in the wall looked like a part of the wall. It blended in perfectly, anyways, and if he hadn't known it was there, he never would have thought to look for it. Sliding his hand along it, he felt the surface which was only slightly more even and smooth than the surface of the rest of the wall, and a moment later a very small light lit up on the panel in response to his touch.
"Not just any touch," Alexander had told him. "It has to be the touch of someone possessing a certain gene… a signature…"
"Like a genetic padlock?" Ian had asked.
"Exactly…"And so it was. He pressed the light, and damned if a large drawer didn't come sliding right out of the wall towards him – a drawer large enough to hold Ian himself if he chose to lie down in it – and if it were empty. Which it wasn't.
"Holy fuck…" Ian whispered, awed.