Sorry it's been so long. I got sick near the end of summer, and then spent early fall getting back on my feet. All is well now. And the story should be back on track now!
Scully and Emily stared openly at Leyla in surprise. This had been an extraordinarily long day for them both. To hear their friend so easily recognize a structure that Emily had struggled to convey felt… absurd. For starters.
"Don't quit there!" Scully sputtered. "Leyla? Why do you recognize this building that Emily had conjured up from smoke?"
"And," Emily interjected. "Where is it, please?"
Leyla nearly laughed at her friends' incredulity. "Right. This is joint Base Andrews."
"What?!" yelped Emily.
And Scully felt as absurd as her daughter did. "Are you kidding us?"
Leyla shook her head. "No. Absolutely not. My granddad worked there. So did my uncle. And my dad. I've never been inside the building, but I've seen plenty of pictures of it throughout my life."
Now Scully murmured, "Wild…"
Leyla then addressed Emily directly. "There is a lot of woods in the immediate surrounding area? Right? And an off-limits-to-civilians road? Probably something with a sign saying 'Authorized Personnel Only'?"
"Correct." Emily told her. "My brother helped me escape to the woods. I never saw the sign. But he told me of it."
"Worry not." Leyla reassured her. "I believe you. After all… You would not have conjured up a place like Joint Base Andrews if it didn't mean something. That is just logic. But… It's true that William sprung you from some sort of external structure?"
Emily sighed as she gave nod. "The place was my flat."
Leyla became gentle as Emily grew sardonic. "Will you show us any detail about it? Please?"
Focusing, Emily conjured through her smoke image-projecting the interior of her 'home.' It was but a studio apartment with a rather simplistic layout. It was clean, organized. All was in its place. But what made Scully sad? Emily went out of her way to show them that her dining table only had one setting. What did that mean? Emily never had company. Not ever. She was lonely.
"Hey." Leyla said softly. "Where is the main door?"
Emily shifted the smoke as she blandly said, "Here."
And they were greeted by the sight of a commercial-grade windowless door made of wood. But… A lacking element. No door handle. Emily had been trapped.
"I saw nothing beyond there when they would check on the little one." Emily sighed again. "My brain is odd, but…"
Scully caught on. "Are you saying hat even though you've been relearning how to talk… some parts of your ability to recall are intact?"
"Gold star for you." Emily responded.
Now Leyla hazarded a guess. "Would those heathens blindfold you?"
"Correct." Emily confirmed again. "But… I was also made to hear not."
"Brutal. I'm sorry." Leyla lamented. "So you never had any concrete way of knowing what part of the building you were in?"
Once more, Emily nodded. But she looked sad. It did not escape neither Scully's nor Leyla's notice that the smoke was beginning to fade now. For… Emily's concentration was wavering. Scully could once imagine how tired her daughter had to have been. And she would not have been surprised if 'exhausted' best described for Emily felt. Not at all.
So… Scully genuinely felt bad as she said, "Where is the area that William sprang you from?"
Now Emily tilted her head. All at once, the scene in the smoke changed. They were greeted now by the scene of Emily's courtyard. In all its glory. No detail had been left out. Whatsoever.
Emily told her company, "My caregivers had guards on the other side of the wall. 24/7. But my brother made like Houdini."
"Woah." Leyla blurted out. "Dana said that your brother can teleport. But he actually did it to you?"
"Uh-huh." reported Emily. "But… Let us also say… My brother felt surprised that it worked."
Leyla was now pleased of her own kids' ordinariness. "But… What about the guards?"
Now Emily turned sheepish. "I may be older… but my brother… William protects me. However he sees fit. I do not question his ways. And he does not do that for me. Fair is fair."
"Hang on." Scully interjected from the desk. "Wait a minute. Emily Christine, are you telling me that William pulled a 'Price Maneuver'? Again?"
Grimly, Emily responded, "Affirmative."
Scully sighed, "Great…"
Leyla gave a pointed cough. "Don't mind me…"
Choosing her words carefully now, Emily told Leyla, "My brother can cause people to be like Wile E. Coyote."
"Pardon?" Leyla bleated. "Spontaneous combustion?"
Emily nodded. "Mhm. I was made not to look down after I was freed. But we left for the woods right after."
"Okay." Leyla continued to keep her cool. "Do I want to know just who this 'Price' person is?"
Emily gave a shudder. "That is for some other time."
Scully chimed in, "I quite agree. But… We've now covered everything… except for where you and William stayed after you fled."
Now Emily felt very tired. Her smoke projections even vanished.
But Leyla immediately surrendered her seat to Emily, made her comfortable. Found a box for her to prop her feet on. It was time she sat for awhile, instead of standing at the desk. Leyla even rolled the whiteboard closer. She remembered what it was like to be very pregnant. And tired.
"Just tell me what you can." Leyla uncapped a marker and held it, poised, over the writing surface. "Don't forget that I am fluent in your favorite language."
So Emily began to talk to Leyla. In rapid-fire Dutch. Leyla? She took notes. Fast. But it was after a few moments that Scully realized Leyla's notes were coming out in English. This woman was hearing one language and very easily transcribing in a second. Just how swiftly did her mind work?
A short time later…
Leyla was re-capping the marker and shaking out both wrists. Quite a lot of her handwriting covered the board. Every base had been covered. Except…
Leyla said to Scully, "All the details Emily can remember are on the board now. But… She has told me to tell you that her mind and her abilities are tanking because she's hungry."
"Alright." Scully gazed upon Emily now. "I will take you somewhere to get food after we finish with Leyla. Okay? Then we will go home."
Perking up at this plan, Emily gave a nod. Even signed her thanks. Then she looked back to Leyla once more. So too did Scully. Leyla promptly did all in her power not to take an immediate step back. Her friends' gazes: identical.
But Leyla pulled herself together as she said, "Right. Here we go…"
Leyla proceeded avail Scully of not only the name and location of the motel that Emily and William had stayed in, but also how they'd gotten there. Also included in these recollections? Emily's initial thoughts about the place. And encountering Sandeep at the hospital. Only thing missing? Words about getting to the hospital.
But in conclusion… Emily had brought them full-circle.
"Wow." Scully remarked to Emily when Leyla had finished. "I thank you for being so thorough."
Emily signed her thanks as she rose to her feet. And Leyla meant to ask if her assistance was required further. But those words never left her mouth.
Different ones did. "Huh… That's odd…"
Both Emily and Scully proceeded to watch in complete confusion as Leyla just… winked out of their line of sight. Present one moment. Gone the next. Not even in the building.
Scully stood as she spoke to her offspring again. "What the hell?!"
Emily pointed to the spot where Leyla had vanished. "My brother can do that."
"Excuse m…" Scully was back to sputtering. "Are you saying William lifted Leyla out of here? They have never met!"
Emily shrugged. "What chess piece to move now?"
Scully responded, "None. For now. You and I will go eat. Right now."
Startled, Emily looked up swiftly from straightening out her feeding tube line. "But what of Leyla?!"
"She is very capable." reassured Scully. "If your brother needed to perform that much of a gamble to get Leyla, she will have arrived by now. Safely."
Choosing to take her mother at her word, Emily began to gather up her things. "Let us go. Food awaits."
But while Scully did drive the car towards town again, all she could hope for was that Leyla had her gun.
