Disclaimer: If you recognize the characters, they aren't mine. Just playing in the sandbox so graciously provided by JMS and the Wachowskis.
Reminder: I'm also on Twitter as "avidbeader" if you're reading here as a guest and would still like a way to get story updates.
Feedback is always welcome!
A couple of hat-tips: (1) Robyn Maddison's "A Trail of Death (and Healing)" for the notion of the sensates' first idea being to get Will to the same private hospital as Felix, though I soon came up with my own idea after that. (2) "Through Thick and Thin" by thenoblehouseofblack for a notion that will be presented in the next chapter, I think. Others have probably thought of these as well, but credit to where I came across them.
And by the way, yes. I love Will's partner Diego and he will prove to be very useful in this story.
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Whispers paced in his cell, trying to work off his fury at the delays. First there had been the long conversation with the police captain, convincing him that Whispers needed access to Gorski's partner. Then Gorski's father had reacted in the exact opposite manner of Mrs. Marks, based on Metzger's records. Nomi's mother had been only too happy to listen, to find a potential medical reason for her son to turn himself into her daughter that took any possible blame away from her. But Gorski had gone into full protector mode, arguing and drawing attention to him, and then actually hitting him!
He couldn't have been out for long, but when he came to, he was the one being presented with a detaining order. He'd demanded to file assault charges and been told that it "would be seen to" after they finished with him. He'd demanded to call his lawyer and the officer playing guard nodded and promised to pass on the request. So far nothing had happened there.
And Gorski remained; hovering in the background and watching him like a hawk until he was processed, fingerprinted, and brought down to a hallway of small jail cells.
And now he was alone. There was no one suitable anywhere nearby to use and certainly no way to make preparations for one of them to leave their location unnoticed even if they were close enough.
Jonas appeared, sitting on the bench and smiling.
"What are you so happy about? And why are you even awake?"
"I'm awake because you gave no orders to keep me sedated. And no one at any of the centers is doing anything without some kind of orders after the chaos of Riley's escape. I'm happy because I can't reach Will. They've figured out something for now that prevents us from accessing him. And if they've figured that out, perhaps they will be the ones to figure out a better solution than Angelica's."
Whispers growled in his throat. "Why? Why did she do it, why did you two break ranks?"
Jonas stood, suddenly deadly serious. "Because we finally learned, after years of helping you find other sensates, what you were doing to them after you found them."
"It's the best way! It's—"
"Having a nice chat with yourself, Doctor?"
Whispers whirled to find Will's partner standing on the other side of the cell door. He tugged the lapels of his suit jacket. "I was…thinking out loud."
"Uh-huh. Funny, that. Will's been talking to himself a lot more the last few weeks. And hearing things. And obsessed over some nightmare of a lady killing herself. Except—here's the good part—it's not a nightmare. There's some missing camera footage that waves a big old red flag of something's not right. And then there's actual evidence that you were there during that missing footage. White rental van…helpers in full hazmat suits… Well, let's just say that there's enough evidence to detain you for a bit."
"I'll have your badge for this! I have friends, powerful friends—"
"Who aren't Michael Gorski."
Whispers gaped, astonished that this young punk dared to interrupt him.
"Let me put it to you this way, Dr. Matheson. You have pissed off a legend in the Chicago police force. And not only is he pissed off, he's pissed off because of family. You come rolling in with some trumped-up story about Will having brain damage and you need to perform surgery on him? But you won't give him any details to back it up? Add that to the fact that Will's missing in the first place, and you have a capital-A angry father.
"Face it, you are going to be here for a while."
Diego started to leave, then paused as a thought occurred to him. He pulled out his phone and held it close to the bars, bringing up the camera.
"Hey, smile!"
Matheson looked up in time to meet the flash and scowled at him. Diego checked the photo, a perfect shot of the man sitting in a jail cell, and texted it to Will's number. Grinning, he mock-saluted.
"Thank you. Enjoy your stay."
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Wolfgang followed the maid into the resplendent sitting room and found Herr Brecht sitting with his aunt. She looked neat but unfinished, with no makeup on her pale face. She stood and came over to him, clasping his hands as their host tactfully left the room.
"Wolfgang, dear. How are you?"
"All right, I suppose. Why are you here?"
She smiled a little at that. "Direct as always. I wanted to check in on you. We're…well, other than your aunt Marta and her children, we're all that's left."
He nodded, looking down. He dared not look her in the eye. Just as he was incapable of lying to Steiner or anyone who reminded him of his father out of fear, he had never been able to lie to his aunts because they were the closest thing he had to a mother in his life.
Lito? I might need you.
The connection felt a bit draggy, as if Lito had been sleeping.
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Lito stirred and looked around. Beside him, Hernando mumbled and Lito ran a soothing hand down his shoulder. On his other side Daniela slept on.
"Go back to sleep. I just need some water."
Easing himself out of the bed, Lito moved downstairs to the kitchen.
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His aunt continued to talk. "I wanted to be sure because I know you must be hurting very much. With Sergei and Steiner being killed and your friend Felix disappearing—"
"No, it's not that." Lito looked up through Wolfgang's eyes and told the woman in front of him something she might want to hear. "Well, yes, it sort of is. You see, I got wind of what was happening. And I made the wrong choice. I tried to call Steiner, but he didn't answer. And because I thought Uncle Sergei was safe with all his guards around, I went to Felix. I moved him from the hospital to somewhere safer, so no one would be able to find him. If I'd thought to go to Uncle first, or even call—" Lito let his voice break slightly and produced just enough wetness in his eyes for a single tear to gather in one corner. "He might still be alive…"
She threw her arms around him and Lito returned the embrace, letting her soothe him. "This was not your fault. Wolfgang. Not your fault. But I am glad to hear that your friend Felix is safe."
She stepped back and pulled a handkerchief from a pocket, dabbing at her eyes. Wolfgang swiped at his own eyes, marveling once more at Lito's acting ability.
"That news fits in well with what I wanted to propose to you. You know your cousin, Gisela?"
He nodded.
"She finished her bachelor's and has moved back home to stay with Marta while she looks for a position. Sergei bought the flat for her in Prague and I know he had intentions of keeping it just in case Markus decided to go to university there as well. Why…why don't you take Felix there? He can recover, and it should put you two out of reach of whoever these animals are that started this feud. Would you do that for me, Wolfgang?"
"What about you?"
She smiled and patted his shoulder. "I think I'll find a nice beach somewhere after the memorial services. You'll come, right? Next week?"
Wolfgang thought rapidly. Riley and Will were due tomorrow. If he took them down to Prague first, he could come back for the services and for Felix. That way eliminated the need to use the private hospital as a waystation for two extra people. He would also have a little time to ease his brother-by-choice into the changed circumstances.
"Yes, aunt. I can be there. May I go to Prague tomorrow? I can set things up and come back."
"That sounds sensible. Yes, just let Marta or Gisela know what time you're passing through Berlin and that you need the keys."
Wolfgang hugged the woman once more. "Thank you. You don't know how much this helps."
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He is drifting, anchorless. He floats through memories, trying desperately to keep them harmless, uninformative. Random daily things like exercising—
That brings up the memory of the most bizarre orgasm of his life and he pushes away from it.
Hanging out with Diego and the other cops at the bar. Shooting the breeze, drinking, catching a game—
And the terrifying memory of fighting off co-workers/men trying to smother him to death with a plastic bag surfaces. He turns from it frantically.
He goes back, back to high school, to when his mother was alive. He remembers her sitting beside him at the dining table, he with homework and she with maps and books and sheets of listings as she worked for her realtors' license. He remembers when she earned her first big commission and bought him his own car.
He approaches her, standing beside the blue Audi and holding out the keys. It's a couple years old, chosen to be safe rather than sporty, but it is his and she bought it for him. He reaches out to hug her—
And suddenly she is standing there. Angelica.
"You're doing well. It was clever to buy time by drugging yourself. And brave to trust your cluster to rescue you. If Jonas had been with me, really with me, perhaps we could have found a better way as well."
"Are they safe?"
She nods. "Yes, at the moment everyone is safe. Whispers only knows about you, Riley, and Nomi. And he can only get in through you. They know this. They're being careful. They have a plan that might buy some time."
"I tried to get Whispers connected to Sara Patrell. It was him, wasn't it? Operating on her?"
Angelica nods again. "Another good idea. And it's possible. He was in Chicago for a long time as the doctors worked on creating the procedure to decommission the sensates."
"Decomission? Is that what they call lobotomizing innocent people? People like Nomi? Like a child?"
"That's why Jonas and I ran. We discovered that they weren't gathering sensates to protect them. They were using us to find more and take them out if they didn't cooperate, make them living shells to inhabit. Not even the governments they work with know that part. They're only concerned with controlling what they call a dangerous mutation."
He shakes his head. "Never thought I'd end up being an X-man."
Angelica smiles at that and begins to fade away as he feels a faint stinging in one arm. He thinks about calling her back but knows it is useless. He lets himself drift again and this time a restful darkness takes over.
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Diego followed Deshawn back to the same basketball court that had been the previous meeting spot, a small shopping bag in his hand. This time the other gang members noticed their approach but did not fall in behind them.
Lincoln was watching the action this time rather than playing, Clete next to him. Lincoln shook his head as they moved around the court, avoiding the game in action.
"Well, well, if it ain't ol' Pork's buddy, Pork Junior."
Diego ignored the laughter from the few men paying attention. This time he was trusted enough to approach and talk. A few insults were nothing. He gave his attention to the lookout.
"Mr. Tamark, I need your help."
The boy looked up at Lincoln, who rolled his eyes. "Thought our deal was made. What the fuck are you trying to pull?"
"Nothing. That deal stands. The info led us somewhere, and we leave you alone as long as you aren't hurting civilians or burning down buildings. But something's happened and I need to talk to this young man."
Lincoln put a hand on Clete's shoulder, but he shrugged it off. "I'm listening."
"The super-bad in your photos, the old white guy? He's sitting in a jail cell in our station right this minute. The only way we can keep him there is with the photos you took. I got two options for you. One, you email me the photos. That means your email address is part of the chain of evidence, but since you weren't doing anything at the time other than running around, that shouldn't be a problem if you get called as a witness. Two, you trade me your phone for this one." He held up the bag with a familiar logo on the side. "There's a business card in there with my note and signature on the back. The card belongs to my cousin who works there and he's got instructions to activate this phone no questions asked. Already paid for."
Lincoln raised his eyebrows at that. "You're sticking your neck out a bit far on this one. Why?"
Diego looked the man square in the eye. "Because this super-bad is after my partner. And when I mean after I mean he either wants Gorski dead or with barely enough brains left in his head to sit up on his own. I'm not enthused by either of those possibilities. It's too much work trying to break in a rookie to replace him."
Several of the gang members snickered at that one, and Lincoln relaxed a little. He looked over at Deshawn, who seemed upset at what Diego had revealed. He shrugged and took a step back. "Clete, it's your call."
"Can I see the phone?" The child's question got a few more chuckles and some nods from the bystanders.
Diego handed him the bag with the latest version of his phone, at least two upgrades' worth from the one the boy had. Clete's eyes lit up. "Swap!"
"You back up your info recently? Got all your apps?"
"I got it covered." Clete pulled out his phone and held it out.
"Passcode, please?"
Clete punched it in and repeated the number. Diego took the phone and immediately disabled the code. "Anything you want to delete first?"
The boy shook his head. "I clean it up regular"
Diego pocketed the phone. "Gentlemen, I thank you."
Clete held out a hand. "Pleasure doing business with you, sir."
Diego solemnly shook the boy's hand and followed Deshawn back out on a wave of laughter.
Near his SUV, Diego turned to Deshawn. "Need a lift?"
Deshawn shook his head. "Gotta meet my mom, go to the doctor for a check-in. Easier to walk it, or she'll take ages telling you thank you again and we'll be late."
"All right. Thanks, by the way, for the escort."
"Sure. Is…is five-oh gonna be okay?"
Diego reached out and the boy let him pat his shoulder reassuringly. "I hope so."
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Author's Note: Thank you for reading! And join me in crossing fingers for some good news to be announced tomorrow (8/8) about a hoped-for second season!