Without too many assignments to distract him from his thoughts, Audrey sat at his computer going through security footage that was on file. He watched as Araneus found an opportunity to escape, although he quickly closed his eyes when the demon went in for the kill. He still wasn't good with such violence, despite being a former Combat Division operative.

First Preston and now Alois; would their friend group ever stop diminishing? Are they all doomed to some horrible fate? So far, things seemed that way. Once again, however, Audrey was not assigned to an important case that involved a friend of his. He really did think he could contribute to both, but he was barred, regardless. Even Ciel was barred from aiding them find his spouse, but that was due to the fact that Ciel was expressing grief the only way he knew how at times when it wasn't considered "appropriate". Audrey thought it wasn't right for them to punish the man for having a heart like this, but what could he do?

Audrey wasn't even supposed to be viewing these tapes, but he was. The boss wasn't looking, so he was bending the rules on his own accord. He didn't like his information gathering being actual work. Part of him yearned for the days when it was only digging dirt on his classmates for candy. Things were much simpler back then.

There was no Scarlet Order. The gang was still together, having fun like ordinary teenagers, aside from the occasional supernatural hijinks. Unfortunately, they all had to grow up at some point. Then things changed. Mistakes were made and things were said that can never be taken back. Things simply fell apart and now, another one of them was gone, or missing, at the very least.

Before everything crumbled, Audrey remembered when Preston first joined H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. Bones was so excited that his friend was working at the same place as him, but Preston was not. Audrey knew that it wasn't a choice for him. Preston wasn't cut out for combat back then. Audrey still wasn't sure if the man was, but people change. All Bones knew was that when Preston joined the organization, his mind had gotten worse, but did it more quietly than before. There was a time when they thought that Omid had gotten better since his low point when he fraternized with Voros and their posse during the BlackJack incident. Alois had been missing, then, too. Araneus was involved as well.

Come to think of it, Preston knew Araneus, didn't he? Before he joined H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G; but what about after? Once this thought was in Audrey's head, it could not escape until he had the information in his grip. He searched for the security footage of the research facility during the time that Preston was working at the organization. Audrey went back months and looked through many files before he finally saw a glimpse of the man. It was after the facility was attacked by his fake, back when they still thought him to be innocent. There he was, walking down the hallway of the Research Department.

Bones' eyes stayed fixed of the screen, waiting for him to turn the corner and venture down the hallway where Araneus was kept. Sure enough, Preston did and kept walking. He even managed to get into the same room as Araneus before crouching down in front of his cell. In the video, he appeared to be talking to the demon, but there was no audio.

Keeping that file open, Audrey looked for another. He wanted to know if Omid had done this before. Lo, the man found more footage of Preston doing the same thing the day before! Then there it was again, and again. Preston had visited Araneus multiple times after the facility was attacked and spoke with him casually. Audrey wasn't sure if it was significant, but it certainly felt that way. Turning his head, he tried to peek over heads in search of a red hijab.

"Darzi!" he called, waving his fellow agent over to him. The woman seemed skeptical, as Audrey had tried to infiltrate her operation to gather intel on the Scarlet Order before, but she made her way over, regardless.

"What is it, Baines?" she asked, bending over at the waist just a touch so that she could see the man's computer.

"It's footage of Araneus' cell while Preston Omid was still an agent, here." Audrey replied. It took everything the man had to contain his excitement, but it still showed through just a tad. "He did this several days a week for a while. He did it all the way up until he left."

"So you're saying that there could be a connection?" Darzi inquired, rubbing her chin.

"It's possible. Maybe that's where Araneus was headed."

"That would explain why he drove into the river." the woman said. "Can you send me those files. Wait, are you even allowed to be looking at those?"

"Nope." Audrey said. "I'm supposed to be working on other cases, but I started thinking and just couldn't stop. Just say that the idea was yours, okay?"

"I can live with that." the woman said. "I owe you."

"Nah. I'm just doing this for a friend."


A/N: Very short chapter. Probably because this information was supposed to be revealed in the last one, but didn't fit.

Three updates in a day. You're welcome.

Still no character shet tho.

Not enough time has passed for submissions to show up!

I am on fire!

It's four a.m. so I should probably stop for the night, though...

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!