If I mentioned to you, "I'm really excited about chapter 23," surprise! That's this chapter now. I combined chapters 22 and 23 bc they really worked better together than apart. Plus it gave me a chance to add in even more angst! Happy chapters coming. Eventually. Somewhere. But I am really happy with this chapter! Everyone's getting in on the action now! Everyone.
Also since this is the second chapter I've posted in April I think I'm at liberty to call it Angel of Vengeance April and the current plan is to get through chapter 25 or 26 by the end of the month. Let's see what happens :D
Morgan made it in time for her afternoon class, although she didn't have any of her books or pens. There were people who weren't going through personal catastrophes that were even less prepared than she was. Class wasn't important anyway, what was important was trying to find Karmi and ask her to keep an eye out for Seth at work. Morgan was mostly just hoping that Karmi was here today, if not then she'd have shown up to class buzzed for nothing.
Fortunately, she found the prodigy in the cafeteria and called out before she considered the attention she was drawing to herself.
Karmi looked puzzled, to say the least.
"Do I know you?"
"No, uh, not yet. I'm Morgan, my partner Seth works at Sycorax."
"Oh, right." Karmi still looked uncomfortable, glancing around.
"Sorry to approach you out of the blue, but since you work with Seth I was wondering if you could do me a favor?"
"Uh, sure, maybe?"
"Seth didn't come home last night. If you see them at work today could you let me know?"
"Sure, but I don't really interact with Seth, they work in a different sector of me so our paths might not cross."
"Could you at least ask around?"
"Yeah, no problem."
"Here's my number. You're a godsend, thank you."
"I really can't promise much," Karmi said, "but I'll let you know if I find anything. I hope they're okay…"
"Yeah, me too. Thank you again, Karmi." Morgan turned around. It didn't even cross her mind to be worried that something would happen to Karmi while she was at Sycorax. If it had crossed her mind then she would have been concerned for Kei as well. For now, she was only concerned about Seth.
And Hiro was concerned for her, but he bided his time until he'd run things by his team.
"I heard Morgan say that Seth was missing," he said in a low tone at their usual table.
"She said that to you specifically?" GoGo asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, no, but she said that Seth didn't come home yesterday and asked Karmi to ask around at Sycorax. That's weird, right?"
"Not everything about Sycorax is weird, Hiro," Wasabi said, used to Hiro's jealousy and admittedly thinking a little about Chris.
"No, but it's weird that Morgan didn't tell us."
"Not really," Honey Lemon said, "as much as we've tried to be there for her and Seth it's clear she still sees us as the law and herself as the outlaw. I don't think even I could get her to fully trust us."
That made Hiro a little angry, "I told her that we were family. She should have told me. I'm going to confront her at work today, if she shows up."
"Be careful," Fred advised, "If Seth is really missing then Morgan is going to be distraught. I don't think she'll lash out at you, but you shouldn't try to make her feel worse."
Hiro nodded and sighed, "I'll just ask her if we can help in any way." He couldn't promise that he would be able to control his own emotions, but he would try for Morgan's sake.
"Let me know what happens," Fred said, "Seth is one of my best friends too. And I bet if Morgan hasn't told you, she hasn't told Sadie either"
"Who's Sadie?" Hiro asked, briefly wondering if Morgan was dating someone else as well as Seth.
"Seth's twin sister."
"Oh. I'll ask about that too and keep you posted," Hiro promised.
The topic switched to the monster GoGo and Fred had faced last night, but Fred couldn't stop worrying about Seth and Hiro couldn't stop thinking about Morgan.
It took a while for him to find Morgan at Krei Tech.
"I didn't know if I'd see you today," Hiro said, sitting next to Morgan on the stairwell.
"I didn't really want to be seen. That's why I came here."
"I remember. You come here when you're overwhelmed. So why're you overwhelmed today?"
"I appreciate your concern, Hiro, but I don't really want to talk about it."
"Except with Karmi," Hiro said quietly.
"She told you?"
"Karmi doesn't tell me stuff. I'd never seen you talk to Karmi before so I eavesdropped."
Morgan smiled sadly, "I'd expect nothing less from you."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want to rush things. Seth hasn't been gone for over 24 hours yet. I didn't want to do anything too rash." She could never tell him about the break in. He never had to know. As long as Obake's empire didn't leave the couch he wouldn't have to know.
"I don't believe you," Hiro said bluntly, "You look like you didn't sleep last night."
"I certainly didn't get a lot of sleep last night, but I got some sleep."
"What were you doing last night?" Hiro asked, not letting go.
"Trying to sleep, thinking about Seth, getting my hopes up every time the house creaked."
Hiro sighed, "I'm sorry you're dealing with that, Morgan. Big Hero 6 will sweep the city tonight. We'll let you know if we find anything. Just… Leave it to us, okay?"
Morgan bit her tongue. She wasn't going to sit idle while her partner was potentially in danger. But there wasn't much she could do right now, since Kei and Karmi had yet to get back to her, so she could reassure Hiro, for now.
"Seth could come back at any moment. It's for the best if I just stay at home and keep an ear out." For tonight, at least. Tomorrow could be an entirely different matter.
"And you'll take care of yourself? Eat and sleep and stuff?"
"That's the plan," Morgan promised.
"I know it's hard to eat and sleep when someone you love is gone," Hiro said, his voice thick with empathy.
"I'm sure Seth is okay," Morgan said, her voice wavering a little.
"Yeah. I uh, I have to get to work. But I'm gonna be here if you need me. If you need someone." Hiro stood up and was about to head down the stairs when he paused.
"Have you told Sadie yet?"
Morgan cringed.
"Did Fred put you up to that?"
"Yeah, actually."
"If I don't hear anything from or about Seth by tomorrow evening I will tell Sadie," Morgan promised, knowing that now that Hiro and Fred knew, keeping the Seth situation secret would be nearly impossible.
After work, Morgan went home, fed the cats, and began to make herself dinner. Compared to Seth or Dalton she was an awful cook, but she had the basic skills needed to make herself a cheese quesadilla, which she chose to eat on the roof. She'd thought about taking it in the basement but the basement has the Obake head and she did not want to see that creep again. She honestly didn't know what someone as pretty and genuine and nice as Kei saw in that asshole, but then again, sometimes she didn't know what Seth saw in her…
"I'm not like him," Morgan announced to the stars, quickly shifting into talking to Tadashi, something she hadn't done in a while.
"I would never hurt Hiro the way Obake did. I would never hurt San Fransokyo the way Obake did. I'm not a villain… I just want to do what's right. Sometimes that means doing what people think is wrong… I'm not a bad person, 'Dashi…"
"Oh god, what did you see in me?" Morgan wept over her half-eaten quesadilla and tried her hardest to remember.
What had he seen in her?
He had told her she outshone all the constellations she'd carefully pointed out to him. He'd told her that he was going to change the world.
"I'm trying," she whispered through her tears. Somehow she had the feeling that Tadashi would have told her that was enough. She didn't have to change the whole world right now. She just had to save the part of her world that mattered most.
Karmi and Bennet were the only ones who texted her the next day. Karmi told her that she'd asked someone named Butch about Seth and been told that Seth had been moved to a classified project on Monday. That didn't make Morgan feel a lot better but it did confirm that the last place Seth has been seen was Sycorax. Morgan was waiting to hear back from Kei, but when it started getting late and it became clear that Kei wasn't going to respond to the dozens of texts Morgan had sent her, Morgan finally relented. It was time to face Sadie.
Morgan texted Bennet before she left for the bar where Sadie worked, to let him know that Seth was still missing but that she was about to tell Sadie everything. Well, most of everything. The crime stuff would remain her little secret. Bennet was clearly worried about Seth but he implied that Morgan might feel a little bit better when all of this was off her chest. Since Morgan wasn't as honesty obsessed as Bennet and since she had a healthy fear of her good friend Sadie, she sincerely doubted that.
Morgan entered The Queer Bait and made a beeline to the bar, where she knew Sadie would be working at this time of night. Sadie was one of two people currently working, and while the other bartender sweet-talked someone into tipping, Sadie turned her attention to Morgan.
"What's wrong, babe?" Sadie asked, eerily perceptive.
"Why do you assume something's wrong?" Morgan asked nervously.
"Because you're wearing Seth's cropped SFIT hoodie and sweatpants. To a gay bar."
"It's actually my hoodie, Seth just stole it from me," Morgan grumbled, fussing with the hem of her hoodie like she was suddenly self conscious about her stomach. Sadie could see right through that, though.
"Did something happen, babe? Did you and Seth break up? Twin law says I have to take their side but I think I can negotiate to still see you on the weekends."
Morgan laughed bitterly, trying not to sob, "It's uh, it's worse than that, Sadie. And I'm so sorry I have to tell you, but… Seth has been missing since Monday. The last place anyone saw them was at Sycorax."
Sadie set her jaw, "Since Monday?"
Morgan nodded, "I'm so sorry, Sadie. I failed them…"
"Shut the fuck up," Sadie said suddenly in a very loud whisper, "This isn't about you! This is about Seth- this is about my sibling! You should have told me! Who else knows? Have you called the police?"
"I don't want to involve the police," Morgan mumbled, not meeting Sadie's eyes.
"Yeah. I don't blame you," Sadie said, crossing her arms and glowering at Morgan.
"Does anyone else know, Morgan?"
"One of Seth's coworkers, Bennet, and Big Hero 6."
"No police, but all of Big Hero 6?" Sadie said critically.
"Yeah, well I have a contact. And I trust them. Sort of."
"Did you or Seth get into something that I should know about?"
"I couldn't tell you," Morgan said honestly.
Sadie's eyebrows narrowed.
"I'm going to talk to my contact. And, apparently, my boyfriend. It's for the best if you don't reach out unless you have news about Seth. Bennet will tell you if I hear anything." From the way Sadie said the name Bennet, Morgan could guess he'd be sleeping on the couch tonight. Morgan felt a pit form in her stomach. She couldn't fathom how honestly actually made people feel better.
"Booker, I'm taking my break," Sadie said, a little sharply, before going to cry in her car for fifteen minutes. Morgan didn't even try to take her tears outside, as soon as Sadie was out of sight Morgan burst into tears.
She could swear she heard the bartender say, "Geez, my shift is almost over…" Before he composed himself and came over.
"Miss, do you need me to call you a car? Or pour you a glass of water?" He was already filling a glass with ice.
"I'm not drunk," Morgan said, sniffling indignantly.
"My apologies. I'm Booker, your bartender for this evening. Would you like to change the not being drunk thing, or did you just need a sympathetic ear?" He was smiling, a charming customer service smile that Morgan didn't completely trust. Still, she did want to talk to someone.
"I'm Morgan…"
"Nice to meet you, Morgan. What seems to be the problem this evening?"
"My partner is gone…" Morgan said tearfully, accepting the water and a napkin to wipe her face with.
"Heartbreak," he nodded knowledgeably, "I just went through a breakup with my girlfriend, I know how it is. Can I get you anything? A drink? An appetizer? A rebound? I'm not hitting on you, that would be unprofessional, but I know there's always single people looking to be somebody's rebound."
"My partner didn't dump me, they went missing," Morgan said, crying harder now, "I haven't seen or heard from them since Monday. And now this other person who said she'd look into it isn't responding to my texts and I just don't know what to do anymore."
"Is this other person reliable?" Booker asked, dropping his customer service act and looking genuinely concerned for and interested in Morgan's plight.
"I don't know, I just met her the other night when I broke into her house. I thought it was a lead but maybe it was a dead end, or maybe now she's in danger too and it's all my fault… Everything is my fault…" Morgan was close to having a panic attack.
"Hey, hey, breathe. Drink some water and try to mentally take a step back. You just said yourself that you're not sure that one person is reliable, maybe she's ghosting you. But that's okay because you're going to find your partner yourself."
"I am?" Morgan asked, cheeks streaked with tears.
"You are. And I'm gonna help."
"Why?"
Booker paused for a moment and then shrugged, "Because my girlfriend just broke up with me and my alternative to helping solve a real life mystery is to go home and try to solve a 1000 piece puzzle. Plus you seem like you know how to pick locks so I'm feeling pretty good about our odds."
Morgan managed to smile and laugh a little.
"This is probably going to be a bit more dangerous than a puzzle…"
"Probably," Booker nodded, leaning in then as if to tell her a secret, "But I live near Good Luck Alley so I'm kind of used to danger."
"You can't tell anyone about this, okay?" Morgan said, not knowing what was making her trust him.
"Cross my heart."
Maybe it was a voice in her head, reminding her that she was actually worthy of getting help. Or maybe it was Sadie's voice, loud and clear, reminding her that none of this was about Morgan. This whole thing was about getting Seth home, safe and sound. Either way, she decided to trust him.
"Let's do this."
Question Of The Week- Do you trust the handsome stranger?