Schmidt and Caine

Sunday 1st March 2015, 12:57 PM

Sitting on the hood of his car and staring out into the fog across the water, Mike could remember how he'd been in that exact spot, twenty years ago. The end of a month-long journey that found itself bitter. Those four words, still ringing in his ears.

Our gambit failed, Mike.

That had been one word for it. When they had set out on that journey, no help except their own left and walking into hell itself, Mike had been naïve to believe they would come out the same. Even success had been a pipe dream.

But now he was back here, in that same spot. About to leap into a new journey. Was it foolish that he now believed it would be different?

He heard the running of the car engine before he saw it. Looking down onto the road, he saw the black sedan pull up at the side of the road, pausing for a moment. It looked like a rental. Frowning, Mike peered at the window, but the fog and the tint prevented him from seeing the driver.

Then, the driver's side door opened and a man, dressed from head-to-toe in a dark striped suit climbed out. Pulling a brown leather overcoat which stretched down to his knees tighter against him, he plucked the hat from the passenger side window and placed it on his head.

Thomas Caine turned to face him, nodded, and smiled.

Returning the smile, Mike watched him approach. His hair was longer. Down to his neck and neatly combed. His thick full-faced beard covered his jaw and neck. Lines of age that Mike shared told the tale of time that had caught up to them and would only continue to follow.

"You chose this spot on purpose," He murmured as he glanced at the fog.

Mike shrugged, "Seemed fitting. This was where it ended. This is where it starts again."

"How poetic." A wry smile played across the detective's face, "It's good to see you again, Mike."

"You too, Tom. How long has it been? Pretty sure it's been about fifteen years."

"Spencer's sixth birthday."

"Oh, yeah. That's right." Hesitating, Mike breathed in, "Sorry I haven't gotten back into contact since then."

Thomas shrugged, "Two-way street, mate. Things happen."

"True." Mike had a bitter smile on his face, "Sucks that it takes Fazbear Entertainment for it to happen. They're making moves, that much is obvious."

"You told me a little bit over the phone, but if what you said is true…"

"Then whatever they've got planned means trouble." Sighing, Mike explained everything that he had learnt over the last few days. The article he'd discovered and meeting the owner of Fazbear Frights. The interesting way he'd gotten his hands on the artifacts within.

"It all sounds too convenient." Mike explained, "He just so happens to be given this stuff? I'm not sure how they managed to get theirs hands back on it after the Government repossessed all the Fazbear property, but the question that arises is…"

"What do they plan to do with it?" Thomas finished for him.

Mike was glad that Caine had become as suspicious of the situation as he was. When they had parted, the detective had implied that he was willing to investigate further if the opportunity had arisen. Mike had found himself worried it wouldn't be enough to interest him.

Yet there was something in his eye that made Mike hesitate.

"This might be what we've been looking for." Mike pressed on, "An opportunity to get a hold of something that could lead us to something that could make it all worth it. But I can't do it on my own."

"I'm not sure how much help I can be."

"You've got contacts. Resources. I get it that we won't have any official support…"

"Mike, we won't have any support."

"Caine, with the Crucible's help—"

But that look in Caine's eyes made Mike stop. "Mike…I'm not with the Crucible anymore."

Silence fell between them on the shore of that foggy lake. Finding himself at a loss of words, the futility and hope that had been dashed away made his chest tighten.

"What…" Mike mumbled out, "What happened?"

"I left them. Walked away."

Remembering the heat that had been rising during Mike's own short time within the Crucible's halls, he closed his eyes. Flashes of the looming figures with stone faces questioning and prodding them for any incriminating evidence of their guilt made him shiver.

"I lost you your job." Mike kept his eyes closed, "Didn't I?"

That made Thomas laugh. "Honestly Mike, it had been a long time coming. The whole situation with the Fazbear Conspiracy and me calling in the Prometheus Protocol didn't help, but it was another pothole in a downhill road."

But the sudden question that popped up in Mike's head gave him pause. "But you haven't stopped doing what you do, have you?"

"The whole investigating thing? No, of course not. Soon after I left, I went independent. Self-funded, that whole song and dance. Assets are low and contacts were null and void, but I prefer it. It beats the politics and roadblocks I found myself butting heads with every case."

"So if it wasn't the Fazbear Conspiracy," The cogs started to turn in Mike's head, "then what was it?"

Sitting down with him on the car hood, Caine stared out into the fog. "It felt like everything was on a downwards spiral, the last twenty years. One thing after another…but I guess it all came to a head starting with the Manchester Cataclysm."

Though Mike at first blinked in confusion, it was lessened when he remembered hearing about it on the news. "That was back in 1996, wasn't it?"

"Aye. The whole city. The numbers are still not known and it's not like we can go in to investigate for ourselves. They contained the whole area soon after. I've got a few leads that we're working on, but most of it sounds…well, impossible."

"More impossible than a vengeful ghost bear?"

"Somehow, yes."

"What was the Crucible's response?"

Caine shook his head, "There wasn't any response to be had. We had no leads, very little idea of suspects, and almost half a million missing, presumed dead. We thought we had picked up the pieces, but then 9/11 happened."

That made Mike fall silent. "The Crucible were there when it happened?"

"We came in to help with rescue. But it was too late. We were supposed to stop things like that…yet we were unprepared. Were you there when it happened?"

"No." Mike replied with a glassy stare, "I was out of town. Up near Florida."

"It kept happening. One year after another, more innocent lives lost and we were always one step too late. It kept getting worse and worse…and the Crucible started to lose faith in Sanders. With morale so low, they needed a scapegoat. The corruption inside had begun to spread. Law, Order, and Light made an alliance and one successful vote of no confidence later…"

"He was forced out." Mike frowned as the faces of the Council members flashed before his eyes.

"He was betrayed. Sokolov retired around the same time and St. Clair passed away. Ever since our failed gambit, Donovan and his lot had been gaining more and more power and friends. Before anyone could predict it, he'd made a successful bid to become the new High Overseer, unofficially naming Lancaster and Jones as his advisors."

"But the other departments…"

Caine barked a laugh, "My department was gutted after the Fazbear Conspiracy. We spent the next few years having to answer to Lancaster and even afterwards, we never got better. After St. Clair passed away, his replacement lacked any sort of spine and simply deferred to Jones."

"What about Sword?"

"They've been the only real threat to Donovan's power, but they can't risk going against him. Takeo Hasashi took over from Sokolov. A good man. He was my only friend on the Council for the last few years."

Mike bit his lip, a habit he rarely found himself doing these days. "So things never got better after that?"

"Donovan retained his seat as Overseer of Law even after taking the position as High Overseer. Any attempts to argue against that was stonewalled. My department was cannibalised by Order and my seat on the Council was barely a courtesy. Every attempt to get something going was stopped. Every case was scrutinised and we were only given the useless ones or whatever would benefit the Council."

"So around five years ago, I packed my things, gave my notice, and walked away. The Crucible stopped being any sort of force for good a long time ago."

Is it not in place to confront evil and corruption where it can?

Mike found himself remembering that speech he'd made passionately to the Council Members. "I guess I had an inkling that was where they were headed, but…"

"We can predict the dive, but not the splash."

"So what have you been doing since then?"

Sighing, Caine looked at him. "I was on my way out after twenty years of service when I ran into quite a large group of people waiting for me. Turns out, after I'd given my reasons for my resignation to my department, they all shared my misgivings and walked out with me. Took whatever wasn't bolted down and left. Heard it created quite a rift within the Crucible."

Mike couldn't help but laugh, "Might as well cause a bit of chaos."

"And since then, we've been independent. Gone are the internal politics and stonewalling. We're AESIR, now. Our assets are low, but our manpower is second to none."

"That's good. Because we got as far as we did just relying on ourselves."

Caine nodded grimly. He looked tired. "All of this to say, Mike, that if you're insistent on doing this, we won't have any official support. I cannot in good conscience spend AESIR's assets on something this personal. Neither can I allow my fellow agents to pull themselves away from their current tasks."

"So if we do this," Mike lowered his head, "we're on our own?"

"I'm afraid so."

They remained silent for a few moments. Staring out into the ocean. Through the thick clouds that had started to recede, beams of light descended onto them. Closing his eyes as he looked up, Mike breathed in slowly.

"Forget about any promises you made." Mike finally allowed himself to say, "If you came here to tell me it's not possible, I get it. This is my path, not yours. I can't force you to join me."

"You won't need to." Caine assured him, "It would have been a waste of a journey if I just came to tell you I'm out. I made that promise to you twenty years ago and I intend to keep it." A slight smirk on his face, Thomas looked at him, "Besides; I don't know about you, but I've got some unfinished business with Fazbear Entertainment. Never lost the scars from that suit."

"Neither did I." Mike admitted, though he knew his own scars weren't as visible. "What should our first move be?"

"Well, I'd like to see what you've got together first. This Fazbear Frights…if it's as interesting as you've made it out to be, it could be our way in to finding out Fazbear Entertainment's plans. I can't see how someone like Reginald Wood managed to get the funding for this without some backer."

Mike nodded. Whoever was aiding Reggie had a motive, that was clear. It was the reasons for why that irked him. But with Schmidt and Caine back together, how hard would it be to dig something up?

"So," Mike said finally, smiling, "we follow the money?"

"We follow the money," Caine confirmed, readjusting his hat and lowering his head, "and maybe we can put an end to this sorry tale."

Shorter chapter this time. This act is ending up shorter than I was planning, but I'm hoping the next two can make up for that. After The Gift of Life ended up longer than I was planning, it would be a nice change of pace.

Shan01: Glad to hear it! Twenty years is a lot, so it would be good to know more about what happened in between.

TU4QU0I53T4IAN6L3: The question really is how much Reggie knows. Is his naivety merely a facade? And just what is his interest in Freddy's? As with Caine, it seems that he at least has more freedom to choose how to approach his problems. Either way, Mike certainly needs some closure, but as with everything with Freddy's, he needs to check the fine print. Oh, and yep, the Phantoms will be in it. I've been thinking about how to go about including them, but haven't quite settled on an answer.

One last chapter for this Act to go. Then once Act 2 comes around, we can get to the juicy stuff.