Sight Seeing

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't be making one of these. Enjoy the story.

Raz PoV

"This is so stupid, we should have been in the air by now!" Lili said as we were power walking down a hallway that leads to Grand Head Zanotto's office in the motherlobe headquarters. I was currently fixing the pin that displays my Psychonaut rank on my company issued turtle neck.

"I know Lili," I said. "But even you said that your dad is expecting us to follow this case by the book. How's my hair?" We reached a set of wide oak double doors. I ran my fingers through my hair in an attempt to fix my helmet hair.

"Here," she came up to me and ran her fingers through. Even with the urgency of the whole situation, it felt incredibly good, and it made a shutter run up and down my spine. "You need to calm down, you dork," Lili laughed. "We both can read each other like a book, you need to get your mind out of the gutter before we go talk to my dad."

"Too late for that," a voice said. The doors open up and Truman Zanotto is sitting at his desk in all his bearded glory. "Your hair looks fine Razputin, and Lili, you should be in uniform too. Now, come in. I sense that you have some distressing news to tell me?"

Lili and I look at each other, I take a deep breath and we both walk in. The doors close behind us on their own, or more actually Truman using TK to shut them. Once we're situated in front of him we stand at attention and relay our report of making contact with Sara and her location. And about her intentions towards a certain individual.

"And that's why we would like to formally request the jet," I concluded. "We believe that she has negative intentions to the person who harmed her family, and while it is understandable, letting her commit a murder would go against the entire purpose of the mission."

"The jet has been requisitioned," Truman said. He was typing away on his computer. Then he looked back to us. "Oliander is gonna be your liaison and handler on this mission. You're cleared to leave in 15 minutes, so go back to your quarters and get anything necessary for your mission. You two are dismissed." We saluted and just as we were about to leave, Truman called out to Lili. "Oh, and dear?"

We stopped and turned around. "Yes dad?"

"You and I need to have a little talk about how you handle these situations. It was a delicate situation and you handled it poorly. Remember to mind yourself on this mission. Our goal is to save her, not frighten her and push her away. Now, dismissed. You have a flight to catch."

20 minutes later we've reached cruising altitude in the Psychonauts jet. Coach Oliander at the helm as Lili and I lounged on the couch. I put on my bomber jacket and had my aviator helmet and goggles floating in front of me, I used TK to open a cabinet and put them in. We haven't said anything to each other since we left her father's office. But I can tell that what he said to her is on her mind. I don't literally know, she shut me out as soon as we got on the jet.

I couldn't take the silence anymore. "You ok Lili?" I asked. In response she leaned into my shoulder. Automatically I put my arm around her. "What's wrong? You're never this quiet during a mission. And you've never kept me out of your head on one."

She sighed and nuzzled into me. "I don't like disappointing my dad," she finally said. "I'm no good with dealing with people, not like you are. But this case is different. She reminds me of, well-"

"A bit like you?" I suggested.

"Yeah," she agreed. "She reminds me of me. And because of the similarities between us I could get a read on her easily. She's hurting so badly. And she's so angry. I just wanted to get to her before she does anything reckless."

"It's fine Lili," I said. I gave her a kiss on the temple. "Your dad will understand once you explain that to him. And hey, even though we're still a bit green, well, I'm yellow, but we're allowed to make mistakes. It's not always gonna be a walk in the park."

She smiled and leaned up to kiss me. "Thanks Raz," she said.

"Eech," Oliander made a reaching sound at the controls. "Enough with the canoodling! I get enough of that with Milla and Sasha! Why don't you maggots get some shut eye. It'll be a little over 6 hours before we reach the west coast."

"Got it coach," I said. "Lemme know if you need me to copilot."

"That's what autopilot is for, kid," was his reply. "Just get some sleep. You both need to be on point for this assignment."

Taking his advice Lili and I sat back and relaxed. She used my chest as a pillow. She let her defenses down for me and we conveyed tiredness to each other. Soon we were asleep, both of us dreaming about relaxing.

Seattle, 16:37

We touched down in a park by the coastline, Oliander put the jet in stealth mode, completely invisible to the regular populous. Once the engines were off, we floated down from the main hatch.

"I'll be here manning the coms," Oliander said in our ear pieces. "Find some high ground and scan for the targets mental signature. I'm here as support and back up only. From here on it will be radio silent. Only call me for emergancies. Oliander out," the com went dead.

"Well, where can we go to higher ground?" Lili asked.

"I mean, I could climb a tree," I suggested. "But really, we should just go to the Space Needle."

"Yeah, I know," Lili said, deadpanned. "I was just being sarcastic. Come on, let's find a bus stop. We can get our bearings that way."

A 5 minute walk in a random direction we found a small kiosk where a few people were waiting. We quickly scanned the bus schedule and route map. The map was a squiggly mess of colors and numbers.

"Ok," I said out loud. "What's the fastest way to the Space Needle?"

"Heck if I know," Lili replied. "This bus map makes no sense. We might make it faster by walking." Just then the pitter patter of rain drops. It started to get heavier and heavier by the second. "Well that's just great," she grumbled. "It was sunny 10 seconds ago!"

A lady in her 60's laughed next to us. We turned to her. "First time in Seattle kids?" She asked. We nodded and said yes. "The weather up here is pretty bipolar. Especially in June. Are you two in town for tourist season?"

"Uh, kinda," I said. "We came to town earlier looking for a friend. She… ran away and we're just trying to find her before she gets hurt."

Lili gave me a look. 'What are you doing?' She asked in my head.

'Relax just play along.' I replied. The old woman sighed. "We get so many runaways these days. They seemed attracted to Seattle for some reason. Must be the sea air. Why not go check in at the local police station? Surely they have more information on your friend."

"She wouldn't go to the police," Lili jumped in. "She's… Afraid. Her dad was a policeman and he was a real piece of sh- work," she caught herself at the last second. Better to lay it on thick than to under sell it. "We know her better than anyone, and we think if we get up high enough we'll be able to see a place where she might lay low."

The lady clicked her tounge. "I guess I see your point. My father was a bastard too. Ok, the bus that's coming next is gonna go to the transit station. From there you hop on the L train for cross town express. It should put you near the Space Needle."

"Thank you so much mam!" I said, showing off my best million dollar smile I could muster. "I'm pretty sure I got enough for bus fare." I checked my pockets and pulled out a few crumpled bills and loose change. About $7.27 all together.

"Here, take these," she handed us two poker chips, but on closer inspection they were bus tokens

"Thank you," Lili said, even she was surprised by this lady's kindness.

"It's no trouble. I hope you find your friend, it's rare to have such good friends at your back."

The bus then came around the corner and stopped in front of the kiosk. We thanked the lady one more time and boarded. The ride to the transit station was a calm one, the rain became a gentle shower now, thunder rumbled in the distance.

'What are we gonna do now?' Lili asked me in my head.

'Just do our best. We should concentrate on her mental signature while on the train. Get a feel for the city before we get to higher ground.'

'Sounds as good a plan as any.' She sighed. How one could mentally sigh, she can. 'I really don't want to mess up this mission, Raz. It's not even about my father anymore, I just don't want to fail Sara. She's so alone, and in so much pain.' I took her hand in mine. She laied her head on my shoulder.

'It's gonna be fine Lil. We've been in tougher spots before. We just need to get to her before she does anything bad.'

Her mind was silent but I could feel my words reassuring her. To anyone on the bus we were just any other ordinary preteen couple, we turn 13 this summer, but to us our relationship goes deeper than what words can say. Even silent ones. We just feel it.

After changing transport at the station, we take the cross town express where we both meditated in total concentration.

We were both concentrating on nothing but Sara. We both caught glimpses of her, flashes of her through other peoples eyes. They were fuzzy and the memories were likely days, or even weeks old. But the farther downtown we went, the stronger these flashes became.

"We're on the right track," I said outloud, my voice monotine

"I know Raz, I can feel it too," she said in the same blank voice. We opened our eyes, keeping the mental signature in mind. "We're on the right track," she decided.

Soon we were at our stop, Lili put up her hood to keep her head dry, and I put on my aviator goggles. "We really need to uodate your wardrobe," Lili said. "It looks like you came out od the 1940's."

"Hey, growing up in the circus all I wore most of the time was liatards and work out clothes. And those were just a ratty tank top and briefs that were hand-me-downs and was 2 sizes too small. This is very comfortable for me."

'God I want to see you in that!' She thought. I couldn't help myself. I laughed. Hard.

"It's not funny!" She shouted at me and pouted. I just put my arm around her and gave her a kiss on the temple.

"It is," I said. She grumbled but excepted my affection and we kept walking. Soon enough we got to the Space Needle and made our way to the top.

The view was breath taking. A lot of the other skyscrapers were a lot taller than this one, but there was something about standing on a well known land mark that makes the whole experiance special.

Lili and I looked at each other and we silently agreed to start concentrating. We reached out wider than we have on our own before. The only other time we tried something like this was to look for her father at the Rhombus of Ruin 2 years ago. We had the benefit of 3 fully trained and decorated Psychonauts to help amplify our powers. But this is one city, not a whole ocean.

We concentrated on Sara, as tall as me, fair skin, blue eyes, ratty blond hair, and looking like she was sleeping in a rats nest for weeks. We used each others psychic powers to amplify our search, like waves overlapping each other. Soon, we found her.

"Got her!" She said. We opened our eyes and looked at each other. Our first solo misson with very little back up was about to begin for real.

"You saw that too, right?" Lili asked me.

"Yes," I said. "An Italian restaurant, Joey's, not too far from here. She's using mental projection to get into some dudes mind."

"Ricky," she said. "When we made contact ealier today, she was thinking of a Ricky. She really hates him."

"Why would she be trying to get inside his mind? And how? With out a brain door it would take weeks to…."

We both realized it at the same time. "She's been stalking him for a while, establishing a mental connection. She's gonna make her move. We need go. Now, Raz!"

With no more words needing to be said, we left.

Sara PoV

After months of searching, I finally have him. Working in his cousin's restaruant was a bit cliché, but, it was also the perfect cover. The place was closed on this day due to the pandemic, and he was there to make sure the books were up to date.

That's when I made my move.

Walking through the kitchen and into the back room, unlocking the door to the manager's office was easy with my powers, I find him sitting at the desk going back and forth between the log books and the computer, typing in the information.

The door closes, the sound makes him stop. He turns around in his chair. This is the man. He's about 6 feet tall, ratty brownnhair, too small eyes and a permanent scowl. He reqonizes me.

"You're about 10 years too early kid," he says. "I don't blame you, I would come after me too. But you don't want to do this. I'm going to give you one chance, walk away now, or die."

I don't answer him. I put one finger to my temple and concentrate on his psyche. His face goes slack after a second. My vison tunnels, it's like I'm zooming in towards his pupils and I feel the world falling down around me.