15

Megan's Pov

Tanya wasn't that hard to locate.

She looked absolutely lost in the greeting area, hair in two dutch-braids wearing leggings and a somewhat baggy hoody. She was fiddling with the strap of her sports bag and looking around with a face that I recognized from the times Stellan or Raven had to be up early. Out of all the Astery's those two hated mornings the most. The only ones who ever came close were the twins and that was only when they had pulled an all-nighter planning some prank or something of similar nature.

"You must be Tanya Leiden" I walked over to her. "I am Megan Hillfelt, the head maid at the Astery estate. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance" I gave her a western greeting so she the culture shock wouldn't be too confusing for her.

She took my outstretched hand and said "yes, I am. The pleasure is mine."

I turned saying "If you'd please follow me, the master is waiting at the townhouse."

I filled her in on what had been happening here, while we drove towards the apartment. By the time we walked out of a local coffee shop to get some caffeine for the detective duo I had recapped everything and she turned to me.

"Can I ask a question?"

I smiled remembering Stellan's response to me whenever I asked him the same question, but I only said, "go ahead."

"After we get Raven back, do you think we could talk her into going to a therapist?" the way she said "after" not "if" made me very glad that this was Ravens best friend. The sheer trust and will behind those words made me feel better about the situation. After yesterday's events, I have been on edge myself because just seeing Stellan that vulnerable make's things seem more hopeless.

Tanya brought me out of my mind "I mean I know that she won't go willingly, because she doesn't want to worry the people she cares about, but I think that the way she's living right now is not healthy. She needs to face her past and accept the sorrows there, in order to move on. I have actually talked to her about that once before but she cut me off saying that she wasn't crazy and of course she isn't but the trauma she has gone throw is bound to leave some scares no matter how well she hides them. She's only twenty, but she already wears so many masks, I fear that if she keeps hiding behind false smile's then one day she may lose sight of her real self completely."

Yes, she is a very good friend. The emotions shining throw her speech were pure concern, respect and love.

"You do realize that talking to Astery's on a subject that they do not wish to talk about is as effective as talking to a wall, right?" I said not taking my eyes off the road. I may be an excellent driver, but that doesn't mean I'm not cachous.

I could hear the smirk in her voice as she answered, "you may have known them for a longer time but trust me, one conversation is all you need to understand the kind of people these two are. If you know what to look for that is."

I sighed "Was he that bad?"

"He is very direct yet never gives up more information then he wants to and while you are trying to figure out what some of the words he used means he wraps you in a net like a spider. He played me every conversation we had, I guess you grow accustomed to it seeing as Raven has the tendency to do the same when she really wants something." She said with a fond smile.

"She picked up on her brother's mannerism from a young age. She was two when I was taken in by the household but she was already sowing singes of the Astery charm then." I smiled at the memory.

"The Astery charm?" she questioned from the passenger seat.

"Yeah, it's hard to explain, but it feels like a steady calm that is radiating off them. Like a soft summer prize that makes you feel calm and safe. They don't realize it themselves but if they wanted to, they could probably talk their way out of a war zone. None of them showed much emotions, but the ones that did get to the surface were always pure." I chuckled remembering my first few months at the manor "to be honest it was quite overwhelming when I first arrived."

"I know what you mean from the times I watched Raven paint and Stellan teach my son, the child-like glee in their eyes makes you feel like there couldn't be anything wrong with the world," Tanya said with fondness.

As we got out of the car I faced the women, giving her a bow to express my gratitude, "Thank you, for looking after the young lady while we could not." I said and meant it.

Raising my head I found her blushing "it was nothing." She said clearly embarrassed "she saved my life, so I'm just trying to repay that debt." Her emotions showed that she truly thought that she had not yet replayed her debt even though Raven had said she never expected to cash in on the favour she had called it as.

"I really don't think that the lady thinks that you owe her anything," I told her just to see what her emotions would do.

They only showed understanding as she said "I know"

Stellan's Pov

The new information helped to fill some of the holes that my theory had, but there was still a few key pieces missing and that was irritating as hell and the lack of sleep that was starting to catch up with my body was not helping. I was just about to go to the sweets cabinet when I heard Megan drive the car into the underground parking space.

Hiroshi, who was sitting by the window, having finished double checking sheered "I think the brought coffee"

"You could always make it yourself," I remarked, "after all the taste isn't that important you just have to get the caffeine percent right in order for the chemistry to work."

He looked at me like I just murdered a puppy "Do. Not, undermine the power of great coffee" he said making sure to point his left index finger to get the extra dramatic effect. Will nodding along adding to the effect.

Fortunately for me, Megan came throw the door then so I was saved from a lecture on all the things that are great about coffee, from a person who usually has more milk than coffee in his cup.

Taking a cup from Megan's tray my partner tried to give her a mock kiss on the cheek but was rejected by the balm of Megan's hand showing his face away. Will took hold of the tray as Meg went to look for a pair of slippers for Tanya. After that, she laid out some snacks most likely reading the mood of the room and deeming us underfeed for farther thinking. Deciding not to waste time arguing with her on the subject I grabbed my coffee and a plate and sat down, waiting for everyone to do the same.

"I talked with Hampton, your son is having the time of his life learning how to pick locks," I told Tanya seeing the slight worry she still had towards leaving her son with the director of YODA.

"Why is my son learning how to pick locks?" she almost jumped up from her seat across from me.

"Because it's a useful skill to have and the concentration necessary for beginners will help him with controlling his gift" I answered her not seeing why she seemed so cross with me.

"If this Isac turns my little boy into a delinquent I'm suffocating him" she warned, looking more like she was about to do that to me.

"Hampton is literally the headmaster of a school which preparer's its pupils for work in law-enforcement, the entire student population knows basic self-defence and first aid, your son is in the safest place he could be that is within driving distance from his school. The only bad influence he could get from there is learning how to overworking yours truly with simplistic schemes" I said remembering the last time I worked with the man.

"So you assured me and so did Mr Hampton," she said sounding like she had given up on the subject but from looking at her eyes I knew she was still unsure. But seeing as I needed her head completely in the game I went on.

"Yes, I did and you met Hampton, so I'm sure that if there were problems you would have picked up on them while meeting with him. Also if it makes you feel better, think about this, if I had to leave Raven with someone other than these two" a pointed glance towards Megan and Hiroshi "it would be that man. He may have a bit of a different view on life than ours, but he knows how to keep people safe." I took a sip of coffee – hum, Fukuda is working today – placing the cup back down I continued "if you don't trust my judgment on your son safety trust my choice for my sisters"

She gave me a nod "I can trust you on that."

The tension that had built up in the room dropped considerably. Hiroshi, who had been monitoring Tanya while we talked, perked up and asked our newest guest.

"Just out of curiosity, how old are you?" he was smiling so wide that his dimples showed.

"She's four years two months and ten days younger than you" I cut that conversation short.

"A man can hope" my partner sighed shaking his head.

"Getting back to the matter at hand," Will said from behind his own cup "Stellan mentioned that you put barriers in Raven's mind, Tanya, can you remove them from here?"

"Are they a problem?" my sister's friend turned to me "Megan gave me the gist of things, but what's really going on? From what I understand of you," she gave me a once-over, as if assessing my entire being, the feeling was almost identical to the same look I would resave from mother when I was younger.

"You wouldn't have called me here had you not absolutely needed my help, it would have felt too much like owing me a favour and you don't like owing them" Tanya went on as Hiroshi whistled.

"Hit the nail right on the head there, Stellan my man here calculates his moves very carefully to benefit only his interests," he said that like that was a bad thing.

"To answer your question" Tanya turned to Will "normally I would be able to dismantle them from anywhere if I concentrated hard enough because usually my barriers are held up by my own power, but seeing as Ray leaves on the other side of the world now I bound the barriers to her power. So no I can't take them down without entering her mind" she explained as I analyzed the information that had been confirmed.

"Meaning you could do it from in her mind?" I continued her sentence from where she had left it.

"Yes, even though they are bound to Ray's power they are still originally made by me so I can bye-pass them without a problem. And from the other side, it is easy to take them down." She had explained the same thing when we put the barriers up, but in order to get the other people present on the same page, I let her explain everything again.

"What's the problem though?" Tanya turned directly to me with that question "I thought you said that if we put the barriers up it would help Raven cope with her situation better, so what's the matter now?" her voice was clear worry, laced with accusation.

"Yes, I did say that and at the moment I truly believed so otherwise, I wouldn't have let you in my little sisters head no matter how much she trusts you" I started but stopped at the look she gave me. It was obvious that she was not pleased with by the words that I had chosen.

"You have got to stop treating her like a child," Tanya said standing "she can't just keep locking up the bad things its going to break her at one point" she would have charged had Hiroshi on grabbed her hand.

"He doesn't" he insisted and continued when the women stared at him "he doesn't treat her like a child. A kid sister, sure, but never a child."

"They talked it over you know," Megan went on "they debated if it would be good to lock everything up or if she should try to canal it somehow" from the shake in her voice it was apparent that she was thinking back to when she overheard us at the library.

I sighed, this was going nowhere "the problem right now is the headphones, with them still on her, she won't wake up willingly and if I can't talk to her conscious mind then getting accurate and useful information is going to take a longer time than would be optimal, considering that Raven is unconscious in an uncontrolled envoierment, the situation could become critical at any moment. So the fact that Voss's mind is too hazy and more emotion-oriented isn't helpful, because people with those types of minds tend to remember things inaccurately" Hiroshi gave me a knowing grin but thankfully kept his mouth shut.

"What I think happened is Raven retreated behind the barrier as an instinctual self-defense mechanism, which in turn pushed all the memories that were suppressed behind it to the higher surface." I continued voicing my thoughts. That would explain why she looked like a seven-year-old in her mind, it would also explain why she didn't talk. Because if that was only a memory then any new interaction should be impossible, just like a video playing on repeat.

"But that would mean that you can't access her other memories at the moment, because you can't get permission" Hiroshi was starting to chats on.

"So we need to get Tanya in Raven's mind so she can break the barrier, then Stellan can look through her memories of the attack and the events that followed, and find out where they are being kept and by who" Will summarized.

"There's a problem though" Tanya stated, "I'm not such a strong telepath that I could get into Raven's head without her reaching out to me from such a distance."

"Getting there is easy" I reassured her "you can just ride my telepathic link, usually you wouldn't be able to do that because mine and Raven's telepathic link is so strong mostly because of our families layered minds and so the frequency that we normally use would be difficult to follow but if I use my soulfinder bond with Mr Voss then you should be able to ride with me and he can connect us to Ray from where they are."

"Sounds reasonable, I guess" Tanya stared but then froze up "Wait. Kurt Voss is your soulfinder" she exclaimed standing up once again.

"Yes, why are you so surprised, soulfinders can be of the same gender, as I'm sure you are well aware the two people only have to be conceived near the same time," I told her with thinning patience for the subject.

"But Kurt's birthday is the twentieth of September and I'm pretty sure Raven said yours is in the summer" she didn't let it go.

"Yes, it's the nineteenth of July, I was born sixty-two day's premature" I stated looking at the time. It was late, the conversation and the explanations had taken more time than I thought, and I couldn't risk Tanya getting anything wrong because of jetlag.

Turning my attention back to the room I said: "get some sleep everybody, tomorrow is going to be a critical day in the investigation." With that Megan stood to show Tanya to the room she would be staying in.

When only me and Hiroshi were in the room he stated "If you're going to let Voss know about the plan, do it now. I'll make sure you don't wander off" his tone was stern but there was a hint of it that suggested I missed by so-called other half.

"No, I think that there is no need to tell him, all he has to do tomorrow is be the bridge between us, and besides he's sleeping now, be a shame to wake him," I said the last part with obvious sarcasm, earning a grin from my partner.

"So I take it that you haven't changed your mind even after meeting your soulfinder," he mused taking a seat on a bean bag near the window.

"Yes, I'm afraid you lost that bet, I still can't see what the big deal is, I understand why people would want to feel the sensation of finding their soulfinder, but to me, there is still no explanation. It still feels like a blindly worshipped fate that still isn't logical, meaning I still won't accept it."

Hiroshi and I had always disagreed on the subject of soulfinders, he believed in the bedtime story that most people tended to go for, but I just couldn't accept something without knowing how and why it happens.

"How did you know he was sleeping" he perked up a moment later looking at me, face illuminated by the city lights.

"I think that there is a small part of my mind that is still connected to his mind and his shields aren't the strongest so it's easy to tell when he isn't attentive." I shrugged going over the notes I had made while reading the reports Hiroshi had provided for me.

"Can he feel you?" he asked eyes bright even though there were bags underneath them.

"With my shields? It's highly unlikely" he's eyes dulled a bit as he gave me a once-over.

He turned back to the window and said in a voice that I'm sure I wouldn't have heard had it not been for my gift "It must be lonely then"