Sorry I haven't updated in a while, guys! I've been a very busy little chipmunk! Unfortunately; even though I worked so hard; I had to call off my trip overseas this summer due to insufficient funds tear! at least I found out that I can go next year on the same trip; I'll just have to go with a delegation from another state; so, I'll just have to work hard this summer and raise the money to go next year sigh!
To the black sisters: I was wondering if there was a relation ) thanks for the reviews as always!
To Digitaldreamer: Me too XD! Vague pronouns are my frieeeendsss! XP! Update request processing…approved!
To DarkestBefourDawn: I'll forgive you this time lol! I know the feeling all too well…try pulling off top-of-the-class homework in a home school co-op. --… we do twice the work of public school students in half the time --…but I love my 2 day a week school XD!
To Lyn: XD! I always enjoy hearing from you ) hmm…I think during the course of the next few chapters, I might introduce Lynx and Bugeye…
To minous813: (blush!) Aw! Thanks! So glad you're enjoying it! thanks for the review!
To Epic Failure: Gotcha. Don't worry; the story is moving out of a pairing-centric zone and back into further progression in this chapter. Thanks for the feedback!
Warnings: this chapter contains some strong language and some racial/religious/ethnic controversy. Nothing too serious. Just keep in mind that this is just a story and is in no way meant to be an attack on anyone. Tis but an element of drama. I wuv my weaders and would never want to do anything hurtful to them (puppy eyes)
Chapter 13
Nils smiled as he spotted Clem in his favorite conference room with papers, documents, and files spread absolutely everywhere. His smile faded promptly when he noticed his best friend slumped forward in his chair with his head resting on the table.
Nils bolted to his side.
"Clem? Clem? Hey, you okay, buddy?" Nils asked, shaking Clem gently. Clem yelped and sat upright, breathing heavily.
"Dude…you look terrible…" Nils said. Clem was paler than usual and had dark circles under his eyes.
"Well, not everyone is blessed with the face of a model, Nils." Clem chuckled half heartedly. Nils smiled.
"What are you talking about, dude? You're featured in just as many magazine spreads as I am…though I gotta say…right now, you've really got a face for radio, my friend." Nils teased gently. Clem chuckled and raked his hands through his short brown hair.
Clem was as modest as ever. He had, indeed, as Nils said, gown up to have looks that earned him a page right beside Nils' in many magazines. Aside from his personality, a few aspects of his appearance remained the same as well.
He still wore the same style of sweatband that he wore back during his days at Whispering Rock and he was still tall, thin, and lanky. Though his front teeth were still noticeably a little big, it only added to the charm of his smile; which many a girl swooned over.
Nils put a hand on Clem's shoulder. Clem paused and looked up at him with tired vibrant royal blue eyes.
"Seriously though, dude…are you feelin' alright?" Nils asked with genuine concern. Clem let out a long sigh and laid his head back on the table.
"I'm alright. I'm just tired." He muttered.
"It doesn't seem like you've been getting much sleep lately." Nils said.
"Uh, yeah." Clem said with a tired shrug. "I guess these last two weeks have been kinda rough for me."
"Been burning the midnight oil, pal?" Nils asked, moving behind Clem to try to work some of the knots out of the brunette's shoulders.
"Only by an hour or so." Clem said, closing his eyes and relaxing under Nils' ministrations. Nils raised an eyebrow at his comrade.
"You've done worse than that and looked better." Nils said. Clem shrugged.
"It's not so much because of work that I haven't been getting enough sleep…" Clem said.
"Then what's got you so tuckered out?" Nils asked. Clem shrugged and sighed.
"I've just keep having these nightmares lately…" Clem said.
"Oh, I see…" Nils said understandingly. Clem was an A level empath; the second strongest degree of power; so he was very susceptible to being influenced by the emotions of people nearby; especially when he was tired or his guard was low. If the people around him felt negative emotions, Clem could be affected.
Being so strong in clairvoyance, Nils was also susceptible to outside influences on him while his guard was low or while he was asleep. He had to be very careful about where he stayed and what he kept in his room; because it was difficult to tell the history of an item or location…until you found yourself looking through the eyes of the former owner of the object while you slept and you woke up screaming because that pretty necklace on the nightstand…the one you had gotten at that quaint little pawn shop for your girlfriend…had belonged to a sweet, innocent young girl who, that night, was murdered in cold blood right before your very eyes.
So, yeah. Nils understood how Clem felt.
"So, what kind of nightmares are we talking about here?" Nils asked. Clem shrugged.
"I dunno…mostly just the kind where you wake up all wound up and you know you've just had a nightmare, but you can't even remember what it was about." Clem said.
"Only mostly those?" Nils inquired. Clem sighed.
"The other ones are about JT…" Clem said softly. Nils paused for a moment, his expression saddening. He soon resumed his work, moving up to work on Clem's neck.
"Yeah…I've had a couple of those too…courtesy of Chops." Nils said. A grim smirk tugged at his lips.
"I accidentally switched watches with Chops...he had a nightmare about the day it happened…so I saw the whole thing from his point of view. I felt what it was like for him…I felt first hand the pain of having to take down my friend…" Nils said softly. "Though I imagine it's not quite the same…Jt and I…you know, the lot of us were real tight…but Chops…Jt was Chop's best friend…"
Clem nodded sadly and dropped his gaze to the table.
"I miss the way things used to be…I miss the days when it was you, me, Chops, Jt, and Bobby all going out for a beer at the end of the day…" Clem said. Nils smiled slightly.
"Yeah, those were the days." Nils said.
"The five of us used to be such close friends…we used to hang out all the time! What happened to make us this way?" Clem asked. Nils scowled to himself.
"Lerio decided that Bobby would be a good henchman, so Bobby ditched us to join Lerio's little prick club…Jt tried to shoot the bastard…Lerio, I mean…though Bobby's a bastard too…" Nils muttered. This earned a chuckle from Clem.
"Anyway, so Jt tries to shoot Lerio, and whoop-dee-doo, for the first time in his life, he misses the shot…and then when Chops is ordered to go after Jt; for once in HIS life, HIS aim was a little too sharp! So he's torn from grief and under investigation to see if he was part of the plot to kill Lerio like his partner was, so he's lying low and making us worry where he is and whether or not he's alright; the big haired Canadian retard!" Nils ranted. "We're his friends and we care about JT too! We should be working through this together…"
Clem tensed and winced as Nils hands changed quickly from soothing to bruising with his mood.
"Dude…ow! Nils! Not so rough! Come on, man!" Clem yelped. Nils quickly dropped his hands.
"Damnit…sorry, Clem…I guess I got a little too worked up…" Nils said. Clem shrugged and chuckled. He stood and got behind Nils to rub HIS shoulders. Nils chuckled and grabbed Clem's hand to stop him.
"Naw, man. I've got Elka to do this for me every day after work, and she's a pro at it." Nils said, nudging Clem back to his chair. "Besides, you need it more than I do."
"You sure about that?" Clem teased. Nils rolled his eyes and elbowed Clem playfully.
"I'll ease up. I won't get all frustrated this time." Nils said, starting where he left off at Clem's neck. There was a long silence between them.
"They never found Jt's body…" Clem said quietly. Nils nodded grimly. "…That bothers me."
"Why?" Nils asked.
"What if he's still alive out there somewhere?" Clem asked hesitantly. "I mean…it's possible…isn't it?"
Nils paused for a moment and gave Clem's shoulders a brief squeeze.
"Nils?" Clem asked quietly, not looking at him.
"Yeah?" Nils asked.
"…you saw what happened…you saw it through Chop's eyes…" Clem began slowly.
"Yeah." Nils said.
"I've been dreading this…dreading to ask…I don't know if I should or not…but…I think I'd rather know the details than keep on wondering…" Clem said hesitantly.
"You want me to tell you what I saw." Nils said.
"If it's too painful, I understand…" Clem said softly. Nils was quiet for a long moment.
"It is pretty rough on me…" Nils began. "But if you want to know, Clem…I'll tell you. You deserve to know."
Clem thought about it for a long moment.
"I-I won't make you recount the whole thing…I don't think I'm ready to hear it…I just wanna know…about the shot Chops fired…" Clem said softly. Nils laid a hand on Clem's shoulder.
"He tripped as he was firing the shot, so instead of hitting his legs and immobilizing him like Chops meant to do, the shot was angled upward and hit him in the left side of his back; the vulnerable spot just between his left shoulder blade and his spine." Nils said softly.
"I-I…I know that…what I meant was…was it a clean shot?" Clem asked quietly.
"It was pretty much dead on, Clem. It was angled right at his heart." Nils said grimly.
"But isn't it possible that it lacked the strength to reach that far?" Clem asked. Nils paused and sighed softly.
"It was fatal hit, Clem; if you're trying to find grounds to hope that he's still alive." Nils mumbled, remorse and frustration apparent in his voice. "I-I'm sorry, but I won't lie to you. I don't want you to get your hopes up only to get let down. That'll hurt even more, Clem."
Clem nodded sadly, but understandingly. There was another long silence between them.
"Just tell me one more thing…" Clem said hesitantly. He swallowed thickly.
"W-was it painful?" Clem asked, his voice barely a whisper. "Did he hurt much, or was it quick…"
"You want to know if he suffered." Nils said. Clem nodded slowly. Nils squeezed Clem's shoulder and bowed his head.
"Y-yeah. He did." Nils said quietly. Clem took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Thanks for being honest." Clem said softly. Nils nodded. Another silence settled between the two.
"Did you hear about Maloof and Mikhail?" Clem asked, finally breaking the long silence.
"Yeah…I did." Nils said softly.
"They used to be such great guys." Clem said. "They were inseparable…I thought that they'd spend forever together…"
"Like Chops and Jt, right?" Nils asked, voicing the thought that Clem was keeping to himself. Clem nodded sadly.
"I-I can't believe that they killed each other."
Nils nodded.
"They both must have been through a lot for things to come to that." Nils said. Clem nodded.
"They suffered too, didn't they?" Clem stated quietly. Nil's eyes dropped. He drew a deep breath, gathering up the nerve to tell Clem what he needed to know.
"Yeah, Clem. They suffered a lot...probably more than we'll ever understand…but…you should know, Clem…" Nils began, leaning down to look Clem in the eyes. The two of them jumped when the door swung open.
"You two look awfully grim sitting alone in the dark like this…" Phoebe said as she entered the room with a tray of food. "What's the matter?"
"We were just talking about what happened to Maloof and Mikhail…" Clem said. He turned back to Nils.
"What were you saying that I should know, Nils?" Clem asked. Nils hesitated for a moment.
"You should know that they're in a better place now." Came Nil's quick recovery. Well, it was true…
Clem nodded.
"Yeah. You're right, Nils." Clem said, laying his head back on the table thoughtfully. Phoebe approached Clem.
"Clem, baby…you don't look so good…" Phoebe said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "You wanna talk?"
"There's nothing to talk about, Phoebe." Clem said innocently.
"Well then, here. Eat something. It might help." Phoebe said, setting the tray down in front of him. "10 years and you're still thin as a rail and it's making me sick."
Clem chuckled. He quickly straightened his posture as Crystal entered the room behind Phoebe. A light blush was already creeping onto his face.
"Clem? You're still in here working on the Vancouver case?" She asked. She scampered over to Clem, concern etched in her beautiful face.
Crystal had truly grown up splendidly. She was petite; standing a full head and neck shorter than Clem; and had developed the lean, graceful figure of a gymnast. She still kept her wavy brown hair (now falling to her shoulder blades) pulled up in a high ponytail, and she still constantly wore the same style of sweatband she wore during her days at Whispering Rock.
"Clem, I'm worried about you. You haven't been your usual self these past few days. You aren't getting sick, are you?" She asked, feeling his forehead. "You feel a little warm to me."
Clem blushed deeper.
"Clem, go home. I'll take your shift." Quentin said as he entered the room.
"But, Quentin…" Clem began.
"Nah-ah-ah! Clem, this is an intervention!" Quentin said, his tone lightly teasing. "Your friends are concerned about you. We won't let you be a workaholic any longer. You're going to go home and kick the habit before you become hopelessly addicted to your work and contract what is commonly known throughout the agency as "Sasha Nein Syndrome"."
Clem chuckled.
"Thanks, Quentin. I owe you one." Clem said.
"Crystal, you go home and take care of your man. I got you covered here." Phoebe said.
"Thanks, Phoebe. You're the best!" Crystal said, giving Phoebe a brief hug before turning her attention back to Clem.
"C'mon. Elka gave me some pills that should help you sleep better. She also gave me a new isolation band to block out any outside interference you might be getting that would affect your dreams." Crystal said, latching onto Clem's arm as he stood. He blushed even deeper.
"Aw, you shouldn't have gone through all that trouble on my account, Chris." Clem said, sincerely touched by his partner's concern.
"Nonsense, Clem. You're my partner and my best friend, so it was no trouble at all." Crystal said as she and Clem headed out the door. "Besides, I needed to see Elka to get a new isolation band for myself anyway; so I just went ahead and got the stuff you needed while I was there…"
"Those two are so head over heels for each other that it's sickening." Nils said.
"When's he going to just suck it up and propose to her already?!" Quentin chuckled.
"No time soon, I hope! If he gets engaged to her, there'll be no separating them! We'll never get to hang out and I'll be all alone! Bros before hoes, dude!" Nils said. Phoebe rolled her eyes and Quentin laughed.
"Speaking of bros, we haven't hung out in a long time, Quen, my man…" Nils said.
"What? Is his hoe getting in the way?" Phoebe asked, her hands on her hips in playful anger.
"Now, Phoebes…you know I didn't mean it like that…a lady of your caliber is far too fine to be labeled as a mere hoe…" Nils said smoothly. He paused when Phoebe raised an eyebrow at him.
"That came out wrong…" Nils said quickly.
"Yeah it did." Phoebe muttered, a playful smirk ghosting her lips. Quentin chuckled and patted her backside before giving her a quick kiss.
"Well, I've got to be at the radio station soon." Phoebe said.
"What? But we don't usually go on air until two hours from now, baby…" Quentin said, glancing at his watch.
"Usually; but Marci is going to be doing a live report from across town tonight, and I told her that I'd manage things at the radio station while she's out, remember?" Phoebe said.
"Oh, yeah! That's right! I remember now!" Quentin said. Phoebe smiled and kissed Quentin on the cheek.
"Do you think you could do me a big favor?" Phoebe asked.
"What do you need?" Quentin asked.
"I am freaking dying for a hot fudge sundae right now, and I won't make it to the station in time if I stop to get one…" Phoebe said.
"I'll pick up these files and bring one down to you." Quentin said.
"Thanks, babe." Phoebe said. She and Quentin shared a quick kiss.
"Love ya." Phoebe said as she adjusted her purse on her shoulder.
"Love you too, hon. See you in a bit." Quentin said.
"Kay. Bye!" Phoebe said, giving Quentin a small wave as she walked out of sight. Nils stayed and helped Quentin pick up Clem's files.
Nils put a hand to his stomach.
"Man…a sundae does sound really good right now…mind if I come with?" Nils asked.
"You got time?" Quentin asked.
"Yeah. I always come to work an hour early to catch Clem. I still got a half hour before my shift starts." Nils said.
"Then sure." Quentin said.
The two of them hopped into Quentin's car and were off. As soon as they were safely off of Psychonauts property, Nils spoke.
"Finally! I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get you alone!" Nils sighed. A jolt of unease ran through Quentin. Nils knew something that he shouldn't.
His eyes darted to Nils and he unconsciously began to slow down and pull off the road.
"DUDE! EYES ON THE ROAD!" Nils yelped loudly. He reached over to steer them back onto the road. Startled by the outburst Quentin jerked the steering wheel, causing the car to spin out of control.
Luckily, it came safely to a halt in a grassy clearing a few yards away from the road. The two young men sat staring dead ahead, eyes wide and breathing heavily.
"Dude…" Nils breathed finally. "What is your PROBLEM?!"
Quentin seemed to be unable to find an answer. Finally, he sighed loudly and slumped forward to lay his head on the steering wheel. He was trembling slightly.
"Dude…I'm sorry bro…I don't know what's with me this week…" Quentin sighed. Nils reached over and patted Quentin on the back.
"Yeah, having a friend you thought had died seven years ago suddenly saunter back into your life will have that effect on ya." Nils said. Quentin sat bolt upright and stared at Nils.
"Dude, chill. It's okay. I'm with you. I've been helping Lili, Dogen, and Elka all week. They asked me to find you and tell you that Mikhail, Maloof, Benny, and Raz are all alive and recovering well and that Benny and I are officially part of the group now." Nils said. Quentin relaxed slightly.
"Oh, thank god…" He sighed. Burying his face in his hands. Nils recognized Quentin's odd breathing pattern as a calming exercise that Clem used when he was especially upset.
"You okay, man? I didn't mean to freak you out…I thought you'd be the last person that would freak out on me…it's not like you; especially since this is really not something you can let anyone on to…" Nils said awkwardly. Quentin let out a frustrated growl and gripped his hair.
"I know, bro…" He hissed before letting his head fall against the steering wheel. "I know…I'm just…really…you know…off…today for some reason…"
"Yeah…I've noticed. I'm no empath, but I'm definitely feeling some heavy panic mojo coming from you as of late…" Nils said.
"I don't know what has me so spooled up…I just keep getting the most horrible feeling that something bad is about to happen…" Quentin said. Nils paused for a moment.
"Hmm…weird…Clem is an empath too, and he's been wound pretty tight lately too…" Nils said.
"I wonder if it's just the two of us, or if Phoebe and Crystal feel it too…after all, they too are empaths…It's strange…It's been the most intense while I'm at work…" Quentin said. He sighed. "I'm sorry for freaking out on you, bro…are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I've been in worse spin-outs than that in the field." Nils said. Quentin nodded and took a few more moments to compose himself before restarting the car. He chuckled nervously.
"Now I think I'm in need of a sundae as well." Quentin chuckled. Nils chuckled as well. He clapped his hand down on Quentin's shoulder.
"If you promise not to freak out on me like that again while I fill you in on this week's happenings, I'll buy." Nils said. Quentin chuckled.
"Deal."
TEHGREATDIVIDER
Fred was barely half way down the hall from where he'd left Edgar and Yolanda when one of the nurses came running up to him all in a tizzy.
"DOCTOR BONAPARTE! DOCTOR BONAPARTE!" She shrieked, nearly knocking them both to the ground when she was unable to stop fast enough.
"Heavens above, Vanessa! What's all the fuss about?" Fred asked as he helped the flustered brunette to her feet.
"It's Gerald! He's gone completely berserk! He's already knocked Darik into a wall and he won't calm down!" The woman cried. Fred cursed softly under his breath.
"Vanessa, I need you to call the police and an ambulance for Darik just in case, put out an order for all patients to stay clear of the area, and get Dillon and Anthony to meet me over there just in case I need backup." Fred said quickly.
"Right away, sir!" The woman cried before taking off down the hall. Fred raced away in the direction that the nurse had come from.
TEHGREATDIVIDER
It was either really late or really early. As he glanced at the clock, which read 2:14, he affirmed that early was the correct choice. His body felt heavy and sore; but with the feeling of a hot meal in his stomach and the feeling of warm, clean flannel pajamas brushing his just cleansed skin; it was a nice kind of feeling. It was the feeling he got after a long, hard days work; and now, he would have liked nothing more than to hop into bed and curl up beneath the crisp, clean sheets and get a good night's sleep.
In fact, he planned to do just that; just as soon as he checked in on his mentor. The man had sustained a minor injury to his arm during the mission earlier that night, and he wanted to reaffirm that the injury was indeed not a serious one before he turned in for the night.
As he made his way through the living quarters, he was somewhat surprised that his mentor was nowhere to be found. Surly, after a rough day like that, even HE must be ready to call it a night!
It wasn't of much consequence to him, however. He knew that if his mentor could not be found in the living quarters, he could always be found at his most common haunt.
He was unsure of why he opted to leave the warmth and comfort of the living quarters barefoot and in his pajamas and trek through the cold, hazardous forest simply to bid his mentor goodnight. Maybe it was just that he was too tired to think much of it; but soon, his feet had led him down the winding dirt paths until he reached the tall fence around the network of elevated metal domes.
Quietly and soft footed, like a tired child slipping into a parent's room in the middle of the night, he made his way up to the central dome. The feeling of the cool, sturdy, meshed metal beneath his feet made him feel more at ease than having to pad-foot around to avoid thorns, rocks, and sticks marring his bare feet. He childishly rubbed his eye with the palm of his hand as he approached the mouth of the main dome.
Not to his surprise, the door in the floor of the module was already open and white florescent light glowed up from below. He was, however, a bit surprised to hear two voices conversing from within the confines of the room below.
At first, he didn't think much of it. He discounted the second voice to perhaps belong to his mentor's partner. However, he realized that the aforementioned person had already gone to bed. As he got closer, he also realized that the second voice was distinctly an adult male. He had passed the only other adult males on the premises on his way over, so it couldn't have been either one of them. This second voice was unfamiliar.
"…and if we could take those skills and refine them…" The second voice said.
"No." His mentor said firmly. "I'm sorry, but no."
"B-but why!? Don't you see what we could do here?!" The second voice cried. "Do you have any idea what kind of scientific advances we could make by elaborating on these theories? Come on!"
"Listen…" His mentor sighed. "You are a brilliant man. Yes, these are some very promising opportunities. I have no doubt that amazing things could come of their further study…"
"Then why can't we do it?!" The second voice interrupted.
"Because this isn't right!" His mentor cried.
"Aw, come on! I thought you were supposed to be cool personified! Don't tell me that this gets you squeamish!" The second voice laughed. There was dead silence.
"Squeamish? You think it makes me squeamish." His mentor said flatly. "I don't get squeamish. This isn't a matter of people being squeamish. This is a matter of morality!"
"Morals are a matter of opinion; and I don't see it as wrong!" The second voice snapped.
"Then I must say that makes you a very sick man in my book, sir!" His mentor boomed. There was dead silence; then a soft sigh.
"Look. As I said, I believe you to be a brilliant man. I have a lot of respect for you as a scientist…but just listen to yourself! These theories…for Christ's sake…" His mentor's voice fell to almost a whisper. "They were started by…"
"Hitler?" The other voice asked, loudly, clearly and without any hint of unease. "The Nazis?"
"Yes, them!" His mentor hissed between clenched teeth. "You know how they worked…"
"Human testing." The other voice said clearly, again, without any sign of discomfort. His mentor gave an irate sigh.
"Listen to yourself! These theories come to be by the blood, death, and suffering of innocent people! Men, women, and children! Elderly and infants alike!" His mentor said.
"Yes, and by testing humans directly, more was accomplished in less time." The second voice said calmly. There was a shocked silence, then a chuckle.
"Come now; you're German!" The second voice laughed. Another tense silence overtook the room.
"Don't say that." His mentor said in a voice barely above a whisper. It rose quickly. "Don't you ever say that! Don't you dare stereotype me; especially when you think you can throw me in with that lot!"
"Woah, take it easy!" The second voice chuckled.
"No! I can not 'take it easy' after an insinuation like that!" His mentor said.
"Come on! I'm sorry, okay?! I didn't think it'd insult you…" The second voice said lazily.
"Didn't think it'd insult me?! Of course it insulted me very much! That was not okay; or have you forgotten that I live with a mentally unstable man, a handicapped man, a black woman, and a little gypsy boy!?" His mentor said, a tone of distress seeping into his voice.
"Alright! Alright! Okay! I'm sorry! Jesus Christ, you're sensitive!" The second voice muttered.
"WHAT!?" His mentor cried.
"Aw, god damnit! Jesus fucking Christ! What'd I say now?!" The second voice groaned.
"One, yes! It's a touchy subject because as a German, I really hate the stereotype, and two, don't use the Lord's name in vain!" His mentor growled.
"Shit…I thought you hard-ass Germans were all atheists…" The second voice said. His mentor let out a loud growl.
"No, not all Germans are atheist!" He cried.
"Oh god, you're not one of those friggin German kikes, are you?" the second voice asked. "Is that why you've got your panties all in a knot?"
"GAH! NO! I'm not Jewish, I am Christian; and don't call Jews by that name! And stop with the damn stereotypes!" His mentor fumed.
"Sheesh! Okay! I'm sorry!" The other voice said. There was another long silence.
"What? What are you looking at me like that for? What?" The other voice asked.
"You and I have very different views. I'm sorry, but I will not support your research." His mentor said calmly.
"Wha? Damn! I can't open my mouth without pissing you off, can I? Look, I really am sorry for offending you!" The second voice pleaded. There was dead silence yet again.
"What? You look like you've got something to say to me. Say it." the second voice said flatly.
"Y-you…you sound like one." His mentor said quietly.
"One what?" the second voice asked.
"One of them.' His mentor responded quietly.
"What? Oh! Nazis?" The second voice asked. A long, uncomfortable silence ensued.
"You know what, just forget about it. Please. I don't want to discuss this subject any further." His mentor said.
"You flinch every time I say Nazi. What? Is 'Nazi' the same as 'nigger' for you or what?" Asked the second voice. There was the distinctive sound of something falling to the ground.
"Don't ever say that word in front of me again." His mentor said in a dangerously soft tone.
"Oh yeah! Your partner! That's right. Sorry. No more 'n' word. Nazi is like the 'n' word for Germans. Got it." The second voice said. The room went quiet again.
"You're really hooked on this Nazi subject." The second voice said.
"Drop it." His mentor warned.
"Almost like you're in denial or something." The second voice said. Dead silence.
"I've had enough of you. I will not support your research. It's 2:30 in the morning. Get out of my lab." His mentor said in a frighteningly quiet and calm tone.
"Hitting a little to close to home, am I?" The second voice asked quietly. "Does your partner know?"
"Leave now or I will report you." His mentor hissed.
"How about the little boy? Does he know what guys like you do to his kind of people?" The second voice said smugly. "I do."
There was a final long silence.
"Get out." His mentor hissed. There was a soft chuckle and the sound of boots coming up the stairs. He felt as though fire were rising up from the floor as he came face to face with the red man. For a moment, the two stood frozen with their eyes locked.
Suddenly, a wave of ice cold water slammed into his back and he sat bolt upright in his bed.
He was breathing heavily. A bead of cold sweat ran down his face. He had no idea where he was.
"Raz?" A familiar, comforting voice inquired from just outside the door. There was a sound of soft footsteps on carpet and the door creaked open. He found himself looking into amber eyes.
She smiled at him.
"You're finally awake." She said. She walked in and sat on the bed beside him. She hugged him timidly.
"I'm glad." She said softly.
"W-where are we, Lili?" He asked, his voice hoarse from disuse.
"Nil's place. Maloof and Mikhail both woke up, so we had to move you. Everything's okay between them now. They're back together and they're both going to pull through." Lili assured him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." Raz said, his voice slightly shaky. "Yeah. It was just a bad dream."
"How long was I out?" Raz asked.
"Well, you've been in and out…and you've been pretty lucid. When's the last time you remember being awake?" Lili asked.
"Monday afternoon around 4, I guess." Raz said.
"Well it's 6 on Tuesday afternoon, so you've only been out for about a day." Lili said. "How do you feel?"
"Better." Raz said.
"But still not great." Lili added for him. Raz smiled slightly and nodded.
"You need another day or two of bed rest. Nils came by on his lunch break. He filled Quentin in on what's been going on with us and Quentin is going to be by here later to check up on you." Lili said.
"I need to get back into shape." Raz sighed. "Mentally and physically."
"I need to see my dad." Raz said softly. Lili put an arm around Raz.
"Dogen's still working on finding him. It's tough, but give Dogen about a month. He'll find your dad." Lili said. Raz smiled slightly and put his arm around Lili.
"Thanks, Lili." He said softly.
The two of them just laid back and relaxed on the bed for a little while.
"Dogen and I were talking about what we should do next." Lili said. Raz nodded thoughtfully.
"We've got this new lead about what we think may be the people behind Sasha's protection program for people in the rebellion who needed to disappear." Lili said. "Something about 'the blue angels' in Tibet."
Raz paused.
"Blue angels?" Raz asked. Lili nodded.
"Yeah. Have you heard of them?" Lili asked.
"I think so. You know…some of my memories are kind of jumbled…I think I remember hearing about people that call themselves the blue angels from an adult male who I was close to…someone I was around a lot…Maybe Ford or the coach or Sasha…that or it could have been from my dad…or someone from the circus…" Raz said, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples as he tried to recall more.
"I heard about them in the circus…I was under the big top…training just before sunrise…I had just recently suffered some kind of emotional hurt…yeah, it was definitely an adult male who was speaking…definitely someone I trust and someone I'm around a lot…" Raz said slowly.
"I think I may have been introduced to the blue angels before…whoever told me about them knew them personally…Whoever told me about them, the blue angels, and I all had something in common…" Raz jumped slightly. "And the person telling me about the blue angels…he was a psychic…but somehow…it was different with him…"
He sighed and let his arms fall into his lap.
"But I've had Sasha, Ford, and the Coach with me under the big top plenty of times and they're all psychic…my dad is psychic too…and any one of them would have been there for me if I was feeling down…I just can't make out if I knew this person from within the circus or outside it." Raz groaned.
Lili rubbed Raz's shoulder.
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll remember with time. Just don't try to force it." Lili said. Raz sighed and nodded.
"It's just kind of frustrating, is all." Raz said. "Sometimes, I'm not sure if I'm remembering things right…"
"What do you mean?" Lili asked.
"Like…like putting names to faces…and associating events that I remember with that person…" Raz said, leaning back and squeezing his eyes shut. Lili trailed her fingers up and down Raz's arm soothingly.
"I remember a redheaded boy who played turntables really well, but couldn't sing. When I think of him, I also think of fire, and for some odd reason, cotton candy and fish; angler fish in particular; and things stem out from fish to a whole new train of thought that just wrecks worse the more I try to think about it. I know it was Quentin who played the turntables, but the name Bobby and the number zero comes to mind." Raz said. Lili nodded.
"Bobby…he was not a nice person, was he?" Raz asked. Lili laughed.
"The association you have going kind of makes sense. You've rightly associated Quentin, the turntables, the bad singing, and fire together, since Quentin is now married to Phoebe, who used to be a major pyromaniac…Quentin's singing was unpleasant, but not nearly as unpleasant as Bobby was. Bobby was also a redhead like Quentin; but he had this crazy afro going that you once compared to a glob of cotton candy. Bobby did kinda have teeth like an angler fish; and he used to torture fish down by the pier." Lili said.
"Ah! I know who we're talking about now! Good lord, for some reason, I thought that guy was Elton…" Raz muttered. Lili laughed.
"No, Elton was the one…" Lili began.
"Who could talk to fish. Yeah, I got it now." Raz said.
"Well, you're going in the right direction, Raz. You seem to remember everything; it's just that your mind is still working out the right sequence and combination that everything goes in." Lili said. "It's like a puzzle. You have all the pieces; you just have to put them back together in the right order."
Raz nodded.
"Hey Lili…Did either Bobby or Quentin have an older brother…or maybe it could have been their father or a cousin or uncle or something…but did either of them have a male relative around Sasha's age who was a scientist and knew Sasha, but didn't get along with him…and…I don't know…maybe tried to or wanted to hurt me?" Raz asked hesitantly. Lili's eyebrows climbed up her forehead.
"No. Not that I can recall…and I'm pretty sure I'd remember something like that." Lili said. "why do you ask?"
"Just a weird dream I had…I wonder if maybe he was related to me…" Raz murmured.
"Did he hurt you?" Lili asked.
"I'm not sure…but I definitely get the feeling that he wanted to." Raz said. "All I can remember is red and fire…"
Lili stiffened. She stared long and hard at Raz.
"What is it?" Raz asked.
"A month or so before you disappeared, someone tried to burn down your gyspy caravan at the circus while you were asleep inside it. Apparently, you were looking after some of the younger gypsy children for the night while the adults all went out together. At about two in the morning, when you and four other children were asleep inside the caravan, someone barricaded the door. You and a little girl that you were sharing your bed with were woken up by noises outside. The last thing either of you reported remembering was a figure move in front of the window before you were drugged by a canister of powerful sleeping gas that was thrown through the window." Lili explained. Raz's eyes widened and he gasped.
"The red man…" He whispered. Lili nodded.
"That was the only thing that either of you could remember. You said you saw 'the red man' and then the next thing you remembered was waking up in the grass after you were pulled out of the burning caravan by one of the circus staff to find the circus in a tizzy as they tried to put out the fire." Lili said. "We never did get much of a description of the red man out of the two of you. Only that it was a man and that the color red was involved."
"So this guy was never caught?" Raz asked. Lili shook her head.
"No. We're sure he was after you, though. We're sure he was a psychic and that, since your guard was down since you were at home and still half asleep when the attack occurred, he reached into your mind and the mind of the little girl who was with you and warped the image that you saw of him to make you see something that would scare and/or confuse you; making it impossible for you to identify him." Lili said.
"Yeah…I remember the red man in the fire…" Raz said quietly.
"You and the little girl were convinced that it was the devil or some sort of demon." Lili said.
"I still am." Raz muttered.
To be continued…
Will Raz remember the Blue Angels? Who is the 'red man' who was harassing Sasha in Raz's dreams? Was he the same red man who tried to kill Raz in his sleep? What has caused Gerald to go berserk; and will Fred be able to get through to him and end his rampage before someone ends up hurt?
Gimme some time to write the next chapter and maybe you'll find out ;)
Oh, by the way, I've posted some fanart I drew of Fred, Boyd, Jt, and Chops the way I picture them to be during the course of this story on deviantart. The one I did of Fred and Boyd is called 'Psychonauts: shrink+sentry' and the one I did of Jt and Chops is 'Psychonauts: Cowboy+Canadian'. If you wanna check em out, look up my username: deserthaze.
Reviews are like Scooby-snacks for my brain 0.o….feed mah brain! Please review!