Author's Note: Thank you, Ama Sohma-Bell and OneDayTheRobotsWillCry! Here's Chapter 3, just for you.
Rachel, of course, heard it first. It was a very soft sound, almost a whimper, and it was coming from Gary's office.
She left her office and headed down the hall toward Gary's door. Gary had had a session with Dr. Rosen and then had gone into his office. She had kept finding reasons to walk down the hall past his door just to take a look inside and make sure he was okay, and she noticed everyone else doing the same thing.
As she stopped in Gary's doorway, she saw that he had fallen asleep at his desk. His head was down on his arms, turned to the right so that she could see his face. She hated seeing the dark circles under his eyes. Dr. Rosen said he hadn't been sleeping. And she felt responsible. She should have stopped him from running down into the mill. She should have stopped him from seeing what he had seen.
As she watched Gary sleeping, she saw that his eyes were moving under his eyelids and she knew that he was dreaming. Then she heard the sound again that had drawn her from her office, and it was coming from Gary. It was a sound of distress.
Before she could move from the door, Gary gasped and jerked upright, yelling, "Anna! Anna! Anna!" She ran into the room, hearing the sounds of the rest of the team running toward Gary's office behind her.
"Gary! Gary!" she said, reaching out and grasping his arms below his shoulders. He jerked away, and she let her hands fall to her side, although everything she had inside her was calling to her to reach out and hold him. But being friends with Gary meant respecting his special needs and she knew that he was sensitive to touch and avoided it.
Gary's eyes opened and he saw Rachel in front of him. For once his eyes didn't slide away from hers and she was heartbroken at the devastated look she saw there. "Rachel," he said, still gasping. "Anna's dead. I saw her."
Rachel felt the guilt well up inside her again. "I know, Gary," she said, reaching out and gently patting his arm. "I know, and I'm sorry."
Gary slumped down in his chair, his breathing starting to even out. Rachel became aware of the rest of the team standing behind her. She glanced around and saw Nina with tears in her eyes, Dr. Rosen with a worried look on his face, Bill looking like he wanted to kill someone, and Cameron with a sympathetic expression.
"Come on, Gary, let's go get some water," she suggested gently.
Gary's eyes slid away from hers and he muttered, "Get some water. Yeah. Get some water." He stood up and became aware of everyone in his office. "No one knocked on my door. You have to knock on my door and you have to wait for me to say 'Come in' before you come into my office."
Everyone grinned, glad to see a glimpse of the Gary before the incident again.
"Yeah, yeah, Gary, sorry about that," Bill said, moving back into the hallway, as the others did the same, calling, "Sorry, Gare!"
The next day, Cameron stuck his head inside Gary's office. "Hey, kid," he said, "want to take a walk?"
Gary looked up from the computer screen he was studying. "Go for a walk?" he echoed. "Walk where?"
"Just a walk, get a little fresh air. Maybe stop and get some french fries?"
"My mom doesn't like me to eat fast food," Gary said. "That's why she packs my lunch every day." He glanced at Cameron. "But I like fast food."
Cameron laughed. "Okay, then," he said. "A little fast food won't hurt you, and we don't have to tell your mom."
"I don't want to lie to my mom," Gary said. "Lying is a social skill, and I've been practicing, but I don't practice on my mom 'cause that's not nice. But just not telling someone isn't the same thing as lying, right?"
Cameron laughed again. "Yeah, that's right. Not the same thing at all," he assured Gary.
The two men left the office, after Cameron stuck his head in Dr. Rosen's office and told him he was taking Gary for a walk. They headed down the street toward the McDonald's a couple of blocks over.
"So how are you doing, Gary?" Cameron asked.
Gary's hands began to fidget. "I'm okay," Gary said. "But Anna's dead."
Cameron felt a twinge of guilt. He had told Gary that he would try to protect Anna. But that hyperkinetic had really done a number on him, leaving him unconscious and bleeding on the floor.
"Yeah, I know," Cameron said gently. "And I'm really sorry, Gary. I'm sorry I couldn't protect her, like I said I would."
Gary stopped walking and turned toward Cameron. "But you couldn't. I know that. You got hurt." His gaze turned toward the bruises that still adorned Cameron's cheek and jaw. "You could have gotten killed like Anna. I'm glad that didn't happen."
Cameron felt at a loss. What should he do? Was it good for Gary to talk about this? Or should he change the subject? He wished he had asked Dr. Rosen before he impulsively decided to take Gary out. But he had just felt the need to assure himself that Gary was okay and still the peculiar, quirky kid that had so easily inched his way into Cameron's heart.
"I have bad dreams. I keep dreaming about Anna," Gary said, as he began to walk again. "She had a hole in her head."
"Yeah, buddy, I know," Cameron said softly. "I'm really sorry that happened to her. And I'm really sorry you saw it."
They walked on in silence for a few minutes.
"Look, there's McDonald's!" Cameron said cheerfully, seeing the golden arches sign ahead. He had never been so glad to see a McDonald's in his life. He was desperately afraid of adding to Gary's pain by saying the wrong thing. "French fries, right?"
He saw a quick grin grace Gary's face. "French fries," he agreed. "And a milkshake?" His gaze slid to Cameron's.
"And a milkshake, buddy," Cameron agreed. "Whatever you want!"
That afternoon, Nina walked by Gary's office for the fourth time. She just couldn't seem to stay away. She couldn't forget the terror of seeing that huge Red Flag agent with his hand around Gary's throat, holding him up against the wall, of seeing Gary choking and ineffectually trying to loosen the man's grip. Then, after using her ability to send the man into sleep, losing Gary in the smoke and confusion and not knowing if he was alive or dead. It had been the worst moment in her life.
Gary was sitting at his desk, but he was uncharacteristically still. Even his hands were lying motionless in his lap as he stared out the window.
Nina stopped in his doorway. "Hey, Gare, what's up?" she asked.
Gary looked up and made eye contact briefly. "Hey, Nina. You want to come in my office? You didn't knock, but it's okay, you can come in."
Nina smiled and entered the room, sitting down in the chair on the other side of his desk. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"I was thinking," Gary said. "Remembering," he added softly. His gaze slid back to the windows, and he began to twist the wristband on his left arm.
Nina watched in silence for a moment, unsure of what to say. "Is everything okay, Gare?" she asked gently.
"Everything is fine," Gary said automatically. Then he said, "That's a lie. Everything is not fine. Anna is dead."
Nina winced. "I know, Gare. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't with you when you found her. I lost you after that big guy dropped you. I couldn't find you. I'm sorry."
Gary looked up at her, briefly making eye contact as his eyes widened in surprise. "I'm not mad at you, Nina. Did you think I was mad at you? 'Cause I'm not." His eyes slid away from hers. "You saved my life, Nina. I thought that Red Flag man was going to kill me. I couldn't breathe. But you saved me." He looked at her again. "Thank you," he said politely, in the tone he used when he remembered some social nicety he was supposed to observe. "Thank you for saving me."
Nina laughed. "No problem, Gare," she said. "That's what friends are for, right?"