If there was one thing Jayden hated most in this world, besides Carter Blake, it was having nothing to do.
That was part of the reason he had taken to ARI so quickly. It was extremely good at filling all the dull moments in his existence. It did such a wonderful job of making all his problems disappear when in reality, it only made them worse. Hell, it gave him a drug problem, after all.
But it was a good run, wasn't it? You saved a few lives that you wouldn't have been able to without ARI's help.
Yeah, but I couldn't save Shaun Mars. He'd be dead now if it weren't for Madison.
She really is an angel, huh? Not bad to look at either…
Jayden blinked. Where was that train of thought going? He did not want to know. Sure, she was beautiful and smart and she'd saved his ass on multiple occasions...But he just wasn't used to thinking of her in that way.
What the hell was he doing? He could handle this on his own, he always had before Madison came along. So why should that be any different now?
Jayden stood up and walked shakily to the bathroom. The first thing that caught his eye was how ridiculous the sink was; it looked more like a fountain with four taps added on. He searched Madison's medicine cabinet for something that would ease the pain in his head, his body screaming for tripto. It was extremely good at taking the pain away...
But he found only sleeping pills.
Great…This is just fucking great.
At that moment, a drop of something dark and red slowly rolled from one of his nostrils all the way to his top lip.
Blood...of course it had to be blood.
It was happening again. The ex-agent's reflection became blurry and distorted in the mirror. The world spun faster and faster until his legs finally gave out from under him. Catching himself mid-fall, he backed away from the mirror, closing his eyes and attempting to breathe deeply.
Jayden's reflection was laughing at him.
)O(
Madison returned to her desk, dead tired, even more so than before. Sam had promised to do everything he could, but hacking into the FBI database was serious shit, just like Jayden warned. She yawned and rested her chin on her hands. Maybe if I just close my eyes for a second...
The phone rang. Madison bolted upright and fumbled for the receiver, her heart pounding.
"H-Hello?"
"Ms. Paige?" queried the high pitched voice of Julie, the secretary. "There is a call for you. He says it's urgent."
This didn't do much to calm her rapid heartbeat.
The line went dead silent. Madison waited, hardly daring to breathe, until she couldn't wait anymore. Panic was rising in her chest, threatening to swallow her whole.
"Norman?" she tried, hoping he was there. An eternity passed, then another...
"Madison..." The voice sounded strange through the receiver. "I called your cellphone. You didn't answer."
"I'm sorry." The purse laid on the desk beside her, cellphone in the front pocket, as always. "I was away from my desk for a minute. Is everything all right?" Though she knew simply from the tone of his voice that it was not.
"I..." Jayden hesitated, as if searching for the right words. "I needed to hear your voice." he said.
What did that mean? Something was very wrong, here.
"Okay," Madison took a deep breath. "Hang on, Norman. I'm coming home, just stay put."
Her body went on autopilot, performing the necessary tasks to get her back to the apartment safely. In truth, she didn't even remember most of the mad rush through the streets of Philly on her motorcycle. Taking the stairs two at a time, she eventually reached the fourth floor. Madison jammed her key into the lock and fiddled with it until the front door finally surrendered.
It didn't take Madison long to realize what little things were out of place. For one, a bottle of gin rested on the coffee table, about a third of its contents missing. Jayden was motionless on the couch once more, either asleep or unconscious. The profiler looked deathly pale and his hair was inexplicably wet. Traces of blood suggested his nose had been bleeding recently.
What am I going to do with him?
Just then, her cellphone started to vibrate in her purse. Madison answered it quickly, not wanting to disturb Jayden...unless that was the right thing to do in this kind of situation.
"What's going on, Mad?" it was Sam. "You ran out of the building like the world was coming to an end."
"I told you I had something to take care of." She could tell he wasn't buying it. "Look, I'll explain everything, just not now. It's too complicated to discuss over the phone."
"Yeah, well, if it has anything to do with that information you asked for, I can see why."
The journalist froze. "Did you find...?" Her voice faltered before she could finish asking the question, not that she needed to.
"It wasn't easy, but yeah, I did." Sam replied. "You really owe me this time, Mad."
"Always," she smiled, glancing toward the man lying on her couch. What was he hiding? "Tell me what you got, Sam, and I will tell you why I needed to know."
"You may want to sit down."