The Long Road Ahead

Act II

Episode III

The Whispered

"About time you showed up, Captain!" Kurz Weber mocked as Tessa nearly tumbled over her own feet as she came up behind him. Their captain was wearing those heels again. They always make her stumble.

"Forgive me, Mr. Weber!" Tessa panted, managing a faint smile as she came to a stop behind a small group of Mithril members that had gathered in the main lounge. "I was busy with…" She paused for a moment, not ready to reveal the information she had deduced from Bethany Reed's journal just yet. "…something."

Mao tilted her head backward and raised an eyebrow at Kurz. "Give her a break, Weber." The woman grunted with a roll of her eyes. Her attention then turned to Tessa, taking some relief in finally getting the young woman smiling again. "Sousuke's plane just landed. He should be here soon!"

A wave of relief washed over Teletha Testarossa. Finally, maybe Sousuke could help them. She plopped herself into an empty couch in the middle of the room. "That's good. It's been a while since Mr. Sagara has paid us a visit." She said happily, but with a slight sliver of weariness. "It'll be nice to see him again."

The group that had assembled in the lounge began to disperse after the Captain's arrival. Kurz and Mao took their seats together on the other side of the table from where Tessa's sat. Sousuke Sagara was called back by Mithril to assist with the situation involving David and "The Collective." Tessa was hoping that he would in turn help her. While not all the pieces fit together quite yet, the young woman was starting to assemble her own idea of what exact David's goal might be. Perhaps after Sagara arrived she could get the time, and the people, she needed to finally set some plan to counter whatever the Mithril high-ups might be planning once David resurfaced again. No doubt Mithril was at that very moment putting together a plan to resolve the David issue if the man appeared back onto their radar. Tessa only hoped that she could get to the bottom of everything before Mithril used deadly force. She knew and felt that David has reasons behind his actions.

Kurz leaned back and gave a huge yawn. "You know why they are bringing him in, right?"

Mao cringed a little.

"No…" Tessa uttered with a pause. Her head tilted off to the side in confusion. "…Why?"

The blonde man shrugged. "I've heard they are putting together a team to go after him. I guess they are starting to narrow in on where he might be." Weber's expression slowly turned into a frown. "That's probably not what you wanted to hear, Tessa, but that's what I've been hearing through the grape vine…If you get what I mean."

There it was, the news Tessa didn't want to hear. "Who is on this team, Mr. Weber?" It seemed odd to her that Mithril was putting together a team to go after David without notifying her. Something was off.

A slight pause between the group of friends filled the air.

Mao was the first to raise her hand. She hung her head low on her shoulders, ashamed. "They…They contacted me about it." She admitted silently. "It wasn't exactly my choice, Tessa. They sort are threating people to join in. Not much I can do when they start pulling rank like they are doing now. Mithril's starting to act really strange recently."

Tessa shuddered a little at the thought. The last thing she wanted to think about was pitting Mao and whoever else against David, who at that point, she still considered somewhat a friend. Running out of time, Teletha would have to start putting together a plan of her own quickly in hopes of not only saving David's life, but those of her fellow members of Mithril. It was as if she was on a rollercoaster. The car she was on keep going up and up the largest hill. She could hear constant the clicking off the tracks in her head signaling the ever closer drawing confrontation that they all knew would happen again before it was all over. But she wasn't alone. Everyone else she knew was along for this rollercoaster of a ride, stuffed into the cars that were linked together, all traveling in unison on that same track toward the same ending. But they were nowhere near the top yet. Tessa and her companions had a long way to go before it all would come to an end.

Melissa quickly turned to Kurz. "And I'm not the only one…"

Teletha's heart sank. By the way Mao looked to Kurz, Tessa knew that her other friend was involved.

"Well, I didn't want to straight up tell her!" Kurz gulped frantically. His face turned a little pinkish.

It was the news Tessa sort of felt in her gut, but now it was confirmed. Mithril was pulling out all the stops. Something was starting to worry them. All hands were coming on deck and now their crosshairs were set on David. Mithril was even planning on sending her closest friends in to hunt him down. Sousuke, Weber, Mao, all of them were being pulled together into this team with the pure purpose to remove David's head from his shoulders. Yet, all this only strengthened her resolve. If she could get to David before anyone else, or at least stop Mithril from tracking and killing him, perhaps she could get the answers she wanted.

Tessa put her hands in her lap and began to twirl her thumbs. "I-Is Sousuke involved as well?" She mumbled. In her head she already knew the answer.

Mao was just about to open her mouth to speak when the door crashed open. The entire room turned to the direction of the noise. Stumbling through the door was a young man dressed in an old Mithril uniform. He face was plastered with a look of trembling panic and an attempt to keeping himself in proper order. A bead of sweat ran down the side of his head. The entire room knew who this young man was.

"Ey, Sagara!" Kurz cheered at the top of his lungs, throwing his arms up in the air.

Sousuke Sagara stayed standing firmly in the doorway. His body filled up the entire rectangle as if he was trying to shield something from view. He was stiff as a board. Everyone looked at him with a raised eyebrow. They all were expecting him to give them some sort of greeting. Yet, Sousuke only stood there saying nothing for the longest time. His mouth started to tremble. He locked eyes in sequence with Mao, Kurz, and then Tessa. Still, the young man said nothing.

"Sousuke?! What's the matter?" Mao chirped as she leaned back in her chair to look by Kurz's large mop of blonde hair.

Finally, Sousuke Sagara uttered the first words he said to any of them in a long time. He looked straight to Tessa when he spoke and gave a weak salute. "Captain, I sincerely apologize for what is about to happen! I had orders and I followed them to the letter. But I'm afraid someone doesn't seem to share the same idea of safety as we do!"

Tessa opened her mouth to speak but didn't get very far. "Sergeant Sagara, what are you-."

A large white fan collided with the back of Sousuke's head with a harsh 'whack' sound! He stumbled forward into the room. Righting himself he stiffened his body next to the door…Another voice boomed as a new body emerged into the crowded room.

"Sousuke!" The female voice, clearly unhappy in tone, roared. A young woman with long blue hair entered the room "I can't believe you pulled me out of my apartment for this! I thought you said you were taking me on a vacation!"

Mao started to chuckle and gave a shake of her head. Glancing to Tessa, she gave her a reassuring wink. "I think we are having some extra company."

Weber's face turned bright red. He was holding back a waterfall of laughter. Mao could tell by the way his eyes were close and how his mouth shuddered.

Tessa pivoted her head to the newcomer, heart lighting up at the sight. Sousuke had brought someone else along with him to Merida Island. Thankfully, Tessa's knew their woman, her friend, very well. "Kaname!" Tessa yelped, nearly jumping out of her couch.

An old friend of Tessa's, as well as many others in Mithril, Kaname Chidori was now at Merida Island, dragged along by Sousuke. Probably, the blue haired woman had been brought here by orders. Mithril saw it best to assemble those they wished to keep safe especially at a time like this. Kaname was one of those high value targets that many organizations including "The Collective" would want to get their hands on…Yet, that didn't stop Kaname from resisting.

Kaname Chidori never let up on her assault with her paper fan. Tessa's words fell on deaf ears. Wearing a colorful sundress that swayed about her knees, Kaname pulled a suitcase packed full of clothing behind her. The blue haired woman continued to beat the snot out of Sousuke. She was like a cat who didn't want to go to the vet. "You thick headed idiot!" Kaname bellowed, giving Sousuke another wallop on the back of the skull. "I have a job. I have friends! You take me all the way out here, back to this place! I wanted that vacation! You lying dummy!"

Kurz finally broke down. Rolling off the couch and onto the floor Kurz grasped at his chest as he laughed. "Looks like Sousuke and Kaname haven't changed one bit." Weber had tears rolling down his face at that point.

Tessa wasted no time letting Kaname in on what had happened up until that point. After Sousuke finally manage to calm her down, Kaname did warm up to the idea of being close to her friends once again. Although she was still nowhere near pleased with the situation. The bit about the possibly of stolen information about her did manage to give her a nudge in the direction of understanding…The day was quickly spinning by like a well-oiled clock. Introductions were made and Sousuke wasted no time in becoming acclimated to the atmosphere of Mithril at Merida Island, no matter how chaotic it was this time around. He, Mao, and Kurz left Kaname in the company with Tessa as they reported to Commander Mardukas. It was something about that team being assembled to track down and find David. Now, tucked away in the confines of Teletha Testarossa's room, Tessa and Kaname finally had time to themselves…

It had been now confirmed in Tessa's head that Mithril was assembling a team of her soldiers to go after David Reed. But they were shutting the commander out of the operation. Tessa now had almost no control over the actions at her base.

Lounging on Tessa's sofa, Kaname had her legs stretched out across its surface. One of her arms was swung lazily out to the side, hanging off the couch like it was dead. Her colorful dress brought a new splash of color to Tessa's dull colored room. Her eyes darted from wall to wall, still a little confused on how or why she was even getting involved in such a thing. But whether she liked it or not, Kaname couldn't get out of anything now. Years had gone by since she was at this place and frankly, she didn't want to return anytime soon after what happened back during her time in high school.

"You'll have to forgive me, Kaname." Tessa peeped sheepishly. Sitting on her bed, the grey hair girl clutched one of her dolls tightly in both of her arms. "I didn't mean for this to ruin your and Sousuke's plans. This issue with David really has gotten Mithril riled up in the worst ways, although I can't blame them."

Kaname's head immediately cranked back. The woman could only shrug. "Yeah-yeah, I should've known it was something fishy actually. Sousuke never takes me on vacation. He never takes me anywhere. So when he came and told me he wanted to go somewhere out of the blue, I should've taken that as a hint. Nothing is never as it seems with that man." Although the pair never made it publically official, Kaname and Sousuke had been 'dating' for a number of years.

Tessa's fingers dug into the soft outside of the doll. Her eyes looked away from the woman, completely ashamed. "I really wish you weren't getting involved in Mithril business again." She looked back at Kaname. "Not that I don't mind seeing you and talking to you, in fact I welcome it…It's…It's nice to have a friend around who isn't reaching for a gun whenever something goes wrong." Tessa shuffled her bare feet against her carpet nervously.

Giggling half-heartedly, Kaname pivoted her body into a sitting position. "Don't worry I feel the same way. And that sure sounds like Sousuke alright!" Looking off to the side, Kaname locked her eyes with her suitcase. It was bugling full of clothing she would've worn on a vacation into the tropics. "I really would've liked a vacation though."

Finally, Tessa managed a smile. "Me too, Ms. Chidori. After all this is said and done, I really think I'll take a long one myself." Tessa didn't mention that she was even feeling the need of taking such a vacation and never come back.

Kaname pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at Tessa. She could tell something was eating at the young Mithril Captain and friend. "So…what exactly is going on, Tessa?" Kaname asked bluntly, taking note of how tightly Teletha was grasping at the doll in her arms. If the doll was alive Tessa would've strangled it. The action just screamed that Tessa needed some sort of comfort.

Opening her mouth to speak, Tessa didn't get a word in before Kaname spoke again.

"And I mean, what do you think is going on. Don't give me the "What Mithril wants me to know" speech. I want to know what is going on with you. I can see it in that look on your face. Tell me what you think is going on with David, that Collective crap, everything."

Teletha Testarossa, with a face that was turning red, let out a long and pained sigh. Her mouth immediately turned into a frown. She had already given Kaname the run down on the events that had occurred between David and her up to that point, yet only in the relation to Mithril. Tessa wasn't able give her the response she would've wanted to in the first place. Too many people were listening for such a thing. But in the confines of her own private quarters, the young woman might just be able to get Kaname to see what she saw, and perhaps, what she felt. "Well…I've told you the truth on what happened…to a point." Tessa started in a whisper.

Kaname leaned forward and placed her elbows on her knees. A bit of her blue hair flowed over her shoulder. She was listening intently. "To a point? Go on, Tessa. What is it?"

Releasing one hand from the death grip she had on her doll, Tessa reached for her ponytail and swung it over her should. She began to twist the end in her fingers. The habit had returned. Eyes staring blankly at the floor, Teletha started to speak. "I've been thinking about everything a lot recently, going over everything that has happened…Something…Something doesn't add up to me."

Nodding, Kaname lifted herself up off the couch and made her way across the room. She took a seat besides Tessa on the bed. "What do you mean?"

"Well…It's just that…David seemed so sincere when I met him. He was one of those people who I don't see doing this sort of thing. He always talked about his sister so highly. I could tell that girl meant the world to him. He was kind and polite…I mean I trusted him."

Kaname gave a small frown. "Maybe it was all a set-up? People like that can sometimes put up a façade to hide who they really are."

Tessa shook her head. "I don't think so…There is something more to it than that."

A pause, then Kaname spoke again. "You know something no one else knows, don't you Tessa?"

The Captain gave a faint nod. "David…When he left he said something to me about putting together a puzzle. He said that I needed to figure it out." Her eyes shimmered with the beginnings of tears. The memories of the night David left still fresh in her mind. The memories hurt, there was no denying that. "When he said that too me, the night he left, the look he had in his eyes was so desperate. He wanted me to figure out what was going on. Frankly, I didn't know what he meant…until recently…"

Kaname's head pulled back. "Oh?"

Tessa reached for her pillow and lifted it. Bethany's journal was still tucked under it. Reaching for it, she immediately placed it in her lap in clear view of Kaname's sight. "I started reading this this morning after I found it. It belonged to David's sister. I think David hide it in my suitcase for me to find."

"And, what does it say?" Kaname mumbled. She too became entranced by the little mass of papers held together by wire. "What's in that notebook that is so important?"

"I didn't finish reading it before you arrived. I reached a part where the notebook where Bethany said that she wrote something down. It's in the back. I haven't opened it that far yet." Tessa whispered. She let go of her doll and placed it back on her pillow. "K-Kaname…" The girl whispered finally, voice almost trembling.

"U-Uh…Y-Yeah? What is it, Tessa?" To Kaname, Tessa was sure acting abnormal. There was something about that notebook she was still holding back.

"…What I'm about to say to you might be a bit of a stretch. But if I'm right, it will change everything. It will be up to us to help make it right. You're the only person I can really trust right now, Kaname. Before I open this again, I need to know that you're with me. If what is in the back of this book is what David wanted me to find, it'll be up to us to finish it out."

Kaname had to pause before giving a response. She knew if she stayed with Tessa at that moment, she would be drawn into this entire fiasco more. If she continued on she would be sucked into something much bigger than herself. Kaname would need to stick by Tessa through the thick of it. Taking a large gulp of courage and a nod, Kaname gave her reply. "I'm with you, Tessa." There was no backing out now.

Tessa also gave a small nod. She felt like a little weight had been lifted off her shoulders now that she had a true ally. Taking in a long and deep breath, Tessa's eyes narrowed at the notebook. "Kaname, I think that Bethany Reed might be a Whispered. I don't have my proof yet, but I feel like what we will need is in the final pages of paper."

Her friend froze. Kaname's face seemingly went numb, like all emotion had been sucked out of it. What Tessa had just said, if true, changed the game. Everything she was told, about David, about The Collective, about Bethany, and the entire mess they were now in would be completely turned on its head. Although she herself was one of the Whispered, having such a little child being the cause of all this made Kaname feel sick to her stomach. She could barely imagine what horrors that the small girl might be enduring at this very moment, if still alive.

"If I'm right…" Tessa began again, flipping over the first few pages she had already read. "…I feel like David's role in all of this might be different as well. Call me crazy, but if we are right, Kaname, I think David might have done all of this to get his sister back."

Kaname was still having a bit of trouble understanding it all. "W-What makes you say that, Tessa?" It had been a long time since she had to deal with anything such as this. It was nerve-wracking.

"This all based on assumption, but I feel like David left me this notebook to figure out that Bethany was such Whispered. He said he wanted me to figure it out. David was leaving a breadcrumb trail. By working for The Collective, he might be getting close enough to where he can get to her." Tessa was having trouble breathing. She had to pause for the longest time. As she went over all the information in her head, everything only seemed to get worse and worse. If the Collective had a Whispered in their grip, they wouldn't give it up so easily. "Bethany Reed went missing, presumed dead. But David always spoke about her as if she was still alive. That's what's been driving him. He knew his sister was other there somewhere. He put it together that The Collective had taken her."

There was a long pause before Kaname said anything. She had to piece everything together herself. The young woman had only received all of this information just a few hours before. "…And Mithril now wants David. From what you told me I don't think he will come quietly." Kaname shook her head; even then they were still working on assumption. "W-Wait, but we still need to figure out if Beth is one of us. If she isn't…I-I don't think…"

"I understand, Ms. Chidori." Tessa replied simply, her words started to slow. "Whatever we find out stays between us. We can't let anyone one else know what we find. The answer is right here in my hands…L-Let's start…" Her head ever so slowly turned back to the worn out notebook she held in her hands. The captain's small fingers furiously flipped through page upon page of nothingness. It was all blank until Teletha had finally reached the final pages.

What they saw sent shivers down their spines…

A small photo fell to the floor…

Kaname and Tessa's eyes grew wide. Their faces went pale. Scribbled frantically on the final pages were formulas, diagrams, and equations far too complex for a normal girl Bethany's age. They were things Tessa could accomplish. They were things a Whispered could accomplish. Subconsciously Bethany Reed had written all of these details in her notebook. Numbers overlapped other numbers and writing was sprawled out across the lined page, not following any particular axis of straightness…Tessa was correct…Bethany Reed was one of the Whispered…But that wasn't all. Kaname leaned down and gingerly gripped the small photo in her fingers. Leaning back up, she placed it onto the lined paper. It was a photo Teletha Testarossa knew well. It was the same photo of the presumed head of The Collective, a picture taken from what she could only assume was Bethany's phone. It all fit together now. The puzzle was finally falling into place…

"So…That's it…" Kaname mumbled silently.

Tessa was about to speak when a fanatically voice boomed over the intercom…

"Madam Captain, please report to the briefing room. David Reed has been found in Chicago…I repeat David Reed has been found in Chicago!"

Author's Notes:

Sorry about the long wait between chapters. It took me a while to push this one out.

I also am sorry if it seems a little "Meh."

Over the past couple of weeks my fire has been really burnt out for this story. I love it, I want to do it, but sometimes it gets hard to do such things…But, I hope that this chapter will help me get my blaze going once again. There are plenty of things that this story still has that I so desperately want to show and tell you guys.

Anyway, I really hope that if you read this chapter that you leave a review. They are like presents! Having feedback can really help me along. So please, review, I want to see this story through to the end and reviews will help me do such things!

Thank you for your support, and hopefully I won't be long on the update.

Thanks,

MrWatch

P.S – PM if you find and error and I'll fix it ASAP!