Scott Shelby sat in his car outside of the hotel that Norman Jayden was staying at. He couldn't be sure this time that Jayden would be here, but it was worth a shot to at least check.
With a nervous sigh, Scott got out of his car and walked inside the hotel. "I'm here to see a Norman Jayden?" He asked the receptionist.
The receptionist shrugged ponderously. "No hablo Inglés."
Scott was then naked.
"Es sexy."
"Thanks." Scott magically re-clothed himself as he called the elevator.
When he got to Jayden's room, Scott quietly tried to open the door. To his delight, it was unlocked, however it being this way made Scott wonder if the door could even be locked at all. That idea now in his head and worrying him slightly, Scott opened the door even slower.
It would have taken the skills of a private investimagatorrator (which Scott had) to hear the shower running.
'Is he taking a shower right now?'
The presence of Jayden's suit, folded neatly on the bed, suggested so.
'I don't see Blake or any sign that he's been here...' Scott raised a brow at this point as he slowly crept into the room.
After a moment, Scott shot around to stare at the bathroom door. Jayden had started to cry, setting off plenty of alarm bells in Scott's head.
'What happened while I wasn't watching him? Why is he crying?' Scott nearly knocked on the bathroom door, but he forced himself not to. 'Christ almighty, I must have lost my mind! If he asks why I'm here, I have nothing to say! While I hate to leave him alone without figuring out what's wrong, I have no choice but to leave...' Scott headed for the door slowly, opening and closing it gently as he made his swift exit.
Norman Jayden stood in the shower, enjoying the hot water only half as much as he would have had his days not been so shitty recently. He was crying, yes, and because of that he felt like more of a sissy.
When he had come to after being attacked by Mad Jack, he found himself inches from death, handcuffed to his car's steering wheel with the car itself inside the powerful jaws of Jack's compressor.
He screamed as loud as he could, then suddenly noticed he was no longer in the compressor, but was instead being thrown about inside the car and appeared to be outside?
The car fell and landed on something briefly before falling to a sudden stop on the ground in front of lieutenant Carter Blake. Jayden nearly slammed his face into the steering wheel, and then he sat there, dumbfounded and terrified.
Blake started screaming at the sky something about a physics engine, and meanwhile Jayden turned the steering wheel to move his hands and somehow managed to start the ignition. He wanted to get as far away from Blake as possible.
"What? Jayden, wait!"
Jayden used his leg to put the car into drive and then slammed down on the gas pedal, starting to drive. Somewhat.
Blake cursed and jumped into his squad car; Jayden sped out of Jack's junkyard as fast as he could.
'Fuck, fuck, fuck! I need to lose him! He'll kill me if he does what he did again!' While he drove, Jayden tugged frantically at his cuffs, not caring that he was digging them into his wrists and only wanting them off. He continued to drive blindly, eventually managing to kick the glovebox open and kick the gun over to himself over the dashboard. He grabbed the gun and quickly tried his best to shoot the cuffs off. The noise of the gun firing startled him even though he'd been expecting it, because he somehow didn't think it'd be so loud. His foot slipped from the gas pedal and onto the brakes, jerking him forward again, and this time he hit his forehead on the steering wheel and was thrown into a daze.
Blake pulled his car to a quick halt behind Jayden's car, which had suddenly stopped.
'Did he try to shoot off his handcuffs and hurt himself?' Blake jumped out of his car and rushed over to the driver's side door, squinting through the cracked window. Jayden was clutching his forehead, his face contorted in agony.
"Jayden!" Blake punched through the window carelessly.
Jayden looked at him, bleeding from his right eye and now his forehead, and started swatting at him. "Get away from me!" He howled, near wild as he slammed onto the gas pedal again and sped off.
Blake cursed loudly, watching as Jayden got away. 'I'll get him later.'
Jayden eventually got back to the hotel (a so-called "resort") he was staying at. He got out of his car and tried to walk inside, but inevitably slumped to his knees.
'I'm so weak and outta it right now... God, I hope I don't have a concussion... I feel like I'm gonna hurl, too... Bettah get inside fast...' Jayden forced himself to his feet and walked inside. Once in the elevator, Jayden leaned against the wall, resting his eyes. 'So tiahd...' He nearly fainted, so he tried to shake himself awake. 'No, if I pass out now, it just might be the end'a me. I gotta hang in the'e, if only just fer Ethan and Shaun's sake...'
The agent quickly retreated into his hotel room, and went straight to the bedside table. He picked up the tube of Triptocaine that sat there.
'I'll take some... Just a little, just one mo'e time... I hurt too much, I need to take some.' Before he could argue with himself by attempting to utilize his knowledge in psychology, he snorted a small amount of the blue powder. 'Not enough... Not enough, I need to take mo'e...'
Jayden proceeded to snort the rest of the powder in the tube. When he noticed the tube was empty, he dropped it and started to freak out. 'My God... I still need mo'e... This is gonna kill me! Maybe... Maybe a showah will help. Please let a showah help...' Almost frantic at this point, Jayden undressed, folding his suit onto the bed neatly. He walked into the bathroom only to slip on the clean floor. After regaining a little bit of his composure, Jayden stood and turned the shower on, hoping that Blake wouldn't somehow find him and barge in as he started to cry, feeling overwhelmed and half wishing that he had never left Washington.
Scott Shelby sat in his car again, now holding the empty Triptocaine tube that he'd stealthily snatched from Jayden's room before leaving.
'And so it starts. Hopefully he won't notice that this tube is gone.' He sighed, feeling sorry for Jayden. 'His death may come sooner than anyone expects if he keeps getting dragged down this path by Carter and Ethan... Perhaps I can fix this, though. Perhaps if I intervene, I can save Jayden, and maybe myself, too...' Scott then had an idea, a great idea that he wondered why he'd never thought of before. With that idea firmly rooted into his conscious mind, Scott put the car into drive and headed back for his apartment.
Since Madison Paige had been wiped off of the face of the Earth, she was unable to visit Paco Mendes.
Norman Jayden walked into the Blue Lagoon in search of Paco Mendes. He had decided against the idea of trying to arouse Paco and was instead just going to bluntly put it out there that he was an FBI agent. He walked over to the bar and thought about getting a drink.
'No... No need to be mo'e impared than I already am...' Regardless of his mind saying no, his body said yes and he ended up with a cup of beer in his hand. 'What's up with me? No, no, I'm fine. Nothin's up with me, I'm just a little tiahd... I'm in full control of myself.' He thought this to himself repeatedly as he "drowned his sorrows", trying to convince himself of this.
By the time the cup was empty, Jayden already felt a tad tipsy. He figured that Paco must have an office upstairs, and he climbed slowly up the steps. The guard standing in front of the door glared at him, so he revealed his federal identification. The guard then backed down, which made Jayden smile.
'Good to know I still have authority ovah some people.' Jayden opened the door and stepped into the hallway that lead to Paco's office. He knocked on the office's door once.
No response.
He knocked again, rougher this time.
Scott Shelby, who had been waiting inside in his disguise, hid behind the door as it swung open.
'Jayden's here. Dammit, I feel horrible for what I'm going to do already... but it has to be done.' The private investimagatorrator scowled.
Jayden stepped inside and saw Paco sitting limp in his chair. He raised a brow and turned Paco around.
Paco Mendes was dead, a bullet wound between his eyes.
Jayden felt strangely indifferent to seeing this corpse before him. That's when he heard the door close behind him. He could feel someone lingering close behind him, and he froze up briefly. Slowly, he reached for his gun and pivoted on his feet, onto to be shoved back with so much force that he slid over the desk and fell roughly to the floor.
Scott grabbed the katana off of the wall and raised it to impale Jayden, who spun away from the swipe to Scott's relief.
Scott managed to cut Jayden across the stomach again, and Jayden let out a pained noise as he tried to get away. Dropping the katana, Scott lift Jayden up by his raincoat and threw him across the room; he slammed into the fish tank and was forced to the floor by the water.
Trembling intensely, Jayden tried to stand. Scott walked over and kicked Jayden in the stomach, effectively crippling him with pain as he'd kicked his fresh wound.
Scott was about to strut out when Jayden threw himself out and managed to catch Scott's hand. Scott shot him a look through his disguise.
"Ya've seen me befo'e, I can tell...!" He choked out weakly through fatigued pants. "Who a'e ya...?! Please, l-let me know...!"
Scott smirked under his scarf and backhanded Jayden. He felt bad about this, but it was a little fun if he pretended it wasn't Jayden whom he was beating to beyond an inch of life. Jayden collapsed to the floor, and Scott hurried out.
'Now to engage in part two of this scheme...'
Jayden got to his feet as fast as he could and hurried out after the Origami Killer, but he'd already disappeared.
"Fuck!" Jayden cursed aloud, hitting the railing. He turned to glare at the guard. "Did Paco know the guy who came t'see him?"
"Sorry, I don't speak cop."
Jayden threw the man over the railing and trudged back into Paco's trashed office to see if he could find anything with his ARI. He then realized he'd forgotten his ARI at Mad Jack's junkyard.
'Perfect. Just fuckin' perf-... What the...?' Jayden could see, quite clearly, the light green highlight of the orchid pollen traces as if they were being pointed out by the ARI. Jayden rubbed his eyes; still there. 'Am I seein' thin's now? God, I feel so weird... I need help... I really need help...' Jayden grabbed at his hair, feeling stressed, and therefore starting to feel the need for Tripto.
There was a brief knock on the door to Paco's office that alarmed Jayden. In stepped the one and only Scott Shelby, who seemed shocked by what a mess the office was. That or he was shocked by Jayden's presence.
"What in the world happened here?" Scott asked with a brow raised.
Jayden tried to hide his inner turmoil from Scott as he spoke. "I haven't the faintest fuckin' idea... I walked in and was greeted by the fuckin' Origami Killah. He attacked me..."
Scott only just then noticed Jayden's black eye. 'Is that from Carter? Goddammit.' He said nothing about it though, trying to play dumb. "Are you okay? You really look like you're on the brink of destruction."
'Nice way of puttin' it...' Jayden thought humorously. "I'm... I'm fine. I just..." Jayden suddenly found himself unable to speak. 'No, no, no, not now! Not now!'
Scott watched as Jayden started to tip over, and he shot out his arms to catch the agent. "Shit! Jayden, can you hear me?"
The private investimagatorrator felt for breathing and a pulse before he allowed himself to sigh in relief. 'He's only unconscious. That Triptocaine stuff really is destroying him rapidly...'
Carter Blake sat at his desk, trying to preoccupy himself with videos of cats on YouTube. Next to his mouse was Norman Jayden's ARI, which he'd left behind at Mad Jack's junkyard. He was worried about Jayden.
Just when he felt like he was going to flip his desk and send out a search party, he heard someone shout his name. He looked to his right and instantly stood so quickly that his chair flew through the far wall.
His name had been called by Scott Shelby. Scott carried Jayden, who was unconscious and wounded.
"Oh my God. What the fuck happened?!" Blake hurried over, but Scott refused to hand Jayden over to him.
"Where can I lay him?"
"Uh, I think one of the cells is empty. That could work."
Scott placed Jayden down in one of the cells.
Blake frowned at him. "You didn't answer my question."
"He's destroying himself because of you, Carter." Scott replied in a casual tone.
"The fuck do you mean?"
"I mean, you fucked up. Jayden's going to die if this continues."
"How can you be so sure, you lying sack of shit? In fact, how can I be certain that you didn't attack him?"
"Oh, I did. I'm not going to lie about that; the cut on his stomach as well as the bruises there are my fault."
Blake tried to punch Scott, but Scott dodged.
"Fucking asshole!" The lieutenant shouted.
Jayden jolted awake to the sound of Blake's yell and looked at the two of them with panic.
"Relax, Jayden. You're safe now."
"Safe...?" Jayden had a smirk of disbelief on his face.
"Well, from the Origami Killer, that is. I brought you back here... though I wish Blake wasn't here."
Blake's face flushed with anger. "I think we need to talk, Scott."
"Blake." Jayden snarled. "Leave him alone."
"Calm the fuck down, Norman; I know Scott. I won't kill him." Blake countered.
Jayden seemed distrusting.
"Just rest for a little while, Jayden. I'll keep Blake busy."
Jayden nodded slowly before laying down and trying to rest.
After a brief argument with Blake, Scott sneaked back to Jayden. He stepped into the semi-closed cell as quietly as he could, but it didn't seem to make a difference; Jayden's eyes snapped open and he sat up.
"Couldn't sleep?" Scott asked.
Jayden shook his head. "Too much pain..."
"Where does it hurt the most?"
"Surprisin'ly, my head... My head feels like its gonna explode..." Jayden backed his statement up by clutching his head.
Scott frowned. "Any way I can help?"
"I... the sky... crystal..."
"Jayden, you aren't making any sense. Is there any way that I can help you?"
"The'e a'e traces of cigarette smoke exactly 1.5 yards to yer right... I thought smokin' wasn't allowed in the station?" Jayden responded, his eyes opened wide and unblinking, appearing a bit sunken into his skull.
Scott raised a brow, and not too soon after, caught a whiff of cigarette smoke. "How did you know about the smoke...?"
Jayden didn't respond other than a blink; he kept holding onto his head as though he were preventing it from falling off of his neck.
The private investimagatorrator sighed as he held the tense agent close to whisper into his ear.
Hearing what Scott had to say would have made Jayden's eyes widen if he could open them any wider. He gazed at Scott when he pulled away, but had trouble focusing his vision. He tried to blink his eyes clear, but he was still seeing translucent doubles.
Scott pat Jayden's shoulder and stood before leaving the police station. Jayden slowly and shakily turned his wide-eyed stare to the floor, not saying a single word.
Ethan Mars stood in his motel room, pacing. He was worried not just about Norman Jayden, but about Madison Paige as well.
'Where the hell did Madison go? I really need to talk to someone...'
Besides this, Ethan was worried about Jayden. 'I left him with lieutenant Blake when Blake seemed pissed... I hope he didn't hurt Norman. But right now, I have to go give myself brain cancer.'
With a sigh, Ethan walked out of his motel room and drove into a black hole.
Scott Shelby stepped into his apartment only to find Lauren Winter standing inside, looking uncomfortable.
"Lauren?"
"I'm sorry, Scott... but General Hospital got... cancelled..."
Scott fell to his knees. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! ! !"
They held each other close, crying.
Madison Paige managed to fall back onto Earth somehow. She landed next to some homeless guy.
They then ate chicken together to the catchy rhythm of smooth jazz.
