A/N: We get into a lil bit of history in this chapter. Enjoy the flashback!

Disclaimer

I don't own anything except the plot, OCs and fictional events.

Chapter 15

Flashing Back-Part I

Beach House, Santa Monica Beach, Los Angeles

Three years ago, July 14, 2011

7.28 a.m.

Despite being in the middle of summer, the whole family had to wake up early for Dad's appearance at this year's Weapons Expo in the city.

I'll tell you what he does; he's a researcher, mainly in weaponry. He invented a firearm cartridge which explodes in midair if it misses it's target, spreading small shots, similar of those to a shotgun shell. It also acts as an armor-piercing incendiary round if it did hit its target.

I was just buttoning up my plaid shirt in my room when Dad shouted my name from downstairs. "Danny! C'mon! We only have half an hour till we get there!"

"Alright! I'm coming down!" I replied.

I checked and patted my pants to see if I missed or forgot anything. Everything was intact, my wallet, my phone, my bag with my laptop, my shades...wait, where were they? "Where are you, shades?" I saw them on my computer desk, fetched them, then hung it on my shirt. Then, I went out and shut the door behind me.

The whole of my family were already downstairs at the garage in the car, awaiting me. I hopped on the backseat of the white Porsche Panamera Turbo and sat beside Sarah. She was still enraged with me because of last night's prank I pulled at her. I tried apologizing, but she repelled and sat at the corner of the door.

Dad reversed out of the garage, and drove straight for the Expo's venue, the Los Angeles Convention Center.

LACC, Los Angeles, 8.20 a.m.

We had reached the expo twenty minutes ago, and it wasn't at all what I had expected.

We were backstage where the company he works with set up their booths and show stage. Before my father's appearance for his presentation, we had been waiting and giving him motivational quotes before he went on stage.

Just before the MC called Dad out to stage, I wanted to confess something. "Um...dad? Can I say something?"

"What is it son?" He sounded nervous, obviously from stage fright.

"This has been great and all, but why doesn't this expo have a lot of gun manufactures?"

"What are you talking about? I saw Winchester's and Remington's booths just now."

"Dad, those are only two of five gun manufactures that showed up here. I saw Beretta, SIG Sauer, and Walther, but I'm getting bored of them! Where's FN Herstal? Heckler & Koch, Glock, Magpul, Colt, ArmaLite?"

"What? The missiles don't interest you? What about the RPG-7?"

"Dad, I'm a fan of guns. Not weapons of mass destruction."

"So? You can't go anywhere, there's no place to hangout!"

"I saw a coffee shop half a block away when we drove here."

"Can you at least stay until my presentation's over?"

"Okay, here's the deal, you said that your company has a website, right? And they said on the home page that they're gonna be live streaming this on their website."

"And what are you planning to do?"

"I'll go to the coffee shop, and watch the live stream on the website via my phone. Plus, I've my laptop, maybe I can watch the live stream from it."

"Fine, just be careful out there, okay? I'll pick you up when the Expo's over."

"Okay..."

"C'mon, give me a hug..." He lunged towards me and hugged me tight. I hugged back. I don't know why for some reason.

"Love ya, Danno," he said, calling me by my second nickname.

"Right back at ya, dad..."

We released our embrace just in time for him to get on stage. "Wish me luck, son!"

"Good luck!" My last words to him before he went on stage. Or ever again in person.

"And here's our main man, please welcome, Hisham 'Roy' Sidik!" said the MC. Yup, that was his name. He likes people to call him 'Roy'.

He gets up on stage, and I was ready to leave. I walked to the backstage door. Before that, Mom and Sarah gave me the family's usual goodbye hug, despite Sarah having a grudge from last night.

The oddest thing happened, Sarah started to cry. As if she was never to see me again. "Hey, what's wrong? Is it because of last night? D'aww, I'm sorry, lil' sis. Don't cry, I'll be only gone for a while, ya hear?" She nodded, trying to hold back her tears.

"See you at four, Danny!" my mother said.

"'Kay, mom!"

Starbucks Coffee

I was hanging out at Starbucks while using their WI-FI to watch Dad's presentation of his invention on live stream.

Sorta.

Okay, I DIDN'T watch the live stream. I set the phone aside while the live stream was turned on while I battled online in Battlefield 3 on my Alienware gaming laptop, sipping my coffee while I clicked on the mouse.

As the live stream went on, I got about 20 kills in the first two minutes after the match started, and it got so much negativity from other players in the match. Some claimed me hacking, some...well...hacking was very much they claimed I was doing.

But, there was one player, a pro like me, praised me for my skills. With voice chat, I told him to meet me at a private room I was going to create.

We met up, introduced each other, and just...talked. His gamer tag was '00Benjy'.

"Where ya from?" I asked ever so informally, like normal gamers would.

"I'm from island a few hundred miles off the Eastern Seaboard. The name I can't tell, you have to figure out for yourself. You?"

"Malaysia, I moved here a few months ago, now I'm waiting for my dad to finish his presentation at the LA Weapons Expo."

"Huh, I'm waiting for my uncle to finish his too."

"Your uncle has a presentation to be done there too?"

"No, no... He's head of security there, although being a rookie agent. He works with Interpol."

"So no wonder there's so many people in black wearing earpieces. Is there an ops going on?"

"I'm not supposed to say. Hey, if we were at the event, where are you?"

"I'm at a coffee shop. Half a block from LACC."

"Strange, I'm at a coffee shop too. Starbucks."

"Hold on a second, Im'ma try tracking down your IP address." I minimized the game and booted up a software for tracking IPs. I tapped in his IP, results show that he was here in the shop. In fact, he was connected to the same WI-FI network as I did.

"Dude, we're in the same coffee shop," I stated.

"So where are you?"

"I'm the guy in plaid and using an Alienware gaming PC."

"I'm at the back of the shop, with a Dell gaming PC."

I lifted my vision from the screen and started eying for him.

He was waving his orange right hand, or paw, then it came to my shock...

That he was a mouse, turquoise eyes, orange an white fur...

I grabbed my equipment and sat at his table, opposite to him. "Surprise, surprise! You're a mouse!"

"Tada!" he said as I settled down and set up.

"You have a lot to explain about yourself. By the way, the name's Danial Arif. But call me Danny." I extended my hand to be shaken.

He shook my hand before his words, or rather, squeaks. "I doubt it because you've surely heard of me, I'm the nephew of Geronimo Stilton."

I was dumbfounded. I thought Geronimo Stilton was fictional.

"Geronimo Stilton? The editor and chief of New Mouse City's most 'fabumouse' newspaper, The Rodent's Gazette? And author of Geronimo Stilton books?"

"Yup..."

"You're Benjamin Stilton! His nephew! It's a great honor to meet you!"

"Back to you!"

We talked and talked and talked... Until it was ten o'clock.

"Hey Danny, if you're up to be an Interpol agent, you can sign up."

"Am I not under aged?"

"Not since last year, we've been accepting junior agents!"

"Wait, we?"

"That's right, I'm Interpol." Then a beep came from his watch.

"There goes the signal, nice meeting ya!" He packed his stuff, left some money on the table and scampered out the coffee shop.

I took a peek at the live stream again. I just couldn't believe my eyes.

The whole convention center was chaotic. People running around, the Interpol agents evacuating the guests, and I saw my father go off stage. Then, the camera zooms in and focuses on a group of five masked men in black carrying guns with their muzzles pointed up, firing them too scare people off.

The man in the middle which I presumed that that was their leader. He was wearing a mask with a lower jaw of a skull printed on it. "WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS HISHAM SIDIK?" he shouted.

It left me aghast.

My iPhone rang in the middle of the chaos. It was Dad.

I immediately picked up. "Dad? What's happening?"

"Danno, stay there! We're coming to pick you up!" He was already in the Panamera, judging by the sound of tire screeches heard in the earpiece.

I hung up and packed up, then waited for them to arrive out at the street. I wore my shades to prevent the excessive sunlight entering my eye.

I saw the Panamera far at the end of the street, drifting into it in fact. I heard the 4.7 liter V8 at full chat, redlining, and shifting into another gear. I decided to call the car's phone.

"Dad, I'm right here!" I said, waving my unoccupied arm.

"I see you Danno, hang tight!"

I saw the car speeding at me, running red lights and avoiding traffic. They were just a quarter klick away, until...

The unthinkable happened.

The Panamera exploded from its fuel tank, flipping vertically on its roof.

"DAAAAD!" I screamed.

The glass shattered as it crashed on its roof, and the fire spreader quickly as if kerosene was poured over it.

If someone came after my family, then they'd probably come after me.

I felt endangered, so I just ran facing the other way as fast as I can, not turning back. I glanced over my shoulder though, with my eyes tearing up. I just saw people gathering at the street near the explosion, and of course, the burning car. The more I stared at it, the more emotional I got. So I turned my head back where I was running, and never looked back.

I saw an entered an alleyway, and hid there.

I was sweating, panting, and tired from running, feeling sad and confused at the same time.

I stood with my hands on my knees, bending down. My mind was racing with thoughts; did I see what I just saw? Why is this happening to me? Why did they have to leave? What am I supposed to do? Where will I go?

I just collapsed on my knees and screamed, ignoring my surroundings. "AAAARRRGGGHHH!"

I cried, feeling ever so sad of my family's departure. I had nowhere to go, no one to comfort me.

Then I thought of a place where I could go.

"Professor..." Yup, the man who created the microchip in my head. Professor Graham Philips.

I got out, checking left and right before that. I ran and jogged my way to where my mind set me to go.

Residential Areas, half mile from Caltech

Home of Professor Graham Philips

11.08 a.m., about an hour later

I walked the rest of the way to the Professor's house, without hailing any cabs. It was hot because...hello? Summer? I was sweating all the way, so I took off my outer clothes, which was my outer plaid shirt. The white inner shirt was absorbing my excess body fluids like a sponge.

I saw his house, small, homey, two-story and blue painted. It had a mediocre-sized garage where he keeps his fiery red Porsche 911 GT2 RS, which was clearly unseen because the door was closed. Heh, well, he is an inventor and a lecturer.

He lived alone, that's why he bought such a small place. I waked up the home's porch, and knocked on the door. No answer. I knocked the second time, thrice, still no answer.

I turned the knob to see if it's locked. Yup, it was locked shut alright. Which was why he didn't answer. He was busy at Caltech.

So I did what I had to do. Break in. I took out my paper clips from my jeans' pocket which I had already shaped for picking locks. So I proceeded, kneeled down and got picking. Don't criticize, it was a basic and necessary skill to master.

"Almost...got...it!" I murmured. Then...

Click! It was unlocked. I got up, and entered the house.

It was dark inside, the blinds and curtains were all closed up, and major silence filled the house. Nothing but ringing in my ears.

I turned left at the door into the living room, and sat on the Prof's recliner at the corner of the living room. He wouldn't mind because I've done that a few times, and he didn't seem to care.

I spent the rest of the time thinking about what happens next as I waited for the Professor to come home.

20 minutes later...

I fell asleep for a few moments, which I had dreamt about the memories of my family. I was awaken by the explosion in my dream. Turned out, it was the roar of a 614 horsepower flat six engine from the Prof's Porsche. He came back home.

Odd, his schedule for the day was filled with lectures. He wasn't supposed to be back by six.

I heard him from outside, walking to the porch as the hard soles of his shoes made a sound like a trotting horse. Then, sound of keys clanging against each other made me thought that he was taking out his keys. He then inserts one into the keyhole, tumblers lifted up, then unlocked the door.

I stayed still however, wanting him to notice himself.

He slowly walked down the hall, carrying his briefcase full of lecture notes.

A little about the Professor, his full name is Professor Graham William Philips. Born in 1973 in London, England , he's 38 years old, the same as my father. He moved to here in his early career days as a technological scientist in the mid-90s where he started to develop the microchip in my head. He had a wife, but she was killed in a car crash. It was between her 5 Series Beemer and and a Ford Explorer. He lived alone since that day and never got remarried. He now lectures students at Caltech after his successful creation, which was me, a year ago. How I would physically describe him, he's tall, standing about six feet eleven, has a semi muscular build despite being middle aged, he's Caucasian, has blonde hair, and no facial hair whatsoever, because he constantly shaves them.

Back to the topic, he took his jacket off a part of his suit, then hangs it on the coat hanger near the stairs in the hall. He then sets his briefcase down at the hall, and went to the kitchen, where he flung open the fridge door to get a glass of milk.

He turned around facing the living room, and finally noticed me. "Danial?" he started with his mild-deep British accent, rushing for me in two big steps. You see, he's the only person in the world who calls me by my name. "Where have you been? I was so worried!" He set the glass of milk down on the coffee table.

He went to check if there were any appendages on me. "Prof, I'm fine."

"Thank goodness..." he went to sit down on the sofa across the room. "How'd you get here?"

"I walked. From LACC."

He raised his eyebrows and slightly gaped. "You WALKED twelve MILES all the way from LACC to here?"

I nodded.

He sighed. "I saw the one-thirty news. Before your father left, he informed me that you weren't at the Expo. I assumed that you weren't in the car. So I had to skip a lecture and went to check your house to see if you were there. It took ten minutes for me to drive from Caltech to there. You weren't, so I came back here."

I started to sob. "What am I supposed to do, Prof? For the first time in my life, they're gone forever!"

The place was quiet until the Professor broke the silence. "Live with me for a while. Once you're ready to move on and possibly go solo, I've a program of that contains all knowledge that will upload itself into your chip."

I nodded again. I couldn't hold the tears, so I just let it out.

He came to me and comforted me as if he was my own father. There was still more room in the recliner, so he sat next to me.

Present day

Geronimo's Perpective

My mind just exploded when I heard that he was involved in the LA Weapons Expo incident. When all of it happened, and after his family's death, I investigated their fate. In the agency's database, it didn't mention at all that Hisham Sidik had a son. But rumors around said that he had, and agents in Interpol dubbing him by the name; 'The Missing Son'.

"I was ready to live on my own a few months later, and he uploaded the program into the chip, making me an instant genius, then I worked at Apple. Soon, my name was growing, and made my first game; Fields Of Battle: Black Moon. I became a millionaire and soon after that, multi-billionaire until I am who I am now," he explained.

I leaned closer to him so I could prove that didn't mishear. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help hearing that your father was Hisham Sidik?"

"Yeah. You've heard about him, right?"

I froze. "Will you excuse me for a second?" Without his answer, I race-walked to Thea to talk to her.

She was done beating Trap, and got up from the seat of the driving simulator. "Thea, can I talk to you in private."

"Okay..."

"Follow me to the kitchen." I took normal-paced steps to the kitchen with her following behind me.

We got to behind the counter. "What's this about, G?" she asked.

"Remember the last entanglement between us and that scumbag two years ago?" I'd never thought I'd be so vulgar, I apologize to you all.

Thea put her arms akimbo. "Yeah, LA, 2011. I remember it like it was yesterday, why?"

"Looks like there was one more family member that he missed."

"How? I thought everyone in the car perished in that explosion."

"Because the other one wasn't in the car. He was at the Expo, but left early with his father's permission."

"Who are you talking about?"

"The Missing Son."

"I thought that that was just a rumor."

"The rumors are true, Thea. Hisham Sidik intentionally hid his son's identity and existence to protect him from this."

Thea kept quiet to process what she was hearing.

"Danny told me his backstory just now. He said he was somehow involved in the incident and also mentioned that his father was Hisham Sidik."

"That can't be!"

"It is. Can't you see it Thea? The resemblance? And you said you saw a picture of a man like him when we were at Malaysia. It's all clear now!" Then I announced my conclusion. "Danny was The Missing Son!"

It looked like I took her breath away. She looked back at Danny, arms still akimbo. "How are gonna break the news to him, Geronimo? How are we gonna tell that HE was the one who rigged the car with a block of RDX?"

I paused and sighed. "I hate to break his heart again, seeing what he's been through... But it seems that we don't have any choices, do we?" Thea shook her snout as a response.

"Let's go."

We approached Danny. "Danny, we need to talk," I started.

A/N: There you go! A lil bit of history for ya! See ya in the next chapter!