On A Wing And A Prayer
Grace finished her lunch, and walked back to her office. She grabbed Adam's file, and looked at the clock. He was due in ten minutes. He'd promised her he would attend, but still, she had her reservations. With someone who had been through hell and back, multiple times, and someone, who didn't like to talk about things, she knew these appointments could be painfully slow. But, she was patient, and did not give up on anyone, though she was not stubborn. If someone wanted to leave, to give up, she would let them.
The dreary sky, and the darkening clouds signalled rain was coming, and Grace could only hope it had stopped, by the time she had finished her shift.
A knock on her door had her put the file back, into the drawer.
Five minutes early.
"Come in."
Sure enough, it was Adam, and she grabbed a small grey mug. He nodded. She didn't even need to ask.
Whilst she made the coffee, she felt Adam's eyes on her back. She ignored that, despite the icy chill, down her spine. She took the mug, and once it was full, she turned, and gave it to him.
"If you wish to talk, talk. If not? That's okay. I don't expect people to just spill their guts to me," she paused, "so to speak."
The man's demeanour told her he did not wish to be here, but that he knew he needed to be.
He retracted his shades.
"How have you been?"
That wasn't the question he had expected. He thought she would want to delve straight into his mind, try and prod it a bit.
His lips thinned.
"Fine doc."
Grace felt a sigh coming on.
Back to doc I see.
She understood why though. According to his file, whenever Adam got close to someone, they would either betray him, or use him for their own gains.
His respect for people was wearing thin, and being on a first name basis with him would take time.
The respect was still there, but it was waning. Worn down, over many years.
"Good to hear that. I hear your last mission went well. The news on updated augments, and the backlash is troubling however."
Adam grumbled.
"Augmented people are already seen as freaks. Non augmented people are worried, that with better augs, they'll be in danger."
Grace tilted her head.
"Danger? You mean they fear attack from augmented people?"
Adam nodded.
"After Panchaea, rumours began spreading that the people there just started randomly killing others, or harming themselves. It wasn't that, I know, I was there. If people would stop jumping on the 'hate all augments' bandwagon for five minutes, they may well find out the truth."
"I saw the latest Picus TV broadcast, Eliza was disputing those claims of violence. Sadly, some seem to have correlated the rise in backstreet augmentation, to gang culture, and it's bloodthirsty streak increasing. It has nothing to do with that, and the rise of backstreet experiments is disturbing, though, we all knew it would happen."
"Eliza and Picus are trying to divert peoples, and the media's attention, away from people like myself, and onto bigger things, like the increase in fighting, between gangs. The warfare stakes have never been so high, and it sickens me."
Grace agreed, and sipped her coffee. She'd brought in her own, premium brand, and could drink this, without wanting to vomit afterwards.
The next part this month's therapy plan worried her slightly, and she reopened Adam's file.
Adam squinted, emerald and citrine eyes swirling
"What are you looking at?"
Grace lied.
"Past cases notes. Why?"
Lying was something she didn't resort too, unless she felt it absolutely necessary.
Adam closed a fist, grounded it, against his knee.
Lie.
Lie...
Really?
"You're lying."
She couldn't fool him, though, she did not know this. The only people, with the full list of his augmentations were him, Frank, and David.
Grace cocked a brow.
"And how do you know that?"
Adam did not answer. Her vital signs changed. Her pulse quickened, and a swift surge of Beta and Omega meant that she was nervous, and that was growing, with each passing second. She was also scrambling around, to come up with another answer.
The truth would be nice...
Grace took a deep breath, and went for it.
"Okay, yes, I lied. The next part of our session mentions Miss Reed, and her involvement, in all of this."
That took the wind out of Adam's sails. Now, he was the one who scrambled around. His mind felt like it had been dropped and shattered, all around him.
"Megan? She's in jail. That's all you need to know."
The doctor pushed back a little.
"So, nothing to so with her project? It says here about a 'Nanite virus,' 'Chimera' and 'Hyron Project.'"
Adam pinched the bridge of his nose, and growled.
"Leave it," he worked his jaw, "move on."
Grace obliged, not wishing to pester him further.
"Okay. How about Sarif?"
Adam made a face.
"He's lied to me for years. He pays me to listen to his bull. Why? What do you need to know about him?"
"What is your relationship with him? Outside of work."
The man sighed.
"There isn't one. I turn up, he gives me a mission, or a briefing. Usually Pritchard does that."
"No Father-son mechanic? That can happen, in cases of an older boss, employing and working closely with a younger employee."
His face spoke volumes, but he didn't even wish to speak a paragraph of it.
"No."
Grace relented.
"How is work? Outside of field work, and missions."
He coughed gruffly.
"Quiet. Other than listening to the monotonous click, of Frank, typing away, all day, and the odd workplace, unimportant email, nothing much."
Grace caught herself smiling.
"It is like that here too, only the clicking here is from our receptionist, Marina, and her ridiculously long, fake nails."
She huffed out a laugh, Adam perked up a bit too.
"I apologise if this is going too fast, too soon, for you. My usual scheduled plans I had to alter, for your case. Not that I mind, its a change of pace, and I welcome it."
Adam snorted.
"What, throw everything at me at once?"
Grace shook her head.
"Not all, no."
When she went quiet, the gravity, of what was on that file, on her lap hit him.
It veritably smacked him in his face, sending his thoughts into oblivion.
Shit. Grace knows all about me.
That file...
Grace saw him, eyeing the file.
"Ah. This is confidential."
Adam retorted.
"It is my file."
She reasoned.
"Yes, but did David let you read your file? The one, in his office?"
When no answer came, she continued.
"I thought not."
She placed the file on her desk, and cleared her throat.
"Another part mentions your childhood, and White Helix."
Just when Adam though this couldn't get any worse. He knew at some point, if he was to let go of what happened, he would have to talk about it. He didn't feel up to it now however.
The agent lent back, against the chair, and crossed his arms. Grace noticed how petulant is body language was.
She also noticed how stiff his posture was. His gaze was far away, as if remembering something, in the past.
"They experimented on me, as a kid. Genetic therapy. I was the only one it worked with, hence why I don't need Neuropozyne. They permanently altered my DNA."
Grace was shocked. He dealt with all that, when he was child? One so young should never be exposed to that sort of thing. How heinous were the team that did that to him? Some people sickened her. How could they injure and maim anyone, let alone a child? A vulnerable child?
"You didn't have to tell me that. Thank you Adam. Would you like to carry on?"
He'd started something, but it wasn't a tangent, so he digressed.
"The facility was burned down. But, before the scientists could get out, the Illuminati murdered them. They were listed as 'killed by the fire,' to cover it up. I was rescued, by Michelle Walthers, and she gave me, to the Jensen family."
Grace nodded.
"Arthur and Margie, your file mentioned them," she looked at her watch, and realised they only had two minutes left of his appointment, "okay. I'll write you up another card. If you wish to return, that is."
Adam could have groaned. She was coddling him, he despised that.
He knew she was trying to be considerate though, passive, though not too much. He appreciated that.
He stood, and the doctor held a card, and pen in her hand.
"Any date in particular, in the next month or so, that is free?"
Adam was back, in Hengsha in two weeks, after receiving disturbing information, about Arie Van Bruggen there.
After that? He'd be back in Detroit.
"The end of November I will be free."
Grace wrote down a date, then looked back up.
"Morning, afternoon, or evening appointment?"
"Afternoon, I can come straight here, after work."
The doctor stood, and handed the man her card.
"The 29th, 5.45 pm."
She grabbed his grey cup, and sat back down.
"See you then Adam."
Although he'd only spoken about his past a little, it soured Adam's mood.
Instead of going back to the office, he cut through a few back alleys and went home.
He needed to think, reevaluate what the hell was going on in his life.
A message in his inbox, when he got into his apartment turned the sour feeling in his gut into full blown nausea.
It was from Detective Inspector Riley, the woman overseeing Megan's case.
He stared at the message, and read it several times, as if that would help alleviate his anxiety.
It really didn't, it simply made it ten times worse.
He gulped.
Megan wanted to see him...