Twilight really, really wanted to be anywhere except in his office at that moment in time. He wanted to be out jumping over rooftops, looking for Anya. She could be absolutely anywhere, and he knew he could do something to help, but instead, WISE had ordered him to stay where he was and continue with his work. It would look bad if he disappeared along with his daughter too, but they had tried to reassure him that they were on the case to look for Anya.

Besides, they needed information from Zacharis that only Twilight could collect.

Twilight glanced between the files in his hand, and the man sitting in front of him.

Erik Zacharis. Now coming close to ninety years of age, his wife had died some years previously, and both of his children were now adults in their forties, with children of their own. He had grown his family since the war, and by playing a part in ending it, he had made sure that everyone else got to keep their own families.

Twilight owed this man a lot for ending the war.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr Zacharis," said Loid formally. "I'm Dr Forger, the consultant psychiatrist at this hospital. Thank you for coming in today."

Mr Zacharis had a long face, with a stern chin and round glasses which did a lot to obscure his facial expression, but with Twilight's years of intelligence training, he was able to pick up on the subtleties of the Colonel's facial muscles quite easily. Mr Zacharis sat in his seat with his hands clasped, but his twitching leg gave away his nervousness.

"Thank you for seeing me," he rasped, and Twilight winced. His voice had taken a huge hit from a decades-long cigar habit. Twilight would have guessed about twenty a day.

"I've taken a look at some of the information you've provided at your assessment, and it says on your notes that you have some traumatic memories of what you witnessed during your part in the war. Can you tell me a bit more about that?"

Erik sucked in his teeth. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Of course," said Twilight smoothly. "Some people find that talking about things does help, but it can take some time for people to notice the difference in their own lives, but if it's more comfortable for you, we can start with something else. Can you tell me what a typical day is like for you?"

Erik hunched further in his chair. "I don't know. I can't sleep anymore, so I could wake up at any time in the morning. I don't eat much either. And then when my housekeeper makes me dinner, I can barely eat it. I don't want to insult her, so I just throw it in the bin when she isn't looking, and then I watch TV and go to bed."

Twilight made sure to ask all the necessary follow-up questions he needed: he found that if he asked patients about a typical day for them, this gave him a good insight into how things had been affecting them, and how it affected their functioning in their day to day life. Most patients reported struggling with sleep, which tended to have a knock on effect on the rest of their day. The fact that Erik Zacharis had no daily structure was concerning, as was the implication that he barely had any social support apart from his housekeeper.

Twilight made sure to keep notes of all of this. "Are there any things in your life at the moment which are helpful for you?"

Erik shrugged. "I would say my kids, but I don't see them much anymore."

Twilight nodded. It was a shame. Mr Zacharis had given so much to both the people of Ostania and Westalis, and his own family still weren't able to make the time to go and see him every week. He was rotting away in a huge house, with a housekeeper, and nothing else to live for.

"Okay," said Twilight. "I'm beginning to see how things are for you just now, and that is extremely helpful in terms of knowing what we can do to help you, and how that extra support will fit into your life. I'm hearing that you'd like to build a bit more of a supportive relationship with your children, and that you'd like some help with your sleep, as well as your depressive episodes, and perhaps later on we can discuss your traumatic memories if that's something you're up to doing. How does that sound?"

Mr Zacharis shrugged lethargically. "More or less," he nodded, and then he hung his head. "But I'm almost at the end of my life, I can feel it. Can I really get better?"

"Of course," said Twilight without missing a heat. It was a question he often got asked. "Recovery is possible for everyone."

Mr Zacharis nodded. "Maybe there's some hope for me then, but my children mean everything to me. If I could fix things with them, then I could die happy."

Mechanically, Twilight responded: "Our children do have the potential to bring us so much joy."

Zacharis laughed mirthlessly. "And the potential to bring us despair, too."

Twilight attempted to smile at Mr Zacahris' attempt at humour, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

Just then, Erik's eyes flickered to the photograph on the desk of Loid posing with his family. His eyes snagged over the girl in the photo with pink hair.

The Colonel froze. "That girl - is she yours?" asked Mr Zacharis.

"Yes," said Twilight automatically. He found that it helped to have a photo on his desk which presented him as a family man - it meant it would be quicker to earn people's trust, and make him look like a good person to tell their innermost thoughts to. "My little girl Anya, although she isn't so little anymore."

Was it Twilight's imagination, or did Erik Zacharis look like he had seen a ghost?

Erik swallowed thickly. "Is she… Is she thriving? Is she doing well?"

Twilight hesitated. As a psychiatrist, it was against protocol for him to self-disclose anything to patients. "We've seen better days," he said after a while, but didn't add anything else to the sentence.

What was there to say?

Twilight tried to use the rest of the session positively with Mr Zacharis, and set up a plan for their next few sessions, and get a better idea of what kind of help Mr Zacharis was looking for: Medication only? Therapeutic intervention?

After over a decade of posing as a psychiatrist, Twilight felt that he could go through these motions in his sleep, so when he opened the door of his office to say goodbye to Mr Zacharis, he jumped when he saw Fiona Frost standing beyond the doorway to his office.

"Fiona!" he said, startled. "I was just showing Mr Zacharis out, could you lead the way to the hospital exit? This is his first time here, and it's a bit of a maze out there."

"Of course," said Fiona effortlessly, and indicated Mr Zacharis. "Right this way, sir." And then to Twilight, she asked: "Any news about Anya?"

Twilight shook his head. "No," he croaked. "Not yet."

And before she could ask him any more, he retreated behind the door of his office.

Erik Zacharis couldn't even look Dr Forger in the eyes when he closed the door of his office, and he fell into step beside Fiona Frost. After about a minute of silence he spoke up: "Excuse me, miss, but what happened to Dr Forger's daughter?"

Fiona twisted her head to look at him in sharp surprise. "Why do you ask?"

"Uh," said Erik, and he felt his temples prickling with sweat. "It's just, I've seen her somewhere before. She was such a nice girl. It would be a shame if something had happened to her."

Fiona turned her gaze away. "She has been kidnapped."

Erik stopped in his tracks. "She… What?"

Fiona gave him a cold glare. "Don't tell him I told you."

"R-right," said Erik, and he nodded. "Got it." He didn't need Fiona to tell him twice - the look in her eyes had chilled him to the bone.

Once Fiona led him to the door of the hospital and they parted ways, Erik made his way to his car. The chauffeur had parked just outside the hospital, and he ducked into the backseat. On the drive back to his own house, Erik finally let the mask slip. He hung his head in his hands.

"No…" he whispered weakly. "It can't be… She can't have…"

The screen had been elevated between him and his chauffeur, and he let a tear fall down his face before wiping it away.

"Not 007…"

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Remember this? :')

The setup for this was in ch. 26, but everything has its purpose!