Well, so much for the monthly updates, but I am a college student so I've kinda been busy. I might have a system to help me remember now, though, so we'll see. Anyway, here's one of my favorite chapters that I've written so far :D
Perry didn't know who the footsteps belonged to. He didn't know where they were going. He didn't know if they were really a threat or not. But he did know that Maxwell was upstairs, and he wanted to be there if something went wrong.
He almost tripped over himself on the staircase in his hurry, but he bounced back fast enough that it didn't slow him down. The building was still entirely empty, he noticed, just the phantom whose footsteps he was following and him and his group.
When he made it fully back up the stairs and made it back to the hallway with cams, the first thing he saw nearly made his heart stop. A white shape lying crumpled in the middle of the hallway- it was Astrid. Perry hurried over to her and bent down, carefully rolling her over to feel her pulse. She was still alive, thankfully, just unconscious.
He heard footsteps behind him and quickly got back to his feet, whirling around to see Penny and Jordan. "H-How is she?" Penny asked worriedly.
"Breathing. I'm not sure how she got injured." Perry hesitated. "You two take her to the car, I'm going to check on Maxwell and see who did this."
Before Jordan could protest, Perry began to make his way down the hall towards the cams… He needed to be quiet from here, no matter how worried about Maxwell he was- if they both got knocked out like Astrid then his attempts to help would be useless. Unfortunately, as he approached the room, he couldn't see or hear anything, so he had to round the corner of the doorway completely blind- and was immediately frozen in his tracks.
Maxwell had his back pressed against the far wall and, sure enough, the attacker was a human, their back facing the doorway as they stared Maxwell down. They were wearing a labcoat, but from the back, Perry had no idea who it was. Their hair was tied back in a bun, and it seemed to be either dark brown or black. And for some reason…neither of them were moving. Both Maxwell and the member of DANGER who had snuck up on them were just…staring at each other, but Maxwell's eyes were wide open with terror.
Finally, Maxwell noticed Perry standing behind his attacker, and they made eye contact. Maxwell tried to mouth something, but Perry couldn't tell what it was. And….unfortunately, it made his attacker notice Perry, too. The minute they turned around to look at him, he could see exactly what had Maxwell so scared stiff, and Perry felt his heart nearly stop.
…..It was Esther. Esther Bridges. Wife of Henry Bridges. Mother of Andrea and Angela Bridges. Owner of Maxwell Bridges. New friend to the Flynn-Fletchers.
…Esther Bridges was a member of DANGER.
Perry quickly shook his head to try and clear it. This was a problem, but he couldn't let himself get too caught up in shock right now. He had to focus. She was part of DANGER- she had knocked Astrid unconscious, and she was a threat.
Apparently, Esther was thinking the same thing, because the shock on her face transitioned into a scowl. She lunged at him, and Perry quickly slid under her feet into the room next to Maxwell, who was still frozen on the spot. "Maxwell, you need to get out of here! Go join the others outside!"
"B-B-But I-"
"Please," Perry begged. "You need to get to safety. I'll handle her." He placed his paw on Maxwell's shoulder in an attempt to bring his partner back to the present and keep him grounded.
It seemed to work; the distant, glassy look in Maxwell's eyes vanished and he met Perry's gaze, giving him a solemn nod before using his grappling hook to safely pull himself past Esther before she could catch him. Esther's gaze followed him, but once he left the room, she turned back to Perry. It was just them now- Perry versus… No, he needed to stop thinking about that. He had to focus on the task at paw. Incapacitating her and getting out with the rest of his team. They couldn't afford to try anything else; after all, if DANGER was prepared for them all along, then what was to say there wasn't backup right behind her?
Esther lunged at him again, and Perry quickly climbed up the desk and tv screens to get the height advantage. He wasn't sure how her melee was, but he didn't want to risk it. Before Esther could reach for him again, while she was still attempting to stand straight, he jumped from the screen onto her back and quickly hit the back of her neck before dive-rolling back on the floor. At the same time, he heard Esther let out a breathless gasp, and she quickly stumbled towards the desk, trying to catch her balance. With any luck, she was dizzy. He didn't have the time to wait around, though, taking advantage of her stumble to barrel down the hallway and climb out of the window before any of her friends could show up.
Penny, Maxwell, and Astrid were all in the rocketcar, and Jordan was standing next to it, watching the window- presumably to make sure Perry made it out. As soon as he was out of the building, Perry hopped into the car's driver seat, and Jordan climbed into the back. No one said anything until Perry had the car in the air, flying away from the headquarters.
"Well… That didn't go as planned." That was Astrid's voice.
Perry wanted to glance back at her, but he also didn't want to look away. "Astrid! You're awake."
"If I was still out, that would be a problem," she said dryly. "I woke up at the end of the hall, right before they were going to try and toss me out the window."
"We weren't going to toss you," Jordan protested.
"That's what it looked like." Astrid sighed, falling quiet. She probably still wasn't feeling the best- at the very least, her pride was wounded- even if she was only out for a minute.
Perry glanced over at Maxwell, who was sitting quietly in the passenger seat, staring blankly in the distance. "...Maxwell?" The shocked look on Maxwell's face had returned, his silver eyes wide in disbelief. Whatever was going through his mind, it wasn't what Perry had said, that was for sure.
"He's been unresponsive since he made it outside," Penny said, so quietly Perry almost couldn't hear her over the sound of the rockets. "What happened in there?"
Perry forced himself to swallow back the dread in the back of his throat. "I'll…explain later," he said reluctantly, forcing himself to pull his gaze away from Maxwell and focus on driving.
"I'll call the Major," Jordan said after a minute of silence. "Let him know Astrid could use a checkup when we get there and shouldn't be walking far. Perry? Were you injured?"
"No, I'm fine." Perry hesitated, glancing back over at Maxwell again. "But…let him know that Maxwell could use some support, too."
Jordan was quiet for another moment. "Right," he said finally. Everyone fell quiet as Jordan began to call OWCA and murmured something that Perry couldn't hear into his phone.
The call ended after just a moment, but no one was able to speak up for the rest of the ride. It was only a few minutes, but it was a few painful minutes, with only the whir of the rockets and the wind filling the silence. Perry kept glancing over at Maxwell, but he didn't move at all, the blank stare of shock never leaving his face. Perry…couldn't really blame him, processing this must have been difficult…to say the least. Perry himself was still avoiding processing it, he was determined to not think too hard about it until he knew Maxwell was safe.
Finally, OWCA's HQ came into view. As Perry parked the car, he noticed Monogram and OWCA's resident doctor, Zachary Nelson, standing aside, watching the group with rather neutral expressions on their faces. As soon as the car had stopped moving, however, Dr. Nelson approached them. "Agent A, are you feeling alright?"
"Hm?" Not driving anymore, Perry was able to turn around and watch Astrid. She was sitting in between Penny and Jordan; she seemed okay, if not a bit dazed. "Yeah, I'm alright."
"Good. I just want you to come back to the infirmary with me, though, just to make sure." Penny hopped out of the car and gave Astrid her paw. At the same time, Dr. Nelson turned his attention to Maxwell, who was still sitting quietly in the passenger seat. "Agent M? How are you feeling?"
Maxwell didn't respond; he continued to sit and stare blankly at the dashboard in front of him, his arms crossed like he was hugging himself. Monogram cleared his throat. "...Agent M?"
Still no response. "Maxwell?" Perry asked gently. Hesitantly, he reached out and rested his paw on Maxwell's shoulder.
Maxwell jumped slightly, finally pulled out of his unresponsive state. "W-What?"
"We're back at OWCA," Perry said, watching him closely. "Dr. Nelson wants to examine you."
"O-Oh…" Maxwell shook his head. "No, that's…alright. I-I don't need a doctor."
"It won't be anything long or tiring," Dr. Nelson continued. "Just a quick checkup to confirm that you weren't injured."
"I wasn't injured," Maxwell said snappily. "You can just take my word for it."
Jordan cleared his throat. "We believe you, but we can't be too careful. Maxwell, you need to go with Dr. Nelson and Astrid."
Maxwell opened his bill to protest, but Jordan cut him off. "I'm telling you this as your leader."
Just as quickly as it appeared, the fight left Maxwell's eyes. "O…Okay," he said softly, his gaze dropping to his lap. He quickly got out of the car, his gaze settled at his feet.
Perry hesitated, watching Dr. Nelson follow the two platypuses into the building. He was pulled out of his thoughts by Monogram clearing his throat. "Agent J? Could you come to my office and tell me what happened?"
"To be honest, sir," Jordan began, "I think Perry has a better idea of what happened. He saw more than I did."
"Very well, then." Perry glanced over to Monogram, who was now watching him. "Agent P, come with me."
Perry did just that, beginning to follow Monogram down the hall. They were deathly quiet, both too scared to say anything until they reached the privacy of his office. It reminded Perry of the day Monogram told him the truth about his parents all those years ago, but…now Perry was the one who was going to have to break new news to Monogram. Just thinking about it…his mouth was going dry and his heart was pounding. But… He was the one who had to do this.
Once they reached the office, Monogram sat behind his desk and Perry hopped on the chair in front of him. "Agent P, what happened on that mission?"
Perry snorted. "It was a sorry attempt at a mission. We had thought DANGER had no idea we were on to them, but apparently they've known about us for a while. They wanted to draw us in, but… I'm not sure if they just wanted to scare us or not. We really weren't in any real danger."
Monogram watched him closely. "Then could you explain why two of your team members are now visiting the infirmary?"
"Astrid was ambushed, sir," Perry said slowly. "She wasn't out any longer than a minute, I don't think, but we felt it was best for her to be checked anyway."
"And…" Monogram raised an eyebrow. "Agent M?"
"W-Well…" Perry felt himself grow nauseous as he was finally forced to process what had happened in the last twenty minutes. A lump in his throat made it difficult to get the words out, something that didn't happen to him often. "That…was more for his mental health than physical health."
"I assumed that, based on his behavior. I was hoping you could tell me why."
Perry really didn't want to have to be the one to break the news, but the only other person who even knew was Maxwell, and there was no way in hell Perry was about to force Maxwell to tell Monogram this. "...The member of DANGER who knocked Astrid unconscious and…attacked Maxwell…sir…well…" He tried to swallow back the lump and the nausea but it didn't do anything. "It was….Esther…Bridges."
"Esther…Bridges?" Monogram narrowed his eyes thoughtfully for a moment, likely trying to remember who it was.
"...The mother of Maxwell's host family."
His eyes widened in shock. "I… I see." Monogram hesitated. "Well….that's certainly unprecedented."
Perry shifted awkwardly in his chair. He normally hated having to sit in Monogram's office, but this was ten times worse than normal.
"In that case, Agent P…" Monogram cleared his throat. "We can't let Agent M near his host family now, unfortunately. From what I've heard, you have been closest to Agent M these recent weeks?"
"I….yes, sir."
"Then, for now, I'm going to ask you to join him and keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn't try to go home, but…." He frowned. "With a bit more tact and empathy than normal. You can explain the details later, once you've all recovered and we're sure Agent M is a bit more stable."
Perry nodded solemnly, hopping off the chair and leaving the office. Monogram didn't say anything else as he closed the door behind him.
After a minute of silence, Perry found himself walking towards the infirmary. He had to check on Maxwell. Astrid was probably okay, but Maxwell…
Perry poked his head into the main lobby of the infirmary, but no one was there. He bit back a sigh; that probably meant that Dr. Nelson was still treating them. He clambered onto one of the lobby chairs and awkwardly clasped his paws in his lap, not wanting to intrude but not wanting to be kept in the dark about his partner's condition either.
Astrid actually came out into the lobby first. She blinked at Perry in surprise. "I hadn't expected you to be the only one waiting out here."
"I…don't know where Jordan and Penny are," Perry explained awkwardly. "But I was worried."
"About Maxwell," Astrid finished.
"I… Yeah."
Astrid grinned, to his surprise. "Yeah, that's what I expected. I know you like him more than me, and it doesn't bother me. He's been acting strange, too; Zach was having trouble getting him to open up after he let me leave." She frowned at Perry. "What happened to him after I fell unconscious?"
Perry shook his head. "I want to talk to Zachary before I tell you guys. But I'll tell you soon, there's just…a lot to process right now."
"I'll take your word for it."
"How are you feeling? I'm surprised you were already allowed to leave."
"Yeah, he did some tests on me and scanned my brain." Astrid shrugged. "He said since I got knocked out, I probably had a concussion, but I passed all of the tests and my scan looked good. He wants me to check in every day just in case, and I'm supposed to let him know if I start feeling bad."
"What happened?"
Astrid just shook her head. "I'm…not really sure. I saw the lady in the labcoat, and I was all prepared to fight her, and then… I guess I was ambushed."
Perry narrowed his eyes in confusion. "She's not the one who attacked you?"
"Nope. I coulda taken her." Astrid crossed her arms. "I probably could have taken whoever ambushed me, if I'd seen them."
"I…hadn't even realized anyone else was upstairs with us." Perry stared thoughtfully at the wall beyond her head. "They must have disappeared right as I came upstairs."
"It did feel like they were about my height, considering the angle they attacked from," Astrid murmured. "Maybe it was Dennis."
They were both silent until Astrid sighed. "No matter. I'm gonna go find the other two. I presume you're staying for Maxwell?"
Perry just nodded, so Astrid nodded back. She didn't say anything as she left the lobby.
It was only a couple minutes later when there was movement in the lobby again, and Perry quickly looked up, hoping to see Maxwell. Instead, it was Zachary. Perry met his eyes, only to see a grim expression on his face. "How is he?"
"He's barely responsive," Zachary admitted. "But I got him to open up just long enough to get an idea of what happened. It's no wonder he's so shaken."
"He's going to have to stay in one of the headquarter's dorm rooms tonight," Perry mumbled. "And… I guess I should too."
"You too?" Zachary furrowed his eyebrow. "But you're not part of the Bridges host family-"
"No, but Esther just recently befriended mine." Perry sighed. "She recognized me when she saw me, I saw it in her eyes."
"Hopefully she won't break the news to them, then."
"It's…fine." Perry shook his head. "Now that we use amnesia when consent is called for, the Flynn-Fletchers are the least of my worries right now. It'll just be another strike on my record. An amnesia machine won't do shit for Maxwell's family right now, though."
"Even if Esther consents to getting her mind erased, it won't change that she's part of DANGER," Zachary agreed.
"Aside from the obvious, was Maxwell injured at all?"
Zachary shook his head. "His vitals are all fine. Unfortunately, past physical ailments, I'm all but useless."
"We really need them to hire some type of therapist," Perry mumbled.
"Ideally, that would be nice. But for now, Maxwell shouldn't stay in there." Zachary gestured to the infirmary door behind him. "The clinical environment certainly won't help his current issue. Could you help me move him to one of the spare dorm rooms?"
Perry immediately hopped off the chair, not saying anything in confirmation, but not needing to as he followed Dr. Nelson to the back.
(...)
Despite asking for help, Zachary was large enough that he was able to move Maxwell, who had fallen asleep after agreeing to move, largely without Perry. After Maxwell had been settled into the room, he curled up in his bed, not asleep anymore but just as downtrodden as he had been for the last hour.
After Zachary left, Perry stood awkwardly beside Maxwell's bedside, not wanting to intrude on his privacy or leave him alone. Maxwell was unresponsive, curled away from him for a couple minutes, so Perry eventually decided it was time to leave. He began to walk towards the door, prepared to leave Maxwell alone, but then he heard Maxwell actually speak up. "Can you…stay a little longer?"
Perry quickly turned around, meeting Maxwell's silver eyes, missing the normal sparkle that usually rested within them. Perry felt a pang in his heart, watching someone he cared about so much look so defeated. "O-Okay, sure." He pulled up a chair and sat next to Maxwell's bed.
Maxwell didn't say anything else, but he didn't have to. Perry couldn't help but just sit there and watch him, hoping that maybe just sitting in here forever would change the situation they were stuck in. But nothing could do that, nothing could change the truth.
