Paul returned to my apartment the next day, knocking tentatively at the door.

"Ton petit ami is here, Rouge." my Papa announced, allowing him inside. "What was your name again?"

"Paul!" I exclaimed, embracing him fully. "I've been missing you."

"We've been missing you too." He hugged me back with surprising affection. "The Academy has been a lot less fun without you."

"I'll leave you two alone." Papa teased, and I batted at him.

"Stop embarrassing me. Come, have a seat. Can I get you anything from the kitchen?"

Paul shook his head no. I watched his ever observant nature sweep the apartment as he settled down on the white sofa in the living room. Papa went back into the study, and Paul visibly relaxed.

"Thank you for the flowers."

"David picked them out. He wanted to come by as well to see how you were doing, but something weird is going on with him."

I raised an eyebrow. "In what way?"

"He's been distracted. Felipe, you know, his roommate, says he's been up late at night on the phone in the common room. He hasn't shown up for class in the last two days, and the Instructors haven't acknowledged his disappearance. Which I dunno, might be a thing that they do, because they didn't publicly acknowledge yours either. O'Malley just happened to pull me to the side."

"It must be something happening at home." I reasoned."I hope he's all right."

"Me too." Paul raked through his fine, inky black hair, deciding what to say next. "Can I ask you something?"

"You may." I corrected slyly. "Let me guess. You want to know what really happened to me?"

"O'Malley said you got into an altercation with a perp, but..."

I snorted loudly. "I guess that's the short version of it."

"What were you working on that you couldn't talk about? I mean, as far as I know agents can discuss cases with each other - isn't that encouraged?"

"Bloodless and victimless crimes, sure." I glanced towards the study. "But Special Operations requires clearance -"

"They gave you a case in Special Operations?"

"Shhhh!" I warned him. "Yes, but that's not really supposed to happen. Even Papa said I shouldn't talk about it...especially since it's an ongoing thing..." I looked at the study again. I could hear my father pacing back and forth with heavy footsteps, which he did often while on intense phone calls. "But I can tell you a little bit - if it stays between us."

"Of course." he nodded eagerly.

I explained to him the bare bones of the operation, where I carried the bug and played the decoy, leaving out the more graphic details. Still, he seemed uncomfortable. I stopped, touching his arm.

"I'm sorry, I hope I'm not triggering bad memories or anything. It's a lot."

Paul scrunched up his face. "Why are you apologizing to me? I'm sorry about what happened to you!"

"I'm okay, believe me. Even Devineaux had to give me credit."

Paul laughed. "That must have been the cherry on top for you."

"You have no idea."

Paul's gaze lingered on me, as if he wanted to say something else, but decided to change the topic.

"What are you working on now?"

"My 'inactive' case." I gestured to the paperwork and laptop from Evidence I had sitting on the coffee table. "How's yours going?"

"I solved mine," he said modestly. "It was an identity theft operation, but I did a little poking around on the dark Web, and was able to trace it back to a verified location and an identity. ACME's going to make an arrest."

I beamed. "That's amazing, Paul! I'm so proud of you."

"It was nothing, really. The dark Web isn't what it used to be, even the average person can navigate it with minimal help. Finding the true location however took some time..."

"You said the average person can access it?"

"Sure, you just have to download the browser..."

I picked up the laptop. "Could you check something for me?"

A few hours and a lot of snacks later, Paul had found that Choi had downloaded - and deleted Tor, a browser which allowed access to the dark Web. Although it was a place known for anonymity, Paul was able to find out that Choi had made a few postings on the Silk Road, where he was selling organs from the hospital. I cross checked it with the operations which resulted in deaths that he worked on, any fatal accidents or traumas where he was on duty that day, or any other links between the dates of his postings and the hospital itself. I managed to make three solid connections.

"More than a coincidence." I said, tired but excited. "But why'd he stop? He was making a killing - excuse the pun - doing it."

Paul stretched. "Maybe he found someone steady? He had the same buyer for most of the transactions, so it would make sense for them just to do business exclusively..."

"But why disappear all of a sudden? Do you think someone got to him?" I questioned.

Papa joined us now, smoothing the top of my head affectionately.

"It's late, le petit Rouge, and cases are best solved on rested and alert minds. Paul, you are welcome to spend the night. I'll be heading to the Agency myself in the morning, and you can ride with me."

"Papa." I protested with a yawn.

"Non, ma choupette. It's an inactive case. Whatever it is can wait a few hours more."

"Tres bien." He was right, and I begrudgingly closed the computer. I showed Paul to my room down the narrow hallway on the left side of the apartment. He sat on a fluffy ottoman near my bookcase of trinkets as I pulled out the trundle from underneath my bed.

"I can lend you a shirt and some basketball shorts if you want to shower." I offered. "Thank you so much for helping me, I would have been stuck without you."

He waved it off. "I missed working together."

Once Paul had returned, I turned off the lamp, the only illumination in the room coming from a string of clear fairy lights which bordered the ceiling.

"I'm surprised your dad is okay with us sleeping in the same room." he said, after making himself comfortable.

"Technically it's the same thing we do at the Academy?"

He laughed softly. "That's true." A beat. "You're lucky that you are so close."

"Well, that's the beauty of adoption - we chose each other. Typical families don't get that luxury." I laid on my side, facing him. "You're a San Francisco native, aren't you?"

"My family has been here for three generations."

"You haven't been back home since we started?"

I could make out him shaking his head in the semi-darkness. "This is not what my parents had in mind for me - they didn't approve of me going to the Academy. So we're not on speaking terms."

"Oh." I paused. "What did they have in mind for you then?"

"A doctor, engineer, even a lawyer. At the very least, they were hoping I'd take over the family business. Lucky Dry Cleaners and Tailoring, open three-hundred and sixty five days a year." He snorted. "It's funny, the only time I can ever remember us closing was when I was a kid."

"What happened?"

"Some Falcon grunts were trying to extort the local businesses in the area. My parents refused, so they smashed the windows in and took the register."

"I'm sorry, for both you and them."

"I'm not," he replied. "Some people, especially in our culture, never escape the constant pressure from their parents to perform, to keep up appearances, to give them something to brag about - and for who? A bunch of other people who are striving for the illusion of the same perfection while ignoring the toll it takes on their child in the process."

"That sounds terrible."

"For the first time in my life, Red, I'm free. I don't have to break myself in order to prevent 'disgracing' my family. If not talking to them anymore is the cost of that, then so be it."

I wonder if Choi felt the same way. "That takes real courage, Paul. I admire you."

"I'm not always sure if it's something to admire, but thank you." He stretched out his long limbs with deep exhaustion. "Let's get some rest."

I pulled the blanket up to my chin, wishing him a good night once I was settled. He returned the sentiment, and we both quickly found sleep amid the comfortable silence.

The rich smell of dark coffee and the sizzle of eggs in a frying pan woke me the next day. Paul had already tidied up the trundle. I could hear him and my father's voice exchanging pleasantries in the kitchen. I unfurled myself and joined them.

"Bonjour, ma choupette." Papa greeted, still turning towards the stove. He never made breakfast - both of us generally content with a cup of coffee and a thick slice of bread with jam - but he was also a good host. Paul had already set the table for us, and was lingering, seeing if he could be of any more use. I sat, inviting him to sit next to me in the breakfast nook.

"I almost don't want to go back." Paul joked, thanking Papa as he slid sunny side up eggs onto his plate. "Your home is so cozy."

"Well, you're welcome here anytime, Paul." Papa responded. He sipped from his favorite mug, which had a large chip in the handle. "And you as well, Red. Don't forget about me now that you're out on your own."

"Papa." I snickered. "Are you going to let me pack a bag first before sending me on this guilt trip?"

"I'm simply putting it out there." he replied, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

After the two of them left, I returned to the Choi case, still thinking about Paul's current relationship with his parents. I went back to the notes on them.

They owned a small business in Portland, and lived modestly, keeping to themselves. With further digging, however, I did find that the store was lightly vandalized a few weeks before Choi's disappearance, but nothing was taken. It seemed random and unprompted - nothing else in the area had been touched - but my gut was telling me that this was probably what I was looking for.

So someone had gotten to Choi through his parents...who?

I began to comb through his web activity again, but without Paul's expertise, it was a fruitless task. I exhaled, returning to his 'surface web' history for the millionth time. I now saw Choi's searches for medical school in a different light. I already knew that he was an average student, which, if he had the same relationship with his parents as Paul, might not have made them happy. I figured now that maybe his pursuits now had extrinsic motivations rather than just curiosity - he wanted to make his parents proud. He had also looked for scholarships and into other financial relief, but it didn't seem as if he would qualify for much, so the burden lied on him. I wrote this down, as a possible theory as to why he needed money. But to sell organs to get it is a bit extreme...it must have been something he wanted to do once or twice but it got out of hand...

I reviewed all the information I had once more, but was reaching
a wall. I decided to set it aside for a minute, stretching my legs by walking around the apartment.

The flowers that David and Paul had bought me were wilting slightly. I changed their water, adding a little sugar to it in hopes of perking them up. I thought about David as I set them back on the small table. During training, we were not allowed to have cell phones, instead using our Communicators for that purpose - ACME wanted to have us comfortable with the device and keep tabs on us. Mine was still in the dorm, where I had left it before my undercover assignment, but I was sure that Paul had already tried to reach out to David on his. Still, I wanted to know what happened to my friend, and maybe get a little more 'inspiration' for my assignment. With that I gathered up all my things and emailed O'Malley, seeing if he'd meet me for lunch.