I AM AWARE OF THE ONE REVIEW ON THIS FIC.
-A Message From An Annoyed Writer-
I tried reporting it (you know the review I'm talking about,) but I can't do much else. Please help with the reporting, I refuse to accept this shit in my reviews, but I can't delete it like I can on A03. If this happens with enough frequency, I might have to abandon updating this fic on FFNet and just update on A03. Sorry if this may be an inconvenience to people here, but I have to consider the optics.
- Back to your regularly update-
The TARDIS couldn't help with the men in black, not surprising considering how cautious they were about their experiments, but it wasn't for naught, though it wasn't conventional, Paul was able to track the men with his Sonic Screwdriver.
They were cautious enough that they didn't have burner phones on their persons, anything that would identify them if they were stopped by law enforcement, however there was still a way, and it was a form chemical trail coming from the men in black.
The men in black were around unknown chemicals for an extended period that their clothes emit a faint trail, despite being washed more than once.
The TARDIS wasn't able to identify the chemicals due to the degradation in the trail from the constant washing, but it was enough for it to hone and track the men in their pursuit of Alyson.
Back out in the town, everything dark as night set in, the men hadn't left, they habitually wouldn't leave unless they were certain that Alyson moved on.
"Now, it says they're armed, so I don't want any heroics, hm?" Paul eyed the women as he cautioned that the Sonic Screwdriver picked up residue that indicated the men were carrying.
Given how they wanted Alyson back any means necessary, they won't hesitate to use their guns on them, that said, stick with the shadows, and they'll knock the men out.
Knowing they probably won't talk, Paul and Taylor have their own ways of getting people to talk, it came with adventuring for what felt like eons.
Good cop, bad cop, old as time, still used even to this day, very good when it came to getting answers that they needed.
Along the way, they located the vehicle, an old black Ford with a metallic sheen, the men came in, on the older side, but the reason the Sonic Screwdriver picked up on it was because of the heavy traces of the unknown chemicals on the seats.
One of the men was a smoker, there was an ashtray in between the seats.
Using his years camping with his uncles and his grandfather, Paul could tell that the man who smoked had been smoking the cigarettes for at least six miles.
He liked smoking the same cigarettes until they reached their natural conclusion, towards the filters, but there were some cigarette butts stamped out prematurely, like he and the other man went somewhere that didn't allow smoking.
Six miles on the stretches of roads to the town, the men probably stopped at a roadside diner for coffee and something to keep them until they got to the town looking for Alyson, reason being that smoking in restaurants fell wayside, and a terrible habit seeing how much ash was in the tray.
The Sonic Screwdriver didn't indicate the men were near and with it, Paul used it to open the car door without setting off the car alarm.
Smelled worse than it looked, Alyson nearly gagged from being exposed to the profound stench of the secondhand smoke and Taylor stayed with her while Paul rummaged through the Ford as quickly and efficiently, he could try to figure out the identifies of the men in black, and of course though they were terrible at keeping their vehicle clean, they're proficient in keeping anything tying them from being left behind when they stepped out.
Crisp bags, coffee sticks, name it, it littered the bottom, it was when something caught his angle eye that Paul saw that there was a map wedged in between the seats.
It took work digging it out, but he managed to pull it out without tearing it, before he quickly looked it over, finding the town they're in and referencing it with the ash tray.
The men in black were coming from somewhere near the mountains.
Mountains with hidden secrets, now that's something that Paul learnt from his younger years watching the telly with his mother, though they weren't anywhere near Cheyenne to be anything related to a certain gate.
As quickly as he went through the Ford, Paul put everything back the way he found it, before pushing himself out, and gently closing the car door.
"How can you be so certain that they came from the mountains?" Alyson stared in awe as Paul brushed himself, his face contorted in disgust at the smell of cigarette coating his clothes.
A smile appeared on his face as he brushed his hands over the sides of his body, Paul explained with a simple, "Elementary, my dear Alyson."
A hand over her mouth, Taylor got a chuckle from him, before she got an idea on how to draw out the men in black.
Small town, not many places for them to sit and wait, double for buildings for them to hunker down in while working out a plan, nothing open at this hour, but knowing the way they operate, they won't leave without a word from command.
"With a simple twist of the wrist, they'd come back to the Ford, no?" Taylor looked towards Paul as cogs turned in his head.
His long arms reached for her; Paul brought Taylor close to him before kissing her on the lips as thanks for giving him the idea.
Finding a hiding spot, the three waited as Paul fine-tuned the Sonic Screwdriver to begin drawing the men in black's attention.
Huddled close, the three watched as two shadows emerged from the opposite end of the street, coming towards the Ford.
The torchlights weren't bright enough to illuminate their faces, but the smell of cigarettes was enough for them to know it was the one and the same.
"It's somewhere here," they heard one of the men mentioning to his cohort.
The other man goes, "It might've moved on."
Shaking his head the man went, "If we don't find it by morning…"
The other man stopped him with, "We know where to go if it isn't here."
Hearing them talk about Alyson, it was apprehensive they talked about her as something other, but the way they mentioned that if they don't find her here, they'd find her at her adopted parents' place, well, that certainly won't do, and while the men sat in the Ford, the three were quick to overtook the men.
They put up a fight, despite the circumstances, but it wasn't the first time that Paul and Taylor felt with unruly people before, and Alyson helping them bring the men around somewhere more private that they can speak with them unimpeded.
Tied up, the men couldn't do anything to themselves or to the three, but the way they looked up at the three, they were as ghostly white as Casper seeing Alyson up close and personal.
"What agency do you work for, shall we start there?" Paul politely asks the men which agency they worked for, if it was anything he was familiar with, but the men wouldn't answer him, expected, but Paul pressed on.
Pointing at Alyson, Paul demanded the men tell him why they were after a young woman like her, once more, they didn't want to tell him anything.
Out of self-preservation, this wasn't an agency that either two were familiar with, something off the records, dangerous the more the men squirmed looking at Alyson.
Sighing, Paul did the only sensible thing and rummaged through their pockets, yanking out everything that they left in them.
Well, he was trying to be polite, but they weren't answering his questions, so he might as well find them himself.
"You don't understand!" One of the men shouted at him.
Kicking him with his tied feet, the other man shouted at him not to say a word.
Seeing the men hesitant talking to him, Paul decided with Taylor to begin the old tactic in getting them to speak.
True, he could have glimpsed into their minds and saved time that way, but there was an inherent risk trying, and with the way the men were heavily guarded telling them anything, he didn't want the chance of causing aneurysms from trying to get something out them.
All the techniques he learnt from Cappy were notably dangerous for human minds that he worried about potentially killing the men in black by mistake because he didn't have the centuries of experience like Cappy to maintain exact control over his mind when probing theirs.
Even though he can't use his mind, there was more than one way to break someone's will, and Taylor learnt this when getting Owen to do his patrols during nights when he was too absorbed in the cricket matches.
The men in black squirm at the sight of some leftover scones she grabbed from the TARDIS, baked and slathered with crème and raspberry jam.
"You can't do this!" Paul heard one of the men in black shout.
Grabbing one of the scones, Paul nonplused goes, "I can't?"
Took one bite out of the scone and well, he would have eaten the whole scone entirely, but the men broke down like two lug boats.
A fiendish smile on his face, Paul rested the half-bitten scone on the tray as he then asked the men in black, "Let's try from the top: why were you after this young woman?"