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"Look, Mrs. Stevens, I've tried everything I could and-""I know, Mason," The woman spoke quietly, a hiccup in her voice. "Y-you tried. That's the most anyone has done for me." Mason, an esteemed bounty hunter, sat back in the wooden chair of the run down apartment. He felt guilty, but there was nothing more he could do.
"I...I'm sorry. I just can't find her." He sighed, looking down at the newspaper clippings, photos and scraps of leads that were scattered all over the dining room table. He picked up a polaroid photo that lay on top, carefully gazing at it. It was of a young girl in an older man's arms. "It has been six years, there are a lot of things that could've happened, and I know you don't want to hear that-""She's still out there, I can feel it..." The woman sobbed, pointing to her heart. Mason looked at her with solemn eyes. He had his own daughter; he knew he would feel the same if she had gone missing.
"I know, Beth, but...I've looked everywhere. Searched every lead. And...I got nothing." He felt defeated.
"Don't you have friends?"
"What?"
"You know, other friends on the force." She shrugged. "I don't know, I want to keep my hopes high..."
As a matter of fact, he did.
"SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMM," Felix called from the hot tub. He held a glass of wine in his nimble hand.
"WHAT IS IT." Locus's deep voice responded in an almost pissed off tone. He appeared in the door frame. "I'm on the phone you-""We're almost out of wine." Felix cut off, pouting at the empty glass bottle. Locus let out a long, heavy sigh.
"...I hate you." Locus swiped the bottle from the counter and brought it back inside with him, continuing to talk on the phone.
"Love you too sweetheart!" Felix called out with a grin on his face. He had everything; a great job, perfect condo, and an amazing boyfriend who
somehow
puts up with all his bullshit. He just had to put a ring on it. "Oh, back with the wine already?"
"Mason called." Locus said, coming over to the edge of the outdoor hot tub. Felix's face furrowed; it was weird to get a call from him during non-work hours or when they don't have a job coming up.
"What did he want?" Felix's tone changed from giggly to serious. Locus peered out over the covered concrete balcony at the skyline, with view of the park and sunset to the left.
"He needs help."
"So let me get this straight." Felix now sat inside at the dining room table next to Locus and Mason, wrapped in a towel. "You need our help finding a kid whose been missing for...how long?"
"The mother's desperate. She still believes her daughter is out there." Mason spoke, his gaze going between both of them. "I figured with your resources you'd have more luck than me." The table of 3 fell silent.
"What do we know?" Locus asked after sometime heavily in thought.
"Her name is Grey and that she went missing about 6 years ago - she was 10 at the time, that would make her 16 now. She went missing shortly after her father passed away." Mason informed.
"Any correlation between the dad dying and her disappearance?" Felix asked, waving around an empty wine glass. Locus shot him a look.
"As of now, no. We haven't really delved into that possibility but at this point, I'm willing to believe anything." Mason sounded defeated.
"Do we know last known locations, possible suspects...?"
"Yeah, I worked those to the bone and...nothing." Mason shrugged.
"Okay, let's get hypo credical over here-""You mean 'hypothetical'," Locus corrected with crossed arms.
"Shhhhhhh Shy Guy," Felix hissed while pointing the wine glass at him.
"Isaac, how much did you drink?" Mason sounded like a scolding dad.
"...maybe a whole bottle?"
The other two men rolled their eyes. Felix couldn't blame them; he was a sucker for a good red wine.
"Don't you think we should discussed this when Felix is, you know,
sober?" Mason pointed out. Felix rejected the idea with a loud shush.
"Let's think about this..." He set down the glass. "If the dad died...when did the dad die?"
"A month before she disappeared." Mason said blandly.
"...okay, how did he die? Gimme all the details." Felix cleared a space for a pad of paper and a pen.
"He died due to an invasive disease, so no family could see him when he died. His funeral was close casket and Beth - the mother - had his ashes spread across the country side."
"Bingo." Felix snapped his fingers and began plotting out a timeline. "Hypocredi- No, hypothetically speaking, that's an easy death to fake. 'Invasive illness'? Pfft, super easy." Felix scoffed. As an actor throughout high school, he could pick up on what could be deemed as 'easy to fake' from his own experiences. "They literally could've placed a fake body, gave fake ashes and hell, closed casket? Totally faked."
"But, we have no-""You said you'd believe anything at this point," Felix accused with the pen pointed at Mason's face. "Just go with me on this, mmkay?"
"So, you are suggesting that he's still alive?" Locus piped in, scratching his clean shaved chin.
"Exactly. A month between both incidents would give enough time for both the mother and child to revert back to their original schedules and - bam, he could kidnap her."
"I mean...it's definitely
not
impossible..." Mason leaned back in his chair as Locus spoke.
"My only question is: where would he be now?"
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
"What are you proposing?" Beth asked the bounty hunters the following day when the troop of three showed up to her residence.
"The possibility that your 'dead' husband is actually alive and kidnapped your daughter." Felix draped himself across her loveseat as Mason stood in the corner and Locus sat on the couch. The mother dropped her head, pondering the thought after Felix thoroughly explained his rationale.
Beth looked up at the orange clad bounty hunter. "...it...the reasoning makes sense..." Mason and Locus nodded along. "...but, I have no idea where he'd be."
"What was his job?" Mason asked, kneeling next to the grieving mother.
"He...he worked for the UNSC. Yes. Some sort of...special branch or something...he couldn't tell me a whole lot." Beth explained, wiping her eyes. Mason gave a glance to his counterparts, looking for potential leads. Felix avoided his gaze altogether.
"We'll find him." Locus spoke in the most comforting tone his deep voice could provide. "We promise."
"Isaac." Sam called out to his partner after returning home to their condo. Isaac was already slumping his way upstairs. His mood had been drastically different since their afternoon conversation.
"I just want to shower, mmkay?" The angsty adult sputtered back with an attitude. Sam furrowed his brow.
"Isaac." Sam called once more in a demanding tone. Isaac stopped halfway up the stairs.
"What is it." He replied, hands on his hips.
"Weren't you involved in a project for the UNSC some time ago?" Sam asked cautiously. Isaac hated talking about it. They had a list of forbidden topics and that was one of them.
"...yeah, some time ago. Probably not relevant." Isaac turned and finished his sulk upstairs to the second floor landing. He shifted at his heels and went for the spare bedroom, where he currently resided. Sam and Isaac had an agreement that whenever they went on serious cases, they would sleep in separate rooms to hinder their personal life from mixing in with their work life. Sam loudly sighed from downstairs as he moved his way through the living space. Isaac, despite being a very extroverted character, often reserved himself from serious conversations. Sam hated it.
Isaac gathered a fresh set of clothes and went to the full bathroom next to the spare bedroom. Thoughts circulated through his head as he undressed and stepped into the cold running water of the shower.
He was involved with a UNSC project when he was 16: only for six months, however. The scientists behind it figured out that people of his age weren't susceptible to their experiments and discharged him after nearly mentally fucking Isaac over. Sam avoided the subject at all costs; it would make Isaac shut down no matter what situation they were in. And it's not like therapy could fix it either.
While rinsing the soap from his strip of hair on the top of his head, Isaac pondered over the name of the UNSC branch. He had tried over the years to suppress those memories, now making it harder to recall the important details of the experience.
Project... Project what... He thought, splashing water onto his acne-ridden face.
Project...Moravian? No no, that was the project before mine...uhm...Project...Intelligence? Project Intelligence. Yeah, that was it.
He turned off the water and stepped onto the bath mat. Isaac quickly dried his hair and put on the sweatpants and orange tank top. He ran a brush through his hair once, getting out any tangles before heading back downstairs.
The living area was darkening due to the sun fading behind the skyscrapers that were across the six lane street below. And there stood by the couch was Sam.
"Wha...what's this?" Isaac asked, coming into the living room to see
Star Wars, a guilty pleasure of his, plastered onto the TV screen. Resting on the coffee table was loads of movie snacks and tea - mint tea, his favorite - fresh out of the pot. Sam was never this nice - only if they fought would Sam put on this mass production.
"I know you're not in the best of moods so..." Sam sat down on the couch with a groan of relief. "Movie marathon." The last time the couple had a movie marathon was last summer and it ended with both men not speaking for a week. Isaac thought it would be a helluva long time before Sam would attempt this stunt again.
Isaac nodded, taking a seat next to his partner. "Let's fucking do this."
"Project Intelligence." Isaac finally spoke of the matter halfway through
Empire Strikes Back. Sam turned, then reached for the TV remote to pause it. "That was the project I was apart of."
"I see. Do you know if the project is still in existence?"
Isaac furrowed his brow. "I...I'm not sure. I would assume so."
"Hmm." Locus crossed his arms as Isaac's legs were draped across his lap. "Well. It's a start."
"So, here's the plan." It was the next day and Siris had come over, bringing with him multitudes of maps and schematics. He had lost his flash drive. "I asked my buddies at the station if they knew any UNSC projects that had residence in the area over the past 10 years." He paused for dramatic effect. "There's one: Project Intelligence." Felix breathed out, leaning against the table. "There's a research outpost about 10 miles away, and they do give tours of the facility to potential investors.""Are you suggesting we pose as buyers?" Locus asked, hands folded on the table. Siris shrugged.
"It's better than completely storming the facility," He gazed to Felix and Locus. "If we posed as buyers, we could constantly come back and worm our way into their people."
"They won't be that easy." Felix spoke finally, shifting his gaze to Siris. "They're smart, they'll know when they see a mole.""And you're suggesting a back up plan?" Locus asked. Felix nodded. "Hmm. Well, why don't we do a cross between?"
"What do you mean by that?" Siris inquired.
"We pose as investors, and once we're deep enough inside the facility, break free from them and look around." Locus picked at the schematics. "If we know where to look, it'll make our jobs easier." Locus had a good point. Even if they were to act like investors, the project leaders weren't going to show them exactly what they were looking for. They were going to have to dig on their own.
"Alright then. Let's memorize this map."
After successfully posing as two investors from another planet, Felix and Locus infiltrated the medium sized building that was in the outskirts of a business mall. They had deviated from their tour guide and were now running around inside the building.
"Car is ready to go, lo-ing signa-" Siris's voice cut from Felix and Locus's ear pieces as they went deeper into the concrete building. They both memorized the map and carried concealed guns and Felix held his knife set.
"Let's split, you go left. I'll take right." Locus ordered quietly as they approached a fork in the hallway. Felix turned on his heels to the left, tilting his orange shaded glasses down for a better view of the interior. The building was in pristine condition, barely any scuffs or markings to be seen, not even a spec of dust. He reached another set of splitting hallways when he heard a shout from the right.
"HELP!" The shriek called out, Felix already darting for the cry. He flicked open his pocket knife, keeping it hidden by his side as he rounded another corner. Two guards carried a thrashing girl in their arms, her legs jutting out with kicks, trying to get away.
"Let her go." Felix demanded, his face tilted at an angle, his lithe body standing firm. The guards struggled to hold the girl back as she kicked harder, biting her lip.
"Listen to him and LET ME GO!" She screamed as the lights suddenly flickered. Both guards became spooked as a nearby door flung open, items flying out of the room. Felix took a step back as his eyes glanced over to the girl once more. Blood seeped from her nostrils, she thrashed less. She was weak.
"Give her a stun." One guard spoke, dropping the girl and pulling out his gun to point it at Felix. He reached for his own, but stopped when the gun flew out of the officer's hand and into the wall. The girl breathed with intensity, her teeth grinding together. "Hey, stop that you fucking troublemaker-"
Felix and the girl locked eyes for a solid two seconds before she received an electrical shock, causing her to go limp and unconscious. The gunless guard picked her up in a fireman's carry as the remaining guard pulled out his magnum. "Don't come any closer you punk." The guard carried the girl out of the hallway quickly, and the last one followed behind. Felix relaxed his hand that was gripped tightly around his gun and panted.
She's gotta be that girl...Grey...she... Felix's thoughts were scrambled as Locus approached him from the side. "Where have you been? I've been trying to get you on Comms-""I saw her." Felix rapidly spoke, then pointing back to the hallway. It was empty. "Sh-she was here."
Locus nodded. "Siris said they had a truck leave. Perhaps she's being relocated. Come on, we gotta get out of here."
"Definitely a possibility." Felix glanced back at the area before taking off with Locus.
They did the same to her that they did to me. What dicks.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
"She's like me." Felix had been silent the entire van ride back from the research facility. Locus furrowed his brow and looked at his partner, Siris giving a glance through the rear-view mirror.
"What do you mean?" Siris asked, his eyes shifting to concentrating back to the road. "Is she snarky and sarcastic and likes knives?"
"No, Mason." Felix sassed back in a pissed tone, crossing his arms. "We both went through their experiments."
"And what does that mean, exactly?"
"...I can talk to her." Locus raised his brow to Felix's conclusion. It had been an extremely long time since Felix had mentioned anything about the experiments and what he could do because of them. Locus took lead to the conversation.
"...are you sure?" He asked cautiously. Felix nodded with a gulp.
"Yes. I saw her face and I know her name. I can easily do it with...the right stimuli." Felix's voice trailed off as he was in thought about it.
"Well...what would you need?" Siris asked while turning onto another road.
"I would need....a blindfold and something to produce a static noise. A constant noise that's not changing. And a familiar location. I don't think the connection would be easily maintained if I'm in a place I don't feel relaxed in." Felix elaborated. Locus nodded.
"I know where to find those."It was hours later and Felix sat at the head of their dining room table with Locus on his left and Bethany, Grey's mother, on his right. Siris stood across from Felix at the other end of the table.
"A-are you sure this'll work?" Beth asked in a nervous tone. Locus nodded before Felix could answer.
"It's worth a shot." Felix gulped.
"What do you need us to do?" Locus asked his partner. He refused to show it, but he was scared for Felix. According to him, not only has it been a long time since he subjected himself to this 'mind power', but also it could dig up old wounds that weren't healed. He didn't want Felix coming out of this more broken than he already was.
"Silence. With the exception of the radio." Felix ordered. "I will come out when I feel the need to." His gaze shifted between Locus and Bethany and finally to Siris. He felt safe and secure in their presence. It was showtime.
First, Felix turned on the old radio Locus had dug out of the storage closet. Everyone was surprised how it still worked as Felix flipped through channels until stumbling on pure static. He set the radio down at the center of the table after adjusting the volume to be in the middle - not too loud, but not too soft. Felix proceeded to carefully pick up the black table napkin that was serving as a blindfold. He exhaled from his nose and slipped it over his eyes and knotting it in the back of his shaved head. His hands draped to the table, spread out and palms up. In this position, he felt himself opening up to everything. He concentrated on the static, relearning how to go to the...other side.
Felix would admit he was scared, however he had to suppress those thoughts. It had been a
very
long time since he performed this ability of seeking out others through this other dimension. He focused on Grey's more adult looking face - her pain that she must be feeling. Her energy that surrounded her, and then -
He was in a pitch black landscape. His eyes flickered open with a shudder, as he quickly remembered what this place was. Felix glanced down at his appearance. Still himself in his normal clothes he wore - a suit and tie. He wanted Grey to immediately recognize him as the man from earlier that day.
He trotted forward a pace or two, a thin layer of liquid covering the surface. Light emitted from no known source, as he started to approach a few distant figures. His brow furrowed, trying to put them into focus as he came closer. He started to make out words.
"-Get her into containment. She's caused enough trouble today-"
"NO! PLEASE STO-"
"Will someone drug this child already?!"
"....Grey...." Felix muttered so softly it was barely audible. Everyone flinched at Felix's sudden speech, not expecting it from him.
"Oh my god do you see her?!" Beth quietly freaked out, a tear in her eye. Siris came over to the grieving mother and placed firm hands on her shoulders to prevent her from disrupting Felix.
Beth's voice echoed inside the dimension Felix was in as he looked upward to acknowledge it. What he was looking at was crystal clear:
Grey was strapped down to a hospital bed in nothing but black compression shorts and sports bra, but with added attachments, he could assume for experimentation. Red marks appeared all over her body - they were fresh. His jaw gaped open as he was careful not to step in front of the scientists surrounding her.
"Why won't she sleep?!" One scientist spoke loudly, nearly ringing in Felix's ear. He glanced down at where her gaze was - it was towards him.
"Don't speak." He spoke at a decent level. "I know you're hurting."
Grey tried to open her mouth, but a scientist came over and blindfolded her. She thrashed around, her restraints coming off.
"UP THE DOSAGE, SANTOS!"
"...hurt..." Felix spoke once more, his breath quivering. His physical hands reached and grasped of Locus and Beth's hands out of instinct.
"My baby..." Beth started to cry as Siris held her in his arms.
"Isaac, can you hear us? You're okay..." Locus spoke to his partner in a calm yet concerned tone.
Echoes of Locus's words surrounded Felix as he pushed himself to stay in the dimension longer. His face twisted, seeing what the scientists were doing to the poor 16-year old girl.
"What the fuck is wrong with her today?! She won't calm down." The dosage of sedatives was already fairly high. Felix was worried if they went higher it would kill her petite body.
"Grey, if you hear me, I'm here, your mother is here, we're coming for you. We'll save you." Felix yelled out, his cry for help transcending both planes of his existence before-
He ripped his hand out of Locus's and tore the blindfold off, heaving. Blood dripped from both nostrils. Everyone waited in silence, unsure of what to say. And in the first time in quite a while, Felix collapsed onto the table and cried.
An hour went by and Isaac was out on the patio vaping. His suit was off and he was only left to a white tank top and gym shorts. His mind was clear yet foggy at the same time. Images of the other dimension flashed into his eyes but he would quickly discard them before they could have an impact on him.
"Isaac?" He flinched and looked over his shoulder to see Bethany standing in the patio door frame. She offered a slight smile and came over to him. "How are you doing?"
"Fine." He deflected as per usual. The mother placed a weary hand on his shoulder. Despite being short for a man, he was still taller than Bethany.
"I taught teenagers for years, I know that's a lie." She chuckled and looked out over the balcony. "What you did...you didn't have to do for me. But you did it anyway. And I...I appreciate it." Beth tried not to show any emotion but gratitude. Isaac kept his eyes down. He was still so scared of that place.
"It was...terrifying." He croaked out truthfully as he felt Beth pull him in for a 'mom' hug. He gripped his arms tight around the older woman and accepted the warm embrace. Isaac sniffled as she patted his back.
"Oh honey I know...You were so brave doing what you did." Beth cooed and let go of the detective, holding him by his biceps. "You don't need to tell me anything tonight. Take your time with it." Isaac looked away, ashamed. "Spend some time with your boyfriend, watch a movie and relax."
"Relax...yeah..." Isaac's voice trailed with a quiver. His body remained tense. He wasn't aware of what wormhole his transcendence had just opened.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Isaac laid in his bed awake for most of the night. He was afraid to sleep.
Every time he shut his eyes, flashes of the experiments he went through would appear behind his eye lids and cause an ache in his chest. He knew he had to sleep eventually; he would not perform his best work while being sleep deprived.
And thus, Isaac shut his eyes, and wished all the bad memories away.
He was back in the other realm. His eyes busted open and he scampered off the ground. 'How the fuck is this happening...' He thought to himself, his head swiveling around to get a sense of being. His body shook as he saw something in the distance.
It was Grey, sitting next to a bed with another body laying in it. She was on her knees, her gaze gently looking at the bounty hunter from afar. Her presence was subtle but powerful.
"Grey?" Isaac called out, approaching the scene. Her head titled up as he got closer, keeping eye contact. Isaac was 10 feet away when she suddenly stood up; alert, and untrusting.
"You're the man from earlier..." She spoke, her voice quiet and raspy. Isaac nodded, hands clenched to his sides.
"I'm Felix. My partner and I were sent to look for you by your mother-"
"My mom?" She asked, startled. She wasn't expecting to hear that."She...she's looking for me?"
"Been looking for you." Felix corrected, stepping once to the right. "She has been for years, ever since you went missing. It was only recently when myself and my partner, Locus, got asked to aid in the search."
"She's...worried about me?" Grey's hand draped across her chest. Felix nodded once more. "I-I knew I felt something of the sort..."
"How the fuck are we creating this connection? My powers aren't that strong..." Felix spoke aloud, his brow furrowed.
"You're not doing anything, Mr. Felix. I'm doing all of the work." Felix then noticed a drop of blood coming out of her nose. "This connection would've been too taxing on your mind to perform...it's something I've always wanted to try."
"You mean...connect to someone on the outside?"
"Connect to someone who shares my ability. Granted, yours is far weaker than mine but, it's a start." She chuckled once at her comment and gazed down at the figure on the bed. "I'm doing this in my sleep to not alert guards."
"Amazing..." Felix awed, his eyes flickering down to the sleeping version of herself in the real world. "...isn't that difficult?"
"Draining, but it's the easiest way." Grey circled the back side of the cot where her mortal body laid. "I didn't want the guards to think anything of it. I'm just an exhausted teen sleeping." She wiped the blood from her nose as more seeped out. Isaac felt the urge to pamper the poor child with hugs and words of reassurance, however he knew his efforts would be null and void - physical contact in this plain didn't transcend to the outside universe.
"Is there...another reason you wanted to talk to me?" Isaac felt another motive within her words. Her lip twitched.
"I...yes." Grey gulped. "No sense in lying to you, Mr. Bounty Hunter." Her arms trembled. "I wanted to know your reasons for finding me. I...I want hope." Her hands folded, a crack present in her voice. Isaac's heart sank.
"Like I said, we're doing it because your mother wants you home. We want to- no, we're going to bring you home." Isaac took a step toward her as Grey's head shifted to her left. Her real world body moved.
"I-I gotta-" Her silhoutte faded as two scientists approached her cot. Her screams echoed as-
Isaac instantly sat up, sweating profusely and breathing heavily.
It was...definitely a dream... Isaac held his throbbing head and wiped his...Blood came away from under his nose. It was definitely
not
a dream. The connection with Grey was very much real, much like the blood on his hand.
"Sam?" Isaac's voice echoed into the depths of his partner's room. A shuffle came from the midst of the black pit and a light switched on.
"Isaac? It's late..." Sam's husk voice was dry, having been in a deep slumber for the past five hours. His eyes squinted at Isaac's contorted face. "Isaac? What happened?" Sam saw Isaac's discomfort and instantly sat up, arms stretched out to embrace his trembling boyfriend. Isaac fell into Sam's outreached arms and covered his face.
"We connected. Out of her own will." His voice shivered along with the rest of her body. "She's so scared, Sam..."
"W-What do you mean 'connected'? Like, alternate dimension?"
"Yes, Sam. She brought me there while I was trying to sleep. She spoke to me. She's scared. She wants to be out of that place..." Isaac was nearly crying in Sam's arms as he shushed Isaac to calm him down. "She wants hope."