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| >> Campfire Creative >> Fiction >> Death >> ID #1276521 |   |
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| [Introduction]
This is for the Charlie story we started. It's long and all that, and I thought, hey, it's got an original description of Loki, why the hell not? So... well... let's have fun? Charlie was not having a good day. It all started with the alarm clock, the alarm clock which didn't wake him up. That meant that his mother had to wake him. Which, of course, meant that his mother had to tell him how bad he was because he couldn't get up on his own. After all, a thirteen year old boy ought to be able to wake himself. In fact, Charlie had the impression that a thirteen year old boy ought to be able to do everything for himself. The next thing was breakfast. He was in a hurry and they were out of cereal, so he tried to leave the house without eating. His mother yelled at him nonstop for trying to sneak out without eating, and he'd almost missed the bus. On the bus he'd had to sit next to Tony. No one else would sit next to him because he liked to hit people in the gut when the bus driver wasn't paying attention, which was most of the time. At that point Charlie had been glad he hadn't eaten breakfast, when suddenly the bus driven leaned on the horn and slammed on the breaks. Charlie lurched into the seat in front of him and heard the glass window shatter. He felt pin pricks of pain. Then it was like he was suspended in the air and couldn't breath. Finally there was an overwhelming shock of pain and he lost his breath completely. In the end he found himself standing with a bunch of other kids in a deep ravine staring at the mangled bus and a semi truck. He looked around, wondering how he'd gotten out of the bus and why he was no longer in pain. "You're all dead." The voice was low and unemotional. Dead, flat, no nonsense. There was a moment of silence, then an enrapture of noises, including the screams of some and the tears of others. How could they all be dead? "Quiet!" The voice now had emotion. A bit of irritation and a hint of command. Whoever it was that spoke was not wasting any time, he had a message to deliver. Charlie looked in the direction of the voice to see an unassuming man in plain clothes. Brown hair curled around his face and, although his voice was flat, his eyes held something like compassion. Dead, he was dead? Charlie glanced back at the bus. Well, it had been a bad day, but it seemed to be shaping up to be the worst day ever. He hadn't contemplated death much, just a little. Was he going to heaven or hell? Had he been good or bad. He sighed a heave of relief. Well, if nothing else, at least there was an afterlife. "You have choices," the man said. "But you must look at me and listen." The voice actually went soft for a moment, the sound of someone trying to make things easier for everyone involved. Some of the others turned and looked at the unassuming man, some fell to the ground and cried. "You all have choices." This time the voice was back to being emotionless. "You can choose to go to heaven," a pause, "or you can choose to go to hell," another pause, this one a little longer than the last, "or you can choose to be reborn. Some of you can choose to be a type of detective. All of you can choose to stay on earth." The man walked up to one of the others and handed him something, "You also have the choice to ask me questions. This will let you get a hold of me, and it also will let you go where you want to in terms of heaven and hell and rebirth." He walked around passing out these things and eventually stopped at Charlie. "Here," he handed him what looked to be a very old fashioned watch. It had an angel at the top and a devil at the bottom. Opened it had several buttons. When the light hit it at just the right angle Charlie could see his reflection in the watch face. His dark green eyes and bright orange hair. Hair which his mother called strawberry blond, but it looked more closely related to carrots then strawberries to him. He looked back at the man. "We can all go to heaven or hell? It's a choice? I thought that was supposed to be predetermined." Charlie asked the questions just as some of the others began asking similar things. He noticed that he did have a button on the bottom right corner that said detective. What did it mean? Why were only some of them given that choice? "Your actions are not predetermined, why should your resting place be? Do not many people chose where to lay their remains before they die? If you have been given that choice, why can't you choose where you shall send your soul? Your soul is more important than your body, especially now." The man looked around at all the faces, "Each place is different and each place you may enter and leave at will. Where do you belong? All of you now have what you need to move onwards." He stepped away from Charlie a bit and turned back to look again at everyone. "I am bound for heaven, who is going with me?" He said the question in the same flat tone, but at the end, his eyes lit up a bit and he looked slightly more friendly. To go to heaven or not to go to heaven? Charlie was confused and the one person who could answer all of his questions seemed to be preparing to leave. "But, who are the detectives? What do they do? And, hell has a pretty bad reputation, why would someone choose to go there? Are our choices permanent?" A few of the people had raised their hands in answer to going to heaven. The man turned to him, "The only choices that are permanent are to be reborn or to be a detective. That is it. Any other place you may go to and leave at will. A full description of the detectives and a full answer to your questions are not within reach at this moment. Unfortunately there are too many of you for me to give my normal attention to. I will be back in probably a few hours, if you would like to wander around and wait for me, I will return." He seemed to be wishing for a more patient crowd, or at least a less hectic one. Some of the kids were testing their ability to fly, and others were huddled together crying. "Can you wait for me? You need not enter heaven right away, the choice will remain." Charlie nodded and wondered why Brad was still trying to fly when he'd already hurt himself several times in his insane attempts. He also wondered if Jane and Alison were ever going to stop crying. "I'll wait." The man nodded, "Then I will be back. I know how to find you, feel free to roam earth, get a little used to things being different." He looked to the others, "All of you who are going to heaven, you must hold hands and come with me," he reached out his hands and several people formed a line holding hands. Jane and Alison were a part of the line, as were most of the kids. The bus driver was no where to be seen, nor was the semi driver. A very few of the kids walked away, and two of them, one of which was Brad, were talking together. The man began floating up into the clouds, the long line of people falling after him like a kite with a very long string. After a moment they were all gone. Charlie looked after him. Who was that man? He hadn't really had a chance to ask. Where should he go now. For some reason he was compelled to search to bus. Had there been any survivors. Maybe the bus driver or whoever had been in the truck? Come to think of it, he hadn't noticed Tony around, nor had he seen Vicky. He approached the twisted frame of the bus and peered into a window. There was glass and blood everywhere. His stomach clenched. Evidently being dead did not protect you from being sick to your stomach. A man was inside the bus, as was all the mangled remains of the students. The bus driver was firmly attached to his seat, and his head was cut everywhere, blood pouring down his face. However he looked like he might still be alive. Many of the students were sliced, and a few were even in more than one piece. The scene was very unsettling, and gory. From what he could see, it looked like there might have been a few survivors among the mess, those that were alive were probably so because of their "cushions" of other students. No one was conscious. He stepped away from the bus feeling unsteady and light headed. Had that been his arm he'd seen, stretched out behind Tony's body? Had he ended up being instrumental in saving the big bully? He walked until he came to a large rock where he sat down, trying to will his stomach to settle. In the distance, he heard sirens. He hoped they arrived soon. The bus driver hadn't been a bad sort, at least he hadn't thought so. Tears welled up in his eyes and spilled down his cheeks. He didn't feel particularly sad at the moment, why was he crying? "Hey, what's wrong?" A female voice said from besides him. "I'm, um, not sure," he replied shakily, looking toward the voice. A cute girl he had never seen before smiled down at him. She had curly blond hair and big blue eyes. She was wearing a long dress that was close fitting at the top and loose at the bottom, it was ankle length. He could see combat boots under the skirt. "Were you part of this disaster?" she asked. Charlie nodded. "A bunch of kids from my school died. I'm waiting for the man who talked to us to come back and answer some questions I had." He tried to wipe his tears away. "Who are you?" She smiled, "Lucy, I used to go to school around here, but things have changed so much since I was here that I got lost looking for my old house. That's when I started wandering around and saw the accident. I was wondering if anyone was going to be left once St. Peter was done talking or not. Who are you?" "My names Charlie. How long ago did you live around here?" She squatted down in front of him, "Oh, about 50 or so odd years ago. I can't keep track anymore. It still feels like it happened yesterday, latest a week ago. But to be honest, I've been happier now than I ever was. I got to visit Rome, I've never been there, and I'm going back soon I think. I loved the ruins, and the people are so nice." She had a peaceful look on her face. "Then... why try to find your old house?" Charlie wondered what it would be like to travel the world as a ghost. It seemed wrong somehow, like living without living. He had finally stopped crying, talking to the girl had somehow calmed him, and he was glad. She laughed a bit, "I was just wondering if it was still there, or if any of my relatives were living there or what. Maybe someone from my family was having a family reunion at my house and I could see who all was part of the family now. A bit of a curiosity really. I loved my family and wondered what had happened to them, so I was going to see if I could find out any information about them." "Where did you live? I mean, what road? Maybe I can help." Lucy smiled and then nodded, "Ok, I lived on River Road, the big black house that used to have a large porch. The porch burned down.. er, that's when I died, so I don't know what color it is now. Um, 1534 River Road was the address. Do you know it?" Charlie nodded. "I think so, but it isn't black anymore. You can get there by climbing up to the road and turning left, then walk until you find Terrace Street, turn right there and follow it to River. I think you go right on River, but I'm not completely sure. The house is on my bus stop, but the person from there is still alive, I think. I'm not sure the family is very happy though. Tony never seemed happy, that's for sure. Their last name is Bradshaw. I might be thinking of the wrong house. Or maybe your family moved out? I don't know. A lot can happen in fifty years I would think." She nodded, "Bradshaw is right, Lucy Bradshaw was my name." She looked thoughtful, "They aren't happy? I wonder why?" Charlie shrugged. "Tony isn't, at least I doubt it. He's a big bully who likes to hit and shove people around. I've had a lot of bruises because of him. In my experience, people who do that sort of thing aren't happy. My dad's the same way. At least, when he's home." Lucy tilted her head to one side, "Tony, he was in that bus? Did he hurt you a lot? Maybe I'll have to make sure he doesn't do that again." Then she righted her head and smiled at him again, "Do you hate being at home?" "I suppose he wont, now that I'm dead." Charlie wondered if she really could keep him from doing it again, even if Charlie was still alive. "It would be good if you could stop him though, before he hurts more people." Charlie thought about being at home. Did he hate it? Sometimes he did, but he didn't hate it all the time. There were times when being at home was peaceful, and pleasant. It was a good place to study, especially when his mother wasn't home. "I don't hate being home, not all the time, only when other people are home too." "Are you a loner then? Do you usually prefer to be alone?" and she chuckled, "I'll do my best to stop him from hurting more people." "Can you really do anything much? I mean, you're a ghost." Charlie wasn't sure if he was a loner or not. "I prefer to be alone when I'm at home." "Being a ghost just means that only some people can't see you. There are many things you can do as a ghost, you just need to learn. Besides I'm not just a ghost, I've been to heaven and so I have a bit of power to me." She stood up and stretched her legs, then flopped back down on the ground. "But you prefer to be with people when you're not at home?" "Well, I would," Charlie replied softly, "but not many people seem to like me." Lucy looked confused, "Why not? You seem to be pretty nice to me. Maybe people just don't know you that well." Charlie shook his head. "I suppose they don't. I'm pretty quiet in school. People make fun of me more when I talk." She tilted her head to the side, "Really? Why? You don't seem to have any speaking problems..." Charlie shrugged. "I don't know. If I knew what the problem was I would probably fix it." An ambulance and a couple of police cars had arrived. "I think I'm going away now. Nothing personal, but I don't want to see my body when they pull it out. I think it's a real mess." He stood up, and she followed. "Ok, do you want me to go with you, or do you want to be alone?" Her voice was filled with curiosity. Charlie shrugged again. "It's up to you. I thought you wanted to visit your family." Lucy smiled, "I do. I'm going to have to deal with the one who is hurting others, so I thought maybe I'd stay around and see what he looks like, but If you wanted to have company, I can always look him up in the hospital later." She brushed the dirt off her dress. "I don't care either way, you're fun to talk to, but you're probably used to being alone." "I am. I think I will go alone if it's okay. Good luck with your relatives." He gave Lucy a brief smile, which she returned. "No problem, good luck with the rest of your life, err," she giggled, "the rest of your death." He nodded and wandered away. How long had it been? When would the man return? Where, exactly, was he going? He found himself at school. He shook his head to himself. What a place to go. The crazy part was that there was so many people there. Everyone who had made it to school was there, and everyone was wondering what had happened to the bus. Someone who Charlie had never noticed, walked past him fast, almost knocking him over. He tried to follow them, wondering who they were. It only took a moment for the guy turned and looked at him, "You dead or something?" the voice was a little off, like it hadn't been used for a long time. The boy's skin was dark and so was his hair. The eyes were a deep green and mean looking. "Um... yes?" Charlie just wasn't sure how to react. So, the boy had almost knocked him over because he wasn't alive either? The boy looked confused, then started laughing. The laugh was lighthearted and not mean at all. When he looked down at Charlie again, his eyes were amused and friendly. "Sorry, I thought you were alive!" he chuckled, "So I gave you my mean stare to scare you away, and... oh, I'm so sorry, I've seen you in class and so I didn't think you were..." he became consumed with laughter again. "Sorry, I still can't believe you're.. um," his eyes got serious, "What happened, you didn't strike me as the suicide type." "My bus collided with a semi truck. Are you dead too?" "Collided with a semi, that's not a good idea," he looked thoughtful, "Oh, and yeah, I'm dead. Still trying to pass school too, not very good at it either." He looked down, a blush creeping along his face. "How long have you been trying?" That had certainly never been a problem for Charlie. He had always been good in school. The boy's blush got deeper, "err, about 7 years I think. I really hate school, but I thought that if nothing else, I would pass and graduate, even if I was dead. I think I shouldn't have tried though, because it's just not working out." "How can you tell whether you're passing or not? Are there ghost teachers?" Charlie was pretty amazed that a ghost had been treading the halls and going to his classes the entire time he'd been in junior high. He wondered if there been any ghosts at his grade school or not. "Um, well, you see, I actually manipulated the teachers to passing out an extra quiz and test every time they would normally, and I write my answers down, then they take it and grade it and pass it back, and no one notices. I've used my manipulating powers that way to see if I can pass, and, like I said, I'm not doing it. There are ghost teachers, but I'm trying not to go that route." "Why would you want to avoid it? Wouldn't it be easier if you could ask questions and stuff about things you didn't understand?" "Perhaps, but the ghost teachers that I've heard about are really crabby, and I don't want to have to be nice to crabby teachers. Besides which, Mr. Edgers is really cute..." he blushed again, "and I like to hear him talk," and he looked down. "Oh." It sounded to Charlie like the boy had a crush on Mr. Edgers. "Did you have Mr. Edgers when you were alive too?" The boy nodded. "I was going to tell him I liked him the day that I died. I was so into the letter I was writing that I didn't notice the car that was swerving towards me. It hit me and then..." his voice trailed off. "But I'm trying to collect enough credits to get a body and meet him outside of work, just for a day, so I can maybe talk to him when I don't have to be myself." "I guess no one ever found the letter, huh? At least not intact. That must have been really hard for you, but why would you want to meet him as someone other than yourself?" A part of Charlie felt he was prying too much, but he was intrigued by the boy. "Well," his voice was soft, "you see, my crush has only gotten deeper, and he might recognize me as myself if I showed up looking like me, so therefore if I got to I'd go as someone else and I'd try to meet him, and maybe he'd be interested in a one nighter, then, maybe I'd be satisfied and things could go on and I'd be ok." "I don't know," Charlie replied, "but good luck. I hope things go well." He had a feeling a one nighter would only make things worse for the boy if he succeeded. "By the way, what are credits, and how can you use them to get a body?" The boy looked up in surprise, "Oh, yeah, you're new to death. Well, you get a card, it's like a credit card, and when you do certain things, it causes you to save up these things that are called credits, they're like money, and when you have enough credits, you call St. Peter and ask him for a body and where you want to be at. When that happens, he'll tell you things like how long you can have your body with those many credits, and that type of thing. Real easy, right?" "I suppose so." Charlie considered it for a bit, "but how do you call St. Peter?" The boy looked confused, "Didn't he tell you when he gave you the watch? It's the big button in the middle, you press it and he appears as soon as he can to help you." "The guy who gave me the watch? That's Saint Peter? That guy? Really?" Now that Charlie considered it the guy hadn't ever introduced himself. "I'm waiting for him to come back. He delivered a bunch of people to heaven." The boy nodded, "Then he will probably be a while, how long have you been waiting?" "I really don't know. I'm making you late to class aren't I? Go on." Charlie decided he would go and look in on Mr. Edgers, see if he could figure out why the boy had such a big crush on him. "Oh, shit, I forgot! Sorry, but yeah, I gotta go," and the boy flew down the hallway, zipping through a door. Charlie headed to Mr. Edgers' room. He stopped outside the door and looked in. Mr. Edgers was a young teacher, in his lower 30's and aging well. He had light blond hair that fell in one eye constantly, and pale brown eyes. His frame was tall and thin, but not weak, he had a wiry muscle to him. The unfortunate part about Mr. Edgers was that he taught science, and seemed to like it. At least most of the students thought that was unfortunate. Charlie didn't care, one way or the other. He watched the teacher closely and listened to his voice. He supposed it was a good voice, if one cared about that sort of thing. Mr. Edgers looked to the door for a moment, almost seemed to look right at Charlie, and then shook his head and continued his lesson. He must have sensed that someone was watching him from there. Some people could sense ghosts. At least some people said they could. Some people even said they could see them, and Charlie was a ghost. "I'm a ghost, I'm dead," Charlie told himself. For some reason it gave him a stomach ache. "I'm free now if you are," the soft and expressionless voice that he had heard upon first being dead spoke right into his ear. "Everyone is safely in heaven and you had questions." Charlie turned abruptly to face the man. "You're Saint Peter," it came out sounding like an accusation rather than a statement or question as he'd meant it to be. "Why don't you introduce yourself to people?" He sounded a bit upset, but he wasn't sure why. He was a great deal more curious than he was annoyed. St. Peter's lip curled up a small bit on one side. "Indeed. I don't introduce myself to people because they find out about me eventually anyway. Besides that, I don't wish for people to be intimidated by me." He shook his head, "Does that mean you're free to ask your questions? Or was that the first question." "I.. suppose it was, but my first question was about the detectives. I want to know who they are and what they do please." St. Peter nodded and started walking away, "Perhaps away from the school where so many can listen in on this and also where there will be less noise." He started walking out of the school. Charlie followed. "Are there a lot of people in the school who can listen in on our conversation?" St. Peter shrugged, "Only so many, and some of them don't need to know about what I'm going to say to you." He went for a brisk walk to a nearby park and sat down on a bench, "Have a seat." "Why not?" Charlie sat down next to Saint Peter. "Because the detectives are a very important group of people who are constantly keeping things running smoothly, in heaven, on earth, and also in hell." He looked at Charlie, "You were given the option to be a detective because you hold within yourself the potential to take charge and help people. You are not suffering from serious mental illness, you have not contemplated suicide within the last 2 years, and you are interested in making things better. You have the capacity to kill, or at the very least, defend yourself. You are not unwilling to take charge of a bad situation, and you can change a situation from bad to good. I do not know what kind of power you have, but you have enough to do a great deal of good." He paused and breathed, "What they do is a bit on the confidential side, but they are the ones who keep the "sightings" of paranormal things down to a minimum. Also, they take people who are staying too long in the realm of the living to the realm of the dead. They are also in charge of making sure that things that are not supposed to happen don't. Often they keep earth running in a bit of a normal pattern. What else can I answer?" "Do people really choose to go to hell willingly? I mean, I've met a lot of people who consider themselves bad, but they don't want to go to hell." St. Peter nodded, "There are many people who go to hell. Some of them want to go because they think it would be more fun than heaven, some go because they think they deserve to go to hell. Many go because they think they can do many "evil" things there. It just depends on the kind of person you are. If you don't want to go to hell, you don't have to." "Am I stuck with the choice I make, or can I change my mind." Dying sure was complicated. It was more like a continuation of life then an ending. "You can change your mind with many of the choices. You can always move freely from heaven to hell to earth, however if you choose to be reborn, you may not change your mind once you are born and if you chose to be a detective, you may not change your mind until you can retire." St. Peter shook his head, "If you become a detective, let me warn you, it is not your life you need to worry about, it is your soul itself. One rarely retires from a detective position. If you die as a detective, there will be no more St. Peter saying you're dead, it is a permanent nonexistence. Detectives place themselves in danger in order to help others and it's a danger they rarely leave behind." "Are there statistics of some sort for that? I mean, what's the percentage of souls that don't survive? Do you know what happens to those souls? I mean some people believe when you die you're just gone. Are you 100% sure they're completely gone? When does a detective retire?" St. Peter laughed. "You want statistics, find an analyst. I'm not sure what the percentage is." He looked serious again, "you don't completely understand the situation. Do you know what can happen to someone who is in the army or military too long? How they cannot live the normal life?" "I've heard that before," Charlie wondered how many people didn't think to ask all of these questions before deciding that being a detective would be fun and going off to try it out. He nodded, "It's a mental thing. You see, as a detective you are going to see all sorts of things that as a ghost or just a person you wouldn't see. You will be fighting a war that no one knows about. In essence you are going to be part of a military or army type of setting, and because of that, you are going to get used to the fight. Some people retire and go back a few years later because everything is too peaceful. Once you have used your powers, you won't want to stop using them." He paused and looked thoughtful. "Another thing is that once you know how things work, you will likely see the ways around things. As a detective you are a bit above the law, and once you retire, you will no longer be so. There is someone who is one of the best detectives that has been around for so long no one really remembers him, yet he cannot stand the thought of leaving. Mainly because he doesn't really realize that he can, but also because he doesn't want to. It is up to you what you do, but please don't think that it's going to be easy." St. Peter stretched and extended his legs. "You see, a soul has only so much give. There are such things as soul eaters, and those people are capable of eating souls so they no longer exist. Because of that there has to be a point where a soul dies, completely. That is the thing that can happen to you as a detective. If you resided on heaven or hell there would be no way that your soul could be touched in that way. However if you reside on earth in any way, you come across the possibility of running into that kind of creature. Yes, a soul is completely 100% gone at some point, but the possibility of "normal" people coming across that risk is very slim. As a detective you will be face to face with so many things that can hurt you that your strength alone may be the difference between life and death. Am I making sense?" Charlie nodded. Would he want to be part of such a world? Why did the idea of it intrigue him so much? "How can I learn more about being a detective without joining them? Is there any way I could observe someone involved in it, or talk to some people who are detectives? If someone becomes a detective and hates it do they have to continue? When would they be able to leave? Is there a trial period or something? It seems so permanent. Even rebirth only lasts a lifetime." A lifetime could be a very short span of time too, as Charlie knew well. St. Peter smiled, "If you wish to watch the detectives, you may, it will be different than what you will deal with, but you may watch. And when you join them, you sign a year contract. After a year, you decide whether or not to sign another contract. You also do have a trial period of a few weeks, or the end of your first long mission, whatever happens first." He shook his head. "The thing about the detectives is, once you make your second contract, it's a permanent thing in that you agree to work with them for 200 years. There are ways around it, but you are locked into it for at least 50 years. Understand?" Charlie nodded. He hadn't even lived 50 years. It would be a huge commitment to say he'd do anything for that long. "I want to watch them. What do I do next?" "You need to go to where they are, under normal circumstances, you'd press the button for it, but since I'm already here, you don't need to do that. Are you sure that's what you want to do?" Charlie nodded again. "I'll never know whether I want to join them or not if I don't go. Thank you for taking so much time out to talk to me." St. Peter shook his head, "Not at all. I'm very pleased to find a few people willing to talk and ask questions before moving on. So many people haven't that I've become used to not communicating." He stood up and held out his hand, "Please, let me take you where you need to go." Charlie reach out and took the offered hand. Being a detective sounded risky, but interesting as well. In many ways he didn't feel like he had much to loose. He had thought of life more as a dead end than anything else anyhow, and here he was, living. At least close enough. The afterlife seemed to have a lot more in common with life than he'd ever imagined. St. Peter's hand closed around Charlie's, and he started walking. As he walked, the scenery shifted a bit and after a few moments righted again. They were standing on a pathway that led to a large metal gate. Behind the metal gate was a large forest and a tall building. St. Peter walked up to the gate and gently put his hand against it. It swung open and he continued walking down the path to the large doors of the building. "We are here." A young girl stepped out from the shadows of the doorway. "Yes you are," she said, "and you're bringing in a watcher. No problem, I'll make sure he makes it to where he belongs." St. Peter smiled and turned to Charlie. "For as long as you are with the detectives, you need to return your watch. While you are here you are not allowed the option to leave." He held out his hand. Charlie looked at St. Peter's hand. "What will I do when I'm done watching?" "When you're done watching, if you plan on leaving, the head of this building will let me know and I'll return to you. Fair enough?" Charlie nodded and handed the watch to St. Peter. It didn't really bother him since he hadn't had the watch very long anyhow. "Good luck, I will see you again sometime." And St. Peter turned and walked away. "Follow me please," the little girl said, as she turned to the door and started pushing it open. Charlie followed. He was no longer a 13 year old student having a bad day. His mother wasn't likely to ever nag him again. His father wasn't likely to ever hit him again. He actually had the ability to make his own decisions, big, life altering decisions, without having to consult his parents first. It felt really good. Inside the door was a very elegant entryway. There was a chandelier hanging from the ceiling and to the left was an elevator. To the right was a small hallway that looked to open into a large room. Directly in front of him was a spiral staircase with dark red carpet on it. "Take the elevator to the top floor and walk through to the last door. That will be the Chief's office, please knock and wait for instructions." The little girl smiled from ear to ear, "and don't worry, no matter how loud he is, he's not really hard to get along with, unless you're Loki," that last part was said under her breath. "Loki?" Charlie mused as he walked to the elevator and pressed the up button. The door opened and Charlie saw a very old, very nice elevator. It was carpeted on the floors and the walls and the color was the same deep red as on the stairs. The touch pad for the floors was done to look like pearls with numbers on them. There were five floors and a basement. "Loki," Charlie mumbled as he entered the elevator. He wondered who Loki was, and why he would find the boss difficult to get along with. He pressed the button which said 5 on it. The music that filtered into the elevator was standard elevator fare. Nothing all that exciting about it. It took only a few moments before it stopped and opened up, "Thank you for riding Elly Elevator today, please ride again!" the voice was a very friendly feminine voice. Charlie could see a small hallway that opened up into a large room full of desks and computers and copy machines. He walked out of the odd elevator and straight ahead. He glanced at the desks and the people as he walked wondering if most people who came to watch stayed. That seemed logical since St. Peter had taken his watch away. On the other hand many things in life weren't logical, so it was silly to assume that things would be logical after death. One never knew. They may not be. The room was filled with the sound of people, people talking, laughing, moving around and shuffling papers. Very few of them actually seemed to be doing work of any sort. Most were spending time reading over each other's shoulders, or playing games. As he got closer to the door, he saw one person leaning back in his chair and eating what appeared to be a whole apple pie. About two paces past that desk was a large door that said, "Chief." He approached the door and knocked. "Who is it?!?" the voice was loud and gruff sounding, somewhat intimidating. 'Who is it?!?' did not sound much like instructions. Things were always more complicated than people said they would be. "Charlie." He didn't necessarily think the answer would mean much to the man behind the door, but if he wanted to know more than that Charlie was sure he would ask. "Oh, shit!" somewhat more subdued was this reply, then, "Come in!" This time the voice seemed more friendly, less mean. Charlie opened the door and entered the room. It was a large office with large windows overlooking a lake surrounded by trees. There was a desk with a large man sitting behind it. "Please, have a seat," the man motioned to one of the two chairs facing his desk. He was middle aged with greying hair and a mustache. He was also overweight, dressed in a business suit that did not complement his size. "You're Charlie, huh?" he had an open file on his desk and was looking at something from it. Charlie sat down in the seat across from him. "Yes." The man looked through a few papers and then looked up again, "I see." He looked down at the papers and then threw them over his shoulder, "Well, see here's the thing, I'd love to have you watch the place, but right now, things are fairly easy. There isn't a lot going on besides the fact that Loki is getting fat by non exercise. You are more than welcome to stay and ask people questions, but until I get a case for you to work on, there's not much to see. Everyone's pretty relaxed, and there's a baking contest going on between the women that's pretty interesting to watch but..." his voice trailed off. Then he fell back in his chair and let it swing under him. "There are several people you could talk to and there are several things you could do, but like I said, until I have a case, that's all you can do right now." He scrutinized him, "Do you still want to stay?" Charlie shook his head, then nodded it. "That is, I don't really know. Does this happen often?" Charlie had gotten the impression that the people here were always needed. After all, the job description was fairly extensive. The man sighed, "No, Loki set off a spell that backfired and sent all sorts of things flying in the wrong direction. Once this dry spell is over, probably in a few weeks or so, there will be so many things, we probably won't be able to handle them all. Damn that Loki!" he finished off with a growl that was close to a yell, "If he was only capable of taking care of things without screwing them up for once!" The blood vessels on his neck started sticking out from the skin, and his face started turning the brightest shade of red that Charlie had ever seen. Charlie debated this. "So, because of this spell things are going well everywhere right now? Or are you just unable to figure out what's going wrong?" He didn't figure dead people could have heart attacks, but in this man's case there might be an exception. The man nodded. "You are getting the gist of it quickly, I see. Loki did a spell that should have settled something in the area he was in, however, he did something wrong and now everything seems to be going too well. There are cases just screaming to be solved, but we can't find them. So everything seems to be going right everywhere. There haven't been any cases of people living past their death times, and there also haven't been any people trying to kill others. While I know this must be false, there's nothing I can do about it right now. It's going to take time for things to get to the point where my men that are out looking for issues come back with anything. Damn that Loki!!" and it was almost screamed again. "If only he could keep his head away from the damn sweets than maybe he could get something decent accomplished," and he banged his fist on the table. Charlie felt his brows draw together as he considered this. "Did sweets have something to do with the spell being done incorrectly?" Charlie didn't know much about spells. In fact, he knew next to nothing about them. The man glared towards the door, "Only when Loki is involved. That man can't do anything when his stomach is empty, and he also can't remember words correctly when someone is offering him an apple strudel." "Was someone offering him an apple strudel, or was his stomach empty?" Charlie couldn't help thinking that the whole conversation had turned rather humorous. The chief glared, "Loki's stomach is always empty, remember that if you ever need to work with him. Never leave him alone, and if you walk past anything that's even vaguely related to food stores, keep hold of his hand and walk him past if you expect to keep his attention. And I believe someone was offering him apple strudel at the time, yes, that's all that he's said since I yelled at him last." "...all he's said since you yelled at him last is apple strudel?" Charlie knew one thing. Loki had to have some pretty impressive powers to cause a spell to go this askew. "That's right! And he won't say anything else, except for the occasional, "you just wouldn't understand!" Which he's right, I wouldn't understand!" He stood up and banged his fist on the desk again. "Damn him! Like we don't have enough troubles he's got to make things worse!" Charlie hid a smile. He sincerely doubted the chief would ever admit the humorous side of the situation, at least not publicly. "I think I'll stay. You said it should only be a matter of weeks. This will give me a chance to get to know some people and talk to them. Can you tell me who your best and worst people are? You don't have to tell me which is which, and who likes it here most and least? If I could get those four names I should be busy for a while." The chief sat down hard in his seat and took a deep breath, "Best and worst, Loki and Diana, likes it most and least, Jared and Lissa. No particular order to those names. Loki is the muncher just outside of my door, and Diana is usually practicing in the basement gym. Jared likes to swim and he seems to live in the pond outside. Lissa tends to go flying so it may take you a while to get her. Anything else I can do for you?" Charlie shook his head. He had to assume the chief was listing Loki as his worst agent at the moment. He wondered if that was always true. He stood up to leave, then changed his mind. "On second thought, who are your second worst and second best as well, since it seems I'll have a certain amount of time on my hands." "Second worst and second best?" the chief thought about that for a moment, "let's see, that would have to be Justin and Sarah. They are a team and tend to work together. Partly because they are also married, but..." his voice trailed off, "they are usually working on reading as many books as possible in the main library downstairs." "Ok, thank you," Charlie turned and walked out of the office. Loki must have been the one trying to eat an entire apple pie. He looked toward that desk, and saw that over half the pie was gone. The man tilting his chair back was black haired with a tint of blue to some of the strands. He had deep blue eyes and was wearing a casual suit in black. His shoulders were broad and looked fairly strong. His face however, was soft and had an easy grace to it. Charlie had never seen someone's face look so anciently young before in his entire life. There was something about it that made Charlie know that he was old, yet his demeanor was very innocent. It seemed like such a clash of possibilities that Charlie didn't want to accept it for a moment. He walked to the desk. "Hello, my name is Charlie, you're Loki aren't you?" The man sat up suddenly, his fork still in his mouth, and nodded solemnly. Then he took the fork out of his mouth. "I really didn't mean to eat it all, it just happened, so please tell Miss Emerald that it won't happen again, I promise!" His eyes were deep and soulful, pleading with Charlie. "... the pie?" Charlie had no idea, so he figured he'd give it his best guess. Loki's eyes blinked, "No, not this one, but the red raspberry one that was cooling on the window sill," he stated matter of factly, "I just couldn't help it! The aroma was too good, I had to have a bite! Then the next thing I knew, it was all gone! I'm sorry!" and he fell to the ground and bowed his head right at Charlie's feet. Charlie smiled. "If I meet Miss Emerald I'll let her know. Right now though, I want to talk to you." Loki looked up at him, "You mean you weren't sent by Miss Emerald?" He looked somewhat disappointed, "Oh well," and he sat back in his seat, picked up the rest of his pie, and tilted his chair back again, "What can I do for you?" "You were hoping she'd sent someone to scold you? I wanted to ask you what you think of being a detective." Charlie would have liked a seat, but Loki didn't look likely to offer him one. He glanced around to see if there was one nearby. A chair nearby came skittering towards Charlie by some unseen hand, "Maybe," Loki said, "I'm so used to being caught that I'm actually sort of surprised that Miss Emerald hasn't come after me yet." He looked thoughtful for a moment, "Maybe she set that up just so that I could have it?" He seemed lost in thought over that one. Charlie cleared his throat. "So what do you think of being a detective?" Loki looked at him in surprise. "Well, I'm still here, aren't I?" as if that was the most obvious thing in the universe. "There are only a few people who were here before me, so I must be still interested in it, right?" Then he looked down at the few remaining bites of pie, "However, Miss Emerald is the best cook they've ever had, and I don't think they're going to be able to keep her, Miss Lyht is trying to convince her to leave." He seemed sorely depressed about that. "That's too bad." He would offer Loki some food, but Loki already appeared to have some and Charlie wasn't sure how to get him some anyhow. "So what do you like about it, being a detective?" Loki winked, "The delicious free food!" Then he laughed for a few moments and finished the last bite of pie. "Wanna see what's the best part?" and he had an almost evil glint to his eye. Charlie wasn't really sure he did. "Couldn't you just tell me?" Loki shook his head. "Nope, you gotta see," and he got up out of his chair and started walking towards the elevator, stopping once to motion Charlie to follow. Charlie followed Loki. If he wanted to continue talking to him he didn't have much of a choice. They traveled to the elevator where the music instantly turned to pop rock. Loki waited until Charlie was safely inside before pressing the button 3. "Miss Emerald will be very disappointed in you if she sees you again this soon," the elevator said. "I know, but I'm not trying to be seen," Loki said. "You never want to be seen," the elevator retorted. "I know," he replied. "The elevator changed music," Charlie noted. The new music was a definite improvement. Loki looked at him, "the elevator changes music depending on who is in it. You can request any form of music and Elly will comply." Loki patted the wall of the elevator, "Elly is such a good elevator," and he grinned. The elevator stopped and the door opened. Charlie nodded quietly. If Loki said so. It seemed just getting Loki to talk about detective work at all was going to be a challenge. Loki led them away from the elevator and down a long hallway. Most of the doors were open and Charlie could see many people working in kitchens and eating at tables. At the end of the hall was a very large kitchen. Loki took them all the way to the entrance and pointed to a very large pot that was hanging over an open fireplace. "Look, that is one of the best things about being here. When it's boiling, you can smell the food throughout the whole building. Miss Emerald never lets it go to waste and I always get one of the first bowls." Loki looked supremely happy. "Now, want to see the other thing that's important?" Charlie nodded, although, again, he wasn't entirely sure he did. Loki smiled and walked back to the elevator. Once inside he pressed the button for the first floor. The music was again pop rock and Loki started singing to the song playing. "Thank you for riding Elly Elevator, please ride again," it said as they exited. Loki didn't stop or look back until they were outside. "Still with me?" His eyes were shining. "Yes," Charlie replied, glad they had actually left the kitchen. He felt like he was with a kid who was giving a sort of follow the leader show and tell. Loki nodded. "Good," then he collected Charlie in his arms and leapt into the air. It was only a moment before Charlie realized that they were flying. He felt his eyes widen. "What? Um..." he looked at Loki. How were they flying? Loki didn't seem to have wings or anything, they were just in the air. "Look," he said, pointing towards the sun. "Do you see? That rainbow?" Charlie looked for the rainbow, hoping no one flew by and offered Loki an apple strudel or anything dangerous like that. In the rays of first light, one could see a bright rainbow stretch across the sky. "Now look down," and Loki pointed down, his voice completely serious for the first time. Charlie looked down. Under them was a large city, the first rays of sunlight shining off the buildings and making the whole place glow softly. "Do you realize how many people live there? Over 50 thousand. Do you realize how many people in that town I've touched in one way or another?" He paused and looked at Charlie, his eyes soft and slightly sad, "Not nearly enough." He looked down to the city again, "But when I look at them I realize that every time I do something that helps someone, the place is better for it. Every time that I bring someone to the realm of the dead where they belong, I know that many other people are touched in some way. It's nice to know that what I do is affecting people, even when they don't know it is. Does that make sense?" Loki blushed a bit, "I suppose that's a weird explanation of the best thing about this job besides the cooking, but... it's all I can give you." Charlie found himself rather amazed that Loki could be that serious. He considered what Loki was saying. Loki would probably never stop being a detective. It wasn't for the reasons St. Peter had suggested however. Loki felt he hadn't yet touched enough lives, helped enough people, and the odds were he would always feel that way. The people in the cities on earth had probably lived and died countless times since Loki had become a detective, and they would continue doing so, again and again... "Thank you, I think I understand." Loki smiled at him broadly, then said, "Great! Wanna grab a cake with me?" and he winked at him. "Let's just get back on the ground, before we start discussing cake." Loki looked down at the ground, "Oh, sorry," and he flew them back to the building that they had come from. "Here you go," and he set Charlie gently down. "Now, about the cake..." Charlie decided that a little cake wouldn't hurt anything, so he nodded. "But after cake I have other people I need to talk to. I don't have any money either, and I don't want stolen cake." Since Loki seemed to think stealing from the kitchen was fun he thought he ought to stipulate. Loki's face fell, "Oh, I see, well then, since you want honest cake," then he looked back up with sparkling eyes, "then you can get it! Come on, let's get cake!" and he grabbed a hold of Charlie's shirt and started tugging him inside the building. Charlie allowed himself to be dragged back to the elevator, up two floors and down the hallway to the big doorway which led to the kitchen, "There you go, now just ask Miss Emerald for some cake to share with someone and I'm sure she'll give you a few big pieces." Loki smiled at him grandly and nodded his head once. "It's free?" "It's free if Miss Emerald says you can have some," his smile was still big. Charlie shook his head. Loki seemed like such a kid yet there was so much more to him. He wondered what else was beyond the childlike eyes. It would take a braver person than him to find out, that was certain. Charlie walked uncertainly into the kitchen. He was only a few feet when he was stopped by a very large woman. Large wasn't exactly right, large in presence instead of size perhaps, she was about 5'4" with bright green eyes and dark auburn hair that curled around her face in rings. She was wearing a simple peasant type outfit where one side of the shirt slipped off her shoulder and allowed for a small showing of ample... well... and the skirt was down to her ankles and done patchwork. She had on soft leather boots. "And who are you? Entering my kitchen is like marking yourself for death," her eyes flashed a bit, and she was sort of scary. Charlie really wasn't used to situations like this one. "I... um... was sent..." Charlie stopped. Should he have said sent? Loki sure did know how to put a person in an uncomfortable position. "That is... could I have some cake? I can't really pay for it..." The lady laughed, a light and fully happy laugh, "Oh, silly, I'm just kidding!" She looked him up and down and smiled, "Don't take me too seriously, unless you're going to be just as bad as Loki, you won't do any damage. Cake you said? Just for yourself?" and she gave him a sidelong glance. Charlie was somewhat relieved by her sudden change of personality, although she still unnerved him. "Um, no, myself and... a friend." After her last comment he probably shouldn't say it was for Loki. On the other hand Loki wasn't really a friend. However, she just smiled and nodded. "Just stay right here, and I'll be back." Then she disappeared for several moments. The other kitchen staff smiled at him, and then went back to work. When she returned she had a large tray with two plates and a few drinks on it, which she offered to him. "Here, bring back the tray when you're done," and she winked. "Thanks," Charlie accepted the tray, hoping he didn't sound as relieved as he was. She giggled, "You're Welcome!" and she moved back into the kitchen. Charlie took the tray out and looked around for Loki, who was just around the corner waiting for him. His eyes were wide and shining. "You did it! Wow! It looks so good! Let's go outside to eat!" and he took the lead to the elevator, back down and outside to a nice table by the pond. "Is this ok?" Charlie nodded, set down the tray and sat down. "What do you think of the boss?" If he was going to eat cake he may as well get some sort of information, or try at any rate. Loki looked up from the wonderful food to Charlie and shrugged, "His is righteous anger," and he returned to picking out the largest piece of cake. "That was succinctly put, but I meant in a more general sort of way." So, Loki was aware that his boss was angry with him, knew the reason and even agreed with it? Why didn't he apologize or something? "His is a job he knows well," and he picked a piece. Looking supremely happy, he started eating the cake, then looked at Charlie, "Let me know if you don't want your piece, it would be a shame to let it go to waste." Charlie shook his head and took a bite of the cake. It was delicious. He ate silently. It seemed to him that Loki wasn't likely to give him much more information no matter what he asked. After the cake was down Loki's throat, he sat back in his chair and took a cup of tea. "The chief knows his job, and he also knows people. He doesn't like others to know he cares for them so he puts up a mean front. He is especially uncertain around me because I've been here many, many years longer than him, and no one is as old as I am, except for one person at any rate. The chief likes people to be scared of him so that they think before they act stupid. It's a father trait." Loki winked, "did you know he had two kids and four grandchildren before he died of a heart attack?" he laughed lightly, "But that didn't stop him from finding more children to take care of, and I'm the biggest one of all!" He smiled at Charlie, "I don't talk seriously for long, so enjoy it! Want more cake? You could ask Miss Emerald for more!" Charlie shook his head. "I think I've had plenty. Who's the one person who's as old as you are?" He could chance one more question, but then it was definitely time to talk to the next person on his mental list. Loki looked confused, "As old as me? There's someone as old as me?" Loki laughed, "No way!" Charlie raised his eyebrows. "You said so. You shouldn't say things if they aren't true." Loki laughed again. "I think the only one close to my age is Warah. He's been working in the doctors area so long, I'm not sure how long he's been here." His eyes shown brightly as he looked at Charlie. "There are very few guarantee's in this afterlife, but one is that no one is as good at patching you up as Warah is!" "Uh huh, ok Loki, well, you're on your own for cake and such now. I have a few other people I need to talk to." Charlie stood up. "Thank you for your time." Loki nodded and smiled, "No problem! If you need anything else, just let me know." He sat back in his chair and took another drink from his teacup. Charlie went back to the building. He needed to find the gym, which was in the basement and he remembered the elevator having a button for the basement, so he decided to take the elevator. Once he was inside and had pressed the button for basement, the elevator said, "To the basement we go, please remember that it is colder downstairs," and it began moving. Once at the bottom, the doors opened, and Charlie could tell that the temperature had dropped about 20 degrees. The whole basement was set up with mats and balance beams and different things on the walls for climbing. There were several people practicing several different things down here, one climbing, two fighting, and another sending blasts of energy towards a pole. A few more people were wandering around, some of them talking. "Thank you for riding Elly Elevator, please ride again." Charlie stepped off the elevator and looked at the people one at a time. He stopped a nearby couple who were heading toward the elevator. "I'm looking for Diana, can you help me?" The couple looked at each other, then at him and snickered a bit. "Oh, Diana? She's over by the pole, trying to destroy it," and they snickered again. Charlie decided he felt sorry for Diana and wasn't particularly impressed with the couple. "Thank you." He turned away from them and carefully made his way toward the pole, observing the woman who was sending some sort of weird visible energy at it. She was tall with long red hair and was wearing a short dress the color of rich brown earth. Her hair was tied back in a bow and it hung down past the edge of the dress. She had on tall knee high boots in black leather. The energy she was sending was the color purple. He didn't really want to startle her but she seemed so intent on what she was doing that he had a feeling she wasn't likely to notice him. "Excuse me," he said softly, once he was close enough for her to hear him. She turned quickly around and stared at him, purple waves intertwined in her fingers. Her eyes, bright as a cloudless sky, were startled, and it looked like she was trying to keep the purple waves from leaving her hands. "Yes?" she squeaked out. Then she blushed, and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I was wondering if I could talk to you a bit." Charlie looked at the energy. What did it do? "When you're done, that is." She shook her head and concentrated on her hands. Slowly the purple faded, almost looking like it was soaking into her skin. Then she looked at him and extended her hand, "Diana, I'm sorry," her voice was slightly high pitched and childlike. She smiled. "Charlie," he replied, shaking her hand. "I want to talk to you about being a detective. I really didn't mean to interrupt though." She shook her head again. "No, no, I always practice, so it's ok. But lets not do it here, ok? Maybe upstairs? In the sitting room?" her eyes were hopeful. Charlie nodded. "Wherever you want. I'll follow you." She smiled and moved to the elevator. He could see a sheen of sweat across her back. It hadn't looked like she had been doing anything that exhausting, but... Once upstairs, she led them to a large sitting room on the first floor. There were several couches and easy chairs with a few tables scattered around. She took a seat on one of the easy chairs and sighed. "What would you like to ask?" "I'd like to know what you think of being a detective." She looked startled. "Being a detective?" She tilted her head to one side and thought for a moment. Then she looked at him, "I hate it," she said honestly. "I hate every part of it. I wish I had never said I would come here and I wish I could leave now. I'm waiting until my trial period is up and then I'm going to leave and never come back. Anything else?" Charlie nodded. "Why do you hate it so much? I hope it's ok for me to ask. I'm considering being a detective and I want to get some idea of what I'm getting myself into." She sighed. "I just don't fit in. Everyone makes fun of me because my power isn't right. There's something odd about it and we're on a time of peace right now, so I'm trying to train it, but..." she sighed again. "I just don't like people much. I tried to fit in, but I can't seem to. I hate the way people treat me, and I don't like my partner, and..." her voice faded out. "I'm sorry, it's really not the work I hate, its the atmosphere. I think I'm just going to be reborn and forget about myself once I leave. It would be better that way I think," she looked down at her hands, which were folded in her lap. "I have such a terrible temper, and when it flares, there's nothing I can do. I'm afraid that I'm going to hurt someone, and hurt them bad. It's better if I just wasn't here anymore." "That's sad," Charlie watched her, wondering why she couldn't fit in and knowing exactly what it was like to not fit in. "What's wrong with your power though? Is that the purple energy you were sending at the pole?" She looked up at him. "Yes, it's just not focusing right. Besides that, I can't seem to control it, and it should be stronger than it is. The problem is that when I'm mad, it gets so strong..." she stopped and looked down at her hands again. "Maybe you're trying too hard," Charlie suggested. "I don't know anything about this stuff, but it's true with learning other things that when you try too hard it gets in the way of your learning." He hadn't really meant to try to help her but he felt badly about her situation. She seemed so determined and yet so defeated. Giving up and being reborn seemed like the wrong answer but it was her life after all, not his. She looked up at him, "But, if you don't work on making things better..." she paused and stared at him for several seconds before, "Maybe you're right," she sounded encouraged and her face looked brighter, "I think that's a great idea," she smiled, "anything else?" Charlie nodded and smiled himself. "How long have you been here then, and what made you decide to stay?" "I've been here about four months, and I'd decided to stay because I like the job. I just don't like the people." "I wish I could help." Charlie found that he meant it very much. "If I stay maybe we can be friends. If you don't mind being friends with a 13 year old." She shook her head. "I think you're already doing a good job at this job!" then she blushed a little, "I don't mind 13 year olds, and you're certainly on the top of my list of people I like. Thank you so much for making me feel better!" "You're welcome." The moment had become a little awkward so he forged on. "You like the actual job then? What makes you like it?" She smiled, "Well, the only missions I've been on have been easy soul retrieval. I went to the human world and made sure that the ones who's time had come died, but each time, it has been something that made them want to stay that kept them from dying, and I was able to make them feel at peace. Once they were at peace, they were guided to death, and my job was over. It was nice to feel like I'd done something good for once." "What about the boss? Do you get along with him?" She laughed, "Get along with him? Yes, I love him! He's my father, and he still takes care of me! That's one of the reason's why I decided to stay on at first. I didn't want to disappoint him." "Your father? That's not literal right?" He didn't think it was, but who knew? He was new to this place after all. She nodded, "He was my father in real life, then when I died, I found out where he was, and he thought I should work here. He was right, but wrong at the same time. Some people found out and thought he was being too nice to me," she shrugged, "but they figured out that he wasn't and I stopped hearing things." "Wow... but then, why don't you talk to him about all of this. If you're having trouble with your partner couldn't you get a different one? If I joined and had trouble with my partner, would I be stuck with them?" Charlie hadn't considered all of this from that viewpoint. What if people here were just as bad as the kids in school, and they all hated him? What if it turned out that he was miserable here? Well, he'd just ignore them and do what he felt was best, just like he had at school. Still, would it be like that everywhere? No, since he'd died he'd met many people who he could talk to, so it wasn't as bad as school no matter what happened. Plus, he didn't have to deal with his mother. She blushed, "I think I could talk to him about it, but I don't think that anything can be done until I'm out of training, so to speak. I have a hard time talking to my father about things that bother me, and that's why I never said anything to him about it. You wouldn't be stuck with your partner because you'd tell the chief about it and he'd fix it for you." She smiled at him, "You're really easy to talk to, do you know that? I'm kinda embarrassed to be telling you all this." "Don't be embarrassed," Charlie shook his head, "it's just, I understand. I never got along with much of anyone at school, and I got to be a bit of a nerd, but not enough of one to fit in with that group either. So, I had a really hard time with group projects. I had to ask teachers to get me out of groups a lot. The worst part was when the teacher wouldn't listen and I had to put up with it. I think that's everything I wanted to know. Thank you for talking to me." He smiled at her. He thought it would be nice to be her partner, but they would both be new, so that probably wouldn't happen. Maybe he'd talk to her father about the problems she was having. He wondered how much her father knew. It struck him that Loki had to be the better agent of the two, and so she had been labeled the worst agent here. That or her father was blind, which didn't really fit. He was satisfied with what he'd accomplished and he really didn't feel the need to talk to anyone else. He wanted to see a mission now. He would just have to wait until he could. "Thanks! I feel so much better, and you're so welcome! If you need anything, let me know, ok? I'd really like to repay you for your kindness." She stretched her arms and fell back into the seat. "So, are you just looking around and asking questions? Who all are you talking to, if you don't mind my asking." "I had the names of six people to talk to, but I've only talked to you and Loki so far. I don't think I need to talk to anyone else at this point though. I'm just going to wait to see a mission. Why?" "Just curious. You should talk to Warah. He's in the medical division and he's really easy to talk to. He's been here so long he is the only one who knows about things that happened when Loki arrived here. Everyone else has turned over, so to speak. He has observed everyone and I think he knows more about this place than Loki." She shrugged, "You could ask to leave with the first mission. I'm sure the Chief will let you. It's probably going to be a while though." "He wasn't on my list, but I'll go talk to him. Loki mentioned him to, although he didn't suggest seeing him. Loki's... sort of hard to talk to though." Diana laughed. "Sort of hard to talk to? Impossible unless you like to talk about sweets!" Her eyes were bright, "I found out long ago that I couldn't talk to him." Charlie smiled at her and nodded. "I can agree on that, although he does have moments of coherence. Where should I go to look for Warah? Is there some sort of medical clinic?" Diana nodded. "The third floor is the medical floor. It has rooms and rooms for the sick, and at the end of the hall is the large hospital. At least everyone always calls it the hospital. Warah spends most of his time there, he even set up a bed in the back so he could sleep there. Just going in and asking will get you to him. He's easy to find usually." "Thank you," Charlie stood, "please take care of yourself and try to relax a little." She smiled at him, "I will, thank you! Good luck with everything you do!" He gave her a parting smile and went back to the elevator, heading for the third floor this time. When the door opened, he was in a large hallway that went both left and right. It was not carpeted, tile in plain white shone brightly as if it was always kept waxed. He began walking straight ahead. He was bound to run into someone who could direct him eventually. It only took a moment before he saw someone walk out of one of the rooms. They were dressed in a white medical coat and started walking towards Charlie. He smiled at the man. "I'm looking for Warah." He looked at Charlie in surprise, as if he hadn't seen him. "Oh, sorry! Warah? He's in the back lab room right now. Working on some kind of medical thing. Down there," and he pointed away in the distance down the left side. "All the way at the end." "Thanks." Charlie walked for a long time, eventually arriving at the end, which was a large metal door. He could hear all sorts of voices and noises from the other side. He wondered if he ought to knock and decided it would be best to do so, since it sounded so busy in there. "Just a minute!" he heard from the other side. It really was just a minute before the door swung open. A gentleman wearing a doctor's coat that seemed to be filled with objects opened the door. He had light brown hair and bright brown eyes mostly hidden behind a pair of glasses. He stood tall, with broad shoulders and a toned body. "Can I help you?" he said, smiling a bit. "I'm looking for Warah," Charlie replied. The man nodded. "And once you've found him?" he said. Charlie smiled. "Then I will want to know if I can have some of his time, now or later." "And when he says yes, but in a few hours please?" Now the man was grinning. "Well, then I will ask where to meet him." Charlie grinned back. "And when he says he'll meet you downstairs in the large sitting room in front of the silver coffee table?" He was almost laughing. "I will reply that I will see him there, and wish him luck on his current project," Charlie replied. "Then I will leave so he can get back to work." He turned with a wave and headed back down the hallway. Since he had some time to spare he decided to return to the kitchens. He felt comfortable enough with Miss Emerald now that he could convey Loki's apology to her and that's exactly what he was going to do. The man at the door laughed full out as Charlie walked away, "Thank you! I'll see you soon!" and he returned to the room. Once Charlie got to the kitchen floor, he noticed that there was a lot of commotion going on. People were bustling around like crazy and were moving pans from one part of the floor to another part and back again. He tried to stop a girl as she went past. "Is something wrong?" She looked at him like he was slightly crazy for a moment, then shook her head. "Someone new right? It's lunch time. We've got to keep moving or they'll never get fed! I hate lunch time more than any other time right now! There's so many people around! If you want a quick meal, please go to the end room," and she pointed to a room close by, "and eat there, there's a buffet table set up. Thank you!" It was evidently not a good time to talk to Miss Emerald and he wasn't feeling particularly hungry, so he decided to take the elevator to the sitting room early and, well, sit. Maybe there would be something to read there. He thought he might have seen some books or magazines when he'd been there with Diana. The room was fairly empty, there were only two other people there. All along one wall were shelves filled with different kind of media. One was books, one was magazines, there was even a cd rack. He was in luck. He moved to the book shelf and began browsing the titles. Surprisingly, there was everything from classics to the latest bestseller on the shelves. On the bottom shelf were novels in other languages. Since there weren't very many people in the room he sat down in front of the bookcase and began pulling out the more interesting looking books to read the backs. Finally he settled on a mystery novel called Who's the Cat, by someone he'd never heard of before and stood up, wondering how long he'd been sitting there. He sat down on the couch in front of the silver coffee table and began reading. He loved to read, although it made him completely loose track of time. Which was probably the reason why he was startled when someone sat down next to him and spoke. "Good book?" He started and looked up. He smiled at Warah. "Yes, very intense and unpredictable." He nodded at Charlie. "Sinister but fun in the process, I think I've read that one, but that particular author has so many books out I can't keep track anymore." Warah smiled back, "So," he leaned back in the couch, "what did you want to talk to me about?" Charlie set the book on the coffee table, face down to save his space. "I'm considering joining the detectives. I came to observe, but since not much is happening right now I ended up talking to Loki and Diana about the job. Diana said I ought to talk to you, since you've been here so long and seen so many people come and go." Warah tilted his head to one side. "I see," and he leaned his head back again, "So many people have come and gone. There are only about 5 people who have been here even near the amount of time I've been here, and the turnover rate is much higher than that. Many people cannot handle the pressure." He looked at Charlie, very intensely, "There is a great deal of pressure you will have to endure if you are to become a detective, just remember that. If you crack under pressure, this is not a good job for you to be a part of." Then he relaxed again, "Is there anything in particular you wanted to ask about?" "I guess I want to know what makes people stay and what makes them leave. I know there are probably as many reasons as there have been people, but I'm looking for the generality of it. St. Peter seemed to feel that most people never leave, they just stay until they die. Is that true?" Warah stared up at the ceiling for a few moments before looking back at Charlie. "Well, you see many people either die young, when they first make it here, or they stay, realizing that their duty is to this place." He looked at Charlie for a minute, "I don't know your name yet, however, let me explain something to you. Not everyone can become a detective. You see, only certain have the potential and the ability to become a detective. It takes a certain type of person who can pull off the role. Now, not everyone who can do the job likes it or even feels one bit of pity for people, and therefore cannot, and will not, remain here. However, many people stay because while they have the potential, they also have the drive. People who leave have the ability but no drive, no reason, so they leave. Those are also the ones who most often die as well. Do you understand?" "Charlie, and I think I might understand. You're saying that not having a drive to do the job, or a reason for staying is what makes people die, or leave. But, you're also saying that anyone who can come here has the potential to do the job. That means Diana can do this job right?" He felt himself blush a bit, "sorry, I seem to be wandering off topic. I just feel like it's not fair for someone to work so hard and yet be unable to accomplish their goal." Warah smiled, "Diana not only has the potential but a decent amount of drive. What happened to her was the misguided impression that her father would be the same in death as well as before death. Her father understood that he had to let his daughter grow up for a second time in order for her to become a true detective. Diana is capable, but due to her belief that others would treat her kindly because she was the chief's daughter she started out soft, and became a bit of a joke to the others. She couldn't rely on anyone but herself, and she is now starting to understand that she needs herself before she can need anyone else. It's a bit complex, to say the least. I think she'll work out, once she gives herself a bit of time." Warah's smile became a full out grin, "And you're very good at interpreting mindless ramblings." "Thanks, I like talking to you. You're actually very easy to understand, especially in comparison to Loki." Warah laughed. "Loki's a hard one to understand and also likes to make people think that they're mad. But he means well, it just takes the right kind of listening to hear him," and he laughed again. "The funniest thing is that he's never quite sure which one of us has been here longer! And he always worries about it. There's no need for him to be worried over such a trivial thing." "Really? He told me you were near his age and you'd been here so long he couldn't remember how long it was. For some reason I got the impression he'd been here longer than you, but come to think of it he really didn't say that." Warah nodded smugly, "He obsesses over which one of us is older. He's just like a little kid! I tell him stories so he'll remember, but..." Warah stopped talking suddenly, his face gone serious, "But too many things happened to him when he came here and there is nothing worse that the thought of returning those painful memories to him." Then he looked at Charlie and smiled again, "Really, it's a silly thing to be so obsessive about." "Why don't you just tell him which one of you is older?" Warah laughed and winked at him. "Because that would spoil the fun of watching him chew his nails in frustration at not knowing." Then he got serious again, "And also because of the memories. All it takes is one thing to spring it and he might remember everything, and that would be bad." He shook his head, "This is a little too much into psychotherapy for you to understand, so I wont bore you with the details." Charlie didn't think he wanted to psychoanalyze Loki anyhow. "Thank you. I'm afraid I've run out of questions. Although... I am a bit worried about one other thing. I saw how people treat Diana and I wondered. Is there a lot of that here? Do people ever disclude others to the point that it becomes detrimental to the group or the job or the people involved?" Warah shook his head, "Only somewhat. There are some people who are interested in playing high school or grade school games, but most of the ones who are actually going out to work don't bother with that. The reason why that is happening right now is because of the lack of work. They'll learn much faster that things aren't that easy once they witness death more closely. You don't have to worry about it once the jobs start happening." Charlie nodded. "Now I really can't think of anything to ask. I really do appreciate you taking the time to talk to me though." Warah smiled and nodded his head. "No problem, I like to talk, but I rarely get to. Let me know if you want to talk again. Now, I think I'll just sit back and take a little nap." And he leaned back in the couch so he was almost lying down and closed his eyes. "Sure, goodnight." Charlie guessed that was the thing to say anyhow. Since Warah was sleeping and didn't seem concerned with what Charlie was doing Charlie decided to continue reading the book. He wondered if he could finish it without getting tired. If he did get tired he supposed he could just sleep in the lounge too. It was hours later when there was a hand on his shoulder. "It would be a good idea to rest, you know?" The voice was young and feminine. He lowered the book and blinked at the world beyond it. "Huh?" "You've been in here for hours reading. It's sure to give you an eye cramp," she smiled at him. Charlie had the feeling that there was something no quite right about her. Her eyes were large and brown, and she had dark brown hair, almost black, that was styled around her face and down her shoulders. Her voice however, seemed a little off. "I feel fine," Charlie assured her. What was it about her voice he wondered. "Sensana please report to the chief's office, Sensana, please report to the chief's office," a voice said on some sort of intercom system. The girl looked up. "Oh, that's me!" She stood up and smiled, "I'll be seeing you around I guess. Take care of your eyes," and she winked at him before walking towards the door. He still didn't get it. Of course he hadn't had much time to try either. He stood and stretched. He was feeling a bit hungry. Still holding the book he left the room. It seemed like a good time to try carrying Loki's message to Miss Emerald again. Unfortunately he didn't get the chance. "New arrival Charlie, please report to the chief's office, new arrival Charlie please report to the chief's office," said the voice on the invisible intercom. Interesting, had a case come up? The chief hadn't seemed to expect one any time soon but Charlie was sure if there was one the man would be in a much better mood. He took the elevator to the top floor and walked to the office on the other side of the building. It was when he went to knock on the door that he realized he was still carrying the book. He looked around, his eyes landing on Loki's desk. Loki's desk was a total mess. Empty boxes from some sort of food were laying all around, and the trash right by was overflowing. Papers and books were warring for space with the computer and the nicknacks all over the place. One could easily store something on this desk for a long time without the owner ever finding out about it. He slipped the book strategically onto the desk before returning to the chiefs office and knocking. "Enter!" the voice said loudly. When he did, he saw the girl who had just spoken to him, standing in the room. She smiled at him. The chief stood up, "You wanted a case, here's one. Charlie, meet Sensana, Sensana, Charlie. You'll be working together for the duration of this mission." Charlie smiled back a bit uncertainly. "We met, sort of." Sensana stuck out her hand. "I'm glad to be meeting you for real now! We'll be doing a very simple mission, the chief was just telling me about it." Charlie shook her hand. "Oh?" He hadn't actually realized that observing meant participating. Evidently it did. He wondered why St. Peter hadn't mentioned. Was it possible that he didn't really know? Sensana turned back to the chief, who was watching Charlie. "It's very simple actually, please have a seat," and he motioned to the seats in front of his desk. Sensana sat down immediately. Charlie sat down as well, his eyes on the chief as he wondered why the chief had been watching him. Once they were seated, the chief spoke again. "This is a simple recall mission. Your job is to go to a hotel and pick up someone who thought they could leave the agency." Sensana gasped. "Who thought they could do that?" she said. The chief shook his head. "Jared," he said simply. "And he's going to learn that loving someone doesn't mean you can leave when you want to. We have strict rules about vacation!" his voice raised a few notches at the end. Then he sighed, "And you just need to get this on him and he'll come back." The chief held out his hand, and on it was a red sticker. "That's it, end of information. Simple, eh?" he looked to Charlie for a moment. "I suppose this means it's a good thing I didn't try to find and talk to him?" Charlie didn't really like the mission but he understood why it needed to be done, after all, a commitment was a commitment. He sort of felt badly for Jared however. The chief nodded. "You wouldn't have found him even if you tried to. He's never liked it here much, but I've never understood why he didn't leave. The name of the hotel is Starlight. It's in the city of Cleveland, Texas. He is in room 420." Sensana took the red sticker and looked at it closer. "So all we have to do is put this on him and we're set? Come home?" The chief nodded, "That's right. Any other questions?" Sensana nodded. "When do we go?" "Tomorrow, at noon you have a plane ticket from here to Cleveland." "Does he know about this little sticker trick?" Charlie was a little suspicious of anything this simple. I mean, if it was that easy why not send a homing pigeon. He also wondered about the logistics involved in sending a plane from wherever he was to Cleveland, Texas, but he figured asking would only get him a half answer. The chief shook his head, "No, he doesn't know the sticker trick. It's a new design that is just out of testing." Charlie nodded, but he still had his doubts about the job. "Good, no more questions?" Sensana shook her head. "Then get ready for tomorrow. I wish you good luck." Charlie stood up and walked to the door, holding it open for Sensana. He hoped she would leave ahead of him, so that he'd get a chance to retrieve his book. Sensana stood up and started walking to the door, noticed that Charlie was holding it open and smiled at him, "Thank you so much!" and she walked out, heading briskly for the elevator. Charlie wandered out slowly behind her. He looked immediately towards Loki's desk to see if Loki was around or still elsewhere. Elsewhere appeared to be the answer, the desk looked just as much in a state of disrepair as the last time he was here. He glanced back at Sensana and since she seemed intent on the elevator he took the book back. He wasn't sure why he didn't want her to see him except that he had hidden it on the desk without permission. Plus she'd suggested he stop reading it. Taking the book he headed to the elevator himself. Time to see Miss Emerald. Sensana peaked from around the corner when he got near the elevator. "I thought you might have taken the book!" and she giggled. It was a cute giggle, for a girl, maybe. Again, Charlie had the nagging sense that she wasn't quite right. "Did the chief give you a room to sleep in?" she asked, brushing her hair out of her eyes. Charlie shook his head. "I really don't feel tired though." He figured he ought to sleep some, but he could always nap in the sitting room. She nodded. "Ok, but you should sleep at least a little bit before we go. Here," she held out a key, "this is the room next to mine. It's empty and you can stay there for tonight." Charlie felt his head tilt to the side as he looked at her curiously. "Why do you have the key to the room next door?" She smiled at him, "I had asked about the new boy running around. When I met you in the resting room, I was there to give you the key. Things didn't happen quite like I expected though, I was on a mission from the room department and only got to finish it now." "Oh," Charlie took the key and looked at it. It was fairly simple looking, silver in color with the numbers 124 on it. The only thing that was interesting was the weave work of birds on the top part of it. "The rooms are a floor down and fairly easy to navigate once you get there, signs are everywhere." "Thank you." The elevator door opened and Charlie got in. She watched him get in and waved a bit as the doors closed. "Do you have a music preference?" the elevator voice said, "I can play any variety of music and you are a frequent rider." "A... frequent rider?" Charlie laughed. "I like Rush a lot." He'd been listening to Rush since he was little and he raided his mothers tape collection. Since his listening to them seemed to bother his mother he'd enjoyed it even more. For some reason he was in a Rush mood. "Rush? One moment," it really was one moment later, "There you go, Rush," and the first notes of "Roll the Bones" started coming from the speakers. He exited the elevator and walked to the kitchen, peering in before entering this time. If they were busy he could just go away. Thankfully, they were completely empty of large crowds of people. He entered, looking for Miss Emerald. She was fairly easy to find. "Oh! Hello!" she said upon seeing him. She walked over to him, "What can I do for you now? Hungry?" He shook his head. "No, but your cake was delicious. I just wanted to let you know that when Loki thought you'd sent me to scold him he said he didn't mean to eat it, he's sorry and he'll never let it happen again. I told him I'd let you know if I saw you, then I forgot to when I came in earlier." Miss Emerald looked at him a bit in surprise. "You came here just to tell me that he was sorry? Loki was sorry?" She smiled, "That's so nice of you! How kind!" Then she laughed, "I left that pie out just for him, I can't tell him because I know he's not interested, but, I kinda like him," and she winked at Charlie, "But he's not interested in girls. That's ok, I can always cook for him. When you see him next, tell him Miss Emerald says to never let it happen again." "I'll tell him." So Miss Emerald, who was with Miss Lyht, liked Loki? It sounded pretty complicated to Charlie so he decided not to get too involved. "Have a good night Miss Emerald." Charlie left the kitchen and took the elevator to the floor where he was supposed to have a room. A room of his own? No mother to harass him out of bed in the morning? He hoped there was a good alarm clock. The floor he was on was just a long hall of doors. In front of him was a sign that said 100-199 and pointed left, and 200-299 and pointed right. He turned left and walked the corridor until he found 124, inserted his key and opened the door. The room was nice. Simple with a little touch of elegance. There was a single bed with a dresser and a closet. Off to the side was another door and a desk with a computer on it. In front of the bed was a TV and beside it was a small side table with an alarm clock on it. Charlie checked the clock for a time. It was 6:00 pm according to the clock. There was no way he was going to bed that early. He turned on the light and lounged across the bed to read some more. After several hours, there was a knock on his door. The clock now said 10:00 pm. Charlie set the book aside and went to the door, opening it. Loki was outside the door, a very serious look on his face. "Can I talk to you?" he asked. Charlie felt his brow crease. "Of course you can," he opened the door all the way, "do you want to come in?" Loki nodded and walked in. "Thank you," he found himself a seat on the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry to come here at this time of night and bother you before a mission, but I had something I wanted to say." Charlie shook his head. "I was just reading, you haven't interrupted much." He waited for Loki to continue. "I know where you're going tomorrow and I know why, but I wanted to know if you'd be willing to ask Jared a question for me." Charlie nodded. "I intended to try to get a chance to talk to him first. It must be hard for him, or he wouldn't be trying to, well, run away. But, why are you asking me, why not Sensana? She's sort of in charge isn't she?" Loki looked up at him. "Well, Sensana is," he paused, "it's not like he's a bad person, but I don't trust him like I should. I understand he's had problems, but I just can't get over the drag thingy he's got going on. I hear its a new fad, but..." He shrugged. "I just don't like Sensana like I like you." If Charlie had been eating or drinking he'd have choked. Since he wasn't he was fairly sure his surprise went unnoticed. He? Sensana was a he? Well, that explained the voice. "You like me?" Here Charlie hadn't thought they'd clicked much at all. Still, he had a respect for Loki that he didn't have for many people. On the other hand he didn't intend to socialize with him or anything. "Okay, what is it you want me to ask?" Loki looked a bit surprised, "Oh, I'm sorry, did you not know about Sensana? I'm terribly sorry for just blurting that out like that!" He shook his head, "And, I wanted you to ask him to please get the big fish I've been looking for. He'll know what I'm talking about. Also, would you be willing to ask him why he did it? Again, he'll know what I'm talking about, just make sure you tell him that I was the one who asked." He blushed a bit. "Sorry, it's like I'm talking in code or something. It must be confusing for you." Charlie smiled. "I like it when you're serious, I know it's important when you're serious, and I'll ask." He'd thought he'd covered his surprise about Sensana fairly well, but fairly well was evidently not good enough around Loki. "By the way, Miss Emerald said never to let it happen again." Loki looked startled, "Miss Emerald? Oh," he blushed, "I wont let it happen again!" Then he shook his head, "I'm not usually serious, and I don't plan on being so very often. Thank you very much for being willing to ask him for me, I'll be waiting for your return." He stood up and started for the door, "I've got to finish my pretzel now, so I'll leave you alone. Thanks for listening." |
 Stormy is Editing  (whenever you finish reading this, I haven't yet, it's your turn to write on this one. *grin*) M "No problem," Charlie smiled, realizing that food actually sounded good at the moment. He'd meant to grab a light meal earlier, but he'd been to absorbed in his book. "Good night Loki." He made sure the door was closed before undressing and slipping into bed. As he wondered if he would be able to fall asleep he drifted off, falling into a deep sleep. Stormy is Editing Charlie awoke to the sound of loud pounding on his door. "Charlie!" came a muffled holler. M Charlie opened his eyes wide and realized with a start that he had failed to set his alarm clock. "Um, yes?" He struggled out of bed and rushed into his pants before opening the door. Where he stood rubbing his eyes blearily. Stormy is Editing Sensana was there, all clean and dressed with a bag over one shoulder. "Charlie, Charlie," she said absently, "Just out of bed then? Take a shower, get properly dressed, and I'll meet you in the hall. We've got a plane to catch and we've only four hours to get there." M "Only... four hours?" He was fairly sure he looked at her like she was mad. Well, him, but somehow it was difficult not to think of Sensana as a her. "Right, I'll be about 15 minutes." He saw no reason to rush, on the other hand he could do everything needed in about that time. Stormy is Editing She nodded, "Good, the drive is about two hours, I'd hate to be late." She closed the door behind her and the sound of her footsteps dissapeared down the hallway. M Charlie sighed and went straight to the bathroom. So, his mother had been temporarily replaced by Sensana, well, worse things could happen. Sensana was certainly the better of the two to be woken up by. He was down in fifteen minutes exactly."I'm ready to go," he didn't have any luggage. Stormy is Editing Sensana smiled brightly at him and nodded. "Excellent! Shall we?" and she motioned to the door which opened up for them imediately. Outside was a nice car, the passenger side door open as well as the trunk. Sensana put her bag in the trunk and closed it then headed for the drivers side door, motioning to the passengers seat. "Hop in." M Charlie did as he was told. He glanced at her and wondered if he'd need to know how to drive for this job, then he shrugged. It honestly shouldn't become an issue unless whoever his partner was didn't know how either. On the other hand what if his partner was injured or something? He closed the door and fastened his seat belt. Stormy is Editing "So," Sensana said as she started driving, "What on earth made you decide you wanted to consider being a detective?" M Charlie tilted his head to the side as he considered that. "It's a hard question to answer. You see, I died, which I suppose is where everyones story around here begins. When St. Peter finally got the chance to answer my questions it seemed to me that Heaven was a fairly popular destination. I don't fit in with the majority of people. It follows that if the majority of people go to Heaven I will not likely want to stay there. Hell is a place where people who want to misbehave, or feel they have misbehaved go. As I'm in neither of those categories I couldn't justify going. That left the detectives, earth or rebirth. I hadn't the least inclination to remain on earth. I was rather happy to leave my current situation. Rebirth is certainly permanent, and I didn't want to give up my memories which in many ways compose what I am today. Therefore I inquired about watching here, to see if it might be the path I'd find most suitable." Stormy is Editing Sensana listened through the whole story and nodded her head at the end. "I see," she said at last, and smiled at Charlie. "I guess it's too bad that you have to be here at such a slow time." She shrugged then. "Well, there are things to be done, just none of them are very fun or interesting." M "Are things usually fun or interesting?" He knew what the others had told him already, but Sensana was bound to have her own thoughts and feelings. He found himself wanting to know what she thought of her work. Stormy is Editing "Oh certainly! Quite honestly I think this is the best job to have. I don't think of it as work at all, it's quite enjoyable. I get to travel all around the world, I can get free clothes, and the pay is excellent. Most of the jobs are simple recovery work, so that's not hard. The ones that aren't are a little more difficult, but usually don't take too much effort or time on my part. I'm in and out of the office quickly all the time. Loki get's the hardest missions really, having to deal with Kaine all the time." Sensana shivered, "Don't ever get stuck having to deal with Kaine, he sucks." M "I'll keep that in mind? It isn't like I would have a choice though, would I? By the way, do people who come to watch always end up doing an assignment with a partner right away?" Stormy is Editing Sensana smiled, "Well, we don't usually get people who watch. The Chief thought the best thing to do would be to have you go out with me and get a feel for things. This shouldn't be too difficult, so it's like watching. It gives you a chance to see what we do without being in a dangerous position. As for Kaine..." she trailed off. "The thing with Kaine is he has an unhealthy fixation on Loki. Therefore, he see's only Loki and no one else. In the event you come across him, it's best to report it and then simply leave the scene rather than try to deal with him." M "I see," Charlie considered that for a long time in silence before saying, "that must be hard for Loki though. It's sort of like he has a stalker, and everyone just keep sending him out to see his stalker whenever they show up." Stormy is Editing Sensana looked at him, her eyes slightly startled, then back to the road. "Well, that's a way of thinking of it. I never thought about it like that before." She was quiet for a few moments, then shook her head, "But really, he's the only one who can deal with Kaine, no one else is powerful enough." M Charlie nodded his head. "It isn't at all that I don't understand that. It just seems so different from the standard reaction to a stalker. On earth the entire police force would band together to try to help but things aren't that simple in this situation. It's too bad." Stormy is Editing "Oh, well they did try a collaborative effort when it came to Kaine, back about 50 or 60 years ago. It didn't work you see, and we lost... oh, about 10 good detectives to him. It was terrible." M "Hmm," Charlie fell silent because he was very busy asking himself questions, things like why Loki could stand against Kaine. Was Loki of equal strength and no one else was? Was Kaine holding back? How many detectives would it take to equal the strength of Loki? What about Kaine? Did it really matter? Shouldn't a proper strategy work no matter what the odds? Then he was off on memories of wars and strategies from history class. Things that had worked and not worked against super powers and seemingly impossible foes. The link always seemed to be surprise. Stormy is Editing Sensana looked at him and smiled. "Thinking about what I said? Well, Kaine is what most people would call evil incarnite. Some say he's worse than Satan himself. I don't believe that, but I do think he's really bad. I think he's impressivly ahead of the game, so to speak. Which is why he's so hard to defeat." She shrugged, "But what can I say, I'm nowhere near as strong as Loki is, maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about." M "How do you know you're less strong? Is it all in age or are there other factors? You know wars have been won by the weak many times. I'd think this is no different. It must be a matter of strategy more than strength. Somehow he's been coming up stronger and at least equally clever." Charlie shifted in his seat to look at her so he could see her better. Stormy is Editing She nodded. "I have to agree with you, but honestly the Chief doesn't want to lose any more detectives over Kaine and I can't really blame him. Kaine is... a terrible person." She glanced at Charlie and smiled. "I know I'm less strong than Loki and I know it because I don't have the power to level a building, or make a spell go so awry that it causes huge dry spells like this." She winked at Charlie. "Some of it is age, but some of it is also because he's got so many high level spirits on his side. He can summon four of the five great spirits, and honestly I'm not even capable of one of the great spirits." M Charlie's brow creased as he considered her words. "The great spirits? What are they? How does someone become capable of summoning them? Is it a predisposition or an accomplishment?" Stormy is Editing She continued to smile. "It's an accomplishment. A great one at that. The great spirits encompass the five elements, earth, air, fire, water, and spirit. Loki can summon the great spirits of earth, air, fire and spirit. He can't seem to get water though." She chuckled. "It eludes him... slips right through his fingers," and she was laughing outright at that point. M "I wonder why he keeps trying. Aren't four a great enough accamplishment? It sounds like he isn't lacking power. Have you tried then and not succeeded, or are you content without trying?" Charlie found the information fascinating really. "It sounds sort of like the wiccan elements." Stormy is Editing "Well, honestly I don't know why he keeps trying, it's such an accomplishment to get even one, and he has four." She shrugged, "I don't want to go through the effort to get a spirit, mainly because I think I'd rely on it too much if I did so. That's my problem really. I don't know if I'd succeed, but I don't want to try." Then she grinned at Charlie, "Where do you think beliefs come from? I don't think that Wiccan's are the only people who believe in elements, but the ideas certainly came from us, in some way or another. Well, either that or they came from so many people believing in them. That too is a possibility." M "I see," was Charlie's only reply. Sensana did know how to make him think. She'd given him enough to keep him busy for months he suspected. If she kept it up he'd need a diary to write things to think about in for later consideration. Stormy is Editing "Oh, and don't think that each great spirit is the same. Each one has a different way of taming them. They each have a test you have to pass. That's another reason why it's such an accomplishment that Loki's gotten four, that means he's survived four incredible challenges. I think that's amazing." M "Of course, it would make no sense for water to allude him otherwise." Charlie fell silent, then, "Did you say survived? Is there a risk to your soul involved?" Stormy is Editing "There is. It's not easy to tame such creatures. They're very dangerous. But honestly I don't think they'd kill you, well, destroy your soul. I suspect they'd only damage and scar your soul. Not very many people try to tame the great spirits." M Charlie nodded, "I wonder why he did. I'd ask, but he'd just tell me it was a large task or something and then ask if I was hungry." Stormy is Editing Sensana snorted and turned bright eyes on Charlie. "I guess you know Loki pretty well, huh?" she said, and then chuckled. "Yeah, something like that no doubt. He really can't stay focused on anything other than food for more than about one minute. If that long. I had to be his partner for a while once. Most new people do, but... I couldn't stand it, I had to ask for a new partner as soon as one appeared because he kept asking me for money for food." M Charlie smiled, "well, I think that would be the part that would bother me least. It's the lapses in honesty that get to me. One minute he'll be completely facade, then there's a flash of honesty, then it's right back to the mask. I don't think I could handle it," he grinned, "in all honesty." Stormy is Editing Sensana grinned back at Charlie. "Well, I think all of it is his real personality, just different parts of it. Maybe he's a Gemini?" She looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged. "Anyway, he's fun to be around, if you don't mind a puppy child to take care of that has more power than he knows what to do with. Which, of course, isn't me." M Charlie raised his eyebrows, "You think? We'll just have to agree to disagree on that one. I think there's a major cover up going on there and it has a lot to do with him not wanting to be in touch with his real feelings." Charlie looked out of the window then, realizing he'd probably already missed some interesting scenery. After all the detectives couldn't actually be located in the real world, could they? Stormy is Editing "Yes, I suppose you're right. I'd hate for him to be in touch with his real feelings though, my goodness, what on earth would he be like then?" She sounded appaled at the thought.Outside there was nothing but wilderness. Tree's in fall colors were warring for space in the forests next to the roadway, and there were very few cars on the road. It was rather beautiful overall. M "Hmm," Charlie thought it might be rather refreshing, but he didn't bother to say so. "This is a beautiful area. Whare are we?" Stormy is Editing "Vermont, I think," Sensana looked around for a moment and then shrugged. "Yeah, Vermont. I'm not sure where exactly we are, I just know how to get to the airport from here. Why?" M Charlie shrugged, "I was never out of my town when I was alive, so I thought it would be nice to know where I was, in case I ever come back." Stormy is Editing "Oh, now that you're dead, I completely suggest going sightseeing. There's tours that you can take. It's rather neat what you can do now that you're dead." She glanced at him. "There's some really neat places here on Earth, I recomend the pyramids, they're amazing, so is the sphinx." M Charlie smiled briefly, "I'll remember that." Stormy is Editing Sensana sighed, "I love Egypt. It's my favorite place on Earth, I've visited ten times over the past, oh... 50 years or so. It's amazing to see what they can find. And I totally recommend going and seeing a dig sometime, it's very interesting." She gave Charlie a small smile, "But I could go on about it for hours and not be done speaking. See that lake over there? I've been swimming in there, it was very nice but the fish are rather vicious." M "Vicious fish? Are they piranah or something?" Charlie couldn't think of very many fish which qualified as vicious. Stormy is Editing "Oh, no nothing like that, just they bite at you awful bad. I think they're just not used to anything being in the water with them other than food you see? It was an interesting hour I spent in the water. We're almost there, ready to go flying? Have you ever been in a plane before?" M Charlie shook his head."One town remember," he said in case she hadn't seen his response. Stormy is Editing She lightly slapped her hand across her forehead. "Oh, that's right, sorry about that. I feel stupid." She gave Charlie an appologetic look. "Well then, this should be quite a new experience. I hope you enjoy it, I'll give you the window seat if you aren't afraid of heights." M "No, not as far as I know, although I believe plains go up a lot further than anything I've ever climbed or ridden before." He watched as they pulled into the airport. "Are we doing okay with time?" Stormy is Editing She nodded, "We've still got about two hours, we'll have to check in, get ourselves to where we need to be and we'll probably have about a half hour after all that. Was there something in particular you wanted to do?" M "No, just wondering if I made us late. I have trouble getting up even with an alarm clock, and I completely forgot to set one last night. I've been meaning to apologise for that." Stormy is Editing She gave him a wide smile, "There's nothing to apologize for silly, I had a feeling you wouldn't remember about the alarm, and so I made sure to wake you up so you could have at least an hour to get ready if you needed it. I had a feeling you might not be a light sleeper." M "Oh, thanks. So something about me made you think I might need to be woken in the morning?" Stormy is Editing She grinned, "You're new to being dead, you're not used to how things work. You probably stayed up late and fell asleep suddenly thinking you might not be able to get to sleep at all, yes?" M Charlie shrugged, "sort of. If Loki hadn't dropped by I'd have been up later. When I went to bed though I really didn't think I'd be able to sleep at all." Stormy is Editing Sensana glanced at Charlie quickly, "Loki showed up?" Her voice was slightly confused, and mildly suspicious. "What on earth did he want?" M "He wanted me to ask Jared a question for him, although actually it turned out to be two questions, and they make no sense to me. Is it a big deal if I do? I figure it might calm him down if we talk to him and it could make it easier to get the sticker on him too. Besides, I feel kind of badly. People don't usually run away without good reason." Stormy is Editing Sensana sighed. "No, you're probably right, I mean I can understand why you'd want to talk to him, and it might calm him down. But the main and most important thing to do is to get the sticker on him. Maybe you talking to him would work to our benefit in that way?" She looked thoughtful for a moment. "But no matter, I just can't imagine what on earth Loki would want to ask Jared that he couldn't ask him himself. I mean he could leave..." she paused, then giggled, "Actually, he can't leave, that must be why." Then she laughed outright and glanced at Charlie, "He's under House Arrest, you could say." M Charlie raised his eyebrows, "house arrest? Can they do that? I mean it isn't like he did anything wrong on purpose..." Stormy is Editing Sensana giggled, "Well, yes and no. I mean he doesn't exactly have vacation time he can take, and although there is nothing to do, he does need to be there when something comes up." Her voice became serious, "I'm sure that the first thing to do will land on Loki's desk. Perhaps the first five things, depending on what they are." M "This didn't," Charlie pointed out. "Or do you think that's because of something else?" Stormy is Editing "Oh, it's because of something else." She looked briefly at Charlie and shrugged, "I know Jared, he came in a little bit before I did, and we were partnered together for a few years." She shook her head, "That and the fact that Loki probably wouldn't actually bring him back, and might forget completely that he was supposed to tag him." M "Oh." Charlie was silent briefly before continuing. "So why did you stop being pratners, and why wouldn't Loki bring him back?" Stormy is Editing Sensana sighed, "Loki would probably not bring him back because Loki feels for Jared. He was friends, in ways and not in others. Loki's a softy and would try to convince the Chief to let Jared go if he thought for one instance that he might. As for why we stoped being partners... well, that's a long story." M "None of my business huh? It's fine if that's it. We just met yesterday after all." Sensana had finally found a parking spot and pulled in. The two of them got out of the car and headed into the building. Stormy is Editing Sensana took them to the counter and spent a few minutes talking to them about the tickets, then handed some cards to them, then her bag, and after about 20 minutes they were finally leaving the counter. "Oh, I hate how long this stupid routine takes!" she said in annoyance as they walked to the metal detector. M Charlie was too busy dwelling on the fact that he seemed to be alive again. He wanted to ask how this worked exactly, but the timing seemed more than a bit off. Stormy is Editing They passed through the metal detector with no problems and Sensana headed off to a small coffee house that was inside the airport. She walked up to the counter and turned to Charlie, "Do you want anything?" M "Well," Charlie looked at the cafe and figured she must know his state, "you know I don't have any money." Stormy is Editing Sensana giggled, "Of course you don't, I'm buying." M "In that case I'd like a steamed milk with butterscotch flavoring, whatever they call that here." He scanned the list but couldn't find it. It wasn't that hard to make though, he'd watched it done, and it was good no matter what flavor you put in it. Stormy is Editing Sensana ordered and got herself a latte, then paid and handed Charlie's seamer to him, pointing to a table away from everyone. "I think you had some questions you wanted to ask, let's sit there, we have about 30 minutes before they'll be boarding." M After they were settled and each had taken a sip of their drinks Charlie said, "so, um, I hadn't really thought this out. How is it that you and I are sitting in an airport... alive? Oh, and what happens if I run into someone I know?" Stormy is Editing "Hmmm... tough questions you bring up right away. Well," she breathed in the scent of her latte and smiled at Charlie, "As for the what happens if I run into someone I know thing, if you do and they recognize you, I'll just have to alter their memory of this encounter. So you don't have to worry about that. As for the alive part, let me see if I can explain." She sat back in her seat and took another sip."You see, as a detective, or a sit in watching detective, you get something called a false body. What that is, is a body like those that St. Peter makes for people who have gained enough credits to return to the land of the living. These bodies are just like our spirit bodies, except for a few minor differences. For one, just like a real body we need to eat and go to the restroom, and sleep, just as though we were actually alive. For another, we can slip into our spirit body just by concentrating on it. This is how we get around security in many cases. We become ghosts again so to speak. And lastly, I think anyway, we can still see the other world and we can interact with it, and that means we can use our magic as well." She shrugged, "It's complex and yet so simple. Did that help?" M "...and magic is something you gain and learn to control as you work as a detective, right?" Charlie wanted to make sure he really understood what he might be getting himself into. Although his heart already had its own ideas about whether he would become a detective or not. Stormy is Editing Sensana nodded, "Yes, although you can use and control magic after you've gone to both Heaven and Hell as well. Or, rather after you've gone to either I should say. If you remain an earthbound spirit forever and never visit those other two places, you learn a different type of magic." M "If we leave these bodies are they vulnerable? What happens to us if they are attacked while we're sneaking past security? Also, what happens if a person already has magic from one of those other places but comes to do this job? Would they be able to use that other magic? Sorry to ask it all at once, but I'm afraid if I don't I'll forget something." He took a deep breath and then another sip of his drink. It seemed like the questions were now tripping over themselves to tumble out of his mouth. Stormy is Editing Sensana giggled, "It's alright, I'll try to answer them the best I can. The bodies are vulnerable, but only so much. You see, if they were attacked when we're out of them, then they become just like dirt, nothing more. We'd have to get a new one. Loki's been through hundreads of them by now, St. Peter gets disgusted with him all the time over it. It would take a little while, but that's that so it's not really a big deal. So far you following me?" M Charlie nodded, it was an interesting and important answer. Outside the bodies they were not subject to death if the body died. Stormy is Editing "As for the magic, it's all related to you. You have magic and you'll learn how it works as time goes on and there are other things that we have as detectives that train your magic. It's all the same magic whether or not you're in Hell, Heaven or Detective Island. You see, it's not a different magic at each place, it's just how you would use it differs depending on where you learn about it. Now as for the earthbound spirits, they have a more internal and physical type of magic that's based on their own personal energy, their spirit energy, and that's a different magic, but one that they can use much the same way as some learned demons and angels." M Charlie nodded again. "Okay, I think I get it now." Stormy is Editing "Hmm..." Sensana took a deep drink of her latte and smiled, "I think that was all of your questions, anything else you can think of right now?" M "No, thanks. I'm glad you're my partner right now. You're very intuitive about this stuff and you're good at answering questions." Stormy is Editing She beamed at him. "I thank you for your kind words. I try my best to be helpful. Oh, I think it's time we started heading to our gate. Finished with that?" M He shook his head, "I can be." He drank the last of it down and stood. "Thanks, but the way, I really enjoyed it." Stormy is Editing She nodded and stood up, "It's no problem. I certainly don't mind." She pitched out her drink cup and started moving through the crowds of people towards one of the gates. "Don't lose me," she tossed over her shoulder. M Charlie had no intention of loosing her, nor did he know how anyone could. She had a very distinct style and was certainly one of the best dressed women in the airport. Stormy is Editing She expertly weaved her way through the crowds to a gate where she handed her tickets to a lady behind a small counter. She looked them over and nodded once, telling them they'd be going through gate 4-b and Sensana took them to the large windows. "You know," she said softly, "Sometimes I remember when I was alive, all the things we didn't have back then that we do now and I realize, how fun would it be to grow up in society these days, and for a brief moment... I think about pushing that green button." M "Really," Charlie blinked at her, "do you think you might do it someday?" Stormy is Editing She gasped slightly and turned to Charlie. "Um, well.. maybe, but... there's so much about myself that I'd lose, and, well," she blushed, "I just can't help but think that I'd like to remain me, and not be forgotten, you know?" M Charlie nodded, "I feel the same way. It feels like if I were reborn I'd loose the me that is, and I don't know if I'll ever be willing to let go like that. I think I admire people who can. I wonder if that will change as I get older." Stormy is Editing She shrugged, "Probably not. When I died, I was desperate to not mess up in death like I'd messed up in life. I mean, I was a real basketcase when I was alive. I was... just not right in the head I guess you could say. I considered pushing the button then, but I realized, what would become of me?" She turned away from Charlie and looked back out the window at the airplanes. "I wanted to make sure I did the right thing, so I went to Hell," she made a small mocking laugh, "What a hellish mistake that was," she said, a small giggle coming from her. "It really is horrible down there." M "You really did? I can't imagine how anyone like you could do that. I mean it's an optional stop, I can't imagine you ever belonging there. What made you figure out you needed out of there?" Charlie found himself watching the planes as well. Stormy is Editing "When Satan..." she paused, her face getting a touch pinker, "...was finished with me," she ended. "I knew I had to get away, and left to go to earth, where I felt like an outcast in different ways. People knew I'd been to Hell and they didn't trust me. I tried to... well, get along, but... it just wasn't right there either. So I decided to start traveling, go around the world, see what I hadn't seen before, you know?" M "How did they know?" Charlie couldn't curb his curiosity. "When this becomes totally none of my business just let me know. I don't want to pry because of my endless curiosity." Stormy is Editing She laughed lightly, and for some reason, it seemed more real than many of the laughs and giggles she'd done in the past. "Don't worry, I've become decent at phrasing things properly. They knew because Satan had stamped me with a demon mark. It was something everyone who was a ghost could see. It was terrible, being known like that. It was all just a game for him..." she trailed off again and shrugged, "But I got to see so much of the world then, that I hadn't before." M "I have to assume the mark is gone at this point. I sure didn't notice anything conspicuous." He smiled at her. "I've gotten the idea that you love traveling and shopping a great deal." Stormy is Editing She smiled and nodded, "Yes, I realized quite a few things about myself when I was traveling, and it made my life much better afterwards. As for the mark, yes, it's gone now, I made Satan take it off of me." M "You went back then? That must have been terrifying." He was actually a bit awed by it. Stormy is Editing She shrugged, "I'd been through a certain ammount by then, I knew more about myself and I wasn't afraid. Well, I didn't let the morons in Hell know I was afraid anyway. I had a better grip on myself by then." M "Hm, it still must have been terrifying," Charlie couldn't imagine going back to confront someone you'd run away from, to make demands of them! That took some... guts. Stormy is Editing She giggled then and turned her eyes on Charlie, "I had help," she winked. M "I'm glad," Charlie said, "I'm not sure that's something anyone should do alone." Stormy is Editing She reached out and ruffled Charlie's hair. "Yes, I agree." She looked up and nodded towards a line of people gathering. "It's time for us to go, ready?" M Charlie nodded, "Yes." Why was he suddenly so nervous? His stomach was flip flopping without permission. He wouldn't let it effect him, but still, what was it all about? He'd been fine this whole time. Why worry now? Stormy is Editing Sensana turned to Charlie and lightly squeezed his shoulder. "Good," she said, moving to the line and standing in it, "because it's time to fly. I think you'll have fun, it's nice to fly. Would you like the window seat?" M Charlie nodded in response, following silently. Of course he'd have fun, as soon as his stomach settled. Stormy is Editing They were let onto the plane, and Sensana guided Charlie to the row that was theirs, motioning into the seats. "Your seat is the one next to the window then," she said pleasantly. M He took the seat, figured out how the safety belt worked and tried to get comfortable. Finally he looked out the window. There wasn't much to see just yet. The airport was busy though, and that was interesting enough. "Some people say we live to learn," he said to Sensana softly, "I wonder if it follows that others die to learn." Stormy is Editing Sensana stopped what she was doing and turned in her seat to look at Charlie. Her eyes were slightly moist, and she looked stunned. For a moment she simply stayed there, glazing at him, then she blinked her eyes and turned away from him, a small smile on her lips."Perhaps you are right," she said softly, "Perhaps you are right." M The plane lifted off without any issue and Charlie enjoyed the window seat, although for most of the flight all he did was stare at clouds. Flying had no adverse affects on him and soon they were exiting the plane right on schedule. Stormy is Editing Once they were out Sensana walked to the baggage claim and pulled her bag out right away. "Alright, now to the car and you can tell me what you think of flying. Follow me." She headed out of the building and walked down the busy roadway for a moment before smiling broadly and walking with purpose. It was only a few seconds before she was walking up to a bright red sports car, which seemed to have no driver in it. She took her keys out and put one into the trunk, which opened right away. She tossed her bag into it and then moved to the drivers seat, which she got into in a flash."Hop in, we're ready to go." M "Now that I'm... here that just seems spooky," Charlie indicated the car. He got in, "I like flying. It's relaxing. Although it's not as fun as flying with Loki." He shook his head and grinned, "He certainly shocked me when he pulled that." Stormy is Editing Sensana glanced at Charlie in surprise. "Loki flew? Really? And he took you with him? What on earth prompted him to do that? I thought he hated flying!" M "Hm, really?" Charlie tilted his head at her curiously, "It didn't seem that way at all." Stormy is Editing Sensana shrugged, "Did he have his wings out?" she asked curiously. M "Wings? No, I didn't even know he had wings. Why?" Stormy is Editing Sensana smiled, "That must be it then. He probably doesn't like to bring out his wings to fly. Sorry, that was just so strange to me, the whole time I was partnered with Loki, he always begged with me to get out of anything that involved flying." M "Really? If he could fly without bringing his wings out though, why didn't he just do it that way?" Stormy is Editing Sensana shrugged, "It might be a kind of power he can only use sometimes or only in the spirit world. There are powers like that. And what on earth seems spooky, by the way?" Sensana veered them into traffic finally and started driving. M "The car, it was standing there, running, with no one in it." Stormy is Editing "Oh!" Sensana giggled, "Did you see the license plate?" M Charlie shook his head, "no, which?" Stormy is Editing "On this car, it says "GHOST" on it. That's how we know which cars are ours. No one else would touch it, and few would even see it." M Charlie blinked, "I see. That must be something you're so used to that you don't even think about it anymore." Stormy is Editing She nodded, "Pretty much, as soon as I see that plate, I know it's my car." She smiled broadly, "Who on earth would have such a plate anyway?" M "Oh, I don't know, I've seen some pretty odd plates." Charlie watched the scenery pass by. "Is the hotel far?" Stormy is Editing "Not at all," Sensana pointed a little ways away where there was a very tall building, "That's the hotel." M Charlie nodded, "Have you thought this out at all? I wonder, will he let us talk to him? You probably have a better idea of what might happen then me." Stormy is Editing Sensana sighed as she swerved a bit in the traffic. "Honestly, I'm not sure about what I should be saying to him. Usually I don't think too much about what I'm going to do and just float with it all. Since I know him a bit, I'm a little worried I'll be sucked into his life and it'll take longer to accomplish this than I expect, but... who's to say anyway?" She shrugged, "I'm just gonna go talk to him and see what happens." She turned her eyes on him. "Unless you have an idea?" M Charlie shook his head. "The very first goal I have is to ask Loki's questions. Actually I suspect those in and of themselves could cause a problem. Loki seems pretty sympathetic to me, and for all I know the questions could cause more trouble than good. I just... feel obligated, and I admit I'm curious. They are so cryptic a part of me hopes his reaction will clue me off and I'll be able to figure out what Loki meant by them." Stormy is Editing Sensana grinned at him. "Oh, Loki is hardly ever cryptic, and I admit a little bit of curiosity about them myself. Perhaps we should simply start there and see what happens. At least that way we'd know that we would get to ask them." M Charlie grinned back, "great! I'm glad we feel the same way about that." Stormy is Editing Sensana was in a good mood the rest of the drive and before long they had made their way to the hotel. She got out of the car once they were parked and turned to say to Charlie, "Just wait here a moment, I'll be right back." She disappeared inside the front lobby and came out five minutes later with a key which she tossed at Charlie. "Here, hold onto that." She got back into the car and drove it around to a different side of the building. Thats when she turned the car off and opened her door."Alright, our room is near here, let's get inside and settled a little bit, shall we? Then we've got to go shopping." She got out and walked to the trunk, where she got her bag out. M "...shopping, we aren't talking to him yet?" Charlie blinked at her, confused. Stormy is Editing She stopped and looked at Charlie, "Oh, I suppose we should, but I thought you might want to get some... more clothes." M Charlie grinned and laughed softly, "you're just afraid you'll get tired of seeing me in the same thing all the time," he joked, "but honestly, clothes cost money, so maybe we shouldn't?" Stormy is Editing She shrugged, "I was going to buy." M "I had a feeling you might be planning something like that." Charlie was silent for a moment. "I honestly don't know whether to just let you or insist you not spend your money on me like that." Stormy is Editing "I have the money, honestly, it's not a big deal. I just can't imagine you walking around in the same clothes for days and days...." She looked slightly pouty. M Charlie closed his eyes, opened one, shook his head and grinned at her. "Fine, I'll let you. I think you're doing it at least half for yourself anyhow." Stormy is Editing Sensana smiled and closed the trunk. "Good, lets get this in so we can go." M Charlie followed her in. He really didn't need any time to get settled, but he knew she did, and so he waited patiently while she buzzed around the room. Stormy is Editing She was busy for only a few minutes and then she had a purse over her shoulder and was walking to the door again. "Ready?" M Charlie nodded and followed her from the room. Stormy is Editing She took them back to the car and then started driving, arriving at a mall in no time at all. She led them in and started talking."So what kind of clothes do you like to wear?" M "Comfortable ones," Charlie sighed. Clothes weren't really all that important to him, but they were to her and he had a feeling she could spend hours and hours on an innocent shopping trip. "Mostly button down shirts and jeans I suppose. I like sweaters in the winter. I sometimes were t-shirts and shorts in the summer. Pants and shorts should always have a button and a zipper, otherwise they are for sports, not everyday wear. I think that is every opinion I have regarding clothes, with the sole exception of shoes." Stormy is Editing She nodded and headed off for a store, pulling things from shelves and racks and putting them into Charlies hands. "We'll get you set up then." M Charlie accepted whatever she handed him without thought, simply stacking it over his arm on top of the last item. This was the accepted method of dealing with women who liked to shop as far as he'd been able to see. He'd never been with one before, but he'd watched the phenomenon many times in malls and department stores. Stormy is Editing After several minutes, she pushed him towards a dressing room. "Start trying things on, come out so I can see." M Charlie nodded, telling some ridiculous number to the dressing room clerk. He didn't remember ever trying on more than three things at once before in his life. She handed him the plastic thing and he couldn't help noticing it was the highest number available. Somehow Sensana had managed to give him exactly the number of items allowed.He put on one top and one bottom and came out to show Sensana. She was buying, she was choosing and all of that was just fine with him. He really hoped she wouldn't ask him what he thought of anything. Stormy is Editing She looked him over, nodded a few times and shooed him back in. "Put the shirt in one pile, the pants into another." M He returned, did as told and came out in a new set of clothes. Stormy is Editing "Pants on the shirt pile you made, shirt on the pants pile." M Without a word Charlie did as told. He'd done a certain amount of watching, and from what he'd seen talking to a woman who was shopping could be dangerous. It often resulted in arguments. Since he had no real opinion there was surely no reason to end up arguing. He repeated the drill until everything had a pile. Stormy is Editing She sent him back in to put things from the first pile on, and come back out, and had him do this several times before she had him down to four full outfits. Then she had him give the huge pile to the attendant and took the other clothes to the counter to pay. Happily she took them to another store, where she did the same thing, leaving that one with one outfit, and then headed to a shoe store."You said you care about your shoes?" she said, a small smile on her lips. M "There are only two rules for shoes," he replied, "they must be comfortable, and they must slip onto my feet, even if they are tie shoes." Stormy is Editing "Well then, lets see what we can find for you," she said, leading them into the store. M Charlie followed, very happy with how things had gone so far. As women went Sensana was plenty tolerable. He had a hard time really, remembering she wasn't actually female. Stormy is Editing When they entered, Sensana walked right up to the counter and asked for an attendant. It didn't take too long to get one, and she asked for exactly what Charlie had said he wanted in shoes. The girl thought for a moment and then she headed off after some shoes, motioning them to a bench to sit down."I love shopping," Sensana said, smiling at Charlie. "In case you couldn't tell." M Charlie smiled at her indulgently. "I knew before we got here," he responded simply. Stormy is Editing She nodded, "Yes, I knew you probably knew. I just.. it's just... I never was able to really do this. And I've always wanted to dress someone," a faint blush creeped across her cheeks. M "Lucky thing you found a willing victim then," Charlie's smile was warm. "I'm not minding if you're worried about it. I've never gotten so much positive attention from one person before in my life." Stormy is Editing Sensana's smile fell for a moment, "You... haven't? How... sad, we'll have to change that," she finished with purpose in her voice. Just then, the attendant came back with three boxes of shoes for him to try on. M "You don't need to worry about it," Charlie told her, before turning to the attendant and allowing her to help him in and out of shoes. Stormy is Editing "I don't need to worry, but I still will," she said very softly, a small smile on her lips.When Charlie had picked a pair of shoes he liked best, she took them up to the counter and paid for them, then handed all the bags to him. "I'm ready for food, you?" M "Yes, but a restroom break first please. Want to split up at the food court and meet somewhere?" Stormy is Editing Sensana nodded and smiled. "Yes, sounds good. To the food court then," and she led the way, stopping once they made it to the restrooms nearest the food court. "What sounds like good food, or would you just like to meet out by that water fountain?" M "Water fountain's fine, although that pizza smells really, really good to me. Do you eat pizza?" Stormy is Editing Sensana nodded, "Oh yes, I don't have to worry quite so much about my weight these days, you know?" she winked. "I'll see you at the pizza place then, I can find what I want quickly." M Charlie nodded and headed into the restroom. Feeling much better, hands washed and bags in tow Charlie arrived at the pizza place and waited for Sensana. Stormy is Editing Who was by just a few minutes later. "What looks good?" she asked. M "Everything, but that sausage and mushroom just came out of the oven, so that's the one for me," he winked at her, "how about you?" Stormy is Editing She sniffed a few time and nodded her head, "Fresh from the oven is always best. I'll be having the same thing." She stepped up to the counter to order. "What would you like to drink, and would you like more than one slice?" M "One should be enough, they're big and I'll take an iced tea to drink." He stood beside her. Stormy is Editing She ordered a diet for herself and paid, taking the tray a moment later. Two steaming pieces of pizza and two large glasses of drink on a tray got walked over to a table, where Sensana sat down. "So, I think we can take all of this to the hotel and then make a stop at Jared's room. Sound like a plan?" M "Yes, just remember, that I have no bag to pack this stuff in. So when we leave you'll have to fit it in your bag, or I'll have to try taking a shopping bag on an airplane trip." He smiled, took a piece of pizza and bit into it enthusiastically. Stormy is Editing "Oh dear, you're right. I guess we're not done here after all." She took a healthy bite herself and then a sip of her diet. "We'll have to get you a proper traveling set of course. Thank you for reminding me!" M "I think a bag will be enough," he took a drink of his tea before continuing, "a traveling bag would last me a long time I'd think." Stormy is Editing "Well, that's not as much fun as a whole set of course. And shopping is done half because it's fun." M Charlie laughed softly. "It's your money," he took another bite and savored it. He'd never really done anything like this at all. For a change he was one of the happy people in the mall, not in a hurry, not listening to his mother complain about time, money, his behavior... Stormy is Editing "So it is," she said, a smile lighting up her face. "I really enjoy this, I really, really do." She savored her own food, eating each bite with lady like manners. M It was odd, but a part of Charlie already felt blessed by the detective position he was considering. He had done nothing but met and spent time with his first partner, and he knew there was little he could judge by that and yet... for the first time in his life he felt like there was a place that he belonged. Stormy is Editing Once all the food was gone, Sensana took the tray to the trash and motioned for Charlie to follow. "What is your favorite color?" M "Blue," Charlie said without hesitation, "then purple." Stormy is Editing "Colors of royalty," Sensana said proudly. "Those are excellent colors, let's see what we can find." She led them to a leather shop first, and headed over to the traveling cases that were there, "Lets see if anything is suitable." M Charlie looked over the travel sets, but really they all looked pretty much the same to him. He liked some of the cases more than others, but eventually he found himself watching Sensana as she looked at zippers and pockets in this one and that one. Stormy is Editing She finally turned to him. "Nothing calling to you huh?" she said, straightening up and brushing a hand down her skirt. "Well then, we must need to go somewhere else." And she started walking out of the store and towards another store. M He blinked after her, then rushed to catch up. "What if nothing calls to me no matter where we go?" Stormy is Editing "Well then, we'll just have to go to other stores. The right set is out there somewhere." She smiled at him in a benign manner. "It's how I got my set." She entered a department store that was attached to the mall and headed for their traveling section. M Charlie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He would have to find something he liked or she would take them all over town. Also, he had a feeling faking it would only get him into trouble. He looked closely at the luggage in the new store, trying very hard to find something he really liked about one set or another. Stormy is Editing There was a purple leopard set, and there was also a blue, green and light purple under the sea set that he could find. Everything else was in dark or neon colors. M He stared at the under sea set, stunned. He actually really, really liked it. In fact... it was perfect. "Sensana, I found it," he said, his surprise obvious. Stormy is Editing Sensana turned around instantly from what she was doing and walked over to him in two steps. "You did?" she said, surprise in her voice as well. "That's amazing! I didn't think it could possibly be this easy." She looked at the under sea set and got a small smile on her lips. "It's a beautiful set, isn't it? That's the one?" M Charlie nodded, "I love that sort of thing. It never occurred to me that I could find it on luggage. It makes me feel... peaceful." Stormy is Editing Sensana smiled broadly and took the luggage set. "Then it's yours," she said as she walked around to the counter. She paid for it, and took that bag. "I think that's all the shopping that we needed to do, unless you can think of something I've missed?" M Charlie shook his head, his eyes on the bag. He simply couldn't believe he owned such a neat luggage set. He'd never had something so much his before. Stormy is Editing Sensana gave Charlie another smile and walked them out to the car. She put all the bags in the trunk, and headed them out to the hotel."Well, are you ready to speak with Jared?" she said once they were taking the bags into their hotel room. M Charlie nodded, "Yes." He couldn't believe that a part of him actually wanted to back everything into his luggage first. It was the craziest thing. "Let's go talk to him now, and see what we can do." Stormy is Editing Sensana nodded and headed out of their room. She found the stairs leading up and took them. After a little while, she stopped in front of door #420."Well Charlie, this is it," she said, a small smile on her face. M He looked at her, intrigued by her amusement. Then turned to the door, shrugged and knocked, since she hadn't. Stormy is Editing Sensana took a deep breath and waited. And waited. And waited. When nothing happened for another few minutes, she knocked again, this time more forcefully. Still nothing happened."Well, either he's hiding, or he's out." She shook her head. "I'd be willing to bet he's hiding, you?" M "Seems reasonable." Charlie turned to the door again, "Hello, I have a message from Loki I need to deliver. It would be nice to not scream it in the hallway." He fell silent to see if there would be a response. Stormy is Editing The door cracked open, and a startlingly blue~green eye looked out at Charlie. "What's the message," a deep voice asked. M "You really are going to leave us out in the hall. Fine, first, he says to please get the big fish he's been looking for." He waited to see if there would be any reaction before continuing. Stormy is Editing The eye blinked, widened, and the door closed. A moment later, it opened again, this time wide enough for them to get inside."Come in," the shadow in the room said, motioning them in. Sensana nodded once and did so, moving so quickly that there could be no question about not really letting her in. M "Quick," Charlie commented, following more slowly. He looked to the shadow, "I'm Charlie," he offered his hand to shake. Stormy is Editing The door closed behind him, then the hand was taken, shook briefly. "Jared," the voice said, and then the lights went on.It looked like he'd been living here for a long time, the room was a mess and there was a few bags of trash closed up and lying in a corner. The man was blond haired, with streaks of light blue and he was about average height and build. "What else did he say?" M "I am to ask you why you did it. That's all. Were you, um, afraid to take the trash out?" Charlie couldn't help but wonder if he was really happier living this way then remaining with the agency. Stormy is Editing Jared sighed, "And you Sensana? What are you here for?" Sensana sighed and wrinkled her nose."The trash stinks Jared," she said. He shook his head. "What are you here for?" "How about we take a nice walk and get out in the sunshine?" Jared shook his head. "Sensana," his voice sounded on the edge of anger. M "I believe that her message is supposed to be that you can't run away just because you're in love, but you can't get upset with her for that. It was the chief's message." He shook his head and fell silent. The two of them had some sort of past. "Please don't overreact. Right now we both just want to talk to you." Stormy is Editing Jared shook his head. "I just can't trust you two.""I'm not expecting you to trust me," Sensana said, crossing her arms and allowing a small frown to form on her face. "I'm just asking that you listen to me for a few minutes." "And I didn't run away because of love," Jared said, sighing and sitting down on the bed, looking at Charlie. "Who the hell are you anyway? I don't remember you." M "Oh, you wouldn't. This is my first assignment, actually I'm supposed to just be watching." Charlie shrugged, "is it important?" Stormy is Editing Jared shook his head and shrugged, "That's why he trusted you with the questions," he said cryptically. "You're thinking of being a detective then?" Sensana sighed and took a seat on one of the chairs in the room. M "Yes, I am, and no, I don't think that's the complete reason he trusted me. I don't think anything he does is that crystal clear." Charlie replied firmly. Stormy is Editing Jared shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not. He's a strange one for sure." He leaned back, "Alright, as for the fish, you can tell him it won't come back with me. As for why," he sighed, closed his eyes and said nothing for several minutes. When he finally spoke, his voice was somehow small and uncertain. "As for why, I did it because I had to, I had to know my limitations." M Charlie nodded, "Now may I ask you a few questions of my own?" Stormy is Editing Jared opened his eyes and looked at Charlie. "I suppose you can ask, but I can't guarantee I'll give you any answers.""Jared stop being a hard ass, Charlie is a good kid, give him a chance to prove himself to you." Jared turned his eyes on Sensana and shook his head. "Keep your twisted mind out of it Sensy." She blushed a touch and pursed her lips. "Manners, manners," she muttered. M Charlie glanced at Sensana then back at Jared, "the only reason I'm not defending her is because I know the two of you share a past I know nothing about, but it would be nice if you didn't speak to her that way in front of me. It disturbs me. Sensana has been very kind and helpful since I met her." Stormy is Editing Jared looked back and forth between Charlie and Sensana for a moment. "Both of you defending each other, that's something one doesn't see everyday. Sensana hardly ever gets anyone to his side so quickly." Sensana blushed furiously and stood up in anger."Jared!" she said indignantly. "How could you?" He looked at her in a bit of surprise. "What?" She shook her head and glanced at Charlie for a moment. M Charlie blinked in confusion for a moment before he realized what the problem was. "Oh, don't worry about it Sensana, Loki told me by mistake last night. I don't care. I already knew." Stormy is Editing She turned to him and her temper seemed to drain out of her a bit. "He did? You don't... care? You... knew this whole time?" She seemed so bewildered. Jared rolled his eyes."You're such a drama queen." Sensana turned to him and her anger returned. "I am not!" she said indignantly. Jared shrugged. "Sure you're not Sensy. Alright," he looked at Charlie, "I'll try not to insult her in front of you, and I'll try to do the same for him. So what's your question?" M "Are you really trying to run from your job as a Detective?" Charlie started with. Stormy is Editing Jared sighed, shrugged and nodded. "No," he said firmly. "I'm not really trying to run, I just..." he paused and looked at Charlie. "I just couldn't stand to be there anymore, with nothing to do and nothing to stop the emptiness. I had to leave, take a few minutes to straighten some things in my head." M Charlie nodded, "You knew someone would be sent to retrieve you eventually tough. Have you straightened things in your head yet?" Stormy is Editing Jared shrugged, "As if I have a choice in the matter. I knew, yes, that someone would come for me. I've straightened as much as I can in the time I was able to steal. There isn't anything more I can do now, is there?" M Charlie shrugged, "I don't know. If our appearance here prevents you from mentally straightening anything else out, then that's all you can do. If, on the other hand, you think a few more days would make a big difference..." he looked at Sensana. "I don't think we feel so strongly that we couldn't give them to you." Stormy is Editing "Sensy would never give me time, that's his biggest," he paled a touch at the look she was giving him, "her biggest problem," Jared corrected quickly. "She was always one for action, not thinking.""I just think you think too much," she said, pouting slightly. "You need to relax a bit and not take so much on yourself." "Anyway things aren't completely straight in my head, but I don't think you'll give me the time, I don't think she'll give me the time." M "I didn't feel like that was exactly how she felt on the way out here, but let's say theoretically if we were willing, how much time would you need?" Stormy is Editing Jared shook his head, "Who on earth even knows." He sighed. "Look, you do seem nice, and I can understand why Sensy likes you, but what's going on in my head, I just can't think about and make decisions on in a few days. It could take me weeks, it could take me years. I don't know how long it could take.""The Great Serpent is turning in his watery grave right now, Jay~Jay," Sensana said, rolling her eyes. Jared turned to her. "Don't you mention him," he hissed and Sensana turned so their eyes met. "Why not? Are you scared he'll leave you if you decide to leave?" Sensana said in challenging tones. "He has nothing to do with |
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