SS3 -CH1-

Staring at the long path that led up from the gate Gus had second thoughts.

“It’ll be fine, Indigo,” Melody said from directly beside him. “We know them. They’re friends and clients.”

“Uh huh,” Gus said gruffly.

“We really are friends,” Kat said from inside his own mind.

The fact that Kat, or Kit as Trish knew her, was inside his mind was actually the lion’s share of the problem.

“What? There’s no reason to be angry. You were already expecting it, and having grown up with your father, you’re not even mad,” Kat said with a laugh. “You’re just annoyed.”

Could you not? Please? Do you know how hard it was growing up with my dad? I couldn’t even feel it when he’d go in.

You’re more like someone crashing a dump-truck through my front door.

“Yes. I get the impression your father is incredibly talented and skillful. Perhaps even more so than I. He just lacks the raw power I have. Or that you have.”

Turning to look at Melody Gus sighed.

The contractor who was his wife was smiling at him when she caught his gaze. A magician of sorts that bound herself to spirits to give herself abilities and powers.

Then binding partners to those contracts to help offset the costs of those contracts.

“Hi there,” she said, grinning at him. “Goin’ my way, handsome?”

With pitch-black eyes, black hair pulled back in a tight ponytail behind her head, and her wild and blazing grin stretched across her lovely mouth, she was the picture of what he’d come to describe as “eerily pretty”.

Indigo-colored symbols glowed brightly along the outer edge of her face. All the way from her hairline to her chin in a straight line. A hint of a red-dot between her eyes was just barely starting to come to life as well.

“I bet I could rock your whole world and have you coming back for more,” Melody murmured, taking a step closer to him. Pressing her shoulder into his. “In fact… you do this little job for me, and we’ll see if we can’t get a seat-belt imprint on my shoulders and hips as you stretch me across the back seat.”

Taking in a short breath, Gus shook his head with a grin.

“Sure, why not,” Gus said. Reaching up he lightly pressed a finger-tip to the growing red spot between her eyes. He brushed his finger back and forth across that spot. “Though I’d be more than willing to wait till we get back home. I can’t imagine that’d be very great for your back. Now… wrangle it back in your pants and let’s head up. Hm?”

“Maybe I want it to hurt a little,” Melody said, lifting her chin up. “Maybe I want it to say, ‘press here to release’ on my hip.”

“She really does love to fight with you. It’s cute. I-” Kat said and then paused. “I’ll let Leanne know you’re here. I’ll see you inside.”

Gus had the distinct impression that Kat had suddenly felt extreme depression.

Depression and anger at the fact that Gus was flirting with Melody. Not at him or her directly, but that they were able to do such a thing.

As if she were envious of them.

“Fine. Whatever you want, Mel. Let’s go,” Gus said, nodding his head to the path. Turning he started to head up toward the door.

“I love you!” Melody said loudly.

Looking back he found the contractor hadn’t moved from the spot she stood. She was staring at him with wide eyes.

“I love you Gustavus Hellström. I love you and… and I… I love you,” Melody said, her voice faltering as he continued to meet her gaze.

“And I love you, Melody Hellström,” Gus said with a smile. “Now come on, my silly contractor. Lets go get this job.”

“Would you love me if this was all wrong?” Melody asked, not moving from her spot.

“Wrong? What d’ya mean?” questioned Gus. Her tone had shifted drastically and it’d made him rather nervous.

“What if… what if the whole word was just… wrong?”

“Wrong how? You’re not really elaborating. You’re just saying the same thing again.”

Melody grimaced and looked down and away from him. The grass was apparently less menacing at this moment.

“If the world was a dream… or a story someone was telling… would you… would you still love me?” Melody asked, her gaze slowly coming back to him.

Frowning, Gus was deeply and utterly confused at the moment.

“Uh. You want to know if I’d love you if… if reality was… fake. A dream,” clarified Gus, trying to get to the heart of what she was asking.

“Yes. Exactly that. Yes. Uh-huh.”

Melody was nodding her head now, clearly quite happy with the way Gus had phrased it.

Thinking on that Gus tried his darndest to really put his mind to the question.

If the world was fake, would I still love Melody.

In other words, if none of this mattered, would my love for her not matter either.

I mean… that’s kind of a stupid question.

Isn’t it?

“Some… some people would feel that if the world didn’t matter, than nothing they did mattered,” Melody murmured, her hands catching into one another behind her back. “If no one was real, you could kill anyone, and none of it would change a thing.”

Chuckling Gus shook his head and then held up his hands.

“Maybe I’m just a dumbass but that’s just stupid,” said Gus while holding his hands apart in a neutral display. “If the world was fake, I’d say the only thing I knew was real at that point would be my love for you. As it was the only thing I’d have control over.”

Melody blinked once, her face a frozen mask of surprise.

“Now come on. Sooner we finish up with this, the sooner I can try to get a seat-belt buckle wedged in your ass,” Gus said with a laugh. “Or did you change your mind on that?”

Shooting forward Melody slammed into him and wrapped him up in a hug.

A hug that was partially fueled by contractor strength. To the point that it squeezed the air out of his lungs and made him groan. It felt like his bones might break under the force of it.

“I love you so much, Gus. My Indigo. My one and only,” declared Melody. “Sam was right. I just needed my Indigo. I needed you.”

Wheezing was about the only thing Gus could do.

Realizing she was crushing him, Melody let him go and took a step back. She quickly brushed her fingertips at the corners of her eyes. Dislodging tears and wiping them away.

“Sorry, sorry. And yes, before you ask, Sam the incubus. He’s my nephew-in-law and he’s been there for me in my darker moments,” Melody said. “He’s a very good friend to me and a great husband to Irma. His kids are pretty fun, too. You’ll like’em. Uncle Gus.”

Gus heard a lot of under-current in all that. That Sam hadn’t just helped Melody, but that she likely owed him. And possibly a great deal.

Alright. Need to see about Sam.

Make sure I can make a friend out of him.

“Got it. Family barbecue at some point. Invite Sam and your dad over. Have everyone come out or something,” Sam offered.

Chuckling at that Melody wiped at her eyes again.

“Yeah, let’s do that. The last one was a lot of fun,” mumbled Melody. “Okay, let’s go in. I don’t look terrible, do I?”

“Nope, beautiful as ever, Beautiful,” Gus said, waiting for Melody to walk past him toward the house.

Snorting at that Melody shook her head.

“I’m gonna rock your world for the rest of your life. And that’s a long time, you know,” Melody murmured.

“I’m aware,” Gus said as they finally made their way up to the front door.

Before Melody could even lift her hand to knock at the door, it opened.

Standing inside the doorway was Kat, or the Campbell and Campbell Marketing.

Dressed in very casual clothes she looked extremely different than the picture in his head of her. He’d never seen her in anything but business clothes.

Her long dark brown curls were pulled back behind her head with what he assumed were pins. Smiling at him and then Melody gave her a very easy-to-talk-to vibe that was only complimented by her soft brown eyes.

For once he felt like she wasn’t staring through his head and pulling out his secrets though.

Mostly because she didn’t make it a secret anymore when she entered his mind now that she knew he was also a psycher of sorts.

“I’m so glad you could make it. Leanne is working on something else at the moment but she’ll join us as soon as she can,” said Kat and stepped to the side. “Please, come in, come in. I can handle all the details in the meanwhile. She’s just better at the legal aspect than I am which is whats taking her away from this conversation.”

“Not a problem,” Melody said with a chuckle. “I’ll be the first to admit that I’m enjoying having others in the company with me now. I don’t have to try to wear every hat anymore.”

“Leanne mentioned that,” Kat said, catching Gus’ eyes with her own. She gave him a smile as he walked by.

“That and I of course learned all the details from you. I’m rather surprised you kept my secret from everyone,” Kat said.

Didn’t… seem like it was my secret to share.

Get out of my head? It’s not polite.

“I never claimed to be. And if you want me out, you’ll have to work for it,” Kat said and closed the door. “It isn’t as if I could stay inside your mind if you didn’t want me there.”

Wait, what?

“Try to enter my mind,” Kat said while holding a hand out toward the hallway. “Please, just go down the hall and we’ll be in the living room. We can talk there about this.”

Following behind Kat and Melody Gus did as Kat had instructed. He pushed himself into Kat’s mind. Not bothering to be gentle or sneaky about it.

“Oof. That’s… goodness. A bit more forceful than I was expecting. Though I suppose I deserved that,” Kat’s voice rang inside his own mind, and in her own thoughts. “I’m going to eject you now. Pay attention.”

Gus had the sensation that his probe into her mind was suddenly discovered.

From there he had the distinct impression that something was built around his problem. That she walled him off into a strange cocoon.

No sooner than he’d been completely wrapped up in it, where he could no longer see her thoughts, it fell away.

He was no longer inside her mind. In fact, her mind felt like a solid steel door that had no entry or exit from it anymore.

“You see? It isn’t so difficult. Just a matter of realizing that it can be done, and how to do it,” said Kat gesturing to a sofa across from the love-seat she’d stood in front of. “As Leanne said, we need to hire you for some tasks. Jobs. Some legal… some… questionable.”

Melody shrugged her shoulders and sat down on the sofa. Then she grabbed Gus by the hand and pulled him down to sit right next to her. So that their hips were pressed one to the other.

“So long as it isn’t too illegal, sure. I’m trying to keep my nose clean now,” Melody said, wrapping an arm around Gus’ hips. “I have to be good. I have a family and I can’t just flee the country like I would previously when I got too much heat.”

“Oh, this isn’t anything too bad. Breaking and entering, maybe some simple robbery, things of that nature,” Kat said as if it were nothing more than discussing breakfast. “Nothing that couldn’t be bought off. And we’ll handle any charges that arise from this. That’ll be part of the contract.”

“Wonderful. That’ll make it significantly easier,” Melody agreed. “So… what is it exactly you need?”

“Well… we need to find someone, really. My husband is coming here. To this-” Kat paused mid-sentence and looked to Gus. As if she remembered something she shrugged her shoulders. “This world. As you know Leanne and I aren’t from this world. Nor is Trish. We’re all from different ones.”

“Uh huh. And he can’t come here without you… opening the door?” Gus asked, trying to fill in some blanks.

“Exactly that. Opening the door,” Kat said. “There’s one door that’s already open but… it’s not going to be easy to get secure. Doing that with the Silent One watching over it is even less… likely to be pleasant.”

“Silent… One?” Gus asked looking from Kat to Melody, wondering if she knew what was going on.

Melody however had turned rather pale. To the point of looking sickly.

“Your ah… your husband is an enemy of the Silent One?” Melody questioned.

Kat’s eyebrows twitched, and her face suddenly smoothed out.

“Yes. He is. As am I, and Leanne. And every other sentient being in this world that knows about him,” growled Kat. “He destroyed-”

Letting out a quick and shakey breath, Kat closed her eyes for a second and turned her face away.

“He burned my homeworld to the ground. As far as I know, nothing remains of what I once knew. Nothing. My husband and our… people… apparently escaped to another world,” Kat explained, finally opening her eyes and looking back to Gus and Melody. “So yes, I’m at war with the Silent One. And the person I need you to find is Retribution. The Angel, that is. The Angel of Retribution.”

Melody had started to nod her head, but was now shaking it.

“You… want us to find Retribution. Him, specifically,” Melody murmured.

Gus really didn’t know what was going on here.

“Retribution is-” Kat paused as if to consider he words. “Retribution is the last soldier of the Originator who retained his grace. He could contact him directly and call him back.

“And if the originator returned, my husband could easily return.”

While Gus was a mind-reader, he was also a detective.

Kat was telling him the truth, but to his personal opinion, she’d left something out. Left something out that she was important but not to Gus or Melody.

“Would you husband return without the originator?” Gus asked deciding to prod.

Kat’s eyes flicked to Gus’.

“Yes. He would. The door that’s already open would be his way in if we weren’t able to find Retribution,” Kat admitted.

“And would the Originator follow your husband through that door?” pushed Gus. He felt like he was on the right track here. That there was more to the Originator and Kat’s husband.

“My husband… he works with the Originator. Apparently, Leanne and myself vanishing onto this world changes a great number of things,” answered Kat, her words slow but deliberate.

“In other words, you’re asking us to unleash the Originator onto this Silent One,” Gus said, boiling everything down to a single point.

“I… yes,” Kat said.

“And the Originator is… I mean their name makes it sound like they made everything,” Gus said, once more looking between the two women.

“He is the origin of all things,” Kat agreed. “All words, all people, all places, all… everything, came from him.”

“And the Silent One is our… uh… big… bad?” Gus prompted.

“He is everything wrong with this world, and why it’s slowly been falling apart,” Melody murmured, looking from Kat to Gus. “He took over after he held the world hostage. The Originator left with many of his forces.”

Gus now firmly believed that there was a lot he needed to know and no one seemed to want to tell him what was going on.

“I’ll explain a lot of it later, my Indigo,” Melody promised, her free hand patting his knee. The arm around his hips tightened for a second, pulling him closer to herself. “For now, just know we need to do this. The Silent One is destroying our world through his very nature.”

“Yes, exactly. We have to remove him from his position,” Kat said with a sharp nod of her head. “And bringing my husband here will facilitate his return.”

“And to do that, we have the door that’s guarded, or finding a… Angel of Retribution who’s as old as the world itself,” Gus summarized, feeling like this was way beyond what they should be working on.

“That’d… that’d be it, yes. Though this isn’t entirely just finding someone,” Kat offered and then paused. “The group of people you’ve been working against as of late? I’m almost positive that they’re involved with Retribution. They were actively tracking several people they believed to be him.”

Having his attention pulled back in with that comment Gus was now more than willing to dive into this.

While he outwardly knew he shouldn’t have anything to do with what was going on, from the Fed bombings, to the attempted murders on himself, to him actually assassinating a presidential candidate, Gus was still a detective.

He wanted to solve this whole thing and be able to set it aside.

“And for that we need you and your team,” Kat said with a delicate shrug of her shoulders. “Because when it comes to actually finding someone, everyone always says to hire Lark.”

“Glad to hear my name carries such weight!” said Melody with a laugh. “I’ve been thinking about re-branding though. The Lark name carries some darker baggage with it, too.”

Kat chuckled and held her hands up in front of herself.

“That’s certainly something to consider. We ended up changing the company name several times to distance ourselves from early problems in our growth,” Kat admitted. “By a company, merge, remove the name, shuffle things around. Then do it again. Doesn’t take too long before most people no longer care. Grease a few palms along the way and no one will care at all.”

“Anyways,” Gus said, not really wanting to hear anything about this. He was entirely focused on the Council. On the fact that he’d probably be working on tracking them down. “Do you have anywhere for us to start or are you calling us in because that’s the problem.”

“The latter I’m afraid. We have a couple pieces of information we can share with you, but I’m nearly certain its information you’ve likely already reviews,” Kat admitted.

“Why’s that?” Gus asked, curious.

“Because that’s who we stole it from. The Fed,” Kat said with a sweet smile.