Edited by: Waning_Crescents

As soon as Sigal entered the room, Vince along with Kristian already awaited him.

“Ah, good you are also here.” Sigal walked up to them. “I actually needed to talk to you as well.”

“When you mentioned the cases, I figured as much, so I asked him to join us,” Vince said.

“How is he?” Kristian lifted his head, concern reflecting in his eyes.

Sigal heaved a heavy sigh. “Angry, frustrated, confused.”

“Understandable.” Vince sat behind his desk and glanced at him. “It must be hard to adapt to the situation.”

“But he is recovering, he just needs time.” Sigal leaned against the wall beside the couch Kristian sat on.

“That’s good at least.” Kristian nodded. “He can overcome this, I am sure.”

“Yeah…”

As much as he wanted to believe in his colleague's words, he himself had some doubts. When he thought of how Cal acted and how distant and lonely he appeared, he worried that it would get worse before it even could get better.

Vince gazed at Sigal for a moment with mixed feelings. For one, he was relieved that Sigal finally cared about his partner, stopped complaining or pushing him away; he even went so far as to take him in. However, when he thought under which circumstances this all happened, then he couldn’t feel happy about it, but rather frustrated. He was the chief after all and every time when something tragic occurred, whether in the past or present, it seemed he only could watch.

“So, what exactly did you want to talk about?” Vince cut to the chase.

“Yeah, there are some things that are bothering me.” Sigal crossed his arms in front of his chest, his expression growing serious. “I have been thinking, trying to put the puzzle together piece by piece from everything we know so far.”

Vince and Kristian listened attentively as Sigal explained, “The time we took over for the CIB regarding the Lester case…for weeks they didn’t find a clue, but then we received a hint from a bystander out of nowhere. At that time, I didn’t think much of it as such things happen. We all thought it was just a lucky accident, right?”

“Yeah, but now it appears as if that Axis fella planned this all along.” Vince finished parts of Sigal’s train of thought.

“Exactly. Although I take it even further. What if he himself gave the tip?” Sigal paused for a second to gather his thoughts. “I remember that Section 1 wrote that it was a male passerby who claimed he had seen a man with blood spots on his clothes walking into that area of where the abandoned building was located. But they didn’t stop there, they even claimed that they recognized that man.”

“That’s true. Thanks to that information everything pointed to Lester Brown. Getting his background information didn’t take long either, everything was there.” Kristian narrowed his eyes. “It seemed all fell into place for our benefit. While things like this can happen, it does seem awfully convenient looking at it now.”

Kristian propped his elbows on his knees, folding his hands with a serious expression. “So, yar saying that mysterious man could actually have been Axis? Why? I mean what was his purpose of luring us there? As far as I understood he didn’t want Cal to die, right? Then why did he even risk it?”

“If his words were true then, if I hadn’t shown up, Axis would have gotten him out by himself that day. He wouldn’t have let Cal die, no,” Sigal said. “I think this all served another purpose…something we are not aware of yet.”

“Guess Lester was just a pawn in his plan then? Wasn’t that too risky?”

“That man is insane. As far as I can tell he takes pleasure from things like that,” Sigal clenched one hand to a fist as he remembered how Axis toyed with Cal while a nasty grin plastered his face the entire time.

“Hmm…” Vince rubbed his chin. “Let’s take a step back and view this from another perspective. Instead of the why, let’s think of the what.”

Both of his subordinates shifted their gazes at him.

“The ‘what was involved’. Both times, the time with Lester and the incident now, had to do with drugs. I think that this could be the connection we truly are looking for.”

“It kind of would make sense.” Sigal furrowed his brows. “This would also explain what the doctor told me and Cal’s terror for needles.”

“What do ya think that means?” Kristian wondered. “Drugged him up to keep him calm? Drug him to torture him?” He gritted his teeth. “What exactly did he do to Cal?”

***

Through the windows rays of sunlight found their way in, beaming partly on Cal’s face, who stared at the empty teacup in front of him with his eyelids lowered.

What is happening? He clenched his fists in frustration. Why is it always me? Am I really so useless? So useless that he even keeps an eye on me almost all the time?

He pulled his legs up on the couch, propping them on it before pulling them to his chest. He thought of his time when he joined the Conciliators. He remembered that a passionate flame burned in his heart, determined to…to…

Why did I even come here?

He thought hard about the reason, tried to dig it up, but there was nothing as if buried below the surface, clouded in darkness.

He put one hand on his forehead, digging his fingers in his hair, gritting his teeth. Why is it all gone? Why?

He squeezed his eyes shut, tears visible at the corner of his eyes. I want to remember…want to remember who I am and why this is happening to me.

He buried his head in his knees while tears rolled down his cheeks. “Please let me remember, please…”

The sound of the noisy doorbell pulled him out of his thoughts, and he lifted his head. Did he forget his keys?

He wiped the tears off his face, got up and walked to the door.

***

Sigal didn’t want to think too deep into what Kristian just mentioned. The pain Axis inflicted to Cal, the trauma, all of that left visible scars. Now that he knew about Cal’s fear, he couldn’t even imagine what his partner had gone through in the past. Not only that, the Lester case itself, if he thought about what happened back then, how Cal must have been in terror until he arrived, it caused his pulse to elevate.

“I wanted to ask you something.” Sigal glanced at Kristian. “Do you have a recording from the witness?"

Kristian thought for a moment, but then nodded. “Yeah, but I remember that the connection wasn’t very stable. It could be hard to clearly hear the voice.”

“Doesn’t matter. Dig it out and send it to me, please. I want to confirm.”

“Of course.”

“Aside from all that, there is still the question of how Axis is related to the cartel. I can’t remember him being on the list or that I ever have seen him for that matter.” Sigal looked back at Vince. “If Cal knows about the trademark and if we assume the place, he had seen it was Axis’s, then that would mean that bastard must have been involved from the start.”

“Yeah, this is the biggest mystery here. Where exactly did Cal see it and if your assumption is correct then the next question would be: In what way was Axis involved back then and why didn’t we know?” Vince sighed. “For now, our knowledge is rather limited, all we can say for certain is that it seems that this ‘new established cartel’ is distributing new drugs mainly in Shuri Town, but our investigation hasn’t really led us far yet. We don’t even know who all are involved and why they appeared at this time. The only clue we have is Cal’s half-brother—"

“Don’t call him that.” Sigal cut him off, calmly. “Even if related, that bastard is not his brother. Cal said so himself.”

“Right, sorry.” Vince said, regretfully, “However, while we lack the bigger picture, we may have more information soon.”

Sigal and Kristian stared at him, questioningly.

“The dealers the CIB arrested, one of them agreed to lead them to the people who supplied them with drugs. They will try to find their hideout and we will support them.”

“I hope that leads us somewhere,” Kristian said. “We really could use a win right now.”

Sigal gave a silent agreeing nod. Then he turned to Vince. “You are going to send Asher and Nowe?”

“Yeah,” Vince answered, “I know it must be hard for you to sit tight for now, especially with—"

“No, it’s fine.”

Vince thought his ears played tricks on him. Even considering the situation, he knew how devastated Sigal was as everything started anew. All these memories that resurfaced for him, all the anger and frustration, yet Vince could clearly see in his subordinate’s eyes that he had somewhat changed.

***

“Claire? What are you doing here?” Cal stood at the door, glancing confused at his comrade, but then something dawned on him, and he frowned. “Did Sigal send you to check on me while he is gone?”

“What a nice greeting.” she raised one eyebrow before shaking her head. “No, he didn’t. In fact, I didn’t even know he wasn’t here right now. I just wanted to see how you are doing, so get that frown out of your face!”

“Oh,” Cal let out a little embarrassed. “I am sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I appreciate your concern of course.”

“That’s better.” She smiled. “Can I come in?”

Cal nodded. “Sure.”

While Claire walked into the apartment, she let her eyes wander around. She glanced at the big screen on one side of the wall and all the shelves that hung beside it. Then at the other furniture which gave off a modern, yet also simple flair. “Wow, I have never been here before. It looks different than I imagined.”

“How did you imagine it?” Cal asked as he walked behind her.

“I don’t know. Maybe less furniture and more chaotic.” She shrugged.

“I guess he doesn’t give off the impression of the tidy guy, huh?”

“No, he really doesn’t.” She chuckled.

“Take a seat. Want something to drink?”

“No, I am fine.” She took a seat on the couch, staring at him for a little while, noticing that he seemed a little off. “How are you holding up?”

Cal sat down beside her, remaining silent for a moment. “I honestly don’t know. Everything is so strange.”

“Yeah, I bet it must feel that way…as if your whole world got turned upside down, huh?”

Cal nodded. “Yeah. I mean not all is bad, but I just don’t understand, especially…Sigal. He acts so differently towards me now.” He sighed. “All I remember is how he used to shout at me, put me down, tried to get me to quit.”

Cal paused as a thought crossed his mind. No, that’s actually not true. He did show different sides before, but…it still was different than now.

“And now I live with him in his apartment. How can this not be considered strange?”

As Claire listened, she could hear the difference in Cal’s voice. It gave off a feeling of isolation as if he walked in darkness, leaving behind nothing but a trail of sorrow.

“Sigal has his own demons to conquer. I know you read the case file 242, so you do know a little more now, right? Then you probably can understand where he is coming from.”

If that’s the case, then…

“But he is also genuinely worried about you, we all are.”

“Worry…” Cal mumbled to himself before a hiss escaped his lips. “I have been nothing but a burden to all of you since I joined Section 2, haven’t I? Maybe he was right all along, maybe I don’t belong here.”

“Don’t say that!” She instantly cut in, but then let out a sad sigh, trying to find any words of comfort. “Listen, even if you have lost parts of your memories, I am sure deep inside, you know that this is not true. I am sure you had a reason to join us, and it will come back to you.”

Cal glanced through the corner of his eyes at her. The reason…

“I really appreciate your kind words, but…” He rose from the couch as he continued, “with everyone basically tiptoeing around me doesn’t make this any less hard for me.”

He walked to the window, gazing outside. “All I want right now is to know what happened and why everything turned into a surreal life.”

JenLeifire

Heya, because Halloween is coming up, I drew Sigal and Cal as Chibis in Halloween style XD enjoy =3