Chapter Text
Hermann lay on his left side on Newton's motel bed, tense and uncomfortable. The cold and wet feeling of the lubricant on the hand-held echograph Newton had just pressed on his lower back made him gasp.
"Sorry," Newt muttered.
"Are you seeing anything," Hermann asked in a strained voice, shifting to look at Newton.
"I'm seeing something alright, but not what I was expecting."
"What's that supposed to mean," Hermann asked in alarm.
"The object is just different."
He saw Newton grab a recorder from his breast pocket, and press a button. He closed his mouth, frustrated, instead of asking the question that burnt his lips.
"Object smaller than previously recorded data. 0.7 inches, instead of 1.5. Seems to be as dense and made of the same material, though. Doesn't emit any radioactivity."
Newton frowned and pressed the echograph into Hermann's back.
"However, it seems to be emitting some sort of electric signal, like the others."
Hermann bit his lips once more not to interrupt Newton in his recordings, but he could have sworn his insides had melted with anguish. If the nightmares had kept him up these last few nights, he was sure the knowledge of having been abducted and probed would keep him up at night for the rest of his life. Or just the fact that extra-terrestrial life existed, really. And to add insult to injury, he hadn't even been the one to prove their existence despite his extensive research. What a waste. What an incomprehensible waste, and a blow to his ego.
Newton wiped the gel from Hermann's back with a towel and proceeded to clean up his equipment.
"There's something I need to tell you, Newton," Hermann said, sitting up. He rearranged his clothes, and plunged his eyes into Newt's.
"What is it?"
"I have been researching radio signals for years… I'm in New Mexico because of the infrastructure available here. We — my team and I, we've never been able to prove the alien origin of any of the signals we picked up. How could… they be here, when we can't even detect strange activity in our solar system, much less in our own celestial sphere?"
"Well, I have a theory," Newton replied was a knowing smile. "But I don't know if you're ready to hear it."
"Newton," Hermann sighed, "I've apparently been abducted, you claim to have actual evidence it's been happening for years all over the country —"
"The world, actually."
"The world," Hermann sighed again, "I'm sure I'll be able to stomach whatever it is you think you've discovered."
"Well, I don't think they travel through space and time the way we conventionally think about moving through them at all. I actually don't think they're from our galaxy, because with the intensity of their activity, we should've been able to locate them, we should've observed them, one way or another. Like you said, none of our satellites picks them up!"
Hermann squinted his eyes at him. "What are you saying, that they're not from… Surely you don't mean…" His head was spinning.
"Another dimension, and I absolutely mean it. How could they have gone unnoticed in our skies, even if just for the constant military surveillance in place?"
Hermann remained silent. His head throbbed. His shoulders sagged and Newton sat down next to him, their knees bumping.
"You need to sleep. You're stretched thin right now, and I need you alert."
"However am I supposed to sleep now? I don't think I've ever been that agitated in my life," Hermann exhaled dejectedly. "And I don't see how I can help you, honestly. I feel so lost and have so many questions to ask you."
"Well, I still need to investigate the crime scene, so to speak, of your abduction, as well as the other two. As for your questions, I promise I'll answer all those that I can," Newt assured Hermann, patting his knee amicably. A warm shiver ran through Hermann. "But first, sleep. Take this."
Hermann took the two pills Newton proffered and eyed them suspiciously, lips pursed.
"They're just sleeping pills, man."
"Yes, well, I thought you had a more permanent solution for me when you said you'd help me."
"I do, and I will," Newton replied crossly, "But I'm waiting on some equipment to be sent, without which I can't do anything, so you'll have to make do with my temporary solution, which is still better than whatever you had going on," he continued wryly as he fetched Hermann a glass of water. Hermann took it, and swallowed the two pills.
"Will you stay here," Hermann asked, uneasy.
"Of course. I have to start on my report, anyway. You just lie down and get some rest, yeah?"
Hermann nodded, took off his shoes and undid the first button of his shirt. Newton didn't give any sign he was about to get up and start on his report. He was merely sitting on the side of the bed, eyes obstinately fixed on his phone, swiping at the screen from time to time as if Hermann wasn't there.
Strangely enough, Hermann felt somewhat grateful not to have to fall asleep on his own for once. He had never fussed about that before. Even as a child, he'd never asked to sleep in the parental bed after a nightmare, never wanted his bedside lamp turned on as he was falling asleep. But as the sleeping pills kicked in, waves of dizzying, pleasant, drug-induced confusion washing over him, he took solace in the presence of the other man tapping away quietly on his smartphone and in the heat he exuded.
It was trauma bonding. That's all it was. Hermann was somehow imprinting on Newton for being the only person he had been able to turn to in these dire circumstances, he told himself as he awoke to find the motel room empty and feeling his stomach drop. If he was being truthful, Newton was also the only person he had had an actual conversation with in a while. Why wasn't Newton there as he'd promised?
Hermann jumped, feeling particularly stupid, as the door to the dingy motel room opened unceremoniously.
"Ah, you're awake, cool! I went to the diner down the street, thought you'd be hungry. Got you a sandwich, cherry pie, and coffee. Is that okay?"
"It's… perfectly fine, thank you. What time is it?"
"'Little after 9 pm," Newton replied around a mouthful of doughnut after checking his watch. "Did you sleep well?"
Hermann felt quite mortified he'd overstayed his welcome so much but found some relief in the fact that he actually felt rested.
"I did, yes."
He sat up, took the paper bag Newton was offering and kept it in his lap.
"About the object that I've been implanted with…"
"It's a tracking device, sends them signals. I've no idea how they get them though, if they're not here, you know?"
"They must have a receiver somewhere around here."
"Well that's what I thought, but every time we tried to trace the signal before, or even interpret it, nothing came up."
"I hate knowing it's there, in me. I'm trying not to lose it, Newton, I really am, but this is all making me increasingly antsier."
"Yeah, I feel you, I took mine out, it felt too gross," Newton said proudly. "Really examined it too, but their technology is so different from ours. Like the circuitry? It almost looks like nerves, like it's biological or something."
"Bio… Dear God. You can take mine out too, right?"
Newton looked at him hesitantly.
"What is it," Hermann asked, touching Newt's arm anxiously.
"They tried to take me again after I did," he answered dejectedly. Hermann looked at him in horror. "Only twice, though."
"How did you escape them?"
"Well, I installed a mean security system in my bedroom right after it happened. At first, I thought they plucked me from my bed, you know? But my theory now is that they need you out in the open, in a specific spot, maybe somewhere where they have specific equipment, you know? If you can't get up and leave your home, they can't take you."
"What kind of security system is that?"
"I put my bed in a cage with an electronic lock that opens and closes at specific times I've set up," Newton replied with a smug smile. Hermann looked at him like he had sprouted a second head.
"You sleep in a cage?"
"Hey, it's not that weird, okay, and it works!"
Hermann just raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips as he fished for his dinner in the bag. They stayed quiet as Hermann ate.
The sandwich was nothing special, but the cherry pie was a miracle, and the coffee was decent enough. He sighed contentedly when he'd finished, feeling replenished. Something clicked in his mind.
"Wait, how are you going to manage sleeping tonight? I don't see any… well, cage," he offered, feeling himself flush a little.
"Er, I hadn't necessarily thought of anything, I tend to go and hope for the best when I'm on a mission."
"I guess we could take turns? I feel rested enough that I could watch over you as you rest. But there's no way we're staying here, I need to go back home, and it's much more comfortable anyway."
-
Newton really wondered what Hermann had meant by comfortable. His bed was bigger, yes, but the mattress was hard as a rock, and he only had one thin pillow. But to his credit, his house was cleaner than the motel room, and didn't smell fusty. You win some you lose some.
He heard Hermann moving about the place behind the closed door of the guest room he had prepared for Newton. It felt weirder to be here than at the motel, and not on his own either. He didn't remember the last time he had stayed over at a friend's place. When he still had a partner at the bureau, they'd always stay in separate rooms, too. His thoughts drifted to Hermann's front lawn, where the man had woken up, but where nothing out of place appeared. Hermann's bedroom didn't provide him with any clues either. Newton focused on the sounds he heard, picked up that of cutlery and dishes being put away, the click of some electronic appliance. The last thing he heard before falling asleep was the faint tapping on a computer keyboard, in the room next to his.
Newton dreamt of giant satellite dishes and warm brown eyes. Of good coffee and stuffy motel rooms, and about closing blinds. He woke up to the smell of coffee, light pouring into the bedroom, faint sounds from the next room.
-
"Thanks for breakfast," Newton told Hermann as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. "I'm gonna go interrogate the other alleged victims, but I'll need you to accompany me when I go looking for the place the abduction really took place."
"Possible abduction," Hermann said pointedly.
"Hah, I really appreciate your calling me out. I have a bit of a confirmation bias going on in this alien business," Newton admitted coyly.
"You don't say," Hermann humoured him before gasping softly, the corner of his eyes crinkling.
"What?"
"I didn’t even ask you to show me your badge yesterday," Hermann chuckled, incredulous and taken aback by his own stupidity in that regard. It was one thing to feel safe and at ease with Newton, yet a whole other matter to completely forget asking for his credentials.
"Hah, sleep deprivation. I’m sure you’re usually more alert than that," Newton teased.
"Yes well, you ought to have shown it to me unprompted anyway. Isn't that the procedure?"
"I sure should have, guess you made me heedless," Newt backfired in a dazzling smile.
Hermann stared at his muesli like he'd never seen anything more interesting in his life and hoped the flush he felt creeping up his neck to the tip of his ears wasn't as visible as he believed.
-
"So, you found yourself on your front lawn, without shoes, hem of your pyjama pants caked with dirt, and your front door was wide open," Newton repeated.
"Correct."
Newton craned his neck left and right to look behind Hermann's house.
"Well, time to go on a little nature walk," he said enthusiastically. Hermann rolled his eyes.
"The two other guys who showed the same symptoms as you don't live that far away, you know. Less than two miles. Depending on if and where we find something in the forest…"
"Yes," Hermann prompted him.
"Well, I'm still waiting on the lab report about the dirt found on their shoes and pants, since they had the decency and presence of mind to not throw them in the washing machine…"
"Oh, I am very sorry I didn't want to keep my clothes dirty and I wasn't able to foresee they'd be needed as scientific evidence in the case of my own abduction, Newton!"
"Relax, dude, I was kidding," Newton chuckled, shaking his head. "Plus, they weren't that helpful either way. They had the scar, for sure. One woke up in his bathtub, and the other one on a Target parking lot. But both had walked in wet soil before that."
Hermann snorted derisively and started towards the forest, Newton catching with him soon. They made their way through the trees, following the main path at first. Newton was looking every which way for any bent or snapped branches, any sort of tracks that would indicate someone had deviated from the path. He had given a transponder to Hermann so he could track any strange signals, ensuring that Newton's attention wouldn't be diverted more than necessary. Sure enough, the hand-held device beeped at regular intervals and soon, the rhythm picked up. Newton gasped as he found what looked like to be a hastily-made path to their left. Tree branches were broken as if someone had pushed them forcibly and faint footprints could be seen on the ground.
"Thank God it rained the night you were allegedly abducted but we've had clear weather since then! Quick, put your foot next to that print," Newton squeaked as he ushered Hermann along excitedly next to it.
It was only slightly smaller than Hermann's foot was in his shoes.
"Oh my God," Newton whispered, eyes shining. He grabbed Hermann by the arm and pushed him forward as he followed the tracks, not letting go. They lead them to a small round clearing. A faint acrid smell seized them and they both looked into each other's eyes wordlessly. Newton let go of Hermann and rapidly started circling the clearing, bent in two to inspect the ground meticulously.
"What's the transponder saying, man," he shouted.
"Ah, it's… stopped beeping?"
"Huh? That's weird, it was beeping like crazy not a minute ago."
Hermann stopped noticing the sound the little object was making the moment Newton grabbed his arm. He actually stopped noticing pretty much anything but the warm, steady hand on his upper arm. He started looking around the clearing despondently, going straight to its centre. The transponder remained quiet, but there was a very clear circle of burnt grass. Inside, and outside of it, the grass was still a vibrant shade of green.
"Newton," he called uneasily.
The agent ran up to him, tie bobbing up and down and exhilaration building up in his chest. He could feel they were close to finding evidence that wasn't circumstantial. He could also feel the energy surplus building up inside of him, and the delightful elation that came with it. He stopped dead in his track when he saw what Hermann was pointing at and scrambled to get a camera out of his satchel to take pictures from every angle possible.
"Oh my God," he whispered, moving frantically around. "Oh, my God. Look at that, do you see that?"
Newton crouched to get as close as possible to the ground and adjusted the lens of his camera to take close-up pictures of the burnt circles without waiting for an answer.
"This is amazing," he breathed.
Hermann got closer and bent down next to him. His throat felt tight. As a scientist, this was objectively exciting, probably the most important discovery of the twenty-first century, really. Or in history. But as a simple man caught in the midst of it all… Well, he felt plainly scared. He stared at the circle wordlessly for a moment, only distracted when Newton put his camera away and got test tubes, tweezers and medical gloves out of his bag. He observed the energetic man prepare everything for a moment, but his eyes kept being drawn back to the ground.