Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was raining. The city of London was blanketed by the hush of the storm that drove pedestrians under awnings and into the surrounding shops. The midday sun was hidden behind thick clouds that seemed neverending in their sprawl from one end of the horizon to the next. The balcony provided an excellent view of the busy bakery just across the street from the hotel that Mai had checked in to several weeks ago. Warm lights illuminated patrons, new and old, jostling for seats at the small tables while friendly and bright-eyed servers ferried orders to and fro. The business did very well, from what she had observed throughout her stay, and was packed even during fair weather. Every morning, the scent of baking bread and sweet sugary treats wafted up from the street below right into her hotel room and had lured her down for breakfast on more than one occasion.

She shifted on the white cushioned modern lounge chair and set her feet on the bars of the railing, eyes vacant with thought, lulled into a zen state by the shush of the rain. Her fingers of one hand played with the silver chain hanging from her neck while the other supported the open book in her lap. She had been attempting to do her own reading during her travels in an effort to give her mind rest but she more often than not found herself too distracted. It seemed the only thing she could do with words was write. Reading was beyond her capabilities those days.

She came back to herself with a shiver. It wasn’t a particularly frigid day but the temperature was far from balmy. The black leggings and white linen tunic that she had pulled on that morning did little against the wet cold but the steaming cup of coffee sitting on the white metal end table next to her had served her well for the past several minutes. The warmth was enough to keep her rooted in the chair.

Behind her, the sliding glass doors opened up into the hotel suite. A king-size bed swaddled in white feathers and silk, marble-esque floor spotted with thick plush rugs in neutral colors, and an entire kitchen with shining appliances. It was a sight that Mai had swooned over when she had first arrived but had since grown accustomed to. London had managed to drag her out of the suite several times during her stay, to see the sights, and attend events, but she had spent the majority of her time hidden within typing away on her computer. Yasuhara had taken over for her on their shared podcast back in Japan in her absence but she still made an effort to post on the blog every other day. When she wasn’t agonizing over that she was slaving over a laughably minuscule Word document.

Just the thought of it pulled a sigh from her lips.

The cell phone next to her coffee came to life with a cheery jingle. Like fighting gravity itself, she managed to pull her eyes from the view and scrutinized the contact name with pursed lips. It was Tim, her agent for the English publishing company that was in the process of translating her most recently completed work. In truth, he was the one who had invited her to London.

“Hello?” she called gently after tucking the phone against her ear.

“Morning, Mai! Or I guess afternoon, actually,” the jubilant man spouted with a chuckle. “I wanted to let you know that Ellen is available this evening to sit with you for an interview. I sent the address over to you via email just so you have it for your records.”

“That’s great,” she said, delighted.

“Yes! Her estate is a few hours from the hotel so I’d recommend leaving as soon as possible,” he advised.

“Understood,” she shot back, chipper, and finally pulled herself from the chair with a stretch.

The phone call came to an end and she was quick to scoop up her cup of coffee with a content sigh. She sipped at the drink while gliding across the suite toward the kitchen with barely contained excitement. Ellen Worthrite was a woman of power and money, born into wealth, but she had a rare heart of gold. Mai had initially taken an interest due to an online article regarding the woman’s more occult hobbies citing the death of her husband as the initial allure but when she had fallen down the rabbit hole of research she had learned that Ellen donated droves of her wealth to charities, almost daily. She was involved with numerous conservation efforts around the globe, housing projects for those in need, and had built an orphanage in town that was still funded by her. She had no children to speak of, no remaining family, and had stated in an interview that she felt no need to horde her wealth when she had no family to pass it on. By the time her life came to an end, she had vowed to put it all back into the world.

Mai had been moved by the petite elderly woman before she had even met her. The fact that she intended to interview Ellen for inspiration for her current work in progress was more than likely a thinly veiled excuse to meet such a kind soul. Even Timothy had made mention of it but Mai had brushed him off. She was a professional now, she would never take advantage of her status to meet her heroes. Never.

Mai giggled into her empty cup before setting it into the white farm sink to wash later.

She delved into the walk-in closet in search of her brown leather loafers that matched the bag Ayako had gifted her last year on her twenty-sixth birthday. She stepped into the shoes, tapping the pointed toes against the plush carpet to wiggle them on just so before she made her way back out towards the door. As she went, she pulled her red-hued locks up into a messy bun atop her head. She stopped at the mirror in the entranceway to pull out a few strands to frame her face and paw at her bangs. When she was satisfied with her appearance she scooped the bag from the entry table and pushed a pair of sunglasses up over her nose for good measure. Just because it was raining didn’t mean it wasn’t bright, Ayako would remind her, if she didn’t wear sunglasses she would get wrinkles from squinting.

The hallway was quiet outside of her door. Hushed conversations were muffled by the thick walls and the black and gold patterned carpet beneath her feet. The elevator was empty when she slipped into it and she was quick to tuck her keycard into her purse in exchange for the small umbrella she had packed away a few days prior.

“Have a good day, Ms. Taniyama!” the doorman called after her as she pushed through the revolving door.

“Thanks, Hodge!” she called back with a wave over her shoulder.

The umbrella was opened and raised over her head before she dared to step out from beneath the awning of the towering hotel. It was an attractive building, boasting a club and restaurant within, so there was still plenty of foot traffic that she had to navigate before making it to the street where she hailed a cab with practiced ease.

Tomorrow, Mai had a book signing that would stretch well into the late hours of the evening, so she planned to enjoy the freedom today offered her. Not even the rain could dampen her mood!

The cab driver was friendly and talkative, happy to take her outside of the city, and took no offense when she pulled out a notebook to do a bit of work while they conversed. As much as she wished she could speak with Ellen on a friendly level, and indulge in casual conversation, it was an official interview that she had agreed to. Mai needed to jot down a few questions to ask the best she could while seated in a moving car. The city sped by outside the window while she lost herself in her work.

Mai had been writing since she graduated high school eight years ago. Initially, she had taken it up as a way to pass the time while she worked to save up to attend college. She spent her days flitting between part-time jobs, trailing after Ayako, Masako, or John to investigate hauntings, and writing in the evenings. Every cent she managed to earn was squirreled away to pay for tuition so any time she wasn’t working she was stuck at home with nothing to do. Boredom had driven her to type out her first story, recalling the days she had shared ghost stories with her friends after class, and Yasuhara happened to come across it by mistake. He had been ecstatic with her work and pushed her to keep going and now here she was, on her way to meet with a fan of her work who she also hoped to use as inspiration.

Mai ran a blog and accompanying podcast with Yasuhara regarding the paranormal and they had gained quite a following even outside of Mai’s readers. In the beginning, they had managed to convince Monk onto the podcast on more than one occasion and the two had nearly lost their minds when their views skyrocketed. Monk was still playing in the band and often did tours across Japan but Mai had always assumed they were more on par with a local bar band, so she was surprised when their counter hit ten-thousand views within an hour of his first guest appearance. She and Yasu had shared a devious look after that and it was only a matter of time before Masako was roped into the fray. It was fun. Mai had quickly come to realize the podcast was one of the few things that continued to keep them all together. Eventually, they would gather every weekend and share the stories of their cases (sensitive details omitted) reminiscing and answering questions that came through over chat while they streamed live.

Mai had missed the past several episodes while she was in London but she had watched the stream and said hello to everyone in the chat, promising to be home soon. Her heart ached at the thought of her patchwork family waiting for her back in Japan. She had never been one to suffer from homesickness but after nearly a month away she could admit she was beginning to feel it.

“Is this the right place?” she asked in hushed awe sometime later. The cab had turned onto a long drive that pulled them through a carefully cultivated veritable rainforest smack dab in the middle of England. She had expected large swathes of green grass, cut with rigid lines, and shrubbery crafted into unnatural shapes. But Ellen’s property used up every lick of space that could be found with flora and fauna alike. As the cab trundled over cobblestone Mai caught sight of trees heavy with apples and pears.

“This is the place,” he confirmed with a chuckle, “Like paradise, right?”

Mai just barely refrained from pressing her nose against the glass but her breath still fogged across the surface regardless of her efforts. “I’ll say,” she admitted distractedly. The vehicle passed over a small bridge that spanned the bank of a carefully planned creek.

“A lot of us kids used to come out here for Halloween because she always had a big party,” the driver said, voice soft with memory, “She always gave out the biggest candy bars.”

Mai laughed.

A redbrick country manor grew from the forest around it. Its grand wooden doors could just be made out beneath the layer of vines that had nestled themselves into the course brick and grown up, up, up, and over the roof. Several chimneys reached up into the grey sky with white smoke spilling from their mouths only to disperse in the rain. Warm light illuminated the windows from within as if beckoning all those passing by to visit. It looked as if it had migrated straight out of a fairytale.

The cab pulled around the circular drive and came to a stop near the stone steps whose brick posts sported lit wrought iron lanterns. She spied a few other vehicles tucked away around the side of the house under a carport, half hidden by a swath of elephant ear plants that sported leaves the size of her umbrella. Before she had even gripped the handle of her door, someone stepped out through the front entrance and waited under the awning with hands clasped before her. Mai assumed this was Lydia, Ellen’s assistant. She was dressed in an intimidating black pantsuit, brown locks curled and tossed over one shoulder, and wearing a full face of impeccable make-up that put Mai’s efforts to shame. Not that she had tried; she had been satisfied with just mascara and some neutral lipstick that day.

“Thank you for the ride,” Mai voiced while handing over her card.

“Thank you for your company,” he shot back while running the card through a handheld scanner.

Mai popped the door open and pushed her umbrella out first before following beneath it. Her purse was hefted over her shoulder for good measure, allowing herself a moment to take a steadying breath. Lydia was an intimidating woman by choice but Mai reminded herself she had dealt with far worse in the past. Besides, the woman’s red lips had parted in such an utterly friendly smile that she all but skipped up the steps to meet her.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Taniyama, how was the drive over?” Lydia questioned while Mai closed her umbrella and set it aside by the door. The last thing she wanted to do was track water through the manor.

“It was great,” Mai assured her a little breathlessly after the small bit of exertion.

“Excellent,” Lydia said while stepping back with door in hand, gesturing for Mai to enter.

Mai sidled in through the door and fought the urge to step out of her shoes. Dark hardwood floors spanned as far as the eye could see in the grand foyer. A single wide set of stairs led up onto the second level that overlooked the room, which drew her eye to the crystal chandelier glimmering in the warm light of the small bulbs it wore. Two entryways on either side of the staircase led back into the primary living area of the house, from what she could see, as the familiar appliances of a kitchen could be glimpsed through the one on the left and through the other she could just see the back of a couch.

“It’s beautiful,” she murmured, clasping her hands together before her instinctively.

“It really is,” Lydia agreed quietly. “Ellen will host you in the living room this evening where she insists on serving wine and horderves.”

“Oh,” Mai said eloquently, “I didn’t expect…”

Lydia waved her off with a smile, “Ellen loves hosting, you’re not inconveniencing her in the least.”

“If you’re certain,” Mai said, reclaiming her breezy manner with ease. Still, internally, she felt a little guilty for causing the woman any sort of additional work given her age. She followed Lydia on through the right entryway and noted with surprise that a smaller hall branched off to the right under the archway but they passed by so quickly she hardly had the opportunity to inspect it. Not that she should be snooping, she mentally reprimanded herself. She ignored the curious pull from within and instead focused on examining the large room they had just entered.

A large royal blue velvet sectional seemed to be the prize of the room. It stood in the very center before a fireplace that boasted a small fire and a large flat-screen television mounted above it. A distressed Persian rug made of greens, blues, and beige had been rolled out below, taking up well over half the room. Mai wasn’t certain if she had ever seen such a large rug before in her entire life.

“You’re here!”

Mai did a half turn to take in the sight of the elderly woman in a cream-colored skirt suit. She had just set out two bottles of wine on an antique buffet table when they entered but now she faced them with her hands clasped together over her heart. Her smile, accentuated by the pearl pink lipstick she had chosen that day, bordered on motherly in its welcoming. Her hair was startlingly white and straight, thick as a horse’s mane, and practically glittered under the warm lighting of the manor.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Worthrite, it’s an honor to meet with you,” Mai greeted and allowed herself a moment to bow before the woman.

“Oh, goodness,” Ellen mumbled and returned the bow as best she could manage.

Mai immediately loved her. She smiled as Ellen moved forward and guided her into the living room on sensible black heels. Lydia stepped out of the room with a knowing smile on her face. Mai found herself sitting on the plush couch not a moment later with a glass of white wine in hand and a smile still tugging at her aching cheeks. Ellen was a whirlwind of activity as she put together a couple of plates for them and brought them back over to the couch and coffee table. Once she had settled herself on the other side of the couch and taken a sip of her own glass she turned to Mai with bright and expectant eyes.

“Where should we start?” Ellen asked in hushed excitement.

Mai followed Ellen’s example and took a sip of her wine and set it on the glass coffee table before pulling her brown leather notebook from her purse. “I have a few specific questions but, overall, this is your story so you’d know best where to start, better than I would at least,” she said with a nervous laugh.

“You’re probably right,” Ellen admitted with a giggle.

Mai marveled at how bright and energetic Ellen was despite her age. Even as her eyes grew distant, looking through decades of memory, there was no melancholy there. She watched as the woman thought it over, deciding where best to begin before her own gaze was pulled to the large arched windows that lined one wall of the room. Outside was a garden that looked as if it belonged to a fantasy world. Strands of lights hung between great drooping bows of weeping willows dressed in vines of ivy. Black metal patio furniture glistened in the pouring rain.

“I guess I should start by saying I never believed before…” she trailed off thoughtfully.

“In ghosts?” Mai asked for clarification.

“In any of it,” Ellen admitted with a sweep of her hands, palms up. “I was raised in a different world. The only thing that mattered was money and prestige to my parents and I just assumed all the stories were just entertainment for those who were simple-minded. Of course, I realized later that was complete hogwash and I was a brat.”

The two women shared a laugh. Even Mai had once thought it was all nothing but stories, she couldn’t fault Ellen for that.

“And then Rupert passed away and I started to notice things happening, small things: a cup moved across the room, the light in his office would turn on, the bedroom door would open in the middle of the night,” she continued.

“Did you ever feel afraid?” Mai asked softly. Her pen hovered over the open notebook in her lap while Ellen’s brows furrowed and she hummed in thought.

“Not at first,” she admitted haltingly, “I was still in denial and honestly thought I was just finally going senile.” Ellen offered her a helpless shrug and a scoff at her own silliness. “But then the cups were tossed across the room, the lightbulb in his office would explode, and the door to my bedroom would slam open and shut. It just kept escalating and escalating until I finally understood nothing would stop until I did something. I was still so embarrassed about it all that I couldn’t bring myself to go to anyone for help. I thought I’d sound crazy so I just went and bought an Ouija board.”

“They can be dangerous,” Mai murmured while leaning back on the couch, making herself a little more comfortable. Ellen had already slipped out of her heels and folded her legs up onto the couch.

“Yes, I learned that lesson the hard way,” she admitted with pursed lips. “Through the Ouija board, I learned that it was my husband haunting the manor. He claimed that his death had been unnatural and needed to know who it was that had killed him before he could pass on. So, silly me, I tried to figure it all out myself.”

“That must have been so difficult,” Mai cut in when Ellen had fallen silent.

“It was,” Ellen agreed with a sigh, “I didn’t know who I could trust, I grew paranoid, and no matter what private investigators I hired, no one could ever find anything. All the while the activity only grew worse. Mind you, this took place over a span of several years, not days. When I was pushed down the stairs and hospitalized with a broken hip I realized I needed help. I started researching mediums and ghost hunters and investigators, etc. Until my head would spin every time I looked at my notes. I brought so many people in and no one seemed to be able to understand what was going on. Some said it was my husband haunting me, some said it wasn’t, and some said they couldn’t sense anything at all. It wasn’t until I found the local researchers based out of London three years ago that anything changed.”

Mai pursed her lips and reached for her glass of wine. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to piece together the group she was referring to. She was just happy that Ellen was so deep into her story that she didn’t even notice Mai’s shift in demeanor. She swallowed a gulp of wine along with the sigh that threatened to spill out of her mouth.

“They spent three nights here, locked away in a room with equipment and a whole team of specialists before they figured it all out. My husband had been murdered, certainly, but the man had used a hex! An evil spirit was summoned to kill my husband and then pretended to be him in his absence and manipulate me until I too would have eventually met my end.”

“That’s horrible!” Mai exclaimed in hushed tones. “Did they figure out who it was?”

Ellen shook her head mournfully and said: “No, never, we have so many enemies. There’s no way to pin down who it is as the method of curse doesn’t even require physical contact.”

“Is?” Mai questioned hesitantly.

“Oh yes, every couple of months or so since, it comes back again,” she shrugged helplessly. “Then I have to call them back out here and they break the hex and put up protection but it only lasts for so long…” She heaved a sigh and sipped her wine. “In the meantime, I’ve now cultivated an image as an occult fanatic and people think I’m crazy.”

“I don’t think you’re crazy, Ellen, you’re a wonderful and amazingly strong individual,” Mai assured her, reaching out to grip one of her hands in hers. 

“You’re a good girl, Taniyama Mai,” Ellen crooned with a watery chuckle.

Mai felt her heart fracture in her chest. Poor Ellen. She did not deserve such cruel actions from anyone. Mai couldn’t imagine a kinder person in the world than the woman sitting before her at that moment. Who would possibly feel the need to continue to torment her in her old age? What could they possibly have to gain? No one would get her wealth if she were to pass beside any she might have listed in her will.

Suspicion stirred up within her chest.

“Ellen?”

The two turned in their seats as Lydia stepped into the room wearing an apologetic expression. She seemed loathed to interrupt them but Mai was grateful for the moment of reprieve it offered her. She could school her facial expressions back into place and set her nosey tendencies aside.

“They’re asking for you in the office,” Lydia explained.

“Oh!” Lydia pushed herself to her feet, knees popping, and stepped back into her shoes with the grace of someone half her age. “I’ll be right there. Mai, honey, why don’t you help yourself to some of these snacks and another glass of wine while you’re at it.”

Mai chuckled, “I’ll do just that, thank you.”

The two women left Mai to her own devices not a moment later. Despite the new knowledge she had gathered regarding the manor it still felt just as cozy and comfortable as it had the moment she had walked through the door. She supposed that was thanks to the efforts of her ‘research group’. Mai scoffed lightly to herself before she stood and took her glass over to the buffet table. She poured herself a glass of White Zinfandel this time around. She didn’t feel too comfortable eating and drinking over the Persian rug so she took her glass and plate over to the large glittering white marble-topped island in the kitchen and took a seat on a tall barstool.

“Pretty,” she murmured to herself, running a hand over the stone. She might even have to redecorate her kitchen back home to include a similar countertop. But Monk had been so proud of the butcherblock countertop he put together for her, she couldn’t imagine swapping it out. Maybe for the bathroom.

Mai took another sip of wine, knowing it would have to be her last glass. Her cheeks were already a little pink and a pleasant buzz had taken over her when Ellen had left. She popped a miniature cheese pastry into her mouth. If she could eat enough now she could avoid an awkward cab ride home in which she made an idiot of herself.

Distracted, she flipped back through the few notes that she had taken while Ellen spoke. She was a little surprised that BSPR had not resolved her issue in three years. Scratch that, she was pretty gobsmacked to learn about it. The case had never been closed, they just slapped a bandaid over it to stem the bleeding and came back every now and then to swap it out with a new one.

Mai lifted her pen and spun it about between her fingers in an effort to reclaim her tranquil calm. It wouldn’t do to delve down that road. If she felt so strongly about it then she could just solve the problem herself.

“Mai?”

She turned to look back through the archway, not recognizing the voice and then dropped her pen. It plummeted to the floor with a horrendous clatter, smacking about against the hardwood as if possessed itself.

“Lin?” she asked in a strangled tone.

Chapter Text

Indeed, it was Koujo Lin now standing at the kitchen entrance. He looked a little older, a little more filled out around the arms and shoulders, but it was Lin all the same. He was even still dressed in a white dress shirt and black slacks as was his favored attire. His eye was blown wide in utter bafflement and Mai couldn’t say she really blamed him. She had never expected to run into anyone from BSPR. She had been in London for weeks and had no issues traipsing about the large and densely populated city.

“Oh, you two know each other?” Ellen asked excitedly as she re-entered the room and stepped around the stunned man with ease.

“You could say that,” Mai admitted ruefully. She pushed herself off the stool and bent down to pick her pen up from the ground in hopes of using the time to compose herself. Internally, she was screaming. For ten years she had gone without contact from anyone who had returned to England. She had spent a year mourning the loss of something she didn’t even completely understand because she was still a child and then she had picked herself back up and moved on. She had done well to build a life for herself. There had been moments in the past when her name became more well known, particularly when Tim reached out to discuss translations four years back, that maybe someone would think of her, of SPR, and reach out. But no, she had been left with a photo and an uncertain future.

“What are you doing here?” Lin asked in consternation. If Mai hadn't known the man better she would have felt intimidated by his stance and tone of voice, but she knew it was all just confusion leaking through, wrapped up in tightly controlled emotions.

“She’s interviewing me,” Ellen answered, flabbergasted by the man’s behavior.

“It’s alright, Ellen, you gave me everything I need,” Mai cut in assuringly. She slid her notebook and pen back into her purse while she spoke, considered downing the rest of her wine before she thought better of it, and pulled her purse onto her shoulder. “It was absolutely lovely to meet you. You’ve been a hero of mine since I first learned about you. You’re doing amazing work.”

“Wha-? You’re leaving?” Ellen stammered in confusion.

“I’m afraid so,” Mai admitted with genuine distress. “I still have to get back to my hotel but here, take my business card. I’ll be in London for a few more weeks and would love to get together with you again.”

Ellen accepted the proffered card with a distracted reverence. She had enjoyed her time with Mai. She was such a sweet and understanding woman, someone who had once blazed brightly but had now been polished and weathered down to a warm and effervescent glow. She felt comforted in her presence. “If you’re certain,” she murmured sadly.

“I am,” Mai promised with a smile. She turned and breezed past the tall man with ease, a light “Goodbye” tossed over her shoulder, before she was stepping out onto the stone steps outside and realized she still had to call a cab. She looked up at the raining sky with exasperation. There was no way she was going back inside to wait. She’d just find a nice bench under a tree somewhere to wait with her umbrella.

The umbrella was resting where she had left it on the ground, still wet from its last use. Mai snatched it up and opened it while descending the steps. She was at least pleased to note that the rain had slowed somewhat during her interview with Ellen. She couldn’t believe Lin had been there! The interview she had been waiting for since she had first learned of Ellen over a year ago and it had been cut short because of a face from the past. What were the odds? If she wasn’t so exhausted with life she probably would have put up more of a fight.

“Mai!”

She paused in her trek, rain splashing against the umbrella and her feet before she half-turned to look back at the manor with a blank face marred by a lifted brow. Lin stood in the open doorway, one hand clutching the handle like a lifeline.

“I apologize for my behavior,” he called out over the hiss of the rain.

“Apology accepted,” Mai called back with a hand cupped around her mouth. She turned back to continue her journey across Ellen’s rainforest with a quiet scoff.

“Mai?”

“What?” she snapped back. His tone had been pleading and now that she had turned back around the expression he wore, something between shame and forlorn, made him look like a kicked puppy. Well, perhaps a full-grown Dobermann. Either way, the man had managed to get under her armor of calm that she had spent years piecing together with five sentences, and three of those had been comprised of just her name alone.

“I could use your help,” he admitted grimly.

Mai paused in disbelief, eyes wide. The umbrella in her hand tilted as she lifted her other hand to cover her mouth in thought, gaze drifting to the cobblestone beneath her shoes. Lin didn’t need her help really. It was more a matter of convenience. If she had truly been needed then someone would have called her at some point over the past decade. For just a moment her heart had fluttered with warmth at the prospect of reconnecting but she was quick to dump a bucket of cool water over her own emotions. Lin saw an opportunity and took it. He was a professional, as he had proven when working with them in Japan despite his own biases. If a simple apology could get the job done then he’d bite his tongue and suffer through it.

But Mai also wanted to help Ellen. And it would be easier to do so from within as opposed to working from her hotel room.

Mai sighed through her nose, shifting to face Lin fully, “Fine,” she grumbled.

Lin straightened, wearing an expression of relief. He stepped aside as Mai trudged back up the steps and dropped her umbrella at their feet. There was no further discussion between the two of them as they re-entered the house. Ellen was nowhere to be seen and neither was Lydia so Mai simply followed in Lin’s long stride down the small hall on the righthand side. It was long and dark, lit sparingly by electric wall sconces, and dotted with several wooden doors. Lin passed them all by without so much as a second glance until they reached the door at the very end of the hall.

It was like no time had passed at all. A small study had been converted into a base of operations. A sturdy wooden table had been pushed against a bare wall and stacked high with monitors while an unfamiliar man sat before them, headphones pulled down over his ear, jotting down notes in a notebook before him. At the oak desk that faced the study, a large bay window behind it, sat an open laptop ready and waiting for its owner. The other wall was hidden behind wall-to-ceiling bookcases stuffed to the brim with heavy tombs.

Lin dropped into the plush desk chair with a sigh and Mai came to a stop before the desk with arms crossed. The unnamed guy sitting at the bank of monitors turned to look back at them curiously.

“Noll isn’t here,” Lin began in an attempt to offer her some comfort.

“You wouldn’t have asked for my help if he was,” Mai countered lightly.

Lin pursed his lips and clasped his hands together on the desk before him, leaning on his elbows. He looked exhausted, but Mai refused to allow herself to feel concerned.

“Frankly, I’m surprised,” she admitted, “From what Ellen has told me, it seems like BSPR has let this case go on for three years without resolving it. I can’t imagine Davis approving of this.” The name felt wrong in her mouth but she refused to call him by any other name. She didn’t know him, had never known him, therefore she had no right to use anything other than his family name.

Lin watched her with his one eye, searching for something, but he must not have found what he was looking for because he only sighed. “He has been busy, things haven’t been easy,” he admitted quietly.

“I can’t imagine,” Mai drawled with enough sarcasm for the both of them.

Lin could only nod in apologetic understanding.

“It’s fine,” Mai muttered with a toss of her chin, she could never hold a grudge. “Did you happen to ask her if you could see her will?”

Lin leaned back in the chair with furrowed brows. “No, she has no family, so we already ruled out someone wanting their wealth,” he advised grimly. “As far as I’m aware, she plans on dividing it all between a multitude of charities when she passes.”

“Exactly,” Mai agreed factually, “So which charity needs the money the most.”

Lin stared at her blankly for several seconds before he snorted and dropped his face into his hands, a delirious chuckle sounding from within. “I’ve been agonizing over this for weeks,” he admitted, pulling his hands away to drop them into his lap, “And you figure it out after only an hour of speaking with her over wine.”

“Plot twists are my forte,” she muttered wryly.

“Andrew,” Lin called across the study to the man who was attempting to look busy. “Could you request a list of charities Ellen planned to donate the remainder of her wealth to in the event of her passing?”

Andrew stood to do as requested, confused and exhausted himself, but Mai lifted a hand to stall him. “Clarify that we need charities that both she and Rupert were already working with before he passed,” she added curtly.

When the man had slipped out the opened door Mai found herself wandering over to the monitors with interest. She had never completely given up on cleansing spirits, and helping the living with the paranormal, but they had been forced to do things differently after SPR. They no longer had the equipment they could rely on to provide them with raw data to work with. As a result, the cases they took on as small gigs and favors took far longer to solve. After a while, Mai had gotten rather good at honing her instincts and intuition.

Mai reached out and set a hand on top of a monitor absently, eyes distant from memory. The warmth of the equipment was as familiar as the sun on her face. She could remember the scent of warming plastic whenever their fans kicked on after several hours of use. She could feel her eyes grow heavy, recalling the days she had fallen asleep in a room just like this one, and would dream of Gene.

She pulled her hand away just as Andrew returned with a list. He crossed the room to hand it to Lin but Mai intercepted him and snatched the printed paper from his hands with a blank face. Andrew scowled and opened his mouth to protest but Mai brushed past him and set the paper down on the corner of the desk where Lin could see. Her eyes scanned down the list, bouncing from one end of the paper to the other at an impressive speed. She didn’t need to do further research if her hunch was correct. Her intuition would provide the answer as long as she was on the right track.

“This one,” she declared and pointed it out for Lin’s review.

“Briar House,” he read aloud questioningly. “I believe that’s a halfway house in London.”

“You’ll find your culprit there,” Mai assured the man.

“Thank you, Mai,” Lin said with a slump of his shoulders.

“Don’t mention it,” she mumbled, shifting to heft her purse on her shoulder, she hadn’t even set it down throughout their short brainstorming session. She offered a quick bow to Lin and then to Andrew before heading for the door. “You should get some rest Lin, you look exhausted,” she tossed back over her shoulder.

“A baby will do that to you,” Lin said.

Mai paused at the door and turned to look back. He looked like he could use a week's worth of sleep but there was a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Mai remembered hearing at some point before SPR had closed that Lin had proposed to Madoka. She was glad to know that things had progressed between them. The two of them balanced each other out well. She couldn’t fight against the bittersweet smile that overcame her.

“Congratulations,” she replied quietly.

And then she was gone.

Black heels clacked against the polished cement of the warehouse behind the bookstore. Mai had just stepped out of a cab a few moments prior, dressed in a grey high-collared blouse tucked into high-waisted black slacks that fluttered around her ankles as she walked. Her hair was done up in a proper bun that day and she had opted for a little more make-up knowing her photo would be taken more times than she could count. No doubt she would be seeing spots for days after today.

“Listen, Yasu, it was the most awkward experience of my life and you know how much I’ve been through,” she grumbled into her phone.

Tim, who had met her at the door of the warehouse, walked a few feet ahead of her wearing an excited smile. His own loafers made little to no sound while he walked across the cement in the cavernous room. Mai’s eyes scanned the shelves of packed boxes stacked one on top of the other for as far as the eye could see as she passed. She could hear distant echoing conversations scattered about the room but no one was within her line of sight beside her agent.

“I can only imagine,” Yasuhara’s voice sounded over the phone, “I bet there was cringing all around.”

“Don’t even get me started,” Mai groaned out, “I ended up walking out on Ellen, cut everything short, and then Lin came running after me with puppy dog eyes, asking for help.”

“Whoa,” Yasu drawled, “That does not sound like the Lin I remember.”

“I felt like I was sixteen again, all quick to anger and irritable,” Mai admitted at a lower volume as they passed through a set of metal double doors into the back hall of the store. The signing didn’t officially start for another three hours but she was meeting with her team beforehand to run through the day's schedule and then she would launch into reading the first chapter of the new novel with those who arrived early. Then she’d be signing her name for the next two hours, taking photos and answering questions for one, have a final meeting to discuss the day’s hopeful success, and then she would finally be permitted to return to her hotel room to nurse her aching throat from all the talking.

“It makes sense, I mean, the last time you saw him was when you were sixteen and it was kind of a traumatic time for you especially,” Yasu mused. Mai could hear her microwave beeping in the background and knew that Yasu was making himself a late-night snack. He was house-sitting in her absence but, if they were being honest, he was essentially her roommate. They hosted the podcast out of her house as well and most nights Yasu stayed up editing until he moved to a guest bedroom and passed out.

“It doesn’t matter,” she shot back with a sigh, “I don’t plan on running into him again any time soon.”

“Well, you didn’t plan the first time either,” Yasu countered with a chuckle.

Mai rolled her eyes.

The bookstore, Bookend, was the largest bookstore Mai had ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Her throat was raw from the reading and her hand was beginning to cramp from signing so many books but she could at least appreciate the environment. The store was two stories tall and boasted a large cafe and reading area that were currently packed with those who had already gotten their books signed and were waiting for the scheduled photo op or were already lost within the pages. It did her heart good to see so many people excited and enjoying what she had put her whole self into completing. The fifth book in the series would be the last but, depending on how sales went, she might delve into a spin-off anthology. The beginnings of the document still sat on her computer, taunting her.

Large skylight windows allowed plenty of natural light to pour in and illuminate the bookshelves and their bright new titles. Luckily, the rain from yesterday had long since passed otherwise Mai would have felt terrible for those who were waiting outside. The line had wrapped around the building in the beginning but Tim had reported back to her and confirmed she was chewing through the numbers at an impressive rate.

The store smelled like coffee, glue, and the various perfumes and colognes of those who were passing through. Filled with the sound of quiet conversation, the fluttering of pages, and those working within the cafe to keep everyone fed and caffeinated, it was a pretty relaxing environment. The majority of Mai’s work was geared towards adult readers so, while there was a low level of excitement from all those present, there wasn’t much excited squealing from teenagers or children.

“Thanks for reading, Chris,” Mai said, handing the freshly signed book back to the gentleman with a smile.

“Thank, Ms. Taniyama, this means a lot,” he murmured in awe.

Mai reached out to shake his hand and enjoyed the moment of warmth it provided her before he pulled away and another person took his place.

“I brought you some tea with honey,” Tim whispered in her ear sometime later. He set the to-go cup on the table out of the way where it would not be in danger of scalding anyone should it get knocked over.

Mai sent the cup a furtive glance while finishing the personalized note in the next book. It was another several minutes before she was finally able to take a sip and fight to withhold the moan of pleasure as it soothed her throat. She took another gulp as the next person stepped up, a little guilty, but she still needed her voice to last another several hours.

“Could you make it out to Lixin?”

Mai had accepted the book and flipped it open to the first page before the woman had even spoken but now she paused. She lifted her eyes and found herself looking upon the familiar figure of Madoka. She had pushed a stroller up alongside the table and looked just as haggard as Lin had but her eyes were bright and sparkling with mirth.

“Is this little Lixin?” Mai asked with gentle delight. She leaned over to take in the sight of the sleeping infant swaddled in the stroller. He was only a couple of months old by the looks of things but he had a thick tuft of dark hair atop his head and cheeks that Mai barely restrained herself from prodding with a finger. “He looks so much like Lin,” she murmured in awe. There was just something about the curvature of the baby’s nose and jaw that spoke of the man but she was certain he would develop more of Madoka as he grew.

“I know, I’m kind of mad honestly, I carried him for nine months and he couldn’t even do me the decency of having my nose,” Madoka teased.

“The betrayal,” Mai agreed with a chuckle. She turned back to sign the book as Madoka had requested. As good as it was to see the woman and meet little Lixin, there were still at least thirty people lined up behind her, watching and waiting. They had all come to see her after reading her work, the passion that she had carefully nurtured over the years to build herself her own future, never having to rely on another ever again. Now if she ever leaned on someone it was of her own volition and not because she was forced to by circumstances. For the first time in her life, she felt empowered and confident, at peace. She owed it to the people who came here to support her to pay it back.

“Thank you,” Mai murmured as she handed the book back to the strawberry blonde. She wasn’t even certain if she was thanking her for purchasing the book or coming to see her, so she just settled on the two simple words and hoped Madoka would understand.

“Of course, Mai,” Madoka replied quietly and reached over to squeeze the hand in which she held her pen, “Now I can add the final piece to the collection.”

Madoka pulled the stroller away wearing a smile and Mai felt a watery warmth blossom in her chest. Madoka had all of her books? The thought percolated in the back of her mind even as she greeted the next guest and accepted their book.

Madoka pushed the stroller a little further out of the way and scanned the store with a critical eye. It was certainly packed that day, more so than she had ever seen it, but she had never actually attended a book signing herself. She was just pleased that Lixin had continued to sleep even as they stepped off the street and into the noisy store. The volume wasn’t too bad, as the hush instilled within everyone since they were children from librarians across the world transferred to bookstores, but their walk through backstreets had been far quieter. She wiggled her toes in her sneakers to relieve them of their ache before her eyes alighted on her intended target.

“Tim Barne?”

The man in question, standing in the cafe and watching the signing with mute pride, turned to her with surprise. “Yes?” he asked, his hand already twitching, ready to shake her hand. A true businessman.

“My name is Madoka Lin,” she greeted and took his hand in a strong shake. “My husband used to work with Mai and happened to get your info from her business card. I was hoping I could speak with you for a moment.”

“Certainly,” Tim agreed with a charming smile. “Would you like to sit down?”

“Such a gentleman,” Madoka praised as Tim pulled a chair out from a nearby table and waited until she was settled to claim the one opposite them. The light wood furniture seemed standard of many bookstore cafes. The relief her feet and ankles experienced at that moment was heavenly but she did not waste time enjoying it. She was on a mission. “My husband actually ran into Mai last night at the residence of Ellen Worthrite,” Madoka began.

“What are the odds?” Tim murmured, eyes wide.

“Yes, I’m sure you’re aware that she has done some actual work within the field of parapsychology back in the day. It’s been a decade since Koujo worked with her,” Madoka continued in conspiring tones. She leaned forward with a hand to hide her mouth, urging Tim to lean over as well.

“She did mention that,” Tim agreed with a nod, matching her tone.

“Excellent,” Madoka cheered quietly, “We’re actually attending a parapsychology conference at Central Hall Westminster this weekend and I thought she might be interested in coming.”

Tim looked flabbergasted but it quickly morphed into something Madoka was more familiar with, mischievous. There was a sparkle in his eye as she tossed a look in Mai’s direction. She was still signing away and judging by the way she was conversating with the small family gathered around her table she hadn’t even noticed their little rendezvous. If she had noticed she would have been unable to hide the fact. No matter how much Mai had matured over the years she still wore her heart on her sleeve.

“It runs from Friday to Saturday and there will be several speakers, more panels than I could even wrap my head around and I’ve been in the field for fifteen years,” Madoka admitted, “But I think it would be an excellent source of information for her and, maybe, a little nostalgic too.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Tim admitted. He reached to pull his phone from his pocket. He had Mai’s schedule tucked away in his calendar somewhere. He was positive she had the available time but he wanted to block the dates off before she got any ideas and decided to take a train to Paris or something. She had been so flighty since she had finished the last book like she didn’t know what to do with herself so she just tackled whatever errant thought came to mind. If he managed to wrangle her into going she could even use it as a resource for her podcast and blog!

“Great! I’ll be in contact with you,” Madoka said while sliding her own business card across the table. “I’ll have an express pass printed for her so she can avoid any lines and drop it off at your office on Thursday.”

“Perfect,” Tim chirped, taking her card and sliding it into the breast pocket of his jacket.

Madoka climbed to her feet and the two shook hands one last time.

Across the room, Mai caught sight of them from the corner of her eye and faltered. The fan took their book from her, oblivious to her distraction; Mai couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Unbelievable. She might not know the details of what Madoka was doing but it didn’t take a genius to know she was meddling. Those familiar coals of irritation glimmered at the bottom of her tranquil darkness but the warmth they instilled was oh-so-familiar and thrilling. She analyzed the irritation as one would an interesting seashell found on the beach before a genuine smile tugged at her lips. It felt very nostalgic.

“Toby!” Madoka’s voice called out across the store.

Mai blinked in surprise, attempting to recall if she had seen anyone else with Madoka but Mai hadn’t even noticed the woman until she had been standing right in front of her. She gave the store a quick scan while another book was set in her waiting hand. She didn’t have to look for long before a small figure sidled out of the children’s fiction section with a book clutched against his chest. He glanced about the room in search of Madoka but at that moment their eyes happened to connect and Mai felt her heart squeeze painfully in her chest. He was so tiny but his eyes were a deep navy that looked unnatural on his cherub-like face. His hair, long enough to fall into his eyes, was the color of ash. It might have been golden at one time but something must have happened to pull him away from days spent in the sun. He looked pale and dark circles hung like moons beneath his hauntingly familiar eyes. He couldn’t have been more than five years old.

Toby, presumably, seemed to fall into a trance. He turned towards Mai with his book of choice clasped beneath his arms and took half a step in her direction and Mai, for the life of her, could not look away. Who was this fragile little creature that made her heart swell and break all at the same time just at the sight of him? A part of her nearly pushed herself to her feet to go to him but Madoka’s stroller came into view and blocked him from sight for just a moment and the spell was broken.

Mai turned back to sign another book and pass it along. When next she resurfaced from her daze, Madoka and the children were gone. It was alright, she soothed her anxious heart, she was certain the answers would come eventually. Madoka’s meddling would come to fruition, as it always did, and Mai just needed to sit back and wait.

Chapter Text

“And then Madoka showed up at the signing,” Mai said with a gusty sigh. She was curled up in the white leather computer chair that sat at the stylish minimalist desk that ran the length of the window overlooking the street below. If she leaned forward she could even make out the bakery from that angel. The sun was setting, painting the sky in soft greens and lavenders, and urging the streetlights to wake.

“Now that’s just silly,” Masako replied primly. Mai had called her over video to discuss the day’s events. Her phone sat up against her laptop on the desk while she used her hands to pick at the salad she had made for herself.

“I always knew Lin was a gossip,” Mai grumbled and speared a mandarin orange with her fork.

Masako was dressed in a light blue camisole while she was participating in her nightly moisturizing routine. Her hair was tucked back into a fluffy headband as she dabbed serum under her eyes. Mai had been surprised when she learned Masako didn’t sleep in a yukata all those years ago. “I think I did too,” Masako admitted with a giggle. “Did you find out what Madoka was planning?”

“Oh, yes,” Mai drawled, “Tim never brought it up to me but I snuck a peak at my calendar and suddenly Friday and Saturday are blocked off for the Parapsychology Conference happening here.”

“I think I received an invite for that,” Masako admitted absently. “You should go. When I looked I saw that there would be speakers from all over the world, renowned in their own specific fields, but it would be a great source of information. I would use it as an opportunity to interview more people.”

Mai leaned back in the chair and kicked her feet up onto the desk with a groan. She knew Masako was right. Honestly, if she had known about the conference herself she probably would have planned to attend anyways but the fact that it was Madoka’s manipulations that were forcing her hand did not sit well with her. No doubt, he would be speaking and she would have avoided his panel like the plague but now that Madoka was aware of her presence it would be all the more difficult to slip away. She didn’t necessarily have to go. Tim was not her boss and anything he put on her calendar was more of a suggestion than a must.

But all those people with brains to pick…she could gather so much material.

“I wish you were going,” Mai complained. Behind her, the television was streaming a ghost-hunting channel on youtube that she had found reputable enough to follow over the years. She liked them because they didn’t scream like children whenever something happened. But they did tend to break into abandoned buildings whenever they got the chance. Their activities were illegal and extremely dangerous but Mai knew for a fact that they had scoped out their podcast and were avid followers in return. There had been many instances where they utilized methods shared by everyone on the podcast so she could at least take comfort in the fact that they did their best to stay safe with what they learned from Mai and her family.

“I’m sorry,” Masako murmured apologetically, “I usually don’t attend conferences because I end up dealing with skeptics within the field and they're even more insufferable than normal people.”

“Ugh, rude,” Mai muttered with a scoff. She could just imagine some pompous man with a degree under his belt waving his finger at Masako. She’d been working the field for longer than Mai had, and on a professional international level to boot. Any time Mai stumbled on a case or in her writing she would often consult the famous medium for her opinion on the matter. “Where’s John in the world?” she asked with a spark of hope.

Masako pulled away from the mirror she was sitting at and lifted her eyes up in thought. “Last I heard he was actually in New Zealand,” she mused.

Mai pursed her lips in disappointment. John often traveled when he could in an effort to help those far and wide with the paranormal and Mai had hoped, for the briefest of moments, that he would be nearby enough to make it to London by tomorrow. It would have been nice to have some support from one of her closest friends but, she supposed, she would have to do it on her own. It wasn’t too bad if she thought about it, she had survived far worse in life.

“You’ll be fine, Mai,” Masako assured her gently, “You’ll meet new people and learn new things, I know you love that sort of environment. It’s what I always envied you for the most.”

Mai lowered the salad bowl in her lap and stared at Masako through the phone in shock. A part of her had always known that Masako struggled with the demure persona forced upon her as a child. She had once admitted to Mai that she wished she had her ability to express herself and that had broken Mai’s heart to hear. Considering she and Masako had spent the first year of knowing each other fighting over him Mai would have never expected her to become one of her closest friends. She offered Masako a saddened smile.

“You’re right.”

Mai stood outside of the British Museum while tides of tourists and locals alike filtered by. It was another grey day, the sun hidden away beneath a thin veneer of cloud coverage, but at least she could say there was no rain. There was a gentle breeze that rustled the trees that decorated the streets of London sparingly but it was not strong enough to carry much of a chill with it. Those that passed her by were all lost in conversation, muffled laughter and cheer managed to reach her ears through the black beanie she had pulled down over her red-hued locks. Her eyes traveled up and down the street patiently while she waited, checking the thin wristwatch she had chosen for the day until a black Mercedes finally rolled to a stop before her.

“There you are!” Ellen Worthrite called as she stepped out of the vehicle after her driver had pulled the door open.

“Good morning, Ellen,” Mai greeted warmly and stepped forward to offer her arm to the elderly woman. “Thank you for agreeing to spend the day with me.”

“It’s been so long since I’ve visited a museum, I couldn’t resist,” Ellen assured her with a wave of her black-gloved hand. She looked warm in the leopard print coat that hugged her snugly against the late October weather. Mai herself had only chosen a navy-colored light trench coat that managed to dance about in the light breeze thanks to its lack of weight.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Mai admitted while they crossed to the entrance of the museum. “I figured we could get lunch after this if you’ll put up with my company a little longer.”

It was the best way Mai could think to apologize for the debacle that was the interview. While her behavior hadn’t been overtly rude she had still cut everything short and left without much explanation. And to a woman like Ellen Worthrite, who had more money than she could possibly spend, experiences and time were more valuable than any boring apology gift basket she could piece together. Spending the day with her while admiring art and history seemed the best way to utilize their time. It also served as an excellent distraction for the upcoming event that Mai was avoiding thinking about.

“Of course, I can!” Ellen exclaimed and patted Mai’s arm.

Mai chuckled. Ellen seemed like the grandmother she had never had and she was glad that she had been provided the opportunity to meet her. Having lost her family early in life Mai had cultivated a taste for admiring the people around her, appreciating their life and mortality, and collecting them. She enjoyed learning about their personalities, and the unique qualities that set them apart from others and hoped to spend the rest of her life doing so. Masako had been right, Mai should just relax and enjoy what the conference could offer her, it was where she truly flourished.

Their shoes clacked against the marble flooring of the museum as they entered and the sound of city traffic was immediately muffled. The murmured conversation continued within the museum but the majority of them carried a level of reverence in tone, whispered awe, or amazed giggles. The atmosphere was beautiful and filled with wonder, something that Mai with her wide range of abilities could easily feel upon entering. She took a deep breath of the heavily circulated air and let it fill her lungs. Even Ellen had stopped to appreciate the environment.

“Where would you like to start first?” Mai asked thoughtfully.

“Not a clue!” Ellen admitted.

They spent hours traversing the halls of the British Museum, arm in arm, whispering to each other among the throngs of visitors. Ellen admitted that she was no great admirer of art. She enjoyed it like any other but when it came to the value of a piece she was at a loss. Mai could agree that she was much the same so instead of flocking to the most impressive works they spent a few moments with each and every display in an effort to parse out its significance.

“We’ll have to go to the Natural History Museum next,” Ellen advised some hours into their meandering. “I have a feeling you’d enjoy that one more.”

“Really?” Mai questioned, surprised. She was just excited at the idea of spending another day with the woman.

“Oh sure,” Ellen replied with a chuckle.

Mai had vastly enjoyed her time at the museum but the one piece that had truly drawn her in was the Rosetta Stone. She wondered if Ellen had known, somehow, that the history of humanity would speak to her more than the hall of modern art that they had just come from. The stone sat in a glass case bathed in low light that lent it a mysterious air and led those around it to speak with hushed whispers as they observed. When Mai was able to lead them up to the display she found herself utterly transfixed by the writing. She couldn’t understand a single word of it, in any of the three formats used, but that didn’t really matter in the end. Here was history, was what it said, and she was reverent before it. She wondered where those people were now. Had they passed on to the next life? Did they linger with any regrets? Did someone help them pass on just as she did with others in the modern day? Or were they still lost and waiting?

“It’s pretty grand,” Ellen admitted quietly.

“It’s certainly something,” Mai agreed.

They climbed into the Mercedes an hour later and Ellen directed the driver to take them to her favorite restaurant: Manuel’s Restaurant and Bar. It was a hidden gem, she had informed Mai, specializing in Italian and seafood. When they were seated outside at a small table hidden beneath a white cloth, Mai allowed herself to relax. The sun was just beginning to peak through the cloud cover that had persisted all morning and there were only a few other guests seated around them.

“You know, that Koujo told me what you did,” Ellen voiced once she had settled into her seat.

Mai dropped her gaze to her hands clasped within her lap. She hadn’t expected such a thing. Mai wasn’t even a consultant for BSPR, to take credit for possibly solving the case seemed a little presumptuous and farfetched. It wasn’t good business, to put it bluntly.

“He mentioned you used to work together in Japan, too,” Ellen added leadingly. It was clear she was hoping for a few stories.

While she waited for a response from Mai their waiter arrived to take their drink orders with a pleasant smile. His dark curls glistened in the growing light of day and he offered each a beverage menu to look over. He remained to help them decide and Mai allowed herself to get the apple cider sangria and Ellen was quick to do the same. The amber-colored beverage was stuffed with apple and pear slices, rimmed in cinnamon sugar, with a full stick of cinnamon as a garnish.

“I did work with him for a short while when I was in high school,” Mai admitted after their waiter had disappeared to put in their orders. “To be more precise, I happened to wander into an investigation, broke a camera, and injured Lin at the same time. I was hired on to replace him while he recovered in the hospital,” she continued ruefully.

“How on Earth?” Ellen asked with a peel of laughter.

Mai shrugged helplessly, “I was always getting into trouble back then.”

“Is that how you got into the business?” Ellen queried further.

“It was,” Mai confirmed with a nod, “I had always enjoyed telling ghost stories after class with my friends but when I was exposed to the reality of the paranormal I was completely enamored by it all. I learned how to help spirits move on and I still practice every now and again too.”

“And now you write those stories,” Ellen said with a grin just as their waiter returned with their drinks.

“That’s right,” Mai shot back before taking a sip. Her eyes widened at the taste and she immediately sent the waiter a thumbs up in appreciation.

They were quick to put in their lunch orders next, both of their stomachs grumbling after the hours spent walking the museum, before returning to the conversation. A few more people had wandered out onto the patio and claimed tables for a late lunch but it was still far from crowded.

“So why’d you stop?” Ellen asked, “Working with Lin, I mean.”

Mai pursed her lips and reached for the stick of cinnamon in her glass, using it to spin the fruit and ice about while she gathered her thoughts. If she was being honest with herself, she had never revisited the memories with another person. Those that were left behind by the closing of SPR had come to a unanimous agreement to never mention it unless it was necessary. Mai had never reminisced over that part of her life with another out loud since it had come to an end. It felt strange to voice it now, as if the memories were just a dream, like that part of her life was false. She had cut her ties to it and let it drift away.

“They needed to return to England,” she explained with a shrug, “The office was closed and we never heard from them again.”

“Such a shame,” Ellen muttered, “Oliver was never the best at socializing.”

Mai paused and watched the drink swirl with sightless eyes. “No,” she agreed flatly, “He wasn’t.”

She hadn’t considered Ellen had known him but she supposed it only made sense. Lin was his assistant and handler, if he had been dispatched to deal with Ellen’s case then it was no surprise that he had met her directly at some point. Given the length of research she had done to try and resolve the haunting on her own in the first place, she might just have stumbled across him herself. She took another sip of her drink.

Mai enjoyed a selection of muscles and claims over pasta that had been slathered in a butter lemon sauce that was to die for. She pushed through the emotions her discussion with Ellen had stirred up, patting them back down into their respective places and sealing them back up. The food helped. It was delicious and she thanked Ellen a million times over for introducing her to the restaurant, she would be certain to visit again before she returned to Japan.

Mai stepped out of the black Mercedes forty minutes later in front of her hotel. She waved goodbye to Ellen and promised to call her when she was free again so they could visit the Natural History Museum together. Mai could only hope the time would come soon. She slid her hands into the pockets of her coat, gaze vacant while moving towards the entrance.

“There you are.”

Mai fought down a smirk. It was the second time someone had apparently found her that day. Tim stood at the entrance wearing jeans and a grey sports jacket. The scent of the bakery wafted through the air as he jogged to approach her. He had a small folder in his hand that he proffered her once he had come to a stop with a sigh.

“What’s this?” Mai asked curiously, taking the folder from his hand to scan its contents curiously.

“Your ticket and pass for the conference,” he explained, “This way you won’t have to worry about any lines.”

“You are my hero, Tim,” she murmured while her eyes scanned over the legal jargon printed over the paper. “Do you wanna get a cup of coffee?” she asked suddenly, gesturing to the bakery across the street with a smile.

“Fine,” Tim conceded with a sigh, “But you’re paying.”

“I think I can manage that,” Mai admitted with a chuckle.

She slid the pass over her head and let it settle down her chest with a sigh. It was nothing more than a slip of paper stuffed into a plastic sleeve, hung from a black cord, but she supposed it was clearly visible enough. It was probably a last-minute affair put together for her so she should feel more honored than anything. 

Central Hall Westminster rose up out of the streets of London ahead of her, framed by historical buildings and narrow roads, it looked picturesque. Clusters of young oak speckled the strip of land out front, like a fan held up to hide the face of a coy woman. Mai chuckled at the comparison while waiting for the crosswalk light to change. There were a few others standing around her heading in the same direction and, judging by their apparel, she might even be seeing them once inside. 

She had chosen to wear a black and white striped high-waisted pencil skirt that she had bought years ago and rarely had the opportunity to use. It was the perfect occasion, she had decided because it gave her a boost of confidence like no other article of clothing she owned. The linen tunic, now knotted at the front so it settled high around the waistband of the skirt, had made a reappearance. Her black slingback kitten heels clacked against the cobblestone as the light changed and she took a moment to quietly congratulate herself on a job well done. It was a classy outfit, sheltered beneath the long black coat she had pulled on to ward off the chill of midday, and Ayako would be proud. 

The crowd shifted around her and while a few split off to spend the day living their lives the majority of those who had waited at the crosswalk with her moved as a unit toward the conference center. It would be an all-day event, spanning well into the evening, but Mai had yet to decide if she would remain for the entirety of it all. There were a few panels she was interested in but her main focus was to find individuals she could interview between events. If she ever wanted to get her anthology off the ground she would need an army’s worth of material. She had slid her notebook into the black leather bag that hung from her shoulder before leaving that morning and she was determined to fill its pages with as much information as she could fit. She would consider it a success if she needed to purchase a new one by Sunday. 

Everything about Central Hall was magnificent, even the side door that she was ushered through when the security at the door happened to spot her pass among the crowd. She felt the curious eyes of those she had traveled with following her as she broke off from the group to greet the gentleman at the intricately carved wooden door. 

“Good morning,” she said with a smile pulling at her cheeks. 

“Morning, miss,” he replied in kind and gestured for her to enter while he held the door. 

“Thank you,” she called back over her shoulder while stepping into the slim hall. It fell silent as soon as the man closed the door after her and reclaimed his post outside, waiting for those with passes to enter. Blue carpet spotted with maroon dots ran the length of the hall and she gladly stepped forward, admiring the wooden paneling of the walls and the intricate lighting above. There were a few closed doors that she passed by but she assumed there were smaller offices or waiting rooms for those who needed to prepare for their panels and so pushed on. She felt like she’d get in trouble if someone were to spot her back there regardless of her pass or not, the thought made her giggle. 

Eventually, the hall turned to the right where two doors led to the restrooms and, across from them, was a grand archway leading into the antechamber of Central Hall. The dull roar of a chattering crowd washed over her when she stepped out onto the marble floor and remembered to pull her sunglasses off her face. Hundreds of people meandered between the lines of stalls selling books and other paraphernalia related to the study of parapsychology. Mai scanned the crowds in stunned surprise, realizing that there were people from all over the world congregating under the roof of one building. It was a little daunting and a little exciting. 

“Would you like me to take your coat?”

Mai turned to find a gentleman sitting behind a counter. He was dressed in a black suit and behind him hung a collection of coats and jackets alike already. Mai could not recall ever attending an event that checked coats in but there was a first for everything, she guessed. She pulled the coat from her shoulders and laid it across the counter with a smile. 

“Here’s your ticket,” he handed her a small slip of paper in exchange for her coat, “Enjoy the event.”

“Thank you,” she murmured back, still confounded by the novelty. 

Mai turned back to the crowd and decided that shopping was the first task she’d like to tackle. When she had perused the pamphlet the night prior she had confirmed that the panels did not start for another hour. She supposed it gave everyone time to arrive and make their own plans given that some panels overlapped each other. But more importantly, she wanted to get everyone a souvenir. 

“Is this candy?” she asked with eyes wide at the first stall she had happened upon. The shelves were filled with herbal remedies, teas, bath bags, spray bottles, etc. But the line of clear lollipops, some tinted by herbal flowers encased within, had caught her eye immediately. 

“Yes,” the woman sitting behind the table answered excitedly, “They each have their own properties.” 

“Amazing,” Mai murmured and picked up the first one that had stood out to her. The center of the candy was comprised of two tiny rosebuds that had turned the sugar a light pink. There was a little label attached to the stick that denoted its purpose. “A good source of vitamin C and antioxidants,” she read aloud to herself. “These would be perfect for the girls,” she mused aloud.

“I’ll take one of each of these,” Mai announced with a grin, “And if I could get one of each of those bath bags too that would be perfect.” 

“Oh, goodness, of course!” the woman exclaimed, jumping to her feet to fill two paper bags with the requested items. It seemed she hadn’t expected to make such a large sale so quickly but Mai was happy to support a small business. 

Mai passed her credit card over and waited while she was rung up before collecting the bags. She glided to the next stall with curiosity and marveled over the selection of foreign talismans that were on display. 

“What does this one mean?” she asked curiously, pointing to a pendant carved out of white stone. 

“Fertility,” the elderly gentleman answered after adjusting his glasses and inspecting the object. 

Mai chuckled and handed her card over. There was one couple in specific that she planned on gifting it to and hopefully, someday soon, she would be an auntie. He took her card with his own mirthful chortle and set the pendant in a small box and tied it with a string of twine. He passed it back with her card and she offered him a short appreciative bow before moving on. 

Then she found a book on the positive effects of music on the spirit that would be perfect for Monk. A book discussing the history of parapsychology for Yasuhara. She was debating between a leather bracelet meant to ward off evil or a book on exorcisms for John when the milling crowd around her began to thin just a little. She glanced down at her watch curiously and noted that the first panel would be starting soon. It was led by one Eliza Beck, if she recalled correctly, and dealt with an introduction to parapsychology which Mai had not felt particularly drawn to. 

Mai shifted the rosebud lollipop in her mouth before returning to her decision with a hum of consternation. The trouble with gifting things to John was that he would be genuinely appreciative of anything that you got him whether he actually liked it or not. She had gotten to know him quite well over the years but there was still a sense of mystery to him hidden behind his friendly boyish smile. The seller behind the stand seemed to feel as at a loss as Mai. 

“I’ll take both,” she finally stated, admitting defeat. John deserved a little extra love anyways. 

The man behind the stand heaved a relieved sigh. 

“Mai!”

Mai turned, eyes scanning the crowd until she found the familiar figure of Madoka approaching with Lixin and Toby in tow. The woman was waving over the heads of the flowing crowds and despite it all Mai could not help but smile at the woman in return. There was no sign of Lin or anyone else for that matter, so Mai felt comfortable enough to collect her bags and meet Madoka halfway. 

“If it isn’t the maestro of this operation,” Mai teased in greeting. 

“I’d do anything to see my Mai again,” Madoka sing-sang while leading them over to a group of tables set out for those who needed a moment to sit or eat. She swung the stroller around and locked the wheels in place before plopping down with a relieved sigh. 

“It has been fun so far,” she grudgingly admitted as she set her bags down on the table with a relieved sigh. She should have waited to get everyone gifts but she had just been so excited at the sight of all the shops. 

“This is little Toby, Mai,” Madoka introduced with an unusually gentle tone after Mai had sat down. “Toby, this is Taniyama Mai,” she continued with a smile brimming with so much warmth that Mai wondered if it would burst. 

Mai turned her gaze onto the boy who had trailed behind Madoka the entire way and was now gripping the side of Lixin’s stroller, his only mooring while lost among the sea of crowds around them. He had been dressed in a little blue sports jacket and jeans that day and Mai felt her heart swell at the cuteness of it all. His blue eyes were lowered to his little brown leather loafers. 

“Hello again, Toby,” she greeted gently. 

Toby’s blue eyes lifted to hers, wide and vulnerable, before he lifted his hand to offer a handshake with trembling fingers. Mai returned the gesture and gripped his hand within her own when something sparked behind her eyes. A moment of intuition that had her pulling her hand away despite his questioning look and settling it atop his head instead. 

“You must be very special,” Mai murmured sadly and then turned her eyes onto Madoka who had pursed her lips and nodded in confirmation. 

“Bad luck,” Toby finally spoke in a quiet mulish voice, his little shoulders slumping in defeat. 

“No,” Mai replied, heart breaking at the fact that the little human before her had suffered so much in such a few short years, “Just lessons we don’t understand yet.” Toby looked up at her with watery eyes and from her peripherals, she caught sight of Madoka dabbing at her own. Mai didn’t know what sort of abilities Toby had that had caused so much suffering but she would do her best to ease his distress while he was in her presence. “I’m special too, so I can tell you with certainty that it’s just a matter of time until you figure it all out,” she continued in a more upbeat tone. 

Toby lifted his arms to her, fingers wiggling, and Mai didn’t hesitate to lift him into her lap and wrap her arms around him. 

“Toby,” Madoka squeaked in surprise, not expecting the sudden bout of clinginess. “He’s usually not like this,” she mumbled apologetically. 

“That’s alright,” Mai assured her while patting Toby on the back. He had wrapped his arms around her neck and buried his face in her shirt. “He was probably just trying to be strong,” she stage whispered with a waned smile. 

Madoka clasped her hands over her chest and bit her lip. Mai didn’t know who Toby was to Madoka but she could at least discern that he wasn’t her son because she had a rather hands-off approach to him that spoke of both comfort and respect - as if she didn’t want to overstep. 

Mai reached into one of her paper bags and pulled a ginger lollipop out with a grin, “Here, Toby, this is for you.”

“For me?” he asked in confusion, blinking, and reached out for the treat. He pawed at the wrapping absently before sticking the sucker in his mouth and humming in approval. “Tastes good,” he mumbled around the candy. 

“Of course it does,” Mai teased. “So,” she began once Toby was distracted with his treat, “Are you sitting in on any panels?”

“I wish,” Madoka admitted with a heavy sigh, “But between the two of these guys I can’t really manage it.” 

Mai’s brows furrowed and she glanced between Toby and the sleeping Lixin. “I’ll help you, Madoka, it’s okay. If someone starts getting fussy we can trade-off.”

“Are you sure?” Madoka questioned with a delighted gasp. Even if Mai had changed her mind there was no way she could back out after that level of a turnaround. Madoka’s eyes practically sparkled with their own stars. 

“Absolutely, as long as I can stuff this in Lixin’s stroller,” she replied ruefully. 

Madoka laughed and turned the stroller around to allow Mai access to the bottom where there was a perfect little compartment for additional storage. Madoka helped her stuff the bags below while Mai held Toby on her lap. 

“Are you staying for the dinner event?” Madoka questioned. 

“I hadn’t decided yet,” Mai answered truthfully, lips pursed. “It’s not like I really had anyone to attend with so I didn’t want to be a wallflower.” 

“That’s okay, just stick with me,” Madoka replied with a wink and pushed herself to her feet. She had chosen to wear flats that day and her ankles were a little angry with her but she had refused to wear sneakers to such an event. The denim capris were bad enough as it was but they were one of the few articles of clothing that fit her comfortably after Lixin’s birth. 

“What do you think, Toby, do you want to listen to boring people talk with me?” Mai asked as she stood, sliding an arm under his bottom before shifting him to her hip. Toby nodded wordlessly, gripping the lollipop stick before tossing his eyes about the crowd curiously. “I wanted to check out the Cultural Influences on The Afterlife by Tristan Hinkle,” she informed Madoka. 

The woman kicked at the locking mechanism on the stroller and nodded, “Good, I did too. It actually looked really interesting.” 

They had started walking but Madoka came to a sudden stop and turned back to look at Mai, once again biting her lip, and Mai felt her heart fill with ice before she had even opened her mouth. She lifted a brow in question. 

“He doesn’t speak until tomorrow,” she informed her as soothingly as she could manage, “But he is here today. He’s part of the management team so, we shouldn’t run into him but I’ll do my best to play the buffer.”

Mai heaved a steadying breath through her nose and shifted Toby in her hold, dropping her gaze to meet his blue eyes that were watching her questioningly. She could tell whatever his gifts were they leaned more towards her side of things, he simply had an air of knowing about him that one could not dispute despite his age. 

“It’s alright Madoka, I appreciate you,” she said quietly. It seemed that, although Madoka had meddled to get her there, it was purely due to her own want to see Mai. Considering she had been following her writing carer and apparently had a collection of her books, Mai knew it was genuine. “This is a really good opportunity for me, so thank you for making me come,” she admitted with a strained chuckle. 

Madoka smiled sadly in return before turning back to keep walking, “We’ll really catch up over dinner, I want all the details of how things have been, okay?” she tossed back over her shoulder. 

“That sounds great, actually,” she agreed amicably.

Chapter Text

Mai’s heels clacked against the flooring as they weaved through the crowds toward the conference room. Madoka had the pamphlet opened and laying across the tray at the top of the stroller, built in behind the handle. She scanned the mini-map and turned to cut through the crowd with reckless abandon and everyone predictably jumped out of the way to avoid a whack to their heels or possibly interact with a baby on any level. Mai chuckled while striding along in the woman’s wake with Toby on her hip. He was content with his new view and Mai was happy to carry him so long as his fingers didn’t get too sticky from the pop.

“This will be really good for you if you’re going to branch out with your writing,” she muttered over her shoulder when they stepped into the hall. There was only one other person in the hall as they passed, presumably, it was empty out of respect. The whole concourse was available to hang out in and any noise in the actual halls probably carried into the conference rooms easily.

“I thought so, too,” Mai agree under her breath.

Madoka stopped at a set of double doors and Mai hurried by to pull it open for her. Together they slipped into the back of the room and sat down in the row of seats against the back wall as quietly as they could manage. People were still arriving but Mai had already seen one dubious look tossed back in their direction due to the stroller. Younger Mai would have stuck her tongue out but older Mai met the stare with a challenging quirk of an eyebrow instead. The younger man was cowed and turned back to face the front.

“This is nice, I thought I was going to have to skip out on all of this,” Madoka whispered in her ear while she sat Toby down in the seat next to her.

“I’m glad to help,” Mai shot back, “Is this an annual thing?”

“This is only the third time we’ve done it,” Madoka explained quietly, “But each year it's nearly doubled in size. We were really struggling to accommodate everyone this year until the management here actually offered a deal for the whole building.”

“Wow,” Mai whispered in awe. She turned her eyes to take in the room with new understanding. The high arched ceiling with crown molding was beautiful but the most impressive part of the room was the two-hundred taken seats. The gentleman standing at the front of the room on a small stage, sheltered behind a podium, was busy hooking his laptop up to the projection system but didn’t seem flustered by the number. The far wall of the room sported large arched windows that allowed the grey London light to spill forth across the room, battling against the warm overhead lighting and losing predictably.

“We’ll be starting in a few moments, folks,” Tristan spoke into a microphone with casual comfort.

Mai reached into her purse for her notebook and pen, “Will you guard this for me?” she then asked Toby, handing the bag over to him with a smile.

Toby accepted the purse wordlessly and set it on his lap, wrapping his arms around it, and settled his chin on top.

Like a dragon guarding his treasure, Mai mused to herself and chuckled, ruffling his blond locks once more. She turned back to her notebook and flipped through the pages until she came to a blank one. She had never expected this turn of events but she had to admit that she was happy she was there now. Just meeting little Toby had made the debacle worthwhile.

Madoka continued to roll the stroller back and forth with a foot while Tristan began the panel and the crowd fell quiet.

“Alrighty,” he started off, “I wanted to take a look at the world of Parapsychology, and the paranormal, through the lens of humanities, and thus: this discussion was born. We all remember taking humanities in college, right? The professor really makes or breaks that class, I’ve found.”

The room broke into scattered laughter. Mai had attended several humanities classes vicariously through Yasu so she could easily relate to the statement. The assignments could be fun if the professor was open-minded enough. Yasu had asked for her help on more than one occasion because he lacked the ability to discern the difference between Western and Eastern themes in art beyond the geographical location of where they were painted.

“So how does culture affect what we know of the human mind and soul?” Tristan continued.

He was a great crowd-pleaser, Mai could already tell, he had hooked them all within a matter of seconds. She was happy to see such lively individuals taking the lead in their field, it brought life to something that had once been obscure and taboo. He reminded her of Monk. Halfway through the panel, she had already filled up three pages of notes and had buried her nose between the pages when she felt Toby lay his head in her lap. She glanced down under her notebook to see that he had shut his eyes, the lollipop stick clutched in one hand. She took the trash from his grip and tucked it away in tissue in her purse before returning to her notes.

Tristan’s theories were a brain teaser for certain. He believed that the culture a person was raised within might have an effect on their mental abilities and what they might become in the afterlife. There were several examples from Japan, Europe, and the United States that he used to back up his theories. There were Gaki in Japan but the closest thing to such a spirit in the United States was the Native American Wendingo which was the result of cannibalism, and it was still up to debate whether such a creature was living or not. Mai had never even considered following that sort of thought because she had never had the opportunity to take on a case outside of Japan. Well, she had helped Lin on this most recent one, but she would hardly consider it any great submersion within another culture's paranormal field.

Fascinating.

The panel lasted two hours and ended with a thirty-minute discussion that, while absolutely interesting, held no additional weight as it was all conjecture. Lixin woke up due to the sound of a microphone squealing in protest when someone had gone to ask a question and the two women had thought it best to leave before he started getting fussy.

“That was amazing,” Mai exclaimed while she followed in Madoka’s wake. Toby was clinging to her skirt and rubbing his eyes as he followed.

“It was fun,” Madoka admitted with a giggle, “I’d like to pick his brain and get him in on a case in the future.”

“I wonder if he’d be interested in an interview on my podcast,” she pondered aloud.

“I watched some of them last night! I think he’d get along well with Yasu,” Modaka said excitedly.

Mai felt that familiar warmth in her chest again and nodded, “I think you’re right.”

“I’ll get his contact info for you,” she assured her while pushing the stroller out into the concourse in search of a place to sit.

“Aunty,” Toby called out, “I have to go potty.”

“Ah, perfect timing, I’ve gotta change this little guy’s diaper,” she cheered and pulled the diaper bag off the back of the stroller. “Mai, would you watch the stroller for us?”

“You’ve got it,” she agreed and watched as Madoka lifted the baby in one arm while Toby trotted along at her side. They moved off in the direction of the bathroom and Mai pushed the stroller over to a bench before dropping down with a sigh. She crossed one leg over the other while shuffling about in her purse for her notebook. The pages flipped back to the most recent notes, almost of their own accord, and she reviewed what she had written down with a flutter of excitement. Yasuhara would have to wrap his brain around humanities once again. She planned on calling him that night to discuss it.

“I see the stroller but no baby and no wife.”

Mai looked up with surprise to find Lin standing at the stroller with a raised brow. He had chosen to wear a blue shirt that day and the splash of color looked almost unnatural on him but, Mai supposed, she had never seen him in anything other than black and white.

“Everyone went to the bathroom,” she informed him with a smile threatening, she was still on the fence regarding how she felt about Lin. “I was left on guard duty,” she added with a sigh, snapping her notebook shut.

“That explains it,” Lin mused in a rare display of friendliness. He moved to drop down onto the bench next to her with a tired sigh.

“You look a little more rested,” she observed wryly, hiding the lower half of her face behind her notebook as a physical reminder to manage her expressions, she doubted it would do much but one could try.

“I was able to wrap up the case early and sleep for the next two days,” Lin explained, “So thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she said and turned her gaze out to the shuffling crowd absently. “So what are you contributing to this event?” she asked conversationally, waving her hand about the concourse in general.

“Not much,” Lin admitted simply, “Still just acting as an assistant. Though I did help with the IT department all morning.”

Mai chuckled at that. Poor Lin, always stuck behind a computer no matter the circumstances. He was going to need glasses soon if he didn’t already have them. She guessed some things never changed. “Have you eaten?” she asked randomly. Her eyes had spotted a snack stand across from their bench and the smell of fresh french fries, or chips, was nearly overwhelming after so many hours wandering the conference center.

“No,” he admitted with another sigh.

“You watch the stroller then and I’ll get everyone something to eat,” she advised while climbing to her feet. “You still do vegan?” she asked curiously, brows knit.

“Vegetarian is fine,” he assured her thankfully.

The man was being worked to death, she thought grimly while turning away towards the snack stand. Between a newborn baby and that slavedriver of a boss she was surprised he hadn’t dropped dead on his feet yet. She weaved through the crowd and joined the line with arms crossed, eyes roving over the menu strung up over the top of the stand. They had plenty of options given the people from several differing cultures who were attending the event.

Mai ordered them each a salad and a kid's meal for Toby. Regretfully forgoing French fries for health reasons. She stepped to the side of the stand so those behind her could order and stacked the to-go boxes one atop the other with care before turning about and heading back the way she had come. Those who weren't buried in their phones swerved to step out of her way as she passed.

“Mai!”

Mai jolted under the mild impact with her legs and clutched the boxes to her chest with a squawk.

“I thought you left,” Toby mumbled, blue orbs leveled against her weak will.

“No!” she exclaimed playfully, “I went to get you macaroni and cheese!”

“Cheese?” he asked hopefully, large eyes growing larger.

I must have guessed right, she mused internally with a laugh. “Yes, silly, now go sit down so I can give it to you.”

Toby released his hold on her and spun on his heel to rush back to the bench where Madoka had claimed a seat and watched the exchange with a warm smile. Lin had adopted a gobsmacked expression that Mai did not feel like dissecting while she handed out their late lunches. She set hers down on the bench a little further away before she crouched down in front of Toby and laid out a napkin across his lap.

“Hold this,” she instructed, offering him a spork. He gripped the utensil excitedly, watching as Mai opened the box of pasta. It was golden and glistening with heaps of melted cheese and she honestly found her mouth watering a little while she set it on his lap. He dug in immediately.

“You always know my favorites, Mai,” he sang happily between bites.

“Of course I do,” she replied while sitting down with her own chicken Caesar salad, “Remember? I told you I was special too.”

“You can guess everyone’s favorite foods?” he asked in hushed awe.

“Among other things,” she agreed with a mirthful giggle.

“You’ve been practicing?” Lin cut in gently.

Mai watched the way Toby shifted away from the man uncomfortably upon being reminded of his existence but she assumed it was just because Lin came off as intimidating and angry when in reality he was just awkward. She bumped her shoulder against Toby playfully before answering: “I never actively tried to hone my abilities, if that’s what you mean. It just came to me naturally over time. It felt like…” she trailed off thoughtfully, “More like everything had settled.”

“That’s astounding,” Lin mumbled absently, a hand sliding over his mouth while he pondered her circumstances.

“What panel do you want to sit through next, Mai?” Madoka asked around Lin’s shoulder.

“Let me see,” she said while pulling the pamphlet from her bag. She crossed one leg over the other and straightened her back to relieve some of the strain from hunching while she scanned the schedule with pursed lips. They’d only have enough time for one or two panels depending on their time blocks and she wanted to get as much out of the day as she could. “‘Exorcisms across the globe’ and ‘Psychics and their effects on society’ both sound pretty interesting,” she mused aloud.

“Trying to squeeze in as much as you can?” Madoka teased.

“You bet,” Mai agreed with a chuckle.

“If we run we can probably make it to both, we might just miss the first five minutes of ‘Psychics’,” she theorized thoughtfully.

“I’ll leave you ladies to it,” Lin murmured tiredly before pushing himself to his feet.

“You’ll join us for dinner, won’t you?” Madoka asked pleadingly, hanging from her husband’s hand. One would think he had been drafted and they were parting ways at the train station.

“I’ll try,” Lin assured her and leaned down to plant a kiss on her forehead. Then he did the same to sleepy Lixin.

Mai turned her face away, cheeks pink at the rare display of intimacy from the two, and turned her attention back to Toby. He had plowed through his mac and cheese with professional efficiency and was already watching her expectantly. She slipped him another sucker, this one lemon flavored with lemon grass, in exchange for his empty box. While he was distracted she pulled a wet nap from her purse and wiped his face off before he could unwrap the candy, freeing it of any residual cheese.

“You’re pretty good at that, Mai,” Madoka observed mirthfully.

“I used to watch Yasu’s little siblings all the time,” she replied with a sigh. “This little guy is nothing like those monsters.”

“He’s a cutie, that’s for sure,” Madoka agreed, “He’s actually usually really reserved. In fact, he doesn’t like touch all that much, so I’m a little surprised…”

Mai was stunned to hear that considering how much he had been clinging to her all day. She reached out to run a hand through his hair and the boy leaned into her shyly, knowing they were talking about him. She lifted her gaze to Madoka, baffled. She could only assume an eversion to touch would have something to do with his abilities but she didn’t want to overstep and push him for information. But if he was so against touch because of what it might cause him to suffer, was he starved for it?

Madoka bit her lip and shrugged helplessly.

“Well, I guess he’ll just have to get all his hugs from me then,” she exclaimed, switching gears and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. He giggled into his hands in response to that and she smiled. “And we’ll figure the rest out later,” she said softly, belatedly aware of what she had implied.

“He’d appreciate that,” Madoka stated mischievously.

They sat through the two panels and Madoka only had to duck out of the second for a moment to feed Lixin before she returned to catch the last fifteen minutes of the discussion. Mai was more than happy to go over her notes with her afterward because she had jotted it all down excitedly. Toby took another cat nap in her lap while she wrote and she took a moment to appreciate the fact that those lollipops were made from natural sugars and not packed with enough to send him bouncing off the walls.

When the last panel let out Mai persuaded Madoka to follow her back to the shop so she could purchase another round of lollipops. Mai asked the seller for her business card and traded with her, promising her she would follow up with her about possibly advertising over in Japan. The new bag was added to the growing collection beneath the stroller.

“We still have about fifteen minutes before they open the doors to the dining hall,” Madoka informed Mai while they meandered through the isles of stalls. “We could take a walk around outside, there's actually a really cool fountain outside of the exterior dining hall doors.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Mai said.

Toby took Mai’s hand while Madoka led the way toward the doors. A security guard pulled one of them open for their small party and the women thanked him kindly as they passed. Toby was hopping alone at Mai’s side, more energetic after his restful and sugar-filled day, so she waited until he had jumped to swing him forward. He let out an excited ‘Whoa!’ when his little loafers hit the ground.

The sun had set already by the time they walked around the side of the building, though Mai could only make out a few stars in the darkening sky. Traffic was heavy on the narrow streets so she kept Toby on her left, away from the roads, and let him jump and swing from her arm to his heart’s content.

“How long have you been in London, anyways?” Madoka asked from over her shoulder.

“Almost a month,” she admitted, “I came over with the intention of doing the book signing and getting an interview with Ellen Worthrite. But, I think I just really needed a change of pace.”

“You gotta travel every now and then, spend time in new places,” Madoka said in agreement.

“You came to see me!” Toby cut in jubilantly.

“Maybe I did,” Mai said teasingly.

They were coming up onto the fountain that Madoka had mentioned and Mai had to admit that it was quite beautiful. The white marble was lit from below, lights set under the waterline to send dancing waves of warmth across the woman sitting astride a horse, bareback, with long hair trailing after her. Tall foliage had been planted around it strategically and a few benches sat on either side of the walkway that parted around it so those waiting to enter could enjoy the view. Already, a few people had claimed seats among them.

“You can’t catch me!” Toby exclaimed and ran for the fountain.

The fountain was tucked well away from the street, hidden behind a line of dense shrubbery, so she wasn’t worried while she chased after him in her heels. “What do you mean? I’ve got longer legs!” she called after him.

“No running you two!” Madoka pleaded aloud.

Mai scooped Toby up bridal style and spun on the spot, his infectious giggles drawing smiles from those sitting around the fountain. Madoka had pulled the stroller to a stop and settled her elbows on the handle to watch them with misty eyes.

“No, let me go,” he cried through peels of laughter.

“And let this cute catch go to waste? I think not!” she shot back and lifted him up to blow a raspberry against his belly that caused another string of laughter. “Actually, now that I think about it, you’re probably right. I should toss you back,” she rocked him back and forth towards the water in the fountain.

“No!” he squealed and giggled, wrapping his arms around her neck.

“Okay, I guess I’ll keep you,” she agreed with an exaggerated sigh.

Toby shifted in her arms to look over her shoulder and gasped in delight, “Daddy!”

Mai spun about, smile still pulling against her aching cheeks, and froze like a deer in headlights. In fact, she was certain that if Toby didn’t have such a chokehold around her neck she would have dropped him altogether. She had thought it had just been Madoka standing behind them but sometime during their play, she had been joined by four other individuals. She recognized Martin and Luella Davis from the one time she had met them though she had not had any in-depth conversation with them. They had been grief-stricken and Martin didn’t even know Japanese. They were older, a little greyer, but still looked fit and healthy standing next to Lin. His face couldn’t decide if it wanted to grimace in discomfort or smile in adoration of the scene and the combination just left him looking sick.

And then there was Oliver Davis himself. He stood at Madoka’s side with one hand in the pocket of his black slacks. He was taller and broader, she noted absently. Looked like he had finally grown into his stupidly perfect jawline. He watched them with those piercing eyes, face bare of emotion.

Well then.

Chapter Text

That Madoka.

Mai sent the woman a raised brow that left her clapping her hands together and bowing apologetically. There had obviously been some manipulation in the form of omitted truths but Mai didn't have the gall to make a scene about it now. Especially not in front of the Davis family. 

“Alright,” she sighed, forcing herself to continue as normal despite those who had joined them, “Play time’s over.”

“What? No,” Toby whined.

“What do you mean ‘no’? It’s dinnertime, silly,” Mai shot back with a teasing roll of her eyes.

If I’m even still allowed to join them for dinner, she grumbled to herself internally. She crouched down carefully, mindful of her skirt, as long as it was she didn’t want to take any chances in front of him. Toby’s feet touched the ground and he tightened his hold around her neck for just a moment before pulling away. Their eyes locked and he searched for something within her gaze before he turned back to his family.

“Mai is sitting next to me,” he declared with as much resolution as he could muster.

“That can be arranged,” Oliver assured the boy in cool tones that had only deepened over the past decade.

Mai pushed herself up and smiled down at the boy while he jittered in place.

No one spoke of the event though Mai noted that Luella looked fit to burst with tears of happiness. Mai didn’t know how long Toby had been struggling with his problem, or if he always had, but it seemed that her presence had unlocked something within him and a part of her wanted to make sure they all had the opportunity to see what a bright young boy he was. He deserved to be seen. And they deserved to see him because, despite it all, she knew they were good people. So even if she felt like her face was going to melt off under the cool gaze of Oliver Davis, she would remain.

“Mai’s secret power is that she knows all my favorite foods,” Toby informed his father as they walked towards the dining hall doors. Toby had refused to relinquish his hold on Mai’s hand but he had reached out hesitantly for Oliver’s, and Mai had watched in shock as the man smiled an oh-so-sweet smile, cool gaze melted by the warmth of adoration, and wrapped his son’s hand in his own.

“Is that so?” he asked.

“Yes,” Toby assured him with a nod, “She had three tries and got it right every time. She told me that I don’t have bad luck, just lessons we don’t understand yet. She said she’s like me.”

“She sounds very wise,” Oliver observed gently.

“You know she is,” Toby shot back with pinched brows, “You two have known each other for a very long time.”

“Have we?” Oliver questioned in faux confusion.

“Yes, I’m certain,” Toby asserted while his father pushed the dining hall door open so they could step through. Lin was next to grab the door and hold it for the rest of their party. The small entryway spilled into a large room that was filled with nearly forty round tables hidden beneath black silken tablecloths. Each table housed ten sets of dishes and an explosive floral display of white orchids that seemed to glow under the warmly lit chandeliers that hung from above. Several of the tables were already filled with guests, some even turned to watch as they entered. Gentle orchestral music played over the speakers but conversation could still be heard over the music easily.

“Then you must be right,” Oliver replied.

Toby turned his eyes back to Mai with a scowl that she empathized with. “He always does this to me,” he muttered.

“You and me both,” she agreed with a sigh.

It didn’t escape Mai’s notice and by extension, she assumed everyone else's, that the two adults on either side of the child had neglected to make eye contact with each other. She was certain he was extremely frustrated with the situation, just as she was, but had locked it down under layers of control and icy dispassion and then topped it with a genuine love for his child. And that was okay, she told herself kindly. He wasn’t her enemy. He hadn’t done anything wrong, really, and neither had she. She had just been young and silly and she had worked hard to grow past it. But that left them with no foundation to operate from now that they had unexpectedly run into each other again.

Oliver led them to a table near the opposite side of the room and Mai took a steadying breath before she let go of Toby’s hand to pull a chair out for him. As soon as her hand left his, the boy dropped his hold on his father and clasped his hands together with pursed lips. Mai hesitated before forcing herself to pull the chair out and pat the seat for him. While Toby climbed into the seat she worked up the nerve to shoot the man a questioning look. He shook his head once in response.

Mai stepped back as Oliver pulled the seat next to Toby out and waited for her to sit. She splayed the fingers and fisted her hand experimentally while she sat down, cheeks dusted with the smallest hints of pink, and settled next to Toby with a smile. Oliver sat down on Toby’s other side and crossed a leg over the other, fingers interlaced, while his family gathered around the table and navigated the seating.

“You’ll get me that report before the panel tomorrow?” Oliver asked his father.

“Don’t you doubt it,” Martin replied cheerily while dropping into his seat with a sigh.

“No talking shop at the table,” Luella chided with a bright smile, “Mai, dear, I am so happy to see you, how are you?”

Mai was surprised the woman even remembered her. She had been practically sobbing when Mai had been introduced. She offered the woman a warm smile in return. “I’m well,” she assured her, “I’ve been in London for a few weeks now.”

“Oh goodness, I wish we had known,” Luella exclaimed, “I would have jumped at the chance to see you. What brings you to England?”

“A book signing, originally,” she admitted with a chuckle.

“Then she happened to show up at Ellen Worthrite’s manor to interview her, and solved the case in one sitting,” Lin cut in flatly, a spark of humor somewhere in the depths of his dark eye.

Mai caught sight of Oliver reaching for the bridge of his nose from her peripherals, knowing he had barely managed to repress a disappointed sigh. She had no doubt Ellen’s case and its status had rankled him. Well, at least she could understand now why Oliver had been busy. She glanced down at Toby who was kicking his feet in the chair happily.

“Finally,” Leulla said, “That poor woman has been struggling for years.”

“She’s quite the character,” Mai stated, redirecting the conversation with ease, “I took her to the museum yesterday and we had a blast.”

"Oh, I love the museum," Luella said, "I'm certain you had a blast." 

"Ellen can make watching paint dry entertaining," Martin tossed out with a chuckle. 

Mai allowed herself to pull away from the conversation for a moment. Martin carried it in the direction of the museum and Madoka chimed in with a response that Mai missed by choice. It was strange. These were people she had known once upon a time yet she felt so very alienated at that moment. She knew it was completely of her own doing. And maybe a little of Oliver’s. She had intruded upon his family dinner and he had no inclination to be anything but civil with someone who he, really in the grand scheme of things, didn’t even know. It was tense and awkward but she reminded herself that her hotel room was waiting for her and that she would be in bed in less than two hours. She’d put on the group podcast in the morning and maybe even video-chat everyone just so she could participate. It would be a nice way to mentally and emotionally recover from the evening. 

“Are you okay, Mai?” Toby whispered under his breath. He had reached out to place a hand on her arm and lowered his head so they could speak conspiringly.

“I’m okay,” she assured him in a stage whisper, “I’m just feeling a little homesick.”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized quietly, “It seems very sad.”

“It can be,” she admitted with a tilt of her head, “But you don’t have to feel it if you don’t want to.”

“But I don’t want you to feel it by yourself,” Toby argued.

“That’s very kind of you, Toby,” she murmured. “Just be careful with what you choose to carry.”

“I will,” he nodded understandingly.

She ran her hand through his thick locks of hair, a smile pulling at her cheeks. How Oliver Davis managed to cultivate such a sweet little soul was well beyond her ability to understand, but he had done it.

Servers ferried water and drinks across the room as conversation swelled around them. Normally, Mai would have been itching to join in and take notes but Luella had expressly requested they not speak of work at the table and it seemed even Martin was determined to uphold his wife’s word. So Mai watched the family knit themselves back together after a day of separation. It was a side of Oliver that she had never seen before. She learned that he was doting and patient with his mother but quick to fall into a friendly debate with his father. He would practically reverse gears and bend over backward for his son even if Toby accidentally interrupted a conversation. And then there was Lin and Madoka who, while they weren’t related by blood to the Davis clan, might as well have been. Madoka seemed like the best of friends with Luella and the two giggled about their boys to the amusement of the rest of the party.

“Thank you,” Mai murmured to a server as she filled her wine glass with a Moscato. Mai sipped the wine while the conversation continued. 

“So, Mai, you said you were here for a book signing?” Luella asked, swinging it all back around to her.

“Yes,” she answered after clearing her throat. “I just released the final installment of a series.”

“My favorite horror series,” Madoka announced with a dreamy sigh. “I even got her to sign my copy.”

Oliver sent the woman a pointed look. Mai could only assume Madoka had never mentioned the novels to him. Mai wonder what exactly that meant that Madoka had continued to follow her success when the rest of them hadn’t. Well, she guessed Oliver had probably felt slighted by her. Assuming that she had fallen for his deceased brother but confessed to him in her confusion. She’d probably want to cut off all ties too. Still, did he never even Google her once out of curiosity?

“I would have just given you one if you’d asked,” Mai said, taking another sip of wine.

“No way,” Madoka waved her off, “I want to support you and all of your hard work. You did it all by yourself, you deserve every bit of credit.”

Mai felt a lick of heat beneath her cheeks. “I didn’t do it all by myself, Yasu helped edit my first novel,” she countered with a nervous chuckle.

Bread and butter were brought out to the tables and Martin jumped at the chance to get the end piece of their loaf.

“Every writer has an editor,” Luella argued lightly.

“You’re right, of course,” Mai conceded.

Dinner was a quiet affair after that. The majority of those at the table were exhausted after a long day of work and forced socializing so when the food arrived, vegetarian options provided, they all tucked in in silence. Even Mai could feel exhaustion pulling her as she enjoyed the lemon pepper chicken.

“Thank you for having me,” she said to the table when the dessert had disappeared. She pattered the corners of her mouth with her napkin then arranged the silverware across her empty plate so it was out of the way.

“Thank you for all that you’ve done,” Luella replied with misty eyes. She came around the table as Mai climbed to her feet and wrapped the younger woman up in a tight embrace. Mai blinked in shock before allowing herself to melt into the hug, if only for a moment.

“Yes! We’ll have to get you out to BSPR while you’re here, I’d love to learn more about your work,” Martin exclaimed. He offered her a hand and Mai shook it with a sure grip, a smirk tugging at one corner of her mouth.

“I’d be happy to, Dr. Davis,” she assured him.

“I’ll meet you here tomorrow, Mai,” Madoka informed her kindly with a wink.

“I’ll hold you to that,” Mai shot back.

Toby was nodding with exhaustion in his seat but Mai bent down to wrap him up in one more hug. His little head dropped to her shoulder and she patted his back comfortingly. “I’ll see you later, little man,” she murmured quietly.

She straightened and brushed out her skirt with a sigh before lifting her eyes to the wall of black that now stood before her.

“I’ll take you to your hotel,” he stated coolly.

Mai pursed her lips and shot Madoka a look over his shoulder. The woman had lifted a hand to her mouth and elbowed Lin but neither of them offered her any aid in the situation. They chose to watch on in morbid fascination as the two trains that were Mai and Oliver ran full tilt into each other. Thousands cried out in horror, there was much fire, a death or two, and the recovery costs numbered in the millions.

“You don’t have to do that,” she denied him politely.

“I think I do,” he countered flatly.

One of the train cars exploded.

Mai found herself staring at the lapel of his jacket with eyes wide, flabbergasted by the man’s audacity but struggling to remain calm, to internalize whatever fighting words threatened to break free. Denying him further would only make a scene and the last thing she wanted to do was cause Toby any sort of distress.

“We’ll take the little tyke home,” Martin assured his son with a smile, oblivious.

“Shall we, Ms. Taniyama?” Oliver said smoothly and offered his arm to her.

“I guess we shall, Dr. Davis,” she replied in kind, stiffly taking his arm.

Madoka smacked herself on the forehead and Lin heaved a sigh that was felt the world over.

Mai hated the fact that she could feel the muscle in his arm beneath his shirt and jacket. She remembered he had been so willowy when they were kids but he had apparently delved further into training with Lin and the results were promising. She rolled her eyes while the two of them cut through the sea of milling guests and exited the dining hall. It was depressing to consider the fact that this awkward stilted thing laden with some sort of impending conversation was the closest she had ever gotten to her teenage heartthrob crush. If she didn’t want to waste all the good food she’d just eaten she’d probably yak.

Now that the sky had darkened completely she used the few stars that managed to pierce through London’s light pollution as a comfort. Could this be considered a kidnapping? She wondered while they cross the sidewalk.

Oliver’s car, a black BMW that hugged the ground with the deadly grace of a jungle cat ready to pounce, was parked on the other side of the line of shrubbery. She recalled that they had come around from the outside too and could only assume he had driven his parents around the side of the building to prevent them from having to walk far. He pulled the passenger door open swiftly for her and she climbed in, wincing when the door was shut with a bit more force than necessary. The dark leather interior was cold after sitting idle for so long at night. It still smelled like new car.

The driver’s side door opened and he dropped into the seat next to her with silent grace. The engine started and he pulled the car away from the curb and into traffic with ease. Mai was not fooled, he had a white knuckle grip on the steering wheel. She clasped her hands in her lap and waited. He hadn’t even asked her what hotel she was staying at. There was nothing but silence between them. Not even the radio dared to kick on, it would seem, or he just never allowed himself to indulge in music. Honestly, either was just as likely. 

“I’m staying at The Lion,” she finally voiced, tapping her thumbs together idly, “In case you were wondering.”

There was a thud as he set his elbow on the armrest in the door and dropped his forehead into his hand, eyes on the road despite the way his jaw ticked in anger. “Mai,” he forced out through gritted teeth.

Mai turned her face away to look out the window. The sound of her name in his mouth twisted something in her chest that didn’t quite feel like her heart. She grimaced, recalling the fact that he had often used her first name to address her when they were teenagers and she had thought that it made her special. Now she knew it was just a slip-up due to culture shock.

“Blame Madoka, not me,” she tossed out over her shoulder, “She’s the one the got the info out of Lin and tracked down my manager to put the conference in my schedule.” As much as she had wanted to avoid him, she hadn't thought he would be so angered by her presence. Cool indifference had been expected, maybe even complete disregard, but this? It seemed a little over the top. It made her feel dirty for intruding into his life.

He was bitterly silent while he turned the car down a narrow road that Mai was certain at least led in the general direction of her hotel. She knew that he struggled with his emotions at times, particularly pride and anger, so she wasn’t going to antagonize him further. Instead, she turned her attention to her phone. She sent out a quick text to Yasuhara with as brief a description of the situation as she could manage, requesting he call her in an hour to make sure she was still alive.

The rest of the car ride was spent in tense silence that only seemed to mount as time went on. When he had pulled the vehicle into the roundabout that led to the front entrance of the hotel he pulled the key from the ignition and stepped out into the night. Mai watched him move around to open her door with growing anger, she stood up out of the car and met his cool glare with a heated glower. He was acting like an ass without even giving her a reason as to why.

“Is everything alright, Ms. Taniyama?”

Mai looked over her shoulder to the front doors of the hotel in surprise, “Hodge?” she questioned, “What are you doing here so late?”

“I’m working a double today, ma’am,” Hodge informed her and tipped the uniform hat on his head. He wore a worried frown that marred his face but had not yet left his post, although it was clear that he was ready to. 

Mai gripped Oliver’s arm with the strength of a harpy when he moved to turn and face the man. Hodge was a caring elderly doorman who only worked the job to make extra cash to support his wife. He didn’t deserve so much as a single look from Oliver Davis as far as she was concerned. 

“You let them work you too hard, Hodge,” Mai complained while stepping out from behind the door, allowing Oliver to push it shut with a bit more control. Her heels clicked against the pavement while Oliver’s keys jingled, trading hands, and the valet moved to take his car.

“Did you lose your coat?” Hodge asked as they approached.

Mai glanced down at herself before she heaved a sigh, lifting a hand to her forehead for her own stupidity. It was fine, she told herself, they would hold onto it until tomorrow. She also realized she had left all her shopping bags with Madoka. Hodge chuckled at her exaggerated distress but pulled the door open to allow them both through. The lobby was empty of most guests as they strode through.

They stood in silence in the elevator, Mai with her hands clasped around the straps of her purse, and Oliver with his arms crossed leaning back against the bar. She felt like she was standing with a gun pointed at the back of her head. She supposed, in a way, she sort of was. She scoffed quietly just as the doors opened.

Mai swiped her keycard and pushed the door open, gesturing for him to enter before her. The few free strands of hair that framed her face danced in the breeze of his passing. She glanced up and down the hall just to assure herself that no one had seen his display before sliding in after him. The door clicked shut and she dropped her purse at the entrance table out of habit. The key card was set down next to it.

“Is this good enough?” she asked when she came around the corner to find him standing in the center of the room with his arms crossed, a hand covering his chin. “Far enough away for a good row? What is wrong with you?” she prodded. Regardless if he wanted to try and dominate her schedule for his own hissy fit, she was still going to at least make herself comfortable in her room. She kicked off her shoes and then bent down to pick them up all the while wearing a scowl.

“What did you do?” he finally asked, voice low and bordering on threatening.

“What do you mean ‘what did I do’?” she snapped back with a scoff and set her hands on her hips, shoes and all.

“With Toby,” he clarified with mounting frustration.

“I don’t understand,” she admitted with a little less hostility and a little more confusion.

“Since he was two years old I haven’t so much as been able to hold him without him crying,” he explained with more passion than Mai could ever recall him expressing. He turned to face her directly and moved closer but came up short when she moved to put the kitchen island between them. “No matter what anyone did he simply couldn’t bear to be touched, not even Lin could help, he was retreating within himself. I haven’t even heard him speak more than two words in months.”

Mai dropped her shoes to the floor and set her palms against the island countertop as he spoke; her mind racing. He was confirming what she had begun to suspect just after spending a few hours with the boy. The sparing words Luella and Madoka had uttered, combined with Lin’s own facial expressions, were enough to paint the full picture for her.

“He’s an empath,” she stated simply, straightening to cross her own arms while the man stared at her once more after regaining his blank mask. “He can’t stand people touching him because it’s too much. He gets all of their everything at once,” she continued quietly.

“It’s what we theorized,” he admitted dispassionately. “What did you do?”

He was asking what worked, Mai realized with a snort.

Oliver gripped the edge of the countertop and she watched his jaw tick again.

Mai shut her eyes against the image of Oliver Davis standing in her hotel room and instead focused on letting her anger go. She took a deep steadying breath and breathed it out slowly, calmly, allowing her emotions to fall away with it. The embers were cooled, the emotions packed away, resealed in their rightful places. She moved around the island until she was standing before him and lifted a hand, palm facing up. “I did this,” she said quietly and looked down at her hand pointedly.

Oliver turned to face her head on and lifted his hand, hesitating only for a moment, before he allowed his palm to lay over hers. His fingers were cold, she noted, but they always had been. She remembered from the number of times theirs has brushed together when handing off cups of tea. Just as before, there was a spark behind her eyes but she watched his face with intense concentration. Watched as his eyes widened and he swayed. His knees gave out a moment later and she was quick to take his weight, bending beneath him like a spring until her own knees touched the cold floor. He was far heavier than she had expected. 

“You’re okay,” she murmured quietly. 

“How did you do that?” he asked, breathless. His head was resting on her shoulder but he was more focused on his hand as he lifted it for inspection. The electric tension that had lived just below the surface of his skin had suddenly silenced the moment his hand touched hers. It was still there, thrumming gently deeper within, but the constant pressure was no longer pushing out against him. The one thing he had spent decades learning to control had been silenced by something so simple.

“I make things settle,” she said, “I don’t know how else to explain it but, I think I sort of act as a filter for things. It took me years, but . . .”

“So he could touch you because of this,” he muttered, dropping his hand into his lap.

“He could reach that point on his own, I think, he’s just too young,” she mumbled apologetically.

Mai fought the blush that threatened to bloom as the scent of whatever cologne or shampoo he used flitted past her nose. It was a little too intimate for her comfort and yet, as he pushed himself away from her and tossed an arm over his knee to glower at the underside of the island, she couldn’t help the flicker of rejection that hissed in her heart. She allowed a sigh to leave her before pushing herself to her feet. She would do her best not to take it personally, knowing that he was undoubtedly dealing with some frustrated self-loathing at his own inability to solve a problem.

“I’ll make us some tea,” she tossed out. She turned to glide back around the island where she collected the stylized black cast iron kettle from the stove and filled it with water. The sound of the water spewing from the faucet seemed to summon Oliver from the ground. He was British, after all, he was apparently incapable of resisting a cup of tea.

When the kettle was set back on the stove to heat and Oliver had seated himself at a barstool, looking like someone had tipped a bottle of black ink over the white marble, Mai delved into the bedroom to change into more comfortable clothes. She tossed her shoes back into the closet before slipping out of the skirt and stepping into a pair of sweatpants instead. The linen shirt was traded for an old band shirt from Monk’s first tour across Japan. She passed the sliding glass door leading out onto the balcony and noticed the bakery had closed for the evening.

Oliver hadn’t moved from his spot when she returned. His mouth was hidden behind the hand his chin was propped on and his long black coat still hung off one shoulder, he looked like he was in shock, well, as close to shock as Oliver Davis could get.

Mai busied herself with preparing two cups of tea. The scent of bergamot curled in the air as she set a saucer and cup down before him, watching his eyes zero in on the drink like the needle of a compass pointing true north. The smell appeared to bring him back to life because he soon shifted and straightened his coat before lifting the cup to his lips for a sip despite the heat.

She hid a smile behind her own cup.

Ten years had passed and yet, here was another thing that had never changed.

Her phone rang out in the otherwise quiet hotel suite and Mai glanced about the room before remembering she had dropped her purse off by the door. She set her cup down and moved to pull it from the depths of the bag along with her brown leather notebook. Had it been an hour already? She questioned internally before she answered the incoming video call.

“Mai Mai!” The image of two young girls, one six and the other eight, appeared on the screen. They were both dressed for a day of play and wearing bright smiles and she could just make out a park of some sort behind them.

“My demon babies!” she exclaimed in delight. “What mischief are you up to today?”

“Water park!” the youngest shouted over the sound of distant laughter.

“Make sure to make your brother run around lots, he’s getting chunky,” she teased while returning to the kitchen for her cup of tea.

The eldest giggled, “Mai said Yasu’s getting fat!” There was a muffled squawk of protest and what sounded like Monk’s laughter. A couple of them must have gotten together for the day, it was Friday after all, and they would most likely return to her house later that night for the podcast.

“I am not,” Yasu’s voice drew closer as he pulled the phone away from his younger sisters, adjusting his glasses with a tranquil smile that hid his irritation. “And even if I am, why didn’t you say anything sooner?” he added in a stage whisper.

Mai chortled and set the phone down to lean up against the fruit bowl of the island. It was currently filled with a handful of bright red apples that Mai had purchased last week. Mai took a sip of her tea and lifted her brows once, failing to hide her continued mirth.

“So anyways,” she drawled, lifting her notebook over her face and wiggling it with excited eyes, “I might have gotten the contact info of quite a few individuals who would be thrilled to join us on our podcast in Japan.”

“Oh thank god,” Yasu said with a gusty sigh, “I think everyone is tired of Takigawa.”

There was a muffled ‘Hey!’ in the background that the two ignored.

“With all the material I’m getting I can easily do the anthology if you’re still interested,” she continued, bowling over Monk’s offense.

“An excuse to research cryptids you say?” Yasu replied with excitement. She supposed that answered her question.

“Enough about that, when are you coming home, Jou-chan?” Monk questioned from over Yasuhara’s shoulder. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of aviator sunglasses but she could easily see his furrowed brows and frown.

“It won’t be long now, Monk,” she assured him with one of her sweet sad smiles before taking a sip of her tea.

“Wait a second, why are you drinking tea so late at night?” Yasu questioned suspiciously and then he gasped, having connected the dots. “Is Big Boss there?” he stammered.

“What?” Monk squawked in a wonderful impression of Ayako.

Oliver settled a dour stare upon her even as she pushed the phone around to the other side of the fruit bowl to face him. The sound of the two men on the phone losing their minds managed to pull a snort from Mai.

“How did he get even more beautiful?” Yasuhara bemoaned.

“Jeez, how tall are you now Naru-bou?” Monk exclaimed.

He had hoped to enjoy his tea hidden from view but it seemed Yasuahara was as perceptive as ever. Perhaps, if the call had come in at another point in time he would have simply pushed the phone away or refrained from acknowledging their rambunctious attempts to get his attention altogether but something had changed. He had changed. His head still spun from the sudden lack of pressure beneath his skin.

Mai watched as the man set his cup down and turned his gaze to the phone, the blue light illuminating the pale skin smoothed over high cheekbones, and while he didn’t smile there was a lightness around his eyes that denoted amusement.

“That’s a question of genetics, Yasuhara,” he replied breezily, “And 183 centimeters, Takigawa.”

“He’s a man now,” Yasuhara observed conversationally.

Mai snorted again and turned away to bury her face in the fridge. She knew she had some cute gelatine desserts purchased from the bakery the day before somewhere among the sea of to-go boxes but she also needed to cool her face off. There was no way she could hide the red bloom across her cheeks. She found the box on the top shelf and pulled it out with a small wordless exclamation and spun about to set it on the island. She pulled the small cardboard tray on which the desserts had been placed out of the box and set it between the two of them, then pulled a couple of spoons from a drawer at her hip.

Oliver accepted a spoon from her wordlessly, his infamous sweet tooth clearly still active, and dug into one of the floral-designed gelatins casually.

She was a little jealous of how easy it was for them to slip back into teasing nicknames and banter with him. Mai didn’t think she had even heard the name Naru after they had returned to England all those years ago. She took a bite of her own little sphere of gelatine while her eyes grew distant in thought. Neither of them had even bothered to turn on any lights in the hotel room. Just the overhead oven light spilled warmth across the kitchen while the rest was lit by leftover light from the street below. The moment felt lost in time, like a dream, but the phone call was a dash of undeniable reality.

“Ayako is going to be so jealous she missed this,” Monk chortled in the background.

“Have you two married yet?” Oliver drawled, eyes cast down to the dish in front of him.

“Three years ago!” Monk crowed back with a grin that Mai could just make out from an angle.

“You always did bicker like an old married couple,” he murmured with the ghost of a smirk.

“Yeah, but…” Monk trailed off as he dodged a ball that was tossed in their direction, “So did you and Mai.”

Mai blinked in shock before she managed to gather her wits and leaned over the counter to glower at the image of Monk wearing a teasing grin. “Houshou! Leave him alone, he has a kid now!” she griped with a scowl. The monk did always try to play wingman for her but even this was a stretch. Her cheeks were burning and Oliver had hidden his mouth behind a hand while his eyes lowered, returning to that forced placid calm.

“He’s a father?” Yasu cried in the background.

“Who else would put up with you?” Monk asked in genuine consternation that would have set Mai off in a fit of laughter had the situation been any different.

“No one, Takigawa,” Oliver admitted with a sigh, “He’s adopted.”

“Really?” Mai questioned in surprise, “But he has your eyes.”

Oliver turned his gaze to her and smirked. The expression would have, once long ago, set her heart aflutter but now she could only feel a small stirring of irritation. Anyone could have easily seen the similarities between the two of them. Oliver may appear Japanese in descent but she had always assumed he had a European or American parent due to his blue eyes. Of course, she could never prove her theory without prying and confronting her cool and removed boss who she happen to have a crush on about his mysterious past was not something she had the confidence to do, even when she was young and hotheaded.

“Blue eyes are often a sign of higher psychic abilities,” he explained dismissively.

Mai heaved a sigh and took another sip of her tea.

“So what made you adopt a kid?” Monk questioned curiously.

“I was contacted by the orphanage directly,” he admitted, “They had cared for him since he was a newborn and the older he got the clearer it was that something was different with him. They knew of my work and asked for assistance and I offered to take him.”

“Oh, I see,” Monk mused quietly, “You saw yourself in him then.”

Oliver scoffed lightly, leaning back on the barstool while those words settled over him. There was no denying it but Mai wondered if anyone had ever bothered to actually voice it given the clarity of the situation. She knew that, on occasion, hearing the words you had been thinking aloud put things into perspective.

“I suppose you’re right,” he admitted distantly, “So imagine my frustration when I learn he is an empath and I can’t even touch him without him breaking down because of my own inability to process my emotions.”

“Jeez,” Monk whispered mournfully, running a hand through his hair.

“And then,” he continued in a breezier tone of voice, “I arrive at dinner with my parents to find him laughing hysterically while playing in Mai’s arms, who I had no idea was even in London at the time, nor that Madoka and Lin had already been in contact with her.”

“In my defense, Madoka didn’t tell me,” she grumbled quietly.

“And yet, you didn’t ask whose child it was?” Oliver countered with a snort, “You already knew.”

Mai shoved a bite of gelatine into her mouth while Monk’s laughter filled the room as if he were actually there. Perhaps she had suspected but she had chosen to remain in denial for her sanity’s sake. Toby was just too cute. Even if she had been forced to accept the inevitable truth she still would have befriended him.

“Ugh, Monk, I have to go. I need to get this jerk out of my hotel room so I can go to bed,” Mai rambled off, reaching for her phone.

“Alright, you kiddos behave,” Monk called out, waving at the camera. In the background, Mai could hear Yasuhara mutter “Why would she want to kick him out?” before the call disconnected.

“And you need to apologize to poor Hodge, he was worried,” she intoned grimly, pulling the plate of remaining gelatin away from his hovering spoon. “He has a bad heart and his wife is sick too.”

Oliver sighed through his nose both for the guilt and the loss of sugar. Really, she was positive he and Toby were related in some way, maybe distant relatives who once sailed the seas. He set the spoon down and then steepled his fingers, eyeing her thoughtfully.

“I’ll do as you say,” he assured her, “But, will you…?”

“I’ll help you, Naru,” she replied kindly. Their eyes connected in the dark and Mai smiled. “You’ve done a good job with him, he loves you very much, even if he hasn’t been able to show it.” And she knew it to be true. The way Toby had so excitedly called for him the moment he had spotted him from over her shoulder had been nothing short of jubilant.

He turned his face away. Mai could not recall a moment since she had met him that he had asked anyone for help. She could only imagine the frustration he was attempting to manage in her presence. He had done an excellent job with Toby, she now understood with new light, because the moment he had taken his hand at dinner earlier must have been the first time Toby had initiated contact with him since his adoption. Mai felt a little like she had stolen something from him. She clasped her hands together anxiously and heaved a steadying breath.

“Now that you’ve accepted my offerings,” she spoke up after a moment’s silence and gestured to the empty teacup, “Please protect my household from misfortune this season.” She slapped her hands together and bowed, laughing when the man scoffed and rolled his eyes.

Oliver pushed himself up and away from the island, straightening his jacket once more. Mai was still struggling to fight back the smirk even as she walked him to the door and pulled it open for him. He paused to look back at her for only a fraction of a moment before he was gone.

Chapter Text

It was the creeping sunlight that woke her the next morning. Amber eyes opened to take in the view from the window while she remained, still within a sea of white silk and feathers. Her body was heavy with a night of good rest and she was positively loathe to move. And then the memories of the previous day flitted through her mind and her heart fluttered in her chest sending small waves of excitement rippling through her. The conference was ongoing and she had an opportunity to see everyone again.

With a stretch and a yawn, Mai climbed out of the king bed and padded across the bedroom into the bathroom. The lights flicked on and she was quick to shower and brush her teeth. A glance at her phone revealed that she had very little time to prepare if she wanted to make it back to Central Hall in time for the opening.

A powder pink sweater that hung from one shoulder and a pair of tight black slacks would have to do for the day. She rolled the sleeves of the sweater up just a bit to free her wrists before pulling her black beanie over her ears and reclaiming the kitten heels. She would need to remeber to collect her coat before leaving in the evening. Hopefully, Madoka had found her bags in the bottom of Lixin’s stroller.

The light was stretching across the hotel suite and climbing the walls by the time Mai passed by the window and caught sight of the bakery below. Her eyes alighted on a woman walking out with a large paper to-go bag in hand and she smiled.

An hour later saw Mai sidling into the conference center through the same side entrance with a paper bag in one hand and a tray of drinks held aloft over one shoulder in the other. She had no free hands to pull the sunglasses from her face but the hall was lit well enough for her to make out the signs on the doors as she passed, striding through the hall on a mission. Luckily, the door she needed stood ajar near the end of the lineup and she had no problems stepping up to it and using a foot to slide it open. The wooden door creaked on its hinges alerting those seated about the room to her presence.

“Mai!”

Toby jumped from an expensive leather desk chair that looked comically large against his small stature and launched himself across the room and into her legs. She weathered the jolt like any seasoned sailor and laughed.

“Good morning, little man,” she greeted kindly.

The room was obviously meant to host meetings of some sort given the round table that sat in the center, surrounded by similar chairs. A desk stood at the back of the room, facing the table, backlit by a large bay window. The remaining walls were hidden behind dark wooden bookshelves and cabinetry that held nothing of true value.

“What did you bring us?” Madoka asked excitedly from where she sat at the table. She held Lixin in her arms while his dark eyes rolled about, trying to take in the details of the room and process all the new sounds.

“A little something for everyone,” Mai teased and stepped forward when Toby finally detached himself to bounce about her feet excitedly. The paper bag was set on the table and she reached up to pull the to-go cup from the center of the tray. “This one is for you,” she said, handing the smallest of the collection to Toby.

“Yummy,” Toby murmured, having immediately taken a sip as soon as she handed it to him. A smear of green foam decorated the top of his lip but he seemed not to have noticed.

“For you,” she handed a cup to Madoka.

“Is this peppermint?” Madoka questioned in surprise. She popped the lid open with one hand and sniffed at the soft steam curling up from within. “Toby wasn’t kidding,” she mused aloud.

Mai shot her a smile from over her shoulder before moving on to Lin who was sitting on the other side of the table hunched behind his laptop. She set his cup down and chuckled when he reached for it without looking and took a sip. The resulting sigh of satisfaction was all the thanks she needed. It had been like that back at the SPR office too. Lin showed his appreciation by always washing all the dishes afterward.

“Your son has the pallet of an old man,” Mai muttered while handing over the final cup to Oliver, sitting at the desk with a notebook opened before him. And you aren’t wearing all black today, she added mentally, eyes roving his figure while he was distracted. To the surprise of anyone who knew him, most likely, the man had donned a charcoal grey vest over a white dress shirt. Just add glasses and he’d look the part of the idiot scientist Gene had always known him to be.

Both Madoka and Lin stilled and watched the two interact from their peripherals.

The man accepted the cup just as Lin had, eyes glued to his notes, but eventually, they lifted to hers as he processed her words. “You’re not the first to come to that conclusion,” he admitted quietly.

Mai pulled her glasses off now that her hands were free and tossed them into her purse still slung over her shoulder. So far Toby appreciated ginger, lemongrass, and matcha with a bit of sweet cream. At this point, she was beginning to believe that the mac and cheese was just a fluke and he was the reincarnation of an old Japanese man. She dug her brown notebook out from the depths of the bag with a quiet scoff at her own thoughts before turning back towards the door.

“There are croissants and danishes in the bag,” Mai continued breezily, “I already ate one so feel free to demolish them.”

“You’re leaving?”

The question came from two different points of the room and Mai paused to turn back, glancing between Toby and Oliver with surprise. There was a snort from Lin though he had not stopped typing.

“I scheduled an interview with Tristan this morning so we could prep before bringing him onto the podcast,” she explained haltingly. She was both stunned and amused by their behavior. The unexpected dependency that the both of them had immediately developed was a little concerning but she was hoping that together, she and Lin could get the two to a point where they wouldn’t need her to interact with each other. She might have to set up an appointment with the man just to guarantee the time necessary with his busy schedule.

Oliver scoffed and leaned back in his chair, “All of his theories are based on conjecture and nothing more.”

“Yes?” Mai agreed questioningly, “As most theories are until they’re proven.”

Madoka took a drawn-out sip of her tea while her eyes bounced between the two.

“He’s hardly done any work in the field,” Oliver continued.

Mai turned to face him fully with a hand on her hip. “Is this because you want me to stay or is it because I didn’t ask you for an interview?” she asked with suspicion.

“Will you come back?” Toby asked, barreling right over whatever witty retort his father was attempting to formulate.

“Of course, silly,” she assured him with a laugh, “I wouldn’t miss your daddy’s panel.”

Toby shuffled up to her with watery eyes and she bent down to give him a hug. She was a little surprised by his reaction but she supposed she couldn’t blame him. He had spent the majority of his short life avoiding all physical contact with everyone, even his family, because of the pain and suffering it caused him but here was Mai, all sunny smiles and warm feelings.

“Can I have another lollipop?” he whispered in her ear.

Mai let out a laugh and pulled back to eye his face ruefully, “You’re a little extortionist.” But she was soon digging through her purse for one of the few she had stuffed in there the day before. She handed him a chamomile one, tinted a light yellow before she ruffled his hair and turned towards the door.

“What’s a storetionist?” he asked curiously, stumbling over the unfamiliar word.

“Ask your daddy,” she called back over her shoulder before she pulled the door shut behind her.

The main antechamber of Central Hall was just beginning to fill with attendees when Mai stepped out of the hall and strode towards the small cafe near the entrance. Already, there was a line piling up at the counter but the barista behind it smiled easily at each customer while his coworker sped through drink orders behind him. One of the few tables was taken by the familiar figure of Tristan, already nursing a steaming cup to himself and looking a little rough for wear.

“Good morning,” she greeted gently in the early hour.

Tristan’s eyes jumped up to her as she pulled out a chair and sat down before him. He offered her a tired smile despite his haggard appearance and reached over to shake her hand heartily. He was a younger gentleman, despite the bags beneath his eyes, and had dressed in a red flannel and jeans for the day. His only scheduled panel had been yesterday so Mai wanted to be quick, assuming he had a few that he wanted to attend himself now that he had the time.

“Morning,” he greeted jovially.

“Are you feeling alright this morning?” she questioned hesitantly, not wanting to push him if he was unwell.

Tristan waved her off, “I just had a late night. Nothing new, I’m actually used to functioning in worse conditions.”

“If you’re certain,” she replied with a chuckle. She was used to plenty of workaholics and party animals alike who spent the early hours of the morning still blindly pushing forward. She was guilty of it herself, every now and then. Life as a writer rarely had a schedule.

“Positive,” he assured her with a chuckle.

“Great!” she cheered and set her notebook down on the table, “I wanted to touch base with you before delving too deeply into this. If you agree to the invitation we would either get together at midnight tonight to stream the discussion or we could do it next Saturday. With the time difference that will have us airing at 4 PM in Japan.”

“I’m used to late nights, so we can get it done this evening if you like,” he agreed with a half-shrug.

“Excellent,” Mai murmured absently, clicking her pen before jumping into her notebook to notate the time, “Now, are you familiar at all with us? Not to sound presumptuous.”

The two shared a laugh at that, Mai was far from arrogant but she didn’t want to offend anyone in her efforts to broaden the horizons of their podcast, it was a little counterproductive. If they managed to get Tristan on then they could potentially garner views from Europe and the United States in one fell swoop.

“I have seen a few of your podcasts, actually,” Tristan admitted with eyes bright, “You guys did the whole episode on the most powerful spirits you had come across. I couldn’t believe some of the stuff you dealt with over in Japan.”

“Yes!” Mai exclaimed excitedly, “After listening to your panel yesterday I was wondering if Japan’s spiritualism played a part in that.”

“It would make for an interesting study,” Kristain admitted thoughtfully.

“Let’s not go too far down the rabbit hole then,” Mai advised, “We can save it for the podcast.”

“The Future of Parapsychology,” Mai read aloud some time later. The conference pamphlet, now creased and wrinkled in some places after two days of abuse, was gripped between her hands while she breezed through the concourse on her way to meet back up with Madoka. Oliver’s panel promised to be a good one. It was marked for a full two hours at the end of the day and Mai knew for a fact that every reserved pass for seating had been snatched up within the first hour of opening day. Saving the best for last, she imagined, was the man’s thought process. And wasn’t that just like him?

Not only was his conference the last in the lineup, but it also took place in the concert hall. The grand finale of the entire gathering and, no doubt, every guest would be attending. Madoka had assured her they wouldn’t have a problem with seating but Mai, honestly, would have stood if she needed to. As awkward and precarious as her circumstances were with him, she knew he truly had a brilliant mind that was more than worth its weight in gold.

The pamphlet was returned to her purse as she stepped into the antechamber and scanned her eyes across the open room in search of Madoka but, instead, she found another very familiar figure. He looked a little lost, nose buried within his own pamphlet, while the crowds parted around him. But there was no mistaking him.

“John!” Mai called out across the room with a bright smile.

The blond head resurfaced from the brochure, blue eyes bouncing about in search of her, before he spotted her and smiled in return. Mai wasted no time and sprinted the last few yards between them, kitten heels clattering against the floor, and threw her arms around the man with a laugh. John caught her with a chuckle and squeezed her tight for good measure.

“What are you doing here?” she asked in delight.

“Masako called me,” he answered, “She said you needed a friend.”

The two parted and Mai felt her own eyes widen in surprise. She hadn’t expected Masako to reach out to John on her behalf and she certainly hadn’t expected him to answer so valiantly. To think he flew in from New Zealand just to offer her what support he could. The homesickness, a now constant ache in her chest, eased just a little. It threatened to spill forth from her watering eyes. She stepped forward to hug him once more for good measure.

“Thank you, John,” she mumbled into his shoulder.

“You’re welcome, Mai,” he replied in kind.

“I was just about to go in,” she admitted through a throat tight with emotion, gesturing to the concert hall. Already, droves were attempting to filter in through the doors to claim seating. She hadn’t yet spotted Madoka among the crowd but she was certain the woman would find her shortly, it was sort of her superpower.

“I’m certain it’ll be amazing,” John admitted with a rueful chuckle.

“Oh, I know it will, that’s the annoying part,” she grumbled, setting her hands on her hips. She was just about to ask him where he was staying when the familiar sensation of a small body crashing into her legs nearly sent her stumbling. She reached out to grip John’s shoulder out of instinct and the man startled before leaning over to look behind her.

“Hello,” he greeted in wonder.

“‘Lo,” Toby mumbled into her thigh, hiding half his face behind her while one blue eye met John’s.

“Mai! Oh, and John!” Madoka called out across the crowd. She was practically bouncing as she joined them and scooped John up in her own hug. She didn’t have the stroller with her so Mai could only assume Martin and Luella were watching over the baby. Poor Lin was probably helping Oliver set up.

“It’s good to see you again, Madoka,” John admitted.

“John, this is Toby,” Mai cut in when the boy lifted his arms for her to pick him up. “He’s practically my best friend now,” she added teasingly and prodded the boy’s stomach, earning a giggle and a bit of foot kicking in response.

“Hello, Toby,” John replied with a heart-melting smile. “Is he yours, Madoka?” he asked curiously, eyes bright.

“Oh, no,” Madoka corrected with a laugh, “Noll is his daddy.”

“That’s wonderful,” John murmured in delight.

John had always been good like that, Mai thought as they finally turned to make their way into the concert hall. Where others allowed bitterness or uncertainty to spread like a cancer within, growing larger, delving deeper with long stretches of time - John simply chose to let everything go. Mai had always made an effort to achieve his level of tranquility. She had never before been the type to hold a grudge but as time wore on and her life grew stranger, more fantastical, so to did the drama. She had once confessed to John that she felt as if she had just taken one too many hits in life. Her soul was bruised and sore from all that she had experienced and she didn’t know if she would ever recover. John had assured her that if she was capable of considering her ability to recover then she would. It was just a matter of time.

John arrived at the conference with the intention of supporting Mai but he would not shy away from sharing that support with all involved. Mai knew the panel would be amazing even before she and Oliver had come to a sort of truce the night before but she doubted she would have been able to voice it as easily as John had. To accept that Oliver had a child with nothing but wonder in his eyes whereas Monk had been confused, dismayed even, and Mai had chosen to remain in denial until she was forced to accept it.

Mai reached out to wrap an arm around John's, a smile on her face, and laughed when he shot her a look of bemusement that quickly melted into mirth. On her opposite hip, Toby rested his head on her shoulder with his own smile. Small curls of her emotions reached him in the quiet her contact instilled within him, just enough for him to admire the sorts of friends Mai collected. Mai was wise, this he knew, but she was never afraid to admit that she still had more to learn. Mai took delight in learning but, from what he had gleaned from his father, that man almost seemed offended when he didn’t know something. Learning for his daddy was like correcting an error in the universe - as if he should have already known everything. How comforting to know that they were both willing to tackle his problem with him.

“You’ll join us for dinner too, John?” Madoka was asking on his otherside.

“Of course,” he agreed cheerfully, “I took a one-way trip here, so you all have me for as long as you’ll put up with me.”

“Wonderful!” Madoka cheered.

The concert hall was nearly packed to the brim. Mai scanned the surrounding seating while they followed Madoka into the crowd and wondered just how many red velvet chairs there were. She couldn’t imagine speaking in front of so many people. Certainly, they no doubt had far more views while they streamed their podcasts, but those people weren’t in the same room. The soft white lights they used in their makeshift studio were nothing compared to the grand cans baring down on the stage from above with enough power to blind whoever had the misfortune of standing before them. The ground floor that they had entered from was covered with removable seating that was no less grand than the upper levels but it was clear these were the more expensive option. A podium had been set up on a wooden stage that sat just a foot above the ground, anyone could easily step up and join in on the conversation from their level. Behind the stage, where a grand choir would stand to perform, a large projection screen had been set up for easy viewing.

Oliver Davis stood upon the stage, shoulder facing the room, while he conversed with his father over a sheaf of papers clutched within his hand. A technician wearing all black and a headset had joined their group and nodded along as the men spoke. It seemed some sort of update had been made to the panel at the last minute and Oliver was ensuring everything ran smoothly. Even under the harsh lights of the stage he managed to look good, she mused with a roll of her eyes.

“Excuse me,” Madoka murmured ahead of them, charting a course through the crowd for them to follow. Mai ignored the heated looks some sent them as they passed. Those within the field were generally of the less social variety, Mai knew, as they preferred to study the dead and their activities rather than the living so she let their attitude slide off her back. The sight of children of any age was usually enough to spark irritation among them.

“Takigawa will be upset that he missed this,” John mused at her side.

“I didn’t think about that,” Mai admitted, shifting to move Toby around to her front while they weaved through the crowd. He wrapped his arms around her neck automatically and she clasped her hands on his bottom with a giggle.

“Masako did mention she wanted to come out if you planned on remaining in London for much longer, maybe we could get everyone together,” John added. He followed Madoka down to the very front row of seating and dropped down next to her with a sigh. The poor man had spent the last twenty-four hours traveling and Mai didn’t know if he would even be able to make it through the panel without falling asleep.

“That would be amazing,” she agreed quietly. The seat next to John creaked as she sat but Toby remained wrapped around her like a koala, eyes scanning the crowds over her shoulder.

On stage, Oliver happened to glance in their direction and his eyes stilled upon his son in her lap. He shifted, just a fraction, and Mai knew he was fighting the urge to be near his son at that moment. She lifted her wrist above Toby to check her watch. There were still nearly fifteen minutes before the panel was scheduled to start, that was plenty of time. As if sensing her thoughts, Toby lifted his head to look back at his father with questioning eyes.

Oliver lifted a hand to stall further conversation with Martin and the technician darted off back behind stage to see to whatever changes had come about. Dr. Davis the elder waved his son on as Oliver turned and move across the stage. Several curious faces among those seated and standing turned to watch the man dismount the stage in a single step, the barest of smiles already present for those who knew him well enough. It was there in the lack of furrowed brows and tightness around his eyes.

Toby reached out an arm and Oliver bent down to one knee to wrap his arms around him in an embrace. He buried his nose in the blond locks, eyes lowered until his lashes kissed his cheeks, holding the back of his son’s head. It was the most contact he had ever allowed himself to have and it was only possible because the boy still sat in Mai’s lap, her hands wrapped around his bottom to keep him in place.

Madoka was just glad that she already had her phone in her hand. She glanced down at the picture with watery eyes and did her best to sniffle without drawing attention to herself. There had been many nights spent in tense silence within the Davis household, Oliver feeling like a failure when he had to step back and let Lin handle the child, or Luella was forced to wear gloves just to wash his face, or Martin had to leave the home altogether to manage his own emotions away from Toby. They had all wished they could ease the child’s growing sadness as his self-imposed isolation continued.

“I love you, Daddy,” Toby mumbled into Oliver’s shoulder.

“You do?” he questioned quietly, that teasing smirk tugging at one corner of his mouth.

“Of course I do!” Toby exclaimed, earning the attention of several people around them.

“Then I love you too,” he murmured, pulling back to place a kiss on the boy’s forehead.

Mai was ready to burst with adoration for the two. If she wasn’t terrified of shattering the moment she would have let out a coo but instead she turned to meet John’s gaze. He was shocked, she could tell, but the fondness that blossomed behind his eyes was one she could empathize with.

“John.”

They both glanced up as Lin moved around the stage, having stepped out from behind the curtain, and reached out to grip John’s hand in a genial handshake. There was no disguising the genuine happiness on Lin’s face at that moment. Between the display of affection and the arrival of an old friend, the man was having a pretty grand day.

“Lin! Wonderful to see you again, mate,” John exclaimed in a stage whisper. “I heard you two finally had a baby,” he continued.

“We did,” Madoka jumped in to answer excitedly.

Mai turned back to Toby just as Oliver pushed himself to his feet once more. He straightened the vest even as Lin pulled him into the conversation with John. Oliver ran a hand through his hair, eyes suspiciously bright, and Lin reached out to grip his shoulder tightly. John shook Oliver’s hand a moment later and the additional contact appeared to pull him from his mind.

Mai smiled down at the boy in her lap.

Oliver’s panel was by far the most interesting of those that Mai had attended. She could not deny that the man knew what he was doing no matter how much of an ego he already had. And she understood why he felt such disdain for people like Tristan who operated on theory when his focus was on collecting physical data to prove fact from fiction. The focus of his presentation was on the progression of the field due to the continued improvement of technology. What once had been known as simple ghost stories in the night to terrify children into bed was now backed by documented evidence. The study of parapsychology would only continue to grow as such evidence became more accessible to the public and so it was necessary to lead the charge with a firm grip.

“There’s a reason certain chemicals are not publically accessible,” he added into the microphone, “Why civilians are not authorized to handle exotic animals. They’re dangerous and require training and education before exposure is permitted.”

Mai scribbled it all down in her notebook over Toby’s head. He had at least turned around on her lap to watch his father present but it made it a little difficult for her to take notes. She would never complain knowing what physical contact with her offered him.

There was a powerful hush over the crowd as Oliver spoke. They listened to him with a sort of reverence that Mai found unsettling if only because it no doubt continued to feed his narcissism. The fact that he had multiple PhDs, a high-level position with BSPR that would lead to his eventual take over once his father steps down, and PK abilities of his own made him a god in the eyes of those within that room. Perhaps, she mused to herself while her pen scratched against the paper and Toby’s curious eyes followed the movement, the fact that she had always been so open to challenging him was the reason he had kept her around.

“What’s that?” Toby whispered, pointing to her written kanji.

“It says ‘animal’,” she whispered back, hiding her smile in his hair.

“You can stay with me, John,” Mai spoke up while their party entered the dining hall. Toby’s hand was held within her right, Oliver had taken his other, while John walked along beside her on her left. “I’ll be up till well into the morning streaming the podcast and the couch converts into a bed anyways. You’ll be comfortable.”

“If it’s not too much of a bother,” John mused, “I’d like to get on the podcast if that’s okay, I do miss everyone.”

“That would be wonderful, John, I know everyone misses you too. I’m certain Tristan would enjoy you as well,” Mai babbled happily.

Oliver let go of Toby’s hand and moved to pull out two chairs for the both of them while saying: “You’re inviting two men into your hotel room, one of which you’ve only known for a day?”

“I let you in, didn’t I?” she shot back. She lifted her hand, palm up while claiming the seat. The man jerked his own hands out of her immediate vicinity with a clenched jaw that only inspired a peel of laughter from her. The last thing he need was to swoon in front of his family and the entirety of the dining hall.

Martin and Luella sat down on the other side of the table and the elderly woman gestured for Madoka to sit next to her with an adoring smile. She tucked Lixin’s stroller against the table between her and Lin, causing John to smile as he sat down on the other side of Mai.

“You frighten me,” Oliver muttered just low enough that she could hear, and by extension, Toby.

Mai’s eyes widened before a devious smile pulled at her lips, “Say it again?” she teased.

Toby had covered his mouth with both hands, not quite understanding the words, but knowing the playful emotions well enough. He was giggling away, garnering curious glances from the rest of those who had sat at the table. The orchid centerpieces remained from the day before but now candles had been added for a bit of additional atmosphere and their flames flickered in the air stirred up by the passing waiters.

Oliver settled her with a cool and dispassionate gaze and leaned his forearms against the back of the chair that he had yet to sit down at. “You, Taniyama Mai, frighten me,” he complied wryly.

Madoka squealed behind closed lips and shot Lin a wide-eyed look of surprise.

“I’ve never felt so empowered,” Mai mused with fake awe.

That dinner was a happy one. Mai no longer felt like an intruder in the family when John sat to her left and contributed to the conversation just as much as she did and Oliver was willing to meet her gaze from over the head of his son. She might have had one too many glasses of wine given the whimsical nature that overtook her halfway through the meal but she could at least say with confidence that she wasn’t the only one. Luella was giggling like a schoolgirl by the time they were all debating over the dessert menu.

“Make sure she makes it home,” Oliver murmured to his father when they were all standing to depart for the evening. The dining hall was quickly emptying around them and servers were working to take dishes away to the kitchen.

“I will,” Martin assured him with a warm chuckle.

“It’s time to go home, Toby,” Madoka called to the boy while she unloaded the shopping bags that Mai had accidentally left with her the night prior onto the table.

Toby had latched onto Mai’s legs and shook his head with a wobbly lip and tired eyes. “Aww, little man,” Mai crooned, reaching down to lift him into her arms one last time. She squeezed him tight and kissed the top of his head. “We’ll be hanging out again before you know it,” she promised him.

“It’s not fair,” Toby whimpered into her shoulder.

Mai felt her own eyes build with tears. Such sorrow he exuded. It was difficult to contend with considering his situation. He wasn’t simply crying because he was forced to say goodbye to a new friend but because he was relinquishing what she afforded him: the ability to have physical contact with the people he loved. To not feel overwhelmed by all the emotions storming around him at any given moment. To connect with anyone.

She bit her lip and turned questioning eyes to his father. The great Oliver Davis seemed resigned, his hands tucked into the pockets of his trousers, because he had no way to comfort his son. He couldn’t take him from her arms and wipe his tears and promise it would all be okay. She felt as if the air was being squeezed from her lungs. She could feel the eyes of the entire family watching on just as helplessly.

The room quieted, the last of the guests having filtered through the doors, and the servers and staff were left to hover around the perimeter of the room, attempting to give them all a moment.

A gentle brush against her very soul drew her attention away for just a moment. It felt like a laugh, the first deep breath on a good morning, like seeing someone for the first time in a long while. It whispered something to her though there were no words spoken. She settled a hand on the back of Toby’s head, shifting her weight between her feet, debating before she finally nodded to herself and lowered them both to the ground. Little brown loafers touched down with her knees and he stepped back to wipe at his eyes with a sniffle.

“I have a gift for you,” she murmured quietly, her fingers working at the silver chain around her neck. She lifted it over her head and the old house key swung free from her sweater. It glinted in the light of the dining hall.

“What is it?” he asked sadly.

“It’s my good luck charm,” she informed him confidently, “It’s saved me more times than I can count. There’s no way you can have bad luck when you’re wearing it.”

“Are you sure?” he mumbled while she slipped it over his head.

“Positive,” she confirmed with a nod.

Toby lifted the house key in his hands and eyed it speculatively. It certainly felt warm. It seemed to sing with a voice all its own. Mai had held onto it for a very long time, longer than he had ever even been alive. “Okay,” he agreed quietly, letting out a tiny sigh as his shoulders slumped.

Mai pushed herself back to her feet, still biting her lip in uncertainty, but knowing that he would at least be comforted. He trailed after Madoka and Lin with a little more energy.

“Maybe you should read him a story tonight,” Mai suggested quietly to Oliver.

Oliver sighed, watching after the retreating figure of Toby, his own shoulders seemed to slump under the weight of the world. “I will,” he murmured, lowering his gaze to the floor. His mind raced with thoughts and half-formed ideas that sparked and fizzled out before they could come to fruition. Patience had never been his strong suit.

John had convinced the gentleman behind the counter at the coat check to watch over his luggage and thanks to that, Mai was able to remember to collect her coat as well. She slid her arms through the sleeves and snuggled into the depths of the coat with a relieved sigh. It wasn’t anywhere near cold enough to snow outside but the chill was still nothing to laugh at. Oliver trailed behind the two like a shadow, eyes downcast and mouth shut.

“What time are you starting the podcast?” John questioned, shifting through his luggage in search of a coat before he dared to brave the outside.

“Midnight,” she advised, checking her watch curiously. It wasn’t even 9 PM yet so they would have plenty of time to set up beforehand. She might even consider grabbing a few treats from the bakery across the street in advance so they’d all have something to snack on. But while she was excited at the prospect of seeing her family it was Oliver who would be returning home to frustration and melancholy. She turned on her heel and slipped an arm through his and tugged him along despite his grunt of annoyance. She did the same to John when he had finally gotten his luggage sorted out and the three of them stepped out into the lively London night together.

“Lin will be in the office this Monday?” Mai asked while they traipsed down the sidewalk side by side. Her breath fogged up before her as she spoke but she was snug within her coat, arm in arm with the two men.

“Yes,” Oliver replied, eyes focused on the traffic that passed them by in his peripherals. He had parked his car further that night but neither of his companions seemed to mind the walk.

“Great,” Mai mused, “I’ll come in then and maybe we can start working something out for Toby.”

“He’s an empath?” John questioned.

“Yes, it’s been very difficult for him,” Mai answered with a nod, not surprised that the priest had managed to piece it all together.

Oliver sighed, breathing steam that glistened in the spectral light tossed out from the antique streetlamps that lined the road.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” John said mournfully. “Between the three of you though, I’m certain you’ll be able to work something out.”

“Thank you, John,” Oliver muttered.

They moved around a gaggle of pedestrians before Oliver pulled his arm out from Mai’s to unlock the car. He pulled the passenger door open for her with less heat than the night before, eyes cast down the stretch of the sidewalk while he waited for her to take a seat. Once she was safely tucked in he shut the door and reached out to grip John’s door before he could duck into the vehicle. John paused, confused, before he leaned up against the open doorframe patiently.

“Just make sure he leaves,” Oliver muttered under his breath.

“On my honor,” John assured him, reaching over to pat the man on the shoulder.

Oliver let the door go and moved around the front of the car to drop into the driver’s seat after that. He knew he could trust the priest to the end of the world but he had little to no information on Tristan Hinkle and the fact that Mai had invited him to the hotel for their podcast rankled him in ways he had not felt since they had last worked together. She was lucky John had shown, otherwise, he would have felt no shame at crashing their little get-together as a chaperone. Not when she was the only thing that offered them hope in the face of Toby’s condition.

Chapter Text

John was sleeping on the couch. It wasn’t the first time she had caught him in a state of rest but it was the first time she could recall him being so dead to the world around him. The flight from New Zealand must have been nearly twenty-four hours in length and then to have touched down on London soil and immediately be swept up into the excitement of the conference and having dinner with the Davis family, Mai truly felt for him. When they had arrived at the hotel they had pushed the large ottoman up between the seats of the sectional couch with little discussion. Neither one of them was under any assumption that John would be able to participate in the podcast without at least an hour-long nap so Mai had hurried to pull a collection of sheets, comforters, and pillows from the back of the walk-in closet and set up the couch while John changed into clean clothes in the bathroom. He didn’t even say anything more to her before flopping across the couch and pulling the blankets up over his head.

It was kind of cute. She could see nothing of him besides a few wisps of blond hair every time she passed by with cords and equipment in hand. She had pulled the small dining table out of the breakfast nook and used it to set up her laptop, camera, and audio equipment while the priest snored away quietly behind her.

Mai checked her phone absently while she worked at the table. She had put in an order for a selection of drinks and snacks from the bakery and Hodge had offered to bring it up for her when they delivered it to the hotel. It was safe to say that Mai was absolutely smitten with the man. If Ellen was the grandmother she had never had then Hodge was her grandfather. If he hadn’t been taken she would have probably attempted to introduce them to each other. She giggled at the thought. She imagined he would have taken a swing at Oliver the other night if he had felt the situation was more concerning than it was.

As if she had known, there came a soft knock at her door.

Mai pushed the chair back, mindful of its squeaking legs so as not to wake John, and shuffled across the room to the front entrance. She pulled the door open and there was Hodge, dressed in his impeccably pressed uniform, carrying a paper bag laden with bakery goods and a tray of steaming beverages.

“Thank you so much, Hodge,” she exclaimed quietly and moved to take the drinks from him.

“Not a problem, Miss,” he assured her with a jovial chuckle and followed her through the open door to set the remaining bag on the entrance table. He must have caught sight of John sleeping on the couch because he sent Mai a pointed look that she would have to have been blind to miss.

“It’s not what it looks like,” she assured him with a laugh.

“Uh-huh,” Hodge agreed teasingly, “I’m starting to understand why that other young man was all puffed up last night.”

“Hodge!” Mai exclaimed in a stage whisper and swatted at the man’s shoulder. “John is a dear friend from my childhood,” she assured him ruefully, “And he’s actually an ordained priest. A literal angel.” It was a bit of a white lie, she had to admit to herself, as she and the rest of the SPR family had long since learned John had never been officially ordained. In order to perform an exorcism one needed permission from the church and John had certainly not asked during any of their investigations.

“And the other one?” Hodge asked with a snort.

“He’s a scientist that specializes in the study of Parapsychology,” she admitted.

“You’ve got some strange friends, Ms. Taniyama,” Hodge muttered goodnaturedly while heading for the door.

“I write horror for a living, Hodge, of course, I have strange friends,” she continued while following in his wake. “You haven’t even met the strangest.”

“I believe it,” he tossed back over his shoulder.

When Mai had bid goodbye to the man and the door had been shut she returned to finish setting up for the podcast. She opened her laptop while swinging around the table to drop down into the breakfast nook bench, pulling up all the necessary programs with a sigh. Her phone lit up with an incoming video call and she set it leaning against the laptop so she could type and talk before accepting it.

“You little sly minx,” Yasuhara drawled on the other end of the line. It looked as if he was doing the same thing as her, avidly setting up for the combined podcast and, by the sounds of things, entertaining the rest of the group. Knowing them they were all seated on the couch across the room enjoying the last of whatever snacks were left in the house.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she murmured quietly. She shot the man a look of exasperation before returning to the audio setup. Tristan would be arriving within the next few minutes and while she knew she needed to wake John, she felt so very bad about it.

“You had the big boss over last night while no one was around to protect your virtue, is what I’m talking about,” Yasu replied cheerily.

“Ugh, not you too,” she grumbled, feeling the heat build in her cheeks. Was it pick on Mai day?

“Why are you talking so quietly?” Yasu questioned and then gasped, “Don’t tell me he’s there now? Is he sleeping in your hotel?”

“What!” Monk exclaimed from off camera, his voice muffled by distance.

“No!” Mai cried in consternation.

“What are you talking about?” Ayako could be heard asking, utterly baffled.

“Mai had Naru-bou over last night,” Monk explained.

“What?” she squawked just before her scarlet hair overtook the screen with a muffled yelp from Yasu. “Why in the world didn’t you call me?” she asked with furrowed brows.

Mai ran a hand down her face as chaos broke out on the other end of the line. She caught movement from the corner of her eye and noted that John had sleepily sat up on the couch, rubbing at his eyes. He ran a hand through his ruffled curls before pushing himself to his feet with a yawn and a stretch. He looked haggard but he had at least earned some of his color back.

“Did you know he’s a father now?” Yasu asked Ayako, not so subtly stirring the pot.

“He’s a what?” she exclaimed, clearly overwhelmed by the information. She took the phone from Yasuhara and eyed Mai with pinched brows and a small frown. “Are you okay, Mai? You know I can fly out there. My parents just hired a host of other doctors thanks to the expansion. I can take some time off.”

“I’m alright, Ayako,” Mai assured her though there was an ember of warmth in her chest. Ayako had always been like a second mother to her. She appreciated the fact that the woman needed no further explanation before she understood. Mai might have played it cool in the moment but, as much as she had claimed to be over Oliver, that didn’t stop her mind from wandering. Until he had confirmed that Toby was adopted she had spared a few moments wondering just who would have been able to win over the man she had fallen for all those years ago. “Besides, I’m not here alone,” she added a little impishly and turned the phone so she could see John shuffling across the room towards the table.

“John!” Ayako greeted cheerfully, Mai could hear the soft smile in her voice.

“Good afternoon, Ayako, everyone,” he replied with a sleepy smile and a wave.

“Oh, thank god,” Monk grumbled in the background. He had still been hung up over Mai’s endangered virtue, apparently. She didn’t know how to break it to him that she herself was far from being a virgin, but that was another conversation for another day. Or never, preferably.

“Back to Naru being a father?” Ayako tossed out over the clutter of voices all trading hellos.

Mai set the phone back on her laptop with a sigh, “He adopted a boy, a few years back, because he had shown signs of having abilities. The orphanage reached out to him personally to ask for help and he took it from there. His name is Toby.”

Ayako clenched a fist on the screen with a scoff, “He’s such an ass. How can he be so cool at the same time?”

Mai snorted a giggle into her hand while John shuffled off to the bathroom to make himself presentable.

“Now he’s an actual hunk, Ayako,” Yasu continued, “He’s almost as tall as Monk and has shoulders for days.”

“Ugh,” Ayako grouched with a roll of her eyes.

Tristan arrived shortly after that and it was John who greeted him at the door. Mai kept half an ear out while the two men introduced themselves. Tristan already knew who John was from previous episodes of the podcast he had watched so there was no confusion that Mai could discern while she went about setting up the last microphone.

“Glad you could make it!” Mai called when Tristan made it out of the entranceway to curiously scan the suite. He looked a little baffled and Mai suspected he had not expected her to be staying at such a hotel.

“I am as well,” he admitted casually with a smile. He had a backpack hanging from one shoulder and shuffled about the room with his hands in his pockets. He looked a little more rested than he had that morning.

“I bought us some drinks and goodies,” she explained, gesturing to the table with the order, “feel free to take whatever you want.”

Tristan made himself comfortable in the breakfast nook with a cheese Danish and a steaming coffee stashed on an end table by his elbow. Mai was busy working to angle a microphone close enough to catch both Tristan and John while the priest worked to set up the stream from memory. It was with a delighted cheer the two groups managed to make the connection and Tokyo and London came together on one screen. They hadn’t yet gone live yet, so Mai took a few moments to introduce everyone.

“This is Tristan Hinkle,” she began in English, “He specializes in cultural studies and their effects on the afterlife.”

Tristan offered everyone a friendly wave from where he sat. He didn’t seem particularly uncomfortable on camera, not that Mai had suspected he would be given his panel, but it was still a relief regardless. Mai sat down on the bench between the two men and they went live soon after. She was pleased to note that they had immediately started out with a view count well into the thousands. It meant all of their hard work was paying off.

It was a unique experience for all involved. Tristan did not know Japanese so there were a few moments in which translations were worked out but, overall, he was a treat to have on with them. Masako was intrigued by his theories in particular and spent several minutes questioning him about his thoughts regarding cleansings versus exorcisms that spiraled into a full-on debate between the whole party that, despite the heavy topic, still managed to inspire laughter between them all.

Tristan steered the conversation towards things that cultures viewed as sacred, which spirits could attach to after passing. It varied between cultures but he believed this was a primary example of his theory.

“Then you have some things that several cultures share,” he added, “Like hair. In many cultures, hair, oftentimes belonging to women, is viewed as a representation of their spirit or spiritual connection to their religion.”

“It is a part of one’s self,” Masako said quietly, “To cut it off does not negate that. It still holds power. In some cultures, cutting it is comparable to self-harm.”

Mai had shifted in her seat and lifted a hand to her chin in thought as those words rang through her mind. Tristan had carried the conversation on after that but after several moments of silence from her, Monk had cocked his head in question. They might not have been able to make direct eye contact through the cameras but she could still feel his stare on her. After all, if Ayako was like another mother to her then Monk was like her father. 

“Mai is pulling a Naru-bou,” Monk cut in during a moment of silence.

Mai had blushed and covered her cheeks with a scowl that only earned her a round of laughter from the others.

“What are you planning, Mai?” Yasu asked, leaning over his microphone curiously.

“It’s not a topic fit for the viewers,” she negated, waving her hand about in denial.

“Oh, so it has something to do with Naru-bou,” Monk theorized with a fist to his palm.

“Houshou,” Ayako snapped quietly from where she sat next to him on the screen.

“Who is Naru-bou,” Tristan asked curiously. Eyes bounced between each of the members of SPR with the first hints of uncertainty that Mai had observed from him. Likely, it was due to the fact that their conversation felt more like an inside joke that he was being excluded from so she hurried to correct that line of thinking.

“Naru is the person who brought us all together, actually,” she admitted with some anxiety and a forced laugh. “We all met ten years ago when my high school principal hired a bunch of specialists to investigate a wing of my school thought to be haunted. Those specialists happened to be everyone you see here, with the exception of Yasuhara and myself, and Naru was one of them.”

“It’s a bit of a sore subject,” Monk cut in smoothly with arms crossed, his mood swinging back towards the stern man they all knew him capable of becoming in compromising situations. “He had a family emergency that required him to shut down the office and leave the country and he never returned. It’s been a decade with no contact, so,” Monk trailed off with a shrug.

“Bummer,” Tristan replied with a sigh. “I’d be pretty pissed about that too,” he admitted, leaning back against the breakfast nook with crossed arms.

“It’s alright,” Yasuhara assured him, “Mai happened to run into him at the conference anyways and now we’re all on speaking terms again.”

“Really?” Tristan questioned, “Did you get a good slap in, at least?”

The group burst into scandalized laughter after that and Mai was forced to admit that she rather liked Tristan. He seemed to bring a casual and calm air to their group that they had lacked before. Everyone else had such unique personalities that his carefree and exhausted presence balanced them all out well. Maybe they’d have to bring him on an investigation one day and see how it did with them. It would certainly be a good experience for him, considering one of the reasons Oliver was so leery of him was his lack of fieldwork. Mai could fix that. 

It was another grey day in London but the voluminous clouds promised rain later for those who were savvy enough to look up. A rarity in that day and age, when the streets were clogged with humans shuffling about their day-to-day with little thought beyond their own existence. Luckily, Mai was savvy in spades those days and she had thought to pack an umbrella in her purse. She chose the black one that day, to go with the black pencil skirt and white blouse with its billowing poet sleeves. Her coat hung from her shoulders, its length dancing in the breeze, and still, those black heels clacked against the sidewalk.

John was at her side, tucked away in a brown leather jacket and jeans, looking like a ruffian despite his profession. Anyone would look a little rough next to Mai, he had teased before they left the hotel. Ayako had finally managed to whip her into shape after years of hard work.

The podcast had been an absolute success and Tristan, John was glad to report, was a true gentleman. Yasuhara delighted in being able to translate Tristan’s words for those viewing back in Japan and Mai happily translated for those viewing elsewhere. Even with a language barrier and the heavy topics they covered there had been much laughter and the podcast had lasted well into the morning for those in England. Mai had spent the majority of Sunday sleeping in and recovering. John had woken early and puttered about the suite, tidying up all the equipment that had been left out. When Mai had finally risen from her slumber she had treated him to an exuberant late lunch and they spent the evening catching up.

Now they were crossing the street in the early morning and headed for the BSPR building that stood out with its redbrick and gold filigree doors, sporting single pane windows. It looked untouched by time and Mai could only wonder how long the building had been owned by the family. She climbed the steps leading to the front entrance and pulled the door open, revealing a front lobby with old black and white tiles and a large wooden desk. The thing looked as if it had survived the war, Mai absently observed while stepping in and making room for John. The green glass lamp sitting atop it was the kicker for John and he allowed himself a chuckle as the door swung shut behind them.

“They’ve certainly remained in theme,” John mused.

Mai hummed, a smile tugging at her lips, and stepped up to the desk just as a woman stumbled out through a foggy glass door behind it and tossed herself into the desk chair hurriedly. She had thick red hair that spilled forth over her shoulders in large ringlets. She adjusted the skirt of her navy blue dress while lifting frantic eyes to Mai.

“I apologize for the wait,” she stammered, “How can I be of assistance?”

“No worries,” Mai assured her with a light laugh, “We’re here to see Koujo Lin.”

“Koujo?” she questioned before she brightened, “One moment.”

Mai watched her pick up the phone behind the counter before turning to take in the rest of the front lobby. There was a set of double doors at one end, glass just as fogged as the one behind the desk. The word ‘Interviews’ was declared in black across both doors. Across from that wall were a set of elevators and another wooden door that led to a staircase presumably. And out front, tucked away in a large alcove, was a seating area at a bay window. The brown leather couch and deep green velvet chairs looked comfortable and clean. She smirked at the thought that Oliver had spent the entirety of his career working in such an office. It suited him.

“What was your name?” the woman asked while the phone rested between her shoulder and ear.

“Taniyama Mai, and this is John Brown,” she introduced them both.

“Oh, thank you,” the secretary mumbled, “My name is Averlin.”

“Pleasure meeting you, Averlin,” Mai whispered over the sound of a muffled ‘Hello?’ from the phone.

“I have a Miss Taniyama Mai and a John Brown here for Koujo,” Averlin stated nervously. She nodded and hummed in response to the conversation before she hung the phone on the received and took a deep breath. “Someone will be down shortly if you wouldn’t mind waiting in the seating area,” she rambled and gestured to the alcove.

“Thanks,” Mai chirped and spun on her heel. The green velvet chairs looked plush and inviting so she wasted no time striding over to one and dropping into it with a sigh. Through the window to her right, she could see the pedestrians shuffling down the sidewalk and a park down at the street corner where a few parents stood watching their children play. If she concentrated she could just make out the sound of childish laughter and squealing while they tossed themselves down the slides. The sun may have been hidden behind clouds promising rain but the children sure didn’t seem to mind. She smiled before turning her face back to watch John sit down on the couch. He turned his own attention to a painting of some English manor countryside that hung behind Mai.

“It’s pretty dark in here,” John observed.

Mai glanced about with a shrug, “It’s just because of the wainscoting.” Indeed, dark wood lined the lower half of all the walls and absorbed whatever light managed to spill in through the windows.

The bell of the elevator went off, signaling an arrival. They both turned their eyes to watch as Martin Davis himself stepped out and swaggered over to them with a chuckle.

“You didn’t think you could slip by me, did you Mai?” he teased, blue eyes bright and warm behind his glasses.

“Never!” Mai assured him with a laugh. She pushed herself to her feet and offered him a quick bow and a handshake.

“It’s good to see you again, John,” Martin turned to the priest and shook his hand as well.

Averlin watched from behind the front desk with wide eyes. She herself had only managed to catch a glimpse of Martin a handful of times as he was usually buried away within his office or bothering the investigators and researchers on the upper levels.

“Lin’s in a meeting at the moment so I thought I’d give you a tour in the meantime,” Martin explained, gesturing for them to follow him.

“That sounds amazing,” John admitted.

Mai pulled her coat off and folded it over her arm and purse. She had never expected she would have such an opportunity and could not fight the way her heart fluttered in excitement as she followed in the two men’s wake. In a way, this was the birthplace of her current life. This is where Oliver was pushed to follow his career, this was what he brought with him to Japan, what he taught her. She wouldn’t have the family, the friends, and the passion that she did today if it hadn’t been for BSPR. Her heels clicked against the tile, confirming she was still moving along with them, but her mind was somewhere else when they stepped through the doors labeled for interviews.

“This is our interview team, they do them over the phone, virtually, or in person here, it just depends on what best suits the clients,” Martin explained. The doors swung shut behind them and the faces of five different individuals turned to look their way curiously.

The space was broken up into six large cubicles that split the room. Each station was large enough to house a long desk and a seating area, as well as storage and personal belongings, and provided easy access to the large windows on either side of the room. Each station looked extremely personalized and the seating furniture all seemed to reflect the personality of the individual assigned. There was a bright orange rounded couch in one cubicle and a simple grey sectional in another, with a host of strange and comfortable pieces in between.  

“This is amazing,” Mai commented while she walked on ahead and turned about on a heel, eyes trailing all the way up to the vaulted ceilings. There were one or two phone conversations taking place so she kept her voice low.

“You can have a job here if you want,” Martin tossed out breezily, “There’s an open desk.”

Mai made a face, sending a look back at the desk in question before she chuckled, “I appreciate the offer. But you can ask Oliver, I’m absolutely horrible at desk jobs, I fall asleep constantly.”

“He did mention that I believe,” Martin mused thoughtfully, trailing after her meandering loop around the room.

“Good morning,” she whispered to the workers as she passed, bowing her head in apology for the intrusion.

“That was a result of your post-cognitive dreaming?” Martin questioned.

“Among other things,” she admitted. “How many inquiries do you get?”

“We each field about twenty to thirty a day,” a gentleman in the cubicle they were passing answered kindly.

Mai swung back around to speak with him. He had rolled his chair back so she could get a look at his computer screen with curious eyes. John came up behind her to watch as the man quickly moved through the process of accepting an inquiry, reviewing it, and then approving it or denying it.

“How many do you usually approve in a day?” John asked with arms crossed.

“Usually? I’d say about half,” he answered with a shrug, “But then it's up to the big guys upstairs whether they actually take it on or not.”

“So cool,” Mai murmured in awe. Things had changed vastly since she had been in such a position. She remembered the day when she had to wait for a phone call or for someone to physically walk into the office, but here they were done online. She straightened and thanked the man for his patience.

“No problem,” he assured her with a smile, “So you used to work with Dr. Davis?”

Mai shot Martin a glance before understanding he meant Oliver. She and John shared a look and a chuckle before she said: “When we were kids, about ten years ago, you were nineteen then John, weren’t you?”

“Sounds about right, I remember it was my first time leaving Australia,” John replied thoughtfully. “I don’t think my arm ever recovered from that first case.”

“Your arm?” Mai shot back sarcastically. She rolled her shoulders at just the memory of hammering boards into the wall, covering up an entire classroom, before Oliver had sent them on to sign their names on all of them. It had taken hours.

Martin ushered them into the next room which Mai was excited to learn was a cafeteria and cafe. It was still early in the day so only a few people were shuffling about with coffee or tea. The black and white tile continued here and a line of dark wood booths stood beneath a set of windows. Green leather cushions offered some comfort but the rest of the tables were stuck with wood chairs.

Mai followed him back out into the lobby where they stepped into the elevator and rode it up to the next floor. This room was covered in hardwood floors and stuffed to capacity with cubicles. The sound of nearly a hundred fingers typing away was nearly powerful enough to muffle conversations between employees as they passed. Several eyes followed them across the room.

“This is the research floor, they predominately deal in psychic theory and phenomena, although they do occasionally assist with investigations,” Martin explained. His voice carried over the room without fear here, given no one was on the phone unless they were reaching out to someone in house.

Mai didn’t even have time to stop and snoop before Martin was taking them up to the next floor via the stairs. Mai can’t say she minded the extra bit of exercise, she had been laying around her hotel room for the past month writing and, before that, she had spent a month moping after a particularly hard case. Getting to climb some stairs was more invigorating than it probably should have been for her. Their voices echoed off the tiled walls as they climbed and Mai felt a little bad when the man tossed the door of the next floor open and their rambunctious conversation spilled right into another workspace, drawing attention from those who looked like they had been lost within their work.

“Investigations!” Martin cheered.

There was a chuckle here and there from those present so it was clear Martin was a regular among them. This floor was comprised of a large open area in the center of which a lounge had been set up, surrounded by open doored glass offices, all of which were filled with one to two investigators. Mai recognized Andrew in one of the rooms and smiled when he sent her a double take and a frown.

“This is where the magic happens?” John questioned.

“Yep!” Martin answered, “And through that door are the offices of our primary investigators.” He gestured to a set of double doors. Through the windows, Mai could just make out a darkly lit hall and several doors lining the walls. “Above this floor are the archives, and above that is my office and roof access.”

“Wow,” Mai breathed.

“Make yourselves at home,” Martin advised, gesturing to the lounge area, “Koujo should be wrapping up shortly.”

“We will, sir, thank you,” John assured him. 

They both watched the man casually stroll through the swinging wooden doors before he disappeared from view. He had clearly been in a good mood that day and Mai could only hope that it would continue after she spoke with Lin. She hadn't exactly had a solid plan on how to continue with Toby's problem but she hoped what she had come up with would be of some help.

Mai looked over the lounge and its brown cracked leather couch and chairs thoughtfully. A heavy wooden coffee table sat over a red Persian rug that had seen much foot traffic over the years. John was already claiming a seat on the couch when she turned her eyes to the kitchenette and spotted the kettle. The familiarity set her heart at ease even in the foreign building. 

“Would you like some tea, John?” she asked, setting her bag down on the couch next to him. He shifted to accept the bag at his side with a smirk. 

“It’s been so long since I had a cup of tea made by Mai,” he teased in response.

Mai smiled warmly and strode across the hardwood floor to grip the handle of the iron kettle securely. The gas stove was a surprise but she supposed it was an old building, they must not have bothered switching over to electric in the remodel that she could tell had to have taken place in the past twenty years. The glass offices looked as if they had been around for a while. She hefted the kettle into the sink and filled it while she thought. There were a few cabinets overhead that she noticed and when she peeked inside she found a plethora of tea options sitting and waiting for use. She selected a handful of tea bags and then set the kettle back on the stove to boil.

“Now Takigawa would really be jealous,” John said aloud while he waited.

“I feel a little bad, honestly,” Mai shot back over her shoulder, careful to keep her volume low given the open offices around them. She found a jar of honey while snooping through the rest of the cabinets, along with a set of tea cups that she stacked out on the counter. “I wish I had known about the conference in advance, I would have invited everyone,” she groused with a sigh.

“What’s your deal anyways?”

Mai glanced over at the new voice and found Andrew leaning in his office doorway with arms crossed. He didn’t look particularly angry at their presence but he didn’t look pleased either. Mai supposed that was her own doing. She had been remarkably rude the night they had met, if only because Lin’s appearance had startled her so much. Despite that, the level of contempt seemed a bit much. At most, she had taken a paper out of his hand. Then again her actions also led to the solving of a case that had dragged on for three years. Perhaps there was a seed of jealousy involved. 

A quick scan of the room revealed that several of the assistants scattered about their offices had turned to look in surprise and confusion. Andrew's voice wasn't a particularly quiet one. 

“We’re fellow investigators from Japan,” she answered lightly, “Well, I am, John travels all over.”

“From Australia,” he answered and his accent was confirmation enough.

“Bullshit,” Andrew scoffed, “You looked right pissed to help us that night.”

Mai blinked in consternation while John shifted forward on the couch and leveled Andrew with a frown. “I don’t follow your line of logic,” Mai admitted while turning to pull the whistling kettle from the stove. “I can’t be an investigator because I was pissed when asked to help? Doesn’t seem to me like there's much correlation.”

“Oh, please, all you did was pick out a charity,” Andrew shot back, “Yet you acted as if we’d spat at your feet.”

Mai scoffed even as she filled four cups with boiling water. She opened a tea bag for each, collecting the trash in her hands while she worked. “If it was so simple you’d think someone would have done it sooner,” she groused, tossing the trash into the bin. She picked up John’s cup and brought it to him while Andrew huffed and puffed, working himself up. Several of the others in the office were getting ready for a full-on brawl by the looks of things. Their eyes were wide and one gentleman had even pushed himself to his feet. “It’s chamomile,” she informed John quietly.

"What gives you the right?" Andrew growled. 

"The right to what?" Mai questioned in mounting frustration as she straightened where she stood. "What are you so upset about?" Had Andrew been the assigned lead on the case? The sense of failure just might have pushed him a little too far. 

“Listen here,” Andrew grumbled, stepping forward into Mai’s space. She refused to move despite the fact that he was easily twice her size and his fists were clenched. Clearly, he didn't belong working in such an environment if he felt the need to take his frustrations out on a random guest. His behavior was unacceptable.  

“I would reconsider.”

Andrew visibly paled at the voice, all the fight leaving him in one fell swoop that left him looking like a deflated balloon. The rest of the onlookers whipped their heads back around to their work with tense shoulders. John took a sip of his tea.

And Mai felt the mounting tension fall from her shoulders in a sudden rush that left her head spinning. She watched as Andrew turned and stormed out of the office via the stairs with wariness born from years spent in survival mode. She had stared down more than one demonic ghost throughout her career and she'd be damned if she let a loser like Andrew push her around. 

Mai half turned and nearly smacked her face against Oliver’s chest. She took half a step back with a scowl before smoothing her features with a steadying breath. He was wearing glasses, which immediately threw her off, but he had at least returned to all-black attire. 

“Did you hear the kettle or smell the tea? I need to know for scientific research,” she muttered, stepping back over to the counter. He leaned his back up against the counter next to her and accepted the cup she handed to him without question. 

“I heard the kettle,” he admitted, serene as ever. 

“A decade-old mystery - solved,” she shot back with a snort, taking a sip from her own fresh cup of hibiscus tea. Holding the cup just under her chin allowed the warm steam to calm her nerves. The argument with Andrew may not have escalated but that didn’t mean she had not been prepared for a fight. Despite her composure, her hands still trembled as the adrenalin worked its way out of her system. She felt a little silly considering some of the things she had lived through and experienced in her life but human nature was human nature. 

“What a shame,” he agreed coolly. 

The doors to the hall opened and Lin stepped out looking as tired yet composed as ever. As soon as he spotted Mai holding out a steaming cup just for him, his shoulders slumped, and he strode over to collect it with a sigh. 

“Rosalin still giving you trouble?” Oliver questioned. 

“She won’t stop,” Lin muttered irritably, “She’s convinced she’s still being haunted but I even checked personally with her.”

“She’s lonely, Lin,” Oliver teased.

Lin took a sip of his tea before scanning their group, offering John a nod. He had only ventured out to collect Mai, having seen Martin pass by his door on his way upstairs, but he was more than glad to take all three of them back to his office. Any additional minds to ponder over the conundrum that was Toby Eugene Davis were more than welcome in his book. They passed through the swinging doors leading into the hall and turned into his office a moment later. 

Mai paused at the door to take in the full-length black couch and matching accent chair. Lin’s desk was set up in front of the large window that allowed the grey light of day to illuminate the room fully but the lamp on his desk had still been left on. She knew he often worked well into the night so she had to wonder if that particular light was ever actually shut off. It sat atop a stack of books whose titles were in Chinese. It looked as if they had spent a couple of months gathering dust from disuse and Mai theorized that Lin did very little tidying of his own office. She'd bet Madoka was the only one who dared to come in and dust and since she had been out on maternity leave, his office had fallen off the list of priorities.

The man himself dropped back into the desk chair with a groan, the leather creaking beneath him, and stretched before turning to shut his laptop and face the rest of the office. The tea was set down within hands reach while he dug through a desk drawer and pulled a black notebook from its depths along with a pen. 

Mai sat down at one end of the couch and set her cup on the small glass coffee table carefully. She lifted her gaze to follow Oliver as he settled at the other end of the couch with his own notebook, snatched from his office in passing. John chose to occupy the accent chair and took the initiative in closing the door behind them all. The resulting silence only served to highlight the enormity of the task before them. It loomed over them in the small room, taking up all the spare space and pressing down on them. 

Mai crossed one leg over the other and clasped her hands in her lap. This would be the first time for her. She had never been involved with the planning process of how to navigate through life as a psychic of any kind. Even when they had discovered that she herself had such abilities they hadn’t exactly attempted to set out a training plan for her. Oliver had simply utilized what information she could provide and that was that. She supposed, in hindsight, they might not have thought it was strictly necessary but nothing could have been further from the truth. Any training or guidance would have been more than appreciated, especially after Gene had left her. When she no longer had a guide to filter the information through, her dreams had become nightmarish beyond compare. It was only after struggling through them for years that she managed to bring them under control, but it was tenuous at best. 

“To begin,” Lin spoke up, interrupting the brooding silence that had begun to blossom between Mai and Oliver, “There are several methods empaths may utilize to negate the effects of their abilities or simply to manage them, however, it is rare for someone so young to have such extreme capabilities. Then there is the additional difficulty of his age; Toby is still too young to truly grasp such methods.” 

Mai heaved a sigh while she processed the information. She had suspected as much. If Lin had already tried with Toby despite his age it would also explain the boy’s aversion to him. He always shifted away from the man when he was too close or was reminded of his presence. The frustration of failure - Lin failing Toby and Toby failing Lin - no doubt cultivated a toxic atmosphere that Toby simply could not manage. 

“How was he? When you got home Saturday night?” she asked Oliver, voice gentle. 

“Quiet,” he admitted while running a hand through his hair, “Although, he didn’t seem as reserved. He avoided touch as is the norm but he was still comfortable enough to remain in my presence.” 

Mai hummed and pushed herself to her feet to pace the length of the room in thought. 

“What are some of the practices you would recommend, Lin?” John asked curiously, speaking up for the first time since they had entered the office. 

Lin leaned back in the chair, “It’s generally the same for all those with such abilities, ranging from Noll’s PK to Mai’s ESP. A strict diet, meditation, and exercise are all things I suggest and practice myself. Clearing the mind and body of negative influences while learning yourself. Toby is just too young to grasp the concept.”

“And given his mental state, such frustration would only breed further negativity,” John surmised with a sigh. 

Mai stopped at the window with her arms crossed. Absently, she reached for the chain usually hanging from her neck, recalling it had been offered to Toby belatedly. She turned and leaned a hand atop Lin’s desk with brow furrowed. 

“I’m not certain he’s too young,” she countered.

Lin turned the chair to face her curiously. He wouldn’t argue her statement before she had an opportunity to explain, generally speaking, she was rarely wrong. 

“When you tried these things, was it just you and him, sitting in a room, you watching him…?” she rattled off, spinning her fingers about. 

“Yes?” Lin answered uncertainly. 

Mai shot Oliver a look before she stepped back and crossed her arms again. “That may have worked with him because he’s Naru,” she theorized, gesturing to the man in question, “But, I’m sorry to say it, you’re incredibly intimidating, Lin.” 

Lin opened his mouth to argue but the sound of a snort from John had his jaw snapping shut.

“You all should do it together, make it a group exercise,” she continued. “It’ll also serve as a great opportunity to bond. I’m positive he’ll be happy to do anything with his father.” She moved towards the center of the room and smacked a fist against her open palm. “Sit down with him and decide meal plans together, build a meditation area with him, and make exercising a fun and rewarding activity. You don’t need touch to make him feel included and value his input.”

All three men stared at her in stunned silence. 

“And if the key really did work…” she reached for her wrist and untied the black bracelet there with some hesitancy. “I’m not certain if this will do any better but it’s the best idea I could come up with.” 

She proffered the item to Lin and the man took it before his eye widened in surprise. “Is this a strand of your hair?” he asked in awe. The thin black leather cords were braided around a small collection of red-hued strands and tied off at the ends. 

“Yes,” she admitted hesitantly, “I don’t know how long it’ll last, hopefully, a while since I only have so much.” She reached up to run the pads of her fingers over the undercut at the nape of her neck absently. John had helped her do it on Sunday. She had carefully sectioned out the small chunk, tied it with a rubber band, and let him go at it with his own clippers while she sat on the toilet in the bathroom of the hotel suite. It had been a little more emotional than she had expected, even John had approached the whole thing with a level of reverence that surprised her. He had offered up a prayer first then carefully lowered her head with gentle hands before taking the tool to her hair. Her eyes had watered despite her ignorance. 

Lin chuckled ruefully, reaching up to run a hand over his mouth, “It’ll last a while, Mai.” 

“Really?” she asked uncertainly, “I only did some basic research so I wasn’t sure…”

Oliver stood and strode across the room to the desk on silent feet, reaching out to take the bracelet, but Lin pulled it out of his reach with a grunt. “Don’t touch it,” he groused, “Unless you want to pull another fainting act.” 

Mai shot Oliver a look. Clearly, he had mentioned the pleasant evening they had spent together to Lin. 

The younger man tossed his notebook onto the desk and pinched the bridge of his nose, shoving the glasses up to his forehead without thought. He just needed to understand. For the first time in his life, he had encountered a problem he could not solve and here Mai was, offering solutions after ten minutes of conversation. Solutions that he knew would work. They were simple things that he would have been able to grasp had he not been such an idiotic scientist and relegated his son to a problem that needed to be solved. He scoffed at his own stupidity. 

“Mai, this…” Lin muttered, both hands now cupped around the bracelet, “This is sacred.” 

Mai clasped her hands before her with pursed lips, waiting for Lin to continue. His eye was focused while it examined the bracelet but his mind seemed a million kilometers away. If she tilted her head just so she could actually glimpse the Shiki that surrounded him, writhing around his hands excitedly. 

“We’d need to properly dispose of this when he no longer needs it, cleanse it by fire,” he finally continued after taking a heavy breath to steady whatever emotions her act had inspired. “It must be accounted for every day, if we were to lose this it would have determinantal effects. I’m actually hesitant of accepting this.” 

Oliver turned to lean against the desk with his arms crossed. He understood what Lin was afraid to say. If the bracelet wasn’t burned then Mai’s soul would be tied to it for all eternity until it was destroyed. She would remain trapped, unable to move on, because she had gifted a piece of herself to help his son. 

“I think…” Mai began haltingly, her own eyes lowered to her hands so that her lashes just kissed her cheeks, “That while Toby may not be a prodigal genius, he is wise beyond his years. I believe he will understand. I trust him.” She nodded once, to herself more than anything, and lifted her gaze to Lin expectantly. 

“Okay,” Lin murmured with resignation, “Okay.”

Chapter Text

Oliver Davis felt sick. What Mai had done was a beautiful act of kindness that even he, seemingly birthed from cold logic and facts as he was, could appreciate. But she shouldn’t have to put herself in such a position, to prostrate her very soul so that his son might have a few years of peace while they worked him through the training of existing in a world that, by design, was too much for him. He had retreated into his office after their little party had come to an end, shut off the lights, closed the blinds, and brooded. He sat at his desk with his head in his hands, the only pressure pushing back against the mounting migraine behind his eyes, and tried to parse out the emotions he was feeling. To bring logic to his despair.

After an hour he could not stand remaining inactive any longer and pushed himself to his feet despite the throb it sent through his skull. He pushed his office door open and leaned over to Lin’s with a sigh. “Have they left the office?” he asked.

Lin lifted his eyes from his laptop, the same frown that had pulled at his lips since still present, “No, John’s working with Gina on a case that was troubling her and I think Mai went up to explore the archives.”

“Of course she did,” he muttered. He turned his eyes to the doors leading back out into the main office where the stairs were. The thought of passing through the room filled with eyes that would follow his every move sent a rare lick of irritation curling through his chest. He turned to the small elevator at the end of their hall instead. The only reason the majority of those on the upper floors avoided using the thing was due to the delay, usually, those from the research floor bogged the thing down. He moved towards it and smacked a hand against the button, turning to lean his shoulder against the wall while he waited.

“Are you alright, Oliver?” Lin asked, hanging around his doorway with furrowed brows. There was just the slightest hint of suspicion in his voice as there always was since he was a teenager. Lin never trusted him to know his limits.

“Just a migraine,” he assured him coolly.

The bell of the elevator sounded and Oliver pushed himself away from the wall. Thankfully, it was empty of any other passengers and he was free to stride in and select the third floor without further complaint. He glanced up as the doors rolled shut to find Lin watching him with pursed lips and a bemused glint in his eye. Oliver snorted in the quiet of the elevator long after the doors had shut and it had started its slow ascent to the next floor above. Neither Lin nor Madoka was as subtle as they thought they were being and if he wasn’t so amused by their own amusement he would have found it frustrating. But even he could not begrudge them a bit of additional joy when they had both worked so hard to help Toby.

The elevator shuttered to a stop and he slid his hands into his pockets when the doors pulled open and revealed the dusty and dimly lit archives. There was more than enough lighting to prevent such an atmosphere but Martin insisted on stopping by the floor every time he passed it by, to and from his office, to shut half of them off. He claimed it was to save on the cost of electricity when the room was so rarely frequented but they all knew he enjoyed the atmosphere.

The black and white tile from the first floor was emulated by the checkered linoleum on the third floor. It was cracked and worn, needing to be replaced, and the only reason they hadn’t done so yet was due to the hundreds of metal shelving units weighed down by thousands of kilos of paper. They spanned the vast room in aisles that only seemed to gather more dust no matter how often the cleaning crew visited. Oliver had suspected it had to do with the open rafters that Martin refused to cover up with an actual ceiling but his words, more often than not, fell on deaf ears.

The elevator shut behind him and he strode down the nearest aisle of files on autopilot. The shelving was all arranged around the center of the room where several tables and chairs had been brought up for the convenience of those within. It was a hassle to search through the archives for an old file and then have to haul it back down to your desk when you only needed a small piece of information. Oliver was currently organizing a project to make the room obsolete but was dragging his feet for Martin’s sake. He sighed at the thought, garnering the attention of the woman perched on the edge of a table just below one of the lit overhead lamps, a case file fanned out across the surface, a few sheets of paper clasped in her hand.

“All the lights work,” he voiced in greeting, stopping at the end of the aisle a few feet away.

Mai shifted, glancing about the room with a sheepish smile, and said: “I enjoyed the low lighting.”

“Of course you did,” he muttered lowly and shuffled forward to join her at the table.

“I found the unsolved pile,” she admitted with a chuckle, wiggling the papers in her hand. “I could probably live in here. Just solving all of these,” she mused quietly, eyes turned to the paper but distant with thought.

“My father would love that,” he admitted breezily.

Mai lowered the papers to her lap while the mirth that had passed between them dissipated in the stagnant air. She pursed her lips and lowered her gaze to her one shoe, dangling off her foot over the floor. She had retreated up here for a moment to compose herself after the revelation in Lin’s office. “You’re upset,” she stated regretfully, shattering the quiet between them.

Oliver met her gaze silently, blue eyes dark in the dim lighting, face void of any emotion besides the wrinkle between his brows. He studied her, trying to decipher what it was she had become. “Do you remember the case at Yasuhara’s school?” he asked out of the blue, voice steady despite the swirl of toxicity in his chest.

“Of course,” she admitted with just a spark of despair at the mere memory of the hundreds of claims they had to sort through. Every student at the school had some sort of experience that they were forced to verify. Even a decade later she still shuddered at the memory.

“In order to resolve the hauntings we were forced to turn the curse back on everyone, of course, we used hitogata to represent the students to avoid casualties, but I didn’t tell you that,” he continued.

Mai scoffed and set the papers down on the table, “I remember that quite clearly,” she grumbled. She didn’t know if she had ever been angrier with Oliver than she had that day. Thinking he would knowingly endanger the lives of students because they had taken part in a curse against their knowledge. She had been ready to turn her back on him.

“So I keep wondering,” Oliver continued with a sigh, “Would she approve of this?”

“What do you mean?” Mai questioned gently, her own confusion clear in the frown tugging at her lips.

“That Mai,” he explained with a smirk, “Would she approve of me using someone in such a way?”

Mai’s eyes widened before she turned her face away to hide the dusting of pink across her nose and cheeks. She dearly hoped he hadn’t been using her outburst from the past as a sort of moral compass even now. The way he was perched on the table next to her, [alms resting on the table and his head turned to her, dangerously close to being too close was distracting enough as it was.

“If it were someone else she wouldn’t be very comfortable with it,” Mai admitted honestly, “But she would accept it for now until a better solution was found. If it were herself, she would do it in a heartbeat.”

“Hmm,” he hummed lightly, thoughtfully, “That seems counterintuitive.”

Mai could only offer him a shrug with open palms, “Unfortunately, Naru, that’s how humans operate ninety percent of the time.”

“Confounded again,” he bemoaned exaggeratedly, reaching to grip the bridge of his nose as his head throbbed.

“Why don’t you go home for the day?” she questioned gently. In the past, he had often completely retreated within his office and refused any human interaction when a migraine had taken hold of him. Lin always tried to convince him to close the office but the young scientist would push through and Mai had not been so ignorant as to miss the times he made himself sick, trying to work past the pain. It seemed the habit persisted to the present day even though he had long since found his brother’s body.

“I don’t enjoy being indisposed around Toby,” he admitted grimly, under his breath.

Mai hummed in understanding, fidgeting with the papers once more while she thought. It seemed Oliver was content to sit in her silence but eventually, she worked up the nerve to offer him her hand, palm facing up and waited. “It might help,” she whispered.

Oliver eyed her hand wearily but the throbbing of his head was nearly too much to bare without resorting to rest and he did not enjoy the idea of spending the night in his office, listening to the workaholics out on the main floor talking well into the evening, refusing to go home. He reached out to rest a hand atop hers, the warmth of her skin permeating his in a matter of a second, and nearly dropped on the spot. His eyes fluttered dangerously while the contents of his mind seemed to liquefy and spill out the back of his head as the pressure behind his eyes disappeared. Lightheaded and trembling with the sudden lack of all that he had known, he slumped over into the arms of the waiting woman with a groan.

“Predictable,” she grumbled, hoping to mask her blush once more.

Oliver’s head rested in the crook of her shoulder, breath light and warm against her clavicle, but he was dead weight in her arms. She suspected he had actually passed out from the sudden rush of relief and lack of energy - practically cut off from the constant stream of PK that radiated beneath the surface. He had built his entire being around containing it and without the foundation he crumbled like a house of cards.

There was no way for her to safely lower him to the ground and she doubted the man wanted to come to sprawled out on a table so she tightened her hold on him with a sigh and, guiltily, rested her head on top of his. Despite his cold fingers the rest of him was a warm weight against her and if she huddled a little closer in the cold archive room then no one would be the wiser. She supposed it was nice. Compared to the cold civility he had first greeted her with upon their reunion having him huddled in her arms was a complete one-eighty. Sixteen-year-old Mai would have been in fan-girl delight with the situation, fantasizing about their future life together. Twenty-six-year-old Mai only felt bad for the poor man who had suffered so much, including a young girl confessing her love for him when he had just found his dead twin’s body. She winced at the memory and wished she could disappear from the room. But if acting as a napping post was the best she could do to make up for it all then she would gladly suffer an aching back.

Several minutes passed and she was beginning to doubt her ability to uphold her position. She nearly cried out in relief when the elevator doors opened and someone from the investigation floor shuffled in, eyes hidden behind thick-framed glasses, and scanned the room distractedly. Then the woman startled, mouth hanging agape, and started backing up into the aisle in embarrassment.

“Wait!” Mai stage whispered, “Can you get Lin?”

“Yes!” the woman squeaked in response before disappearing back the way she had come.

Mai heaved a sigh.

It only took three minutes for the elevator to return and then it was Lin striding down the aisle and coming to a stop at the end. His eye widened for a fraction, panic clearly beginning to set in, but Mai waved a hand to brush his concern aside with a roll of her eyes. The panic was quickly replaced by bemusement and he closed the distance easily, reaching out to set his fingers against the pulse point in Oliver’s neck.

"Hopefully, he'll come around by the time Toby arrives," Lin muttered with a sigh. 

"He's coming to the office?" she questioned quietly. 

"Martin thought it would be best to try the bracelet sooner rather than later," Lin advised and then gestured to Oliver curiously, wordlessly asking for an explanation. 

“He had a migraine,” she whispered with a shrug of her free shoulder.

“I’m sure,” Lin drawled in a rare tease before he gripped Oliver’s arm and hauled him up, ignoring the groan of protest it evoked in the younger man, and pulled the arm over his shoulder. “It’s been a long while since I’ve had to help you to bed, Noll,” Lin murmured, straightening under his weight and pulling Oliver to his feet. The younger slumped against Lin heavily but they both managed to stay upright.

Mai watched the two men shuffle back to the elevator before turning her attention back to the opened case file now scattered across the table. It had caught her eye because the file pertained to a supposed haunting at the Natural History Museum. Ellen Worthrite had implied that she would have enjoyed visiting the museum with Mai when she was next available. Knowing that there was an unresolved case file within the BSPR archives dating back to 1991 piqued her interest, but she wasn't certain how she felt about it. She supposed, if she mentioned it to Ellen she might just be interested in joining her to do some investigating of her own.

Mai gathered the papers and straightened them out before sliding them back into the worn manilla folder she had found them in. A quick glance at her watch revealed that it was only just past lunchtime. She jumped to her feet with the file tucked under one arm and scurried back down the aisle to the elevator. She selected the fifth floor and stepped back to wait.

It was rare for Toby to visit the BSPR office but, it was just as safe to say that he was no stranger. He had first been brought in when he was younger and the Davis family had attempted to discover the extent of his abilities and what he might be capable of, to limited success. And after that he was brought in, on occasion, to visit his father or get an updated understanding of his circumstances. Recently, he was brought in to see Koujo, which wasn't very fun and often left him in a bad mood.

But today, Madoka had picked him up from home and informed him that they would be going to see Mai!

He had happily buckled himself into his booster seat while Madoka strapped Lixin into the car seat next to him. Madoka only gave his seatbelt a quick tug to make sure he was secured before she sent him a thumbs up and a smile.

When they arrived, they pulled into the underground parking out back and rode the elevator up to the second floor. The office was more active than it had been in a long while but all he focused on was the sight of Mai, talking to his grandfather, a folder of papers in her hands.

"Mai!" He exclaimed in delight, dashing out of the elevator before Madoka could yell at him for running.

Mai turned her head to watch as the speeding blur that was Toby smacked into her legs with a giggle. She made a show of wobbling where she stood before she bent down to snatch him up and set him on her hip.

"Hello you," she cooed, "And how have you been?"

"Good!" He answered with a nod.

"I'm glad to hear that, did my gift help?" She asked, reaching for the chain that still hung around his neck.

"Yes," he admitted, pulling the key from beneath his shirt. "I didn't feel sick when I went home. And daddy read me the book Aunty bought me."

"That's wonderful!" Mai exclaimed excitedly. "I'm glad it worked. We actually have another gift for you."

“Better than this one?” he asked, holding the key up for her inspection.

“It just might be,” she encouraged and reached out to tap his nose. His eyes were just so bright and the smile on his face was infectious. In fact, if Mai wasn’t mistaken, even the dark circles under his eyes had lightened. Perhaps after a few nights of rest with her key nearby had allowed him to recoup. It gave her hope for what was to come. 

Martin watched with a warm smile, contentment radiating from his heart with such strength he feared he might have to sit down. John had come up to stand next to him with his hands in his pockets, watching with his own smile, and his presence helped to steady him. Like the rest of the Davis clan he had spent the past three years doing his best to aid Toby however he could. It was hard to admit that, on occasion, that meant removing himself from the picture altogether. There were nights Martin had spent the entirety of the evening driving through London aimlessly, just to distance himself from the house when his moods had taken a turn for the worse because of work or stress. Curiously enough, he discovered that it was a nice way to clear his head. Navigating the busy London streets would immediately claim all of his attention. 

“Good afternoon, Mai! John!” Madoka cheered as she followed in Toby’s wake with her stroller. She looked a little out of place in the office wearing a pair of leggings and a baggy blue sweater but she was technically still on maternity leave and shouldn’t have been working anyways. Lin had fought with her over assisting with the conference but Madoka had just been so excited about the event that he couldn’t deny her in the end. There was no keeping that woman away from the paranormal, even with a baby on her hip. She was peeking back into the office every other day to bother Lin or Oliver on whatever new case they had taken on and with the addition of Mai, she seemed all the nosier. 

“Afternoon, Madoka,” Mai replied cheerily enough but there was a bit of uncertainty behind her eyes as the rest gathered. It was a stark reminder that if their plan didn't work it wasn't just Toby who would feel the disappointment. Every person standing before her, and more would be saddened. The anxiety of gifting Toby the bracelet was mounting but she didn’t want to mention it in front of the entire office full of people who were all watching on quietly, attempting to look busy. 

“How are you, Madoka?” John asked kindly.

“Daddy’s here,” Toby whispered in Mai’s ear, pulling her attention away from the conversation taking place before her.

Mai twisted on her heel to confirm that, indeed, Oliver had stepped out from the office hall looking just as put together as ever. No one would have known he had just spent the past three hours sleeping away on the couch in Lin’s office. Well, no one with the exception of the poor woman who had walked in on them in the archives. Mai hoped she at least had the decency not to gossip about the scene but she had her doubts. It was a small office after all, and Oliver was Oliver. They had probably thought he and Lin were robots this whole time. 

Toby reached his hand out for his father and the man was incapable of denying his request. Oliver crossed through the lounge and wrapped his little hand in his own, stepping closer to kiss his forehead. Toby leaned out of Mai’s arms to cuddle against Oliver’s chest and Mai was forced to shift closer to the man, causing a blush to surface across her cheeks. She turned her face away with a silent sigh and then scowled playfully when she caught sight of Madoka hiding a coy smile behind a hand.

Catching sight of Lin standing in the hall doorway was enough to ease her flustered state. He had claimed he needed to make preparations for the event, something Mai felt was unnecessary and awkward, but Lin had assured her it mattered. Toby needed to understand the importance of what she was offering him, at least, he needed to comprehend that it was important even if he didn’t know why.

“Let’s go,” Oliver murmured after he had pulled away and sighted Lin. No doubt, he wanted to get the whole thing over with more than anyone else in that room. Oliver had no patience, either their plan worked or it failed, he couldn't plan his next move until he knew the outcome. 

“We’ll stay here,” Madoka assured them with a wave for Toby. She reached out to grip Martin’s hand, holding the man back despite his wish to follow if only to save them from having to crowd into Lin’s office like packed sardines. Toby didn’t need everyone staring him down during such a sensitive moment. It was already going to be difficult enough.

Toby waved at Madoka from over Mai’s shoulder as they delved into the hall and the swinging doors swung shut behind them. Lin was quiet, stride determined, while Oliver’s shoulders were stiff with uncertainty despite Mai’s encouragement. She had done all that she could for him, Oliver would have to work through the rest of the emotions on his own, if he even dared to.

The two men slid into the office while Mai came to a stop in the doorway, brows furrowed with consternation.

Lin had set the bracelet out on a small purple velvet pillow embroidered with gold thread and tassel. To the right of it sat an incense burner, spilling sweet smoke into the air in lazy curls and wisps, spinning on the air currents sent tossing about with their entrance. The blinds had been closed, the harsh lines of light and shadow splitting the room into fractal shapes and colors that left Toby feeling nervous. She didn't need empathic abilities to feel him curling up in her arms, tightening his hold around her neck. 

Mai crouched down, allowing Toby to settle his feet back on the ground with uncertainty. He continued to grip three of Mai’s fingers even as she pushed herself back up, straightening with pursed lips before she wiped the expression from her face and replaced it with a smile. Oliver had placed himself on Toby’s left and now reached down to grip his shoulder reassuringly. The little boy seemed to cower when facing Lin but with the two on either side of him, he was able to muster a bit of courage.

“What’s going on?” Toby asked anxiously. He eyed Lin and then allowed his gaze to bounce between the two on either side.

Mai opened her mouth to explain before her breath caught in her throat, emotions whirling, and she chose to lower herself to her knees at his side instead. She clasped her hands in her lap, eyes cast down while she gathered her thoughts. Almost instinctively Toby mirrored her actions. He sat back on his ankles and looked up at her expectantly. The sight inspired warmth in Mai's chest and her smile turned a little more genuine while she gathered her thoughts. 

“Lin helped me prepare this for you,” she began quietly, gesturing to the pillow and incense.

Toby’s blue eyes turned to face the bracelet with knowing, seeming older than his few short years, and then to Lin. The man had at least had the forethought to lower himself into a crouch so as to appear a little less intimidating. He offered the boy a tight smile.

“The bracelet has a little piece of me in it that might help you, better than even the key,” she explained. Toby’s eyes returned to the object in question with an intensity that surprised her. “But in order for me to give this to you, Toby, you have to understand how precious it is.”

Toby clenched his little hands into fists on his lap and looked up to his father hesitantly, then back to Mai. “It is you,” he stated quietly, voice hushed in a whisper. He could feel the object radiating the familiar warmth of Mai like a lighthouse in the dark. Even as he sat there waiting patiently for them to explain it all he could feel it beckoning him to safe shores, it was both comforting and frightening.  

“Yes,” Mai agreed with a nod and a watery giggle. She didn’t even fully understand it all but a small part of her must have had some idea because her eyes were already burning with tears. “As long as you keep ahold of this then I will be with you always, so you have to take care of it.”

“I-...” he stuttered, gripping both hands onto the key now, searching for comfort. “I’m scared,” he admitted in a whisper. Blue eyes wavering with brimming tears. He was too little still, he didn't know if he was strong enough to watch over a piece of Mai. He wasn't a lighthouse keeper. 

Mai immediately felt terrible. The last thing she had wanted to do was cause him fear when he had already suffered so much. She worried about how much more his little heart could handle. But she plastered on the best reassuring smile she could manage and said: “That’s alright, Toby, this is only an option. You don’t have to take it if it's too scary. I’m happy to figure something else out for you.” And it was true, she would spend the next year of her life trying to sort something out for the little guy if she had to, she would feel incredibly homesick, but it would be worth it just to know that Toby would find peace. 

Oliver took half a step back, shifting away from the room as a whole, lifting a hand to his mouth while his own heart threatened to squeeze itself out of existence. He could not handle the sight of his son looking so terrified while Mai looked utterly heartbroken, forcing herself to push through and do what he could not. He watched as Mai reached out to run a hand through Toby’s hair before he dropped to his knees behind the boy, reaching around him to grip his hands in his own while he had the chance. Toby leaned back into his chest and lifted his eyes to the bracelet.

“What if I lose you?” he asked in a tiny voice.

Mai bit her lip, for once uncertain how to answer, but after a moment of silence between them all, Oliver said: “We’ll take care of her together.”

Mai felt the blush at that and turned her face away with one clenched hand, the other still resting atop Toby's head. Oliver really needed to have care with the things he said. Any other woman would have swooned at such a statement but Taniyama Mai knew better. She took a moment to settle her fluttering heart.

Toby nodded silently and lifted his arm in the air, it was as if the small reassurance that he wouldn't have to take on the responsibility by himself was all he needed to hear, and waited patiently.

Mai shifted, a little surprised, and then twisted about to lift the bracelet from the pillow with one hand under the watchful eye of Lin. The smoke from the incense swirled and followed after her, reaching for her even as she turned back around and carefully wound the cord around Toby’s wrist. She tied the ends off with trembling fingers. Sitting back on her heels to watch as the boy lifted his wrist for inspection and only belatedly realized he was still wrapped in his father’s embrace and that Mai had long since pulled away... It was one of the most precious moments of her entire life. It was decided before she had even fully processed the thought. Toby twisted in his father’s arms and latched onto him like a koala, both arms and legs engaged, and Mai could only smile.

She pushed herself up to her feet and dusted off her skirt, surprised when Lin straightened next to her and bowed low, back straight. She offered him a lighter one in return while wearing a serene if a bit misty-eyed smile. She was just happy that Toby would finally know a little bit of peace. No child should be barred from the comfort of a parent’s hug.

Mai shifted around the two that were still crouched on the floor and stepped out into the hall with a relieved sigh. The doors were crowded with Madoka and Martin who she happily sent a thumbs up. Martin didn’t wait for further encouragement and hurried the remaining distance to the office, throwing himself around the turn and letting out a wordless exclamation of joy at the sight before him.

“Thank you, Mai,” Madoka mumbled as she approached, reaching out to grip one of Mai’s hands tightly. “You have no idea how much this means to all of us,” she admitted while watching the scene unfold within the office. Even Lin was sporting a radiant smile.

“Oh, I think I do,” Mai assured her ruefully. “You should go congratulate him,” she added, stepping out of the way so that Madoka could fit the stroller through the doorway.

“I think I will,” Madoka chirped quietly.

John now stood at the end of the hall with her coat hanging from his arms, a sweet smile tugging at his lips, waiting. Mai glanced back at the group one last time before she strode down the hall to meet him. He offered her the coat and she took a moment to hang it from her shoulders, straightened it with a sniff, and then accepted her purse from him next. Then he offered her the case file and she could only roll her eyes in exasperation. How he managed to make holding all of that look easy, she'll never know. 

“Thank you, John,” she whispered and accepted the messy stack of aged papers. She hefted it in her hands, running her eyes over the few notes that had been written in English on the manilla folder itself, the date and location and such. She pulled a thumb across the stack, flipping through the pages thoughtfully with a hum. It felt warm and nostalgic in her hands but there was a larger feeling swelling up from within her stomach that rang with completion. So while the two stepped back into the main office Mai only paused long enough to set the case atop the coffee table in the lounge area before following John out the stairwell door.

Lin watched from where he stood, hanging from the doorframe with a frown. He shifted back to meet Madoka’s eyes from within the room and shook his head once. Madoka pursed her lips and did her best to manage the sigh that had built up in her chest. She had wanted to invite them for a celebratory dinner but she supposed she understood Mai, more than the woman would probably expect. Poor Mai, she seemed to pop back into Oliver’s life when he needed help the most only to feel the need to bow out once the job was done. She tightened her hold on the stroller, the cushioned handle creaking under her grip, and bit her lip. It just didn't seem fair, did it? 

Chapter Text

The sun was beginning to set over the city of London but you would never know it due to the rain. It poured down as a deluge that would give even the most avid puddle jumper pause. Mai may have remebered to bring an umbrella with her that morning but it did nothing to protect her feet, only half covered by her heels, and she was forced to stride down the sidewalk with the umbrella held high while her feet grew gold. At least she had recovered her coat from the conference center.

“Are you going to be alright, Mai?” John’s voice reached her through her haze of thoughts and the hush of the rain with a bit of effort. He walked at her side under his own umbrella.

“I’m alright, John,” she assured him, “In fact, I feel like everything has been brought to a comforting close, if I’m being honest.”

“I’m glad,” John admitted with a smile that managed to warm Mai up in the chilly rain, “It doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye forever, though, you know that right?”

Mai dropped her gaze to the sidewalk beneath her as she walked, watching the water streaming across its course surface towards the curb. John was just as perceptive as always. His demeanor may have been unassuming, if friendly, but he was always observing those around him and connecting the dots. She bit her lip while mulling over his words, tightening her hold on the umbrella. Cars continued to drive by them and the sounds of their tires plowing through the wet streets acted as a soundtrack to their walk home.

“I know John,” she said quietly, “But I don’t think it matters.”

And it was true. Toby had been a lovely surprise and she was elated that she had been able to help him but that didn’t mean she needed to force her way into his or their lives. They were all starting families, settling down, and relearning how to coexist with each other now that Toby could accept them all for who they were. She didn’t want to intrude upon that. Meeting everyone had been nostalgic, a little bittersweet, but pleasant all the same. They were all living their lives and doing well and knowing that was all she needed.

“Mai,” John called quietly.

Mai paused a few steps ahead of him and turned to look back, her umbrella cocked just so.

“I think you’re an amazing person,” John stated wistfully.

“What?” Mai said with a flabbergasted laugh.

“Do you want to get dinner?” he asked, gesturing to the restaurant they had unwittingly come to a stop at.

Mai half turned to look into the dimly lit bistro curiously before she shrugged with a smile. “I could go for something to eat,” she admitted.

Oliver pulled his black coat over his shoulders, tugging at the lapels to settle it on his frame while his eyes scanned his office. The sun had set hours ago. The only source of light in his workspace was the small lamp settled on his desk and what managed to spill in through the half-closed blinds from the street. London was still very much awake despite the hour and the weather. Her streets were teeming with traffic that Oliver knew he would have to navigate in order to make it back home to the Davis household. He wasn’t looking forward to it in the least but the day’s victory still overpowered any lingering negativity he might have been suffering. What once would have inspired an irritable mood was now a mild inconvenience, too insignificant to be of any notice.

Martin had called Luella with the news and before Oliver even had the time to truly appreciate what Mai had gifted them, they were all clambering to meet his mother at their favorite restaurant to celebrate. He had sat in the back of Lin’s car with Toby nestled under his arm, mind brimming with the closest thing to joy he could recall experiencing in his life. Toby had understood this because he nearly refused to let go of his hand throughout the entire dinner. No matter how awkward it made eating the gourmet macaroni and cheese dish, Toby made sure some part of him remained in contact with his father. Several pieces of pasta had taken the tragic dive from his wobbling spoon but Oliver had only found himself amused by his antics. He had watched each time, jaw resting on a fist, content with just the ability to experience such a mundane thing. 

“We might actually be able to enroll him in school,” Luella gasped over the dinner table.

Oliver had been teaching him as much as he could but there was a level of difficulty involved when it came to the curriculum. Oliver was a genius, it was undisputed, but his years of encyclopedic knowledge did not translate well to what was essentially a kindergarten learning level. Unfortunately, there was just no way Toby would have been able to attend a legitimate school with his condition. Even just sitting in the same room as his father while he read to him had often left the child looking nervous and uncomfortable. As if his father was some sort of dangerous creature one should avoid eye contact with. Mai would claim it was a pretty accurate description. To put Toby in a classroom full of emotional children would have been tantamount to torture.

“Would you like that, Toby?” Madoka asked. 

“Yes!” Toby agreed excitably. To be able to leave his room, to make friends like the ones he'd read about or seen on TV, to experience the actual world? He had never thought he would have the opportunity. It was frightening and exciting, like what he imagined a roller coaster was like. Or maybe, finding oneself before a lion in the wild. Wonderous and beautiful, and dangerous. 

For the first time in three years, they were all able to be themselves in a way they never had before with Toby. They didn’t have to worry about their excitement overwhelming him, or their sadness for him pulling him down further. They could be there for him, comfort him, and provide the support that he had so sorely been lacking. For the first time in over a decade, the Davis household felt like an actual family again. No longer haunted.

Oliver had watched his family laugh and plan well into the night before they remembered Toby was still only five and his eyes had long since fallen shut. He had curled up under Oliver’s arm again, resting his head on his chest, while the restaurant continued to function around them. Guests were still being seated at their tables, the bar was still packed, and a party was even singing happy birthday on the other side of the room. It was a wonder that Toby managed to fall asleep among all the noise and people when he would have so recently had a complete meltdown. He had lived the past three years growing up alone in his bedroom, without friends, his only companions the books he collected. The silence must have been deafening.

Toby had reminded Oliver of himself even as his struggle became more apparent. But Oliver had never hidden away from the world because it caused him too much pain. He had turned away from a world that turned its back on him. Both of them. But unlike him, Eugene had never lost faith. And the irony of that had struck Oliver at the same moment Eugene was brutally mowed down by a car.

And so went the one person who understood him, snuffed out like a candle in the wind.

“Why didn’t Mai come with you lot?” Luella asked when the meal had come to an end. She dabbed at the corner of her mouth with her napkin while she glanced about for an answer. Oliver had only come back to himself then, no longer lost in a bittersweet sea of happiness and loss, and was just in time to catch a shared look between Lin and Madoka. Madoka pursed her lips in regret, which could have meant a number of things, but the real tell? That was Lin running a hand through his hair. The man was never anxious to the point of physical tells, it was one of the reasons Martin had hired him on as Naru’s handler, he was made of steel. He needed to be in order to hold up against Oliver’s genius manipulations and, when he was younger, the cruel words he tossed out to push people away. There were a total of three people who managed to get under Lin’s skin: one was dead, the other he had married, and the third was the missing person in question.

And then Lin caught his eye and looked away.

“She had dinner plans already,” Madoka lied.

Lixin let out a piercing wail from the car seat tucked between her and Lin.

Oliver had leaned back in his seat and settled a cold look upon the both of them.

Toby was tucked away in Martin and Luella’s car and Oliver enjoyed a tense car ride back to the office with Lin and Madoka. She had chosen to sit in the back with Lixin, leaving Oliver to sit up front next to Lin with his jaw propped on a fist, gaze lost out the window. Internally, his mind was churning away. The meal he had just eaten sat in his stomach like a rock and, had he been a lesser person, something close to uncertainty would have surfaced. As it was, he found himself more curious than anything. He likened it to the sensation of reaching the top of a set of stairs and mistakingly believing there was just one more step to take. There was no danger of falling and, as long as you were a competent individual, you would quickly regain your balance. But the moment of unbalanced confusion would linger. 

“She just left?” he asked, breaking the suffocating silence that even the distraught Lixin had not dared to tempt. As soon as the car door had shut the baby's wails had ceased and Madado had looked over him carefully. It didn't take a mastermind to put two and two together. Oliver's control was wavering in his moment of bewilderment and little Lixin could easily sense it before the conditioned adults.

“She told me to go in and see Toby, and that was that,” Madoka admitted quietly. She should have known. Mai had changed drastically from the young girl she remembered. In any other circumstance, Mai's polite bow out would have been seen as a positive move. She was allowing the family to enjoy what her sacrifice offered them. But the Davis clan was far from normal and considering her very soul was tied to the bracelet around Toby's wrist, it felt wrong to disclude her. Yet she had disappeared as if she herself had been a phantom in the night, stopping by to finish the last of her business before passing on. Or letting go. 

“Why didn’t you stop her?” he asked Lin, his voice deceptively cool in the dark of the car.

“She didn’t seem upset,” Lin answered with a sigh, “I suspect it was planned. John even met her at the end of the hall with her things.”

Oliver said nothing in return. The migraine Mai had banished earlier that day came back, pressure building in the back of his head, while his mind slammed up against a glass wall. As was the case when it came to emotion, he was rubbish at sifting through his feelings and parsing out their meanings. All he knew at that moment was that he knew absolutely nothing about Taniyama Mai. Her behavior was illogical and did not match that of the girl in his memories. Finding himself at a disadvantage was never an easy pill to swallow. He had never even bothered to consider that people were capable of change.

He had slipped back up to his office to retrieve his things, left behind in the wake of Martin’s excitement, but found himself lost in his thoughts as he passed through the main office. Andrew was still working away in his own glass cage, likely still chafing from the day’s earlier reprimand. Really, Oliver had no idea why his father hadn’t fired the man yet, but he imagined even Andrew was aware of how close to termination he had come that day. Gina too, but she had more of an excited gleam in her eyes, hunched at her desk and typing away. He recalled Lin mentioning that John had offered her help with her current case. She must have garnered some inspiration from him.

His eyes alighted upon the discarded file on the coffee table.

It was never permitted to leave a file lying about due to the potential of sensitive information pertaining to the case or client. Everyone on their floor was more than aware because Oliver himself had drilled it into them from the very beginning. At sixteen years of age, he had lectured all those currently employed when a case they had taken on for a particularly well-known client had gotten out, resulting in the termination of their contract despite all the work they had done. Many had quit since then, struggling to work under Oliver Davis, but he had suspected they weren't suited for the job regardless. Those lesser were simply weeding themselves out. 

He stopped at the table and bent down to lift the folder in his hands. It felt warm under his fingers. Brief flashes of memory skimmed the surface of his mind. The dusty archives, the feel of soft fingers in the cold air, a warm embrace, a bittersweet goodbye. 

“She left it there.”

Oliver turned to look back over his shoulder, meeting the eyes of a timid Andrew.

“She was talking to Martin about it, was going to take it on herself by the sounds of things, but I got the feeling she changed her mind,” he continued with a hint of regret in his tone.

“What made you think that?” he asked quietly, genuine confusion usually hidden away under layers of indifference, slipped through.

Andrew shrugged, rubbing his neck with a sigh, “John handed it to her before they left. She looked it over for a moment, seemed to come to some sort of conclusion based on her body language, and then she set it there before leaving.”

Oliver lifted the file, eyes focused on the folder yet his thoughts were distant. He could picture it in his mind, Mai leaving it sitting on the table before disappearing out the door with John on her heels. But it didn’t seem like any version of her that he knew, to simply bow out of the picture without argument. The young girl he remembered would have celebrated with them. But he supposed that young girl had been left in Japan over a decade ago.

“Thank you,” he stated curtly, coming back to himself with a sigh. He slid the file into his briefcase with the rest of the collection he had intended to bring home for review. He would drop it off in the archives along with the others when he returned the following morning. He didn’t want to dig through the unsolved pile to find its proper location when Toby was home, sleeping, but no longer troubled by his abilities.

“Are you going to go after her?”

Oliver paused on his trek to the stairs, long coat fluttering around his legs. Nora stood in the doorway of her office, the only one not made of glass as it was actually an original, tucked away on the other side of the lounge. Her Coke bottle glasses were pushed up onto her forehead. She must have been rubbing her eyes in exhaustion before she had heard the conversation and gotten up to investigate.

“Why would I?” he asked coolly.

Nora and Andrew shared a look from across the office. There was some level of exasperation in their movements, their faces falling flat of any emotion before she leaned against the doorframe as if hoping to hide behind it. “She’s leaving,” she said leadingly. “Deciding not to take on obligations that would extend her time here. Disappearing after helping Toby. I bet you she planned it like that too. That guy was ready and waiting for her when she dipped out.”

“I’m not holding her against her will,” Oliver countered dispassionately, “She is allowed to leave.”

Nora scowled and the expression was so out of the norm for her that Oliver found himself floundering to regain control of the situation. He mentally backtracked, attempting to locate the moment where her familiar patterns deviated, and could only conclude that it had all shifted from the very beginning. She felt passionately enough about the situation to step out of her comfort zone.

Andrew snorted.

“You’re being a right idiot,” Nora grumbled before dipping back into her office and shutting the door.

What else is new, Oliver found himself thinking before he sighed and continued his trek to the stairs. He was halfway down to the ground floor when the memory of Toby wrapped in her arms flashed through his mind, almost of its own accord, and he froze midstep. The grip he had on the railing was the only thing holding him upright when he turned to face the glass of the window to his left. His reflection stared back at him.

Music played at a low volume throughout the hotel suite while Mai flitted about, tidying where she could. Alanis Morissette was an artist that she had discovered when she was learning English, the lyrics were slow enough for her to use as practice, and Mai had kept her in her rotation ever since. Both of the sliding glass doors were open to allow the fresh air to flow through. It was still raining but there was little wind and the balcony above her extended far enough that she needn't worry about any splashing. The smell and sound of rain had always calmed her.

John had left to go down to the laundry room to cycle through his two suitcases of clothing so Mai had thought it would be a good opportunity to clean up after their weekend of podcasts and eating out. Several of the aging to-go boxes in her fridge had already been tossed into the trash while she worked.

She had changed back into a pair of leggings and a tunic top, soft and pliant after years of washing, and pulled her hair up into a messy bun. Technically, she could have just allowed the room service in for once but she hadn’t called on them except for additional towels and the like since she arrived and she planned to keep it that way. There was nothing quite like scrubbing your own counters clean when you needed to clear your mind.

Her laptop sat at the kitchen island, open and displaying her search screen of outgoing flights to Japan over the next two weeks. She had been trying to settle on a date when the urge to clean had swept her up in its wake. If she dared to toss her mind back to memories of long ago, she could recall her mother doing the exact same thing whenever she was hung up on a stressful decision or situation. Like mother like daughter. The thought didn’t bother her but rather inspired a gentle warmth within her chest that threatened to spill from her eyes. She felt good. There was no denying that. The emotions she had experienced throughout the day may have been bittersweet in nature but they left her chest feeling light and airy, ready for the future. She just had to make a decision.

Mai gilded back into the bedroom of the suite to fold and rehang the clothes that she had done earlier that day. She had tossed them onto her bed before she and John had left to visit BSPR but now the pile was an eyesore more than anything. She sat down on the side of the bed nearest the sliding glass door so she could watch and listen to the rain as it fell outside.

The downpour fell heavier as if it sensed her attention and wished to impress. The notion made her smile while she absently folded the sweatpants in her hands. The sound of the city was still prevalent even through the rain and the late hour but it was something she had learned to appreciate living in a large city. It meant life was happening. Despite the death and horror she dealt with frequently there were still people living their lives, listening to music, and talking. It was comforting. Grounding even.

Distracted, she reached for one of the lollipops on the nightstand and unwrapped it. Another rose, she noted dryly before she stuffed it into her cheek and continued working. Realistically, she should be editing the post for her blog that would be going up in a few hours but she just didn’t have the mental bandwidth to manage it just yet.

A cheeky T-shirt with a little cartoon ghost stared back at her next and she ran a hand over the faded and cracked print with a wistful smile. Yasu had gifted it to her seven years ago when she was still chasing Ayako and Masako around, taking on any case she could get her hands on.

Something in her peripherals shifted and she lifted her gaze to the doorway in alarm. Years of experience and trauma kicked her heart into a horse’s gallop before she recognized the inky black shadow that was Oliver Davis casually leaning on her door frame with his arms crossed. His eyes watched her closely, analytical, even as their gazes met.

“How’d you get here?” she asked confusion and alarm evident.

Oliver lifted a hand to display a keycard between two fingers in answer.

“Where’d you get that?” she questioned in shock.

“I happened to catch sight of John in the lobby,” he replied coolly.

Mai dropped the shirt she had been about to fold with a scowl, “What if I’d been naked or something? You can’t just waltz in like that!”

“I had assumed that, since John was staying with you, you’d have the decency to remain decent in shared spaces,” he countered condescendingly, his own version of amusement.

Mai dropped her hands to her thighs with a sigh. So much for her good mood, she internally grumbled, before pushing herself to her feet. She brushed past the man in the doorway and stepped out into the living room to pause the music video on the TV. The sudden silence threw the situation into an alarming perspective that had her crossing back to the kitchen to push her laptop shut. Knowing him, he had already made several observations since entering the room. Mai called it snooping. She couldn’t believe John had given him his key card.

Oliver trailed after her at a slower pace.

“You could have just called,” she muttered around the lollipop in her mouth before tossing it in the trash. On autopilot, she had already reached to fill the kettle with water. It was set over a lit burner before she could even stop to think of her actions. Feeling as if she had already lost by surrendering to the urge to make him tea, she turned and delved into the fridge to pull out the piece of pie that she had ordered from the bistro and had never eaten.

“I don’t have your number,” he replied, eyes pulling away from her figure as she reached up to pull the tea down from the overhead cabinet.

Mai scoffed, “You could have gotten it from Madoka or Lin, they both have it.”

“Asking for things doesn’t come easy to me,” he admitted. He set his briefcase on the kitchen island next to her laptop while Mai carefully lifted the pie from its box and set it on a plate.

Mai hummed with a grimace, “You don’t say.”

Mai turned and set the plate on the island before him, adding a fork belatedly. He eyed the offering even as she turned again, like a spinning top, and reached to pull down two teacups. The white ceramic sat before her on the countertop, innocent of any wrongdoing, but they received the brunt of her scowl regardless. She set her hands on the counter and leaned on them while waiting for the water to boil in the kettle.

The stress and panic raging through her system nearly sent her through the roof when she felt something brush up behind her just as a familiar case file was set on the counter before her.

“You left this behind,” he murmured in her ear.

“Oh,” she replied ever so eloquently, voice shaking at his proximity. Not even a decade of growth and experience could beat back her high school fan-girl self at that moment and it clearly showed in the blush that splashed across her face.

“Oh?” he repeated and that was definitely a teasing lilt in his voice.

Mai felt that familiar irritation lift its head from its long dormant nap. The fact that she had done the work to grow over the past decade, to learn to let go, and to know when it was time to say goodbye was something she held dear to her heart. It was the hardest lesson she had ever had to learn and she was damn proud of it. To have Oliver here now, attempting to deny her the opportunity to leave peacefully, teasing her? It rankled.

Mai pursed her lips and turned to face him regardless of the scant few inches between them. She met his gaze with her own and said: “I am not a toy, Oliver, don’t play. Tell me what it is you have to say.”

Oliver searched her eyes for something but she didn’t know what.

“You're different,” he finally stated, drawing back just a fraction. He reached out to rest a hand on the case file and leaned a hip up against the counter as if to make himself comfortable while he studied her.

“Yes,” Mai agreed quietly, “People grow and change.”

“Not often,” he countered.

“But often enough,” she shot back with a tilt of her head.

Oliver fell silent and Mai felt something in her chest ache horribly for the man before her. He seemed so lost. It was as if her growth had decimated the foundations he built his ideology upon. On one hand, it was exhilarating to know that she had finally managed to unbalance the great Oliver Davis, but on the other, it made her feel guilty. By the sounds of things, between this and their previous conversation in the archives, Mai was beginning to come to a realization that just might rock her very own foundation if she wasn’t careful. She shifted to face him more, her arms crossed, and brows furrowed. It seemed to her that Oliver had been using her behavioral patterns to make judgment calls long after they had parted ways. So while he might not have reached out to her over the years he had certainly remembered every detail of her personality. She wondered if, in his own convoluted way, he had once loved her. The bitterness her confession had inspired in him back then would make all the more sense. Oliver might have found someone who understood him and yet, to he who had spent his life in his brother's shadow, it seemed impossible for her feelings to be for him. And still, he had given her that photo to remember them by, to remember Gene by, before they parted ways. What a very kind thing to do.

"You could at least say goodbye to Toby," Oliver muttered.

Mai leaned back against the kitchen island and crossed her arms with a sigh. She had felt a little guilty about that but had reasoned that Toby would be far too distracted with all those in his life now at his disposal. He had only known Mai for a few short days, after all. He was so young, he'd most likely forget her by the time he was grown. And that was okay. She hadn't done it for any sort of recognition. If it really came down to it, he had the bracelet. 

"Toby will be fine," she assured him curtly. "He'll always have a connection with me." But you won't, was her silent thought, and that's why you're here.

They stared each other down until the kettle whistled and Mai moved to pour them both a cup of tea.

“Will you stay?”

The question was so startling after the stretched silence between them and Oliver’s admission that he did not enjoy asking for anything, that the kettle slipped in Mai’s grip and she reacted on instinct. Her fingers and palm seared under the bowl of the kettle while she hefted it back onto the burner before she let out a growl of pain through clenched teeth. The burn sent white sparking behind her eyes even as Oliver reached out to grip her hand between cold fingers and guided her over to the sink. It felt as if the palm of her hand had been rubbed raw to the point of bleeding by sandpaper.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly over the sound of cool water spilling from the faucet. His hand cupped hers under the stream but it did little to ease the visceral pain.

She was horrified to realize her eyes had blurred with tears. The pain had obliterated her careful control over her emotions and the stress of the day welled forth under the guise of pain despite her best attempts to reign it all in. She had wanted so desperately to be positive. She felt good knowing that she had helped in some small way, an attempt to make up for the past despite the effects it might have on her soul later - before she returned home to live out the rest of her life. And he had ruined it by following her to the hotel and asking her to stay. 

“Mai.”

Tear-filled eyes turned to him, brimming with questions and conflicting emotions, but it all fell away to muffled quiet when she felt his lips on her own. His hand tightened around hers under the stream of water and Mai felt her eyes fall shut. Her knees nearly turned to jelly under his spell but she shifted, setting her back against the island, and her stomach fluttered as he followed. His other hand settled on her cheek as he deepened the kiss, fingers splayed out through her hair.

She was incapable of understanding the turn of events at that moment. But it seemed that neither of them was truly in search of any logical explanation for the sudden shift in mood. Rather, Mai found herself pulling her hand from the water so she could wrap her arms around his neck and draw him closer, relishing in the fact that she could smell his cologne, feel the muscles of his stomach against her own, hear his sigh of pleasure before he could compose himself. It was exhilarating.

A part of her thought ‘Finally!’ while another wanted to scream in frustration with herself. She had spent a decade getting over him and now here he was bewitching her once more, a simple kiss and her knees turned weak like the schoolgirl she once was. All he had to do was ask her to stay and all that she had built up came tumbling down around her ears. She felt like a passenger in her own body, watching as the events played out before her with little control. 

They pulled apart for only a moment, eyes half-lidded, breath mingling between them. A pregnant pause in which they both stared into the eyes of the other. She could feel his heart beating beneath her own.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed, apologizing again for what she didn’t know. He could have been apologizing for the burn to her hand, which still stung something fierce despite her distraction, or for leaving her back in Japan. Perhaps he felt guilt for how he had treated her the day before when they had first met again. Or, and this might be a stretch, he might even be apologizing for attempting to manipulate her into staying instead of just being honest with her, to begin with.

“I forgive you,” she whispered in return - because she did. Oliver was just as flawed as the rest of them, no matter how much he might protest, and she had known that from the very beginning. He had no qualms with putting on an act to get what he wanted from people but the only downside to his games was that Mai, more often than not, saw right through them. But she also knew him to be kind and caring for those he chose to surround himself with. But forgiving did not mean she would forget, she mentally reminded herself. Oliver might think he could sway her to his side by offering what he knew she had wanted at one point, and maybe still wanted deep down, but she was no child. She calmed the shrieking side of her mind by promising herself she would stand her ground. That didn't mean she wouldn't enjoy it. 

His lips claimed her own and he crashed back down over her with a level of passion that stunned her. His hand cradled the back of her head, fingers buried in her locks, tearing them loose from the bun she had tossed them into earlier. The breath was stolen from her lungs in a single moment. And when he reached around her to pull her closer, flush against him, she could not help the pleased hum that slipped past her throat.

Even when the dreaded knock at the door sounded, they drew the moment out, loathe to part just yet. It was Mai who pulled away first. Oliver might have felt comfortable leaving John to wait out in the hall but she didn’t have the heart to treat her friend so rudely. Still, she was glued to the spot as he stared down at her, eyes lowered and filled with rare warmth. He ran a thumb across her swollen lips with a smirk of satisfaction pulling at his own.

When she finally moved to get the door the man turned his eyes to the forgotten cups of tea and reached over to grab one while muffled conversation from the entryway reached his ears.

“It took longer than I expected,” John could be heard saying with a chuckle.

“You never know how long laundry takes until you have to sit and watch,” Mai agreed with her own rueful laugh that might have sounded a little forced. Her voice still shook with the aftereffects of their activities.

Oliver took a sip of tea and was pleased to note that it was pleasantly warm. The citrus still clung to his tongue as the two returned from the entrance way and John sent him a particularly pointed and knowing look that Oliver had not expected the man capable of when he passed. The sound of his luggage rolling across the floor was the only disturbance in the air for a moment, Mai having paused to wring her hands with distant eyes. She looked a little lost, standing there biting her lip.

And then, suddenly, she was cool and collected again. She moved back around the island while pulling her shirt sleeve down into the palm of her hand to hide the burn that had already turned red and looked as if it were ready to blister. Oliver wanted to offer her aid, to tend to it a little more than simply running it under cool water, but it was clear she wished not to make a scene in front of John. No doubt the man was a worrier when it came to Mai. So he followed her unspoken instructions when she set the piece of pie on the other side of the island and nudged him out of the way with a hip.

“I thought you should know that Masako sent me a message,” John voiced after he had tucked his luggage under a decorative table against the wall, “She said she’s actually flying out to London tomorrow to film a special.”

Mai had moved to pick up her own cup of tea, having been eyeing the kettle with distaste. She yearned to make John his own cup but she wasn’t feeling up to tackling the thing again so soon after its betrayal. But now she paused and shot the priest a surprised look, pursing her lips and turning her distant gaze to the open sliding glass door where the sound of rain could still be heard.

“She didn’t mention that,” she finally said and took a sip of the cooling cup of tea.

“It was last minute, I guess,” John countered with a shrug, climbing onto the stool next to Oliver. “I told you that you wanted pie for a reason,” he added teasingly.

Mai turned her gaze back to the pie that Oliver had already dug into when neither of them was looking. He didn’t even bother to acknowledge John’s comment. He let their pointed stares roll right off his stupidly broad shoulders and took another bite. Mai scoffed, fighting the blush threatening her cheeks while her stomach fluttered. Memories of their activities flitted through her mind but she shunted them aside in favor of more pressing matters. 

"So Masako will be here tomorrow?" she asked haltingly. 

John turned back to face her with a thoughtful frown, "No, her flight leaves tomorrow but I imagine she'll likely be here on Wednesday." 

"I wish we could pick her up," Mai bemoaned with a sigh. She should have rented a car when she had the chance. She had wanted to distance herself from as much of her life as possible while in London and being responsible for a rental had seemed like too much at the time. She was content to take taxis and Ubers and not have to worry about anything. Now she doubted there were any available rentals so last minute. 

"Oliver, do you still have the vans?" John asked curiously, a little too curiously. That knowing gleam was still there, hovering just beneath the surface of his eyes. 

Oliver paused to send the man a sidelong glance, wary. Apparently, Mai wasn't the only one to have changed. He would have to reevaluate John and his capabilities again. As quiet and unassuming as John still was, Oliver would have to put him on a level with Madoka when it came to manipulating those around him. There was something deeper hidden beneath that angelic face of his. 

"BSPR has several vehicles at its disposal," he admitted coolly. 

"Great," John replied with a smile.  

Chapter Text

Oliver Davis was a workaholic. This did not come as a surprise to anyone within his vicinity because they themselves had made that judgment within an hour of meeting him. Even Luella had deduced his predicted trajectory when she and Martin had first found the twins in an orphanage in the United States. While Eugene had been sociable and bright, Oliver had kept his nose buried in a book on mathematics for the entire duration of their first visit. Luella had been forced to break into her stash of candy set aside for emergencies just to get a glimpse of the boy’s eyes before they were once more hidden behind the pages of his book. But oh what eyes he had. PK aside, a part of Luella had always known Oliver would be something great even though she had no idea what his greatness would entail. His eyes had been bluer than Eugene’s by a few shades and they were far darker for the things that they had seen.

So it was more than a little amusing to see him slumped back in his seat behind the steering wheel of the van with a pair of sunglasses firmly shoved over his nose at ten AM on a Wednesday. He was wearing a pair of dark grey sweatpants and a black t-shirt over which he had pulled on a black coat against the chill of the early morning. In the next row of the van, Toby was strapped into his booster seat, head nodding against sleepiness. He had fought to remain in his dinosaur hoodie costume, citing that it was perfect against the cold with a pair of boots, and Oliver had folded immediately in the foyer of their house with nary a pause of hesitation.

Luella had come along for the ride and sat next to Toby on the bench, her hands clasped in her lap while she sent each occupant knowing looks. Even Mai, seated up front next to her son, looked more than ready to doze off. She was buried beneath a black textured coat that fell to her knees, a black and white sweater, and a pair of jeans. She was sipping from a to-go cup of coffee while her eyes scanned her phone from behind a pair of sunglasses, waiting for the notification that Masako’s plane had landed.

The morning weather had been excellent when Luella first woke, an hour before Martin, and had slipped out of bed to make herself a cup of tea. The sunroom, dark as it was despite its name, still provided her a great view of their small property near the city. The dew glistening in the rising sun had been nearly magical. She had been enjoying her moment of peace when Toby had bounded by the grand archway leading into the sunroom in his dinosaur onesie and flapped about excitedly.

"We're going to see Mai," he exclaimed.

"Oh dear," Luella said with a chuckle, to have so much energy in the morning was a gift for the young only. This was made abundantly clear when her son walked past looking more like his brother than himself, dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt. In fact, the clothes might once have belonged to Gene, long since pilfered by Oliver. It was far from uncommon. After all, Gene's room had been left untouched. "Are you feeling well, Oliver?" she asked worriedly, despite the ball of excitement at her feet. 

"Fine," he assured her in the quiet and dispassionate manner he so favored, "Just tired."

"I slept in Daddy's bed last night," Toby declared triumphantly. 

 "Did you?" Luella questioned mirthfully, "And how was it?"

"He wiggles," Oliver stated grimly. 

Luella snorted and took a sip of her tea to hide against Oliver's dry expression. The poor boy, so unused to sharing his space with others, was now a father of one of the most clingy and excitable creatures Luella had ever come across. But he was doing well, she reminded herself. Years of combating his abilities with self-control and regulation had provided him an upper hand when it came to the frustrations of raising a child. He never acted on his emotions. 

"Toby says you're going to see Mai today?" she asked with a teasing note in her voice. 

Oliver leaned up against the archway with arms crossed, "Yes, Masako Hara is flying in and I offered to take her to pick her up." 

"Well, aren't you sweet," Luella stated, delighted.  

"They'll probably want to get lunch as well," Oliver added, "Would you like to come, Mother?"

More like 'I'm outnumbered, please bolster my numbers against these women because Toby doesn't count' Luella thought with another chuckle.

There had been an obvious shift in dynamics between those two and Luella was no fool. She pulled at the sleeves of her sweater and settled back in her seat to watch tourists and locals alike meander through the parking lot.

“What did you guys do yesterday?” Mai asked Oliver absently.

Oliver’s head lifted and Luella suspected he had dozed off for a moment before he swung his gaze over to Mai, silent while he belatedly processed her question. “Toby wanted to go to the zoo and the aquarium,” he said simply. His lenses were too dark for Mai to see through but she knew his deadpan expression well through the tone of voice alone.

“And you took him to both?” she questioned with a chuckle.

Oliver did not dignify her question with a response.

Mai struggled to contain her laughter in an effort not to wake the sleeping child but was forced to cover her mouth with shaking shoulders. The image of Oliver Davis trailing after a small child in such fun and bright locations, filled with people and entertainment, was too much for her. She hoped he had worn those sunglasses the whole time while dressed all in black. But it was sweet. Toby was now able to enjoy things that had terrified him before and Oliver was simply incapable of denying him. No wonder the man was nodding off in the front seat. He could pull several overnighters during an investigation, spending hours upon hours scrutinizing monitors and his notes, but stick him outside under the sun with an energetic child for a few hours and he crumbled.

“And what did you do yesterday?” he asked in retaliation, his voice dry.

“Had a Zoom meeting with both publishers regarding sales of the final installment of my series, did some preliminary research on the next one, and helped John find his own hotel room. Did some shopping. Then booked the restaurant for dinner tonight,” she listed off with a smile.

“Aren’t you productive,” he commented coolly.

Mai shot him a soft look and lightly swatted his shoulder with the back of her hand, “Making memories with Toby is productive.”

Oliver let out a gusty sigh and his shoulders slumped under her scrutiny. “You’re right,” he admitted and not even Mai’s casual acceptance of such a statement could quell the utter shock that overcame Luella upon hearing such words. Hundreds of thousands of arguments over the past twenty years and not a single one ended with Oliver Davis admitting he was wrong. Luella scoffed in the back.

If Lin was there he would have never let Oliver live it down. As it was, the man hadn’t been able to pull himself away from the office for the day. He had promised to bring Madoka and Lixin to dinner that evening once he had finished up with his most recent case report. Perhaps, it had been a blessing in disguise that they were the only ones to come along for the ride. Anymore and the van would have grown less cozy and more stuffy. Tired Oliver was bad enough, but Oliver who was tired and stuffed into a small space with people were two very different monsters. Luella would never forget that camping trip.

“Her planes here!” Mai cheered suddenly, shattering the quiet of the van.

Oliver sent her a look that might have been a scowl but they would never know thanks to his glasses. Toby startled awake, glancing about the van while rubbing his eyes. He had been rather amicable in the mornings though since Mai had given him the bracelet, so Luella wasn’t surprised when he simply smacked his lips and reached for his sippy cup in the cupholder on his seat. The sound of him reaching the end of his apple juice drew the attention of the two up front and Mai reached back without thought to pull a new bottle from the lunch box stuffed under the front seat while Oliver started the van. With expert hands she took the cup Toby held out to her and unscrewed the lid to pour him a new cup. Toby accepted his fresh cup with a mumbled “thanks” and returned to sipping it down before Oliver had even pulled the van out of the parking spot.

“She’s staying at the same hotel as me, so we can bring her over so she can check in and then we can get lunch at the restaurant downstairs,” Mai said once she had turned back around in her seat.

Oliver glanced both ways before he pulled out into the line of traffic headed toward the pickup. “Are you sure Hodge won’t take a swing at me?” he asked breezily.

“No,” she replied with a smirk, “I don’t.” She turned her gaze to him, almost challenging.

Oliver sent her a quick look before he snorted, “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“I absolutely would,” she admitted without an ounce of shame.

“It’s hard to rationalize you with the same person who used to stutter and blush around me,” Oliver added a few moments later when they had pulled under the parking garage and into the pickup line. Several vehicles maneuvered around them to try and cut ahead while some travelers simply chose to walk out to the lot. Toby had lifted his nose to the window to watch with interest. His hands left a smudge across the window but the BSPR van hadn’t seen much action since Oliver had adopted Toby, so Luella felt it was of no great concern. They’d probably park the thing back in the garage for another few months after this.

“That happens when the charm wears off,” Mai informed him blithely.

“You thought I was charming?” Oliver questioned with a smirk tugging at one corner of his mouth.

Mai laughed in his face, “Not once.”

Even Luella could see this was blatant flirting, as out of the game as she was after thirty years of marriage, but she only bit her tongue and smiled. She was just happy to see Oliver happy.

“I think you’re a bad influence on Toby,” Oliver muttered while pulling the vehicle to a stop in front of the rolling glass doors that separated the garage from the airport. Inside there were thousands of people milling about, moving from gate to gate. They were spilling out into the garage through several of such doors but no familiar face had appeared yet.

“I am not,” she argued with a chuckle.

Oliver shot her a look to reply, really, it was the most Luella had heard him speak outside of a case or Toby, but he cocked his head and turned his gaze over her shoulder. Luella turned her own head to try and see who it was who had caught his attention but Oliver relieved her of having to ask.

“You didn’t say anything about Takigawa,” he commented grimly.

“What?” Mai questioned in confusion before she whipped around in her seat to stare out the window and sure enough, Takigawa Houshou stood out among the crowd thanks to his height and long hair. He waved at the van upon spotting it and Mai was quick to undo her seatbelt and throw the door open. “Monk!” she exclaimed in delight. Not only did she leap from the van but she ran the remaining distance to the man without hesitation. 

Monk scooped her up in his arms and spun her about with a laugh. He was dressed in a black shirt and a leather jacket, jeans ripped and dirty, but his boots were at least clean and new. Mai had missed his all-encompassing hugs that seemed to glue her back together whenever she felt the need to fall apart. Her feet dangled over the ground while he refused to relinquish his hold.

“Put her down, Houshou, she’s not a toy,” Ayako’s voice cut over the sound of the chattering crowd.

Monk dropped Mai to the ground and she immediately turned to throw herself at Ayako with a laugh. The woman gave her a gentle embrace with a quick squeeze before pushing her back by her shoulders to look her over. “You’ve been eating good,” she observed with a satisfied nod.

“I made sure,” she assured her. Mai had often gotten lost in her work, writing well into the night, and hunger was often shoved onto the backburner when she was in the swing of things. Ayako had staged an intervention when Mai had fallen down a pant size. She was skinny enough as it was.

A pair of arms wrapped around her from behind and Mai startled for a moment before she chuckled and patted Yasuhara’s arm. “I missed you too, Yasu,” she drawled with fake exasperation.

“I thought we’d surprise you,” Masako spoke up from the midst of the growing group. She was wearing black slacks and a red blouse under a coat rather than the traditional kimono Mai was so used to seeing her in. She supposed it wasn’t comfortable to fly in such restricting attire, especially not for a flight from Tokyo to London.

“You’ve been doing that a lot this past month,” Mai mused ruefully with her hands on her hips.

Masako clasped her hands before her and tilted her head in an accepting nod, “I have been worried.”

Mai looked at them all and reached out to grip one of Masako’s hands in appreciation, a dangerous heat building in her eyes. She had missed her family dearly and here they were, an entire continent away from home, just for her. She really had gotten so lucky when she found them. Masako smiled kindly in her return and squeezed her hand back affectionately. She had no idea how they managed to organize this all, to make sure they all had the time off, but they had done it and she would be damned if she took it for granted. She’d have to spoil them rotten while they were in London.

“You’re lucky I brought the van.”

They all turned their eyes to Oliver Davis standing outside of the van with his hands shoved into his coat pockets. His breath fogged in the air while he watched them from behind the glasses that carefully obscured his expression.

“Yeah,” added Toby, who had rolled the window down and hung his arms out to watch them curiously.

“Naru-bou!” Monk exclaimed and approached the younger man with a knowing smirk before he wrapped his arms around him and squeezed for all that he was worth. Oliver grunted under the strain but accepted the embrace without complaint, having known it was coming since the moment he had set eyes upon the monk in the crowd. “My gosh, you’re so tall, and when did you get these muscles,” he rambled and gripped his shoulders. “Is that your pet dinosaur?” he tossed out in Toby’s direction.

“I’m not his pet, I’m his son,” Toby argued indignantly.

“I always knew he was a lizard,” Yasu added, “No one could be as cold-hearted as Big Boss except a reptile.”

“Enough,” Ayako chided and smacked the back of Yasuhara’s head, seeing as Monk was well outside of striking distance.

“Toby,” Mai called to the boy through her jovial laughter, “This is my family.” She introduced him to everyone and vice versa now that the bantering had been reigned in by Ayako. They all greeted Toby, who offered his hand for a handshake to each of them, ending with Masako who had lifted her free hand to cover her mouth despite the absence of a kimono sleeve. Her cheeks were tinted pink, obviously finding the little boy so utterly adorable that she struggled to contain herself.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Toby called quietly after introductions had been made and SPR replied in kind, offering quick bows and chuckles.

“Such manners,” Yasu observed, “Nothing like Big Boss.”

“I’m freezing my tail off, can we go?” Ayako asked, prompting everyone to pile up their luggage in the back before clambering into the vehicle.

“Oh my gosh, Mrs. Davis, I didn’t even notice you, I’m so sorry,” Monk exclaimed as soon as he had pulled himself up into the van.

“Oh, don’t you worry about me,” Luella assured him mirthfully, “I’m just here to enjoy myself.”

“And has it been entertaining?” Monk asked knowingly while climbing into the very back to sit behind her. He dropped into the seat with a grunt, already stiff from the flight and more than ready to reach the hotel so he could take a hot shower and a nap.

Luella turned to look back at him from over her shoulder, glancing out to see that Mai and Oliver were still helping Masako load her luggage before she answered: “Very. Flirtatious even.”

“You don’t say,” Monk drawled mischievously.

“What’s flirtatious mean?” Toby asked, whipping around to face his grandmother with furrowed brows.

“Ask your father,” Luella advised, earning a chuckle from Monk just as Ayako climbed in.

“You’ll have to adjust the reservation,” Oliver observed while the two of them stood back to watch as Yasu, the last of their pickup, climbed into the back of the van.

Mai was chewing on the nail of her thumb when she came to the exact same realization. It had been difficult to get as much seating as she had but now she feared she might have to throw a bit of cash at the restaurant to add three more seats. They were going to hate her. She heaved a sigh and let her hand drop from her mouth with a shrug. “What can you do?” she asked. Regardless of the difficulties she would face to make it happen, the thought of having everyone together at the same dinner table was enough to make her cry. Again. She hadn’t even been able to sit down with SPR in over a month and now Oliver, Lin, and Madoka were back in the picture with their own little additions. It was going to be a night to remember forever.

Oliver sent her a glance and reached out to grip her hand comfortingly before he parted ways from her and moved around to reclaim his seat behind the wheel. Mai glanced down at her hand, a dusting of pink visible, and scoffed. She wasn’t charmed. Not one bit.

With the introduction of the rest of her family, Mai had no doubt that chaos would remain throughout the duration of their stay in London. Not that they intentionally created mayhem wherever they went, it was just that they all had such reactive personalities that only played off of each other and built and built until something gave. Without the presence of the stoic men, Lin or Oliver to counter their behavior, things were more likely to get out of hand than not. It was another of Mai's treasured lessons that she learned over the years. At times it could be quite entertaining but, more often than not, it led to trouble. 

So she was silently relieved when the majority of them split off to claim their rooms at The Lion and lay down for sleep. Masako remained, as she was the one who had agreed to lunch, and John came down from his own room to meet with them and greet the medium cheerfully. 

"Did you know?" Mai asked John ruefully as he approached them in the lobby. She stood with her arms crossed next to Masako, wearing a smirk. 

"I might have," John admitted before reaching out to give Masako a quick hug. 

"John!" Toby exclaimed excitedly, energy returned after his nap, and bounced over to the priest like the velociraptor he was dressed as. When he was within striking distance he wrapped his arms around the man's legs in greeting. 

"Good morning, Toby," John replied with a chuckle and reached down to pat his head under the hood.  

"Could we move this to the restaurant?" Masako asked shyly, "I'm afraid I'm famished after the flight."

The hotel restaurant was a sight to behold. Mai rarely chose to frequent it because it felt a little too high class for her comfort, instead, she visited the bakery across the street or found more restaurants in the city to explore. Which only contributed to the collection of growing to-go boxes in her fridge. 

The large room was spacious enough to easily seat two hundred guests. A large and ornately detailed arched ceiling made the already cavernous room feel more open and from the eaves hung massive crystal chandeliers that Mai was pretty certain would kill a person if they were to drop. She blamed her occupation and hobbies for such morbid trains of thought. Grand pillars surrounded the room, supporting the great domed ceiling, and behind them on two walls were strings of large windows looking out onto the city. Booths lined up beneath the glass for a more private dining experience while simple tables with comfortable chairs sat under the chandeliers. As was the theme for The Lion, the color scheme ranged from brilliant whites to silver and grey. 

"Oh, how lovely," Luella mused as they entered through the main doors. 

"It is," Masako admitted in wonder. 

Mai broke from the group to approach the host stand with a smile. The woman standing behind the podium perked up upon her approach and gave her a smirk in return. 

"We've been wondering when you'd make it down here," she said in greeting. 

Mai laughed, "Here I am."

The hostess glanced over her shoulder to do a quick head count, eyes lingering over the figure of Oliver Davis for just a moment, before she added a kid's menu and some crayons on top of the stack she had assembled. Her name badge glinted in the bright daylight spilling in from the numerous massive windows: Monica. "Would you prefer a table or a booth?" she asked pleasantly. 

Mai glanced back at their gathered group thoughtfully before her eyes landed on the dinosaur in the midst and she turned back to face Monica with a smile, "Booth, please," so they could pen Toby in. 

They followed Monica in a staggered line across the restaurant with Mai in the lead. She was already pulling her coat off before they had even reached the large corner booth, surrounded by windows that looked out onto the river and surrounding city. Monica set out the menus and Mai stood back to wait while the rest of her friends and family slid into the booth and made themselves comfortable. A pile of coats was collected in the center of the booth, safe from falling into the line of foot traffic, so Mai passed Oliver her's to be added before she sat down at one end, across from Masako. Toby sat next to Mai, the booth seat just high enough for him to reach the table comfortably, and Oliver on his other side. Next was Leulla, who had chosen to sit next to John. 

"Your server will be right with you," Monica assured them, "Would anyone care for tea, coffee, or water in the meantime?"

The resounding call for coffee was staggering. Even Oliver had passed up on a cup of tea, and as he finally pulled the sunglasses from his face, Mai couldn't blame him, the poor man had dark circles bruising the underside of his eyes. Of course, even those he managed to wear perfectly. Mai rolled her eyes before turning her attention to Masako. 

"So is there an actual special that you're filming for?" Mai asked with a chuckle. 

"Not yet," Masako admitted with a blush. She pulled the rolled napkin free of its silverware and set it across her lap while they spoke. "I have a meeting in a week to discuss a possible special but nothing has been confirmed."

"So what brought you here to London so early?" Luella asked as Monica returned with a carafe of coffee and worked to fill a cup for each of them, offering orange juice or milk to Toby. 

Masako's eyes trailed after Monica's movements, waiting to continue once the hostess was no longer in hearing distance. Toby accepted the cup of milk happily and took a sip. "I was worried," Masako admitted, absently lifting a hand to her mouth once more. She and John shared a quick look that sparked Oliver's curiosity. "Mai, you haven't been yourself for several months," she continued quietly, "We've all been anxious, and when you left for London we agreed that we would follow if we had to."

"What?" Mai questioned in surprise, eyes wide. She hadn't felt any different, maybe a little listless now that her series had come to an end. Her heart skipped a beat as fear spiked through her. Such situations were not uncommon in those who were experiencing possession. She didn't have anyone or thing clinging to her, did she? Unconsciously, one of her hands drifted to her throat, a physical reminder that she could still breathe just fine. 

"There's nothing," Masako assured her soothingly. 

"You've just been distant, distracted," John added with a gentle calming smile. "It's not that unusual but for you, considering how quickly you usually bounce back after everything, we worried." 

On the other side of Toby, Oliver shifted, lifting a hand to his chin in thought. 

"Mai is fine," Toby assured them confidently, milk cup half empty and shoved to the side on the table. He reached out to put a hand on her wrist and furrowed brows as if to double-check his own work before he nodded to himself. "Yes, she's good. Maybe Mai just knew she had to come see me," Toby theorized.

The table burst into amused chuckles, with the exception of Oliver, and Mai pushed Toby's hood back so she could ruffle his curls and place a kiss on his head. "You're such a cutie, I knew even before I met you," she cooed teasingly, reaching out to tickle his stomach. He giggled in response and tossed himself across his father's lap to escape her torture. 

Their waiter arrived to collect their orders a few minutes later, the brunch menu was still in full swing so Mai didn't feel guilty about ordering herself a plate of eggs Benedict. Halfway through their meal Oliver paused and pulled his phone from the pocket of his coat and glanced at the screen. Luella was in deep conversation with John about religious exorcisms when Oliver leaned behind Toby and laid a hand against the small of Mai's back. She froze at the contact but turned her head just a fraction as he murmured in her ear: "I have to take this." 

Oh, he was getting a phone call. She glanced about the table and Masako's blush and averted gaze confirmed she had noticed Oliver's display so Mai was quick to push herself out of the booth, tugging Toby along, so Oliver could stand and lift the phone to his ear. He delved into the foot traffic of the restaurant without hesitation. 

Mai heaved a sigh. Why was a simple touch enough to send her heart pounding? She reclaimed her seat with Toby, who was oblivious to the event and finished her meal in contemplation. Oliver didn't return until they had all tucked their food away and by then, it was time to part ways. They all had a dinner to attend that evening and Mai desperately needed a nap, and so did Oliver by the looks of things. 

Chapter Text

The sound of a knock at her door pulled her from the nap she had surrendered herself to a few hours prior. Mai pushed herself up in her bed with a gasp, her heart racing in her chest as if she had just run a marathon. The swelling panic that took her over was enough to nearly send her into hyperventilation while her eyes scanned her surroundings before she lunged for the nightstand. The lamp atop it teetered threateningly but she ignored it, delving into the drawer to pull a notebook from its depths with a pen shoved into the binding. It was an old thing, ragged and worn after years of use, but still its pages seemed to never end. Mai had once wondered if it was magic because no matter how many dreams she wrote down there was always one more empty page available.

“What was it?” she asked herself, voice shaking. She uncapped the pen and paused with it hovering over the paper. What had she dreamed? Her mind was drowned out by darkness. No images or voices to offer her a clue as to what it was she had experienced. All she had known was that something was coming for her. She had felt as if her heart was going to burst in her chest with the level of terror that was coursing through her veins.

Her hand shook so terribly that the staggering pen marks were scattered across the paper while she struggled to compose herself.

The knock at her door came again and she jumped. The pen tumbled from her hands and was lost under the bed. She heaved a steadying breath and lifted a hand to cover her eyes. She needed to get herself together and answer the door. They all had a dinner to attend that night and Mai would be damned if she let the reservation slip through her fingers after how much of a fight she had to put up to get it.

“I’m coming,” she called out, hoping her voice didn’t shake too terribly.

She pushed herself out of bed and stood on trembling legs before shuffling out into the main room and then the entryway. The door was pulled open to reveal Ayako standing on the other side. She was already dressed and ready for the evening, which was no surprise to Mai. The woman had taken to getting ready first so Monk could take his time playing around with his hair and finding an outfit that was just the right amount of ruffian. Her black cocktail dress looked stunning, glimmering in the bright light of the hall, but Mai expected nothing less of Ayako.

“What’s wrong?” Ayako asked, her eyes already scanning Mai’s pale and sweaty face before she had even said anything.

“I had a dream,” she admitted while stepping back to let Ayako in.

“A bad one?” Ayako questioned, setting her purse on the entry table.

“I don’t know,” Mai answered with a frustrated sigh, “I couldn’t see anything. I just knew that something was coming for me and the fear alone was enough to kill.”

Ayako turned to examine Mai, lips pursed. There was a moment of silence between them before Ayako reached out to pull Mai into a steadying hug. The way she melted into her arms was enough to confirm that the dream had been utterly frightening and that Mai was not exaggerating out of frustration. After years of managing Mai’s dreams and intuitions, Ayako had long since learned not to ignore them as they often came at just the right time. But as far as she knew, Mai hadn’t taken on any sort of case and it wasn’t as if the hotel was haunted. Masako would have swooned by now, Ayako mused to herself wryly.

“Well,” the older woman began tentatively, “Why don’t we get you ready for this evening and when all the kiddies and old folks go to bed, we can all discuss it together? It’ll be just like old times.”

Mai bit her lip but eventually, logic outweighed the flagging adrenalin racing through her system. It had been months since she had last suffered such a dream, long before she had left for London. She had taken a case with Ayako to help a man being haunted by his late daughter. It had been an emotionally distressing case but the man had been so relieved at the end that he had openly sobbed in front of the two women when they gave him the good news that his daughter had finally passed on. But not even that horrible case, filled with memories that Mai dare not revisit now, had felt nothing like the night terror she had just experienced.

As Ayako led her back to her room to get her cleaned up and dressed her eyes drifted over to the kitchen island where the old unsolved case sat resting innocently under the overhead light of the stove.

Mai was feeling better by the time there was another knock at her door. Ayako had practically tossed her into the shower after instructing her to wash her face with cold water. The drastic temperature changes were enough to wake her up and ground her back into reality. She spent several minutes just enjoying the hot water before she cleaned herself up and climbed out with a towel wrapped around her and went to work brushing her teeth and blow-drying her hair. From the reflection in the mirror, she could see Ayako snooping through her closet in search of a dress for her to wear to dinner that night.

“This is definitely the one,” Ayako announced when she ventured into the bathroom, brandishing a burnt orange velvet piece that Mai had bought on impulse a few weeks ago. It was a long-sleeved dress that stopped a few inches above her knees but it did fit the season well. She could tuck herself away in her black coat and pull on a pair of pointed-toe ankle boots that she had stashed somewhere in the closet.

“You just might be right,” she agreed with a smirk. She was glad she was finally getting an opportunity to wear it.

Now she sat at the built-in vanity in the small hall between the bathroom and the rest of the bedroom applying a careful layer of mascara to her lashes while Ayako moved to answer the door. She could hear muffled voices from the other room but could not make out any words. Except, of course, for the excited shout of her name.

“Mai!”

“Incoming,” Ayako called back lazily over the sound of tiny feet pounding across the faux marble flooring.

“I’m in here, Toby,” she called back and chuckled when his running stopped and he turned about to race into the room. She leaned back and turned to look as he barreled into her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Well, don’t you look handsome,” she observed with a cheeky grin. He had been wrangled into a button-up black shirt and little blue jeans. His brown loafers had been traded out for a black pair that had yet to earn any scuffs or scratches.

Toby pulled back and scrutinized her with furrowed brows.

“You’d don’t feel good,” he stated quietly.

“I’ll be alright,” she assured him, running a hand through his freshly washed curls. He preened under the attention for a fraction of a moment before he let go of her and hurried back out into the main room. Mai heaved a sigh and returned to touching up the liner around her left eye. She was just about done and then she and Ayako could go join the rest of them that were no doubt gathering downstairs.

She noticed the moment Toby returned because he was pulling Oliver along by a single finger. The man had worn a black turtle neck sweater under his long coat and Mai was reminded strongly of their younger days by the sight. Oliver freed his finger from his son’s grasp before pulling him to his side in a quick one-armed embrace.

“Go with Ayako for a moment,” he instructed the boy gently.

“Kay,” Toby agreed with a rather curt nod for a five-year-old and dashed back out of the room with more energy than Mai could recall ever having.

Oliver approached the vanity and sat down on the bench facing the opposite direction.

Mai set the eyeliner down and picked up the powderpuff from a jar of setting powder and leaned forward to blot it across her face. She didn’t want a stray cloud of the stuff to reach Oliver in his all-black attire. Not that it would be too difficult to get out but still, she could already imagine the look he’d give her.

It was nice having him so close.

“Did something happen?” he asked quietly when they could both hear Toby pestering Ayako about her relationship with Mai. The woman responded in dry tones but it was clear even she was smitten by the little man.

Mai worked in silence for a moment because she understood that this was a turning point. Oliver could attempt to woo her to his side all he wanted and it was still up in the air whether she would stay or go. Just because he asked for her to stay and kissed her senseless didn’t mean either of them had promised themselves to each other and she knew he was more than intelligent enough to know that. It was the reason she didn’t feel any pressure over their circumstances. The memory might still bring a blush to her cheeks but her heart had yet to be swayed. But telling him of her dreams? That was like leaping right back into the deep end. Oliver was a dog with a bone when it came to the paranormal. As soon as she gave him a single lick of information he would follow it until the end without hesitation and she would be dragged along for the ride. Because she was just the same.

She sat back on the bench to scrutinize her makeup distractedly. It was the best she could do. She was no Ayako who had perfected the cat eyeliner and perfect brow but Mai had always had a bit of a natural charm to her face anyways, so the less she did the better.

“I dreamed,” she finally admitted, her voice small even by her own standards. She cleared her throat of the emotions threatening to overtake her and tried again. “I couldn’t catch any details, just darkness, but I knew something was coming for me. The level of fear…” she trailed off and clasped her shaking hands in her lap with a shuddering breath. “I’ve never felt fear like that,” she whispered with a shake of her head, “Not even during the Urado case.”

Oliver turned on the bench to face her even though she had lowered her gaze to her hands, struggling to calm herself before the tears came, the last thing she needed was to ruin the makeup she just finished. She felt his hand find her back and the touch threatened to shatter what little composer she clung to.

“Mai,” he called her name quietly. She lifted her eyes to his and met his own searching gaze with pursed lips. “We’ll figure it out,” he assured her. “Was it the museum?” he asked.

Mai allowed her gaze to drift while she cast her mind back to the dream. She remembered the smell of dust and dirt, the muffled silence that came with being tucked away somewhere, in a closet or underground. The feel of cold cement beneath her fingers while she scrabbled to push herself into a corner, out of site. Her throat burning from her panicked and desperate gulps of air.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Then it can wait,” he assured her gently, “That case has waited nearly thirty years. We have time.”

Mai nodded and lifted her eyes in an attempt to dry her tears, “Okay,” she murmured.

Oliver stood and offered her a hand that she accepted without hesitation. She stepped around the bench and didn’t miss the way his eyes strayed down the length of her legs before he swept his gaze away. She reached for her coat hanging in her closet and pulled it on over the dress, feeling her cheek tug a smirk from her lips despite her efforts to hide it. Oliver rolled his eyes in return. She wondered how often he had been tortured by her short skirts when they were teenagers. She suddenly had so much more respect for poor Lin.

“Let’s go,” she said and reached out to wrap her arms around one of his, pulling him along and back out into the main room.

“Are you guys done yet?” Ayako groused, a hand on her hip. Her eyes alighted upon their linked arms but only quirked a brow in response.

“I’m ready,” Mai admitted with a grin.

“Yay!” Toby exclaimed, leaping off the barstool to wrap his arms around Mai’s legs.

“Good work, Toby,” Mai praised, once more ruffling his curls with a smile. Oliver was just who she had needed to see to fully bounce back after her dream and Toby had known it. He reached up with grabby hands, a beaming smile on his face, and Mai could simply not refuse. She hefted him up onto her hip and squeezed him for good measure while he giggled away. “These little cheeks will be the death of me,” she cooed, pinching at them regardless of his playful protests. He buried his face in the crook of her neck and wrapped one arm around her neck while the other hid his face away from her attacks.

“Alright, everyone else is already downstairs,” Ayako informed them and ushered them out into the hall.

Mai was just thankful she had remembered to stuff her keycard in the small black bag that hung from her wrist. The door clicked shut and Ayako breezed by to call the elevator at the same moment Mai felt Oliver’s hand find her lower back. She had traded his arm for Toby, after all, but her cheeks warmed regardless. He seemed rather comfortable reaching for her those days, she mused. But she dared not think further on the subject considering just who it was she had sitting on her hip. 

“There you guys are!” Monk called out from across the lobby when they stepped out of the elevator, oblivious to the attention his outburst earned from other guests.

Ayako was quick to shush her husband but Yasuhara was the one who lifted his fingers to frame Mai, Oliver, and Toby with a grin. “Aren’t you guys cute?” he asked while Masako giggled into her hand. John only shook his head in bemusement. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Mai drawled, waving him off with one hand while the other supported Toby. Despite her bravado, Oliver’s hand fell away from her back as they approached the group. She could only assume he didn’t want the entirety of SPR jumping down either of their throats for information or pestering them on their status. She couldn’t blame him, really. She at least still had little Toby to hold tight to.

“Our rides already here,” Monk informed them, stretching out the sports jacket he had pulled on over a graphic band tee.

Outside the sun had begun to set. It tossed great rays of light that turned the clouds pink and orange as it fought against the inevitable. It was only a Wednesday evening but still, the city was teeming with life and activity and the number of guests and visitors moving through the hotel was impressive while the group descended the stairs leading out to the roundabout where a large vehicle outside of which Lin was already waiting for them.

“Is that a damn party bus?” Monk asked with a snort.

“Oh my,” Masako commented with a chuckle. She had chosen a red kimono and an orange obi that evening so her sleeve returned to cover the lower of her face even as her eyes danced with mirth.

“Technically,” Mai admitted with a laugh. “But it was the only thing big enough to fit all of us and I wanted to make sure everyone makes it back safely,” she defended with only a little indignation. Knowing that Luella enjoyed her wine just as much as Mai and Ayako did had been the primary inspiration. It wasn’t fair to make the boys drag them all home if they wanted to have a drink or two themselves.

“Lin!” Monk cheered as they drew close. The two men shook hands and Lin took the congratulatory clap on the back Monk gave him for having successfully become a father himself. Ayako was quick to slip in and give the man a hug that he returned with far more ease than he would have ten years ago. Mai supposed absence really did make the heart grow fonder. That and having a wife and child. Lin even gripped Yasu’s shoulder and smiled at the younger man when he drew near.

Mai stepped up onto the bus with Toby in haul and smiled when she found the Davis clan, already waiting for the rest of the group. There was plenty of room on the long benches that spanned each side of the bus and looked out onto the city through heavily tinted windows. The lighting was low, meant to keep its occupants in the nightlife mood, but the driver had at least opted to keep the fun neons off given their dinner was a family event.

“I found Mai,” Toby informed those on the bus as Mai carefully made her way to the back and sat down next to John.

“You did,” Luella agreed with a chuckle. “You look lovely, Mai,” Luella added and reached out to pat the woman’s knee adoringly.

“Thank you, Luella, you’re looking radiant yourself,” Mai replied in kind. And it was true! Luella had donned a champagne-colored dress that only brought out her warm tones and brightened her eyes.

Luella waved her off with a laugh that left Martin shaking his head in amusement. It was wonderful seeing how much the two still loved each other after thirty years of marriage. Mai was beginning to feel such love was rarer and rarer as time wore on. There were just too many people in the world. She couldn’t even recall whether or not her parents had still loved each other, just as tenderly as the day they had traded vows, because her father had died so young… She hoped that they had. She was certain that her mother had loved her dearly, though, and that had to be enough for her.

Mai looked down to meet Toby’s eyes and smiled, reaching up to poke his nose. In response, he rubbed at his nose and reached out to wrap his arms around her neck. “I love you, Mai,” he mumbled quietly into her shoulder, reassuring her of his affection. The whisper was so quiet that not even Oliver, lowering himself down onto the seat next to her, could hear the words. Mai wrapped her arms around Toby’s back and settled her head atop his with misty eyes.

“I love you too, little man,” she whispered but Oliver’s eyes met hers regardless. There was no way she could whisper the words back quietly enough to prevent him from hearing and she felt a little horrible for it. Oliver had only just gotten to hear the words from Toby himself, and now Toby was sharing them with her too.

But Oliver just reached out to run his fingers through Toby’s curls with that rare gentle warmth that the young boy had managed to cultivate in him. Toby shifted so he could see his father, one eye peeking out from Mai’s shoulder, and reached a hand out for him as well.

The rest of their group filed onto the bus and the small moment of chaos that ensued while everyone attempted to get themselves settled allowed Mai a moment to catch sight of Madoka sitting across from her, phone in hand and filming everything. She turned the device to face Mai and waved with a wink and a giggle. Mai smiled in return. It seemed she wasn’t the only one happy to have the whole gang back together.

“Mrs. Mori!” Yasu exclaimed from the front of the bus. He all but shoved Monk out of the way to crouch before the woman and take one of her hands in his. “I have missed you,” he admitted.

“Yasu, it’s been far too long,” she said cheerily. “Look, this is little Lixin.”

Yasu turned his attention to the car seat and shifted his glasses a bit, leaning over to examine the baby with genuine adoration. “He really does look just like Lin, just tiny,” he observed with a chuckle.

“I know,” Madoka assured him with a roll of her eyes that had everyone laughing.

The bus ride was relatively short in the grand scheme of things. It really was just to ferry their large group to the restaurant in one go so they could avoid the stress of organizing meet-up times and designated drivers so, despite the chunk of change Mai had dropped on it, she was more than happy to do it. Toby stayed in her lap throughout the duration. He sat back and watched the large group of adults around him chatter away and knit themselves back together after a month of being apart and, in some cases, a decade. It was wonderful for him to remain in the presence of everyone without feeling overwhelmed. He could feel each personality shifting and wavering around him in the organic ebb and flow of energy but not one of them was too bright or too loud.

But most importantly of all, they made Mai happy. When he had first met her she had felt like a little orange flame in the pressing darkness. A small sea of calm warmth in the chaos that he had instinctively gravitated towards like a dying man in a desert. When she touched him the chaos calmed and he could feel that flame pulsing around him in a bubble of protective warmth that had nearly made him cry the first time. But now that her friends were here she felt like a bonfire. They were all sitting around the fire pit outside and her friends had gathered to enjoy her warmth and protection, to continue to feed it with their own energies, like adding wood to the fire. And it was one of the most wonderful things he had ever experienced in his few short years of life.

His father was like the ocean at night. It was the reason he had been so terrified of getting close. The surface was placid and cold but beneath was a storm of riptides and monstrous creatures that would suck him in and pull him under. But when Mai was near… it was like the sun rose the next morning. The ocean was still dangerous and unpredictable, but nothing a seasoned sailor couldn’t handle. And there was beauty there too. Deep blue waves sparkling in the sunlight would welcome him in if he chose to jump from the ship, they’d carry him to safety no matter where he was.

When the bus pulled to a stop on the city street, carefully maneuvering into two parking spaces at the curb, it was Ayako who turned in her seat to eye the restaurant and blinked in surprise. “How the hell did you afford this?” she asked Mai from the other side of the bus.

“Oh,” Mai started with a laugh, “Luella and Masako helped, we planned it all out yesterday before she flew out. Everything is paid for already so no one should feel the need to hold back.”

“That Masako,” Ayako teased and nudged the woman in the seat next to her.

They filed off the bus as a host dressed in a pressed black suit stepped out of the main doors and held them open. Pétrus was a famous restaurant in London due to its selection of modern French cuisine but, primarily, because it was opened by Gordon Ramsey back in 1999. Mai wouldn’t say French food was her favorite as she would always be partial to that of her home country, but Masako had insisted and now Mai knew why. Masako had wanted the opportunity to spoil their friends as well, having known they would be coming along to surprise Mai.

“Would you take him for a moment?” Mai asked Oliver when they had touched down on the sidewalk, waiting for Martin and Luella to dismount the bus.

Toby reached out and traded adults like the koala he was, wrapping his arms and legs around his father with practiced ease that warmed Mai’s heart to see. Oliver patted the boy’s back absently while Mai straightened out her coat and fixed her hair.

“Okay,” she murmured to herself encouragingly before she spun on her heel and stepped through the modern doors into the brightly lit restaurant. Low conversation swelled around her while she cut through the foyer, the heels of her boots clicking against the tiled floor. In the center of the dining room stood a circular glass room that displayed the vast collection of wines available for guests. Even as Mai moved toward the man standing off to the side speaking with a server she managed to catch her reflection in the glass and congratulated herself for a job well done on her outfit. She at least looked the part of the general crowd who attended the restaurant. Of course, Ayako had helped, unknowingly.

“Ms. Taniyama!” the man greeted with open arms when he caught her approach. He was an older gentleman dressed in a dark grey suit but his green eyes were bright and energetic, bringing color to his person that he otherwise lacked.

“Mr. Lavigne!” Mai returned the greeting with just as much cheer. “Thank you for working with me,” she continued when the two met and the man had taken her hands between his own. “It means so much to me and my family.”

“I am glad we were able to work it out,” Lavigne assured her. “I’ve set aside the entire exterior dining area for you. We’ve put out all the heaters so the temperature will be absolutely perfect for even the littlest of your group.”

“You are my hero,” Mai replied, a winning smile plastered across her face.

“Oh stop,” he waved her off with a mirthful chuckle before his face brightened and he gestured for the rest of the party to move in, away from the entrance. “Come, I’ll take you to your seats myself!”

The collection of psychics, mediums, scientists, writers, and their associated children strode through the restaurant with excitement that was difficult to contain. Lavigne pushed through a set of glass doors that spilled them out into a large patio that seemed to grow out of the industrialization around it. Large buildings surrounded the patio on all sides but the area was filled to bursting with exotic plants and fire-lit lanterns encased in glass and metal to protect wandering fingers from the biting heat. A large twisting oak tree towered overhead and from its branches hung strands of round lights, crisscrossing across the brick patio, and casting playful shadows across the tables. A warmly lit canopy stood in the very center, its white top glowing in the night, and beneath it was a large table already set for them.

“It’s like a little piece of a fairytale,” Masako observed wondrously, the reflection of the lights glittering in her dark eyes.

“It’s wonderful,” Luella crooned with her hands clasped together over her chest.

“I’m starving,” Monk admitted, cutting through the wonder with crude ease.

Mai let out a peel of laughter at that and watched the man stride past the women and head for the table in his familiar casual stroll. Yasuhara followed at his heels but his eyes scanned the surroundings with wonder.

“You all get comfortable,” Mai advised, gesturing to the table to the rest of their party, “There’s one more guest I have to wait for.”

Oliver turned to watch as Mai strode back into the restaurant, the tails of her coat fluttering behind her before he turned his attention to the seating arrangement with a soft sigh. Toby shot him a curious look, head cocked as if to ask what the problem was without verbalizing. In truth, not even Oliver knew what the problem was, only that a sense of unease had settled in his stomach since Mai had admitted she had dreamed. No, he silently corrected himself, since he had run out of the office after her with the case file in hand.

“Come on, Naru!” Ayako called across the patio, she had already picked out a seat next to Monk.

Oliver scoffed but stepped forward to join them, “Do you know how long it took for Lin to stop calling me that?” he asked coolly.

“Years,” Madoka supplied brightly from where she sat, working to secure Lixin’s seat in the specialized highchair. Her strawberry blond locks practically glowed pink under the fairy lights overhead.

“I never understood the nickname,” Luella admitted sheepishly. She was so enamored by the life that Oliver had managed to build while he was away in Japan. She had pulled as many details as she could out of Lin and Madoka when they had returned and what she had learned had nearly sent her heart exploding with joy. Oliver might have lost Eugene but it seemed in searching him out, he had managed to build himself a tight-knit group that he could rely upon. She had never known him to socialize so imagine her surprise when Lin had told her of the group of irregulars who frequently sat around the office gossiping and drinking tea. And Oliver had allowed them to!

The group traded surprised looks before a round of chuckling broke out and Yasuhara said: “It’s short for narcissist.”

Martin let out a bark of laughter that rivaled Monk’s.

“Oh dear,” Luella mumbled behind a hand, voice trembling with restrained mirth.

“You can thank Mai for that, she came up with it after one day,” Monk added.

“Yes, and Oliver thought she had actually discovered his identity because of how similar it sounded to Noll,” Lin continued softly.

“Now that you mention it,” Luella mused, “Is that why you insisted on your full name when you returned?”

Oliver sat down in a seat with a sigh through his nose. They were all having fun at his expense and while a younger Oliver would have taken offense, he could only muster a small spark of annoyance that was gone as soon as it came to life. He settled Toby in the seat next to him with a booster seat provided by a server already working to make them comfortable and watched while the boy shifted about and kicked his legs against the chair happily.

“That Mai, she had Oliver tripping over himself from day one,” Madoka teased.

“She was the only one he called by first name,” Masako added from behind a kimono sleeve. She had taken the seat between John and Monk on the other side of the table and straightened the length of the kimono habitually before joining the conversation. “I remember because I was quite jealous at the time,” she admitted with a giggle.

“I certainly remember that,” Ayako tossed out with a snort.

“I wish I had been there to see it all,” Luella admitted with a sigh. It sounded like they had all grown so close and made enough wonderful memories to last a lifetime. The fact that the group had still continued on after Oliver’s absence was proof enough of their friendship. Oliver, Lin, and Madoka fit right back into their respective slots with ease, as not even a day had gone by. The only true markers of the passage of time were the children now added to the mix and a line or two on the faces of the elders of the group.

“It wasn’t all fun and games,” Monk assured her with tone a little grimmer. “There were ugly bits too. Mai and Oliver butted heads on nearly every case.”

“And the cases themselves…” Ayako added with a shudder.

“Let’s not,” John cut in with a staying hand. “Tonight we are celebrating our reunion after a decade, I would hate for us to spoil it with such horrors.”

“You’re right,” Monk agreed with a sigh and crossed arms.

“John,” Yasu drawled with a familiar mischievous light behind his eyes, “When did you get to be so commanding?”

“Since he’s been watching after Mai, stumbling around like an idiot, inviting strange men to her hotel room,” Oliver cut in icily.

“Oh?” Yasu prodded delightfully, “But Big Boss, you were her first.”

“Osamu,” Ayako snapped quietly, gesturing to Toby with her eyes.

Mai stood out in front of the restaurant with her arms crossed in the cold. The patio had been toasty in comparison so she wasn’t surprised when her breath fogged up in the air before her, glittering in the bright lights spilling from the windows of the restaurant. Pedestrians strode down both sides of the sidewalk, chattering in the growing night that was just as lively as the day. Thankfully, she wasn’t privy to the conversation taking place in her absence otherwise she was sure to be blushing.

She glanced down at her watch, a little anxious, and scanned the streets for any sign of the familiar black car. She wanted to be there to greet her so she didn’t have to wander through the restaurant in search of them. It wasn’t particularly large or crowded but Mai would prefer to prevent any stress before it could even be considered.

And standing on the side of the road at night was starting to put her ill at ease. She nibbled on her thumbnail while her mind delved along trails of thought that led her back to her dream. She had never experienced anything like it. The level of terror she had felt had surpassed experiencing someone else’s death as if it were her own and yet she had received little to no details regarding the situation. It was as if something had sensed her interest in the case and had tossed out a teaser for her consciousness to pick up on. Like bait.

She wrapped her fingers around her own throat, feeling it tighten under a fluttering of panic.

“There you are!”

The voice of Elen Worthrite sliced right through her mounting panic attack with ease and Mai turned to find the elderly woman standing on the sidewalk off to her left. The black car idled just around the building, the driver watching to make sure Ellen made it to her destination. She had swaddled herself in a black furlined coat under which Mai could just make out a glittering blue skirt.

“Ellen!” Mai exclaimed with a bit more relief than she had meant to. She turned to approach the woman with open arms.

“I’m not that late, am I?” Ellen asked with a chuckle, accepting Mai’s hug with an extra squeeze.

“No,” Mai assured her, “You’re right on time actually.”

“Excellent,” Ellen exclaimed and pulled back to gesture to the restaurant. “Then lead the way, dear, I’m famished.”

The two stepped back in through the main entrance and the immediate warmth worked to soothe the rest of Mai’s frayed nerves like nothing else. She heaved a sigh and offered Ellen her arm cheekily. The elderly woman latched onto her in delight and the two glided back through the seating area and down the hall leading to the glass patio doors.

“I’m excited for you to meet my family,” Mai admitted quietly just before they could push through the doors. “I wanted to share them with you.”

Ellen patted her arm with a water smile of her own, hidden behind the fashionable lenses that sat on her nose. “Thank you for inviting me,” Ellen replied in kind, “I don’t get to go out much with friends anymore on the account that most of them are dead.”

Mai snorted at the woman’s attempt at a morbid joke and pushed the doors open for the both of them. Outside, servers were already flitting about the table to collect drink orders for everyone and the energy was lively and warm. They had obviously been having fun in her absence. She could still hear some of them chuckling as they drew near.

“Ellen Worthrite,” Martin called out in a drawl once he had spotted them. He pushed himself to his feet and the rest of the men at the table moved to follow his example.

“Martin Davis, you scoundrel,” Ellen called back with a cackle. “I didn’t expect to find you here.”

Discovering that the two knew each other sent sparks of joy bursting in Mai’s chest. She had no qualms with handing the woman off to Martin when he offered her his hand. He guided the elderly woman into the seat next to him and Luella with practiced ease. She sat down with a sigh, the men following her example, before she scanned the table and shifted her chair so she could keep everyone in view. “And Oliver?” she questioned, “What a rare treat!”

“And me!” Toby exclaimed, lifting his hand in the air to be seen over the floral centerpiece.

“Oh my, is that little Toby?” Ellen observed, “He’s so big now!”

“Yes, ma’am,” Toby replied a little timid now that he had her attention.

“Well, let me see you, get on over here,” Ellen instructed with a chuckle.

Oliver shifted in his seat to help Toby out of his booster seat. He watched his son straighten his shirt just as he had seen his father do on several occasions before he shuffled around the table to put himself before Ellen with as much confidence as he could muster. But Mai was there, so he only had to reach out and she was taking his hand without question.

“Would you look at that?” Ellen crooned. “Happy as a claim now.”

“Ellen’s orphanage is where Toby was found,” Oliver explained to Mai quietly, leaning towards her so as not to disturb the others who were watching the scene fondly. She lowered herself to listen before she turned wide eyes onto him and bit her lip. Even he had to agree that the pile of coincidences they were wadding through was growing a little too deep. Either fate had intervened in the most amusing of ways or Mai’s intuition had grown by exponential amounts and, given Oliver’s disposition, he found fate highly unlikely. He could see the moment it threatened to overwhelm her, the way her face paled and her eyes dilated, and was quick to stand and help her into the seat on his left. The movement might have caught the attention of those from Japan but his family remained largely oblivious, taken by Ellen’s presence.

Monk moved to stand but Ayako gripped his arm with a minuscule shake of her head. There was no need to cause a scene when Mai was already seated and Naru had handed her a glass of water from the table. It shook in her grip but Naru, looking cool as a cucumber with a hand in his pocket, bent down to whisper something in her ear that turned her face scarlet. She shot the man a scowl and turned away from him to take a sip of her water.

“Balance restored,” Yasuhara murmured.

“I missed this,” Ayako admitted with a sigh.

“Me too,” Madoka agreed whimsically, eyes distant.

Chapter Text

In the face of the day’s surprises, Mai could not recall a better evening in her entire life. The food and drink were certainly amazing and well worth the price tags that came along with them but none of it had anything on the company she managed to gather for dinner. Her heart was full to bursting with happiness when the people she held very dear to her heart came together at one table despite the thousands of kilometers that usually separated them. It felt like coming home. There was so much laughter tossed back and forth across the table as the hours passed that Mai’s stomach hurt from the strain. Her cheeks were aching from smiling and no matter how many times she tried to relax her face just to ease the pain she found herself smiling again. They’d even managed to work a laugh out of Lin! Madoka’s eyes had widened and she had shot Mai a comically startled look from across the table that set her off again.

Not even Oliver's whispered words could dampen the evening. She still blushed whenever she thought of them, his breath ghosting across her ear and neck: "It's funny how your intuition led you right back to me." She didn't want to believe it, but too many coincidences were lining up. She felt a cold sweat roll down her back despite the alcohol in her system and pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. 

By the time Mai had worked through her second glass of wine, Martin and Luella had chosen to retire for the evening. Mai assured them the bus, still parked around the side of the building, would be able to take them home and still return for the rest of them. Luella had scooped up a sleepy Toby and hugged him tight while Martin offered to take Lixin so Madoka and Lin could enjoy an evening with the rest of their friends. It was such a kind thing to do that Madoka had been the one to get misty-eyed by their offer and had accepted after hugging the both of them. Being a new mom was hard, and while Madoka was excellent at whatever she tackled, it was still nice to have a break every now and then.

With the parents and the little one’s gone, Mai didn’t feel too guilty about accepting the third glass of wine their waiter poured for her. Even Oliver had ordered an Old Fashioned or two. Lin heaved a sigh and shared a knowing look with Madoka, neither of them had partaken in alcohol for differing reasons. Madoka was still nursing and Lin’s vision, his right eye already far more sensitive than the left, just didn’t mix well when under the influence of anything. Oliver was usually more reserved, choosing not to imbibe due to his own abilities, but Lin supposed it was fine given all Mai needed to do was touch him and he’d crumble.

“And then Yasu fell down the well,” Monk explained to any at the table who was listening, “And despite the literal demon that was haunting the house, he still has to go and make a Grudge reference while down there! I thought he broke his neck but then he comes crawling out making the stupid noise!”

Madoka laughed and slapped the table in her mirth. Yasuhara looked very proud of himself from where he sat nearby, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed.

“Like I’m going to pass up a perfect opportunity,” he countered with a scoff. “I never have any fun on cases. Mai and Masako are the ones that do all the falling. Ayako gets locked in all the rooms. Monk gets all the action. And John…” Yasu trailed off and eyed the priest questioningly, “Actually, nothing ever happens to John.”

John chuckled at that and took a sip of his own drink. He was leaning over the table, resting on his elbows, enjoying the conversation and atmosphere just as much as Mai. Traveling alone had done wonders for him and he had learned much during his ventures, but even he had missed his friends and family.

“I didn’t talk to him for a week after that,” Monk continued, tossing his hands up in exasperation.

“I wish we’d gotten that on camera,” Yasu added with a resigned sigh.

“Yasu, stop,” Mai pleaded through her laughter. She hid her face in her hand, her own giggles out of control. She remembered that day but hearing them retell it years later while Lin listened in with nothing short of consternation was just too much.

“I just hope the client wasn’t present,” Oliver tossed out coolly.

“Oh, he was,” Yasu assured him with a chuckle of his own, “He thought Monk’s scream was funny.”

“I didn’t scream!” Monk snapped.

Ellen hadn’t been so entertained in her life. She was still seated at the other end of the table nursing her own glass but she would occasionally throw in a comment of her own. She was just happy to see Oliver and his lot having such a good time. She wasn’t certain what had changed with Toby since she had last seen him but it was clear that a weight had been lifted from their shoulders. She remembered that it had been Oliver who first discovered the curse in her home but when news of Toby had reached her and she had shared the information with him over a cup of tea one evening, another investigator had taken his place and progress had stalled. She had hoped he would be able to help the child and she didn’t mind the shift change to accommodate that, even though she had suffered another three years before Mai came along it was worth it to see Toby happy with his new family. She had visited them several times over the years and the house had always felt so heavy and sad as if they were still in mourning. No one had dared to make much noise in that home for fear of its effects on Toby.

“I suppose now is as good a time as any to ask if you’d be interested in taking on another case?” Oliver’s voice, always so light and dispassionate, cut through their conversation easily.

Ayako shared a look with Mai, who had shifted back in her seat and pursed her lips at Oliver’s question. Ayako had been willing to let the matter drop altogether until tomorrow just so Mai could have a relaxing evening but she couldn’t really blame Oliver for wanting to get the ball rolling. The longer it dragged out the more likely it was that Mai’s dreams increased in frequency and detail.

“A case in England, huh?” Yasuhara mused with a sigh, swirling his drink in hand. “It could be fun.”

“I’m always happy to help,” Masako offered quietly.

Monk had crossed his arms with a thoughtful frown. He wasn’t so much opposed to taking on a new case as he was wary. They had come to London with the intention of checking in on Mai and making sure she was doing alright after a month away from home. Naru hadn’t reached out to them for their help in over a decade and he highly doubted he would ask them now just because they were there and it was convenient. He didn’t miss the way Mai was watching him searchingly, waiting, either.

“You already had a dream, didn’t you?” he asked grimly. The question lulled the table into a pregnant silence, all eyes turning to Mai curiously. “The only reason Naru-bou would ask us for help is if we were already involved.”

“That’s not-.”

“Lin,” Monk cut over the man’s protest stiffly. It had been ten years since they had any contact with them, as good as it was to catch up with each other, no one was under any assumptions of their value in Oliver’s eyes. Of course, Toby and his health were a great concern and should have been prioritized above all else as it had been. But there were still seven years to account for before he arrived on the scene. “I get it,” Monk assured them breezily, “We valued different things. You lot here at BSPR want to document activity, to prove it’s real, to study it. And that’s just not what we’re about. We want to help cleanse spirits, encourage them to move on, and help those still living to let go. Why would a scientist need that? We weren’t of any use here.”

“Houshou,” Ayako admonished quietly.

“You went there, to the office, John?” Monk asked, lifting his chin, “What did their teams look like? Any of them have what we have?”

John dropped his gaze to his glass thoughtfully, running a thumb across the rim while he thought back to that day. He recalled Gina mentioning that she found it exciting to meet someone with his abilities. He could only assume that Takigawa was correct in his assumption with that. Perhaps their abilities had played a part in Andrew’s hostilities. He wondered if they were even aware of what Lin was.

“No, I believe you’re right,” he admitted resignedly, “From an outsider’s perspective, BSPR focuses on aiding the public but it does appear as if their main priority is research.”

“Naru wasn’t working to research the paranormal in Japan, he was looking for his brother, so anything that happened in between was just to hold up appearances and bring in a source of income,” Monk finished with a wave of his hand. “So I’ll ask again: Mai, did you have a dream?”

Mai blew a sigh through her nose, grateful that the subject had come up after the others had gone. She had always suspected Monk had felt a certain type of way about the closing of SPR but she hadn’t expected the level of anger he had bottled up for a decade. But his words were true, it wasn’t as if she herself hadn’t come to the same conclusion while looking through the unsolved files in BSPR’s archives. Some of them seemed so simple to solve that she had been a little surprised to find them gathering dust. It wasn’t something she was completely unaware of if she were being honest with herself, but it did imply that the ten years of radio silence was simply because Oliver had no use for them. Again, she had already suspected this. But it still stung to revisit. Especially now.

“Yes,” she admitted quietly.

“Then I’ll help,” Monk stated with finality, “And when all is said and done, Mai can take credit for solving it, and you lot will be happy with whatever data you manage to gather.”

Monk tossed back the rest of his drink and set the glass on the table pointedly before he pushed himself to his feet with a grunt. “Where’s the can in this place anyways?” he grouched, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“I’ll show you,” Yasuhara offered and moved to follow after the monk hurriedly.

Mai recalled that Oliver had once been Monk’s hero, oh so long ago. She never considered how hurt he was by their circumstances as well. She supposed that finding out your hero was just as crappy as the rest of the people on Earth was always a hard pill to swallow. And Oliver’s continued silence while Monk ranted didn’t paint him in a favorable light.

“We’ll come to the office tomorrow to discuss everything, how does that sound?” Ayako suggested quietly, her own arms crossed against the sudden chill that befell their group.

Lin heaved a sigh.

The dinner came to a tense end and Mai could not deny that she was upset by that. She didn’t blame Monk and she didn’t blame Oliver. Neither of them could travel back in time to set things right, to make different choices, but she wished they had at least waited to discuss it the next day. She had just wanted one good night with everyone. Instead, she spent the bus ride back to the hotel wondering if Oliver only wanted her to stay so that she was available should something with Toby go wrong. It wasn’t true. She knew that but maybe she had a little too much to drink and it was hard to rewire her brain when her vision was spinning. Oliver might not have reached out to them in the ten years since they had parted but he had cared for them while he was in Japan. He valued them. Maybe just not for what he did in England. Ellen herself had stated that Oliver struggled with socializing, as Mai well knew, and perhaps he just saw no need to reach out to them because he didn’t feel like he should. Maybe Oliver doubted that they had cared for him. But she had tried! She remembered asking for his contact information before he left and he had given her the picture of him and Gene instead.

Ugh. Mai lifted a hand to her eyes in frustration.

When the bus came to a stop out front of the hotel Mai had been the first off. She shot off a quick goodnight to everyone before dismounting and striding through the glass doors at an impressive pace.

Lin saw everybody off, making sure they all made it down the bus steps safely, and when John patted him on the shoulder and followed after the rest of the group, Oliver stepped down next to him with his hands in his pockets.

“Are you going to go to her?” Lin asked quietly while Madoka hovered behind them at the top of the steps.

“I will,” Oliver replied gruffly.

“I’m not protecting you from Monk,” Lin informed him casually, watching the man in question follow behind the younger woman with hands tucked behind his head. Oliver knew Lin’s own loyalties. He had always approved of SPR’s tactics in Japan and it was why Oliver only sent him out when they had collected as much data as they could on a case. Lin was the clean-up crew.

“Why do you think I’m waiting?” Oliver countered coolly.

Lin snorted and shifted his weight while crossing his arms.

Mai shunted her coat off and carried it over to the closet with a sigh. The chill of the evening still clung to her even as she hung the coat on a hanger and shoved it back onto the rack irritably. She kicked her boots off for good measure too. They clunked about the back of the closet before settling over her kitten heels, one of them upside down. She was tempted to just sit down there in the quiet warmth of the closet and close her eyes. It wasn’t the worst place she had taken a nap but, considering she had a bed just a few feet from her current location, it was a little silly.

The motion sensor light overhead clicked off and she was thrown into darkness. Her lungs seized and she stumbled back out of the space with a strangled gasp. It had felt too much like the dream. Apparently, she couldn’t be in dark enclosed spaces now. It wasn’t the first time she had adopted a fear, trigger, or phobia from a dream so she was certain she would recover from it once the case was solved. But, in the meantime, she lifted a hand to her racing heart and let out a steadying breath. She waited a few moments before reaching out to pull the closet door shut with a sigh.

Well, the adrenalin had the added benefit of washing out whatever alcohol might have been left over in her system. Just in case though, she shuffled out to the kitchen to pour herself a cup of water. Usually, to comfort herself she would find something on youtube to watch until she was too tired to stay awake. The pile of sheets and comforters left over from when John had slept on the couch were still folded at the end of the sectional and she suddenly found herself jumping to push the ottoman back up against the couch. There was no television in the bedroom but the one in the living room had a timer on it so she could set it for a few hours from now and just let youtube play through her favorites. She unfolded the sheets with a flourish and pulled them back over the convertible couch, tossing the pillows across the expanse of cushion, before throwing the comforter over top of it all.

With the overhead oven light on she didn’t have to worry about any darkness creeping up on her in the night and the main room was vast and open, with no claustrophobia to worry about there. She sat down on the edge of the couch and sipped from the glass of water with the remote in hand. She couldn’t exactly watch the podcast now that all her family was here but there were still plenty of ghost-hunting channels she followed that she knew were just light and funny enough to entertain her. And since she had watched the majority of their videos she wouldn’t have to worry about her interest keeping her awake.

Luckily, she hadn’t yet buried herself in the blankets because she was shortly interrupted by a knock at the door. She turned to look back over her shoulder at the entrance with furrowed brows. It could have been any member of her little troupe on the other side of the door: Ayako to check on her, Monk to apologize, Yasu to tease, Masako to confide in, or even John checking in with everyone before he dropped off to sleep. But she had a feeling it was none of them. She heaved another sigh, shutting her eyes against the stress that tightened in her chest before she finally pushed herself to her feet and shuffled over to the door.

Mai opened the door and stepped back as Oliver slid in and pushed it shut behind him. She quirked a brow. Was he trying to be sneaky? She might still have been a little buzzed but he was acting out of character. “What’s wrong?” she questioned hesitantly.

“Nothing,” Oliver assured her calmly. He brought the cold from outside on him, she could feel it spilling from his coat even as the room worked to warm him up. He must have been standing outside for a while.

Mai narrowed her eyes but stepped back and meandered out into the main room while he followed. “Then what can I do for you, Naru?” she asked gustily, already making her way towards the kitchen to fill the kettle. She had been ready to tuck in for the night, her body tired after a day of stress and fun, but she found herself making tea once again.

“I wanted to speak with you,” he answered simply while pulling off his coat and setting it over the back of a barstool. He was quiet and composed as ever but the fact that he was there at all confirmed that something wasn't sitting right in his own mind. 

“Oh?” she said, curious and maybe a little teasing, but that could have been the remaining buzz. The stove was lit and the kettle settled in place before she crossed her arms and leaned them on the kitchen island. “Speak,” she willed him gently.

Oliver shot her a dour stare before he heaved a sigh and settled onto the other barstool. Again, he looked like a splash of ink across the white hotel room. The low lighting suited him though, softening his hash jawline and making him look a little younger. He mirrored her posture, crossing his arms and settling them before him.

“Monk was right,” he began grimly, “Partly. The difference between how things operate here and in Japan is as he said.”

Mai dropped her gaze to the countertop while he spoke with a frown. He was going to explain himself, that much was clear to her, but she was searching her memories for a similar moment and was drawing a blank. Had he explained his actions and his methods for solving a case? Certainly. Mai would even argue that he had taken delight in those big reveals. He enjoyed awing people. She suspected that might be why he had gotten into such things as performative magic and ventriloquism, the little bit that he had allowed her to glimpse all those years ago when they had fallen into that sewer and Mai had been frightened. But explained himself? She couldn’t truly recall him ever having done such a thing.

“I figured as much,” she admitted with a sigh.

“I can’t change that aspect of BSPR,” he continued quietly, “It was founded on research and it will continue to be so. I’ll go so far as to admit that my priorities align more with BSPR than what we did in Japan. Not because I don’t want to help but because I feel helping requires us to have a full understanding of what it is we are dealing with. You may cleanse a spirit but what does that even mean? We know they cease to be on this plane but is it an actual afterlife they’re going to? Another dimension? Are they reincarnated?”

It was the most she had ever heard him say in one sitting. She watched him thoughtfully until she realized the great Oliver Davis was rambling, following a looping line of thought that she suspected laid somewhere at the basis of who he was. He had a desperate urge to know and understand all. What a cruel thing to suffer under. Considering the only way he would ever truly get legitimate answers was to follow in his brother’s footsteps.

Mai reached out to grip his arm comfortingly and his jaw clicked shut at the contact. His cool eyes met hers, almost challenging her to argue against him, asking her to even. 

“Our methods are not mutually exclusive,” she said after a moment of silence. “But that’s not what you want to say,” she stated knowingly, pulling her hand away and straightening so she could prepare the tea.

Oliver watched her work in silence. His tongue felt like lead in his mouth and there was a glass wall in his mind seemingly preventing him from accessing his innermost thoughts and emotions at that moment. Because he was thinking of speaking them aloud for the first time in his entire life. But there was a stopper in his throat. He rolled his jaw while Mai poured boiling water into two cups and returned the kettle to the stove. 

He bided his time, waiting until she had deposited the tea in front of him, and willed his mouth to work. He was at once thankful for the drinks he had ordered back at the restaurant because it was the only reason he was able to loosen his tongue. “I wasn’t myself,” he finally admitted through a tight throat, “When I brought Gene home.” Immediately, the self-hatred for admitting such a thing blossomed in his chest. He turned his face away from her and clenched his fists.

Mai slowed in her movements and, though her eyes widened, she did not settle them on him at that moment. To pressure him would only force him to shut down and that was the last thing he, apparently, needed because this sounded like something he had been sitting on for a decade. She doubted he would share such information with even Lin. She lifted the cup of tea to her nose.

“It felt like half of my mind was gone; like I was crippled,” he continued in hushed tones, staring down into the tea as it steeped, colors swirling. “I couldn’t hear him anymore and even when I touched his stuff…there was nothing.”

Mai took a sip of her tea but it tasted like nothing. She watched him from the corner of her eye now that he had lowered his gaze to the counter. He had hunched in on himself, one hand hiding his eyes from view. He looked tense, taut with anger and frustration. She could only imagine a young Oliver, fresh from Japan where the quiet had been filled with the noise of SPR, shuffling into his brother’s room only to be greeted by an empty and oppressive silence. She felt her eyes burn. He would go so far as to connect with his brother again that he would willingly suffer his final moments repeatedly. 

“For weeks I didn’t know what to do with myself,” he said, “I worried everyone: my parents, Madoka, even Lin. And by the time I finally came back to myself, it had already been a year. I had already broken my promise. So I thought, soon, I’ll do it soon. And I kept telling myself that until I realized I was never going to and even if I did, I didn’t deserve to. Gene would have if our roles were reversed, but I…”

And that was where the words came to an end and his jaw snapped shut with a resounding click. The train of thought dropped off into an abyss of which there was no end and he knew if he took that leap that he would find himself back at the beginning, missing half of his mind and not knowing what to do with himself. The disgust at his inability to simply process the death of his brother was awe-inspiring. What a fool. 

Mai set the cup of tea down on the counter while the silence grew between them. This was a volatile moment for him, she recognized this and knew it was not the first time she had witnessed this. There had been moments during their first year of knowing each other when Oliver had lost the ability to control the negativity he usually kept tightly leashed. One of those moments involved him lashing out against a literal demi-god and nearly dying. She took a breath and moved around the island until she was at his side. His eyes were locked onto the countertop, brows furrowed in a grimace, while he struggled to push it all back down. Mai reached out and he pulled away from her, like a rabid animal tucked into a corner, but this time she chose to follow after him. She wrapped a hand around his wrist with a sigh and pulled him away from the barstool. 

He followed with irate wariness, a ticking time bomb, but she persisted. 

“It’s okay, Naru,” she assured him quietly, guiding him over to the couch. He dropped down onto the furniture, resting his elbows on his knees, head lowered. He looked utterly defeated. Like Atlas at the end of his rope. It was clear he was shutting down rather than processing what it was he was feeling. "Will you stay with me?" she asked gently, bending down to be at his level though she did not try and force him to look at her. Was it an underhanded tease to throw his words back at him in such a way? Maybe, but Oliver had always been like that. 

He was still and silent for a few moments longer, contemplating the request, before he kicked off his dress shoes and ran a hand through his hair. 

Mai smiled and turned back to the kitchen to collect his cup of tea from the island. No point in letting it go to waste when it was still hot, she reasoned and set it on the end table closest to where Oliver had settled. He had tossed the comforter away and set himself in the corner of the sectional. His eyes followed her as she moved about the room until she had climbed onto the couch and settled next to him with a sigh of relief. Her legs had begun to ache something fierce, probably due to dehydration from the alcohol, and it felt heavenly to finally relax. 

Mai glanced about for the remote once more and reached for it before wiggling herself under the comforter for good measure. She had left a sliding glass door open just for a bit of cold, she liked to bundle at night, but she may have overestimated the temperature outside. 

"Will you come here?" she asked quietly, voice small. 

Oliver turned his gaze away, lashes lowered while he thought it over. She was pushing him and they both knew it. But the issue lay with the fact that he wanted to, and it was his own inability to bridge the gap that prevented him from moving. Just as he struggled to force the words from his mouth he found his own body locked in place. But then she reached her hand out and he followed it on instinct until his head was resting in her lap with her fingers combing through his hair. His eyes fluttered against his will, mind and body soothed by her ministrations. 

The TV screen glowed green before a home-edited theme song played. Oliver was boneless in her lap, not quite sleeping but not quite paying attention to his surroundings. He deserved a bit of TLC, she suspected. Probably more than just “a bit” as well, if her suspicions were correct. She doubted he had gone to Luella for any sort of affection since he was very young. She had known that even when she had first met him, he was a person who did not reach out to others, nor did he accept what was offered him. He was a vessel of hurts and festering wounds that had only ever been covered in a layer of ice and self-control.

He had never reached back out to them because he had never recovered from Eugene’s death and he would rather sit there in silence taking Monk’s rage than voice it.

Mai reached out and pulled the comforter over Oliver as well. Then she fluffed the pillow behind her and wiggled down until Oliver lifted his head and dropped it back onto her stomach without comment. Her fingers found his hair again before she turned her attention to the TV with a tired sigh.

It was a couple of hours later when Oliver woke in the dark. The TV had shut off and the stars were the only source of light from outside confirming that morning was still far off. The sound of late-night traffic could be heard from the open sliding glass door that allowed just a bit of the chill to seep in. The cold was enough to warrant Oliver pulling the comforter up over his shoulder and wrapping his arms around Mai, reveling in the warmth that seeped from her in her sleep. At some point in the night, he must have shifted because she was curled up against him with her back to his chest.

His eyes fluttered open and traced the side of her face, hair spilling across the pillow between them, lashes just kissing her cheek. She looked peaceful. Far more than she ever had since they had first met. He had seen her wear every possible emotion on the spectrum but true restful peace was not one of them. Until now.

He let his eyes fall shut as exhaustion claimed him once more. To think it was less than forty-eight hours ago that Toby had been dragging him around the zoo. No wonder he was still so tired. Or, he theorized, perhaps the close contact with Mai was enough to lull the energy beneath his skin. He certainly found himself wrapped around her as if it did. Even one of her legs had managed to find its way between his own.

A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he buried his nose in her hair and sighed, sleep claiming him once more.

He had never allowed himself to be so close to another. Even Gene, as they had grown, had been kept at a further and further distance. Oliver had begun to feel like a byproduct of his twin and separation had been the only method he could think to use to ease the emotions that sparked within him. Gene, who was sociable and well-liked, overshadowed his grim brother who preferred to keep his own company with frightening ease. As Oliver grew he couldn’t even handle his own abilities without his brother there to minimize the damage. It rankled him. He had never gotten the opportunity to apologize to Gene before he died.

But Mai in his arms turned his muscles to warm butter, like freefalling without gravity. She soothed the energy beneath his skin that had been the culprit of his suffering since the day he was born. Oliver had even quietly suspected that he had been the cause of the death of their parents, though he had never dared to voice his thoughts to Gene. He would have bent over backward to reassure Oliver and that just wasn’t what the younger twin needed. But Mai knew what he needed, she listened to him speak and then let him stew in his feelings without forcing more from him or foisting her own emotions onto him. After nearly two decades of isolation, refusing physical contact unless it was necessary, now that he had it he was starved for more. To think, Toby would have suffered the same fate if Mai hadn’t come along.

Even in sleep, he tightened his hold on her and she shifted to accommodate, reaching out to pull his hand up to her chest, tucking it under her chin with her own.

Chapter Text

A knock at the door pulled Mai from the deep sleep that had taken her last night. She mentally floundered for a moment, struggling to pull her mind out of the molasses of sleep, while her body rebooted and came back online. She felt heavy and relaxed, the kind of state that came after well-needed rest and left her feeling loathe to move. The couch wasn’t as comfortable as the bed but the blankets were weighted and refused to release her so soon.

Couch?

Her eyes opened to take in the late morning light pooling in through the balcony and spilling across the white glittering floor of the suite. It tossed prisms of light across the room and illuminated the surrounding area better than the floor lamp sitting on the other side of the couch. Outside, the sky was painted a bright blue and spotted with large white clouds that assured her there was no rain coming any time soon.

And she was on the couch. She tossed her mind back, reviewing the memories of the night before, and belatedly remembered that she hadn’t wanted to sleep in the room because there was no TV. She had been afraid of having another dream and waking up in the dark with no one. She shuddered at the mere memory, which reminded her of the second reason she had fallen asleep on the couch. Oliver was tucked around her. She could feel his breath ghosting across her neck, slow and rhythmic, still caught deep within his own slumber. Goosebumps raised across her skin and she became extremely aware of every inch of their bodies that touched under the covers, a thrill of pleasure squeezing her chest for a fraction of a second before another knock came at the door.

The idea of waking up next to Oliver had never even crossed her mind, not even as a teenager when she let her mind run away with her on more than one occasion. Now she was forced to parse out an extraction method without waking him. Because, if she knew her family well, it was Monk who was knocking at her door to drag her down to breakfast. Ayako would still be showering and her husband would have gotten too impatient with his own grumbling stomach and gone in search of a breakfast buddy. Because Monk hated quiet meals by himself. And if Oliver was awake and wandering around, Monk would easily see him from the entrance.

Mai carefully pulled her leg out from between his, wearing a wince all the while, before she gently lifted the arm around her waist and lowered it to the couch between them. And if she used a little bit of her calming presence to soothe him into a deep slumber no one else would be the wiser.

Free of the human restraint she rolled right off the couch and into a crouch before jumping to her feet and scampering across the room. She only realized she was still wearing the dress from the night before when she gripped the handle of the door. It was too late, she concluded while tugging the hem back down her thighs and straightening the collar. The door swung open and she peered out into the hall at the sleepy-looking Monk with a nervous smile.

“Morning, Jou-chan,” Monk greeted with a yawn. “Wanna go get breakfast?”

Mai giggled, caught between the stress and mirth of the situation, and nodded. “I have to get changed though, I passed out in the same clothes from last night,” she informed him with a forced sigh.

“Fine, do you at least have coffee in there, our room doesn’t even have a microwave,” Monk groused while stepping in through the open door.

Mai’s mind went completely blank with a level of panic that she could not quite recall experiencing before in her entire life. And that was saying something. She wrung her hands together and stepped back to allow the door to swing shut, recognizing the futility of trying to rectify the situation even as it veered dangerously close to exploding in her face. She rushed forward while Monk meandered into the room and guided him over to the kitchen with a pat on his back and a squeeze of his arm.

“I definitely have coffee,” she assured him with a laugh.

“What’s got you so excited?” Monk grumbled but followed her along and sat down on a barstool with a sigh.

“Excited?’ Mai questioned while pulling the coffee maker forward out from under the cabinets. “I just slept well,” she assured him and then spun back around to bury her face in the cabinets in search of the coffee. She had slept really well because a man had been wrapped around her all night and that man had been Oliver Davis. Who was still asleep on her couch.

“No dreams?” Monk questioned, leaning back on the chair with his arms crossed.

“Nope,” she assured him and carefully measured out two tablespoons of ground coffee before dumping it into the filter. She filled the pot and transferred the water to the machine, sliding the pot back below, and then spun about to face Monk with a strained smile.

Monk quirked a brow when a silence stretched between them, “Aren’t you going to go get changed?”

“Yes!” she exclaimed and then winced. There was nothing to do but sidle into her room and get ready for the day as quickly as she could. She could always come back after breakfast and change into something better for the day so she stepped into a pair of leggings and pulled a denim button-up over top, the shirt practically fell to her thighs so she was comfortable enough wearing the outfit in public. While fumbling with the sleeves she recalled the need to brush her teeth so she jumped to do that before locating a pair of black flats. By the time she had deemed herself presentable, she was also out of breath.

And none of it even mattered because as soon as she stepped out of her room she found Monk standing over the couch with a steaming cup of coffee in hand. He took a sip and then gestured at the sleeping form on the couch with his cup.

“He been here the whole time?” Monk asked with a casual air that Mai knew with every fiber of her being was glossing over some mighty feelings.

Oliver slept away peacefully on the couch. The comforter had fallen around his waist and he had rolled over to toss an arm over a pillow in place of Mai, presumably, but beyond even that - he looked so peaceful. There was no cruelty around his eyes, irritation between his brows, or dissatisfaction in the harsh line of his mouth. The light spilled across the couch and painted his features in a soft glow that seemed to warm even Monk’s hardened heart.

“Yes,” she admitted quietly, “He came to talk.”

Monk let out a gusty sigh and turned away from the scene. He was wrestling with conflicting emotions while reclaiming his seat at the island. He had been tempted to upend his cup of coffee over the man with the promise to pay for any damage the couch incurred but Mai happened to return at just the right moment. Instead, he slouched over his cup on the counter and asked: “What did he need to talk to you about so late in the evening?”

Mai slid around the kitchen island to pour herself a cup of coffee with a frown. It wasn’t her place to share what Oliver had told her with another but she had to give Monk something, otherwise, the man would continue his campaign against Oliver. Neither of them deserved to suffer such harmful emotions. She added a splash of sweet cream to her coffee before turning back to face Monk.

“That he never viewed us as useless,” she stated quietly, “Rather, it was a personal failing that prevented him from reaching out.”

Monk scoffed into his coffee, “Yeah, okay.” But then his eyes caught sight of the wretchedly mournful expression on Mai’s face and his heart twisted. He could not imagine Naru admitting to having any faults but he supposed if there was a person he would speak to on the matter that it would be Mai. And judging by the fact that the man was still passed out on the couch despite their conversation he could only assume that Mai had knocked him on his ass and put him to sleep. Which, now that he thought about it, implied that Naru had needed it. He set the coffee cup down with eyes wide, “Did he get emotional?”

Mai scowled at the man for pushing the matter and took a sip of coffee. “Not in the way you and I would, at least,” she muttered.

“He’ll be out for another hour then,” Monk switched gears, “Can we get breakfast now?”

Mai snorted.

In the end, her presence wasn’t even needed at breakfast because both Yasuhara and John were already downstairs in the restaurant waiting for them cheerily. They were both morning people, already chipper and ready for the day, while Monk and Mai most certainly were not. Monk had downed a second cup of coffee by the time their orders arrived.

Mai would have preferred to eat at the bakery across the street but she had decided it would be a good chance to finally try the waffles that Hodge had been raving about. When her plate arrived her eyes had nearly bugged out of her head at the size of them. One waffle nearly encompassed the entirety of the plate! By the time Ayako finally came downstairs, she was slumped over the table with a full stomach and ready for a nap.

Monk kept his mouth shut, which didn’t really surprise Mai, but she was still grateful. If the others had known Oliver had spent the night in her room she would never hear the end of it. And neither would Oliver for that matter. Not something she wanted to deal with considering they were about to take on another case with the man and, most likely, his home team as well.

“What time did we want to head over to BSPR?” Yasu asked while he looked up the address of the building on his phone.

“Sometime after lunch,” Mai cut in casually and ignored the snort from Monk.

“Great, I can nap off this food coma,” Yasu replied with a relieved sigh.

Mai chuckled just as their server returned and handed her a to-go box with the second waffle packed away for safekeeping. “I’m going back upstairs to shower and maybe nap myself,” she admitted through a stretch and a yawn.

“Have fun,” Monk drawled, earning himself a swat on the shoulder from her as she passed.

Returning to the hotel room was somehow more daunting than leaving it. She swiped her card with the box in hand and gently pushed the heavy door open, peeking around to glimpse the figure in black still resting on the couch. It looked as if he hadn’t even moved. She sidled into the room and let the door swing shut behind her, walking over to the island to set the box down with her phone. The room was heavy with stifled quiet but the sound of the early day still eeked in through the open windows to balance it out. She took a deep breath before turning to approach the couch.

Mai sat down on the side of the couch and reached out to run her hands through his hair. The feathery strands slid through her fingers like silk and she repeated the action just to marvel at the sensation but it failed to rouse Oliver from his sleep. In fact, she suspected the action only served to soothe him. She sighed and leaned over, setting her hand against his chest, feeling the gentle thrum of his heart beneath her fingers.

“Oliver,” she called gently. His brows pinched together in response but he soon turned his face away, burying it in the pillow, not quite ready to face the world just yet. Mai scoffed and scooted closer, resting her thigh against his side, and leaned over to whisper his name directly in his ear.

Oliver’s eyes opened slowly, blue depths reflecting the morning sunlight spectacularly. He drew a deep breath, replenishing his body with enough oxygen to jumpstart his brain before he reached out a hand to Mai without looking. He felt heavy and out of place, like his mind had yet to fully settle back into his body after a night of wandering dreams. He wondered if it was what Mai felt after a night of astral projection. His hand found hers and he pulled her closer without thought.

“It’s time to get up,” she informed him even as she settled on top of him.

Oliver hummed sleepily in response, sighing through his nose, and wrapped his arms around her. Mai felt her cheeks heat and something very different flutter in the depths of her stomach. Why were sleepy men so attractive? He wasn’t even awake enough to formulate words and she was swooning over his actions. At least she finally had her answer on whether Oliver was a morning person or not. As the days dragged on and she collected more bits of information on the man she only grew to feel for Lin more. Oliver must have been a handful while in Japan, no wonder Lin was always in such a right foul mood.

“Everyone wants to meet up at BSPR after lunch, it’s already almost ten,” she tried again.

Oliver lifted a hand to cup the side of her face, succeeding in silencing her attempts to get him moving, and ran a thumb across her lips. Her eyes widened and pink blossomed across her cheeks in an eye-catching shade that he found himself drawn to in his haze. His hand slid through her hair before he pulled her down to him in a languid kiss.

It certainly wasn’t how she had expected the morning to go but she momentarily found herself incapable of complaint. Something swelled in her chest as he tilted his head to deepen the kiss while his other arm snaked out to wrap around her waist and hold her against him. Being so close to him felt like touching a static globe. Pinpricks of sparking heat built under her skin wherever they touched and her knees grew weak without her consent.

They didn’t have time for this. Oliver needed to get home so he could shower and change and head to the office before SPR all showed up and put two and two together. Otherwise, they’d never hear the end of it. There was nothing that could be done about Madoka and Lin, Mai had no doubt they both well knew where he was but she could at least trust them to keep the gossip between themselves! Monk would keep his mouth shut unless it became a problem otherwise. 

But then she felt his tongue trace the length of her lower lip and any protest she might have had was tossed out the window. Their sleepy kiss turned to something a little more sloppy in a matter of seconds as his tongue delved into her mouth and he tightened his hold on the back of her neck.

The small sound of pleasure that escaped her throat, the one she was just a second too late from catching, caused Oliver to pause. He drew back and loosened his hold on her at the same moment, allowing his arms to hang over her loosely. His eyes fluttered shut against the light of day and the small pinch between his brows returned.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured with a resigned sigh.

Mai settled a rather flat look at the man before she rolled her eyes with a scoff. “Don’t be,” she shot back while pushing herself up, “It was nice.”

Oliver’s eyes slid open to watch her stand and pad across to the kitchen, unruffled and looking a little pleased with herself, and he dearly wished he hadn’t stopped himself from continuing. She was wearing those damned leggings again.

But pursuing this version of Mai was like chasing down an elusive fox without the aid of hunting dogs. He could try to kiss her all he wanted but that didn’t mean he could have her. He was forced to walk the forest path with eyes peeled for the smallest hint of red fur among the greenery. Even now he knew that one wrong move could end with him crumpled in a heap on the ground, her disappearing back to Japan never to be heard from again, or even both. And that was without including Toby in the equation. Toby loved Mai. Oliver couldn’t afford to lose her for that reason alone.

“Here,” she stated, holding out a cup of steaming tea. Somewhere during his musings she had managed to boil water and make him a cup without his notice. He pushed himself up and grimaced at the tension that twinged in his neck but accepted the cup with thanks. “You better be prepared for today, Naru,” she said teasingly while shifting around the couch, “You’re going to have all of Shibuya Psychic Research in your office, mingling with your staff, poking around in your archives, sitting around gossiping in the lounge…”

Oliver held the rim of the cup between his fingers, the other hand reaching up to grip the bridge of his nose with a sigh. Her words were true. He had already suffered the mental imagery when he had originally asked for their aid but knowing that she knew and understood his stress over it was irksome. “Mai,” he said in a tone that just might have come off as pleading if one had the notion to listen for it.

“It’ll be fun,” she assured him, knowing very well that the concept of fun did not appeal to him in the least. She reached her hands out and settled them over the back of his shoulders, marveling at the tension that pulled beneath her grip and dug her thumb into the back of his neck. She pushed the tension up and out, feeling a knot at the base of his skull slip under her ministration.

“Mai,” he muttered warningly despite the way his shoulders slumped under her grip.

“No wonder you get migraines,” she muttered with a sigh. “You should talk to Lin about fitting a chiropractor into your workout routine,” she added while she worked at the strain in his neck. She slid her hands around either side of his neck and pushed his jaw up with her fingers, tipping his head back against the couch. There was a satisfying pop and his eyes fluttered shut in relief.

“Your hands are dangerous,” he muttered bitterly.

“Drink your tea,” she replied briskly, ignoring his statement in favor of retreating to her room to pick out an actual outfit for the day. She didn’t want to stumble into the BSPR office wearing leggings and sneakers when Andrew was probably still around. Not to mention, the rest of the staff might just feel a certain type of way about her line of work and abilities. She wanted to look put together and intimidating. Or as close to it as she could manage. 

Mai pulled on a pair of high-waisted black pants with a white windowpane pattern. They were trendy and fun, especially when she paired them with a white tee that had a black print of Monk’s band logo, faded with time and use. She examined the combination in the mirror with a smirk before she turned about to pull a black blazer off of its hanger. The sharp lines of the shoulders, provided by padding, added severity to the outfit that it was previously lacking.

Today, she decided, would be the day for a sock bun. Half dressed she shuffled into the bathroom and pulled her hair up into a ponytail while searching for a sock bun scrunchy she knew she had stuffed in a drawer with her other hand. With practiced efficiency, she rolled her hair and then pulled a few wisps free to frame her face.

When she passed by the closet a second time she debated pulling her boots on. There was still plenty of time before they had to leave to make it to the office but she also wanted to run down to the bakery. Again. They really were getting a lot of business out of her. 

She was just about to step into them when there was a knock at the front entrance door. She had a feeling she knew who that was. She sent her boots a look of exasperation then trotted out into the main room where Oliver sat on the couch still sipping his tea, unbothered by the guest at the door.

"Hello, Lin!" she announced loudly as the door swung open, revealing the stoic man, dressed impeccably as always. He had even pulled on a coat for the day.

"I'm here to pick up my charge," he stated with just a hint of mirth, hidden beneath layers of suffering and exasperation.

"Excellent," Mai replied, "Get him out of here."

They both could hear Oliver's scoff from across the room. She was the one who had lulled him into a state of complacency in his moment of weakness.

Mai stepped away from the door to allow Lin entrance. Once upon a time, he would have waited outside, stiff as a board, but now he strolled in with a hand in his pocket. He had the decency not to scan the room for details but instead zeroed in on his charge. Oliver was still seated on the couch with his cup of tea in hand, not quite ready to leave until he had been allowed to finish it.

"Your mother has been calling you all morning," Lin informed him casually while Mai offered him a cup of tea of his own.

"I'm not surprised," Oliver stated simply. He turned his piercing gaze on the man and lifted a brow as Lin sat at the island and took a sip of tea with a sigh. He had not expected his friend and handler to make himself comfortable in Mai's hotel room, let alone accept her hosting.

"Of course," Lin agreed, "you've never been the type to stay out."

"Did you bring a change of clothes?" Oliver asked with a sigh.

Mai caught sight of Lin's face as she turned and saw his lip twitch while he simply said: "No."

Oliver shot the man a scowl that he couldn't even see from where he was sitting, his back to Oliver, but the serene smile Lin wore informed Mai he very much knew it was there. He had just sentenced Oliver to the walk of shame and he felt no remorse for it. Let the prodigal genius be humbled for once.

"I've reserved the large meeting room for today," Lin informed Mai a few moments later. "We'll have Oliver's team meet with yours, review the case, and then go from there."

"Perfect," Mai chirped. "Do you have a head count on your end? I was going to go back to the bakery to get us some goodies for the meeting."

"Just four," he assured her.

Oliver pushed himself to his feet with a sigh, recognizing the teasing for what it was. The empty teacup was set in the sink and he turned to join Mai standing at the island while she slid the to-go box with the waffle over to him absently.

"Great, I'm sure it'll be a blast," Mai shot back and handed Oliver a fork before she left the two to head back to her room. She pulled the blazer on and stepped into the boots before zipping them up.

As soon as she had left them the two made eye contact that was laden with meaning. Lin was playing the part of a disappointed parent, his brows furrowed, but there was a spark of curiosity there. Mai was right in assuming the man was a secret gossip and for the past twelve years of his life, Oliver had been the focal point. He wanted to know what happened last night with every fiber of his being but he would never outright ask for it, least of all within Mai's vicinity. And Oliver knew this. He quirked a brow and popped the lid of the box open to find the waffle slathered in butter and syrup before taking a bite.

Lin rolled his eyes and leaned over to pull Oliver's coat off the back of the barstool next to him, digging in the pockets for the man's phone. The screen lit up revealing the eleven missed calls and multiple text messages from them all. He supposed Oliver staying out with a girl since the first time he had met him was worth the price of a few hours of worry. He tossed the phone on the countertop in Oliver's direction.

"Call Luella, speak with your son," Lin instructed casually, pushing himself to his feet.

Oliver reached for the phone with a sigh and pulled up his list of contacts while Mai stepped back out into the main room with a smaller black purse slung across her body. She was just stuffing her own phone into the front compartment when Oliver called out and lifted his to his ear.

“Just make sure you turn off the coffee pot before leaving,” Mai informed Lin quietly as she passed. He turned to watch her pull the door shut behind her before settling Oliver with a scrutinizing look. Even while on the phone with his mother the man’s eyes had trailed after Mai.

It felt a little like going to war.

The entirety of SPR strode across the street in front of BSPR in a single file, each laden down with their own supplies. The looming tower before them represented a side of their chosen field that they did not quite agree with and so they were prepared for the coming battle of wills like no other. BSPR had the advantage of operating on their own home turf but Mai knew her team had a secret weapon. Whereas those within BSPR had been weakened after years of working beneath the tyrannical Oliver Davis, SPR would never falter before the man. A dear friend he may be but they knew he had faults of his own.

Mai had shouldered a laptop bag over the same side that held her purse. A pair of sunglasses shielded her eyes from the bright sun that persisted into the afternoon cheerily and she could not help but feel it lift her mood just a little bit further as she mounted the steps of BSPR and pulled the creaking wooden door open. The darkness from within ate up the sunlight but Mai stepped through without faltering, her loyal family following in her wake. Next came John, carrying a bag of bakery goods between both hands and wearing a pleasant smile and jeans and a t-shirt. Behind him was Masako, dressed in a resplendent kimono of deep blue with an orange obi. Yasuhara followed after her with a backpack hanging from one shoulder and a phone in his other hand, he had actually donned a sports jacket and dress shoes for the event. Monk and Ayako brought up the rear; Ayako in a leather skirt and maroon blouse, tights, and a black coat lined in leopard print; and Monk was dressed in his favored leather jacket, a flannel, and ripped jeans.

Averlin stared at them all with wide eyes while they gathered in the main foyer before her desk. She shifted in her seat, attempting to pat down any loose strands of hair that may have escaped her French braid before she stood to greet them.

“Welcome, everyone,” she began, “Dr. Davis informed me you all would be meeting in room 3A, so I’ll be happy to lead you up there.”

“Thank you, Averlin,” Mai replied kindly.

“Oh, you’re welcome,” Averlin stuttered.

It felt a little like going to war and it felt a little like coming home.

They stepped out onto the investigations floor and into the dimly lit hall of the primary investigator's offices. Monk could not help the way his eyes roved the offices as they passed and noted that each one of them was empty. Despite his mixed feelings regarding Oliver Davis, he could not deny that there was still a part of him that had always dreamed of getting to set foot within the headquarters of BSPR. The antique wall sconces and dark hardwood floors just set the mood so well, it enticed his artistic nature.

“From the notes I received, I know you’ll be working with Dr. Davis and his team directly but I suspect the majority of the office will be attending the meeting,” Averlin mumbled nervously, her stress mounting with each empty office they passed. “I’m so sorry,” she added.

“Why all the interest?” Yasu asked curiously, “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Oh,” Averlin stumbled out a response, “I suspect it’s due to a few things. It seems Dr. Davis senior had mentioned that your team worked with his son in Japan, that you each had abilities, and then there is what Ms. Taniyama managed to do for Toby…”

Monk tsked as they stepped through the swinging doors into the main office, “Martin’s got a big mouth.”

Mai chuckled. Martin was just an excitable person by nature. She imagined Oliver was seething though. Especially so when they turned a corner past the elevators and Mai caught sight of a conference room, walled in by glass, filled with people standing along the back muttering among themselves. A large round table took up roost in the center of the room and Oliver had claimed a seat on one end. He looked well rested and freshly showered, dressed in a black dress shirt and vest, and had donned those damned glasses while he read through freshly printed notes on the case. Lin sat at his side, laptop open and ready, while the two conversed over the notes.

Several sets of eyes turned to watch them approach through the glass and Mai shoved her sunglasses to the top of her head while offering Lin a wave. Just pretend you’re doing the podcast, she mentally soothed her nerves. With a valiant effort, she managed to keep herself from blushing under the scrutiny of all those eyes and stepped through the door that Averlin held open for them.

“It’s a good thing I got extra,” she stated upon entry.

Lin pushed himself to his feet and said: “I apologize, it seems things have been a little slow around here these days.”

“It’s alright, I had a feeling,” she assured him, tapping a finger on her nose before she moved deeper into the room to make way for the rest of the team. She pulled the laptop bag over her shoulder and set it on the table across from Oliver then turned to take the bag from John and set it on a small table pushed up against the wall between a handful of observers. “This is for everyone, feel free to take what you like,” she announced to the room at large.

Nora, having been standing behind Oliver, sidled over to peer into the bag.

“Isn’t this nice,” Monk drawled when he had finally stepped into the room and scanned it. The round table in the center was made of ornately carved wood and had obviously been snatched up from an estate sale of some kind within the last century, at least. The hardwood floor was covered by an old maroon rug that could have been cut out of a vintage hotel with its blue spots and swirls. The ten or so unfamiliar people looked a little uncomfortable standing about but their curiosity surpassed whatever nerves they may have battled in order to stand their ground in the room. “What’s got your tails between your legs?” he questioned loudly as Ayako passed him to drop in the seat next to Lin with a sigh.

No one answered, instead, they glanced about and some even watched Yasuhara sit down next to Oliver and boot up his own laptop without hesitation.

“Nothing, Takigawa,” Oliver finally deigned to dignify them with some acknowledgment, “This is what a respectable team is supposed to act like.”

“Sure, if you’re a dictator,” Monk grumbled with a scoff, lowering himself into the seat next to his wife.

Oliver lifted his focused gaze to the monk, the papers lowering in his grip, mouth open.

And Mai dropped her leather notebook onto the table with such a violent-sounding slap in the mounting tension that Nora jumped with a squeak. Monk crossed his arms with a sigh, settling into the seat with the closest thing to a pout Mai had ever seen a grown man wear. And Oliver set the notes on the table to push his glasses up and rub the bridge of his nose.

“I wish you two would make up already,” Mai griped with a gusty sigh of her own, “It’s just not the same.”

“We’ve gotta keep the new season interesting, Boss,” Yasu objected with a smile.

John had stepped back to pull a chair out for Masako, who settled herself down with a sleeve lifted to hide the smile pulling at her cheeks, her eyes bright with mirth. Once upon a time, she would have stuck her nose up at such a gathering, intent on putting herself above the others in the room, but now she could only feel the warmth. Even through Monk’s obvious frustrations and struggles with letting go of his own feelings, the rest of the table felt like a long dusty puzzle fitting itself back together.

John claimed the seat next to hers and crossed his arms, resting his elbows on the table to scan the rest of the room curiously.

“Oh, there’s plenty of interesting things going on this season,” Monk muttered, “Let me tell you.”

Lin choked on the sip of water he had been about to take and Mai lost the battle with her face, blush splashing across her cheeks. The rest of SPR turned gleaming eyes onto the Monk like hungry vultures, begging for scraps. Yasuhara’s eyes couldn’t even be sighted behind the glare of his glasses in the light.

To think she had missed this.

“Enough!” The command echoed from opposite ends of the table and Mai hid her face behind a hand, for once wishing she was as coy as Masako and had a kimono sleeve to hide behind. Oliver, for once in his life, looked startled. With eyes wide behind his glasses, he shot Mai a scrutinizing look. And he had every right to. Mai doubted that had even been her own thinking that had led her to cry out but Oliver’s. His own mounting frustration had been so strong she had felt it.

Yasuhara took this to mean something else, even though his thought process was technically correct. He let out an exaggerated gasp. Ayako’s eyes widened.

“Sorry, I’m late!” Martin exclaimed as he entered the conference room. He hurried to set up his own laptop in the line of glowing screens while the room slowly acclimated to the new presence. But his jovial mood was enough to calm the onlookers and allow everyone else to settle into their spots in silent agreement that the subject would be dropped for now. Mai wasn’t fooled, Ayako was scowling at her from across the table, promising a discussion later.

Oliver leaned back in his chair, one hand wrapped around the armrest while the other twirled a pen between his fingers absently. Sensing that the official meeting was about to begin, Mai settled herself in her own chair and clasped her hands together over her crossed legs. Those who were standing shifted their attention to Oliver.

“This case was exhumed from the unsolved pile the other day by Ms. Taniyama,” Oliver began coolly, “Those of you with BSPR will be unfamiliar with her abilities but she shows talent when it comes to pre and post-cognitive visions and intuition. She picked this one out of the pile and since has already experienced a dream relating to this case. Given that we are still under contract with the museum and the missing person’s case involved was never solved, we have jurisdiction to re-open investigations at any time. So I have made the decision to do so.”

Mai pursed her lips at the reminder of the dream. Even now, a day later, she felt her heart stutter in her chest and pull a bit of color from her face.

“Shit,” Monk hissed from his end of the table, running a hand through his hair with a sigh. Cases dealing with unsolved crimes were usually far more difficult on the team, especially ones that were recent. It was easier to separate oneself from a haunting when it could be relegated to ancient history, tying up loose ends so someone could finally get going on their journey. Monk had likened it to cutting a kite loose when its tail was caught in branches. But when it was recent, friends and family of the victims were still up and walking about, wishing to know what happened. It was so much worse. In a way, it was like having to find the kite, repair it, show everyone it had been repaired, and then put in the work to get it back into the air. It weighed more heavily on the spirit.

“Is this the only reported case, or were there others?” Yasuhara asked stoically from his seat, fingers poised to do his own research.

“There were others,” Oliver admitted, reclaiming the notes for his review. “Though it should be noted I was a toddler at the time of this case, my father would know better.”

The room turned their attention to Martin. He shifted in his seat and laced his fingers together, elbows resting on the table, and cast his mind back to those days thoughtfully. “It was so long ago,” he admitted grimly, “I’m certain I’ll be fuzzy on some of the details, but I will share with you what I can.”

Mai moved to pull her notebook in her lap with a pen as the man paused, offering everyone a moment to prepare themselves for note-taking before he continued. Even those standing about the room had pulled out their phones or small notepads to jot down their thoughts. It was a little intimidating, to say the least. They were like trained dogs, sitting at the heels of their master waiting for a command. Whereas SPR was a pack of rabble, disorderly and disobedient. She smirked at the imagery.

“It started when seventeen-year-old Lydia went missing during her family’s trip to the museum one winter. The family did not see her slip away and went to the front desk to ask for help after several minutes of fruitless searching,” Martin began with a hefty sigh. “The security and staff of the museum spent hours searching for her. They closed down early, posted people at every entrance to look for her among those leaving…”

Mai felt her limbs ice over and dropped her gaze to her notebook, notating her name and age. Lydia sounded right, she mused to herself tapping the end of her pen against her chin with distant eyes. She felt a phantom of the terror ghost across her heart, dusty cement beneath the pads of her figures, burning lungs as if she had been running for miles...Lydia.

“So what led them to believe this was a haunting?” Monk asked seriously, eyes steely with grim resolve.

“Afterwards,” Martin answered, “Displays would be knocked over in the night. It escalated over time but it was always at night, no guests or staff were ever endangered, but they grew frightened when they caught something on CCTV a year later.”

Mai pulled herself back to the present as Lin pulled the video in question up on his laptop and spun it around for the rest of the table to see. Those standing moved to crowd around behind Mai and she leaned forward to scrutinize the grainy video feed displayed. There were no grand museum displays shown, in fact, the camera seemed to face an emergency exit of some kind. Mai could just make out a sign for a bathroom in the lower right-hand corner of the tilted frame.

The room fell into tense silence as the video played, strands of static working their way across the screen. There was no movement, but Mai could tell from the ticker in the corner that the video had been sped up for the sake of time. She felt the hair raise on the back of her neck, but whether it was due to the suspense or the fact that she could feel several people hovering over her from behind, all holding their breath, she couldn’t tell.

The timer in the corner slowed.

It was a blink and you miss it moment. For just a fraction of a second, a figure blurred across the screen before it was gone. It could have easily been a camera error or a bug flitting across the lens, but Lin spun the laptop back around to rewind and paused the video on the image. When the screen was turned back to face the room Mai felt her heart turn to ice along with her limbs.

It looked like a young woman, long curly dark hair a wild mess, she was reaching for the emergency exit with fingers outstretched in desperation. It was hard to make out much more detail beyond that. She might have been wearing jeans and a sweater but the lighting and image quality was so low, Mai couldn’t tell. None of that really mattered, though. All that she could see was the visceral yearning in the reach of her hand. She had been running for hours.

Mai pulled back away from the screen, back smacking against the chair, and stared in stunned shock. She couldn’t even feel the pen and notebook in her hand. Poor Lydia. If there was one thing she had never been able to harden her heart against it was those who suffered in death. To repeatedly relive their torment until someone put a stop to it, it was heartbreaking, especially when it was someone so young. She wasn’t much older than Mai had been when she first started working with Oliver. Her eyes burned with the threat of tears but she wiped them away and jotted down her suspicions in her notebook. When she lifted her eyes back to those at the table she found Oliver’s icy gaze settled on her, observing.

“And you weren’t able to solve this?” Monk asked with a note of doubt in his voice.

“We could never find her,” Martin admitted helplessly. “We spent weeks but never experienced any activity, it was like she was hiding, we searched just to see if we could even find any sign of her body. But there was nothing. We offered to return if the activity continued but the museum never contacted us.”

“We reserved the right to return should we have felt it was necessary, as we do in all contracts,” Oliver cut in smoothly, finally pulling his attention from Mai to meet Monk’s gaze.

“They’ll let us in after hours?” Ayako asked.

“They will accommodate us,” Oliver assured her.

“Yes,” Nora spoke up for the first time, pulling the team’s attention to her with ease. She was dressed in black slacks and a lilac blouse, hidden beneath a frumpy beige jacket that she seemed uncomfortable in. Her face, with the exception of her glasses, was mostly obscured behind her own dark curls. “I actually called the curator of the Museum this morning just to confirm. He was on staff the day of the event and since he’s meant to be retiring soon he wanted to put the whole thing to rest before he leaves.”

“That’s excellent,” Mai announced with genuine warmth.

Oliver was still struggling to understand when Nora, meek as a mouse and always needing direction, had gotten the courage to take the initiative. He wasn’t complaining though, her actions saved him time and frustration later. But the blush that blossomed across her face at the compliment from Mai may have been all the explanation he needed. Either she was desperate for approval or she fancied Mai herself. Either was likely, but considering the fact that she had encouraged Oliver to go after Mai, perhaps she was just excited to work with a new team and earn their favor.

Poor Nora, who was just happy to be of some help to someone that wasn’t Oliver Davis, would bend over backward to work with anyone else.

“So we’ll start over from the beginning,” Mai stated, “Act as if this is our first time approaching the case, from square one, and work from there. Yasu, would you mind doing some research? See what you can find on any other missing person cases that might not have been mentioned?”

“You got it, Boss,” Yasu replied in kind.

“Now wait just a moment,” Andrew voiced from his corner, stepping forward with brows furrowed. He didn’t have any of the vitriol from the day before but he did look a little flustered. Everyone else in the room who was familiar with him rolled their eyes or turned away with a cringe.

“You should know,” Monk cut across the man’s protest with arms crossed, but otherwise relaxed in his seat, “That the deal we’ve made here is that our team will be solving and resolving this case while you guys collect whatever data you want. The great Oliver Davis will be taking a backseat on this one, isn’t that right, Naru-bou?”

Oliver dropped into that facade of serene tranquility and lowered his gaze, lashes fanned across his cheeks. It was by no means a form of submission and Monk was no fool, Oliver was playing at taking the high ground while Monk played the part of a bully. That was fine by him. Monk’s smirk grew into a full-on grin when Lin shifted in his seat to cover his mouth, cheek twitching.

Andrew looked utterly flabbergasted.

“Yes, what Takigawa said is correct,” Oliver confirmed calmly. He wondered how many times those exact words would slip through his lips before this case was done. Probably too many and not enough. He recalled the day, just before their final case together, in which Monk had pulled away at all the lies Oliver had built up to protect his identity, one layer at a time. And John and Yasuhara had stood by and aided.

“That should be fine,” Martin spoke up to soothe any ruffled feathers. “We’d be happy with any evidence we could document.”

“Andrew?” Mai voiced before the man could protest further. He turned his gaze to her, a little less heated than he was before. “You have a history in contract work, don’t you?”

Andrew paused with some uncertainty before he nodded and crossed his arms. His history was no secret but the fact that he had previously spent a decade in construction and contract was one he tended to keep to himself. When working among several staff who boasted one or more PhDs his lack of a degree did not sit well with him. He didn’t know how she had discovered such information but he wasn't going to deny it either. 

“I would appreciate it if you worked with us on this case,” Mai continued, “I have a feeling your knowledge would be useful here.”

“Of course,” Andrew stuttered before he could even think to answer otherwise.

Mai spun back in her chair to make a note in her notebook thoughtfully. She didn’t have much to go on yet when it came to this case but her resources were ever-growing, it seemed, and she refused to look a gift horse in the mouth. You never knew where a gem of knowledge would materialize from and she knew Oliver’s team was no doubt meticulously cultivated based on similar thinking.

“And Nora, what do you specialize in?” Mai asked once she had pulled her eyes away from the notebook.

“Oh, just history and research,” she admitted, wringing her hands distractedly.

“Great, you can team up with Yasuhara there,” Mai replied, gesturing to the man in question who lifted a hand to wave.

“If you’re done pilfering my team,” Oliver spoke up a moment later when Mai had finished her notes. “We can move on to forming a schedule.”

Truthfully, it felt as if they were dividing assets during a divorce. The crowd waiting nervously to see where they would be shuffled about while Monk played lawyer, stepping in and putting Oliver back in his place when he toed the line.

“Sure,” Mai assured him with a cheerful nod, “I just want to get Tristan in on this too.”

Oliver reached up to smooth the tension between his brows, shoving his glasses up and out of the way, while Lin snorted. She was purposefully pushing him. This was revenge, pure and simple. Retaliation for the year spent under his employ. Was this how it felt to work for him? Her numerous outbursts suddenly made a little more sense. “I suppose my opinion holds no value on the matter?” he drawled with a sigh.

“Not even an ounce,” she replied.

Oliver leaned back in his chair and his jaw ticked, a signal that he was grinding his teeth though his face appeared otherwise relaxed. There was a finality in his submission and Mai felt a little guilty for taking pleasure in it. She would have apologized if it weren’t for the wry glint in his eyes. Clearly, the battle may have been won but there was still a war to fight. She settled her chin in a palm to hide the smirk trying to pull at her lips.

Chapter Text

“Don’t think I didn’t notice how you slipped away for that sudden meeting with your publisher,” Ayako muttered as they strode through the doors of BSPR the following day.

As expected, that day was grey and rainy but Mai had hardly dressed for such weather considering they would be within doors for the majority of the day. It was also the most excited she had been since setting foot on English soil and if that didn’t say a lot about her, she didn’t know what would. They were gathering at the office before heading out to the museum to make introductions and set up shop. It was so nostalgic she feared her heart just might burst. She had almost worn a skirt just for the sake of a good laugh and throwback but she had thought better of it. With her luck, she would have taken a tumble down some hidden trap door and flashed everyone on the way down. She had settled on her favorite black slacks and the return of her linen tunic tied up to accent the high waist. The low-heeled ankle boots made a return as well and she hoped her feet wouldn’t hate her too much by the time she got to take them off, which would be an unknown amount of time later.

“What? I had a meeting!” she defended herself, indignant, “I can’t not attend those. They do pay all my bills.”

“How convenient,” Ayako drawled wryly.

Mai scoffed even though her cheeks were painted pink and dug for her phone out of the leather pack at her waist. It was better than a purse that she’d have to track down while in the museum and served as a little utility belt when she needed to clip a walkie-talkie or thermometer to it. She pulled up the email from Tim just to prove herself but they passed through the swinging doors into the main office and lounge before she got the chance. She didn’t want to be caught arguing her innocence with Ayako by the entirety of the team meant to work on the Lydia Case. Mai swallowed and slowed to a stop even as Ayako kept walking to reclaim her seat next to Monk on the couch. They had gone out in search of Yasuhara but had found the man on the phone with Madoka and had returned. Now Mai was staring down a total of thirteen separate individuals who would all be assisting with the investigations and found herself gobsmacked. She had never worked with so many people before in her life.

“There you are,” Oliver voiced from where he sat in a chair, the dreaded familiar black notebook open in his hands. He opened his mouth to continue speaking and Mai shot up her hand, managing to stall his next few words. They stared each other down for a tense several seconds before the notebook lowered by a fraction and he sighed. “Would you consider making tea?”

“It’s like watching someone pull teeth without novocaine,” Ayako commented blandly, earning a snort and a laugh from Monk.

“Oh,” Nora jumped to attention from where she was standing against the kitchen counter, “I can do it.” She was already standing right there, it hardly seemed fair to make Mai do it when they had all been waiting around for several minutes now. Several pairs of eyes turned on her and she faltered nervously, “Is that not okay?”

“It’s perfectly fine, Nora,” John assured her from where he stood next to her, “Dr. Davis just prefers Mai’s tea because of how she makes it and you know how he is.” Nora’s eyes widened and she nodded in understanding, clasping her hands together with raised brows. “We can make a big pot for everyone together and Mai can make his,” John suggested, already turning to grab the kettle.

While the two got to work Mai shot Oliver an exasperated look. Did he really need to start before they had even arrived at the location to set up base? He had already returned to his notes, satisfied with John’s resolution, and ignored Mai as she passed his chair to join the others at the counter.

“So dawns a new day on the battlefield,” she muttered to the two, already reaching for the earl grey in defeat. To think, the man had been sleeping in her lap just the night before last, purring like a kitten. She scoffed at the mere notion.

“I’m certain it won’t be so bad, Mai, at least now you two are on an even playing field,” John said with ease, nudging his shoulder into hers. “At least he asked instead of demanding it.”

“Yeah,” she agreed with a sigh, “You’re right, as usual, John.”

“Do you two fight often?” Nora asked quietly in a conspiring tone.

“No,” Mai assured her just as John said: “Every case.”

Nora’s eyes bounced between the two before she let out a girlish giggle that managed to pull a laugh from Mai. Nora seemed the nervous sort but was a good person regardless. It was evident in the fact that Mai hadn’t heard anything about the day she had walked in on her supporting an unconscious Oliver in the archives.

“Hey! No fraternizing over there,” Monk called out across the room.

Mai rolled her eyes and turned back to scoop a spoonful of the bergamot blend into a metal infuser with a spoon. The familiar motions settled any nerves she might have been suffering and allowed her mind to wander toward the upcoming day. She was excited to work with everyone again and to make new memories. And hopefully new friends. She gently lowered the tea strainer into a tea cup and stepped back while Nora poured some of the boiling water into it before taking it away to use the rest for the remainder of the team. The secret to making Oliver’s tea, Mai had learned, was just to make it sweet. It wasn’t rocket science; the man had a horrendous sweet tooth. So while that steeped she pulled down the honey and added a teaspoon of that and a teaspoon of sugar. It would have been far too sweet for her own tastes. 

The teacup was settled in Oliver’s outstretched hand, his fingers brushing against hers and sending a spark of something through both of them, though neither reacted to it. Once the job was done, Mai turned to face the rest of the gang with her hands on her hips. Yasuhara had made his way back into the office and their group of, now fourteen, were finally all gathered.

“I’ll start this off by saying this will be a difficult case,” Oliver began after taking a sip of the tea. “Not only is the property in question the largest any of us had ever officially investigated but it will not be closed during the duration of our stay. We will have to remain dormant during operating hours, monitoring equipment. Those with abilities might do walk-throughs, but everything else would be next to useless in a building filled with guests.”

“Most of our work will take place at night,” Mai drawled thoughtfully, “I suppose that works best to collect evidence.”

“Is there a problem with that?” Oliver asked lightly.

“No,” she assured him with a wave of her hand, “I was thinking more of facilities and whether we should get hotel rooms or not.” While her hotel was relatively close, the idea of driving to and fro in thirty minutes of heavy city traffic at odd hours of the day sounded terrible and she was certain the rest of her crew felt the same.

“The museum has seen to that,” Oliver replied, “There is a hotel across the street with room to spare given the season. They’ve booked three suites and the museum itself will provide cots and pull-out couches from the back rooms.”

Ayako groaned, ”It’s Yasuhara’s school all over again.”

“I had so much fun,” Yasu admitted with a whimsical sigh, remembering that case fondly. “I even got to curl up with Monk. It’s a shame you snatched him off the market,” he added, nudging Ayako on the couch.

“Not this again,” Monk muttered under his breath.

“Alright,” Mai spoke up, notating that in her own notebook thoughtfully, tapping the pen to her chin. “Food and drink?” she asked a moment later.

“The museum has two restaurants that will supply,” Lin answered this time.

“Perfect,” Mai mumbled to herself, adding that in as well.

Oliver snapped the notebook shut and finished off the rest of the tea before setting the cup on the coffee table. “We’ll have three rooms to utilize with plenty of outlets and decent WiFi so we’re all set to go if you are,” he informed Mai and by proxy the rest of SPR.

Monk had rented an SUV that those of SPR happily piled into with their own luggage either on their person or stuffed in the back. Since their hotel was still within easy driving distance the majority of them had packed light, even Ayako, so they managed to all fit with ease. BSPR would lead the way with three vehicles, all filled with equipment and personnel to manage it. Mai had thought that this would be the first time they had the opportunity to watch Oliver work to his full capabilities. Too bad he was taking the backseat on this one, she thought wryly.

“Are we even getting paid for this?” Monk asked curiously.

“No idea,” she answered truthfully while flipping through the notes she had collected over the past forty-eight hours. “And. honestly, I think solving it before Naru is payment enough.”

Monk shot Mai a look from the corner of his eye as he drove, smirking, “Oh, so now it’s Naru again.”

Mai buried her face in her notebook to the sound of Monk’s chortling.

It was forty minutes later through heavy traffic that the stream of vehicles drove down Cromwell and Mai got her first look at the Natural History Museum with her own eyes. “Wow,” she whispered to herself at the long stretch of historical architecture that was mixed with the overtly modern and scientific designs around it. It was a hodge-podge collection of buildings that provided a realistic mix of humanity all in one. Ellen Worthrite had been correct, Mai found herself drawn to the building before they had even entered. She couldn’t even imagine the exhibits held within. Before she could delve into that line of thinking, they turned down a side street and then in through a gate built into the underside of a cement block building. There were several trucks and personnel scattered about the back lot they found themselves in but someone moved to direct them off to the left where a row of empty spots had been reserved for them.

Mai found her boots hitting asphalt not a moment later and she slid the small notebook into the bag around her waist while the others shuffled out of their seats. The clouds overhead were threatening more rain but Mai could only hope they would hold off long enough for BSPR to get their equipment inside. It would be a hassle to drag it all in during a downpour. Mai tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as a breeze blew past, drawing her attention to some of the workers who had stopped to watch them curiously from across the lot. It looked as if they had been in the process of unloading a truck full of restaurant supplies.

“Mai.”

She turned her eyes to the man leaning around the backside of one of the black BSPR vans. Oliver had pulled his glasses back on, no doubt having been reviewing more information during the ride over. Today, she noted belatedly, he had worn a dark grey shirt beneath his black vest and coat. He was no doubt calling her over to speak with the curator directly and get the tour.

“Yasu,” she called while moving to join Oliver.

“Coming, Boss,” he assured her before he arrived at her side with a messenger back tossed over one shoulder.

“We’ll help the rest with equipment,” Monk offered.

Mai sent him a wave of gratitude from over her shoulder while she, Lin, Oliver, and Yasu moved to meet the man standing at the back entrance with his hands clasped behind his back. From what Mai could make out from the distance, he was wearing a dark full three-piece suit and had a head of white hair. He stood tall, despite his obvious age, and moved to greet them jovially.

“Good morning,” he began and offered Oliver his hand. The two shook before he did the same with the rest gathered around. “I’m glad you reached out when you did,” he added in quieter tones so that those working could not overhear, “Because there has been an update in events.”

Mai felt her heart flutter in her chest and sent Oliver a quick look that the man filed away for later, only daring to set a hand on her back to guide her into the museum after the curator who had already been on the move. If there had been recent activity then it was another coincidence to add to the list. The wave of cold air that hit them as they passed through the doors was enough to rouse Mai from her thoughts and she shook her head to stay on task. Yasu and Lin were both following directly behind the curator as he led them through a series of back halls and rooms that looked rather bland in comparison to the exterior of the museum. Simple beige walls and grey carpet for as far as the eye could see.

“These are the rooms I’ve had set aside for you,” the curator explained at the beginning of a hall that had three separate doors, two facing each other, and one at the end. “There’s a bathroom right down this way and back entrance to the restaurant, so everything is well within reach,” he continued. He stepped into the hall and opened the last door, gesturing them in.

Mai stepped through and found a large room with one window overlooking the street outside. There was a small lounge area set up in one corner and a large desk in the other. It was all minimalistic and modern, the desk even lacked any actual drawers. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead and set Mai’s teeth on edge. She supposed it couldn’t be helped, it was a large building, but she did spy a small floor lamp tucked away in the far corner that they could utilize.

“These are for you,” the curator voiced, handing a folder to Mai that had been left on the desk.

When she opened the manilla folder she found a few sheets of printed paper and a collection of room keys for the hotel across the street. “Thank you,” she chirped, tucking the folder under one arm while the man scanned the room absently, mind wandering, most likely making sure he remembered everything before they continued.

“You are all welcome to tour the museum while you’re here, there are passes in there as well just to avoid confusion. I want to show you the security room, the location where that CCTV footage was taken, and then the last place Lydia was spotted before she disappeared,” he added, sliding his hands into his pocket with a sigh. “I sure hope you can resolve this,” he admitted tiredly, “I would hate to spend the rest of my days with this haunting me.”

Yasuhara chuckled at the pun, earning a smile from the curator. He did seem like such an utterly sad man, Mai mused to herself, despite his good humor. It was a shame. She hoped they could offer him some peace by bringing the case to a close. She tightened her hold on the folder and turned to follow the group back out into the hall.

She hung back a little while the men conversed with their guide and allowed her mind to reach out. She couldn’t sense anything, but then again, that had always been Masako’s specialty. While Mai could see spirits when they manifested, she was no crack shot at sniffing them out like a true medium. If she dreamed of their location, astral projected and happened upon them, certainly, but otherwise she was a little useless in that department. Instead, she was waiting for a moment of intuition and that was easier to do when she wasn’t tuned into the technicalities of the case. That was Yasu’s job.

They came upon the hall that ended in the emergency exit and Mai trailed her hand across one wall, eyes scanning the nondescript surroundings. She could hear the men conversing, their voices reverberating off of the walls of the bare hall and cement floor, but beyond that there was nothing. She paused and turned to look back the way they had come. Lydia had passed through here, desperately trying to escape. Despite the fact that there was an emergency exit right there she had failed to make a getaway and lost her life. Mai needed to figure out what happened in order to track down Lydia’s body so her family and the museum could have peace. Mai needed to know what happened next but she found herself retracing their steps instead.

She stepped out into the intersection of hallways and looked both ways curiously. There was nothing to stand out about either direction, both lit under the fluorescent lighting, quiet besides muffled conversation from a few offices with opened doors. But if she turned right, the hall ended with a set of metal double doors, painted in dark green chipping paint, leading to a set of stairs. Mai stepped out from the hall with her chest tight, lungs aching for air. Lydia had been running for hours, that much she knew, she had experienced a level of exhaustion people rarely suffered from unless they had pushed themselves well beyond their limits. And these halls were endless. And from what Mai knew, they even delved below ground, as well as above. A lot went into sustaining a museum, she supposed, but it certainly left her to wonder. Had Lydia run through all these halls? And if she had, why had no one seen her? And what was chasing her?

A cold sweat broke out across her body, sliding down her spine as her eyes widened in fright.

She felt sick to her stomach.

With shaking hands, she reached for the notebook in her bag and took out the pen to notate the sensation as best she could manage. This path that Lydia had taken was utterly scarred with the noxious fumes of her terror. It completely warped the hallway. And this was just from one person? She marveled to herself. Masako would surely faint at the sight.

“You alright?”

Mai startled and half turned on her heel to see Yasuhara making his way back towards her, the two tall dark figures of Lin and Oliver bracketing the elderly curator a little ways behind him. She stuffed the notebook back where it belonged with a wordless nod. “Yeah, why?” she asked.

“We just came back from the security room and noticed you standing here the whole time, it’s been about ten minutes, boss, anything to report?” Yasu explained gently. It was always best to be a little easier with Mai or Masako when they spaced out during an investigation. They were still processing information long after the event.

“Maybe,” she admitted haltingly, “I don’t have enough information yet.”

Yasu tsked in disappointment, “Always so stingy.”

“Sorry, Yasu,” she replied with a giggle.

Stepping out into the crowded museum might as well have been culture shock after nearly an hour of meandering the quiet halls of the staff. Hundreds of people swarmed around the expansive concourse and Mai found herself staring up at a full-size blue whale skeleton suspended in the air above the heads of the visitors. Several people stopped to take photos or recordings of the display and Mai felt the urge to do the same. She only barely managed to resist in the hopes of appearing a little more professional after her episode in the hall.

“This is where she was last seen,” the curator explained, “On the security footage she simply disappeared behind a crowd and was gone. She didn’t show up on any other footage.”

Oliver had slid his hands into his pockets while crowds of people parted around them. He looked unbothered by their surroundings and instead turned to face the curator with a curious gleam in his eye. “Was there an issue with the footage or was she just not caught on any cameras?”

The curator hummed in thought, tossing his memory back before he nodded and said: “Now that I think about it, most of the cameras were static at the time.”

All four investigators shared knowing looks. Either the event was planned or they were dealing with a far more powerful spirit capable of claiming living victims. Mai turned away and heaved a sigh, lifting a hand to her forehead as the evidence mounted. Monk wasn’t going to be happy with this one. They had a pretty decent streak of avoiding such cases but it seemed like their luck had finally run out. At least they had Oliver Davis on their side for this one. If all else failed, he could probably take a crack at it but Mai didn’t feel like dealing with the aftermath. Oliver’s heart had stopped once and he had only survived because Lin managed to perform CPR until an ambulance arrived.

“And you mentioned there was an update?” Yasuhara asked.

“Yes,” the curator agreed and shuffled closer to them, “Lydia’s family reached out, apparently, they’ve been receiving calls from the museum. A voice message is left but there's no sound on the other end.”

Mai noted this in her notebook as well.

“Let’s set up then,” Oliver advised when the curator had departed and left them standing in the middle of the crowd.

Mai hefted the last of the monitors onto the table with a grunt and a sigh. It seemed Oliver had collected even more equipment over the years, not that she blamed him, Andrew had given her a rundown of what everything did and she was pretty impressed herself. Not to mention, the tech portion of things seemed to be Andrew’s forte, he practically glowed when he was talking about it. The man himself was standing at the table working to connect everything while the rest of BSPR and SPR worked to set up equipment over several locations throughout the museum where they had been assured it would not be bothered. Most of it would be next to useless during the day but it would be a hassle to have to tear it down and set it up every evening. There was no telling how long they would be there. 

They had divided the rooms so that the equipment was stashed away in the largest, the second would be used for meetings and information review, and the third was for rest. A few cots had been lined up within along with two pull-out couches. If anyone truly needed sleep they would rotate out to the hotel rooms and return after they were able to get a full eight hours. It was a little awkward but it was far better than any setup that Mai could recall them having previously. Even back in the first year of SPR they were often stashed into small rooms with sleeping bags, and the boys usually suffered more fit. Mai chuckled at the memory. 

“Whoever has a walkie-talkie, can you check this camera angle for me?” Monk’s voice filtered over multiple devices throughout the room but it was Mai who leaned over Andrew’s shoulder to take a look. Monk was waving to the camera causally. 

“It looks good, Monk,” Mai replied with a snort. The camera was looking over the room with the whale skeleton but from the level above. Guest’s were not permitted above due to recent renovations so they hoped there would be little interference with the camera there. The people milling about below looked like toys, the distance was so great. Mai hoped the camera wasn’t knocked over otherwise it was a goner. 

The museum closed at five in the evening so they only had a few more hours to go before the space was free of the thousands of guests they were currently forced to work around. Mai presumed they would be having a late lunch before that given they had spent the past two setting everything up and they still had a ways to go. Her own stomach was grumbling but she didn't plan on eating. Mai figured she would work until late and then sleep on one of the pull-out couches or cots, depending on what was available, and see if she could dream. Most likely, she would still have been able to dream at the hotel but the closer to the location she was the clearer the messages. She would retreat to the hotel the following evening and rotate from there. 

“Hey Masako,” Mai called gently among the crowd of their team, each attending to their own tasks. Masako was working with Nora to set up their meeting room but she was just passing through the hall when Mai called out. 

“Yes?” she replied, closing the distance between them with her hands clasped. 

“When you do your walk-through, please be mindful of the hall outside of the emergency exit where the footage was from,” she murmured. “Don’t force yourself. And make sure it’s Monk or Lin that goes with you.” 

“I understand,” Masako replied with a nervous sigh. 

Mai found Lin and Oliver hunched over the desk, a laptop connected to the monitors by a single cord allowed them to flip through individual screens for additional review while Andrew worked. Oliver’s new assistant, since Lin had been promoted, was named Sam and had stationed himself behind the two men with arms crossed. He seemed the quiet sort but Mai had a feeling most of the people who worked under Oliver adopted such a trait just to avoid his ire. 

“Lin,” Mai called out to him as she approached with her notebook in hand. 

Lin lifted his gaze to her before he straightened with a tired smile, “What is it, Mai?”

“I just spoke with Masako,” she replied grimly, “Whenever she does her walk through I’d appreciate it if either you or Monk went with her.”

Lin sighed but he nodded in agreement, “I would advise the same for yourself then.” 

“Oh,” Mai laughed, “No need to worry there, I don’t plan on doing any walk-throughs. But if I do I’ll take someone with me.” 

“You won’t do one?” Oliver asked from behind the laptop, the blue light casting his face in the light glow. She didn’t like the way the light reflected off his glasses, blocking his blue eyes from view. She didn’t even know if he was looking at her or if he was focused on the computer screen. But she could see that Sam had turned his attention to her with pursed lips. 

“Well, not in the waking world at least,” she shot back with a half-shrug. “If I don’t get enough info tonight I’ll do some good ol’ fashioned astral projection,” she continued, walking her two fingers across a palm. She had gotten rather good at it over the years and with a protection charm from Ayako, she was able to do so with peace of mind knowing nothing could possess her body while she was away. 

“Is that something we could set up equipment for?” Sam asked curiously. His tone was innocent enough but he turned his eyes to Oliver rather than Mai and that irked her far more than she had expected. The idea of having cameras set up to record while she left her body behind felt a little inappropriate, it felt like an invasion of privacy. It left her feeling naked. Astral projection was an intimate thing. She only ever asked Ayako to watch over her so she could remove the seal and let Mai back into her body when the time came. 

“You could ask me yourself, Sam,” Mai answered coolly with arms crossed. 

Oliver lifted his gaze to her, confirming that he hadn’t even been looking at her, to begin with before he waved Sam away and said: “It’s not necessary and you most likely lost the opportunity anyways. Maybe next time you can inquire respectfully.” 

Sam at least had the wits to look shamefaced and he mumbled a quick apology to Mai that she accepted with a nod. “If it’s a topic you’re truly interested in I’ll be happy to sit down and discuss it with you sometime,” she offered with a forced smile. She didn’t know how comfortable she felt with it but she wanted to educate rather than leave the man feeling embarrassed with no understanding as to why. She managed to reign in the shudder that ran through her before she smacked her notebook against the palm of her hand with a sigh. “Anyways, mics are all set up and Monk just finished the last of the cameras,” she continued. 

“You guys didn’t have to do that,” Lin murmured, brows knit in apology. 

Mai shrugged, “You know us, we only laze around when Naru’s trying to work. Otherwise, we’re a pretty dependable bunch.” 

Lin snorted, “Yes, and I never heard the end of it. Isn’t that right, Naru?”

Oliver leaned back in the chair with a sigh, pulling his glasses from his face to tuck them away into the pocket of his vest. “Please don’t bring it back, Lin, I hardly ever ask for anything,” Oliver said while turning imploring eyes onto the man at his side. It was a horribly forced act that usually easily fooled those who didn’t know him but Lin could only watch him prostrate himself before him with genuine mirth pulling at his lips. 

Mai let out a bark of laughter in Lin’s stead before she slapped a hand over her mouth. 

“All set up, Naru-bou!” Monk announced to the room as he and Yasuhara returned. Many heads turned to watch him enter but soon returned to their tasks. The room didn’t have enough seating for everyone so there were a few crouched on the carpeted floor, connecting wires and booting up equipment. Even John had been roped into helping, currently standing with hands full of spooled wires. “Man, it’s just like old times,” Monk continued with a sigh, “We’ve got our base, the crew, a crazy haunting that will probably end with one or multiple injuries, but hey, at least the cots are an upgrade from sleeping bags.”

“Don’t jinx us, Monk,” Ayako squawked from across the room. 

“I don’t even think it matters anymore if I’m being honest,” Monk replied ruefully and chuckled. 

“What does Naru even mean?” Sam asked, interrupting the short lull in the conversation. 

“Narcissist,” multiple voices responded in kind. 

At least those who worked under Oliver refrained from laughing, though several of them wished they could. It was a fitting nickname that plenty of them would be mentally adopting before the evening was up, without a doubt. Mai hoped it might help to humble the man’s external attitude when they eventually parted ways. The thought sent something twisting in her chest but she brushed it aside to turn her focus elsewhere. “Once we are all set up, everyone should grab some lunch before close-up, and then we can get started,” she called out to the room. 

“Yes, Boss!” Yasu cheered lightly in response, turning to help John with his growing stack of wires.

Chapter Text

Mai scanned her notebook in the afternoon light before she uncapped the dry-erase marker and transferred her notes to the large whiteboard Nora had wheeled in just before everyone left for lunch. Mai wanted to make sure all the basic information they had was included but she wanted to add a section for theories as well. She already had some additional insight and she was certain they would have more once Masako got back from her walk around.

The marker squeaked shrilly while she worked, concentrating a little more considering she was doing her best to write in English, but she barely heard it over the music in her ears. She stepped back to review her efforts with her head bouncing to a fast-paced beat. It looked good, she had to admit. She even set aside a section for research and historical facts. It would be a great way to keep everyone in the loop, especially since they would be on a rotating schedule between the museum and the hotel room.

Just to be safe, Mai had even created a group chat and added everyone to it with their emails to prevent any confusion. If anyone had an update they could post it there first and then add it to the whiteboard when they could. And, if they happened to run out of room on the board they could at least have the chat history to review. Of course, she was certain Lin would be documenting everything regardless. Even if he wasn’t Oliver’s underling any longer it seemed some habits had still stuck. Any moment in activity found the man typing away at his laptop. 

Mai was just adding the date onto the board when she felt a hand on her shoulder and spun about, barely managing to force back the shriek that rattled up her throat, before she spotted Oliver with one hand lifted and the other tucked in a pocket. He had quirked a brow as Mai pulled the headphones down and let them hang around her neck, sheepish.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” he asked after he had taken a moment to scrutinize her.

“Oh,” she breathed, lifting a hand to her heart to steady its panicked fluttering with a sigh. “I try not to eat much when I know I’m going to dream,” she admitted, turning back around to finish the date before recapping the marker and setting it down. “Sometimes I see things and I just can’t help but get sick,” she admitted awkwardly, rubbing a hand along her arm.

Outside the first raindrop of the evening fell.

“You’ll be going to the hotel tomorrow?” he asked, stepping around her to eye the whiteboard critically.

“Yes,” she agreed with a nod, “That way I can get actual sleep too.”

Oliver shifted towards her, tearing his eyes away from the board, and asked: “Is this a method you’ve worked out for yourself over the years?”

His brows were furrowed, the slight wrinkle there denoting his displeasure with the situation, but Mai could only feel a lick of warmth blooming her chest. Mai schooled herself and crossed her arms with a sigh. “You could say that,” she admitted, “Though it’s more correct to say Ayako worked it out. For a while it was actually Gene who showed me things but after he left…” she trailed off with a shrug. “There was no filter, I saw anything and everything, and it was extremely overwhelming. Monk and Ayako were at their wit's end trying to help me manage it.”

She lifted her gaze to find Oliver staring out the window, jaw tight and felt her stomach drop. If his hands weren’t shoved into the depths of his pockets she would probably find them clenched into fists. She reached out to settle a hand on his arm, feeling his muscles tight beneath her grip. “I didn’t say any of that to make you feel guilty, I apologize,” she murmured quietly.

“I didn’t think you did,” he assured her with eyes lowered, attempting to rebuild the wall of composure around himself. Guilt may have been inspired within him but it wasn’t through any fault of her own. It was just another reason he should have gotten over himself and returned to Japan, but he hadn’t, and Mai had suffered for it. Not that she would ever admit that. She wasn’t some damsel in distress requiring his aid, but still, he would have given it to her freely had he been there.

Mai stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him in a rare embrace, feeling him go taut beneath her for several seconds before he loosened and returned the embrace with a sigh. “I wasn’t your responsibility, Naru, but thank you for caring,” she mumbled into his shoulder. The scent of his laundry detergent calmed her fluttering nerves.

His hold on her tightened for just a moment before he pulled away, at his limit in such a public setting, and gestured to the board: “You misspelled ‘Disappearance’,” he informed her.

Mai scoffed and brushed past him playfully to correct the word.

"Let's get your temperatures first and then Masako can do her rounds," Mai advised Oliver, focused on the time chart she had written out while everyone was returning from a late lunch. The room was filled with the entire team, some sitting on the sparse furniture while others stood to hear them speak. The museum was emptying out as they waited, hundreds of people filing out the doors to go about their nightly lives while those left behind got to work, including the combined forces of SPR and BSPR.

"Everyone will help with temperatures," Monk added from where he stood with arms crossed. "This place is too big, it would take hours with just half of us."

There was mumbled agreement from everyone. Many of them were still tired from the early start and set up but once temps were done they could send a few to nap or check in at the hotel. Mai estimated that if they could get done in an hour, Masako could do her walk, and then they would sit and wait.

"Monk or Lin, either of you can go with Masako, but don't reveal yourselves," Mai cautioned, "We don't know what this thing is. No need to stir it up just yet."

"Ayako," Oliver cut in smoothly, "Would you make charms for this hallway?"

Ayako shifted in her seat on the couch with brows lifted in surprise, "That bad?" She asked.

"I'd prefer to play it safe if you wouldn't mind," Oliver replied.

Ayako snorted in response but pushed herself to her feet, tossing her hair over one shoulder, before she left the room to gather her supplies. "Nice to see some things never change," she grumbled over her shoulder.

"Do you already know what's going on?" Andrew asked curiously from the bank of monitors. He had spun the computer chair around to face the room but now his gaze bounced between those up front, primarily Oliver and Mai.

The two shared a look before Oliver answered, "No, but we suspect whatever we're dealing with goes beyond just Lydia."

"Like another ghost?" Sam questioned from his spot just behind Oliver.

"You're talking about something powerful enough to take a life."

Everyone in the room turned their attention to the doorway where the figure of Tristan Hinkle stood, a backpack slung over one shoulder. He dressed in jeans and another flannel that day and had worn boots fit for the weather. He looked a little worried, face pale, and his eyes drifted over to Oliver Davis repeatedly. Mai hadn't mentioned who it was they would be working with because she honestly feared Tristan wouldn't show. Oliver was certainly a renowned and well-respected figure in the field of parapsychology but he had a reputation for being difficult to work with. Now she was struggling with a bit of guilt because of it. But she was extremely grateful to see that he had accepted her invitation for a multitude of reasons. And not just because Oliver disliked him as a whole. She had genuinely enjoyed their conversations and his line of thinking was exciting enough to draw all of SPR into debate with him, yet he had a steadying personality that they could do well to emulate in heated moments. He would be great in the field and if Oliver’s only excuse for not approving of him as a member of the team was because he didn’t have experience, well, she’d make sure he had some.

“It’s a possibility we won’t rule out,” Oliver replied coolly, leaning back in the chair behind the desk.

“Tristan!” she greeted with a smile, “It’s good to see you! I’m glad you were able to make it so last minute.”

“Well,” Tristan said, “When you study varying cultures and their effects on the afterlife, a museum is kind of where it’s at.” He stepped into the room and gave all those present a brief once over, offering those of SPR a nod or a wave here and there.

“Excellent,” Mai shot back with a grin. One more to add to their growing team and her confidence swelled along with it. Considering all the talent they had managed to collect she was certain that the case would be solved in no time, regardless of whatever beast they might have been dealing with. She slid her notebook into the pack around her waist and clapped her hands with an exuberant: “Let’s get to work!”

“It’s hard to wrap your head around just how many people pass through here every day.”

Mai lifted her eyes from the clipboard in hand and shot Monk a curious glance. He was leaning his arms on the railing looking out over the entirety of Hintz Hall and Hope, the blue whale skeleton herself. Mai tried not to let her eyes wander for too long because the dark and historic architecture of the building caused her mind to wander, it was beautiful and she couldn’t help but stop to admire it.

“It’s hard to wrap your head around how many people are on Earth,” she replied in kind and joined him at the railing. Below she could see a few members of the staff hurrying about to clean up after the guests and shut everything down for the evening. Some lights would be left on for them, and access to the kitchens assured, but other than that, the property would be tossed into darkness. The curator had informed them that several of the archivists and conservators usually stayed after hours but had been instructed to return home when the museum closed so that they might work uninterrupted.

Monk snorted and pushed himself up to level Mai with an imploring look. He crossed his arms and leaned back against a pillar while she scanned the surrounding area with the thermometer. “So, what’s the deal with you and Naru?” Monk drawled wryly when it was clear Mai would not throw him a bone.

Mai notated the temperature on the clipboard before she slid the thermometer into the belt around her waist. She rested the clipboard against her stomach, hands gripping the edge of it, while she did her best to think of an honest answer. In reality, she didn’t even really know herself. Her eyes trailed over the length of Hope, cream-colored bones painted in a soft glow as the skylights grew dim overhead. It was still raining, she could see the water hitting the glass panes only to trail off to the ground below, but it was clear the sun was setting. The darkness only came all the quicker with the clouds. Did it really matter, in the grand scheme of things?

“I’m trying to figure it out myself,” she finally admitted with a gusty sigh. “I spent so long getting over him and now he suddenly wants me around? Of course, it was primarily for Toby in the beginning, but I think his feelings on the matter have changed…” she trailed off, recalling the kisses and fleeting touches they had shared in the past couple of days, brief moments that looked into what could be if she dared to pursue it. “And I don’t know how to feel about it.”

Monk hummed negatively and shifted, “It makes sense. He broke your heart once, of course, you would be wary of anything he’d offer now.”

Mai eyed him for a moment, her own mind wandering. She turned back to the whale. “Yes, but…” she began before her shoulders slumped, “I think I broke his heart once too.”

“What?” Monk scoffed and leaned forwards to level her with a look that clearly implied he thought she had lost her mind. “How? When?” he blustered.

Mai pursed her lips and leaned up against the railing with cheeks dusted a light pink. “Did I ever tell you what he said to me when I confessed way back in the day?” she asked quietly, failing to sound casual.

“No,” Monk grunted.

“He asked: Me or Gene? And I couldn’t answer,” she informed him with a snort for her own stupidity. Every time she looked back on the memory she wished she could go back in time and smack herself across the face. If she could change time she would but, unfortunately, she had to live with her embarrassing mistakes just like everybody else. And every time she recalled the eyes that had stared back at her while he asked her that question. They had been deep, filled with dead pain, daring her to lie. Expected betrayal.

“Shit,” Monk muttered with a rueful chuckle of his own.

Mai shot him a scowl before she gently swatted his shoulder with the clipboard. Monk had always been there for her and she knew he meant well, she just wasn’t certain if his opinion on the matter could ever be unbiased. He had admitted to her years ago that he viewed her like a daughter or baby sister and would protect her at all costs. This led to additional frustrations when she dared to wad out into the dating pool. But he was still one of her best friends and she yearned for his support in whichever direction she ended up choosing.

“So it’s a little complicated now,” she admitted, “Not to mention, we still live in separate countries, and my life is back in Japan. Am I supposed to drop everything just because he finally wants to admit he has emotions?”

“You wouldn’t want to try a long-distance thing?” Monk questioned curiously, a hand gripping his chin in thought.

Just the thought exhausted her. They’d spend their days on the phone, flying back and forth to see each other, while life around them passed in a blur. She shook her head with a sigh. It would feel like her life was fractured into separate existences. She would abhor it. She rested her chin on a fist and dropped her gaze directly below them. A custodian was wiping down an educational plack while he bounced his head along to some music spilling from his headphones.

“You could stay here, Mai,” Monk suggested gently, “We could always come and visit, or you could come to see us.”

Mai’s eyes cut to him and she scowled. “I don’t even know if I want to be with him, Monk, so I’m not going to waste time trying to figure out how I’d make it work. Besides, I would never do that to you guys. I want to stay with you.”

Monk stiffened for a moment, surprised by the admission before his gaze softened and he reached forward to wrap Mai up in a hug. “You’ll always have us, Mai, no matter what happens.” He squeezed her tight and pretended not to notice the way her eyes glistened when he finally let her go and she turned her attention back to the sheet of paper on the clipboard, pen tapping away thoughtlessly.

“Let’s get back to base before Masako heads out,” Mai suggested with a sniff, “I want to make sure she’s taken care of.”

“Sure thing, Jou-chan,” Monk replied with a teasing smirk, reaching up to ruffle her hair.

Mai delved into the dark hall that led to a narrow staircase, all inky wood and shadowed in the growing night, she paused at the landing and whipped a hand out to grip the entranceway with a gasp. Monk nearly ran right into her but he came to a stop behind her with a grunt of surprise. He looked over her shoulder but only saw the floor below through the shadows, yet Mai was frozen in place with a white-knuckled grip on the frame like her life depended on it.

“What is it?’ Monk asked grimly, shifting to put himself in front of her if he needed to. Mai was pretty capable of handling herself but there had been moments where she lost herself in a trance, distracted by what she could see, which is why Monk sometimes felt it was a blessing that he couldn’t actually see spirits unless they chose to manifest themselves to him. Usually, Mai struggled in that same regard but perhaps this spirit had reached out to her specifically. 

“Lydia,” Mai answered quietly, eyes wide. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest and her breath had turned to ice in her lungs. 

Crouched in the stairway below was a teenage girl. Her face was gaunt and pale, eyes listless as if threatening to roll back in her head even as she watched, she looked haggard. Bloodied fingers trembled where they gripped the stairs as if she were trying in vain to pull herself up just one more step.

Mai fought against the burning of her eyes.

She was so young. Further details were hidden within the darkness but Mai had seen all she needed.

Lydia was still running.

“I’m coming,” Mai forced out through a throat tight with emotions, “Just a little longer, okay?”

The figure of Lydia slumped across the steps, trembling limbs giving out beneath her, while a bloodied hand reached out for Mai in desperation. Tears ran like rivers down her cheeks as she stared, silent and with all the hope she could muster. The fear and terror swelled forth as if to swallow her, to pull her back down the stairs, and Mai jumped forward as the spectral image jerked back. Lydia turned her head to look back behind her, fingers like talons gripping the step. Whatever she saw sent her into a panic because she turned to look back at Mai in near hysteria.

“No!” she cried out in anguish and anger. She stumbled down the handful of steps and reached out to grip Lydia’s outstretched hand but the moment they made contact, the second Mai was able to register the cold grip of a long wandering spirit ghosting across her very soul, Lydia disappeared into thin air.

Mai dropped into a crouch on the stairs, eyes locked on her trembling hand now covered in the remnants of drying blood not her own. Some parts still glistened wetly in the low light feeding in from upstairs, but it mattered little. Whatever it was that had taken up roost within the museum still had Lydia, was still tormenting her to this day, and it refused to let her go. She clenched the hand into a fist and turned to look back and up at Monk with a determined expression. “Let’s get back to base,” she muttered curtly.

“Right,” Monk agreed with a stoic nod.

They hurried down the remaining steps and Mai ran her clean hand through her hair and straightened her tunic, attempting to settle herself by physically righting what she could. Monk kept up with her stride with ease and refrained from pestering her with questions until they had at least made it back into the hallway where they would fall under the protection of Ayako’s charms. There was no point in stalling their return, especially when Mai was itching to wash the blood off her hand. She held the fist out at her side like some sort of prize, both wanting to display it for all to see to prove that Lydia was still there and needed rescuing, but equally disgusted by the pain it represented.

She turned down their hall and blew past the other doors to walk straight into the primary base. She paused in the doorway, momentarily overwhelmed by their numbers once more before her eyes landed on Oliver. He stood at the whiteboard with a collection of temperature sheets in his hand. Sam appeared to be speaking with him while he read through the gathered documents with tranquil calm.

“Naru,” she called urgently, immediately garnering his attention from across the room. Oliver dropped the stack of papers onto a nearby table and moved to meet the two that had just entered. Mai then turned to Andrew sitting at the monitors. “Andrew, did one of the cameras near stairway eleven happen to catch anything?” she asked.

The room fell into a stiff silence and several pairs of eyes turned to Andrew while he cycled through the cameras with eyes peeled. He hunched forward as Mai leaned over from behind, her own eyes scanning the screens for any sign of movement. Everyone else had already returned to base by the time she and Monk had decided to head back, that much she could tell by the other cameras. But even the last custodian had returned to the employee lounge by the time Mai had caught sight of Lydia, so in theory, any movement or oddities that might appear in the surrounding area would make for good evidence.

Oliver joined her at her side but caught sight of her bloodied hand before he could settle his attention on the monitors. He shot Monk a look from over her shoulder and the man waved him off with a stiff frown, Oliver could take that to at least mean it wasn’t hers, otherwise, Monk would be on the warpath.

“There!” Mai exclaimed, reaching out with a finger to point at the screen. “Did you see that?” she asked Andrew.

“Point it out to me,” Andrew shot back, rewinding the footage and slowing it down.

The camera in question was out in the Hintz hall and its angle allowed them just a glimpse into the hallway that the staircase spat them out in. Nothing happened for a few tense moments while they all watched but, without cause, a tall standing plant in the far corner of a lounge, glimpsed through a doorway in the hall, was knocked over. It crashed to the ground, leaves shaking, and spilled soil across the tile. In her mind's eye, she could just picture Lydia tumbling back down the stairs only to scramble to her feet and dart away in whatever direction her instincts would lead her, crashing through whatever might have been in her path, even a potted plant.

“And this is somehow connected to your bloody hand?” Oliver drawled dryly, reaching out to grip her arm and lifting the hand for inspection.

“Mai!” Ayako exclaimed and pushed her way to the front of the room.

“It’s not hers, Ayako,” Monk assured her with a sigh, running a hand through his hair.

“Yes,” Mai said, turning her attention to Oliver with determination. “I saw Lydia in that stairway, she looked exhausted, bloody, and beaten, and she reached out for me…” she trailed off, eyes sliding over to her hand lost in thought. “And I reached back, but it took her, whatever it is, it still has her, and it won’t let her go.”

Masako lifted a sleeve to her mouth. Her face had gone pale as Mai spoke and now she turned away to reach out to John. He wrapped an arm around her without question, understanding that she simply needed some support while she worked to harden herself against the reality of the case. Masako struggled to process emotions, perhaps not to the extent that Oliver did, but empathy had always been the one to escape her. She simply could not stomach the suffering of another, especially a spirit that, by nature, must wait even longer for aid if it received any at all. And that, John believed, had been the defining factor between her and Mai. Where Masako often grew distraught before diving into action to help, Mai grew angry at the injustice. Masako would feel at peace once the job was done but then Mai would mourn. It was why they hadn’t thought anything much was wrong with Mai when she seemed distant and distracted after her last case in Japan, but she had never bounced back and had then run off to London a few weeks. They had all been worried.

“Alright, this far surpasses temperature fluctuations and power outages,” Andrew muttered, pale-faced and anxious.

“Where have you guys been?” Yasuhara asked with a knowing chuckle. It seemed the spiritual activity in Europe was far more docile than in Japan if Naru’s team was frightened by some blood on Mai’s hand. Andrew tossed him a glare from over his shoulder and Yasu lifted his hands in apologetic surrender, that damned smile still on his face.

“It’s insubstantial on its own,” Oliver mused, “But we’ll add it to the file. Knowing our track record, there will be far more to come.”

“What do you mean?” Nora asked nervously, having sidled up to get a look at the blood on Mai’s hand. Her eyes were wide behind her glasses and her shoulders hunched.

Oliver turned his gaze to hers, silent for a moment, debating on answering or not. He could just see the brow that Mai quirked in response to his indecision, either surprised by his hesitancy or disappointed in it. She opened her mouth as if to answer for him before Oliver crossed his arms and said: “This is the primary difference between what we do, when we arrive at such cases with the intention of simply collecting evidence we miss out on the majority of the action. In fact…”

The whole room hung on his every word. And when Oliver paused they all held their breath, waiting for the full explanation.

“Whenever it has been deemed our teams have collected enough evidence we pull out, and then I send Lin in to actually deal with the spirit,” Oliver finished, gesturing to the man standing at his side. Lin shot Oliver a heated glare. It was clear that Monk’s theory had been correct in that few within BSPR had abilities and even fewer knew of what Lin truly was. It made sense, considering how tight-lipped they had been on the subject even a decade ago. Oliver had only ever told the team due to massive miscommunication that had nearly led to his death during a case.

“Those with the ability to face off against a spirit, regardless of its form, will naturally draw its attention and take the brunt of its efforts,” Oliver added, ignoring the glower from Lin, voice just as dispassionate as ever. “So what you have experienced in the field is far different from what they have experienced in the field.”

Now Mai was outright glaring at him. He had scoffed at her having Tristan on their podcast and joining their team because of his lack of fieldwork and here he was, essentially toting around a gaggle of babies in the field who had been spared the nitty gritty of resolving a haunting. “Nice, Naru,” she mocked, “Now you need to give these people the option to pull out if they feel the need to. This is dangerous work and can lead to injury, trauma, and death. That’s not something to be taken lightly.”

Oliver adopted a rather imperious look, nothing those who truly knew him to find abnormal, but the staff of BSPR had never dared to push him. A smirk tugged at his lips and he turned to face Mai. “You didn’t seem to have a problem with it when we were younger,” he countered coolly.

“Play smart all you like, Oliver, but I doubt even you were prepared for what we dealt with in Japan,” Mai replied with a scoff. “And of course, I had a problem with it, but I was young and stupid, as you frequently pointed out.”

Lin stepped between the two and pushed against Oliver’s chest while facing Mai, “Those within BSPR always have the option to leave, it’s within their contracts, but you’re right Mai. Everyone should have been given full disclosure before leaving.” He watched the fight leave her, stealing the wind from her sails in a matter of seconds, before turning to meet the eyes of Oliver. “One more word,” Lin warned, and Mai will probably walk he added silently. Sure, she would see the case through to the end, but if Oliver continued to push her she would leave. This wasn’t a teenager infatuated by him, wanting to get close, this was a grown woman with success enough to do whatever she wanted in life. She was far from dependent on anyone, let alone someone who would refuse to see her value.

“No one can push Naru’s buttons quite like Mai,” Yasu drawled with a whimsical sigh, “If only Madoka was here to see it.”

“Don’t remind me,” Lin growled in a rare display of frustration. None of them would ever forget the moment her words had stoked his anger enough to lash out against a demi-god and then fall over a few minutes later, his heart falling still in his chest, unresponsive. Lin had nearly lost one of his closest friends that day.

“Alright, alright,” Monk called out over the chatter, stepping back into the fray with the exhausted energy of a parent. It was times like this they all recalled the fact that Monk was older than Lin and had a wider range of experiences in life thanks to his upbringing and chosen career path. “Everyone got their frustrations out now let’s take a step back and regroup. Masako needs to do a walk through and then we can work out a break schedule. Lin, why don’t you go with her, you’re more useful than I am. Jou-chan, go wash your hand off, please, it’s making everyone uncomfortable. And Naru-bou,” he paused to stare the younger man down silently, “Let’s take a walk.”

The silence in the room was heavy. Lin had pulled his hand away from Oliver but the younger man waited with arms crossed as if hoping his stare would be enough to push back against Takigawa’s request, but the man simply stood and watched patiently. After several seconds Oliver pulled the glasses from his face and tossed them onto the desk behind him with a sigh before moving across the room to follow Monk. As he drew near the man reached out and wrapped an arm around Naru’s shoulders in comradery, a grin pulling at his cheeks. He led them out of the room and down the hall before anyone dared to break the silence.

“You weren’t kidding,” Nora voiced with a nervous chuckle, her eyes searching out John in the crowd.

“It was a little different back in the day,” John admitted with a sheepish smile.

“Naru’s in trouble,” Yasu mused teasingly while moving to drop down in the desk chair. His own laptop had been set up next to Naru’s at an angle so it was clear the two had been rotating the use of the seat. “Come here, Mai, I want to get a picture of your hand before you wash it off. That way Naru’s team can have more goodies for their file.”

At the mere mention of their own work, Naru’s team launched into action. While Mai did as Yasu asked, Nora ran to her own little station, a small card table set up in the far corner of the room behind the whiteboard, and grabbed a black leather case from the confines of her own luggage. It was small enough to carry in one hand but she handled it with gentle care while returning to the desk.

“I’d like to get a sample too if that’s alright,” Nora mumbled with shaky hands. She set the case down on the desk while Yasuhara was bent over Mai’s outstretched hand, the camera flashing away with each new shot.

“Sure, Nora,” Mai assured her tiredly.

“Thank you,” Nora squeaked before opening the case. A few glass vials stood erect within the carefully designed case, along with a selection of small hand tools and cloths. Nora pulled a small vial out and inspected it just to be sure it wasn’t broken out of habit. Once she was satisfied she pulled on a pair of gloves and reached for a small metal tool, it looked like a scalpel but the end was dull. Mai offered her the hand in question once Yasuhara was done and Nora carefully took it within her own. She examined her palm where much of the stuff had pooled and dried before taking the tool and scraping as much of it into a little pile in her palm as she could.

“With actual possible DNA evidence, we might be able to prove more than ever before,” Nora muttered while she worked, “So I don’t want any to go to waste.”

“I thought you said your interest lied in history,” Mai said with some bemusement.

“History of crime scenes, more like,” Andrew shot back over his shoulder, “She was in school for forensics when Dr. Davis scooped her up.”

“What?” Mai squawked, “You didn’t want to finish your degree?”

Nora shuffled the collected dried blood into the vial before she corked it shut and carefully nestled it back into its velvet-lined place before she answered: “It was a little much for me, I was struggling with it, really. Nightmares and stress. But I was good at it.” She shrugged helplessly. “I rarely get to use my skills now but I still have my connections with those who did graduate.”

“You think working with Naru is easier than dealing with the seedy criminal underworld?” Yasu teased.

“It is,” Nora assured him with a chuckle.

“Well,” Mai cut in, “I’m glad you were able to find something that suited you.”

“Me too,” Nora agreed with a smile.

Mai took her hand back with a sigh and eyed it thoughtfully. She wiggled her fingers, feeling the stiffness of her skin under the dried blood, then she turned to head for the bathroom. Before she had even stepped through the door Ayako was at her heels. Mai didn’t comment, only sent the woman an appreciative smile, and led the way to the bathroom down the hall. It was quite large, designed for the staff who worked well into the night to keep the museum running. There were even two shower stalls in the far back hidden behind white curtains. Large potted snake plants decorated the space, their thick leaves soaking up what the fluorescent lights had to offer. The whole space was tiled in white, but the toilet stalls were black, and the sink was nothing more than a long table of black volcanic rock with a tilted chunk carved out of it, allowing all the water to flow into the drains set into the back. It was very modern and probably very difficult to clean, Mai imagined.

“Are you okay?” Ayako asked once the door had swung shut behind them. It was the closest thing they would get to privacy given their circumstances.

“I’m fine,” she assured her. There was a hint of confusion evident in her voice, it wasn’t the first time she had experienced a run-in with a spirit, after all, and it was far from the most traumatic. She shuffled forward to run her hand beneath the stylistic black faucet that flicked on when it sensed movement. The water was already warm so she busily dispensed some soap and lathered up her hands while Ayako crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one leg.

“I’m talking about Naru,” Ayako grouched, clearly sensing where Mai’s thoughts had wandered.

“Oh, that,” she stated with a snort, “I feel like that’s the closest to normal we’ve been since we ran into each other.”

“You know Houshou’s going to give him the shovel talk,” Ayako added leadingly, a smirk tugging at her red lips.

Mai’s hands froze under the running water and she shot a look at the woman in the mirror, eyes wide. “He wouldn’t,” she argued. But then again, they had just been talking about their situation not even an hour ago. Her face paled before she pulled her hands from the water and hurried to the hand dryer, shaking her hands free of excess water while Ayako laughed at her panic. “I told him I didn’t even know if I wanted to pursue anything!” she exclaimed.

“Oh, so there actually is something going on!” Ayako shot back in delight. “I was just teasing but, by all means, give me the details.”

“Ugh, no wonder you two are married,” Mai shouted. She immediately slapped a hand over her mouth, cheeks burning red in the echoing silence that followed before Ayako burst out into a fit of renewed laughter.

“It’s been so long,” Ayako cooed through her laughter and pulled Mai into a patronizing embrace, patting the top of her head. “All we were missing was one attractive narcissist to return our little Mai to us.”

Mai was fuming. She stood stiffly in Ayako’s arms until the woman pulled away, wiping at her eyes and in general hamming up the situation. Mai desperately searched for her inner calm, imagining the emotions packed away neatly where they belonged but it took far longer for her to rearrange everything than it used to. She drew in a deep breath and breathed it out slowly through her nose.

“You can tell me all about it when we go to the hotel tomorrow, I doubt Naru will leave this place until the case is closed,” Ayako assured her, tossing up a hand to wave off the thought of Oliver Davis like a bad smell.

Chapter Text

Mai stood at the bank of monitors with her arms crossed. She had been nibbling at her thumbnail for the past several minutes while they tracked Lin and Masako through the back halls of the museum. It was obvious they were talking, a quiet conversation that couldn’t be picked up on any of the cameras or microphones that had been dispersed along their path, but that wasn’t Mai’s concern. She was waiting for something to happen. She needed Masako to confirm her theory so that she could get Oliver on board. He probably was already but his trusting her intuition enough to follow her lead was nervewracking, so Masako’s word would help to soothe her own nerves more than anything.

Oliver had returned with Monk several minutes ago and joined her at her side without a word. He didn’t seem angry. She couldn’t sense any sort of tension at all, which was a surprise, usually, it radiated from him, rolling off his shoulders like a physical aura felt by all. But no, he was cool as a cucumber, that one. His own eyes focused on the screens with intent. She'd have to pester Monk and find out what he said to him on their walk around later. 

The rest of the room was filled with those watching and waiting for the outcome. It was a bit like a sporting event, Mai supposed, but one in which the audience remained silent. Their bated breath felt like a pressure building at the back of her neck. 

“I didn’t feel it until we reached the bathrooms at the end of that hall,” she murmured to the man at her side, “Then it made me turn around and go back.”

Oliver lifted a hand to his mouth while silently processing her words.

On screen, Lin and Masako turned down a hall. He could tell the two were wary. The set to Lin’s shoulders was too stiff and one hand always remained at his side, relaxed and waiting. He was on a hair trigger and while that did not bode well for Mai’s plan to remain under the radar of whatever it was they were facing, it did at least assure him that Lin would protect Masako. Not that he had ever doubted the man, he was one of his closest friends, but it was reassuring nonetheless. It had been so long since either of them had tackled such a case. 

Mai leaned forward and braced a hand against the table on Andrew’s left, her other resting on her hip. Her hair was much longer those days, and her movement drew his eyes to the long locks that she had pulled over one shoulder, revealing the collum over her throat. He turned his eyes back to the screen.

“There,” she whispered to no one in particular as the two turned once more. As if she had heard her, on screen Masako froze.

Oliver leaned forward to mirror Mai’s stance on Andrew’s right. The poor man was practically sweating between the two of them but was making an effort to remain calm. Whatever ease Oliver had adopted after his talk with Monk evaporated under an intense tension that bloomed and cycled between him and Mai. 

“What was it that you felt?” Oliver asked while on screen Lin reached out to rest a hand on Masako’s shoulder.

“It’s an intense terror,” Mai murmured, “Like unnatural levels of fear. The kind that should have led to heart failure. I felt sick like the hall was warping around me.”

“An attack?” Oliver theorized.

“No,” Mai shook her head, “A memory.”

Oliver breathed a sigh through his nose. The fact that memory had seemingly stained the space around it enough that even Mai had felt so affected just by passing through while in the waking world was concerning. Especially to the degree that she claimed. It implied that what Lydia was experiencing far surpassed the general fear for one’s life. It would have likely broken her mind and fractured whatever sanity she had left at the time. Like a spooked rabbit, all that she was would have become fright.

As if to emphasize this, Masako dropped like a marionette with its strings cut. Lin rushed to catch her and lower her to the ground while back at base Ayako and Monk moved into action and dove out of the room to go help.

“I’ve never seen her do that,” Yasu mumbled behind them. “She swoons all the time but she usually keeps to her feet. Not a complete loss of consciousness.”

“Whatever it is, it’s not natural,” Mai stated, pulling back from the table to cross her arms and drop her thoughtful gaze to the floor.

“You mean you don’t think it’s of human origins?” Tristan questioned from his spot leaning up against the desk. He had been rather quiet since he had arrived but Mai had caught him speaking with several members of their team, asking questions and learning, which was good. She had worried he would feel uncomfortable there and at least bend under the pressure of the case but he had taken to it like a fish out of water. He didn't even mind doing the grunt work they had all taken to rotating: changing batteries, organizing wires and remaining equipment, and temperatures. 

“I don’t think so,” she agreed with a shake of her head.

“Then I’ll do my own research,” he informed her with a straight face and a thumbs up. He pushed himself away from the desk and strode across the room where his backpack had been left at the foot of the couch.

Outside the room, several sets of footsteps could be heard as the group returned with Masako in Lin’s arms. She looked like a small fragile doll in his hold and Mai felt her heart squeeze in panic before Ayako stepped into view and guided the man into the break room, instructing him to set her down on a cot without any worry in her tone. Ayako would know best, Mai reminded herself, she is a doctor after all. If there had been any major concern she would have called out for an ambulance immediately. 

Monk trailed back into base rubbing the back of his neck but looking relieved. “Ayako says she’ll be fine but she wants to take her back to the hotel for the night to rest up,” he explained in gentle tones. There were many relieved sighs from around the room. Andrew, Sam, and Nora had never had the experience of watching Masako work directly so Mai imagined it had been alarming, to say the least. Perhaps they might have seen her on television at some point but Mai knew for a fact her specials were heavily edited. 

Ayako left to take Masako to the hotel an hour later and Oliver sent Sam, Yasuhara, and John along with them. It was best to build up on the rotation now so that others could go tomorrow without too much debate. By the time the room had grown a little quieter, a little emptier, it was nearing ten PM and Mai could feel her eyes aching with the need for sleep. But she wasn’t ready to surrender yet. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t at all affected by the aftershocks of terror she had been exposed to, her own heart fluttered with the beginnings of panic when she imagined falling asleep and coming face to face with whatever it was that had Lydia. She hadn’t seen it the first time, perhaps because she had been too far away, but now all that stood between them and it was a charm Ayako hung on the wall in the hallway.

So Mai busied herself with, well, busy work. She reviewed and organized the temperature sheets before passing them on to Lin to document. Then she went with Monk to check all the batteries on all the equipment just to be sure they would all last through the night. When that was done she updated the whiteboard with what they had learned that day while others shuffled into the break room to get a few hours of sleep. The marker squeaked in the growing quiet and soon it was just her, Oliver, Lin, Monk, and Nora hidden in her spot behind the whiteboard working away into the late hours of the night.

"Mai," Oliver called out when he caught her yawning for the fifth time. He was sitting behind the desk, watching the video feed through his laptop while Lin sat at the bank of monitors. A pen glinted in his hand, constantly flipping and weaving through his fingers absently. Any time something of note occurred he would mark down the time in his notebook for later review but besides what Mai had caught earlier, there was nothing. It wasn’t surprising, more to be expected than anything, but it made it very easy for him to notice her obvious attempts to avoid sleeping.

"Not yet," she tossed back over her shoulder.

Outside the window, she could make out the lot where all their vehicles were parked. There was a single light on to illuminate the courtyard but it failed to pierce the darkness a few yards out. Anyone could be sneaking around out there, or so her exhausted mind thought, and she imagined she could see figures moving about every time she looked. She really was tired, but she wasn’t ready to subject herself yet to what she knew was awaiting her. The marker in her hand shook and she gave up on updating the board in favor of capping the marker and letting out a sigh. She was being childish. She had sent out Masako to experience what she had in the hall knowing full well she would sense it more strongly than she had. To avoid sleeping just because she was fearful of delving deeper? That wasn’t fair.

“Alright,” she murmured to herself, fists clenched at her sides.

Monk pulled his feet off the coffee table from where he sat on the couch, eyes turned to Mai. He had only been up scrolling through his phone until he felt tired enough to sleep but if Mai was getting ready to retire he might as well too. He pushed himself to his feet with a stretch and a grunt.

“You want me to set an alarm?” Monk asked through his stretch.

Mai half turned to face him before she lifted her wrist to gaze at her watch with scrunched brows, struggling to concentrate through her sleepy haze. She counted the hours off on her fingers, not caring if Oliver was watching before she nodded. “Set one for five AM and then again at seven, if I haven’t woken yet,” she replied tiredly.

Mai was just glad she had thought to bring the spare comforter from her hotel room and a pillow. It was nice of the museum to provide the cots but they were a far cry from the memory foam king mattress she had been sleeping on for the past month. At least with the heavy feather comforter, she could feel a little more secure. It weighed her arms down as she shuffled into the break room and squinted in the darkness. There were already several sleeping lumps scattered about the room on their own cots. Andrew and Tristan had chosen to split a pull-out couch and Mai struggled not to giggle at the scene. Tristan was sprawled out and snoring while Andrew had tucked himself into a ball beneath the blanket. Given that Andrew was a large burly man used to construction work and Tristant was willowy and pale, she would have expected their roles to have been reversed.

Monk shuffled up behind her and nudged her further into the room. They would share a pull-out couch themselves, it wouldn’t be the first time, but Mai felt bad he would be stuck sleeping with one of the lumpy pillows from the couch while she had her feather-down cushion of comfort.

As quietly as they could they pulled the frame out of the other couch and got to work making up the bed with the basic sheets. They folded the thin blanket to add extra padding before tossing the comforter over top. Once done, Mai grabbed her night bag and hurried out into the bathroom to brush her teeth and change into a pair of leggings and a T-shirt. It wasn’t the comfiest clothing to sleep in but she didn’t want to donne her pajamas in front of an entire room of people, some of them strangers. It wasn’t as if she planned on sleeping long anyways.

On her way back to the room, Oliver stepped out of base and reached out for her. His hand settled on her arm before he gently turned her about and guided her back a couple of steps so that they were out of the line of sight of those within any of the rooms. Not that she suspected anyone would be snooping, but the break room door was open and Mai could see several cots before she moved out of the way.

“Yes?” she questioned with an arched brow, finding her back resting against the wall with her bag gripped in her hands.

Oliver slid his hands into his pockets and leaned a shoulder against the wall next to her, eyes lowered. Gosh, he really had gotten tall, she marveled quietly to herself. She just hoped Monk didn’t come out looking for her and find them in such a position. It wasn’t really all that suggestive, nothing like Nora stumbling upon them in the archives, but Monk seemed a little touchy when it came to her.

“I wanted to apologize,” he murmured quietly.

Mai blinked in surprise, feeling a smile pull at her lips, “You’ve been doing that an awful lot, lately.”

Oliver huffed, self-deprecating mirth evident, and looked away off down the hall. “I’m sure I owe you even more,” he replied lightly. After all that she had put up with and done for him and his family, long before he even knew she was actually aiding his brother (unknowingly or not), he was certain he owed her more than he could ever repay.

“I don’t keep score,” she spoke up with a shrug. She couldn’t hold grudges, just as she didn’t count favors, things came and went and she preferred to help and forgive whenever the chance arose. “But I’m sorry too,” she added in a quieter voice, her smile turning gentle under his returned gaze.

Oliver eyed her for a moment before he stepped forward into her already waiting arms. It was like she just knew when he wanted to reach out. Perhaps it was more of her intuition, pulling the strings and urging her to act because the thought of someone knowing him so well sent a thrill of something through his chest that he was quite unfamiliar with. Still, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, burying his face in the crook of her neck. She felt so small in his embrace. He could never remember her as being so tiny. In his mind, she was vibrant and full of spirit. When he thought of Japan he thought of her, when he thought of Gene he thought of her, every time Lin was forced to exorcise a spirit he thought of her and how she had managed to cleanse an entire school of lingering students on her own. She was all-encompassing. And yet…her head barely reached his shoulders.

Mai had shifted her bag to one hand so she could at least wrap an arm around his middle but she pulled away after a few moments, her eyes burning with the need for sleep. Oliver tucked a strand of her hair behind an ear before he kissed her forehead, silently bidding her good night, and stepped back into base as if nothing had happened.

Mai only wished she had such composure. She was too tired to feel embarrassed, to agonize over his gentle ministrations and what they might mean, instead, she did her best to carry the warmth she felt back with her to bed to face her fears.

Monk was already gently snoring away on his side, one arm tucked beneath the pillow and hogging more than half the comforter. Mai scoffed quietly before climbing onto the other side and tucking herself under the comforter with her back to him. The mattress was thin and limp after years of being tucked away and abused, but her pillow made it bearable. She settled her head in the feathery comfort and opened her eyes, staring out the window of the room. Just like the one in the base, it looked out onto the courtyard lot where their vehicles were parked. The archway that allowed trucks and vehicles entry was gated and locked but she could still see out onto the street from that angle. Cars passed in the night.

She was stalling.

Mai took a deep breath and breathed out slowly, urging her body to relax as she did so, releasing the tension in each muscle from her toes to her neck. The heaviness of sleep crept up on her, like the incoming tide, her consciousness pulling away in the ocean with each wave like sand beneath her feet. She could push it further if she wanted, to step out into the waters would be astral projection, and she would find herself on the astral plane. But that wasn’t what she wanted yet. The ocean stared back at her, waiting, but if she entered she would be exposed to it. Whatever it was. Stepping out would put them on the same plane of existence, and she wasn’t ready for that yet. So she settled on the beach and let the waves wash over her and lull her to sleep.

And she was running.

The hallways passed her by in a repetitive blur that she had long since grown used to but with that familiarity came desperation. If there was no new environment then there was no hope for her escape. She had been running for hours and had yet to find an exit. She had delved into the exhibits a handful of times but vast open rooms were dangerous. The hallways at least slowed it down.

She had grown numb to the feeling of her feet pounding across the floor, impact rattling her shins and sending throbs of pain up to her hips. Her arms pumped at her sides, shoulders on fire with the strain. And her lungs, oh how they burned. Her throat felt raw and bloody from gasping for air but still, she pushed herself forward. If she slowed she would die.

She spun down an offshoot hall and nearly tripped over her own feet before she righted herself with a wet gasp. There was a tickle in her lungs that begged her to stop and work it out but she ignored it. There was a voice in her mind imploring her to look back. Let me see, it whispered in her ear. And despite the few scant strands of logic she had managed to hold onto she found her head turning, eyes sliding to the side, taking in the shrinking hallway behind her without her permission.

It wasn’t the first time she had seen it. She had caught several glimpses of it throughout the last few hours but every time it sent such a thrill of terror through her body that her heart faltered, sending sharp pain shooting through her chest and arms. The tickle in her lungs grew and she whipped her head back around in time to slide to a stop and throw a door open, regaining her pace not a moment later.

She had been on the track team at school, she thought, perhaps that was why she was still going. But try as she might reach for those memories, to confirm whether or not it was true, she found herself coming up empty-handed. That was because all that she was had been narrowed down to the last few hours of her life. She was running, she was a runner, and she would run until she died.

Earlier she had cried, sobbing in horror while she pushed herself on, but now her tears had dried and her eyes glazed over. Any water she had left within her system was devoted to the continuation of her pace. She had accepted that if she stopped running her life would come to an end and despite the fact that a part of her had long since given up, bits of her soul ripped away to pass on without her, she would not allow herself to lose the race. It was all she had left.

What did it look like, again?

There were stairs beneath her feet, flying by as she took two to three at a time without remorse for the damage it did to her knees and ankles. She could look back again, but maybe when she had reached the bottom. Darkness swelled up from the basement to meet her, reaching out with cool comforting arms. She could rest down there if she wanted to.

No, she corrected herself, what. Did. it. Look. like.

She reached the bottom of the stairs and slammed up against the metal doors leading into the basement with a haggard gasping grunt before she dared to look back over her shoulder. It was a monster, an amorphous mass of shadow and gruesome limbs, faces, undulating and shifting, reaching for her. Slathering jaws and waves of blood spilled across the floor and flowed down the stairs before it, like the winds before a storm broke. The sound of the fluid siphoning down the stairs to patter against the landing, like a mockery of a babbling brook in the woods, was the only sound she could make out over her gasping breath and pounding heart. 

She blinked. All she saw was the figure of a man, backlit by the fluorescent light from the hall above. Standing at the edge of the first step.

Terror shot through her as a hand squeezed her heart. She tossed the door open and ran into the darkness. The depths of the museum where long-forgotten relics rested and waited for their time to see the light once more if it ever came. The air was still and stagnant, and still, she ran deeper and deeper, until she could feel the weight of the Earth overhead.

She just had to keep running.

Because he was coming.

When she returned to the waking world it was like waking up from a car crash. Her head ached and the world blurred around her as she opened her eyes to the dim light of early morning. Everything was spinning and her heart was pounding away in her chest, like the beat of a hummingbird’s wings, it thrummed with pain. She reached up with a trembling burning arm to clutch at the front of her shirt with a stuttering breath, pain lancing through her shoulder and into her back.

Disorientation reigned supreme over her mind while she struggled to collect herself. For an intense and frightening moment, she couldn’t remember who she was, where she was, or why she was there. Fear thrilled through her and her heart fluttered warningly. She just needed to calm down and think.

The room around her was dark and still. Several figures were laid out in cots on the floor while an open door on the far wall allowed warm light to spill through, cutting a swath through the darkness, although it didn’t manage to reach her. Light would help, she told herself. If she could get to the light then she could push the shadows away, hold them at bay, until she could get back to herself.

She reached a trembling hand out to grip the edge of the mattress and kicked a leg out over the edge with a whimper of pain, she couldn’t feel anything below her knee but her thighs and hips ached so fiercely she could only assume her bones had been shattered and ground to dust. She bit her lip and pulled with all that she had left and the world spun around her before she felt the impact of hitting the ground with a ragged gasp, the breath knocked from her lungs for just a moment. Short rough carpet fibers rasped against the flesh of her arms as she struggled to push herself up.

“Mai?”

The voice startled her and she lost her battle against gravity, her arms giving out beneath her. Was that her? Yes, the name sounded right. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness around her as someone threw themselves out of the bed and bounded around the other side to reach her.

“Mai!”

Hands reached for her, grasping her shoulders, and she cried out as pain shot through her again. If her throat wasn’t on fire she would have begged for them to stop, if only to forestall the pain until later. Just let her know a moment’s peace before she was subjected to more. But she couldn’t work her tongue around the swelling. She could only just reach out a trembling hand and set it on the thigh in the corner of her vision, he was kneeling at her side, she realized. The last person she remembered being at her side was Monk. And the recollection of who she was and who he was and what she had been doing forced tears to spill forth while she choked back a pained whimper unsuccessfully.

“Shit,” Monk muttered, panicked, while someone who must have been woken by the noise flicked the lights on. “Naru!” he called out over his shoulder, barely sparing a glance to see it was Nora who had gotten up to do something while the rest in the room had pushed themselves up and were still attempting to process what they were seeing.

The cracked door was thrown open not a moment later and it was both Naru and Lin who rushed through. The panic in Monk’s voice had been enough to rouse Oliver from his focus on the monitors, eyes burning from lack of sleep and lost in a trance, but within a second he had tossed himself out of the chair sending it crashing into the wall behind him before he was out the door, Lin on his heels. Monk was a stoic man when it came down to it so the fear that Oliver had detected in his tone was enough to send his own heart racing.

And he knew it pertained to Mai before he had even stumbled onto the scene. She was sprawled out across the floor, crumpled in a heap, just struggling to lift a hand to reach for Monk. Naru dropped to his knees at her side before he even knew what he was doing.

“No, don’t!” Monk snapped at him as he reached for her.

“I can’t help her from here, Monk,” he muttered darkly, teeth gritted.

Monk sat back on his heels and ran a hand across his face while Oliver reached out and pulled Mai up into his arms, she gasped in pain but managed to bite back any further sound. Her head settled on his shoulder while he ran his eyes down her body, searching for injuries of any kind, only relaxing by a mere fraction when he noticed nothing. She reached a trembling hand out to him and he took it without thought, bringing it up to his chest while turning his eyes to hers. She was watching him with an unfocused gaze but even as they sat there more clarity appeared to return.

“I’m…I’m okay,” she whispered.

“What happened?” he asked and though his tone was once more cool and composed as always, his hold on her hand tightened. He was reminded of his own thoughts a few hours ago, of how small she was in his arms despite how larger than life she appeared to be in his mind. Now she lay within his hold shattered and shaking, seeming smaller than ever before.

Mai’s eyes fell shut for a moment, wishing she had the energy to describe in detail what she experienced but knowing she didn’t. Another tear trailed from the corner of her eye down her cheek. “She…” she faltered, emotions swelling, “She was so strong.” She hid her face in the crook of his neck. “She was so scared, but she refused to give up,” she whispered. Lydia had run until her body have given out on her, knowing it was her one strength, the one thing no one had ever been able to beat her at. It was her last line of hope and it was the one thing that had allowed some part of her to continue existing. She kept pushing for that finish line, for the feeling of euphoria that came with winning, even though she knew it was her last moment and it would never come.

How tragically beautiful.

“Lin,” Oliver muttered quietly, “Will you put the kettle on?”

Lin nodded from where he stood behind them before he turned to delve back into the hall. The final room, the one they had deemed reserved for meetings, had a small kitchenette that boasted a kettle and a minuscule tea selection. It was a quick and easy task to fill the kettle with water and set it on the stovetop.

Oliver turned his attention back to Mai and shifted, sliding one arm beneath her legs so he could lift her fully into his hold and stand. Mai groaned with the movement but reached out to grip the front of his vest and shirt in a fist; the most she could do to support herself at that moment. Monk stepped forward to help but found there wasn’t much he could do while Oliver lowered Mai back onto the pull-out couch.

“I don’t want to lay down,” she mumbled quietly and Oliver shifted her back, propping the pillow up behind her so she could at least sit up against the back of the couch. Monk was moving to pull the comforter over her legs when Lin returned to the room with a frown.

“Just rest for now,” Oliver instructed quietly while sitting on the edge of the mattress, “When the rest get back from the hotel you’ll go and sleep there.”

Mai bit her lip and gripped the blanket as best she could in her weakened state. Because now she didn’t want to leave at all, she wanted to help Lydia. But Oliver was right, she knew he was. If she wanted to help them face off against whatever that thing was then she needed to be at her best and she was far from it now. She dropped her head back against the pillow behind her with a sigh. “Okay,” she muttered, “But I want to attend the meeting this morning.”

Oliver sighed through his nose before he shifted to check the watch on his wrist. It was still only five AM and they’re meeting was at ten, going by the schedule that Mai herself had felt was necessary to set out. That would give her five hours to recover from her dream and whatever psychic-induced pain it had caused her before the others arrived and Ayako could mother-hen her. Though, he was certain Monk would be doing enough for the both of them before she arrived.

“Alright,” he agreed resignedly.

Monk squawked in protest in the background, “No way, you need to relax for the rest of the day Jou-chan.”

“You know that’s not how this works,” she shot back tiredly, though she did manage to chuckle. The mirth, as buried under exhaustion as it was, did wonders to soothe everyone in the room including Mai herself.

Oliver left and returned a few moments later with a cup of tea in hand. He reclaimed his seat on the mattress and gently lowered the cup into her hands, resting in her lap, and watched as she carefully lifted it to her nose. It was orange spice, one of her favorites, and something that Oliver had seemed to know very early on. She recalled the Urado case and the night she had experienced the death of another, how he had come to her side in the dead of night with a cup of tea then too. Although her hands shook she managed to take a sip and lower the cup back to her lap without incident. The warmth soothed her throat and settled in her stomach pleasantly, settling her nerves, and reminding her of better times. Times when her mother had still been alive.

“Thank you,” she mumbled with a sigh of relief.

Oliver stood and slid his hands into his pockets, taking a step aside while Monk moved in to look her over himself. The majority of those left at the museum were his team and now he could feel all of their eyes on him while he tried to physically and emotionally put distance between himself and Mai. He dropped his gaze to the floor, turning his thoughts to the case and what her dream might mean. He wanted to write it down before either of them could forget what she had said so he slipped out of the room the moment he felt a few less eyes on the back of his head to search out his notebook in base. He knew full well Mai would not return to the hotel until she was good and ready no matter what he or Monk said, but he was satisfied with the five hours of rest they had managed to agree upon. It was better than nothing. 

Chapter Text

The house was quiet. This wasn’t unusual given the early hour. No one had even dared to greet the new day yet, not even Luella Davis, as infamous as she was for her early rising. The historical manor, boasting a grand total of six bedrooms and four bathrooms, ample shared living space for the family, and a backyard that - despite the fact that it had been eaten away by the city of London throughout the centuries - was lush with greenery and even a rough cut wood clubhouse for Toby, had yet to so much as feel the first rays of the morning sun. 

And yet, Toby’s eyes opened in the darkness of night. He lay in his luxuriously comfortable bed and stared up at the antique ceiling fan spinning away while his fingers clutched the navy sheets for dear life and his chest heaved with panicked breaths. He didn’t know what he was scared of, only that he had woken from a dead sleep with such a powerful fear coursing through his little body that he had been frozen to the spot. 

He didn’t understand. There was no one around him. He was alone within his dimly lit room, the nightlight working wonderfully, as it always did, and yet he had never felt less safe. What he was concluding was that these emotions were not the result of someone within his vicinity as was custom, but rather, they came from within. Evaluating this did little to aid his horror-filled confusion because, as far as he knew, he had been dreaming about the zoo. It had been a pleasant dream even, nothing that would make him feel so horrible. Ever since he had received his gifts from Mai he had been able to do so many things with his family that his life had been a veritable vacation for the last week. Every day was filled with a new adventure. It could get a little overwhelming at times but it was nothing compared to what he had been forced to suffer through before.

His room was still his safe haven. His little spot of comfort away from the rest of the world that he could retreat to when he needed a break. His daddy had made sure he had everything he needed and wanted in there for that very reason. In the soft light of his glowing mushroom nightlights, it looked like a fantastical world of make-believe. Enough blankets and pillows were spread out across the bed for him to make any sort of fort he could imagine, even despite the reading nook castle built into the corner of his room. Antique puzzle boxes and toys had been gifted to him by his grandfather and served as excellent ways to calm and distract his mind when he was in a state sat atop several shelves in the library he had been building even though he couldn't read all that well yet. 

So the fact that he felt such fear was perplexing.

His eyes drifted from the ceiling fan in halting increments until they settled on the bracelet around his wrist. 

It was Mai. 

Mai was scared. 

The sudden bone-deep understanding of where such powerful emotions came from was more steadying than any hug or word of comfort could ever be. Toby found himself sitting up in bed and pushing the blankets back so that he could crawl to the edge and drop down. He had reclaimed his dinosaur onesie once more and for that he was thankful. It was reassuring to pull the hood up and pretend he was a mean beasty while he reached for his doorknob and stepped out into the early dark of the large house. No one would try and mess with a velociraptor, especially not one on a mission, not matter how worried it was. 

Toby traced his way through the familiar halls until he found the door he was looking for. With some hesitancy, he formed his hand into a fist and knocked. The small sound echoed down the hall and through the manor with alarming efficiency.

Oliver had made her a second cup of tea. Somehow, it was that one, put together while the rest of the team was filtering past the meeting room with its multiple round tables spaced sporadically, that felt more special. Monk had helped her hobble over into the room before everyone else just to spare her some embarrassment and sat her down at the table closest to the kitchenette. It was like the ones used in schools, sitting on adjustable metal legs and covered in a fake wood vinyl that was durable enough to survive almost any beating. The chairs looked as if they had been scooped up from an office sale, the upholstery was a rough dark blue, while the frame was wood. They didn’t really match the tables but Mai supposed it didn’t matter all the much considering no one likely used this room. There was a fine layer of dust over everything and there weren’t any windows in sight.

She had pulled on a large and heavy cardigan before leaving the room for an extra bit of comfort after the early morning fiasco. Her limbs still trembled and ached but the pain had lessened significantly since she had first woken and she could at least converse normally. So while Monk sat her down in the old cushioned chair and fluttered about awkwardly before deciding to make himself useful and find her some breakfast, Oliver had glided into the room ahead of everyone else and set the kettle to boil.

Mai had turned back to watch with surprise before she laced her fingers together atop the table and sighed. It was one thing to feel the strain after a hard day's work, or actually exercising, but to wake up and feel the extreme crippling weakness that she had was maddening. The fact that her hands still trembled hours later was driving her insane. She was so anxious regarding the case now that she had managed to connect with Lydia that she felt the need to pace the rooms and get her thoughts in order. Instead, she was relegated to the chair with the help of Monk and left to her own devices.

In the midst of her brooding, Oliver had set the cup down in front of her while his cool fingers just brushed across the back of her neck as he set his hand on her shoulder. She stiffened in surprise for just a moment before her shoulders slumped and she reached to cup her hands around the tea with a sigh.

“Thank you,” she mumbled a slight dusting of pink across her cheeks.

The first cup of tea had been an obligation. Oliver’s one comfort that he usually allowed himself was a cup of tea so it was often times the one thing he could think to offer in the face of other people’s distress. She had no doubt he had made several cups for Toby too, maybe with added milk and honey, knowing him. But the second cup now resting between her hands had been a kind gesture of continued care that warmed her belly just as much as the first sip of tea did. Not to mention, the honey he added helped to soothe her throat.

She bit her lip, confliction warring within her when Lin leaned in through the doorway wearing a look of extreme dissatisfaction that immediately sent alarm bells ringing in her mind. Oliver lifted his gaze from her to the man with a single brow arched in question.

“Madoka’s here,” he muttered grimly.

Oliver straightened and moved to step out into the hallway just as a small blur brushed past Lin’s legs and darted into the room.

Mai felt her heart constrict in panic and she tossed up a hand with a hurried “Wait!” that did little to alter the situation. Luckily, Oliver had bent down and scooped Toby up into his arms before he could make it any further into the room and despite the way he kicked his feet the boy could only turn to look back at Mai anxiously.

“I wish someone would have informed me beforehand,” Oliver stated dispassionately while Toby patted his chest in an effort to get his attention.

“I needed to see Mai,” Toby informed him with brows furrowed and a frown pulling at his face. It was the first time Mai had seen him show even a hint of anger since she had met him and that was surprising considering his age. She had honestly expected some sort of tantrum from him sooner but she supposed he would always be a special case. “She was scared,” he added petulantly.

No doubt he must have felt something through the bracelet, she realized guiltily. She hadn’t even considered how it would affect him if she were to take on a case. She could only hope that he hadn’t experienced anything close to what she had otherwise she would never be able to live with herself. Her own emotions were still a mess even then and she didn’t want Toby to throw himself at her when she was still struggling to piece herself back together. Who knew what he would pick up on?

“I’m sorry,” Madoka’s voice filtered in from outside the hall. “He apparently woke your parents up this morning demanding to be brought to the museum,” she explained with a sigh.

Oliver released the breath he had drawn in to argue and instead turned his eyes to the boy in his arms. Toby’s eyes locked with his and the two shared a moment before Oliver turned towards Mai and pulled out the chair next to her. With care, he set Toby down in the chair and settled a hand on his shoulder to keep him in place.

“Good morning, Toby,” Mai greeted with a warm smile despite the previous stress. She itched to run her hand through his messy curls, still looking sleep mussed, but she refrained by wrapping them back around her cup instead. He had gotten to wear a deep blue sweater and black pants that day, his loafers traded for a small pair of light-up sneakers that blinked in the dim light of the meeting room.

“Morning,” he replied quietly, eyes already watering.

“How are you feeling?” she asked gently, her insides squirming at the sight of his brimming tears.

“Sad,” he answered simply and reached up to wipe at his eyes with both hands.

“Why are you feeling sad, little man?” she crooned and turned in her seat to face him fully. She had never expected to see him while they worked the case but, even though he was distressed by the situation, she found herself taking comfort in his presence. She used the bit of warmth to pat some of her emotions back down into place and smooth out the ruffles of her soul.

“Because you were really scared and I wasn’t here and now you don’t want me around,” he admitted through tears that continued to fall.

“That’s not true at all!” she rushed to assure him while Oliver crouched at his side and ran a hand through his hair where Mai could not. It was an extreme jump in logic but Mai had heard wilder ideas from children before. Yasuhara's little sisters had claimed plenty of crazy things over the years when she watched them or went along on outings with them. Considering she had been the only one Toby could touch without fear of an emotional overload for a time, the first person he could touch, it made sense that her wanting to keep her distance was upsetting to him. Even if nothing could be further from the truth, he still saw it was her wanting to keep away from him at a time when he felt she needed him the most.  

“Toby,” Oliver murmured quietly, the smallest of wrinkles between his brows denoting his own distress. “Mai would never feel that way,” he informed him in heartbreakingly gentle tones, “She’s still putting up with me, after all.”

Madoka shuffled into the doorway with her hands locked together over her heart. She looked utterly distraught by the scene but Lin had snorted at Oliver’s statement. It might have earned him a gentle smack in the stomach but no one within eyesight had truly been paying attention, their focus on the small boy crying in the chair.

But Toby would not be comforted so easily. He was an empath after all, and despite the fact that his assumptions were incorrect, he could still sense his father’s mounting distress hidden behind a facade of calm and Mai’s own regret for causing it all. As intelligent and knowing as he could be at times, he was still only five, and the tears turned to hiccuping sobs in a matter of seconds. His face crumpled and he reached for Mai.

And suddenly, several things happened all at once.

It started with Toby crying out for Mai but what came out of his mouth wasn’t her name. Instead, the word that tumbled from his lips was “Mommy,” while his hands reached out for her with a desperation that was far too close to what she had witnessed in Lydia. Panic flooded her system and she smacked a hand of her mouth with eyes wide and dilated. In the same moment, Oliver had frozen where he couched, his own eyes wide but vacant, utterly dumbstruck by Toby’s choice of words. The conflicting writhing emotions that roiled in his own stomach sent his heart pounding. While there may have been a kernel of warmth in the depths of his mind it was overshadowed by the inability to comfort his son, embarrassment for what he had implied, yearning for the same thing, failure to have brought about such a future, and anger towards the case for causing it all by tormenting Mai with horrendous visions. A mere fraction of a second later and Lin was stepping into the room with a far more serious expression on his face.

“Noll,” he called out warningly.

Mai jumped back to the present with a trilling panic swamping her mind before she shook it away, patted it back in place with a mighty effort, and breathed out a steadying breath. 

"It's okay," Mai said soothingly, reaching to rest a hand on Oliver's shoulder with a pop of static shock. "Everyone is okay," she added, carefully shuffling herself out of the chair to crouch before Toby and take his hand with her other. It was small and warm, as to be expected, but he gripped her hand in return. Toby's sobs quieted to sniffles and the occasional hiccup. He rubbed at his eye with his free hand before climbing out of the chair to wrap his arm around Mai, curling up under her arm. Tears still trailed down his cheeks but he had managed to calm down enough to recognize the fact that Mai didn't hate him. She was willing to share whatever residual emotions might be lingering from the dream if it meant his tears would stop and he knew he was cared for.

The tension in the room dropped by a few notches and Mai gave Toby an appreciative squeeze, the smile returned to her face. She was glad he was the understanding type. Her heart still fluttered in her chest from his chosen title but she was certain it had been due to the heat of the moment and his own mix of feelings. It was natural for a child to cry out for someone to hold them and care for them when they were overwhelmed and just because Toby’s mother wasn’t around didn’t mean he had no understanding of the concept of one. Somehow, in the time he had known Mai, he had stuffed her in that role. Honestly, the more logically she thought about it the more it made sense. No one had been able to comfort him his entire life until she came along. Still, her cheeks were pink as she turned to Oliver. The man had retreated within himself but she wasn’t going to have that.

“I can’t stand, Oliver, will you help me up?” she asked.

Toby shuffled aside as his father came back to life, if only a little, to push himself to his feet and pull Mai up along with him. There was a moment of strain in which Mai’s legs felt like warmed metal as if they could bend no further, but she pushed on and managed to straighten. She swayed but his grip on her forearms was solid and their eyes met for a drawn-out moment regardless of the onlookers. He studied her as one would a particularly interesting puzzle, intrigued, and maybe even a little intimidated by the complexity. Then he was moving forward, shepherding her backward, and settling her into the chair where her cup of tea sat waiting for her, still warm.

“Toby, will you stay with Mai for a moment,” Oliver asked, turning back to look at the boy who stood watching with a worried expression. Much like Mai in her moments of weakness, he was wringing his hands anxiously.

“Did I hurt you?” Toby asked with eyes that looked ready to refracture at a moment’s notice. His soul may as well have been a stained glass window with the number of times it had been broken and put back together. His little fingers were laced together, straining, as if he wanted to reach out to verify his father’s emotional state himself but he was frightened to do so.

“No, Toby,” Oliver assured him gently. “Come here,” he murmured a moment later and opened his arms to the boy. Toby didn’t waste a second before he was tossing himself at his father and wrapping his arms around his neck. Oliver stood with him in his arms and buried his face in the crook of his neck, eyes closed while he reveled in the embrace.

“Oh,” Toby voiced in soft surprise, and that was that.

Oliver turned to settle Toby in Mai’s arms before turning away and disappearing out the door with Lin hot on his heels. Madoka stepped back out into the hall to watch them disappear beyond the base and then shuffled back in to take a seat at the table with Mai wearing a perplexed expression that softened as Toby turned to look at her. She was dressed in denim capris and a black t-shirt that day, clearly aiming for casual comfort given the circumstances, but her sunglasses were still tucked up in her hair.

“What a way to start the morning,” Madoka said gustily and braced an elbow on the table, resting her chin on her palm.

Mai snorted, “You don’t know the half of it.” Her heart was still pounding and she felt a little wrung dry. Her head felt like it was filled with static thanks to the lack of sleep and her trembling limbs only served to further frustrate her but with Toby now sitting happily in her arms she couldn’t really complain.

Neither one of them mentioned Toby calling her Mommy.

“You’re going to go to the hotel tonight, right?” Madoka questioned with pinched brows. “I know the suites there have jacuzzi tubs, you should use one.”

Mai felt her limbs turn to butter at just the mention of it. She hummed and reached down to run a hand through Toby’s hair. He had rested his head on her shoulder while he stared out at the room absently, emotionally drained and probably ready for a nap despite the early hour. Their meeting was going to start soon and Monk would be on his way back from grabbing Mai breakfast from the restaurant at the front of the museum by now.

“I will,” she assured her, “ I just want to get through this meeting first.”

The breakfast that found its way to her was a collection of fruits, yogurt, and oats all mixed together in a bowl that was almost the size of her head. But it was delicious. The natural sugars in the fruit did wonders to give her a boost of energy and the yogurt and oats filled the cavernous insides of her stomach nicely. Had Monk brought her meat or eggs she might have refused to eat altogether just because she knew it would have settled horribly in her stomach. There had been one too many mornings after a night of dreaming that had ended in horrible episodes of nausea, it was the reason she hadn’t eaten much the night before.

"Where'd you come from?" Monk questioned Madoka and Toby teasingly as he watched Mai eat. 

"Toby knew Mai was scared," Madoka offered in explanation with a tired shrug. 

"Jeez," Monk exclaimed quietly with a tired sigh. There was just no winning for that kid. He had an excellent breakthrough with the bracelet Mai made for him but, in return, he was exposed to the horrors that she was. 

A moment of silence fell between their small group before Mai settle her spoon on the rim of the bowl and shot Monk a scrutinizing look, eyes narrowed. "What exactly did you speak with Oliver about last night?" she asked with suspicion. 

Monk reached up to scratch at his cheek while fighting back a grin, "It wasn't a shovel talk if that's what you're worried about."

Mai's brows furrowed in true confusion, wondering what else the man would have felt the need to pull Oliver away for. Perhaps he had wanted to apologize for his previous behavior. Patch things up before it became a problem for the case. But Madoka was giving the Monk a conniving grin before she hid her mouth behind her hand with a snort. 

"Sometimes, a man just needs a one-on-one with another man, Mai. It's not your place to snoop," Monk exclaimed factually and shifted where he stood, crossing his arms.

Mai scoffed. 

While Monk dropped down at the table with the ladies and Toby, the rest of the team finally began to stumble into the meeting room like a group of zombies. Half of them were exhausted from the short night of sleep they managed to catch while the others were focused on their tasks and had just resurfaced to move to the other room. Nora looked like a raccoon with the heavy shadows that hung from her eyes, she and Tristan made quite the pair as they settled at another table together and slumped over its surface.

“What did we miss?” Ayako drawled as she entered the room and paused. She had pulled on a dark green sweater that hung from one shoulder with a pair of tight black pants and a pair of heeled boots. At her side was Masako looking much better in a deep plum kimono and copper-colored obi that gleamed like silk in the low light.

Monk snorted, “What do you think?”

Ayako turned a scrutinizing look on Mai with a raised brow. Her eyes were drawn to the cup of tea on the table before they settled on Toby. It would take a fool not to notice the connection that had formed between the two and Ayako knew it had to do with the bracelet on his wrist from what John had told her. Now he was practically asleep in her arms, eyes at half-mast and head drooping.

“Any injuries or sickness?” she asked dryly.

Mai shook her head with a tired smile. The exhaustion that had befallen her body didn’t fall under those categories though it had felt like it did. Her hips still throbbed every time she moved but she knew it would pass after a few more hours.

“Good morning, everyone,” John greeted as he entered the room. He looked a little dazed but otherwise well-rested, tucked away in a white hoodie and jeans.

The chorus of good mornings was just dying off when the remaining members of the group finally returned. Oliver and Yasuhara were in the middle of a conversation when they sauntered in but Mai’s practiced eye couldn’t find anything off about the man who had fled the room earlier, but Lin striding in after him with an exhausted expression on his face said more. He didn’t even bother greeting anyone before he came and joined Madoka at the table with a sigh.

Oliver came to stand next to Mai with arms crossed, leaning back against the counter of the kitchenette while Yasu trailed off and found a table to sit at and booted up his laptop. A general hush fell over the group with his presence in the room, even those from SPR were waiting to hear what he had to say.

But he didn’t say anything. He just stood there with those eyes of false innocence pinned to her face and she was very much reminded of a seventeen-year-old Naru waiting for her to make a bigger idiot of herself in front of a client.

And then Mai caught sight of Monk smirking behind a hand and realized Oliver was waiting for her to start the meeting. Her face fell flat of any expression and she heaved a sigh before she bit the bullet and shakily pushed herself to her feet with Toby in her arms. He seemed to come back to life for a moment at the movement before she turned and settled him back in the chair by himself. If the shift in Oliver’s stance was an indication of his guilt for somehow indirectly making her stand then she only enjoyed it for a moment before she shifted away to face the room with a sigh.

“Good morning everyone,” she began with a chuckle, “I’d like us to go over everything we have learned since our arrival.”

The meeting lasted for an hour and the majority of it was no more than conjecture with the few pieces of information confirmed through Mai, Masako, and Yasuhara.

“I’ve never felt such fear before,” Masako admitted from behind a kimono sleeve. Her face grew pale at the mere memory. “It overwhelmed all of my senses. I’m afraid I am unable to confirm anything other than the fact that something very horrible happened here.”

“That’s alright, Masako, you’re word brings value to my suspicions,” Mai assured her while flipping through the pages of her notebook. She notated Masako’s statement down before sticking the end of the pen between her lips thoughtfully. “Andrew, I could actually use your help. I really want a full layout of the museum. Would you be able to locate floor plans?”

“I’ll speak with the curator today and see what I can find,” Andrew assured her.

“I did manage to find some information on the other missing person cases,” Yasuhara voiced from his seat with a hand raised to garner her attention. “There haven’t been any additional cases since Lydia’s disappearance but before her, there were four others,” he informed the room with a grimmer tone.

Mai jotted that down while Oliver lifted a hand to his chin in thought. The rest of the room grew rather focused on the younger man but, given the darker nature of his report, he chose not to revel in the attention as he normally would.

“Since the museum's creation, it seems a person has gone missing every thirty years,” Yasu continued after adjusting his glasses, “Back in the sixties it was Cheryl Stroff, thirteen, and before that, it was Donald Maverick, fourteen, in the thirties. The first to go missing was a young boy by the name of Sebastian Elonzo. No matter how much I research, however, none of them have anything in common.”

"Except that they're all children," Masako murmured. 

“Could you send me that list, Yasuhara,” Tristan asked from the other side of the room.

“It sounds like some sort of ritual,” Monk mused from his seat, a hand lifted to his chin in thought.

Like it’s feeding, Mai thought to herself. The suddenness of the idea urged her to write it down, suspecting it would be of value to the case overall. If Monk was correct in his thinking then it could be some sort of feeding ritual. Perhaps…she turned her attention to Tristan and asked: “Tristan, do you know of any creatures or spirits that feed on fear?”

Tristan ran a hand through his hair with a gusty sigh. “Honestly, there are too many to count. The question is whether they actually exist or not. With the criteria, I can certainly narrow it down though. I’ll have a list sent out tonight with possible candidates,” he said.

“Excellent,” she murmured in response, already adding that to her growing list of meeting notes.

“I recommend no one leaves base without a partner from here on out,” Oliver finally spoke up after nearly forty minutes of conversation. “If what Yasuhara says is true, then we are coming upon the deadline, Lydia went missing nearly thirty years ago. The increase in activity might pertain to this.”

An anxious silence took over the room at that and Mai sent the sleepy Toby a worried look. She didn’t want him anywhere near the museum with that in mind. With his wide range of emotional capabilities, and if their building theory was correct, then he was like an entire buffet for whatever the thing was. She closed her notebook and tapped it against a palm in stressful thought. She sent Oliver a look over her shoulder and it seemed his thoughts mirrored her own because he settled a pointed look on Madoka.

“At lunchtime, we’ll rotate groups at the restaurant. Madoka, you’ll bring Toby and once you’re finished Lin will escort you off the property,” Oliver instructed in a tone that brooked no argument.

“Got it,” she assured him with a curt nod.

“Lastly,” Mai cut in once the instructions had settled in, “Who would like to stay at the hotel tonight?”

The meeting concluded a few minutes later. Mai was surprised to find that the majority of their group wanted to stay at the museum in order to keep working but she had managed to convince Nora, Andrew, Tristan, and Masako to stay at the hotel that night with her. Monk wanted to stay another night and Ayako agreed to remain at his side. Lin outright refused to set foot in the hotel, not capable of leaving the monitoring to just anyone regardless of experience. Oliver did not give her an answer when she asked which she suspected meant he wanted to remain at his post and thought she was being rather dumb. Nothing new there.

Tasks were quickly divided for the day. They had nearly thirty-seven batteries that needed to be changed, a total of ten cameras that needed relocating, and audio from eight microphones needing to be reviewed. It was the most work Mai could recall them ever needing to be done while on a case in the past but she supposed it was to be expected, the museum was the largest property they had investigated, and it was also the largest team they had worked with. Only time would tell how well they could work together.

Chapter Text

“Are you sure you’re feeling alright?” Yasuhara’s voice fractured the companionable silence that had fallen between them while they climbed the steps in the Earth Exhibit. Much of Mai’s strength had recovered but she could still be caught wincing and grimacing every once in a while throughout the day. Monk had wordlessly instructed Yasuhara to watch over her carefully on their trip to replace the batteries in the camera’s set up in the mineral gallery.

“Yes,” she assured him with a sigh. “It’s just my hip, everything else is fine.” The trembling had finally stopped sometime after lunch, thankfully, because she had been nearing her wit's end. Especially after bidding goodbye to Madoka and Toby. She had been powerless against the worry that had washed through her system while Lin walked them out of the museum. She had been forced to remind herself that Toby would be safer away from the property rather than under her watchful eye within its walls. But it was difficult to rationalize that after he had just reached out to her, sobbing, and called her that.

“If you say so, Boss,” Yasu replied easily as they climbed the last step and meandered out of the dimly lit hall into the mineral gallery. “Whoa,” Yasu murmured in awe, his teasing tone set aside while he adjusted his glasses and scanned the room.

“This is the biggest room I’ve ever been in,” Mai admitted distractedly, eyes wide.

The mineral gallery spread out for nearly as far as the eye could see, organized within a long room, and was filled with rows of oak wood display tables boasting samples that varied in worth. They were all protected beneath the single pane glass paneling on the display tables, but still, even sitting at the end of the hall in a glass display of its own was the largest blue gemstone Mai had ever laid eyes upon. It glittered from so far away, vibrant against the rows of rough-cut stone pillars that spanned the entire room and hindered whatever natural light might have remained from the sinking sun outside, spilling through the tall ornate windows evenly spaced throughout.

“And we only have one camera in here?” Yasu asked doubtfully, his voice echoing across the way. It was almost comical.

“We don’t have an endless supply of them, you know,” Mai reasoned with a chuckle.

Together they meandered through the room at a leisurely pace. Several displays drew their eyes and they found themselves marveling over the specimens beneath the glass while time ticked on. Yasu had spent the majority of the day reviewing audio in hopes of helping Oliver’s team speed through the process a little quicker and Mai suspected he needed a break. The work could be very isolating, listening to the static of an empty room for hours on end while life continued around you. Mai often felt like she was trapped in a bubble when she reviewed audio. So she didn’t push him to rush through the room while they made their way to the camera set up near the Ostro Stone.

“Did you ever hear about the theory that things like limestone aid in spirit manifestation?” Yasu questioned as they walked, pausing to look at a fossilized shell with interest.

“I have,” Mai replied with her hands clasped behind her back, the camera battery clutched between her fingers. “Did you find some?” she asked a moment later after Yasu’s attention had been pulled away.

There was a static click at her waist and Mai glanced down to pull the walkie-talkie from her belt and lifted it to her mouth, “You didn’t come through, what was that?”

“I said,” Oliver’s voice drifted through the static, “You should know the camera in that room stopped working three minutes ago. It was at fifteen-percent battery.”

Mai pulled the walkie-talkie away to scan the room warily. Yasuhara had paused to look back at her with a frown. They could just make out the camera from halfway across the room now and it stood innocently in the same position it had been left in. The taped X on the floor was smack in the middle of the feet of the tripod.

“Noted,” she replied before stepping forward into the sudden stifling atmosphere.

“I was just about to say,” Yasu added, following in her wake, “That I think the pillars and walls are lined with it.”

Mai’s eyes slid to the side to examine the rough-cut stone with new light. If the theory was correct then the whole room might as well have been a local ghostly recharge station. Even the floor was a rough porous stone that her boots scraped against with each dragging step she took, still limping due to the pain in her hip. For a moment, those footsteps were the only sound that dared to fracture the mounting oppressive silence of the room. The hair on the back of Mai's neck stood on end as they rounded the final pillar and stood before the camera with wide eyes.

While the camera may not have been moved from its position, facing out towards the room to capture any possible activity that might occur within the cavernous space, something had certainly occurred behind it.

“You’ll want to get up here, Naru,” she murmured into the walkie-talkie.

Scrawled across the limestone wall, carved into the rock itself, were the words: “I’ll trade you.”

Mai took half a step back while she examined the writing. The entranceway leading to the set of stairs on the opposite end of the room that would take guests up to vegetation and soil, or they could take a right and visit the gallery on the evolution of the Earth throughout time, was just a few feet away within view. Anything or anyone could have climbed up those stairs and moved in behind the camera but they would have definitely made noise while carving away at the wall and it would have been picked up on the camera’s own internal microphone at the very least. Andrew, Lin, or Oliver would have certainly noticed.

Mai lifted her watch to gauge the time and noted that it was just a few minutes passed six in the evening. The museum closed at five o’clock that day so the culprit would have had an hour to complete the task before she and Yasu had wandered in. She wasn’t even taking into account members of the custodial staff. It just didn’t add up. Well, she mentally corrected herself, it did she was just surprised by the brazenness of the action. They’d only been on sight for twenty-four hours and already they were getting vaguely threatening messages.

“Hey, Lin?” she asked into the walkie-talkie while Yasu moved around the camera to look at the carving close up. He prodded the marking with curious fingers and then shook his hand out with a grunt of surprise. The markings were ice-cold to the touch, which was odd. Usually, such activity would result in heat produced through the use of energy. 

“Oliver’s on his way,” Lin’s voice crackled to life in her hand.

“Actually, I wanted to know what the usual temperature of this room was?” she clarified while pulling the thermometer from her belt and scanning the area.

“Last checked put it at 21.1 degrees,” Lin informed her.

Mai glanced down at the display of the thermometer with a frown. It read 19.4. Not a vast difference that would usually spark concern in such a large space but when she ran it again just to be certain it jumped back up to 19.6 in a matter of seconds.

Her heart fluttered in her chest.

It must have just left.

Had it been watching them?

When Oliver arrived she had run the thermometer again and breathed out a shaky breath through her nose. The temperature had returned to normal levels and yet she felt more unnerved than ever. Not even Oliver’s calm footsteps against the stone, drawing to a stop at her side, did much to alleviate her mounting concern. She hesitated to call if fear considering their theory, but it was certainly getting there. This thing had a habit of inspiring primal fear within those it faced off against and she worried it was beginning to affect her.

“For what?” Oliver questioned out of nowhere.

“What?” Mai asked, coming back to herself to shoot the man a confused look.

Oliver adopted a rather put-upon expression that harkened back to the old days and she belatedly recalled how much the man despised having to repeat himself. Yasu’s chuckle in the background only served as a further reminder. So she was a little distracted that day, could anyone really blame her?

“It wants to trade us,” Oliver explained simply, “Trade us for what?”

Mai bit her lip and turned her eyes back to the carving. She didn’t want to admit it but she had a very strong suspicion of what it wanted and it sent a thrill of horror racing through her chest that had her crossing her arms and shifting back. The only thing it had to trade was Lydia. Following with their theory, if it was willing to let her go it was because it was ready for a new victim. A new plaything.

Her stomach twisted with nausea so intense that she slapped a hand over her mouth with as much discretion as she could manage, turning her face away from the two men at her side. Did it want Toby after all? Any worry she had felt about him being out of sight was completely washed out by the jellifying relief that he had been sent away. She cared for him deeply and after that morning...her heart twisted in her chest at the mere recollection of the memory. The fact that Oliver hadn't brought it up yet was surprisingly unlike him but she supposed he was attempting to keep things professional while in the presence of the team. 

Oliver reached out a hand to her when she turned back to face the wall again and she manage to conclude he wanted her walkie-talkie without needing to ask. Disappointingly impressed with herself she handed it over.

“Send Nora and Sam down here with a camera,” he ordered before handing the device back to her.

Mai shot him a pointed look at that, realizing the man had come on his own despite his decree to use partners from that morning onwards. He may have been one of the few who could survive an encounter with just about anything but that survival was questionable at best. A pyrrhic win. Something she was certain his pride would approve of if it came down to it. She took the walkie-talkie back and clipped it to her belt once more.

“I’m honestly surprised by the level of activity we’ve encountered so early in the game,” Yasu drawled with his hands on his hips, eyes scanning over the carving once more. “Usually it takes a while, but it seems we dropped in during a spike in activity and our presence means very little to it.”

“It seems intelligent,” Oliver mused quietly, “It wrote the words behind the camera to avoid being seen.”

“So it did,” Yasu replied with grim thoughtfulness.

Mai watched Oliver with interest as he lifted a hand to his chin and his gaze focused on the camera, lost in thought. It was the puzzle and mystery that would pull him in, and then it would be the rush of outpacing something that existed on another plane, of beating the unknown that he would chase after. To Oliver Davis, the world and all of its mysteries were a challenge he could not deny.

When the two members of BSPR arrived it was a scene of the three theorizing the type of being who could leave such a mark with a casual confidence that Nora certainly did not feel. The moment her eyes landed on the carving she felt a thrill of terror zip through her system. In fact, her first thought was to assume that a member of the staff had done it and that the entire case might have just been a way to drum up free advertisement and bring in more guests. But Oliver Davis stood with his arms crossed and sighed when he noticed their hesitation. 

"Well," Yasu cut over the tension with practiced ease, uncaring of Oliver's moods, "It's certainly not a poltergeist." 

Mai rolled her eyes in mock exasperation, "And what makes you say that, Yasu?"

"Besides the fact that we have experienced almost none of the known signs," he replied, playing up the part of a know it all and, perhaps, mocking Mai in her younger days, "Those markings are ice cold."

Oliver's eyes turned back to the markings with new intent as Sam and Nora got to work on photographing and documenting the carving. They would have to inform the museum of the damages so they could repair it, no doubt they would never see the physical thing again after that day. It wouldn't due to frighten the guests with such a sight. 

Mai met Oliver's intense stare, knowing the temptation he felt to reach out and touch the carving, to feel, to see, and knowing it would be a terrible idea. It wouldn't due to expose him of all people to such a creature. 

Nothing else happened that night. Everyone had waited a few additional hours after the writing was discovered before leaving for the hotel, tense and on edge in the following calm after such a reveal. Mai herself had sat down at the monitors next to Andrew and watched the screen with her fingers laced, eyes burning with the strain after so little sleep and a long day of work. Someone had loaned her the plush leather computer chair from behind the desk during her vigilance but her back still ached something fierce by the time she dared to pull back and blink. She heaved the heaviest of sighs, regretful that she would be leaving for the night to sleep at the hotel while the rest remained behind. It didn’t sit well with her but Ayako had assured her that her charms would hold and between her, Monk, Lin, and John everyone would be well protected.

The smell of a fresh pot of coffee reached her nose and she glanced at her watch to note the time- 9 PM. Everyone was preparing for a late night, it would seem. She turned to look back over her shoulder and found the couch occupied by Yasuhara and Sam, both still struggling to chew through all the audio files collected, hidden behind their glowing laptop screens in the dim light of the floor lamp in the back of the room. The fluorescent light had been shut off sometime earlier in a bid to preserve everyone’s eyes and prevent headaches as the hours passed. If she cocked her head just so she could make out Nora’s feet from behind the whiteboard, huddled away at her makeshift workstation away from the others. She would be going with the group to the hotel that night, Mai just needed to make sure they didn’t forget her. She had a suspicion that Nora would keep working if no one stopped her.

“You ready to trade off?” Andrew asked her with a tired and gusty sigh of his own, running a hand over his eyes with a grunt.

“Just about,” she admitted. She was ready to do as Madoka had mentioned and delve into a tub full of hot water and scented soaps for the next several hours of her life. She might even sleep there. Hopefully, the activity would soothe the remaining sharp ache in her hips that had persisted throughout the day. And, with so few going back with them, she could have an entire room to herself. She would leave her comforter and pillow for Ayako and Monk to share.

Mai pushed herself to her feet and stretched, straining her arms up over her head with a yawn. There was a niggling thought in her brain to use the time to open her own laptop and do some writing. She had no idea how long the case would last and the responsible thing to do would be to work on her downtime, but that Word document…the thought of it haunted her. She grimaced and ran a hand through her hair as if hoping to physically brush the thought away. She needed all the sleep she could get in order to fully recover and have another go at the underlying mystery behind the haunting. Together they were managing to piece together a likely story but she wanted something definitive to work from before pushing through to completion. Perhaps, she mused to herself, therein lay the problem with her writing. She had no direction.

“I’m ready when you are,” Tristan spoke up upon entering base, his backpack hanging from one shoulder. He looked just as tired as ever but Mai was happy to note he had an excitable light in his eyes that had yet to die out since he arrived. It seemed field work suited him thus far, she just hoped it continued to do so.

“I can drive us over in one of the vans,” Andrew assured them from his seat at the bank of monitors, still finishing up a last few notes before pushing himself to his feet.

“Sounds good,” Mai chirped. She was ready for some relaxation no matter how tantalizing the case was. No matter how much she yearned to help Lydia as soon as possible. She turned towards the whiteboard to examine the printed photo of the carved writing hanging by a smiley face magnet provided by Yasuhara. Nora had written a note below in large red lettering “Buddy system rules apply!!!” and circled it twice in blue.

“Hey, Nora,” Mai called while peering around the board, “We’re getting ready to head out.”

Nora jumped in her folding chair and looked back over her shoulder at Mai with wide eyes. She had been hunched over her laptop, several pages open and some shrunken down to accommodate the others. Like the rest of them, dark circles hung beneath her eyes that not even her glasses could hide. Unlike Tristan, it would seem, fieldwork pushed Nora to her limits although she apparently refused to cave beneath the stress.

“I’m ready,” Nora stammered and reached down to grab her go-bag at her feet. She snapped her laptop shut and crammed it into the bag while Mai pulled away to scan the room. She offered everyone a tired wave goodnight before following the others out into the hall.

The drive to the hotel was a haze of darkness occasionally fractured by the glow of streetlamps and the green of the radio clock in the dashboard of the van. Mai was happy to relax in the front seat with sore limbs. She had been tense at the computer chair while presiding over the monitors but now she had no important tasks to focus on and her body let the tension go readily. Her eyes rested at half-mast until Andrew pulled the van into a parking space in a lot that surrounded an opulent hotel building. Its high towers reached up to pierce the night sky, lit from below by ground-level spotlights, tossing their wide swaths up the rough-cut stone.

Mai shook her head to pull herself back to the present and reached into her bag in search of the folder with the remaining key cards. Their meager van-full of employees divided the rooms up with ease. There were enough suites for them each to have their own bedroom, though other living spaces would be shared. Mai and Masako each selected the same suite on instinct and the two sent each other conspiring smiles. Even back in the day they usually ended up sharing quarters in some way.

“Sleep well, I’m here if you need me,” Masako advised her while they stood in the entryway of the suite. It was vastly different from Mai’s blindingly white and modern room back at The Lion. Short fiber royal blue carpeting that looked velvet under the low light led out into a living room comprised of heavily patterned and overstuffed furniture, to the point of discomfort, colored in subdued reds and golds. A television sat recessed within a monstrous dark oak entertainment center that took up one wall, laden with several copies of reader’s digest, the gold filigree of their covers gleaming in the dim light.

“You as well, Masako,” Mai tossed back absently, but appreciative nonetheless. Masako had quickly become a close friend over the years and she repeatedly proved herself more than worthy of such a title. Mai owed her more than she could ever repay.

On either side of the living room stood dark wood doors that presumably led to the bedrooms. The kitchenette had been situated at the entrance and, judging by the fact that there was a sink along one wall and a dishwasher along the other (and no other doors in sight) Mai was pleased to conclude each bedroom had its own bathroom. She hefted her bag and moved to inspect the other room.

Much like the living room the bedroom boasted the same carpet and a bed set to match the couch. A bay window to the left was adorned with heavy red drapery, stiff floral cushions, and two matching little ottomans for anyone sitting at the window to enjoy. She stepped into the room and dropped her bag on the bench at the foot of the bed before stretching with a sigh. The room felt quiet and comfortable, not stifling, but swaddling. She felt safe within its walls. She suspected Ayako might have done a bit of charm work to all the rooms just to be safe the night prior and Mai could feel the effects. If anyone was possessed or had a hitchhiker of any kind, it would be knocked away the moment they crossed the barriers she had set up. One less thing for Mai to worry about.

To her right was a hallway, a closet door laid into either wall, at the end of which stood the bathroom. It was larger than The Lion’s suite bathrooms, she noted as she flipped the lights on. Dark green tile greeted her and she quirked a brow before catching sight of the large jacuzzi tub packed into the far corner of the bathroom. It was dark green to match but Mai could care less about the color. She didn’t even bother giving the double vanity sink or the glass-encased shower a second thought before she moved to turn the faucet and fill the tub. The water pooled into the bottom while she scanned the inlaid shelving behind and selected a small travel-sized bottle of bath oil, scented with rosebuds and hibiscus. She uncorked the bottle to give it a curious sniff and grinned. It was tart and sweet and suited her mood perfectly.

While the bath filled she quickly stripped down out of her clothing and jumped in the shower to wash herself off with soap and water, scrubbing at her scalp with urgent fingers, watching the tub from the corner of her eye even as the glass fogged. When she was satisfied she stepped out and threw one leg over the edge of the tub before the other and slid into the heavenly-scented warmth with a relieved sigh. The faucet was turned off before she turned to the controls and pushed the silver gleaming button that sent jets pushing through the still water.

Nearly forty minutes passed with her laying in the tub against a jet that hit the spot between her shoulder blades nicely. She ducked under once or twice just to shut out the rest of the world and clear her head. The muffled sound of rushing water soothing against her frazzled mind that seemed to accumulate more stress as time went on. But there was a creeping feeling that built along the back of her neck, tickling feathers against her nerves, that sent her back to the surface in a rush each time. It was the feeling of an oppressive weight overhead, of hearing the sounds of her own life happening within, cut off from everything else. She ran her fingers through her hair with distant eyes, analyzing the feeling that sent her heart buzzing in a panic even when she was so far from the museum.

It had to be Lydia. Lost in the depths of the building so far below the surface that she could feel the Earth above. It was too similar to the pressure of floating underwater.

Mai stood from the tub, fingers pruned and hair sopping wet after that. She didn’t want her good mood to plummet even further and any more thought down that road would be sure to send her over the edge. She’d probably end up finding a way back to the museum even if she had to walk. It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes, taking a van had really just been for convenience. It would be a shame after having spent so long cleaning up and relaxing, that was for certain. She wrapped a towel around herself and padded out into the bedroom and wiggled her toes in the carpet while searching through her bag for a pair of pajamas. She stepped into the lilac silk shorts and pulled the matching cami over her head a moment later before returning to the bathroom, running the towel through her hair to dry it of the excess water.

While brushing her teeth she pondered sending an email out to Tim regarding her current situation. She might have wanted to avoid writing for as long as she could, regardless of her responsible side urging her to work, but Tim would have an unbiased opinion for her on the matter. She’d imagine he’d advise her to take some time for herself anyways, not to burn herself out after the completion of her first series. With his feelings on the matter supporting her own, justifying her procrastination, she could at least a feel little better about it.

In the mirror, she rolled her eyes at her own antics before spitting in the sink and rinsing her mouth out. The bronze sink was a bold choice for the hotel but they certainly weren’t lacking in that department. She supposed it was meant to emulate the antique and historical atmosphere they were going for.

With the majority of her tasks complete she stepped back out into the room with her comb in hand and claimed a seat at the bay window. There were enough pillows to provide some comfort while her eyes alighted upon the museum across the street, gleaming in the misty night air. From her position, it looked ancient and ominous, and she couldn’t argue against the sharp twang of warning that shot through her chest at the thought. Whatever was roosting between its walls, whether it was trapped or there of its own volition, was dangerous. To think that thousands of people wandered through those buildings daily, oblivious to what lurked beneath their feet, was mind-boggling.

Absently, she worked the comb through her damp hair, eyes vacant. It was getting too long, and falling between her shoulder blades when let down. She had contemplated cutting it many times back in Japan but if she had she wouldn’t have had the length necessary to make Toby’s bracelet.

The gliding comb slowed to a stop and she dropped her hands into her lap in thought. Nothing but the glow of the streetlamps outside, and the light spilling from the bathroom, was left to illuminate her figure sitting at the window. The darkness was comforting in that moment. It helped to ease the fear in her chest. She wondered just how much of her life was hers to control. How many choices had she made that led her to London? How many of them were actually hers and not some twisted form of intuition sending her down a path she had never had an intention of traveling? She reached up to run her fingers over the shorn hair at the back of her head.

Perhaps the depressive episode that had lingered long after their last case together had been a form of awareness she had been too ignorant to recognize. It certainly wouldn’t have been the first time.

There was a soft knock at the door.

Mai pushed herself to her feet with a sigh. Masako did always like to check in before turning in for bed on such cases so she wasn’t surprised. The door was pulled open and her face went blank.

“Is this going to become a habit?” she asked dryly, stepping back to allow Oliver entrance. She barely even registered the need for embarrassment considering she was wearing a risque silk set of pajamas, packed only for the hotel room in mind. If Oliver wanted to speak with her at that moment he would have to suffer. 

“That depends,” he murmured as he entered with his hands in his pockets, eyes scanning the room before he claimed a seat on the bench at the end of the bed.

Mai watched him settle himself in her room without so much as a hello before she pushed the door shut with a roll of her eyes. There was a resounding click and she could only hope Masako hadn’t heard him enter their room and knock on her door. “And how did you get in here?” she found herself asking him for the second time, which was two times too many if you asked her.

“Masako let me in,” he answered lightly.

Welp, there went that hope.

Mai pushed away from the door and retraced her path back into the bathroom to finish combing through her hair. There really was no reason for her to be annoyed by his brazenness. She knew the man had no sense of shame. There was nothing he did that he wasn’t prepared to deal with when the time came to it. But still, she didn’t want the entire team suspecting that he had only let her take the lead on this case because there was a thing between them. So maybe, just maybe, she did actually have a valid reason for being annoyed. Masako would not spread rumors but that didn't mean someone else hadn't seen him traipsing through their door in the middle of the night. 

She yanked at a knot in her hair with a grunt before taking a deep breath and letting it out calmly.

“Mai.”

His gentle tone calling out to her would have sent her heart fluttering, with something other than fear, at one point but now she could only muster a tired “Yes?” in response.

“Will you come here?” he asked, breezy and impassive as always.

A part of her wanted to be childish and ignore his request but, she had already let the man into her hotel room, again, so it was about time she stopped fooling herself. No matter how many times she turned a blind eye to it she was connected to him in some way and she found herself incapable of denying him. Not that she had given it all that much effort, she mentally admitted to herself. Instead, she found herself setting the comb down and pulling her damp hair over one shoulder before stepping back out into the room to stand before him with arms crossed.

Oliver Davis watched her with the interest one displayed before an exhibit. He turned his gaze to her the moment she reentered the room and tracked her path before him calmly. She wouldn’t go so far as to call it reverence, the way he watched her, but it was within the same ballpark. He lifted a hand out to her and she settled hers within his grip with a resigned sigh, taking a seat at the bench next to him. Letting her frustrations go allowed a comfortable silence to settle between them. He wasn’t there to truly ask anything of her, not like the night before when he had needed to speak his peace and clarify the situation for her.

“I thought you were staying at the museum?” she asked when the silence had stretched on for a little too long, her mind muddled by the need for sleep.

“I never said that,” he countered coolly, settling her with a look while the smallest of smirks tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“No, but your silence implied it,” she grumbled and ran her fingers through her hair once more, needing something to do with her hands now that his hold on hers had left. She had expected him to feel the same as Lin in regards to the case, needing to remain in order to ensure proper handling of any situation that might arise, but she supposed he had grown out of that mentality when he matured and adopted a child. Maybe he trusted his personally picked teams to deal with whatever might come their way in his absence. Because, when it came down to it, that’s what SPR was. His original hand-picked team.

“Perhaps you just wanted me to stay,” he offered, settling his elbows on his knees, and turning his gaze up to her.

She felt something in her stomach twist, in excitement or dread, she could not discern. The way his eyes settled on her sent a shiver down her spine but it was quelled by a little guilt when considering his words. He may have been right. After everything with Toby that morning she had felt the need to put some distance between them. She hadn’t wanted Oliver to get the wrong idea. As if her choosing not to correct Toby at the moment was some form of acceptance. Because it wasn’t. At least, she didn’t think it was.

“Maybe,” she murmured. Her eyes slid away from his to focus on the floor below. It felt horrible to admit.

“It’s alright, Mai,” he assured her quietly. His own lashes lowered and he laced his hands together in thought. “I apologize for Toby, he was worried this morning. I’m certain he was equally as tired, considering the hour he must have woken.” It went unspoken that he must have woken at the same time as Mai before the sun had even risen.

Mai bit her lip in mounting distress. Conflicting emotions twisted in her chest like writhing snakes vying for attention, attempting to snuff out the other in a fruitless battle. Because his apology sent relief coursing through her veins but pain shooting through her chest and she didn’t understand how to process it. “It’s alright, Oliver,” she mumbled, reaching out to settle a hand on his shoulder.

Perhaps he had come to talk after all. 

He looked back at her and she had no way to explain the heat that built between them. It was energy, of that she was certain, but it was hardly one she could manipulate. Their eyes locked and the blue of his gaze burned her to the core. She knew what he wanted and still she did not fight it when he turned and pressed his lips to hers. It was soft and gentle at first, their lips feather light against each other, testing the other’s feelings on the matter. There hadn’t been an attempt to discuss their situation just yet and Mai suspected there never would be, if there was, she would have to be the one to initiate it. Oliver would take what she allowed him to take and would ask no more because, she suspected, that even then he felt like it wasn’t his place. As if it should have been Gene in his stead. She wondered just how many times the broken man before her had wished he could have swapped places with his brother in death.

And that thought broke her heart.

So when he moved to pull away, as he did every time, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close. There was a moment of hesitation on his part before his hand found her hip and he buried the fingers of his other in her wet locks at the back of her head, deepening the kiss.

The dark room was quiet around them and Mai could not help but feel like they were hiding, sequestered away from the world and everyone, despite the fact that Masako had let him in not a few minutes prior. Once upon a time she never would have even dared to fantasize about having him like this, he had always seemed so untouchable, even at his weakest moments. There had always been a wall between them, it had only taken Mai a year to realize that wall had been named Eugene Davis. And she knew for a fact Gene would have never wanted his beloved brother to feel that way. She knew it with a certainty that had begun to frighten her.

He pushed and she pulled and they tipped back onto the bed. He drew back for just a moment to look down at her with that same not quite reverent expression, waiting for her to shatter whatever remains of his heart that had been kindled back to life by Toby, but daring to hope she wouldn’t. It was such a vulnerable expression for someone as guarded as him. The most she had seen upon his face since they had first met all those years ago. Even taking the day they had found his brother’s body into consideration. She felt the breath catch in her chest, staring up at him as if she was seeing him for the first time, and maybe she was, she mused to herself.

His eyes drifted away from hers and she felt his fingers ghost across the length of her arm, gaze following, until he reached her hand and laced their fingers together atop the bed. The air in her lungs escaped in a shaky breath that she couldn’t quite bring herself to be embarrassed by, after all, he was sharing far more with her than he had anyone else before. Never mind how his touch was enough to send fire licking beneath her skin. There was no way it was normal, it had to be some form of his own energy leaking through.

Mai cupped the side of his face and guided him back down to her, catching his lips with hers. She felt terrible for her conflicting emotions but the one thing that topped them all was her want for him to know that he was worthy of being loved. Of being allowed to love. She supposed that must be her answer then if she had the courage to pursue it. It was a thought that spiraled in the recesses of her mind as he shifted above her and one of his knees slid between her legs.

The buttons of his vest slipped between her fingers with ease and he didn’t stop her, only shucking the article off with a roll of his shoulders a moment later. He was wearing quite a bit more than her, considering she had slipped into a pair of silk pajamas for the night, intending to retire as soon as she had finished soaking in the bath. But the image of him kneeling over her was an inspiring one. It pushed the lingering exhaustion to the side with embarrassing swiftness.

Chapter Text

Mai had dreamed, she knew she did, but when her consciousness surfaced in the waking world the only thing she could recall was the sound of the blood pouring down the stairs in Lydia’s wake as she sprinted like a gazelle through the museum. It unsettled her and sent a shudder through her body while she lay curled beneath the blankets against Oliver. At some point in the night, she had wrapped her legs around one of his and he had in turn wrapped an arm around her waist. They were thoroughly pretzeled together in their sleep and the realization made her bury a smirk in her pillow and nestle back against him, causing him to tighten his hold on her. It was unusual, to say the least, anyone she had ever been with had eventually pulled away in the night to sleep on their own side of the bed. Very rarely could she remember waking in the arms of someone else except for when it came to Oliver Davis. He was a cuddler. And wasn’t that just adorable?

She recalled the events of last night with a dusting of pink across her cheeks. It had been pretty spectacular considering she was certain Oliver Davis had never been with anyone else in his entire life. He physically couldn’t. She had found herself pulling strands of energy from him on several occasions throughout the night. He was unable to control it while in such a distracted state. It didn’t seem fair to him in the least and for a moment she allowed sorrow to bubble forth, recognizing all that he had been forced to give up in order to exist within the world without harming another. If he had ever even tried to be intimate with another she doubted it had ended well.

She reached down for his hand and pulled it up to her chin, tucking it below and wrapping her own around it. She quieted her mind, hoping to fall back asleep and get a few minutes of dreamless rest before it was time to get up and get ready for the day. Clearly, she hadn’t gotten the rest she had anticipated. But the memory of last night's activities sent her insides thrilling and she tightened her legs around his and in response the fingers tucked under her chin reached out to ghost across her throat. His lips caressed the spot on her neck just below her ear. Her breath hitched.

The early morning light was streaming in through the large bay window when her eyes opened. She was a little disappointed to see that it was still just as grey and wet as it had been the day before. But not even the weather dared to encroach on the pocket of comfort and pleasure they had built for themselves. She twisted in his arms to face him and pull his lips into a kiss that was just as hungry as he was. She was still marveling over the feeling of him bowed over her, the way he trailed a hand down her side and over her hip as if he were appreciating a work of art. It was intoxicating.

And she could hear her phone vibrating in her bag, tossed onto the bench the night before, warning of an incoming call.

“Oliver,” she mumbled, pulling back with a disappointed sigh. But Oliver only hummed in response and settled his lips against her throat, tongue laving against her pulse point despite her wishes to answer the call. She drew in a sharp breath at the sensation and bit her lip, her hand reaching up to bury her fingers in his hair, yearning for him to continue just as strongly. The phantom touch of his thumb across her breast sent her arching into him and he caught her thigh in anticipation, hiking it up to his hip with a breathy sigh through his nose. “Oliver,” she tried again but her voice quavered under his attention.

The bed was so soft and cozy beneath her, the comforter thick and heavy enough to keep out the early morning chill, and Oliver practically radiated heat. He smelled warm and sleepy and maybe even a little bit like the rosebud and hibiscus oils she had used last night in her bath and it made things all the more difficult. For only a moment she allowed herself to think this was what she wanted for the rest of her life, to wake up next to him, limbs thoroughly pretzeled together, trading kisses in the quiet.

And then Oliver’s phone rang from where he had set it on the nightstand around the same time he had worked his belt off in the night.

Oliver froze for just a fraction of a second before he pulled his mouth away from her throat with a murmured “That’s unfortunate,” in her ear. It sent goosebumps racing across her skin even as he pushed himself up and reached out for the phone with a sigh. The immediate cold that assaulted her was almost insulting and she reached to pull a bit of the comforter that he had unintentionally taken with him back. Even while he answered his phone, sitting back on his heels on the bed, his knee still rested between her thighs and she fought back a blush that he didn’t even bother to notice.

“Lin,” he greeted dispassionately, turning his gaze out the window and toward the museum thoughtlessly.

Mai couldn’t make out what Lin said in response but she watched as Oliver’s eyes lowered to the floor and his bare shoulders grew tense under the weight of whatever news Lin had dropped on him. Mai wished she could move to get her own phone just to check because she doubted Lin would have called her first if he had been in search of Oliver. It must have been one of the boys, or Ayako, back at base that had reached out to her regarding the same news.

“He’s compromised then,” Oliver cut through the distant muffled voice of Lin, “Send him home.”

The call came to an end and Oliver tossed the phone onto the bed a few feet away with another heavier sigh. His eyes trailed back over to her and the tension in his shoulders melted away, if only partially, before he fell forward and braced his hands against the bed on either side of her. His dark hair fell around his face, framing it, and drew her gaze to his blue eyes in the dim morning light.

“What happened?” she asked hesitantly, worrying her lip while one of her hands reached out to wrap around his wrist thoughtlessly, yearning for contact.

“Lin found Sam in a catatonic state this morning in the break room,” Oliver explained impassively. “He suffered some sort of break after a night terror, Lin believes, so he’ll be taken back to the office and my mother will see to him. If he needs a hospital she’ll organize his care.”

Mai lifted a hand to her stomach as it twisted anxiously upon hearing the news. Whatever they were dealing with must have gotten to Sam but how could it have managed to work its way around Ayako’s charms? Her heart twinged painfully in her chest at the mere memory and she wondered if she had been compromised herself already. Even the thought of the level of fear she had experienced thus far was enough to send an electric thrill of terror through her nervous system. She hadn’t been so affected by her fear since she was a teenager thrust into the world of the paranormal for the first time. When the safety of knowing that those ghost stories she so enjoyed were just stories had been utterly obliterated by reality. She had nearly lost her life on several occasions and likely would have if Oliver hadn’t been there for the majority of it all.

The feeling of a hand working its way beneath her own brought her back down to Earth and she returned her wandering gaze to his. His fingers slid up her stomach and settled just beneath her sternum, feeling the panicked thrum of her heart fluttering against his touch.

“It’ll be alright, Mai,” he murmured, lips just a hairs breath from her own, eyes lowered at half mast. His hand remained even as she grudgingly accepted the kiss and felt the writhing of her insides still. It seemed he enjoyed feeling the effects he had on her heart rate as it slowed for a moment and then picked back up again for very different reasons.

“But what about-,” she tried to say when he pulled away to return to his work at her throat.

“I think I’ll allow myself to deal with it later,” he replied just below her ear. Sam would have long since left the museum by the time they got ready and headed over so there was very little either of them being present would accomplish other than to get an early start to their day and Oliver was of the opinion that such a thing was very low on either of their lists. Besides, his mind still lingered on the cold and impractical manner in which the man had disregarded Mai, right in front of her, while inquiring about her abilities.

“That’s very out of character for you,” Mai muttered despite the pleasure she felt replacing the panic. The Naru she remembered would have gone racing off to investigate and at least verify that Sam was alright before continuing the case. She supposed age and experience might have mellowed such impulses but to continue with her in bed seemed a bit of a stretch. He was still a workaholic after all.

“There are many things about this situation that are out of character,” he countered coolly.

It couldn’t have been later than 6 AM, Mai knew, but there was still a part of her that worried regardless of their intimacy. Their situation was a little unique, she’d give him that, considering he had never in his life had the opportunity to be so close to another let alone feel such pleasure. She soothed a wave of energy even as the thought crossed her mind and for a moment he shuddered over top of her before he lifted her thigh to his hip once more and reclaimed her lips with his own.

Despite Oliver’s decree that they deal with the issue of Sam at a later time, he was still showered and dressed an hour later. His hair was still damp while he buttoned his sleeves, standing like a dark pillar against the morning light that spilled in through the bay window. The gauzy white curtains, hung for privacy when one required softened the entire room that was otherwise packed with bold colors and opulent patterns. Oliver paid no notice to this while he buckled his watch around his wrist but Mai did. She stood leaning on the doorframe of the bathroom with her arms crossed and her gaze locked on his figure. She had just stepped out of the shower after him and had wrapped a towel around herself before coming to a halt to watch. There was just something so utterly domestic and alien about the scene that both inspired warmth within her chest and excitement in her stomach. He gave her a lot of conflicted feelings, that one.

“You could take a picture,” he mused aloud while checking the time.

Mai hummed, a smirk tugging at her lips, “Some moments should be cherished without such conveniences.”

Oliver shot her a look over his shoulder and she knew her comment had won her the battle. Not only had it been a rare moment of quick wit on her part but it had also been layered with enough genuine affection that he could not bring himself to respond lest he make a fool of himself. He was still learning this intimate and vulnerable side of himself that he had never dared to acknowledge in the past. Especially not with Toby who could handle nothing of his emotions until recently.

Satisfied with herself, she padded back into the bathroom to blow dry her hair. The sound and warmth were more than enough to lull her into a complacent state when he followed in after her wake several minutes later, fully dressed and ready for the day. It had only taken him thirty minutes in total to prepare himself and she was a little jealous. It miffed her to know she was contributing to the stereotype that women took longer to get ready but she supposed she did have much more to deal with. She drew the round brush through her hair at a slow and patient pace even as Oliver gripped her waist and buried his nose behind her ear on her other side. She scoffed in bemusement, pulling the hairdryer away and flicking it off with a brow quirked.

“I noticed you brought your own change of clothes this time,” she teased in hopes of warding him off. “Trying to avoid the walk of shame?”

“I would never feel ashamed,” he murmured in reply.

Mai felt her cheeks heat in embarrassed gratitude before she snorted, “Since when were you so smooth?”

Oliver only smirked and pushed her forward until he could brace his hands against the counter and Mai was forced to do the same unless she wanted to faceplant into the sink. She was very much reminded of a cat butting its head against the person it loved. 

But it was far too earlier to even consider such words. 

And she needed to finish getting ready unless they wanted to be late for the morning meeting and recap, face even more ridicule from their peers that she suspected was already well on its way, and miss out on breakfast. She had known that he was someone who had been barred from physical contact for the majority of his life for a multitude of reasons so she had known that once that bag had been opened he would come back for more. But she hadn’t expected the extent to which he craved contact with her. She was grateful he at least had the decency to refrain from doing so in public settings. Well, she internally mused, he had. She suspected his behavior might change now.

“Would you do me a favor, Oliver?” she asked as pleasantly as she could manage.

His gaze met hers in the mirror and he hummed in response.

“Would you get me a coffee from downstairs?” she asked hopefully.

She had the pleasure of watching his usually impassive face fall truly flat.

“If you must get rid of me,” he replied knowingly and pushed himself away with a sigh.

“I appreciate you,” she called back over her shoulder to his retreating figure. There was no reply, although she hadn’t expected one. The blow dryer started up once more and she turned her eyes back to the mirror with a smile. For a moment she allowed herself to revel in what all had happened in the past twelve hours. She had gotten the chance to see a side of Oliver Davis that no one else had but rather than pride and triumph, she felt this fluttering awe, fragile as it was, settle behind her ribcage. It was comparable to holding a newborn for the first time or catching sight of an endangered animal, once thought to be extinct. This humbling wonder filled her up with warmth and the need to do something. And that something, she realized, how been to make sure he knew he was loved and could love.

Had this been the overall goal of her intuition? Had Oliver’s teasing whisper at dinner all those nights ago been closer to the truth than he had realized? The worry wore away at the edges of her warmth but she bit her lip and set the dryer on the counter to run her finger through her hair. Was it such a bad thing if it was?

Oliver Davis could be cruel with his words and actions, she knew this firsthand, but he was learning. She saw a vast difference between the teenager she had met ten years ago and the man she knew now. Toby, no doubt, had a large hand to play in his maturity. Since they had reunited he had done his best to dance around her, to apologize when he felt it was necessary, to seek her out to correct any notions that were wrong. She had seen him at his most vulnerable and yet, he had not run from her as he would have when they were younger. She also knew that he was capable of incredible kindness. It was rare for others to see but Oliver did much in the background that went unnoticed. Not to mention he was surprisingly great in bed. She had never felt as cared for and valued as she had last night and that morning. It was another fragile thing that threatened to cause tears if she delved too far down that line of thinking. Mai was no virgin and she had dated other men over the past decade and none of them had been all too gentle. They hadn’t been particularly cruel, either, just uncaring.

She lifted her hands to her face as the realization of what exactly she had done dawned on her. There was no turning back now. She had to recognize that. Not only were they grown adults but Oliver also had a child, whom she loved and who loved her in return, and they both needed to be treated with care. Oliver Davis could never be relegated to something as simple as a one-night stand or a fling. She needed to stop running from her own emotions. It was frightening, her heart pounded in her chest, but it was also thrilling. 

She breathed out a steadying breath and turned her attention to the slim collection of makeup she had spread out on the counter. She had no plans on doing herself up but there were definitely some serious dark circles hanging from under her eyes that needed to go. It didn’t matter how magical the sex had been, she still didn’t sleep, dammit. If he had planned on distracting her from her worries regarding the case then he could count it a success for all she cared but now reality was crashing back into her with a vengeance. She had a full day of work ahead of her and she planned on tackling the case with all she had regardless of her fear.

She needed to see it. She would take to the astral plane tonight and hunt it down, allow herself to wade out into the waters, and let it carry her to her target.

Even now, if she cast her senses out she could feel the tide tugging at her. It threatened to pull her consciousness away like the sand beneath your feet, washing away beneath you as the waves pulled out. It was such a gentle thing, to let go and step out onto the astral plane.

“Mai.”

She blinked and there was a mascara wand in her hand, one eye was already done, and an Oliver Davis at her side. He had set the to-go cup down before her and called her name when he noticed her absent expression, her hands moving on autopilot while she worked to make herself look a little more put together. She quickly finished off the rest of her lashes before shoving the makeup away from her with a sigh.

“Thank you,” she mumbled, lifting the coffee from the counter to scent the warm bitter drink with relief. Just the smell helped to perk her brain up.

“The others are preparing to leave,” he informed her quietly, sensing she wasn’t quite steady at the moment. “If you need more time I can take you over,” he offered. He had driven over separately from them because, in truth, he had not intended to spend the night with her. He had planned on apologizing to her on behalf of his son and then, depending on how he felt, he would have returned to the museum or retreated to one of the other rooms if he had felt tired enough. But then he recalled a certain conversation with a certain Monk and he had dared, for just a moment, to take action for himself. The resulting outcome had certainly been a pleasing one.

“No,” she assured him with a shake of her head, “I’ll go with them. Lord knows we’re already never going to hear the end of it.”

“My team wouldn’t dare,” he assured her with a note of teasing challenge while he leaned up against the counter with arms crossed.

Mai sent him a look of consternation and chuckled, “Lin most certainly would, and don’t forget that they were both your team at one point.”

Oliver scoffed but turned to analyze the jacuzzi tub across the bathroom, “SPR was a group collected by happenstance, and as Monk mentioned, I never intended on doing serious work.”

Mai rolled her eyes while inspecting her makeup. “I think we managed to do more serious work one year in Japan than you’ve managed here in ten,” she challenged as she nudged her lashes up, attempting to work a bit more volume out of the drying mascara, “And I think your happenstance team was exactly what you needed at the time.” Loud, boisterous, loyal. A distraction and a comfort. Something to fill the silence inside his own mind now lacking the psychic connection that once took up roost there. All of these things went unsaid but Oliver was no fool.

Mai glanced over at him, noting the heavy silence that had swamped the room before she reached out to grip his arm. “And that’s okay,” she assured him resolutely, “It’s what you’re supposed to do. It’s what friends are for.”

“And look how I repaid that friendship,” he muttered.

Mai heaved a sigh and pushed away from the mirror to stuff her makeup bag back into the larger bag that she had brought into the bathroom with her. It wasn’t because she was frustrated with him, not in the least, but rather it was because she knew these were hefty feelings that weighed on him constantly now that they were all together again. It was almost as bad as Toby’s problem. There was no easy way to surmount it, he was just going to have to work through the emotions on his own, but she could do her best to reassure him.

“The definition of the word ‘Friend’ is not a person that someone talks to every day,” she began haltingly, attempting to put her own thoughts and feelings into words, “If I died tomorrow, Monk would still call me his friend. If I somehow managed to survive a plane crash and was marooned on an island where I spent the rest of my days cut off from society, we would all still be friends. Back in the day when people made friends through their travels, they didn’t stop considering them as friends when they returned home to the other side of the globe with no real way to communicate with them. Sure, I suppose they could send letters but one letter could easily get lost at sea.”

She lost her trail of thought somewhere after that and she tossed her hands up in a shrug, “I guess what I’m trying to say is that our friendship was never contingent on you repaying it or contacting us within a certain amount of time. It hurt when we never heard back from you, but we would have always come if you called. I would have…”

And there was that look again. The one that broke her heart every time she saw it. It was equal parts numb and bitter, a look that expected the world to fail him, too jaded to even dare to hope. He doubted her words and it stung but it would be alright. In time he would grow to understand. He could think it a fairytale for now but eventually, he would see the truth for what it was. She stepped forward in spite of that look and wrapped her arms around him, heedless of the fact that she was still only wearing a towel, because he had readily opened his arms to accept her.

Chapter Text

Mai made it downstairs to the lobby just in time to catch the rest of the party before they left. She had taken the elevator and paced the small space, wearing her black heeled ankle-boots, and nibbled her nail while she waited for the doors to open. She had chosen a more casual outfit for the day considering her exhaustion, going with a pair of black leggings and her oversized denim shirt. She hardly expected to run into anyone else outside of their team and now that initial introductions had been made several days ago she no longer felt the need to appear as well put together as before. Masako would surely scoff at such thinking but Mai couldn’t bring herself to care. She was swamped with sleep deprivation and anxiety. Her wardrobe was going to have to take a backseat for a while.

Speaking of Masako, as soon as Mai stepped out into the marble tiled lobby she found the medium waiting for her with a knowing look hidden behind a sleeve. It was a deep maroon kimono that day with an orange obi. Mai had never seen the woman wear such an expression, looking like the cat that caught the canary, but she supposed there was a first time for everything.

“I was beginning to wonder if we would even see you today,” Masako teased in gentle tones as Mai reached her side and she turned to follow her out the front entrance.

“Ha,” Mai let out sarcastically as the glass doors slid open and sent the wet cold air of London washing over them. Andrew had pulled the van up under the awning so the ladies could climb in without getting wet but Mai assumed it had been more for Masako’s sake. She always looked like a precious doll in her kimonos, the thought of her suffering under the weather was disheartening. Mai felt the same only because she knew how much work went into wearing them. “On second thought,” she murmured with a hint of mirth, “If we weren’t on a case I might have considered it.”

Masako shot her a wide-eyed look with pink cheeks that inspired a genuine fit of laughter from Mai. “Did you really…?” she trailed off outside of the van, the door open and waiting for them.

“I’m sure you’ll find out today,” Mai replied with a little less humor, “No doubt the powers that be know already.”

Masako stepped up into the van with a hand from Mai and shuffled forward to claim the furthest seat to allow Mai room to sit next to her. “You mean Monk and Ayako?” Masako asked with a hushed empathetic horror. She knew just how the couple could be with Mai and it was quite overbearing at times.

“And Lin,” Mai muttered quietly, pulling the van door shut and buckling herself into the seat habitually. That gossip had probably already spilled the beans to Madoka before Oliver had even hung up the phone with him. He had probably typed up an email and sent it out to her while poor Sam was on his way back to the office! She could just see it now, his fingers flying over the keyboard with his phone pinned by his shoulder. And Monk and Ayako had probably stood behind him listening in on the phone call for any clues!

“Oh my,” Masako murmured through a quiet giggle.

“What’s got you ladies whispering back there?” Andrew asked ruefully from behind the steering wheel. A pair of sunglasses sat on his nose and hid his eyes from view but there was a smirk on his face while Tristan tossed himself up into the front seat with a grunt. Nora came climbing in after and shuffled around Mai and Masako to claim a seat in the far back with mumbled apologies. 

“Just gossip,” Mai admitted dryly, earning a very unladylike snort from Masako that she dearly wished had been recorded.

“Is it about Yasuhara’s unwavering love for Takigawa despite his marriage?” Tristan tossed back wryly.

“That’s been going on since we were kids,” Mai waved him off with a chuckle, “Old news.”

“Poor guy,” Tristan added with faux melancholy.

As soon as Mai stepped down into the museum lot she felt her heart twist in her chest and the sensation nearly sent her stumbling to her knees if she hadn’t thought to reach out and steady herself against the car. She was beginning to wonder if her chest pains were even case related at this point and whether or not she should actually go to a hospital. Her mother had suffered more health issues than she had known how to handle, thus leading to her death, and Mai had always feared her own health was just waiting to crumble beneath her feet.

“Are you alright?” Masako asked as she stepped down out of the van behind her.

“You don’t feel that?” Mai asked, panting for breath while the pain slowly dwindled away to nothing.

Masako shook her head with pursed lips, “I don’t sense anything out here.”

“It’s probably just me then,” she reasoned soothingly, more so to herself, “I haven’t gotten much sleep these past few days.”

“I wonder why,” Masako mused with false innocence.

“You keep teasing me Masako, and I’ll sit you down and force you to listen to every scandalous detail,” Mai warned with a grim chuckle.

Masako hurried on ahead of her with a blush.

“That’s what I thought,” Mai grumbled to herself, straightening her shirt with a scoff, before she followed in her wake back into the museum. The blast of cold air served to wake her up, as it always did, and she picked up her pace down the hall with Tristant casually strolling along behind her. The elevator dinged cheerily. She was already reaching for her notebook by the time they all turned down the hall and hung a left into the meeting room. Everyone else was already gathered at the scattered tables and talking amongst themselves in hushed tones. News of Sam must have already circulated, no doubt, and everyone was feeling more than a little anxious. Mai could certainly relate.

“Mai!” Ayako called from the same table they had claimed the day before. There was a bowl of fruit, several cupped yogurts, and a selection of bagels and toppings set out on the kitchenette counter behind them and it looked as if Ayako had already finished off a yogurt herself. Mai was surprised to see her in a white button-up blouse with a floral scarf around her neck that morning. It harkened back to the old days before she had been influenced by Monk and his usual circle. But among the sea of worried faces, Monk and Ayako looked utterly devious in their delight.

Mai worked to deaden her own emotions before she strode across the room to collect a yogurt and some fruit from the counter before she joined them at the table. She dropped her breakfast haul on the surface, ignoring the horrendous clatter that arose when she pulled the chair out and it struck one of the table legs and sat with a sigh. She could feel their eyes on her even as she peeled the tin off the top of the yogurt and dumped some apple and pair slices into the cup. Ayako had braced an elbow on the table and buried her chin in her hand, eyes practically gleaming in the low light of the meeting room. It was horrible considering what had happened to Sam and the only thing these two cared about was her relationship status.

“Anything to report, Boss?” Yasu asked from the other end of the table.

And then there was that one.

Mai sent the man a carefully blank glance before she turned her attention back to her yogurt, “I think I should be the one asking you that.”

Monk leaned back in his chair with a bark of laughter that momentarily drew the attention of everyone in the room. He at least had the decency to wait until everyone had returned to their own conversations before he set an arm on the table and leaned over to scrutinize her with a smirk.

“What a Naru-like response,” Monk drawled quietly, “He must be rubbing off on her.”

Mai felt the heat build behind her cheeks as her mind delved in a very different direction. Yasu leaned back in his seat with his arms crossed, a whimsical smile on his lips. Mai knew he was going to start in on his ramblings of youth and how fortunate she was to experience it, how he remembered the good old days despite there only being two years between them, but a hand filled her field of vision and very pointedly settled a to-go cup of coffee before her.

Ayako hid her mouth behind her hand while Monk adopted a roguish grin that Mai would have taken offense to had she been in any other situation. As it was, she was utterly gobsmacked to find Oliver at her side, very purposefully making a spectacle of himself, when she had done her best to fly under the radar of literally everyone within that room. She had been failing, horrendously, but that was beside the point.

“You forgot this,” he added, dropping the cherry bomb on top.

Younger Mai would have made a scene. She would have yelled and growled like the animal he often teasingly accused her of being and everyone would have had a good laugh at her expense while poking fun at them. But this Mai dropped her eyes to the innocent coffee before her and gripped it between her hands, it was still pleasantly warm, and smiled in return. “Thank you,” she said with as much forced gratitude as she could muster.

And he had the gall to smirk with a hand in his pocket before moving away to greet Lin.

Mai turned back to the table and felt the burning heat all the way down into her lungs. No matter how she reacted he would have won. She could have ignored him altogether and the man would have counted it as having successfully gotten under her skin. Ugh, he’d managed to do even more than that. She lifted a hand to her face while those at the table chuckled and giggled knowingly, still getting their laugh at her expense.

“Alright,” Mai began a few minutes later as she pushed herself to her feet and stepped away from her chair. The damned coffee cup was clutched in one hand before she remembered she’d need both to take notes and was forced to put it down. It was a little tragic considering all she had suffered for it. No doubt, by the time their meeting was over it would be cold. “I know it’s been an eventful morning but I’d like to get us all caught up on the same page. There are a few pieces of info we were waiting on from yesterday. Andrew, were you able to get the layout of the museum?”

“Yes,” he replied. “They’re actual physical papers but the curator had them copied for our use. I left them on the desk last night.”

“Great,” Mai chirped in delight and checked that off of her list while everyone in the room shuffled about to get their own projects gathered and ready for sharing. It was a bit like being in a classroom again, except now Mai was the teacher. The thought sent mirth tugging her lips but she managed to keep it under control while she turned to Tristan.

“I compiled the list as promised,” he assured her with a grimace, “But it’s actually pretty long. I went ahead and hyperlinked informative articles on each of our possible candidates as well. I’d recommend reviewing it when you’ve got an hour. Or two.”

“Something is better than nothing,” she stated with a curt nod. She would have plenty of time throughout the day to review the email while they bounced about checking equipment and reviewing recordings. She would go so far as to think it would be the most relaxing part of her day. Almost like doing research for a blog post. She made a note in her notebook to bring that up with Yasuhara, now that she thought about it, they would have to post something soon.

“And,” she drew the word out while flipping through the pages filled with her messy collection of writing in differing languages, “Nora!”

The woman in question jumped in surprise. She had been so quiet since they left the hotel that morning that Mai had nearly forgotten her, which was a shame because she was pretty amazing. “Yes?” Nora questioned hesitantly.

“Did you hear anything back on that sample of yours?” she asked curiously and set the hand with her pen on her hip.

“Oh, of course! Yes,” she hurried to pull up the email her colleague had sent her on her phone. “It was pretty interesting though inconclusive as evidence, unfortunately, but the chemical makeup of the blood sample was actually carbon and phosphorus.”

“Can we get that in laymen’s terms?” Andrew asked with a sheepish undertone.

“Oh, apologies,” Nora replied, “Basically, it was just ash.”

Mai could still feel the dried blood on her hand and she shot the appendage an inquisitive look even as the room burst into awed and confused conversation around her. It was certainly an interesting development. She wondered if it was all comprised of similar components. They had never thought to collect evidence and document such things before during their cases. She cast her mind back to the past and remembered the day she had stumbled into a cold and wet tiled room to find a much younger Masako huddled in the corner, the smell of blood overpowering. It had been everywhere. An entire bathtub had filled with the substance and Uradu himself had been floating within it. She had slipped and caught herself on the operating table, dragging her arm through the congealed remnants left over from his last victim, that poor assistant that had gone missing not two days before.

Mai lifted the notebook to her face for a moment while the chatter continued. She just needed to compose herself for a moment before bringing the room back into order. The yogurt and fruit sat like a sugary mess in her stomach and she swallowed thickly, working to quell the nausea the memory stoked within her.

It hadn’t all been ash.

But the team of BSPR would know nothing of that sort of case.

“Thank you, Nora,” Mai cut in once she had managed to push back against her discomfort and settled her eyes on her notebook, pen working away to document their findings. “Now, with the exception of Sam, was there any other activity to report while we were away?”

“There were temperature fluctuations throughout the night,” Lin offered stoically from where he stood at the back of the room, “I had noticed that they seemed to be following our teams while they swapped out batteries and reviewed equipment placement.”

Judging by the ominous hush that befell the room, Lin had neglected to inform anyone else of this observation. It wasn’t completely unheard of, if there was no danger it wouldn’t due to panic anyone unnecessarily. But it was an alarming observation nonetheless. Mai pursed her lips and caught Yasuhara’s eyes from their table. Something similar had happened to them when they found the carving in the wall. Mai had watched the temperature rise back to normal and had concluded that whatever it was had been watching them before it left.

“And what was Sam doing before you found him?” she asked thoughtfully.

“Before he retired for the evening he was swapping out batteries in the nature hall, I think arachnids was his last stop,” Lin mused, thinking back to the previous evening. “And then, presumably, he went to bed and suffered some sort of night terror and was found huddled in the corner this morning. Catatonic and unresponsive unless he was touched, then he seemed to come back to himself for a moment.”

Mai tapped the end of the pen to her lips while she listened. She wanted to retrace his steps herself that night when she slept just to see if she could find anything. She jotted the thought down absently, her mind wandering back to Lydia’s memories. Lydia, whose passion had been tracked was forced to run herself to death before their mysterious entity claimed her.

“Did he say anything at all?” Oliver questioned from where he stood next to Lin.

“He rambled a lot,” Monk admitted grimly, “He kept going on about dying alone.”

Oliver lifted a hand to his chin in thought, chewing over the new information with intense focus, even Mai had felt some instinctual part of her intuition catch on Monk’s words. She didn’t have enough information to make a judgment or conclusion of any sort but dying alone was a classic fear that many suffered from as they grew older. Even she had had the thought once or twice.

“Didn’t he just move out on his own?” Andrew pondered aloud. “He seemed to be doing really well without being cramped in his family’s house.”

“And Lydia was on the track team, yet she now spends eternity running for her very soul,” Oliver tacked on with a dark chuckle. “So it takes things that make its victim happy and twists them into fear.”

“This is getting dangerous,” Lin muttered while the room fell into a stunned silence.

“It does seem like a throwback to the days of old,” Yasuhara drawled and leaned back in his chair with a stretch. “Almost as if it's cursing its victims to death. Driving them to the point of breaking.”

“It does, doesn’t it,” Monk murmured with a hand to his chin.

“Are we certain it’s not a person?” John asked quietly.

Mai and Masako’s eyes locked from across the room and Mai lowered her notebook to her thigh with a solid slap. “But the missing person cases began when the museum opened,” she countered calmly. It would have to have been multiple people then, a sort of lineage, people passing down the tradition. And for what purpose?

“This is a museum filled with artifacts from around the world from all sorts of cultures,” Tristan added, “There’s no limit to the possibilities of what we’re dealing with.”

“We’ve had weirder,” Ayako added with a shudder.

Mai knocked the notebook against her forehead as frustration mounted. She felt the careful thread she had been weaving fall to pieces in her hands as new theories were tossed out left and right. It’s not that she doubted any of them, everyone within the room was valued in their field, experts on one thing or another, it was why they had been gathered. But dammit all if it didn’t complicate things. If anything, it served to stoke the flames of determination in her belly. Let the flames consume the fear while she prowled across the astral plane in search of the answer hidden among all their conjecture.

“Whether it be demonic, monstrous, spiritual, or a creepy cult sacrificing people to their benefactor,” Mai cut in over the growing noise of multiple voices desperate for answers, “Equipment needs to be checked, batteries changed, and all recordings reviewed before 10 PM tonight!”

“Yes, Boss,” Yasu replied for the lot of them over the sound of general grumbling and sighing. Mai offered him a tired smile in response and snapped her notebook shut with her own sigh. No wonder Oliver was always doing it, she thought to herself, it was rather satisfying. Like snapping a fan open. She smirked at the comparison.

“Remember the buddy system!” she added as the teams stood and began their trek back to base to collect the necessary supplies for their allotted tasks.

Curiously, she strode back to the table and lifted the coffee for inspection only for her shoulders to slump in disappointment. It was ice cold. It wasn’t the worst fate that had ever befallen her but it was certainly an omen of some sort. Who knew what her day would be like when she couldn’t even manage to enjoy a single cup of coffee?

Mai ran a hand through her hair as her eyes scanned through the pages of information on her laptop. She had spent hours pouring over what Tristan had sent out to everyone and still, nothing was tugging on her intuition. She had learned a great deal about a vast collection of creatures ranging from something called a Lethifold all the way down to a Wraith and still, not one of the tactics they utilized truly lined up with their culprit. She was beginning to reread articles while she sat at an armchair that had been pulled up to the window in the base when a new cup of coffee found its way into her hand.

Mai startled, coming back to reality with a deep breath that jump-started her brain after hours of beating it into a coma. She stared down at the to-go cup and noted that it was the museum logo splashed across the paper surface. It was hot in her hand and smelled as sweet as it did bitter, just the way she liked it.

“Thank you,” she murmured to Oliver who stood at her side with his hands in his pockets. He looked as put together as ever, black shirt, vest, and tie all in order and not a single hair out of place. Contrary to him, she had pulled her hair into a messy bun and sat like a child with her legs crossed on the chair, hunched over her laptop for hours. Her denim shirt was wrinkled from her position and one of her boots had come unzipped. And she felt haggard.

“You can make me a cup of tea later as payment,” he replied breezily.

Mai smiled in response and took a sip of the coffee, feeling some of the tension leave her shoulders.

“And I suspect you won’t find your answers here,” he continued and reached out with two fingers to gently shut her laptop with a resounding click.

She stared at the computer blankly for a moment, stunned and confused, before she lifted her gaze to his. “Are you saying that just because it’s Tristan’s work?” she prodded, eyes narrowed. The coffee had been a nice touch but if it was just his ego talking she was going to go back to researching.

“No,” he replied steadily, “Your skills will get us more answers than his conjecture ever could. I simply value your work more.”

Mai leaned back in the chair with a sigh. It was an easy victory for him considering her exhaustion. She lifted one hand helplessly, the other still clutching the coffee, and shut her eyes for a moment while working to compose herself. She desperately wanted a nap but she refused to walk out onto the astral plane when the museum was filled to the brim with guests. It would be a nightmare.

“I know you wanted to retrace Sam’s path, why don’t you sit down with Lin to review the footage and plot it out on the plans Andrew got for you?” Oliver offered a little too lightly.

Mai shifted to look back up at him with eyes narrowed again. “Oliver Davis,” she began curiously, “Are you mother-henning me?”

“Nothing of the sort,” he assured her but his face wore that false innocence all the same.

Mai did as he suggested but she didn’t buy his act for one second and she made sure Lin was more than aware of it. The older man only chuckled when she came to join him at the bank of monitors but he wore a slight smile while Mai zeroed in on the screens and, with his help, retraced the steps that Sam had taken with a green marker. The footage was almost worse than her laptop screen so she was incredibly thankful he was willing to look over her work. She was nodding off by the time lunch rolled around and Ayako had prodded her back to life with a salad and some iced tea.

It was unsettling to watch the last moments of a man who later had a mental breakdown. She kept wondering if she could find a trace of what happened in his meanderings through the museum while replacing batteries. But no matter how many times she traced his path, watch him pause in the arachnids exhibit to stare at a few displays, there was nothing. 

When she had Sam’s path thoroughly burned into the back of her retinas she went out with John and Monk to change out batteries, knowing she was less likely to fall asleep when she was on her feet and moving about. Their combined antics were enough to keep her laughing all the way back to base regardless of the feeling of the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. Whatever it was, it had made it abundantly clear that it was more than just aware of them. It was intelligent and it was planning, there was no doubt about it.

When the clock struck 7 PM she finally deemed it was late enough for her to shuck off her mortal coil and go hunting. While she went about preparing for bed - brushing her teeth, taking her hair down, changing into a pair of black sweatpants and Monk’s band shirt - Ayako was doing her own preparations. For the first time since they had arrived, she donned her traditional attire and worked to produce some of her most powerful charms.

“This museum has several ancient trees that, though their spirits may have long since passed, still hold remnants of their power within,” she explained to the team while she sat on her heels, running a brush across the paper. “I visited them when I first arrived to pay my respect so I am hoping that what remains will aid us in our endeavor from here on out,” she continued.

“I always thought the trees have to be alive,” John spoke up from where he sat next to her, curiously watching her work. Her motions were familiar after eleven years working together but it never got old to him.

“Typically they do,” she admitted with pursed lips. “But there is a sequoia here that lived for over 1,300 years. Such life cannot so easily be wiped from this plane. And outside, they have a petrified tree from millions of years ago on display. The worship it has been offered since it was first displayed has preserved what was frozen in time. The power is directionless with no true will but if one knows how to manipulate it, it can be of great value.”

“Wow,” Nora mumbled in hushed awe. She had never seen the likes of Ayako before and now she was viewing the usually contemptuous woman in a whole new light. It was as if she simply stepped out of her perceived character like one would a raincoat, and became this ethereal being of grace and power with ease. This was a member of the original team, she was beginning to realize, the people who had delved into the danger that Oliver had not viewed them worthy of handling. She wondered what that said about Lin. They had all suspected he had some sort of ability but no one had ever been able to confirm.

Mai shuffled into the room in sweatpants and t-shirt, her baggy cardigan swamping her figure, and simply offered a tired “I’m ready” to Ayako. Seeing Ayako in her traditional garb threatened to throw Mai for a loop but she supposed this is one they all should be cautious with. Ayako was pulling out all the stops to ensure Mai’s body would remain protected in her absence and she should treat this whole thing with the same amount of wary respect.

Ayako stood with her collection of charms and eyed Mai critically, “Where do you want to lay down?” she asked, eyes shifting from either side, taking in the room full of people.

“I suppose we could use the meeting room,” she mumbled. She didn’t exactly feel comfortable with leaving her body laying around for everyone to see. It was one thing when she had been a teenager, young and ignorant, not understanding the extent of her abilities in the least. She hadn’t even known she could willfully astral project until Masako had needed rescuing during the Urado Case. As she had cultivated a better understanding of what she could do, the power she was able to harness, she was a little embarrassed that everyone had witnessed her stumbling around as a teenager the way she had.

Monk stepped out of the base to collect one of the cots from the break room and carried it over into the meeting room with relative ease. He and Yasuhara were able to move one of the large round tables to make room for Mai and Ayako to settle in their usual places. Mai dropped down onto the cot with a tired sigh and gratefully accepted the armload of comforter and pillow that Monk dropped onto her with a chuckle. Ayako scoffed but otherwise refrained from commenting on their antics while she seated herself on the floor beside the cot, legs tucked beneath her, and recited a muttered chant.

“Night, Jou-chan,” Monk called quietly from the doorway, ushering everyone else out before he slowly pulled it shut.

The two women were left in a semi-darkness that did little to hide Ayako’s pinched brows and small frown. She was far more worried than Mai had seen her in a long while but the priestess did not argue against her plan. It seemed even she was desperate for answers. Mai watched her from where she lay across the cot, tucked away beneath the heavy blanket, and snuggled up into the pillow. She wished there was an easier way to see the case through, an option that wouldn’t involve her worrying her family, but there wasn’t. With what had happened to Sam it was clear that they were at a severe disadvantage. If they were to continue stumbling around in the dark as they had been, with no clear direction, the rest of them would end up just like Lydia. They had already gotten its attention. It was only a matter of time. They had to strike first.

“It’ll be okay, Ayako,” Mai mumbled through her exhaustion. Sleep pulled heavily at her eyes, she was fighting to keep them open, but she could still see the smile the woman offered in return. Mai would make sure it was okay.

She allowed her eyes to fall shut in the quiet of the room. She relaxed every muscle from the tips of her ears all the way down to her toes, allowing the tension to drain from her body like water. She took a deep breath, feeling the air fill her lungs, and let it out slowly. Ayako’s presence at her side faded away while Mai’s mind drifted. It was pulled deeper and deeper into the depths by the cloying enticing current of the astral plane. The placid waters licked away the hurts of the real world and welcomed her soul within its folds eagerly, as if it had missed her in her long absence.

Chapter Text

Mai stepped out of her body and delved into the waters below. Her landing caused ripples in the darkness and her eyes tracked their movement as they spread out far beyond her sight. She could only hope they did not travel far enough to alert her target of her approach, if she was careful, she could still catch it off guard. After a decade of trial and error, Mai was pretty confident in her abilities on the still waters of the spiritual in between, but she cautioned herself as she took her first quiet step into the unknown, reminding herself of her target's capabilities even without direct contact with its prey. Sam had nearly been driven mad.

Mai glanced back to look over the faded and transparent forms of her sleeping body and Ayako. The priestess leaned forward and set the charm atop her body’s forehead before reclaiming her seat and beginning an encantation that would offer Mai protection during her travels. It was the best the priestess could do for her.

Mai stepped forward into the darkness, slipping through the door Monk had previously closed, and pulled it shut in her wake. The click of the mechanism snapping back into place echoed across the waters and caused the few floating orbs of light within her vicinity to spin about curiously. When she looked to the right she found herself staring into the open door of the base where the figure of Oliver, seated behind the desk, lifted his gaze to the door warily. She knew he couldn’t see her but his heated stare still sent a thrill through her. If they hadn’t just spent the evening together she might have even blushed, but instead, she sent him a playful wave before she turned on her heel and stealthily made her way down the hall.

Through her studies, Mai learned that each person viewed the astral plane differently. Some people saw it as a misty forest, a never-ending desert, or even the surface of the moon. But to her, it had always been the vast dark plane filled with water, lit by nothing but her own spiritual glow and the orbs that floated around her. Mai knew the orbs as the spirits of those who had died but not yet passed on - but each orb was just as likely to be the spirit of a fish as it was a person. In her younger years, she had considered helping them all to pass into the afterlife before she understood the enormity of such a task. She would have, essentially, become the grim reaper. Had she devoted herself to such a task it would have taken the rest of her life and all of her afterlife too, an eternity of ferrying souls. It was laughable to her now. Some things just needed the time to process that their life had come to an end before moving on, not everything needed a guiding hand. And that was okay.

Mai lightly traced a finger along the transparent wall at her side as she began the journey back out into the museum. She could see it all laid out before her, a three-dimensional representation of the floorplans Andrew had managed to procure for her. She knew exactly where it was she needed to go in order to retrace Sam’s steps thanks to the team’s effort so it was with a bit more confidence than she should have afforded herself that she stepped out into Hope’s display and stared up at the whale skeleton in awe.

It looked haunting in the dim glow of the astral plane. Reflected water danced across her bones, sending monstrous shadows playing across the angular and chipped skull, making her look more like some sea monster from tales of old. But the orbs! They flocked to her! It seemed even in death humans were drawn to the beauty the Earth had to offer. Although Hope herself had long since passed on her remains inspired wonder in even those who struggled to accept their circumstances.

As she watched the orbs shifted around the giant and illuminated her in a new light, new angles, with every movement bringing life back to her. She looked like she was swimming once more. 

Mai had never considered that even the dead visited museums. She smiled at the thought before turning away to pad off into greater depths, minimizing her ripples the best she could. The only sound following in her wake was the water beneath her feet and her own heart.

Lydia was here.

The thought occurred to her much later after what felt like hours of sneaking through the museum. The longer she was present the more solid the building became around her. Colors would seep back into the transparent barriers that made up the walls, floors, and ceilings. Usually, this would shortly lead to her waking up back in her body. It was a gradual return, just as entering the astral plane was like the waves washing her out to sea one bit at a time, so was the journey back. But Mai could strain against this, and she was doing so now, pushing reality aside as it tried to reassert itself.

Lydia was here and if she could manage to find her she might be able to help her pass on regardless of whatever was holding her hostage. It was temptation at its finest. Should she use her dwindling time to search out the singular soul amongst the thousand that were present, or should she sniff out their culprit? In truth, Lydia was the true haunting they had come to investigate as whatever was holding her there had gone unnoticed for nearly two centuries. Mai assumed that whatever victims had come before had long since been… consumed, and she would like to save the girl from that fate if she could. She had seen how terrible such a thing could be when they visited Yasu's high school all those years ago. They had been forced to watch as hundreds of spirits, trapped within the walls of the school, were forced to consume each other until only one remained. 

She never had the chance to ponder the question further. She was passing through the arachnid exhibit, hundreds of creepy crawly spiders on display, their carapaces glowing various shades on the astral plane (True empty vessels often did. It was the only reason Mai could so clearly see Hope when she first entered) when the sound of a droplet of water hitting the surface of her astral plane drew her attention. She had not been moving at the time so the sudden noise was hair raising in the darkness. She lowered herself into a crouch behind a display case and willed her heart to remain steady.

The orbs of light around her fled the area.

“Not helping,” she muttered quietly to herself before she turned to grip the side of the display case and peer around it. She could make out nothing in the darkness beyond the hall but she knew with every fiber of her being that their culprit was down there and it very much knew she was there.

This hadn’t been part of the plan. She had been hoping to catch it off guard, unaware of her approach, so she could get a good look at it. If she could study its behavior, much like an observer of nature in the wild, she might be able to discern what exactly it was. She had a literal compendium to use as reference thanks to Tristan. She was uncertain of what a full-on confrontation would lead to but she was sure it wouldn’t be a pleasant experience.

Especially not for Toby. She hoped with all of her being that he had only been able to experience what he had of Lydia’s memories because the spirit had been broadcasting all that she was for Mai to find and Toby, with his bracelet acting as a radio, had picked up the signal. Regardless, she would do her best to master her fear from there on out.

Mai pushed herself to her feet with a determined breath through her nose and sidled around the case to move towards the dark hall. It yawned before her and her heart squeezed within her chest but she refused to back down now that she had found it. Regardless if it knew she was there or not the only way she would get answers was if she pursued it. Still, the darkness that swallowed her as she stepped forward into the hall was palpable. Freezing cold and slimy, it slid up against her soul and dragged its oily essence across her, forcing her into a stumble before she caught herself against the wall. The sound of her footsteps echoed in the dark, warped and wrong.

She felt sick. It didn’t matter if she was outside of her body, her skin felt clammy while a disgusting heat flushed her cheeks, she wanted to heave until whatever it was left her system. She supposed it was at least a sure sign that she was on the right path.

Down the hall of pitch black, there was a pleasant ding. Green light spilled forth and illuminated the liminal space between exhibits, its origin the open mouth of an elevator waiting for her with false innocence. This way leads to death, she thought distantly, falling back on dry wit just to calm her mounting nerves. She felt panicked, like a deer ready to bolt at a moment’s notice. One wrong move would send her back to her body in a rush and that thought soothed some of her frayed nerves. She could return at any time, there was no one forcing her to do this, and no one would blame her for turning back. She had the power to make that decision whenever she deemed it necessary.

The scent of cold wet earth and decay reached her nose as she shuffled into the elevator. She paused in the doorway with eyes wide, questioning her own sanity for what she was about to do. She knew the elevator was taking her below. There was a research exhibit in the depths of the museum, filled with remains floating in preserving fluids. And below that was the first level of the basement.

The elevator waited patiently. The green tile looked dirty and dingy in the sickening light that flickered above.

She swallowed the saliva pooling in her mouth as her stomach revolted against the feel of the thing's presence and the smell of rot. It was so strong, like nothing she had ever come across in all of her years dealing with death and what came after.

“It’s fine,” she murmured to herself and stepped in, bolstering her fleeting courage the best she could. She had suffered much worse, she had no doubt she could handle whatever this thing had to throw at her. Amber eyes alighted on the button pad and she selected the next floor below, ignoring the way it blinked yellow in the green light. Like it was winking at her.

The elevator dropped at an alarming rate into the depths and she stumbled back to grip the railing with a mumbled curse, nearly biting her tongue in the process. And it fell for what felt like full minutes, ignorant of the true size of the building and the depth of its levels, only to knock her off balance and leave her feeling uncertain. Well, she growled to herself, she wouldn’t fall for its petty tactics. When the elevator came to a stop and its doors opened she stepped out into the dark once more with her shoulders tossed back.

And fell right into a pit of putrid water. The sensation was so startling she gasped and inhaled its contents by mistake. The sickness in her stomach reached a climax and while she worked to steady herself in the water, learning it was only waist deep, she bent over and emptied the contents of her stomach. The water she had ingested returned for vengeance, tainting her mouth with the taste of rot. It smelled disgusting and if she had been in her physical body she was certain everything she had eaten for the past three days would be following in its wake.

“Ugh,” she groaned through a shudder and looked back up at the open doors of the elevator. It looked as if the floor had caved in by a few feet, the jagged edges of broken wood and concrete peeking out beneath the doors, but she could discern no further details. When she turned to face forward she could see only darkness. There was no helpful horizon between the water and empty space to discern distance or location of any kind. The green light spilling forth from the elevator tossed a few lazy reflections of the surface for a handful of feet before its efforts dwindled to naught.

“I’ve got to keep going,” she muttered and pushed forward through the water. It was black and tar-like, nothing at all like the clear placid layers of her astral plane, how it could affect her own perception she had no clue. But it was disturbing, like having someone read through her diary and correct it, gaslighting her into believing her own recollections were wrong. It made her shake her head vigorously in an effort to clear her thoughts.

The water sloshed around her, pulling at her feet and calves as she trudged on, and she wondered just how far this path would lead her. Like Lydia, she could feel the weight of the world bearing down overhead but now there was something pulling at her from below. In fact, she froze on the spot, water continuing to slosh around her in dwindling increments until it was still once more. But her breath was bordering on hyperventilation. She was positive that there was a hand wrapped around her ankle. It was cold and slick and brittle but she could feel the expanse of a palm and each individual finger slipping against her skin.

Mai lifted two fingers and braced her thumb against her ring finger and pinky. They trembled before her eyes but she used that freight to stoke her anger, as fleeting as it had been since she stepped into the elevator, and slashed her hand through the water with a hissed: “Rin!” The single incantation was all she needed to cut through whatever tether had attached itself to her and the hand disappeared among the muck and water.

But within a matter of seconds, another hand had taken its place. Mai slashed her fingers through the water again and again but no matter how quickly she worked, how many of the nine cuts she managed to spew, more limbs reached out for the depths of the water and latched on to her. They gripped her feet, her ankles, her knees all the way up to her stomach and they were not shy where their fingers roamed. She kicked out it terror and anger, the two emotions mixing together like oil and water, taking turns over her movements and actions without regard for logic. It was animal instinct. She was a rabid creature backed into a corner and she would bite and claw at anything within her vicinity if it meant escape.

The hands tugged at her, pulling her beneath the surface over and over and each time she fought her way back up, spitting and spewing water while she growled with the ferocity of a wild cat. It may have been enough to cow her into submission when she was younger but the astral plane was hers. She had faced off against demons and demi-gods in her realm and she knew she would walk out of this encounter too if she could just break free!

Her right ankle twisted and suddenly her foot slipped out from underneath her and she toppled back into the depths with a grunt. The water closed in over her head and blocked out even her own glow. There was no light and the hands quickly migrated to her arms, her shoulders, and even her throat. They were suffocating her beneath the heavy surface, waiting for her to draw breath, to let them in. But she refused.

And then the first chunk of her flesh was torn away and the pain sent white-hot spears through her head. Her eyes opened wide in the putrid water and she fought against her entire being to keep her mouth shut. She wasn’t in her body! It would be horrible if those hands tore away true flesh and blood, she would be crippled, but it was a piece of her soul!

Lydia, who had run, shedding pieces of herself along the way. She must have suffered a similar pain. Too focused on her goal to falter. Mai took heart in Lydia’s strength and thrashed with renewed vigor. She didn’t need to breathe, her body would do that for her, this was her spirit. Whatever panic this thing was attempting to inspire within her would be quickly snuffed out if she had anything to say about it. And if there was anything anyone knew about her it was that she almost always had a lot to say.

When cleansing a spirit it was important to remain light and positive. It would inspire the energy of the lost soul and allow them to pass on, like spreading peace, but that was not Mai’s goal at this moment. Her focus was on freeing herself, thwarting her enemy, and fighting back. So rather than pull on the wealth of positive energy she had within her, she stoked the embers of her anger. Even under the water and held down by hands she lashed out with her two fingers and continued to cut. Even as she felt pieces of her break away with each hand she couldn’t reach in time, she kept fighting. It hurt and had she been in her body she doubted she would still be conscious but her anger allowed her to push forward.

Mai kicked a foot out as it was freed and used it to brace herself while she freed her other arm, the hand around her throat tightened its hold but she ignored it for the moment. She struggled to free her limbs and rolled over, pushing herself to her hands and knees with gritted teeth. The strain hurt but she was making headway, she could feel it. Her head broke the surface of the water and she instinctively opened her mouth to take a breath regardless of her need for it.

Her triumph was short-lived.

The hand around her throat pulled with such strength she found herself hurtling through the water. She knew not what direction it was taking her, only that the putrid water was forcing its way down her nose and throat once more, and that pieces of her were lost along the way. Phantom limbs rose up from the depths to pick at her as she tumbled passed them, fighting and coughing for all that she was worth.

It was like she was caught within rapids, fighting against the flow of nature, smashing up against rocks and debris as she went.

She felt like a fly caught in a spider’s web. She was beginning to wonder if struggling would do her any good. It seemed no matter how many times she pulled herself back up and continued to fight this creature, or creatures, had more in store for her. Their will to keep her was just as strong as her will for freedom.

All that she could see was darkness and if it weren’t for the feel of the slimy water washing over her she wouldn’t even have known if she was above or below the surface. And then it pulled her under fully and her ears were assaulted by the sound of rushing water. Hysterically, she recalled the night prior when she had enjoyed a dip in the jacuzzi tub. All she had heard then had been the rushing of water as well. At the time, it had been soothing, but now she doubted she would ever take comfort in such a sound again. If she made it back, anyways. She didn’t know if she had ever been pulled so far from her body before.

Mai tried to brace herself against the ground below, to dig her heels into the mud and rot to slow her progression, but suddenly, there was no more ground beneath her. Mai was tossed out over the edge of a chasm, breaking through the surface of flowing water that spilled forth behind her, and while she flew through the air she had just a moment to catch a glimpse of an amorphous mass of darkness. Faces and slathering fangs, phantom limbs, and blood, pooling darkness that reached up into the air as if to gobble her up.

This is what Lydia had been running from. It was what Lydia had seen spilling forth down the stairs in her wake before it had shifted into something else for a fraction of a moment.

Whatever it was, Mai was certain this was its true form. She had no clue how to combat such an enemy, it matched with nothing Tristan had provided in his research, not that she could recall in that split moment anyways. Gravity had yet to reclaim her but it was only a matter of time as her arms splayed out in the air in some desperate attempt to slow her descent.

This was it, Mai concluded in that brief moment between moments, there was no coming back from this. Her soul would never return to her body and her friends and family would be left to mourn her and see to her affairs. She couldn’t bare the thought of the pain it would cause them. What it would mean for Toby. Perhaps, as the hands had taken chunks of her soul, he too would have a small piece of her. Hopefully, it was enough to sustain the bracelet’s effects without her. It would be a shame otherwise. Lin had assured her it would last well into the years without any action from her and she trusted his judgment on such a matter above all else. It was probably pointless to worry about disposing of it now, considering her soul was now scattered about beneath the depths of the museum.

Even as the feeling of freefall took over, and she was forced to admit how small she was in comparison to the enormity of the beast and its pit before her, she couldn’t help but shed a tear.

A rotting hand was birthed from the precipice of the rising mass and it reached for her greedily. Waiting to pull her down into the pit of rotting writhing gore to join the masses of those it had collected over the centuries. Mai knew within the depths of her intuition and instinct, that she would lose all sense of self within a matter of months, lost to the storm.

But another hand wrapped around her wrist and pulled back even as the rotting fingers wrapped around her foot. From the corner of her eye, she could just make out the soft blue glow of a soul, a beautiful sight in all the darkness that had, until that point, been vacant of the familiar light. Where it touched her she could feel warmth spreading. But where the rotting hand gripped her foot she could only feel white-hot pain, spearing through her muscles, up her leg, and into her hip.

Mai cried out in pain and terror before she tossed her head back and met the gaze of Oliver Davis.

No.

Not Oliver Davis.

Oliver Davis would never look upon her with such heartwrenching regret and fear, outlined in the warm light of a soul at peace despite the fact that he had yet to move on.

“Gene?” she questioned in a hushed whisper.

“I’m sorry,” he cried out. He had dropped himself over the edge and was holding on with one hand, feet braced against the cliffside, while he strained to pull her up. “I tried to reach you sooner, Mai, I’m so sorry.”

Mai imagined Eugene Davis would have looked the same age as the day that he died but that was not the case. He looked just as old as his brother, clearly aging along with him, or at least, appearing so. But while Oliver favored formal wear, Gene was wearing a hoodie and a pair of joggers, black sneakers grinding against the cliff face in an effort to support them. Curious, she thought distantly, that he managed to look just like his brother when he should have moved on.

“It’s okay,” she managed to force out through her exhaustion and pain, voice warbling and echoing in the vast chasm they hung over. The seething mass below belched and squealed in frustration.

Gene lifted his eyes to the heavens above while they glistened with unshed tears, “Mai, you’re torn to pieces. It’s not okay.”

Mai glanced down at herself and she felt her heart flutter in her chest, her real chest because Gene was right. She looked tattered and broken, like an old porcelain doll, one more hit away from crumbling to dust. It was frightening to look at and she wasn’t certain if she would truly be alright after everything was said and done. But what she did know was that the grotesque hand wrapped around her foot had to go.

“Rin!” she cried out and slashed her fingers through the air one last time.

The hand flinched under the assault but its grip remained strong. Mai grimaced and lifted her hand again as the gore and darkness pulled back further, revealing the emaciated figure of a human man. His body was so lacking fat, so gaunt, that she struggled to make out any legitimate facial features beyond his obvious bone structure. He was pink and covered in blood, like a newborn, but grinned up at her with a manic delight that sent her nervous system thrilling in terror, playing it like a violin.

“No!” she cried out and kicked out with her foot, landing a solid hit to his head, but he refused to relinquish his grip. If Mai flailed about too much trying to fight him off that Gene would likely lose his grip and she refused to allow such an event to occur. She would never bring another into the fate that awaited her below, nor would she dare to laden Gene with such guilt as to have lost her. He may still appear before her as a positive spirit but to experience such a tragedy might be enough to push him over the edge.

“I’ll take this,” the monster rasped in a guttural voice, second hand reaching up, past her legs, waist, and right through her chest. The suddenness of the action left her stunned and utterly confused. The primal, human part of her struggled to react. A blow through the chest meant death, no further action could remedy the situation, but she wasn’t in her body. So why was she suffering under such severe and burning pain that she immediately emptied her stomach of the last of the putrid water? It splattered across his arm and her legs, not that it mattered much, considering she was still covered in it from her ride through its rapids.

“Mai!” Gene shouted and pulled back for all that he was worth, hitching an arm over the edge of the cliff, straining against her weight and the creature’s below.

The hand retreated, taking with it something soft and fluttering, glowing in the darkness. Mai felt all that she was grow cold even as she was suddenly freed and hoisted over the cliff and back onto the cool clear waters of the astral plane. Her astral plane. The museum was gone, the pit was gone, and whatever that monster had been was gone. But she could only lay there staring listlessly out at the endless abyss while she mourned the loss of…something.

“Mai!” Eugene was hovering over her, lifting her upper half into his arms and scanning her figure in carefully masked panic. She was covered in holes, her spiritual presence all but gone, and her eyes vacant as the dead. “Come back, Mai, you can do it,” he murmured gently, smoothing a hand across the black hole in her chest. His critical eye was able to detect some return of power, the gaping wounds fighting desperately to close themselves, but it was at such a snail’s pace he worried she would fade away before she even had the chance to come back to herself.

Mai tried to speak but she found her voice had fallen silent along with the loss of that fluttering light. She didn’t know what it had been. Obviously, it wasn’t her soul it had taken because she was right there, broken and weak, but still clinging to existence.

And Eugene looked so distraught, showing the most emotion she had seen from him in all their time together a decade ago. Perhaps he had still been weak after his death, recuperating energy, and after a decade of walking through the astral plane he had managed to gather enough to be more, well, alive. Or, perhaps it had been the lack of her training that had prevented her from perceiving him as such.

Mai fought to lift a trembling hand and in reflection of his brother, he reached out to grip it to his chest. There was so much she wanted to ask him, to find out what he was doing still among those yet to pass on. But she couldn’t bring herself to speak. Even while he held her within his arms she could still feel the touch of hundreds of slimy rotting appendages. She shut her eyes against the imagery and shuddered.

“I have you, Mai, it’s okay,” he mumbled wetly and hefted her into his arms, climbing to his feet.

Mai’s living body might have been an empty vessel with no drawing power to it but he would always be able to find his brother. Gene took off at a daredevil’s pace with her cradled in his hold. Mai’s astral plane was an easy one to navigate when you had enough practice, and Eugene Davis definitely did. He bounded through the water that overlayed the distant shape of the museum in search of that bright immutable light that was his brother, always brimming with volatile energy powerful enough to ward off anything should he turn his gaze upon it.

He was so close.

Chapter Text

The base was quiet after the majority of the team had left for the hotel or retired for the night. The fluorescent lights had been shut off in favor of the lamp in the corner of the room that tossed warm gentle light no further than a few feet from its vicinity. Oliver had stretched across the couch with his eyes closed, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose against a raging migraine that had started up the moment Mai had slipped off to do her walk around. Monk sat at the bank of monitors across the room, the screens produced enough of their own light to provide visibility in the rest of the room but neither of the two had much use for it at that moment. They were both still awake, waiting to hear back from Ayako or Mai, while Lin and John saw to the scattered equipment. Oliver couldn’t blame Lin, the man was dangerously close to being as much of a workaholic as him.

Monk was stressed. He hadn’t moved since he had taken up the post at the monitors, sitting with his fingers laced and his chin resting atop them. His knee had been bouncing for the past hour but he had yet to voice any concerns to Oliver. He could only assume things were proceeding as normal. But the mounting tension and silence from a man usually so composed spoke otherwise.

Oliver lifted his fingers from his face and stared up at the ceiling of the base above, a cream-colored surface with wooden beams cutting across it, he doubted they were actually load-bearing, just there for appearances. It was an accurate representation of his and Monk’s vigilance. There was nothing they could actually do to aid Mai on her journey except wait for her return. Blue eyes slid to the doorway dazedly. Had it always been like this? Had he always sat and waited for her to collect the information? Helpless until she returned to him? He didn’t think so. But then again, he had still been garnering his understanding of her abilities back then. Any information she brought back to him he had viewed as an extra tidbit of knowledge to be utilized without care. He should have looked into her more, especially after the Urado case - when she had astral projected and given Masako her physical key, which the medium returned to her when they met up in person. That was a level of power he had not witnessed yet. But his mind had been pulled elsewhere, tracing down his brother’s body, and her abilities had fallen to the wayside. It was no surprise, really, that she had managed to cleanse the abandoned school filled with the souls of children and their later victims alike on her lonesome.

What a fool he had been.

“Ugh,” Monk groaned from his seat at the monitors, leaning back in the chair with his arms crossed. “It usually doesn’t take this long,” he muttered grimly. And while his eyes remained focused on the screens before him it was obvious his statement had been directed at Oliver on the couch.

Oliver shut his eyes against a throb of pain while he breathed out a sigh through his nose. “Could the size of the property play a part in that?” he asked with some lethargy.

“I suppose,” Monk mused, “But it’s been hours.” His eyes drifted to the timestamp on the nearest screen, reading 3:43 AM.

“You think something is wrong?” Oliver questioned quietly, gaze turning to Monk’s back.

Monk was silent while he thought his answer over carefully, almost regretful for having to say it, but: “Yes.”

Oliver pushed himself up with a grunt and stood, the room spinning for just a moment while he regained his bearings before he strode across the room to his desk. The base walkie sat atop a pile of printed papers comprised of Yasuhara’s research and Oliver scooped it up without hesitation. Monk turned in the seat to watch him with furrowed brows, his own concern growing.

“Lin,” Oliver said over the walkie.

There was a moment of static before the man replied, “Yes?”

“I need you and John to return to base,” Oliver instructed while shuffling over to the bank of monitors. On the third screen from the left, second row, he could just make out the two of them as they moved through a hall with a collection of batteries in hand. They had gone out an hour ago but were due to return shortly anyways.

“Understood,” Lin replied stoically.

“What are you planning?” Monk asked warily.

“Nothing yet,” Oliver assured him coolly, “But I would like to be prepared for anything.”

“And that includes gathering your attack dogs?” Monk questioned further with rueful mirth and a rogueish grin.

“If you consider yourself as such,” Oliver replied breezily, an obvious tease that managed to earn him a chuckle from the man despite his worry. “Besides myself, which I prefer not to step in unless as a last resort, you and Lin are the most powerful we have at our disposal.”

Monk scoffed and tossed his hands behind his head, leveling the man with a perturbed look.

“You forget, Monk,” Oliver drawled with a cunning smirk, “You threw me your Tokkosho all those years ago. I could feel the spiritual power you had poured into it.”

Monk dropped his arms back into his lap with a sigh, “Not that I can do much good in a situation like this,” he grumbled. If he tried to do anything to help Mai while she was outside of her own body it would only be detrimental to her. Monk could exorcise any number of things but like Oliver, the blast radius was difficult to control. It was why he could never exorcise a person, while the spirit would be vanquished, the host would die along with it. If he tried to exorcise the museum as a whole, he just might succeed, but Mai would probably be taken along in the blast.

Lin and John returned a moment later, stepping into the tense silence that had fallen between the two men, and they were instantly on alert.

“What’s wrong?” Lin questioned while dropping his collection of batteries onto a table.

“Monk believes something has gone wrong, as Mai would have usually been back by now,” Oliver supplied easily.

“You suspect she was taken?” Lin asked his friend and charge grimly.

“It’s the only explanation,” Oliver replied flatly. He had crossed his arms and even John could see the taut muscles in his shoulders while he worked to remain composed. “Do you remember if there was any point in Sam’s journey that drew her attention the most?” Oliver continued.

Lin lifted a hand to his chin in thought, casting his mind back to earlier that day when the exhausted woman had plopped down at his side with a fresh coffee and a green marker. Green, he recalled belatedly, was the color of death. Even Oliver had informed him once, when he was much younger, that the visions he experienced through his psychometry were often swathed in green light. Perhaps her trip had been doomed, to begin with.

“She kept drifting back to the research center, below ground, where they have exhibits on exotic remains and the like. For those interested in grimmer topics,” Lin muttered darkly.

“Well,” Oliver replied with aloof humor, “I suppose we know where our culprit is located then.”

But they were unable to form any sort of plan of attack because the door to the meeting room opened quietly in the dead of night and the priestess stepped out, closed it behind her as gently as she could manage before she turned to step into base. She was wringing her hands anxiously and Monk had pushed himself to his feet before she had even fully entered the room, going to his wife’s side without a second thought. Her eyes were wide, her brows pinched, and biting her lip.

“What happened?” Oliver asked with barely restrained…something.

“I don’t know,” she admitted in hushed tones, “Usually, Mai will tell me when it's time for her to return. I’ll her hear, distantly, but loud enough in the quiet. Then I just remove the charm and let her in. But this time…it had been so long and I was worried. But it was someone else…”

“You let someone else possess her body?” Oliver bit out through mounting panic.

Ayako shook her head hurriedly, “No, he said he had Mai. That he needed to put her back.”

Silence erupted within the room. Oliver stilled and Lin turned to look back at him with lips pursed. Monk and John traded confused looks before Monk’s eyes alighted with understanding and he whipped his head around to level Oliver with his own look of surprise.

“Did he say anything else?” Oliver questioned under the gazes of all those within the room, back stiff and teeth gritted.

“That you would need to keep her close,” Ayako replied haltingly. Unlike the others, she was at a loss for what revelation circulated between Monk, Lin, and Oliver. But she was no fool, she saw their pointed looks and stiffness for what they were. She would bite her tongue for now but she would turn on Houshou as soon as they were alone and pry the information out of him if she needed to. 

Mai had never shared the fact that Eugene had been aiding her throughout their cases while Oliver searched for his body, with the exception of Oliver himself…and Monk. Oliver, because they parsed out the discovery together the moment Eugene had bid her farewell. And Monk, because he had been the first person to find her crying her eyes out over it before she could think clearly enough to hold her tongue.

“She woke up just a few moments ago, but she’s not…” Ayako trailed off, biting her lip while she fought back the worried tears in her eyes, “She’s not okay.” She seemed to crumble in on herself with the admission and Monk reached out to wrap his arms around her while Oliver dove out of the room and slipped through the door to the meeting room before anyone could even think to stop him. The memory of him urging her just that morning to tackle the case head-on by walking the astral plane instead of relying on the team's research played on repeat in the back of his mind. 

Lin trailed after at a slower pace, coming to a stop outside the cracked door with John just behind him. If Mai was in mortal danger it would have been the first words out of Ayako’s mouth. The way in which she had shuffled into the base, hesitant and uncertain, worried, implied that this was more in line with what had happened to Sam. With that in mind, Lin felt caution was prudent as he nudged the door open and looked into the dark room through the small amount of light that managed to reach it from base.

Mai had curled in on herself in the cot, shoulders shaking beneath the plush blanket she had swaddled herself in. She had gone so far as to hide her face from Oliver, looking like a wounded animal, hiding away to recover. Oliver had crouched down at her side and settled a hand on her shoulder wearing an expression of restrained worry, one that Lin had seen Oliver wear on only a few rare occasions. During the year they were in Japan, facing dangers untold, and more recently with Toby himself. It was an expression that managed to slip through only when Oliver was truly at a loss as to how to proceed.

“Mai,” Oliver whispered in the dark.

Mai only curled further in on herself with a shake of her head. She took a gasping breath, confirming that she was silently crying beneath the blanket, struggling to regain control of herself. Every part of her body trembled in response to all that she had just experienced. Nothing felt right, everything was wrong, off, and her stomach still roiled with sickness.

John stepped into the room around Lin and moved over to crouch down next to Mai on the opposite side of the cot. Oliver lifted his gaze to the priest, wary, but didn’t question it when John reached out a hand and slid it under the blanket to feel Mai’s forehead.

“Will you be alright, Mai?” John murmured.

The blankets shifted ever so slightly as Mai lifted a hand to settle it over John’s with the quietest of whispers: “Yes.” She would have to be. While her body and mind felt utterly wretched she knew that, in time, she would recover from what she had experienced. She would refuse any other reality. But for now, she couldn’t think of anything else besides huddling in the dark, hiding away from everything, while she worked to rationalize the horror fest she had just lived through. Along with the fact that one Eugene Davis had yet to pass on, but that was a thought tossed in the back of her mind for the moment. She felt too thin and too frail to even poke at that bear just yet.

“She just needs time,” John informed Oliver quietly. He pushed himself to his feet with a worried frown, shooting Lin and the others a pointed look before he removed himself from the room. His presence wouldn’t do Mai any further good until she had been able to calm herself. She would come back to them in time.

Oliver lowered his gaze to Mai once more, hidden beneath the blanket, before he nudged the cot back against the wall. Mai and all. She pulled the blanket back just enough to reveal her eyes, red-rimmed and eerily vacant, and settle them on him in the dim light. Her brows were pinched in questioning but he was just happy to see some level of emotion contained within them.

“Are you going to make me ask?” he questioned quietly even as Lin stepped back out of the room in John’s wake to discuss the events with Ayako and Monk.

Mai stared at him for an indiscernible number of seconds before she eventually pushed herself up with some effort. Her limbs shook and her body ached in ways she had never known before, not even after experiencing Lydia’s memories, but she pushed herself up against the wall. It left enough room for Oliver to sit down on the cot next to her and open his arms without hesitation. She dropped into his lap in a role reversal from a few nights prior and allowed her eyes to flutter shut as he reached down to run his fingers through her hair. She hadn’t had anyone care for her in such a way since she was a child when her mother was still around.

“He took something from me,” she mumbled, half a whisper.

“What did he take?” Oliver asked carefully.

Mai shook her head minutely with a whispered “I don’t know”, as more tears spilled forth from her eyes.

Oliver dropped his head back against the wall in resignation, “We’ll figure it out, Mai,” he murmured into the darkness. Mai didn’t answer, possibly because she had fallen into the first true sleep she had gotten since the case had started and her body was beyond its limit. Oliver was loathe to disturb such a rest so he allowed his own eyes to fall shut and let his mind drift. Eventually, his hand stilled in her hair. Falling asleep leaning up against a wall was not the most comfortable of circumstances but Oliver had experienced far worse.

The ticking antique clock hanging from the wall above the desk chimed 10 AM some hours later. Lin paused in his work organizing all the physical research papers that had cluttered the desk over the night while everyone made an effort to assist Mai while she was walking the astral plane. Tristan must of all had hoped he could find something for her considering the danger she was putting herself in, and had stayed up with them all until his eyes had finally fallen closed and Oliver had ordered him into the break room for rest. He had left his research on the desk, pages upon pages of possible creatures that may have resided within the museum, handwritten notes scatted across the surface of the pages. It was to no avail. Yet, anyways.

Lin set the papers to the side and lifted his wrist to take a look at his own watch, not willing to admit the hour to himself much less accept it. But his trusty watch read the same time, so there was no use arguing it. They were due to have their morning meeting, per Mai’s instructions, yet the woman herself was still clustered away in the meeting room with Oliver. Neither of them had so much as stirred since they all had left them to rest.

Ayako had sent the team out to the cafe for breakfast, shooing them away with frightful determination, and Lin had vowed to avoid her ire from then on. It seemed the priestess had grown more motherly towards Mai in their absence and she was not to be trifled with. Still, it was strange that not a single one of them had returned yet but, he supposed, given the museum had opened already there might be some additional foot traffic to navigate.

It was nice sitting in the quiet base by himself. It was why he had never minded being left so much work. He had always appreciated the fact that Oliver seemed to have understood this from the very beginning even though he had never inquired and Lin had never offered the information. If he was truly in an honest mood, he might even appreciate the quiet even more so now that Lixin had been born. He never thought he could love someone so dearly before he had met Madoka, and Lixin certainly fell within the category, but he had also never expected something so tiny to produce so much noise. He was lucky Madoka’s sister was so enamored with her nephew and was happy to help often.

Lin rolled the chair back and stood with a sigh. They were at a bit of a standstill until they could hear Mai’s report on what had happened the night prior. Lin was even wary of sending the others out to collect data or handle equipment, it didn’t matter if the museum was filled with guests at the moment, he suspected their target was very much aware of them and their presence. Anyone could easily be targeted, just as Sam had been. He was thankful their old team was present, without them they would most likely have not made the progress they had and the case would have been left to gather dust. At least Lin could trust John and Monk to handle themselves against their foe.

But this could all be discussed at their meeting, he concluded as Nora shuffled into base looking uncertain. Lin waved her into the room as he passed, stepping out into the hall. He’d rather everyone gather in base first while he peeked into the meeting room to gauge the situation. He lifted a hand to knock on the door but not a fraction of a second later another hand reached out to grip his wrist to stay his.

Ayako stood at his side wearing a frown, brows furrowed, and her other hand on her hip. Behind her had gathered the rest of their combined forces, all watching on in various states of interest, ranging from horrified to delighted. But Ayako in her plum-colored sweater, leather jacket, and dark red lipstick posed an intimidating figure that not even Lin felt like combating. He stepped away from the door with a gusty sigh of defeat.

Ayako adopted a scrutinizing look, eyeing him up and down as if daring him to try her before she stepped past him to gently grip the knob of the door and quietly push it open. Lin watched with his arms crossed while she peered into the room that was otherwise silent. She pulled back a few moments later wearing an imperiously composed expression that threatened to crack under something close to delight. The corner of her lip twitched as she pulled the door shut with the softest of clicks.

“We should wait until later to do the meeting,” she whispered behind a hand as if to further prevent those from sleeping behind the closed door from hearing her.

Lin shifted to face her fully while his eyes trailed to the floor in thought. The only reason he had been willing to wake them was because he knew both of them would be disappointed to miss the meeting. Ayako’s line of logic was sound, it would be best to simply push the gathering back until all were present and ready but that left them at a standstill until then. He was not comfortable with letting everyone wander the museum at this time and the equipment hardly needed batteries since he and John had done the rounds early that morning while waiting for Mai to return.

“We’ll break for the day,” Lin muttered, “I’ll stay behind until they wake but everyone else can return to the hotel, and continue reviewing audio and recorded footage, we’ll head over later and host the meeting there.”

Ayako frowned but she did nod in agreement, “I don’t feel comfortable moving forward without them. We need to know what happened to Mai before anything else. If us being here is drawing that thing's attention, it might be safest for everyone if we remove ourselves from the property altogether for now.”

“Agreed,” Lin stated.

As a whole, the two teams filtered back into the base to gather their things and pack up what they could to bring to the hotel. Lin would remain and watch over the monitors for a while longer yet but Oliver could continue the watch through his laptop later at the hotel. There was a bit of lag when using Wifi but it would have to do for now. He was certain Oliver wouldn’t fault his logic on this, regardless. And besides, the team could use a break away from the environment that was only growing more intense as time went on. Nora looked like she was one revelation away from crumbling and Andrew had been on edge since the second day, Sam had nearly sent him toppling. Some time away would do everyone some good.

Waking from a long rest, especially one that was greatly needed, tended to leave one feeling lost and a little disconnected from reality. It wasn’t unusual for Mai to open her eyes and question where exactly she was, especially within the past couple of years of her life, but she rarely did so in such a calm state. She was swathed in the cool feather-down comforter, her limbs feeling heavy and secure, while she clutched a pillow to her chest. Warm sunlight trickled into the room through an open doorway that led out into a hall from which she could hear the distant sound of typing and not much else. The room was quiet and still, stagnant with a hushed silence, besides the deep breathing of the person on whom she was resting.

There was something missing. She knew this with undeniable certainty though she could not name what it was. She felt it the moment her eyes opened to take in the dimly lit room with its host of tables and a meager supply of sunlight. Usually, she would have been swamped with a wave of anxiety regarding her whereabouts, work, and what was on her to-do list for the day. But there was something else in the back of her mind, lost beneath layers of consciousness, that was far more important than any of her meager worries and whatever it was had been taken. There was anger at the injustice, certainly, but she could not kindle the flame back to life. It sat there in her chest, simmering, meager embers, and refused to surface just like her anxieties. She wondered if it was her emotions themselves that had been stolen because she doubted even the warmest of joys could blossom within her at that moment. Nothing but useless tears.

Mai shifted beneath the blanket and pulled it back over her shoulders despite the fact that there was no hope for further sleep. She finally felt well rested but it seemed the sacrifice for such a rest had been far too high. The memories from the night before had been locked behind a dark door. Distantly, she was very much aware of what had happened but her mind refused to examine the details. From a logical standpoint, Mai knew it was best not to go jimmying the doorknob just yet. Perhaps her lack of emotions was due to shock and maybe, she cautioned herself, she just needed to give herself some time to mentally recover from the horrors.

After years of working to quiet her own emotions, the sudden lack of them left her feeling hollow.

Mai pushed herself up and tossed the comforter off of her with vacant eyes. Her attention was turned inward while she searched for the spark that had been taken from her but her efforts were in vain.

“Mai.”

She turned to find Oliver seated on the cot, an elbow braced against a raised knee, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. He sounded like he was still asleep, voice husky and devoid of his usual cool tones. Once upon a time that would have done something for her. And by once upon a time she meant literally yesterday, but now she was too lost in the void left behind by whatever she had experienced the night before.

Oliver dropped his hand away from his face and turned his eyes onto her when she did not respond. He found her staring at him wearing an expression of removed confusion. Oliver likened it to the look his mother adopted when she found a toothbrush on the kitchen counter. Mai directing such a look at him was more than a little unsettling considering all they had been through.

“Are you alright?” he asked warily.

“I’m fine,” she answered curtly and turned away to push herself to her feet. She patted herself down, straightening the band shirt and sweatpants she wore as if checking to make sure all of her body parts were accounted for. When it appeared she was satisfied with her discovery she ran a hand through her hair and sighed. “I’m not fine, actually,” she admitted a moment later.

Oliver froze where he sat on the cot, body tense, and replied, “What’s wrong?”

Mai glanced back over her shoulder at him and crossed her arms, holding herself together while she thought over how best to answer. There was no easy way to admit that she had been pushed to her limit last night. It smarted against her pride that, although nowhere near as grand as Oliver’s, had still been built up by her success over the years. She had always felt so in control, so powerful when she walked her astral plane. It felt like that monster had knocked her on her ass all the while taking delight in her terror. It consumed her.

“I feel like I’m carrying a bomb,” she admitted with a derisive chuckle. “An emotional one…”

Oliver fanned the fingers of the arm braced against his knees in thought before he pushed himself to his feet and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She turned her face to meet his gaze, eyes still lost in thought, but there was no hesitation or nervous energy spilling from her, as was the usual case when she was unsteady. She looked reserved. She was prepared to light the fuse of whatever had been planted within her the night before in order to bring the case to a close and for the first time in a very long while Oliver found himself stunned. He had always been impressed by her evolving capabilities, and the ease with which she rose to the occasion, but to understand on an intrinsic level that she experienced trauma and was willing to flip the kill switch without hesitation was…humbling.

“What do you need?” he asked, at a loss for his next move.

“I need to share what happened,” she admitted quietly, “And then…”

Oliver stepped around her to face her fully, reaching out to brush a strand of her hair behind an ear while her focus drifted. A younger Oliver, maybe even Naru, would have pushed her for details until she broke right in front of him. But even the thought of such a thing now sickened him. It had all the grace of shooting someone willingly walking to the gallows. What Mai was going to do deserved all of the respect and patience he had to offer.

“And then I think I’d like some tea,” she continued distractedly, confused as if she knew the lines but not the feelings behind them. “And maybe a really long shower,” she added with more certainty.

“I think we can manage that,” he assured her lightly.

“Kay,” she murmured and her shoulders sagged with just a smidgeon of relief.

Oliver reached down to take her hand gently and guided her out into the hall. Their rooms seemed suspiciously quiet and Oliver could only assume that Lin had sent everyone back to the hotel for a day of rest and recovery, no doubt playing catch up through all the recorded data, while Mai came around. She trailed after him with an absent pace, fingers laced through his tightly despite her otherwise loose and tranquil stance. They stepped into base and Lin’s fingers finally stilled over the keyboard. The man had seated himself at the desk with his own laptop open and whirring away while he wrote up a report regarding the case. His one visible eye lifted to take them in as they entered and settled on Mai with a perturbed arch of his brow.

“Mai,” Lin greeted gently, pushing himself to his feet with hands braced on the desk. But his shoulders were taut and he sent Oliver an imploring look that urged the younger man to bring Mai further into the room to settle her on the couch. Oliver crouched before her to extract his hand from hers, once more tucking that pesky strand of hair behind her ear, before he stepped away and allowed Lin to examine her from a distance.

Lin’s obvious concern sparked something much grimmer in Oliver’s chest and he was forced to clench his fists and move to the other side of the room while Lin worked, lest he interrupt in some way. It did not bode well if the onmyoji was so unsettled by Mai’s state. It meant there was far more than some mental scarring that they were dealing with. He turned his head away when Lin lifted a hand to brush his hair out of his face and reveal an icy blue eye to the world. He only took a fleeting glimpse at Mai before he turned away with a frown.

Mai watched this all from the couch with her hands clasped in her lap, observant but removed. To her, Lin’s behavior seemed a little silly. But she had never seen his left eye before so there was a moment of interest that drifted to the surface and her eyes sharpened on his. It was clear that bright blue eye allowed him to see far more than what was humanly possible.

“What happened?” he asked in a strained voice, utterly gobsmacked by what his sight had revealed to him. He crouched down before the woman and braced a hand on his knee, literally floored by the image she posed.

Mai looked uncertain for a moment, tightening her hold on her hands, sending Oliver a hesitant look. She was wordlessly searching out his support and he could not find it within himself to deny her. Not after all that she had done for him and his family. Oliver crossed the room and took a seat on the couch next to her while she turned her attention back to Lin.

“I’m not certain I should divulge everything just yet but I do know that it took something from me,” she admitted quietly.

“Took something?” Lin repeated sharply, brows crashing together while his hair fell back into place, unable to take the sight of her any longer. “You look like you’ve been mauled by a pack of rabid dogs!” He straightened as he stood, voice raised, and lifted his hands as if to implore her to see the irony in her words. “You should be dead! If you face off against that thing again it’ll eat you alive,” he spat.

Mai flinched under his voice and Oliver stood, placing himself between Mai and Lin wearing a dispassionate expression. Lin would never hurt Mai, there was no doubt within his mind, and Mai hardly needed his protection in such circumstances, but still, he found himself reacting regardless. He crossed his arms and Lin’s words faltered as he came back to himself, taking half a step away from Oliver with a gusty sigh.

“Apologies,” Lin muttered, running a hand through his hair in a rare display of discomfort.

“We all urged Mai to take action,” Oliver reminded him coolly from where he stood.

“You’re right,” Lin amended quietly. “But I hadn’t expected her to return in such a state.” He turned his attention back to Mai and crouched down before her once more, perhaps attempting to minimize his towering form after such a display. “You need to go home, Mai, go back to Japan. It will help to heal the damage far more than anything hear,” he urged gently.

“You’re a very kind and caring man, Lin,” Mai replied tiredly, “But I have to get back what was taken. I can feel it. And I still need to help Lydia.”

“If you must see this through,” Lin muttered grimly, “Then I forbid you from any further astral projection. You will not survive it.”

Mai pursed her lips and dropped her gaze to her lap with a breath through her nose. Lin was not her handler, nor was he any sort of parental figure to her, but even as a teenager his word had been law to her. While Monk may have been a few years older than the man Lin had always carried so much more on his shoulders. As someone who had sought out and bound several spirits to his will, he moved through the world like someone who had lived twice his lifetime, and then some. To go against his word felt sacrilegious. And even Oliver had turned back to face her with that look of his, simultaneously cowing her into submission and daring her to do it anyways. The look of a scientist waiting to see what move its subject would make.

Mai made a mental note to be angry at the thought later.

“I understand,” she mumbled with a sigh of her own.

Lin’s shoulders slumped, the tension slipping off of them like so much dead weight, and Mai managed to feel a little guilty for having caused him such stress even in her state.

“Everyone else is at the hotel?” Oliver questioned when silence had fallen between the two.

“Yes,” Lin replied curtly, pushing himself to his feet with a grunt, “We can head over there whenever you two are ready.”

“Where are your things, Mai?” Oliver asked, turning his gaze back to her.

“Um,” she stumbled with pinched brows, trying to remember. She had brought her bag to the bathroom the night before to get ready, she could recall that much, so she must have left it there. “The bathroom,” she answered and climbed to her feet.

“I’ll meet you down at the van then,” Lin advised them before turning back to the desk to pack up their laptops and other needed supplies.

“Is this everything?” Oliver asked a few minutes later while Mai absently searched through the bag she had hung from one shoulder. She seemed a little more aware after Lin had spoken to her but her mind still tended to wander and her memory seemed spotty at best. She had repressed much in an effort to keep herself composed and Oliver suspected it would all come flooding back to her the moment she sat down to share with the team. No doubt that night would be a very long one for her and he intended to remain at her side through it all.

“It looks like it,” she replied while zipping the bag back up and moving to step out of the bathroom with Oliver on her heels.

“Lin will have everyone gather in one of the suites for the meeting,” Oliver voiced while they stepped into the elevator but paused when Mai’s hand reached out to latch around his arm in an iron grip. He turned to examine her from his peripherals and watched her throat work against some rising anxieties before stepping back out of the elevator and guiding her further down the hall toward the stairs. “We’ve decided a temporary retreat is the best move for now and will regroup there before retiring for the evening,” he continued, unbothered.

Mai loosened her hold and slid her arm around his, clinging to him shamefully even as they descended the stairs. Her heart was thundering in her chest for the first time since she had woken and she feared that if she delved any further the carefully crafted dam she had built would shatter like so much glass, spilling all the horrors across her mind. So she relied on him to guide them out into the main lobby where the echoing conversations of guests reached her ears after bouncing about the marble floor and stone walls. Her eyes were lowered to the ground as they walked and his coat, the sharp angle of the shoulder, just brushed her temple with each step she took. It was a vulnerable moment for her, one that she would surely agonize over later because she had moved past relying on others long ago. But he was so graceful about it, unphased while he maneuvered around her fragile state with practice, that she could hardly do anything but follow his lead at that moment.

It was almost offensive that the sun was shining when they stepped through the sliding glass doors onto the cobblestone drive. Lin had pulled a van up to the entrance and the monstrous vehicle sat idling in the shade of the surrounding trees while the man himself stepped out and pulled the sliding door open. The both of them helping her into the backseat was a little overkill but she wasn’t of the mind to feel amused over much of anything at that moment. Lin stepped back as his phone rang and Oliver pulled himself in after her to claim the seat next to her. Certainly, a move she was not expecting. When she thought back to their first year together the most likely setting was Oliver and Lin sitting in the front seat of a similar van and her behind, dozing after hours of driving towards their next case.

“He what?” Lin’s voice rang out over the general shuffling of seatbelts and settling. Not even the rushing water of the fountain out front was able to drown out his urgent tone.

There was something about the combination of question and panicked tone that found Oliver clamping a hand around Mai’s while he readied to push himself back out of the van, his own heart usually so steady, kicking into next gear without his consent. Mai shot him a startled look, clearly not in a state to offer him any sort of emotional support, but she did her best by reaching out to settle her free hands over the top of his. He was reaching for the handle over the open door when Lin turned back around, grim-faced and uncertain.

“Your mother says Sam has gone missing,” he murmured quietly, eye casting about warily for any who might be listening thanks to his previous outburst. Guests, tourists, and locals alike were still filtering in and out of the museum despite the hour drawing ever closer to closing time.

“Sam?” Mai questioned in a confused tone that drew both men’s attention.

“My assistant,” Oliver clarified gently, far kinder than he usually would have been having to repeat himself, especially over someone Mai had already met.

Mai quirked a brow at that, “I remember who he is, Oliver,” she assured him flatly. “It just doesn’t sound right,” she added absently and turned her gaze off towards the view of the museum through the windshield of the van.

Oliver scrutinized her for only a moment before turning back to Lin, “Do we have any other details?”

“Only that Luella had him admitted to the hospital the night before due to erratic behavior that she found concerning. He went missing this morning, the hospital spent hours searching for him before contacting authorities,” Lin repeated darkly, moving close to the open door so as to keep their conversation quiet.

Oliver leaned back in the seat with a sigh. Likely, the man’s family had already been contacted and informed of the situation, and, beyond that, there wasn’t really much else they could do. If the police were involved then any further action was out of his hands. They had no way to confirm whether or not Sam’s absence was due to the paranormal, their foe within the museum, or if he had simply lost it. With Mai figuratively benched by Lin, the only others capable of reaching out at all were Masako and Lin himself. And the only thing they would be able to confirm was if he was dead. Which didn’t look great when authorities were involved.

“I’ll look for him,” Oliver muttered.

Lin lifted a hand to stay his next words, “You’ll wait. Either you stay for Mai or you deal with Sam, not both.”

“Lin,” Oliver began warningly.

“No,” he shot back with a shake of his head, “It’s going to be hard enough with her the way that she is. I don’t want you distracted with Sam during the meeting.”

Within the van, Mai tightened her hold on Oliver’s hand and the man let go of the handle above the door with resignation. He waved Lin off, frustrated with the situation but compliant all the same, and his long-time friend and handler nodded curtly in appreciation before pulling the van door shut and throwing the two into muffled silence for a moment while he moved about to reclaim his seat behind the wheel. Oliver turned to look at Mai.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. Deep down she did feel bad about taking Oliver’s time and attention away from Sam, someone who very well could be in danger for all they knew, but Oliver huffed and ran a hand through his hair, eyes shut against the mounting stress and light spilling through the windshield.

“Don’t be an idiot,” was his only response.

Mai turned her gaze out the window, gnawing at her lip while trying to carefully excavate her emotions from around her crafted dam. It was getting a little easier as time wore on, the longer she was awake, the more interactions she put between her and that point in time, but she knew it would all come flooding out shortly. She just preferred to keep it together until she had some privacy. She didn’t know if she could handle an entire room full of people watching her fall apart with pitying eyes. Not after everything.

Chapter Text

Just as it was the night before, the drive over to the hotel was shorter than expected. One moment, Mai was watching the early afternoon London traffic breeze by, and the next, Lin was pulling the van into the parking lot with as much grace as he could manage from such a large vehicle. The lot was packed tightly that evening and the man was forced to go around to the back to find parking, leaving Mai and Oliver under the awning at the front entrance, fingers still laced together. Arriving guests filtered in around them while they waited for their friend, laughter and hurried conversations alike were tossed back and forth as they passed, urging Mai to shift closer to Oliver. He glanced down as she turned to face him and watched the people pass them by from the corner of her eye.

It was so unlike any version of her that he had ever known that he could almost admit he was entranced. Like coming across a new species of flower, he found himself studying these new mannerisms for later review. She was certainly in shock, though functioning passably enough, but it was clear she was uncertain and anxious. He just had never expected she would want to gravitate toward him of all people for guidance and support in such a state. He found himself humbled by her once again.

“Tea and a shower,” she murmured quietly between them, her fingers tightening around his. She was reminding herself of the comforts to come just to keep pushing forward.

“I remember,” he assured her gently.

Lin arrived, keys dangling from his fingers and eyes glued to the screen of his phone. He maneuvered his way through the throng of guests expertly before coming to a stop within their vicinity and resurfacing.

“They’re all in the sixth-floor suite,” he stated simply, tucking the keys and phone away into the interior pockets of his coat. If he noticed the two’s hands still laced together he paid the sight little mind and simply gestured for them to move on ahead of him so he could bring up the rear.

The closer their little group got to the end goal the more intense Mai’s anxieties grew. Distantly, a part of her was pleased to at least be feeling something but that was far outweighed by the mounting dread building up within her chest until she thought she might vomit. She was squeezing Oliver’s hand so tightly that she was surprised he hadn’t said anything yet. When they finally arrived in the hall the suite was located within, after climbing up several flights of stairs just so Mai could avoid the elevators, she fought against every single fiber of her being that wailed for her to plant her feet and turn tail and run. She even stumbled, the toe of her sneaker catching against the rough carpet, but Oliver was quick to tug her back within the realm of balance.

They pulled to a stop at the door and he leveled her with a steadying look that had Lin turning to gaze off down the hall in an attempt to give them some form of privacy considering their circumstances.

“You can just tell one of us and they can relay the information,” he offered quietly so as not to alert those on the other side of the door, “It doesn’t have to be everyone all at once.”

Mai’s eyes danced between his own, filled with barely restrained panic, but she shook her head with as much resilience as she could muster and wordlessly gestured for him to get the door. She’d rather get it over as soon as possible so she could retreat to lick her wounds. She didn’t want to have to repeat herself and she needed to make sure everyone had the information they needed. They needed to understand, without a flicker of a doubt, what they were dealing with.

Oliver stared for several seconds, the silence between them lengthening, before he pulled his hand from hers and pushed the door open. 

The sound of rushing water filled the glass stall of the shower in the otherwise stifling quiet of the hotel bathroom. The water was hot enough that the glass had long since grown obscured by the steam but it had done little to ease the tension strung taut between Mai’s shoulders. She had crossed her arms over her stomach, hugging herself beneath the flow while she leaned a shoulder up against the cold green mosaic tiles, eyes vacant. There was a small teak stool in the corner that she had been ruminating on dropping onto but she had yet to bring herself to move. 

She couldn’t recall ever feeling so horrible in her entire life. The guilt of such a thought was enough to make her sick, in fact, she had been just a few minutes ago before she had finally stumbled into the shower. Because, by all rights, shouldn’t the day her mother passed trump any experience on the astral plane? Shouldn’t the despair at losing a loved one surpass the fear she had allowed to take root the night before? Shouldn’t she be able to just set it all aside and continue to function as normal?

The questions went round and round in her head just like the water gathering at the bottom of the shower, circling the drain. 

But no matter how much she rationalized, how much she struggled to pack away her emotions, she couldn’t forget the feeling of those hands on her skin. She tightened her arms around herself and glanced out through the fogged glass at the rest of the bathroom. The most she could make out was a vague outline of the tub, counter, and doorway leading to the toilet. But she knew for a fact that Oliver had set one of the bathrobes from the hall closet onto the counter for her before he had slipped out of the bathroom to provide her some privacy. She had requested it, asking for some time to herself after she had spent an hour before the whole gathered team, going over all that had happened the night before. Admitting to the fact that she had been violated, literal pieces of her soul stripped away from her, knowing that only half of those within the room understood the extent of that horror while the others could only look to the more experienced in confusion. Informing them that something precious had been taken from her and she had no idea what it had been. It made her feel like a disgusting fool. 

Every time she remembered those hands one of her own would reach up to grip her throat, hoping to replace the ghost of the touch that haunted her, but it did little to help. She could still feel those fingers digging into the back of her neck, sending white-hot lines of pain right up into her skull, silencing her voice. 

At one point during her explanation, Nora had fled the room with John on her heels. Mai could only assume the woman had struggled to listen as Mai recited word for word what she had experienced in a quavering voice that somehow managed to sound flat of any emotion. Her eyes had been bright and glistening behind her glasses but she had refused to look at Mai’s as she passed. No one had commented on it when the door swung shut in their wake. Monk had turned his forlorn face, grim as a gravestone, back to Mai with crossed arms to continue listening.   

She had watched his heart break for her and just the memory alone was enough to put the final crack in her dam. She lifted a hand to her mouth as a quiet sob rattled up her throat and her eyes burned with the coming tears. The shower was just loud enough to muffle her sobs and she was thankful for the fact that she had managed to hold off on caving until she had been afforded her request for privacy. She hadn’t wanted to see any of her family wear such horrified and pitying expressions ever and, worst of all, they had been directed at her. 

Mai turned and sat down on the stool with a splash of water, her feet kicking up the inch or two that managed to gather before the drain could pull it all away. She dropped her face into her hands, elbows braced on her knees, and allowed herself a moment to cry while no one was around to witness.

By the time she had reached the climax of her story, retelling the moment she had been jettisoned into the air and finally caught sight of the monster they were dealing with Masako had been in tears. Andrew had dropped down onto the bay window bench and retreated within himself around the same time, utterly defeated and uncertain of how they would proceed. Lin had looked composed but his jaw ticked with restrained frustration. 

She never knew what Oliver’s reaction had been. When they had entered the hotel suite, the man had guided her across the room and sat her down in an armchair before taking up post behind her. She had been able to see his hand in her peripheral, clutched around the wing of the chair, but he had remained out of the sight for the majority of the hour and she had not been able to bring herself to look back at him. She couldn’t handle the cold calculated look she had imagined he would wear, piecing everything together, examining her words for any hint of a clue they could use against their foe. 

“Who was it that caught you?” Ayako had asked grimly. 

Mai had paused in her story, words stumbling to a halt while she processed the question. She had lifted a hand at some point while she was talking, the same wrist that Eugene had grasped her by, but she dropped it back to her lap, stumped. Oliver had never shared the story of Eugene with anyone, as far as she was aware, and she had done her best to keep her mouth shut after she had told Monk. The idea of letting the cat out of the bag then seemed almost disrespectful. She imagined that if Oliver had wanted to share the whereabouts of Eugene’s spirit while they were galavanting across Japan then he would have. It hadn’t been nor was it at that time, the place to reveal such information. 

But on the other hand. 

Had Oliver known his brother was still around? Just last week he had come to her hotel room and admitted the years of depression he had suffered in the face of his brother’s death, mourning something more than Mai could ever understand, and she had invited him into her arms in response.

Mai had clutched her hands together in her lap, confused and distraught, and said: “I don’t know.”

Monk had pursed his lips and lifted his gaze to Oliver over her shoulder for just a fraction of a moment, but that was all Mai needed to see. Monk knew. It was no surprise, but it made things just that much more complicated. 

The steam of the shower filled Mai’s lungs as she cried into her hands, sucking in lungfuls at a time, feeling the thick air clog her nose. She felt like she was suffocating. As if those hands were holding her down beneath the surface of that disgusting water. She brushed her hands up over her face, swiping water away as she leaned her head back to breathe dryer air, before she pushed herself back up to her feet and reached for the bar of soap sitting up on an inlaid shelf. It looked handmade and organic and when she lifted it to her nose she smelled lavender and vanilla, soft soothing scents that eased her heart and cleared her nose of the smell of decay. With urgent hands she lathered herself up, needing to purify her body in some way, to wash away the memory of everything. 

Anything to forget the way Yasuhara had looked at her with shock and asked “What did it take?” in hushed tones. 

Because she had only been able to give him a shaky “I don’t know,” in response. As if that made any sense. She had spent a decade learning herself, bettering herself, and gaining control over herself. And that thing had reached right into her and taken something precious to her and she didn’t know what it was. It was driving her insane. 

With trembling hands she scrubbed at her scalp and face, washing it all away. She was too weak to do any more. Her stomach had been empty for well over a day and the stress and exhaustion were pushing it all too far. By the time she had twisted the crystal knob of the shower and shut the water off her knees were shaking. She felt hollowed out and raw, eyes still leaking tears here and there, but she reached for the bathrobe on the bathroom counter regardless. She failed twice to slip her arm through the first sleeve before she finally managed to pull it over her shoulders and wrap it shut, tying the belt in place with a weak tug. 

Sopping wet locks of her red-hued hair clung to her neck and shoulders and she reached with pruned fingers for her bag of toiletries. Her black comb glinted in the warm light of the bathroom while she halting worked the teeth through her hair. The rest of the hotel room was quiet. When she had finished her story the majority of the team had scattered like a startled herd of deer. From what she had managed to gather through her distant observation, Tristan and Yasuhara had gone down to a cafe to do further research using the information Mai had provided. Tristan hadn’t seemed familiar with any of Mai’s recollections but he had assured the team he could at least get rid of half of his list based on her experience. 

Monk and Ayako had shared a knowing look with each other before they had both wrapped Mai in their arms and left. No doubt there would be much discussion between the two of them that night while Masako trailed after them in their wake, white as a sheet and covering her mouth. 

Andrew had shuffled off after John and Nora. 

And Lin had declared he would be returning home for the night. 

Mai couldn’t blame him. The man hadn’t seen his wife and newborn child together since the case had begun and he deserved a few hours of rest and recuperation with them before returning to tackle the beast Mai had prodded awake with her actions. Presumably, he lived in London and wasn’t far from home. Mai doubted anyone was in any sort of hurry to return to the museum anyways, she at least knew she wasn’t. And if poor Madoka had been watching over Lixin by herself this whole time she deserved a break too.

The comb was dropped onto the counter a few moments later. The bathrobe had managed to absorb most of the excess water from her hair and, truthfully, she couldn’t be bothered to dry it at that moment anyways. Her body ached for food and rest. 

When Lin had left the hotel the only one who had remained was Oliver himself, standing at her shoulder, still just out of sight. She didn’t know what she had expected when the door clicked shut but it hadn’t been him guiding her to the bathroom without further communication. He had started the shower, set the robe on the counter, and given her the space she requested without complaint. 

Now, as she shuffled out into the living room with bare feet scuffing against the velvety blue carpet, he stood at the bay window with his back to her. She could tell that he was staring out at the street below with distant focus, arms crossed over his chest, shoulders taut. There was anger and frustration in his stance that no amount of impassive looks or cool statements could mask. The yellow light of the streetlamps spilled in through the curtains, cutting swaths across his face, lining his cheek that turned towards her upon hearing her enter. 

Mai wrapped her arms around herself, hands lost in the voluminous sleeves of the white bathrobe, and dropped her eyes to the floor as he stared her down from across the room. There was a pregnant silence between them, neither ready to talk but both choking under the words building within their throats. And despite the fact that she had just spent the past thirty minutes scrubbing her skin raw in the shower she felt dirty before him. 

He looked upon her blankly, aloof, and she could only assume he was judging her for her failures. 

And that stoked the coals in her chest, she wanted to lash out against him, but her hands were shaking and she felt like she was going to pass out from hunger and exhaustion at any moment. So the words that eventually made it past her throat were tired, betrayed, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Oliver turned to face her fully, clenching and unclenching his hands before he moved to stride across the room toward her. There was no hostility in the action, not even a hint of urgency, yet Mai shifted ever so slightly as he approached. And as bored as he usually was with such things as emotions and body language, he was not blind to them. Oliver drew up short just two feet from her, blank mask fractured by a look of confusion before he turned his face away with a sigh. 

“I wasn’t certain,” he admitted quietly, voice a little husky, a rare display of emotion. 

Mai eyed him critically. In her state she was struggling to accept such an answer from him; she was questioning whether she should even trust him. How could the great Oliver Davis not know if his brother was still hanging around after death? Finding Eugene had been his drive for as long as she had known him, and when Eugene had been found Oliver ceased to exist within her life. But then again, he had never known that Eugene had been working through her for that entire year. That his brother had been dancing around on the outskirts of their lives, pulling strings, feeding her information, wishing to help his brother in some small way. For as smart as Oliver was, his brother sure knew how to stay one step ahead. Being dead helped. 

That must rankle him, she thought with a knowing gaze settled on his half-turned face. 

“You suspected then,” she clarified. 

Oliver turned his eyes to meet hers, silent. 

“For how long?” she continued, taking his silence as the confirmation it was. 

“The day that I came to you with the case,” he answered honestly, voice cool as ever. His tone matched the oceanic depths of his gaze, but the words were laced with an intensity that surprised her because that night had been the first night he had ever touched her in such a way. They had kissed in her hotel room while she had tears in her eyes, at her wit’s end with trying to outmaneuver him while he easily tore through her attempts and came crashing back into her life. He had asked her to stay… Mai’s eyes narrowed and she turned to face him fully with pinched brows. 

“You came to me because of him,” she stated flatly. 

“Because he told me to,” he replied grimly. 

Mai stared at him, utterly gobsmacked by what she was hearing, while that familiar heat rose up behind her eyes and she lifted them to the ceiling in hopes of forestalling the tears. There had been a small part of her before she had tried to leave that night, that had been relieved in thinking Eugene had moved on and that he was no longer a part of the equation. It was a little less complicated, and a little easier for Oliver to deal with his insecurities, to understand that Mai’s feelings had, in the past, been for him alone. If Oliver wasn’t living in his late brother’s shadow he just might be able to accept that someone could love him, even if he still doubted it every now and then. She had hoped that he could find someone in the future who he could cherish while she went about her life back home in Japan. And then he had shown up at her door, obliterated her efforts, and kissed her senseless while asking her to stay. She had tried to convince herself that she wasn’t caving to him like the idiot teenager she had been, but it had all been in vain. She was powerless against him just as she was back then, unable to deny him. 

So what was this? Some sick twisted idea that Oliver was allowing Eugene to live vicariously through him? Or that he felt he should do as his late brother asked to keep him happy? 

“You would have let me go,” she stated in a warbling voice that appalled her. Her eyes may have been drowning beneath the tears she refused to let fall but there was a deep anger fueling them. Anger at herself for playing the fool. Again. 

Never one to mince words or lie, Oliver tilted his head with a sigh and a resigned: “Yes.”

Something in her chest twisted, painful and ugly, and she found her eyes dropping to the floor between them. She was unable to look at him, even when he reached out to gently take one of her hands in his own, as if in apology. Perhaps he might even have had something to say, some argument or reassurance that might have helped to ease the situation, but Mai didn’t let him say it. She stared down at their hands blankly before she used her free hand to pull his away and crossed her arms with pursed lips. 

“I think I’ll go home,” she said with a shaky nod, “After I help Lydia, I mean.”

“Mai,” he murmured gently. 

She lifted a hand in hopes of stalling further attempts from him. “I’m holding myself back right now because I really want to give it to you, Oliver, but I’d probably pass out in the process, so…” she trailed off with a half shrug, sniffed once, and turned on her heel to retreat back into the bedroom. The door slammed shut in her wake and she locked it, just for extra assurance, despite the fact that he could unlock it at any point with a bit of power if he truly wanted to. It sent the message across clearly enough. 

Mai leaned back against the door as the tears spilled over her lashes and trailed down her cheeks in the dim light that spilled forth from the window. The night was still young and the sound of traffic could be heard from below along with muffled conversation and laughter from those in the hotel or on the sidewalk right out front. She missed The Lion, her peaceful solitary suite, and Hodge. She missed the days before she had run into all those faces from the past, when she was living in a new country for the sake of experiencing something new, working on her writing, and no other drama to distract her. She wanted to go back to that version of Mai. 

Out in the living room, Oliver stood in the same spot, eyes vacant and pointed to the floor at his feet. 

The night sky spread for as far as the eye could see, punctuated by bright stars and a hauntingly large moon casting blue light spreading across the land. Great ancient trees reached up into the air, their leaves yearning for the light, encasing those below within their own world beneath their canopies. Miniscule spheres of light glowed in the dark, their own lights rivaling the stars overhead, differing hues dancing through the air between currents, tossing alien shadows about in their wake. 

Insects sang in the night, their orchestras rising and crashing back down, heedless of the danger that lurked in the dark. 

A piercing yip rent the air, its cry filled with both anger and fear before an animal crashed through the underbrush of the forest. Yellow eyes glinted in the light from the stars, the moon, and the orbs. White teeth flashed, hackles raised, as it scrabbled across the ground; attempting to dislodge the smaller rabid creatures that had engulfed it. Its teeth punctured the skull of one and it tossed the pest aside before rolling over its back through a low stream. 

Red fur glimmered as a collection of orbs exploded out from beneath a disturbed bush. 

The fox growled in its frenzy, ignorant of the blood that poured from several wounds, the rabid foam spilling between its teeth or the missing tip of its right ear. It could only raise its hackles and continue fighting, there was no other course of action it could take. It had to reclaim what was stolen.

One eye opened in the dark of night and took in the familiar scene of a nursery. Moonlight stretched across the ceiling and cast the shadow of the mobile across the far wall. A crib sat to his left, nothing but a small crumpled blanket and a stuffed elephant within. It took his mind several seconds to process the image before he jerked in the armchair belatedly remembering he had picked Lixin up to rock him back to sleep after hours of crying. The infant had fallen asleep on his chest and now Lin’s arms hurried to wrap the baby up before he could slide down to his lap and wake Madoka up with his wailing. 

Lin held his breath for several long moments, waiting for Lixin’s face to crumple up in displeasure, but the babe was still fast asleep. Lin let out a sigh of relief before lifting a hand to run it through his hair, he was exhausted, and judging by the lack of sunlight it was still far too early for the average person to be up and about.  

The dream had woken him.

Lin slowly stood, careful of waking Lixin, while he cast his mind back to review the vague memory that was slipping through his grasp even then. He himself was not known to suffer any sort of prophetic dreams, pre or post-cognitive, but every once in a while, one of his Shiki would bring him one. They obeyed his commands but were usually otherwise rather unhelpful. If they offered aid in such a way it was generally because they themselves had taken pity on him or grown frustrated with his own failings. They were more like house cats than trained dogs. 

Lixin was settled back into his crib, Lin holding his breath until he had managed to extract his hands out from under the child, and only then did he dare to turn away and gaze out the window. Their city home looked out over a typical London street but it was surprisingly quiet that night, not a single car passed down below in the early morning hour. He was tempted to glance at the watch on his wrist but he refrained, choosing to cross his arms and lift his eye to the crescent moon above. It hung in the velvet darkness, smiling like the Cheshire cat.

He doubted he would get any more rest until the case was brought to a close. It was a saddening thought, his shoulders slumped before he sighed once more and turned away to step out of the room as quietly as he could manage. The door was left cracked open and Lin padded down the short hall into the dining room and kitchen. The house was small, with two bedrooms, and two bathrooms, with an extra room Lin had claimed as a home office and gym. But what it lacked in space it made up for in craftsmanship. The roof had been replaced the year prior and the kitchen sported all new appliances, courtesy of the Davis family. It was a bonus Lin could not refuse. 

The glass top stove glinted in the dark, the clock displaying 4:00 AM in bright lime green. Lin slowed as he passed the small kitchen island to eye the numbers with pinched brows. The color green was coming up far too often for his liking. He could have sworn the clock face had been red just the day before. 

He moved through the motions of making a pot of coffee while he thought over the vague remnants of the dream. There was no overt meaning he could discern from it other than the obvious similarities. It brought to mind the story Mai had shared with them all just a few hours ago, her fighting and thrashing through the waters against an enemy that outnumbered her, refusing to yield to her fear. Oliver had once likened her instincts to that of a wild animal, he wondered how delighted the man would be to learn he was closer to the mark than he realized. 

Lin poured himself a cup of coffee before reaching up to turn the overhead oven light on. It was just enough to see by while he blew a cooling breath over his cup and took a hesitant sip. It burned his tongue and scalded the roof of his mouth but it soothed the frazzled ache in his chest regardless. The lack of sleep was starting to get to him but if he went back to the hotel that night and slept it might do him some good. He felt better knowing that Monk would be there to watch over everyone. 

A part of him missed the easier days when BSPR only took on simple cases for the sake of data. He never had to worry about anyone losing their minds or collecting serious injuries when the spirits they were typically exposed to were the equivalent of weak low-level hauntings that SPR could have resolved in a matter of hours. But he couldn’t deny the fact that he had missed actually making a difference with his work. 

The phone in his pocket vibrated and he quietly cursed while reaching for it. There were very few people who contacted him regularly and even fewer that would be calling him at such an hour. For a moment his heart fluttered as he feared his elderly mother had finally passed on after years of sickness. But no. The number on his phone was completely unexpected. 

“Martin?” he questioned in low tones, hunching forward as if that would dampen the sound of his voice. 

“I tried calling Noll but I couldn’t get ahold of him,” Martin muttered grimly. 

“What’s happened?” Lin asked warily. In the background he could just hear the frantic voice of Luella, a large dog barking once, twice, and then the sound of a car door slamming shut. 

“Someone broke in,” Martin explained with a haggard breath. His blood pressure really hadn’t been the greatest the past couple of years, Lin doubted the current circumstances were helping. 

“But we can’t find Toby.”

The coffee cup shattered across the hardwood floor, waking Lixin almost instantly, and as his cries echoed through the house Lin could just make out the sound of Madoka’s feet hitting the floor one level up. He would usually feel terrible for having woken her but he was having trouble processing emotions of any kind at that moment. 

“They took him?” Lin asked urgently, stepping around the splattered coffee and heading for the kitchen table where his keys sat innocently glinting in the dark of early morning. 

“As far as we can tell,” Martin admitted through a throat tight with emotion. “I...I can’t…” he trailed off. It was obvious the man was at his limit, to push him any further would lead to a breakdown that Lin didn’t want to deal with and Martin honestly couldn’t afford. 

Lin felt ice work its way up his spine and surround his heart as Madako shuffled tiredly down the stairs in a pair of pajama pants and a tank top. She had braided her hair that night in hopes of having tamed curls that morning. She squinted in the dim light and turned her eyes to him in confusion. 

Toby missing was a horrifying situation, to begin with, but, there was no telling what Oliver would do, and with Mai so weak after everything…

“Fuck,” he barked out, mind racing. 

Madoka jumped in shock but her confusion was quickly replaced with worry. There wasn’t much in the world that could cause her husband to react in such a way. He prided himself on remaining levelheaded in any situation so anything that pushed him to the point of such panic was to be approached with great care. “What’s going on?” she questioned while Lin ran a hand through his hair, gripping it at the roots. 

Lixin was still crying. 

And then there was a light in his eyes and he bit out one word, “Fang!”, before turning away to pull the sliding glass door open. It rattled in the frame and slammed against the wall. 

Out on the patio, the sky was just beginning to lighten as wisps of smoke and vapor gathered from over the edges of the railings overlooking the street below. They crept like writhing worms making their way to the surface in a rainstorm, searching out moisture. Madoka’s potted tomato plant fell and shattered across the cement floor as the smog collapsed into a vaguely canine form that continued to grow and grow until it hunched over within the small confines of the patio, its fangs level with Lin’s nose. “You knew,” Lin accused darkly. 

Madoka sidled back a few steps to block the path to the hall leading to Lixin’s room and crossed her arms over her chest. It was rare that Lin called on one of his Shiki by name, and even rarer that he did it within their home. Servants they may be but she would hardly call them obedient. Lin had nearly lost his life on more than one occasion due to their trickery and she’d be damned if she let any of those things near their son. 

The hound huffed in vague amusement, empty eyes watching its human with mild interest. The cement cracked beneath its paws, the size of dinner plates with claws the length of Lin’s forearm. The patio could barely contain it, its shoulders pushed up against the rafted ceiling like Atlas beneath the Earth, but the story of this creature was hardly as glorious. It may have appeared to be made of fog but it still stank of blood and decay, bringing with it the fear of coming death, of its fangs finding your throat. 

“Bastard,” Lin muttered, the phone clenched within his fist. 

Fang cocked its head, ears pricked, and rumbled something in a language Madoka did not recognize. It sent the hair at the nape of her neck standing on end. 

“Go!” Lin commanded with a wave of his hand, dispelling the cloying vapors that had reached up and begun a lazy circle around his throat. “Find him! And I might just have a worthy opponent for you.”

The hound snorted, doubtful, but pushed itself to its feet and turned. The patio creaked and rattled around it before it bent down, haunches gathering, and launched itself into the sky. A rattling wind followed in its wake as it disappeared in the lighter sky to do as it was ordered. The patio chairs clattered against the wall and toppled over. 

Silence reigned in its absence as the stench and fear cleared from the air. 

“What is going on?” Madoka demanded pleadingly, her face pale after such a display. She was desperately fighting the urge to go to Lixin but his exhausted cries weren’t the most important thing at that moment, and she hoped he could forgive her for waiting a little longer. 

Lin looked back at her from over his shoulder, his fists clenched, “Martin believes Toby has been kidnapped.” 

Madoka gasped, slapping a hand across her mouth while she worked to process the information. Who would even dare? Panic was quick to follow and she glanced about the house frantically, attempting to prioritize before she had even gotten the full story. She needed to get dressed and she needed to get Lixin ready even though he would probably spend most of the time sleeping, he still needed warm clothes if they were going to be out of the house. Luella was going to need support now more than anything. She was already moving, packing things away into Lixin’s diaper bag while she swiped her own keys from the hook on the wall. She hurried back upstairs to change into appropriate clothes and only stopped when she came back down to find Lin still standing at the open sliding glass door, staring out over the rooftops of the nearby houses. 

“We have to go, Lin,” she urged, rattling the keys in her hands with her frenetic movements. 

Lin dropped his gaze to the cracked cement floor at his feet. “You go to them, Madoka,” he instructed her gently, “I have to deal with Noll.”

Madoka stilled, dropping the diaper bag back onto the table with a solid thunk.

She hadn’t considered that.  

Chapter Text

At some point throughout the night, a fog had rolled in along with a light rain. The warm-lit streets were soon swamped beneath a layer of cool moisture that muffled the sounds of the early morning city of London. It was the greyest Oliver had seen the city in a long while. As the horizon began to lighten by minuscule increments the ghostly street outside of the hotel room looking out over the museum came into view. The haunting environment was enough to dampen the mood of even the cheeriest person, he noted, while watching a hunched figure in a trench coat trudge up the sidewalk. A few cars with their lights cutting swaths through the fog passed by.

Oliver had claimed a seat at the bay window, an arm resting over the bent knee of his leg, while he observed the world outside. Heavy dark circles hung from his vacant gaze. For the first time in his life, as far back as he could remember at least, he found his mind truly blank. The sight of Mai’s tears, birthed from his own actions and words, had shattered something inside of him. He had never had any intentions of hurting her, but regardless, the truth of his actions had caused her pain in her sensitive state. And he didn’t know how to fix it. He was stumped. 

So Oliver sat at the bay window, not thinking, and stared out onto the world until the sky began to lighten and there came a knock at the door. His vacant gaze sharpened a fraction as it swung from the window to the front door. The bedroom door that Mai had locked in her wake remained firmly shut despite the persistent knocking that grew more demanding the longer it remained unanswered. Oliver was familiar with such knocking, the moment he processed the thought the locking mechanism in the door was triggered with barely any effort on his part, and Lin stepped into the room wearing a rather dark look for one usually so calm.

Oliver froze, his heart silent and still in his chest for a moment, while Lin gently shut the door behind him and turned to face his charge. His palm remained splayed against the door as if to steady himself, while he met his gaze. They stared for several moments before Oliver slowly pushed himself to his feet with fists clenched.

“What happened?” Oliver asked, his tone tense with warning.

Lin watched the younger man for a moment, examining him before he straightened. “Someone broke into the house,” he explained in equally as tense tones, “And Toby is missing.”

There was a stretch of silence between them. 

“My mother and father?” Oliver questioned dispassionately.

“They’re fine,” Lin assured him, “Frightened and worried, but unharmed.”

“Good,” Oliver replied breezily before his gaze hardened like steel and he cocked his head, “Then step aside.”

“You know I won’t,” Lin muttered quietly and shifted just a fraction, placing himself squarely between Oliver and the door. “I’ve already sent Fang out to find him, Noll and the police have been involved. You can’t go flying off the handle.”

“So you say,” Oliver replied calmly.

“So I say,” Lin agreed grimly.

Oliver snorted. Lin was attempting to protect him unnecessarily. They both knew it. If Oliver did go on a rampage and find the supposed kidnapper, and murdered him in cold blood, Lin would help him bury the body. After nearly two decades together the two of them were all each other had when it came to true friendship. And they who had seen the cruelties and horrors of the world beyond what society allowed its people to see, what was hidden away, out of the minds of all those not directly involved, they cared very little for the fragile laws holding the charade in place. Lin didn’t care if he dealt with a kidnapping how he saw fit, no, what Lin cared about was Oliver being exposed to the death of another loved one.

Lin had been the one to find Oliver after he had borne witness to his brother’s death. It had been Lin who had burst into Eugene’s room all those years ago after no one had seen him for hours and found him sprawled on the floor with his back against the wall, eyes empty and face pale. He had been a ticking time bomb, stray strands of energy snapping out and sending the loose items of Gene’s room scattering across the floor. Lin had talked him down, brought him back to himself, and spent practical hours hunched over his lifeless form until the first quavering breath had passed his lips and Oliver had informed him that Gene had died.

“Hiding from the truth will not change things, Lin,” Oliver stated, taking a step forward. “If he is dead, I will take vengeance, and if he is not, then I might at least learn where he is. So let me pass,” he reasoned.

“And if you fly into a rage and your heart gives out?” Lin snapped, “Then your parents will have lost both of their sons and their grandson!”

“Let me pass,” Oliver replied, heedless of the man’s words.

“I will not,” Lin muttered.

Oliver narrowed his eyes and shifted back by a fraction, “You cannot stop me.”

Lin stepped forward into Oliver’s space and the two men stared each other down for only a few moments before the lock on the door beeped and it was pushed open to reveal a steely-looking Monk with a keycard in hand. His hair had been pulled up into a bun and he had traded his ripped jeans for sweatpants but his eyes were wary as he stepped into the room and shut the door behind him.

“Woof,” he said; an attempt at a joke despite the tension.

Lin’s shoulders relaxed now that backup had arrived and Oliver stepped back with a rare growl of frustration. Oliver could have taken Lin on his own and Oliver could easily take Monk on his own, but not together, not with them tag teaming. Lin must have stopped to recruit the man to his side before he had come to see Oliver himself. 

The dynamic of the room shifted dramatically the moment Takigawa stepped through the door and they all knew it.

Oliver was seething. Not only had he and Mai fought, not only was his son missing, but now his closest allies were moving against him. His fists clenched and he gritted his teeth against the mounting rage. He could feel the losing battle fizzle and die beneath the surface of his flesh, felt his ears pop, and watched as the two older men shifted into defensive stances before him as if he were a rabid animal ready to bite.

“What’s going on?”

The room seemed to freeze as Mai shuffled through the door rubbing sleep from her swollen eyes. It was clear she had spent the night crying herself to sleep, having changed into a pair of pajamas that made her look distinctly childish with their cartoon frog print, and had been woken by their argument. Or perhaps she had felt the shifting energy around Oliver. The man turned his face a fraction, just enough to watch her from his peripherals, and the volatile electricity building up inside of him settled by a fraction at the mere sight of her.

Lin pursed his lips and said: “Toby is missing. We think he might have been kidnapped.”

Mai reached out to grip the doorframe while her brows pinched together in concern. Her gaze trailed from Oliver and Lin over to the worried-looking Monk, hidden behind a wall of stoicism but there all the same, before she bit her lip.

“That’s horrible,” she mumbled, stepping forward into the room while she wrung her hands anxiously. “But…” she trailed off while her eyes bounced between the three men in confusion, “Who is he?”

Oliver half turned to face her with eyes narrowed while Lin and Monk shared a pointed look behind him. Once again, the dynamic of the room shifted as they all turned their attention to the woman in consternation. She shifted uncomfortably under their scrutiny and she seemed to be doing her best to avoid Oliver’s gaze the most, turning imploring eyes onto Monk, drawing him to her side without having to voice a request.

“You don’t know who Toby is?” Monk questioned, leaning forward just a fraction to examine her eyes worriedly. Had she been concussed after the night before and they had missed it?

Mai shook her head, “I don’t recognize the name. Should I?”

“You have no recollection of my son?” Oliver questioned sternly, his own brows crashing together in growing frustration with the situation. “The empath, the one you helped, you gave him your key, and then a bracelet made from a lock of your hair,” Oliver rattled off, gesturing to her as he spoke.

Mai listened with mounting panic as her hand reached for her throat only to find the absence of the familiar silver chain and then when her fingers brushed against the shorn hair at the base of her skull. Her eyes widened and she grew pale as understanding dawned on her. She lifted a trembling hand to her chest, the memory of a rotted hand penetrating her ribcage as if it were made of paper mache, ripping a golden fluttering light from its depths. “I’ll take this,” he had said with cruelty and malice. She would have remembered if Oliver Davis had a son, even if it had simply been mentioned in passing, overheard as distant gossip. Because hearing it now left her utterly flummoxed. But she had known him. She had cared about him enough to reach out and help him, to give him a piece of herself. To give him her mother’s key!

That precarious balance she had perched upon, staring down into the depths of an endless blackhole left in the wake of her walk across the astral plane, slipped out from beneath her feet. She could feel her mind slipping, pinwheeling on the edge, straining against gravity.

She had known him and he was missing.

Not missing, she corrected herself, he was taken.

“That’s what was taken from me,” she mumbled, rubbing at her chest while her eyes grew listless.

“Memories?” Monk questioned, turning uncertain eyes to Lin. Was that even possible? He had never heard of such a thing before and even the Onmyoji could only offer him a frustrated shrug in response. Whatever they were dealing with was something far out of the realm of what they had handled in the past. "What could it have gained by doing that?" Monk mused darkly. 

Lin shifted while his mind churned away, "Perhaps it had hoped to remove her from the picture."

"If she doesn't remember the target she wouldn't come after him when he goes missing?" Monk shot back in disbelief. 

Oliver was watching Mai. She looked lost and uncertain, small, compared to her usual self and he couldn’t help but feel partially at fault for that. She had taken far too many hits in the past forty-eight hours and it showed. It was all crashing down on her and the loss of her own memories seemed to be the final straw. She lifted her eyes to his, struggling to focus on his face, but her eyes slipped up into the back of her head and he was lunging for her before anyone else had even noticed.

Mai’s knees hit the floor with a resounding thud but Oliver was already at her side and pulling her out of her fall before she could hit her head. He lowered himself to the ground beside her and pulled her head to his shoulder while releasing a steadying breath, urging his own heart to calm in the chaos. She was already coming to not a moment later, lifting a hand to grip his shirt in a valiant attempt to steady her spinning head while her eyes struggled to open.

“Jeez,” Monk bemoaned and crouched down next to them, looking Mai over with a practiced eye. Working with the lot of them over the years had afforded him some knowledge and experience in such situations. “Did you eat, Mai?” he questioned knowingly, frustration lacing his tone.

“No,” Oliver answered grimly on her behalf. He lifted her into his arms despite her wordless protests and pushed himself to his feet, striding across the room over to the couch. “Monk, watch over her,” he instructed sharply, “I need to go.”

“No!” both Lin and Mai exclaimed at the same moment. Mai’s own voice was weak in comparison, but she had reached out and latched onto Oliver’s hand before he could pull away. “I need to go with you,” she added.

Oliver met her determined gaze silently. He didn’t know where they stood at the moment but he knew she was a valuable ally to have at his side regardless, especially when it came to his son, whether she remembered him or not. He wanted to find Toby immediately but with Lin’s Fang already dispatched there was little he could do to speed the process, he understood this on a logical level.

“Can you stand?” he asked quietly.

Mai’s heeled boots hit the pavement out front of the Davis manor no more than an hour later. She was showered, fed, and dressed in a dark grey pantsuit and black turtleneck. As soon as Monk had given her an egg sandwich from the cafe on the first floor of the hotel she had felt her energy returning along with fragmented slivers of memory that had been taken from her. While she had pieced herself back together she had been internally meditating, resettling her emotions, and tugging on the thin strand of memory like a spider reeling in its catch. Hand over hand she regained bits of detail at a time while something tugged away on the other end. But it wasn’t powerful enough to put up much of a fight when it was so far away.

Mai was thoroughly done with the beast within the museum. It was dangerous and powerful but she had been jerked around enough over the past two weeks, and she had the perfect punching bag to take her frustrations out on. With the knowledge of what he had taken from her, a new and powerful rage built up within her, stoked in her stomach and chest. Now that she was no longer starving and trembling, she could feel it there ready and waiting.

She had set aside her feelings regarding Oliver for the moment in favor of reclaiming what was hers. She felt like a fool for crying over him after all that she had been through. She blamed the trauma and her empty stomach.

Whatever had settled between the two of them after the revelation of her missing memory was far from conspicuous. When Oliver had helped her back to her feet after settling her on the couch they had pulled away from each other like the wrong end of two magnets and it did not go unnoticed by Monk and Lin. Mai had taken her hand back and clenched it into a fist before she muttered something about getting dressed. She had pulled the outfit on because it had been the last one she had packed, the rest of her clothes remaining back at The Lion, but she had touched up her hair and makeup while they drove over to the manor.

Monk had sat next to her in the back of Lin’s car while she lifted a compact in her hand and applied mascara. It was almost like old times, with Lin and Oliver in the front, muttering quietly to each other. Except Oliver was barely holding it together and not a single one of them was fooled. The man had sat taut like a bear trap in the seat, ready and waiting to snap its jaws shut over its victim.

The Davis Manor loomed over her, small in comparison to Ellen Worthwrite’s home but just as magical taking into consideration where it was located. The city of London practically rose around it, a small fairytale castle in the midst of modern industry. Several cars had pulled in through the front gate and parked out front along the curving drive that circled back around. Mai didn’t recognize any of them but that wasn’t necessarily surprising. She didn’t know the inner circle of the Davis family, regardless of the fact she had known Oliver and Eugene since she was a teenager, she had been removed from their existence soon after. And then later jerked back around into their orbit again against her will. 

Toby, she was here for Toby.

She funneled her rage into yanking back on the golden thread of her memories viciously and the fact that his eyes were just as blue as his father’s popped back into her mind.

Next to her, Lin’s steady gaze swung to her with curiosity.

It was a somber procession they made, walking up the brick-stone path leading up to the front entrance of the manor. The double doors were made of wood, painted a reserved faded navy blue that suited the mood perfectly, surrounded by the weathered red brick of the house. Potted plants had been nestled in the alcove of the entrance, spilling forth onto the raised porch, and continuing on down the steps on either side. Their great green fronds reached out in greeting as the group approached and climbed the steps into the house.

Oliver led the way, pulling the door open, while Mai followed at his shoulder. The man held the door open for her silently and she stepped in after him while their two companions shuffled forward in their wake. The foyer was lined with marble and dark wood wainscotting, a single staircase began to the right and followed the curve of the room up to the second floor. Above it, a grand chandelier glittered in the grey early morning light spilling in from a high set window above the front entrance. Plants and curious oddities abound, the room was practically swamped beneath them, and Mai could just bet the rest of the house was the same.

This was where the twins grew up.

Muffled conversation filtered in from the depths of the home and the smell of freshly brewed coffee wafter over them as the warm air was sucked away by the open door. Lin shut it behind him with a resounding thud that quieted the muffled voices.

“Noll!” the distant distraught call of Luella shattered the quiet daze that had fallen over their group and the man was stepping forward into the hall below the curving stairs. The hall was long but at the end, Mai could make out a couch and other various living room furniture, as well as a collection of monstrous potted elephant ear plants. The room must receive great swaths of sunlight regularly then, considering those plants, but it was dark now due to the fog and rain.

Luella stepped into the hall with hands clasped together in anxious worry, eyes wet and glistening in the warm light of the house, before she broke into a hurried pace. Her face was white as a sheet with the exception of the red around her eyes and nose, her hair was a mess, wild curls askew, and she had dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweater rather than her usual proper attire. Oliver paused in his approach as she opened her arms and pulled him into a tight and desperate embrace. He lowered his head to her shoulder and returned the hug, arms circling around her, while a collection of unknown individuals filtered into the hall from the depths of the house to watch on.

Mai averted her gaze and lifted her eyes to the stairs, trailing along their journey while she spun about at a slow pace, taking in the front room. A part of her couldn’t handle the sight of a vulnerable Oliver Davis at that moment while another part of her was entranced with the sight of his childhood home. Much like the office of BSPR, this too seemed to fill in a piece of the puzzle that made up the man she had done her best to understand the moment since they had first met. Now, however, the home was filled with the ghostly specter of a small blond boy and his infectious laughter. The energies of the home were overtly sorrowful and jaded but Toby’s presence had begun to lighten things, most recently all the more. His joy had exhumed a little of the mischievous delight that had resided within the walls decades prior. She could feel it.

Absently, she lifted a delicate hand and settled it on the banister of the stairs with a blank face. Internally, a bittersweet melancholy bubbled forth within her chest. It tried to extinguish the coals of her rage, fill her up with empty steam, but she brushed it aside in favor of pulling the web taut with a brilliant snap.

Toby liked matcha and sweet cream, lemon grass, and macaroni and cheese. She had thought he had the pallet of an old man at one point.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Luella was rambling wetly, unable to meet anyone's eyes. She pulled away from Oliver and hugged herself tight, looking so small and so sad, nothing like her usual bright and friendly self. “I lost him,” she wailed and lifted her hands to hide her face away at the same moment Madoka hurried down the hall, having broken through the crowd of people, and pulled Luella away to console her.

“What happened?” Oliver asked quietly as his father stepped forward from the group to greet his son.

Martin looked utterly defeated, settling such a heartbroken look upon his remaining son, before he dropped his gaze to the marble tile beneath their feet. “We were still in bed when we heard the crash, they broke in through a window on the second floor. By the time I made it to Toby’s room, he had already been taken. I’m not quite certain the culprit was entirely human. It happened so fast, no one would have been able to pull such a thing off without some sort of enhancement…” the man trailed off with a sudden gasp, his own eyes beginning to grow misty.

Martin used a handkerchief to dab at his eyes before he gestured for them to join the growing group in the back. They shuffled down the hall and Mai stepped into the large room with observant eyes, taking in the high vaulted ceiling and plush dark furniture. A large fireplace stood coldly at the far end of the room around which huge dark brown leather couches had been arranged atop an ornate Persian rug boasting a range of colors muted with age. Tall windows lined the room, reaching up towards the ceiling, allowing the grey light to spill forth and paint the vibrant green foliage dark and subdued. On the other side of the room a bar had been built into the room, a large dark wood thing that Martin had lined with antique barstools. Over it hung the stuffed head of a great stag, its pronged antlers reaching just as high as the windows, while its vacant eyes watched over the room.

Such a room suited Oliver far more than it did Eugene, Mai mused to herself while she stepped forward to claim a spot at one of the windows. From it she could see a sliver of the nature preserve Luella had made their property into. Great gnarly oaks with twisting limbs hid the rest of the yard from view but Mai could just make out a corner of a treehouse among the canopies. She wondered how long it had been there, whether the twins had hidden away within its walls. That, she decided, was more Eugene than Oliver.

“The police were here earlier but I did contact your uncle and set him on the case as well, he’s nearly just as good as you are at finding people and he doesn’t even have abilities,” Martin explained, moving over to the bar where an older couple had claimed seats, next to a middle-aged man in a brown coat. They were all nursing drinks but Mai couldn’t tell if they were alcoholic or not without snooping and she didn’t want to come off as rude or judgemental in such a situation.

“The security cameras didn’t catch anything?” Oliver asked dispassionately.

“Just static,” the gentleman in the brown coat grunted in frustration.

“That sounds familiar,” Lin commented quietly.

Mai crossed her arms and stared out into the grey wood. It did sound familiar. The day that Lydia had been taken from the museum the CCTV footage had all turned to static, virtually unusable while the staff and family frantically searched for her. It only further confirmed Mai’s theory that their monster had taken Toby right out from under their nose, most likely using Sam as some sort of puppet. It had broken the man’s mind and taken control of him. Mai couldn’t say she really faulted Sam for that, even her mind had nearly fractured under what she had suffered, and she had far more experience than him. The only thing that had prevented her from completely breaking was the knowledge that she was within her own astral plane, regardless of whether that creature had managed to warp it, it had been her’s and always would be. Up until the moment she had been tossed out over the chasm and seen the enormity of what it was, she had known, on some level, that she would return to her body and the sun would rise again.

There were three now, that Mai was determined to save. She would rip them out of the rotting mass of death and horror with her bare hands if she needed to, but she would be freeing Lydia, Toby, and Sam from its clutches.

And then she’d be going home.

Something brushed up against her thigh but when she dropped her eyes down she found nothing there. She couldn’t exactly bring herself to feel surprised at that. With all that the Davis family was involved with it wouldn’t be strange at all for their own home to play host to several unnatural things. But her eyes caught movement back out in the hall, a wispy and vague figure that only just managed to be seen in the grey light, and she found herself following in its path.

Oliver was deep in conversation with the men around the bar, having been joined by a stoic Monk and serious Lin, but the man watched Mai pass from the corner of his eye. She hardly spared them a second glance while her boots clacked against the marble tile but Lin and Monk both half turned to watch her retreat back into the foyer and turn left to mount the stairs.

“Excuse me,” Oliver muttered and strode after her.

Mai ignored the sound of his footsteps following while she climbed the stairs and stepped onto the landing that led into a long hall that ran the length of the manor. She looked left and then right down its length curiously. Several doors and windows lined the hall but her eyes were drawn to the left where the barest hint of movement caught her attention. She stepped out onto the blue runner and quietly hurried down to the door in question.

“Mai,” Oliver called after her quietly, urgently, and reached out as if to catch her hand in his before she pulled away and stepped into the room.

It was Toby’s room. The window had been broken out from within and the few shards of glass that had not taken the dive below had yet to be removed, scattered across the bay window seating. White gossamer curtains drifted in the breeze, letting in the cool moisture from outside. The room was dark and frigid, nothing like the whimsical safety the family had built it into in an effort to help Toby.

Mai’s breath caught in her lungs and she paused in the doorway while Oliver stood at her shoulder, looking into his son's room with a cold calculating expression. His breath ghosted over the back of her neck and she stepped forward into the room to scan its contents, pulling another length of webbing in for inspection, recalling the knowing look Toby had often worn, as if he was far older than he was. Such an expression was reflected in the conflicting emotions now writhing within the room.

“He’s been missing for three hours,” Oliver muttered behind her, reaching out to flick a light switch on and toss some warmth into the mix. “After twenty-four hours, statistically speaking-,” he was cut off.

“-Don’t,” Mai snapped in a low tone, lifting a hand at her hip to forestall his words.

Oliver obediently bit his tongue but stepped around her to move into the room smoothly, eyes roving over the once safe haven against the world. Now that safety and tranquility had been violated and Toby taken. He clenched his fists while Mai moved to inspect the window, brushing aside the shattered glass on the cushions with careful fingers.

Oliver’s eyes were drawn to the bed where Toby had most likely been sleeping when the first window out in the hall had been broken. Sam, the likely culprit, would have crept down the hall and thrown the door open. He tossed his eyes back over his shoulder and noted the indent in the plaster of the wall next to the door where the antique knob had struck. Sam then would have crossed the room, rushing the boy in bed, and scooped him up. The comforter was missing, so it had most likely been used as a form of restraint.

Oliver shuffled forward and dropped onto the mattress with a shaky sigh. He braced his elbows on his knees, steepled his fingers, and dropped his face against them. There was only so much he could do to calm himself and it was getting more difficult the further along he thought. He had never expected to have to deal with the kidnapping of his own son, but he supposed no one ever truly did. Perhaps, a foolish part of him had thought that after all he and his brother had been through, the universe would finally turn its attention elsewhere.

Across the room, Mai turned away from the window and caught sight of the man. She could not recall ever seeing him look so broken and defeated. It brought her up short and she was forced to shift her anger to the side for a moment so she could approach him and sit down on the mattress next to him with pursed lips.

“We’ll find him, Oliver,” she assured him quietly.

Oliver’s eyes opened just a sliver, a hint of brilliant blue in the dim room, while her words washed over him. They had accomplished much whenever they had worked together in the past. Memories broke through the surface of his mind of a different time when there was much laughter among his own periods of darkness. He had been desperate back then but those who had gathered around him had soothed the ache of a broken bond like nothing he had ever known before. They had solved many cases back then, and saved many lives, but they had also suffered greatly and watched people die. The world was not a fair place, it gave and it took indiscriminately, so while a naive part of himself deeply wished to believe Mai’s words, he knew there was no certainty behind them.

But his eyes caught on something laying on the hardwood floor at his feet, tucked away half beneath the end table beside the bed, glinting red in the dim overhead light. Curiously, he reached down and picked it up without thought.

And the universe exploded behind his eyes.

Chapter Text

“Mother!”

The desperate raging cry shattered the momentary darkness that had consumed his mind after the brilliant explosion of pain and color and sights and sounds. The voice echoed through the vast expanse, vocal cords straining, crying out against injustice. Blue eyes, wide against the darkness and light, turned to watch as a familiar young woman threw herself over the vacant body of an older woman, wearing white atop a futon, face hidden beneath a white shroud of death. The grey light of an early morning softened the scene but the girl was still wearing a middle school uniform, shoulders shaking with her face buried in her mother’s shoulder, red-hued locks long and fanning out over the white gown as if to shield her mother from death’s sight.

“Come back,” she pleaded in a broken childish wail, “What am I supposed to do without you?”

“Mommy!”

The new voice startled him and he gasped, breath catching painfully in his throat, while he spun on his heel to chase after the memory. The darkness bloomed around him as he delved into its depths. Like arms reaching out to embrace him, he found himself swaddled within the layers of recollection. Data. It streamed past him and he reached out on instinct to grasp at the tendrils like a man clinging to a life raft.

He was sitting in a chair in front of Toby. The boy was crying and he saw himself crouched at his side, brows drawn in concern and frustration at his own inability to remedy the situation. Over Toby’s shoulder, he could see Lin and Madoka share a startled glance before his closest friend stepped forward to intervene.

But his gaze returned to the boy as he reached out, fingers splayed wide, and fear welled up from within.

That childish hand was replaced by one that was older, beaten and bloody, trembling. She was reaching out to him from the stairwell below, her eyes pleading and just as tear-filled as his own child’s. For the first time since taking the case, he felt his heart twist in despair for the girl. She was still so young, barely older than Mai when they had first met, yearning to be rescued. She still had parents that she missed, still remembered the last time she had been picked up by her father, and still felt horrible for the fight she had had with her mother that morning over going to the museum.

She wanted to live on, even in death she ached so strongly to continue existing.

She was running like the wind, leaping like a deer through the wood, great bounding strides that left her feeling weightless as she spread her arms wide. She felt the laugh bubbling up in her chest before she let it out, her heart soaring. The feeling had not yet been tainted by the fear of death, she still felt strong and whole, powerful and free.

The ribbon before her snapped and the sound of her family and friends cheering ecstatically reached her ears, breaking through the sound of her own pounding heart, the tempo she had paced herself to.

And then it was Toby bolting past him. A small blur in the darkness, feet splashing through water that he could not see or feel, little fists clenched tight. The hallway leading to his room materialized around him and he was forced to follow in his son’s footsteps while he ran, crying, into his room.

It had been how most days had come to an end since his adoption. Overwhelmed with it all the boy would flee to his only safe space where Oliver and the rest had promised to never trespass if it made him more comfortable. The last time he had set foot in the room had been to build the castle reading nook while Toby waited out in the treehouse where the world was quieter and kinder.

Then it was Mai pounding down the hallway lined in old cracked tile, the sound of his own voice calling after her, a determined expression on her face. Her fists were clenched as she leaped up a set of stairs, gasping for breath with wide eyes, and skidded past a hallway in her hurry to reach Masako. She backtracked and dove into the hall without fear, ferocious in her resolution. Masako would be saved if she had anything to say about it.

She was still running from him when she opened her laptop and typed a quick search online, looking for flights back home.

His feet hit the ground in a forest, the sound of crickets and running water reaching his ears, the humid smell of the loamy earth wafting up from below. He was gasping for breath, struggling to process the assault of information that he had no experience in navigating, but his blue eyes caught sight of the red-furred figure darting through the underbrush and he pushed himself up to follow with a grunt.

“Mai,” he bit out, shunting foliage aside as he dove through the forest, crashing through the fragile ecosystem with all the grace of a bull in a china shop. The red fur glinted in the low light of twilight ahead of him, always just out of reach.

Something larger and darker loomed up ahead and the scent of death and decay, cloying and sickly sweet, crept along the forest floor. His footsteps slowed while he gasped for breath.

Behind him was Toby’s room, the boy sitting up in bed in the dark, gripping his blankets for dear life. At the foot of his bed crouched a dark figure, obscured by some malice or miasma, but terror leaked from every pore and crevice of it. It reached a hand out towards the boy and he stepped forward to intervene, potent rage erupting within him, static building along his skin.

And it was immediately snuffed out when the ground fell out from beneath his feet and he was freefalling through miles of darkness, eyes were blown wide in hopes of catching sight of anything he could latch onto. Cold wet darkness raced passed him until his eyes caught sight of something wretched and rotting below. The walls of a chasm rose up to surround him while the chaotic mass of writhing shifting figures assaulted all of his senses. It stank like things he had not the words to describe, it looked revolting, and the sounds it exuded were enough to send a thrill of terror through his nervous system the likes of which he had never felt. It exuded horror and fear, it forced it into your system like a drug, made it spread until you were under its control. Even through the fragmented memory of a memory, he felt it working away at his resolve.

It drew closer and closer as he fell further, a rotted hand reaching out of the mass to claim him, patiently waiting.

And then a grip like iron wrapped around his wrist and pulled him back.

He tossed his head back to catch sight of his own face, teeth gritted, straining against his weight and the overload of information.

“Hold old, Noll, she’s coming,” he forced out with a groan, arms, and shoulders straining against it all while that rotted hand from below inched closer and closer.

“Oliver?” Mai called questioningly. The man had bent down to pick something up from the floor and he had only just clasped it between his fingers, lifting it for inspection, when he froze. She had never seen him wear such an empty expression before. His eyes were as vacant as the dead's. As soon as the thought flitted through her mind she was pushing herself off the bed and crouching before him in panic. She had never seen him use his abilities before, given he had been hiding them that first year, but she suspected it looked something like what she was seeing now. And if he had picked something up off of Toby’s floor then she could only assume he was seeing something through Toby’s eyes. “Oliver?” she called again, more urgently.

Her eyes dropped to his hand and she gripped the fist with her hands, prying at his fingers with all the strength she could muster, but she was unable to gain purchase against his hold. Try as she might to wiggle her fingers between his, she couldn’t loosen his grip.

He could be witnessing the death of his own son right before her eyes and she was helpless to stop it. She reached up and took his face in her hands, his eyes sightless, pupils still despite her movement. His hair was feather soft against her fingers but she paid it no mind.

“Stop!” she exclaimed, patting his cheek none too gently, attempting to rouse him. If she could pull him out quickly enough, she might be able to spare him some of the horrors, spare herself some of it too. Because she didn’t know if she wanted to know Toby’s fate just yet, didn’t know if she was ready, considering that golden web still spun out into the darkness far beyond the horizon of her astral plane.

Her mind skipped and jumped back to that thought.

“Lin!” she called out over her shoulder, “Monk!”

She could hear them running through the hall, their feet pounding up the stairs, while she settled her forehead against his and closed her eyes. A cold sweat had taken him because he felt cool and clammy against her skin but she paid it no mind. Instead, she focused on that feeling of the sand pulling out from beneath her feet. The waves washing over her legs, urging her to step forward, the cool darkness of night overtaking the sky.

She dove forward into the waters, arching through the air like a trained swimmer, the icy darkness encompassed her and threatened to steal her breath away. It was not as warm and inviting as it once had been. The water stung her flesh and it wasn’t until she resurfaced, gasping for nonexistent breath, that she understood why.

Golden ichor poured from her body where various holes had yet to close. It spilled down from her head, trailing down her neck and over her chest. As she pulled herself up out of the water and onto her feet it splattered across the semi-solid surface, painting the darkness in her effervescent glow. Her very soul ached with half-healed wounds but she comforted herself with the thought that at least they were healing. Still, the liquid poured from the gaping hole in her chest which still had a long way to go. She lifted a hand over the wound with a small cry of pain.

Water and ichor slid down her body as she shook her head and padded forward. Now was no time to agonize over her current state. She was working on piecing herself back together and she was still able to move, that was all that mattered.

There were very few flitting orbs on the astral plane at that moment but that was no surprise. Everything had been uprooted and unsettled. Her eyes caught on the distant sight of an explosive white glow in the distance. The light fluttered and fluctuated with a rapid intensity that had pushed the surrounding spirits away lest they be consumed.

Typical, Oliver Davis made a spectacle of himself no matter where he went.

Mai pushed forward into a jog that quickly grew into a run, feet splashing through the water as she went. In her wake was a trail of gold, a path to return home by. It cut a swath through the darkness and the few spirit orbs that remained to watch the event warily drifted towards her golden-speckled path curiously. Her heart pounded in her chest, regardless of the hole there now, and the beat set her pace as she bounded across the distance, the light growing brighter the closer she came.

“Mai!”

That was Gene’s voice calling out for her over the sound of the rippling water and displaced air. The light was like a vacuum, a void, sucking in the air and information around with explosive intensity. She could feel it trying to pull something from her as she drew near and she was forced to run around it, eyes locked onto it despite the pain it caused her retinas because there was Gene. It was a hole in her astral plane that he was crouched over. The light emitted from it, practically blinding her, but his knees were braced along the edge and his arms locked around who she could only assume was his brother.

She let out a primal sound of rage, an appalled and frustrated screech, when she understood what it was she was looking at. That thing had dared to punch a hole through her plane. A sort of entry point from which it could feed her fear, and siphon away her memories. It was the hole in her chest just as it was a portal on her astral plane. And, as if to confirm her theory, a silken gold tendril was whipped away in the breeze and sucked back into the hole. No doubt a memory of Toby that she had reclaimed earlier. Again, that revolting feeling of knowing and understanding that she had been violated in the most volatile of ways took hold of her.

“No you don’t,” she ground out through gritted teeth and lunged forward, throwing herself down next to Gene and reaching out. Her hands wrapped around an arm before she could even register the blindingly bright gaze of Oliver turning towards her. His blue eyes glowed in the darkness, memories, and energy building from within, but he looked far from frightened despite the monstrosity that sat like a fat slug below him. There may have been pain in his grimace as he tightened his hold on his brother’s wrist, but there was anger there too. He was breathing raggedly as if he had run miles before latching onto his brother, but that practically went unnoticed when Mai caught sight of the water welling up within his eyes.

A gold droplet splattered across his cheek.

“Gene,” she called warningly as her eyes landed on that rotted hand far down below, reaching out. Not even her hair whipping about in the rushing wind could hinder her from seeing that.

“I know,” he bit out and heaved against the vacuum pull.

“Just-,” Oliver cut himself off with a grunt as another stream of memories tugged at his awareness, “Let me get rid of it,” he finished with a growl.

“No!” the two shouted in unison, their brows furrowed, consternation loud and clear.

Oliver’s power would do nothing here other than to cause damage back in the physical world. Who knew who all had gathered in Toby’s bedroom and would be well within the blast range of such an attack? Mai didn’t plan on fizzling out in a blaze of embarrassment and she didn’t want Oliver to live with that guilt if he lived. If he died she suspected he would become something far greater and far more dangerous than anything they had dealt with before. The guilt would torment him into oblivion.

“You have to close it, Mai,” Gene pleaded, turning desperate eyes to hers. It seemed he was thinking along the same lines as her.

Mai turned away from him to stare down at the horrorshow below. The thing seemed to sense that the situation was escalating, possibly towards an end, and it writhed with renewed energy below. Gelatinous masses of the stuff bubbled up, pushing the rotted hand higher and higher into the air.

“But my memories…” she shot back. If she closed the hole it would likely sever the connection that she had unwittingly been using to her advantage. While it had allowed the monster some level of access to her it had also been the reason she had been able to recall what she had of Toby. She had no idea how many more memories it had taken from her.

“As long as you are alive, you can make more, Mai,” Gene countered as levelly as he could manage.

Mai bit her lip against the hot tears welling in her eyes. He was right, of course, if they succeeded she would have the opportunity to make more memories with Toby. Perhaps, the ones she had lost were a fair price to pay for the lives the monster took. It smarted against a bit of her pride, but she had to let that go, they would defeat that thing in the end regardless. She tightened her hold on Oliver’s arm with a grunt.

“How do I close it?” she asked with a groan.

Gene scoffed in mock offense, of all things, before he grew serious and said: “Remember what I taught you. It’s all energy. Be the energy you want in the world around you. Heal.”

Mai snorted, it was easy enough for him to say, he wasn’t the one that had been torn to pieces. She was in tatters, spilling golden ichor everywhere, Oliver was practically painted in it. It slickened her hold on his arm and she had to constantly readjust her grip lest he slip right through her hold. Her whole body stung, especially where the gapping wounds touched the water of her astral plane as it funneled in through the opening, raining down to splash against the beast below. She had locked her knees in place but all her muscles strained against gravity, burned with it, to keep hold of Oliver.

And see, it brought her back to that conversation she had with John all those months ago, about how she felt like she had taken one too many hits. She had asked him if she would ever heal and he had said she would, it would only take time. Well, she supposed time was up now. But how do you suddenly set everything right that's been festering within for nearly two decades? It started with her father, followed by her mother, and then it had been the year with Oliver. And after that it had been a slew of stumbling mistakes and betrayals that had left her with no choice but to simply silence her emotions, to pat them into place and seal them away tight. Now she even had to give up her own memories to fix things because of the monster below.

“Mai.”

She turned her gaze to meet his. He called her name with that same gentle aloofness she had always known him to use, as if the current situation was no more a bother to him than a simple change in the weather. “It’s okay,” he assured her quietly.

She didn’t know what exactly he was trying to do. He could just be attempting to encourage her or he could be urging her to let him go, to play the valiant hero, either way, she wasn’t having any of it. “It’s really not,” she shot back thickly, tears rolling down her cheeks. Nothing about the situation was okay: not the monster below, not what Toby had suffered, not Oliver’s current state, or the fact that it all hung on her magically fixing her messed up mind so she could hurriedly piece herself back together.

Oliver cocked his head just so, eyeing her before he murmured: “And that’s okay too.”

Her eyes widened in shock and she swallowed, processing, recognizing the fact that he had just tossed her own words back at her. What a typical Naru move, she thought distantly before she nodded. “Okay,” she mumbled in response.

Mai closed her eyes against the chaos and turned her attention inwards. Doing so while her soul lay bare, already freed from its mortal coil, was a daunting experience. It was one thing to retreat into your mind during the waking world but to do so while you were astral projecting was like peering out into an abyss. Like staring into the universe. It was an immediate thing that cut her off from the sensations of the astral plane almost completely, to the point that her ears rang in the silence.

“It’s okay,” she repeated to herself with a steadying breath. “It’s not and it is,” she continued and mentally stepped forward down the hall of her emotions. And as she moved she pried each one from its place and let it float free. Let it all go, she told herself. She wasn’t healing the wounds by sealing them all away, she was only starving the wounds of oxygen and moisture, allowing them to fester while she hid it all away beneath a layer of calm. She couldn’t heal instantaneously, nothing could, but she could jump-start the process and patch up at least the one gaping wound left in the wake of Toby.

She would make new memories with Toby. They would find him and bring him home and she would get to know him all over again. It would be fun, she already knew she would love him, and wasn’t that reassuring? Why else would she have gone to such lengths for him? Given him her mother’s key above all else?

And maybe she would put off returning to Japan for a little longer…

Her eyes opened and she met Oliver’s gaze challengingly, turning his usual daring look back at him, scrutinizing him. In some way, she was putting her faith in him too. By doing all of this she would be making herself vulnerable before him all over again, but she had to accept that in order to succeed here and now. So she huffed out a breath through her nose and turned her focus to the hole in her chest, willing it closed while soothing the jagged edges with the thought of things to come. The missing memories would be patched with new ones, the understanding that they were sacrificed for the greater good, and she would be happier in the future at some point because of it. She thought of her mother, knowing that if she were in her position she would make the same decision. And that warmth sent light spilling forth.

Oliver watched with wide eyes as the edges of the hole through which he had fallen began to glow and slowly close. Gene’s grip on his arm tightened and the late twin pulled back until he could get his feet under him and use his weight as a counterbalance. Mai was able to pick up the slack even while her concentration was turned inwards, biting her lip against the strain. Just as the hole in her astral plane began to close, so too did the one in the center of her chest. Oliver’s gaze was drawn to it even as he managed to lift a knee up over the edge and the monster down below wailed in outrage through the voices of the many it had consumed over the centuries.

But the boost was all they needed because suddenly the three were sprawled out in the crystal clear waters of Mai’s astral plane and the hole had snapped shut with a resounding and deafening silence. Oliver stared up into the darkness, gasping for breath, while overhead some of the braver spirit orbs drifted back into the vicinity to inspect them curiously. He felt utterly raw and hollowed out, mind fractured after all that he had experienced in a matter of minutes. The memories and emotions that had assaulted him, fever dream visions that left a residue over his entire being, had pushed him to his limit. He had prepared himself to experience death, the usual rush of horror and acceptance or denial that came at the end of one's life, the fight. He hadn’t expected to feel all that Mai felt, to feel all that Toby felt, and even Lyda, all simultaneously. At once he knew Mai more intimately than she probably wished him to. And for the first time he had seen Lydia before him, understood Mai’s desperate need to help her, and why Toby reaching out to her had frightened her so. He knew the fear his son had felt and he was still battling the rage it evoked within him.

“You boys are going to be the death of me,” Mai’s exhausted voice cut through the silence between them.

Gene let out a bark of ironic laughter and sat up, tossing an arm across a knee to settle the two with a look of wry mirth. “That’s in poor taste, don’t you think?” he questioned.

“No,” Mai countered flatly, “Not one bit.”

“Ugh,” Oliver grunted and threw an arm over his eyes. The last thing he had ever wanted was to deal with both of them at once.

Mai was suddenly hit with the realization that this of all times was probably the first and only time all three of them would be together on the same plane. These two who had caused her so much trouble over the years, intentionally or not, dragged her half away across the globe facing off against dangers she never would have expected to find herself up against. She couldn’t regret it but she sure wished things were a little less complicated, she could admit that to herself with a tired sigh, at the least. She wished Gene had been honest and upfront with her from the beginning, so Mai could have had a clear head on the day of their final goodbye. And she wished Oliver wasn’t still living in his brother’s shadow even after his death. But still, here they were together, risking each other for each other.

Mai reached out and gripped one of each of their hands with a relieved sigh. Gene twisted his hand to wrap around hers while Oliver’s fingers interlaced with her own and he squeezed, though his eyes remained hidden in the crook of his elbow. There was a warmth between them that she had felt nowhere else and it grounded her in the certainty of her decision, even though she was still leaking golden ichor and she felt more exhausted and wrung out than she ever had, she knew it was the right course of action.

“You two should be getting back,” Gene murmured quietly, voice gentle now that the amusement had dwindled beneath the bittersweetness of their reality, “I’m sure Lin’s about to pop a blood vessel.”

Oliver pulled his arm away and turned to meet his brother’s stare, just a few shades of blue different between the two of them, and although they didn’t share any words Gene still reached out and brushed the hair from his brother’s forehead with a tragic smile. Something in Oliver’s gaze shifted before he reached up to grip his brother’s hand and pulled it down over his eyes, blocking out the astral plane and the sight of the two hovering over him.

Mai felt her heart shatter in her chest while Gene turned a helpless and pleading look onto her.

“Enough of that, Noll,” Gene admonished thickly turning his eyes back to his brother, “You’ve gotta go get my nephew back.”

“We will,” Mai assured him gently.

The spirit orbs floated down around them in the darkness of the astral plane and the two brothers finally shared a moment since Eugene had perished all those years ago, and Mai bore witness to it with silent contentment.

When Mai opened her eyes it was to meet the oceanic depths of Oliver Davis, glassy and filled with more emotion than she had ever witnessed before. She pulled back by a fraction and found herself standing before him while he sat on Toby’s mattress, arms braced across his thighs, head tilted back so their foreheads could rest against each other. He watched her without words, eyes flicking between her own, processing all that had occurred and what he had experienced.

She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but her eyes rolled up in the back of her head before any words could make it to her tongue. Oliver reached out to pull her into his lap before she could smack her head on the end table but he was crumpling just the same, tilting dangerously over the edge of the mattress.

“We got you guys,” Monk’s voice cut through the tension of the room and Oliver was more than happy to let him take the woman from his arms while Lin stepped forward and eased the man back down across the mattress.

“Time?” Oliver mumbled while his head spun and his eyes fluttered. There was nothing but the ceiling fan above him but a part of him thought the floating orbs of Mai’s astral plane were still dancing over him.

“You’ve only been out for ten minutes,” Lin assured him stoically.

“Is there a guest bedroom I could set her down in?” Monk’s softly spoken words reached his ears despite his exhausted state. He opened an eye to catch sight of the tall man standing in the doorway, Mai hanging from his arms, consciousness lost to the world. His mother was hovering over the two of them anxiously, her face pale, while Madoka looked Mai over grimly.

“Just next door,” Madoka informed him and stepped back to guide the man out into the hall. “She can rest there for as long as she needs, it might even be a good idea to rouse her and get some sugars in her.”

“I know she hasn’t eaten as much as she should have the past couple of days,” Monk replied, stepping out of view, his voice growing more muffled the further he traveled down the hall.

Oliver was distracted from listening further when Lin settled two fingers against his jugular and lifted his watch to count. Oliver sighed through his nose but didn’t protest, it had been the man’s job to look after his wellbeing since his early teens so he couldn’t fault his paranoia.

“Gene was there,” he admitted suddenly in the silence. The moment Luella had left to help settle Mai he had lifted his eyes to the man standing at the bedside and was struck with the sudden urge to inform him of what he had experienced. Like himself, Gene had been close friends with Lin as well. For a while, it had been just the three of them against the world. Oliver hadn’t been the only one struggling to mourn Gene’s death in those early days; Lin had had his own issues to cope with.

Lin dropped down on the mattress next to him silently, shoulders bowed beneath the weight of his unspoken emotions. He lowered his gaze to his hands hanging between his knees while he recalled the last time he had seen Gene alive and well. He still had those cherub cheeks, still a baby-faced brat, unlike Noll who had begun to thin out by then. He ran a hand across his mouth, hiding the way the frown tugged at the corners of his lips against his will, before he met Oliver’s gaze from the corner of his eye, silent as the grave.

“He’s just as much as an idiot,” Oliver continued quietly.

Lin reached out to grip the man’s shoulder tightly, supportively, while Monk leaned in the doorway with his arms crossed, straightfaced and quiet.

Oliver opened his fist to reveal Toby's bracelet, red-hued fibers glinting in the low light. 

Chapter Text

Morning or Afternoon or evening!

I'm just posting this here to let you guys know the next update will not be released until a couple of days from now. I know, I am so sorry! I am having so much fun writing for you guys, challenging myself to crank out as much as I can while improving, but the past couple of days have not done me well. My insomnia struck with a vengeance, then my dumb self went out drinking last night, and now I'm exhausted and hungover. Aaaaaand, I may have pre-ordered Tears of The Kingdom and am hoping to dig my fingers into it tomorrow.

In a month I managed to crank out 150k words, edited and posted, so I feel like that's pretty darn good considering I had no overall plan for where this was going when I started.

Hopefully, I'll post again soon!

Chapter Text

Mai woke to the early light of a grey day. The usual brilliant oranges and blues were muted by cloud coverage and rain - but just a bit of the sun managed to peak through the overcast and spread some warmth over the unfamiliar room she found herself in. Someone had taken her boots off but her socks remained - she could see the shoes resting at the foot of the bed, waiting for her to reclaim them when she was ready. There was a stifling silence that swamped the room when she opened her eyes and she felt as if breaking it would result in blasphemy. But she needed to. She sat up in the bed, pulling the blankets with her, and scanned the basic room absently. There was nothing in it but the bed, two oak nightstands, and a long dresser against the far wall. Sure, Luella had filled it with a rug and some casual wall art, but it felt clinical and unlived in compared to the rest of the house. 

Her feet dangled over the plush rug while she scanned her surroundings. It seemed Monk had tossed her suit jacket over one of the bed posts but other than that, she was still dressed in formal attire. The turtle neck clung to her sweat-soaked neck and her hair was probably a mess, urging her to pull it out of its bun so it could fall freely about her shoulders. She felt rotten, but there was one thing she was certain she needed to do. 

Mai slid from the bed, pulling the blankets with her, wearing them like a cloak, and shuffled out into the quiet hall. She was uncertain of the time but she knew the day was still young given the light from outside, still, she was surprised by the silence of the house given the circumstances. She scanned the length of the hall, first left then right, before she turned on her heel and strode down the length towards the half-open door that looked into Toby’s room. 

Oliver lay stretched out across the mattress, bare of everything but pillows, his face turned away from the door. One knee was bent while a hand had been tossed over his stomach; it seemed Lin had left him there to rest after their adventure. 

He was due for some actual rest. No doubt the experience he suffered earlier that day had sapped him of energy, even Mai herself had fainted and she was used to such chaotic information overloads. But what they had been through was more than that and she would be a fool if she tried to convince herself otherwise. The fact that Oliver had been knocked on his ass was a blessing in disguise given the situation. Rather than spend the creeping hours of the day, slipping by like molasses, waiting to hear back about Toby and no doubt growing more agitated by the minute, he could recover. 

Mai stepped into the room on silent feet, padding across the plush rug that depicted bright iridescent bubbles floating over a velvet black background, and paused at the side of the bed. He always looked so sweet when he was sleeping, the dispassion fell away from his face and the arch of his brows gentled, it made him look younger. He was still young, she supposed, they both were. He still had a lot of growing to do in some areas, even though he would deny such words until his dying breath. 

She pulled the comforter from her shoulders and settled it over top of him, carefully, before she leaned forward to place a kiss on his forehead. His skin was cold against her lips. The window in the room had yet to be covered and it allowed the chill to seep into the room, the heating of the manor battling valiantly against it, but it wasn’t so cold that she felt the need to worry. With the blanket, he would warm up in no time. 

Mai paused at the doorframe to look back over her shoulder, assuring herself that all was well before she stepped out and quietly pulled the door shut after her. She waited for the click before turning to head down the hall only to come up short upon running into the towering figure of Lin. He stood in the dark hall with a frown but lifted a hand to steady her by the shoulder before she could stumble back. Mai slapped a hand to her heart, the organ pounding in her chest, while she worked to soothe her nerves after such a fright. The man was scary when he wanted to be, she just had never expected him to try and sneak up on her in such a manner. Most likely, he simply hadn’t wanted to run the risk of waking Oliver. 

“We need to talk,” Lin murmured grimly. 

“I was just coming to find you,” she assured him quietly and patted the wrist of the hand on her shoulder before she gestured for them to retreat down the hall. 

Lin sat her down at the bar in the family room and swung around the other side of the counter while she got herself settled and glanced about the room. It was empty of those unfamiliar faces that had seemed to swarm the Davis family in the face of another tragedy. Mai hoped she'd get the opportunity to know them one day - if circumstances permitted it - knowing that the Davis's only kept the most interesting of company.  

Mai turned forward to watch Lin settle a kettle on a glass-topped burner behind the bar. He had rolled the sleeves of his white dress shirt up his forearms while he worked, lips pursed in thought. She couldn’t fault him for retreating behind that cold facade he had used back in the day. They were all well beyond their limit and there seemed no end in sight to the darkness before them.

“Where is everyone?” she asked gently after clearing her throat. She had spoken as quietly as she could manage without whispering and still, she might as well have shouted from the rooftops. The quiet was so intense.  

Lin heaved a sigh and braced his arms against the bar top, leaning over it while he lowered his head, exhausted. “Madoka is with Luella and Lixin upstairs, Martin left to go for a drive, Monk returned to the hotel to update the team, and everyone else went home,” he explained ruefully, “Unfortunately, there’s not much that can be done in such a situation. I’m waiting to receive news.”

Mai threaded her fingers together over the bartop and waited patiently as the man gathered himself before continuing. 

"I sent one of my Shiki out to find Toby," Lin explained grimly. The admission seemed to inspire the need for action within him and, with little else to do, he returned to preparing the pot of tea. 

"How long do you think it'll take for him to find him?" Mai questioned. It felt rude to ask such a question but she needed to know. 

"It's difficult to say," Lin muttered, "Fang is hardly loyal but he does enjoy a fight. I imagine it might take him anywhere between a day to three to locate Toby...if we're lucky." 

Mai heaved a sigh and lowered her gaze to her hands in resignation. It would be so easy to let Oliver use his own abilities to locate his son but, like Lin, Mai doubted the man would survive the aftermath. To see and feel his son's terror would likely push him over the edge and there would be no stopping him - and that was if Toby was still alive. He'd already suffered the trauma of living through his own twin's death, and then further tormented himself with the memory just to feel close to his brother, to be exposed to Toby's possible death would ruin him completely. 

"He'll want to continue the case," Lin spoke up in the silence that had fallen between the two. He sounded defeated. 

Mai lifted her fingers from the bartop, brows raised although she couldn't bring herself to meet Lin's gaze, and said: "It might be for the best." 

"I know," Lin droned gruffly and set a steaming cup of tea before Mai. 

Giving Oliver a case to chew on was always the best way to distract him. Because Toby was now directly involved with the case they could kill two birds with one stone. It was likely the only way they would be able to come out on top of the situation. 

"We need to investigate the basement of the museum," Mai advised over the rim of her cup, "Everything seems to lead down there and it's the only floor we haven't yet had access to." 

Lin took a steadying sip of his tea and allowed his one visible eye to fall shut in thought. It was true. When the curator had first given them a walk-through of the museum he had strictly avoided the archives, stating there was no way Lydia - or anyone for that matter - would have been able to make it down there. At the time, the doors were locked and required a physical key to enter and the previous curator had kept it in the pocket of his vest at all times. He had assured them the rooms were thoroughly searched the day of the disappearance but now, with all that they had learned, Lin was beginning to doubt that. 

"We'll head out when Naru wakes up," Lin said with some finality. 

Voices drifted through the cavernous room, echoing off the distant walls and the industrial can lighting that hung from the ceiling several yards above the heads of the occupants below. Their words meant nothing to Mai in that moment and, as such, she devoted little thought to translating them while she focused on her observations. It had taken nearly an hour of arguing with the curator for them to be granted access to the archives and she would not allow herself to be distracted now. There was just too much to look through. Several basement levels rested beneath the museum and some of them, as their guide had explained while leading them down the familiar halls of the ground floor, had not seen much traffic in years.

“Security doesn’t do rounds below the exhibits?” Monk had questioned the younger man curiously.

The combined groups of BSPR and SPR had returned to the museum in the wake of Toby’s kidnapping by only a handful of hours. Not a single one of them had felt comfortable with sitting around, fearful of continuing their investigation, while Toby’s whereabouts were unknown - especially considering the likelihood that he had been taken by the entity they were hunting. Mai had made it known that they all had the option to return home if they so chose and their refusal to give up warmed her heart. Andrew, Nora, and Tristan might not have had much experience with the true horrors of the paranormal but they certainly had the guts to try anyway.

So while the group of investigators gathered back at base and grimly went about collecting the data the equipment had gathered in their absence, replacing batteries, and setting up computers - a handful of them requested access to the levels below in search of clues regarding Toby’s whereabouts. Frustrated with their dogged determination, the curator had supplied them with his own assistant to act as a guide down into the depths of the museum. 

“Not too often these days,” Marvin, a genial man who would likely be replacing the curator after his retirement, answered regretfully. He may have been a handful of years younger than Monk, and even Lin, but he was already greying at the temples. The salt and pepper look suited him, Mai had supposed, but it was clear the life of an up-and-coming curator was not an easy one. Still, like the current curator, there was a spark in Marvin’s eye that simply refused to diminish in the face of adversity.

“With the new security system, combined with the fact that there’s really only one way in and out of storage, there wasn’t much of a reason to continue. We’d immediately be alerted if the doors were opened and the cameras would catch any movement.”

Monk had frowned at that but it was clear he had no argument against such reasoning - it was only his experience with the paranormal that cautioned him against such negligence. It wouldn’t be fair to expect such vigilance from those who had never been exposed to the things SPR had. Still, he shared a knowing look with Lin as they hurried down the hall.

Mai, on the other hand, had felt her heart flutter fearfully in her chest at Marvin’s words. There was only one way in or out of the basement? Such knowledge sparked a primal terror from deep within that threatened to overwhelm her even before the assistant had unlocked the metal doors covered in chipping green paint to reveal an ominously dark stairwell.

It was disturbingly familiar, as she expected. She easily recalled the memory of a man standing at the top of the stairs while a river of blood and gore flowed down the steps in a mockery of some peaceful water feature. Lydia had paused at the bottom just long enough to look up, to engrave the image deep within her wilting mind, before she had spun on her heel and pushed through the other set of doors. Mai suspected that she had never returned to the surface of the museum - at least, not as a living breathing individual. It was only her spirit, broken and dwindling as it was, that continued to sprint down the halls in desperation - hopelessly seeking out a path of escape where there was none.

Mai paused at the top of the steps while the others parted around her and delved into the darkness without hesitation. Marvin’s voice bounced off of the cement walls as he continued to explain the details of their security system while Monk and Lin listened from either side. But it was Oliver who took a few steps before stopping to turn back to her with a questioning look. He was as composed as ever in the face of his son’s kidnapping, but Mai had honestly expected no less from him. Internally, she knew he was a storm of righteous anger waiting for the right moment to rain hellfire down upon the enemy, but he was as placid as a tranquil spring on the surface. He had been since the moment he woke up after returning from the astral plane.

Half shrouded in the dark of the stairwell, he looked haunting.

“Sorry,” Marvin’s voice cut through the moment of stillness, “The damn motion sensor was installed at the bottom of the stairs. We tried putting a ticket in to have the issue corrected but, as you can imagine, it’s a little low on the priority list.”

Bright light burst to life without remorse as the men reached the bottom of the stairs and tripped the sensor. Mai’s eyes slammed shut against the sudden onslaught just as a hand reached out and gripped her wrist.

“Mai.”

Oliver called out to her in that gentle tone, laced with only the idea of urgency, but, curiously, his voice sounded from several feet below her.

It was not his hand wrapped around her wrist.

Mai squinted in the new light that suddenly seemed far less hostile and blinding than before. The grip on her wrist had not slackened and, despite the iron strength behind the hold, she could not bring herself to fear the one holding onto her. The hand was slick with cooling blood, fingers trembling in exhaustion and terror, brittle and frail.

But still, Lydia would not release her. Would not let her set foot into the darkness below.

Mai turned her gaze to her left and took in the details of the young girl at her side with heartbreaking reverence. Dark and wild curls, once shimmering and healthy, framed a gaunt face that had once been filled with so much joy. Mai knew for a fact that Lydia’s cheeks had ached with laughter more days than not when she was alive. Her eyes were dark, yellowed, and bloodshot, too afraid to meet her gaze. Lips blue and cracked. Her sweater and jeans were torn and dirty.

Mai could not recall a moment in her life when she had seen a spirit of any kind with such clarity and so she greedily took in every detail - every loose thread, every stray hair, every smudge of dirt, blood, or bruise that marred her image. Lydia was using everything she had, every spare bit of energy she had managed to gather while she ran, to appear before Mai at that moment.

“I have to go, Lydia,” Mai quietly murmured.

At the base of the steps both Lin and Monk turned to look back in surprise and alarm, leaving Marvin to stand in the open doorway in confusion. Unlike the investigators, the assistant had little to no spiritual sensitivity so he was not privy to the sight before them. Even Monk, as limited as he was in sight, managed to make out a vague figure standing next to Mai at the tops of the stairs.

Lydia lifted her glistening eyes to Mai’s. Pleading.

Mai bit her lip in frustration and uncertainty. Lydia was frightened and she had every right to be, after all that she had been through…She had latched onto Mai and, really, it wasn’t all that surprising considering her abilities. She was fearful of losing her - the first connection she had forged with anyone since her death. To lose Mai would mean she would have to start all over again, to keep running, and Lydia (no doubt) felt she didn’t have it in her to continue.

Distractedly, Mai reached a fumbling hand into the pocket of her suit jacket.

“Mai,” Oliver called out warningly, taking a step up as if to stop her but the look she settled on him left him rooted to the spot.

“I can make another if I have to,” she assured him calmly. Still, there was guilt threatening to swell forth. She had yet to recollect the memory of when she had given the bracelet, crafted from a lock of her hair, to Toby - now she never would - but she still felt the gravity it held. The emotions were still there and she felt them tug at her heartstrings regardless of her assurances.

Lin pursed his lips, fists clenched at his sides, and watched on silently as Mai pulled the bracelet from her pocket and offered it to the spirit of Lydia with the same gentle care she had used with Toby. It sat innocently in her outstretched palm and, just as Toby’s had, Lydia’s eyes alighted upon it with a soul-deep knowing and fear. Like Toby, Lydia understood what it was that Mai was offering her and her response was enough to soothe some of Lin’s reservations - but not all of them.

“You can hold onto this for me,” Mai explained, “Until this is all over. It belongs to Toby.”

The hand clutching Mai’s wrist slowly released its hold and, trembling, accepted the bracelet. It sat within Lydia’s palm like a warm stone. Soothing waves of energy rolled through her as they watched and her pale and dirty skin seemed to glow with new life, if only for a moment. Lydia may not have been an empath but given she had long since left her mortal coil, she could easily see the power radiating from the piece of jewelry, see its ripples in the astral plane. Toby had once likened Mai’s power to that of a lighthouse in the darkness, a bonfire that reveled in the company of loved ones, but to Lydia - who had spent three decades running for her life in darkness - the bracelet felt like the hilt of a radiant sword in the palm of her hand.

Mai smiled tightly, mixed emotions swirling within her chest before she stepped down to join the others. It was the best she could do for Lydia at that moment. She was still trapped within the museum, incapable of passing on, but some comfort was better than nothing. Mai knew from experience that, sometimes, having something, anything, was better than nothing. There was a reason she had held onto her mother’s housekey after all those years.

She felt the glaring lack of the silver chain at that moment more than ever before. Her fingers reached up to brush against the collum of her throat while hoping that it was still providing some aid to Toby. It hadn’t been found in his bedroom when they searched through the crime scene so she could only assume the boy had held onto it and treated it with just as much care. 

Oliver watched her pass, something a bit like betrayal wriggling in the back of his mind but refrained from commenting on the matter further. It stung to see her give up the gift that had allowed him to hold his son, but he had also learned to trust Mai’s instincts when they were still just children. Oftentimes the actions she took resulted in a favorable outcome and so he made an effort to remind himself as he turned to follow in her wake down the stairs.

The memory of her astral plane flitted through his mind - placid waters disturbed by a glaring wound that pulsated with evil intent. Her form, effervescent and splattered in golden ichor, eyes filled with indignant rage and grief - grief over the fact that she would have to give up the memories of his son to save Oliver’s life.

He couldn’t bring himself to doubt her now. He wouldn’t.

Lin held the door for them all as they passed before he lifted his gaze back to the top of the steps. Lydia’s eyes flitted between the bracelet in her hand and Mai’s retreating figure before she clutched the object in her grip with something like a determined frown pulling her lips (no longer blue and cracked) and then she disappeared from view. The top of the stairs was empty once more, nothing but the fluorescent lighting dwindling as the metal doors finally swung shut in the absence of any obstructions.

After that, they all parted ways the moment they entered the lowest level of the museum as if they had been ripped away by differing currents. Monk followed after Marvin (who seemed shaken and confused by what he had witnessed), listening to the man as he spoke, while Lin and Oliver delved into the depths of the museum filing system - rows upon rows of bookshelves that were laden down with books, scrolls, and delicate files each contained within their own climate controlled storage boxes. It was only a few minutes later when the curator himself joined them with a pair of police officers in tow.

Mai had paused over a large crate stamped with a code of some sort, likely denoting its specifications, to watch the men join the search. It was hardly the first time the authorities had gotten involved with a case - given the sensitive and sometimes grotesque nature of the hauntings, Mai had often contacted the police herself to bring a cold case to a close. But these officers, Mai reminded herself haltingly, were looking for Toby. A boy she only half knew now, but who was all the more important for it.

She spared a moment of thought to wipe off the drying blood from Lydia’s hand using the inner lining of her jacket. She’d have to get it dry cleaned later otherwise Ayako would throw a fit, but she could worry about that then. The last thing she needed was the police questioning her. They were already on the hunt for Sam so she was certain the rest of them would eventually be interrogated but she’d like to put it off as long as she could - presumably until Toby was found.

Absently, she reached up to tug at a strand of her hair before pulling her eyes away from the newcomers to examine the rest of the room. A part of Mai had expected the walls and ceiling to be made of rough cut stone, the floor nothing more than packed dirt, and a severe lack of lighting - but nothing could be further from the truth. The expectation clashed with reality and left her feeling off-kilter in a way she had only grown to familiarize herself with as time wore on. In the memories she had experienced, Lydia had felt as if she were being swallowed by the Earth itself. Mai’s own experience on her astral plane had mirrored those expectations. This could only mean that this room, Mai theorized to herself, wasn’t the actual location they were looking for.

Her eyes scanned the basement in a new light. During her trip through the astral plane, she had been lured down into the underbelly of the museum via an elevator before she was forced to wad through water and then thrown into a cavern. Yet, she recalled, Marvin had led them down a set of stairs stating it was the only point of entry into the archives.

Something wasn’t adding up, she mused grimly to herself, crossing her arms and turning on her heel to scan her surroundings. The astral plane was not a place set in stone, but it usually utilized the physical realm as a sort of blueprint for its makeup when she needed it to. That is to say, it was unlikely that an elevator would have been materialized just for the scare factor.

“Hmm,” she hummed to herself in thought, lifting a curled finger to her chin. After so many years writing horror mystery novels, Mai was beginning to suspect they were dealing with something a little more cliche than she had expected.

“What is it, Mai?”

Mai lifted her eyes to Monk as he crossed the room, boots scuffing against the cement. He had left Marvin with the curator and the officers to join her where she stood at the foot of a veritable mountain of storage crates. She had adopted the thoughtful pose of one Oliver Davis, a habit she had picked up from the very beginning all those years ago, and Monk had learned to take heed when her gears started turning.

Mai did not answer immediately. Instead, she cast her gaze over to Oliver, who had stepped out of the maze of bookshelves to join them, likely picking up on their hushed conversation. His faithful shadow, Lin, was close behind him. It seemed Lin had attempted to speak with Oliver regarding the situation and failed spectacularly, judging by his pursed lips and furrowed brow. The man looked downright intimidating, but he was likely just frustrated and worried on Oliver’s behalf. He had watched his friend push himself to the brink chasing after his brother’s body, for well over a year. And the following years after his success weren’t anything to scoff at.

“I don’t think this is the lowest level of the museum,” Mai admitted quietly, hesitantly. She crossed her arms against a chill and shuffled closer to Monk out of habit to ward off the shift in temperature, although she was uncertain it was truly a matter of a draft. If her theory was correct and there was another level they were unaware of then, regardless, it was still the closest they had physically come to the culprit of the case. In a physical sense, at least.

“You suspect they’re lying?” Oliver questioned in hushed tones. Dark circles hung beneath his eyes and he was a little colder, a little quicker to anger, but it was clear he was doing his best to remain composed. Mai truly felt for him in that moment. 

“No,” Mai mumbled with a shake of her head. “I think they’ve likely been ignorant of it.”

Oliver crossed his arms in thought, casting a look in Lin’s direction. The size of the property had meant there were a few routes they hadn’t taken with the investigation but now he felt they had been fools not to be so thorough. The curator had also posed an issue in that regard, but with the authorities now involved it was likely he would put up very little in the way of a fight when it came to their methods. Oliver had even heard him mention closing the museum down for the duration of the search for Toby although he had yet to take any definitive action.

“We should get the team down here to collect measurements,” Oliver murmured cooly, “I’ll have Andrew verify the floor plans of the museum with what we find. We should also request access to all records of construction and renovations.”

“You think the curator will comply?” Monk asked gruffly. The man had been helpful from the very beginning but they also hadn’t pushed much for sensitive information. There had been many an investigation in which the client turned nasty when they were asked to provide information they viewed as private or unrelated. He doubted the curator of a historical and famous museum would be any different - it had taken them an hour of arguing to get into the archives alone.

“I don’t foresee any issues with the police present,” Oliver assured him. He had helped them with hundreds of missing person cases before he had even turned eighteen, they would likely pave the road for his efforts without question.

With that in mind, Mai felt no shame in stepping back to watch as Oliver Davis straightened the cuffs of his shirt before striding across the floor to join the gathered group of men, cool and composed as ever. They were too far away for her to make out his words, especially because his back faced her, but she scrutinized the curator’s face with a predatory focus. He looked utterly bewildered by whatever Oliver had said, sending the officers several furtive looks in hopes of aid, but the officers themselves were all ears for Oliver. They stood at attention as he approached, nodded along as he spoke, and then gestured for the curator to lead the way. He looked utterly defeated. Having suffered the wrath of Naru more times than she could count, Mai felt for the man, but any discomfort or uncertainty on his part was worth it if they could find Toby.

“He’s so scary,” Monk muttered with a dramatic shudder, managing to earn a chuckle from Mai that surprised her. She hadn’t felt quite like herself since her initial return from the astral plane, and humor had certainly been the furthest thing from her mind in the following events…but, she dared to hope that things would turn out well. 

“I think I might be more suited to grunt work.”

“After all these years?” Yasuhara mused in return. The man was hunched over a coffee table in the primary office of the museum, scrutinizing a stack of papers spread out across the low table. He had rolled up the sleeves of his white button-down shirt before getting to work and pulled his glasses on in preparation for the inevitable burn of strained vision.

The office itself was large, boasting several doors dedicated to specific branches of the care and management of the museum. The lobby was currently filled with members of the investigation team and museum staff alike, all pouring over records that reached back to the nineteenth century - since the building's initial construction - in hopes of finding some mention of another level belowground. The atmosphere was overall one of quiet, if a bit frustrated, focus as the grey light of the midday London sky spilled in through the half-closed blinds.

The curator himself had expressed his doubt of finding anything and many of his staff mirrored his general mood on the matter but Marvin himself seemed entranced by the idea. He had a head for mystery and, Mai had been rather bemused to learn, he was a fan of her writing. She had watched him slide the final copy of her series across the coffee table with hopeful eyes in bafflement before realizing he wanted it signed. He had taken to the search with relish and was crouched on the other side of the office over a collection of old boxes filled with papers, the newly signed copy of Mai's final novel tucked away in his office for safekeeping. 

“There’s just something so easy and calming about checking equipment and leaving all the big decision-making to others,” Mai admitted with a heavy sigh. Her own eyes were straining against the minuscule print of the files spread out before her. She had been reading through English documents for well over an hour now and she feared she was making little headway.

Yasuhara had seated himself at a brown leather armchair, dragging it closer to the coffee table while he worked, with his laptop perched atop a knee. He was doing his best to cross-reference the records with what information they had managed to gather on the museum since their arrival but it was a slow process. At Mai’s words, he pulled his eyes from the laptop screen to fix her with a look of bewilderment. Where was this coming from? Mai had been championing the independent and successful girl-boss way of life for the past decade, such an admission now did not bode well for her career.

“Mai,” Yasuhara called in jest, “Just because you’ve managed to catch yourself a halfway decent man doesn’t mean it's time to pack the business pumps away, you know?”

“Ugh,” she grumbled in response. Anything she had going on with Oliver Davis was currently up in the air and to be announced as far as she was concerned. And she couldn't even bring herself to pursue the line of thought beyond ‘Toby was missing’ anyway. She just wanted a break from the chaos that was her life (once the case was solved) like she had initially been attempting to do when she arrived in London. Maybe when all was said and done she could try again - this time she’d go to Norway, or Canada, somewhere she had no connections with. But Toby first.

“What in the world are you on about?” Ayako grouched from where she sat on the matching sofa. She had pulled on a long skirt made of soft brown suede and a pair of black ankle boots to compliment the black sweater currently swaddling her against the day’s chill. One leg had been tossed over the other with a huff twenty minutes ago, her own collection of records resting on the couch at her side while a handful of papers were clutched between an irritable grip.

“Now isn’t the time, Yasuhara,” Masako admonished quietly while coming to a stop to set a few glasses of water atop the coffee table for those working around it. Despite the current circumstances, Masako was steady as a mountain, balancing the tray of glasses in her arms with ease. Mai suspected she had chosen the grey kimono that day with just that thought in mind. She had paired it with a lilac obi that provided just a splash of an appropriate amount of color.

When they were still teenagers, Mai recalled, Masako would have succumbed to her anxieties by then - overwhelmed with the situation and the amount of suffering - but she had long since learned to remain in control. At least, outside of the presence of the suffering spirits themselves. As they had all witnessed at the beginning of their investigation, she did still tend to swoon - not that they blamed her for that, Mai herself had passed out on a handful of occasions on the same case already. For those with such abilities, it really should have been considered the norm.

“I know,” Yasuhara assured them all with a sigh, lifting a stack of papers distractedly. Unfortunately, humor was his answer to just about every emotion, including stress. He could have done stand-up comedy during his college days.

“It’s alright, Yasu, we understand,” Mai assured him with a gusty sigh. She lifted her gaze to the rest of the office to take stock of the others. 

Andrew, Oliver, and Lin had taken up roost within a small office at the back of the lobby. The wooden door had been wedged open with a potted plant and the single dusty desk that stood within the center of the room played host to the original blueprints of the museum. One of the police officers stood at the door with the curator, watching as the three men carefully handled the fragile document with great interest. Lin’s laptop sat on the windowsill inside the office and, every few minutes when someone would bring a document with possible relevance to them, the man would turn to add it to the growing file on his computer. 

John had joined the secretaries at the large desk that ran the length of the room to interview them. The two women had been working at the museum both for well over a decade and there was no telling what sort of information they may have come across during their day-to-day. It was quite obvious they were smitten by the man which, Mai would admit, was exactly why they chose to send him in whenever older women were involved. They simply could not resist the cherub-like charm he had managed to keep throughout the years. 

Monk, Tristan, and Nora had all joined Marvin on the ground in the far corner of the lobby. The storage closet door had been tossed open and its contents spread across the maroon carpet while the four scoured the boxes for clues. Their murmured conversation was too low for her to make out any of the words but it was clear they were immersed in their work. 

Suddenly finding herself incapable of sitting still any longer, Mai pushed herself to her feet with a stretch. She had tossed her jacket over the back of her chair so she was able to work the kink out of her shoulder without her movement being restricted and she did so with relish now. Masako had just taken a seat on the couch next to Ayako and both women turned their gaze to watch Mai curiously. 

“Where are you headed?” Masako asked quietly. 

“I’m going to the restroom,” Mai answered half-heartedly. She didn’t necessarily need to use the facilities but it was the easiest excuse to walk off some of the pent-up energy that was burning away within her muscles - something that she had thought she had grown out of years ago. 

A few glances were tossed her way as she breezed through the office. She pushed through the main doors and out into the familiar staff hallways that they had all spent the past several days prowling through - the heels of her boots clacked against the linoleum as she strode forward without thought. 

So much had happened…

With all that had recently occurred, Mai hadn’t even truly had the opportunity to speak with Oliver about his brother…Or apologize for her outburst. She hadn’t even really had time to think about their argument, or rather, her reaction while Oliver’s brain was likely blue-screened. 

“Oh, man,” she bemoaned, running a hand through her hair. Sure, she had been under some extreme stress when it had all happened but she hadn’t reacted to anything in such an emotional way since she was a teenager. She’d likely be agonizing over that moment for the rest of her life. Well, as long as they found Toby. She couldn’t bring herself to imagine what life would be like if they failed, in fact, she outright refused to imagine it. 

Fang would get back to Lin with news of Toby's whereabouts soon, she was certain of it.

“We’re coming, Toby,” she murmured to herself as she turned the corner towards the bathrooms. The path took her past a window and she cast an absent glance over the street outside before slowing to a hesitant stop in the center of the hallway. 

The view outside was dark. 

Mai clenched her hands at her sides with her shoulders squared. After well over a decade of experience, she was no fool. She had only just gotten up to go to the restroom and it hadn’t yet reached three PM when she left the office. There was no reason for the sky outside to be filled with stars, bare of any clouds, and playing host to the familiar sight of floating orbs.

Something had pulled her onto the astral plane without her consent. 

Somewhere, several meters beneath her feet, that monster was waiting. 

The thought both stoked a righteous anger and a harrowing fear from within her. Whatever it was had thoroughly bested her on her astral plane, tore her form to pieces, and penetrated her very mind. She had managed to patch the hole it tore into her plane but that didn’t mean she could face off against it directly. 

Glancing back down the hall confirmed that she had left a trail of golden ichor in her wake. It glowed in the velvety darkness that had swelled forth to superimpose itself over the hallway. 

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Lin had expressly forbade her from astral projecting again and yet, this was the second time she had inadvertently disobeyed his request. Of course, Oliver had needed rescuing the last time and so she was certain Lin felt it was worth overlooking - hence why he had not said anything to her in regards to the matter since she had regained consciousness that morning - but she digressed. It was obvious that to step onto the astral plane now, at the museum, was a grave mistake. 

She was being hunted. 

It was easy to imagine hundreds of eyes swiveling in her direction, following her every step, hungry. To imagine that man… bloody and grotesque, prowling the halls himself in search of her. She was out in the open and vulnerable and alone. Like a deer in an open field. 

Mai lifted a hand to her chest to ease the pounding of her heart. The hole there had closed since her last venture onto the plane but that knowledge did little to ease the pain. It was uniquely related to the monster from below, Mai knew because Lydia herself had experienced it as well. The terror was powerful enough to stop a heart. It had haunted Mai since she had first experienced Lydia’s memories. 

Breathe, Mai, she mentally cautioned herself. A trembling breath escaped her lips before she willed herself to step forward. The ripples that were sent forth by her movement were minuscule in comparison to the usual and that was purely through her efforts to minimize her effect on the environment around her. 

The sound of a phone lifting from a receiver, echoing through the gloom of the astral plane, caught her attention and she turned her eyes onto a cracked doorway up ahead. Only the pale light of the moon spilled out from the depths of the room but it was enough to guide Mai forward on shaking legs.

Mai pressed herself against the wall and sidled up to the doorway with bated breath. Her eyes settled on the window ahead of her, vacant, watching as the drifting spirits of the astral plane danced about in a phantom wind, mingling with the stars. She had always found the place so peaceful and yet it was so close to true horrors that the people of the normal waking world could never possibly imagine. It was like the ocean, tranquil on a beautiful night, housing unknown tides and monsters below. There was no telling what was on the other side of that door. 

Welp, there was no use in stalling any long. 

Mai turned to eye the door and leaned forward, carefully sliding a trembling hand between the open crack, and nudged it. The moonlight spilled across the waters of the astral plane as Mai peered around the frame of the door and took in the sight of someone’s personal office. Bookshelves lined a wall, filled with wilted plants and moldering books, framing a large window looking out onto a wildly monstrous garden beyond. 

Someone stood hunched over the large wooden desk, the winding cord of a phone tethering them to the dusty receiver sitting on the desktop. Dark curls glistened in the moonlight along with the bloody footprints that tracked a path through the office. 

Mai’s breath caught in her throat with a gasp and she lurched forward to reach out to the individual in surprise. 

“Lydia?”

The ringing of a phone pulled Mai from her dreams and she blinked her eyes open in the late afternoon light of the day. From the way she was lying, she could only assume she had fallen asleep curled up in the armchair she had claimed for herself earlier that day while searching through the museum records. She had kicked off her boots and tucked her sock-clad feet up beneath herself but someone must have laid her jacket over her while she slept. It was warm but Mai could still smell the scent of dried blood clinging to its fibers.

The coffee table was buried beneath a growing mountain of papers and Monk had joined Ayako on the couch since she had fallen asleep. The two were speaking quietly among themselves while Oliver crouched over the back of Yasuhara’s chair to eye the man's computer screen while he worked. 

“What time is it?” Mai asked groggily, running a hand across her eyes. She felt as if she had slept half the day away, eyes cemented shut and mouth dry. She hoped she hadn't been snoring away obnoxiously while everyone else tried to work.

“It’s almost five,” Oliver answered simply, turning to look in her direction. His shoulders were still taut with tension but there was a softness around his eyes as he met her gaze - an implication that still managed to send a thrill of anxiety through Mai's chest regardless of the situation. 

Mai pushed herself up with a grunt and glanced about the room blearily to settle her racing heart. The majority of the team had cleared out it seemed, likely retreating to the warded base to compile their findings and plan their next move. Or, Mai mentally corrected herself, they might have gone out for dinner given the time. Lin and Ayako would have pulled rank to keep everyone on track and in shape in the face of the mounting danger ahead of them.  

“I’m sorry?”

The exclamation shattered the contemplative silence that had fallen between the group and drew their attention. Only one secretary remained behind the desk and she had tucked a phone between her shoulder and ear while she finished typing up an email, but she now wore an expression of consternation. 

“I assure you, Mrs. Williams, we made no such call,” the secretary rushed to explain. 

Mai slowly pushed herself to her feet, one hand gripping the back of the chair to steady herself. The secretary seemed to sense their attention and sent the investigators and helpless look, wordlessly asking them to intervene. Mai cast Oliver a quizzical look, still groggy from her nap, but the man only crossed his arms in response. In his way, he was deferring to her on the matter.  

Mai padded across the carpeted floor in nothing but her socks a moment later and hesitantly held out a hand for the phone. The museum might not have made a call, Mai knew, but she had an idea of who exactly it was that had. 

“One moment, Mrs. Williams,” the secretary mumbled haltingly before she passed the phone over and settled it into Mai’s waiting palm with bewildered eyes. 

Mai lifted the phone to her ear and hesitated, breath trembling. A part of her knew how the following conversation would play out but she was still surprised when she cleared her throat and said: “Mrs. Williams? My name is Mai Taniyama, I’m a paranormal investigator here at the museum. You said you received a call?”

There was silence on the other line. 

And then.

“I heard my daughter, she called for me…” Mrs. Williams said in a voice tight with emotion. It was clear she had been crying and, if Mai’s suspicions were true, then she couldn’t blame her. 

Lydia had called her mother. But why? 

Chapter Text

It was strange, Mai had decided, how quickly she slipped back into the routine of working with those from BSPR. She recalled spending so many mornings and afternoons tucked away within the confines of a black van loaded with equipment and experts that it was nearly second nature to climb back up into one now. Nora had started the engine several minutes ago so the interior was toasty by the time Mai settled into the front seat and pulled the passenger door shut behind her. 

Nora looked nervous sitting behind the wheel of the van but she had been the only member of BSPR who was free to drive her over to the Williams household and, although she held onto the steering wheel with a white-knuckled grip - even though they were stationary - a determined frown marred her otherwise gentle expression. 

The woman had pulled on a thick olive green coat that looked as if it had belonged to the military some decades ago and had braided her hair up and out of the way - prepared for battle, it would seem. 

Mai liked her resolve. 

“How far are they?” Tristan asked from the back seat. He had agreed to go along for the ride for the experience such an event could offer. Mai was going to sit down and officially interview the Williams family three decades after their daughter had gone missing. Throughout Tristan’s attempts to delve into the world of the paranormal, he had only ever managed to interview those who merely wanted attention or thought it was all in good fun and lied about their experiences to get on camera. But there was no denying the true horror of what Lydia and her family had suffered. 

“It’ll take us about twenty minutes to get there,” Mai replied distractedly while she buckled herself in and pulled out her phone. She had jotted the address down on a scrap piece of paper provided to her by the secretary while she spoke to Mrs. Williams on the phone earlier - but before the call had even come to an end she had pulled it up on her cellphone. 

The towering and silent figure of Oliver had come up behind her to join her at the counter while she took the call and when she had bid the elderly woman goodbye she had turned to face him urgently. 

“I have to go to her,” Mai had stated as soon as they made eye contact. “Lydia wants me to go to her.” She’d never thought she would find herself begging Oliver for anything but there she was. Lydia had used what Mai had given her to put them on the right track in solving the case, Mai was certain of it, and she needed Oliver to understand. Toby was still missing and every minute that ticked by was a minute too long but if she could do something now to take action, shouldn’t she? 

Oliver stared down at her silently as she spoke before he sent the remnants of their group a look from over his shoulder. When he had judged they were far enough away not to overhear too much of their conversation, he leaned against the desk and closed the distance between them. 

“I’ll call you if there are any updates,” he murmured. 

Mai felt her heart flutter in her chest at his words and she reached out to grip one of his hands between her own, “Thank you, Naru,” she mumbled breathlessly. The thrill of the opportunity to help sent her bouncing on her toes and she reached up to plant a kiss on his cheek before she was gone in a whirlwind of action. 

Distantly, he was aware that she had prodded Yasuhara into following her right out of the office door as the man squawked in protest, demanding answers regarding what he had just witnessed while that damn Monk blathered nonsense in surprise. He supposed it was only to be expected considering how long they had all known each other, how long the two of them had clumsily danced around each other, but they were behaving like outright fools. 

Oliver threaded his fingers together while he leaned his elbow against the desk, crossing one leg over the other. The warmth of her hands still lingered around his own and a part of him imagined he could still hear her breath ghosting across his cheek. If it were any other time, he might have let himself indulge in the warmth her actions inspired, but instead, he tucked them away for later review. They all had work to do. He couldn’t allow himself to revel in any of her affections when he was still haunted by the memory of her tears but, more importantly, he wouldn’t allow himself to revel in anything until his son was returned to him. 

“Twenty minutes isn’t too bad,” Tristan replied with some reluctance. Even he felt a little guilty for leaving the museum while Toby was still missing. The general determination that had taken over the team to see the case solved in hopes of finding the boy had inspired Tristan to new levels he had never quite experienced before. Having lived a life with insomnia he often suffered both physical and mental exhaustion that left him feeling rather dull. The witty banter he traded with friends and family was as close as he got to joy. But the adrenalin this case had sent coursing through his system had cleared his mind and allowed him the opportunity to actually sleep through the night. Now he was ready to take action.   

Mai cast the man a look of understanding from over her shoulder. She could empathize with his plight. She was struggling with the guilt of her actions that day more than anyone else could possibly know. She had given up on recovering her memories of Toby, passed along his bracelet to another, and now she was leaving his father in the wake of his kidnapping to interview Lydia’s family. Deep down, she knew without question that her actions were not caused by her lack of love for the little man but did Oliver know that? 

“Let’s get the show on the road then, so we don’t waste any more time,” Yasuhara advised while climbing into the back of the van and pulling the sliding door shut with a grunt. He had pulled on a raincoat like the rest of them to protect against the onslaught that had just begun to fall. His laptop bag hung from his shoulder but he slipped it off and dropped it onto the seat next to him before he settled with a sigh. 

“Nora?” Mai questioned patiently, reaching up to input the address into the GPS set into the dashboard of the van. 

“I’m ready,” Nora confirmed with a resolute nod, although she was biting her lip. As soon as the address had successfully loaded into the GPS she reached over to push the vehicle into drive and hesitantly lifted her foot from the break. 

From the backseat, Tristan looked pained. He had offered to drive as he was a little more confident behind the wheel but Nora had refused him. She was an employee of BSPR and therefore, if an accident occurred, the insurance would cover her and the vehicle and anyone else who was a passenger. If Tristan drove, only the vehicle would be covered. And Nora, always thorough with an obsessive need to alleviate any possible cause of anxiety, refused to allow such a future to occur. 

The windshield wipers were flicked on as the van pulled out into traffic with careful ease. The grim mood of those within the vehicle stifled any lengthy conversation while they each were lost in their thoughts. Mai’s eyes obsessively tracked their progress through the GPS while her hands fiddled with her phone just in case she received a call from Oliver. She trusted Lydia and knew she was attempting to put them on the right path, but that did not alleviate Mai’s nerves the further they traveled from the museum. Each kilometer felt like a betrayal. 
 
When the van pulled to a stop along a winding road of endlessly repeating houses, it felt as if no time at all had passed and yet a year had crawled by. The brick townhome, with a washed-out grey-blue door and a collection of wilted potted plants scattered about its stoop, looked as if it had seen better days. A cluster of vehicles had parked along the road and Mai could easily make out the warm lights from within through the gauzy white curtains hung over each window. The shadows of the family flicked through the windows and she could only suspect they had all gathered to speak with them and share their story. 

Mai pulled the handle of the door and popped it open before sliding out to land upon the concrete below. Her boots splashed in the gathered puddles and she belatedly remembered to pull the hood of her black raincoat up while the rest of the crew gathered their things and exited the vehicle. They lined up behind Mai, following in her steps, as she climbed the stoop and lifted a hand to knock on the door. 

Muffled conversation from within the home ground to a halt. She could feel the tension from the family long before the door was hesitantly pulled open and a man, older than Mai by a decade, peered out into the rain with brows furrowed. 

This was Lydia’s younger brother. The thought struck her with such clarity that she found herself staring with wide eyes, taking in his short curly dark hair and hazel eyes. He stood with shoulders back, likely protective of his parents, worried they were being taken advantage of and wanting to subvert any ill intent. 

“Good evening,” Mai managed to get out, finding a genuine smile pulling at her cheeks. She reached out to offer a hand that he took without hesitation. “My name is Mai Taniyama, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” 

“Connor,” the man replied shortly, though not unkindly. He was wary, and that was to be expected. 

You must be Lydia’s brother, is what she wanted to say but she refrained. Doing so would only put him on guard and she didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. So instead, Mai gestured to the gathered crew behind her and said: “These are some of the team members that have come together to research what is happening. Yasuhara, Nora, and Tristan.” 

“Evening,” Connor greeted with a nod. He looked them over one last time before he stepped back and pulled the door open, allowing them entry into the home. 

“Thank you, Connor,” Mai murmured as she took a step forward and felt the warmth of the home wash over her. 

From the outside, the townhome appeared small and cramped, squished between two other mirroring homes, but the interior was spacious and open. The gathered group found themselves clustered in an orderly foyer that housed the stairs leading up to the first floor. To the left was a formal sitting room - occupied by the rest of the family - and directly ahead down the hall was a dining room and kitchen. Meticulously cared-for hardwood floor spanned the space, providing additional warmth alongside the eggshell walls. A collage of framed family photos climbed up the wall along the stairs and confirmed that, even in the face of Lydia’s tragedy, the family had done their best to live happily. 

It all brought misty warm tears to Mai’s eyes that she hurried to wipe away while Connor was distracted with helping everyone out of their coats. They were all hung on the wall at the door where rough stone tile would absorb any water. Obligingly, they all stepped out of their shoes as well. 

Standing within the home in her socks made the space feel cozy and welcoming even in the face of Connor’s uncertainty but Mai pushed past it all to greet those within the sitting room. The older couple sitting on the white cotton couch were Lydia and Connor’s parents. Likely in their late sixties or early seventies, they were quiet and composed as Mai stepped into the room and clasped her hands together to offer a quick bow. 

“Good evening, thank you for inviting us into your home,” Mai intoned gently. When she straightened, Mrs. Williams was wearing a watery smile, hazel eyes shining brightly in the warm living room lights. A Christmas tree had already been set up in the corner of the room and the great thing reached well over eight feet tall, twinkling with whimsical fairy lights that reflected in the gaze of all those who entered the room. 

“Please, take a seat,” Mrs. Williams said in welcome, gesturing to the love seat and matching armchairs that surrounded the old oak coffee table resting atop an organic white woven rug. 

Mai did as instructed, choosing to claim the chair closest to Mrs. William while the rest of the group followed in after her and made themselves comfortable. Yasuhara sat down in the other chair and immediately set to work pulling out his laptop and booting it up. Across the room, Tristan did his best to sit respectfully but he was finding the loveseat so large and encompassing that he sank within its depths immediately, awkwardly attempting to shift about while Nora perched on the edge and struggled to contain a snort of mirth. 

Mr. Williams did not bother to hide his chortle at Tristan’s plight. Mai suspected that specific seat provided plenty of good laughs among the family and their visitors if the way Mrs. Williams absently swatted at his thigh was anything to go by. 

“I made a pot of tea for everyone,” a nervous voice announced as a blond woman entered the room. Her hair was tied up in a bun atop her head and she had dressed cozily in a baggy sweater, leggings, and wool socks to ward off the chill. Her belly was swollen with pregnancy, likely just beginning to show, so Mai assumed she was Connor’s significant other. 

“Thank you,” Mai replied with a smile. 

“My name is Alicia,” the woman offered while setting a glittering silver tray down atop the coffee table. She folded onto her knees to lift the steaming teapot from its resting place and pour them each a cup. 

“Thank you, Alicia,” Yasuhara rushed with a chuckle, reaching forward to accept a cup from her. 

When everyone had found a warm cup of tea clasped between their hands and Alicia had sat herself down on the last available seat on the couch, Connor came to stand at the open end of the coffee table with arms crossed. There were quiet murmurings among them all while they took the first sips of their tea and acclimated to the warmer temperature of the house before Mai felt it best to begin. As pleasant as the Williams household was, she was anxious to get her answers and get back to Oliver’s side. 

Mai cleared her throat and cast a quick look about the faces of the room before she said: “I know this may be a difficult discussion, and that you all have likely faced much disbelief - even ridicule - from people in the past, but I want to assure you that you will receive no such treatment from us. We have seen far too much in this line of work, things that you couldn’t even imagine, so know that anything you say, anything you remember, will be taken seriously.”

Uncertain glances were shared between the family and Connor shifted where he stood uncomfortably. 

“What do you know about what happened so far?” Mrs. Williams asked hesitantly, wringing the handle of her teacup anxiously. 

“We know what was shared in the police report: that Lydia went missing from within the museum and was never seen again. We know of the activity the museum has reported: the moved objects, the full body apparition that was documented, and the phone calls,” Yasuhara explained factually, if not gently. “We’ve also had a collection of our own experiences since we began our investigation.”

“You’re own experiences?” Connor questioned. 

Mai shifted in her seat and leaned forward to set her cup on the coffee table before her, then clasped her hands together in her lap. Nora and Tristan watched on in quiet focus - this was their first experience with such an interview so it was up to Mai to lead here. Yasuhara was present to document everything, playing the part of Lin in the man’s absence, fingers flying over the keyboard of his laptop as they spoke. 

“Many of those on our team are uniquely gifted with certain abilities,” Mai explained carefully, “Among us are a Buddhist monk, a shrine maiden, a priest, and a psychic medium. Our variety of experiences and skills are why we’ve had so much success in the past.”

Connor scoffed at that but he at least had the decency not to speak. 

Mai pushed on, letting the anger slip through her fingers like sand, “I often experience post and pre-cognitive dreams. I can view the memories of those who have passed on or glimpse the events soon to come in relation to a case. With that in mind-,” she broke off with a grimace, knowing her next words would cause more than a little emotional distress for those within the room, but Lydia’s story deserved to be heard - especially by her loved ones. “I saw the moments after Lydia’s disappearance.”

Mrs. Williams audibly gasped, reaching up to clasp a hand over her mouth, while Connor turned away from the table. Alicia herself sent him a melancholy look before settling her gaze on Mai with pursed lips. She was clearly willing to listen further even if the men of the family were not - Mr. Williams had simply lowered his vacant gaze to the coffee table in response to Mai’s words. 

“I know that she ran for her life and I know that she is still running,” Mai explained quietly, griping her own hands as tightly as she could in hopes of restraining her own emotions. “Whatever took her is not human,” she continued grimly, “I nearly lost my life trying to find it and one of our team has lost his mind and kidnapped a child since.”

A frightful stillness fell over the room and even Connor was forced to turn to face Mai in shock. This family had spent their lives believing Lydia was kidnapped and murdered, simply left to haunt a Museum. They had no idea just how much worse the truth was. Unfortunately, Mai would have to open their eyes to the horrors of the true world. 

“So, if you can walk us through exactly what happened that day, it would be greatly appreciated. If there is anything, and I mean anything, that you can remember about that time, we need to know,” Mai finished, looking between the four family members stoically. 

Mrs. Williams shot her husband and son a baffled look before she sat forward on the couch and cleared her throat. Her voice and hands trembled as she spoke but she pushed through it all to say: “It was a relatively normal day for us, one moment she was just there and then the next she wasn’t.” 

Mai watched the woman closely as she spoke before she shifted in her chair, casting her mind back over what she could recall of Lydia’s memories. 

“Is that true?” she asked hesitantly, not wanting to offend their hosts. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Connor snapped irritably, regardless of Mai’s efforts. 

Mrs. Williams looked suitably consternated. 

“You fought that morning,” Mai clarified gently, “Lydia regretted that. What was the fight about?”

“I don’t rightly remember,” Mrs. Williams admitted nervously. Her eyes darted about the room while she struggled to recall the day. 

Connor shifted again in Mai’s peripherals and she turned her gaze onto him with a frown. The man had dropped his eyes to the floor, clearly struggling with something but unwilling to speak up. She made an effort to snuff out any impatience that threatened to blossom to life in her chest and instead breathed a sigh through her nose. She supposed it was unfair to expect them to remember every detail of a specific day thirty years in the past. Mrs. Williams was aging and Connor had probably yet to reach the age of ten at the time. 

It was bitter disappointment she felt welling up in the back of her throat. Perhaps Lydia had not meant to lead Mai to her mother after all. Maybe Lydia, a young daughter caught in an eternal nightmare, had just desperately wished for her mother and she had reached out however she could the moment she had the chance. It was a little unfair, in that regard, to expect more from her. 

But Toby…He was missing and Mai needed to find him. She needed to understand what she was up against. Dammit. 

Yasuhara sent Mai a furtive look from her side, his fingers still over the keyboard. 

“She didn’t want to go out.” 

All eyes turned to Mr. Williams. He had lifted his eyes to Mai with hands clasped in his lap and face grim. 

“That’s right,” Mrs. Williams mumbled in surprise. Clarification took over her and she straightened in her seat to face Mai directly now. “She was afraid to go out. She mentioned for weeks that she thought a man was following her.”

“A man was following her?” Mai repeated in surprise. 

“Yes, but any time she tried to point this person out to us, we could never see him,” Mr. Williams continued gruffly. “We even took her to see a therapist and they suspected it was some hallucination brought on by anxiety.” 

Mai reared back in bafflement, “Anxiety? She didn’t have anxiety.” From what she had gleaned through the brief moments she and Lydia had shared, the memories that had skimmed across her mind, Lydia had been steady and bright. She was thoroughly enamored by life and what it had to offer, competitive to a fault, and determined. Her pace had always been steady as she raced for the finish line.  

“I know,” Mr. Williams agreed irritably, “But what else could we do? There was just no one there. What could we tell the police? That our daughter was taken away by some invisible man?”     

Mai dropped her gaze to her hands in thought at that. Certainly, the Williams were caught in a predicament there and she couldn’t blame them for choosing to remain silent on such a detail. When the life of a loved one was in danger, appearing deranged in any way would only draw suspicion onto them and waste time - time that Lydia had not had. She could understand…and yet…those words called something else to mind. The exact situation may have differed but she was positive that she had heard of something similar in the past. 

“There really is no other way you could have gone about it,” Yasuhara stepped in to appease with a frustrated sigh. “No one is more aware of how crazy it all sounds than us, Mr. Williams. Unfortunately, because of the way the world is, these cases get thrown into a drawer and locked away to gather dust until someone like us comes along who is willing to listen…”

Yasuhara continued to speak but Mai tuned him out, lost to her thoughts. She leaned her elbows on her knees while her eyes roved over the sitting room, twinkling beneath layers of Christmas decorations. Again, it was clear to her that the family had been determined to push through the tragedy and live as happy a life as they could. Alicia herself was featured in plenty of the photos, looking as young as sixteen in some of them, so she had been a part of their family for decades. They were always smiling even if their eyes were a little sad. They were a strong unit, Mai concluded, willing and able to push through whatever catastrophe the world had to throw at them. 

But not everyone was so strong. 

The thought struck Mai as most of her intuitions did, quietly and without hesitation. Not everyone could bounce back after the loss of a loved one. It was a difficult thing to overcome. Even the great Oliver Davis had faltered in the wake of discovering his brother’s body. It took him time, and Toby, to climb back to his feet. Not everyone could accomplish that. Mai had lost herself for years, just going through the motions, until she joined SPR.

Some people cut their lives short, unable to face their grief. Mai herself had handled many cases in which someone was haunted by a spirit of grief- someone who had ended their life and found themselves still stuck, trapped within a nightmare of despair, forced to act against those within their vicinity in hopes of achieving something that would soothe their wounded souls. Their desperation could push them to do terrible and unforgivable things. 

Mai sat up straight in her seat with eyes wide. 

“Tomiko…” she exclaimed quietly. 

Yasuhara’s words petered to a halt and he sent Mai a curious look, brows knit in confusion. “Tomiko?” he repeated curiously. 

Mai stared at him for a moment, forgetting that Yasuhara had not been a part of SPR until later before she quickly organized her thoughts to explain. He had likely heard the details of the case in passing but never the full story from start to finish. 

“Before you joined the team, we took on a case,” Mai began haltingly, “A woman was haunting a house, luring children to their deaths so they would stay with her. Naru solved it when we discovered she had killed herself after the death of her daughter, Tomiko. Naru had Lin make a hitogata of Tomika and gave it to her and, believing she had finally been reunited with her daughter, she passed on.”

Yasuhara furrowed his brows while he struggled to make the connection. The rest of the room had fallen silent. Both Tristan and Nora had perked up at the mention of Naru and Lin and their eyes were fixed on Mai as she paraphrased the case, eager for any stories from all those years ago. 

“It was reported that Tomiko went missing and her body later surfaced in the pond in the backyard. But…I dreamed that Tomiko had been taken away by a man. In fact, the mother witnessed her being taken away in my dream. Yet the reports documented nothing about him. As if he never existed.”

Yasuhara leaned back in the chair with a thoughtful hum, “I can see where you might be drawing the connection.”

“But what if she really did just have hallucinations?” Connor questioned quietly from where he stood. 

Mai was silent for a moment while she chewed on an answer. Connor’s sudden shift in mood was telling but he had been rather defensive since they had arrived and she didn’t want to push him unnecessarily. To give herself a few more seconds she reached for her cup of tea and took a hurried sip to clear her throat. Because Connor had a point - she had witnessed the night Lydia died through Lydia’s eyes. If she was suffering from hallucinations of any sort when she passed on then Mai could just have easily witnessed them herself and believed them to be as real as Lydia did. 

“Well, I have to believe what she showed me,” Mai finally said, “In the memories she shared she did see a man, if only for a moment.” 

“What did he look like?” Mr. Williams asked. 

“I’m not certain,” Mai admitted with a shake of her head, “There was light behind him, he appeared as nothing more than darkness.” 

The room fell silent while they all thought that over. It was frustrating, to be certain, but this was more information than Mai could have ever expected. It wasn’t exactly the answer she was hoping for but it did help to paint the bigger picture. Yasuhara’s fingers typed away on the keyboard while Tristan reached into his bag and pulled a notebook into the light for review - something must have caught his attention but Mai would have to wait to question him on it because Connor spoke up again not a moment later. 

“I saw him.” 

“You did?” his mother asked, stupified. 

Connor ran a hand over his forehead before he dropped to his knees at the coffee table with a sigh, weighed down by his admission. “We all saw him,” Connor added darkly, casting furtive looks between his parents, “But every time, you guys forgot him the moment you looked away. I only remembered because Lydia convinced me of it, and then I couldn’t not see him. He was always around - in our backyard, down the street, three aisles over in the same store...it was maddening.” 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Mr. William accused, aghast. He looked as if he were ready to jump to his feet but he was later in his years and wasn’t as spry as he once was. 

“Why would I?” Connor shot back, “Just to have you send me to the doctors and get me medicated too? After the third time, Lydia told me not to bother.”

Mai pushed herself to her feet as the family devolved into bickering and turned her attention to the window that looked out over the street. Twinkling garlands had been hung to frame the window but Mai paid it no mind, crossing her arms to gaze out upon the rainy street while her mind raced. At one point in time, Mai might have attempted to mediate for the family but she had long since learned that, sometimes, it was best to let people work things out among themselves. The family would have their work cut out for them but, she reminded herself, they were strong. She had no doubt they would learn to forgive one another. 

Lydia had known she was being hunted. The knowledge sat like a stone in Mai’s stomach and she swallowed reflexively against the nausea it evoked within her. The psychological repercussions of being stalked were detrimental to one’s mental health and she could only imagine the terror and torment that Lydia had been forced to endure up until the very end. She had fought with her parents the day they went to the museum, fearful of going out and leaving herself exposed to her stalker and it had ended in her demise. Mai couldn’t imagine the level of fear and betrayal she must have dealt with, desperately asking her parents for protection only to be denied due to their inability to hold on to their memories of the man that haunted her. 

The van was silent once more as they returned to the museum. The sun had long since begun to sink towards the horizon behind the veil of storm clouds that continued to unleash rain over the city of London. Mai stared down at her phone, clutched in her lap, as if she were waiting for that promised phone call to come through any moment. Toby had now been missing for eighteen hours and counting and still, there was no word on his whereabouts. 

She was afraid. 

The two men in the back of the van were silent but Tristan was still reviewing his written notes, flipping through the pages of his notebook in hopes of making some sort of connection with the new information they had gathered. He had yet to voice any of his thoughts but Mai wanted to wait until they had all gathered anyway - she didn’t have the mental bandwidth to devote thought to the case just yet. 

They had left the Williams household, choking beneath the cloud of despair that had befallen the family, in resigned silence. They had gotten the information Lydia herself had not been able to pass on at the cost of what little peace of mind her family had managed to cultivate for themselves in the wake of her death. From Mai’s perspective, it was a cost long overdue. She didn’t blame a single one of them for what had occurred or how they had chosen to handle it, but that peace and happiness, while admirable, were based on fragile lies and half-truths hidden away beneath aging memory. Lydia deserved all the recognition and justice she could get after all that she had been through. 

Pulling back into the back lot of the museum was enough to leave Mai feeling physically sick. The lot was empty except for the BSPR vans and a single box truck that had been tucked away into a corner. The one light left to illuminate the parking lot fought valiantly against the darkness and rain but it seemed to be losing the fight, its bulb flickering against the odds. 

Mai braced a hand against the door while she eyed the building warily before she kicked herself into gear and jumped out into the downpour. The others did the same and together they dashed across the lot with hoods pulled high over their heads in hopes of staying as dry as possible. The museum doors thudded shut behind them and they were swamped by warm air, the sound of the rain now muffled to their ears. They all took the time to pull their coats from their forms to track as little water through the museum as they could. 

Oliver was Mai’s priority, this she had decided the moment the museum was in sight. She could swear she could feel that electric tension she associated with his abilities long before she had even set foot on the property so she could only imagine what the rest of the team felt. 

Somehow, she wasn’t surprised to find everyone scattered about the meeting room except for Lin and Oliver. Tristan, Yasuhara, and Nora filed into the room to join the fray of quiet and anxious murmuring while Mai split off to peer into the monitoring room hesitantly. 

Lin sat at the singular desk behind his laptop, eyes ceaselessly scanning the screen while his fingers flew across the keyboard. A second laptop had been set up to his right, likely Oliver’s, displaying a grid of video feeds that he checked in with periodically. He looked haggard, dark circles hanging from his eye while his shoulders slumped under the weight of their current circumstances. 

Mai wished he could just go be with Madoka and Lixin. 

The moment she stepped into the room his fingers stilled and he lifted his one visible eye to meet her gaze in relief. It was clear that he had been acting as some sort of blockade between Oliver and the rest of the team. The energy roiling within the room was enough to knock an elephant over. It seemed as if any small disturbance would set off the ticking time bomb that was Oliver Davis and, seeing as Mai did not want to be involved in a lawsuit the likes of which had never graced the Earth, she veered off to the left towards the window where Oliver stood. 

As always, the man was a tower of darkness in the otherwise warmly lit room. His arms were crossed and his shoulders tighter than any bowstring, eyes focused on the night beyond the window. The very air seemed to waiver around him as Mai approached, taking a small moment for herself to marvel at the feel of his energy tingling against her skin. 

Oliver did not turn to look at her even though she knew he was more than aware of her presence. He was stressed beyond belief and likely devoting every spare bit of himself that he could toward restraining that power, forced to shunt aside the worry and fear for his son or risk lashing out against those closest to him. He was a tightly coiled ball of cold, calculated despair. 

Mai lifted a hand and settled it gently against the curve of his back and felt the moment his muscles eased. His weight shifted just a fraction, leaning into her touch, and that powerful electric pull slipped away from the room like a receding wave. Her hands slid around him until she had wrapped her arms around him from behind and rested her forehead against his back with a trembling sigh. Her palm splayed over his sternum, feeling the fluttering of his heart against the tips of her fingers before he settled one of his own over hers in return. 

It was killing him - this stress and worry that he alone was not allowed to indulge in. It took everything he had to blank out his mind and pull logic to the forefront of his thoughts, to calm his racing heart, to stand like a pillar of stone against the energy lashing away beneath his flesh, desperate to break free. 

“I have you, Naru,” she murmured against his back.

Carefully, he reached out to brace a hand against the frame of the window, releasing a strained breath in some vain hope of easing the tension in his chest. 

Behind them, Lin had leaned back in the desk chair, practically wilting beneath the pressure of it all. He had yet to hear back from Fang and every passing minute felt like another nail in the coffin. His stomach roiled with mounting anguish that he had not suffered since Gene’s passing all those years ago. He was forced to remind himself that this was what Martin and Luella had hired him for - he was meant to watch over Oliver, protect him from himself, and prevent a catastrophe should the moment ever come. 

Movement from the doorway drew his attention and he met the grim eyes of Monk, leaning against the frame and wearing a frown. 

They were all reaching their limit. 

Chapter Text

Mai was still dressed in the same grey slacks and black turtleneck sweater from that morning and she was beginning to feel grimy. There was no denying the fact that she had spent the day running about in the same clothes, sweating and gathering dirt, and she wished she at least had another change of clothes to step into while they waited to hear back from Fang, or the police, or made a breakthrough with the case. Anything, to disrupt the standstill that they had found themselves in. 

She had tossed the grey jacket, now stained with the remnants of Lydia’s drying blood, somewhere in the break room and thought no more of it. Thankfully, she at least had the forethought to discard it before visiting the Williams household. But now she was left with the realization that if she wished to shower and change then she would have to return to The Lion as the pantsuit was the last of her selected outfits. The likelihood of her doing so was low at that moment. No one was of the mindset to do much of anything until Toby was found. 

Mai had taken the time to brush her teeth and pull her hair up into a bun before she joined everyone else in the meeting room. The majority of them had been waiting for several hours now to decide on their next move and Mai herself wasn’t quite certain which direction to guide them all but she knew a decision would have to be made. The longer they stalled the longer whatever that thing was below the museum had to take action. 

The museum had closed its doors for the evening hours ago and the building was mostly empty except for their team - and Marvin. Marvin had remained behind to continue searching through the museum’s records in hopes of being some help but Mai had not seen him since they stumbled back inside, dripping wet from the rain. 

When she returned to the meeting room Yasuhara was just pushing the wheeled whiteboard through the door while John guided him to the front. Andrew had purchased a host of snacks in their absence and was working to set a table up with the spread in hopes of keeping everyone’s energies up while they brainstormed. Masako was making tea to accompany it all, having tied the sleeves of her kimono out of the way while she handled the teapot.  

Mai entered with a quiet sigh and set her leather-clad journal down atop the table Ayako was currently using to draw up more charms under the curious eye of Tristan and Nora. Usually, the woman would be annoyed with such scrutiny but it seemed she was exercising patience in light of the current circumstances, instead choosing to provide commentary for educational purposes. Nora had seemed entranced with Ayako since the night Mai had astral projected and Mai was beginning to wonder if she would enjoy a trip to Japan to study the paranormal there. 

Perhaps, Mai mused quietly to herself, SPR could reopen its doors officially. With all the new investigators that were stepping fully into the world of the paranormal (not just studying from a safe distance), it wouldn’t be such a bad idea. 

Monk, Lin, and Oliver had lined themselves up at the back of the room quietly, and, surprising Mai, she found Martin himself had joined them. She knew Toby’s absence had pushed the man to flee from the stifling despair pervading over the Davis household but she had not expected him to personally join them on the case. Although, she should have known better. Oliver had to have picked up the behavior from someone. Or perhaps, Martin felt the need to be at his son’s side to support him in his time of need - especially after the loss of Gene. 

Like the Williams, the Davis family was still recovering from their own tragedy - but where the Williams had covered up their remorse with false smiles and turned cheeks, the Davis family fully embraced their grief. They were still working to piece themselves back together, growing in the wake of their loss, but doing so with grace and care. Lin, Madoka, and Lixin had become an extension of their family and had brought much joy to them but Toby - who had suffered for so many years with them - had finally stepped into the light with delight and wonder and had filled their shell of a home with laughter for the first time in a decade. 

And now he was missing and the fragile foundation they had managed to rebuild since Gene’s passing was in danger of collapsing beneath them. 

And Oliver stood at the back of the room with arms crossed, eyes cold and empty, quiet rage directed at the universe roiling within. 

His gaze met hers, blankly, and urged her to clear her throat and open her notebook. 

“I have some new information I’d like to share with everyone before we delve into a brainstorming session,” Mai announced. 

The words fell from Mai’s mouth like an over-rehearsed speech - they tasted like ash on her tongue. Revealing the fact that Lydia had been haunted by a figure capable of slipping through the minds of any unwanted witnesses like water between their fingers was frightening. They already knew it was capable of altering surveillance equipment. If it were not for the fact that Sam had gone missing just hours before Toby was taken, they would have never connected the two. Martin and Luella, for all they knew, might have seen Sam (or whatever had taken over him) and they had simply forgotten, memories stolen just as Mai’s had been. 

Those of BSPR and SPR wore stricken and focused expressions as Mai delved into her theory of the connection between the missing persons' cases in London and Tomiko from all those years ago. 

“But why use Sam?” John questioned aloud when Mai’s words had finally stumbled to a halt. 

“We haven’t even seen the thing,” Monk tossed out, “Not even Masako has sensed it.”

Masako shifted in her seat next to John, cupping her hands around a cup of tea with the slightest of frowns. “It is true,” she admitted quietly, forcing the scattered murmurings of their group to fall silent to hear her, “I’ve only seen Lydia herself, and felt the terror she suffered.”

“Wait a minute,” Ayako cut in, setting her ink brush down with furrowed brows, “What about the others?”

“The spirits of the other victims?” Yasuhara clarified from where he stood at the whiteboard, marker in hand. 

“I’ve sensed no one else,” Masako said hesitantly from behind the sleeve of her kimono. She lowered her eyes and adopted a scrutinizing expression while she distractedly reached out in search of any other lingering souls. “There are many here, passing through, but I would not consider them lost souls haunting the building - they’re like dandelion seeds in the wind. It’s common anywhere the living gather.” 

Mai tapped her pen against her notebook and shifted on her feet, casting her mind back to the night she came face to face with the being. The tapping of her pen stilled. She recalled having assumed it would consume her, pull her in to join the mass of monstrous gore, and that she would lose herself completely within a matter of months. 

“It’s obvious,” Oliver said grimly, shattering the thoughtful quiet that had befallen them after Masako’s explanation. “We theorized it from the beginning - it feeds on them. They’re gone.” 

“Right,” Monk droned, “That answers that, but it still leaves the question of why Masako hasn’t sensed it.”   

“Is it…” 

All eyes turned to Nora who had timidly spoken up. She spoke haltingly, as if she were only forming the thought the moment the words left her mouth but she pushed through her nerves and frowned. 

“Is it incapable of manifesting on the physical plane?” she asked, sending a questioning look in Mai’s direction.

“We’ve only managed to document temperature fluctuations,” Lin said in conjecture, “Lydia has been the cause of any disruption that has been documented in the past. Except for the written words carved into the wall, nothing else has happened at the location.”  

“You think it needs people like Sam, to use them? As if it's possessing people to do its dirty work?” Monk mused aloud. “Could it have possessed someone to carve the words?” 

“It’s possible,” Oliver agreed grimly. 

Mai heaved another sigh and lifted a hand to prod at the growing headache between her eyes. So their culprit was a creature that resided on the astral plane, possessed humans to hunt for its victims - children - and fed every thirty years? 

“It’s as if it's spiriting them away,” John said. 

Simultaneously, both Mai and Masako stilled. It was an action that anyone could easily miss but for someone like Oliver Davis, who had worked with both women in close quarters for over a year and had an obsessive attention to detail, it was as glaring as a spotlight in the sky. Masako had adopted a thoughtful expression and tilted her head as if she were listening to the whispered words of a close confidant. Likely, Lydia herself was present and attempting to communicate. Mai, on the other hand, would usually experience a moment of intuition. 

But it was Tristan who broke the sudden tension by shooting to his feet with wide eyes. His chair scraped across the floor and drew the attention of the team immediately, all conversation once more falling to the wayside in the wake of the newest development. 

“I can’t believe I didn’t even think of it before,” Tristan admitted to the room aloud, frantically reaching for his notes with shaking fingers. 

Monk glanced about between the faces in the room before he crossed his arms, “Alright, I’ll bite.” 

Tristan shot the man a grateful look while his hands flipped through the pages hurriedly. “I didn’t even consider it as an option because it seemed so ridiculous but now that we’ve gotten all of this new information…” he trailed off, having settled on a page, eyes skimming over the handwritten notes with speed. 

“There are a few figures that are prevalent throughout every culture across the world,” Tristan intoned, launching into a lecture, a habit formed over the years through attending conventions and the like. 

“Right,” Monk drawled doubtfully. 

“Gods, goddesses, representations of natural events, even death itself,” Tristan rambled, hefting the notebook in his hands. “And who is it-” he paused to lift his eyes to the room “-that comes and takes naughty children away?” 

Martin scoffed from where he stood against the wall, “The Bogeyman?”

And yet, Mai straightened as something dragged up the back of her spine with malevolent intent. 

“It fits,” Tristan countered darkly, unmoved by the opinion of Dr. Martin Davis despite his experience, “There is no one depiction of the Bogeyman, only that he is a man. All of the victims, including the case in Japan, revolve around a man stalking and then kidnapping children. It uses fear to control its victims and puppets. More than a poltergeist, more than the Woman in White, the Bogeyman is the most well-known figure across the globe. The story of the Bogeyman is the first ghost story every child hears. From Brazil to Russia, nearly every culture has its version of the creature meant to scare kids into behaving."

“In Japan, we refer to it as being ‘spirited away’,” Monk clarified, “Misbehaving children will be taken by the spirits or gods…”

"But how exactly have the victims misbehaved?" Andrew questioned in consternation. As far as he was concerned, neither Lydia nor Toby had behaved in such a way as to warrant their deaths. 

Tristan waved his hand through the air in dismissal, "I don't believe it takes children for misbehaving, I think that was just how people twisted the story over the years for their benefit," 

“Be that as it may,” Marvin cut back in, “Why would it reside here? Based on the gathered data it has operated from beneath the museum since its founding.” 

Mai had retreated within herself as the conversation continued. She suspected Tristan’s revelation was as much information as they were going to get out of the meeting, sensing they were once more at a standstill. Regardless, any frustration Mai may have felt was overshadowed by the creeping certainty that they had just discovered the identity of their culprit and it was aware that they had. 

Mai dropped down into a seat at Ayako’s table, unnoticed by the rest of the room, and braced her chin in the palm of a hand. The surface of the table played host to her gaze while her mind frantically circled the events of the case and Toby’s kidnapping. If Tristan was right then Sam had been possessed and used as a puppet to bring Toby to the monster. And if that were true, was it not likely that Toby himself was currently trapped beneath their feet? Was he running for his life just as Lydia had? 

She couldn’t handle the thought. That familiar pain lanced through her chest and she lifted a hand to clutch at the front of her sweater, a quiet gasp slipping between her lips. She could only imagine it was what a heart attack felt like - a twisting, sharp, shooting pain that stole her very breath from her lungs. She would have dropped to her knees had she been standing but, as it was, only Ayako glanced over to take note of her evident discomfort. 

“Are you alright?” she asked in hushed urgency, reaching across the table to grip Mai’s hand in her own. 

Mai opened her mouth to respond but bit her tongue when the lights of the room went out. 

Darkness swallowed them all in a split second. 

Mai immediately moved to return Ayako’s hold on her hand with a vice-like grip as her heart rocketed up into her throat. There were no windows within the meeting room so not even the streetlights from outside could penetrate the blanket of black that had fallen over all of them. Mai whipped her head around towards the door to find that even the monitoring room had lost power - or she assumed at the very least - no light spilled forth from any of the doorways within the hall. 

“Stay calm.” Lin’s commanding voice pierced the panic that had threatened to consume some of the more inexperienced of the group. Nora had let out a squeak the moment the lights went out but it sounded as if Ayako was offering her comforting words while she clung to Mai’s hand in return. If Mai was in her right mind she might have even made fun of the shrine maiden, but as it was, she could barely think enough to formulate a word let alone joke. 

“My laptop is dead,” Yasuhara announced to the room. 

His words broke the momentary spell that had left the team stunned and everyone moved to reach for their devices, attempting to activate the screens and bring some light back into the room, but all Mai heard were wordless sounds of frustration and fear as every device lacked power. 

“What was that about it not being able to step over into the physical plane?” Monk grumbled. 

“Houshou,” Ayako admonished waspishly from across the room. 

The familiar sound of a match striking drew all eyes to Lin as he held the single source of light aloft to scan the room. He likely always had them on hand in case he needed them for a ceremony or seance, and they were all thankful for it. The man’s one visible eye scrutinized the room before he settled his sight on Mai. 

At some point, likely at the same moment he had struck the match, Mai had pushed herself to her feet in the darkness. 

“Mai?” Lin questioned stiffly. 

“Someone's coming,” she voiced in response, fingers braced against the surface of the table. The thought had not yet even crossed her mind before the words were forced from her mouth. She turned to face the door, craning her neck over her shoulder before she pushed herself away from the table and stumbled through the tables and chairs until she reached the doorframe and peered out into the hall. 

“Mai!” Oliver barked, shoving his way past Lin. 

Mai let out a grunt as he collided with her and wrapped an arm around her stomach to pull her back. The sound of approaching footsteps on linoleum gave him pause, however, and he instead twisted about to put himself in the doorway instead of Mai. She struggled in his arms but he paid her little mind as he scoured the pitch-black hallway with an intense gaze. 

Whatever it was, it was sprinting down the hall directly for their door. 

“Get out of the way!” Lin commanded before a piercing whistle rent the air and white electric whisps zipped through the room and down the hall. 

There was a scream of terror in response and the white light of Lin’s remaining two Shiki illuminated the frightened form of Marvin hunched in the middle of the hall. The orbs seemed to dance merrily about the terrified man, taking delight in his fear, before they dissipated - the emergency backup lights flickered on in their absence and lit the hallway in a sickly and dim white light. 

“Marvin!” Mai exclaimed in surprise from where she peered over Oliver’s shoulder. 

“Ms. Taniyama!” Marvin cried out in relief, lifting his face to take in the growing group collecting in the doorway. He looked haggard as if he hadn’t slept in days, spending his time frantically researching all that he could in hopes of being of some assistance to their team. He ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair while lurching to his feet and attempting to compose himself. 

“What’s going on?” Oliver demanded gruffly, releasing his hold on Mai so she could step out into the hall. 

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Marvin admitted anxiously, “I was in the office when the power shut off.” 

“The entire museum lost power?” Ayako exclaimed from the doorway, looking utterly flabbergasted. The main office was on the other side of the building! 

“Yes-” Marvin began but he was cut off as Lin suddenly dashed past him and out into the main hall. The action was so sudden and out of character for the usually quiet and composed man that the rest of the team - now piled in the doorway - merely watched as the man delved out of sight. 

“Lin!” Martin called out, pushing his way out into the hall to jog after the usually stoic man. He paused at the mouth of the hallway where Ayako’s charms marked the safety of the base and peered out in the direction Lin had taken. “What in the blazes is going on?” Martin called out down the hall. 

“It’s Fang!” Lin’s distant voice rang out from several yards away, “He’s found Toby!” Belatedly, the Onmyoji realized that Mai had likely felt the presence of his approaching Shiki, incapable of passing through Ayako's barrier, and not the assistant curator clumsily stumbling through the dark halls. 

His voice was fading as he raced for the doors leading out into the parking lot but they all heard him clearly and his words were like a lit stick of dynamite in a fireworks factory - the entire gathered group erupted into activity and the chaos was enough to leave Mai stupefied, if only for a moment, and then Martin was taking charge. 

“Oliver! Mai! Go!” Martin commanded, gesturing for the two to get going before they wasted any more time. “I’ll call the authorities and coordinate from here. We’ll stay here and continue monitoring the situation. We’ll use the generators in the vans to power the equipment until everything is sorted with the power.” 

Oliver didn’t wait for further instruction, he trusted his father implicitly and knew he would take care of the team in his stead as he would his own family - he was already out of sight before Martin had finished speaking and Mai was close on his heels. 

It took them a mere minute to reach the doors leading out into the parking lot, still swinging in Lin’s wake, and then they were diving into the rain. Mai’s heels clacked against the pavement, splashing through the gathered water that was threatening to flood the lot. It was freezing - by the time they slid to a stop before the collected vehicles her hair was soaked to her scalp and their breath fogged before them in great blooming clouds. 

The van in front of them roared to life and the headlights exploded across the parking lot, illuminating the two bedraggled characters with startling clarity. 

Oliver grabbed her arm and guided her towards the van, “Go,” he panted distractedly. She stumbled over her footing for only a moment before she righted herself and threw herself at the back passenger door, numb fingers scrabbling to pull the handle. The door jerked open, stuttering on its track, and she pulled herself into the dry interior with a gasp. 

“Where?” Oliver’s voice rang out in the startlingly quiet interior of the van that was already pulling out of the lot before Mai had managed to close the door. 

“In the country,” Lin replied stoically, “He’ll guide us there, but it won’t be an easy ride.” 

The warning was enough to send Mai hurrying to pull the door shut and lock it. Using GPS in a foreign country was one thing, but she could only imagine how erratic their path would be following the shackled spirit of an Onmyoji. She slumped against the seat and then belatedly jumped to buckle her seatbelt for good measure. 

“Why so far?” Oliver mused with a scoff. He had reached up to grip the handle over the door as the van swerved out into traffic, ignoring the enraged blaring of car horns in response. 

It was a good question. All of the victims documented since the museum's opening had gone missing within the building. Why had Toby been taken out of the city and into the countryside? It hardly made sense. More importantly, Lin had not informed them whether Toby was unharmed or not. That realization sent a thrill of terror through Mai and she gripped the armrests of the seat with white knuckles, attempting to restrain her panic before it consumed her. There was no point in worrying about it now, she instructed herself because they weren’t physically there yet and there was nothing they could do otherwise. 

Mai turned her eyes to the view out of the windshield instead, watching as the wipers fought valiantly against the downpour. If she focused she could just make out a monstrous figure loping alongside the car on the driver’s side. From the corner of her eye, it looked like a dog, tongue lolling out of the side of its mouth, fangs barred and hackles raised. But if she focused directly on the form it seemed to dissipate like steam in the rain, form flitting and flickering in and out of existence. 

It was Fang. 

She watched from her peripherals as the beast bounded across traffic and turned down a one-way street, forcing Lin to do the same with a curse. 

Tires squealed across wet asphalt and Mai clenched her teeth as oncoming headlights were forced to swerve out of the way with horns blaring. 

“Bastard,” Lin barked, “He’s doing it on purpose.” 

“Is he trying to get us killed?” Mai questioned, panicked. 

“Yes,” Lin answered gruffly. 

Mai swallowed the lump in her throat and shut her eyes against the panic. She supposed an enslaved spirit would do its best to free itself whenever the opportunity arose. No wonder Lin was such a stick in the mud - any slip-up could result in the loss of his life. She had already respected him immensely before this moment but now she found herself putting him on par with a god. There was no doubt in her mind as to why Martin had snatched him up as soon as he could. 

The narrow road spit them out onto a two-way street a few moments later and Mai allowed herself a moment to catch her breath and hope that was the end of the crazy driving. Fang was once more loping along at their side - although Lin was pushing the van into the nineties - the hound looked like it wasn’t even breaking a sweat. 

Oliver’s phone rang and he answered not a millisecond later. Mai could just barely catch the authoritative tone of a Martin in charge from over the line before an unfamiliar voice cut in. Likely, the man had already contacted the authorities and worked to pull together a line of communication to prevent any awkward situations that may arise while the group tore across London at dangerous speeds. Mai had noticed the Davis family had a certain level of pull with the police and she recalled then that Oliver had helped them locate a missing person on more than one occasion. 

“We’re headed south out of the city,” Oliver stated coolly despite the situation. The muffled voice said something else and Oliver’s only response was: “A23.” 

The drive lasted well over an hour - an hour of tense silence in which Mai felt a chain wrapped around her chest cinch tighter and tighter as time wore on. Fang took delight in forcing Lin down precarious roads, diving into the surrounding woods to lose him completely, and circling back to waste time. And Oliver was growing more livid as time passed - enough so that he had reached back to take Mai’s hand behind the seat. 

“I’m sorry, Naru,” Lin muttered in frustration, “If there was any other way…”

“I know,” he cut the man off, gruff and irritable but understanding. He knew Lin would never intentionally subject him to such torture, but there was no denying that it was torture. He squeezed Mai’s hand and her cold fingers returned the gesture, gently lapping at the waves of energy building beneath his skin as his anger mounted. 

Before they had left the city they had gained a police escort, although the vehicles were relegated to following along behind the van as they did not know their destination, it at least gave them a little more leeway when it came to speeding and taking illegal turns. After an hour the roads had thinned down to a single lane carving a path through the vegetation of the English countryside. Historical homes passed them by every kilometer or so and the street would be spotted with a parked car or two, forcing Lin to slow and carefully navigate the tight space. 

The flashing lights of the police cars bounced off the homes and into the trees as they passed, causing Mai to see spots. She was briefly reminded of her book signing and the number of times she had had her photo taken with flash - she couldn’t help but marvel at the stark difference between the two circumstances and how little time had passed between them. 

“We’re getting close,” Lin muttered later. 

Fang had slowed to a trot, weaving in and out of the trees at the side of the vehicle, before he delved off down an overgrown dirt path. Lin pulled the van up onto the path as far as he could before putting it in park just a foot away from a fallen tree. A beaten-up Honda had been driven into the trees off the side of the path in a half-hearted attempt to hide it from view, but the searing beams of the van's headlights illuminated it with ease in the pouring rain.

Lin threw his door open and stepped out into the rain with a flashlight in hand and the other two were quick to follow. 

Mai was hit with a wall of ice-cold rain but she ignored it in favor of unzipping her boots and kicking them off. There was no way she would be able to keep up with the men, tromping through the muddy woods in the rain, in heels. She tossed them back into the van before pushing the door shut and hurrying around the front of the vehicle to catch up to them. Lin had already hauled himself over the tree and Oliver was quick to vault over after him, only pausing long enough to reach back and offer Mai a hand over. 

Rough wet bark bit into the bottom of the foot that she braced against the trunk of the tree as she hefted herself up and over, stepping down into the slick mud on the other side. She paid it little mind, instead choosing to push herself into a sprint after Lin’s dwindling figure. The flashlight was easy enough to spot through the trees but he was moving fast and they could not afford to falter. 

Behind them, two of the officers remained with the vehicles while the other two followed in their muddy prints, their own flashlights cutting swathes across the forest floor, illuminating the rain as it fell in droves. 

This was not the first time Mai had experienced running through a forest in the dead of night, but it was, technically, the first time she had physically done it herself. Her legs felt like lead weights, her feet sliding in the mud and rotting leaves, while her heart pounded away in her throat. She was assaulted with nightmarish images of Toby lying somewhere, dead on the forest floor, left in the cold rain to be found by them too late. The horror pushed her past what she was physically capable of. 

She was running through the woods at night and a beastly hound was running alongside her, yellow eyes glowing in the dark like the flashlight in Lin’s hand. It leered at her, malevolent and cruel, jeering in the face of their fear and panic. 

Mai glowered and lifted two fingers threateningly - the Shiki yipped in alarm, diving off into the trees and out of sight. Fang had had enough fun for one night, as far as she was concerned. 

She was afraid they’d find Toby dead just like they’d found Gene, left to the elements for Oliver to find. She didn’t know if he would be able to recover from such a blow. She didn’t know if she’d be able to stop him if he chose to lash out. 

The path curved through a particularly thick patch of ancient trees that reached high in the stormy night sky. Their boughs danced in the wind, shivering against the thunder that rolled through the air in the wake of a distant crack of lightning. The bouncing flashlight up ahead slowed to a stop and Mai could see Oliver slow, shoulders heaving against great lungfuls of air before she stumbled to a stop at his side and stared up at a rotted two-story home that had long since said goodbye to its occupants. 

A  cold chimney reached up into the trees overhead, cracked and missing windows smiled back at them, and vines had long since begun the process of reclaiming what was taken from nature to build the home. The door was made of wood and one of its hinges was broken, leaving it cockeyed and hanging by a thread to match the shattered steps leading up to the rotting deck. 

Lin surmounted the steps with Oliver hot on his heel and kicked the door off its remaining hinge with a grunt. 

Mai hurried up the steps after them, reaching out to haul herself up with the splintering railing, before she leaped into the darkness of the house with the police just behind her. 

The smell was awful. It was clear that mold and rot had long since taken root within the house and the lingering smell of death from an animal of some sort still clung to the moist wooden frame. It was stagnant, stale, and dusty. Dirt and rubble slid beneath Mai’s bare feet as she followed the sound of Lin and Oliver crashing through the house. She had no flashlight of her own and so was forced to navigate by the sparse flashes of light the others afforded her but she managed to slip past a set of stairs and into a dark backroom before crashing into Oliver’s back. 

“Daddy?”

The voice was surprised, fearful but laced with so much hope it was enough to shatter Mai’s heart before she had even managed to peer around Oliver’s shoulder and catch sight of the boy. 

Toby sat on a moldering and dusty couch with his hands sandwiched between his legs - afraid to touch anything in the rotting house. He was dressed in his dinosaur onesie, now ripped and muddied, barefoot and bruised. But he was alive. He looked as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. There was no telling how long he had sat in the dark by himself, crying based on the tear tracks that cut a path down the dirt on his cheeks, before they had finally found him. 

“Toby,” Oliver breathed, dropping to his knees the moment the boy launched himself from the couch and across the room. He dove into his father’s arms and buried his face into his chest with a pitiful sob, relieved now that he was no longer alone. 

Mai folded to the floor next to them and wrapped her arms around them both. It was a balancing act to level out Oliver’s energy against the magnetism that was Toby’s abilities but she put all of her focus into the task so they could enjoy the moment without interruption. She was still panting for breath after their mad dash through the woods but she was present enough now to realize she was soaking wet, covered in mud, and shivering against the frigid temperatures of the night. Even Oliver trembled against her arm. 

Distantly, she was aware that Lin and one of the officers had moved to climb the stairs but she figured they could handle whatever sort of scene they might find upstairs. 

“Are you injured?” Oliver murmured, gently pushing the boy back so he could look him over. The hood of his onesie had fallen and his ash-blonde hair was left disheveled and tangled but the only visible injuries were surface level. 

Toby pointed a trembling finger to a scratch on his cheek. It had already begun to scab over but it was still pink and puckered and would likely need to be cleaned soon if they wanted to avoid infection. 

Mai reached a hand up to tilt his chin to examine his throat and watch the way his eyes traced to follow her. He sniffled, eyes swollen from crying, and wrapped his hand around a few of her fingers with a hiccup. 

“...Mai,” he mumbled pleadingly, more tears already flowing. 

“I’m here, little man,” she crooned, running her fingers through his hair before she leaned forward to settle a kiss on his forehead. It didn't matter that she had lost most of her memories of him, there was no way she could deny the desperate plea for comfort from him. She found her love for him slotting right back into place regardless of those pesky missing memories. She remembered Gene's gentle words spoken on her astral plane, assuring her that she could always make more - as long as they were alive. 

“You’re all wet,” Toby mumbled through his tears, tugging at a lock of Mai’s hair. 

“It’s raining outside,” Mai explained with a wet chuckle. 

“Why didn’t you use an umbrella?” Toby asked in confusion. 

Mai and Oliver shared a look over the top of Toby’s head and took in the sight of each other for the first time since they had left the museum. They were both soaked to the bone and dirty, and Oliver had somehow earned himself a scratch across the cheek to match Toby’s, but there was no denying the mirth that tugged at the corner of his mouth. Mai snorted. 

“I guess we forget,” she said instead. 

There was a heavy thud from upstairs and they all glanced up at the ceiling as a curtain of dust rained down over top of them. Mai turned her face down as Toby spoke up.

“What are they doing up there?” 

“Looking for the man that took you,” Oliver explained lightly while pulling Toby up into his arms before pushing himself to his feet. 

“Oh,” Toby voiced, “But he left forever ago…”

Mai and Oliver shared another look but this one held far more within it. She pursed her lips as Oliver settled Toby’s head on his shoulder and turned his face away from the stairs. The footsteps of those above indicated they were moving to come back downstairs and the both of them suspected things were not quite as Toby described. 

Mai watched as Lin came down the stairs first, flashlight in hand, casting his face in a ghoulish light before he turned his gaze to them wearing a grim expression. There was a length of loose rope in his other hand. 

Mai clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle the wordless cry of despair that threatened to spill forth and alert Toby. She pulled her hand away from him on instinct before she caught herself and instead settled it on his back, rubbing soothing circles over the dirtied onesie, hoping to lull him to sleep - he was exhausted as it was, anyway.  She took a steadying breath and bit her lip, catching sight of the narrow-eyed look of dispassion Oliver wore. 

“Let’s sit,” she advised, gesturing to the couch while Lin stepped back outside to speak with the officers. 

“That couch is disgusting,” Oliver observed dryly. 

He was picking a fight just to distract her, that Naru. 

Mai shot him an exasperated look and the man rolled his eyes before moving to drop down onto the couch wordlessly. There was no point in worrying about dirt and grime when they were already covered and it wasn’t likely they would have the chance to clean up any time soon. The police would want to investigate, speak with everyone involved, and ensure no serious injuries had been dished out before everyone was allowed to leave the scene. Mai wasn’t even sure what their next move would be - likely Oliver would return home with Toby and Mai would make her way back to the museum to see the case brought to a close, but she was just too tired to devote much more thought to the future. All she knew was that the Bogeyman had attempted to take Toby away from them and he had made the mistake of using a paranormal investigator as his puppet. Sam likely suspected what was happening and rather than surrender to its control, he had fought against it, choosing to end his own life instead.

Toby had said Sam left but Mai suspected the boy only thought that because he had felt the dissipating of Sam's emotions as he passed. It must have felt as if the man had simply stepped out of the house and walked off into the woods rather than the gruesome reality of what he had done. The thud they had heard had been Lin and the officer cutting Sam's body down from where it hung...

Mai dropped down onto the couch next to Oliver and shamelessly pressed herself against him, silently relieved when he lifted an arm to pull her close. Her teeth were chattering when she tossed her legs over his and wrapped her arms around Toby to snuggle up next to him. They were a veritable pile of limbs on a moldy old couch but it was the most content Mai had felt since the whole debacle had begun so she couldn’t bring herself to mind it all that much. 

She dropped her head onto his shoulder with a sigh, letting her eyes fall shut. 

“Don’t fall asleep,” he warned tiredly. 

Mai hummed in response but what felt like a moment later she was jostled awake as someone settled a blanket over them. Through bleary eyes, she could see that Toby had long since fallen asleep against his father’s chest, drooling into the dirtied black dress shirt while snoring lightly, and Oliver had leaned his head back against the couch with those damnable eyelashes fanned out across his cheekbones. That hypocrite. 

A portable space heater had been set up in the room and Lin stood at the entrance of the hall with a thermos in hand, his own shock blanket hanging from his shoulders. More police had joined the scene and the inspector had taken control of the situation, likely advising Lin to leave the rest to them while they recovered. 

The blue glow of early morning was beginning to spill in through the window. 

Mai dropped her head back to Oliver’s shoulder with a sigh through her nose. Just a few more minutes and she'd be able to kick herself into gear. She was ready to get everyone home and back to their families for some much needed rest and relaxation. In a few minutes.