Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

March 10th

5:33 PM

As Taylor

As soon as the three got back, they relayed the encounter to you before notifying the rest of your friends. As soon as the last of everyone’s classes had ended for the week, you had all once again assembled, this time in your and Estela’s apartment.

“Yo, we gotta stop meeting under these circumstances,” laments Craig as he takes a seat.

“Amen to that,” says Jake as he leans against the sliding door. He had decided to stay in town for a little while, wanting to be available while you all investigated this matter.

“You’re going to get the damn glass all dirty.” Estela appears from your bedroom.

“Oh, sorry.”

He doesn’t move.

“Alright, run us through it one more time Aleister,” asks Sean.

Aleister takes a breath, and recounts how Blackworth appeared to have no personal reasons for her attacks, and that she claimed it was all business.

“Do you guys buy that?” asks Zahra. “Seems like a lot of trouble to go through.”

Grace continues, “We thought the same thing. Apparently we’re just that good of a story. Though, she claims that both Michelle’s old sorority and this Cal guy came to her with their plans.”

Estela sits up, adding, “Blackworth was more than willing to talk about the sorority. Seems like it was just the same petty shit. But when we mentioned the armed man that broke into the headquarters, she immediately shut down.”

“You said this guy’s name is Cal?” asks Quinn.

“That’s the one thing we know about him, yeah,” she confirms. “But he’s clearly the most dangerous, and we need to figure out who he is and why he’s after us. Because if we believe Blackworth, he’s the one with personal reasons to hurt us.”

“Can we like, search for all Cals or Calvins in the area? See if we recognize anyone?” proposes Diego.

A few people look towards Zahra.

She gives a surprised look before responding, “Well yeah, I mean I could. But what’s to say that he even lives around here?”

“That’s a good point,” says Michelle. “This guy could live anywhere.”

You finally speak. “Ok, let’s step back and think. This guy appears to Catalyst International on a personal level. What enemies might you have, Grace and Aleister?”

They turn to look at each other for a moment before Grace speaks.

“Well, I don’t know Taylor. I suppose some competitors may not be so happy with our free work. They might believe that we’re taking their projects.”

Aleister adds, “And I’m sure my father had plenty of enemies. It still could be a lot of people.”

Jake shifts uncomfortably before speaking.

“Hey uh, didn’t you say that this guy was black?”

“Yes,” says Grace.

“Well, that can narrow it down some I would think.”

Aleister jolts up, turning to Grace.

“Love…do you remember what that lunatic told us when he ambushed us? What he thought?”

She nods. “He thought we worked with Rourke.”

“Yes. He thinks we teamed up to get rid of the Arachnid army.”

Raj gasps as the realization dawns on most of your friends.

You nod resolutely. “I think we know who we’re after.”

Chapter Text

5:45 PM

“Wait, so you guys think this is Lundgren’s brother?” says Craig as Zahra opens her laptop.

“It’s gotta be,” says Estela. “Or son, or cousin. Someone.”

You all gather around Zahra as she types ‘Calvin Lundgren’ into the encrypted search bar.

Your heart jumps as you see the one search result.

“Calvin Lundgren, 36 years old. 6240, Aurora Lane N, Portland ME.”

“That’s only 2 hours from here,” remarks Diego.

You all look at each other.

“Wait, are we really going to go to this guy’s house?” asks Raj.

“It’s in a well populated suburban area,” says Zahra, looking at the aerial view. “If he wants to shoot us dead or kidnap us, he’d have to be pretty brazen.”

“I’m in,” says Craig. “Let’s do this.”

“Sounds like a Saturday road trip,” says Sean.

The rest of your friends shout their agreements, and plans are quickly made to leave the next morning.