Chapter Text
Cavendish marches into their office, slamming the door as he goes. “Another mission, ruined, because of that boy.”
“Yeah, because you were so busy watching him that you didn’t see the polar bear.” Dakota says, sitting down heavily. “I mean, where did that thing even come from? Where’s the nearest zoo?”
“It is time to take action, Dakota!” Cavendish raises a finger into the air. “We have been thwarted by this boy quite enough. We must handle him.”
“Handle him how, put him on the naughty step?” Dakota chortles.
“No, we are going to contact BoTT with our information and allow them to deal with it.” Cavendish says sternly. “We have evidence!”
“What, that the kid just happens to be there when our missions fail?” Dakota says. Yes, he is the one who brought up Milo Murphy’s reoccurring presence, but it was nothing more than an observation. He didn’t want Cavendish to get obsessed with the boy. “Besides, what are they gonna do, arrest him? I don’t think he’s even old enough to watch PG-13 movies.”
“That may be, but if he is old enough to meddle in the affairs of the Bureau he is old enough to face the consequences.” Cavendish continues. “He has caused problems for us long enough. We will give Mr Block all the information, and let him handle the situation. The Bureau has resources to deal with its enemies.”
“Enemies- Cav, he’s a kid. He’s just some kid.” Dakota attempts. “I really don’t think that he’s a counteragent, he doesn’t seem like one.”
“Hmph! We shall see!” Cavendish presses the button to call their boss. Dakota sighs. Hopefully Mr Block will get through to his partner, but he wishes that he didn’t have to. Mr Block will be harsher than Dakota was.
“What?” Mr Block snaps. “I saw that you failed your mission, are you here to grovel?” He laughs at his own joke.
“That polar bear showed up, what were we supposed to do about that?” Dakota defends himself and his partner.
“Uh, your jobs? Besides, a polar bear? That’s ridiculous. You were nowhere near a zoo!” Mr Block snaps.
“Mr Block, we believe that the polar bear was the work of a counteragent. We have noticed his presence at several of our failed missions, he is clearly plotting against us. He must be from a rival agency.” Cavendish explains, straightening.
“A rival agency? There isn’t a rival agency!” Mr Block scoffs. “Oh, this is rich. Yet another excuse for you two to fail.”
“It is not an excuse sir! Milo Murphy is-“
“Wait, wait, wait.” Mr Block holds up his hand. “Repeat that name.”
“Milo Murphy.”
Mr Block furrows his brow. “Well, that is interesting.” He murmurs. “Murphy. Yes, that tracks.” He straightens. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. It will be looked into. Dismissed.”
Dakota blinks. That is not the response that he expected. “But si-“
The screen goes black. Cavendish grins, raising his arms in triumph. “I knew it! I am vindicated!” He declares.
“Innocent ‘til proven guilty, Cav, technically you aren’t vindicated until the Bureau find him guilty.” Dakota points out, grinning despite himself. He is glad to see Cavendish so happy. But something feels off here.
“They will find him guilty. I am telling you, Dakota, all of our problems are over now!”
“Sure, Cav.”
———
Milo was just walking to the bus stop. But one thing led to another, and now he is a few streets away from the bus stop. Quite a few streets away. But he knows a short cut, so he will hopefully not be late.
He turns a corner, into an alleyway. There is a car parked at the other side, and when he steps into the alley the door opens. “Freeze! Hands where I can see them!”
Milo freezes in place, raising his arms above his head. “Uh, hi?”
They are adults, and all pointing weapons at him. He gulps. Is he getting robbed? Wouldn’t be the first time. He just needs to wait for an opportunity to bolt.
“You are Milo Murphy?” A gruff sounding man checks. Milo bobs his head. “You are under arrest for interfering in official Bureau business.”
Oh, so it’s the police, just in plain clothes. One of them flashes an official looking badge at him.
He’s pretty sure that he hasn’t done anything, but it wouldn’t be the first time that he’s been accused of being a vandal or arsonist or… well, the list goes on. It always gets sorted out quickly, when someone who knows about Murphy’s Law gets involved. For now, there’s no point fighting this. He’ll miss some school, but it’ll all be worked out in a couple of hours maximum.
So when his arms are cuffed he doesn’t struggle, although it sends a shudder through him. He hates being restrained. If something happens, how will he avoid it? He needs freedom of movement. “Uh, this might end badly. Murphy’s Law, y’know. Anything that can go wrong-“
“Will go wrong, yes, we are aware of your condition.” Whoever is holding him shakes him. Milo winces at the roughness. “Keep your mouth shut when you’ve not been asked anything.”
So Milo shuts his mouth, and the cuffs stay on. He hates it, that tight feeling of restriction. But it’s fine. Only for a little while.
He is pushed against the wall, roughly. He bites his tongue to avoid yelping as he hits the rough stone. His sweater vest gets caught on the nearby bin, tearing it.
His backpack is yanked off. “Hey, I need that!” He can’t be restricted and be separated from his backpack. Someone could get seriously hurt, or even die, if he can’t handle Murphy’s Law.
“You’re not going to school.” Did someone just kick him? “And we said to pipe down.”
“But-“
“Shut your damn mouth.”
Milo stops talking. Ok, these police officers are nasty. He takes a deep breath. It’s not nice, but he’s dealt with worse. The rough handling and the shouting, it’s not nice at all, but it’ll be over in a few hours at maximum.
They search him, rough once again. Everything is so rough, unnecessarily rough considering that he hasn’t tried to run. Has complied and been polite and helpful. The rough handling spills some dog treats from his pocket.
And then he is bundled into the car. He wriggles his arms, which earns him a warning elbow from the cop squished on his left side. There is also one squished on his right side. The whole situation is very claustrophobic and uncomfortable. And if something goes wrong, a cop might get hurt.
The car starts moving. Milo hears the sputter of the engine, but it manages to keep working. And then the world outside changes.
Green and purple, shifting and moving. He tries to stretch to look more, but he is shoved back into his place. But he still stares, confused. Is the car floating? What is going on? “Where are we?” He risks a question.
No answer.
“What have I done?” He risks a different one.
No answer. Milo feels a little frustrated. And confused. This doesn’t feel right, none of this feels right.
“Are you… actually the police?” He risks an attempt at third time lucky, an odd feeling of dread growing in his stomach.
“We never claimed to be.”
Milo’s heart drops straight into his stomach. This is not good.