Shadows of Giants 6.7

I almost staggered backwards at the realization. Holy shit. Am I missing a day? A whole fucking day?

“Who’s there?” came a voice, which I barely recognized as Wren. He huddled against the side of the building, hidden in a shadow.

When did I… Temple. Holy shit. What did I do?

“It’s us,” Kevin said.

Wren stood up, back still pressed against the wall.

“I left Liam and the tree at the police station, with the laptop. That should be enough to get him expelled, if not convicted,” Wren said, voice shaky. “I had to take a bus back. I couldn’t figure out how to do that again.”

Tree?

“It took you a day to catch a bus?” Kevin asked.

“It was the police station in New York,” said Wren.

“Wow,” Sean said. “That’s some serious distance.

“Come on,” Kevin said. “Let’s get you inside. It’s freezing out here, and you’re in a t-shirt.”

Wren stepped into the light, and I was surprised by how normal he looked. I wasn’t sure why, but I had expected something to be different about him. His shoulders drooped and his face was slack from exhaustion, but otherwise nothing had changed.

“Okay,” Wren confirmed. “But… be careful.”

“Careful?” I asked.

“Yeah. Just don’t touch me. And it’s not too bad. I’ve got a coat on.”

“No, you don’t,” Kevin said.

“I do!” protested Wren. “It’s just invisible.” He glanced around at our worried faces, then reached a hand up to his chest and pulled down with his hand. A zipping sound came from the air at his hand. “See?” He raised his hand back up, accompanied by another *zip.*

I broke the silence by saying “Cool.”

“Come on,” Kevin said, and we turned together to return to the dorm.

As we entered the dorm again, I could hear another snipped from the television in the common room.

“-cast into disarray after their leader, the notorious gang leader known only as Myriad, vanished during the nightmare attack.”

I froze.

“After yesterday’s events, every major metahuman gang in the city has lost their leadership; Several weeks ago when the leadership of the Collswell City Specialists was apprehended by the Wardens of Tomorrow, and now with the disappearance of the Anchor Boys’ and Blackwell’s respective leadership. Tony, what does this mean for the city?”

Oh no.

“Sources in the CCPD have stated that the resulting power vacuum could be very dangerous, and are already warning citizens to avoid areas with heavy gang presence due to the increased instability. There are reports of a turf war between the remaining Anchor Boys going on in the destroyed area, which is preventing search and rescue from responding to several distress calls in the area.”

Myriad’s gone missing. Oh fuck.

“Will?” Sean’s voice nagged at the corner of my attention.

“Yeah?” I said. I need to figure out what happened.

“Your phone’s ringing.”

“What?” Should I tell Jamisson? Probably not.

“Your phone. It’s ringing.”

I shook my head. “I keep my phone on vibrate.” Who can I contact? Underhand might be my best bet. I’ll have to-

“Evidently,” he said, more than a little sarcastic.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts and realized that my phone was, in fact, ringing. I patted down my pockets for my phone and, finding it, checked the number.

‘Unknown Name; Unknown Number,’ said the screen. Helpful. I answered it and followed the others as they entered the stairwell.

“You had better have a fucking good excuse,” said a female voice from the other end of the line.

“Who is this?” I asked. What other options do I have?

“Your ladyfriend, dumbass,” said the woman. “Who do you think?”

“A wrong number?” I said. I could talk to Savage. That might be a better idea.

“I sure as shit hope not.” Did I ever check in with Savage when I got back?

“You know, swearing a lot doesn’t make you sound-” I started to say.

“I hope it makes me sound pissed off, because that’s what I am,” she interrupted. “We had a meeting all set up and you fucking stood me up! You’re probably out there eating canapés with your superhero boytoys, whatever the fuck a canapé is.”

We reached the first landing and continued up the stairwell.

“I think it’s some kind of pastry,” I said. “Who are you?” Oh crap, I need to contact Savage.

Sean gave me a curious look. Only getting one side of a very confusing conversation.

“It’s me, fuckwit. We talked last night, remember? You gave me your number? We set up a date?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I-” I stopped. “Wait, you said we talked yesterday?”

“The dawn cometh at last, you obtuse angle.” Whoever she is, she might know what happened yesterday.

“I, uh, don’t remember most of the last day,” I said. “Can we talk later?”

We reached the second landing.

“Sure. Meet me at Raman Shaman or something. Two hours sound good?”

I pulled the phone away from my face to check the time. 10:00.

“Sure. I have some business to take care of before then, but that works for me.” Still need to talk to Savage.

“Good. You’d better be there this time.”

She disconnected just as we reached the third floor, and I slipped my phone back into my pocket.

“Who was that?” Sean asked.

“I have no idea,” I replied with a casual shrug. “Said she’d found a phone and called a random contact to see if she could get it back to its owner.”

Kevin unlocked the door to his and Kevin’s room and entered. Wren flopped down on his bed with a sigh of relief, and Kevin sat on his desk chair, tapping his feet with nervous energy. Behind us, entered Sasha.

“Where did you come from?” Kevin asked her.

“He texted me too,” she explained. “But I couldn’t make it quite as fast.”

“Really?” Kevin said, eyebrows raised. “And here I thought-”

“So, I think a round of introductions is due,” Sean interrupted. “I’ll go first.”