Dawnpoint

Chapter 37

"I missed you so much!"

Micah chuckled breathlessly as Levi slammed into him, trapping his arms with a tight hug that almost suffocated him. He relaxed into the embrace, glancing at Alex who stood in the doorway with her arms folded across her chest.

"Get here," he said, jerking his head back.

A small smile slithered onto her lips as she walked over and stood to his left, wrapping her arms around them both. Kato watched them from her seat on the sofa, a novel in her hands with a small green bookmark she had previously placed in when she heard the door. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun, loose strands tickling her neck as she leant forward to grab her coffee.

"I was so worried," Levi said, voice muffled by his shirt. "Don't ever do that again."

As he was released, Micah grinned. "What? Go to a different universe and leave you guys behind? Sure, I'll lead you to your deaths next time."

"That's not what I meant." Levi slapped his chest and scowled, sitting next to him as Alex perched beside Kato.

"Anyway," Micah said, clearing his throat. "I heard you gave those agents a good run for their money."

Alex scoffed and Levi perked up, fingers excitedly tapping against the rip of his jeans on his thigh. Kato placed her coffee down and crossed her right leg over her left, twirling her locket and adjusting the chain.

"I was convinced they were going to kill us all," he admitted with a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck.

Before he could say anything else, Micah grabbed his hand and pulled it to his face, eyes wide and lips parted as he studied the fresh ink trailing up his forearm. It was a remarkable piece of work, a perfectly shaded owl that popped off his skin, surrounded by a forest illuminated by moonlight.

"Oh, yeah. I got a tattoo," Levi said with a small laugh.

"It's beautiful," he whispered and then let him take his arm back. "Although, I would have expected you to have those line art tattoos if you ever got one."

"I'm a teacher who just brought four people back from an alternate universe," Levi joked. "I'm full of surprises."

Alex cleared her throat and scowled playfully. "A volunteer teacher who used two of my pay checks to pay for that."

Micah listened to them bicker contently, simply enjoying the mundane interaction before he had to lie to the entire world. He didn't think he'd ever be ready to talk about what happened, much less deliberately hide the truth when his morals screamed at him to not comply to the Government's demands.

But he had no choice.

So, when he walked into the library by Kato's side with Alex and Levi trailing behind, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it until she winced.

He wasn't ready to lie.

The enclosed room had sound-proof walls and a large conference table in the centre with black office chairs dotted evenly underneath. A tall, muscular man with green eyes and a bulbous nose greeted them by the door and nodded to each of them.

"The three who found the others are being interviewed first," he said gruffly. "You may wait with the others just through there."

Micah looked over his shoulder and they nodded with small smiles, Kato squeezing his hand one last time before they started filtering into the room.

"You'll be okay," she said and pressed a small kiss to his cheek. "We will meet you as soon as we're finished."

He nodded once and watched them disappear behind the semi-translucent door before turning on his heel, taking a deep breath, and following the man into the waiting area. It was relatively small, with a few wooden chairs circling a table that served as a bookcase, a spiral of children's novels protruding from the shelves.