In Search Of The Neon City

14 - Hannes

Four hours, that was all I was able to give him before the rest of the gang began to wonder where he was.

And now I was sitting there with an annoying stone in my boot and an even greater irritation in the chair in front of me.

"And you didn't say anything until now?! What the hell were you thinking?!"

I met his annoyed eyes with a playful calm grin, but inside I was boiling. What the hell did he think of me? Fuck, I had almost chained myself to the tower to stop me from storming after Lo, and now he was sitting there thinking I was trying to fuck with him, with Carl. What an idiot.

The truth was, that I had needed a few hours to dry my tears and start thinking logically. Trying to figure out what Lo was up to wasn't the easiest thing to do, but as usual I suspected that he had acted on a feeling, or rather, he had followed his sweet little naive heart.
He'd even told me that he didn't want Carl to get a hold of Twelve and my little brother probably thought they were friends.

Hell, Lo, I thought with a sigh. You don't get friends so easily.

A hand landed on my lap and I was thrown back to reality. Carl's worried eyes looked into mine and he sounded much calmer now "Do you know where he's going?"

I met his gaze but shook my head "he's erased everything, he doesn't want us to find him."

"There are ways," he muttered thoughtfully.

I heard Jonna's deep sigh from behind and turned to her "He believes he needs to fix this alone, he told me that, and that this Twelve guy trusts him, but  he'll refuse to help us if we all show up."

"He has a point," she admitted, placing a hand on Carl's shoulder. "Maybe we should give him a chance?"

"Never" the older man hissed and stood up "I'm not going to leave him to the vultures out there, and who the hell knows if that Twelve person is something to trust."
He sighed and scratched the back of his head "he's my kid! I can 't leave him out there!"

I frowned at his words, but I did not question them. I knew they came from the heart, and damn, I was grateful for everything he did for us, the problem was me. I had trust issues.

With a sigh I stood up and patted him on the shoulder "I'll go out and look for tracks, we need to know in which direction to search."

"And the rest of us?" The female voice called after me.

Carl turned to her "I want you to come with me and Hannes, the girls can handle themselves for a few days."

"Sure, but days can turn into weeks."

"They know how things works," he replied with certainty in his voice, "and it's time for them to take some responsibility for once."

She raised an eyebrow but said nothing, yet I knew what she was thinking. The girls would see it as a long wonderful holiday.

"I'll gather supplies," he continued, "Jonna, you prepare the girls."

I exited the tent and left them alone, I knew they had a lot to talk about.
Personally, I had a lot to think through, because I suspected that Lo's plans went completely against what Carl was thinking.

Should I give him more time?

With tired steps I stepped into the caravan and looked around among Lo's organized mess and sank down on the lumpy mattress.

"You better be safe little brother" I mumbled to myself and started stuffing things into my backpack "otherwise I don't know what I'll do."

I glanced up at the screens and shrugged, one last attempt wouldn't do any harm.
A few minutes later the room was filled with a blue light. My fingers moved over the keys but it was no use, Lo had cleared all traces.

I sat and clicked around for twenty minutes before giving up and throwing myself on the mattress again.
A friend would have told him to stay at home, or not to travel alone. My mind spun and i felt my heart rate increase.

I was absolutely sure Twelve had tricked the shit out of him, whatever happened, I swore I would do everything in my power to avenge him.

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A/N
What's your thoughts on Twelve? You think he's a good guy?