{Original Story}
Having supernatural powers should feel like a blessing, but for Jack Parker, the most powerful Gifted in the world, it means he gets to be haunted by ghosts, hallucinations, and premonitions. Oh, and he's also on the run to stay on...
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The United States of America had nine panhandles, and Nick Parker had officially been to three of them.
When he was ten, he visited Florida with family. When he was twenty-seven, he was sent to Connecticut for a case. Now, at thirty-two, he was in a small town in the Oklahoma panhandle, mentally checking it off the list.
He drove down an empty road, in no rush. The station wasn't expecting him for twenty minutes, and even at the snail's pace he was going at, he'd be there in ten. His briefcase, full of his research, lay in the passenger seat. A flash drive would have sufficed, but what he'd discovered from years of travel around various law enforcement stations was that the small towns were typically underfunded and several years out of date regarding technology. He wasn't going to take his chances with a slow computer, so he'd gone the physical route.
He turned the rental car into the police station parking lot. Monroe, the FBI agent from the local regional office, was standing outside.
"Thanks for coming," she said.
Nick shook her hand. Monroe had no official partner for the case—it was one of those voluntary cases that were simple enough to leave up to local police—and since Nick was an old friend who she knew wouldn't tell her to abandon the captain who asked her for help, she reached out to him to do some research. Nick's assigned office was the headquarters in D.C., but he didn't mind making the trip.
"Captain's waiting inside," Monroe said. "I'll go ahead and get set up with him. You check in at the desk and meet me in there, okay?"
Nick nodded and followed her into the station. The chairs in the foyer were empty save for a single older man reading a newspaper, so without having to wait, Nick walked straight up to the desk. He slid over his badge for the administrator to verify and started filling out a visitation form.
"Nick."
Nick froze, and then he turned around slowly. Standing there was his younger brother, looking older than when he'd last seen him. The foyer was empty aside from them; the man with the newspaper was gone.
"How did you know I was here?" Nick asked quietly.
"You said you were going to Oklahoma."
It wasn't an answer, and judging by Jack's suspicious smile, he knew that. Oklahoma didn't say what town, what building, or when.
"Parker?" Monroe called from the end of the hallway.
Nick turned halfway to gesture that he'd be there in a second, but he kept Jack in the corner of his vision as he did so, convinced he would disappear if he took his eyes off him. When Monroe slipped back inside the captain's office, he turned back to Jack, who was still there.
"I have to work a case right now," Nick said stiffly. "There's a diner across the street. I'll meet you there afterwards."
Jack nodded, but Nick still didn't believe this was genuine. He would come out of the station to find the diner empty. He was near-certain of it.
