I've Got the Strangest Feeling This Isn't Our First Time Around

57

"Now that's a mansion." Spike whistles in approval as they cycle through various issues of Opulent Living.

"Seriously, who lives like this?" Pauline shakes her head.

"You do." Mario says in a deadpan.

"No, my dad does." Pauline corrects.

"Wait." Luigi points at another issue. "That's the one. That's the issue she was holding in her dreams."

"Opulent Living with Goldbob and Sylvia." Spike reads.

"Open it." Snoozemore instructs. "See if we can't find any interior photos."

Spike taps his tablet several times, cycling through them one by one.

"I'm sorry, is that a bathroom or a swimming pool?" Mario comments.

"My bathroom looks like a broom closet." Pauline agrees.

"Because you leave all your stuff everywhere for daddy's maid to clean up." Spike quips.

"You're sure it's the same house?" Snoozemore asks Luigi.

"Positive." Luigi nods.

"Then you, Mario and I will go get a positive identification." Snoozemore decides.

"Why not Clark?" Luigi wonders.

"She's...away." Snoozemore says unhelpfully.

"Like we're away?" Mario rolls his eyes.

"She's needed somewhere else." Snoozemore says.

"Perfect, it was starting to feel off without you saying something vague." Spike jokes, ignoring Snoozemore's glare.

"I don't need a babysitter." Luigi snaps.

"You do when the two of you keep skulking around places without a badge authorizing you to be there." Snoozemore reminds them.

"Who's fault is that?" Mario argues.

"And must I remind you this could've been someone the family was close to, with no idea of what happened to her?" Snoozemore adds.

"Clark, it's me." Luigi says into his phone, outside the mansion in Poshley Heights. "I know wherever you are is more important, but I'm just calling to gloat. Molly didn't kill herself; she was murdered. Call me back."

Then he hangs up and walks over to where Mario and Snoozemore are waiting.

"What were you doing?" Snoozemore asks.

"Hang on, I gotta make it vague, just for you." Luigi says sarcastically.

"Luigi, please. We're both working towards the same goal." Snoozemore says.

"Are we going inside or what?" Luigi nods towards the mansion.

"Not until you remember to be mindful of who we're talking to and also err on the side of caution."

"Oh, well in that case, he should just go home." Mario flashes a grin.

"In that case, shut up." Luigi fires back.

"That settles it, I will be talking to them." Snoozemore decides, then makes his way up the path, with Mario making a little dash to get behind him first, and Luigi following.

"Jesus, she's even out of my league in her passport photo." Spike shakes his head as he flips through it. "Can you say army brat?"

Then he puts it back in her purse, pulling out a tablet and opening the photo gallery.

"Should've known you were a tree hugger." Spike rolls his eyes as he flips through the photos.

Habitat for Humanity. "Sap."

Doctors Without Borders. "Sap."

Gay Men's Health Crisis. "Not a sap." Spike decides, zooming in on a picture of her hugging someone in the hospital.

He sends them to his phone, but nearly drops both it and the tablet when the front door opens.

"Destiny! Hello!" Spike smiles awkwardly. "It is Destiny, right? I'm Spike, we weren't formally introduced."

Destiny walks over, still breathing heavy and sweaty from her run, hair in a messy ponytail and showing off the muscle in her arms.

"Now we have." She smiles.

"You like working out, huh?" Spike asks.

"Not my usual rap." Destiny says instead. "Had to settle for running all the way to the park and back."

As she bends over to untie her shoes, Spike asks sheepishly, "You and the ladies thirsty?"

"Just some tap water." Destiny shrugs.

"There's a new one." Spike says as he goes to fill a glass. "At least for Brooklyn standards."

"You'd be surprised how quickly you get a new perspective when you see the ugly side." Destiny says.

"I'll say." Spike agrees as he comes back and hands the glass to her.

"Thanks." She takes it. "And for letting me crash in this tiny box. Compared to where I've been sleeping, feels like a dream."

"And where was that again, exactly?" Spike asks, trying to not give himself away.

"A hostel in India." Destiny replies. "And before that, bush camping in Guinea."

"Really?" Spike scoffs. "You chose to sleep in the wild of a third world country full of things that wanna kill you?"

"Well I am an HIV/AIDS specialist." Destiny points. "And in both of those countries, that's the thing that wants to kill everyone. Little more important than anything that could happen to me, don't you think? Can you say the same?"

Now Spike feels like he's just been scolded and admits, "I'm nowhere near as noble as all that. You could even call me pathetic. My question is how are you not saying the same about Luigi?"

"I do." The admission surprises Spike. "But I don't want to, and he knows that." Spike keeps looking at her, so Destiny goes on, "We met in high school, actually. Believe me, I even tried to get him to do it for his community service requirement, but he has to do things his way, not anyone else's. Often we don't see each other at all."

"Disgusting." Spike tells her.

"But being constantly stuck in his dreams helps him be okay with that." Destiny admits. "We make every second we have count so even if it is a dream, it's a good one. I love it. How can you not?"

"Who says I don't?" Spike says, but it's hollow.

"He lives day to day in whatever moment the world lets him have." Destiny goes on. "We could all learn from him."

"Heck yes." Spike's fighting to not cover his mouth and scream.