Gods and Monsters

III

Scotland Yard, London

About a week had passed since the attack on the hangar by Jared Brody. Everyone said it had been about a week as in truth, they had lost count of how long it had actually been, the days and nights merging into one blurry mess. After Charlie had left, the Deadbeat team stayed for a few minutes longer, no one daring to utter a word about what had happened. Peggy had ensured Jared was completely secure before leaving Scarlett and Clark to keep an eye on him. The police arrived shortly after due to an anonymous tip off from Rachel, and the team had been informed that Jared was in custody awaiting trial.

The team were sat outside of Yates' office, all waiting for their bi-weekly debrief, the only sound being Katlin drumming her fingers along the top of the chair she was sat in. The others had all agreed to keep the incident at Clark's hangar quiet from Atlin. She had excused her absence as a family emergency, but something wasn't right. Atlin hadn't been the same since her last date with Jessica, although the others didn't really care enough at the moment to enquire what was wrong with her.

Silence enveloped the corridor for a few moments longer until they all looked up from their depressing stupor as a cheerful tune was whistled. Rachel was the first to see Charlie saunter down the corridor, his usual grin plastered across his face as he carried a mysterious box. No one had seen him since the assault, but he seemed in a largely positive mood despite what had happened to Broderick.

"Hello gang! Why the long faces? I've brought doughnuts!" Charlie lifted the lid on the box to reveal the ring shaped confectionery. "For those of you who are interested, I purchased them from Maria's Delights on Carnaby Street on my way over. A lovely, lovely woman, although she could do with plucking that ghastly hair on her chin."

As Charlie tucked in, the others could only raise the slightest of smiles.

The door to Yates' office swung open suddenly, their boss retracting back behind his desk without saying a word as they all entered, dragging their feet as they came. Yates sipped from his "Best Boss" mug without offering the others a drink. Charlie stared at Yates' personal office kettle, longing for a cup of tea, but he kept his composure and resisted.

"So, does anyone have anything to report this week?" Yates asked as he put his mug back on his desk.

Unsurprisingly, Atlin avoided mention of her altercation with Jessica, whilst the others also decided to not say anything about their involvement in Jared Brody's arrest.

"It's been a rather quiet week actually. I think we've all been able to get on with our ordinary jobs without any posthumans or plots to destroy London for once." Peggy said.

Yates stared intently at her, and Peggy wouldn't be surprised if he saw right through her answer. Still, they weren't the only ones keeping secrets. He cracked a smile. "Good, good. In that case, we've got some cold cases that we'd like the Deadbeat team to investigate. They were suspected of being paranormal in nature at the time, but no one had the resources or the interest in investigating too far. I'll send over the details to your email accounts."

"Or maybe we can investigate "The Purple Vice Exchange"?" Charlie said.

For the first time in as long as the others had known him, Yates looked visibly shocked. "Come again, Mr Quinn?"

Producing a folder from underneath his coat, Charlie answered, "Well, in my absence over the last couple of days I decided to do my own investigation into Eugene. I went to the location Broderick had got for me before he..." Charlie paused for a moment. "When I got there, the building was of course empty, all the information destroyed except for one thing, a torn piece of paper with "The Purple Vice Exchange" written on it."

"Eugene as in Eugene McDonald? The criminal you claim faked his death and is now back in London, correct?"

"I don't claim anything, William. I know he's back, and if we don't do something soon, a lot of people could end up dead."

Yates leant back in his chair chuckling to himself. "Seriously? You want us to drop everything because of a scrap of paper? No, you're all going to investigate the cold cases I mentioned. I'll send the details over shortly."

Leaning forward now, both Peggy and Mike went to protest this decision, but Charlie got to it first. "Ah, you're probably right, boss. I look forward to hearing about these cases."

With that, Charlie left the office and sat on one of the chairs outside. Rachel was the first to greet him, whispering something to him before she excused herself from the others. Peggy sat next to Charlie as Mike and Atlin followed them out.

"Hey, Atlin and I are going for some food. You two fancy joining us?" Mike asked.

"We're good at the moment. We'll try and meet up with you in a bit." Peggy replied before turning back to Charlie. "We're so not investigating those cold cases, are we?"

Charlie smiled again. "Don't be daft, of course not. Do you really think I'd come out with all that over a scrap of paper? I've found out a lot more, but I just wanted to test how Yates would react. We'll discuss the rest at the pub later."

"It's good to have you back, Charlie," she said "but I was hoping you might be able to do me a favour?"

He nodded "Sure, what is it?"

"Well, after what happened with Frank and my...habit, I really do want to kick it. I was hoping you'd be able to set up some sessions between me and your sister Mary as she's a psychologist."

"I'm sure she'd be happy to help. I'll let her know and get her to contact you."

A few moments passed and the two friends remained in silence in the empty corridor. "Peg, I'm sorry for what I said about Nick the other night. It was out of line."

Peggy looked up now and gazed at the former professor, his eyes truly fully of sadness. "It's alright. I know you were just angry about Eugene and everything that's going on with him. I'm sorry to hear about Broderick too. Scarlett let us know."

Charlie nodded. "It's not right he was dragged into this. His parents live in Italy so they're having his body buried out there. I've sent them some money to help cover the funeral costs."

"That's very kind of you, Charlie. I hope you know that Broderick's death isn't on your hands though."

A sad smile spread its way across Charlie's face. "Of course it is. Like anyone who gets involved with me, they all end up dead." He twisted his body to face Peggy directly now. "Do you remember when we were on our way to Tim Brosnan's farm, I told you about Christmas Eve 2007?"

Peggy recalled the conversation. "Yeah, you were forced to leave the presents in the car because of the snow and you had to walk back to the girls house."

"Well, when I arrived, the house was in flames. I managed to get inside and tried looking for Winnie - the girl I was seeing and who owned the house - but I couldn't find her. I only just got out before the ceiling collapsed." Peggy got chills as she thought back to the fire she had been in as a child - the raging inferno which had taken her best friend from her. Having paused for a moment, Charlie continued, "That was the first night I met Eugene McDonald. Turned out the postie I had been sorting out a weeks prior to Christmas Eve was a friend of his. He thought I was in the house when he used his powers to light it up. I tried pursuing but I lost him in some nearby woods. She died because of me, and so, so many others have too."

"Charlie, I'm so sorry." Peggy said.

He sort of shrugged, hiding his true emotions. "It's alright, Peg. It was a while back now, but I wanted to tell you why stopping Eugene is so important to me."

Peggy placed a reassuring hand on Charlie's shoulder. "And we will. I promise that whatever it takes, we will stop him," Yates left his office and walked further down the corridor. "And if Yates is involved, him too." The pair smiled at one another before picking themselves up. "C'mon," Peggy said, "We've got some bad guys to catch!" 

Continued in Part 4...