Porcelain

Trust Is First And Foremost...Right?

"I was going through all these files last night. And I found some pretty interesting things." Michael said, briefing us as I imagined he'd brief the other agents at work. We were back upstairs, looking through my files, James' and Ryan's files strewn on the table. Ryan and I were sitting lazily on my futon, watching Michael pace.

After apologizing to Ryan about my Monsters Inc. joke, (he had punched me as a punishment; with my arm and heart throbbing), we went to work on the James sitch.

I looked through a page of my case, rereading my last statement. Ryan shuffled through some pictures, holding one up.

"Look how cute Naniya was when she was 12."

Michael looked at it. "She totally lost her cute."

Ryan shrugged. "I don't know. I still see it." He held the picture next to my face. "Aged well, though. Tired, but still beautiful."

Michael grinned at me, and I elbowed Ryan. "Let's just focus, please?"

He nodded, chuckling to himself. He began to fully examine the file.

"Nothing about Angel," he muttered.

I looked at the pictures of my parents. "I requested for her to be taken out of the report," I said quietly. I felt Ryan look at me. "She was a good person. I didn't know her family or who she was protecting, but I didn't want anyone associated with her to get involved."

I met his eyes, and he held back his surprise. I turned back to the file, clearing my throat.

"He left before the police got there. Do you know where he went?" I asked Ryan.

"We both went home. After he told me that Angel had died, we packed the house up, and ran to a safe house somewhere else."

Michael frowned. "Where?"

"Somewhere in Oregon." Ryan said, shrugging. "I wasn't exactly informed until I asked him to enlist me to his 'cause'."

"What did he tell you? About Angel, I mean." 

He tensed.

"Told me that a 'subject' had killed her and that she tried to kill him, too. For a good time, I had hatred for a face whose name I didn't know. I asked how I could help with getting vengeance. So, he trained me. You're still his best, but let's just say I'm his second best."

I started forward, jumpy, as he turned his eyes on me. Even Michael shifted to grip his gun, aware of Ryan's distant gaze and unfamiliar eyes. But when I sucked in my breath, Ryan immediately grabbed my wrist, an action that was linked with fear and pain in my mind. Michael flinched, but in fear and pain, I was not vulnerable, but stronger. And I observed Ryan's face calmly.

His face was desperate.

"Please. Just stay."

I nodded, looking at Michael, asking silently for him to stand down.

"I...hated your memory for years on end." He sounded very hesitant, as if he was being very careful about what he had to say. "I wanted to find you. I wanted to...well, for a long time I didn't actually know what I wanted." He looked into my eyes. "One day, he came back home, excited. We were going to Idaho; he found you."

I recalled how brief Idaho was. I had spent less than a year there because James had found me so quickly. It was my fault; I had disobeyed my orders to stay inside for the longest time.

"He didn't trust me to do the job properly, but I wanted to go with him. So, as he triangulated your location, I downloaded his tracking data. And then, I trailed him. Eventually, I found you in an alleyway, and I saw James behind you. You fought back, but he grabbed you in a choke. I wanted to jump in, even though I knew James would be furious with me. And then you said something."

I tilted my head in confusion.

"'This isn't what Angel would have wanted.'" He smiled. "It made me curious; how well did you know my sister? I didn't exactly pull back, but you had somersaulted a kick into Luke's face, and escaped by then. I snuck back home, meditating on my thoughts about you. When my brother got home, I asked him what your name was, but he only gave me your first name. As if I Googled you, I would learn something about you that he didn't want me to know."

"But you researched," I said.

He snorted. "There's not enough Naniyas in the world for you to completely hide on the internet. Even if the Program tried to hide you, I have a talent for hacking the web."

"Oh, great. That means you've hacked into my surveillance." Michael muttered, and I elbowed him to be quiet.

Ryan was grinning by this point. "There were several articles from Washington. And one file on the Washington census regarding a Naniya Rivera. I easily recognized your face. I read your statement, over and over, and somehow it fit the pieces of the puzzle that was you and James together."

"But James lied to you."

"Well, that's the thing about lies, Naniya; one way or another, lies don't usually last long. James overestimated my worship of him. And he underestimated my ability. He may have rescued me and my sister, but he also destroyed us."

Michael sighed. "How long did you pretend to believe him?"

"I'd say two years. I did my research and thievery and left the next year. And I've been in Colorado since I ran away from him. I'm sure he's still looking for me."

I exchanged glances with Michael.

"How well did you cover your tracks?" Michael asked, hesitant.

Ryan rolled his eyes. "I don't exist in any record, dude. I go by an alias, like our good friend Ana. The difference is, my cover's really good and created by me. Not a program."

"What's your fake name then?" I asked.

He smiled. "Leopold Parker."

He'd said it so proudly that I took a double-take.

"I'm sorry?" I said.

Michael gaped openly. "What. Why."

"It's not a common name," Ryan said as if it were obvious. "He looks for common, duh."

I rolled my eyes.

"The question is," Michael asked," do we wait for him to come to us, or do we go to him?"

"It'd certainly be faster if we did the latter," I murmured, biting my lip.

"The faster we do this, the faster you can receive your freedom," Ryan said.

"Live your life," Michael added.

I shook my head. "Facts first. What do we know, and then we can decide."

Ryan shrugged. "Whatever I've told you is all I know."

Michael gestured to the files. "That's all I have. But I have to get back to work. I need to do more recon."

He got up and went downstairs. "See me out?" I nodded.

I was about to follow when Ryan called my name. "Naniya." I turned to him. "How do you know you can trust me?"

I stared at him for a while. "I don't." And walked down to let Michael out.

-- Amira