Ascension

Chapter 14

Mick woke up at the sound of a car engine rumbling outside the shop. He rose slowly from his spot on the floor, massaging the back of his neck gingerly at the cramps. His head was clearer than it had been before, but a niggling pain still throbbed at the base of his skull. His eyes ran over the bookshelves and couches in the reading area and stopped when they fell on the empty file and the papers lined up on the table in front of him.

His heart sank. He hadn’t been dreaming.

Mick moved around the tables and stilled at the sound of voices, hidden behind a bookshelf. He could hear Gabe talking to Reid in a frantic tone. He knew that he had been the one to ask Reid to bring Gabe there, but he had not been prepared to hear his voice again.

“Where is he?” asked Gabe. “Where’s Mick? Is he okay? He’s not hurt, is he?”

“Calm down,” Reid pacified. “Mick’s fine. He was just closing his eyes when I called you and before you ask, no, he’s not drunk off his ass. I took the whiskey from him before he could go too far.”

Mick heard Gabe release a breath of relief. “Did he say anything?” he asked.

“He told me everything,” Reid replied. “You did a real number on him, Gabriel Bloom. He shouldn’t have had to find out like this.”

“I know,” Gabe replied, sounding even more wretched than he had been when he left him. “I know I shouldn’t have lied, but he’s just so stubborn and he’s been here too long. I had to see if he remembered anything.”

“And what if he didn’t?” Reid challenged. “What would you have done then?”

 “I don’t know,” he heard him admit, his voice nearly breaking at the end of the sentence. Mick’s heart clenched at the tone. “I had to believe that he was still in there, Reid.”

“I know,” Reid replied in a gentle voice. The bell on the shop door rang cheerfully in spite of the atmosphere inside and Mick heard two people entering the shop. “Hello, Kit,” Reid greeted. “It’s good to finally meet you here.”

“Likewise,” a voice replied. “I’ve been wondering when I’d finally set eyes on you. God knows it’s been long enough. Can’t say I’m impressed though.”

Mick’s eyes widened in recognition and he nearly tripped over himself as he moved around the bookshelves in his haste. When he reached the front of the shop, five faces stared at him, all of which he recognized.

“Oh, hell no.”

Rooster looked remarkably ordinary without the hair spikes and red dye; Mick wasn’t even sure if he would have recognized him if not for the amber plugs and his usual piercings. The man in question touched two fingers to the side of his head in a salute.

“Yo, Mick,” he said casually.

“Yo, Mick?” he squawked. “Yo, Mick? Are you fucking kidding me?”

“No,” he replied slowly, staring at Mick as if he had lost his mind. “I’m pretty sure I’m not.”

“You’re Kit? That’s your name?”

Rooster scowled. “And that’s why I never told you.”

“Seriously, Gabe?” Mick asked, looking at his stricken face. “Rooster? You’ve been skipping off every night to meet with Rooster?”

“No, I wasn’t...”

“Hey, I’ll have you know I’m a proper catch!” Rooster protested.

“Shut up!”Gabe and Mick snapped in unison.

“All that time mooning over Trish here-“ Mick gesticulated at her wildly “-and you’ve been fooling around with Gabe behind my back?”