Gravity Rises (S2)

ST: Part Eight

Gideon was pretty sure his life was about to come to a premature end.

He ran down the halls of Order headquarters, the memory of his father's ringing voice hot on his heels. He'd been quite clear — Gaston Northwest always was. If Gideon didn't go apologize to Blind Lincoln for his repeated absences right now, Gideon would sincerely regret it.

So Gideon went. Fast.

He'd been neglectful. He'd been careless. He'd been so wrapped up in searching the forest for Pacifica, for the first Journal, that he'd neglected his duties at the Order. And if he didn't make it right, he was going to pay.

He hurried towards Blind Lincoln's office. He'd nearly reached it; he only had one more corner to turn.

"Bill? Bill, where are you?"

Gideon skidded to a stop, nearly colliding with the far wall. Was that. . . ? No. . .

"Bill?" the voice called again. Either Gideon was hallucinating, or. . .

Or Pacifica had been down here the entire time.

She turned the corner and met his eyes. "Oh, hello, Gideon," she said calmly. "Have you seen Bill?"

His chest filled with some kind of emotion. He wanted to do something — to hug her, or something else crazy — but he could only stand there and stare at her. "Pacifica! You're — you're here!"

She blinked. "Yes. I'm here."

She looked different. More innocent, less complex. She wore a simple purple dress, and her hair hung loose around her shoulders. Her wide eyes were missing something, some sort of spark that had been a part of what made her Pacifica.

"Do you know where Bill is?" she asked.

Bill. Bill? "No. . . I haven't seen Bill for a while." Thank goodness. Gideon took a step closer to her. "Pacifica — what are you doing down here? Are you. . . are you alright?"

"Fine. Mostly. When Bill is here. I can't find him."

"Why would you want to?"

Pacifica's eyes widened as if he had said something highly offensive. "Why would I — are you joking?"

There was a little bit of the old Pacifica. A little bit of emotion.

"Bill is the only thing that keeps me sane," Pacifica said seriously.

Gideon choked back a laugh. "Keeps you sane?"

"Yes, that's what I said. It's boring down here. He talks to me. And. . . and he keeps her away."

It didn't take Gideon long to figure out who she meant. "Mabel's not down here, Pacifica."

Pacifica smiled at him as if he were a stupid child. "That's what she wants you to think."

His happiness at finding her was starting to wane. Immediately she wanted to jump down her rabbit hole of crazy with him. He decided to change the subject. "Pacifica, why are you in Order headquarters? Where are your parents?"

"My parents?" She frowned slightly. "They're around here somewhere. They don't remember me, I don't think."

Gideon stared at her. "Don't remember you?" But. . . but he hadn't. . . he hadn't wiped their memories. He hadn't seen them since Pacifica had disappeared.

"Yeah. I've seen them a couple times. They seem happier now."

Gideon filed this disturbing news away to be dealt with later. "Do you remember everything?"

She tilted her head. "As far as I know. I guess I wouldn't know if I didn't. But I don't think Blind Lincoln would do that to me."

Blind Lincoln. . . Blind Lincoln! "Oh — Pacifica, is Blind Lincoln in his office? I need to — "

"Northwest!"

Gideon and Pacifica whirled around. Blind Lincoln stood in the hall, looking between the two of them in shock. There was silence as his expression slowly hardened.

Then he cursed under his breath. "Scrabdoodle."

"Blind Lincoln," said Pacifica, "have you seen Bill?"

Lincoln glanced at her. "No." Back at Gideon. "I see you've found her."

"Was she hidden?" Gideon did his best to keep the defiance out of his voice, but it still leaked through.

Blind Lincoln's eyes narrowed slightly. "Yes. And I expect you to keep quiet about this."

"I wasn't planning on telling anyone. I was just looking for my friend."

Blind Lincoln studied his face for a moment, then chuckled quietly. "Is that why you've been missing so many of your duties?"

Gideon looked down. "Yes." His apology. He couldn't be defiant — he had to apologize. He took a deep breath and looked back up into Blind Lincoln's face. "I'm sorry I've been absent. It won't happen again."

The lines on Blind Lincoln's face softened slightly. "You are forgiven."

Great. He could go back and tell his father. He could leave.

Instead, he kept gazing up at Blind Lincoln. "Sir, if I may ask. . . why is Pacifica here? And why couldn't I know where she was?"

Blind Lincoln took a long, slow breath. "I don't know if I'm at liberty to say."

Of course. Blind Lincoln wasn't really in charge here. Gideon turned to Pacifica. "Why would Bill keep you from me?"

"I don't know," Pacifica said. "I just know I need to find him soon. Are you sure you two don't know where he is?"

"No," said Gideon and Blind Lincoln in the same tone of exasperation.

"Pacifica, why don't you go back to your room," Blind Lincoln said, looking at Gideon. "When Bill comes back, I'm sure he'll appear to you."

Gideon wanted to watch Pacifica leave, but he didn't dare break Blind Lincoln's gaze. So all he saw was a flash of purple in his periphery as she turned and walked away.

"You were really worried about her, weren't you?" Blind Lincoln asked softly.

"Yes," Gideon replied, equally soft.

There was a silence.

"Thank you for the apology." Blind Lincoln turned away.

"Sir — "

He turned.

Gideon took a quick breath. "Pacifica said her parents don't remember her. But how could they forget her if I wasn't here to wipe their memories?"

Blind Lincoln's face went stony. When he spoke, his voice was quiet, but hard. "Go home, young Northwest."

Gideon bit his tongue. He knew when not to push it.

Blind Lincoln left.

Gideon immediately searched the halls for another glimpse of Pacifica, but she was gone. Where were her rooms? Why was she here? What was she doing with the Order, of all things?

Why wasn't he allowed to know?

He shook his head and turned to head back home. There, Father. I did as you asked. And who could've known, the one person I was looking for was here the whole time.

How funny.

But if anyone had seen Gideon's drawn face and hard eyes just then, they wouldn't have thought anything was funny in the least.