Nameless ≫ Jarchie

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"Will I have to be assigned a new social worker?" Nameless asked randomly as Fred barreled into his room and settled onto Archie's side of the window seat.

"Why?" Fred furrowed his eyebrows, taking out his notepad and a pen which he only did on days he was forced to document and send detailed reports.

"Because I am dating your son. Is that not conflict of interest?"

"Well, it is. It probably is not allowed, but I won't tell if you won't."

"Rule breaker."

"Son dater." Fred fired back.

"Whatever." Nameless mumbled, giving up.

"I'm pretty sure the rule is that I can't engage in any social relationships with you or someone you know, but there is no rule saying that you can't. So I wouldn't worry about it. Let's just not bring it up to my boss, just in case." Fred further explained and the boy nodded.

"So what are we touching on today? Existential crisis?"

"Your whole life is an existential crisis."

"Okay then, Abe. What is going on in your life then?"

"Can you please stop calling me Abe? I look nothing like Abraham Lincoln!" He huffed. He never answered the questions Nameless would ask him about his life. He'd nod, say 'fine', or direct his attention into a different topic. The boy was never sure why he did that but he went along with it anyways. He never had to be told no twice. Today, Fred had changed the subject to how uncharacteristically cold it was outside. Seattle was usually pretty chilly, but today it was below freezing in mid October. No one in their right minds loved the change of weather, accept Nameless of course.

"I made a decision that I am not sure about," Nameless said after tons of meaningless conversation. It was the real reason he was looking forward to this meeting. He cared nothing about the 'have you been having symptoms again?' question that Fred was forced to ask at least once a month or the 'if things get bad again I can always refill your medicine' reminder. He cared about California because although the nightmares had stopped it was still the thing that plagued his mind when he least expected it. He needed answers, he realized. He had always been that way. He had always been curious and impulsive, and it seemed to carry into his life even now.

He needed to know what California was like.

"Does it have to do with California?" Fred asked nonchalantly, but the worry was evident in his eyes.

"Yes. I want to look at missing child reports from around that time. That is all for now." He said boldly, and Fred bit his lip.

"I have to ask," he began. "Why did you wait to tell me? Why didn't you look it up on your own? That's what you did when you thought you might've been born in Seattle."

"I could not do it alone." He said quietly.

Fred furrowed his eyebrows at that, looking up at the boy curiously. It was definitely not the reason he had been expecting.

"I have to ask," Nameless began again. "The person driving the vehicle must have told the doctor's my age, so why had he not said anything about California? Why would he keep that part of the story out?"

"He didn't tell the police or the doctors what your age was. He had it written down next to a description of you on a clipboard in the car. When asked, he admitted that the clipboard was referring to you. He didn't say anything else. That's all I really know about the case other than the fact that he was arrested soon after." Fred answered calmly.

"Okay. That is plausible." The boy sighed before getting up out of his seat and grabbing his laptop off of the bed. He returned swiftly and set the laptop down between both of them, googling 'California missing persons'. His hands shakily reached for the keypad before he clicked on the first link, taking him to the California Government website.