Shards of Kairos

XIX -- Kairos

Mitch drove faster than he probably should have, hardly doing the speed limit where he could get away with it - struggling between driving as fast as he needed, wanted and yet not drawing attention to himself. Mitch had never missed a light bar or a set of sirens more than right now. 

But Connor lived in a part of Detroit that the city had pretty much given up on entirely. Mitch wasn't too overly concerned about being pulled over for speeding out here - not many would dare. Nearly on the outskirts, the trauma surgeon worked in the last and largest hospital standing that resided on the outskirts of Detroit. But that was Connor - always up to his hairline in aspects of death, dying, and life that most people wouldn't touch or couldn't handle. Mitch would like to say that's who Connor was. That he needed to be on the front lines between life and death and making a difference between the two - fighting that fight. But Mitch couldn't exactly remember who Connor even was. 

Mitch hadn't told Evie, but something strange was happening to his memory. It wasn't that he was remembering anything outright - from what he'd lost. Mitch had printed out his own file at the police station when he and Julian were gathering up intel on Evie's grandfather - whatever information he could dig up in as little time as they'd had. And Connor had been one of the soldiers in his unit over in Iraq. But that was about all he knew about Connor.

Graduated top of his class in med school, none of his family had been military. But that was all Connor had pursued and it wasn't long at all until the young, newly minted trauma surgeon completed a couple tours over in Iraq. 

It had triggered a few memories, reading over that file. But they were so brief, that Mitch couldn't even connect himself to what felt like a life that wasn't his own. And that was almost the worst part. Mitch felt so outside of what little he'd gained. But Connor... the trauma surgeon had felt like they were close, just at the thought of him. Mitch was sure he'd been close to his entire unit but looking up their names, Connor's name had hit him the most.

Mitch was just hoping he could pull off enough that he knew Connor - to bring him to Julian. Through the mirrors? Mitch wasn't even going to guess how that worked.

"Do you have everything?" Mitch asked Connor, the passenger side door to the Jeep still off, as Connor left his apartment at a swift jog with a large black duffel bag in hand and another over his back - both military issue.

"Yeah. And you better tell me what the hell is going on." Connor said, hazel eyes giving a serious glance around. And he was avoiding Mitch's eyes but Mitch didn't blame him. He'd asked for a lot. He'd asked for something that was probably illegal. And Mitch couldn't remember the last time he'd talked to Connor, called him - literally. Mitch only knew his name from the list of the men in his unit but Connor's first name felt familiar enough to say it without it feeling strange. There was that at least.

"Where have you been?" Connor asked, almost loudly, putting the black bag in the back and pulling himself into the Jeep - dropping the other at his feet between his boots. "And how much trouble are you in? The hell Mitch. I never thought I'd see you in a mess like this."

"It's a long story. What have you heard?" Mitch asked, taking the safest route he figured while talking to the man.

"I just what was on the news." Connor gave him a hard look. "You went missing transporting a prisoner to Detroit. They found a cruiser and a body in the woods somebody had set fire to. Last I heard they thought it was you."

Mitch felt himself go a little cold, reflexively tightening his hands on the wheel. But remembering that was apparently a tick of his, he loosened his grip. Too late, Connor shifting sharp eyes down towards the wheel in a glance. Dark looks a lot like Julian but not as tall, shorter and stockier. Connor looked a little rough but he even pulled that off. Mitch knew right away that he was sitting beside a seriously smart guy. And that made him inexplicably nervous all of a sudden. Of course Connor was smart, he was a doctor. But hell Mitch could tell right off it was more than that. Connor was real observant and he apparently knew Mitch real well.