New Game

Lead

(Still no Mike)

The shrill sound of the alarm filled the small conference room, mercilessly pounding against Harold's eardrums. He blindly waved his hand in the general direction of the noise until it ceased. He groaned miserably, stretching his arms over his head. Desperately rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he looked around for the clock. It was nearly nine in the morning. They had only managed to fit in about three hours of sleep.

Harold peered around. The two had sequestered themselves in a small conference room, spreading out papers on every available surface and discussing the case until neither could keep their eyes open. Somehow, Harold had managed to fall asleep on the floor using his bag as a pillow. He spotted Ida, who was still snoozing on the couch, her hat tugged over her eyes. How could she sleep through that alarm? Harold wondered idly. The man pushed himself up off the floor and trotted over to the exhausted woman, placing a hand on her shoulder and shaking her gently. "Time to get up." he told her, "We got a fuck load of shit to do."

Ida let out a sound, not unlike a mewl and pushed her hat up off her forehead, peering up at Harold. "Oh God! I can't believe I fell asleep." she moaned, ashamed. "I should be looking for Aisha," she said, hopping off the couch and dusting off her vest.

"Don't sweat it." Harold reassured her, smiling. "Everybody sleeps. I don't think either of us would have been much better if we didn't get at least a few hours." He was still exhausted, less than ten hours of sleep over the course of three days was beginning to take its toll on the man. Hell, he hadn't had a shower in at least forty-eight hours and his hair was beginning to feel grimy. It was downright disgusting.

Suddenly, there was a faint knocking on the door and before either could answer it flew open and Scott marched into the conference room. He had obviously gotten more sleep than Ida and Harold, or at least a better dose of caffeine, because the bags under his eyes had mysteriously vanished. "Oh good, you're here," he said, curtly. He did not bother to let either speak before adding, "Ida, you have some visitors."

Ida looked befuddled, she was obviously not expecting guests. Her confusion lasted only moments before a small, girl forced her way past Scott and rushed into the room. She ran towards Ida, slamming directly into her chest and wrapping her arms around the older woman, "C—Connie?" Ida stuttered, shocked.

Scott entered, followed by a tall, skinny man with a dark complexion. His long hair was unkempt. A splash of freckles across his nose gave him the innocent look. His green eyes were identical to Ida's own. Harold would bet his next month's salary they were related.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Connie sobbed, pounding Ida's chest uselessly. She looked down at the child miserably. She bit her lip and fought back her own tears, placing a hand on her shaking back. Ida sighed deeply and looked up, locking eyes with the tall man and frowning deeply.

"Elijah, why did you bring her here?' she asked, her voice gruff. Ida's eyes burrowed into her relative's, but he managed to match her expression with ease. They stared at one another with such intensity, Harold was worried they might start a fire. Neither even so much as blinked until the girl broke the momentary stand-off, her voice drawing their attention to the ground.

"We saw the news. I asked Elijah to bring me here." Connie piped up, gazing up at Ida with watery eyes. "Did you really think you could keep the disappearance of my sister a secret forever?" she asked her. The brunette exhaled deeply and stroked Connie's hair in a sisterly manner.

"I was hoping to have her back by now..." she admitted.

The child released Ida and peered up at her with the utmost trust reflected in her eyes. "It's okay, I understand." she reassured the older, "I just want you to trust me. I need to know what's going on. Please?" the child begged, giving her a pleading gaze. Ida swallowed thickly and nodded.

"I'm sorry Connie." She apologized, patting her head. "I'll tell you as much as I can. How about I start by introducing the team I've been working with too you and my bro?" she suggested, gesturing towards her fellow agents. Connie smiled and nodded enthusiastically. When they entered the building, both she and Elijah had been so consumed with finding Ida they were much too distracted to notice anybody else, she didn't even remember the name of the man who had taken them to the conference room. The girl looked around at the other agents excitedly.

"This here is Harold Quinn." Ida introduced the man, throwing her arm casually over his shoulder and pulling him forward. "He's been a real help." she bragged, pounding Harold hard on the back. The agent grinned, detaching himself from the woman.

"We'll find your sister." Agent Quinn promised Connie, giving her a quick salute. "We have some awesome people in this case. Scott here is a total egghead, super smart." He poked his superior playfully in the side with the tip of his finger. The man smiled amusedly, his cheeks reddening slightly. He wasn't the ham Harold was.

"I will do my best," Scott said, humbly.

"Hey everybody, I brought some coffee!" Marley sang, his voice ringing down the hallway and into the conference room. He entered the room backward, pushing the door open with his back. When he turned around and spotted the new arrivals, his face immediately went pale. "I—I'm sorry," he stuttered, "Am I interrupting?"

"You're fine, Marley. Why don't you put that down over here?" Harold suggested, gesturing to the minuscule corners of bare space on the conference table in the center of the room. Marley nodded and began to glide towards the table when he stumbled. In an instant, before even Harold could react, Elijah was at Marley's side, pushing up the other side of the tray with his nose. Harold had to admit he was impressed.

"Lemme help, mister." he murmured, quietly. Elijah also sported a thick accent similar to Ida's, but his voice was several octaves lower. Harold got the impression he was much quieter than his hard-headed sister. Marley flushed redder than a tomato and nodded wordlessly. His blush was considerably darker than the one he usually wore when embarrassed and he looked as if he might drop and crash into the ground. Elijah took the tray from him and walked over to the table, setting it down gently on the surface.

"T—thank you. Mister—?" Marley whispered, flushing.

"Elijah"

"Elijah" Marley repeated, thoughtfully.

Ida watched the exchange between her brother and Marley with a look of amusement on her face. She shook her head, smiling and spoke loudly, "Thanks for the coffee, Marley!" she shouted. Marley jolted and both he and Elijah turned to face Ida, who grinned at them and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. The two blushed and averted their gaze from one another.

Suddenly, an errant beeping filled the room. Scott Warren frowned and unclipped his cell phone from his vest. He squinted at the text and his eyes widened behind the frames of his glasses. "We need to get to the conference room now!" the man spat, reattaching his phone to his vest and heading for the door. "We have a lead. A very strange one." he told everybody, grinding his teeth in agitation and rushing from the room without so much as a goodbye.

Harold and Ida grabbed their bags and ran for the exit, closely followed by Marley before Ida skidded to a stop, causing the other two to crash into her. "WAIT!" she shouted, looking around the room desperately. "Somebody has to stay with Connie and Elijah!" Ida moaned, defeated. She backed away from the door and walked towards her brother and Aisha's younger sister. Harold frowned, biting the inside of his cheek. He wished he could do something for his new friend. He knew how badly Ida wanted to be involved in this case, to know what was going on with her girlfriend.

"Stop," Marley murmured, Ida turned to face him. "You go. Aisha is your girlfriend. You can come back and tell us what happened." Marley smiled, placing a hand on Ida's shoulder and dropping it back to the ground. Ida's eyes began to well up with tears and she threw her arms around Marley and squeezed.

".." Ida squealed, gripping the poor man so tightly he began to lose oxygen. Marley gently tapped her on the shoulder and realizing she had Marley in a vice-grip, Ida released him. Marley wheezed slightly as he regulated his breathing. He smiled softly and nodded at the other agents. Ida grinned back at him, "I'll be back soon, okay?" she assured her family. She quickly kissed Connie and Elijah, who pushed her towards the door. They told her they wanted answers as much as the next guy and they trusted Ida to get them.

Harold and Ida tore from the room.