Hope falls silently in the dark ... - Part 2

The man she held up before her had already lost consciousness and Caitlyn realised, too late, that she may have acted a little rashly. Black suited men, big men who had probably seen more real life combat than most people had seen in movies, littered the ground and she released the one she held, allowing him to crumple to the floor to join his colleagues. She had expected more of a fight, but the suit gave her far too much of an unfair advantage.

"Oh. Oh! I ... oh, dear. Please excuse me." The little man looked at the floor, and the several burly, unconscious security guards, and turned on his heel. "I'm sorry. I'll ..."

"Not so fast." The material of Caitlyn's suit swept out, looping around the man and stopping him from leaving. "Who are you? And where can I find Raymond Alden? And don't lie, I can hear every beat of your heart."

She could, too, but she had no idea what the heart of someone lying sounded like. Something about skipping a beat? Or running faster? She didn't know, but this little man didn't know that she didn't know. He appeared almost as short as Caitlyn did when not wearing the suit. While wearing it, she towered over him and hoped that was imposing enough to get him to talk.

"Ditko. Stanley Ditko, personal assistant to Mr Alden." As though by instinct, the man tried to raise his hand for her to shake, but the suit held him tight. "Ah. I see. I'm afraid I don't know where Mr Alden is and, you see, that is very strange."

"Why is that so strange?" She had a pretty good idea that Alden didn't want to be found, but if his flunky could give her a clue, all the better. "Stop prevaricating and speak up. Someone's life is at stake."

Aunt Mary's life and, perhaps, Alaina's. Maybe even Rayna's. Caitlyn had no idea how bad Alden's madness had become. Insane enough to put innocent people at risk because he had a personal vendetta against her. Against Blood Obsidian. Every second she spent here could be the last second of Aunt Mary's life and it infuriated Caitlyn that she still had no idea where to find her. She almost wished Alden, or Fiend, would simply attack her.

"Why, it's strange because, after yet another kidnap attempt, some three years ago now, Mr Alden had a sub-dermal tracker implanted. In order that we could find him anywhere, you see?" The man's glasses began to slide down his nose and he tilted his head up to stop them falling off. "It would take surgery to have it removed and I can't see that happening. He's quite particular about his and his family's safety."

"I'm sure he is. Where was he when the tracker was last working?" When the man nodded toward the computer on Alden's desk, Caitlyn allowed him to move to it. "And no funny business. As you can see, I don't know my own strength."

Ditko pushed the glasses back up his nose as he glanced at the unconscious security guys before looking at Caitlyn. Or, rather, looking at Blood Obsidian. This was all going to play havoc with her public perception, breaking into Ald-Tech, twice, beating up armed security goons and strong arming a little dude onto giving her private information.

After a few taps on the keyboard, a couple of clicks on the mouse, Ditko stood up and turned the screen around for her to look at. It didn't help at all. According to the tracking data, the last place Raymond Alden had visited while the tracker worked was right here. Maybe not this office, but, for certain, within Ald-Tech headquarters. This had proved a huge waste of time. To the side, at least two of the security guys were starting to regain consciousness. Though, with the broken bones and their guns bent almost in two, they probably weren't going to be a problem.

"Please, Mr Obsidian, find Mr Alden. He is a good man, he truly is and ... I shouldn't say, but ..." Ditko looked around, adjusting his glasses again, and lowered his voice. "He has been rather ill, of late. Crippling headaches, blackouts. I worry for him and if you can help him, I would greatly appreciate it."

"Sure." It seemed even Alden had people who cared about him, which made all of this even weirder. Caitlyn waved a hand at the men on the floor and the broken glass from the window. "Sorry about this. If Alden gets in touch, tell him ... tell him I'll find him."

Without waiting for Ditko to answer, Caitlyn took a run and dived through the broken window, allowing herself to fall for several stories before arresting the fall with her floating ability. She had come here filled with righteous anger and bluster, but beating up paid goons had not made her feel any better. She needed to stop reacting and to start thinking. That was what she did best.

-+-

On the Bastion satellite ...

Nope. Still couldn't get used to it. Even as she rushed through the corridors of the Bastion satellite, she couldn't help but turn her gaze to the view. Every time. Principle had said so, and he was right. She had no time to appreciate the insanity of her surroundings, though. Instead, she needed to put her mind to work.

Ever since the suit had chosen her, or had accidentally become attached to her, she had started acting different. There was no wonder that Alaina had, at first, embraced Caitlyn's new abilities, but had then pulled away. Somewhere along the way, Caitlyn had stopped thinking and had started hitting things instead.

The suit was nothing more than a tool, but Caitlyn had come to rely on that tool. Now she needed to rely on her far more powerful tool. The drone leading the way didn't turn off toward the medical bay. Nor did it head toward the storage area where she had come before. Kyle appeared to have moved yet again and Caitlyn wondered how much trouble he was going to be in when Bastion returned. She found him in the meeting room, along with someone else.

"Pho-boy? Are you sure bringing a civilian onto the highly secret super-hero team satellite base of operations is entirely a good idea." She gave Chief Watson a nervous wave and scowled at Kyle. Not that he could see beneath her mask. "Aren't there protocols, or something?"

"Yes, and I broke them." Kyle shrugged but at least he was wearing his mask in the Chief's presence. "It's the safest place for him right now. And, besides, I've dosed him, with his permission of course, with short-term memory inhibitors. As soon as he leaves, he'll forget practically everything about this place. Now ..."

"Forget whatever you were thinking." Passing Chief Watson, who looked in awe of his surroundings, Caitlyn moved to the bank of computers upon the meeting room table. "You still have access to Ald-Tech's servers, I expect. Alden had a tracker implanted in him. I need you to cross-reference everywhere he has been over the last few days. We're looking for places that would seem out of place. Places he wouldn't normally go and any of those places he's visited more than once."

Kyle didn't even crack a joke, which made Caitlyn a little worried, but he seemed fine. Maybe he simply understood her urgency. She could see the tension in his lower jaw, under the half-mask that looked like a junior version of Fear's fright mask, and his hands moved with practiced ease from keyboard to keyboard, mouse to mouse, performing the search she requested.

It felt odd to find the Chief up here, but she saw the logic in it. Up here, there was no way for Fiend to find him. Though why Alden wanted Watson in the first place, she couldn't imagine. Unless Alden had seen how she and Chief Watson had come to work together over the last few weeks. For every villain that Caitlyn had stopped, Chief Watson had led the clean-up and had spent time discussing the case with Caitlyn. She had put him in danger just by talking with him.

"This is incredible. I'd heard about this place, sure. It's like a myth in law-enforcement circles, but to see it first hand ..." Chief Watson shook his head, chewing the nicotine gum in his mouth with venom. He was clearly nervous. "Junior here has been asking about some of your villains while we waited. He seemed really interested in Machina. How you holding up, kid?"

"I'll be better when we've stopped Alden." She didn't want to talk about it, not with the Chief, but he deserved the courtesy of her not lying to him. "This is all my fault. I caused this with the fight with Vezzpa. If I'd only shown more care."

"Don't beat yourself up about it." His forehead furrowed as he seemed to recall something painful. "We've all made mistakes. How we make up for those mistakes is how we show what kind of person we are."

There was a story there, but it didn't look as though Chief Watson wanted to talk about it. They all had their little secrets and she didn't press him about his. Instead, she turned to the monitors and began to review Kyle's findings. Not only of this search, but of everything he had compiled about Alden.

Thanks to Drone's drones, they had a lot of detailed information about the attack on both Aunt Mary and the failed attempt at trailing the Chief. It all pointed toward Alden. Every step of the way. Like great, big glaring signs that pointed right toward the CEO of Ald-Tech. As though he didn't care if anyone found out what he had become.

That didn't tally with the man she knew, though. Raymond Alden had always come across as someone meticulous in the details. Someone who took great pride in doing things the right way, even as he pushed the very boundaries of scientific endeavour. This madness that had taken him had ripped his greatest intellectual asset from him, making him reckless. Dangerous.

"Got something!" Kyle flicked a finger at the screen he worked on, before sitting back. "It wasn't even hard. Two facilities, bought by shell companies and with large amounts of equipment recently shipped there. Alden has visited both sites regularly over the past few weeks. Anyone would think he wants us to find him."

"Send the addresses to my phone." She began to move and found Chief Watson starting to follow. "Where are you going?"

"With you. I'm more use down there than up here and you could use the backup." He lifted his pistol from its holster and checked it over before returning it and then glaring at Caitlyn, daring her to refuse him. "Besides, after you beat the crap out of Alden, you'll need me to arrest him and read him his rights. By the book, kid. We do this the right way."

"Alright." She gave Kyle a nod. "Let me know if you find anything else. Look deeper, though. Something doesn't feel right here. C'mon, Chief. Have you ever swung from a grappling hook?"

She let that hang in the air and immediately regretted it. This wasn't the time for humour. Not when Aunt Mary's life hanging in the balance.