Re: DURING THE RAID
Without even realizing it, Archer had drifted away from Isobel, finding himself standing beside the stage. "What are you going to do, boy?"
He sighed tersely, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I'm not sure. I can't disrobe here, it would arouse too much suspicion."
"Then find a back room."
Archer's gaze settled on the meaty bouncer standing by a doorway, expression grim. Though the air in this speakeasy was casual, he could feel a tight tension running through it. "Perhaps not," he thought.
"How do you propose to survey this room, then?"
It was like being in college again. He hated taking orders like this, especially when they felt so pointless. Sighing tersely, he slid through the crowd quietly. His slight frame made him almost invisible by default, leaving him relatively unnoticed by the people in the speakeasy. "I'll stay with the wall and circle the room."
Griffin sighed. "And you'll be limited to your eye level, boy. Think. You don't use your gift."
"Explain to me how I'm supposed to disrobe here without arousing suspicion. People will see the transition, Griffin, and the year is 1929. I don't need to be subjected to anything barbaric."
Though the sound had absolutely no humor, Griffin laughed. "This is the future."
"You're limited," Archer remarked bitterly, knowing that saying that was akin to saying "your face is stupid" in response to a zinger but he didn't care. He just wanted a bit of peace and quiet. Peace, quiet, and perhaps he and Isobel could-
Isobel. Where had she gone? He whirled, realizing that he had only assumed that she was by his side. Peering through the crowd, he began to feel his heart rate spike in his chest. He wasn't sure if he should call, or shout, or just stand by and hope that he saw her again. In the back of his mind, he could hear that humorless wheeze. "You're very bad at maintaining allies, boy. You lost that girl already. Or...did she lose you?"
"Shut up," he spat, moving quickly through the crowd and looking in vain for a glimpse of that lovely blue dress. He didn't see a thing.
But he did hear something.
The sound of the doors splintering open rocked the club, sending men and dames scattering in panic. Heart thumping in his chest, Archer froze. His eyes widened, and for a moment, all he did was stare as the crowd whipped into a frenzy around him. It was like being at the center of a storm, sitting in its eye while chaos reigned. He was calm. He was zen. Sadly, that didn't last.
"Move, boy!" Griffin urged, sending a shock of adrenaline through Archer's body. With surprising speed, the slight scientist began to fight his way to the front, blindly moving towards the action. "What are you doing? They'll see you!"
But Archer wasn't listening to him. No, all he could think was- "Isobel!" His voice was utterly lost in the panic and mayhem, but he continued to shout. "Isobel!"
"She's gone, you fool!" he snarled. "Save yourself. Get out."
He didn't reply. He didn't think. He was swimming through bodies, climbing over them without a second thought. He could feel their protests as he used them as stepping stools, but nothing resonated with him. To Archer, he was merely getting from Point A to Point B. Pain in his path was nothing.
"Look there!" Griffin shouted. Archer saw a girl with brilliant red hair being dragged away by police, her arms behind her back. His jaw tightened. "They'll do the same to you!" Suddenly, he was panicking. The calm was gone. "Don't lose your head, boy! Think!"
"I can't," he protested, turning away from the front and rushing towards the back. "I can't, I can't."
"What other choice do you have?"
Wheezing, Archer looked over the crowd to a narrow passage in the back. "There. I can escape there!" Energized, he ran towards the exit, slipping out the back.
He funneled into a back alley, catching a glimpse of an older man sneaking into a Cadillac before it shot off in the dead of night. Coughing at the cold, he wrapped his arms around himself and trotted off through the snow in the opposite direction.