Characters: Micah and Remy Setting: Coffee Shop, Sunday April 1st, late evening Summary: Sharing secrets Rating: Low
Remy had to admit that he was surprised at the results of the latest DNA test. He had never imagined that one of the rescued kids could belong to one of the government workers. How could they let their child be held and experimented on? But then it crossed his mind that maybe they didn’t know. No. Not They. He. Micah Browning. Remy couldn’t find out too much about him but he knew the worked in IT at the facility. His position at the facility had gotten him that much. Well that and the access to the DNA test but that took a little backward computer work. He wouldn’t call it hacking. He wasn’t that sophisticated. He just knew how to move his way around the databases to get the answers he needed and he had been getting a lot of practice lately.
So he set up a meeting with Micah Browning. He would try to pick his brain a bit. Try to find out of this man knew that his child was being used or if he was as clueless as the rest of them. He really hoped the latter was the case. He wasn’t sure what he would do with a man who knew and let it happen. He’d worry about that if and when it became an issue.
The note that had been sent through multiple hands had simply said to meet at the coffee shop five minutes before closing. It helped that Remy had connections to the shop. That way they could talk in private and they both would have some relative privacy. Now it was just a matter of waiting for Micah to show while he sipped on his coffee, idly watching Zayne start cleaning up for the night. He smiled as he watched and almost missed the man walking in the door. Remy knew immediately that this was Micah.
Micah had been confused but curious when he had received the little note. It had been hand written and signed with a script R. It never crossed his mind to NOT go to the meeting. What did he have to lose anyway? Not much. The location made him smile. At least he could grab a coffee before facing whatever was in front of him.
The moment Micah stepped into the coffee shop and saw Remy sitting there, alone, he knew who the note had been from. He should have expected that. Instead of heading over to the other man he went to the counter first, ordering a very large, very black coffee before heading over to the pair of armchairs that were half occupied. Sitting down in the empty one he looked over at Remy. “I assume the note was from you.”
Remy smiled at the fact that Micah went to get coffee first. At least they had that in common. He was suspicious of anyone who didn’t drink coffee. It didn’t matter what form as long as they drank it. Seeing the simple cup Remy made another mental tick mark in Micah’s favor. Nothing fancy. No whipped cream. No caramel. Just coffee.
“You get a gold star.” Remy smiled before sipping at his coffee. Setting the cup down he turned his complete attention to Micah. He had been subtly reading his mind since the other man had come into the shop. He was pleased to know that Micah had no idea what this meeting was about and was a little wary but not completely on edge. And when he was recognized there was no spike of hatred or negative thoughts. Maybe this would go easily.
“There’s something I wanted to talk to you about and I thought you might feel more comfortable here.” As Remy was speaking Zayne ushered out the last couple patrons and closed the door, turning off the open sign. “You can leave anytime so don’t feel trapped. I just want to talk.” Remy held his hands up to show he wasn’t hiding anything.
Micah watched the other man close the door then retreat back behind the counter before he turned his attention back to Remy. He nodded at his words. “I’m not worried. You obviously know who I am so I don’t figure you have any reason to hurt me or anything.” He shrugged then leaned back in the chair. “At the moment I’m mostly just curious why you wanted to talk to me.” Micah had been feeding tiny bits of information to The Faction for a while. He never went too far as he needed to protect his own interests but he supported their cause. If this conversation meant he could be more involved? Well he was pretty sure he would jump at the chance. His mind wandered to the information he had discovered about the IDs. Maybe this would be a good opportunity to share that information. But he would let Remy go first. He obviously wanted something.
Remy picked up on the mind wandering and now was incredibly interested in what Micah knew about their IDs. He would have to make a point to get to that. After. First there was a more important matter and he was pretty sure that Micah would agree.
Shifting forward in his seat, toward Micah, Remy dropped his voice slightly. Just because there was no one else in the place didn’t mean someone wasn’t listening. He wanted an honest reaction out of Micah so he got right to the point. “Were you aware that there was a group of children being held secretly in The Facility?”
Micah blinked at Remy for a few heartbeats after the question that he threw out. With no lead up and no context it hit Micah like a ton of bricks. “What?” He asked as his mind tried to process. “Children? Held in The Facility? What the hell?” He was extremely confused and tried to think of a time he was there that might have even remotely led to that conclusion. He had nothing. How could there have been children? And why? He looked at Remy, his face a mask of confusion. “I never would have dreamed. I mean .. I know there are areas of The Facility which are off limits to all but a select few but I never had any idea there were kids in there. Why would they be holding kids?” Duh, Micah. The answer is right in front of your face. His eyes widened when the implications hit him. “Wait. These are mutant kids, aren’t they?”
Remy knew that Micah’s reaction was genuine and he was glad to know that the other man was not involved, even by looking the other way. And the fact that he had come to that conclusion on his own also told Remy a lot about the other man. Unfortunately now he had to tell him the rest of it and he wasn’t sure how that was going to go. Daryn had been the one to reunite most of the children with their families but he had wanted to do this one. Especially with Micah being an unknown.
“Yes. They are mutant kids. We rescued them. All of them not long ago and we have been reuniting them with their families.” Remy gave Micah a chance to react to that. The other man nodded but did not say anything further. He thought about how security had been heightened and some of the higher ups that he had seen seemed to be on edge but he hadn’t inquired. It wasn’t his place and he really didn’t care. Remy had to resist the urge to smile as he read that thought.
When Remy didn’t say anything more Micah frowned in confusion again. “So why am I here? What does this have to do with me?”
Remy studied him for a moment before responding. “You have a daughter.”
Micah’s eyes widened even bigger and he nearly came out of his chair. “Summer! Was she one of the kids? Is she alright?”
Remy reached out and placed a hand on Micah’s knee when he nearly came out of the chair. “Yes. She was one of the children we rescued and she is okay. She’s safe. She really wants to see her daddy so when we’re done here I will take you to her.”
Micah relaxed when Remy said that Summer was okay and that he would get to see her. Why was she here? She was supposed to have been with Ashely. He had assumed when he was sent away that she would be with Ashley and the two would wait for him. But if she was here? Did Ashley know? What did she think happened to Summer if she was here? His mind was racing and it got even faster as his accelerated thinking kicked in. It began to overwhelm him and Micah gripped the arm of the chair as he focused on slowing down his mind.
Remy had been following Micah’s thoughts until they began to speed up. He had to force his own mind away from Micah as it began to be painful. He could feel when the other man settled and he slowly brought himself back to the moment. He mentally spoke to Zayne asking if he could bring Micah a bottle of water and smiled when Zayne did exactly that. He mouthed a thank you before watching Zayne retreat again.
Micah was startled by the bottle of water that was offered to him. He accepted it and mumbled a thank you before draining nearly half the bottle. “Sorry. My mind kind of got away from me.” He spoke softly then looked over at Remy. “You’re a telepath right? So you probably picked up on that mess.”
Remy smiled over at Micah. “Yes and yes. It’s slightly impressive and downright nauseating.”
Micah chuckled softly at the comment and was able to relax again. “That about covers it.” He blew out a breath and pinched his nose for a moment before turning his attention fully to Remy. “There’s something you need to know. The new IDs?” He motioned to the one Remy had on his hip. “There are GPS tracking chips in them. They’re monitoring the movement of everyone on the island. Especially those who are labeled trouble makers.” He looked pointedly at Remy.
Remy’s eyebrows went up at the knowledge Micah had just shared. It shouldn’t surprise him that the government would do something like that and the new IDs were a great method. But it did surprise him and for that he was angry with himself. Shouldn’t it have been obvious? He kept himself calm. It wouldn’t do to freak out right now. What was done was done and he couldn’t go back and change it. “Is there a way to … block it? To mask it? Something? Not all of the time, obviously. That would be suspicious. But maybe on certain occasions?”
Micah nodded. “I’m working on that. I don’t have anything yet short of telling you to leave your ID at home. But when I have something I will let you know. But I thought you should know.”
Remy nodded as well. “Thank you.” He said softly. “Now let’s get you to Summer. I’m sure she would love to see you.”
Micah downed the rest of the bottle and then the coffee. “Yes, please.” He said softly then stood. “And Remy? Thank you.”
Remy smiled and squeezed his shoulder. Nothing else needed to be said.