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arfic-l-digest       Thursday, November 8 2001       Volume 01 : Number 059




----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 07 Nov 2001 18:24:47 -0500
From: "Psycho Babble" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (arfic-l) Character Death

Personally, I think that killing off a TP is a bit like kicking a puppy.
They're all uber naive and cuddlier than thou... I just wouldn't ever think
to do it.  Near death experiences yes, but I'm too attached to the kids to
actually eek any of them out of existence.

In other fandoms, it depends I suppose.  How big is the cast and how many
expendable peripheral characters do you have, is it relevant to the story,
and so on.  If you're just icing your least favorite character then I don't
really see the merit of putting your readers through all that angst.

But then deathfics usually squick me out, and I avoid them like the black
plague of death, so that's my opinion.

~Kristin

"What can I say?  My inner child is a crack baby." -Spooks, Asylum

"There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'." -Dave Barry

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------------------------------

Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2001 11:38:15 -0600
From: Wendy Perkins <[e-mail]>
Subject: (arfic-l) Grimm's Law - Part 06/10

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Grimm's Law
A Tomorrow's Future Story
by Wendy Perkins
[e-mail]
Part 06 of 10

Chapter 6

The ship seemed foreboding this time, dark and silent, as if warning them
from what they were about to undertake.

A short time ago she had stated her resolve to do what it took to stop a
return visit from Sara; now she wished she had stuck with her first
impression. She should have stayed out. "Adam?" Lisa began, nervous.

In response to her unasked question, Adam grabbed her hand and gave it a
light squeeze. "It's okay," he said. "You're not alone."

No, Lisa thought, that was the whole problem. She gripped Adam's hand
harder. "What do I do?"

He led her to one of the seats suspended like a see-saw from the central
column. She touched it, letting her fingers drift over the cool metal, feeling
the force that flowed within in. This chair, as did the ship and everything
that belonged to it, pulsed. Its energy source was something more than
electricity. It had life. Just sitting in that seat would further connect her to
the ship than she had ever been before. Even those many years ago when
the ship had reached into her mind and body and brought her back from
the brink of a drowning death -- even then she hadn't had to surrender
herself as she was about to do.

She looked to Adam again, trusting him to guide her. His brown eyes held
only understanding as he waited for her to finish her explorations, to make
her own peace with the ship. "It's okay," he repeated.

Lisa believed him, even though a part of her was busy informing her that it
was way too late for okay. She lowered herself into the seat, on guard
against the moment when the ship would creep into her mind and take it
from her.

"Relax." she heard Adam whisper. Then she was flying towards the
ceiling, stomach dropping away behind her. She opened her eyes and
looked down. Her feet were dangling in the air meters off the floor, where
she could see footprints echoed in the sand. Adam wasn't there.

She fought down a moment of panic and twisted around, scanning the
interior of the ship. There, on the other side of the column, Adam was
climbing into the counter-balance seat. He settled himself, his body
looking relaxed and comfortable. Of course, Lisa realized, he'd done this
many times before. Sharing his thoughts with the ship was something he'd
done more freely than sharing them with his human companions.

Just as suddenly as her seat had raised, it began to lower. She straightened
herself up, conscious of the lack of seat belts or other safety restraints.
Soon the seats settled into a gentle see-saw motion, up and down. It was
impossible not to give herself up to the slow swinging, especially since she
hadn't been sleeping well. She let her eyes close, felt her breathing slow.

Lisa became aware of a presence in her mind which she recognized as the
ship. All predictions to the contrary, there was nothing cold or alien about
it. She pushed and felt it give. It understood her concerns, would stay only
as long as she allowed it. She pushed harder, looking for the part that
belonged to Adam.

[I'm here.] She heard.

[Good,] she answered sincerely, before looking around.

The ship had taken the two past mind merge to another place entirely: the
place Lisa had been in her dreams the previous nights. It was as gray and
ill-defined as before, lacking even the door. Adam was nowhere to be
seen, although she could still feel him in the back of her mind. Knowing
he was there lent her confidence.

The breath she meant to spend in a sigh of relief caught in her throat as
Sara materialized inches away.

"Are you going to make it stop, Lisa?" Sara asked. She stood stiffly, drawn
in on herself.

"I don't know," Lisa answered, honestly. She had no idea what they were
here to do. If Adam knew, as she suspected he did, he wasn't telling. They
had worked out that they needed to do a mind-trawl -- although how that
was different from a mind merge, she also didn't know. The rest was still
to be seen. "We're going to try."

"You came back," Sara said, with a nod of finality. "You can make it
stop."

"Lisa," came Adam's voice. The girls turned as a unit towards the door. It
was open, Adam framed in the doorway. There was a tenseness in his
stance that Lisa could only attribute to anger, an emotion she couldn't
recall seeing on Adam before.

"What is it?" Lisa asked. She felt awareness of the ship's presence awaken
in her mind; with it, a stronger awareness of Adam. Her judgement had
been sound, as had his. She should have stayed out, and the ship hadn't
wanted them to leave this alone. With its help, they would be able to safely
cross that threshold, as Adam had just demonstrated by coming through
the other side.

"You can't," Sara whispered, crossing her arms over her chest. "That's not
an exit." Then, true to form, she flashed out of existence.

Adam didn't even blink. "I think you should see this," he said.

****

Grimm found his daughter staring in the full length mirror mounted inside
his closet door. It was a relic of a time when he'd had the storybook family.
Before his wife left for greener pastures, and his daughters went missing,
each in their own way. There were as many memories associated with that
piece of glass as with the wedding band he still wore, and it was one of the
few things that still interested Sara. She returned to it time and again, with
an uncanny stubbornness. He could usually find her eyeing her reflection
for what he could only imagine were signs of betrayal.

He set a loose pile of ungraded research papers on his bed and sat down
next to it to wait. Although he seemed to be doing a lot of waiting
recently, it never seemed anything other than natural. She was all he had.

Sara's hands were pressed against the glass, the weight of her body
pushing the door against the bedroom wall. He couldn't tell if she was
looking at her reflection, the reflection of the room, or something else
entirely.

"What do you see?" he asked her. He knew that her answer, if she
answered, wouldn't clarify anything. In his imagination, he could hear her
aimless comment about the ocean that he'd already heard so many times.

He was still watching her some while later, with the same fascination with
which a parent watches a sleeping child, when she stiffened suddenly, her
fingers clenching against the mirror as though seeking to claw through it.
Rising to his feet, Grimm stepped towards her, ready to catch her and pin
her arms if necessary to keep her from causing damage to herself.
Although he knew she'd struggle against him, fighting him for every
moment of contact he forced upon her, he knew there was nothing else he
could do. There was no compromising about his child's safety, even if she
wouldn't recognize the efforts for what they were.

"You can't," he heard her say, as if she knew what he was prepared to do.
"That's not . . . ." her voice trailed off and the last part came out
unintelligible. Grimm's breath caught in this throat, and he found himself
unable to move; for a few seconds, his daughter had sounded like her old
self.

It was enough for him to ask, "That's not what?" before it occurred to him
that she'd no more answer that question than any of the hundreds of others
he'd asked over the last few months.

"Lisa? Adam?" she called into the mirror.

Who? he thought, checking his knowledge of his daughters' former friends
for anyone with either of those names. Despite their commonality, he
could come up with no matches. The twins had always been gregarious
children, counting friends in numbers he couldn't comprehend. But he was
confident that he knew, or at least knew of, all the ones who were more
than classroom acquaintances. Since Clara's disappearance, the friend's
numbers had dwindled to nothing. He couldn't blame them. Still, it made
him wonder all the more to who those two names she was calling
belonged.

"Lisa?" she said again, continuing to claw at the glass. Her efforts were
having no effect except to leave finger streaks on the surface.
Nevertheless, Grimm found himself wanting to help her tear through the
reflection, actually believing it possible for a moment. Just when he was
about to break his immobility to help her, she released a shuddering
breath, sank to the floor, and curled into a tight ball.

Any moment of lucidity she'd found slipped away and she started to rock.

****

Lisa hesitated for a moment. She had come this far already against her
better judgment; her curiosity wouldn't allow her to turn away now. She
stepped towards the door.

Although nothing moved, while she had been standing some distance
away, now she was crossing that threshold that had so occupied her
thoughts for the past forty-eight hours.

She wasn't even granted a chance to gain her bearings.

"What would be enough?" a boy shouted. "Tell me."

In front of their eyes, Lisa and Adam watched a scene unfold; the
participants coalescing out of the gray in the same way as Sara had
appeared and disappeared. The one shouting was the Hispanic youth
whom Lisa had seen before. He held a glossy booklet of some sort in his
hand, brandishing it at an unseen audience.

"I get good grades. I stay out of trouble. Ay, but that's not enough for mis
padres." He paused as though listening to a response, then shook his head
vehemently. "Si, this es my son the doctor," he said, mocking. He spoke
with a Mexican accent, his words seeming to be a random mix of Spanish
and English. "This," he added, jabbing himself in the chest, "es your son
the actor. That will have to be enough."

"I dunno," another male voice said, the words overlapping but independent
of the first speaker. "Just . . . don't feel like it." Lisa turned to see a young
red-head leaning bonelessly against the air, as if against an invisible wall.
He had the kind of round, open face about which one always seemed to
assume perpetual happiness. Except he was looking at his non-present
conversation partner through half-lidded eyes, his mouth sculpted in
frown, his shoulders slumped, hands shoved in the pockets of his high
school letter jacket. Stitched across the right breast was the name 'Eric'.

"Yeah, I know that," the youth continued. His words sounded like a
protest, but his tone didn't change. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"
Despite his countenance, there was nothing happy about this youth, and
Lisa sensed that everyone except him knew it.

She turned again towards a touch on her arm, and saw Adam pointing at
another scene, already in progress. A young girl, just entering the peak of
her adolescence, sat on the air, in the same way as the redhead had leaned
against an invisible wall. A black seat belt strap contrasted against the
light blue baby-doll shirt the girl wore; the strap began in nothing and
buckled into nothing, and was visible only where it touched her.

"That looks like Sara," Lisa whispered to Adam. He put a finger to his lips
and gestured for her to keep watching.

"Dad, I'm not making it up," she protested. She twisted in her seat to look
at someone to her left. "She just disappeared. She just broke the seal on
her test with her pencil, which is silly if you think about it cuz what if the
pencil breaks while you're doing that, and then you have to use your
second pencil and that breaks right away, and then what are you supposed
to do? So she broke the seal and opened the test booklet like we were
instructed, then poof! All gone. The sound wasn't a poof, really, but I don't
know how to make it. It was cool."

She listened to the silence respond, then shook her head to the negative.
"Nuh-uh. How am I supposed to know where she is?" Another pause while
the occupant of the driver's seat spoke back. Sara started to lean back in
the seat, then stiffened, sitting bolt upright. She turned again to the driver
and spoke.  Her voice was clear and high; her words were enunciated and
happy. "I can hear the ocean," she said.

Then she collapsed, as if gravity had just become too much of a challenge.
The muscles in her face slackened, her eyes dulled and lost focus, her body
seemed to shrink. She sank against the seat, propped into place by the car
door and the seat-belt.

"That was . . . interesting," Lisa said. She found herself leaning towards
the scene, like trying to watch a show on television with bad reception.
With conscious effort she pulled back, putting distance between herself
and the scenario that was playing again from the beginning. "'I can hear the
ocean'," she quoted. "I wonder what that was all about."

"The ocean?" Adam repeated. "That's Sara?" He sounded as though he
were struggling to remember something very important. "She was . . .
there was . . . something . . . ." He shook his head.

"There was what?" Lisa asked. "You knew this was big; that's why you
made me come here. Why? What's so important about these three people?"

Adam shook his head again. "I don't know. I --"

"I have to leave," Adam was saying, but it was a different Adam. He
looked several years younger, several years less mature. His hair was long,
like it had been when Lisa first met the Australian, pulled back in a pony
tail. "I . . ." he closed his eyes, an internal struggle visible on the lines of
his face. "I'm sorry . . . I didn't want things to end like this."

There was that interminable silence; the one of the other person or persons
responding. The silence was almost palpable; even the other voices had
ceased as if out of respect for this moment. The response was brief, though
it seemed too long.

The other Adam's voice dropped to a hoarse whisper, heavy with emotion.
"I didn't want things to end."

More of that silence, except it wasn't. In the background was a sound, too
far away to hear. Lisa felt it in the very back of her head, where sounds on
the cusp of human hearing could sometimes be sensed. The other person
was responding. If only she could hear them.

Lisa turned to look at her Adam just as the younger one started to speak. If
she had had any doubts about the vision, they disappeared as she watched
the elder mouthe the words along with the younger, "I didn't understand. I
know it's too late to apologize, but I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"So you did exist before you broke out." The words were out of Lisa's
mouth before she could stop them. She spoke while looking back and forth
between the two Adams, comparing them. The weight of leadership wasn't
evident on the younger, but he wasn't without responsibility, as evidenced
by the scene playing out.

Only when the elder tore his eyes from his younger-self and looked at her
did she realize how callous she had sounded. "Oh, I didn't mean --"

"It's okay," Adam said, though he clearly wasn't okay with a piece of his
past being laid bare. "Let's get out of here."

"Who were you saying good bye to?" Lisa asked, not moving from her
spot.

Adam didn't respond, instead oddly mimicking his younger self, eyes
closed, hands locked together. His throat worked in a swallow, then
another, as if he were fighting back tears.

"Did you love her?" she continued, taking a wild guess at the missing
person.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Adam finally said.

"Adam," Lisa said, putting a hand on his shoulder, for the first time
initiating physical contact with him. "I know it's a lot, being a Tomorrow
Person. I do know, and I think I'm starting to understand what you mean
about not being able to go back. But I learned something important when I
busy ignoring you." It was her turn to find strength behind closed eyes, and
when she met his sable gaze with her own, she couldn't help smiling as she
gave advice to the advisor. "Sometimes, you have to be human too."

"I am human."

"No," she contradicted. "You're the leader of the Tomorrow People. You're
the first of a potential next stage in human evolution. You're a shoulder to
cry on and the person we turn to when we need help. You live in a tent on
an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, for crying out loud.

"But when was the last time you were Adam Newman? *Just* Adam
Newman?"

Adam broke their tenuous contact to look again at his younger self, still
caught in the act of saying good bye. Like the others, the Hispanic, the red
head, and the girl, Adam's scene was playing continuously, all of them
overlapping one another.

"That's what I thought," Lisa continued. "You expect us to trust you
implicitly, and we do. But you don't have to be strong all the time. We
need to be able to confide in you, but we also need you to be able to
confide in us. We're a team."

"You left the team, Lisa," Adam quietly reminded her.

Lisa sighed. "That's what I thought, too."

"What would be enough?" one of the voices demanded.

"I dunno," the others answered. "I didn't want things to end."

****
End Chapter 6
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------------------------------

Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2001 16:42:56 -0500
From: "Michele Bumbarger" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (arfic-l) Mistaken Identity (Part 0/12)

Title: Mistaken Identity

Author: Michele R. Mason

Email: [e-mail]

Series: Tomorrow People (New Series)

Category: Mystery, Action/Adventure, Drama

Rating: PG-13

Summary: A case of mistaken identity leads to a family reunion.

Disclaimer: Any recognizable characters do not belong to me. Adam Newman,
Ami Jackson, Megabyte Damon, Jade Weston, Bill Damon, Mrs. Jackson are all
property of Roger Damon Price, Thames/Tetra Television, and ITV. Original
characters sprang from the depths of my imagination.

Author's Notes: This was my attempt to write a Tomorrow People fic that was
not a vignette and not over twenty chapters either. It's been hiding out on
my hard drive for a good long time, and I finally have decided to pick it up
and dust it off. This story actually is supposed to be a "Tapestry
Adventure" following a few days after "Dawning of a New Day." If you know
what I'm talking about, great. If not, well, it's not really necessary to
have read that story to enjoy this one.

Dedication and Thanks: To Anne for going over this and making sure I didn't
fall into the American slang trap.

Enjoy!

Michele Mason Bumbarger
Posted: 11.07.01




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------------------------------

Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2001 16:44:32 -0500
From: "Michele Bumbarger" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (arfic-l) Mistaken Identity (Part 1/12)

Mistaken Identity
By Michele R Mason

Notes & Disclaimer in Part 0

***

Part 1


Delayed.

The word flashing on the overhead monitor made Ami groan.
She had hoped that if nothing else went right today that at
least her aunt's plane would be on time. But, this was one
of those Murphy's Law days and it was steadily spiraling
downhill. Between the jeans she had ripped, the glass
pitcher that she had accidentally broken, and her mother's
flat tire, Ami supposed that she shouldn't have been
surprised by anything that went wrong.

"Looks like we're going to be here a while, Ami. I'm going
to go get a coffee." Sherry Jackson pulled her eyes away
from the monitor, facing her daughter. "Do you want
anything?"

"To not be here all afternoon," Ami gave her mother a wry
smile, trying to keep her tone light, but failing
miserably.

"Ami--"

She recognized the warning in her mother's voice and she
sighed, her shoulders slumping. "I know, I know. And it's
not that I don't want to see Aunt Liz, I was just hoping
that we wouldn't have to spend hours at the airport."

"And I suppose this is cutting into your social schedule?
Did you have plans this afternoon?"

Not anymore, Ami thought to herself, taking a second glance
at the overhead monitor. The plane was delayed by three
hours. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. "No, Mum. It's nothing
that can't be rescheduled."

Nothing except spending the afternoon with Adam. But she
wasn't about to tell her mother that; that would lead to
questions that she wasn't quite ready to answer yet. At
least she wasn't ready to answer them for her mother.

"This isn't some sort of mischief that you and the other
Tomorrow People are planning to get into is it?"

"Mum, don't even start," Ami fumbled with her portable CD
player, rolling her eyes. "It's nothing like that. I'll
have a hot chocolate, please."

Mrs. Jackson stared at her daughter another moment, clearly
debating between pursuing the conversation or letting it
drop. She decided on the latter as Ami placed the
headphones over her head, and with a nod, she hurried
towards one of the food stands.

Ami adjusted the volume, scanning the busy airport for two
empty seats. There was nothing to do but wait.

She didn't even notice the waist high bundle of curls and
pink jumper until the child had nearly bowled her over.

Dark brown eyes stared fearfully up at her, the pouty lips
in the cherubic face trembling.

Ami pulled off the headphones and kneeled down to put her
eye level with the girl. "Are you okay?"

The child nodded, chewing on her lower lip.

"Shelby!" Another voice pierced the air, and a tailored,
black trench coat swept the girl up. The woman smiled
apologetically as Ami rose to her feet. "I'm so sorry about
that. She's at that age. She wanders off and I just can't
seem to keep up."

It took a moment for Ami to speak. The roll and cadence of
the woman's accent was familiar and surprising. She had
never before heard an Australian accent on anyone but Adam.
"It's all right. No one was hurt." Ami smiled at the little
girl. "Isn't that right, Shelby?"

Holding tight to her mother's hand, the child nodded.
"She's nice."

"Yes, she is." Her mother nodded, and playfully pinched her
daughter's nose. "And you're lucky." She returned her
attention to Ami. "Again, I apologize."

"It's not a problem."

Ami watched Shelby and her mother depart with the vague
feeling that something wasn't quite right. Unfortunately,
for once she simply couldn't pin down what the elusive
feeling was. The little girl seemed happy and healthy, and
her mother a perfectly wonderful woman.

Yet, Ami couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something
bad was about to happen.

Attempting to choke it up to nerves and her anxiety at
being trapped in an airport for three hours, Ami settled
into a nearby seat to wait for her mother.

Not five minutes passed before the familiar pins and
needles feeling of being watched fell over her. She could
feel eyes boring into her back, drilling into her as if she
were a specimen under a magnifying glass.

Shifting, she looked carefully around the airport.

And met Shelby's eyes.

The little girl was walking away with a man in a dark
trench coat. That in itself was nothing to draw Ami's
attention-- aside from the bad feeling that pressed on her
so hard that she almost couldn't breathe.

Where was Shelby's mother?

With no time left to ponder, and her heart pounding, Ami
followed Shelby and the man.

Her father?

Then, where was her mother? The question nagged at Ami
again.

She followed them halfway across the airport and into the
parking deck.

That was when Shelby began to struggle. She pushed against
the man, valiantly trying to free her hand.

"No, no! I want my Mummy!"

The child's cries cut into Ami's heart.

"Hey!" Ami called, breaking into a run. "Hey, where are you
taking her? Where's her mother?"

The man gave Ami one glance and grabbed the struggling
child up in his arms. He broke into a sprint across the
parking deck, disappearing around a corner.

Ami rounded the corner just in time to see a black car
driving away, the struggling Shelby in the backseat. She
heard footsteps behind her, and was dimly aware of a police
officer coming up along side her.

Then came the anguished cry that could only come from a
mother's love. "Shelby! My baby!"

Ami wondered why she had even gotten out of bed that
morning.

End of Part 1


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**********************************************





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------------------------------

Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2001 16:46:02 -0500
From: "Michele Bumbarger" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (arfic-l) Mistaken Identity (Part 2/12)

Mistaken Identity
by Michele R. Mason

Notes & Disclaimer in Part 0

***

Part 2


The police officer across the table from Ami leaned forward, the false
concern on his face betrayed by the coldness in his steel gray eyes. The
other officer sat at the end of the table, relentlessly sketching on a
notepad. She had been here for three hours, and that was two hours and
fifty-nine minutes too long by her count. The young woman was beginning to
think she would have preferred to spend the time bored out of her mind in
the airport lobby. Instead, she was sequestered in a security room,
repeating the same answers over and over to two men who obviously believed
that she possessed all the wit and intellect of a mushroom.

"Is there anything else you can tell us, Miss Jackson? Anything at all?"

Ami rolled her eyes. "I've told you everything, Inspector Baines.
Everything. How many times do you want me to repeat it?"

"And you don't know what the man in the--" Inspector Baines referred to his
notes. "-- The man in the black trench coat looks like?"

"I wasn't watching him." Slumping back in her seat, Ami folded her arms
across her chest. "I was worried about the little girl."

Baines read his notes carefully, "So, you proceeded to follow the
unidentified Caucasian male across the airport and out to the parking deck.
You lost sight of him right before he placed the little girl in an
nondescript black car and drove away. Is this correct?"

"Yes," Ami tried to keep her words from sounding clipped.

"And you still don't remember anything about the car or the man?"

"No." Folding her arms across her chest, Ami gave a disgusted sigh. "Why do
I feel like I'm the one under suspicion? Shouldn't you be trying to find
that little girl?"

"Miss Jackson, we are doing everything in our power to locate Shelby Logan,
however, our investigation would proceed much more smoothly if you could
provide us with a bit more information." The second officer spoke up as he
snapped his notebook closed. His accent was northern, and his manner was
impatient. "Do you have any idea how many black sedans are in London? And
how many of them are driven by white males with dark hair?"

"Let me guess: All of the ones that aren't driven by white males with blonde
hair or white females."

That comment earned Ami a dirty glare from both men.

Baines closed his notebook slowly. "Do you think that this is funny, young
lady?"

"No, what I think is that while you're in here trying to poke holes in my
story, the person who kidnapped Shelby is getting further and further away."
Ami leaned forward, placing her hands on the desk as she stood. "Look, I'm
tired. I can't remember anything else. Nothing. And no matter how many
questions you ask me, I'm not going to remember anything else, so can I
please go now?"

"Fine." Baines dismissed her with a flip of his wrist. "Maybe you'll be more
cooperative in the morning. After you've had some time to sleep on it, eh?"

"In the morning?" Ami's jaw dropped. She did not want to speak to these two
men ever, ever again.

"Need I remind you that a child has been kidnapped, and you are the only
witness, Miss Jackson? We'll need whatever information you can give us--
which right now is apparently not much."  Baines stood. "You can come down
to headquarters bright and early tomorrow, all right?"

Ami snapped her jaw shut, biting back a bitter retort that would probably
have landed her in another hour of questioning. Grabbing her jacket and her
handbag, she fled the security room.

That imbecile and his partner would never find little Shelby Logan.

That meant that it was going to be up to her and up to the Tomorrow People.

And Ami knew exactly the place to start.

End of Part 2


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Archivist, Author & Webmistress
Alternate Realities Fan Fiction Archive
http://www.alternate-realities.net
**********************************************





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------------------------------

Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2001 16:47:13 -0500
From: "Michele Bumbarger" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (arfic-l) Mistaken Identity (Part 3/12)

Mistaken Identity
By Michele R Mason

Notes & Disclaimer in Part 0

***

Part 3


The moment she teleported into the Ship, Ami could tell that Adam's
happiness to see her didn't outweigh his concern. That, naturally, was her
fault. She had only given him a quick explanation of why she had to cancel
their afternoon plans, and then caught up in the kidnapping and the
inquisition-- as she now dubbed her questioning-- she had brushed off all
telepathic prompting and questions. Not just from Adam, but from Jade and
Megabyte as well, but Adam was the one here and he was one the one she had
to deal with.

"Ami? Is everything all right?" Adam stared at her from his position on the
floor.

"I'm sorry for being so rude. I was busy." Ami dropped to the floor beside
him and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. She continued before Adam could
interrupt. "I saw a kidnapping and I was being questioned by the police. I'm
their only witness."

It only took Adam a moment to reign in his surprise. "A kidnapping? What
happened?"

As quickly as she could, Ami filled him on the details of everything that
had happened: from the moment Shelby ran into her until she finally left the
security office. "I came here because I thought that if I could remember
something, anything, it would help that little girl."

"Well," Adam pushed himself to his feet and held out a hand to her, "Baines
certainly sounds far more competent than Platt did at any rate. Let's see
what we can come up with."

Ami smiled, slipping her hands into his and allowing him to help her to her
feet. "I was hoping you would say that."

"What did you expect me to say? No way, leave her lost?" His eyes twinkled
as he made the joke, but Ami could already see the thinking and planning
going on behind Adam's dark eyes. If the Tomorrow People hadn't been getting
mixed up in mischief earlier, as her mother suggested, they certainly were
now.

"Adam, do you ever get the feeling that trouble just follows us?" Ami stood
in front of him, holding his dark gaze. For one moment, she almost allowed
herself to get lost in that gaze, but then, Shelby's face flashed in her
mind's eye and she remembered the reason that she was here.

Adam must have been having similar thoughts, because he suddenly dropped her
hands and stepped backwards, holding his palms out. "It's all part of being
a Tomorrow Person. Now, are we going to do this?"

Ami mirrored his stance, and in the blinking of an eye, the merge was
formed.

[Look for the license number on the car,] Adam urged her telepathically.
[That's something tangible that you can give to Inspector Baines.]

[Right,] Ami agreed and allowed the memories to overtake her.

She started from her arrival at the airport and discovering that her aunt's
flight had been delayed. In her mind, she was at the airport again; the
sights, sounds and smells assaulted her, and the events of the day replayed
themselves. Her mother moved away to get coffee, and as she moved toward a
set of vacant seats something slammed into her. She looked down into
Shelby's eyes--

Adam gasped, and an almost suffocating wave of shock barreled into her. The
mind-merge was broken, Adam's shields effectively going up before she could
quite register what had come over him.

"Adam?" Ami touched his arm tentatively.

He might have been shielding his thoughts and emotions, but he wasn't hiding
the haunted shadows behind his eyes. He whispered his question. "Was that
the little girl? Was that Shelby?"

Ami nodded. "Shelby Logan."

"Shelby Logan," Adam repeated the name softly, his thoughts turned inward.
Then he gave her a slight smile. "I'm sorry, Ami. She reminded me of someone
I used to know. I didn't mean to react like that."

"If you don't want to do this, Adam--"

He brushed off her comments with a shake of his head. "I'm all right now. It
was just a momentary shock. You want to get to the bottom of this, don't
you?"

Torn between allowing Adam to wrestle with whatever demons from his past
haunted him, and pursuing the mind-merge that might help them find little
Shelby Logan, Ami stared silently at him for a moment. Finally, she decided
that they'd have to worry about Adam's phantoms later-- there was a little
lost girl who was of primary importance.

Ami resumed her stance for the merge. "Ready whenever you are."

Adam's empty smile did little to comfort her. "Let's find a kidnapper."

End of Part 3

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http://www.alternate-realities.net
**********************************************






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------------------------------

Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2001 16:49:20 -0500
From: "Michele Bumbarger" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (arfic-l) Mistaken Identity (Part 4/12)

Mistaken Identity
By Michele R. Mason

Notes & Disclaimer in Part 0

***

Part 4

It never ceased to amaze Ami that no matter what the time or the hour,
police headquarters would always be busy. Particularly if any number of the
Tomorrow People were arriving there to speak with someone important. The
mind-merge had yielded a license plate number, as well as description of the
kidnapper. Adam had done a quick sketch of the man from his and Ami's shared
memories, but they had both decided that the sketch would be hard to explain
to Inspector Baines and company; temporarily, they were keeping it
unmentioned.

"I need to see Inspector Baines," Ami informed the dispatcher behind the
desk.

The woman looked warily at her. "If you're here about the noise disturbance,
your friends are in cell-- "

"I'm here to see Inspector Baines about the kidnapping."

The woman was evidently prepared to dismiss her, when Ami heard the familiar
voice of the Inspector.

"Miss Jackson? Did you forget something?"

Ami flashed the dispatcher a honey-sweet smile and turned her attention to
the Inspector. "Actually, Inspector, I remembered something."

"You remembered something? Just like that?"

"I told you, I needed some time to think." Ami folded her arms stubbornly
across her chest. "Now, do you want me to tell you what I remember, or
should I just go home and go to bed while some little girl is probably
locked up--"

"I am an officer of the law, Miss Jackson. I expect some respect."

"Then why don't you show Ami some respect?" Adam spoke up from behind her.

Inspector Baines gave the young man a glance. "And you are?"

"He's a friend," Ami explained quickly. "It doesn't matter. Inspector,
please, I have a license number."

Evidently it did matter to Inspector Baines who Adam was and what he was
doing there, but after giving the young man a hard stare, he quickly grabbed
a pen and paper from the closest desk. "What is it?"

"D-K-7-9-3-4."

"D-K-7-9-3-4? You're certain of this, Miss Jackson."

"Positive."

After the Inspector departed to look up the license, Adam shook his head.
"Maybe he isn't so much better than Platt after all."

Ami shrugged. "At least he listened to me."

They found seats near the wall and settled down comfortably.

"Do you think he'll tell us if he finds anything?" Ami asked.

"I doubt it." Adam leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and
folding his hands. "He'll probably send us off for ice cream."

Ami allowed herself a small giggle. The first all day. She rested her hand
on his. "Thank you, Adam. I know I wouldn't have been able to rest if I
didn't do something to help find Shelby."

"We haven't found her yet, Ami." Adam captured her hand in both of his.
[Don't worry, I'm not about to leave this entirely in the hands of the
police.]

[Then what are we going to do?]

[Wait for Baines, first. See what he finds out. Then we'll go from there.]

"Megabyte and Jade are going to hate that they missed this," Ami sighed.
"You know how Jade is about adventure."

"Let's not mention this to Jade. Besides, once we get a license number, it
should be no problem finding and rescuing Shelby." Adam paused, giving her
hand a squeeze. [I think we can handle this without the reinforcements.]

"Miss Jackson, I wish that I could say thank you, but I can't." Inspector
Baines approached them, stopping a few paces from she and Adam sat.
"Unfortunately, you remembered wrong. There is no license anywhere with that
number."

"But there is!" Ami leapt to her feet in protest. "I remember it exactly.
That's the right number!"

"Perhaps we placed too much pressure on you earlier, and now you're
attempting to compensate by creating a memory that--"

"The number is right, Inspector. Maybe you should check again," Adam rose,
placing his hand on Ami's shoulder. He projected a sense of tranquility to
her, his touch pleading with her to remain calm and relaxed.

"First of all, young man, I have no idea who you are. Second of all, this is
a police investigation and I have no idea what you are doing here-- "

"Moral support," Adam supplied quickly.

"Moral sup--" Inspector Baines drew himself up short. "Third, the license is
wrong."

"It's right," Adam insisted. "Ami has a very good memory."

"Then why didn't she remember these little details earlier?"

Ami glared darkly at the officer, "Maybe it's because you were putting so
much pressure on me and asking so many questions that I got confused."

"Look, it's been a very long and very tiring day, Miss Jackson. For all of
us. It's a simple mistake that anyone could make--"

"But it's not a mistake--"

Inspector Baines overrode her protest. "Take your boyfriend here and go
home. If you remember anything else, give me a call. But not before tomorrow
morning."

"Inspector--"

Adam's hand placed firmly on her arm restrained her, both physically and
verbally. "Let's go, Ami. It's pretty clear that we're not going to make any
progress here. Good night, Inspector."

Before she could object, Adam slipped his arm around her waist and forcibly
guided her from the police station.

End of Part 4


**********************************************
Alternate Realities Fan Fiction Archive
http://www.alternate-realities.net
**********************************************



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------------------------------

End of arfic-l-digest V1 #59
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