Academy

Follow the Lead

Paul returned to my apartment the next day, knocking tentatively at the door.

"Ton petit ami is here, Rouge." my Papa announced, allowing him inside. "What was your name again?"

"Paul!" I exclaimed, embracing him fully. "I've been missing you."

"We've been missing you too." He hugged me back with surprising affection. "The Academy has been a lot less fun without you."

"I'll leave you two alone." Papa teased, and I batted at him.

"Stop embarrassing me. Come, have a seat. Can I get you anything from the kitchen?"

Paul shook his head no. I watched his ever observant nature sweep the apartment as he settled down on the white sofa in the living room. Papa went back into the study, and Paul visibly relaxed.

"Thank you for the flowers."

"David picked them out. He wanted to come by as well to see how you were doing, but something weird is going on with him."

I raised an eyebrow. "In what way?"

"He's been distracted. Felipe, you know, his roommate, says he's been up late at night on the phone in the common room. He hasn't shown up for class in the last two days, and the Instructors haven't acknowledged his disappearance. Which I dunno, might be a thing that they do, because they didn't publicly acknowledge yours either. O'Malley just happened to pull me to the side."

"It must be something happening at home." I reasoned."I hope he's all right."

"Me too." Paul raked through his fine, inky black hair, deciding what to say next. "Can I ask you something?"

"You may." I corrected slyly. "Let me guess. You want to know what really happened to me?"

"O'Malley said you got into an altercation with a perp, but..."

I snorted loudly. "I guess that's the short version of it."

"What were you working on that you couldn't talk about? I mean, as far as I know agents can discuss cases with each other - isn't that encouraged?"

"Bloodless and victimless crimes, sure." I glanced towards the study. "But Special Operations requires clearance --"

"They gave you a case in Special Operations?"

"Shhhh!" I warned him. "Yes, but that's not really supposed to happen. Even Papa said I shouldn't talk about it...especially since it's an ongoing thing..." I looked at the study again. I could hear my father pacing back and forth with heavy footsteps, which he did often while on intense phone calls. "But I can tell you a little bit - if it stays between us."

"Of course." he nodded eagerly.

I explained to him the bare bones of the operation, where I carried the bug and played the decoy, leaving out the more graphic details. Still, he seemed uncomfortable. I stopped, touching his arm.

"I'm sorry, I hope I'm not triggering bad memories or anything. It's a lot."

Paul scrunched up his face. "Why are you apologizing to me? I'm sorry about what happened to you!"

"I'm okay, believe me. Even Devineaux had to give me credit."

Paul laughed. "That must have been the cherry on top for you."

"You have no idea."

Paul's gaze lingered on me, as if he wanted to say something else, but decided to change the topic.

"What are you working on now?"

"My 'inactive' case." I gestured to the paperwork and laptop from Evidence I had sitting on the coffee table. "How's yours going?"