Indigo's Owl [Indigo Rewrite]

Chapter 27 - When Least Expected

For the next two nights, Athira and Shift went Owling, searching the buildings from his journal and the eastern wing of the Underground in the hope of stumbling across something useful.

Even with Kione's tracking Tech mapping the ground they covered, they were yet to find anything. That, Athira had expected. The eastern wing was massive in its own right, and it linked up to a large, subterranean canal with a complicated network of tunnels that ran below Sirah. Its existence was half the reason the Elites allowed the Underground to exist — there wasn't much point chasing rats through a drainpipe.

What she hadn't expected was to find herself enjoying it.

The hours she spent with Shift, talking about everything, from Wardens to the Underground, to how that suspicious-looking stain might've ended up on the wall, had become something she looked forward to. Regardless of the big, dumb grins he gave her and the endless, awful jokes he made, it felt like he understood some darker part of her that Zoe had never quite been able to grasp — or at least, Athira let herself pretend he did.

Sometimes, it was the only thing that got her through the night when they returned to base and she was left alone, lying in bed with Rathe tearing through her mind until the day began all over again.

Even so, sleepless nights weren't anything new to her, and without the Surges, Athira felt like she was more or less handling it — until the day she fell asleep in the back of the rover on the way to an alert with Raph and Talia, and was startled awake by a hand on her shoulder when they arrived.

"Athira?" said Raph again, pulling his hand back. "Just me."

"Sorry," muttered Athira, unclipping her harness and rubbing a hand over her eyes as she exited the rover. She squinted against the afternoon sunlight, her head pounding. "I don't even remember closing my eyes."

"If your nocturnal activities are cutting into your sleep this badly, something needs to change," said Raph, eyeing Athira with concern as he closed the door. Talia stood not far behind him, her expression sour. "We need you awake and focused on alerts for the safety of the team. What did you hear from the briefing?"

Athira frowned, trying to remember what she'd heard before drifting off. "Department store. Expensive things in the basement vault. Group of five attempting to rob it."

"Close enough," said Raph with a sigh. "Check your wristlet for the floor plans. They've cut off the cameras, so you'll phase through the floor where Kione's indicated and use this to link him directly to the system." He tossed her a small device with a faint, Orange glow. "Talia and I will approach through the main entrance and block them off while you get that done. Let's go."

Raph and Talia headed off through the main entrance to the store where they were met with a frantic-looking member of staff. Athira, after checking the floor plans, decided to avoid every bit of human contact she possibly could and go directly to her mark, regardless of the walls in the way.

If Raph decided Owling was interfering with her Keeper duties, she was not going to be happy. Owling was the only thing that gave her any kind of peace; that made her feel like she was doing something, and she knew it'd be difficult to convince Shift to sneak out without Raph's approval.

Someone's grumpy, said Talon, his voice echoing through her head, amused. Wake up on the wrong side of the rover?

Athira huffed, grabbing her head and wondering if there was someplace that sold caffeinated milkshakes nearby, though right now, she'd even settle for coffee. I thought you said you'd keep me awake.

Like, ten hours ago, said Talon. It's become a bit more challenging since this morning.

At least there was one benefit to everything falling apart. Since the Sleeper, though Rathe was yet to settle enough for her to enter her mindscape and deal with him, Athira had been able to hear Talon's voice in her head even when she hadn't used her Black in hours.