Clockwork

Chapter Four

Cas woke up the next morning and it felt strange and foreign to wake up in a room without Abir but as he looked around at all of the photos of Abir and his old belongings, it clicked that there was a whole piece of Abir's life that Cas had no part of, that he knows almost nothing about. Of course Abir had told Cas about his family but he never said too much, it was obvious that reminiscing was painful. It was hard to believe that a man he viewed as his father could for a moment seem like a stranger. Cas walked down the stairs to the kitchen and saw Akil sitting at the table with his father's notebook and other research.

"Starting early?" Cas asked, Akil looked up.

"Yeah, I found some stuff in my father's notebook that might lead us to him." Akil stood up and walked over to Cas, his father's open notebook in hand. He pointed to a smeared sketch of what looked like a cave.

"This cave is where my father first found the fairies, he's probably hiding out there." Akil told him. Cas looked at Akil in fake amazement.

"Wow, way to go Akil! I would have never thought of that, honestly no doubt you are the son of the great Abir." Cas shook his head and walked over to the cabinets to look for food.

"He wasn't there?" Akil asked, ignoring Cas's blatant sarcasm.

"No, he just never said where it was. I couldn't find it." Cas answered.

"Well, then I guess I got farther than you because I know where it is." Akil said matter-of-factly. Cas stopped and looked at Akil.

"You know where the cave is?" Cas asked seriously.

"Sort of, my father would tell me stories about it and he told this rhyme that was supposed to lead you to it. Also there's this," Akil walked over to the staircase and took down the picture of his father and mother in Israel. "You see behind them?" Cas looked at the picture and behind Abir was a cave opening.

"Jesus... He took his wife there, I thought he never showed anyone. What's the rhyme, the one he told you?" Cas asked Akil.

"Um, In God's land, under a white sun, during the late year, where water runs, follow your eye, and then you'll find, lost, then found, underground." Akil recited it like it was his favorite song, he could never forget.

"Well, what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Cas shook his head.

"We'll figure it out." Akil assured him, taking the notebook back to the table and setting the photo down in front of him. He looked at his parent's faces, his father was in that cave, he had to be, he must be. Cas slowly walked over to Akil and set a hand on his shoulder.

"He's there. We just have to decode this poem." Cas spoke softly and Akil knew that this meant as much to him as it did to himself.

"When do you think he's there?" Akil asked.

"Huh?"

"When do you think he's there? He's probably not in the present day so when do you think he's in."

"Probably around the time he was there with your mother, do you know what year this photo was taken in?" Cas asked, pointing to the portrait. Akil slid the photo out of the frame and flipped it over. There was a date written in cursive.

"January 20th, 1899." Akil read.

"He's probably then, so if we have to go back in time then we need to fix the watch."

"Right, I can do that, my father taught me everything he knows about clocks." Akil offered.

"No, I'll work on the watch, you're the brain of this project, you get to work on the poem." Cas demanded.

"Okay then, we'll head to my father's shop and get to work." Akil picked up the photo and the notebook and started heading for the door.

"Hey, I haven't even had breakfast yet, don't you know it's common courtesy to make a person coffee after they stay the night?" Cas crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows, acting offended. Akil rolled his eyes.

"We can stop by the Cafe and get breakfast but then we are working on this, I need to find my father Cas." Akil stated and walked out the door. Cas followed close behind. They walked down the street, Akil with the notebook in hand and Cas with his hands in his pockets. Neither of them spoke, Akil was obviously in deep thought. Cas studied Akil, Cas was determined to find Abir of course but Akil was so much more than determined. Sure the man was his father but he'd been gone for so long, surely Akil had moved on at least a little bit. Cas had only just recently lost Abir. It hurt but it seemed to hurt Akil more. Cas didn't understand that.

When they got to the cafe the bell on the door rang as they entered and Akil turned to Cas and asked, "What do you want?" Cas sat down at one of the small tables by the window.

"Coffee with cream and two sugars and a bagel." He replied. Akil walked up to the counter and ordered the coffee and bagel for Cas and a cup of tea for himself. He took the cups and the plate and set it down on the table. Cas took a bite from the bagel and Akil sipped his tea.

"So why are you so stressed about finding Abir? I understand that he's your father but still, you seem so attached to him even though he's been gone most of your life." Cas asked, Akil set down his tea and furrowed his brows at Cas.

"He was my father." He said defensively.

"Yeah, but he was basically my father too, but you seem more emotional about it, why?" Akil now looked furious.

"He was my father! I lost him at the age of six, he was my hero. I don't see how you feel so entitled to feel worse than I do. Because you knew him longer? When you lost him, you had answers, you knew you could get him back, you knew he was okay. When I lost him I was a confused kid who thought my father was gone forever for no apparent reason, and then I had to watch my mother disintegrate after losing him. So don't treat me like my feelings are less valid than yours." Akil was glaring at Cas who sat stunned at Akil's outburst. He finally just sat back, looked down and nodded his head.

"I didn't mean to invalidate your feelings, traveling through time with your father didn't really give me much time to learn social skills so I apologize if I come across as insensitive." Cas told him. Akil softened his glare and sat back.

"You didn't have many friends growing up, did you?" Akil asked.

"Try none, other than your father. On occasion I would meet someone and talk to them for a bit but we never stayed anywhere longer than a week." He answered.

"Sounds pretty lonely." Akil said. Cas finished his coffee and pushed the cup forward.

"Yeah, well you don't see me complaining. Let's go find Abir." Cas walked out of the cafe, the bell ringing after him. Akil took a final sip of his tea and followed him out.