Dirk Gently Oneshots

Outtake: Azar Ishati

Azar should feel a rush of excitement as she began to run, leaving behind Blackwing and everything it had contained. Not that she was actually surprised that she didn't feel the rush she had expected - she had been torn between staying with Courtney and Alice or going back to see her husband. She had made the right choice, she thought. But if it was the right choice, then why was she so uneasy?

For certain, it wasn't that she thought her husband had been unfaithful. She would understand it, probably assuming that Azar had been killed in the process of her little summer camp extravaganza, but her husband simply didn't seem like the type to do such a thing - after all, he had said that he couldn't bring himself to have another wife (seeing as Azar was the opposite to most of the women in the village - while they were submissive and meek, she was strong-willed and gave her flat-out opinion). Alejandro had always joked that he couldn't live with someone different now - not after he had become accustomed to Azar's sarcasm and wittiness.

So no, it wasn't her husband that she was uneasy about. It had to be the kids she had left behind. They were so...helpless - or at least that was the only word her brain could
conjure up. Courtney and Alice were both, in one aspect, like her, in the way that they were strong-minded. They probably could look after themselves, but it wasn't legal, and Frey seemed like the kind of guy to want things to be as legal as possible. Although he had seemed fine letting kids run off by themselves. Anyway, she tried to forget it. Myles had it covered - he was taking them to Canada, and they'd be safe there...

It was a long journey, and she had thoughts to dwell on even if she wanted to banish them from her mind. The thought of what was left of Aea was stuck in her mind, and she didn't pretend to kid herself. They wouldn't be fine - Courtney wouldn't want to admit it but she would be lost without Wynter, and Alice, well, Alice was traumatised by Wynter's death.

"Idiot," she cursed herself, "Get them out of your head. You're going back home, that's what you wanted."

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It wasn't too long before she was racing back into familiar territory, the welcoming village smells and look bringing a smile to her face. If anyone recognised her, they didn't show it. Suddenly she was nervous - the lack of recognition had her worried. What had happened...had Alejandro killed himself?

But then she began jogging through the market she had often passed, and people stopped to stare. It was a pitying look, and then they all turned to whoever they were talking too before and started murmuring. What were they murmuring? She could imagine it...

"You see how desperate that woman looks?"

"It's a shame, really, about her husband."

"She shouldn't have left, then he never would have drunk himself silly like that."

"Never would have done that if she had only stayed."

"Poor woman."

The fabricated responses to her passing only made her all the more nervous for Alejandro's. Or would her arrival simply be met by an unfamiliar face at the door, a surprised look and an, "Alejandro? Alejandro Ishati? Haven't you heard - he killed himself a few months ago, it's said it's because of his wife's disappearance." Would the newcomer feel bad when they saw Azar break down on their front doorstep? Would it surprise them, to have the wife of the man who had committed suicide turn up at their door?

She just shook off her wild imagination and ran faster, desperate to at least get it over and done with, if it was going to be bad.

The house was the same as ever, the picture-perfect one she had been dreaming of not far from the real thing. Of course there were imperfections, but she took a deep breath and knocked loudly on the door.