Relative Strangers (Book 2) No Man Is An Island

25. A Heroes Welcome

Once they had placed the second load of documents into the hole, and closed it back up again, E and Matt returned to her house once more.
After a quick shower each, to remove the scent of the sewer that they had picked up on their second trip, the pair changed back into their normal clothes.
"You know, I don't think I've ever been through so many anomalies in one day" admitted Matt.
"Whereas that amount was normal for me. Now you see why my situation is completely unique. No one travels through anomalies as much as me, which is why I'm the only person, as far as I'm aware, to become sick because of them. I use them too much" replied E.
"But even if you stopped going through anomalies, you would still be sick right?"
"Yes, which is why I will never stop".

"I guess I never really understood how much travelling meant to you. But seeing you today, in your natural element, made me think that doing this is what you were always meant to do" admitted Matt.
"Thank you. That is what I was hoping you would see today. I wanted to help you understand why I can't stay with you at the ARC forever. I have other responsibilities elsewhere, and my soul will never be happy if I'm not jumping through anomalies" replied E.
"Yes, I'm beginning to see that" sighed Matt.
"Good... I expect you want to go back now though"
"Well, we have completed our mission, so it's time to go home and find out if we succeeded".

"I know, it's just, I had a good time day, with you by my side. I didn't think that I would, but I enjoyed having a companion" revealed E.
"And I enjoyed spending quality time with you too. But I can't stay timeless, like you, I have to go back" reminded Matt.
E sighed, "Yeah, I know".
She picked up her ACD, before turning back to Matt.
"Are you ready?" She asked.
"Yes, let's go" replied Matt.
E nodded and opened up an anomaly leading into the ARC.
The pair walked through before Jess even had time to set off the alarm.
"Don't panic, it's only us" reassured Matt as E closed the anomaly.

"Welcome back. I thought that it might be you, when I saw the anomaly. I was just on my way home actually" admitted Jess.
"Where is everyone else?" Questioned Matt as he looked around at the empty ARC.
"Most people have gone home, it is quite late you know" answered Jess.
"Oh, right. I hadn't really thought about what time of day it is. We've been on our feet almost all day".
"Is Lester still here?" Asked E, as she noticed that a light was still on in Lester's office.
"Yes, he's been working hard all day" replied Jess.
"That's good, because it means we can go and tell him what we've done" grinned E, before grabbing hold of Matt and pulling him towards Lester's office.

"I am perfectly capable of walking by myself. You've been pulling me around all day, and I allowed it, because I promised to do everything that you told me. But now that we are back here, you don't need to" insisted Matt.
"Sorry. I'm just so use to using nonverbal means of communication, like that, because sometimes it's too dangerous to speak aloud in some of the places I visit" admitted E.
"That's O.K. But now that we are back home, you don't need to, because it is safe to speak here"
"Right, sure. So, um, shall we go and speak to Lester then?"
"Yes, that sounds like a good idea".

Matt knocked on Lester's door, before pushing it open and stepping inside with E at his heels.
"You're back then" commented Lester without much enthusiasm.
"Yep, did you miss us?" Teased E.
"Hardly. You've only been gone about 12 hours" reminded Lester.
"Really? It felt longer than that. Anyway, have there been any developments on the case?"
"No, nothing to report"
"That's good. That means that hopefully no one has found the documents we placed"
"I take it your mission was a success then"
"Well, we did everything right, but we won't know if it was a success, until we uncover the documents".

"I take it you have the exact location of these documents you've placed throughout time?" Questioned Lester.
"Of course" replied E.
"Good. Well, if you leave them with me, I will forward the coordinates to the minister in the morning, so that he can collect these documents"
"Don't bother with that, me and Matt can retrieve them"
"No, I don't want you going anywhere near them, not in this time period, in case any CCTV picks you up. We can't have either of you ruining the case"
"Then why don't you go and get them instead of us?"
"I need to keep myself and the ARC out of this as much as possible, so that no one tries to find out what we do here".

E frowned and Lester sighed, "What's wrong?" He questioned.
"I just like the idea of those documents being in the hands of the minister, and not us, since we are the ones who worked hard to forge them" admitted E.
"Let me remind you that none of this could happen without the minister. Without him, the case for the saving of your island, falls apart" replied Lester.
"I know"
"Then why do you not trust him?"
"Because I don't like business men like him. He might pull the strings officially, but he doesn't really know what goes on here. He isn't a part of this, and he certainly isn't one of us"
"Do I count as one of you? Or am I a distrustful businessman like the minister?"
"My thoughts on you remain undecided".

"Well, I don't care what your thoughts are, because my plan is final. Go home and get some rest, then come back tomorrow and we'll talk about what to do next" ordered Lester.
E glared at him, but eventually gave in as she wasn't in the mood to argue.
Her and Matt left the building shortly after, picking a Chinese takeaway up on the way home, before rejoining an anxious Emily back at Matt's apartment.