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A/N: Up early because the power cable on my laptop is dead. I’ve ordered a new one but it won’t be here until Tuesday and I currently have 10%power left. Any formatting issues are due to me hurrying.

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Scrying was nothing like Daniel had imagined. He’d imagined it would be like looking into a window or similar, but instead it felt like their combined mind flew through the air and then swept down into the tunnel that was the entrance to the bunker they were targetting. It was bland and grey inside: some sort of emergency planning bunker, he thought.

Yes, Carrie said. It’s rather well guarded as well. She flashed an image locating all the guards and security features to the others in the merge. We could get in quite easily but I don’t know that we can do it without being seen.

It’s too late anyway, Alexandra said. See, they are taking him out. A mental image of Robert being led towards a waiting group of military trucks entered their minds. This is good. We’ll see if we can’t hit them on the road somewhere. But right now I’m more interested in them. Another mental image, this time of two men watching the trucks loading and talking quietly. One of them was a black middle-aged man wearing military uniform. The other was a bit younger, white and dressed in a civilian suit. I want to hear what they are saying.

There was a swooping feeling and then it they were hovering behind the two.

“Yes, I know he almost certainly isn’t trustworthy, Brigadier,” the man in the suit said. “But he’s the only lead we’ve got. You think he might be leading our forces into a trap?”

“Possibly, but I think not,” the Brigadier replied. “No, I’m worried that we’re being used to wipe out his own faction’s enemies. Nothing these people have done so far has screamed enemy to me. If anything, they seem to be trying to help.”

“You think so?” The man in the suit seemed unimpressed. “If they aren’t enemies, why are they hiding?”

“Worry about people like you maybe,” the Brigadier muttered. It was certainly meant to be too quiet to hear but the man in the suit clearly did. He glared at the Brigadier before replying.

“Perhaps, but I don’t really care and neither does the Prime Minister. We can’t have people with powers like this running around uncontained. If this is some kind of factional rivalry we’ll take advantage of it to control or remove them.” He turned around and strode off. The Brigadier watched him go, then sighed.

“No, he doesn’t. He’s just being swayed by the wrong people.”

Well that was interesting, Daniel said.

It was, Alexandra said. I think we might be able to work with this man. Good to know. She paused as he made his way towards the truck. Daniel got the feeling she was raising her eyebrows. Goodness, he’s coming along? I’d expect him to stay at some sort of coordination centre.

It seemed that the soldiers were just as surprised by his deciding to come along and questioned it but Daniel couldn’t make out what they were saying because his attention was taken by the sudden feeling of something worming its way inside his mind. It was subtle, indeed without Alexandra’s warning he might have thought it his imagination. Instead he turned mentally within the merge and grabbed at the tendril of Carrie’s mind, but not before she hit his memories of of what had happened between him and Jayden Emms at his father’s instigation. He flailed at that memory, trying to stop her seeing it, but it was too late. After a moment he recovered himself and snapped at her.

Stop that! His anger surged through the merge and it fell apart. He winced and opened his eyes. “Uh, sorry about that.”

“Don’t apologise,” Alexandra said. “It was Carrie’s fault. You should apologise to the young man, Carrie.”

He turned to look at Carrie but she seemed completely unfazed by his anger or Alexandra’s demand. Instead she was eyeing him thoughtfully.

“I always knew the Morgan’s could be horrible but that is something else,” she said. “What was he thinking?”

Daniel still wasn’t sure of that himself but he was damned if he’d let her know that when she’d invaded his mind. Instead he folded his arms and glared at her.

“It was an accident and also none of your business,” he said flatly. “And we lost the merge because you couldn’t resist prying.”

Carrie gave a half-smile. “An accident? How the hell…” she trailed off. “But no matter, you’re right. Putting the merge back together and scrying where those kids are is more important. I’ll be good.”

“You’d better be,” Alexandra said. “I hope I was wrong about you trying something but I’ll be watching you this time. Don’t make me burn you, Carrie.”

It was barely noticeable but Carrie paled slightly and her eyes and mouth tightened in a way that suggested she had been intending to try again. She gave Alexandra a long look.

“You would as well, wouldn’t you?” she said.

“Believe it,” Alexandra said flatly.

Carrie sighed. “Okay, fine, I’ll really be good.”

“Excellent.” Alexandra turned back to Daniel. “Okay, let’s put the merge back together. Hopefully it’ll be a touch less unpleasant this time.”

 

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