JJ Psychic

Chapter 15

The Long Way Home

JJ stood outside the director's office for nearly a minute before finally knocking.

"Come in."

The voice was calm.

JJ opened the door.

Director Hale sat behind his desk, reading through a file.

He didn't look up.

JJ closed the door behind him.

"Do you have a minute?"

Hale continued reading.

"I'm busy."

JJ almost laughed.

"You've been busy for two days."

Hale finally looked up.

"Is there something you need?"

"Yes."

JJ walked closer.

"I need some answers."

Hale placed the file on his desk.

"About what?"

"Orion Division."

The room became quiet.

Hale's expression changed slightly.

JJ noticed.

"I found a file called Project Orion on a former employee's computer."

Hale leaned back.

"You shouldn't have been looking at it."

"I wasn't looking for it."

"But you found it."

"Yes."

Hale's voice remained calm.

"Some information is restricted for a reason."

"Then tell me why Alpha Corp has files about the organization that took me."

Hale said nothing.

JJ stepped closer.

"Why are former employees being questioned about Orion?"

"JJ."

"Why was my access to the archives removed?"

"That's enough."

JJ stopped.

Hale's voice had become sharper.

"Why wouldn't you let me into your office yesterday?"

The director stared at him.

"I told you. I was busy."

"You weren't."

Hale's expression hardened.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I saw you."

"That doesn't mean you know what was happening."

"Then tell me."

Hale stood.

"Go back to your work."

JJ stared at him.

"I'm asking you a simple question."

"And I'm telling you to drop it."

JJ's frustration rose.

"Why?"

Hale suddenly slammed his hand against the desk.

"Because I said so!"

The sound echoed through the office.

JJ froze.

He had never heard Hale raise his voice at him before.

Not once.

Hale seemed to realize what he had done.

His voice lowered.

"JJ..."

But JJ was already backing toward the door.

"Forget it."

"Wait."

JJ opened the door.

"I said forget it."

He walked out.

---

The corridor seemed unusually quiet.

Nobody stopped him.

Nobody asked what had happened.

JJ walked faster.

Then faster.

By the time he reached the main entrance, he was furious.

He pushed through the doors.

The security guard looked up.

"JJ?"

JJ didn't answer.

He kept walking.

He didn't know where he was going.

He just knew he didn't want to be there anymore.

---

He eventually found himself at the train station.

JJ stood on the platform, staring at the electronic sign.

Several destinations appeared.

He chose one at random.

The train arrived.

He stepped inside.

The doors closed behind him.

Only then did he realize he had no idea where he was going.

He sat beside the window.

The city began moving past him.

Buildings.

Cars.

People.

Lights.

Everything blurred together.

JJ leaned his head against the glass.

He thought about Hale.

The argument.

The way his voice had changed.

The way the director had looked at him.

He thought about Orion Division.

About his father.

About being taken away.

About Ricky.

Ricky.

JJ closed his eyes.

He hadn't spoken to his best friend in years.

He wondered where he was.

Whether he was alive.

Whether he was safe.

Whether he remembered the factory.

The thought brought back an old memory.

Two teenagers sleeping on old cardboard inside an abandoned building.

JJ and Ricky.

No beds.

No money.

No idea what they were going to do the next morning.

But they had been free.

JJ smiled faintly.

He remembered Ricky making jokes about everything.

Even when they had almost nothing.

Especially then.

JJ opened his eyes.

The train continued through the city.

He had no idea that someone only a few rows away was sitting with the same memories.

---

Ricky stared out of the opposite window.

He wasn't paying attention to the people around him.

His mind was somewhere else.

He had been thinking about work.

Money.

The people he had recently met.

The direction his life was taking.

And, as always, there was a small part of his mind that occasionally returned to JJ.

But Ricky had learned not to dwell on it.

After all these years, what were the chances?

JJ could be anywhere.

Maybe another city.

Maybe another country.

Maybe...

Ricky stopped himself.

He didn't like finishing that thought.

Normally, he could hear the thoughts of the people around him without trying.

But tonight, he wasn't listening.

He had deliberately shut everyone out.

He was tired.

And besides, JJ couldn't possibly be on this train.

There was no reason to check.

So he didn't.

---

The train eventually stopped.

JJ opened his eyes.

He had no idea how long he had been sitting there.

He looked at the station sign.

This was the other side of the city.

He stood.

The doors opened.

JJ stepped onto the platform.

The train began moving again.

He didn't look back.

Ricky remained seated inside.

Neither of them knew how close they had just been.

---

JJ started walking.

He didn't have a destination.

He simply needed somewhere quiet.

The city slowly changed around him.

The busy streets became quieter.

The buildings became older.

He crossed several streets without really thinking about where he was going.

Eventually, he stopped.

Something looked familiar.

JJ looked around.

He knew this neighborhood.

He couldn't remember exactly why.

Then he saw it.

An old building.

Large.

Rusting.

Its windows were broken in several places.

The walls were covered with faded paint.

JJ stopped walking.

His eyes widened.

"No way."

He knew this place.

The factory.

The abandoned factory.

The place where he and Ricky had lived after escaping Orion Division.

Years ago, it had been empty.

Cold.

Dark.

Forgotten.

They had hidden there because nobody came looking.

JJ slowly approached.

But something was different.

The factory wasn't abandoned anymore.

There were cars outside.

Several people were walking around.

Construction equipment stood near the entrance.

Parts of the building had been repaired.

Lights were visible through the windows.

A large sign had been placed near the entrance.

FACTORY RESTORATION PROJECT

JJ stood there silently.

For a moment, he simply watched.

A man carried a box through the entrance.

Another person was working on one of the windows.

Someone laughed inside.

It was alive again.

Not completely.

Not yet.

But alive.

JJ smiled.

He remembered the first night he and Ricky had slept there.

They had been exhausted.

Hungry.

Scared.

JJ had found an old blanket.

Ricky had found two pieces of cardboard.

They had argued over who got the less uncomfortable spot.

JJ laughed quietly.

He could almost hear Ricky's voice.

"You take that side. I'm taking the good one."

"There's no good side."

"Exactly. So I'm taking it."

JJ smiled wider.

The anger he'd carried from Alpha Corp seemed to disappear.

For the first time that night, he wasn't thinking about Director Hale.

He wasn't thinking about Orion Division.

He wasn't thinking about classified files.

He wasn't thinking about unanswered questions.

He was thinking about a time when the two of them had almost nothing...

and somehow felt like they had everything.

JJ walked closer to the factory.

He placed a hand against the old wall.

The surface was different now.

New paint covered some of the old marks.

But underneath it, he knew the building was still there.

Just like the memories.

JJ looked toward the entrance.

"Ricky..."

He stopped.

For a moment, he wondered what would happen if Ricky suddenly appeared.

Would he recognize him?

Would they even know what to say?

JJ smiled.

"Probably not."

He looked around the factory again.

The place had changed.

So had he.

Maybe that was the point.

Things didn't stay abandoned forever.

JJ turned away from the factory.

He still had questions.

Alpha Corp was still hiding something.

Director Hale still hadn't given him answers.

And somewhere out there, Ricky was still missing.

But for tonight, JJ didn't need to solve everything.

He had found something he hadn't realized he was looking for.

A reminder of who he had been before Alpha Corp.

Before the missions.

Before the titles.

Before everything became complicated.

Just JJ.

And Ricky.

Two friends trying to survive.

JJ took one last look at the factory.

Then he started walking again.

This time, he wasn't running away.

He was simply going home.