Alex opened his eyes and sat up. Half expecting to see himself covered in dirt, he was pleasantly surprised that he was not. Looking over at his bag he grabbed his notebook and began to write. Inspiration flowed through him as his pen scratched the paper. As the sun started to lower in the sky, Alex dropped his pen and stretched.

  “I think that is good,” he yawned as he stretched again. Groaning, he stood up and

  gathered his things making his way back to his apartment. He slowly made his way back and went over the conversation that had happened. “I hope this works,” he thought to himself. “If it doesn't I might get locked up too.”

  “Alex!” Siddiq’s voice rang out.

  Looking up, Alex saw his friend racing towards him from his apartment building.

  “Dude, what happened to your face?!” he exclaimed, stopping in his tracks when he was closer.

  “Long story,” Alex said with a grimace.

  “Well, I have time. If you want to talk about it, that is,” Siddiq offered. “You don't have to if you don't want to though. I just wanted to check on you since you weren't at the lab today.”

  “Sure, let me just put my stuff away. I could use something to eat,” Alex said, his stomach growling in agreement.

  “Uh yeah, I could eat,” Siddiq smiled and followed Alex into his building.

  Opening his door he made his way to his kitchen and put his bag on the chair. “Let me just go change real quick, I was in the fields,” Alex said as he sniffed his shirt.

  Siddiq nodded, as he scanned the apartment, eyes wide as he noticed the blood on the kitchen floor. “What happened here,” he muttered to himself as he moved to sit on the sofa in the living room. After a few minutes, Alex came out in fresh clothes and the two headed to the recreation center in silence.

  “Sooooooooo,” Siddiq started as they made their way to a table after getting their food.

  “Long version or short version?” Alex asked him.

  “I mean which ever you feel like telling?” Siddiq offered as he took a bite of his sandwich. Alex sighed and went into the telling that he gave Emily and the guards. Careful to leave out certain details.

  “I can’t believe it,” Siddiq said in shock when Alex finished. “Are you okay?”

  “I am okay as I can be. My face hurts,” he grimaced, as he tried to lighten the mood.

  “I just can't believe it. Like, this is like a movie or something,” Siddiq uttered.

  “Yeah, except this is real,” Alex said with a half smile.

  “Yeah,” Siddiq murmured. “Well at least you are alright. Even if you look like crap.”

  “Thanks,” Alex laughed. “I feel like crap too.”

  “Well I can tell the others tomorrow if you want to rest another day,” Siddiq offered. “I was just worried about you. I mean I don't think you have ever missed a lab day without telling us.”

  “I appreciate that but I think I will be there tomorrow. By the way, did the new person show up?” Alex asked.

  “Ohhhhhhh! I forgot, yes one did. Her name is Amirah and I think I am in love,” he said with a smile and a slightly dazed look.

  “Really?” Alex laughed.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “Oh you will see, she is beautiful, smart, and best of all likes my project idea,” he finished wiggling his eyebrows at Alex.

  Alex continued to laugh then stopped grimacing with pain. “Stop making me laugh, my face hurts!”

  “I am serious! If you come in tomorrow you will see,” Siddiq chuckled. Standing up they gathered their trash and headed back towards the apartments. “Well, I am glad you are okay,” Siddiq said.

  “Me too,” Alex smiled back wincing slightly. “Thanks for checking on me.”

  “Of course man, I would hope you would do the same,” Siddiq said, clasping Alex on the shoulder.

  “No doubt about it,” Alex replied. “ See you tomorrow then.”

  “See ya!” Siddiq called as he turned and headed towards his building.

  Alex watched after him, a smile playing on his lips. Siddiq is a good guy and probably the closest thing to an actual friend I have ever had, he thought to himself. Sighing, he headed towards his building. As he closed the door to his apartment he leaned on it and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he pushed himself off and went to his kitchen. He looked at the blood on the floor and the vision of Zayd unconscious flashed in his mind.

  “I don't know where you are, but I hope you are alive,” he muttered to himself. Grabbing some bleach and rags he cleaned the blood off the floor. Satisfied that it was cleaned up, he put everything away and threw out the rags. Going to his bag he took out his notebook and read over his speech.

  Yes, this is good, he thought as he yawned. I will read it to the others tomorrow to see what they say. Nodding to himself he put the notebook back in his bag and headed to bed. Crawling into bed he tried to quiet his mind and let sleep take him.

  DING! DING! DING!

  “Uuuuggghhhh,” Alex groaned as he reached to turn off his alarm. Getting up, he dragged his feet to the bathroom and got in the shower. As he got out he wiped his hand across the mirror to clear the stream off and look at his face. Well not as swollen, still looks bad though, he sighed. Getting dressed he grabbed his bag and scooter and headed out the door.

  He made his way slowly towards his lab building, looking around and enjoying the sun. As he entered the laboratory he was met with chatter as the team was standing together with two people he was not familiar with.

  “Alex, hello!” greeted Reshma, his smile dropping as he noticed the bruises on his face.

  “Oh my goodness! Are you alright?!” Evalyn gasped as she hurried over to Alex.

  “Hey,” Alex said sheepishly, waving a hand. “I have seen better days.”

  “I would say so,” Evalyn said, fussing over him.

  “Uh, when you have time I would like to talk to you both,” Alex said looking at Evalyn and then Reshma.

  “Of course, of course. Please excuse us for just a moment,” Reshma said to the two people standing there. He walked towards Alex and Evalyn and ushered them to the other side of the lab. “So what happened? Were you not here yesterday because of this?” he gestured towards Alex’s face.

  “Yes,” Alex said with a frown. He told them the same tale as the others and when he finished Evalyn was nearly in tears and grasped him into a bone crushing hug.

  “You poor thing!” she cried. “I just can't believe it!”

  “That is truly concerning. I am glad you are… mostly alright,” Reshma said gently.

  “Well, I guess for now everything is back to normal. Emily is looking into it, but not sure how much she will find,” Alex said once Evalyn let him go. “On another note, I did take yesterday to write my speech for the conference. I would like to share it with you guys.”

  “Let’s get you introduced to our new team members then we can listen to that, yeah?” said Reshma.

  “Sounds good,” Alex smiled. Following Reshma back across the lab they stopped before the two new members.

  “This is Amirah Wiggins,” Reshma gestured towards a young woman with flowing black hair and eyes the color of honey. She gave a small wave with her hand and blushed slightly as she looked at the floor. “And this is Zachariah Burton,” he finished waving his hand towards an older gentleman with salt and pepper hair and a grizzly beard to match. “Amirah, Zack, this is Alex Moore.”

  “Nice to finally meet the boy genius!” chortled Zachariah as he reached his hand out to shake.

  “I wouldn't go that far,” Alex laughed as he shook his hand.

  “I would! I have read everything you have released. I was so excited when they said I would be joining your team,” Amirah exclaimed, her eyes large and shining as she shook his hand.

  “I am flattered, but I am here on the same mission as everyone else,” Alex said awkwardly, hating the attention. Looking around he locked eyes with Siddiq who had an expression Alex had not seen on his friend before. Jealousy?