Garrett smirked confidently as he started to fill out the last few forms of the large stack of solved case files sitting on his desk.
"Why the Fuck is he smiling?" thought the secretary.
"Fisher’s a weirdo," another agent thought.
They never said these things out loud. They thought these things. Garrett didn't know why or how, but he could hear people's thoughts for as long as he could remember.
He’d been finishing up a report on a recent serial killer investigation. He’d figured out who the perpetrator was when his team vetted him, making it more obvious for them without tipping them off.
He snickered to himself smugly while working for a couple of seconds before he sensed someone coming towards him. He was about to ignore it before… he felt something wrong. He stopped working, looking ahead in confusion. Whoever this was, they were different, and it disturbed him.
His light green eyes shut and his mind raced to focus on the person trying to read their intentions. It was unlike anything he'd run into before. Usually, his mind would just come into others, like reaching into an open box and picking something out. Now it was like a wall was blocking his reach. He tried again and again, furrowing his caramel brow, and he heard nothing. He just felt them, their presence, and their position towards him but no intention, no noise. He tried one final time, his mind ramming into theirs to break in and sneak something out.
"STOP!"
A screeching yell his mind like a freight train. He jumped in his seat. His coworkers all turned to him in surprise, he could hear their judgmental thoughts, but now it was just pointless background noise for him. He became tense and shaky with anxiety.
"The hell?" He said under his breath, turning behind him, his wide eyes darting around the room, looking for the source of that screech.
His eyes danced for a few moments before finding the source. It was a thirty something woman. She was white, skinny but not frail looking. She had pale blue eyes and pale blonde hair. Her face was slightly wrinkled, she looked tired.
She walked towards him.
"Agent Fisher, come with me," she demanded. She had an English accent, her voice raspy and tired.
Garrett looked up at her from his office desk. The energy he felt from her was demanding and weighed on him like a bag of bricks. He felt her demands now. He tried using his mind to speak to her,
"You're like me?" he tried his best to probe and answer.
"S T A N D," her mind screeched in response. Her face is static.
He stood reluctantly.
"F O L L O W," .
Garrett winced. To him, her "voice" felt like a chalkboard scrape, dishes being broken, and a jackhammer all at the same time. Her last two screeches already gave him a headache. Finally, she walked towards the interrogation rooms, and as he followed behind her, he could hear his coworker's thoughts. From surprise to condemnation, he heard it all.
When they got to the rooms, she opened the door. Garrett had been in these rooms before, usually probing the minds of suspects, getting them to confess by parroting their guilt-ridden thoughts, and then forcing a confession.
He opened the door for him, he glared at her as he walked in.
"Take a seat, Garrett." a man was standing on the other side of the interrogation table. He smiled and reached out a guiding hand towards the other seat. He was a portly man, shorter than Garrett and the woman. He looked like he was in his sixties. He had graying balding hair. Black bushy eyebrows and a bushy gray mustache. He was dressed in a black suit and black tie.
Garrett sat down, he tried to read the man's mind, but he kept getting blocked. He knew the woman was the one doing it. He didn't understand why he could tell, but he just knew that she was like him and the man was not.
"Well, Agent . I know this is a surprise for you." He said, smiling, as he pulled out a dossier.
"Is that what you have on me?" Garrett asked, looking at the dossier.
"Yes, it's currently everything we know about you and your close relatives. Your medical, academic, and genealogy records. Including the records of your wife and son." The man said as he opened it up and pulled out some papers.
Though Garrett gave off a calm demeanor, he was terrified. No one had ever known what he was, what he could do. Not even his parents or his wife knew. But, then, all of a sudden, these strangers knew, and from the looks of that dossier, they knew for a while.
"Before we go any further, it's only fair I introduce myself." The man said.
"This woman is Lorna, she's a field agent in our organization. You can just call me Jones." Jones jovially introduced himself and reached a wrinkled hand to Garrett.
Garrett grabbed his hand and shook it. Still very much confused about what was going on.
"I'm sure you have questions, but first, we have some of our own. Answer truthfully, now Son. Don't you lie either; Lorna will know. As long as you do that, Lorna and I will answer all your questions." Jones said warmly but also sternly.
"Do you know what you are?" Jones asked.
"No, my ability is just something I've always had. I always assumed I was a extremely rare outlier,"
"Truth," Lorna said, staring at Garrett.
Jones nodded and checked a box on a paper on his desk.
"Is Samuel Fisher your only child?"
"I don't have any more children," Garrett answered.
"Truth," Lorna chimed like a machine.
This went on for a few minutes, then after many invasive questions later. Finally, Jones closed his folder and sat down with his pen.
"Right, we have all we need. Now it's your turn to ask us questions." Jones smirked.
For the first time in his life, Garrett could finally have an answer to a question as to why he could do things no one else could. This was his moment,
"What am I?" He asked, leaning towards Jones.
"You have a genetic abnormality. It's why you have your abilities. From what we know, abilities are passed down through different familial bloodlines." Jones said.
Garrett raised an eyebrow and looked at Lorna. His father was white, he knew that. That was about all he knew about his father.
"It's a family reunion!" Jones jokes. He looked at Lorna and Garrett. None of them laughed. Garrett was looking straight down at the table, processing the realization. Lorna had disappointment all over her face, looking down.
"You know... Lorna didn't tell me she had another nephew. You’d think she’d tell us but apparently she didn’t even know you existed. Hehe” Jones gave a forced laugh and leered at Lorna.
"What do you want from me?" Garrett retorted.
"We work for an organization that controls your kind, called G.A.I.A. That stands for Global, Abnormal, Investigation, Agency. We are an international group, my division is responsible for investigation and… control of individuals and groups made of people like yourself. Given your track record and your success with past cases. We'd like to recruit you for our program." Jones said
"If I refuse?" Garrett asked.
"They'll kill you, your wife and your Son." Lorna's voice echoed in Garrett's head.
"Well, someone like you... just having your powers makes you a threat against our interest. You're a walking National security threat, Garrett. Threats don't tend to live long, Son. There’s a reason why Lorna isn’t supposed to have another nephew, one that’s alive anyway," Jones's jolly demeanor became serious. He meant what he said. Garrett didn't need his powers to know that. He could see it in Jones's eyes.
Garrett wanted to punch Jones. He wanted so badly to hurt him for even thinking about hurting his Son. But, he couldn't risk anything happening to Sam.
Garrett shook his head in reluctance.
"I'll join." He said.
"Good choice, Son." Jones stood up.
"We will contact you again shortly. On paper, you'll be a CIA recruit. That will be your cover. I'll be talking to your superiors. In the meantime, go home, relax." Jones grinned again and walked out of the interrogation room. Leaving Lorna and Garrett in there alone.
"You and I will talk later. You’re owed some answers." Lorna spoke. She turned, leaving Garrett there alone.
He stood there, his world shattered.
That night, Garrett leaned over his son's crib. Watching him, reaching into his mind making sure he didn't have any nightmares. He smiled lovely down at him. He wondered if Sam would be anything like him. That idea was both assuring and terrifying. He could teach him to read minds, so he wouldn’t have to stumble into it like he did.
Though Lorna's warning echoed in his mind. If they could find him, who's to say they couldn't coerce his Son into doing what they wanted as well.
Garrett left Sam's nursery, shutting off the light in the hallway and turning in for the night in his bedroom. Yvette his wife sat in their bed reading a book; she looked up at Garrett as he walked in.
"Sam, alright?" She asked, closing her book and resting i
"Out like a light." Garrett chuckled. He got under the covers and hugged Yvette.
She had dark brown skin and curly hair hot pressed into a bob, covered by her silk bonnet.
"So… I have some news," Garrett said, his voice a little shaky.
"What's wrong?" Yvette asked
"I got recruited… CIA. Donno why they just took me aside at the office and told me I work for them now. I start tomorrow, apparently,"
Yvette raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“Wow,”
Garrett tried to force a smile, as he got under the covers and sat next to Yvette.
“I want you to know that If i’m gone and I don’t tell you it’s because I need to. I’d never leave you two,” Garrett turned towards Yvette, a solemn expression on his face.
“I know, I trust you baby.” Yvette kissed Garrett’s forehead and the two embraced before falling asleep. He’d met her when he first moved to DC in his academy days,
Garrett was jerked awake. Disoriented, he got a better look at his surroundings, he was in a 50’s type diner with lowrider music blasting from the juke box behind him. The smell of fried food filling the air. He looked ahead to the seat in front of him and there sat Lorna, sipping a coffee in front of him.
“Don’t panic,” she warned.
“Where am I?” Garrett questioned, he tried using his powers to get a sense of where he was from the people around him but to his surprise no one was there. Scanning the restaurant he realized they were the only two people there and outside was pitch black. No street signs, no sidewalk, no cars, just black.
“You're in my head now, I made a space for us to talk. They can’t listen here,” Lorna said.
“Can we do that?” Garrett asked.
“Some of us can, others can’t,” She explained.
“So, about our family?” Garrett questioned.
“How much do you know about your father?”
“He said he’d marry my mother, and he left. I’m guessing he’s like us?”
“Yes, your father is a psychic.”
“Do you know where he is?”
“I’m sorry, but he’s dead. He’s been dead for a while. People like us, especially psychics, answer to organizations. My brother… didn’t understand this. He broke the rules by loving your mother and making you and he paid for it… Your father didn’t die peacefully Garrett. He died slowly.” Lorna’s voice was shaking, Garret noticed she was trying to keep her composure but he was feeling what she felt. Maybe it was because he was in her mind, but right now he felt her fear, anger, grief and disappointment all around him.
He assumed his father was a flake who bailed out on him and his mom for whatever reason. His father hadn't left, he was executed.
“Shit… did my mother know?” Garrett’s eyes watered as he looked to the side. A single blurry memory of his father came to mind.
“No,”
“Is that why you never reached out? My mother never mentioned you,” Garett asked.
“I made sure people in our world didn’t know about you… you're family. I had to protect you. I'm sorry I couldn't, I should have reached out earlier to warn you about our detection system.”
“Look, whatever you coulda done doesn’t matter. Who you… we should be focused on now is my son, help me protect him from… whatever the fuck this is,” Garett had no idea what his job would entail, but given the way Jones talked. The fear he felt from lorna, he knew this world he was entering wouldn’t be kind to him. Garett couldn’t have that for his son.
“Hopefully he isn’t one of us, he’ll be tracked all his life in case he spreads the genes but he won’t be recruited. If he is like us you'll need to learn how to climb the ranks like me, I’ll teach you. G.A.I.A may not be on our side but if you play your cards right you will get favors and people will look the other way.” Lorna sensed Garetts anxiety and tried to put a hand on him to console him. He avoided the gesture to her disappointment.
He knew she cared about him, cared a lot about him. He figured that when he was in her mind he could sense her emotions the way he could sense thoughts in the real world, outside of this he’d have to reach deep to find these emotions.
“What happened to the rest of your family?”
“They're dead.”
“Why?”
“They became an issue for GAIA, and GAIA got rid of them." Lorna looked to the side, she paused for a second.
"So, what now," Garrett slumpped into his seat.
"Stay out of their way. Do the cases I give you, climb the ladder. With me in your corner you'll pull through."
Garrett nodded, and sucked in his teeth.
"Rest up, I'll meet you infront of your house tomarrow morning,"
"Right, Nigh-," Garrett was cut off as everything faded to black around him.
He opened his eyes, hearing chriping outside as the sun leaked into his beadroom. He looked around for a few moments, he looked down at Yvette. Bending down to give her a peck on the cheek. He sat up looking blankly ahead processing what happened.
"I want to learn to do that."
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