Reckless Recon

Court leaned against the wall, eyes squeezed shut. Beads of sweat had started to pearl against his forehead.

"Do you think it's an anti-Court device, just for me?" He asked as he pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes.

Rena and Jebediah frowned at him in sympathy. They'd tried tracking down where the ambulance had been heading, only to encounter their current situation.

The handoff was supposed to be in a derelict warehouse district. Court had found it interesting in that it echoed the warehouse district he and Lucy had sited their own hideout. The difference was that once Court decided that it was supposed to be invisible, as far as the electronic world was concerned, it was.

The people waiting by the sleek, new minivan were toying with weird devices in their hands. A little bit bigger than a garage door opener, they resembled the one that the crazy doctor had brought to the interrogation room, only bigger.

Court started panting as he fought off a fight-or-flight response from his body. The conflicting electronic noise was starting to short circuit his brain. He couldn't make heads or tails of it, and the volume was increasing exponentially the longer he was in range.

"We'll get answers elsewhere, Court. This isn't worth it at all," Jebediah said with an angry glance at the waiting people. One of them had pulled out a cellphone. "We should at least go before they find out that the ambulance got hijacked."

Court reluctantly nodded. They didn't have many leads to go on. He hadn't been paying attention to anything other than Ella and Lucy, and Jebediah had been hip-deep in some experiment for the last few weeks, much to Rena's dismay.

"They'd probably love to get their hands on us," Rena muttered as she tugged Jebediah and Court away, back towards their car.

"They want to cut me open," Court said with a careless smile. He wove as he walked, as if he'd been drugged.

"This is bad," Jebediah said, hooking an arm under one of Court's. Rena followed suit on the other side. "They're really ready for him this time."

They bundled Court into the backseat and peeled off.

"If they're ready for Court, then they'd be totally ready for me as well," Rena said, sinking into the leather seat. She gunned the engine.

Jebediah chuckled as he snapped a few photos of Court.

"Blackmail material is so hard to come by," he explained to Rena who rolled her eyes.

Jebediah turned around to scan his pictures. Then he glanced up and grabbed the dashboard.

"Rena! Look out!" He shouted as a glowing blue square opened up in their path.

Rena wrenched the steering wheel to the right, gasping as the door was sheered away by the opening. She punched down on the accelerator even as bolts of energy started flying past her.

"Get down," she snarled as she slewed the car down a tight alley. She could faintly see traffic ahead.

She didn't let up on the accelerator even as the car lurched, a sure sign that one of the tires had been hit. With a screech of metal, it hit the mainstream traffic. Cars veered to avoid the smoking car.

"Out! Out! Out!" Rena barked as she slipped out of the car. She ran to the other side and helped Court out of the backseat. "Is it still affecting you?" She asked, ducking a random energy bolt.

Across the street, a storefront caught fire. The people inside ran out screaming, prompting frozen passersby to cut and run as well.

"The crowd," Jebediah said, pulling Rena and Court in the direction of the chaos.

"What about your car," Court mumbled as he stumbled along. The harsh screeching in his mind was dying down.

"Wasn't ours to begin with," Rena admitted. She grinned. "Oh, to be a fly on that wall!"

"You're just as bad as Lucy," Court said.

"Less talking, more walking," Jebediah urged.

They blended into the crowd. Court tried to pretend to be fine but panicked despite the rampant throbbing in his head.

They walk-ran for a few blocks, stopping at a coffee shop. They slid into an empty table with sighs of relief.

"This is bad, really bad," Court said, leaning his head back against the chair.

"They were ready for you, but then again, they did kidnap you in the first place," Rena said. She glanced at the menu. "Anyone want a latte? I'm getting a frozen mocha and cake."

"Get me a latte." Jebediah slouched down, one hand reaching up to tousle his hair before it stopped right before touching it. "I can't break character. They don't know hipster me, just regular me," he muttered.

"Hipster you? Really?" Court slowly smiled. Then he winced. "Wait? You mean the recognition software doesn't work on new you?"

"I think it's just that they never bothered to update the pictures. I don't look quite the same, and I may have tampered with a few databases one day when I was bored." Jebediah settled for massaging the back of his neck.

"I forgot all about that," Court admitted. "We were looking for Ella. Someone put a bug in Lucy's ear, and we realized that we haven't checked in on the younger kids."

"Most of them are safe," Rena said as she slid into her chair. She set a latte in front of Jebediah and a slice of cake in front of herself. "Are you sure you don't want anything, Court? You probably starved while in custody. Just why were you in custody, anyways?"

Court's smile became brilliant.

"Let's just say that someone who had it coming got his just desserts," he drawled. Court looked over at the menu. "I think I'll get a tea and muffin."

"Just a muffin?" Jebediah asked as he doctored his latte.

"As long as it's a muffin. Did I tell you that Lucy's taken up cooking? It's a thing to behold," Court said as he stood up. "Can I borrow some cash?"

Rena pulled out a crumpled twenty. After looking at it for a second, she wet a napkin and carefully dotted it around. Crumpling up the faintly pink napkin, she handed the twenty to Court.

"Keep the change. It's on the stupid captors, anyways," she added before picking up her fork.

"After this, let's go see Lucy. She's bound to have some ideas about what to do next." Jebediah finally finished pouring things into his latte and took a sip. "This is really good coffee."

"I don't know that she'll have any plans, but it never hurts to ask," Court said as he strolled towards the counter. He hadn't had a latte in days.