In the Wake of Tragedy (Bal / Frosty)

[Delta]

After calling Bal and getting his assurances that the demon was on his way to Los Angeles, Mikey started to work on cleaning up some of the mess. He turned off the music and moved Dexter easily under the sheets to give his body an air of dignity. Apart from that, however, he didn't do a whole lot to maintain what evidence and clues might be around. He headed to the kitchen and got himself some juice, sipping at it as he felt entirely uncomfortable being in his ex's condo alone, though at the same time, he also felt that he couldn't call the authorities lest the reason for the scene might be lost in their bungling. Sufficed to say, Mikey didn't exactly have much of a trust of the Los Angeles Police Department. He was still flustered and bothered by the whole experience. He finished off his juice and looked at his watch. At best, unless Malyk was driving, Bal would probably not be here for 4 hours or so. He gave a small sigh, his stomach churning a little bit, but he finally decided to head out of the condo and towards the Carrow's restaurant on the corner. He took his time with his dinner, numerous emotions flooding through him from hurt and anger to grief and despair. Finally, when he was done reminiscing to himself, he headed back up to the condo (he had taken a key on the way out) to wait as patiently as he possibly could for the leader of the Interns, hoping that, with some real help, they might be able to find some answers.

[Foxtrot]

In a quick yet calm motion, Bal briskly made his way through the halls that Dexter onced lived in; next to him was the hybrid elf with the same sort of seriousness on her own expression. The demon made sure to keep his mind open and caught the readings coming from Mikel in the condo in front of him and once he was sure that was the right door he reached over to open it. Once the demon entered his blue eyes quickly scanned the destroyed living room and stepped in to allow Frosty to examine herself.

"..How are you feeling?" The demon called out towards Mikey, even though he was in the other room he knew exactly where he was going to come from.

" hmm..." The elf gave a furrowed look and started to make her way into the living room with her tablet in front of her. She eyed the dents on the machinary before pulling out the information that was given to her earlier. The reports she recieved stated that his body was slumped over a certain machine.. that the obvious note that he was holding. She pulled in her own quick studies on the blood stone before following the intern leader here, unfortunetly the information was limited. The elf knew that the professors left on their own journeys to attain such a rare stone; so she wasnt exactly surprised that the information on the bloodstone was scarce.

The demon glanced back at the female and watched her examine everything closely, once she started to search through her tab he gestured a nod towards the command center. " He was near there." Bal instructed, already getting the images flashing from Mikeys memories.

[Delta]

Mikel made his way out from Dexter's room where he'd been waiting, looking exhausted and frazzled, like the whole time waiting had simply drained him. His eyes looked a little puffy where'd he been quietly crying and when he emerged, he gave Bal a small sort of smile and he made his way over and pulled the demon into a hug, feeling like he needed that sort of contact, if even for a moment. "Hey..." he said quietly as he pulled away and took a couple steps back. "Thanks for coming. I still don't really trust the groups down here," he admitted, thinking to himself again about what Dexter possibly could have gotten into. "I don't know how long he's been like this. I've been trying to get ahold of him for a few days... I thought he was just ignoring me," he told the two interns as he led the way over to the machine that he'd found his ex's body on, trying to keep as much emotion inside as he could at the moment. "I dunno what he was getting himself into... but the note," he nodded to it where it was sitting next to the equipment. "...It's his handwriting."

[Foxtrot]

When Mikey wrapped his arms around the demon, Bal didnt hesitate to wrap his own around the intern veteran. As he held him tight he glanced downward and had his nose close enough so he could smell the young mans shampoo. The scent made his stomach drop but the demon was able to keep his bearing the whole time. The intern leader was able to keep himself focused on the situation and when Mikey finally pulled away he offered a small frown before looking into the bedroom where he could only guess where Dexter would be lying. " Bloodstone.." The demon muttered and opened the note that had the familiar handwriting.

When he witnessed the note himself the demon glanced over at the elf hybrid and watched her carefully looking through the computers.

"I'm well verse when it comes to computers but~ I'm unable to break the encryption Dexter put up here. He was an experienced operator " Frosty defended and peaked up from her position. " We're going to have to wait until Raf gets back before we can actually see if theres anything in the computer. "

"Unfortunetly he's unable to be reached at the moment." Bal answered and looked over at Mikey with his lips pursed. " But until then, we're going to have to go with what we have..." The demon let out a sigh and started his way into the room where the Cyborgs body was. When he saw the old intern there he had to lower his eyes and furrow his brows from the sight of his old team mate gone.

" The bloodstone is something we're not entirely sure about.. but its a rare artifcat among others that both Professor Peyton and Gray are after. The only information we were able to find was that the stone itself seems to be a blessing and a curse at the same time. If you attain it, your abilities and skills amplify. So much so that the exchange is the control of your own will... If you have it too long; it will eventually take over."

" I dont believe Dexter had the bloodstone.."

[Delta]

"What makes you say that?" Mikey asked with a somewhat furrowed brow. "I mean, Dexter has already tried to enhance his abilities before, with the chip?" he offered, feeling desperately hopeless here. He didn't know any of Dexters passwords, and of course, Dex wasn't the kind of guy who would ever have a need to actually write down a password. He started to pace around the room, now getting a little anxious. "Is there anything at all that might be useful?" he asked, having already gone around the room himself and not really seeing anything that stood out, at least to himself. "I'm guessing Peyton and Grey are out of contact too?" They probably would've been there if they were able to be reached, the veteran figured.

[Foxtrot]

" The Bloodstone itself is evidence enough. Its not an item you just pick up on the way. He would have to journey somewhere to get it." Frosty added and tucked her tablet under her arm. " That and.. unless your well experienced and trained; youll need some sort of team to do it. Finding that Artifact isnt something you do solo."

" I doubt he mentioned anything like that?" Bal answered and gave Mikey a quick glance. " Not to mention he'll need time to actually find it. That and only a selected few know where the location would be."

The demon looked at the outline body of the Intern Veteran for another minute before heading out of the room and making his way towards the control center. " ..he was here?" Bal asked and eyed the blood stains on the floor, the damage in the room was vague and unfortunetly there wasnt anything out of the ordinary. Besides the dents and broken items from what he assumed were bodies or items thrown; there werent any odd scratches, freezes, burns or any other ability related scars that the demon could see.

He eyed the machine that was near by and the demon tilted his head when he recognized what it was. '' Dexter made our first rings with this... " Bal rasped out and reached to open the metal chambers. " Its been recenetly used " The demon revealed and pointed to the settings. " ..he fused something together."

[Delta]

"No, he never mentioned anything about it. We kinna haven't talked much lately, though," the veteran admitted, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He made his way over to the machine and nodded. "Yeah, that's where I found him," he replied. "I can't tell if he did this to himself even."

He moved around with Bal, looking over the machine with deeply furrowed eyes, the same questions constantly running through his head, so much that he was actually getting a little numb to it. When Bal mentioned that Dexter had actually used the machine, he looked from a different angle. "I didn't see that earlier..." he admitted, swallowing the lump in his throat away as he looked around in the immediate area before glancing up at Frosty. "Any way of knowing what it was?"

[Foxtrot]

" To be honest with you, I'm not a hundred percent
sure on what it was. From the evidence we see now.. the only guess
would be.. well" Her eyes landed on the note that Bal was hiding. " The
bloodstone?" The elf asked more than stated. " But the question is, how
was the blood stone found and why would it had to over here?"

" Do you think theres a chance of knowing what it is exactly if we
unlock the systems?" The demon asked, the puzzle pieces were starting to
slowly form.

" If we're going by the assumption that he
records everything he does, then its possible. Its just.." The elf eyed
the computer system once more and shook her head. " There is no possible
way I'll be able to check that."

" Its either we wait for Raf to return or we
find a suitable hacker. Personally Id like to wait until our operator,
the situation is delicate. Unfortunetly, we were too late to have any
kind of influence on Dexter.. but I can guarantee Justice. Time is only
on our side."

" What do you think Mikey? Should we get
someone to try and unlock this or.. should we wait until Raf gets back?
They were after all close when it comes to the electronic world."

[Delta]

"That's the only way we'll know," Mikey said as his eyes focused on the locked computers. "I remember he and Raf used to play games all the time, see who can hack into each other's system, so... if we don't wait for Raf, we need to find someone who's just as good." He pursed his lips, feeling numbly heavy hearted at the moment. "I wish we could wait for Raf. I trust him... but... if we don't know when he's going to be back, we have to find another way," he finally concluded in an assured tone, shaking his head a little before turning back to the outline of Dexter's body on the bed. "Are you sure we're too late? I remember... when I first met him, he said he'd died once..." he muttered, his brows furrowed as he asked for the impossible, while remembering in his heart that in the world he had once lived in, the impossible happened every day.

[Foxtrot]

"It might take just as long.. trying to find someone who may be able to break the system. But we'll do both. If we find someone else whose suitable first then we'll go from there.. " When Mikey mentioned about Dexter dying once the demon instantly recalled the fight with Damian and the minions. The fight was brutal and reckless. If it wasnt for Gabe getting everyone out they all would of shared the same fate the Cyborg faced.

"..he was on the virge of death. So he wasnt completely gone." The demon eyed the quiet room from where he stood and then lowered his gaze back to the floor. " From the looks of it, its been a day or so...I dont even feel activity within his mind." Bal peaked over at Mikey and watched him closely.

Frosty kept to herself and bowed her head in respects as the two talked about the ex operator. She didnt know him too well but the girl was sensative enough to show her sympathy. " I'm sorry" The elf offered and sighed.

"..we'll take care of Dexter. Are you going to be okay going home?"

[Delta]

Mikey felt his jaw quiver a little, but kept it strong, not wanting to allow himself to cry. He wasn't even really that amazed that he still had these feelings. He swallowed and nodded, not wanting to really admit that there was no way that the cyborg would ever be coming back. As he stood there, just looking at the empty shell that had once belonged to his ex, he started to remember all the reasons why he loved him, why he cared so much, and why he had put up with so much shit over the years. In spite of everything, Dexter simply cared. There was no other way to say it. He cared about Mikey, sometimes... oftentimes too much.

He swallowed again before finally turning away. "I'll... I'll be fine," he finally replied quietly, his heart dropping in his chest as he started to make his way towards the door. "Just... call me when you get something. I know he had some Cyrax contacts down here. I never really knew them, but... maybe they can help," he offered. He was starting to feel the full weight of the evening and when he glanced up at the clock on the oven, it already said 1:30. He reached up to wipe his eyes, knowing that he was going to be paying for tonight the next day, but there were simply some things that couldn't be helped. He took a deep breath and finally looked up at Bal's gentle blue eyes. "Thanks... For comin' out here," he said, a weak smile just barely appearing at the corners of his mouth before he headed out of the door, feeling his stomach churning. He got to his car and sat in the driver seat for about 10 minutes or so, trying to compose himself before he finally switched his iPod over to a familiar song and set it to repeat. He listened to the song in it's entirety once before pulling out of the condo lot (paying the fee) and heading home, feeling truly alone for the first time since he'd had the accident and met Dexter.

[Delta]

Who needs words? Dancing beats small talk any day. It's the way your feet smile. Or laugh. It lets you say so many things

Dancing is a language that is felt instead of heard
You can whisper, sing or shout without so much as a word
Try it, go on, like so...

Just let your emotions tell your body what to do
See how much a single gesture can reveal!
And ev'ry little step
Ev'ry single step
Is one step closer
To saying what you feel

Once the music hits you, inhibitions fall away
And you find that you're expressing things
Your voice daren't say
Don't be afraid, let go!

Soon as you surrender, what's inside will sweep on through
As the boundaries between us disappear!
And ev'ry little step
Ev'ry single step
Is one step closer
To talking loud and clear

A dance is like a conversation
Except you never need to make a sound
And once you've begun
You speak as one
Give and take
Back and forth
Round and round

A dance is like a conversation
Except your lips don't ever need to part
And once you've begun
You speak as one
Cheek to cheek
Toe to toe
Heart to heart

Dancing is a language that is felt instead of heard
But it says much more than language ever could
And ev'ry little step
Ev'ry single step
Is one step closer...
One step closer...
One step closer
To being understood

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