Eldritch Disaster Dad

Entry 7

Chantelle and Nova

~~~~~~~~~~

It was turning evening as Martin walked down the street. He had parked his car about two blocks down in a "public lot" (though not really public), and could see his destination in sight.

He turned the corner into the alleyway of the closed curio shop. This was the shop Chantelle worked during the day, but it wasn't his destination. Further in was a staircase leading down. At the end was a nondescript, door, dark mahogany, with a little black plaque that said 'open'. To the right of the door was a green neon sign that read 'Nova', simple with a star replacing the 'o'. He walked in, a quiet bell sounding his arrival and the sound of a simple melody entered his ears, though he wasn't knowledgeable enough to know by whom.

"Welcome back, Martin," was said, and he looked at Chantelle who sat lounged against the bar. Her long tobacco pipe sat delicately in her hand as smoke curled from it. Her talisman glowed in the dim lighting.

"You say that like I'm not here to work," he said, as he walked towards the back of the bar. Chantelle gave a serene smile.

"It feels wrong not to greet you, though."

"Is that you trying to be polite, or being human?"

"Can't it be both?"

Normally, Martin wouldn't be so casual in his address of a fellow Eldritch, but there was no one else here yet. Besides, none of the members were human to begin with. Very few humans were allowed in the bar. Only those who were trusted and were deemed Guests for that night.

The bar itself was similar to most other bars he'd seen humans frequent, but because it was a basement there were no windows. Any non-members and non-guests, human or not, were turned away. The only way to become a member was to get Chantelle's approval, and it was hard to get. This was a safe place for all that came, and she made sure of that. It was one of the reasons Martin decided to work here, seeing as it was hard to hold a human job (not counting the bookstore), and the pay was decent. He took off his jacket and put it into the nearby closet.

"I don't know why you don't just shift here. It would be so much easier. It's too close to be a risk to your guise."

"I'd rather not chance a human seeing me."

"We're in an alley, Martin."

"Can still happen."

That, and he enjoyed doing mundane human things. He wasn't ashamed of being an Eldritch, but he felt just a little closer to the dad his sons saw him as.

~~~~~~~~~~

"I have some unfortunate news," Martin said later as they finished setting up the bar. In about another ten minutes Parker would arrive for his shift.

"Yes, Martin?"

"You remember Cross? The ACE agent?"

"Oh," her voice had a teasing lilt, "You mean the human you fancy?"

Despite his openness about his attraction, he still found himself blushing.

"Yes. Him. Um, well," He hesitated, unsure how Chantelle would take the news. She noticed and stopped to look at him.

"What is it?"

"Cross has found out about you and the others that know about me." Thankfully, all she did was sigh.

"I told you to be careful."

"I know. He had said the same."

"Good to know we're on the same wavelength." The joke was light, but that could mean anything with Chantelle.

"I'm sorry. I really am."

"At least you let me know."

Neutral. Good territory to be in. Then her countenance turned serious.

"Can he be trusted, Grimoire?"

Martin stiffened. He didn't answer.

"Grimoire?"

"That's not my name." They stared at each other. Chantelle, fairly relaxed, while Martin's stance was rigid. A stalemate for all of ten seconds, before Chantelle backed down.

"Can he be trusted, Martin?" There was exasperation, but also a slight twitch in the corner of her lips.

He relaxed.

"Yes. I don't think he'll involve ACE."

"He's an ACE agent, Martin."

"He's also Cross."

This startled a laugh from her.

"Coming from you, that's good enough."

There was the jingle of the bell and they turned to see a head of curly brown hair poke in.

"I'm not late, am I?" Parker asked. Chantelle didn't bother to look at the clock, still in a decent mood.

"Worry not, Parker. You're just in time."

~~~~~~~~~~

The night was in full swing in a matter of an hour. Chantelle was casually chatting with the patrons, while Martin and Parker were busy with the bar and drinks. Parker handled the food. Chantelle wouldn't let him touch the kitchenette.

"Martin, can you give these to Mr. Norman?"

"Sure." Martin took the fries and chips and made his way quickly to the rather large Mr. Norman. His cheeks were already pink from his drink and was cheerful as Martin set down his food.

"Wonderful! You're a good man, Jones."

"Thank you."

"You should have a drink with me."

"I'm on the clock, sir."

"You work too hard, Jones. You need a drink." Norman's companion, Niel, gave him an apologetic smile. Martin made an 'it's fine' gesture before he scurried away. While the bar was loud with laughter and light arguments, it was comfortable to Martin. The atmosphere was jovial and it reminded Martin of nights when Seth had both Richter and Jole over, maybe even Carlos would bring Spencer. They'd spend the entire night playing games, talking, or playing with the pets and it brought life into the house.

There was life here. It felt wonderful after so long of the opposite.

McKenzie was complaining about a stray cat on his porch, but everyone knew he'd be buying cat food tomorrow as he'd done for the last three strays that happened upon his home. Shelly's husband had brought home more diorama kits and their display cabinet was full. Esther's sister wanted to visit, but she was worried her new flytrap would scare her (never mind that she got it from her home dimension). Holmes chatted with Kirk, drunkenly explaining to Kirk how they couldn't solve their newest jigsaw puzzle while Kirk was trying to get advice about joining a gym without revealing he's not human. Kirk liked socializing.

If it wasn't for the odd wording and sentence here and there, every Eldritch would appear human from conversation alone. Some of them have had their human guises longer than Martin, some less.

He returned to the bar just as Parker went to put down a drink.

"I think Mr. Norman might need less strong drinks."

"Already?" Parker looked both amused and miffed. Martin laughed.

"Apparently." Parker sighed, but still made a note on his hand for later. He was a good kid. He had only had his human guise for about six months. He still had trouble keeping the guise up, so worked both the bar and in Chantelle's curio shop until he could hold it better, much like Martin did.

Which is why when Martin went to grab a drink from the top shelf and dropped it, he wasn't surprised by the way Parker lashed out and he went sliding across the floor.

Silence permeated. Parker looked shocked by his own reaction then made a sound like a deflating balloon.

"Oh, dear Voids! I'm so sorry Martin!" Martin just laid there as Parker fussed over him, letting the other get it out of his system.

Then the room burst into laughter.

"Holy shit!" Kirk wheezed, "You actually knocked down Martin!"

"Damn kid! You're lucky he's nice!" Was Shelly's howling laughter.

Everyone else made variations of the same comments while Mr. Norman laughed so hard his head was on the table and he visibly vibrated. Parker was still panicking and Chantelle walked over. She bent over with a gleam to her eye and a smirk on painted lips.

"You still alive?" She asked and Martin gave a thumbs up.

~~~~~~~~~~

Martin sighed as he stepped out, his shift over.

His cheek was still sore from Parker's hit, and the poor boy had kept apologizing every time he handed Martin someone's order. It didn't help when Martin knocked over a glass and Parker had knocked the wind out of him. This was why he was the one who worked with him the most. He was durable enough and reasonable enough that he wouldn't tear a limb off of him.

He had decided that he wasn't going to mention Cross to Parker, as his panic would probably put Jole's to shame (he loved the boy like another son, but he had his moments).

It was nearly two when he checked his phone, and sighed as he realized he'd have to walk all the way to his car.

He then remembered Chantelle's mention of shifting and decided, screw it. He was tired after one of Parker's jumpier nights and, as Chantelle had mentioned earlier, it wasn't far enough to be a problem.

He closed his eyes and visualized the parking lot. His car, the driver's side door, the flickering of one of the lights, the bent gate, and even the overflowing garbage cans. He felt a ripple, like droplets of ice across his skin and his stomach dropping like in an elevator. He could feel reality split, all sound stopped, and the chill had become biting. Had he been in there longer, he would have heard the yawning of the void, felt it prickling and wriggling under skin. It could be a problem being in there too long, a risk to his human form. However, because his shift was so close, all he had was silence for but a second, just a second to feel the undulation under his skin, then the sounds of the night entered his ears again. His body barely tingled.

He sighed in relief when he saw his car right in front of him. He could have shifted to inside the car, but that would have taken more concentration. He grabbed the handle, ready to head home, when he heard the sound of a can hitting the ground.

He whirled around, still in 'Parker Defense Mode', and came face to face with a human man. He looked like he'd been drinking, judging by the can he had dropped. Martin gave him a nervous smile.

"Hello, there."

"Where the fuck did you come from?"

Eldritch Disaster Dad

Entry 5

Uncertainty

~~~~~

Caleb had just finished with his last client of the day when his phone rang. He turned away from cleaning his tattooing tools and picked his phone up. Something inside his chest twisted as he saw Mai's number.

Did she need a moment to vent? She had a few virtual meetings today, if he remembered right. Did Leslie do something dumb? Wouldn't be the first time. An invite for the weekend coming up? A bit early in the week for that, but not impossible. Would it just be them? Would Leslie come?

Would Martin?

Another ring and Caleb answered.

"What's up, Mai?"

"Hey, Caleb, hon. Are you sitting down?"

Oh no.

"Mai? What's going on?"

"Sit down, first, Caleb."

He did, but only after he put up his closed sign. Something told him he didn't want accidental walk ins.

"So. Don't freak out." Mai began, and Caleb resisted the urge to sigh.

"Mai, you can't tell me to sit down and then expect me not to be freaked out." She gave him a small laugh at that, and maybe, just maybe, this wouldn't be so bad.

"Fair enough. Okay, I'll rip the band-aid off." He could hear her take a breath, "Cross knows about us now."

There was the equivalent of a record scratch in his brain.

"Caleb?"

Fuck me.

"Caleb? Hello?"

Damn you, Martin Jones.

~~~~~

School had let out about ten minutes ago and Jole found himself walking home with Richter and Seth. This wasn't unusual. Often times they would make their way home together or even stop in the downtown area to find something to do and hang out. Jole didn't feel up to it today, though.

As their shoes thudded down concrete sidewalks and Richter's voice rambled at Seth next to him, he couldn't help his spiraling thoughts.

He had no issues with Seth's dad being inhuman. It scared him at first, of course. It was hard for it not to. However, because Martin had used his powers to help him, to return his mother's wallet from a pickpocket, he was hard pressed to fear him for long. He treated Jole like he treated Seth and Carlos, like Jole was welcome to be considered another son when his own father was a touchy subject.

However, Cross was a different matter.

He had never met the man, never spoke to him, despite going over to Seth's house multiple times. Seth had been careful about that, save for this last weekend. Cross knew they knew now, and Jole didn't know what to do with that. His mom had it hard enough, he couldn't make it worse on her. "Jole?" Seth's voice broke him out of his mental loop. They had stopped in front of their usual convenience store, Mary's Mart, where they would often buy snacks afterschool. The weird kind that most people avoided unless it was for a dare. Both Richter and Seth's eyes watched him in concern.

"Sorry," He squeaked, then cleared his throat, "Sorry. What's going on?"

Richter raised a brow, but Seth was the one who spoke.

"We were going to get some of those popping gummies. You want some?" That's right they had talked about that last Friday, the one before they got outed to Cross.

"Sure. Sure, that's cool."

"You good, man?" Jole hesitated, and at that Richter spoke up.

"Hey, Seth, why don't you get them for us? I need to ask him about Mr. Austin's homework."

"Did you forget it? Again?"

"Don't worry about it." Seth narrowed his eyes at Richter, but sighed and went inside. Richter called out.

"Get us some of those fresh cookies too. Jole's mom might want one." Seth waved his hand back.

Once the doors closed Richter's face shifted to something stern.

"What's going on?"

~~~~~

It had taken some time, but Mai eventually calmed Caleb enough that he could hear what happened. To say he was not happy was a bit of an understatement.

"Are you serious right now?"

"Caleb, please."

"No, Mai. This is insane."

"It's not that bad."

"How can it not be?" Caleb snapped at her, then winced, "Sorry. Sorry. I just don't like this, Mai."

She was silent a moment. Caleb was almost afraid she'd hung up.

"I know, but I don't think we need to worry."

"How come?"

"Because it's Cross. You've heard the way Martin talks about him."

Of course he did. The guy was completely infatuated. It didn't matter that Cross could kill him in his sleep. It didn't matter that killing things like Martin was part of the job. That he'd probably done it dozens of times with no remorse. None of that mattered because Martin was too busy making eyes at the man.

"He's biased. You know that."

"Not if it puts his kids in danger. You know that." Caleb opened his mouth, but found he couldn't make a sound. Mai took the opportunity to press her point.

"Martin loves his sons more than anything. If Cross was anything but good to them then there's no way he'd give him the time of day. That means Cross gets along with his kids. Which means Cross likes Seth and Carlos. Which then means he wouldn't do anything to hurt them if he could help it, right?"

"You don't know that. You don't know Cross." His voice was weak to his ears, especially in the face of Mai's firm conviction.

"No, but I know Martin. You do, too."

Did he? Despite hanging around him, he had to wonder.

"What if we're wrong? What then?" He didn't want to uproot again. He didn't want to see-

"We'll figure it out. We always do, don't we?" She continued, her voice soft in an attempt at comfort.

Some part of him hated how he was confidently included in that "We".

~~~~~

It took Jole a moment to readjust to Richter's change in demeanor.

"What are you talking about?"

"You've been ignoring us the whole walk. Seth tried to get your attention, like, five times, dude. Spill." Jole blinked.

"I've just been thinking about stuff. That's all."

"You mean Cross?" He flinched at the name, but that was enough for Richter.

"Really, dude? We told you not to worry about it."

"How can I not?" His voice cracked some, and he cleared his throat again, "It's just me, my mom, and my sister, man. How can I not worry about this?" His father leaving had been so abrupt, some nights Jole still reeled.

Richter's face softened, his voice toned down to match.

"Do you really think Seth would let anything happen? That his dad would let anything happen?"

No. Was Jole's immediate thought, but this didn't change anything.

"They aren't invincible, Richter. We don't know Cross that well. Just because Seth thinks it'll be fine doesn't mean it will."

"You saying Seth isn't worried about it?"

"If he's so confident in Cross-"

"It doesn't have to do with Cross, Jole." Jole's mouth snapped shut at that. What?

"He told you before, right?" Richter continued, "He's not worried about Cross. It wasn't about Cross. He's worried about what ACE would do about his dad, not what Cross would do."

The doors opened with a ding and Seth walked out the door.

"Hey, they didn't have the blue raspberry ones, so I got grape." Seth said as he dug into the bag. Richter mock gasped.

"You mean you got purple flavor?"

"Shut up, man. Blue raspberry isn't a real flavor either."

As the two began to debate back and forth, Jole let his eyes roam over Seth. Things he hadn't noticed before jumped out now.

Bags under his eyes, slouched, tired posture, and how his hair looked messier than normal.

"Okay, fine. It's purple not grape. Will you just take the damn candy?" Seth groaned and pushed the gummy bag against Richter's chest, who smirked at his victory. He turned to Jole, this time he held out a couple of cookies and a gummy bag. There was a slight shake to his hand.

"Here, Jole. I got an extra cookie for your mom too."

"My idea." Richter said, his mouth full of purple flavored gummies.

"Do you ever shut it?"

As the two started up again, Jole couldn't help but stare at the snacks in his hand.

~~~~~

After the call with Mai, Caleb had closed up shop and went home. The door closed with an unintentional slam, but it sounded like a dull thud in his ears. He didn't bother to turn on his tv as he sat down. He tried controlled breathing, on his couch with his bag of take out in front of him that he couldn't smell. His couch was supposed to a bit lumpy with its fake cotton texture, but he just felt untextured dough. The silence of his apartment was an oppressive pressure in his ears, while the sounds of the city's nighttime thudded against it like flies on a window. It was dark in his home, but it was like he could see a distant spark in his peripheral.

Spark?

Caleb shot up, his eyes darted around his apartment. Yet no matter where he looked, the spark was not in his direct line of vision. It was always the corner, always just out of sight.

He reached for the table lamp and nearly knocked it over in his haste. The dull light helped, made the orange tint less noticeable, made it blend in.

With a breath he slumped back onto his couch.

In truth he wasn't very hungry, but he figured he'd need something in his stomach regardless. As he set his food up on the coffee table his conversation with Mai continued to replay in his head. He wanted to say her confidence and assurance was infectious, but all it did was leave something sour in his mouth. It was easy for her to say. Martin had always looked human, Cross was human. So little had happened that proved otherwise. Had she even seen what things like Martin were capable of? What the people that hunted those things probably had to become?

He opened up the take-out container (what had he ordered again).

The smell of burnt food smothered his senses.

The food container dropped to the table and Caleb almost tripped over the table to get away.

Once he had distance, he stared at the food. However, there was nothing different. Only the sauce on his wings had splattered across the table, nothing on them seemed burnt. No cracked char or ash.

Yet the smell continued to clog his sinuses. Continued to burn.

He ran to his bathroom and turned on the sink. He shoved his head under the faucet. The cold water was an immediate shock but he continued to keep himself under; until he sputtered from both water and cold. He pulled himself up with a gasp and full body shiver.

As if a switch had been flipped, the smell was gone and his vision was clear, even if his throat still felt raw and his nose still burned. Mai's words, too, continued to ring as he stood alone with just the running faucet as company. How could she, and Leslie, and the kids, anyone, have that confidence when it should be obvious how out of their depth they all were. It was all fun and games until secret organizations knocked on your door, until you were forced to confront the obvious. Until someone like Cross stopped being "buddy-buddy" and started shooting instead. Until you and the people around you become collateral rather than living, breathing people.

He sat on the floor, attempted to get his breathing under control.

"What am I supposed to do?"

~~~~~

The door to his apartment closed and Jole heard his mother call out.

"Jole, sweetie, is that you?"

"Yeah, mom." He had hung out with Seth and Richter longer than he meant to.

He pulled his shoes off and set them on the rack. As he passed the couch, he set his bookbag on it and made his way to the kitchen. His mother stood there at the counter as she cut vegetables, he could smell the beef stew already as the meat simmered.

A touch of babble got his attention, and he saw his baby sister in her high chair as she played with her stuffed mouse that jingled with every shake. She spotted her brother and screeched her joy.

"Bwabwa!"

His mother turned at her squeals and smiled at her son.

"Welcome home, sweetie."

"Hey, mom."

Another squeal from Lilly and Jole gave a fond sigh. He went over and allowed her to play with his fingers. "How was school?" His mom asked as she returned to cooking.

Jole opened his mouth to answer, then remembered what Seth and Richter had told him.

For a moment he allowed his eyes to glance at his mother; her hair had escaped her bun, her eyes had subtle bags where her make up began to fade, and how he could see the barest hint of a pain patch under her shirt, no doubt from her factory work. The idea of Cross confronting her about him replayed in his head.

"Jole?" His mother called when he failed to answer.

"It was fine," he answered quickly and pulled his hands away from Lilly, who whined at his retreat.

"Do you need my help with dinner?" He asked, and pasted a smile on his face. His mother's expression didn't change, but she had no desire to push her son.

"I'll be alright. Go on and do your homework. I'll let you know when dinner is ready." Jole took the out for what it was. He hurried to the living room, ignored Lilly's cries, grabbed his bag, and went to his room.

Once his bedroom door shut, Jole stood there in the dark. It was already dark, the street lights barely filtered through his curtains, but he couldn't bring himself to flick his light switch. His mind aimlessly wandered, as it played everything back. Cross knew now. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't tell his mom the truth, that would be worse. For all his worry of Martin's inhuman traits, he truly did like the man and he wouldn't want his mother freaking out, she had enough to worry about. However, he hated the idea of her not knowing, how something, anything, could happen and she'd have no way of protecting herself or his sister. How did one even protect themselves from something like ACE?

With a groan he threw his bag onto his bed, but stopped at the sound of crinkled plastic. He opened his bag, only to be greeted with the unfinished gummy bag and cookies Seth had got them. In his haste he'd forgotten to give the cookie to his mom. He pulled them out and stared.

Richter was right, Seth and his family would do their best to protect them. Jole knew that, but he knew just how quickly life could go wrong too. Sometimes, life wasn't fair.

But Seth knew that too, didn't he?

He could still see the eye bags and shaking hands, so similar to his hardworking mother. He never hesitated when his mother needed him, and right now, it wasn't just his own family at risk. It was the second family he never thought he'd have. Jole knew the pain of a father leaving all too well.

He took a breath.

"What can I do?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eldritch Disaster Dad

Entry 6

Agency of Cosmic Entities

~~~~~

"To combat the unknown and protect our planet from entities here and afar, we affirm our mission to handle that which is beyond human comprehension. On account of the recruitment and enhancement of the fittest and most knowledgeable, we monitor and record all creatures, both passive and aggressive, to ensure safety worldwide."

This was the mantra Cross was taught when he joined the academy. It was one he held dear for years and used it to fuel his desire for retribution masquerading as civil service. An inferno that burned throughout his years of training, only having cooled in more recent years.

Now, that mantra echoing in his mind as he headed to headquarters to get the profiles and information left him uneasy. Say what he might to Jones, but the man had a point. ACE wasn't unreasonable, but they didn't like it when things got leaked. Jones had suddenly become a huge leak that Cross was going to have to plug.

Hopefully before anyone noticed the rising water.

ACE HQ looked like most any other office building. Made of gray concrete, standard plexiglass windows, and even a simple double glass door. Yet, as soon as he stepped through the doors, as soon as the secretary noticed him at the front desk, her eyes shifted. They lost the blank friendliness reserved for lost civilians and sharpened to full attention.

"Cross," she greeted.

"Nora."

"Come to make a report?"

"Not exactly. Came to look into something."

"I see," He could see the way her eyes flashed, suspicious. However, her job wasn't to question him, not unless he overstepped boundaries.

"Shwartz should be in."

"Perfect."

In an instant the airy friendliness was back, and she tilted her head with a smile.

"Have a wonderful day, sir!"

Another nod, and he walked towards the elevator.

~~~~~

When he had first joined ACE, he had wondered how they avoided the public eye. He had stopped asking questions after he saw secretaries like Nora keep public authorities at bay, force them to leave, and to never see the same authority twice.

The elevator opened and Cross stepped onto the Surveying Floor.

Only a few eyes glanced his way, but most recognized him and didn't bother to question him. He walked past the partitions and toward a specific corner in the back.

Arin Shwartz was a loner by nature. An eccentric that was considered one of the best for gathering intelligence. He had few people he trusted and fewer he considered friends. Cross knew he was trusted, but Schwartz had never said if he was a friend or not. He never did for anyone.

He was also the one usually assigned to intelligence collection and mission navigation for Cross's team.

He must have been on break, because as Cross looked into his cubicle, he was clearly playing a game on his phone rather than typing at his computer.

"What is it, Cross?" He asked. He didn't bother to look up.

"You have a minute? I need some info dug up."

"Tell me something I don't know," Shwartz mumbled, but finally put his phone down. His dark eyes stared into Cross's. Cross looked over his shoulder, making sure people were occupied before he walked into the cubicle. Shwartz raised a brow, but otherwise didn't move. He didn't like people hovering over his shoulder and hated being crowded, but he never voiced those complaints to Cross.

"I need some help with the Jones situation," Cross said lowly. This time Shwartz's eyes lit up.

"Oh? Did he try to impress you again?" The glare he received would have chilled a lesser man, but Shwartz only grinned cockily.

"That was one time."

"No, it wasn't. You're just in denial."

"Anyway," ignore it, ignore it, "Apparently our friend's status has been leaked."

"You've been compromised?" Whatever teasing banter he had ready was replaced in a moment, but Cross shook his head.

"I don't think so. Jones wouldn't have revealed me or himself to anyone that couldn't be trusted. I just need to look into it before the rest of the agency finds out somehow."

This wasn't against regulations, per se. It was a gray area, policy-wise. Cross was essentially withholding information that could be dangerous to both himself and ACE as a whole. However, as long as Cross reported the issue eventually, there shouldn't be too much of a fuss. How soon eventually would be he'd figure out later once he had an excuse ready.

"So, you trust him?"

"He's been under my watch for five years. After all that time I still have little information on his real form and powers. If he wanted to, he could have easily killed me by now."

Shwartz scoffed at that, but otherwise didn't comment. It was the truth. Cross was considered one of the best in the agency, but even he knew better than to go into a fight with an eldritch with only two cards out of a full deck.

There was only a handful of things they knew about Jones:

He wanted to live among humans and had two sons, someone had helped him with his current guise, he was capable of crushing another Eldritch's skull with his bare hands, was insanely fast, he could unhinge his jaw, he was durable, and, according to Jones himself, had lived longer than any number of humans.

The last thing was you didn't touch his kids. This was a landmine Cross discovered very quickly when he met Jones and was just as quick to diffuse before Jones killed every ACE agent within ten feet of his kids. They already had had one blood smear to clean up that night, he did not want his fellow agents added to it.

It was decided that night that, as long as Jones remained peaceful, let Cross interrogate him, and kept himself hidden, ACE would turn a blind eye to his existence.

Now Jones had broken that last condition, and Cross had to figure out how to fix it.

Shwartz had logged back into his computer and was looking at Cross expectantly.

"Names?"

Cross pulled out his notebook and handed it over.

~~~~~

While Shwartz worked on getting the information, Cross decided to head to the training room to see if he could recruit a few trustworthy agents to his cause. While there weren't many people on the list, it would be wise to have an extra hand or two. The sooner he got recon done the less chance of others getting a whiff of trouble.

The training room was one of the first floors in the underground segment of the building. The Surveying Floor, the meeting rooms, and other such things were above ground. It was easy enough to conceal those as simple offices. Training rooms, and everything below it, would be harder to explain. This training room was used more for basic endeavors; hand-to-hand, stretches, forms, even weaponless sparring. That was the point of this floor, weaponless training. The second training room was another story.

Some heads turned as Cross entered the room, but otherwise ignored him once he was recognized, save for one.

"Hey, come to join us for the day, darling?" Fiona said with a friendly slap to his back. Cross jerked forward and turned his head to give her a bemused look, which she returned with a sheepish smile.

"My bad, hon. Forget my own strength sometimes."

"You've been working here for how long? You should know better."

"Oh, hush," she said with a wave of her hand. "As if you're any better. You tore the head off that mannequin with your bare hands last week." She pointed to a lone corner of the room where, indeed, a headless training dummy sat with several other pieces of broken equipment. They still hadn't found where the head went.

Before Fiona could go on, Cross felt a presence to his left and jerked his head around. Stood before him was Cathy, her face questioning. Cross answered on instinct.

"I'm just killing time. Schwartz is helping me with something."

"Jones?" She asked, voice low. Fiona, who looked bored and had been shifting impatiently, stilled. Both stared expectantly, Cross sighed.

"Unfortunately." Fiona snickered at his tone.

"What? Did he try to impress you? Did he eat a whole barrel of apples or something?"

"Or something." This caused women to drop their smiles, and their looks turned sharp. In a moment, Fiona began to pull on his sleeves as she attempted to get a better look at him.

"What happened? Are you hurt?" Cross brushed her hand off.

"No, he didn't hurt me, and keep your voice down." He whispered the last part, his glare withering. Once he was sure no one was paying them any mind he continued.

"I'm going to need your help with something. Maybe Claude, too, if he's willing."

"Schwartz?" Cathy asked.

"He's looking into it for me." They both looked ready to ask more, only for both to stiffen and immediately stand at attention. Cross' back straightened and he turned on his heel.

"Hello, Cross. I'm surprised you're here." Cross could almost feel the sweat on his brow.

"Mr. Chairman, sir."

There was a kind smile on his ageing face, but Cross could feel the way his eyes bored into him despite one being cloudy and blind. The sharp scarring around it told the tale of why. Cross fought the urge to swallow, to flinch, and hoped Chairman Barnes did not hear too much of their conversation. At least not yet.

"Just stopping by, sir." He finally answered, the Chairman nodded.

"I see, I see. You always were a workaholic. I appreciate your dedication, but you must remember to take time for yourself too. That's why you had the day off today."

"Of course, sir. I just get antsy."

"Is that so?" This time he glanced behind Cross at Fiona and Cathy, who were both still as statues. In fact, the whole room had gone quiet and still, all agents at attention for their leader.

Then the Chairman laughed.

"Goodness. At ease everyone, I only came down for a moment. No need to be so tense." The pressure in the room seemed to ease up, and slowly everyone went back to their routines. The Chairman nodded to the two behind him, a silent dismissal. Fiona and Cathy gave a nod of respect and walked away. Cross did not blame them for not looking back. Once you were dismissed you listened.

"May I speak to you in my office, Cross?" The Chairman asked, already turned to lead the way out.

Dammit.

~~~~~

"Please, have a seat." The Chairman said, and gestured to one of the two couches with a coffee table in between rather than towards his desk. At least that meant he wanted to keep the talk casual and not make it a formal meeting. Cross tried to not let his tension show as he sat on one couch and his boss the other.

"So, tell me, how has the Jones situation been progressing?" Chairman Barnes started. He leaned forward, like a teenager eager to hear some gossip and it still, to this day, threw Cross whenever he saw this behavior from his boss.

"How do you mean, sir?" Despite this, Cross had to tread carefully. While the Chairman, for the most part, was a reasonable man, he still did not want to complicate things further. Plus, he'd promised Jones to keep his people safe. He didn't want interference.

"Anything, Cross. His powers? His demeanor? Any concerning changes?"

Concerning changes is debatable. Instead, Cross answered;

"No, sir. Not really. His week has been relatively normal. The most exciting thing is that his sons have started a new school year."

"Ah, yes, his children. Anything on them?"

"No. There is nothing to note or be concerned about, sir."

"I see." The Chairman's face was unreadable at that, and Cross could feel a slight chill. His eyes regarded Cross, dark and deep, before he spoke again.

"I find it quite interesting just how cooperative Jones has been. I think even humans would have been driven mad by the constant interviewing we've been having you do. Hell, he didn't even react to our continous surveillance during the first two years after we found him." Not a wrong assessment. For about two years after first meeting Jones, not only did Cross monitor him and talk to him directly, but other agents were often employed to keep tabs whenever Cross wasn't around. However, as time went on and Jones showed no signs of hostility, ACE relaxed and now mostly rely on cameras outside. Unfortunately, something on Jones' phone keeps them from hacking it, while trying to put cameras inside the home has only led to them malfunctioning or being destroyed by one of their many pets. That and the agency wasn't made of money. They only had so much funding and it wasn't cost effective to keep infinite tabs on Jones, especially when some of those methods didn't work. On top of that, Jones has been docile, and it's an unspoken agreement that, as long as ACE does not overstep too many boundaries, especially concerning his kids, they can hopefully keep him that way.

"We haven't given him reason to lash out, sir."

"This is true, but it's quite strange how, in the last five years you've been on watch we have had nothing but mundane events. He has never, in that time, stepped out of line again and fought with another Eldritch."

Another truth. Even though Jones was a priority, Cross still had other missions to go on. Just last month he had to perform an extermination, and many others before that. Thankfully, none of them had been on the level of what he had seen with Jones.

Cross still remembered the blood bath they had walked into that night. Of the body parts strewn everywhere and of two young children, covering their ears, eyes closed, and laying low on the floor out of sight as their father had ordered.

"He has had no reason to. His kids have been kept safe and Jones has no interest in playing vigilante."

"Yes. So you've reported. However, I'm amazed at how comfortable you've become, Cross. You used to grumble whenever we reminded you to go to the Jones house and perform your interview. Honestly, I wonder when that changed?" He said it in a way that was meant to be musing, almost rhetorical, but Cross could feel the room get colder.

"I don't understand. What are trying to say, sir?"

"I'm not sure. What do you think I'm trying to say, Cross?"

The pressure in his chest felt consuming. Cross had to tense his body to keep from flinching when the Chairman stared him in the eyes, as if he could carve out what he wanted piece by piece. In some ways, Cross wondered if he could.

Then the Chairman laughed and sat straight and all the pressure and tension seemed to be sucked out of the room.

"Well, I trust there isn't anything to worry about. As you've said, so long as the kids remain safe Jones seems to have no interest in doing anything. Except for living a normal life of course. Can't blame him really." He stood then and walked to his desk. He rifled around for a moment, then pulled out a pack of snack cupcakes, chocolate with cream in the middle. He popped open the wrapper and held one up.

"Cupcake, Cross?" Cross, who still sat on the couch gave his boss a bemused look.

"No thank you, sir. I'm not much for sweets." The Chairman shrugged.

"Very well. Suit yourself." He shoved one in his mouth and chewed it with a gluttonous glee. Cross took this as his dismissal, gave a salute to his boss and turned to leave.

As his hands gripped the handles of the door, the Chairman said one last thing.

"You've done good work for us, Agent Cross. You have never done anything to put your fellow agents at risk." Once more, Cross felt a bite of cold and resisted the urge to shiver as the Chairman continued.

"I certainly hope we can continue to trust that judgement."

~~~~~

By the time Shwartz had gathered all the information he could get his hands on, it was nearly quitting time for them both.

Cross had decided to take the files back home with him. He didn't want to risk anyone seeing him working late in his office, nor did he want any more questions from the Chairman. It was hard to ignore Nora's stare as she watched him leave, though.

Now he was in his living room, going over each file one by one:

Leslie Carwell, Mai Greens, Caleb Hales, Richter Forthright, and Jole Simmons. Five of the six people he knew for sure that knew about Jones.

Two more names had been added to the list:

Eve Hewston and Spencer Minerthene. Carlos' girlfriend and friend, respectively. Jones didn't mention them among the people who knew, but it was better safe than sorry.

The last one was Chantelle. Jones had given no family name and had said little else about her. Told him she worked in a curiosity shop within the city called Nova. She was the most suspicious out of them as her records on public file held the bare minimum of information. According to Jones, if Cross wanted to talk to her, he would have to go to Nova himself, but only after Jones told her in advance. Which was far from ideal, but something told Cross if he didn't follow the suggestion it might not end well for him.

Chantelle aside, everyone else appeared normal enough. Either adults with full time work or students in high school. Of course, this information was only cursory. He wouldn't know for sure until he looked deeper.

This was the part of the job he never did like. He never enjoyed going through a person's intimate details. He didn't want to know a person's life, who they dated, where they worked, and how they lived. It would go much faster with the help he had secured today, thankfully, so he would not need to invade for long.

Yet it was his job. If someone had been in contact with an eldritch it was important to know. Not every eldritch was like Jones. Far too many eldritches either enjoyed manipulating or feeding off of humans. Posing as elder gods, or outright thinking they were gods, and getting humans to fight for them.

Cross had seen it all firsthand.

However, it was one of those things that, unless they began to act up and cause trouble, ACE could not act. This admittedly bothered Cross when he was younger. However, seeing eldritch beings act and think like Jones had helped. Though it was rare for ACE to discover a hidden eldritch living life among humans, or at least having definitive proof of it, the few and far between times he had had been eye opening. He saw with his own eyes their desire to live in peace, in normality. Cross could empathize with that.

With a sigh, he threw the files on the table and stood. He walked towards the window of his apartment and pulled it open, savoring the slight breeze. If this had been about seven years ago, he would have pulled out a cigarette. As it was, following all of Fiona's nagging over the years, the only smoking Cross did now was from overthinking. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a lollipop.

The strawberry flavor coated his tongue as the cool night air brushed his face. His thoughts running through the events of the past week or so.

Of course it'd be Jones and his kids to throw his normal week into chaos.