Chip sat at the table, staring down at a small bowl of Cheerio’s. His spoon circled the bowl, mixing the bits of cereal into milk. His eyes tore from the scene as the screen of his phone lit up with Chase’s picture. Scrunching his eyebrows together, (lol idk can’t even) he picked the phone up and held it to his ears.

“Yo,” he said casually.

“Hey, Dean,” Chase’s voice rang out. “Uh… what’s up?”

“Not a whole lot. You?”

“Yeah, not much.” he replied. “Hey, ummm… There’s a school thing happening later today and mom and dad don’t wanna go.”

“And I do?” Chip laughed.

“C’mon,” Chase nagged, “I can’t go by myself. Besides, I never see you anymore, man.”

“Fine, fine,” he sighed, leaning back. “What time is it?”

“Six!” Chase’s enthusiasm was apparent. “Pick me up at mom and dad’s, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, just don’t make me go up to the door.” Chip picked the spoon from his bowl and shoved some cereal into his mouth. “That all, kiddo?”

“Yeah, seeya Dean!”

“Later, bud.” He set his phone down and continued eating. After a moment, he stood up, stretched, and placed the half-eaten bowl in the sink. Glancing down at his watch, he grumbled and grabbed for a jacket. It was just like Chase to call last minute. He slowed down as he approached the room of one of the mentors. The door was never open, and he was rarely seen outside of this room.

“Ay,” he called, tapping on the door. “Doin’ okay, man?”

“Ghostbusters, whadya want?” Adam called back, before the sound of clanging could be heard from inside. Followed by an immediate sputter of curses and more bangs. As was the norm at the moment when it came to whatever Adam was still up to in the room.

“Just checkin’ up on ya,” Chip replied, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “Yo, I’m taking my brother to a school function. Wanna go? I mean, you probably don’t, but you haven’t been out in like.. months.”

“Thank you captain obvious. I suppose next you’ll tell me there’s a door in front of you.” Adam replies bitterly, kinda like he would when he would drink too much.

“Dude, c’mon.” Chip barked. “If I’d known you were gonna be a fuckin’ bum, I woulda jumped. Get your fucking shit together and let’s go.” His face turned a slight shade of pink; partially from embarrassment, but also from anger.

“If I invent a time machine I’ll let you know.” He laughed. “Nothing for me out there. But you go ahead.”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” Chip growled, grabbing for the door handle. “You’re not gonna get better by shutting yourself in your room. Stop wallowing in your fucking misery and get up. You’re a god damn mentor for Christ’s sake.”

“I’m not a Mentor. You should remember that.” He spat, before laughing again and pulling the door open, a carry all filled with clothes in his hand. He’d managed to grow a fairly well kept beard, didn’t really match the long hair very well but what can you do. He raised a brow at Chip and pushed him back. “Lets just go.”

He looked Adam over, resisting the urge to let his face scrunch up.

“Don’t got a lot of time,” Chip said, leading the way to the exit. “Might wanna grab a jacket, it’s cold as balls outside.” He grabbed a piece of gum from the pocket of his sweatshirt at tossed it to Adam. “I don’t want you meeting my brother smelling like a brewery.”

“Hah. If anything it’ll be a good life lesson on what not to turn out like.” Adam mutters, opening the gum and chewing on it.

“Not too late to change, man.” Chip’s eyes flashed back at Adam. “You got a car, or are we takin’ the bus?”

“Should still be a shitbucket in the alley.” Adam tells him, readjusting the carry all on his shoulder and sighing.

“Sweet, I’ll drive.” He smoothed his jacket and winked at Adam.

Adam

Why the fuck was he even doing this, not even he knew. Maybe there was some deep subconscious calling that he didn’t like to think about. Whatever it was, it dragged him from his peace and put him in a rust heap with Chip. The guy who almost jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge with him. Maybe this is some kind of ‘You saved my life and Now I’m gonna be a nuisance’ thing.

Fucking arse.

Adam leant against the car door and was silently grateful his hair didn’t really have what it took to get to jesus length. A beard that just need trimming was all he was really blessed with. Maybe Zanza would have liked the look, who knows. He sighed and shrugged his hands into his pockets, looking over at Chip and then at the school, sighing again in defeat.

“Alright muppet, lets try not to look like a gay couple.” Adam said, looking at Chip and then to Chase. “Although I think by this point it’s too late.”

“Yeah, right,” Chip scoffed. “I’m way out of your league, buddy.”

Chase sat back in his seat and pressed his lips together awkwardly.

“...Can we just go?” he mumbled.

“Sure kid. Just remember, in case of any attempts on our lives. You just run.” Adam muttered, getting out of the car.

“Wait, what?” Chase inquired, stepping out of the car.

“Nothin’,” Chip replied instantly. “Adam’s got an imagination.” He glared at Adam, slamming the door shut. “What’s your schedule, kiddo?”

“I dunno,” Chase shrugged. “We’re just supposed to tour around. But I have an idea of what classes I wanna take.”

“We’ll do that, then,” Chip clasped his hands together and wrapped his arm around his brother’s shoulder, leading him into the school.

“Okay,” Chase pulled away from Chip’s side and smoothed his hair. “I really wanna talk to the German teachers. Did I tell you I’m gonna be a linguist?”

“Keep that dream kid. Languages are fun…” Adam told him, having gone distant when Chase mentioned the German teacher. “Like Cornish…”

“Ich kann ein bischen Deutsch sprechen,” Chase turned back to Adam, wearing a huge grin. “But I wanna learn Italian and French, too. I don’t think this school offers much, though.”

“BAH! Bastard French. Italian is amazing though. Ubricacone Puttana.” Adam replied, before humming and wandering to the doors. “I wanna see how shit the computers are.”

“I had Ms. Tokaido when I took Spanish.” Chip mentioned, wrapping his fingers around the belt loops in his jeans. “She was a shit teacher. Wonder if she’s still here.”

“If she is, don’t say shit. Just look really fucking smug the entire time.” Adam called back, climbing the steps to the doors. “Come on slowpokes, being a sloth is a sin.”

“There goes the pot, calling the kettle black.” Chip mumbled.

When they entered the school, a tall blonde woman stood near the front desk. No doubt, she was the principal.

“Welcome to Blake Holsley High! Which school are you gentleman coming from?” she asked, looking at Chase.

“Imperium Middle School,” Chase replied sheepishly.

“Ahh, I went to Imperium,” she winked at him and smiled. “Well, all the teachers are in their classrooms. Feel free to stop by any of their rooms and chat with them. We’re all friendly here.”

“What languages do you offer here?” Chase asked, taking a step away from her. She stood up straight and stared off as though she were deep in thought.

“If there’s no programming languages, it’s already terrible.” Adam said under his breath, stepping away from the three of them and vanishing down a corridor. His mind set on the IT suite to berate whatever poor guy is sat in there. Maybe he could get a job as a teacher in a few years, that’d be fun. Also hijacking things is fun, he hadn’t done that in a while. A few twists and turns later and he was absolutely berating the poor guy in there.

“Oh come on, you don’t even have raspberry pi’s or tablets. What the shit is this. Your computers are stuck in the 90’s. You do have a working Xerox though, impressive. Shits hard to get parts for. ANYWAY! Now that I’ve successfully concluded your hardware is horrible I’ll be going. Goodbye!”

And with that he was gone, leaving the poor guy in utter confusion as he made his way back to Chip and Chase. It’s a disappointment that Chase wasn’t called Fish. He rounded the corner back at the reception and waited for them to finish up.

“Can we go talk to the language teachers now?” Chase whined to Chip. “That’s really the whole reason I even wanted to come.”

“Yeah, sure, bub,” Chip replied, grasping Chase’s shoulder. “Thanks, ma’am.”

Chase lead the way through hallways, heading into a stairwell and trekking up two flights of stairs. After taking a few turns, he took a final left and walked past a few doors. Inside every classroom, a small group of young students walked around as the parents chatted with the instructors.

“Wilkommen aus Deutschland!” the teacher called out as Chase entered her room.

“Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. This school should be ashamed of it’s technology. Who the hell uses word anymore? At this point everyone should be on Google drive. The it teacher didn’t even know what Java was.” Adam ranted on, pulling a flask of whiskey out of his back pocket and taking a sip. “He looked like Goll- Oh hello.”

He froze as soon as he entered, not expecting to be greeted. “Oh hi. We’re not gay. Well they might be, but I’m not. Why am I even saying this. I haven’t been this nervous in a while. Chip! Ramble for me, I need to think.”

Chip stared back at him, wide eyed, with “what the fuck” written all over his face.

“You’ll have to excuse my friend, he’s a dumbass.” Chip smiled at the teacher. She returned the smiled and turned her attention to Chase.

“Hallo, ich heisse Ms. Burnwood. Wie heisst du?” she glanced up at Adam, almost nervously.

“Chase,” he replied simply. “Sorry, I don’t know a whole lot in German.”

“I’m here to fix that,” she said, walking by her desk. “Have you got any questions for me, Chase?”

“OH! NOW I REMEMBER!” Adam cried out, then stuck his finger on his chin. “Nope. Wait. It’s gone. My memory isn’t too good… Gimme a little more time.”

Ms. Burnwood grabbed her glasses from her desk and placed them gingerly on her face.

“Sir, please… keep your voice down.” she ran her fingers through her red hair and turned back to Chase, who looked like he had something to say.

“Have you ever been to Germany? Or Austria?” he asked. “How long were you there?”

“I went to Germany once, for a couple weeks,” Ms. Burnwood replied with a smile. “It’s a beautiful country. Very memorable.”

Adam leaned in close to Chip, squinting at the teacher. “She’s really pretty. I felt pretty similar when I met Zan and Leona. Shame I’m a drunkard.”

“Yeah, I’m diggin’ that hair,” Chip replied in a low tone. “She’s probably got someone, though.”

“Damn. You’re right. That red hair is just the most amazing thing in the world.” He moans, sighs and then pulls back. “I wonder how she looks in a Dirndl.”

Ms. Burnwood’s eyes shoot over to Adam, but only briefly. She kept her eyes on him until his attention was turned anywhere near her.

“Oh yeah, Chip. I think I might have a good starting point to find Sera. I’ve been working on a thing, and I need to place it in the right system. I’m thinking of starting with the German camera systems.” He told him with a giddy grin, not even paying attention to Chase and Burnwood.

“Wait… Nah, nah, you don’t mean here, do you?” Chip’s head rolled and he stared at Adam. “Seriously?”

“No. I mean Germany. The country.” He replied, doing a minor head shake with a ‘The fuck are you thinking of’ look.

“My b, dawg,” Chip raised his eyebrows and chuckled at himself. “Just seems like a strange time to bring that up, unless you meant doing that shit here.”

“Well I could use the school systems to upload it now…” Adam mused, then sat down in a chair. “Chip be honest. Do you think I’m chasing ghosts here?”

“I dunno, man,” Chip leaned against the desk next to Adam and crossed his arms. “I mean, she could literally be anywhere. What are the odds of you finding her if you haven’t already? Might be a stupid question, but have you checked with any family?”

“They’re Templar. Should be obvious why I haven’t visited. Plus they’re dead so yeah…” He replies stiffly and sadly.

“Bummer,” Chip glanced back to his brother, who was happily carrying on a conversation with his future teacher. “Seems kinda young to be a teacher, don’t you think?”

“Naw. I’d say she seems the right age.” He muses, glancing at Chip. “Did you only ever have old people?”

“Pretty much,” he laughed, a little louder than he’d intended. “At least now I know he’ll be paying attention in class. Hell, even I’d pay attention in this class.” Chip nudged Adam with his shoulder and chuckled quietly.

“Yeah. I’m sure you would.” Adam replied quietly, leaning on his arm and watching her closely. Someone fire the cupid arrows. “I ever tell you about my uncle?”

“You haven’t really told me about shit, man.” Chip sat on his desk and let his legs dangle back and forth. “What about him?”

“He was batshit crazy, did some fucked up research projects. Even the Templar didn’t like it at the time. Anyway, Hunter drowned him a while ago. But that’s besides the point. The point is, I’m well on my way to ending up like him.” Adam mused, wondering where he was even going with this. “I’m not sure what message I’m trying to get across. But don’t let that kid become a fuck up who dwells on shit he shouldn’t dwell on.”

Adam turns to Chip and then shrugs, taking another sip of the whiskey and sighing. “I’m gonna go for a wander, it’s getting a bit warm in here. Pretty sure someone’s cutting onions on the other side of the vent too.”

Chip held out his hand and stared at Adam.

“Give it.”

“Jesus christ.” Adam muttered, passing it to Chip. “Don’t drink it all. I paid good money for that.”

He grabbed it and set it down beside him.

“We’re in a fucking school, Adam.” Chip growled through clenched teeth. “Do you want to get arrested? Cause I don’t.” Chase glanced back at the duo, noticing that Adam was about to head out.

“It’d be a change of scenery.” Adam muttered, getting up from his desk and making his way out of the class, nodding to Chase and the teacher on the way out. Ms. Burnwood gave him a nervous smile as she waved at him.

“Auf Wiedersehen,” she said.

“Goodbye.” Adam replied sing song, like So long, farewell.

“Ready to go, kiddo?” Chip’s voice was faintly heard from outside the classroom, but even then, the boredom in his tone was absolutely obvious.

“I’m not coming back with you two by the way. I am on off to find someone. A former Templar who is responsible for killing someone I know. And after that I plan on hunting down the rest of my Templar family. I will become Adam beckett, destroyer of his own family. WUNDERBAR!” Adam shouted up the corridor for all to hear. Chip, Chase, Burnwood. “Maybe I’ll form a Suicide Squad. Cause hell knows that’s how it feels.”

“Dean…” Chase mumbled, looking up at his brother in utter confusion.

“He’s in a play,” Chip blurted out. “He’s real weird about practicing. I’ll take you to see it sometime.” He dug his phone from his pocket and winked. “Be right back…”

Quickly, he pulled up Hephaestus and sent a quick message out.

”Yo, ex-mentor is taking off, sounds kinda crazy right now…”