The Bone Collector-The Watch #1- ch. 16 (Patreon)

Unbeta'd/Very unedited. ParkPark could barely hear over the blood pulsing in his ears. Gift was hurt. He was bleeding. Someone had managed to breach security and attack Gift in the one place he should have been safe. Park assumed Gift killed Aspen, which meant Aspen attacked Gift. None of this made any fucking sense.“You’re bleeding, ouen. You’re bleeding. Where did he hurt you?” Park asked, running his hands over Gift’s body looking for his injuries.The boy had a cut on his cheek deep enough to need stitches, and his small hands were coated in enough blood for Park to taste iron every time he inhaled. He also had a three inch paper-cut thin gash just over his carotid. With just a bit more pressure that might have been fatal. Gift’s clothes were torn and coated in dark stains that Park could only assume was blood.Gift blinked sleepily, letting Park jostle him around as he stared down at his own hands like he didn’t recognize them. Park took his wrists, shaking his arms. Gift raised his head to meet his gaze, his movements molasses slow. He looked at Park, but he wasn’t seeing him. He was just existing. His brain was in survival mode.Jesus.Rage flowed hot over his skin. He wanted to kill something. Someone. Preferably whoever had hurt Gift. But it seemed like he’d handled that on his own. Park needed Gift to explain what happened before Park’s fury boiled over on innocent bystanders.“It’s his,” Gift finally said, voice dull.“What, kon-dii?”Gift flinched at the term of endearment, then reached up to touch the cut on his cheek, saying, “Well, most of it.” then adding, “The blood, I mean.”“What the hell happened here?” Boone asked quietly, looking from Gift to Park as Mac and Archer hunkered over Aspen’s corpse.Gift just stood, still as a statue, fingers on his cheek, until Park took him gently by the shoulders. “Gift, baby. Talk to us? Why were you in the gym? Why aren’t you with the others? You said you’d be in your room.”Gift flinched again, his expression pained. Only then did Park realize how accusatory he sounded.“What’s with all the swords?” Mac muttered, seemingly to himself. Park took in the two Katana’s on the ground, the single sai sword as well as a hunting knife, but he couldn’t even begin to fathom what had happened in there.Park led Gift to the bleachers and sat down, pulling him into his lap. “Baby, I am not mad at you, just scared and confused. Please talk to us. Tell us what happened. Please.”For a moment, Park thought Gift wasn’t going to answer. His eyes were now locked on the body like he couldn’t understand how it got there. “I got a text from Aspen asking if I wanted to practice,” he said, words thick. “The others were teasing me…about us…about last night…so I agreed just to get out of there.”Park didn’t miss the exchange of looks between the others. He’d deal with that later. He didn’t have time to explain himself to the others, not that he could put up much of a defense. He was a teacher sleeping with a student. But Boone had all but shoved him into it, so he wasn’t particularly worried. He didn’t like the idea of a bunch of psychopaths picking on him about their sex life, but some small part of him was smug knowing Payton now knew to keep his hands off Gift.“Then what, ouen?” Park prompted, squeezing Gift’s thigh. He grimaced.That’s when Park noted more slices in the boy’s pant legs.“I’m tired, hia,” Gift muttered. “I just want to go to your room and sleep.”“I know, kon-dii, but you need to tell us then I will take you home to rest, okay?”Gift shrugged. “He said Katana swords were like lightsabers and he wanted to test a theory. He said not to worry, that they were teaching blades. That they were dulled down. Harmless. Mine was.”Park frowned. “Was what, ouen?”“Dulled down. I felt it myself. Aspen’s wasn’t. I didn’t know it at first. I thought we were just training…sparring. But he was so aggressive…He wouldn’t let me rest. He just kept coming at me no matter what I did.”Park’s gaze cut to Aspen, silently imagining beheading him with the sword by his side. Gift must have been terrified with Aspen swinging on him with that giant sword. Christ. The damage that could have been done. It could have been Gift on that floor. But he’d clearly held his own. Because of a…lightsaber? Gift had a lightsaber?Gifts fingertips rose to trace the open wound on his face, until Park captured it in his own, bringing it to his lap.“I only knew it was real when he cut my cheek. But before I could even react he was just on me. He kept coming at me over and over again. I didn’t even have time to do anything but block his moves. But I got tired, hia. It went on forever. I just couldn’t keep fighting him. I-I dropped my sword. Or-or maybe he disarmed me? I don’t really remember.” Gift’s gaze floated back to his attacker, voice wondrous as he said, “He’s so blue. Like a white walker.”A giggle erupted from Gift’s lips at the idea before his eyes went almost comically wide and he slapped a hand over his mouth, muffling the laughter bubbling out of him. He didn’t seem to notice the fat tears rolling down his chubby cheeks and dripping from his jaw. Park needed to get him home and cleaned up soon. Gift was starting to lose it.“And then what happened?” Park prompted, his hand now running soothing circles over his back. Gift’s laughter died, but not his tears. His head fell to Park’s shoulder.“When I lost my sword, I turned away. Tried to make myself small, I guess. I thought he was going to just run me through like in a pirate movie or something and I…I just didn’t want to see it coming. But then he d-didn’t.” Gift’s teeth began to chatter. He was definitely slipping into shock. “I’m so cold, hia.”Park kissed his forehead, holding him a little closer. “I know, baby. We’re almost done. You’re doing great. Just a little bit more and we’re gonna go home.”Gift gave a stilted nod. “I-I heard the sword drop just as I remembered I still had one of the sai swords tucked into the waistband of my pants. I knew it was a training tool too, but it was all I had. I managed to get it free without him noticing. He was too busy pressing a knife against my throat.”“You killed him with a sai sword? A training sword?” Boone asked, sounding both impressed and suspicious as he fixated on the hole in Aspen’s t-shirt, stained just a shade or two darker than the rest.Gift shook his head. “I did what you taught me,” he told Park, nodding earnestly like he needed Park to believe him. “I held the sword with the blade towards my elbow and I aimed for his heart…but I think I got his lung instead.”They all looked at the bloody foam on Aspen’s cheeks. “That tracks,” Mac said. “Is that how he died? Asphyxiation? Choking on his own blood.”Gift stared at nothing for a long moment, then shook his head. “No. Right before he tried to…slit my throat,” he paused, swallowing audibly. “He said…”“He said what?” Park asked, squeezing Gift’s thigh, gently this time.“He said, ‘Say hi to your bitch mother for me.’” Gift shivered. “I just wanted him to tell me if my mother was dead or not. I just needed to know. But he…laughed at me.”“He laughed at you?” Park echoed, the calm in his voice scary.Gift nodded. “He was dying, gasping for breath and he used that breath to…laugh at me.” He turned to look at Park then, the ice in his voice startling compared to the panic from moments ago. “So I stabbed him. I took the knife and I stabbed it into his heart.” A slight smile twitched at his lips. “And then I wiggled it around—” He mimicked the motion—”To make sure he was really dead.”Boone pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed a number. After several seconds passed, he looked at Park, expression grim. “Anchali, this is Boone. Call me as soon as you get this. Gift’s fine, but I’m afraid it's urgent. Please call, no matter the time.”Tears spilled over Gift’s cheeks then, his ragged sob echoing through the gym.“I’m taking him back to my room.” Park looked at Mac. “Keep trying to reach Anchali. I’ll try to get Satja on the phone. He might be overseas but if he’s not, he’ll have a location for Anchali.” To Boone, he said, “I trust you can clean this mess up quietly?”Boone nodded.“Come on, baby. Let’s get you cleaned up.”Gift jumped to his feet. “I think I’m gonna be sick again,” was the only warning they got before he lost the contents of his stomach for what appeared to be the second time.When he stopped retching, Gift allowed Park to guide him outside, holding him close as they trekked back to the Peregrin dorm. Park couldn’t wrap his head around how things had gone so wrong, so fast. An hour ago, Park had been planning all the ways he would take Gift apart after dinner. Now Gift was falling apart all on his own. Park wasn’t sure he knew how to piece him back together.Park got him home and set him on the lip of the bathtub, stepping out to try and call Satja. Just like Anchali, it went to voicemail. Park left a short message, similar to Boone’s, letting him know Gift was fine but that something had happened and it was urgent he talk to Anchali.Once he returned to the bathroom, he stripped Gift down to his underwear. His concern turned to fury once more as each piece of clothing fell to the floor. Gift had cuts everywhere. There were four along his left arm and three along his right. A long open gash over his left thigh and another, lower, on the same leg. There were others, too. More superficial, shallow as cat scratches, but others were deep.Park couldn't help but picture Gift going up against the much more muscular Aspen, doing his best to fend off blow after blow from a real sword. By rights, Gift should be dead. While Aspen was likely no swordsman, he definitely had more combat training than someone life Gift. That’s why he’d gotten the job. Every breath Park took felt like barbed wire around his lungs, but he forced himself to try to remain calm, for Gift’s sake.He used the first aid kit, gently cleaning each wound with sterile water, starting with the one on Gift’s fluffy cheek, now even puffier due to the swelling. “You’re gonna have a scar, ouen.”Gift just nodded.“You’re too quiet, wan-jai. You're scaring me. Tell me what you’re thinking.”Gift didn’t even flinch as Park closed his cheek with the medical glue. “I’m thinking my mother’s dead.” He said flatly. “My mother’s dead and I’m still here.”“We don’t know she’s dead. Your mom is one of the toughest people I know. She’s smart. She’s skilled. Don’t count her out just yet, ouen.”Gift nodded like Park was humoring him. But he wasn’t. Anchali had been an impeccable operative. She’d seamlessly blended her mundane desk job with her more clandestine activities. She was lethal at close range, better at hand to hand combat than Park or any of the others on their team.But more than that, she was smart. She’d managed to manipulate her way out of far more dangerous situations than an assassination attempt, especially if the killer was as inept as Aspen.But Park didn’t argue. He just cleaned Gift’s wounds then turned on the shower, stripping them both down and helping Gift under the spray. He allowed Park to manhandle him, stood quiet as he carefully bathed him and washed his hair, washing himself as he let the conditioner sit in Gift’s hair.Out of the shower, Park dried him off, helping him step into borrowed boxer briefs and an old t-shirt before leading him to bed and tucking him in. “I’m going to make you something to eat so you can take some meds.”Gift snatched his arm, dragging him down to the bed with a strength Park didn’t know he possessed. “No. Stay with me. I’m not hungry.”Park should insist Gift eat, but one look at his pleading eyes and it was over. He climbed in bed beside him, gathering him into his arms. “Sleep, kon-dii.”Gift shook his head. “I can’t. My mom could be out there hurt or dead. How am I supposed to sleep without knowing she’s okay? I know we didn’t really understand each other but she was still my mom.”“I know, ouen. Your mom loves you very much. That’s how you ended up with me in the first place.”“Did she say anything to you when you talked to her the other night?”Park’s stomach churned. “I didn’t. She didn’t answer. And she didn’t call me back.”They both understood how dire that sounded, but Anchali often traveled for work. It wasn’t uncommon for her to be unreachable.“What do these people want with me? My mom said the first attempt was retaliatory.something to do with foreign policy. But then why did Aspen try to kill me? I thought the instructors here were all…vetted.”Park kissed the top of his head. “They are.”Gift had a point. Park tried to recall if anyone had ever told him the conditions of Aspen’s hire. Who had done his background check? Who had vouched for him? Both Suri and West knew Aspen, Pike too. He was network. An agent.He could have been a sleeper? A double agent, maybe? But who had he worked for? What foreign power would benefit from killing Gift or even Anchali. If it was revenge, why? Why all the subterfuge? Were there others? Kendrick had promised Park that all staff would be fully vetted by a company that specialized in this sort of thing.Gift startled when Park sat up and snatched his phone where it lay charging on the side table. Park pressed a hand to his uninjured cheek in apology. Gift rolled onto his side to stare at him, his fingers tangled in the sheets, bottom lip trapped between his teeth.Park forced himself to focus on the task at hand, calling Boone who answered almost immediately. “What’s up?”The echo told Park he was still in the gym.“What is the name of the company that conducts the background checks on the employees?” Park asked, skipping the pleasantries.“Elite Protection Services. Why?”“Do you have a number for them?” Park asked, ignoring the question.Boone sounded slightly suspicious as he said, “Of course, I do. But it’s after hours.”“You must have some kind of emergency contact,” Park pushed.Boone sighed. “Texting it now. Are you going to explain to me what’s happening right now?”As soon as I’m sure you’re not a part of it.“I will as soon as I figure it out.”Park hit the number as soon as the text came through. He didn’t recognize the area code, only that it was a US number.A deep voice answered on the second ring. “Avery.”The man didn’t sound surprised to be getting a business call this late at night. Though Park knew from experience that jobs like Avery’s rarely had office hours.“My name is Park Chen and I’m calling from the watch. Is this a secure line?”“It is,” Avery replied.Park combed his fingers through Gift’s hair. “We’ve had a breach. One of our instructors just tried to kill a student. I would like to know who ran the background check and what they found.”Park expected some resistance, maybe even some defensive posturing but the man simply said, “Name?”“Aspen. Jeremy Aspen.”“Jeremy?” Gift muttered, sounding incredulous. “I was almost murdered by a man named Jeremy?”Park tried not to smile as Avery said, “Hold the line.”Park put the phone on speaker then gathered Gift back into his arms, expecting this Avery person to find the name of the employee and then give him a generic answer telling Park he’d look into the issue himself and get back to him. Or maybe he would leave him on hold indefinitely?Avery was back in less than five minutes. “What did you say the name was?”Gift was tracing patterns on Park’s bare chest.“Aspen.”There was a long pause before Avery said, “There’s nobody in our system by that name. We have no record even showing they’re employed by the watch.”Park frowned. “How is that possible?”Avery made a noise that suggested he was just as stumped as Park. “All hires are subjected to a background check that takes approximately six months to a year to complete. This man isn’t even on our radar.”Gift’s hand stopped moving when Park said, “Could it have been erased from your system?”“Absolutely not.”“So how did he end up an instructor here?”Avery scoffed. “Now, I have no proof of this but if I was a betting man, I would put my money on Marshall Kendrick. He hasn’t wanted our involvement since day one.”Kendrick. Fucking Kendrick. Of course it was.There was a rustling sound on the line and then a soft male voice from a distance said, “We’re going to be late if we don’t leave now.”“Coming, babe. Just one more minute.” To Park, he said, “Is there anything I can do to help?”Park started to say no, then asked, “That depends, how deep down the rabbit hole do your background checks go?”“My analysts could tell you what you wore to your kindergarten graduation if I needed them to.”Park was about to put that to the test. “Then I need you to run a background check.”“On Aspen?”Park glanced at Gift. “No. On Marshall Kendrick.”Avery laughed. “You realize running a check on a man like Kendrick is going to require far more creative measures than our usual top secret security clearance, right? The man is a high ranking government official. We won’t be able to do this the usual way.”“I understand.”“What you want us to do is highly illegal,” Avery emphasized.Park sighed. “If you’re not comfortable-”Avery cut him off. “Oh no. Don’t misunderstand me. I would love to do this for you. I just need you to acknowledge that you want us to do whatever is necessary to get that information. Even if its outside the bounds of criminal law?”“We’re long past worrying about what’s legal, Avery. Do whatever it takes. Hack the CIA, the NSA, Homeland Security, hell, hack the fucking pentagon.”Avery laughed. “Call me Jackson. As long as you’re sure…”Park would shoot the president himself to keep Gift safe. “Let me be clear, Jackson. I don’t care if you have to dig up his dead mother, hire a psychic and hold a seance. I want to know everything that man’s done since he was old enough to walk.”“My pleasure. I’ll call when I have something.”Then he was gone.Gift gazed up at him with those wide brown eyes Park once found so innocent. “That was kind of hot.”Park chuckled. “Oh yeah?”“Mm.”Park chuckled. “I’m glad you think so.”“Do you really think Kendrick would try to kill me or my mom?”“I really don’t know, ouen.”Before Gift could respond, a song began to play faintly from the bathroom. Gift jerked his head towards the sound. “My phone.”Gift was up and off the bed before Park could stop him. He rushed after him, standing in the doorway as Gift answered.“Pa?”Park prayed Satja would tell Gift something that would put his mind at ease about Anchali. He couldnt make out the man’s words, but he sounded calm. Of course, Satja always sounded calm. He was the epitome of diplomacy.“Speakerphone, ouen,”Park said softly.Gift fumbled to comply, finally hitting the right button.“Where’s Anchali?” Park asked in Thai.“When I heard from her three nights ago, she was still somewhere in Phuket for a meeting. What the hell is going on?”Gift looked at Park for help. Park did his best to summarize the events of the last two hours or so, with Satja becoming more and more distressed as he spoke.When Park finished, Satja asked, “Are you alright?”“I’m alive,” he mumbled.“And I’m so grateful for that, noo,” Satja said, relief evident.Gift flushed, gaze sliding to Park as if to see whether he’d picked up on the term of endearment. He had. Mouse. Satja called Gift mouse. It fit. He did have a rather mouse-like appearance sometimes.“I need to talk to mae,” Gift said. “Why would someone want to hurt us?”“I don’t know, noo,” Satja said. “Your mother’s been out of high risk operations for years. There’s no reason for anyone to come for us now.”“But there was before?” Gift asked.Satja switched to heavily accented English. “Your mother was an operative. It was always dangerous. People were always turning on people. It’s why I was so happy when we got you. Our little mouse. Your mother finally got what she always wanted and finally agreed to leave the field.”Park frowned. What she always wanted? Anchali had said numerous times she hadn’t wanted children. Was Satja just saving face? Rewriting history? Maybe it was Satja who always wanted children?Something tugged at Park’s brain. Something just out of reach. Something triggered by Satja’s words. When we got you. He said got you. Not had you. It was an odd turn of phrase.  Maybe he misspoke? He was speaking English. But Satja went to an international school just as Gift had, he spoke English as well as Gift. Was Park reading too much into a single word?But suddenly it was Kendrick’s words crashing down on Park’s head.I’m surprised we didn’t have him flagged for the program from the beginning…It meant nothing at the time. Park hadn’t had all the information back then. He didn’t realize that all students at the watch were adopted. If Gift was Anchali’s son, why would Gift have been a candidate for the program?When we got you.Got you.Got you.When we got you.Maybe it was nothing. Maybe Park was just overreacting to a misspoken word. Perhaps this wasn’t the time or place to worry about such a thing, but it was a splinter under his skin and now he couldn’t let it go. He’d never seen Anchali pregnant. She could have faked the whole thing. But why? She’d been so upset when she discovered she was pregnant. She’d even told Park she’d considered an abortion. Said she only changed her mind because she’d been shot the night he was born.This had to be Park overthinking things. But he still couldn’t let it go. He left Gift to talk to his father in the bathroom and called Archer.“Did you talk to Jackson?” he said in lieu of a traditional hello.Park spoke in a low murmur, keeping his voice down. “Yeah, I did. Long story short: Kendrick might be dirty. Don’t breathe any of this to Kendrick until I know more.”“Alright.”Maybe it was because he’d just talked to Jackson, but he asked, “Your friend, the hacker? Do you think you could ask her for a favor?”Archer was silent for a beat before asking, “What do you need.”Park hesitated. “This stays between us?”“Yeah, man. Sure.”“I need her to look into Gift’s birth. More specifically, I need her to try to find any record of Anchali being pregnant, doctor’s notes, hospital visits, Gift’s birth certificate. Anything that proves she gave birth to him.”“What’s going on?”Park sighed. “It’s nothing to do with today’s…incident, just something Satja just said to me, is just not sitting right. I…I’m just following a hunch.”“You think Gift was adopted?” Archer said quietly.“I-I really don’t know. I think it’s a possibility. Kendrick hinted as much the day he offered me the job. I just didn’t put two and two together. I just don’t even want to hint at it being possible until I know for a fact. He’s been through enough.”“How would Kendrick know that Gift was adopted?”“He was her handler back then. He’s the one who told me Anchali had been shot and almost killed the night she gave birth to Gift. Maybe it was a diversion of some kind? Satja said something else that confused me. He said Anchali finally got what she always wanted when she had Gift. But Anchali never wanted children. She said they would interfere with her career.”“I don’t know, man. But I’ll look into it. I’ll text you if I find something.”“Thanks.”