Dont Be a Hero

Deja Vu

   Jackson pounded on his alarm after the third time it went off and jumped out of bed. He was going to be late if he didn't get going. His eyes tried to close on their own as he stood in the shower. What is the matter with me? He thought, trying to shake off the drowsiness. 

As he was driving to the station his mind kept trying to reach back into his dreams. He rarely ever remembered his dreams, but it felt like last night's dreams were trying to claw their way into his conscious mind. It bugged him like a name on the tip of his tongue that he couldn't quite grab and pull into memory. He didn't have much time to ponder it because when he reached the station, the place was abuzz with more than the usual activity. Something had happened. He could tell by the electricity in the air. It was palpable. So was the tension and excitement.

He was shocked to find that Macy had already arrived and so had the Chief. They were standing next to Jackson and Macy's desks. Both looked relieved to see him. He first went to the coffee pot and then strolled over to them, his eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Jackson! You won't believe this!" Macy exclaimed, her face flushed.

"Wolfe! ’Bout time you showed up! What do you think this is? A Saturday?" the Chief boomed at him, impatience and irritation practically causing smoke to billow from his ears.

"Sorry, Chief. I overslept. What's all the commotion?"

"Well, your pal Harley Chase... it seems he's up and disappeared. Girl he was with last night called 911 and said he'd gone missing. One minute he was right there in the room with her. Next minute he wasn't. Said it was like he vanished into thin air."

Jackson's eyes narrowed. A curious look crossed his face. He didn't respond. He just stared at the Chief.

"Jackson, honey! Aren't you going to say anything? Isn't this crazy?" Macy touched his arm.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's weird. Guess we'd better check into it, right Chief?" He still looked lost and deep in thought as he spoke. Something was itching the corner of his mind but he couldn't grasp it.

"Of course you'd better check it out, boy!" the Chief boomed again, causing Macy to let out a little squeak and Jackson to jump. "Get on it and I want debriefings this afternoon! Got it?"

"You got it, Chief!" Jackson snapped out of it and gave him a reassuring wink. He grinned and sipped his coffee, turning toward Macy. "Alright, what do we know so far?"

He and Macy sat down at their desks when the grumpy Chief left them, heading to his office. Jackson drank as much coffee as he could without burning himself and waited for Macy to fill him in.

"Okay. She isn't here yet, but she's coming down. The 911 operator sent officers out to talk to her and they are bringing her back with them of her own free will. She agreed to come down and talk to us. They called the Chief when it was clear that it was Harley she was talking about, so he was here already when I got here."

"So, we'll talk to her and then head on over to the address she called from," Jackson replied. "I guess we'd better get ahold of Tyrone and see what he knows. Think this has anything to do with the 'super friends'?"

Macy scrunched up her nose, pondering his question. "I don't know... They weren't ready for a step like bringing Harley in. Not yet."

Jackson nodded and was quiet for a few moments. His eyes were focused somewhere far away. He still had something nagging at his brain and it was irritating him to no end.

"What's the matter, sweetie? You seem so... distracted. You look tired again, Jackson. Didn't you sleep well?"

He looked up and stared at her, slowly bringing into focus what she had asked him. Finally he shook his head and sat forward. "I don't know... something's trying to surface in my mind. It's like a dream I can't remember, but it feels important. That ever happen to you?"