The Connected

Chapter 6

Woohoo, another update! I'm not super happy with how this one turned out but hopefully you still enjoy :) Happy reading!

And now for the moment you've all been waiting for...;)

*North*

We're so close I can practically taste it. After two torturously long weeks of planning and preparing, we're finally about to meet our soul center, Sang, my beautiful Sang Baby.

This morning we'd had Luke stomp us across the Atlantic to Charleston, setting us down at the Academy headquarters for the state. There, we picked up our vehicles and room keys for a large hotel suite where we'll set up shop while we're in the city.

Once Victor has his computer system set up, we started arguing over which of us should be the first to approach Sang-not me of course because according to Gabe, we want her to feel comfortable with us, not run away in fear. As much as I wanted to argue, I knew that my size and overall dark appearance would probably not instill thoughts of rainbows and happiness for our center. We need Luke for that, so it was agreed that he would be the one to go to her apartment posing as a prospective tenant. Lucky for us, the new landlord is related to the Toma family's center so he was more than willing to help us out.

At the moment, all of us except Luke are crowded into Will's office around the computer showing the live hallway cam feed outside her door. We sit there, completely silent and some of us aren't even breathing as Luke knocks on the door. A minute goes by and nothing happens so we tell him to knock again, no answer.

"What the fuck? Will said she'd be here!" Gabe shouts, as usual voicing what we all feel.

"Gabriel, language. Luke, knock once more and return to the office if no one answers again." Owen sighs, exasperation and frustration clear in his voice.

Luke nods and lift a fist to bang the door a little louder this time to no avail.

"She's not here." Kota proclaims, and disappointment clouds the air as we realize the wait will be a little longer to meet her. Fucking hell.

"No shit, Sherlock. What are we supposed to do now? Just wait all day until she comes home?" Nate asks and I feel anxiety start to rise at the idea of sitting around while she's out and about.

"Fuck no, she could be hurt!" My shout is met with a stern glare from Owen.

"North, maintain your composure or take a walk around the perimeter to cool down. We're not going to just sit here, we'll figure something out so everyone keep calm, she's not gone forever." We stare each other down for a moment before I nod, shoulders slumping forward as his words penetrate my panicked brain.

"Who is that Luke's talking to?" Sean asks suddenly, and I see that an older man has joined Luke in the hallway, likely a neighbor.

Victor checks the tenant list and responds. "Looks like a Mr. Jenkins, their next door neighbor, according to Will he watches the boys sometimes." We all quiet down, straining to hear the conversation happening on screen.

"Young man, what's with all the bangin' out here?" The scratchy voice of the neighbor causes Luke to spin around.

"Sorry Sir, I didn't mean to bother anyone, I was just seeing if Sang was home." This is perfect, this guy probably knows where she could be.

With a suspicious eyebrow raised, the neighbor decides to interrogate Luke. "I ain't never heard of you, how do you know our girl here?"

Not hesitating, he jumps in with a predetermined backstory we'd prepared in case someone questioned our interest or appearance in Sang's life. "I met her yesterday when I was viewing an apartment with Will, you see I'm moving in next week and she told me to swing by if I needed measurements for furniture and such. Our places have the same layout but my floors are being redone so Sang is letting me use hers for size reference until they're done."