Dirk Gently and The Ghosts of Time

We've Been Lonely, Too Long

TW: Dirk has a panic attack. What is with me with all of this hard to handle shit lately? But Todd is perfect and helps him through it and long after. As always, skip the section marked by the ‼️ if needed.

"You're joking," Dirk said.

"No, I'm not." Todd sat up.

"So what did you see?" Tina walked closer. She figured it was alright now that Todd was ok.

"Well. For starters... Zackariah Webb."

"Now you're joking." Farah's mouth fell wide open. Well, everyone's really. Except for Tina. Poor thing was clueless.

"He's dead." Dirk tilted his head, then he had a moment of realization. "Wait... you don't mean... It can't possibly be..."

"Maybe."

"Who the fuck is Zackariah Webb?" Tina asked, arms flailing about.

"Patrick Spring," Farah said and Tina gasped in sudden understanding.

"So back to the vision?" Dirk changed the subject, he looked back at Todd who was now sitting next to him, holding his hand.

"Well, there was this mansion. Not Webb Mansion. A different one, one I've never seen. And there was a weird worm monster. And this woman. I heard three words. 'Louis' over the mansion, 'Axis' over the monster and... Dirk? You're not going to like this. This is going to be bad. I need you to promise me you won't freak out."

"You have my word." He crossed his heart.

Todd took a deep breath, "When I saw the woman and Zackariah Webb, the word that was said over it was... 'Blackwing'." The feeling in the room shifted immediately.

"No... No, no-no-no-no-no-no-NO."

"Dirk, you promised you wouldn't freak out."

"Well, that was before I knew Blackwing was going to be involved with this." Dirk began crying. "No. This is bad. I can't go back to Blackwing. We are not going back to Blackwing. We are staying far away." He began shaking.

"I think the first thing we should do is find the mansion. We aren't going to-" Dirk put a finger over his mouth.

"Don't say it. I don't want to think about it." But it was too late, the thoughts and memories had flooded back all at once. They were inescapable. They had him, imprisoned...

Imprisoned, Trauma, Reckoning. Something coming back, something bad. Pain, suffering, injustice, and chaos. Well shit.

"T-Tina," He choked out, "You're bloody good at this."

"Good at what?" Her brows furrowed. When she was told she was good at something it was usually sarcastic. Coming from Dirk? She didn't know what to think.

‼️"Tarot. You're bloody good at-" he cut himself off and gave into the sobbing. Todd had only seen him like this once. Back at the sheriff's office. And even then it wasn't like this. "No, no, no," He continued. "I have a case! I have an agency! I have a boyfriend! And I'm in love! I can't go back. They can't take me!"

Farah stood up and walked to the kitchen. "Mrs. Davidson? Can you make Dirk some tea? He's having a panic attack." Mrs. Davidson nodded.

"Panic attack? No. I don't have panic attacks. This isn't a panic attack. I'm... I'm, rambling! That's what I do, I'm rambling. I ramble. That's what I'm doing. Just... rambling. Ramble, ramble, ramble." She was right though. By now he had crossed his legs and held his head down with his hands around his neck. "Yeah, that's it. Rambling." He was rocking himself back and forth.