Dirk Gently and The Ghosts of Time

Solved It

       He always knew that, but this time those three words that guided his existence made sense in a way that they never had.

       "Mona? Is that you?"

       The moth turned into his old friend. She smiled with every cell in her body, "Who else would it be?"

       "Mona, I have never been so happy to see you in my life." He ran to her and swept her into a large hug, practically suffocating her. She shrunk her body a tiny bit to escape his grasp and he moved back, startled at himself. "Sorry, should have asked first."

       "Oh, it's fine, just too tight." She laughed as she grew back to her normal size. "I heard a yell, thought it might have been from you. I was right."

       "Oh! I forgot to tell you-"

       "You solved the case, I heard. Do you have a plan to get us out of here?"

       He smirked. "Of course I do. And this time it isn't stupid."

       "Let's hear it then."

Phase one:

       Dirk and Mona followed their instincts and it led them to Bart rather quickly, with minimal guards so that was a plus.

       When they reached her room Mona knocked both guards positioned in front of the large door out before they had any time to reach for their transmitters.

       Dirk grabbed the keycard off of one of the guards and opened the door with a whirring du-ZERRR thump.

       "Dirk?" Bart sat on her bed cross-legged and sniffed as she raised her head. "Mona? Why are you here?"

       "We're here to get you out." Dirk walked over to her bed and sat next to her.

       "I belong here." She curled her knees to her chest and buried her head down again.

       "No, you don't." He sighed, "You did the right thing by killing Ken, you know that?"

       "I know, it's just... I didn't want to."

       "I know. We all do things we don't want to but have to sometimes." He reached out to put a hand on her arm that hugged her legs to her center.

       "You don't get it." She turned away to face the wall. "I've never regretted a kill. Ever. I miss him. He was my first and only friend. He treated me like I wasn't scary."

       "Bart, he didn't treat you well. Sure in the beginning he did, but then he changed. It's ok to miss people, it's ok to have regrets. It's what we do after those moments that count. Make new friends. Hey, look at this!" She turned around and wiped her face on her sleeve, "I'm not running away, I'm not treating you like you're scary. This makes what, well, definitely more than three times you haven't killed me, and last time I checked that was your standard for best-friendhood."

       And she smiled.

       "You have a beautiful smile, Bart." He opened his arms and she dove in for a hug, giggling. He returned and added, "Never let anyone tell you you're scary. Unless you want to be, then be scary all you want."

       Bart pulled away, "Thank you, Dirk."

       "No problem. Now, are we going to get out of here or not? I solved the case!"

       "Hell yeah, let's go!"

Phase two:

       Todd lied in bed in his room, staying as still as possible, trying not to think about his leg.