Charlie Huntington
Charlie couldn't sleep.
He had slept for a full six hours during their drive from Rochester, New York to Charleston, South Carolina, and even though he felt mentally exhausted, his physical body couldn't keep up.
He stared at the tv screen that was showing some action movie. The rest of the room was dark and he only had the dim of the lamp he had turned on. Sitting on the edge of the bed, the sound was on level 5 to not disturb his neighbours. He heard a muffled explosion and some guy got shot. His luggage was still up against the wall, his phone was still muted and on the little table.
Physically he was in yet another luxurious hotel room with fine amenities, but his head was somewhere else. It still hurt. And it felt terrible. He didn't know what else to do.
He couldn't eat, now he can't sleep. He could just stare at the heroin in the movie getting praised for saving a town from some bad guys. He felt a twinge of jealousy creeping up on him. He watched as the woman came up and kissed him, more cheers and clapping happened. More smiles and joy.
He knew it was all scripted, but he so desperately wanted that kind of feeling now.
Feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to make anything better, you know.
He sighed, as the movie ended and credits played, he allowed to tip over on his back and land on the bed fully.
Well... I don't know what else to do.
It was like everything was ripping his insides apart. The problem was that he didn't know how to put himself back together, he didn't even think that was a possibility right now.
"How do things get better from here?" He questioned out loud in a soft whisper.
He blinked at the ceiling... Was he asking the ceiling?
It made him realize something:
When was the last time he had actually talked to God?
Chills ran along his spine. An emotional wave was about to come over him again.
Another question popped in his head:
Did God even want to hear from him?
Had he sinned? Was he feeling guilty? Surely this wasn't his fault. Something had rocked him to the core.
But when was the last time he even turned to God?
Bzzz. His phone vibrated on the table. The empty pit of silence that followed almost scared him. As if he was waiting for something more.
Bzzz. It happened again, and again, and again. Something was going on.
Hauling himself up, he walked over to his phone. Five messages were coming in, all from Giselle.
Gi-Gi: something's happened.
Gi-Gi: the system is failing, my computer is fried.
Gi-Gi: I can't get ahold of Bourne.
Gi-Gi: Charlie, I need you.
Gi-Gi: Please wake up. Charlie???
Charlie scanned the messages twice to make sure he didn't misread anything.
Charlie, I need you.
Panic. Something was happening. Mentally slapping himself in the face, he drew out of his daze and started replying.
Hunt: I'm here, what's wrong?
Gi-Gi: I don't know. I saw an alert on my computer and wanted to check it out. A bunch of lights kept flashing and my whole computer is frozen.
Hunt: what alert did you see?
Gi-Gi: new location alert, I got scared thinking the gang was on the move again and needed to find out if they were.
Charlie grabbed his bag and dumped it on the bed, he grabbed his laptop and logged in as quickly as possible. But all that came up was a sunset wallpaper and apps installed. No notifications, not flashing buttons.
Hunt: I didn't get an alert.
Gi-Gi: it might just be my dang laptop, can you check the system though?
Hunt: checking it right now.
He moved his cursor to the satellite app he had running this whole time. As soon as he opened it bright error signs came up and his screen froze. A light in the background started flashing that made him go dizzy. He shut the laptop and returned to his phone.
Hunt: It happened. My laptop is a goner.
Gi-Gi: what do we do?
Hunt: need to get to the van where the rest of the system is better hooked up. I hope it isn't messed up.
Gi-Gi: Kaufman isn't responding to any of my texts or calls.
Hunt: Where would he go? I thought he had a room as well?
Gi-Gi: something's not right, see if you can email Bourne.
Hunt: ok.
Charlie did just that. He sent an email directly to Bourne explaining how the system crashed on their laptops. He also realized the time. It was a few hours after midnight, Bourne wouldn't be around to check urgent emails. Usually, they would send an alert, but that couldn't happen since their other devices couldn't be used.
More nervous panicked energy flew through his veins as he pressed send. He was pretty sure he was about to throw up. But the quietest knock on the door interrupted his body's plot against him.
He opened the door and found a very tired and panicked Giselle in her pyjamas.
"I'm calling it, Kaufman is officially MIA. I went to his room and nothing."
"What? This doesn't make any sense."
"I know..." He could sense Giselle was looking at what he was wearing. He didn't change into anything once he got back, he had too much on his mind. He wished he did though, he knew Giselle had a sharp mind, she could tell something was up.
"Where's the rest of the team?" He asked.
"I just sent out a text to Vanessa, hopefully, she got it. I wouldn't be too surprised if she wouldn't answer."
Exhaustion was beginning to set on the two of them. He could feel his eyelids start to get heavier.
"So what did you see when you opened the system?" Giselle asked, rubbing her face with her left hand, she leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest.
A flashback of the bold colours with the print of failure came back.
"Once I logged in there was this huge error sign that said the system had crashed. Then there was this flashing red light behind it and the system kept repeating some digits."
"Yeah, that happened to me as well, I got so scared my first idea was to text you," she yawned again and closed her eyes, resting her head half on her shoulder.
For a moment he just looked at her. He knew it was unprofessional to see her in her silky pj's, but it wasn't a big deal under the circumstances. Her dark mane was wrapped into a braid with messy strands coming out. He was leaning against the door with his phone gripped in his hand. He didn't care for the clothes that felt like they were skin-tight, he just wanted to lay down.
The silence felt all too comfortable at that moment.
"What did the code read?" She half-whispered.
"What?" He was pretty sure a sleep spell was on him, all he could do was to stare at her and not comprehend the words coming out of her mouth.
"The code the system read, what did it say?" Her eyes were still closed which sort of bothered him. He was used to talking into those round brown eyes.
"I-I don't know."
Ding!
The two of them shook back to life as Charlie's phone lit up the dim room. He looked down at the screen and saw the alert sent back.
"It's from the CCPA, the whole system there has crashed too."
"What does that mean?"
"It means Bourne wouldn't get my email until it's back up and running."
"Which also means until it's up and running... we can't track the gang."
Charlie sighed, looking at Giselle. This was the worst thing that could happen.
"What do we do now?"
Giselle shrugged, her arms still crossed but her posture standing straight.
"The only thing we can do, I guess. Wait it out."
"Sit here and do nothing."
"I've got nothing else."
Charlie grew irritated at that moment. Irritation and exhaustion did not go well together.
"Listen, I'm going to head back to my room. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"
"Yeah, okay. Hey, thanks."
Giselle gave him a tired smile. "We're partners, we have to do this together."
Charlie looked back at his phone and ran a hand through his hair.
"Hey, get some sleep okay, who knows what we find tomorrow."
He nodded. Giselle left and closed the door behind her, leaving Charlie alone in the half-dark half-poorly-lit room.
He went over to his suitcase and pulled out a new t-shirt and sweatpants. He figured it was the most comfortable thing to wear and was better than what he had on now. Once changed, he flopped onto the heavenly mattress and turned off the lamp.
Until tomorrow...
A/N
School has been giving me quite a headache lately. I'm probably going to be able to write chapters during the weekend. Hopefully, you enjoyed, though!