A Scripta

Grim came out of the spring waterfall drying his hair when he heard someone banging on the barn doors. The sound echoed throughout the tomb. Lue came out of the bedroom, straightening the shirt that he just pulled on. "Who's that?"

Grim wrapped the towel around his waist. "I'll go see. Whoever it is will leave when they see me in just a towel."

Lue put a hand out and stopped him. "I'll go." Grim watched him go down the hall, a spike extending from his palm as he walked. Lue went up the stairs, while Grim ran into the bedroom and at least pulled on a pair of shorts.

They banged again, and Lue and Grim heard clearly, "Police, open up!"

Lue stopped at the foot of the stairs. Grim had the shorts on and dashed down the hall. "No, Lue!"

Slowly, the spike retracted as he went up the stairs. Grim ran up the stairs on the other side, but Lue was at the door already, his hand on the handle. He pushed it open - it creaked on its hinges. "Can I help you?"

"Where's LeBonte?"

"Why?"

"We need to speak with him. Please step aside."

Grim went to the door. "Let him in, Lue."

Lue stepped back, and a short man in a brown trench coat came in, followed by a woman in typical Psi-Corps regalia. Grim peered outside when they came in. "What, no SWAT team?"

"Sorry to disappoint," said the man with a small chuckle. Grim closed the door behind them. Lue had moved between Grim and the cops. "Got anyplace we can sit down?"

"Sure." Grim directed them down the stairs to a bench. Lue took a position against the wall, and Grim stood next to him, while the two cops sat down. "You're obviously not here to arrest me because you would have done that by now."

"Right," said the man. "I'm Detective Fergus MacBride, and this is my partner Detective Judith Harris. We're here to ask you about something."

Harris said, "Do I have permission to enter your mind to show you some images?"

Grim blinked. "Uh, sure..."

She nodded, and then Grim's mind's eye focused on a scene with a dead and bloody body lying in the grass, a look of total shock on his face. Next to the body, burnt into the grass, was a near-perfect replica of Grim's face. Grim blanched - this looked so much more real than the pictures Jack had showed him. Lue looked at him concerned.

"Okay, stop."

The images stopped abruptly. Grim took a deep breath. "Are you okay?" Lue asked, after whispering the spell and putting a hand on Grim's arm.

"Yeah, just...you were there, huh?"

"Yes," said Harris. "We were called in as investigators."

MacBride said, "So you obviously didn't kill her, because you're smarter than that. But what do you know about it?"

"The short answer? It was done by a pissed-off psychic alien."

"Where is this alien now?"

"We have her locked up. The one who made her is taking total responsiblity."

The two detectives looked at each other. Harris only nodded. MacBride looked up at Grim. "I'm sorry, but this is our jurisdiction now. You can't seem to handle this, and ten murders were committed in Paragon City. The perpetrator needs to be brought to justice."

"We can take care of it," Grim said, bristling.

"Is it here?" MacBride asked.

"No, it's in Safe Havens. I think. Unless Shadow took it to some other dimension."

MacBride got up. "Safe Havens isn't in the place it was."

"I know. Let me get you a keycard to get there." Grim went back to the bedroom, and returned with two green keycards. "Use these at any portal. It's in another dimension. Don't worry, you can get back here without a problem."

Harris asked, "Why is it in another dimension?"

"Security reasons. Our enemies are legion."

Lue said, "Their enemies."

MacBride and Harris glanced at Lue, who was looking at Grim. Grim avoided Lue's eyes and focused on the two cops. "You'll have to talk to Jack or Raina Whitney. They're co-leaders of the group right now."

"Got it," MacBride said, and they started up the stairs. "Don't skip town, LeBonte."

"I don't plan on it."

They left the building, and Lue walked over to Grim. "Grim."

Grim turned to look at Lue, "Yeah?"

"You're going to get in trouble over them again. Will they stand behind you?"

Grim couldn't look at Lue. They both knew the answer - it was, at the very least, I don't know. Lue whispered the spell and took Grim by the chin, lifting his head up. Lue said firmly, "I will stand behind you. Always."