Now that I'm older, now that it's colder

LIFE KEEPS ON CRASHING

DAY AFTER DAY, LIKE A WAVE AFTER WAVE

We did everything right

and now I'm asking

The guy seemed to think it over and ended up finally giving him some information. It wasn't a full name, but at least it was something. "Thanks Faulkner," he replied. Now he at least had something to call the guy by. It was quite a peculiar name and he almost made a comment about it, but the cold tone in the other’s voice stopped him from doing that. And so the only thing getting out was a small grin on his face.

Faulkner guided him outside—the sky had already grown darker since he'd gone inside the warehouse; it was getting closer to night—and to another building until he was sat down in an interrogation room. He hated the cuffs as soon as he saw them. First of all, they reminded him of some wilder years of his life that he preferred to leave behind him. Secondly, they kept his arms in an uncomfortable position and stuck to the table. Faulkner spoke and took Gray’s attention away from his hands. “Like I told you, I just wanted to look around.” He’d think a soldier would be used to listening to people—though maybe that was only when it were orders. “There’s nothing more to it.”

Where do we go?

He dreaded the moment he would see recognition in the other’s eyes at seeing his last name, but that never seemed to come. A small sigh of relief left his mouth. This wasn’t over yet but if he played it right he might be able to keep it out of the tabloids and keep his parents from ever knowing. He really wanted to not care about what they thought, but no matter how hard he tried, some part of him always did. And getting arrested by the military would certainly do more than just disappoint them. The gun was lowered and the guy told him to follow him; which Gray did. “Do I still not get a name? If you’re arresting me I’d like to at least know who you are,” he tried again to get some information from the other. That and he just didn’t like having to call him ‘the guy’ in his head. “Would be fair now you know my full name.” He shrugged. People finding out who he was was one of his least favourite things. Getting something in return for it might make it a bit worth it.

He could see the other’s eyes scanning him for any weapons while he raised his hands. Surprised he wasn’t immediately searched Gray introduced himself, meanwhile trying to gauge the other. “No need for that tone,” he answered first. He wasn’t going to be treated like a criminal just because he broke into a military base. Though now he was thinking that consciously, that did sound very much like a criminal. “I was just taking a look around.” He didn’t really have much more of an explanation as to why he was there and he was not going to tell the other that he wanted to know if the military was doing anything it shouldn’t be doing—not directly at least. “I was wondering what you guys were hiding behind that fence,” he shrugged. That was the truth; though the other would most likely just see him as a normal citizen too curious for his own good and not as a close-to-getting-crazy scientist looking for others who were breaking the law.

He’d been expecting they would be bending a lot of rules at Prism to find a cure, but experimenting on people—giving them the virus and seeing what the ‘cure’ did to them—it was horrific. There was only one excuse: it needed to be done. Finding out about this, however, did make him curious as to other not so legal things that might be happening in the city. And so he found himself looking out over the military base, wondering what was on the other side of the fence. He hadn’t planned this, but after seeing all the uniformed and armed military personnel on his way home from work Gray couldn’t help but wonder if they were up to something. Not necessarily those particular people themselves; if anything interesting was happening it would most likely be because of the higher-ups that commanded them.

The base itself was largely underground and he would never be able to get inside of it. But there were some buildings above ground that looked like they were warehouses. It would be a lot easier to sneak in there and take a quick look around.

Gray kept his distance from the fence while he searched for an easy way in. A hole in the iron wires, not too far away from one of the warehouses, seemed almost like it was too simple. The only reason he could think of for it to be there was if someone else had tried to break in and no one had taken the time yet to fix the fence. He checked whether there were any cameras aimed at the spot—none—and whether the way towards the warehouse was clear. He waited until he could see no one outside. Then he quickly climbed through the hole and ran towards the door of the warehouse; the dusk granting him cover. He held his ear to the metal door; no sound seemed to come from inside the building. As his heart beat even faster, Gray started to second guess his decision to come here, but if he went back now he would forever wonder what he could have found. And so he slowly opened the door and stepped inside.

After closing the door behind him, Gray looked around. The warehouse seemed even bigger on the inside with rows upon rows with supplies on either side of him. But before he could see anything more, he heard footsteps coming his way. Not having anywhere else to hide he stepped into one of the aisles. As the footsteps came closer he could only hope the person wouldn’t see him.

The way the subjects reacted to the cure they had right now was anything but desirable. There were so many side effects, from insomnia to organ failure, and often the cure itself resulted in death. What they had developed at the moment could hardly be called a cure; it was more like a torture device. That’s why Grayson had stayed at work until late, trying to understand why the subjects showed these symptoms and how he could prevent them. Right now, his research hadn't gotten him much closer to an answer.

Tired, he swung his coat on the sofa and turned back towards the door to lock it. The apartment was nothing like he’d been used to at home, but he much preferred it this way—this place actually felt like home. He sat down on the sofa with a yawn only for his phone to ring from within his coat's pocket. It took a few seconds before he unlocked the device—meanwhile wondering why Louis would call him when he saw the name appear on the screen—and picked it up.

The first thing he heard was the sound of a car passing by, then a voice told him they needed to meet. "Why?" he asked, but immediately got told there was no time. Confused as to why the other needed to see him right now or why he sounded so urgent Grayson was quiet for a few seconds. "I'm at home, he finally spoke again. “It’s on the second floor, on the left,” he specified after giving the address. The tone of Louis' voice told him this was urgent; that something was going on. And Gray didn’t know what else to do than give the other his address.

The minutes after the call ended crept by excruciatingly slow. He'd begun with unlocking the door again, after which he started pacing around, alone with his thoughts. He wondered in what state the other would show up. If Louis wanted to come to him out of the blue like this something must have happened; he didn't know the other well enough for social visits at this hour. Then again, he also didn't know the other well enough to be the first to be called in emergency situations.