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Pitch Black is the second arc of The Underground series

Chapter 13 of 22

A Vixen's Ultimatum

Mick was disturbed from his deep sleep as he heard the door to the apartment unlock and swing open. His paw immediately went to the pistol he had on the end table next to the couch in the living room. His alarm subsided as he saw Alias walk through the door, shoulders hunched in weariness. Looking at the only clock in the room, he saw the time; it was nearly 6:00 in the morning.

"Jesus, where the hell have you been?" Mick asked, as he yawned.

The black fox looked over at him. "Following a lead." He replied simplistically.

"Learn anything?" Mick asked hopefully, but Alias shook his head.

"Just more questions." He replied. "Do you know what the OCB is?" He asked sounding confused.

"OCB?" Mick scowled, shaking his head pensively. "Um... Organized Crime Bureau, I think? Why?"

"I've never heard of them, and I've had my fair share of Agency use." Alias pondered, as he removed his grey blazer. Mick quickly noticed he was uncharacteristically wearing clothing of color. It gave Alias the illusion of being almost... normal.

"The only reason I know about them, is that they're a thorn in my line of work. They're like the police of The Underground, only they have, like zero power. I think it was spearheaded by Tom Bauer" Mick explained.

"The senator?" Alias asked, walking to the kitchen, to which Mick nodded. "Our hard earned taxes at work." Alias spat, with a bite of sarcasm.

"Who are you kidding? When have you ever filled out a W-2?" Mick laughed, sitting up on one elbow. "Its one of those joke organizations that is only in place to appease the masses. Supposedly their goal is to break up mafias and shit, but they're going after The Underground. Epically failing, I might add."

Alias came back into the living room, glass of scotch in one paw, and its bottle in the other.

"Drink?" He offered.

"No thanks." Mick declined. "Kind of early for that, isn't it?"

"Best way to prevent hangovers; don't stop drinking." Alias replied simplistically. "Did Jenna find out anything?"

Mick sat up, putting his feet down on the floor he sifted through numerous papers that littered the coffee table next to the couch.

"Yeah, actually." He nodded. "She wanted me to give you these when you got in. I figured I'd still be up by the time you got home."

"I had a date."

"And apparently Hell has frozen over."

"Blow me. And not that kind of date either." Alias jousted. "What'd she find out?"

"Strangely enough, most of the records regarding Waverly Hill were "missing"." Mick explained, sounding suspicious. "The only thing she could find was the list of institutions patients had been to. Waverly came up there." Mick grabbed a paper, and handed it to Alias. "From what we can tell, it was a mental asylum of some sort, built around the turn of last century. It was operated by the state, and then was bought out by private practice."

"Oh?" Alias asked. "How do you know?"

"Checked out some of the tax records from that period. They stopped allocating funds for Waverly, and yet patients had Waverly still listed as an institution they had therapy at well after it was closed. The records stopped listing it about thirty years ago, so Hell knows what's been going on there since."

Alias let out a dark chuckle, and took a drink of his scotch. "So they buy Waverly, and then wipe national databases of its existence. As if that's not conspicuous."

"No shit." Mick replied. "Tampering with patient records wouldn't go unnoticed though."

"They just didn't expect anyone to ever go looking this far into it."

"Exactly." Mick confirmed.

"So, I can see you both had a very productive day." Alias muttered, taking another sip of his Scotch.

Mick shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, I love hanging with Jenna and all, but I'd rather be out kicking ass with you."

However, Alias shook his head at this. "No." He replied, darkness in his voice. "Mick, this is something you don't want any part of. Not if you can help it."

"Care to explain?" Mick asked, brow furrowing in confusion.

"Yes, actually." Alias denied. "Just trust me on this one, and enjoy being able to sleep without problems."

"You know what, dude?" Mick said, as Alias looked over at him. "Sometimes I really worry about you."

Alias looked out across the room at nothing, then polished off what was left of his drink.

"You and me both."

What both Alias and Mick didn't know was that there was a third party who was concerned as well. She had been awoken by the sound of the door opening to the apartment. She lay awake in bed, slightly worried until she heard the familiar sound of his deep voice. Alias had taken up leaving the apartment in the early hours of the morning and sometimes hadn't gotten back until early dawn. She had started wondering what his nightly escapades included, and why he was so adamant about her not finding out what he had been up to.

Jenna lay awake in her bed. She was worried, but not about Mick or herself. She was worried about Alias and what this was doing to him. As much as it concerned her, Jenna knew she had to find out.

Because she was very afraid that one night, Alias might not return at all.