School Grounds/Outside the Garage, Wednesday 3rd Period - After Lunch

[cantgetnorelief]

Great, so after a fairly upsetting trip to the clinic, Anders had found out from Tori last night that Angela seemed to be missing. Then he'd stopped by the library after Spy Tech this morning to find out that Bridge hadn't made it in for his shift, which really wasn't like him. All of this was adding up to a big old ball of worrisome things, and

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[auroryborealis]

Rory had knocked patiently on Bridge's door and tried his phone several more times after she'd found the library Bridge-less at lunch.

So she'd figured that finding Anders was the next step. "You know, those things'll kill you."

[cantgetnorelief]

"I know, I know," Anders said with a sheepish smile. "Willow's Christmas present sure got that across, but I'm kind of freaking out here. Look, Gilmore, have you seen Bridge today? I haven't seen him since yesterday afternoon, and he wasn't in the library."

[auroryborealis]

"Nope," she said, shaking her head and looking more worried. "And he's not in his room, and he's not picking up his phone."

[cantgetnorelief]

"Last time I saw him he wasn't exactly in the best shape," Anders replied. He'd pulled a fresh cigarette out of the pack, but instead of lighting it he was picking it to pieces. "But that was hours ago."

[auroryborealis]

Rory bit her lip. "You don't think he ran away or something, do you?" she asked quietly.

[cantgetnorelief]

"Why would he do that?" asked Anders, frowning.

[auroryborealis]

"I have no idea, but nothing else makes sense," she said. "If he was sick, he'd be in his room. If he had to leave for some reason, wouldn't he answer his phone?"

[cantgetnorelief]

"He'd have let somebody know if he'd had to leave." Anders had reduced the cigarette filter in his hands to a useless piece of fluff by now. "Unless . . . oh, frak. I remember now. That little girl works for what's-his-face, the guy they're training to defend the Earth against in the future."

[auroryborealis]

Rory stared blankly at him.

"...little girl?"

[cantgetnorelief]

Anders stared blankly right back. His brain? So not working in a linear fashion today.

"The one him and Z ran into the other night in the park and I so didn't mention that part to you, did I?"

[auroryborealis]

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Rory said.

[cantgetnorelief]

"Okay." Anders rubbed a hand over his face and tried to collect his thoughts. "There was a little girl wandering around town on Monday night. Parker and Chris saw her out by herself, asking anyone if they'd seen Bridge and Z. And then Bridge and Z ran into a creepy little girl in the park. He says she works for Emperor Gruumm. Which means that Emperor Gruumm is probably looking for them."

[auroryborealis]

Rory allowed all the pieces to fall into place, and immediately her eyes went wide. "Oh, damn it," she swore. "You don't think...."

[cantgetnorelief]

"I hope not," Anders said. "But I can't think of any better -- okay, that's not the right word -- reasons that Bridge would just not show up and not answer phone calls."

[auroryborealis]

Rory started to pace. "What do we do?"

[cantgetnorelief]

Anders looked down at his hands, and realized he'd shredded the cigarette filter into just about its component fibers. "Figure out if it's true, first? Check around, see if anyone else has seen either of them at all? I don't know a whole lot about Emperor Gruumm, but I bet I know someone who can find out." He sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth and added under his breath, "And hope they'll be okay until we get to them."