Chapter Text
Lex glanced up as Jackson entered the room, holding a sheaf of papers. The older man spoke, his tone soft but still somehow carrying across the room. "Joshua, may I borrow Lex for a bit?"
Joshua raised his head from his work table where he had been working on adding the final touches to a passport. "Depends. Are you borrowing him for something that won’t get us hit with a sexual harassment suit?"
Lex turned his face, hiding a grin.
Jackson smiled. "Nothing so interesting, I'm afraid. I just need him to follow a money trail."
Joshua waved a hand in the general direction of the young hacker. "Have at it. I'm pretty sure he was playing a video game anyway."
Lex hastily closed the incriminating window. How did he know? He'd been facing away the entire time.
"Eyes in the back of my head, boy."
Infuriating bosses.
Jackson was still smiling as he approached, dropping the papers on Lex's desk. The young man picked them up and shuffled through them. "What are these?"
"Bank records and a partial trace on a terrorist money laundering scheme." He picked up one of the papers and pointed to a list of what looked like coded bank account numbers. "That's where I lost the trail. Was wondering if you might be able to pick it up."
Lex flexed his fingers like a master pianist getting ready to play. "On it."
Jackson patted his shoulder. "Thanks. Let me know what you find."
Lex was already lost in his computer and didn't even look up as the older man left.
All right. Start from the beginning. He quickly re-traced Jackson's steps, wanting to be certain the older man hadn't missed anything. A few minutes later he was satisfied he hadn't. He might be as old as dirt, but he was good at his job. Now to follow the rest of it to the end.
His fingers flew over his keyboard. Huh. That transaction looks odd. Where does it go? Right there. Oh, that was clever, but not clever enough. He followed it to a Swiss bank. Tight security, yes, but he'd created a back door just a month ago. And there it was. Okay, two payments went into that account. No way to determine who it belonged to. The Swiss didn't keep that information on their servers. So let's follow the next transaction. Oh, that wasn't as clever. That one leads to a bank in the U.S. And where did that 100 grand and change go? There!
It didn't take long, maybe 15 minutes, and Lex had an address worth checking out. A bit more typing. Pulling up Google Maps because why not? Google had decent satellites, and they were probably good enough for this. Less than a minute later, Lex was examining a Google Earth view of what looked like a hospital. Okay, actually a mental institution in Bethesda, Maryland. Really? Alpha Omega? Who named a mental institution after Bible stuff?
He made notes on everything he'd found. He had no idea why terrorists were funneling money to a mental institution, but that wasn't his department. He was just supposed to follow the money trail, which he'd done.
He sent the entire thing off to Jackson via secure email. Why the old dude insisted on bringing down paper when he could save himself the walk by sending email was beyond Lex, but who knew what nearly 50 year old people were thinking anyway? I mean, really? Had they even had email when Jackson was growing up?
Mission accomplished, he moved his mouse to hover over his minimized game. However, something about Alpha Omega was pulling at him. Well, what harm could come from a bit of extra-curricular snooping?
He hacked into their server, which took some work but was also easier than he'd expected. That should have been a warning sign, but he was too busy moving on to the next thing to pay attention to the red flags his brain was trying to send him. Next, security cameras. Easy enough. He flicked through the cameras. Dining room. Boring. Treatment room. Double boring. Padded cell. Maybe interesting.
Lex froze. On the screen in front of him was a man, obviously drugged, in a straight jacket. His eyes were wandering and confused. His gold colored eyes. Exactly the same eyes Lex looked at every morning in his bathroom mirror.
Shit! What had he found?
***
Joshua looked up from his work when he hadn't heard the click of Lex's keys for several minutes. As long as the young man was at his computer, the sound of typing was a constant. When it stopped, something was always wrong.
He frowned. Lex was staring at his screen, his shoulders tense, arms folded across his stomach as if trying to hold something in.
Joshua stood up and walked over to his subordinate. "Lex? What's wrong?"
No response. He wasn't even certain Lex had heard him.
He looked over the hacker's shoulder. There were four screens open, but Joshua immediately knew what Lex was staring at.
He put a hand on Lex's shoulder. "Son. What is that? And where did you find it?"
He felt Lex's desperate swallow through his hand. "I was… I was following the money trail Mr. Haisley gave me. I decided to take a look at the place I'd found. And—" Another swallow. "And then I saw that." He pointed at the man in a straight jacket.
Joshua squeezed the tense shoulder under his hand and leaned forward for a closer look. The man looked exactly like Lex, although perhaps Lex in about ten to fifteen years. It was hard to tell. The man on the screen looked sick and confused.
Joshua reached forward and clicked the mouse to minimize the window with the video. Lex didn't say anything, just shuddered, although it was impossible to tell if it was in relief or continued shock and horror. Joshua could only imagine what it might be like to see your near-double, especially under such conditions.
"Terri," Joshua called, noting that she was at a nearby table, starting on her latest project: a replica of a biblical scroll. He was hoping she wouldn’t need to go to extreme measures to get the odor of this one correct.
She raised her head, not appearing pleased at the interruption. "What do you need?" Her eyes tracked to Lex, who still hadn’t moved. "What's wrong with him?"
"He's had a shock. I'll explain later. For now, can you take him home? I don't think he's in any shape to drive."
She stood up and stretched. Joshua reminded himself that it was inappropriate to admire the thin strip of skin visible between her shirt and the waistband of her slacks. "All right," she said, as she walked over. "But I can't get his bike home."
"Perhaps you could pick him up in the morning?" Joshua suggested, concerned that Lex hadn't reacted at all to the conversation about his fate. With a frown, he walked back to his desk, rummaged in a drawer and pulled out a pill bottle with an air of triumph. He handed it over to Terri. "Make sure he takes one of these."
"What are they?" she asked.
"Sedative. It'll help him sleep."
"So you’re a doctor now?" Terri remarked.
"Only one smart-aleck allowed in this department," Joshua said with a nod at Lex.
She gave him a quick grin. "Then how do we explain you?"
He made a shooing motion at her before helping Lex to his feet. "Come on, son. Terri's going to take you home. It'll look better in the morning."
Terri took Lex's arm and guided him out of the room. Joshua watched them go, deciding to call Jackson down for an explanation. What had he gotten them into?