BT Chapter 5

He was the golden boy. Sunshine followed him, touched his hair and he was literally bursting with energy. He had the normal, loving parents. Dad works as a sports announcer and Mom works from home. His older sister just started high school, so she is no longer is interested in playing catch or tag with him anymore.

The boy soon found fun elsewhere. Like the bright red ladybug he crawled with in the grass. Or the nest of blue eggs he uncovered from the backyard tree.

And then later, the girl next door.

Her skin was dark brown. If he was sunshine, then she was shadowed moonlight. She introduced herself as "Tuh-aay" and she could run just as fast, throw the ball just as hard as him. Her smile shone brilliantly, and her laughter was like ringing bells. That summer, they spent countless hours digging up worms, playing with toys, and splashing around in the inflatable pool as his mother watched from a window.

Yet with the first falling leaves of autumn, she stopped coming over. He waited. And waited some more. But his three years of experience did not yet teach him patience. On the second day he bravely walked out of his house, past the white picket fence, and made the ten feet odyssey to her front porch.

Her father answered the door. He was a tall, broad-shouldered man. Yet when he spoke, his tone is soft and very soothing.

"Hello Bodie."

"Is Taye coming over today?" the golden boy asked. Her father smiled fondly, and shook his head no. The boy peered past his legs. He could see part of the living room. Her father opened the screen door, and wordlessly invited him in.

The boy took one step. And then another. Before he knew it, he was right behind the sofa in the living room, and he could hear Taye's voice. It wasn't loud and boisterous like he was used to. Instead she spoke in hushed tone, and if his ears were not deceiving him, it sounded like she was singing.

"Taye?" He walked around the sofa hesitantly, his hand brushed the soft, plushy armrest in reassurance.

His usual playmate kneeled on the carpet, her elbows propped on the edge of the forest green couch. She glanced up at him quickly, but her gaze almost immediately went back to the mountain of blankets that rose up in the middle of the sofa cushion.

Taye slowly raised a finger to her lips. "Shh... she's finally sleepin'."

He carefully kneeled besides her. He peered over at the bundle, and saw the tiniest brown-skinned face he had ever laid eyes on.

"Dat's ma new sista," Taye whispered proudly, "Mommy an' Daddy put me in charge. Tol' me ta take care ov'er."

His gaze drifted over the baby's face. Her small eyes were shut, there were faint hints of dark curls on the crown of her head. A cute, brown button of a nose dotted her features, and her hands curled by her side into miniscule, fighting fists.

"She's so small," he breathed out.

"Yea, an I'mma protect 'er." Taye puffed out her chest at her own announcement. Almost like an afterthought, she added magnanimously, "Ya can too. If ya want." The golden boy smiled.

"We both will."




"Aw... why e'eryone gotta be so tall?" huffs the dancer who goes by the nickname Lil' T. She strains on her toes, even hopping up and down, but the group of people still tower over her petite five feet three frame. Above her head, colorful parade balloons float peacefully in a serene march, and she mentally kicks herself for losing her sister in the crowd. Not only is she missing out on the parade, but there's no way to get back home since Taye's her wallet.

"Taye!" she tries shouting, but the noise of the passerbys and the heavy traffic all drown out her usually loud voice. An elbow jabs into her face, then another obese individual rams into her left side, causing her to bump into another person.

"Hey watch it!"

Lil' T bites her tongue. Normally, she would fire back with a "wut's yo problem?" because she doesn't take no lip from nobody, but given her current situation that doesn't seem like a smart idea. If she's gonna pick a fight, at least pick one when Taye's there to back her up.

Instead, she concentrates her energy in slipping between the hot, sweaty bodies and trying to get towards the end of the sidewalk, where she thinks there's a clearing. If she can just climb somewhere and get a better view-

Lil' T stifles a yell as she loses balance in the middle of squeezing past two middle-aged ladies, and starts to fall forward on her face.

"Whoa there."

A hand grabs her right above her elbow, and she glances up with surprise.

"Bodie?!"

The blonde smiles as he helps her straighten up. "Hey. Didn't think I would be running into you here. Where's Taye?"

Lil' T immediately crosses her arms. "I dun need her ta babysit me."

"Hey, that's not what I meant. I just usually see you two together..." Growing realization sinks in. "Wait, are you … lost?"

She hates how easily he can see through her sometimes. Whether at work, or when they're out on leave. He can always call her bluff. It's so... annoying.  Almost as annoying as the frequency they keep bumping into each other. She swears, Bodie is always popping out of nowhere. Almost always when she's in a fix, when he can see her at her worst.

"No. Wut's it to ya? Can't chu see I'm tryna enjoy da parade by mahself?" she retorts as one eyebrow goes up.

Bodie scratches his head. "It doesn't look like much of a view from where I'm standing."

"Dat's cuz chu tall, an I'm-" Darn it. There goes her big mouth ruining things.

Bodie flashes her a knowing grin, and casually offers a hand. "Let's go find her then."

Lil' T grumbles, but she lets him lead her to a clearing in the crowd. His hand is warm and gentle, and she can feel the rough calluses on his palm. She wonders just how unfair it is. Just a few years ago their hands were around the same size (or so she thought), but while her growth spurt sputtered to a grinding halt, he shot up like a weed.

A blonde, blue-eyed, and muscular weed. One who smiles like daisies and charms like a sunflower.

"When did you last see her?" Bodie asks as he cranes his neck over others.

Her throat makes a rumble of frustration. Lil' T plants her feet, and snaps, "I dun 'member. One moment she's dere, den da next she ain't! Been lookin' fo her fo almost an hour!" As if to emphasize the point, her stomach growls out a matching rumble.

Bodie chuckles. He points to a food stand a few blocks away. "Want to grab a snack before we start seriously looking? And I'm guessing your cell phone reception isn't that great here either?"

"No duh Sherlock," Lil' T retorts. Bodie stops. He turns to her with a raised brow.

"Shouldn't you be nicer to the guy who's about to treat you to a hotdog?"

"Who says chu treatin'?"

"Do you have money?"

Crap. She doesn't. Everything is with Taye. If she wasn't so distracted with his hand pulling her forward and the glare from the rows of his sparkling white teeth, she would have remembered.

"You... dun hafta," she mutters half-heartedly. Never mind the fact the saliva in her mouth is already running wild at the tantalizing smell of chili cheese sauce. Bodie doesn't answer, but heads straight to the food stand. Within a couple of minutes, he holds out a fresh, piping hot chili cheese dog in front of her face.

"Here ya go."

She regards him carefully. Then looks down at the delicious morsel with wavering will.

"Fine," Lil' T takes it out of his hands as if she's the one doing him a favor, "Only cuz I mit faint lata if I dun eat. An' it'll save ya da trouble of carryin' another body." She wolfs down the hot dog in record time, with the spicy sauce burning her tongue and throat. It's delicious.

"Want to keep looking for Taye?"

She peeks up. Bodie faces forward, his eyes scanning the crowd tirelessly, but also checking out the cool balloon floats in the parade. The younger DCI agent sighs. "Naw. It's kinda pointless in dis crowd. Mit as well wait till people leave."

"Yeah. I agree," he nods slowly. He glances at her, and then takes a double take. "You have-uh this-" The corners of his mouth lift up in a grin, and all of a sudden she feels his thumb brushing by her chin. She stares back at him, still as a statue as he regards the offending sauce on his thumb. He shrugs. Wipes it off on his jeans without another word.

"Wut was dat fo?!" Lil' T yells out, her cheeks feeling uncomfortably warm. Bodie doesn't bother answering, instead he points to the parade.

"Isn't that Charlie Brown and Snoopy?"

"Huh? Argh, I can't see!" She cranes her head, hops up and down, but to no avail.

"Here, let's try this."

"Wha- are ya outta yo mind?!" Her voice comes out like a screech as she finds herself being lifted into the air, and then set down upon a very sturdy set of shoulders.  Panicking and losing balance, Lil' T grabs onto the only thing she sees in front of her.

"Ow! Not the hair!"

"Get me down!"

"Can't you see better up there? I thought you wanted to see the parade?" Bodie winces as her hands make a tight fist on both sides of his head, his tingling scalp completely at her mercy as her fingers tangle into his hair.

She stutters. Mutters many excuses but none the right one, Lil' T finally falls quiet. Once he's sure she's completely calmed down, Bodie steadies her by holding onto her ankles, which dangles freely in front of his chest. "Okay, you can let go now?"

"Who says I wanna?" Her right hand tightens in his hair, forcing him to turn his head to the right. "Oh! I see the Kool Aid guy! And is that Garfield the Cat?!"

Bodie sighs. "...or not."

The floats pass by with the catchy tunes from their speakers.  Various iconic characters, most likely paid workers in extravagant costumes, pass by as children point excitedly to their parents. He can't really see Lil' T's expression, but he imagines it's quite similar. A slow smile emerges. At least she's enjoying herself.

Halfway through the Flintstones and the Simpsons, she suddenly speaks up. Her voice surprisingly calm, and with none of the previous attitude.

"You dien't lemme fall dis time."

Bodie starts. She still remembers. He didn't expect that.

But then again, there is a reason why Lil' T was accepted into DCI at her age. Her cognitive and memory abilities tested in the highest upper quartile. She can think quick on her feet, and remember the smallest detail. There were plenty of misgivings due to her young age, but Lima insisted talent like hers cannot be wasted, and they need all the agents they can get in lieu of Tan's recent activity.

Yet all Bodie can recall is the sight of a skinny, eight-year-old Lil' T struggling to swing her legs over the new bike she got for Christmas.



He leaned over the edge of the white fence with an amused smile. There were angry muttering from her side, and her brows scrunched up together in an adorable manner. His smile faltered though, when he saw the smattering of bruises and cuts on her elbows and knees.  Apparently riding a bike was not as easy as he remembered.

"Need some help?" he called out from his side.

She jerked up, a petulant frown appeared instantly at the sight of his familiar features.

"Naw."

He knew better. With both parents working late and her sister staying after school everyday for her club activities, there was nobody there to show her. And he knew she was too prideful to admit she needed assistance.

Without saying much, he scaled over the fence with well-practiced ease. He grabbed one side of the handlebars, and kept another hand on the metal rungs below the biker seat.

"Here, hop on,"he cheerfully said. She didn't move for the longest time, her bright green eyes glared at him.

"I won't move. I promise."

With a huff, she finally came forward. She was still getting used to the height of the bike, and the handle bars wobbled dangerously in her hands. He shifted so he was behind her, his hands held onto the back of the bicycle and kept her steady.

"Ready?"

"Y-ya won't letgo will ya? Dun lemme fall!" Her words came out in a panic, her voice rose in volume.

He made no promises. The one thing he learned from his own bike-learning experience was that they always let go. No matter what they said.

He sent her off with a push. "Heeereeee we go!" His sky blue gaze followed her as she pedaled a few feet, teetered to the right, and eventually ended up crashing to the pavement. He hurried on over, and quickly lifted the bike off of her.

She glared up at him, her big eyes watering and yet full of fire. "Ya said ya wouldn't let go!"

"I didn't say anything. This is how we all learn. By falling." But his explanations fell on deaf ears. She went on to more yelling, then to sniffling, and as the older boy watched with dawning horror, the eight-year-old girl started crying.

"Hey,"he bent down and patted her head awkwardly, "It's okay, it's not a big deal. You'll get it down eventually. Everyone does."

She swatted his hand away. The tears kept coming. It spilled over her round cheeks and met at the point of her chin.

"Uh... maybe you can start off slow? Maybe with training wheels? That's usually much easier than a bicycle."

The crying stops. In between loud sniffs, she asked, "Wut's easier ta ride than a bicycle?"

"A tricycle."

"Anythin' easier than dat?"

He answers with a playful grin, "Me."

Much later on, when the car pulled into the driveway, Taye heard her little sister laughing boisterously as she sat astride on top of their next-door neighbor. He laid on his stomach in the front lawn, utterly spent because he spent the last hour running on all fours across the grass, with her little sister riding him like a pony.





"Yeah, I guess so," Bodie answers her eventually. Lil' T clears her throat, and says nothing for the longest time.

Then suddenly, she pulls on the left side of his head. "There!"

Bodie twists his head towards the general direction, but sees nothing but passing floats. "What?"

"The float, it changed!" she cries out. He squints. It all looks the same to him. But he knew from experience to trust Lil' T and her keen observations.

"Which one?" He asks in a quiet, serious tone as he makes his way through the crowd. Lil' T points to the one that looked like a rainforest. Plastic trees and shrubbery decorate the float, and people were dressed up as various animals who wave back at the crowd.

He watches that one carefully. One of the animals, he thinks it must be a crow or a raven, starts to climb onto the top tier of the float. From the base of a fake tree trunk, he starts to take out a piece of machinery. Bodie doesn't even wait to see what it is, he is already dialing Rasa's number.

Then swears when he realizes his phone doesn't have reception.

"Let's get closer," she orders, lightly pulling on his hair as if that will spur him into action. He re-adjusts his grip on her ankles, "Hold on, ride's about to get a bit rough." The blonde DCI agent starts pushing his way forward. He apologizes to strangers with a raised hand and a sheepish grin, but all Lil' T cares about is getting to the float.

"Iz a transmitter device or sumthin'. I'll betchu Tan's sumhow behind dis," she mutters under her breath.

"Is it dangerous? There's a lot of collateral damage potential here."

"Dat's why we gotta git dere faster an' - Argh!!!" Her hands slam over her ears, covering it as best as she can as high-pitched wail rips through the air. They were too late. The transmitter is already activated, and she can see the people around them falling to their knees. The sound is splitting her skull. Like someone scraping knives across plates, or the screech of a chalk against a board. It's loud and piercing and her head thrums with pain.

She looks down. And her eyes widen at the sight.

Bodie's hands are not covering his ears. They are holding onto her feet, making sure she stays on his shoulders.

Idiot!!! she screams at him. But there's no way Bodie can hear her. He's still moving forward. Taking one heavy step after the other towards the float and the transmitter.

He leaves her with no choice. Lil' T grits her teeth and steels for the pain. She lowers her hands and quickly seals his ears with her palm.

"Go!" Her eyes clench together against the high-pitched screech, her lids shutting so tight tears are forming in the corners. In some distant corner of her mind, she can feel him moving easier, faster. He runs towards the float, and just as they reach within three feet, the crippling sound stops. Bodie missteps, drops down to one knee. And Lil' T quickly tumbles to the ground with him.

"Welcome, welcome... WELCOME." A familiar voice booms out.

The two DCI agents slowly raise their heads, and meet the half-crazed, half-delirious gaze of the evil mastermind who goes by the name Dr. Tan. He is the one wearing the animal costume, his entire body covered in a flurry of dark feathers.

"Now that we have your complete attention," the well-known villain proclaims to the mostly unconscious crowd, "Let me introduce you to the most anticipated project of the year." Here he pauses, and goes to stand right next to the transmitter.

"I call it Project Lockstep."