NCIS: Inside and Out

After losing Emma and Maddi within days of each other, Tom quickly found a new class to volunteer in, this time he ensured that Connie was in said class.

On the one week anniversary of Emma’s death, Tom was sat in his youngest daughter’s class helping her with her own math work…much to the dismay of Connie and her teacher alike.

            “Really? My class?” she had asked, annoyed that her father hadn’t appeared to spot the pattern.

            “Yes, your class. I’ve lost your sisters. I am not going to lose you too,” he had replied calmly as he helped her to get ready for school. “If they come, I’ve got something planned. But just in case: be ready to burn.”

            “Undercover,” she stated like he was missing something.

            “Deal with a serial killer, blow one person’s cover,” Tom moved his hands like a set of scale. “Trust me. You’re life is more important than the undercover op. Either way, you would lose your position anyway.”

Half an hour into said maths lesson there was a knock at the door. “Come in,” the teacher called, causing the person on the other side of the door to swing it open. “Can I help you?”

            “Yes, I am looking for Connie,” the girl replied with an eerily familiar voice.

            “Faye?” Connie whispered to her father.

            “That makes sense,” Tom shrugged. “Felix took Emma, Penny took Maddi. That leaves one serial killer.”

            “Great…why do I get the one that is actually insane?” Connie questioned.

            “I don’t know, luck? Just the way they organised it I guess,” Tom guessed.

            “Encouraging,” she sneered.

            “What do you want with her?” the teacher asked.

            “Family emergency. Her sisters were killed and we believe she is next,” Faye explained before a small knife flew past the side of her head.

            “The next one won’t miss,” Tom snarled.

            “Try it,” Faye sneered.

            “Only one of us,” Tom warned.

            “But which one?” Faye replied.

            “Wait. You know each other?” the teacher asked.

            “Long story,” Tom shrugged as he formed a sword of temporal energy in his right hand. “You ready?”

            “Bring it,” Faye laughed aloud before a sudden wave of nervousness washed across her as Tom sped towards her at superhuman speeds.

Without thinking Tom sped straight into Faye and began in an attempt to take her out of view of the young kids in the classroom, only to find that he came to a sudden stop. Slowly, he looked at the smiling girl’s face and realised why he had come to a sudden stop. “Dammit,” he complained as she released all of the energy that he had given her straight into his chest.

The other side of the room suddenly had a human-shaped dent in the wall; Tom slowly rolled out of the hole and landed on the floor. “Ow,” he moaned as he struggled to his feet.

            “You’re impulsive,” Faye warned. “That will be what destroys you and everything that you hold dear.”

            “Rot in hell,” Tom snarled before utilising his super-speed to approach her before she could react. He came to a halt a few centimetres in front of her before reforming his sword.

            “Are we really going to do this?” Faye asked suspiciously. “We both know you can’t win.”

            “Yeah, but I can stall you,” Tom noted blankly.

            “Then you’ll die for nothing,” she smirked while pulling her sword from her belt.

Without responding, Tom simply brought his sword to the ready before attempting to bring it down hard upon the girl’s head, only to find that she was successfully anticipating his attacks and had brought her sword up to block his attack. This back and fourth continued for ten minutes before Tom finally managed to get through her defences.

Only problem?

The attack did no damage. Nothing at all. Instead it sent Tom flying backwards into the air. Refusing to crash to the floor again he manoeuvred his body so that he landed on his hand and knees on Connie’s desk. It was then that he noticed that his sole surviving child had vanished from her seat.

Believing that Faye was alone, he decided that the best way to keep Connie safe was by continuing to deal with Faye. He used his feet to push off from the table and launch at Faye, his sword pointed outwards towards the killer.

He bounced.

And then he tried again. And again he bounced. Then he kept on repeating his tactic in the hope that he would hit a weak spot or he would remember a weakness of Felix’s that he could apply to Faye.

After the twentieth or so time, he looked up, ready to try again only to find that the majority of the class was gone and that Connie was now behind Faye, her hands hovering on either side the serial killer’s head.

Tom looked at them puzzled as Faye began to scream out in pain. She then dropped to the floor in a slump and Connie turned to look at her confused dad.

            “What?” Tom asked.

            “Memory overload,” Connie shrugged. “I figured it out a few days ago. I can unlock hidden memories within someone’s brain. Normally it isn’t deadly. But if everything is unlocked simultaneously; well you can see the results.”

            “Why is that deadly?”

            “Because everything is unlocked. If you unlock one hidden memory, then another one goes into hiding. But if you keep everything unlocked and unhidden then the brain tries to keep up with all of the information to the point that it just crashes. Like a computer,” Connie explained.

            “The more I learn about our powers, the more I understand why people are scared of us,” Tom moaned while opening  portal beneath Faye. “The outcry of this will be fun to deal with…”