**
“William is dead.” Maggie said flatly, and for a moment Hugo was certain she was going to kick them out of her house, but she just left the table, emptying her mug in the sink.
Hugo shifted. CJ glanced at him, tilting her head as she waited for his retort. “But what if he’s not?”
Maggie turned back from the sink, her eyes slightly narrowed, “We were at his funeral. What makes you think-”
“Did you ever see the body?” Hugo cut in, feeling a lump in his stomach.
Maggie looked appalled for a second that he’d even asked, but then frowned slightly, “No. It was a closed casket.”
Hugo leaned forward, “Mr. Hansen was the one who did it, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that-”
“How do you know it was Andrew?” Maggie’s voice was tight.
“I...guessed.” Maggie’s jaw tightened. “Ok, ok. I-” CJ shook her head, frowning. What if Maggie had listening devices too? “After reading the files you gave me and talking to Ch-Martin, I thought there was a possibility that William would have had enough of a chance to…change his situation.”
“No, he’s dead. If he wasn’t, the world would be a very different place right now.”
“You know, Hugo can be pretty smart sometimes,” CJ interjected, jerking a thumb at him. Hugo cringed. “You should probably believe him. Maybe the guy got less crazy or ended up liking knitting more than world domination, or something?”
Hugo glanced at CJ, and she just shrugged. He turned back to Maggie, “I-can’t explain that. But would it hurt to just check?”
Maggie sighed, staring at the ground for a moment, “You’re not going to let this go, are you?” CJ laughed.
Hugo looked her in the eye, “No.”
Maggie sighed again, pushing herself towards the living room, “Alright. I’m going to show you this so you’ll drop it. Understand?”
Hugo vaulted out of the seat after her, CJ trailing behind them. “Thank you Maggie, I really appreciate this.”
“Yeah yeah,” she waved her hand in his direction and then pulled a white screen down from the ceiling near the back wall. She pulled up a high back chair towards the side of the screen and then sat in it. “Watch the screen. You’ll see what I see.” Hugo nodded.
“Ohhhh, Maggie TV!” CJ exclaimed. That got a flicker of a smile from the woman. Hugo stuck his hands in his pockets. He didn’t want to push her, but he really wanted to know and there was no better way to find out than this.
Maggie sat straight up as she drew in a deep, deliberate breath, closing her eyes. She placed her hands loosely in her lap and then foggy colors rose into view on the large screen. They sharpened into the features of a man in a small hospital room. He looked waxy, his pale eyes open to the screen. For a moment Hugo thought he’d been wrong and the man was dead, but he noticed that the eyes were wet with moisture and the chest rose and fell ever so slightly as they watched.
There were no speakers, but still the words came through loud and angry “Get out of my head you crazy bitch!” And then the screen flickered blank and Maggie slumped forward. Hugo scrambled over to catch her before she fell off the chair and almost hit his head against the wall in the process.
With some maneuvering and CJ’s help, he managed to get Maggie onto the couch. He waited.
CJ examined Maggie’s face, “Are we supposed to smack her awake or something?”
“I-I don’t know. I don’t want to hit her.” Hugo chewed on his thumb.
“Oookay, I’ll do it then.” CJ reached down and Maggie chose that moment to flutter her eyes open. There was a moment of complete confusion which relaxed into a milder version at CJ hovered over her, palm out. CJ straightened, “Oh, you woke up on your own.”
The woman carefully sat up, rubbing her forehead, “Ok. You were right.”
Hugo crouched next to the couch, “I’m sorry! Are you ok? What happened?”
Maggie waved him off, “I’m fine, just have a bit of a headache. You know, I don’t remember William being telepathic.”
Hugo paused a moment to review all the information he had on Mr. Hansen’s brother, then shook his head, “It’s not in any of his files either. His abilities must be expanding still. So, has that ever happened before?”
“Twice, with people who had very strong telepathic abilities.” She looked up at his fidgeting and shook her head, “It’s ok, really. I’m fine.”
Hugo chewed on his lip, “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have asked if I knew-”
“He’s alive. I really didn’t think…” She shook her head, attention drifting to the ground briefly.
“Do you know where he is now?”
“I have a general idea, something to start with. But I’ll have to look around some more to be sure.” Maggie absently rubbed her forehead.
“Will you?” Hugo stood nervously, hunching his shoulders.
She looked Hugo in the eye, her voice firm when she finally answered, “Of course.” Then she sighed, rubbing her neck, “This will take a while. How about I call you when I’m done?”
Hugo frowned, unhappy with the idea of leaving her alone with this. What if Hermes found out and pushed her again? It had hurt, more than she was trying to let on, but he also wasn’t going to force her to work while he watched, so he nodded. “Ok. Just, don’t push yourself, please. And give me a call if you need anything, ok?”
She smiled genuinely, brushing hair out of her face, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”