Secrets and Lies

"Good morning Trillium, Phoebe," Alys greeted the two of us as soon as we stepped in through the LIES front door.

Emma added with a bit of a smirk, "Coming in to work together, I see."

It was pretty clear she was implying the busty redhead and I had shared a lot more than just a ride to the office. It didn't bother me though, despite the way she and Alys were smiling Feebs and I weren't a couple. Nonetheless, the teen's words were enough to add some colour to my partner's cheeks.

Meanwhile I was mostly marvelling that this was only my third visit to the LIES office, and my first time back there since being hired. That was just under three weeks ago, and those first ten or eleven days on the job had been fairly intense.

Fortunately this past week was a lot quieter. In fact Phoebe and I were pretty much off duty from the moment we left the hospital in Chelsea some ten days earlier. That didn't mean we'd spent our time lazing around doing nothing. Instead we'd been focused on finding me a place to live here in Wales.

Now it was Monday morning, the sixteenth of December, and we were ready to get back to work. With that in mind I greeted Alys and Emma, "Good morning you two. Should we just head straight to the meeting room?"

"You can," Alys nodded. "The others are probably already in there, and we'll join you in a minute."

"Oh by the way these came in last week," she added as she handed me a small cardboard box.

That turned out to contain my new LIES business cards. Like the ones Feebs had, mine were simple but professional looking. And I noted they identified me as 'Detective Trillium Sharpe'.

Meanwhile Alys informed my partner, "Cindy asked to see you as soon as you got here. She's waiting for you in my dad's office."

The colour drained from Feebs' face at that point. I already knew she was afraid of our boss, the prospect of meeting Miss Talbot in private right before our staff meeting probably made it feel even more ominous. Nothing in the teens' expressions hinted at any impending trouble though, so I figured it couldn't be too terrible.

"Don't worry Phoebe," I tried to assure her. "I'm sure it'll be fine. See you in the meeting room in a few minutes."

"Aye. You're probably right," she sighed, before disappearing into Owen's office.

The door closed behind her, and I noticed Grace's door was also shut as I made my way into the lunch room. I found Terrence already in there, along with our boss's catgirl girlfriend.

"Hello again Miss Zaitsev. And good morning Terry," I greeted them I took a seat on one side of the table.

The purple-haired catgirl smiled, "You can just call me Zoe."

"Good morning Trillium," Terry responded. "How's the flat search going?"

I grimaced, "Not great. In fact it was rather frustrating at first, I couldn't find anything in my budget that met my requirements. Fortunately after a few days of that Phoebe suggested I could just move in with her."

"I was already staying in her guest room at the time," I continued, "And for that matter we'd practically been together since day one, plus the two of us get along alright. So becoming flatmates seemed like the best option."

Our tech guy grinned, "That's convenient. So when's moving day?"

"Already happened," I smiled back at him. "The two of us took her SUV to my place in Croydon on Saturday to pack, then yesterday we came back here and I got all unpacked and settled in."

Then I clarified, "It's not necessarily permanent yet. I've left all my furniture in my old flat since I've got it until the end of January. We'll see how things go, and I might keep looking for my own flat in the meantime? Until then I'm using the furnishings Phoebe already had in there."

"What kind of place has she got?" Terry asked. "And is it around here, or in Cardiff proper?"

I answered, "It's a good-sized flat, modern and comfortable. It's in a fairly new building in Dinas Powys, so it's not that far away."

Honestly the place was quite nice, and if I'd been on my own the rent would have been well beyond my price range. Both bedrooms were a decent size, as was the bathroom. The rest of it was an open-concept layout, with a large living-dining area adjoining a spacious modern kitchen. It was on the second floor so we did have to contend with a flight of stairs, but on the plus side that meant we had a slightly better view from the little balcony.

The location was good too, being in a small town midway between the city of Cardiff and where LIES' office was located out by the airport. We weren't exactly in the middle of Dinas Powys, but we were only a short walk from the train station. And all the local amenities were nearby, including some woodland, a couple parks, and the village common.

That line of thought along with the conversation both came to an end as Dr. Bishop led someone new into the lunch room. And one look told me they were another user of Cindy's spell, based on the ears and tail.

They were femme-presenting, appeared to be in their mid-twenties same as me, and stood about average height. Maybe one-sixty-five centimetres, I estimated. Their figure was rather curvy, in a way that made them look friendly and huggable. They had a pretty face, fair skin, and dark eyes. They wore their hair long, and it looked a little wild and unkempt, although part of that may have been due to the colour being a chaotic mix of white, black, and chestnut streaks. That same blend of colours was present in the short fur that coated their long pony-like ears, and again in the long equine tail swishing back and forth behind them.

In fact those colours were also present in their clothing, from their polished black kitten-heeled shoes to the white tights, their knee-length black skirt, and their brown blouse.

As the two of them got seated it looked like Grace was about to do some introductions, but before she could get a word out we were joined by Alys and Emma. And a second later Cindy came in as well, with Phoebe just a step or two behind.

Judging from my partner's expression and body language I had a feeling things went well between her and our boss. On the other hand she still looked about twenty years old, and remained very much a cute Celtic short stack in appearance.

The busty redhead took the seat next to mine, while Miss Talbot sat beside her girlfriend. Alys and Emma took the last two seats, and with that Dr. Bishop began the meeting.

"Good morning everyone," she started, "Before I turn things over to Miss Talbot please allow me to introduce the newest member of our team. This is Dr. Ava Goodland. She's a clinical therapist and also has several years' experience in forensic psychology. Ava will be working with us as an analyst as well as looking after our mental health needs."

Grace was looking my way as she mentioned that last part, and needless to say I was happy to see my comments and concerns had been taken seriously.

Meanwhile the ponygirl chimed in with a Geordie accent, "Hello everyone. I spent the better part of three decades as staff therapist for a branch of the military I'm not allowed to discuss. And the past seven years they also had me doing psychological analyses on certain other projects I'm even more not allowed to talk about."

"Then I used Cindy's spell in November," she added with a nodd to our young boss, "And less than two weeks later the military found an excuse to fire me."

She didn't sound upset or bitter about that, I noted. If anything she seemed rather positive as she added with a smile, "Which freed me up to come work with Gracie, along with the rest of you people. And Miss Talbot herself, which is a real honour."

Dr. Bishop took that as the opportunity to move things along, "Speaking of Miss Talbot I know she's a very busy young woman so I'll turn things over to her now."

"Hey folks," the young blonde teen began. "I'm sorry the first few months here have been so rough. You all know I'm really new to this sort of thing, and I get busy with different projects and don't always think things through."

She grimaced and shook her head, "I just kinda assumed the Brotherhood would have some protection magic, but I should have asked. I should have made sure you were all safe right from the start."

"Anyways that's fixed now," she added. "All of you are protected, either with an amulet or an enchanted tattoo. So hopefully we won't have any more situations like what happened to Phoebe in Yorkshire or what got Owen and Martin in Kent."

That sounded like good news, although I found myself glancing around the room as I wondered who else opted for the permanent protection. From the way they were smiling I was positive Alys and Emma both had some new ink, and for that matter something told me our newest hire did as well. Probably a cute mark on her hip, if I had to guess. Grace and Terry were much harder to read. I figured our tech guy might have picked the tattoo, while the doctor was probably more comfortable with an amulet.

Meanwhile Miss Talbot continued, "I'm still hoping LIES will be able to take care of itself going forward, since like I said I get busy with different projects and stuff. Basically I'm not always around to help. Maybe we can consider this a kind of do-over, or a fresh start?"

Miss Zaitsev chimed in, "Ultimately our goal is for LIES to become completely self-sufficient. Grace and I have talked a bit on this already, and I'm sure we'll be working together more in the next few months until that's been achieved."

Then our young boss moved on to the next topic, "Wrapping up loose ends from your last few cases, you all know I visited Valerie Townsend and Gabrielle Hoffman just over a week ago. I reversed all Val's changes, which made both she and her wife happy."

"As for your undead angel thing," she continued, "It looks like smashing those bracelets made it all the way dead. The body was being held for examination, but I made sure it got cremated instead."

"Oh and killing it freed that Kent cop from its mind control. And released everyone else who'd been affected by its 'religious experience' trick," she added.

Zoe took over at that point, "Cindy and I fixed all the legal stuff that case stirred up. Your uh, Home Office I think it's called? Those people know the truth, and some of the top cops in London and Canterbury do as well. The main thing is there won't be any legal problems for any of you going forward. LIES remains independent, but there's an unofficial 'off the record' understanding now."

Finally Miss Talbot asked, "I think that's it? That's the last couple cases all sorted out."

"Actually I have a question if you don't mind?" I spoke up. In fact I had several, especially regarding Miss Zaitsev's comments regarding the Home Office. For now though I was focused on something more important. "It's regarding the case in North Yorkshire."

Our boss shrugged, "Sure, what is it?"

I responded, "If you're helping everyone hurt by things that came through the Anomaly, have you checked with Inspector Jenny Carter at all? She was affected by the same thing that got Phoebe."

"Oh yeah," the blonde teen replied. "We went and saw her uh, when was that?"

"We met her in Whitby on November twenty-fourth," her girlfriend reminded her.

Miss Talbot nodded, "Right! We saw Jenny and Maureen, they're a cute couple. Jenny said she was doing alright and didn't need any help, so we left them to it."

That surprised me, especially since the inspector hadn't said anything when I spoke with her back on the seventh. I understood why a moment later when Miss Zaitsev spoke up again.

"I don't think Dr. O'Conner trusted us," the catgirl commented. "Or maybe she didn't believe us? She said if she and Jenny wanted to fix anything they'd do it themselves with Cindy's spell."

Then with a grin and a swish of her tail she added, "I'm pretty sure she had no idea she was talking to the girl who created the spell when she said it!"

Our boss just shrugged at that. Then in passing she commented, "They were both part of the eighth wave two days ago, so that's all sorted out."

"Anyways that's pretty much everything Zoe and I had for you folks," she continued. "So if there aren't any more questions we'll leave you to it."

That last bit of news left me with several new questions, but they were for Jenny Carter rather than Miss Talbot. No-one else had anything to say either, so our boss and her girlfriend bid the rest of us a good day. There was a flare of purple light in Cindy's eyes, then she and Zoe vanished.

Dr. Bishop grimaced slightly, "The only other thing I have on the agenda for this morning is regarding Owen's and Martin's status. Both are taking an extended leave of absence, while they recover from their recent ordeal."

"Martin isn't doing so badly," Terry chimed in. "If something comes up and he's needed just say the word and he'll be available."

Grace nodded, "That's good to hear, thank you."

"Owen's not doing as well," she continued with a frown. "He's fine in terms of physical health. Mentally and emotionally though he's struggling to come to terms with what he experienced, and what he was made to do while under the entity's control."

Our new ponygirl coworker spoke up, "I'm obviously not going to share any details, but I've already met with Martin. And I've begun working with Owen. I'll also be reaching out to the rest of you over the next week or two, to arrange some one-on-one time."

"If anybody wants or needs to speak with me sooner though please don't hesitate to ask," she added. "You can email me, Ava at LIES. I'll also make sure you've all got the rest of my contact info after the meeting."

Phoebe couldn't resist commenting at that point, "We're going to need a bigger building at this rate. Where's our new shrink gonna set up shop, in the loo?"

Dr. Bishop gave the redhead a hard look before responding, "That's one of the many topics Zoe and I have already started to discuss. Unfortunately Miss Talbot selected these facilities before either Owen or I had a chance to really evaluate what we'd be doing and what sort of requirements we might have. So we may well be looking at a change of venue at some point soon. Until -"

"I vote for Roald Dahl Plass!" Alys interrupted with a wide grin. "It's too perfect, if we're moving then that's where our new secret headquarters has to go!"

That got Emma and Terry smiling. Even our new ponygirl looked amused by the suggestion. In fact I was positive we all knew which sci-fi show the teen was referring to.

Grace meanwhile just rolled her eyes and continued, "Until a decision is made however, we'll muddle through here as best we can. And that's actually all I have for now. Things have been mercifully quiet this past week, at least in terms of supernatural news."

She added with a sigh, "I'm sure we've all heard about the tragedy in Inverness, but thankfully that has nothing to do with us. So I think that's about it, unless someone else has anything to add? Perhaps we can get away with shutting down from now until the new year."

Alys spoke up again at that point, although she was cringing a bit as she did so. "There is one thing, maybe? It might be nothing, but I thought I'd mention it. Incase it does turn out to be something after all."

Dr. Bishop looked at her and asked, "Go on then, what have you found?"

The teen seemed almost embarrassed as she explained, "Like I said it might be nothing? But someone's been talking on social media for the past six months now, about fairy sightings on Anglesey? Emma and I have been following the reports since LIES started, but it's always just been talk. Or once or twice there's been blurry pictures that could be anything really."

"Only last week some new pictures were posted, and they're not blurry at all," she announced with an excited smile. "I suppose it's possible it could be a hoax, but honestly the pictures look genuine to me."

Emma joined in at that point, "If they're fakes they're really well done. I certainly couldn't find any evidence of trickery in the images."

"When you say fairies," Phoebe began with a suspicious frown on her face, "D'you mean fae in general? Because we've run into a few of them with the Brotherhood. Nasty buggers, they act all nice and friendly at first, but sooner or later their harmless fun always seems to turn deadly."

Alys shook her head and insisted, "I mean fairies, or pixies maybe? Like tiny magical people with wings."

"The ones in the pictures can't be more than ten centimetres tall," she added.

Emma disagreed, "I don't think they're that big. Eight centimetres, tops."

Dr. Bishop took over again, "Where exactly on Anglesey have these fairies been seen? And how many people are reporting them?"

"The sightings have all been in and around the Newborough Nature Reserve and Forest," the witchy teen replied. "That's in the south-west corner of Ynys Mon."

Alys blushed slightly as she answered the other question, "To be honest there's only been one person who's reporting them. But their description's been consistent, and I think the pictures prove it's legit."

"There's another reason I thought this might need to be looked at now," she added sadly. "The person who's been reporting the sightings has been talking lately about joining the fairies, as in they want to disappear with them. Which usually isn't a good thing."

Emma chimed in again, "On the one hand 'away with the fairies' can mean someone's a daydreamer or prone to flights of fancy. We all know though, when it comes to humans associating with the fae there's a lot of unhappy endings in the folklore."

Feebs was still frowning as she asked, "Are we thinking these are entities from the Anomaly? If so, how'd some tiny fairies get all the way from Oxfordshire to Anglesey?"

"That's the other thing," Alys responded. "Emma and I noticed the first sightings happened only a few weeks after the witness mentioned their sister came home for summer break. So maybe the fairies somehow followed big sis when she came back from school?"

Phoebe's eyes narrowed as she asked, "Which school?"

"Oxford," Alys announced. "As in, just up river from Abingdon-on-Thames."

Grace nodded slowly, "The Anomaly wasn't closed until August, so the timing fits. And I don't imagine tiny flying magical people would have had much trouble sneaking past the perimeter, or the armed guards."

After thinking it over for a few moments the doctor looked to my partner and I, "This doesn't feel high priority, but perhaps we should have a look? Do you two fancy a trip to North Wales?"

Phoebe and I exchanged a glance, then the redhead nodded. "Aye, we'll check it out. Send us the file, we'll go see if we can't find ourselves some fairies."

"I'll email you all the details this afternoon!" Alys responded with a grin. "If you do find them make sure to take lots of pictures! Assuming they're friendly, I mean."

Feebs rolled her eyes, while I smiled. "We'll see what we can do."