The Nexus

"Have you finished your cases for the week?"

Hand firmly resting against the desk, the white-blonde haired woman looked down at the young man in front of her, as he quickly shuffled through his paper work. The look she was giving was... far past condescending.

The male she was glaring at seemed to shrink away under her gaze, wishing he hadn't asked to leave early now. He quietly shook his head, and Favor stood up straight. "Then no. You aren't leaving early. You won't leave early, until you are finished with your cases. And by my count... you have three open." She raised her hand holding out three fingers. The young man just gave a hard swallow and nodded his head.

She turned away from him, her hair whipping about her as she did. Wearing a black vest and skirt, over her long sleeved white button up blouse and red tie, she had a different style to her... than what she may have had several centuries ago. Back then, things were different. But times had changed... people and things modernized, and she had to adapt with it.

Magic was less used. It was still known about, but she had seen those with great potential taken down, because they may one day be a threat. So, she hid what she could do. She had to earn money the old fashioned way. Doing odd jobs... and eventually creating a business out of it.

Lost your dog? Mystik Services would find it. Need help finding that last coin for your collection? Mystik Services could help. Find your spouse's lover? No problem.

She had even done some supernatural jobs. She usually took those on herself, finding it a change of pace from the normal, boring day.

Making her way into her office, and closing the door, Favor sat in her chair, giving a long sigh. This day, it was dragging on forever. She just wanted it to end.";

The door to the office opened tentatively and a young woman came in, looking around. She didn't seem like she knew if she were in the right place or not. She clung to the purse strap over her chest and took a few steps forward.

"Uhm, I was told that you could help me find some..one?" She was a pretty woman, probably in her later twenties with honey colored hair and dark green eyes. She smiled politely and waited for a response from the man sitting at the desk doing paperwork.

The young man glanced up at her, and then over to his co-worker, a mousy looking girl with glasses and dark hair. She seemed busy with her own work, and he sighed. Another case...

"Of course, who would it be that you are looking for?" he asked, leaning into his desk, moving papers aside. He motioned to the chair in front of him, offering her a seat.

"The fee for find this person depends on the difficulty."

The woman looked around hesitantly and then sat. She was wearing a tan pea coat with a matching skirt beneath and modest heels. She placed her purse on her lap and crossed her ankles after sitting.

"It is sort of a strange thing I am asking, but I just have to find him. I, uh.." She looked at her hand a moment and held one out. "Sorry, my name is Eliza." She waited for him to shake it, if he would before placing it back down and continuing.

"And I am looking for an Angel."

The man looked at her hand, and gave it a quick shake. "Alex," he said, giving his name. He waited for her to explain a little more. When she said angel, he lifted a brow. "Are you speaking in a metaphorical term?"

He gave a glance to Favor's door, as she opened it, walking out with several files, and then turned back to Elise.

She shook her head, blushing with embarrassment. "No, I do mean the literal sense. I saw him with my own eyes. I ... I know it sounds crazy."

She shifted and hugged her purse to her chest. "My son wasn't playing in the park downtown... and I had taken my eyes off him for only a minute when he chased his ball into the road... I..." Her eyes were suddenly full of tears and the falling liquid left dark spots on her skirt. "He was hit by a car."

Eliza took a deep breath and soldiered on. "I couldn't do anything but yell and the car drove off. Before I even got to Jake, a man showed up first. I thought he was a hobo, or something by the look of him, but..." She shook her head and her face lit up. "He had wings. The most wonderful wings... Not white, like you might expect, but darker. I was running for my boy and this strange knelt by him and there was a light..."

She wiped a hand across her face to dry her eyes. "When the light subsided, he was running off and my boy was sitting up as if there had never been a car, he'd never been hit! It was a miracle."

Alex seemed skeptical at first, but as she told her story, he soon found he was sitting up straight, leaning forward. Even Favor had stopped to listen. Her eyes narrowed at her words.

"That sounds interesting but I'm not sure --" Alex started, but Favor's hand rested on his shoulder and he stopped.

"Seems like you have a special case. I'd gladly take this up for you, if you wish." Favor closed her eyes for a moment, before she turned, motioning for the woman to follow her into her office.

She'd motion to a plush chair, and close the door once the woman was in.

"Forgive my employees. They don't always believe everything they here. I know better though. I've seen things like you have described. I've handled a few cases like your own, even."

She's circle around, behind her desk and sit, leaning onto her elbow against the desk. "So, this angel healed your son... and he was good as new. I'd be happy to find this angel for you. I suppose you don't know his name, since he ran off, but could you describe him for me?"

Eliza could see the skepticism on his face, but she never faltered. "It's true!" She was about to plead her case again when Favor stepped in. Eliza's face lit up and she stood, hand held out to Favor.

"Thank you, oh thank you!" She stood to follow Favor into her office and sat in the chair indicated.

"I don't know his name, no. I just want to find him and thank him and repay him anyway I can for saving my son." She thought about it a moment. "It's hard to say what he looked like. He was wearing mismatched clothing and a hat... I think his hair was on the longer side and maybe light brown? Or red? It might have just been the color of the hat."

Favor frowned. That wasn't much to go off of, especially in this city. "Hmm, well, this might take a while, if that is all you can tell me about him. What I'll have to do, is find some people who match your description. I'll take photos, show them to you, and you can point him out. Don't forget, or let his image fade. Remind yourself a few times a day what he looked like."

She slid a piece of paper over to the woman. "Fill out all your information. I'll need to contact you when I gather some things. The quoted price is at the bottom."

Her finger was placed beside the amount, which was near $200. "If everything is okay, just sign at the bottom. And my name is Favor, and here is my number." She also sat down a business card.

Eliza was nodding. "I was told you could help." She was gladly filling out all of her information now and then she wrote out a check. "I don't think I could forget the look of him if I tried. My boy is my life, you see. And I need my Angel to know that." She slid the check to Favor and smiled.

"Thank you again."

Favor took the check, and waved it back and forth, like she was making sure it was real. She nodded her head, and stood, opening the door for her. "Well, then I best get to work right away, hmm? I'll contact you as soon as I find something." Those words might have been pleasant coming from a normal person, but when Favor said them, they seemed less than such.

Once Eliza was out of the room, Favor would place the check in her desk and lock the drawer. She glanced around once, before she nodded her head. She didn't have any active cases, so she could work on this right away.

She picked up her long, black coat, and made her way out. "Don't forget to lock up if I'm not back when you leave," she would say to Alex, as she left.

"Yes ma'am," he would reply, and then she was gone.

Camera in her pocket, and her bag on her shoulder, she made her way down the main street, heading toward the downtown park, to see if she could find this angel.

Eliza thanked her again profusely and saw herself out. She thanked Alex as well before leaving the office.

---

Nels was sitting on a park bench just under a tree enjoying some roasted nuts he had been able to buy. Street food was not exactly pandered to his sort of diet, but the nuts were very good.

The thing about downtown... There were a lot of hobo-esque people. But, might as well take photos of the ones that had long, brown or red hair. It was rather tedious, because every picture she took, she had to make sure to write down the location of that picture.

It would do no good to take a picture and then forget where the person was.

Even during the day, downtown was busy. It was annoying to Favor, to be around so many people. But whatever paid the bills, she would put up with it.

Snapping a pic of someone in an alley way, she made her way down the sidewalk. She had a good twenty pictures, all from around the park, so hopefully one of them was Eliza's man. She rubbed the side of her head, as she pocketed her camera. That would be enough for today.

If none of them was the 'Angel', then she'd come back. She started to turn, as a large crowd passed by, before she noticed a man sitting on a park bench.

"Well, one more couldn't hurt," she said, pulling out her camera again, and raising it up, trying to be inconspicuous about it. Zoom in, to get a good shot of his face and...

Favor froze. That face. She had seen that face before, but she couldn't quite place where. But whoever he was, her gut told her that she should leave.

Taking a quick picture, she slipped the camera back into her pocket, and turned quickly to return to her work.

Favor could see through her lens that the man was simply sitting on the bench and munching away on the cashews of whatever they were. He seemed like he hadn't a care in the world by the smile on his face. Periodically he would look up and watch some people as they passed. If someone looked back, he would give them a wave.

That was how he noticed Favor. His smile fell as she turned on her heel and started to move away. It couldn't have been her though, she was... Buried under flowers.

Her mind was racing. Trying to remember that man. But she seemed to have trouble remembering. The passage of time easily swept away memories, and if it had been such a long while, then maybe it wasn't really that important.

But something told her there was more to it than that.

Unlocking her office door, she made her way to her desk, setting up her camera and printing off the pictures. She called Eliza, leaving a voicemail, asking her to come in tomorrow, to view the pictures.

As the pictures printed off, she looked at them, until the last one was finished, and she was looking at that man's face again. She picked up the page, holding it for the longest moment, before she raised her other hand to her chest, where her scar would be underneath her shirt.

Eliza had received the voice mail and would be at the office first thing in the morning. This time she came in with a little boy who looked about four or five. He was all bundled up for the winter and he looked around with curious blue green eyes.

She greeted whoever was at the front desk that morning and told them she was here to see Favor.

Alex was there, at his usual desk. He had stood up, to go retrieve Favor, but she had already opened her door. She motioned for Eliza to come into her office, where she had the folder of photos on her desk.

"This must be your son," she said, giving the boy a look. "How pleasant." Not pleasant. She didn't like to have children in her office.

"Take a look at these, both of you, and let me know if any of them seem familiar."

"Yes, this is my little world." She bopped her son's nose lovingly and the boy's face lit up. Favor was telling her she had photos to look at and she placed the boy in the chair.

"Now Honey, I want you to look at these pictures with Mommy and tell me if you recognize anyone, okay?" The little boy sniffled and nodded. Eliza took the photos and crouched before him so they could both look.

"That one!" Her son lit up again and took the photo of the last man. He waved it about enthusiastically.

Favor watched as the boy waved the picture around. She had a feeling he would pick that one. "Well, if you want, we can go visit the last area I saw him in."

She hadn't even marked it down, but she remembered where he had been.

She'd get her coat, and throw it on again, before she went to head out. "No slacking, Alex," she said, as she passed by the male, and he sat up straight.

She would lead the two toward the park, shifting through the crowds and stopping where she had taken the picture of him, looking around.

Eliza was having a little bit of trouble keeping up. It was not easy to slip through people as Favor had with a little boy in tow. But she managed to keep Favor in sight, so that was a plus.

Nels hadn't gone very far at all. He was still rather sleepy as he crossed the street from a fast food place across from the park. The people there were nice and they let him use the facilities.