Despite a lot of time having passed, Morden didn’t attempt to open the box that night.
He told himself it was because he was too exhausted to trust his own judgment with something that fragile, but some smaller, quieter part of him knew that wasn’t the whole truth either.
He was scared of what he would find out and how it would tie back to his mom, and he knew it.
’Tomorrow. I’ll deal with it tomorrow, when my head isn’t this foggy,’ he thought before falling asleep on the couch.
The same couch he had Chosen as his bed for the past few days. He had only slept in his bedroom once.
By the time morning came with the bright light shimmering through the window, he’d already made up his mind about where he needed to go first.
He arrived at the Bearer’s organization earlier than the crowd that usually built up; the entrance was still quiet enough that his footsteps echoed faintly against the polished floor.
The receptionist near the front barely looked up as he passed, and this time he didn’t bother asking for directions. He knew exactly where he was going.
While he walked, he couldn’t help but think back to that same receptionist again. He had been through this place about three times in the last two days, and he hadn’t seen her once.
He passed through the corridor, into the elevator, and down into the Watchmen underground area. He greeted Brenda before heading straight to Mona’s office.
The hurriedness in him made him not bother with his two teammates for now.
Mona’s office door was shut when he reached it, and for a moment he considered turning back, hesitation creeping into his heart. He slowly but surely started doubting all he had in mind.
’No. She said I wasn’t eligible. She didn’t say I couldn’t come back.’
He knocked once, and he made sure to do it firmly enough that there was no mistaking it for hesitation.
"Come in."
Mona was already seated behind her desk when he stepped through the door, her expression settling into something carefully unreadable the moment she saw who it was.
"Back so soon," she said, not quite a question.
"I found something," Morden said, deciding against wasting time with anything softer.
Mona’s eyebrow rose slightly, though she didn’t move from her chair.
"I told you yesterday—"
"This isn’t about the case file," Morden cut in.
"At least not directly, anyway."
And just as he expected, that got her attention properly. She leaned back, arms crossing, studying him the way she always did when she was deciding how much patience to extend.
"Go on then."
"My mom’s roses reacted to me when I got home," he said.
"Moving on their own, responding to touch like they were alive in a way they shouldn’t be."
"Living things can change due to Vital Energy exposure," Mona said evenly.
"That’s not new information."
"I know," Morden said.
"I read about it. But it’s not random which parts of the house reacted."
He watched her face carefully as he said the next part.
"It traces a path. Straight from the side garden to a box sitting outside my mother’s room. Like someone walked that exact route the night it happened, close enough the whole time to leave something behind."
For the first time since he’d walked in, something shifted behind Mona’s composed expression, quick enough that he might have missed it if he hadn’t been watching so closely.
"You didn’t open the box," she said.
It wasn’t a question either, but this time it felt different from her usual flat statements. This one felt like she actually needed to know the answer.
"Not yet," Morden said.
"I wanted to talk to you first."
Mona was quiet for a long moment, her fingers tapping once against the arm of her chair before stilling completely.
"You understand what you’re telling me," she said slowly.
"You’re saying the house itself might still be holding evidence the investigators missed."
"I’m saying I found something on my own," Morden said.
"Without the case file. Without anyone deciding whether I qualified for it or not."
Mona’s eyes narrowed slightly, though there wasn’t any real anger behind it, more like she was recalculating something in real time.
"That’s not a small claim, Morden."
"I’m not asking you to hand me anything for free," he said. "I’m telling you I’m going to open that box whether you help me or not. I’d rather do it with someone who actually knows what they’re looking at."
A strange silence stretched between them, and it was longer this time, heavy enough that Morden could hear the faint hum of the lights overhead.
"You’re not doing this the way I’d have advised," Mona said finally.
"I never do; that’s just me," Morden said.
The corner of her mouth twitched, and though it was not quite a smile, it was close enough to one that it caught him off guard.
"Fine," she said, standing from her chair.
"Show me the garden first. I want to see the pattern myself before we touch anything inside that box."
Morden felt something loosen slightly in his chest, though he kept it from showing on his face.
"And the case file?" he asked, unable to help himself.
Mona’s expression flattened back into its usual composed stillness as she moved past him toward the door.
"One step at a time," she said.
"You’re not eligible for the file. You never said anything about a box."
Morden smiled strangely, not sure how he was supposed to react to Mona’s current antiques. It was obvious she was using her authority over him a little, but he still wasn’t sure how he should get out of it.
So for now, he would just smile and follow along with everything that was going on; as long as things made progress, it was fine.
"Alright, let’s head over to my place," he said.
"But first, I would like to say hi to Darlus and Lisa."
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