**
Only a small gathering stood, heads bowed in the light drizzle, the sky gray, sun veiled by clouds. The attendees were what was left of the founding members of Gideon Enterprises; even Madeline and Maggie had made an appearance. Hugo stared at the damp grass and his shoes, unable to look at anyone who’d gathered at the man’s second funeral. CJ shifted in place beside him in the black suit that mostly fit her wiry frame, that the doctor had helped her pick out. He’d had to buy a suit as well, and it felt like the tie was nearly choking him. The girls were standing on either side of him, Clem was beside the doctor.
The service ended and slowly people drifted away from the hole in the ground. Mr. Hansen remained, and for a long time, so did Mr. Gideon.
Dr. McFadden tilted her umbrella towards Hugo, lightly touching his elbow. “Come on. It’s time to go.”
Hugo hesitated, his eyes on Mr. Hansen’s back, and then he moved with the two girls. Clem followed. The doctor dropped CJ and Clem off at Gideon Enterprises but asked Hugo to wait when he started to climb out of the car too. “Let me take you home. Or, perhaps you could come over and play my piano. It might help make you feel better.”
He didn’t need to feel better. He was fine. He had work to do; he didn’t have time to play. “I’m fine.” He climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut. He walked towards Gideon Enterprises.
Clem was waiting for him at the entrance, “We should talk.”
Fuck, why did everyone want to talk today? He just wanted to be left alone to work, that’s all. “About what?”
“About what happened. I know it wasn’t your intention to kill any of those people.”
“Great. Then what’s there to talk about?”
“What are you trying to do here?” Hugo blinked, taking a step away from the taller man. His tone hinted at deeper knowledge. Had he been reading Hugo’s mind? “I’m not reading your mind, if that’s what you’re worried about,” his tone was amused, “But that’s not the only way to read someone. You do it too, don’t you?”
Hugo shifted, shoving his hands in his pockets. He wanted to deny it, tell Clem he had no idea what he was talking about. But he couldn’t think of anything convincing, so he just stared at him, probably with a stupid expression on his face.
“It’s about Mr. Gideon, isn’t it? You don’t trust him. I don’t either. There’s something fundamentally wrong with him, that no one else seems to be able to see. But you do, and I think Dr. McFadden might as well. What is it that you know?”
Hugo cast his eyes around nervously, but there was no one around to overhear them. Or even see them talking together. “I…well…it’s complicated.”
The jazz guitarist smiled a wide, knowing smile. This was what he was waiting for, “Then show me.”
Hugo blinked, “How?”
“Let me read your mind. I promise to stick just to Mr. Gideon and the company and anything you think is relevant,” Clem explained, his voice soothing despite the proposition.
“You need permission?”
The smile just got wider. “No, but you wouldn’t trust me if I did it without asking.”
“I-I guess you’re right.” Hugo pushed his hands deeper in his pockets. Was this a bad idea? He could definitely use a telepath’s help. Oh god why was Clem talking to him after what he’d done to him? Did he just wanna screw him over? Maybe he was working with Mr. Gideon. Or maybe Clem could see through the man’s carefully constructed persona and in that case, Hugo really needed his help. “Ok. Um… do it.”
The smile flickered for a few seconds, but returned in full force, a touch of sympathy folded in, “Oh, sorry. The uh, explosion…I know about your visions. I know you were trying to hide that.”
Hugo’s face got really hot. He hadn’t even thought of that. Dammit. He was absolutely horrid at keeping secrets. Just hopefully his friends were better at it. “I-it’s ok.”
Clem tapped his temple, “That’s an interesting place you’ve got in there. A lot going on.”
“Patrick said something similar,” Hugo mumbled at the ground.
“No, it’s good. It made it difficult to find what I was looking for.”
Hugo blinked in surprise, “Really?”
Clem smiled encouragingly, “Yeah.” Then the smile straightened out, “So this explosion. I can help you look into it. But I can’t read Mr. Gideon’s mind.”
“He can dampen powers!” Both of them looked equally startled at Hugo’s declaration. He hadn’t realized he’d been coming to that conclusion but it made a lot of sense in retrospect. Even Mr. Hansen couldn’t get his ability to work on Mr. Gideon, he’d made a special note of it in his report.
Clem shrugged his narrow shoulders, “Well, that explains a lot. But if there’s anyone else who knows about it, I’ll find them.”
Hugo stared at Clem, perplexed, but there was nothing but sincerity in his relaxed expression. “T-thanks.”
“Well, we gotta save the city, right?” Clem grinned, almost as if this were all a joke, but somehow still conveyed that he was taking it seriously, regardless of his peculiar sense of humor.
Hugo nodded at him, “Right.”
Somehow, he’d managed to gain another ally.