Sibling Psychic Detectives

Faith kissed him gently on the cheek. "Night, Silly."

"You're on my side, you know."

"I know."

"You said-"

"Shut the fuck up, Sil."

Silas smiled to himself. He found that he didn't mind having Faith cuddled up with him. It was a nice feeling after so long with little to no intimate contact.

Despite being tired, Silas didn't fall asleep for a while. Partly his inability to move around and get comfortable without disturbing Faith might have impeded him. More than that, it seemed, his sister's warmth and breathing were a significant distraction.

It was soothing and comforting to lie still and listen to her soft breaths slow down by minuscule degrees until she was unconscious. The feel of her hair, her breasts, and her leg on him was a guilty pleasure that he knew he shouldn't allow himself. The only reason he didn't do anything about it was that Faith had been the one to position herself so close. It was all her fault, really.

"Night, Fai," Silas whispered, long after she most likely couldn't hear him anymore anyway.

He closed his eyes and let his breathing slow to match his sister's. The transition to sleep was a gradual, unnoticed, and peaceful affair.

****

Faith jerked awake the next morning. She pushed away from Silas and tried to recall exactly what happened. Pieces of it were there, forefront of her mind. Others were lost or didn't make any sense.

Why exactly had she whined and pleaded until not only had he brought her home, but actually let her sleep with him? That was a little too pathetic, even for her.

Or was it?

Faith sighed and conceded the point. No, no it wasn't too pathetic for her. She was used to loneliness, but she'd never properly embraced it. It was just something she had to deal with. And when given an opportunity to seek a little physical comfort... well, how could she blame herself?

Silas still slept blissfully beside her. He was far more adorable in that state. So unguarded, unconcerned about the trials of life. She passed a moment wondering if she looked the same way while sleeping. Probably something similar, she assumed.

After a moment, Faith gingerly settled back into her former spot without waking her brother. Why shouldn't she enjoy it a few more minutes? Any harm it would cause had already been done. Might as well savour the good parts.

It would have been far too easy to get used to snuggling with Silas. He felt good. Granted, she had very little experience sleeping with boys, so perhaps it was just the novelty talking. But the physical reassurance combined with brotherly love and trust was a potent mix.

Silas eventually stirred awake. Faith thought about trying to hide, but it was an instinctive reaction rather than a rational one. He already knew she was there, and there was nowhere to hide anyway.

"Hey," Faith said in a quiet voice.

Silas blinked a few times, then smiled. "Hey yourself."

"Sorry I got a little weird last night."

"What? Oh, the sleeping thing? Yeah, don't worry about it."

"Are you sure? I mean, I know I kind of intruded, and you probably don't want your sister coming along and ruining your privacy and whatever, and-"

Silas cupped Faith's cheek. She hesitated, being quite unused to the gesture. His continued soft smile eased her anxiety, at least.

"It was nice," Silas said. "I don't often get girls pleading to sleep with me. I kinda liked it."

Faith rolled her eyes, though internally she felt warmth and a lessening of her turmoil. "It wasn't that kind of 'sleeping,' dummy."

"If you say so."

"I'm your sister. You shouldn't even make those kinds of jokes about me."

"Or perhaps it's all the funnier because you're my sister."

"All the grosser, more like."

Faith abruptly rolled out of bed. She needed a little space before things turned awkward. Not that they necessarily would, but there was a definite risk in staying put.

"Where you going all of a sudden?" Silas asked.

"Nowhere. Just time to get up, is all."

"Oh. Ok. I guess."

"You got any breakfast-type foods, or am I just gonna have to starve for now?"

"Nah, I got cereal. And bagels, I think. Assuming they haven't gone bad."

Faith gave her brother a sidelong glance. "Cereal it is. Or... do I have to worry about the edibleness of the milk as well?"

"It's fine. Bought it two days ago. Or three." Silas paused and looked thoughtful. "Four tops."

"Good lord. How do you keep yourself alive?"

"Luck and dashing good looks?"

"I... yeah. Sure. We'll go with that."

Faith strolled away to assemble some kind of non-toxic breakfast. She glanced back at Silas a few times, and was mildly disconcerted that he seemed to be watching her. Hopefully that didn't mean anything bad. But then, if it meant something good, that might be just as worrying in its own way.

****

Silas had some time to himself when he first opened up the office for the day. Faith had swung over to their parents' place for a shower and change of clothes. She'd promised to be as quick as possible, though Silas truly wasn't worried about it. He'd handled his business alone for quite a while, after all.

Well, almost alone. Silas smiled as he stepped through the door and was greeted by the sight of Aggie hanging near-motionless in the middle of the room.

"Hey, spooky-girl," Silas said. "I see you're back."

"Sure am, meatbag."

"Finished pouting?"

Aggie frowned. "I might have overreacted a bit."

"I'll say."

"But you were a bit of a dick too."

"What else is new?"

Aggie glared and folded her arms. She moved in front of Silas as he tried to cross to his office. He could just walk through her, of course, but doing that was just creepy.

"Alright," Silas sighed. "You're right. I could have handled shit a little better too. I'm sorry, ok?"

Aggie's expression softened a bit. "Do you mean that, or are you just trying to placate me?"

"Both."

"Fair enough."

Silas stepped forward, and Aggie drifted to the side. She fell in beside him until he reached his desk and sat down.

"Fai's gonna be working with us for the foreseeable future," Silas said. "Are you going to be ok with that?"

"You really should consult with me about these things. It's not fair you just get to make decisions and expect me to live with them."

"No, it isn't fair. But neither is being pestered by an invisible friend until you can't maintain a normal relationship with a living person. I'd say we're roughly even."

"Can't believe you're still holding that against me," Aggie mumbled.

"You're still doing it! Of course I'm holding it against you!" Silas waved his hand in the direction of Faith's office. "You tried to get me to kick my sister out, remember?"

"Ancient history, dude. Why can't you just let the past be the past?"

Silas slumped and shook his head. "Yeah, alright. Whatever. Hush for a few minutes, would you? I have to listen to some messages. You know, do work."

"You got it, boss."

Silas narrowed his eyes, but didn't push things any further. Minor victories were basically the best he could hope for with Aggie.

****

Faith ran later getting to work than she liked. Her arm had been running lower on power than she realized, which meant taking it off for recharging. That gave the rest of her tasks just that little bit of extra challenge.

Then, of course, she had to field questions from concerned parents who didn't quite seem to grasp that she was capable of taking care of herself now. It didn't matter that she'd been totally on her own for the past couple years, as soon as she was back it was like she was a rebellious teenager all over again.

Fortunately, Silas hadn't seemed to concerned about her arrival time when she checked in with him. Granted, his management style seemed to be rather on the slack side anyway, even if he wasn't her brother. And she wasn't entirely certain what her work hours were even meant to be, or what she was getting paid, or... any details at all, really. She'd have to discuss those things at some point.

Upon arrival, Faith was quickly worried by just how amused her brother was. Not minding her showing up hella late was one thing, enjoying it was something else entirely.

"Alright, what are you smirking about?" Faith demanded.

"Whatever do you mean?" Silas asked without the slightest fading of his grin.

"You've got that look like you're about to do something horrible to me. I grew up with you. I know what it looks like."

"Perish the thought. I'm just excited because I've found the perfect case for you."

"That doesn't reassure me."

"It probably shouldn't."

Faith was unable to drag any more details out of her brother until their new client, Enid, arrived. She was an old lady, though still in reasonable physical shape, given that she walked and drove unassisted. Faith put on a false cheerful face as she followed her brother and the lady into Silas's office.

Introductions were made, though Faith was only half paying attention. Silas was up to some manner of shenanigans and it was bugging her like crazy that she didn't know what they were.

"So, Enid," Silas said with a quick Cheshire-cat smile at his sister. "Why don't you explain your problem for Faith. She's the one I told you about. I really think she can help."

Goddammit. Faith maintained a frozen expression of professional interest even as she wanted to leap out of her chair and smack Silas with something very heavy.

"Ah, yes," said Enid, peering intently at Faith. "You do look like the sort."

"What sort, exactly?" Faith asked, already bracing for the answer.

"Psychic, of course. This is something of a supernatural problem."

There it was. Faith should have realized that would come back to bite her in the ass. "I see."

"Oh yes," Enid continued. "I'm quite sure there's a ghost haunting me."

"Is there really?" Faith asked, trying really hard not to direct full-on murder-eyes at her brother.

"There have been all these things moving and falling over," prattled the old woman. "And sounds late at night." She raised a finger. "It all started when my husband died. It could be that he hasn't found peace in the afterlife. He might need help."

"Could be," Faith agreed without really paying attention. She carefully, sneakily, produced a quarter and set it on Silas's desk. She lined up her shot with the exquisite perfection only a computer-enhanced eye could produce. Then, with a motorized finger joint, flicked the coin at her brother. Hard.

"Ow!" Silas yelped, startling their elderly client.

Faith remained the picture of innocence as Silas tried to explain away his outburst. He deserved it, trapping her with this crazy old lady who thought her husband was back from the dead. What nonsense. Ghosts weren't real. Everybody knew that.

****

"An actual ghost case, huh?" Aggie said.

Since Faith was also present in the car, Silas couldn't answer. Aggie knew that, and once again seized an opportunity to speak aloud without interruption.

"I mean, we've had those ones before where there wasn't really anything strange going on. Just paranoia," Aggie continued. "Although there was that one that might have been a ghost that buggered off before we got there."

Silas scratched his ear as though it might help him block out his invisible companion.

"I have a good feeling about this one," Aggie said without pause. "There's gonna be a real ghost, I'm gonna have a friend for a while, then when they fuck off like all my ghost friends eventually do, it'll actually be productive. That'll be a nice change."

"I can't believe we're actually doing this," Faith said.

"Oh thank god," Silas breathed in relief from Aggie's unanswerable monologue.

Faith cocked her head. "What?"

"Nothing. And yes, we're actually doing this."

"But it's dumb."

"It's an investigation opportunity. We're going to investigate. And get paid."

"But... but... we'll just be taking money from a crazy old woman."

"Partly, yes," Silas conceded. "But there might actually be something going on. Not necessarily ghost related."

"Definitely not ghost related," Faith said.

"Hey!" Aggie interjected. "That's livingist!"

"But there could be something," Silas said, raising his voice louder than necessary.

"There's not even gonna be," Faith pouted, folding her arms across her chest. "You just took this case as a jab at me. Just because I said I was psychic."

"To be fair, you're the one making the claim, so you shouldn't be so upset that I want to put it to use. Also, yeah, it's kinda funny."

"Dick."

"Oh lighten up. If it turns out to be nothing, then it's nothing. We'll only have to be there maybe an hour or two tops."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

They arrived at Enid's house and set up camp in her living room. Silas had made sure to bring cameras, a laptop, sound equipment, and other such things that he hoped made them look like an old lady's idea of ghost hunters. In truth, of course, he had something far better than technology.

"I'ma go float around, see what's what," Aggie said.

Silas glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was in ear shot. "Yeah, you do that," he whispered back.

"Don't have too much fun with your new girlfriend while I'm gone," Aggie said, just before taking off through the wall.

"Sister," Silas muttered, though he knew Aggie was just trying to needle him a little. The worst part was it worked.

"So now what?" Faith asked. "We set up surveillance and wait for a book to fall off a shelf?"

"Kinda, yeah. We'll get Enid to point out the most disturbed locations, set up equipment, and go over the house while we're at it just in case there are, like, raccoons living in the attic or something."

"Fine. Let's get to it then."

Silas went through the motions. He was long since used to pretending like he was doing important work, while really he was just waiting for Aggie to solve everything. Sure it was cheating, but it worked phenomenally.

He kept half an eye on Faith as she helped examine rooms and set up equipment. He told himself it was simply to make sure she was doing things correctly, but that was a total lie. With Aggie doing all the real work anyway, it didn't really matter what he and his sister spent their time on.

"Seems pretty clear," said a voice right in Silas's ear.

Silas jumped, then sighed and gave Aggie a disgusted look. "Don't sneak up like that."

"Can't help it. Sneaking is literally my best thing."

"Yeah, well... don't."

"But you know, I wouldn't have startled you so much if you hadn't been distracted." Aggie's voice was overly chipper, with just a hint of smugness. That wasn't good.

"I was just thinking."

"Uh huh. Sure you were. Thinking while staring at your sister's butt, maybe."

"Was not!" Silas protested much too defensively.

"What?" Faith called from across the room. "I didn't catch that."

"Nothing," Silas called back. "Just... swearing at this camera. Piece of junk." He lowered his voice again. "Why would you even say that, Aggie? Or is this you trying to drive a wedge between us again?"

"Of course not," Aggie replied innocently. "We're past all that."

"Good. Because-"

"I think it's sweet how close you two are. Really warms my heart." Aggie glanced down at her chest. "Or the area my heart should be, anyway."

"Does it really? That's quite a change from being the jealous little witch you were when she first showed up."

"I know, I know. But who am I to get in the way of true love."

Silas's eyes narrowed. "You came to my place this morning, didn't you?"

"Might have."

"Fai and I were just sleeping."

"Of course you were."

"I mean it. I only have the one bed. We had to share."

"Right. 'Had to.' Got it."

"Oh fuck off, Aggie."

"Shan't."

Silas tried to ignore his ethereal companion. It was next to impossible the way she kept bouncing around in his peripheral vision, self-satisfied as anything.

It made it even worse that she'd waited to catch him staring. It had been perfectly innocent, and certainly not at Faith's butt no matter what Aggie claimed, and not matter how nice a butt-

Nope. Not going there.

It was innocent, that was the point. Nothing weird going on at all. Just a pair of siblings working together to catch a ghost. Totally normal shit.

"I think it'd be kinda hot," Aggie whispered.

Silas flipped her off and did his best not to engage verbally.

"I mean, she's not really my type," Aggie continued. "But I think you two look good together. The family resemblance probably has something to do with it."

"That's fucked, Aggie. Even for you."

"Oh come on, I'm just kidding. You know I'm kidding, Silly. Obviously you don't want to bone your sis."

"That's right."

"Maybe just see her topless every now and then..."

****

Silas seemed quite distracted. Faith wasn't sure what was going on with him, but it kind of seemed like he was muttering to himself whenever she wasn't quite in earshot. It was a little disconcerting.

Faith tried her best not to worry about her brother's apparent insanity. He was probably just annoyed with himself for taking a stupid job just to irritate her. Not very forward thinking of him, really.

"Sooo... house seems pretty quiet," Faith prodded. "Kinda like there's nothing weird going on at all."

"Yeah, kinda," said Silas. "Nothing on the ol' psychic radar, I take it."

"That's not-" Faith sighed. "Yeah. What the hell. Radar's all clear."

Silas nodded. "Then we hold tight, for now. Night's when the worst ghosting happens."

Faith watched Silas for a moment, but there was no sign that he was joking. "I really can't tell how serious you are about all of this," she said. "I mean, it has to be a joke, right? But you just... you're taking parts of this so seriously."

For a moment, Faith thought Silas was just going to ignore her. Then he seemed to reach a decision.

"What would you think if I told you ghosts are actually real?" he asked.

Faith threw her hands up. "I don't know. That you hallucinated them one time and now you believe in fairy tales? Something like that."

Silas smiled crookedly. "Then yeah, it's a joke. Just play along for a bit, convince the old lady we're doing our thing."

Faith rolled her eyes and stomped off to another room. Her stupid brother was being a tenacious pain. And it was starting to seem like it wasn't even anything to do with her, which was weird. What other motive could he have? Unless he just really, really wanted Enid's money. That felt too desperate though.

Hours passed, and Faith went from mildly annoyed to downright bored. It was nice spending time with her brother after so long apart, but she was seriously contemplating whether it was really worth it. Maybe working together just wasn't the right fit.

Faith was still contemplating her life choices when dishes started smashing in the kitchen.

"Shit!" Faith yelped as she startled to alertness. "What the hell was that?"

Silas appeared just as startled for a moment, then paused and lapsed into his 'conversing with an imaginary friend' state of being.

"Sil! What the hell, dude?" Faith demanded.

"Sorry, what?"

"You're zoning out on me like crazy. What's going on with you?"

"Nothing. Let's go check that noise out. I've a feeling we're about to encounter our reported ghost."

"Do you really?" Faith asked wearily. "Fine then. Let's go see."

Enid was in the kitchen, shards of broken plates scattered across the floor. Faith was prepared to assume that the woman had simply had a clumsy accident, but that didn't quite feel right. For one thing, Enid was pleading with the air to 'stop this nonsense and try to find peace.'

Goddammit.

And now Silas was openly talking with the air too. Like, having an actual conversation with it and everything. It was like the sort of stupid thing you'd see on a prank show, where everyone was trying to convince her that ghosts were real.