Dimensions and Dragons

I don't own these characters or make any money off these. I just really love the show and enjoy writing about these amazing characters.

Chapter 1

The moonlight spilled out of the sky and filtered between the branches of the trees that were growing at the base of the mountain. Amanda looked down at the silver patches of light that speckled her body.

Just like in my vision.

"What now, Drummer?" asked Martin.

"We're close." Said Amanda "He's here somewhere."

For over a week, Amanda had been having visions of a man with powers. But these visions had felt… strange. She couldn't explain it. Something seemed off. Or at least different. It could be her power was growing and changing. Or maybe something else…

Beast gasped. "Look!" she cried.

Amanda saw a silhouette of a dragon sailing against the full moon. That had been in her vision too. The dragon was too far away for her to be sure of the size, but she was pretty sure it could at least carry off a midsize car.

"Ok," said Amanda "we're close. Let's keep moving."

She'd barely taken three steps when Cross grabbed her shoulder.

"What?" she asked.

"Something's wrong." He looked at the other Rowdy Boys. "You smell that?"

"What does it smell like?" asked Amanda.

"Trouble." Said Gripps.

"Get down!" shouted Vogel, but it was too late. Amanda was hit in the face with a blast of fog that knocked her to the ground.

Farah couldn't remember the last time she'd taken a run at such a slow pace. But, judging from the wheezing sounds coming from Dirk, this was as fast as she could go without killing the boys. At least Todd was finally winded enough to stop whining.

They rounded the corner to a bench, and Farah slowed to a stop.

"Water break." She said.

Both Dirk and Todd collapsed onto the bench.

After a long draw from his water bottle, Todd shook his head. "I'm done. This was a great first day. Time to go home."

"We just started!" exclaimed Farah "If I had realized you two were this out of shape, I would have insisted on this months ago. A good cardio routine can save your life. Especially in our line of work."

"Look!' Dirk cried happily "Doughnuts!"

Tucked across the street was a tiny doughnut shop.

"Are you serious?" said Farah.

"We earned it with our morning death run." Said Dirk.

"I agree with him." Said Todd, who was still trying to catch his breath on the bench.

Farah narrowed her gaze. "Ok, you asked me to do this, Todd. You said that your doctor told you that if you didn't start exercising and eating better that it would make your pararibulitis worse. And you," she said as she turned to Dirk. "you practically cried when you begged me to put you through the paces and get you two healthy."

"But," Dirk stammered "the sign says organic."

"Yeah," said Todd "it's practically a health food."

"I am not your mother!" exclaimed Farah "If you want to sit on your asses, eat crap, and slowly deteriorate, I can't stop you. But don't beg for my help and then treat it like some massive inconvenience I'm inflicting on you!"

Both boys looked down at the ground.

"She's right." Todd muttered.

"I know." Groaned Dirk.

They were so pitiful, Farah couldn't help but smile a little. They could be frustrating, but she wouldn't trade either of her guys for anything.

"How about twenty more minutes earns one organic doughnut?" she said.

They instantly perked up.

Todd turned to Dirk. "Do you think we can do it?"

Dirk stood slowly. "We must. Our destiny awaits."

"Make sure you're drinking enough water." Said Farah "Refill at the fountain if you need to."

"Farah," said Dirk "you say twenty minutes earns a doughnut. Would twenty- five earn us two?"

"No." said Farah "How would that logic even work?"

"What if I get the vegan kind?"

"No, Dirk. Twenty minutes, one doughnut, vegan or not."

Dirk sighed heavily, then he squared his shoulders and said "Come on Todd. Let's do this!"

They looked over at Todd and they both froze. He was standing very still with a strange, far away look on his face.

"Todd?" said Farah.

He didn't answer. He just kept looking towards them with a blank expression on his face. Then he was falling.

Farah and Dirk rushed forward and managed to catch him before his head hit the concreate. They lowered him gently onto the ground.

"Todd? Can you hear me? Todd?"

He didn't respond. He laid there, perfectly still on the ground, staring upwards.

Farah began searching him for his pills. She found them in his pocket and started to open the bottle when Dirk stopped her.

"No!" he shouted.

"What is it?" she asked.

"This isn't an attack." He said.

"What are you talking about? What else could it be?"

"I… I don't know." He admitted "But it's not that. I can feel it."

Farah looked down at Todd. His breathing was slow and shallow. There was no color in his face. His eyes were open, but Farah could see the life draining out of them. As if there was no one behind those eyes. If she hadn't had her finger on the weak pulse on his wrist, she would have sworn he was dead.

"Call 911!" she said.

Todd stood up from the bench, and suddenly everything moved in slow motion. His body felt heavy and sluggish, and everything around him moved so slowly. He blinked, and it seemed to take an eternity. He looked at Dirk and Farah. They were speaking, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. Their lips moved slowly and deliberately, but no sound came out.

They turned and looked at him. Concern swept over their faces. He saw Farah's lips form his name, but he still couldn't hear her.

Then he was falling. It was agonizingly slow, but he couldn't catch himself. He felt Farah and Dirk grab hold of him before he hit the ground. He could feel their hands on him, but that sensation was fading. Like his body was dissolving in their hands.

Then he felt himself being pulled. Through time and space and air and water. He had no control over what was happening to him as he rushed through reality.

Then he was in a room. He could see everything, but no one seemed able to see him. He saw Martin and Gripps unconscious on hospital beds. He heard Beast yelling somewhere. There were people dressed in scrubs and lab coats that were scrambling through the room.

Todd was moving again. Being pulled to the far end of the room. There, struggling and strapped to a hospital bed, was Amanda.

Todd tried to reach for her, but he had no hands. Or arms. Or body.

What is going on?

Amanda went rigid, then she turned her head and looked straight at him.

"Todd?" she said.

He tried to answer, but he was being pulled back. Rushing through reality again, only different. Before he felt like he was being drawn in a straight line. This time he was being yanked back like a rubberband that had snapped. He was flipping and falling and it was all happening so fast.

He gasped.

He was laying on his back on the hot pavement in the park. People he had never seen before were crowded over him. Their latex gloved hands were touching him, and there was some sort of mask on his face.

"Get off me!" he cried as he tried to push them away. His arms felt clunky and strange, like he only had partial control of them.

"Sir," said a female voice "you need to calm down. You passed out. We're trying to help."

"Get away!" he shrieked as he tore at the mask on his face.

"Todd!"

He recognized that voice. Farah.

"Todd, just hold still! The paramedics are trying to help you!"

His eyes darted around until he found her. She was standing behind the strangers. She reached down and took his hand. As soon as her skin touched his, he felt like he had finally been pulled fully back into his body. He took a deep breath and tried to suppress the panic that had been rising up in him.

The strangers shone lights in his eyes and checked his vitals and asked him questions. He lied when they asked what happened.

"Nothing. I just passed out. That's all."

They tried to take him in the ambulance, but he refused. Farah and Dirk tried to talk him into it, but he would hear none of it. As soon as the paramedics took the oxygen mask off his face, he scrambled away from them.

"I'm sorry." Said the lead paramedic. "We can't take him if he refuses treatment. You will want to keep an eye on him."

"Thank you." Said Farah as the paramedics left.

Todd's legs were a little shaky, but he was managing to stand on his own.

"What happened?" Farah asked as the ambulance drove off. "Dirk said it wasn't an attack, but…"

"It wasn't." said Todd "Something happened. It's like my consciousness left my body and went somewhere."

"Where?" asked Dirk.

"I have no idea. But I do know that Amanda is in danger."

Despite the fact that Todd seemed fully recovered by the time they got back to the office, Dirk hadn't recovered from the trauma of seeing his friend in that state. Todd had laid there, looking so much like a corpse that the paramedics were actually shocked that he was alive. His breathing was so slow and shallow that they had been forced to give him oxygen. He was completely unresponsive. Farah had held Dirk tightly as he tried to keep it together. He wondered what if he had been wrong. If it actually was a pararibulitis attack and he'd prevented Farah from giving Todd his life saving medicine.

What if I had killed him?

"So, you have no idea where you were?" asked Farah "No sense of how far away it was or…"

"No." said Todd "Nothing. It just felt like a place. I couldn't even smell the air or feel the temperature of the room. I could just see and hear."

"Did you see anything out a window?" asked Farah.

"No windows." Said Todd "Just this creepy lab with Amanda and the Rowdies trapped inside."

"Could it be Blackwing?" asked Farah.

"I don't know. Maybe. We have to find her!"

"We will." Said Farah "But this isn't much to go on. Can you tell me anything else?"

"No." said Todd as he balled his hands into fists in frustration. "I wish I could." He looked at Dirk. "This is your thing, right? We just wander around and you lead the way."

Dirk shook his head. "I'm sorry. I can't. I have no idea what to do."

"Wait," said Todd "so then what's our next step? What do we do?"

Dirk looked up at Farah, who looked just as lost as he did.

Farah turned to Todd. "I don't know."

"But," Todd stammered "you have to know. If Dirk's… whatever, isn't working, it's because you and your logic and training and unreasonably high IQ have the answer."

"But I don't." said Farah "I know what you saw was real and frightening, but it doesn't give us anything to go on. I'm sorry, Todd."

He kept glancing back and forth between them. He looked scared. "But… Amanda's out there."

Dirk stepped forward. "I know. And we are going to find her. But we need a lead, either holistic or logical. Right now, we have neither."

"Then we just go." Said Todd "Let's just get in the car and drive and we'll find her."

"It doesn't work that way Todd, you know that."

"We can't just stand here!" Todd cried "We have to do something!"

Farah put her hand on his shoulder. "And we will. Let's get cleaned up, eat something, and make a plan. We will examine whatever information we do have and go from there."

She gestured towards the office bathroom. It had a small shower that they sometimes used when they were too busy to go back to their apartments. They all kept fresh clothes there too.

"A shower might clear your head. Help you remember details you didn't before. Dirk and I will collect whatever we can on Amanda's last known location."

Todd looked like he wanted to protest, but headed to the shower instead. Farah and Dirk immediately began tracing Amanda's phone. Which apparently stopped giving a gps location somewhere in Alaska.

"What was she doing there?" Farah asked.

"Probably tracking down people like me." Said Dirk "But who knows where she went from there."

Todd came rushing out from his shower wearing nothing but a towel.

"Any news?" he asked.

"Amanda was in Alaska," said Dirk "But we can't trace her past yesterday morning."

"Well, what was she near? Are you feeling anything, you know, holistic? We should go there!"

"We will." Said Farah "After you put on some pants."

"Right." Said Todd as he turned towards the bathroom.

Suddenly, an older coupe entered the office.

"Excuse me, but we are looking for Dirk Gently. Our son is missing and…" the woman trailed off and as she saw Todd. "Are we… interrupting… something?"

"No." said Farah quickly. She turned to Todd and said "There are clean clothes in the back of the office."

"Got it." He said as he started off towards the back.

"You have to help us." Said the man "The woman we hired to find him stopped checking in when she got to Alaska and…"

Todd whirled around so fast that he almost lost his towel. "Was that Amanda?!"

They looked surprised. "Yes," said the woman "Amanda Brotzman."

"She's my sister!" Todd cried as he grabbed the woman by the shoulders. "What do you know about where she went?"

"Todd! Pants!" exclaimed Farah.

Todd suddenly seemed very aware of his state of undress and rushed to the back room.

"I'm so sorry." Said Farah apologetically.

"It's fine." She said "It has been quite a while since I was approached by a passionate, half naked man." She shot a look at her husband.

He completely ignored her as he said "Please, we are desperate to find our son."

Dirk motioned to two empty chairs. "Tell us about your son."

"Travis is turning twenty-eight next month. He's our only child." Said the woman.

"We haven't been properly introduced." Said Farah "I'm Farah Black, head of security and reconnaissance."

"Neil Green." Said Travis' father "This is Martha."

"Dirk Gently," said Dirk as he extended his hand. "Figurehead and in charge of holistic relations."

Martha stared at him. "In charge of… what?"

Todd ran back into the room. His hair was wet and sticking up, as if he'd hurriedly rubbed it with a towel. He was dressed in just a white t-shirt and jeans. His feet were bare and leaving damp footprints on the wooden floor.

"This is Todd Brotzman." Said Dirk "He's not our head of image and public relations."

"You know Amanda." Said Todd "How do you know her?"

"She came to us." Said Martha "Our son hadn't answered our calls in weeks. Amanda showed up in a van with some unique characters and said she needed to find him. That she had a vision about him."

"And you believed her?" said Farah.

"It wouldn't be the strangest thing we've ever seen." Said Neil.

"Care to elaborate?" asked Todd.

Neil and Martha both became tense. "No." Neil said "We wouldn't."

"Was there something… different… about your son?" asked Dirk "Something that was perhaps unusual or surprisingly difficult to explain?"

"Listen," said Neil "our boy is fine. But trouble and… strange… people seem to find him."

"How so?" asked Dirk.

"He's a good boy." Said Martha "And your sister seemed to genuinely care. But now she's not answering either and…" she was fighting tears.

Todd put his hand on her shoulder. "We'll find them. We promise."

The flight to Alaska was stressful for many reasons. First of all, Farah hated flying. At least when she wasn't in the pilot's seat. She was especially aggravated that the amateur in the cockpit seemed to be going out of his way to hit every shred of turbulence in the sky.

Then there was Dirk. He swore he'd flown before, and she'd believed him since he was from over the pond. But, judging by his reactions to literally everything, she was beginning to believe he was teleported from England to Seattle.

Dirk seemed equal parts terrified and delighted during takeoff. And he went back and forth between being pressed against the window, monologuing about the experience, and prancing down the aisles like a four year old who had decided to befriend the entire flight.

"It's like traveling with a child." Muttered Farah as Dirk helped a flight attendant deliver the drinks.

"Don't look at me." Said Todd "He doesn't get it from my side."

Farah chuckled slightly. She looked over at Todd. She genuinely enjoyed his company, but he was part of the reason she was so stressed. He was putting up a decent front, but she could feel it. He was scared. What if he had an attack in an enclosed area? Of course they had his medicine, and she stuck close to him just in case, but she could feel the 'what if' hanging over them like an anvil. A random man thrashing and screaming on a flight would not go over very well. Every time he coughed or sniffed or shifted his weight, she went on high alert to see what it turned into.

He pretended not to notice, but she knew he could tell. He was far more observant than most people gave him credit. They both were scared of what could happen and, despite the relaxed fronts they were putting up, each knew how afraid the other was. But of course, they never said it. There was an unhealthily large collection of things they probably should talk about but did not. They both knew that too. And of course, it was left unacknowledged.

Farah put her hand on his. She placed it on the back of his hand instead of holding it because she knew how hard he was trying to hide the fact that his palms were sweating. If she felt that, it would be harder to pretend she didn't know how afraid he was.

Dirk had scurried in and out of his seat at least fifty times before they finally had to buckle up for landing. Dirk was delighted with the experience, but Farah was convinced the pilot was trying to recreate the movement of a smooth stone skipping across a pond.

The flight was crowded and there was the inevitable bottle neck from the post landing stampede. The three of them sat in their seats as they waited for the crowd to thin out and quit shoving.

Dirk was grinning. "This whole experience was so much better than I expected! I mean, the view from here is simply no less than totally and completely mind blowing! Did you see the family out in their yard? I waved. I know they say that people that far away can't see us wave but I saw them so I simply can't believe they can't see me. Oh! And the drink cart! Did you see that? Of course you did. I asked for a soda and it was my favorite brand and everything! Well, third favorite, but still delightful!

Dirk was going on and on about the nice lady in row M when Farah felt Todd get tense. She looked over and saw a concerned look on his face.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I… I'm not sure." He said "I feel… weird."

Dirk stopped his rabbit trail speech about the airplane bathrooms and looked at his friend. "Weird how?"

"I don't know." He replied.

"Is it the start of an attack?" asked Farah.

"I don't know." He repeated.

"Is it Amanda again?" asked Dirk.

"I don't know! I just… something's wrong. Something's AHHH!"

Todd let out a sharp cry as he doubled over and wrapped his arms around his middle.

"Is he alright?' asked an old woman who was shuffling down the still crowded aisle.

"He's fine." Said Farah quickly. She turned to Todd. "What's happening?"

"I don't know!" he cried with a pained look on his face.

Farah put her hand on his cheek. He was sweating, but his skin was cold and clammy. "Are you hallucinating? Are you seeing anything that's making you hurt?"

"No," he moaned "it just hurts!"

Todd was folded in half over his lap in his seat, trying to choke down the painful cries that were doing their best to escape.

Farah pulled his pill bottle out of her pocket. "Here." She said as she brought two pills to his mouth.

"N… no." he stammered. "It might be Amanda. I can't risk…"

He screamed.

"Medic!" someone cried "Somebody call a doctor! This young man is having a seizure or something!"

Todd was shaking all over and his breathing was ragged.

"Todd! What's happening? Todd!?"