A/N This is a sequel to my other story 'Living' because I couldn't just leave Seth and Maria the way I did, even though I originally fully intended to. 'Living' is supposed to be set after Kevin Brooks book 'Being'

Disclaimer: Although the characters of Ryan, Robert and Eddi are all creations of Kevin Brooks, the others are mine.

Knowing

Chapter 1: London

He scrabbled through the desk, scattering paper everywhere in the fuzzy darkness.

Damn it.

The after glow from the shut down computer overlaid everything with splotches of luminous blue. Footsteps echoed in the corridor outside.

Damn, damn, damn!

Frantic fingers clutched around the smooth body of a pen and he pulled it out the drawer. A few words scribbled on a torn sheet of notepaper then he dropped it and bolted out the door.

Gunshots ricocheted off the walls behind him as he ran, shoving the paper into an envelope as he did so. He'd brought the envelope already stamped and addressed so why the hell had he forgotten a pen?!

He swore as a bullet tore through his side. The pain was distant and far off. He'd expected that from the number of bullet wounds he'd had.

"Stop shooting! I want him alive!" The cold voice echoed down the polished oak hallway and he felt an icy rage. That was the man. The one they'd sent after his daughter.

He almost turned back then, but for the letter in his clenched fist.

She had to know.

It was vital.

So he picked up speed and thundered down the hall. A Suit sent to stop him ended up crumpled on the ground, and still he barely slowed his pace…

It was when he skidded into a room that led to the fire exit he was pulled up short. The door out was surrounded by around ten Suits. It wasn't long before those that were pursuing him caught up and blocked the other door.

He was trapped.

A strange place for it to end. The Waiting room. The deep red carpet was soft under his shoes and he stood with his back to the fine wooden desk, feeling its smooth varnished surface under scarred, callused hands.

"It was very helpful of you to come to us Robert." The Suits parted to let through a young man in his mid twenties with flint eyes. "Very helpful."

Robert lifted his lip in a sneer and tensed his muscles.

Seth.

"Of course I do wonder at the security in this place that you managed to actually get this far…but no matter." The man tilted his head slightly and folded his arms. "Although I do wonder at your stupidity in coming here…surely you're not that desperate for information…especially as we've already told you we know nothing…"

"Liar," Robert spat at him. "You're all liars. I don't trust a word you say."

"…so you must've been looking for something else," he continued regardless. "But what I wonder. What would you risk your freedom for?" His eyes alighted on the letter clenched in Robert's hand and he smiled. "Ah, but of course…your daughter. Who else would be worth it? What did she want to know I wonder? And could it be that…just possibly…the letter might lead us to her whereabouts?"

Robert's eyes were burning with untapped fury. He wasn't even aware of the bullet wound in his side and the blood that was trickling from it, slowly staining his shirt and trousers…then he smiled silkily. His opponent's smile immediately vanished.

"Unfortunate that you won't get hold of it then, isn't it?" he said and spinning he vaulted himself onto the desk and threw himself out the window behind it, smashing through the glass.

"Shit!" Seth swore. "Get down into the street, all of you before he escapes!"

The Suits exchanged sceptical glances at each other but obeyed their orders. Each was clearly thinking that no man could run after a fall like that if he survived.

"He's not human though," Seth muttered to himself and snapped his fingers at one of the remaining Suits. The man hoisted a long barrelled tranquilliser gun onto his shoulder and loaded it.

"Make sure you don't miss," Seth told the man as he settled himself at the shattered window and fixed the telescope on the concrete below.

Seth strode out the door.

----------

Robert felt the slithers of glass slice through his skin as the wind ripped past him. He kept his eyes tight shut and when impact came the pain shattered through him with such intensity he passed into unconsciousness.

The luxury of oblivion wasn't enjoyed for long. The voice that was a part of him and yet not, the thing that spoke and took over when his human brain was unable to cope, started its demanding from the back of his mind. It was a voice of steel, as sharp as the glass that had cut him and as hard as the concrete he'd smashed into. Robert forced himself to rejoin the living and wished he'd stayed unconscious. The pain was almost enough to make him pass out again but the part of him that the voice came from was already swallowing it up. Blood was pooling around him from the gashes and seeping into the cracked concrete. He'd cracked the concrete? He'd only jumped from the second floor.

He sat up.

Damn!

His vision went black before returning. He could see that the lower half of one leg was broken. Some of the cuts were so deep in his arms that he could see the silver filaments.

The Suits would love that.

He remembered the envelope and searched for it. It was lying a short distance away, away from the carnage and still free from bloodstains.

Robert heaved himself to his knees, slowly and laboriously. He knew he didn't have much time. He half crawled, half dragged himself to the letter and scooped it carefully up, holding it so as not to leave any telltale signs on it, then made his way in this fashion to the pillar red letterbox, illuminated by a streetlamp.

It wasn't too far away.

He just had to drag himself into that little puddle of light and he'd be there...

Not far now.

He entered into the glow as it highlighted his numerous wounds, but he didn't look at them. His eyes were on the letterbox.

Just…a little…further.

He grasped hold of the object and pulled himself up, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

The Suits thundered into the street behind him but hung back slightly in fear and awe as they saw him standing. Seth soon appeared behind them and Robert grinned at him through red stained teeth in the twilight cast by the street lamps. With deliberate relish and drama he slipped the envelope into the post-box then turned back.

"Now she's safe."

Seth barked into a walkie-talkie and a hissing filled the air. Robert yelped as a sting bit his neck and reached for the dart.

He was on the floor before his fingers could close around it…but he could still hear everything…

"Watch him." Seth's voice echoed dimly. "Sedatives don't work on him very well. When he's unconscious the machine takes over and he's even more dangerous. Handcuff him and carry him into the Room. We'll have someone take care of his injuries there."

Something moved his arms that were too heavy for him to lift and snapped a coldness to them.

"I also want each of the letters in here individually tracked but subtly. I wouldn't put it past this guy to send the letter to another address first then have it sent onto his daughter via a third party. Once each of the letters have reached their destination I want checks run to see if the girl is there and then get back to me immediately."

There was a momentary silence and a ringing in his ears then he felt someone lift him.

The voice was hissing and snarling, making its demands, ordering him around, and on its prompting he forced his eyes to open and his limbs to move…but they were so heavy that the resistance was feeble and sluggish. His eyes met those of Seth who was smiling and close to him.

"Good see you're awake Robert."

His mouth formed a foul word but he was unable to push it past his lips.

"I tell you what," Seth whispered, "how about I call Ryan? I think he'd be very happy to be reunited with you after all these years." Then he started to laugh.

The fight flared up in Robert with a burst of energy and he threw off one of the Suits and lunged for Seth…but it died just as quickly. He staggered and fell to the floor, vomited over the pavement then passed out.