She noticed that Hal looked distressed.

And stressed.

In fact, to her, he looked like a nervous wreck.

And all he said was two words.

"....it's gone."

"I could." Hal responded.

"But I won't. It would be a lie." he told her.

He then made his way to the wall, opened up the safe, and showed her.

The tome was gone.

"I don't know how, I don't know when." he told her.

"I had it with me earlier, and it has not left this room unless it went home with me. And there is NO footage of anyone coming into my office on the cameras." he went on.

"For all intents and purposes, it has disappeared." he told her further, internally bracing himself for what might occur.

Hal wouldn't admit it right now, but he was terrified.

He was absolutely frightened of what Hollie would do to him. He'd let her down in a very big way, and he knew that the consequences would be dire.

"...then we are on very little precious time." he responded.

"Whomever has it might not even know what it is they're dealing with, which is even MORE concerning." he admitted, trying to think as hard as he could.

"....I wonder if that Encrae woman is tied to this." he then said.

"I recall a pair of my agents pursued one of her lackeys about a week ago..."

"I know." Hal replied.

"Heaven and Hell help me, I know." he said.

"But I'll have to do it." he told her.

"...and I'll have to do it alone." he said further.

"I don't know if I can trust anyone in my own Unit right now." he went on, the weight and severity of his tone telling her this hurt him to say.

"So I'll have to do this myself, and make sure nobody knows that I'm doing so." he continued.

"And then an internal review will need to be done, in terms of my position, and whether or not I'm keeping it, but that... comes later." he muttered further.

"For now, I have a Unit to search, where every single person is a suspect."

"Hollie, do whatever it is you need to do to find that book." Hal responded.

"You have complete and utter authority to use whatever resources you have at your disposal to find it." he told her.

"Raze this building to the ground if you have to." he went on.

"I take full responsibility for this, and all the consequences that will befall me, regardless of how this turns out." he continued, before shaking his head.

"Now, if you'll excuse me." he then said, getting up from his desk.

"I have lockers and dorms to search and comb."

Hal just growled to himself, before getting up and marching out of the office.

"Right." he said.

"Time for some serious investigating, and some very unpopular decisions." he muttered to himself.

- - - -

Illias sat in private, the tome in front of him, the pen in his hand.

And he looked quite satisfied with himself. Almost unnaturally so.

"And so Kiah forgot all about the conversation with Illias... and discarded the pen as unimportant." he finished saying as he wrote.

-A few days later-

Illias seemed... different. His satisfaction looked like outright unnatural happiness... until something came to his mind suddenly, and he looked angry.

"...that black widow..." he growled.

"I've seen how she looks at Kiah..." he said, before he made his way to the book, and seemed to instinctively put pen to paper.

Jake's eyes widened when he saw the rash spreading.

"Ohhhhhh no..." he muttered.

He then took out his cell phone, and dialled the number to reach Angela in an emergency.

"Angela, help." he said when she answered.

He described where they were, and what was happening to Anya.

"Send the emergency medical team. NOW. She needs to get to the Unit's medical wing." he told her, the urgency in his tone more than evident.

"I'll get her outside." Jake responded.

With that, he made sure everything was paid for, and grabbed their food. He allowed Anya to use him for balance, as they slowly made their way outside.

"The medical emergency room team will be here." he told her.

"You'll be at the Unit in no time." he assured her further.

Jake shook his head.

"I told Angela everything." he told them.

"It started as an upset stomach, and then the rash started to develop." he said.

"Beyond that, I... just don't know." he admitted.

"Just please... help her." he told them.

"I don't know if this is life-threatening, but it's definitely serious."

Angela was waiting for about 5 minutes or so, before she saw the person leave Sharp's office. When the door was open, Sharp noticed that Angela was there, and seemed to be waiting for him.

He got up from his desk, and made his way to the doorway.

"Angela." he greeted her.

"It's rare to see you here." he commented.

"And it's usually something serious." he went on, before sighing.

"Come on in." he told her, turning back to his desk.

"Close the door behind you."