We Shadows

Chapter 14: changing of the guard

Harper got up early and hobbled to the bathroom to brush his teeth, comb his hair: look presentable for this upcoming vote. He wished he could talk to Cameron about it, but he knew that she would disapprove. He would tell her afterward, when she couldn't dissuade him from the plan. He knew he was doing the right thing, but Cameron had a way of making him uncertain of his own motivations.

Cameron came into the kitchen sleepily, taking the glass of water that he offered her. Her usually immaculate hair was barely thrown out of her eyes. She was wearing one of his shirts; Cameron had never touched his clothes before he had stayed in medical, but when he was missing shirts, they were nearly always in Cameron's possession. He wished that she would talk to him more, but didn't want to push things, especially since he was keeping things from her too.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"All right," she yawned.

He bumped her arm. "Babe, you don't have to lie to me. How do you really feel?"

Cameron grimaced and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Tired," she admitted. "I'm not sleeping well. Having you up and about is helping though," she added. "We've had a tumultuous cycle."

"Oui," he said, kissing her forehead. "If I make breakfast, will you eat some?"

"Yeah," she smiled. "I'm going to get dressed."

Harper took one egg and scrambled it, adding a little milk and a scant silver of cheese before slicing bread for toast. He made a sandwich out of the egg and bread, adding a couple spinach leaves before cutting it in half, putting one half on a plate with a mug of tea. Cameron returned from their bedroom, hair combed neatly, clothes pressed and tidy. He preferred the former version of Cameron.

"Here you go," he said, passing her the plate. "Tyson and Alcott are coming over for dinner; what should we have?"

"We could slice the rest of the chicken and made a salad?" she suggested.

"I don't like salad," he complained. "But fine. If you want."

Cameron smiled and gave him a kiss: Harper made the right choice. They ate quickly and were down the hall shortly. Harper was still slow moving, but he could keep a reasonable pace with his cane.

"Are you going to work from my office again?" Cameron inquired.

"Probably not," Harper admitted. "We're starting today with our first department meeting."

"Tell Levi to check his holo-rib a couple minutes after we get there," she said. "I was supposed to send him a list of names. That way you can discuss it then."

"Merci, will do," Harper replied, already feeling guilty about not telling Cameron about the vote.

They made it to the personnel offices and Harper gave Cameron a quick kiss before heading down to his own office. Levi was the first one in the room, staring at the walls as if the place was foreign to him. Harper wasn't sure he had spent more than an hour in this room in the two weeks they had formed the archives.

"I hope this works," Levi told Harper. "What if even the department votes for me to stay in charge?"

"They won't," Harper promised. "Oh, and Cameron promised to send over possible candidates in a couple minutes. We can chat about new people too."

Levi leaned his crutches against the desk and took a seat. He looked nervous. Harper could say something, try to awkwardly assuage his fears, but since they hadn't brought this plan up to anyone, even Harper was a little worried as to how it might go. Harper wasn't much older than Levi, perhaps the others thought the head of archives should be by seniority.