Brothers in Arms

Eclipse: Scalpels and Slip-Ups

"Eclipse, don't touch that," Agatha scolds, snatching the unknown instrument away.

"I was only looking at it," I reply, a little miffed.

"It's a knife. Do you want to watch me explain to the next poor scientist who walks in why I'm letting an alien subject handle potentially dangerous objects?"

"Dangerous for me or dangerous for you?" I ask flatly, using a sarcastic tone despite being perfectly serious. "Besides, that is not a knife--it, er..." I frown, waiting for the word to come to me. "It is a scalpel, right? Not the same thing."

"No, but--" Agatha cuts herself off, waving her hand. "Oh, it's no use arguing. Bottom line: if it's not expressly given to you, don't touch it, okay? You could pick up a live wire or something."

"Or a scalpel."

"You enjoy frustrating me, don't you?" She asks shrewdly, and I shrug.

"Only when you do not notice," I manage to say with a straight face, but I immediately crack a grin when she gives me an unimpressed look. "Of course! I am naturally honorary."

"Ornery," she corrects, and I nod.

"That too," I agree, and she laughs. "But, I am not as irascible as I could be. Nor as satirical."

"You know 'irascible,' but you don't know 'ornery'?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Cantankerous," I reply, not even managing the straight face this time. Agatha makes an amused snort, barely stifling a laugh.

"Okay, okay. Really. I actually wanted to ask you about something serious, and I'll never get to it if you keep using the dictionary against me," she chastises, still smiling.

"Yes?" I ask, curious now. "What is it?"

"Well, it's about Shadow--" I cut her off with a groan. It is a bit rude, I know, but I cannot help it.

"Why him?" I ask, already discouraged.

"I know you two have a personal history, and I wanted to hear your side of it."

"Why? Did he talk to you about it?" I question, confused.

"No, actually," Agatha says, pausing. "But, he has people he can go to if he needs to share his story. I don't think you've had that."

"Well, that is quite true," I agree, surprisingly sober. "But I prefer not to delve into it."

"I won't make you talk if you don't want to."

"That just makes me feel like I should," I sigh, moving to perch on the chair behind me as is my wont. I really do not want to talk about anything involving Shadow, but I know it is probably not just Agatha's idea to get my opinion on things, and I do not want to cause her trouble by fouling the plans of her superiors. "If you really want to hear it, it is rather long."

"I'm willing to listen," she promises, her lavender eyes meeting my golden ones.

"Alright," I sigh, wishing dearly for a different topic. "Firstly, you have to understand that Shadow is more than just a member of my species. He is my half-brother, in fact, so we are very closely related." Agatha seems a bit surprised to hear that, but she continues to listen as she said she would. "I guess I ought to feel more of a connection there. I did, once. But, that childhood admiration has long since faded into anger.

"I offered him a chance to join us. I suppose that would make you uncomfortable," I sigh, "but I thought he would take it. I really did. Deep down, I believed with all my hearts that he, the traitor I had heard so much about and been created to destroy, would come back to us. I should have listened to my father, to Shadow's own history. But, I could not imagine fighting him. He was a lost soul, someone who had seen the wrong path, and I was sure I could change him.