Under My Skin

Under My Skin - Part 21

Massaru loosened his tie and hung up the phone, looking back at the hospital bed with a wince. With Martin Zachs at Watch 2, he had to go back to playing the invalid again.

The Indian doctor shrugged off his suit, hid the photo security books in the closet, and prayed Cetz would find the Watch leak soon. Just as he got back in bed, red warning lights flashed throughout the base. Lockdown was on. No one in or out of the base until further notice, and no communication to the outside thanks the Grant's E.S.S. being activated. No cell phones, no internet, and no satellite television.

Sad. Massaru was just getting into the soap opera, Lola Lalo, and he was going to miss the next episode because it wasn't on cable.

"Let's hope we don't have to stay here for too long."

***

Louis had stopped rubbing the wall of Will's stomach a while ago, now he leaned against it, weary and sore in the heat. Occasionally he glanced at his belt and made sure the virus canister was well attached, testing the latch so it wouldn't slip off. There were plenty of pockets in the blue jumpsuit. He made a note to buy another flask to hold his coffee if he ever had to wear this suit again. Not that he was looking forward to wearing it inside Will, but he had a feeling that this would become a usual occurrence.

Fuckin' hell if I have to go through all that swallowing and lube again. I'd almost rather go down dry.

Louis wanted his coffee, and he wanted sleep. And he was certain sleep would happen long before coffee.

Not that Will would ever voluntarily allow coffee into his body. And the young agent wasn't in shape to drink or eat anything. Thanks to Louis.

I should have checked for the virus canister before I got out the first time, thought Louis. I should have made sure, if I had then Will... wouldn't have been screaming like that.

"Just get the damn virus!"

The last time Louis had heard such a scream, he'd lost his partner, his first partner, Terry. Yelling at him to finish their mission and capture Retten, even as the BT prototype they had been assigned to destroy churned his partner's insides. It had been so long ago, and he could still hear Terry screaming, still hear the machine whirring and clanking. He had failed then.

And he had nearly failed Will now.

"How many mistakes am I allowed until I lose him too?" He wouldn't admit it out loud, but despite the fanboy's annoying prattling about spy movies and eco-green insistence, he was getting used to having Will around. It was nice to have someone with a hot cup of coffee right there when he walked into Watch Two first thing in the morning. What would it be like to wake up to such a thing?

Stop it, he chided himself. Don't think about Will like that. He might like you but he doesn't know you.

He fingered the latch on the virus canister. How did people do such stupid things? Creating viruses and then leaving them in the hands of madmen. When he had threatened to send Doctor Terrance Palmer, the creator of the virus, to a trash compactor, he hadn't been kidding. It was stupid people that caused stupid mistakes, and those sometimes cost lives.

If I don't get either some sleep or a cup of coffee soon I'm going to end up useless to everyone. Might as well get some shut eye.

It shouldn't have been that easy to fall asleep, his side still ached, his body felt like a rusted can with all the bruises he had acquired. But the deep throbbing of Will's heard lulled his head down, his breath evening. All he heard through the SkySprecht was an echo of Will's breathing. At least when Louis woke up he wouldn't have to worry about light hitting him. And god willing the lockdown would be over.

***

"Well?" said Reese.

Beni threw up her hands, nearly flinging the folder he held out across the room. "I'm out of guesses, will you tell me already!"

"No," said Reese as he put away the file, shutting the drawer with a firm clank. Beni followed him out of the file and back into Main Tech.

"I can be patient," wheedled Beni. "I'll stare at you until you crack. And considering the lockdown, it'll be all night."

"You can try, but it won't work."

All the agents were working diligently under the eyes of Martin Zachs and his two assistants. Reese preferred to think of them as goons. Cetz still hadn't shown, and Reese wondered if he was making the Head of Watch Security wait on purpose. There was a tenuous, territorial dance between Watch bases that he was aware of, but didn't prod. He suspected it had something to do with the events of Barley Circle and Watch Three.

"I'll give you fifty dollars," said Beni.

"No," snapped Reese. "And will you stop; you're making a scene."

The door to Main Tech swung open and Cetz entered, barely keeping a frown of annoyance from his face as he approached the suited men, spitting out a bitter greeting.

"What can I do for you gentlemen today?"

"Cetz," said Zachs, holding out his hand. The Head of Watch Security had his hair combed back and precise as his suit. "A pleasure for you to see us so promptly."

Cetz ignored the proffered hand. He looked like a bum compared to Zachs, in a wrinkled white collar with the sleeves rolled up, and still wearing the same pants as yesterday when the mission was being briefed. "As pleasurable as it is to see you so early, and without warning. Why have you taken over my Watch?"

Reese quietly sat at his desk and prompted Beni to do the same. "Here comes the shit-fest," he whispered.

"We haven't taken it over," soothed Zachs. "I only did exactly what you would do, considering the situation."

"And what exactly is the situation, or is informing the Head of a Watch beneath you?"

Zachs took a folder from one of his assistants and handed it to Cetz who opened it with a snap of the pages. A few moments of reading and anger from his face faded into cold disbelief.

"How current is this information?" he asked.

"The most recent report was received less than an hour ago," said Zachs.

"My office," said Cetz, leading the trio through the Tech room and back to his office where the door was firmly shut and the two assistants stood guard outside the room.

Reese glanced back at Beni. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Only if it involves the metal encased Ethernet pipe running through Cetz's office and your stethoscope."

"My thoughts exactly."

Reese rose up and discreetly headed for the storage closet on the other side of the room. A minute later Beni followed.