Under My Skin

Under My Skin - Part 29

"Did she just leave him hanging like that?" asked one of the techs in Surveillance. They had all seen Beni and Reese enter the storage closet, and then Beni had come out looking smug. Reese followed a moment after, frustrated and a little disheveled.

"I wouldn't put it past her," said Olivia as she toggled the viewer. Beni glanced over her shoulder at the hall camera and gave it the finger.

"Looks like she doesn't like the audience," said Olivia as she let the camera feed go back to its rounds.

"It's your fault," said a tech with a pout. "If you hadn't told her about us a watching she wouldn't be stopping the show."

"What show?" said another tech. "We don't have a camera in the closet. All we get is video of them going into the closet."

"Killjoy."

Olivia shrugged and shooed the crew back to their card game and stations. Sooner or later, she'd get video of someone going at it in the Watch.

***

Louis rechecked the pockets in his jumpsuit, hoping to find a packet of dried coffee crystals. Same as last time, there were none. Perhaps he should invest into some Folgers packets and keep them around base for a quick caffeine pick-up. He pinched his cheeks to keep awake.

"You okay?" asked Will.

Louis groaned; again with the damn "okay" questions. "Considering I nearly took a trip down your intestinal tract, yeah. Now stop asking." He crossed his arms and kicked his heel against the floor. The incident had been suffocating, putting him on the edge of hysteria, and he never liked getting near that edge. "I remember as a kid reading the "Magic Schoolbus" book when they checked out the digestive system. I don't want to go any deeper into your body than I already am. I don't want to see... filli... villi... fillangies... whatever the fuck those fingery things in the small intestine are called."

"I think its villi."

"I don't fucking care," replied Louis. "I'm tired and I want to strangle something."

"I'm tired and I just want to sleep."

Louis huffed a laugh. "God, so do I."

"Then why are we talking to each other instead of sleeping?"

"Because I want to figure out what Zachs' angle was in his questions."

"Me too," Will sighed. "Where should we start?"

"First off, he's a dick."

Will chuckled, and then groaned, tilting a bit to the side. "Well, he certainly doesn't think well of you. With all his questions it was almost like he was insinuating you'd go after Doctor Palmer. Or run off to Kore with the virus."

"Like I said, a dick."

Will paused for a moment. "Most likely he asked me the questions about Freewill and you to get me angry, at either you or him."

Louis snorted. "Not that hard to hate a guy like that."

"He might have good qualities, but there are well hidden." Will hummed, the vibrations reaching all the way down to where Louis lay. God, it felt good to his scratched side. A little louder and the blonde's back would melt to jelly.

"Now that I think about it," said Will. "Zachs wasn't asking about the virus at all."

"That's right," said Louis. "He was asking about me and Palmer. Maybe the reason Watch Two was put on lockdown was so Zachs could find me and the virus without Cetz interfering."

"But he asked if I saw anyone in the caves," replied Will. "The only other person I saw was a glance of the guy coming out of the car after we left."

Louis frowned, getting to his feet and pacing in the curved chamber. His train of thought was on a roll, keeping him awake and moving. "And he was asking about Palmer."

Will seemed to be thinking the same as him. "What if they're not looking for the virus at all, but its creator?"

Louis stopped his pacing. "We need to confirm this."