Under My Skin

Under My Skin - Part 74

Will's eyes shot open and he held his breath. He was in his hospital bed, the lights dimmed and he could hear Reese softly talking on the other side of the curtain drawn between him and Massaru. Awake, no villains, no straps pinning him down to the bed, no surgical instruments opening him up like a frog in middle school biology. Will shook his head, trying to dislodge the images from the dream that were already fading. The residual fear from being paralyzed by the Devil's Neckbrace blending with the recent mission made for some nasty nightmares. Hopefully time would lessen the intensity of them.

He exhaled and slowly uncurled from the ball he had made of himself, suppressing a hiss as he straightened out his torso. No wonder his middle hurt, he had crossed his arms over it so tightly there were probably more bruises.

Weary, and hungry for the real food Rachel had promised him, he lay still and listened in on Reese's conversation with Massaru.

***

"Then why isn't she angry at Cetz?" asked Reese, his hands fiddling with the end of his tie. "He was the one who told me not to tell her?"

"Because you're the one closest to her," pointed out Massaru, filling out a Sudoku puzzle as he listened. "And the one she trusts the most. And if I've heard you right, you teased her with an important piece of information that could have been privy to her long before this."

"Okay, I screwed up." Massaru combed back his hair from his pouting face. "But what should I do now?"

"Tell her something you've never told anyone else."

"I've already told her everything about me. She'd blackmail me if I didn't have so much material to blackmail her as well."

"Hm," pondered Massaru, tapping the eraser of his pencil on his puzzle. "Obviously you two already share a close relationship. In my professional experience, and I am talking from over thirty years of marriage, if you want a woman to forgive you, embarrass yourself in front of her."

"Already seen me puke, how much more embarrassing can you get?"

"You'll figure out something."

A nurse with a covered tray knocked on the door.

"Food," crooned Will on the other side of the curtain.

Reese brightened and pulled the curtain back. "Will, good to see you up. I have a question—"

"Embarrass yourself in front of Beni," Will said before digging into his mash potatoes. "I agree with Massaru."

Reese slumped in his seat. "Maybe I can find some old baby pictures."

"As opposed to new baby pictures?" quipped Massaru.

Will swallowed his mouthful. "Do either of you know where Louis is? I haven't seen him today."

Reese checked his watch. "I think he's in a meeting right now."

"With Watch One?"

"Yep."

Will shook his head. "That's not going to be pretty."

***

"I'd rather not," said Louis.

Cetz hid a smirk behind his hand, but he couldn't hide the smile in his eyes.

Doctor Harrison, a puffy looking man with more hair on his chin than the rest of his head, and the head of the hastily assembled scientific committee, huffed in indignation. Four scientists and the Head of Watch One sat on the other side of the communication screen, trying to regain control of the conversation. After the committee and Head had reviewed over all the information they received, and how Cetz had blundered about his misinformation, they had immediately gone into when they would transfer Louis to Base One. They did not expect a flat refusal.

"Agent Patriarch," Harrison pleaded. "Watch One has better equipment and scientists able to handle this matter and figure it out."

"I already have to submit to one mad scientist." Louis jerked his thumb to Rachel. "I'm not going to play lab rat to a dozen of your guys. The fewer people that know about this the better."

"We have a secure facility designed for discretion considering your condition—"

"Secure? Your Head of Security was a mole for a level five terrorist that tried to kill my partner. What makes Base One any more secure than this place? And stop calling this thing I have a "condition". I'm not pregnant. No offence, ma'am."

"None taken," said the only woman on the committee with an amused smirk. She was dark haired, heavily pregnant, and had been quiet throughout the meeting, which led Cetz to think she might be leaning towards Louis' side. Doctor Kilo, head microbiologist, if he remembered correctly from the introductions.

Harrison looked past Louis. "Cetz, would you handle your agent."

"No thanks," said Cetz, leaning back in his chair next to Rachel. Louis was saying what he wanted to anyway, albeit in a slightly less civilized tone. "I think he's doing fine on his own."

"Look." Louis took a breath. "I'm not refusing testing. I can understand the experiments. I want to know how this works too so I can control it, if possible get rid of it. But you want to take me off the field as an agent."

"Get rid of it?" said Harrison aghast.

Head of Watch One spoke up. "You would still make a contribution to the Watch organization—"

"But not at what I'm best at. My qualifications and experience make me a good agent, not a good lab rat."

"You would weigh your field work against the scientific advancement that could be made working with us?" asked one of the other scientists.

"Yes," snapped Louis.

Harrison looked ready to pop a vein, and Cetz moved in. "Louis, I think that's enough for now. Please wait outside."

The majority of the scientific committee seemed relieved to see the agent gone. Watch One had his arms crossed, expectant.

Cetz pointed to the closed door. "Ask yourselves; do you really want to work with Louis on a daily basis?"

Doctor Kilo and Rachel laughed while the other scientists glowered. The Head of Watch One held up his hand for quiet.

"Alright. We'll take Agent Louis' request into consideration and reconvene at three this afternoon." The screen blinked off and Cetz loosened his tie with a grimace.

"That could have gone worse."

"At least you kept your sense of humor," said Rachel, scooping up her papers. "Doctor Kilo might be a break for us."

"Do you know her?"

"I worked with her for a bit when I first started in the Watch. She's a good scientist, follows the facts and doesn't leave out details. But she knows flexibility is important when it comes to biology."

"Let's hope she can convince the rest of the committee to be flexible with us."