Calamitous (Kaylor)

8

The days passed slowly for Karlie. She was called out to work on other cases, but her mind always drifted back to the girl in the hospital. She hadn't seen Catastrophe since the night she was injured and worry plagued her. A guard was stationed outside the hospital room she was staying in, but they weren't allowed inside, since the doctors claimed that the stress of being constantly watched by armed men would make her recovery time a lot longer.

Martha had kept Karlie updated as time went by. She still found it odd that Karlie was so invested in Catastrophe's health, but as a good friend she tried to put Karlie's concerns to rest. "She's doing fine, Karlie. She was awake for two hours today." "I think I heard that she talked to a nurse for a few minutes this morning." "She's been keeping solid food down for a few days now, she'll be up walking before too long."

About 10 days after the incident, Karlie was informed that Catastrophe had been transferred to one of the secure cells at the back of the station. Karlie practically ran from the hospital to the station, eager to finally get a chance to talk to the blonde. She tried to convince herself that it was because she was excited for more information on the thing that the gang had stolen, but she also really wanted to see how Cat was doing.

When she arrived, the place was bustling with activity. Karlie caught Lily's eye and quickly made her way across the room to her. "Do you know what's going on?" she asked, breathless from hurrying over.

"The FBI and department heads are going to be here to interrogate Catastrophe," Lily answered. "We haven't had them here in a while so the place is in uproar trying to make it look like we aren't a bunch of slackers who leave stacks of paperwork everywhere." Ah. That explains the furious desk cleaning that's going on.

"They're interrogating her today? Isn't she still weak?"

"That's kind of the point. They're hoping she won't put up much of a fight." Lily leaned toward Karlie and whispered conspiratorially, "But I'm sure they're biting off more than they can chew. The girl's been bad mouthing everyone she's laid eyes on. I brought her some food earlier and she told me to stop smiling or she'd slap it off my face."

Karlie giggled a little. "I guess she's feeling better." Lily nodded and began to lead her down a hallway.

"They're going to use the big interrogation room. We're welcome there, since we've participated in her case, but we won't be allowed to speak."

"That's fine, I just want to see what sort of information we can get out of her," Karlie said. Lily's eyes shone with mischief.

"Are you sure that's all you want?"

"Really?" Karlie groaned. "First Martha, now you?"

"You're kind of obvious, Karls," Lily laughed. "I'll never understand how neither of you ever acted on your sexual tension."

"There is no sexual tension."

"Keep telling yourself that." The two continued bickering down the hallway before Lily led the way into a large, dark room. There was a table set up in the front that was illuminated, with several chairs facing the back of the room and one on the side near the door. All around the table, on a slightly higher level, were other seats that were mostly obscured by darkness. This is where all of the lower-level members, such as Karlie and Lily, would be sitting.

Before long the room started to fill. Some official looking people in professional uniforms stepped in and took the seats around the table, leaving the one across from them nearest the door vacant. A couple of low-level officers, probably guards, stepped in and stood to either side of the door, and next came Catastrophe.