Spilling Guts

Part 53 - Copperfield and Friends

Reese left to retrieve Copperfield from Rachel's lab, and came back to find Main Tech empty of people. Normally, the scenario would be a delight; he could slouch, sing along to music on his screen, or test the new locks on other people's desks. All manner of things that would remain between him, the rabbit, and surveillance.

But, Beni was also absent which killed the mischievous mood.

Reese looked around and under desks, expecting a hidden Beni or a glitter bomb surprise like the kind he and Beni had crafted and hidden in Will's desk. Nothing. No one.

First Will, then Louis, now Beni.

Had it not been for the clacking of computer keys down the hall, Reese would have thought the whole of Watch Two empty. His own Twilight Zone episode.

"Beni?" he called into the empty space.

The soda on her desk, the pre-lunch sugar, remained unopened. But one of the blue doughnuts left in the bakery box was gone.

Beni had absconded with one of the blue doughnuts when they had promised to share them if Will wasn't back by 2:00. The clock still read a quarter till.

Thief.

Duh.

On a positive note, he could have the remaining blue doughnut and not suffer any shame.

Reese plopped at his desk, dragged the bakery box closer, and set the container of rabbit food next to it. His rabbit would eat more than just bland pellets; every vegetable Reese had dreaded in his childhood would be gifted unto Copperfield. Said rabbit, held in a towel like a stuffed crepe, wiggled his nose out until his head was visible.

"It's just you and me, Copperfield." Reese's fingers furrowed between the silken white ears. He signed in feigned sorrow. "We've been abandoned. I shall drown my sorrows and you will eat your feelings."

A moment after he said that, and right after he popped the tab on his strawberry soda, Reese froze. "That sounds too much like a Freudian slip for my comfort. I should write that down for Balcuwitz."

Reese figured if he visited Balcuwitz long enough, the shrink would ask about his parentage. But until then he would keep his fears about becoming his mother or father to himself; buried under sugar and fried things. He fed the rabbit slices of cucumber, while he carefully consumed the blue frosted doughnut on a plate with a knife and fork. Because desserts deserved manners. It took careful eating to keep his lips from being stained blue.

Eventually, Reese realized he could set up a gate around all of Main Tech and have let Copperfield have the run of the place instead of making sure the rabbit sat steady on his lap. As long as the rabbit didn't chew on any wires. Perhaps he should invest in some wire tubing.

Before he could mentally list what he would need for an extended gate, Megan and Teegan walked into Main Tech and crashed at their desks in an angry huff. They had been gone for so long on a mystery case, Reese barely acknowledged their existence unless he was trying to escape their "invitation" to one of their combat seminars.

Granted, at the moment Megan, foot on her desk and crutches at her side, didn't look in any shape to do hand to hand combat seminars.

Crutch to head, though, seemed very possible. A good thing that Reese sat eight desk lengths away from them and their bad mood.

Copperfield, however, was not a good judge of mood, or character if Reese was any indicator. The rabbit hopped off the towel covered lap and lopped like a white blur to the new people in the room.

And then tried gnawing on Megan's crutch.

"Saint Peter's sagging balls," hissed Reese. "No, bad Copperfield!"

He dashed to the white rabbit only for it to be scooped up by Teegan. She held Copperfield around his middle, long fluffy toes splayed out with bits of straw stuck to them. Megan glanced at the redhead safecracker. He knelt frozen on the floor, arm still outstretched towards his rabbit.

"And this is?" asked Megan.

"My alternate therapist," declared Reese, getting to his feet and straightening his black tie. "And he has a full schedule. Can I have him back?"

He dare not leave his rabbit with Megan and Teegan for too long. They would do things. Like teach Copperfield combat techniques with kicking and biting, or put him in a weighted vest and make him do tumble exercises.

A different voice came from the hallway that led to the break room. "Oh, so this is the new therapy rabbit I've heard about?"

Doctor Milton Balcuwitz appeared in good humor, holding a bowl of chili, and not wearing shoes. Reese could not decided if this was fortuitous for him and Copperfield, or disastrous.