Spilling Guts

Part 57 - Heckling

Megan stroked the soft, silky ears of the white rabbit in her lap. No wonder Reese had called it his therapist, rabbits were calming. Pets were therapeutic. Perhaps having a fish in the house for George and Gracen wouldn't be so bad. They couldn't be petted like a rabbit or puppy, but watching it swim back and forth in a tank would be like watching a lava lamp.

"You want to grip him higher on the arm, Milton," said Megan as she glanced above the report in her hand.

She and Teegan were still pissed at the runaround Cetz had put them through. He had kept their case from Louis, and he was still keeping them in the dark about something. Megan didn't know what Cetz was keeping under wraps, but she and her crutch would be ready for it. Rather than let their anger boil over, they found distractions.

For Megan, it meant reading Louis' report on the Devil's Neckbrace. And making sure the rabbit didn't chew on the paper.

"Tuck and roll," called Teegan.

In the report, some of the treatments proposed were theories dependent on what modifications had been done to the Neckbrace once it had been taken out of Doctor Grovic's hands. The Watch hadn't delved into taking the device apart and seeing how it worked differently; not enough time, manpower, or reason when other inventions needed their immediate attention. Their only clues to how the current Devil's Neckbrace actually worked were from victim testimonials and a brief scan from a BT-6 before it was put into cold storage.

Perhaps, as concession to Cetz's jerking them around, he could get Rachel to do a BT-10 scan of the device and put in a good word with Watch Mission Control to put some time into it.

I never would have thought about treating victims specifically for sleep disorders, thought Megan. The rabbit in her hap had fallen asleep, no longer trying to nibble the report. Or finding more victims by their sleep disorders. We should have Louis tied to his desk more often; he comes up with good leads.

"If it hurts, that's an incentive to stretch every day!" said Megan as she heard a pained grunt.

While Megan scanned the report, Teegan's directed an impromptu self defense lesson. Megan could not participate herself, despite imagining a few ways to take someone out with her crutch, but she could "backseat teach" between reading paragraphs.

Teegan called it heckling.

Megan called it a gift.

"You're shorter, Balcuwitz! Taller they are, harder they fall!" called Megan from her seat, leg still elevated on her desk.

After bribing Reese, and using Milton Balcuwitz's eagerness to make a good impression, she and Teegan got two willing participants for a tutorial.

The addition of two yoga mats on the clear area of Main Tech made for a good makeshift combat ring. Megan and Teegan put Reese and Balcuwitz through the paces of getting out of a grapple. Then a headlock. Tripping an assailant if attacked from behind. However the tutorial slowly descended into a crude form of wrestling that looked more like a game of Twister gone wrong. And the timid looking shrink with the funny socks was winning.

Reese grunted, his shoulder landing on Balcuwitz's sweater-vested stomach as the shrink managed to tilt them both backwards, and then horizontal on the mat. The redhead's trademark tie and jacket had left the ring long ago.

Balcuwitz wheezed, head rolling. "I suspect if this was a real-life scenario, without padding to land on, we'd both suffer damage."

"That's why Watch issued jackets for field agents have padded panels at the joints and spine," said Teegan.

"And why my preferred method of combat is running," wheezed Reese.

Megan jabbed at the mat with her crutch. "C'mon, get back up. Another round."

"I protest this treatment!" said Reese as Balcuwitz struggled to get to his feet. At that moment, Beni, followed by Louis and Will, marched through the edge of Main Tech. "Beni, assistance please?"

"Shower first," said Beni, eyes on the door that lead to the lower levels. "Assist later."

Megan and Teegan looked long and hard at Louis's posture, the angry set of his shoulders and pinched lips. His anger could be residual from earlier with Cetz, or from where he had just been. Will looked just as tense.

"Louis!" Megan held up the report, catching his eye. "We'll talk later."

Louis gave her a nod. "After I talk with Cetz."

Reese gawked as he was pulled to his feet by the sweater-vested therapist. When he looked back, Beni, Will, and Louis had gone.

"What is that smell?"