Roy

 

Every goddamn day here had been a long day, but today never seemed to end. Dragging a hand along my face, I nodded at Jive and Hopper as I approached the front doors.

And as I had done every night since we started, I asked dully, “She still here?”

“Still here, Sir,” Hopper replied.

“Of course,” I muttered, my hand on the door and I took a steadying breath. How long was I going to have to wait for Doc to finish up tonight, I wonder? How many times can one person say “oh, another five minutes. You know, you can leave. Don’t worry about me.”

It’s my job to worry about you, I wanted to scream at her sometimes.

It was at that moment a crinkle of intuition went up my spine and I almost missed it in my internal griping. Raising my head, I heard my breathing grow short and the crunch of Hopper’s boots on the snow as he turned. The slight intake of breath by Jive.

And then, distantly, breaking glass.

A slam of a heartbeat.

Followed by a woman’s scream.

“Kesari,” I breathed, then I was running, bursting inside and shifting, moving so fast the world seemed to blur under my feet. Somewhere behind me Hopper and Jive were trying to keep up, other shifters were moving in, but I didn’t pay attention.

No, my ears were pricked forward at the sounds coming from the lab. A gasp and a clang of something metallic. Guttural, incoherent growling and gurgling. Then I was inside.

Something was crouched in front of Kesari, a shadow wrapped in blood. Not even inches away. About to pounce, but then it saw me and in a flash, it was out another window, running off into the night. I went to go after it, but stopped.

Shifting back, I ordered, “Go! Catch it!”

Jive and Hopper were out the window, two long and dark wolves. Others joined them.

Turning, I saw Kesari slide to the floor and my chest knotted with fear. In another second, I was by her side and grabbing her roughly by the shoulders. Eyes flashing over her, she didn’t seem hurt, only shell-shocked. And bewildered. Not hurt. Not hurt, right?

“Kesari!” I bit out. “Kesari, look at me!” She swung her gaze up, blinking and shaking her head. “Are you hurt? Did it injure you?” No answer. “Kesari!”

“No, no, I’m fine,” Kesari said slowly and I let out the air I’d been holding in. “Did you see that? You saw that, right?” Her eyes went to the window. “That was a bipedal mammal, but with… That wasn’t… What was that?”

Tensing up, I looked around the room and growled, “Where are your guards?”

As though on cue, Fortune and Wrexler came running in and shifted back. Instantly they surrounded us, while other agents filed in, scanning the room and taking inventory.

“Why the hell did you two abandon your post?” I bellowed, standing up and clenching my fists. “Didn’t I tell you to watch her? And you two, what, went for coffee?”

Both of them glanced away, shuffling their feet and I was gearing up for more yelling when Kesari was in my face. And I knew what happened.

“It’s fine. I told them to go,” she said reassuringly. I stared at her, chest heaving and her eyes went wide. “Oh. Oops.”

“Oops?! What-what did you do?” I asked in a low voice that seemed to make everyone in the room go still. “What did you tell them? You…”

“I said it was an order.” Kesari wasn’t looking at me. “They were exhausted.”

“An… Order?” I got out and the stillness became unbearable. “I need the room. Now!”

Everyone filed out and Doc stared at her shoes, her cheeks flushed, but her chin was set.

“It wasn’t a big deal,” she mumbled.

Swallowing, I took a few breaths before I responded. “Doc. You are not trained to…” My breathing was still too heavy and I couldn’t stop it. “You can’t be alone. You can’t defend yourself. You could be killed. Do you understand that? What would have happened if I wasn’t on my way here right as that creature broke in? Answer me that, Doc. Tell me why that isn’t a big deal.”

She didn’t respond and neither of us said anything for several moments.

“We have a lot to do here. And I am responsible for your life, I get that. But I can’t be around every second of every day and run this whole operation. I check in. I have the best of the best watching you. And you send them away? That was beyond idiotic! Maybe for the next…” I grimaced. “I’ll figure that out tomorrow. For now, you are going home with Fortune, Wrexler, and Finni.”

She said nothing, only moved around me, shrugging off her lab coat, picking up her laptop, stowing it away and heading for the door. I followed, still breathing like a wounded hippo.

In the hall, everyone was standing around awkwardly and avoiding eye contact. Fortune and Wrexler looked like they wanted the floor to swallow them whole. I let out a short sigh.

“Fortune, Wrexler, you are not taking the fall for this one,” I said. “It is understandable. You’ll be taking Doctor Iyer home, along with Finnick.” I paused and then, before I could process the words fully, went on, “Until further notice, my word overrules hers. Understood?”

Whipping her head around, Doc stared at me incredulously, her lips parting and nostrils flaring. My lip curled right back as I met her glare for glare. Around me, I sensed nods.

With that, I slammed back into the room and I sensed Finni stepping forward to lead Doc away. But her eyes were incinerating the back of my head. Walking around the room, I kicked at the glass and grit my teeth together. Dammit!

“Why are you so mean to her?” Seng suddenly asked. She was the only agent to have followed me into the room and her lips were a thin line. “She’s sweet. Cares about the team. Damn sharp, too. And yet, all I see is you going out of your way to avoid her or be a jerk.”

“Just ‘cause we were rookies together doesn’t mean you get to–”

“Roy, I’m not afraid of you,” Seng interrupted and I swallowed hard. “Never was. I’ve seen the side of you that you try so hard to keep hidden away. And I think that’s what it is.” The brunette was glaring at me now. “You don’t want her to see that side.” She threw her hands up. “Whatever, do what you want, but it’s shitty. And it’s causing problems, Sir.”

“Don’t I know it,” I muttered, eyeing the two broken windows.

“You never explained shit to her, Roy. I know that!” Seng said, hands on her hips. “You wanna know how? I quizzed her on a few things the other day. And you know that we are training the other non-SOA’ers in basic hand-to-hand and self-defense. How come Kesari hasn’t started?”

“I have not had the time,” I snapped.

“Make ze time,” Seng said flatly. “You’re losing this, Roy. And right now, I’m not sure which way I want it to go.”

Watching her walk out, my entire body felt hollowed out and I clenched my fists at my sides. After another moment, I went back out, ordering a clean-up and for somebody to fix the windows. Then I went outside, where I met with Obi, Jive, and Hopper, the latter two who had just returned.

“Well?” I demanded.

"No idea, boss. It's fast and knows these mountains a hell of a lot better than we do." Jive sounded frustrated. He rarely lost his prey. "It also seemed to vanish into thin air."

“What do you mean?” Obi asked quickly.

“One minute there was a trail, the next minute there wasn’t.”

Obi and I glanced at each other, my skin growling cold. “Just like this morning.”

Nodding tightly, Obi said, “We’ll handle this. Check and see if it’s the same beast.” He looked at me. “You go home.”

“What?” I asked, blinking at him. “No, I cannot leave you guys in the middle of all of this.”

“Jive, Hopper, I’ll meet you inside. Second floor. There’s plenty of hot coffee.” Both of them shrugged and moved inside. Once they were well out of earshot, which could be a hard call with a shifter, Obi gave me a look. “Let me rephrase that. You need to go home.”

“What is it with you and Dara?” I muttered.

“We’re here to keep your head on straight,” Obi said. “You think of any of us have forgotten what you did for us in Patagonia, Roy?”

“That…,” I muttered, glancing away and rubbing the back of my neck. “Wasn’t just me.”

“Okay,” Obi said with a laugh. “Keep telling yourself that.”

As he walked away, I glanced up at the sky and saw a few flakes were drifting down. And for the millionth time since I saw Obi, Finni, and Dara, I wondered.

Did Piper know about Patagonia?

 

Taking off my boots silently as possible, I straightened up and pulled off my winter cap. Twisting it in my hands, I wondered how far up the Northern Hemisphere I was stranded with Doc.

A cold, golden glare met mine and I nodded grimly at Lev.

Siberia, great.

I’m not wrong, I thought. But as usual, I handled it with all the finesse of a charging rhino.

Finni had said as much in the look he’d given me before I left. Nerves humming, I went to Doc’s door and knocked. The light was on and I could hear the TV.

She appeared after a moment, as though she’d weighed her options and realized I wasn’t going to go away. Light spilled out into the dark house around her, haloing her messy hair and radiating off her skin. For a moment, it seemed like a door had opened to another dimension.

Out here was the dark and the cold, with me, grim and wanting at the door.

Inside was light and color, with her.

“What, Roy?” she said with an edge of steel in her voice. “I’m tired.”

Struggling for words, I had the sudden and strangest urge to push my hands into her hair. Hold her face and make sure she was okay. My hand was lifting before I even realized it and I grabbed the doorframe, knuckles going white.

“Are you okay?” I asked, my voice husky and soft.

Her shoulders slumped as she’d been girding herself for a fight. “Yes. Of course.” Doc’s lips twisted and a faint line appeared between her eyes. “You saved me. Thank you, by the way.”

"Don't worry about it," I said. "And do not apologize," I added, seeing her open her mouth again and I gripped the door frame harder. "I should."

Several emotions chased across her face. Surprise, suspicion, and hilarity.

“But I won’t,” I said slowly. I caught the door with my other hand before she could slam it. “I only meant, words only go so far. I should have been training you. And I should have told you never to tell your guards to leave their post. Among other things,” I finished wryly.

“What if they have to go to the bathroom?” Doc demanded, glaring up at me. She was wearing teal pajamas with cats on them and it brought out the green in her hazel eyes.

After a beat, I responded, “That’s why there’s two of them.”

Doc didn’t seem to have a reply to that and I started to relax. Maybe we could put this behind us.

“I don’t appreciate being treated like a child, Sir,” she suddenly said in a clipped tone, folding her arms and glaring up at me. Her glasses were off and her eyes were fiery pools of green and gold. “You made me look like an idiot in front of the team and you will not do that again.”

I gaped at her. “You were being an idiot, though. And I apologized.”

“No, you said you didn’t want to waste your time and that you’d make amends tomorrow.” Doc was standing straight-backed, trying to make herself taller and fixed me with a squint. “Fine, I accept. But the rest of it stops. Or we have a problem, Sir.”

“Stop calling me that,” I ground out.

“Not until you agree,” Doc said with a toss of her hair.

“Agree to what?” I asked, trying not to break the wooden doorframe.

"Agree to treat me like a partner instead of a pain in the ass," she snapped. "We need to coordinate, Roy. There are a million things to discuss and figure out. You're trying to do it all on your own and I'm trying to read your mind!" She jutted out a hip. "Why do you think I've been there so late every damn day?"

At a loss, I tried to think of something to say, but she had me. She was right.

“Fine,” I tried to say pleasantly, but growled instead.

“Oh, don’t do me any favors, Sir,” Doc said with a flash of her eyes.

“I’m exhausted, so we’ll talk in the morning,” I said. “Does that work?”

“Fine,” Doc retorted. “But don’t try to come up with a way to weasel out of this, because it’s not going to happen, Roy. You are stuck with me and the sooner you accept that, the better!”

On that note, she shut the door in my face and I was back in the darkness again.