A/N: I don't mean to offend anyone, and I don't actually think "blind" or "uncoordinated" are insults, but Ian might.
Ian Kabra was sick. Not sick of that Evan bloke. Not sick of Daniel's horrid fashion sense. No, he was sick-with-the-flu-and-incapable-of-concentrating-long-enough-to-do-single-productive-thing sick.
"You know, you'd be feeling a lot better right now if you had taken my advice and used my special immune system-boosting supplements," Sinead chided.
"I should think not," he snapped. "That foul stuff you always use to 'treat' my wounds after that psychopathic cat attacks me is awful enough. I absolutely refuse to ingest any concoction of yours."
"Amy and I both use it, and neither of us have gotten sick since we started taking it. We never wanted to miss a day of training, and its especially important not to catch anything now that we need to be at our best to fight the Vespers." Sinead looked Ian in the eyes. "You know you aren't much help until you get better. In fact, you're a liability."
Ian stood up from his seat and stormed out of the room. As if to add to his misery, his path collided with Evan Tolliver's.
"Oops! Sorry, Ian," Evan apologized. "I didn't see you coming."
"I see I can add 'blind' and 'pathetically uncoordinated' to your list of deficiencies. Perhaps Amy stays with you because she pities you," Ian spat. Usually his insults were a little more subtle, but he was in no mood to be polite. He left Evan and continued on his way to the guest room. After everything he had gone through that day, he undoubtedly deserved a rest.
Ian stood up from his seat and stormed out of the room. Sinead sighed inwardly. Couldn't he just admit her superiority for once?
She thought about talking to Amy about it, but then remembered that Amy had more important things on her mind. Besides, she knew Amy well enough to know that Amy would tell her that Ian was going through a rough time, so she should tolerate him. At least up to a point.
"He really is mean to everyone, I guess."
Sinead looked up. Evan Tolliver was standing in the doorway of the Command Center, looking just as tired as she felt. He shifted uncomfortably.
"I mean, he's always calling me names and stuff," he said, looking slightly distressed. "I'm trying not to take it personally, but it seems like he really hates me, like there's something about me that makes him really upset."
Sinead instinctively fought the urge to blink, having spent years hiding emotions from others so she could succeed in the clue hunt. She had become used to other people doing the same.
But Evan's face was completely open, and he seemed to be sharing his weakness with her without any reserve whatsoever. And, incredibly, she didn't have a doubt in her mind that he was being completely sincere.
"You just admitted that he insults everyone," she pointed out. "Why would he make an exception for you?"
"It's just that he insults me often than he insults anyone else, except maybe Saladin," he said with a chuckle, and Sinead wondered how anyone could laugh while discussing the obvious hatred someone else held for him. "And when he's talking to me his insults are nastier than they usually are when he's talking to other people. But what really worries me," he said, his voice getting quieter, "is that he's always talking about how I'm a great example of Amy's bad taste in boys. I think he likes her."
"Everyone likes Amy, including Ian." And you, she thought. "It's not so easy living in her shadow," she said, her voice taking on a lighter tone.
"Why do you say that? Amy shares a lot of her best qualities with you. You're both smart, confident, mature, and you even look kind of the same, with your reddish-brown hair and green eyes. And you know what I mean about Ian liking Amy. I think he doesn't want to acknowledge that she would pick me over him, so he keeps finding things about me to pick on. You know he ignores anything that makes him look bad." When Sinead didn't respond, he continued, "If he does like her, then I don't know if I can compete with him. I may be good with computers, but Ian's great at a lot of things, and he looks like he stepped of the cover of Incredibly Good-Looking British Guys Magazine, if a magazine like that existed, and, you know, it was possible for pictures to come to life. Do you think I'm just being paranoid, or do you think he really likes her?"
Sinead thought for a moment. Amy wouldn't be happy if Sinead told Evan the truth, and while Sinead didn't see much point in hiding Ian's crush from Evan, she didn't want to hurt her best friend.
But hadn't she done enough for Amy? If it hadn't been for her, Amy wouldn't be nearly as fit as she had become through her training with Sinead. It had been Sinead who had motivated Amy when her punches lacked power and her research needed more focus. It had been Sinead who kept Ian, Evan, and Saladin from killing each other while her time could be better spent trying to find her brother. It had been Sinead who had supported Amy throughout her relationship with Evan. After all, someone as special as Amy deserved a guy as great as Evan.
Even if Sinead didn't always think Amy was the girl who should be with him.
"Tell you what," she said. She turned to the computer and began typing. Thirty-four seconds later, she turned back to Evan. "I just emailed you my answer in an encrypted message. If you can crack the code, you can read it."
Evan looked surprised.
"Do you really think I can do that?" he asked.
"Of course. I've seen what you can do with computers, and I've heard you talking to Amy. Anyone as intelligent as you are can solve a simple polyalphabetic permutation cipher."
And then she walked away before he could realize she had said something nice about him. There were some codes she didn't want to be cracked.
Quote of the Day: "'I know it's completely ridiculous, but I can't keep quiet about it any longer. Your closet looks like it was put together by a blind nun, and your brother acts like a cross between a monkey and a go-kart, and you have the social skills of a rock. But I like you, Amy. Quite—quite a bit.' He paused. 'So, congratulations.'" - Ian Kabra, "Rapid Fire: Crushed" by Clifford Riley