Chapter 4: You Give Love a Bad Name

Something was going on at Sanctuary Labs.

None of the Zeds had any idea exactly what it was, but in the last few weeks there had been this escalating sense of tension that even they couldn't miss. There were more upper level meetings, which lasted longer, and left all their supervisors in a strange mood.

Resources were tighter, and they had to get advance permission for more and more pieces of lab equipment.

No one had been hired in the last two months, which some of the older hires pointed out was not incredibly unusual, except that no one had been sent to scout any of the big job fairs either.

Individual projects were slowed if not stopped completely, and all the labs had been "encouraged" to adopt a regular schedule that included a closing time.

For the most part, Stefan was unaffected. Dr. Young seemed unfazed, and not even Mr. Foss could make him change how he worked. It hadn't hit home until the Zeds monthly Friday night meeting, after the second slice of pizza.

Andrew was sitting towards the front of the room, and when the conversation lulled, he cleared his throat once.

"Hey, so, guys, I've got something to say."

They all went silent. His face was serious and his eyes were fixated on the beer in his hand.

"I just found out…I'm being transferred."

No one said anything. Everyone knew the London site was the only location with labs; there were a few smaller places in other major cities but they were for the business side of the company. The only work you'd be able to do would be data processing and writing – no new experiments, no new designs, nothing.

For a scientist, being transferred was equivalent to being put on extreme probation, if not a direct two weeks notice.

Stefan eventually broke the ice. "Andy…what happened?"

"I dunno, Stefan. I mean, my work hasn't exactly been jumping forward leaps and bounds but Dr. K never said anything to me about it."

Jenny jumped in, "But then why? You've been here for ages!"

"Yeah, you'd think they'd give me a heads up. Mr. Foss just called me into the office today, confiscated my work laptop too. He told me they'll transfer all the data to my new one, but…"

"Jeez, that's not cool, you don't just take someone's tech like that!" Jenny was getting riled up, and Stefan was close behind her.

"I mean, technically that's in the contract, right?" Andy was trying to sound calm and collected, but was still looking at the empty bottle in his hand. "Their computer, their research data."

Stefan passed a hand through his hair, trying to make sense of it all.

"When do you…? Where?"

"New York, on Monday."

After Andrew left, Stefan felt more and more at odds with the other Zeds. No one was in a good mood, and the fact that Stefan didn't have it as bad as everyone else was quickly becoming a sore point. Everyone missed Andy, but he hadn't been in touch too much since the move. The few times Stefan had called him had been awkward.

Stefan began spending more and more time in the lab. Soon, it was almost all he did. Wake up, eat breakfast, work, eat, work, eat, then home for maybe a run and a shower before bed.

The only distraction was Jenny, who maintained an upbeat attitude somehow despite everything that happened. Somehow, she still managed to whisk him away to lunch every now and then.

Sometimes she popped by the lab, though Dr. Young usually shooed her out; he called her "distractingly flighty". Jenny informed Stefan that before he'd been hired, she'd poked her head in the lab to meet Dr. Young. He'd told her to wait and not disturb him, and she'd started looking at things scattered around his lab bench. One had been an overly sensitive alarm system that she'd set off by picking it up, and, well…. She had been asked to not return without "proper adult supervision."

As she finished the story, she giggled, "And now I've got you, Stef!" and patted him on the arm. As much as he hated the nickname, he couldn't help but smile. Her easy-going attitude was infectious, even when he was in such a dark mood.

Two months after Andrew had been transferred, the atmosphere at work was even worse. The Zeds barely hung out any more; Andrew had been the glue to hold them together. Stefan barely spoke to anyone besides Jenny and Dr. Young, who had become increasingly distant. Mr. Foss was no longer popping into the lab; Dr. Young's phone (which Stefan didn't even know he had) would ping, and the man would just get up and walk out of the room without looking at it.

Erika didn't stop by to chat anymore; her emails were curt and to the point, always exactly about one of their projects and nothing more. He didn't see the Foss children around the labs as often, and Dr. Young had no more visitors.

One day, Stefan was in the middle of sorting through the plans for a new communications system that Dr. Young had drawn up, when the man stood up suddenly, eyes fixed on his phone.

"Stefan, I've got a meeting to go to. Why don't you… go get lunch. Actually, just take the day off, my treat. Don't worry, I'll lock up."

Stefan almost refused, but the suggestion was so unlike him; he heard the subtext. You're not to be in the lab alone. What was this, his first month on the job? How had he lost lab privileges?

He slammed his laptop shut and thought about taking it with him, but his head was spinning and his heart was sinking into his stomach. He just grabbed his bag and walked out, not making eye contact.

What had he done wrong?! His work had been great, he'd not even walked within 10 feet of the do-not-open door, and he hadn't broken anything in the lab. Was he going to get transferred too?

None of it made sense, and as he walked, he felt worse and worse. His brain was fuzzy and his feet weren't going straight. He needed a reason, an explanation, anything. He pulled out his phone and called the only number that he knew would get an answer.

It took one ring and Jenny was on the phone. "Hey, Stef, what's up?"

"Jenny, I… Are you free? For lunch?"

"Stef, what's wrong, you don't sound ok."

"I…I think I'm in trouble with Dr. Young. I dunno, Jen, he left for a meeting and told me to go home for the day. I, I… I don't know what that means. I think it's like Andy-" He began to ramble, not really sure what he was saying. He couldn't process what was going on.

"Hey, hey, it's alright, calm down. Maybe he just wanted to be nice. Give you the day off."

"No, Jen, he's not like that. Geez, Jen, I...I don't know what I DID! What did I do wrong?!" At that, his voice began to crack. He liked this job, really liked it, and right now it was all he had. "I just grabbed my bag and walked out, I need to get out of here. Get some air. I just…can we talk? Please?"

"Yeah, yeah, course. Hey, let's get lunch at that café around the corner, ok? I'll be right there."

"Ok, ok."

"It'll be alright Stefan, I promise."

This was the crappiest day ever; it had to be. He'd walked all the way out of the lab, and made it halfway to the café when he realized that his wallet was not in his bag. Of all the days, today was the one time he's taken it out when he'd been rummaging through it earlier looking for his pen.

He thought about texting Jenny that he had to go back, but she was probably still tying up her work anyways. He jogged back down the block, and headed up to the lab, praying that Dr. Young hadn't actually locked up yet. Part of him was more scared of the prospect that Dr. Young might still be there.

When he got there, the door was closed. His heart sank, but to be sure, he tried the handle. To his surprise, it turned, but the door stuck as he tried to push it open. He gave it a good shove, and the door swung open.

Who had left the door that way?

He walked into the lab, and spotted one person, sitting at his lab bench. He barely noticed that the door swung shut as soon as he let it go.

"Jenny. What are you doing here?"

Jenny met his eyes with a bright smile.

"Stefan! There you are, I've been waiting!"

She'd been what? "You said to meet at the café… I just came back because I forgot my wallet."

"No, silly, I said we'd get lunch, of course we'd meet here, duh."

"I told you I left. That I didn't want to be here."

"Aw, Stefan, I know it's been a tough day, it's ok." She stood up and walked over to him. When she reached him she hugged him tightly, but he couldn't move his arms to hug her back. Still holding onto his shoulders, she leaned back and looked at him. "It'll be ok, you're just not thinking straight."

"No, I… Wait, how'd you get in?"

"The door was open."

"Dr. Young was going to lock up the lab."

"He must've forgot."

Dr. Young was absent-minded, but he didn't forget something that was clearly important enough to send Stefan home over.

"Jen, what is going-"

"Let's open the door!"

"What?!"

"That'll make you feel better! If you're so sure you're in trouble, just open it anyways! Don't you want to know?" Her smile had a small bit of desperation in it.

"Wait, whoa, Jenny. What's gotten in to you? Jenny, seriously, what are you doing in here?"

"I was waiting for you!"

"No, Jenny, really, why-"

She kissed him.

It was not a chaste kiss, but a full-on bruising kiss that nearly knocked him over. One of her hands came up to clutch the back of his neck, while she ran the fingers of her other hand through his hair, and she pressed her chest into his torso. His hands finally moved, as he grabbed her sides and gently pushed her back.

"Jenny, I don't –"

"I know, coworkers and everything, but I just really, really like you and you've been so sad since Andy left, and, well –" Her voice trailed off, her eyes pleading, looking at his face for a response. She stepped towards him, but he stepped back.

"Stefan, come on, you've been so nice to me, I thought that you…"

He should've realized she hadn't noticed. Had he led her on? He didn't think so. He really didn't, but he couldn't dodge the issue now.

"Jenny, look you're really nice and a great friend, but I'm gay."

"You're-"

She went quiet, and she lowered her head so she was looking at the floor, awkwardly shuffling from foot to foot. He didn't know what to say, so he walked away, his feet randomly moving him to his lab bench where she had been waiting.

The lab bench where she had been waiting for him… where his laptop now had an unfamiliar device plugged into the USB port. The only person who could've done that was Dr. Young or…

"Jenny, what were you doing with my laptop?"

He heard a click, but no response, so he turned around to look at her.

Her posture had changed entirely. She was standing upright; her smile gone, lips pressed into a thin line. Her eyes had none of their sparkle, but were glaring daggers into his.

And in her right hand, pointed directly at him, was a gun.

"You should have just waited at the damn café' Stefan."

"Jenny, what the hell?!"

Jenny just sighed, looking at him like he was a slow child who had asked for help tying his shoe.

"Not your day, is it? Move."

She gestured quickly with the gun, and he obeyed, shuffling towards the back of the lab. He opened his mouth, but she quickly cut him off.

"Ah, ah, ah, no talking. Back against the wall."

He obeyed, stepping backwards slowly, till he felt the wall behind him.

Why was she doing this?

Hell, what exactly was she doing?

"Now, Stefan, I'm ready to clear out of here and just leave you with a nice lump on your head but I've still got a question I need an answer to. One you should answer quietly. Do you know what's behind that door?"

"No." He didn't, he really didn't. Would she believe him? Did she know how to shoot? It looked like she did. Had she shot people before?

"Well then, lucky you, we're going to find out. Open it."

"No."

He didn't even think before answering. Hell, he couldn't form a coherent thought right now if his life... which it seemed it did. Jenny was obviously not pleased with this response.

"Stefan, I know how to use this gun. This lab is soundproofed; you and I both know your crazy boss made sure of that. I'm promising you a small concussion and plausible deniability."

"No."

He hadn't actually known it was soundproof, though that explained why no one had investigated the day Dr. Young had decided to test their new type of cherry bombs.

"Stefan." Her voice grew angrier, not pleased at his continuing non-compliance.

A very small part of Stefan was hoping that maybe, just maybe there was a chance he'd still keep his job when this was all over, if he survived Jenny and then Dr. Young. He didn't know what was behind that door, but Dr. Young had always known he hadn't opened it. Whatever it was, it was important, and even if Jenny meant her promise to simply knock him out afterwards (which he doubted) he could feel in his gut that he couldn't let her get through that door.

She grew impatient. "Move out of the way then."

Instead, he stepped in front of the door. There was no logic to it, no thought, just impulse. "NO."

"MOVE, NOW."

"NO!"

He heard a cracking noise, and it was only after he fell to the ground that he realized it must've been the gun. There was a momentary pain somewhere in his chest, but he couldn't determine where. It was only when he felt thin, lukewarm liquid rolling down his arm that he realized what had happened.

She had shot him, and now he was lying on his side, bleeding out.

She walked up to him, and though he struggled, the pain was overwhelming and he couldn't get his bearings. She bent down to look at his wound and then shoved him out the way.

He rolled on his back, causing another burst of pain, but he kept his eyes focused on her, standing in front of the door.

"No…" He barely gasped it out.

She pained him no attention, instead staring at the door intently. "Now, what does Tesla keep behind here?"

Tesla?

Her hand turned the doorknob easily, it was not locked, and she pushed the door open and stepped in. Stefan could not see anything past her except a dark colored wall, and she paused slightly before walking in.

"What on earth? What the hell is this?"

She had barely finished her sentence before she was surrounded on all sides by a glowing blue light. She started shouting, but Stefan couldn't hear her. Was it shock from the gunshot? Was he deaf now?

Was he dying?

As she reached out a hand, the light jumped down her arm, and he saw her scream silently. He watched her fire her gun at the blue light, but nothing seemed to happen. She began slammed her gun against the blue wall, attempting to break it, but when that proved hopeless she threw it behind her with a huff.

His eyes began to drift closed more and more frequently, but he tried hard to stay conscious, to hang on. Whether it was desperation, heroism, or curiosity, he didn't really know.

Eventually, he heard the door to the lab open. The moment it did, he saw the blue light envelope Jenny and she collapsed to the ground, her screams now very audible and piercing. They were shrill and high; with all that had happened today, he couldn't process whether her screams made him happy or sad, only that he could not block them out. Instead of fighting to keep his eyes open, he slammed them shut, but he could still imagine what was happening. He could almost see Jenny, collapsed on the floor, writhing in agony, in too much pain to even form coherent words.

He tried to move but couldn't. He heard loud foot steps and vaguely familiar voices shouting. He felt himself poked and prodded, and then lifted and carried, not in the direction of the infirmary, but over the threshold of the door.

He could barely hang onto consciousness, but there was one thought left in his mind. He kept his eyes closed, focusing on this one taks with his last bits of energy as he slipped into unconsciousness.

After all, he wasn't supposed to know what was behind the door, and he really liked this job…