4.
"Do you ever let go of that thing?"
Will looks up at the sound of the irritated tone, gaze travelling over the lid of his laptop. Eve is sitting in the seat opposite his, hand wrapped around a plastic cup of coffee, full of liquid that almost sloshes over the side every time the train rocks as it rattles towards the north.
His fingers carry on typing, occasionally pausing to absentmindedly brush over the stinging in the fleshy part of his hand, just below his right thumb, still sore from the injection an hour earlier.
Nano bots, Nick had explained, giving his son a pat on the shoulder. They monitor your vital signs in the field, wherever you are.
I know, Will replied, a half smile on his face, despite the dull ache now beginning to make its way into his fingers. I invented them, remember?
"What?" He says now.
"I hardly ever see you without your laptop." She nods towards it with a look of disdain. "Is it somehow surgically attached to you or something?"
"It's called work, double-oh seven," he replies evenly. "You should try it sometime."
"Because sitting in front of a desk and looking at screens everyday constitutes as work?"
"Because saving you everyday constitutes as work."
"Saving -" Eve looks like she's about to launch into some kind of long string of insults, only to be interrupted by the sound of Nick clearing his throat over the comms, the noise echoing in their earpieces.
"Can we keep this civil, please? It's a long journey, and none of us in Q-branch want to listen to your arguments."
Eve huffs, exhale loud and irritated, before she leans back in her seat, fixing her gaze on the view of the rolling fields outside. Will fights to keep the chuckles contained in his throat.
They share the rest of the journey, even the drive to the hotel in silence. Not that Will doesn't try to start conversation; in fact, he tries three times, but Eve is the most stubborn person he's ever met and resolutely keeps her mouth shut, and, in the end, he gives up, choosing to return to his laptop and the limited information about Gwenlan that Katherine has passed on to him.
"What now?" Eve says, finally, after she's been scowling at him for an hour from the corner of the hotel room, silently watching him set up a miniature Q-branch on the desk by the window.
"Well, we can't investigate Gwenlan without talking to him, can we? There's some kind of dinner thing going on tonight. No doubt he'll be there. You can do some digging then."
"Why me?"
"I've got to stay here and keep an eye on you, haven't I?"