A/N As we come to the end of Part 1, I have a few announcements to make. One is that I will now be going on hiatus with this story. I'm a college student, I've got life stuff to deal with, so I'm returning "Opalescent" to the backburner until I've got more time on my hands to write. This does not mean I'll end the story—in fact, I actually have more stuff fleshed out for the second half than I did for the first half—it just may be quite a wait.
In the meantime, some thank-yous are in order for all you wonderful readers. On , thank you to Azz-rosez, Thunderheart0000, savagenoodle, Abigail, and Fictious33 for reviewing/favoriting/following. On Wattpad, thank you to DoctorForesight, AlphaKratt, BasilGrey, FreedomWriter58, bumbleboye, saras369, Writing_Warrior05, SapphireTheEvil, Amelia103Sherman, and UltimateNegaishipper for commenting/reviewing, as well as everyone else who voted or added this story to their libraries (whom I don't know who you are because Wattpad won't tell me :'( ). You all have been SO SUPPORTIVE of this project and I love you all so much!
And of course, an ENORMOUS THANK YOU to Agent0002, who has been my amazing editor and recently began her well-deserved retirement from social media. I love you and miss you every day. ❤
Now enjoy the chapter, and see you all again (hopefully) soon!
(10) Rückkehrunruhe
\ˌrᵫ-kə-rün-ˈrü-hə\ (noun) The feeling of returning home after an immersive trip only to find it fading rapidly from your awareness.
"...A-and that's why I think Otto should go with Olive."
Ms. O was quiet. Sipping at a post-breakfast grapefruit juicebox, she scrutinized the doctor carefully. Her eyes were dry and her posture erect, not what one might expect of a girl at risk of losing her significant other.
Yes, the boss knew about their discreet relationship. She also knew about the security footage she'd seen from last night of a huddled figure crouching on the floor in the Medical Bay after hours, quivering with choked sobs and clutching a diamond-shaped handkerchief. And she certainly knew her doctor had a stoic reputation to protect, which is why she wasn't planning to mention either the couple or the footage.
"Hmm..." she mused. "Well, you're right about Otto being a fast learner. He skipped the Academy and trained as a recruit for only a week before joining, you know. Few others in his position could've grown so much since then. However," she added, slamming the juicebox on her desk loud enough to make the doctor jump, "you expect me to transfer out both of my best agents?"
Dr. O blinked, but otherwise her face didn't change. "You can always find two new best agents," she countered. "Can't you?"
Ms. O opened her mouth to rebuke the doctor for talking back, but stopped. As a matter of fact, she could get two new best agents. The timing actually couldn't have been more perfect. A few weeks ago she'd gotten a phonecall from the Academy about their brightest and most enthusiastic (a little too much for Director O's taste, it seemed to Ms. O) pupil in years, and wondered if Precinct 13579 might take her on. Well into the process of hiring Ohlm for Investigation and several new agents for Maintenance, Ms. O had declined at the time, but assured Director O that she'd be ready to take on a new recruit in about ninety days. After that she'd thought nothing of the phonecall until three days ago on December 30 when she received a coded message from a talented but desperate young boy, in which he begged for Odd Squad's help in letting him turn over a new leaf and leave behind his checkered past. Suddenly remembering the Academy phonecall, an idea had begun to form in Ms. O's mind. And now if she had Otto promoted alongside Olive…
Perfect timing, indeed.
"I'll think it over," Ms. O said curtly, but not unkindly. "Thank you for your concerns, Doctor. Now go on back to work, there's a lot to do before Odd Todd gets here."
Dr. O nodded. "Of course, because I'm a doctor." With that, she swiveled on her heel and left.
Ms. O watched her go.
It was funny how, when she least expected it, she could learn so many things about the integrity of two employees from such a brief, unassuming conversation. If Otto was willing, albeit grudgingly, to put up with Ohlm if it meant the promotion and success of his true partner Olive, he was far more deeply humble than he came across. And if Dr. O was willing to give up her own desires for the wellbeing of two other agents, her stolid yet quirky nature hid a big, selfless, abnegating heart. But most importantly, this proved that no matter what was between them, Dr. O and Otto never failed to put the needs of Odd Squad and its agents first and foremost.
It...touched Ms. O, to wonder at it. Especially since it had nearly killed her to take her own O'Donahue and boot him down to third place, after her career and the wellbeing of her precinct's agents.
Well, if anyone were willing to give up their loved one for the greater good like that, she reasoned as she placed the call to the Academy and asked to hire Olympia, effective immediately, it would have to be our very own Doctor. And I envy her for making a hard decision so easily.
But neither Ms. O nor Dr. O knew what the consequences of this decision were destined to become.
Okay, so run through this one more time. I show up at Odd Todd's door, act like I'm reluctant to join him yet out of options, and deep down desperate to keep Olive. So long as Todd has underestimated me again, it should be easy to believe. Now, I don't know what to expect once I'm there, so I gotta act confused and just a tad bit clueless—okay maybe more than just a tad, he'll like that and believe it more. Somehow I'll have to go off what he says and figure out a way to suggest opening all the doors in HQ and getting him to agree with the idea. Above all, improvise. He cracked a smile at the thought. Like that'll be hard. Improv and comedy go hand in hand, and everyone already knows I've got comedy nailed. He took a deep breath. Okay, guess that's it. After that it's up to everyone in headquarters. Time to head out and set our plan in motion—
"Otto, wait!"
Halfway through the Tube Lobby doors, Otto stopped and whirled around.
Opal?
He watched as the doctor zoomed into the Trophy Room and skidded to a halt in front of him, bracing her hands on her knees as she panted for breath. Startled, he tried to remember the last time he'd seen Opal run like that, as if a Taggle had sunk its teeth into her lab coat. When his memory could only draw a blank, Otto began to wonder what on earth could've happened to her. What could possibly be so important that she needed to interrupt their crucial mission? Was it a sudden odd outbreak, or had Odd Todd somehow found out about their plans, or—or had something happened to hurt her?
It was none of the above. "Otto," she gasped, still getting her breath back. "It's me, Dr. O, except I let you call me Opal since we're so close. We go out on Saturdays, your partner and my best friend are a couple—"
"Opal, I know!" he cut her off, by now accustomed to her quirky but endearing way of introducing herself. "We've literally been going steady since April. Now what is it, is something wrong?"
"Yes. I mean no, no! I mean…" She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. "Look, before you go, there's...there's something I have to tell you."
Otto furrowed his eyebrows. Something in her tone of voice… He couldn't quite put a finger on it, but it almost sounded a little sad. "What is it?" he asked warily.
Opal stood up and shuffled her feet a bit, not quite meeting his eyes. "I, uh, forgot to tell you yesterday, with—y'know, all the excitement over Olive's promotion and this huge plan of yours, but, uh...well…" She suddenly looked directly into his eyes and blurted out, "I'm going on a long-term trip."
"A what?"
"A trip," she repeated tersely. "Yes, a trip. A really long one. Like a sabbatical, if you will. It's very last-minute, but the Big Office needed a doctor and so they picked me. I gotta head out after this mission is done with."
A sabbatical? His eyebrows unfurrowed and shot up. Opal...leaving? First Olive, now Opal? All in one day? Otto was at a loss. "But...why?"
Opal didn't answer for a bit, but after a few moments she gave him a stiff, awkward shrug. "Important medical business. I'm a doctor, it's what I do."
Brow refurrowing, he narrowed his eyes. The whole thing didn't add up. What kind of emergency sabbatical could the Big Office possibly want Opal for? Did Ms. O know about this? But the look in her helpless doe eyes told him not to pry for details. Besides, he was just now realizing a bigger elephant in the room here. "Okay. So you're leaving. Do you know for how long?"
She shook her head.
"You don't think it'll be permanent, do you?"
She looked away and shrugged. "I hope not."
"But it'll still be a long time."
She nodded.
"Opal..." Otto sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Do you realize what this means for us?"
Biting her lip, she nodded. "No more Saturday nights," she murmured, her way of acknowledging the relationship they'd created over the past several months.
The past several months. It had been that long already?
"I could come back and visit sometimes, though."
He looked at her sharply. "You can do that?"
"I think so. I don't see why not." She tried a smile. "Hopefully, anyways. So we could…?"
She trailed off, but he saw where she was going. "Do the long-distance thing?" he finished.
"Yes. I mean, if you think it'll work, that is."
"I..." Otto couldn't answer right away. Truth be told, the answer that came to mind was the worst possible one he could give to her. What's the point? I mean, how could you up and leave me like that? I'm already practically losing my older sister, now you too? Who's next, Oscar? How many "long-distance things" do I have to juggle? But this was Opal. Selfless Opal, who never asked for anything she could live without; who took pride in the seedy, dilapidated apartment she called home; who refused charity if she could get by on her own. If she had to leave now, it couldn't be helped. And he knew all too well how good she was at hiding her emotions. For all he knew, she had probably taken the news far worse when she found out.
And what would I do if I were in her boat? he wondered. If I got a last-minute promotion or research sabbatical and had to leave Opal behind, I'd want her to let us try the long-distance thing, too.
Wouldn't I?
Communication. Honest communication was crucial. Rule number three. Otto resisted the urge to ruffle his hair a second time and tried again. "I… I'll be honest, I dunno how well I'd do with long-distance. I mean, already I gotta deal with Olive leaving, and uh..." he tried to chuckle and it came out strained, "well, I mean you kinda blindsided me here, Opal."
"I know," she said, a bit fretfully. "I'm sorry. I wish it didn't have to happen, but it's—I mean, it's for the best. Anyhow, it's not exactly an opportunity you could—er, I could pass up. I wouldn't, er, want you to, y'know."
"And I don't want you to, either," he agreed, reaching out to stroke her cheek. "Part of rule number two is that work comes first, remember?"
She smiled ruefully. "Yes, I remember. So...does that mean yes?"
Otto glanced behind him at the soft blue light of the Tube Lobby. He was still caught standing in the automatic doorway, one foot in headquarters with Opal and another in the way out to the world, and Odd Todd's expectant lair. I should really get going, he thought, more than a little unwilling to move. "Look," he sighed, "of course I would do that for you. I've never done anything long-distance before and I can't make any promises while I've got Ohlm to deal with, but yes, I want to try and I want this to work out between us. We'll talk about it some more when Todd's been dealt with, though, alright?"
There was something peculiar in her expression he couldn't make out. But before he could wonder at it too much, a familiar raspy voice interrupted his ponderings. "Otto, you coming?" O'Malley hollered from the Tube Operator console.
"Yeah, yeah, just a moment!" he called back over his shoulder. Then softly to Opal, "Listen, I gotta get going. Olive can't start her first day in her new job until this mission is over. And now, neither can you." Leaning in, he pecked her on the cheek and turned to go. "We'll talk later, alright?"
Opal didn't seem to answer. Otto couldn't be sure, but he thought he heard her mumble "I wish we could" under her breath. But as he got squishinated and bounced into the tubes and wondered what on earth that could mean, he found himself dwelling on that last little thing he'd added as he left her: "And now, neither can you."
Olive was leaving him.
And now Opal was, too.
For the first time in his life, Otto wondered if this was what it felt like to be lonely.
Blindsided. I've totally been blindsided.
So it was with a genuinely heavy heart that Otto popped out of the tubes at 30 Main Street and approached the door to Odd Todd's evil lair, if—as it would turn out—for all the wrong reasons.
Zzzap!
One final gadget fired and the last dinosaur, Robot Princess, and flying book disappeared. A split second of silence settled across headquarters. Opal stood her ground a moment longer, then collapsed against the wall as all the adrenaline left her.
She felt...surprisingly, pretty good.
Guess I had a lot to get out of my system, she mused briefly. A little dazed, her eyes wandering, it took a moment before she really started to comprehend the sight in front of her.
The bullpen was a mess. Desks were overturned and their contents scattered everywhere...random bits of paper floated almost ethereally through the air...balls from the ball pit bounced and rolled merrily across the floor in every which way...blast marks from various gadgets left sooty stains on the cement floor and iron support beams...the climbing wall in front of the lab lay destroyed in a sad pile of shredded wood and plastic...the light fixture above the east entrance hung lopsided, suspended by a single remaining wire and flickering sadly...even crumbling cinder blocks from the building's very foundations had broken free and were now strewn about the area with the other bits of rubble. Opal shuddered at the sight and stepped forward to begin helping with the long clean-up, when she remembered—
Oh.
Oh, crumpets.
Forgetting the aftermath before her, Opal broke into a worried sprint (my second today, quite an exercise for a doctor) and in no time was up the stairs and in the doorway of her precious Medical Bay...and breathed a sigh of relief. Could've been worse, she thought, surveying the hundreds of apples that covered every possible flat surface in the little room. An apple attack from an escaped Fruithaha Fairy can't keep this doctor away! Knowing Ms. O would appreciate the ample addition to her Juice Bar's extra reserves, she fished out a Basketinator from behind her back and zapped several baskets into existence, then set to work converting her apple orchard back into a Medical Bay.
And then, as she began dragging out the first full basket towards Ms. O's office, her sharp ears caught the anxious sound of a familiar voice. "Olive, what are you still doing here? You're gonna miss your first day!"
She stopped cold. It was coming. The moment she dreaded was coming. Scheming to get rid of Odd Todd, fighting off odd creatures and getting them contained once more, cleaning up the place in the aftermath...all that had only kept her busy, kept her mind off...off of…
"Um, a-about that…" came the halting reply. "Here, walk with me."
So Olive had agreed to the idea. In spite of herself, Opal couldn't help feeling a little relieved. Her pretend cover story about taking an indefinite sabbatical had paid off: if he believed she too was leaving the precinct, Otto could accept his promotion without worrying about hurting their relationship. All the same, Opal knew she needed to hear what was coming next, so she pushed aside the apple basket and discreetly hurried down the stairs to follow them.
"I...know—we've been working together for a…w-while, and… I'm not taking the job."
There it was. Opal didn't wait to hear Otto's reaction—she had a pretty good idea of how disbelieving he was probably about to be—but rather dashed into the back hallway and around to the far Trophy Room entrance, the one that led directly to the Tube Lobby. Keeping out of sight a little ways back, she saw/heard the two walk out between the doorways as Olive cut off whatever Otto was saying: "I said I'm not taking it—"
Penny in the air.
"—unless you come with me."
Penny drops.
The shockwave of what she'd just said had barely crossed Otto's face when the Tube Lobby doors slid open and Olive was ushering him inside. "What is going on h—"
Opal heard a gadget zap.
Imagining all too well the purple suit that was now taking form, she watched as Ms. O, finally able to slip away from directing agents to where and what needed cleaning up, strode out of the Trophy Room and caught her eye in the hallway. Opal held a finger up to her lips, but she needn't have worried. With a pitying smile, Ms. O nodded at her once, then turned and made her way into the Tube Lobby. "Whaddya say, Otto? You up for the job?"
As the doors began to slide shut, the doctor scooted forward and wedged the tip of her shoe in between them, stifling a cry as the multi-ton doors nearly mashed her toes to a pulp. Ignore it for now, better to focus on physical pain than emotional pain, she reminded herself. I'm a doctor, I can treat my foot later, but this can't wait. Peeking through the crack, she watched the events unfold.
The first part didn't concern her all that much, although it was priceless to watch. The look of horror on not just Otto's face, but on Olive's and Oscar's faces as well, as he asked, "Wait. Does this mean we have to be married?" almost made her blow her cover, but Opal managed to keep a straight face. Funny, I wouldn't've felt the need to keep a straight face this time last year, she thought offhandedly.
But it was the next part where Otto proved, once again, how he put the needs of others before his own. "But what about Ohlm?" he asked, looking back and forth between Olive and Ms. O. "What about—?"
And that's when his eyes locked on hers.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, Opal's thoughts registered Ms. O's voice saying something about Ohlm getting repartnered with Orchid, and that same part of her mind wondered how upset Orchid would be at the change. Yet in those few moments, none of that mattered. She felt petrified, rooted to the spot, fixed in time and space. All she saw were the two ebony orbs inlaid in the warm mocha face of the boy who had held her captive for nearly two years now. And it was clear that all he saw were the two brown opals inlaid in her own cold ivory face, thawed by months in his radiance. Her lips tingled a bit as her mind flashed back to the Christmas Eve night only the week before, when they'd shared their first and only true kiss.
His dark eyes held a question. Hers held the answer. Slowly she blinked them shut and nodded once. This is what I was trying to prepare you for, she whispered to him mentally. Go with Olive. You're ready for this. We'll find a way to make time for each other.
Otto looked at her a moment longer, and she knew he understood it all. The made-up sabbatical excuse, the permission she was now granting him, the hope for his future, everything. Gratefully he gave her a tiny, crooked sort of half smile. Then he broke eye contact and looked at Ms. O. "I accept the job," he said without hesitancy, reaching out to shake his now-former boss's hand.
There was nothing more for her to see here. Shaking a little, Opal withdrew her foot from between the doors and let them slide shut all the way. With that she turned and began to make her way back to her Medical Bay.
But not alone. As she dazedly stumbled out into the bullpen, oblivious to the dramatic makeover happening all around her, the doctor caught the attention of a certain head nurse. "Hey, Dr. O!" Agent Odell hollered, rushing over to catch up with her at the foot of the stairs, still clutching the large wooden club of a caveman he'd fought off earlier. "Doctor, are you alright?"
She looked at him and gave him a curt nod, but on the inside she was scrambling to find her composure. Where had it gone? Why was she so calm and unseeing on the outside but collapsing on the inside? And what was so funny all of a sudden? "I'm fine, thank you, Doctor," she said, a little snicker in her voice on the last word. "Heh, doctor."
Odell was eyeing her weirdly. "Um, are you sure? That was a pretty crazy fight, and you look a little worn out."
For some reason that made her want to snicker even more. Deep breath, Opal. Deep breath. "Thank you for your concern, Odell, but I am doing just fine." She grinned. "Of course I'm fine, I'm a doctor, haha!" And with that she dashed up the stairs, leaving behind a rather baffled head nurse.
Once inside she quickly shut the Medical Bay door and pressed her back against it, then burst out laughing. It didn't occur to her why she shouldn't be laughing for a good minute or so, until suddenly she felt something drip off her chin. As instantaneously as switching off a water faucet, the laughter died on her lips. Opal brought a hand up to touch her cheeks. Blankly she stared at the warm droplets on her fingertips.
I'm not okay, she remembered. I just lost Otto and I'm not okay.
But why am I laughing if all is not right with the world?
With the world…wi' the world...th' world...world...wor…
… … …
—aLL iS rIGHt—aLL iS—aLL—
ALL IS RIGHT WITH THE WORLD?!
Gasp!
"...I'm done for."
