Section 12: Ya Have to be the Only Person in the World Who Can Burn Tea

After Scarlet left his office Tseng picked up the potion and studied the bottle. He couldn't believe that Hojo would order Scarlet to use the potion on him. Scarlet probably placed the blame on Hojo because she got caught. It wouldn't be the first time she did that. Since Tseng thought the President wouldn't approve of any action against Scarlet, all he could do was get rid of the potion.

Tseng glanced at the teapot, the first thing he needed to do was get rid of the tea before anyone drank it. He placed the small bottle in his left pocket and picked up the teapot. He left his office and entered the Turk's kitchenette. That was the closest place with a sink.

When Elena heard Tseng's office door open she left Reno sitting on the couch and walked over to Tseng. She asked concerned, "Do you need me to help?" Elena noticed the pot of tea and asked, "Is there something wrong with the tea? Oh, I hope it didn't ruin it."

Reno got up and stood near Elena. He lit a cigarette and snickered. "Ya have to be the only person in the world who can burn tea."

Tseng sighed, "Reno, leave her alone. Elena, it's not your fault. Scarlet put something in the tea."

Reno whistled, "She tried to poison ya? That was stupid of her. So what are we gonna do?"

"We're not going to do anything. If Scarlet was telling the truth, it was a love potion." Reno opened his mouth but before he could speak Tseng interrupted, "No, I didn't drink any."

Elena frowned, "We have to do something. We have to let Scarlet know that she can't put stuff in our drinks."

"I don't think we can do anything to Scarlet. The President likes her too much. I could complain but he would probably tell me to forget about it since the potion wasn't supposed to kill me." Tseng paused thoughtfully. "The only thing we can do is prevent Scarlet from being alone with any food or drink."

"This sucks." Elena pouted.

"Yeah," Reno agreed, "But if you say we can't do anything we won't. So what are you going to do with the tea?"

"I really need to get rid of both the tea and potion before someone drinks it. I'll probably throw them down the sink, unless you can think of something else to do with it."

Reno smiled largely, "You could give it to me."

Tseng arched an eyebrow, "And what would you do with it?" He asked.

"I could make everyone love me. It would make interrogations easier."

While he poured the tea down the sink, Tseng said, "I don't think the President would approve."

Reno watched Tseng pour the potion down the sink and frowned, "Does the water from the sewer get purified and put into the main water supply?

"I believe so, why?"

"Our sink goes into the sewer, right?"

Tseng nodded yes.

"Will the potion be purified out of the water?"

Tseng looked at the sink as the realization of what he just did hit him. He shook his head and moaned, "Crap, I shouldn't have done that. That was stupid."

Elena looked down the sink, "I think I'll be drinking imported water for the next few months."

Reno nodded, "For once I agree with you."

"Maybe it will get filtered out. Or maybe there isn't enough to affect the water supply." Tseng said hopefully.

But Tseng was wrong. It didn't get filtered out. The potion was diluted by the water enough that no one was affected fully. Instead of making people fall madly in love, people merely liked other people more. For the next month the approval rating for the President went out of the roof. The President was happy with the news, but no one could explain why. No one except the Turks and they weren't talking.

The End

(Now you know why people didn't seem to hate the President as much as they should)