14
Pendergast slowly grew aware of himself and his surroundings. He felt as though he had just returned from the most wonderful dream without the harshness of actually waking. The girl was straddling his midsection, her weight on her knees as she watched him. "You okay?"
He smiled at her, feeling strange, moving far too slowly as he propped himself on his elbows and nodded. "Yes. Yes…I think so."
Amanda offered him a quick nod, then got to her feet and reached for his hand. He lay back down with a sigh, and then began to raise a hand toward her. She bent to accept it, and then hauled him upright. The agent stumbled forward until he had her pinned to the nearest wall, sagging against her, breathing deeply in an effort to clear his head. "Forgive me," he muttered as she squeezed free of him so that he had to support himself against the wall. When he felt strong enough, he turned her way. "You…did that, didn't you?"
She crossed her arms over her chest and regarded him with bemusement. "Not a Quasar," she'd decided.
"That was your test?"
She turned and walked away.
He felt like he was stuck in afterglow. "Amanda," he said softly as he sought to catch up to her. "Please…Amanda."
"Hm?" She halted and turned to watch him as he slowed down, still weak.
"What you just did…what…did you do?"
Smiling, she shook her head like he was some kind of an idiot.
"Was that…no…I have no idea…." He swallowed and smiled at her, his eyes heavy-lidded. "That was…amazing. Whatever it was."
"'kay," she said indifferently. Looking around the second floor, she told him, "This is boring."
"Was I…I mean, did that take long? How long…I mean…."
"Doesn't matter," she replied softly.
"Yes, I suppose you're right. So long as we're here and your partner has not yet relinquished control of my body…." He shuddered with unexpected pleasure and then the sensation faded like a gorgeous sunset. Did she do things like that to Roglitz? "Thank…you," he mentioned awkwardly.
She shrugged. "Play in the gym again?"
Pendergast chuckled. "Do you think I could possibly take you now?" But the notion of physical contact with her made him uneasy. "Perhaps…we should go somewhere else. Find something to occupy ourselves with…no. I need to know the moment Alexander awakens. I need to know what's wrong with me and if it's safe for me to return to my own reality."
"Reality," the girl repeated, looking skeptical.
"Every reality is your reality, isn't it?"
She gave him a sidelong glance, but said nothing.
"Every new situation you encounter…is like a dream. A string of dreams you never awaken from."
"'sokay," she grunted.
"You entered my reality once before. I wonder…if we could do it again? Could we go to Colorado, find my body, maybe assist Alexander somehow?" He took a deep breath. "It is possible, isn't it? We could find him."
"I can find him," she said.
"But what about me? In my reality…would I remain like this? Like you? A quasi-reality?"
"You're here," she told him flatly.
"Yes, but…is there some way we could travel there together? Could I go with you? I don't want you to bring him back to me before he's completed his task, but I also fear losing you if I'm to be trapped here this way forever."
She thought hard, twisting her mouth to the side. "You…could be Alex."
He considered. "But then how would he return to himself when he's done?"
She shrugged.
"I wish I could trust the time here," he murmured, heading back for the room where they had left him. "It feels like hours have passed, although it could as easily be seconds…or perhaps even days?"
The Quasar had no response to that, so she simply trailed him back to the room where her partner lay still, quiet, barely alive.
"Perhaps, if I attempted to wake him myself…ease him into a state similar to hypnosis, then maybe I could question him while he continues to function within my reality." He looked toward the girl who looked back at him blankly. "And perhaps I could see if placing his hand in a bowl of warm water causes him to wet himself." The girl didn't laugh. Shrugging, he told her, "Sorry."