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Chapter 25 – Searching for Connections
Everyone else had long since left the research lab, leaving Seeal with some welcome silence and time to focus on what she felt were the best avenues in the research. She had commandeered all the tablets linked up to the Toshka database, the Dreamstation database, and the appropriate Sythus' computer. Eight tablets were spread out before on her the table, all working their individual searches, finding links between seemingly unconnected details from the databases.
She had been rather enjoying the process. The tablets had fast connections, not that she couldn't speed them up somewhat if she could tinker with the coding, but she had promised not to do that again. However, the Sythus computer that the tablets were connected to was housed behind a strong firewall of protection, keeping it separate from Toshka's copy database, and her own supplied Dreamstation database, and as such there was a tiny delay in the communications between all three. Again she was almost certain she could sped that up, but she was purposefully behaving herself, and besides, she didn't trust Malaca or Toshka to have hidden some dangerous code in the commandeered database.
One of the searches concluded without anything found, so she picked up that tablet and considered where next to turn in her search. She had been at this for hours now and was starting to feel tired. The others were probably all tucked up in bed fast asleep, or on some boring night shift duty. She worked well alone anyway, and was no longer held back by the types of searches she was order to make. She had found a wealth of connections and information from her new searches, and some very interesting results when compared to the Alliance records. Not that she hadn't gone down the wrong avenue of searches a few times, but that was what research was all about – finding out what isn't there as much as what is there.
The only problem with all this extra work was that there wasn't anyone else to go through all the data with her. Well, there would be plenty for the team to filter through when they came back tomorrow morning. She had probably found just as much this evening as the team had all day...well maybe not. But, she had done well, but the tiredness was starting to interfere with her thinking.
She tapped in a new search, selecting two more known pseudonyms she knew from Dreamstation and sent them off into the Toshka database to see what might come up. She tapped on the table display before her, crossing off the pseudonyms that she had already tired.
She put the tablet back as it worked away and reached for another. As she did she was aware of footsteps moving down the corridor outside the lab. She had purposefully left the lab's doorway open. She wasn't up to no good, she was working just as she had been asked, helping out, but keeping the door open reiterated that point. Not that there appeared to be anyone checking up on her. She had only heard a few engineers walking past in the last couple of hours, all talking about the approaching mission and a new rota that Ru had instigated.
The footsteps outside didn't move away along the natural corner of the corridor outside, so she guessed that someone was now checking up on her. It wasn't Oneakka, of that she was certain. If it were him, she wouldn't have heard him approaching.
She glanced round as the visitor walked in, and was only a little surprised to see that it was Madesh. He smiled as he walked towards her.
"Why are you still here?" He asked her, though clearly not surprised she was.
"Working," she replied as she returned her attention to her tablets. One had returned some results. She picked it up and tapped through the search results.
"Because he wouldn't let you do the searches you wanted?" Madesh asked as he sat down on a chair to the side of the tablets all tilted up towards her.
"They need doing," she replied as she assigned the new results into the folder system the team had etablished. "Besides, what else have I got to do?" She asked.
"How about sleeping like everyone else?" Madesh suggested.
"Why aren't you sleeping?" She returned, looking up at him from the tablet.
"Just had my full medical," he reported with a frown, one hand drifting to his arm as if something was sore. Perhaps bloods had been taken, or some sort of muscle testing. "Didn't realise it would go on so long. Forgot my pads," he gestured to a small stack of pads that had been left to one side.
She studied his face for a second, unsure if he had purposefully left them behind to come back to collect or if he really hadn't expected the medical to go on so long. It didn't really matter. The man was clearly acting out on some sort of mission to befriend her.
He was good enough man, though his worship of the Elite bordered on pathological. Well, maybe not that bad, but close. She doubted an Elite could do anything wrong in Madesh's world, even after he had been used by Iketani.
He was apparently making up for that past error, and older ones Seeal suspected. He had helped the Elite try to capture Iketani at one point, and had even taken a bullet for it. He had proudly told her how the Elite had taken him in, let him make up for his errors and use his pretty impressive superpower to help them.
She had no problem with someone who could tell whether she was being truthful or not. She said what she thought and kept the rest to herself, so what was there to be afraid of in that? However, it was readily obvious that the Sythus' crew weren't so comfortable with Madesh's skills.
Even before he had come onboard, she had heard him referred to as "The Lie Detector" by the crew. She guessed a lot of the crew were feeling uncomfortable after their little back room antics in the storage bay had been discovered. She had to wonder what other little harmless random crew activities they thought Madesh might be able to see through and might report.
She had no doubt that the crew would have found a new private room for their "personal time" together, but she suspected the Elite would keep a close eye on how much black body paint was being ordered by stores.
What was particularly amusing about the whole affair was that it was clear to her that Madesh didn't care what people might be up to around him. He was only interested in working hard for the Elite and making up for his past mistakes, which was probably why he wanted to befriend her. They had a situation in common, and he since he was being excluded by the rest of the crew, he was probably looking for a friend.
She wasn't used to someone wanting to be her friend. Not if they weren't out to get something from her. Madesh didn't appear to want anything from her but someone to talk to.
She kind of liked the guy really. He didn't seem like he could be a threat to anyone. He'd certainly been useful during the raids, his fighting style clearly influenced by sparring with Oneakka regularly. He was nowhere as fast and deadly as Oneakka, but in that respect Madesh's Elite worship would set him in good stead. Seeal had found out firsthand how well Oneakka could fight against a human as well as against Wraith.
Though, clearly Oneakka as Madesh's mentor wasn't about to fill the role of friend, so that left Madesh by himself on the ship. At least until now. She knew what it was like to be excluded.
"I've only been in their medical room once," she told him, starting up a conversation for him.
"I have unfortunately attended it a few times now," Madesh replied with a smile, pleased and grateful for the talk.
"That healer," she asked. "She looks like an Elite, but I've not seen her with the others."
"She's not an Elite," Madesh replied, his hand lingering on his arm again.
"She has a tattoo though," Seeal pointed out.
"Some of the crew do," Madesh answered, "You get to wear one if you kill a Wraith Queen directly, regardless if you're an Elite warrior. You'll see one or two on the crew during training tomorrow."
Seeal sighed. "Sure, training - that'll be a waste of time."
"It's useful," Madesh argued. "Aren't you interested in keeping fit? Learning some Elite fighting skills?"
"I've fought an Elite; that teaches you all you need to know."
"Which is?" Madesh asked.
She smiled at him. "Not to do it again."
He smiled back as he nodded.
She dropped her eyes to his arm which he was massaging again.
"The tattooed doctor take a load of your blood?" She asked.
"Just a few vials. I don't like needles," he admitted.
"Even with your drug history?" She asked bluntly.
His eyes rose sharply.
"I'm not telling anyone," she reassured him.
"I've been clean a very long time," he replied with his soft voice. "I was young and a different man then."
"Escaping," she summarised looking up at him from the tablets.
His eyes met hers and he nodded before glancing away with no small amount of shame in his expression. She had no doubt believing this guy had been easily used by others in the past. In fact, she suspected the drugs had probably been a vain early attempt to control his gift, or perhaps someone had gotten him onto them to try and control him and his supernatural skills.
She wondered what how his life might have turned out if he hadn't been 'saved' by the Elite. She imagined it wouldn't have been pleasant or all that long. He was the kind of man people used and discarded just as easily. Knowing the criminal element as well as she did, she imagined he was highly valued by criminal lords, but also hated by the lord's competition. She imagined turf wars would have kicked off just so someone could steal Madesh and his gift. It couldn't have been a good life.
Another tablet completed its search and displayed its results. She reached out for it and idly looked through what it had found.
"Think that's why they did the full medical on you?" She asked Madesh out of curiosity. The Elite had been forgiving and generous to Madesh, though not without gaining his skills for themselves, but she had to wonder if they had trust issues with his past history.
"No, it's mandatory for all new crewmen," Madesh replied, still appearing tense on the subject. All the better to get the matter out in the open then.
"They probably test all their crew," she considered.
"Have you had a medical?" He asked.
She let out a chuckle of a breath. "They did some basic tests on me when I was a prisoner." Madesh nodded. "Besides, I'm not a proper member of the crew."
"You've been here longer than I have," Madesh replied, probably thinking the comment was a compliment.
"Once they've drained me of my knowledge, I'll be gone," she replied as she tapped out a new vague search, her mind definitely tiring. Maybe she should just focus on the results of this last search.
"Go where?"
She shrugged. "Depends on how long it'll take me to clean my Alliance criminal record."
"You saved two Elite warriors from a Wraith Queen and stopped this ship from being blown up," Madesh replied. "How much more do you have to do?"
She let out a snort. "A lot more," she emphasised as she set the tablet aside and rubbed at her tired eyes. Perhaps she should turn in to sleep. After all she was expected to go do exercises with the crew tomorrow – joy.
"To prove yourself?"
She blinked her eyes clear as she refocused on Madesh. "In their eyes I have a lot to clean away, and besides you know saving a life doesn't mean the same on this ship. Not to the likes of the Military and the Elite."
"Is that why you're still up running these searches?"
"They need doing," she replied simply again.
"To prove your usefulness?"
She smiled down at the screen. "I'm always useful; fortunately Oneakka sees that for now."
"Honoured Elite Oneakka," Madesh corrected, as he always did. "You're proving yourself."
She sighed, perhaps having someone think they know you by having looked deep in your eyes was a bit annoying. "That I can behave myself, yes."
"You're trying to prove yourself to the Elite."
"Obviously, I want my clean record."
Silence followed from across the table. She let it lengthen, but could feel his heavy attention, and rolled her eyes to look at him from under her brow.
"You know it's not true, yes?" Madesh asked.
"What isn't?" She asked confused at the turn in the conversation.
"That you're cursed."
The words, their implication old and painful for her still to this day bothered her, despite how quickly she slammed down on the reaction.
"That was my people's thinking," she corrected him, turning her attention back to her search results.
"You believe that if you prove yourself to the Elite then it proves that your people were wrong," Madesh announced.
She sighed and set her arms on the tabletop and gave him her full attention.
"You sure know how to make conversation."
However, he kept his gaze steady, level and honest. She supposed she had started this with the drug comment.
"We'll see," she found herself honestly responding.
"No one is cursed," Madesh stated strongly, as if he was making the point for the universe to hear.
She smiled at him. "Maybe you and I can prove that," she offered.
He smiled and nodded. "I should get some sleep, as should you, ready for tomorrow."
"I will," she idly promised. "Have you trained with the crew before?" She asked as he stood up and retrieved his electronic pads from the side.
"No," he confirmed for her. "Just with recruits and security personnel at the Training Facility."
"Maybe it'll be best if we stick together," she suggested for him. "Show them what people who've lived in the real world can do."
He smiled at that, but she could see the nervousness beneath it. "I have sparred frequently with Honoured Elite Oneakka, so I feel the crew are not as unnerving."
She smiled, but didn't believe a word of it.
He glanced down at her array of tablets. "If you would like me to take a search to go through..."
"No," she waved him away. "I've got time. You need to sleep to replenish your blood supplies," she joked.
He smiled and moved away. "I shall see you for early meal before the training."
She nodded, promising herself that she would keep an eye on how the crew treated him tomorrow. Though thinking about it, the crew will probably be far unhappier with her presence than Madesh. Such things didn't bother her – she was used to exclusion far more than being included in anything.
She picked up another tablet with a completed search, but as she did she heard Madesh pause in the doorway as he left. "Honoured Elite," he uttered with surprise.
Damn it, she just knew who that would be – always sneaking up on her.
She also had to wonder how long he had been stood out there, listening in to her and Madesh's conversation. Typical of him.
Feeling defensive now, especially considering all her work through the evening that he had told her to ignore, she focused on the search results as she heard Madesh exchange vague pleasantries with Oneakka outside.
She sensed Oneakka enter a moment later and she decided to explain her reasoning straightaway.
"You didn't want to follow this research angle, so I am," she explained.
"I didn't say I didn't want to," he replied instantly in turn as he approached down the length of the room behind her. "There were more important paths to follow."
"All paths are important," she informed him, steadfastly not giving him her full attention. "Especially with a man like Kolya."
Oneakka crossed by behind her chair, brushing too close in an obvious attempt to annoy her. She kept her eyes on the tablet, but a pale hand reached in and picked up one of the tablets from the table.
There had been a blue sleeve at his wrist. She looked round at him as he sat down in the chair Madesh had just left. He was dressed very differently. He wasn't in his usual body armour; instead he was wearing a long sleeved dark blue top, the material stretched across his very muscular chest and shoulders.
Seeing him in more "normal" clothing made her feel suddenly less comfortable with him.
He smelt different as well, like the ship soap from the ship's washrooms. His short hair looked damp and was spiked up in places. He had just showered – probably after having beaten up some crew in the gyms.
In the room's lowered evening lighting, his fair complexion didn't look so pale, and the colour of his shirt made his eyes seem even more shockingly blue.
He looked like more of a normal human being, not an Elite warrior. She frowned at the top, wondering if he had other favoured clothes or keepsakes. Maybe he even snuggled down into a soft bed at night, maybe even with a woman wrapped around him to keep him warm.
She looked away at that strange thought – not liking the feeling stirring in her chest.
"And was the time worth it?" He asked in the bare second that had passed since he had sat down, but through which she had felt herself drift away into her thoughts.
"I've tracked one woman he was known to be associated with several years before his apparent death. She was on Dreamstation for several visits, only one of which coincided with Iketani being there," she reported and Oneakka leant forward to look at the tablet she indicated. One pale hand tapped the screen, rotating the display round for him as he opened the cache of new intell she had found.
"And there's Narro's sister who had a thing with Kolya," she reminded him.
"Her child isn't his," Oneakka stated.
"I know, but does he know that?"
"He would have collected her, or at least visited her, if he thought she might be his," Oneakka replied.
She lifted her eyebrows at that very telling answer. "You might think that way about any young of yours, but people like Kolya and Iketani don't necessarily care that much about their offspring."
Oneakka frowned with disapproval at the obvious point. "If I had young, I would make sure they were safe and away from those who could use them," he replied. Well, that answered the question as to whether he had any children.
"Kolya uses only loyal Genii," he continued. "Who would be more loyal to him than a child he brought up personally?"
"You're assuming that he wouldn't be afraid of the child overthrowing him," she suggested.
"He's not in power," Oneakka argued.
"Not yet," she countered. "But, he could be if Cowen and his Government don't start cleaning up Kolya's mess."
"What else have you found?"
Very little else about Kolya, but she wasn't going to admit that to him. "Two high ranking Genii that your Alliance records say are dead, but who passed through Dreamstation after their apparent unfortunate demise."
"To join Kolya," Oneakka concluded.
Seeal nodded as she tapped the display for him. "What is interesting, is that I dug around on the background of one of them, who had an affair with his brother's wife. There was a big family feud over the whole thing, which made it to the Genii newsfeeds because the slighted brother ended up in a medical ward. Then the naughty brother started his rotation with the Fleet and was apparently killed in battle, before walking easily around Dreamstation for a few days."
"So?" Oneakka asked, his blue eyes lifting from the display which showed the faces of the people in question.
"What is interesting is what happened to the slighted brother after he got out of the ward two lunar cycles later," she replied. "He cleared out his currency accounts, sold his home and hasn't been heard from since either, except that he turns up in Toshka's files."
She tapped the screen of the tablet he held, pulling up the diagram she had made for herself. "Turns out the slighted brother started working for a smuggler who used Dream a lot, and one of the main supplies smuggled out of the territory was transport components. Earlier this year, one of those smugglers got into trouble with Creass, and Creass seized the ship and its cargo. He sold it on to someone else, but we went in and took what we wanted from the ship's cargo bay."
"I thought you never looked in any of the ships passing through Dreamstation?" Oneakka annoyingly noted.
"I'm helping you here, so focus," she told him.
"I am focused, on your comments before."
"I looked in ships that were seized."
"How many of those were there?" He asked.
"A handful at the most in the ten years I worked there," she replied honestly, recognising that when Oneakka seized on certain subjects, he would not move on until he understood what he was after. "It wasn't good business to go stealing your customer's ships, and it was only those who no longer had any use for the ship who lost it. Those few ships, Creass sold on for a flat fee, but we boarded the ships to be sure there were no hidden crew or other surprises."
"What did you find on that particular ship?" He asked, apparently satisfied with her answers and returning to the important information.
"Genii weaponry," she informed him. "I think the slighted brother is supplying Kolya through his brother."
Oneakka sat back frowning. "Why would that brother help the man who stole his wife and nearly killed him?"
"He wouldn't, but maybe he'd help Kolya, or maybe the whole thing was set up to make it appear that the family fell out, one brother went off to war to 'die' and the other disappears from public view. Plus, the wife disappeared with the husband she apparently betrayed," she concluded.
"Seems convoluted," Oneakka assessed.
"They're Genii, that's the way they think."
Oneakka gave a half shrug of agreement to that point.
"Besides," she continued, "the wife happens to be a close friend of Toshka's sister."
That got his interest.
"A sister that happens to be pretty powerful herself, especially now Toshka is going to lose control of his businesses," she added.
"She should be watched," Oneakka concluded and she nodded, pleased with herself.
"So, after I found that, I've started looking into any Genii deaths that made their newsfeeds, see if any of them turned up on Dream or in Toshka's files." She frowned at one tablet that was running the latest search on the Genii names. "The problem is that they were probably one off visitors and the names they gave won't match. We'll have to run some facial recognition through the Dream images."
A tablet flashed the completion of another search. The tablet was by Oneakka's elbow so he picked it up and passed it to her. She took it from him, his attention falling back on the tablet of Genii information she had summarised for him.
"This is interesting," she muttered at the results in front of her.
"What is?" Oneakka asked, leaning slight closer. She lowered the tablet so he could see the screen.
"This is an Alliance family that used to visit Dream a lot," she told him as she opened up images that had been found in Toshka's files. "Three brothers and two sisters, as well as the parents. They visited maybe every month for almost the whole ten years Dream has been open. They used to gamble, make quite a lot out of it. Seems that Toshka has a whole file on them." She poured through the images, which had obviously been photos taken of actual dog-eared ledger books. "Seems that they're moneylenders in the Alliance."
"Got their money from Dreamstation's gambling hall," Oneakka added.
She scanned the handwritten names in the lists, several which had been recognised by the computer in the search. "There's some known names in this list – oh great," she muttered, "Ulfur is in this list. Typical. As if he was going to be able to pay anyone back."
Her foolish brother. She had to wonder how many times his name might turn up in the years to come. Though now he was hopefully reunited with their people. She wondered if their mother had accepted him back...if she was still alive.
Seeal had to wonder how her uncaring, unloving mother would react to hearing Ulfur's lie about her death.
Not that Seeal cared.
She realised she had gone quiet and that Oneakka would have noticed. She quickly tapped through the images again.
"I'm no expert, but these are some top Alliance names."
Oneakka took the tablet from her.
"Sure, have a look for yourself," she muttered sarcastically as she gave up the tablet.
"You said you're no expert to look through them," Oneakka replied and she was almost certain there had been the tiniest of amused smiles altering the line of the tattoos across his right cheek.
"Sometimes you're just plain rude," she informed him as she reached for another tablet from her table wide selection.
"Most of these flagged up are lower level workers with the High Council, and some military," he commented. "There are no comments on the reason for the loans."
"There wouldn't be, because even if they had told the moneylenders something, it wouldn't have been true," she informed him.
"Strictly speaking," he said without lifting his eyes from the tablet, "there is no law against borrowing money. Did this family have any contact with The Traitor while on Dreamstation?"
"Not that I remember," she replied honestly. "I can run a search comparing their visits with Iketani'," she suggested as she reached for a free tablet that had found no results to a previous search. "If there wasn't something underhanded about the money lending, why would Toshka keep the records of the names?"
"Maybe it was only one or two names he was interested in," Oneakka considered. "I'll have Division look into the family."
Seeal nodded as she sent off the latest Iketani search of the Dreamstation database.
Oneakka tapped something into the tablet, flagging up the information with the computer for later and handed it back to her. She took it, a little surprised at the tiny polite return of her tablet.
"Nothing on any more of Kolya's conquests?" He asked over the exchange of the pad.
"Not yet," she admitted.
He gave her a pointed 'I told you so' look.
"I've found enough," she argued against the silent point.
"He won't have been stupid with the women he picked," he told her again. "If there are any, they'll be with his hidden forces."
"Except Iketani," Seeal pointed out. "She was his lover and we know he helped her set up the assassination on Athos."
"She's dead," Oneakka stated with satisfaction.
"Maybe we should look at his past friendships on the Genii homeworld when he was younger," she considered. "Old friendships bred trusted associations," she quoted Creass.
"Tomorrow," Oneakka replied, the tone close to an order. "Behave yourself with the crew tomorrow."
It was a sudden change of subject, which was typical of him. "I assume you're talking about the training session. I promise not to hurt any of them," she said with a pointed smile.
"Hurting them in sparring is acceptable," Oneakka replied surprising her slightly, "Killing them isn't."
She pulled a face at him. "Why would I want to kill-?" She stopped as she realised there was a hint of amusement creasing the corner of his eyes. Sat closer to him than usual, she realised again that the tattoos on the right side of his face served to conceal some of his expressions, and the long scar limited some movement of his right cheek. It was not much, but it probably made it easier for him to conceal his intentions. Useful for him, as long as he controlled the non-tattooed side as well.
However, this evening she could quite easily see that he was trying to goad her. Well, she was not going to react to that.
However, that said, she was rather glad that he hadn't reacted badly to her having stayed up to run the searches he had told her not to bother with. He had infuriated her earlier with that order, but it seemed that this evening he was almost purposefully taking the time to listen to what she had found.
There were some days when she thought she understood him clearly, but on other days he behaved differently and confused her reading of him.
Like him sat here in that tight dark fabric top and smelling of clean skin.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'll try not to damage your people."
"Two representatives from Atlantis will be there as well," Oneakka informed her. "Play nice with them too."
"You're telling me how to play nice with other people?" She pointed out the irony. "I at least had to get along with others on Dreamstation, you just threaten and steamroll over other people."
"You want to go to that cell on Rosenthal?" He threatened again.
She glared at him. "I saved your ship," she reminded him, "and your own backside, or do I have to keep reminding you of that?"
"Who logged you back on these computers?" He asked, avoiding her point.
"I never logged off," she happily explained. Nevaeh had been the last to leave the lab and hadn't said anything about leaving Seeal alone to work. "I didn't hack into anything," she clarified.
"Keep it that way," he responded.
"Shouldn't you be getting some nice Elite sleep?" She pushed. "Tucked up in bed ready for your big upcoming battle."
The creases shifted around his eyes again, but he didn't rise to that challenge.
"You going to admit I was right?" She tried instead, annoyed that he kept bringing up the Rosenthal cell.
"About what?" He asked, his blue gaze direct.
"About digging around in Kolya's romantic past," she explained indicating the tablets in front of her that had run her searches.
"You didn't find anything useful," he pointed out, mostly accurately.
"I found several important things that might not have come up if I hadn't done this work that you said was a waste of time."
"I didn't say it was a waste of time, I ordered you to focus on other data. And you didn't find anything specifically about his past lovers."
"A technicality," she brushed his point aside. "It doesn't matter how you get there, only what you end up finding."
He didn't answer that but stood up from his seat, which she took as evidence that she had won the point. "Sleep, Raven," he ordered. "Tyoosi won't like you alone in here."
"He said I could walk around the ship without a guard now," she argued as he moved away towards the open door. She shifted around in her chair to watch him leaving.
"Walk around the ship, yes; sitting in here with multiple-computer access without supervision, no."
"You just can't get any recognition for good work on this ship," she muttered as she turned back to her tablets. However, she hadn't missed the point that Oneakka didn't mind her being in here, just that Tyoosi wouldn't like it.
She heard Oneakka pause at the exit and she waited for a returning verbal salvo. Only he didn't say anything, in fact he was silent.
That couldn't be good. She was almost certain he hadn't left.
She looked back round and sure enough he was still stood just inside the room, looking at her.
"I heard what Madesh said to you," he stated.
She didn't need to ask which bit he was referring to. He must have been stood outside the door a lot longer than she had hoped. How did such a big man move so quietly?
And why did everyone keep focusing on the whole cursed business?
"Never believe what others think about you," Oneakka added.
Well, she didn't, so it wasn't important.
"Does that mean you're not a big unthinking brutish Elite who loses his temper all the time?" She retaliated.
"You've never seen me lose my temper," he replied darkly.
"Really? Because you seemed to lose something to wrench Toshka's computer core out of his office wall," she reminded him. Not that the display of brute male strength hadn't been impressive. "And on the Glisi world against the Wraith."
He glanced away as if thinking about it, but looked back with that direct gaze again. "Force doesn't mean you're angry," he replied seriously. "Besides, sometimes you've got to behave the way you want people to see you."
She had no problem believing that about him. From the outside he was all tattoos, aggressive directness, impatience, and violent fighting skills, however, the more time she spent with him, the more he was turning out to be a far more intriguing.
"But, then you know all about that," he added a beat before he walked out of the lab.
He was also good at getting in the last word, damn him.
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TBC