Week 17 – UDC 7 – Tin Man AU

Weapon

She'd been watching him as she always did, and even Diana was surprised by the live-fire example of the coat made of a bullet resistant weave and the gun that was apparently new, cutting edge tech. Watching Charlie act like a giddy kid brought a smile to her face, and she waited until Lisa left the room on a mission to find answers on how a prisoner could have escaped with that kind of fire power.

"Was that really necessary?"

Charlie turned and looked at her, surprised by the intrusion but also pleased to see her. "You weren't impressed?"

Helmet

Diana wandered over to where Lisa had set the helmet down and looked at it, remembering what he'd said about it being on par with Alex's system. "Didn't say I wasn't. And before you ask, no, I wasn't able to get into the system at Buchanan Max."

Charlie frowned at her. "What?"

"Alex asked me, earlier today." She glanced up at him to see the frown. "Makes a little more sense, now that I know why he was asking. I can only imagine the flashbacks he had when he saw the guy. Is this thing really that advanced?"

Shield

He knew an attempt to change the subject when he saw one, but… "Yes, it is. One would even say experimental. And don't try to change the subject."

Diana sighed. "I'm just glad you didn't demonstrate when Alex was in here, too."

"Oh?"

"Yes. You startled a seasoned police officer with that stunt." She waited while he thought about it, and was rewarded when he moved to sit in a nearby chair heavily. "Sorry."

Charlie shook his head. "Don't be sorry. Thank you."

"For?"

"Reminding me why I try to be very careful in how I act and talk to him. Always."

Cloak

Now it was Diana's turn to blink in surprise. "You mean…"

"I mean that sometimes it feels like I have to cloak my presence and state of mind, no matter what is going on." Charlie motioned to the gun, sitting where Lisa had set it down on the cart. "And sometimes… I forget to be cautious."

Diana smiled. "You're human."

"And to err is human?"

"Yes." The silence hung between them until Diana shook her head and stifled a chuckle. "I told him that once, too. But then… he was eavesdropping on his wife at the time."

Transmitter

Charlie knew there was more to that story than she was probably going to tell him, so he simply shook his head in amusement as he moved to take the silver coat off the rolling stand he'd put it on to demonstrate. Looking at the collar, he noticed a tag transmitter, and frowned. "Diana?"

"Yes?"

"Do you know when Malloy got tagged?"

"Probably right before the warehouse blew up the other night. Why?"

And now something else about the behavior of his charge over the past two days made sense… "Curiosity."