Chapter 3 'Monitors & Monikers'

Red and Darien were nearly finished with their lunch at Costa's, a tiny little hole-in-the-wall dive with the best Italian food in the neighborhood, if not the city. Darien reached across the table to get the Parmesan cheese, Red caught his arm and turned it so she could see the tattoo on his wrist, "An ouroboros." Darien was puzzled, "A what?" Red smiled and ran her finger around the outline of the snake, "Your tattoo, it's an ouroboros, a snake eating its own tail. It's an ancient Egyptian symbol representing the passing of time, life into death, an eternity. Something like that." She cocks her head and looks at it again, "Wasn't it mostly green yesterday?" Darien snatched his hand away and looked at his monitor, "Ah crap."
"What's up?" Darien shook his head, "Nothing, I just need another shot that's all." Now it was Red's turn to be puzzled, "You can tell that by looking at your tattoo?" Darien nodded, "Yeah, it's a monitor, and it's probably about time that you got one."
When they got back to the Agency building, they went straight to the lab. The Keeper gave Darien his dose of counteragent, "Cutting it a little close aren't you Darien?"
"You know me Keep. If it's not down to the wire, what's the point?" The Keeper made an exasperated noise and turned to Red, "You need a monitor. This will only take a minute." Red sat down so the Keeper could implant her monitor. The pattern the Keeper chose was a snail, "Now, as the snail's shell segments turn red you'll need a shot of counteragent."
"I think I had that part figured out."
"The latest that you can get a shot before you go mad is here." She pointed to the second to the last segment, "If it goes completely red, well, we'll think of something when, and if, that happens. Now Darien, I think that it would be an excellent time to teach Darla how to Quicksilver outside objects."
"You sure she's ready for that Keep?" Red waved her hand between them, "Hello? I'm still in the room. I don't like 'Darla' and I'm not ready for outside objects yet."
"Okay, I won't call you Darla. I think you are ready. Darien, you can take her to the office down the hall." Darien left the room, Red reluctantly followed. In the office Darien picked up a paperweight and Quicksilvered it, "See? It really is simple." He shook the Quicksilver off and handed the paperweight to Red, "Now you try." Red held the lump of glass and concentrated. Her hand went invisible, but not the paperweight, "I can't do this Dare."
"Why? And don't give me some cockamamie reason like 'it's too hard'."
"Well it is." Darien smiled at her and took the paperweight, "No, it's not. Watch." The paperweight vanished, "See? You just have to concentrate." Red tried and tried again, nothing happened, "I told you I couldn't do this!" She growled.
"Try again." Red cocked her arm back and threw the paperweight across the room with a cry of frustration, it knocked a lamp off a desk. Darien smiled, "That's one way to make it disappear. Look, the lamp disappeared too." Red half smiled, her sudden flash of anger gone, "Sorry. I didn't mean to..." Darien cut her off, "Throw the paperweight? 'Cause, well, that's what happened. Then you hit the poor defenseless lamp. I think you killed it." Red smiled and shook her head. Darien started rubbing her shoulders, his thumbs making small circles around the edges of her shoulder blades, "You need to relax. Don't force it, you'll drive yourself crazy." Red sighed and rolled her head forward, "Thanks Dare."
"For what?"
"For this," She shrugged, "it's nice." She paused to enjoy it for a moment, "I remembered something this morning."
"That's great, what was it?" Red chewed the corner of her lip, "My old job."
"Which would be?" Red chewed her lip again, "I was a pickpocket. A damn good one as I recall." Darien stopped massaging Red's shoulders and turned her to face him, "Have you told them yet?" Red shook her head, "No, I was going to get your opinion on the subject first." Darien shrugged one shoulder, "Well, They're okay with my being a thief."
"Yeah, well your brother was the head of the Quicksilver program. I have no such connections."
"Hey, you've got me, and the Keeper, and if it comes right down to it, Hobbes will stick up for you too. I know he will. He's got a soft spot for you." Red snorted derisively, "I'm sure. Are we done now?"
"Yeah, we're done. We can try again later." Red went back into the Keeper's lab, "Kat, I've got a question." The Keeper looked up from what she was doing, "Kat's a good one. What would you like to know?" Red looked at the floor, "Would you mind if I meditated in here? I feel comfortable in here, with all the animals and all, and if you say no, that's okay too." She said in a rush. The Keeper smiled, "Eve, it's alright. I'll even give you a key if you like." Red looked up at her, "You'd do that?"
"Well, I gave Darien one, and at least YOU'RE going to use the lab for something constructive. You like the animals?" Red brightened, "Yeah, I've even got names for some of them." The Keeper put down her clipboard, "You do? What are they?" Red was taken aback, "You really want to know?"
"Well, anything would be better than serial numbers, which is all they've got now."
"Oh, okay. Um, the rat with the black patch that kind of looks like a widow's peak, that's Lugosi."
"Ah, as in Bella, the Count." Red grinned, "Yeah, I was obsessed with Vampires for a while when I was younger. The lizard with the ridge is Dimitri, short for Dimetrodon, you know? The dinosaur? Another childhood obsession. I wanted to be a paleontologist when I grew up."
"So did I."
The Keeper and Red named the rest of the animals in the lab before dark. It was a moment of bonding for both of them.

Where does Red live? Why does she like the animals in the lab? What other Vampires did she like? Does the Keeper know any interesting Dinosaur facts? Why is there STILL no kissing?
The answers to these (and any other) burning questions will be answered in future Issue-sodes of 'The Girl Called Red.' Because YOU want to know!


If there's anything you want revealed, just let me know.