Gaby, Emma, Angela, Gunn, the sisters, Alcott, and TransGenics are mine.
Rated PG-13 : Strong sexuality; harsh language, moderate violence.
The room was very quiet. Eric looked around at the two other people waiting with him in the office Mr. Collins was occupying until his own could be repaired. Wes sat next to him, looking angry and tense. Collins was behind his desk, his face calm, but he had to be upset.
They all looked at the door when it opened, admitting Daryl Gunn, the Bio-Lab security manager. Eric still resented his presence a little; he felt he and Wes should be in complete charge of Bio-Lab security. But he had to admit Gunn was doing a good job, and was taking some of the load off them, allowing them to concentrate on the Guardians' more specialized duties. And they needed someone to investigate this incident who was not directly involved.
Collins stood up as Gunn took his seat. "All of us know why we're here," he said. "The police are investigating the break-in and the resulting deaths. They prefer the Guardians not get involved in this case. But I want us to conduct our own investigation, in cooperation with the police or not." He glanced quickly at Wes, and then away, concern for his son showing only for an instant. "Mr. Gunn, would you bring us up to date?"
Gunn stood. "As you know, there was a robbery in Bio-Lab headquarters last night. The intruders broke in through a fire door on the west side of the building. They set off a silent alarm and were picked up on the video system. Wes Collins intercepted them at Mr. Collins office. Eric Myers and a group of Guardians joined them there shortly. There was a gunfight, or rather a blaster fight. One of the intruders threw a grenade, which Mr. Myers tossed in the visitor's bathroom. When the smoke cleared, so to speak, five of the burglars were dead, and the rest escaped. They had removed the wall safe in Mr. Collins' office, but were forced to leave it. It was not opened. As far as we know, they took nothing else.
"We have two problems here. One is to find out who they were and what they were after. Obviously they were too well armed and too numerous to be ordinary thieves. There's a strong possibility that they're the same ones who robbed our Southside warehouse and stole several cases of blasters. The second is to find out what -- and who -- killed the five who died. Legally it's not an issue. They broke in, we resisted, those deaths are certainly self-defense."
Collins broke in quietly. "But we have a policy against using lethal force, whenever possible. That's one of the reasons we still use blasters instead of guns. I want to find out what went wrong here."
Gunn went on. "Not to mention we've lost the opportunity to question those men. We want to assign responsibility internally, and make sure it doesn't happen again."
Wes spoke up, his voice holding an undertone of anger. "And you're just assuming we killed them."
"According to the preliminary examination, they died by blaster fire. Including the three at the office front door. The explosion did not kill them. The most obvious suspects are the two of you and the other Guardians."
"Now we're suspects? We tried to do our jobs and you start accusing us of murder?" Wes's voice was getting louder.
"Calm down, Wes," Eric said. "He's just doing his job."
"Yeah, right." To his relief Wes subsided, still glaring angrily.
"Wes. Son," Collins said. "Are you sure your blaster was set on low power? Your Ranger blaster as well as the Guardian one?"
"Of course I'm sure!"
"Eric?"
"So am I. I wouldn't make a mistake like that."
Collins turned back to Gunn. "That's good enough for me."
"In the excitement of a fight like that, how can anyone be absolutely sure of what he did? I'm sorry, but we still have to look at the evidence."
Eric raised his left arm. "Maybe you don't know this, but I can communicate with my morpher. I've already asked it whether the Defender was set on non-lethal power last night. It was."
"Can your morpher talk to us? Or do we have to take your word for it?"
"The morpher communicates telepathically, only with me, so I can't prove it. It's up to you whether you believe me or not."
"Then you're right, it's not proof."
"Another thing. Wes is the only one who could have shot the two men at the side door." He saw Wes sit up and stare at him furiously, and held up a hand to stop him. "And the three at the front door were already down when Wes joined us there. From his position he couldn't have hit them. The others will back me up."
Wes smiled victoriously. "So there's no one person who shot all five. It couldn't have been us. Unless you think we both made a mistake. Or that we're both murderers."
"Wes, no one's talking about murder," Collins said.
"We risk our lives and you let him make accusations!" Wes waved at Gunn.
"Wes!" Collins exclaimed, his voice holding a touch of anger. "Settle down."
"You're on his side, aren't you? You think I screwed up!"
Eric looked at him in alarm. Wes was becoming irrational, and was working himself up to another outburst, maybe a violent one. And he didn't want Gunn or Collins to see it.
"Wes," he said as calmly as he could manage. "I'm sure Mr. Gunn doesn't think we did it. He just has to cover all the possibilities."
"That's right," Collins added. "He's trying to do a good job. The same way you did last night."
Wes sat back, still looking angry. "Don't patronize me," he grumbled. But he seemed calmer.
Eric turned back to Gunn in time to hear him say, "I think you should both be suspended from active duty, along with the Guardians who were involved, pending the outcome of this investigation."
"What!" Now Eric was angry. He glared at Gunn. "You don't have anything even close to proof that any of us did anything wrong."
"It's only for the course of the investigation."
"What's the purpose of suspending them?" Collins asked.
"For one thing, it'll look better to the public. For another, they have to stay out of the inquiry process. That'll be easier if they're not on active duty."
"He has a point," Collins said reluctantly. "I'll have to go along with this. Miller will be in charge until this is over."
Eric fought down his anger and frustration. He looked at Wes, to see him staring down at his hands, his face dejected, appearing not to be listening. Again, he seemed to have slid from unreasonable anger to equally unreasonable depression. With a guilty twinge, Eric thought it might be best after all for Wes to be suspended.
"I also want you to turn over your morphers."
"What!" Eric exclaimed, louder this time. He narrowed his eyes at Gunn, and went on in a dangerously low voice. "Don't even think about it."
Collins cut in. "I think that's pushing it. They can keep their morphers." Gunn looked as if he wanted to protest, but thought better of it. After a moment Collins stood. "I think that does it for now. Eric, I'd like a word with you."
The others stood obediently and filed out, including Wes, who did not even look up. Eric moved in front of the desk and waited.
"Sorry about the suspension."
"I don't like it, but it's your decision, sir."
Collins looked down at his desk, then back up at Eric's face. "What's wrong with my son?"
Eric felt the impulse to protect Wes by denying anything was wrong. But that might do more harm than good. And Wes's father had the right to know. Maybe he could help. "I don't know. He's not himself lately. He gets angry for almost no reason. And sometimes he gets depressed. And his mood changes so fast.... I'm worried about him."
"Have you asked him what's bothering him?"
"Yeah. He says he's just tired. At first I thought it was the anniversary of Jen leaving, but that can't be all it is."
Collins' eyes focused on him. "What happened to your face?"
Eric shifted uncomfortably. "We were doing our workout. It was an accident."
An expression of pain flickered over the older man's face. "Do you have any ideas at all? Anything I can do to help him?"
"If I could think of anything, I'd do it myself."
Collins stood again. "Thanks. If anything else happens, please let me know."
"Of course. I want to help. Almost as much as you do." He saluted, turned, and started out.
"You're a good friend," he heard from behind him. With a quick nod, he went through the door.
Eric headed back to his office. With a pang he realized that was the only place he'd be working, for a while at least. He'd have to turn over most of his duties to Miller. At least it was an opportunity to catch up on his paperwork. But that was very little comfort.
As he sat down at his desk, Eric's eyes fell on his phone. He had a date tonight. But he had the urge to call Angela now, to tell her about the meeting, to hear her sympathy, just to hear her voice. No, he told himself sternly. You'll see her soon enough. Don't let her think you're desperate. He glanced at the clock, impatient for the day to end.
It was a beautiful night, Eric thought. Just a little chilly, but not cold. An almost full moon casting a soft cool light. A little bit of breeze stirring the trees. Almost no sound except their footsteps on the sidewalk. A beautiful end to an evening that had nearly made him forget his problems. As they walked along the empty street, he could almost believe that no one else existed in the world except himself and Angela. At that moment he couldn't imagine ever needing anyone else.
He looked sideways at her as they slowly walked toward her apartment building. Each time he saw her she seemed more beautiful to him, more fascinating, and more mysterious. He hardly knew her, despite the hours they had spent together. They always somehow ended up talking about him. She wanted to know all about him, especially his 'adventures' as the Quantum Ranger. Eric had never been the focus of so much attention, and from her, he liked it.
She noticed him looking and smiled at him. That was another thing he liked about her, she seemed not to have the usual compulsion to fill every possible moment with talk, whether or not either of them had anything to say. She seemed to sense his moods and know when he wanted to be quiet.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked.
"You," he answered honestly. She smiled again.
"I hope they're good thoughts."
"Yeah. I was thinking you always seem to know when I feel like talking and when I don't."
She laughed. "Anyone can do that. It just takes a little sensitivity."
"Maybe. But maybe we should talk when you feel like it."
"Or when we both do."
He smiled. "I wish you'd tell me more about yourself."
She looked down. "I'm just an ordinary person. I come from a nice family in the Midwest, went to college, moved here, got a job. The most interesting thing that's happened to me lately was meeting you."
"I'm not that interesting."
"You haven't told me much about yourself either. About your family or how you grew up."
Eric frowned slightly. He didn't want to spoil their good mood by going into the details of his childhood, which had been notable mostly for his parents' neglect, abuse, and ultimate abandonment of him. He fell back on his usual story, which was true enough, as far as it went.
"We were pretty poor. My parents are gone now. I enlisted at eighteen and took this job when I got out."
"Poor Eric. You've had a hard time."
He felt a touch of annoyance. "I don't feel sorry for myself."
"No. I suppose you don't." She took his hand, immediately dispelling his irritation. "You've accomplished a lot since you came here. Being the Quantum Ranger, and getting promoted to commander."
"Yeah, I guess." He was flattered in spite of himself.
"Won't you tell me more about it? Like how you captured those mutants?"
"It wasn't that hard, with the Quantum weapons. The Defender is pretty powerful. And I had the Q-Rex then."
"But the mutants were very strong, weren't they?"
"Well, yeah. Stronger than any human. They were made to be strong."
"Made?" He heard a note of sharp interest in her voice. "Who made them that way?"
He shrugged, a little uncomfortably, realizing he had said more than he should. "Someone must have made them. A mutation like that wouldn't just appear out of nowhere."
"Don't you know where they came from?"
"I… really can't say."
She stopped, and tugged on his hand to turn him to face her. With a smile she moved closer, sliding her arms around his waist. "Won't you tell me? Don't you trust me?" Lightly, she kissed him on the chin, barely making contact, her body leaning into his. Her nearness was overwhelming, almost dizzying. "Didn't Bio-Lab make the mutants?" she murmured.
The unexpected question broke the spell. He chuckled. "Now, that I can tell you. No, Bio-Lab had nothing to do with making those mutants."
She frowned for an instant, then smiled softly again. "Maybe they did, and you don't know about it. Company secrets. Maybe you should try to find out."
"Why would they do that?"
"For power. To use them as weapons." There was a tiny note of bitterness in her voice.
"Believe me, Bio-Lab didn't do it."
"If you're so sure, you must know who did."
He sighed. "Look, Angela, I won't lie. I do know. But I can't tell you. It's not my secret, and there's good reasons for us not to tell."
"Us? Who else knows?"
"Only a few people. I can't tell you that either. Why don't we talk about something else?"
He thought he saw a flash of anger on her face, but it was gone so fast he couldn't be sure. And when she took his hand again and smiled, he decided he must have been wrong. They started to walk again.
"I hope everything turns out all right for you, with that break-in and those men being killed. I know you couldn't have done anything wrong."
"Too bad you don't have Daryl Gunn's job. He still considers us under suspicion. I can't believe Mr. Collins went along with suspending us." His voice tightened with anger. "Tried to take our morphers. As if we'd just hand them over."
"Does anyone know yet what they were after?"
"They tried to take some confidential records from Mr. Collins' safe. That seems to be the only thing they were interested in."
"I wonder who they were."
"So do we. We're trying to find out."
"Maybe they're from a rival company. It would make sense that they'd try to get the information in Mr. Collins' safe."
"That's a possibility. But corporate spying doesn't usually include armed robbery."
She shrugged. "And how is Wes doing?"
Eric frowned, some of his anxiety returning. "Not good. He seems to blow up at the least thing. He's like a different person all of a sudden. And sometimes he gets depressed, like I've never seen him before. Sometimes I'm afraid he's having some kind of breakdown." He looked at her. "I probably shouldn't have told you that. Please don't tell anyone else."
"Don't worry. I know how to keep a secret." She smiled a little as they stopped in front of her building.
"Well, here we are," Eric said reluctantly. He hated to see their dates end, more each time. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, feeling that dizzying sensation again as she seemed to melt against him. In that moment his whole world narrowed to her mouth under his, her body filling his arms and hands and pressing against the length of him. When the kiss ended he bent his face into her silky hair, inhaling the clean scent of shampoo and subtle perfume.
"Will you invite me in this time?" he murmured.
"I'm sorry. My roommates will be there. Probably sleeping."
"We could go to my place. It's not much, but it's private."
She pulled back and put her hands on his chest. He knew the answer before she said it. "It's too soon. I don't want to rush things and take the chance of ruining everything, especially with you."
"I don't think anything could ruin this. At least not for me."
She smiled. "Maybe I'm just old-fashioned." She put her arms around his waist again and leaned in to kiss him lightly. "I think it's worth waiting for. Just give me more time. If it's real between us… it'll happen soon. You're not angry, are you?"
Somewhat to his own surprise, he wasn't, not even disappointed. At some point in the last few seconds, his desire had faded and been replaced with something gentler, something he didn't want to identify as love. He smiled back.
"I couldn't be angry at you. See you day after tomorrow?"
"I'll be waiting." With another gentle kiss, she stepped back. He watched her reach the building entrance and waved when she turned back to him. Then the door was closing behind her.
What the hell is happening to me? He had never dreamed he could fall for any woman this way, so quickly and so hard. It occurred to him that he was acting as strangely as Wes, in his own way. Slowly, he started for his car, the feel and smell of her still lingering in his mind.