Chapter 4: Endangered Species
Lucy Dotson entered the Bullpen to hear the faint sound of what seemed to be video game music; a quick look around confirmed that the music was coming from the plasma view screen on the wall, and was indeed a video game.
Sam Leland sat in Myles' desk chair, eyes fixed on the screen. Myles was nowhere in sight, and most of the agents seemed to be ignoring the noise. Only Bobby looked upset, and his expression was what Lucy could only describe as please-kill-me-now.
Lucy, still just through the door, whispered to Tara, "What's he doing?"
Tara's curls bounced as she looked up. "Sam? Just playing his Nintendo. He said something about Myles wanting to keep him out of trouble, when he showed up about an hour ago. Jack said it was fine, as long as we weren't using the screen – he's been as quiet as a mouse ever since."
"Where's Myles?"
"Called in this morning. Something about checking up on a couple of his snitches."
"Tara..." There was a low whisper from the other side of the room, and Bobby Manning shot the two girls his best begging look. "Please..."
"Bobby," she hissed back, "I'm not going to make him put it on mute! Just ignore it!"
He tried to appeal to his other co-workers. "D?"
Dimitrius shook his head. "You're talking to a man who has two teenagers. This... is silence."
"Jack?"
"Sorry, Crash. Grew up in a house full of siblings. Same assessment." Jack was grinning into his coffee cup.
"Sue?" He caught himself just as she smiled tolerantly. "Never mind."
Sue laughed. "You've lived alone too long, that's all."
With a sigh, the Aussie returned to his paperwork, though he continued to shoot Sam an occasional annoyed glance.
Lucy had been planning to ask another question, but had entirely forgotten what it was at Bobby's interruption. She racked her brain for it, and felt rather close to snatching the thought back up when a soft, electronic beep startled her and caused her to drop it again.
"Oh, coffee break time." Tara muttered, pushing a button on her watch. "Okay, Sam. I've got fifteen minutes."
"Score!" Sam jumped up, and grabbed a box off Myles' desk, extending it in Tara's direction. Lucy stepped back to allow the shorter girl to pass her and accept the box. She sifted through the contents for a moment, before picking up a small cartridge.
"MarioKart64 okay?"
"Perfect!" Sam took it eagerly, and shoved it into the console on the floor, tossing the game that had been in before into the box. Tara dropped the box on Myles' desk and pulled a chair over.
Lucy shook her head as the music came back on, and the screen lit up once more. She watched quietly for a moment before pulling herself away to begin the day's tasks.
-!-
-!-
At 1 p.m., Myles walked into the Bullpen to find...pandemonium.
Bobby was standing at the open window, arm extended, holding something. Myles could just barely make out the shape of Sam's beloved Nintendo. Sam himself was practically at Bobby's feet, near tears and begging Bobby not to drop it. Everyone else was stifling laughter and deciding whether they really wanted to risk transferring the tall Aussie's anger.
"What the—?"
"Myles, I've had it with the 'pinball wizard' here! He's been in here all morning with this bloody machine, and I can't take it anymore!"
Myles stood still for a moment, trying to decide whom he most wanted to help. Then another thought occurred to him, and his eyes lit with a bit of mischief. With a mental shrug, he made up his mind. "Sam, you could always just buy another one."
Sam stopped pleading with Bobby, and his eyes lit up. A ripple of soft laughter started around the room, growing each second. Bobby shot Myles a confused look — a look that turned into a glare at Sam's next words.
"I could! Go ahead! Drop it! I wanna see what happens when it hits the sidewalk!"
By now, the rest of the team was laughing so hard that Jack was wiping tears off his face and D was wiping coffee off his desk. Bobby growled and tossed the video game back at Sam.
Myles calmly walked over and closed the window, then turned to his brother and placed a hand on his shoulder. He made sure Bobby could see his face as he whispered, "I thought I told you to make sure you kept it on mute."
Sam shrugged. "Dude, nobody else had a problem with it except "Waltzing Matilda" here."
Myles snorted in reply, and to Bobby's chagrin, a fresh gale of laughter assaulted the room.
"Well," Myles replied with a gleeful smile in the Aussie's direction, "you just have to humor him, sometimes. Why don't we see if you can set it up in one of the conference rooms, and then you won't have to put up with him."
Sam looked like a little kid on Christmas morning. "Really?"
Bobby drew himself up straight amidst the laughter. "Tell you what, mate," he said. "I'll go arrange it personally."
At Bobby's offer, Sam looked doubtful, and he slowly shook his head. "No, on second thought...it's okay. I'm not sure I wanna be in a room alone with you." Then he flashed a sudden smile. "It's not that you're not cute or anything; just mood swings and all that."
"It's all right," Myles said soothingly, leading his brother out of the Bullpen before Bobby decided that murder might be worth the jail time. "You shouldn't have to put up with him any more today."
Ten minutes later, as Sam was settling back in one of the leather chairs, his feet on the conference table, Myles paused in the doorway and said, "You know, that's the most rattled I've seen Bobby in a long time." He grinned. "You just made my whole week."
Sam looked up from his game. "No problem, bro. And while you're up, could you get me a soda, and something to eat?"
Myles studied Sam for a long moment, as his twin obliviously returned to his game. Again, the flash of sadness, then a sigh. "You've made my week; but not by that much."
-!-
-!-
When Myles returned to the Bullpen, he noticed that Bobby was now sitting at his desk with his hands clamped over his ears. "What's his problem now?"
"He says the song is stuck in his head now, and he can't get rid of it." Lucy handed him a file as he sat down. "Hey, just out of curiosity, when he's not annoying Bobby here in D.C., does Sam have friends he hangs out with? A girlfriend, or something?"
Myles replied ruefully, "I stopped encouraging him to meet people after he told me he'd only marry someone who could beat him at MarioKart—"
There was a flash of motion in the corner of Myles' vision, and he looked up to see Sam skidding to a stop in front of the desk. His twin shot a cautious glance in Bobby's direction, then leaned forward and whispered to Myles, loud enough for Lucy to hear. "Dude. That Tara chick just creamed me on MarioKart! Even Rainbow Road!"
Myles looked at Lucy with a bit of an alarmed expression just as Tara walked back into the room.
Sam was gone from his spot next to the desk before Myles could stop him, and he nearly collided with Tara, so great was the force of his hasty motion.
"Wannagooutfordinnerwithmetonight?" He asked in a rush. Tara blinked, and even Bobby actually bothered to look up.
"Excuse me?" Tara asked. "I didn't quite catch that."
Sam took a deep breath to calm himself, and repeated his question. "Do you want to go out for dinnerwithmetonight?"
Myles dropped his head onto one propped-up hand and Lucy stifled a laugh, as Tara shrugged and answered, "Sure. Why not?"
Suddenly, Myles remembered Elizabeth's suggestion from the night before. His head snapped back up. "Say, Sam, Tara...would you mind if Elizabeth and I tagged along? A double-date, maybe?"
Tara replied, "It's ok with me – I haven't seen my best friend in weeks. How about it, Sam?"
Sam gave his brother one of the broadest grins Myles had ever seen him display. He wagged a finger at his twin and admonished, "As long as you don't spoil our fun. Besides, I think I owe Liz a half a pack of gum. You didn't use all five minutes last night."
There was a pause, and then Dimitrius queried, "Half a pack of gum?"
Myles grinned. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
