p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Sunlight baked the room. As consciousness faded in, Gadget started stirring, flinging the blanket off him, but he was still hot. That's when he noticed the thick arm draped over his body, pinning him against what felt to be a furnace. He couldn't name the man nor recognize his surroundings for a panic stricken second and tensed up./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"But as the details of last night percolated back into his consciousness, Gadget relaxed, cuddling against Dr. Claw for a kiss that woke him up. It was about time, anyway. If the day were that bright already, he was probably late. Checking his internal clock confirmed it. Claw was groaning by now, one gloved hand resting against his forehead./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"But the complaints didn't last long, Gadget noticed. Within seconds the older man was fully alert, and sliding across the bed to deliver a good morning kiss to his guest, who could have fallen back asleep in his arms. He kissed Claw's neck as he pulled away, and shone him a smile. A bit slower than usual, sleep stiffly plaguing his movements, Gadget put on his discarded items. Only an elegantly painted privacy screen separated them as Claw undressed completely and put on a different outfit. Gadget heard the rustling and peeked behind. his gaze lingered at the silhouette before turning away./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Just as Claw finished, Gadget sprung to his feet and burst out of the room, his built in phone to his ear. "Yes, I know," Claw could hear from the room. "I'm on my way. Genie, I-what? That's a little personal, don't you think…?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Claw finished in the room, made sure neither of them left anything, and reached his guest, leading him gently down the hallway as he talked into his hand. Claw wondered if the surveillance system would be able to pick up the voice on the other end. When finally he ended the call, Claw put his arm around his shoulders. "Come back tonight," he said impatiently, pressing on him a kiss. "I'll have a surprise for you." Gadget squeezed him in response./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Silence, but warm closeness, as they walked through gloomy chambers and beneath forbidding painted faces. When they reached the car, Gadget draped his arm around Claw's shoulders, facing him. "Give me a clue," he prodded. Claw leaned down enough for his nose to brush against his. He loved seeing Claw's grin increase at what he said. He also loved watching him think, his face going through various emotions, not always subtle./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"At last Claw pulled Gadget closer, one hand rather rough in his hair, and pressed his lips to his ear. Still holding him, Gadget's grip tightened, jaw clenched for a moment. He was tense but hung off Claw's every whispered word. "No, that would be too easy. Let's just say I hope you're up for a truly novel experience."/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""Novel experience," Gadget repeated matter of factly. "Got it."/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Claw kissed his forehead and nudged him toward the car. "Come on." But when Gadget merely turned expectant eyes to him, making no motion to move, Claw laughed in soft confusion. "What's wrong?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""I'd feel better if I had a way to contact you," Gadget said, nudging his elbow into Claw's side with a rueful grin./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""But you're coming back tonight," Claw replied, stroking Gadget's cheek with the backs of his fingers. "You know the way…?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Gadget leaned into Claw's hand and sighed with contentment. "Yes, I know the way…"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""Then you'll arrive when you arrive. I'll wait until sunrise for you." He made a soft loving sound as he gently touched their foreheads together./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Gadget would have purred if he could, but still he not so easily distracted. Smiling gently, he pressed, "I might not get to come by at all tonight. I wouldn't be able to sleep if I knew I was keeping you waiting...please, Damien…"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Claw sighed hard, knowing he lost this battle. "Very well," he said with a loud kiss to his cheek. Acting a little put out, he fished out a different burner phone from his back pocket, and brought up the number. One of Gadget's eyes made a clicking sound and Claw could have sworn he saw a metallic eyelid sweeping closed for less than a second./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""Got it," Gadget said with a satisfied little smile, and turned large eyes to Claw. He threw his arms over the other's shoulders and they kissed. Claw hated giving out contact information, even to the burners, but at that moment, the way Gadget gazed at him right now, the way he smiled when he said, "I'll text you," as he broke away...it made Claw want to share with him every secret he'd ever known./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"***********************************/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""Don't say it, Genie," Gadget laughed, but with clear warning in his voice. "What's new with the case?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Gene took him to the lab, where von Sickstein worked in the background and the piece of purple fabric waited on a tray. "This is a fragment from a shirt. The material is common, we found it could have been purchased almost anywhere and then altered. I couldn't find any copies of this shirt that include the text that was originally on it; there's only this tiny bit left to extrapolate from. I think it's a uniform."/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Gadget nodded gravely. "Just as I thought. Find the school-"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""No," Gene cut in. "Not a school uniform, something else. We know that some nefarious activity was happening there; we know at least two MAD agents talked about their meeting at this location the day after so we have to assume more of them were there that night, and one was wearing this." She held up the scrap./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"His mind was reluctant to let go of that initial worry, but he admitted with a nod that what she said made sense. "Alright...what were they doing there?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Gene relaxed visibly and had him look into a microscope. There was a powder looking substance under glass; it was crystalline under magnification. "I found that on the fabric in a trace amount. The professor is still trying to find a match but we think it's a newly fabricated poisonous compound. Perhaps whoever wore this shirt handled it."/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Gadget looked at her. "Ideas?" he prompted anxiously. He was formulating plenty of his own./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""Well we can safely assume someone is selling a deadly compound to someone else," the professor chimed in, clipboard in hand. "Excuse me…" he reached around Gadget to grab the sample. "It's not the deadliest I've ever seen though," he mused as he put the sample beneath his own microscope, searching for different data. "In fact it's only lethal in large doses, from what I can guess now. So why bother with it?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""Well we know the identity of at least one of the two parties," Gadget said, throwing a look to Gene, who nodded. "MAD, of course. Most likely the buyer."/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""To stock up?" Gene asked pointedly. "Or for a specific purpose?" She looked to the professor. "How long is the compound's shelf life?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""Hmmm? Oh, approximately 2.7 days. More if you store it in a dry place."/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""We have less than that to stop whatever's about to happen," Gene said to Gadget. Together with professor, they studied the compound and discussed hypotheses, all of them grim and impatient to find an actionable answer. All these details about the poison but nowhere to go./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"So they went out. They talked to the witnesses they'd already talked to, visited the same places. Discussed old and slightly new ideas to death. Figuring the drinking water supply was a likely target, they spent hours at the treatment plant and questioned everyone they saw at least twice. Gadget suggested they just don't leave for a week, but Gene bemoaned that the plant was so large that even between them both, they could not guard it all, among other issues./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"But as the details of last night percolated back into his consciousness, Gadget relaxed, cuddling against Dr. Claw for a kiss that woke him up. It was about time, anyway. If the day were that bright already, he was probably late. Checking his internal clock confirmed it. Claw was groaning by now, one gloved hand resting against his forehead./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"But the complaints didn't last long, Gadget noticed. Within seconds the older man was fully alert, and sliding across the bed to deliver a good morning kiss to his guest, who could have fallen back asleep in his arms. He kissed Claw's neck as he pulled away, and shone him a smile. A bit slower than usual, sleep stiffly plaguing his movements, Gadget put on his discarded items. Only an elegantly painted privacy screen separated them as Claw undressed completely and put on a different outfit. Gadget heard the rustling and peeked behind. his gaze lingered at the silhouette before turning away./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Just as Claw finished, Gadget sprung to his feet and burst out of the room, his built in phone to his ear. "Yes, I know," Claw could hear from the room. "I'm on my way. Genie, I-what? That's a little personal, don't you think…?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Claw finished in the room, made sure neither of them left anything, and reached his guest, leading him gently down the hallway as he talked into his hand. Claw wondered if the surveillance system would be able to pick up the voice on the other end. When finally he ended the call, Claw put his arm around his shoulders. "Come back tonight," he said impatiently, pressing on him a kiss. "I'll have a surprise for you." Gadget squeezed him in response./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Silence, but warm closeness, as they walked through gloomy chambers and beneath forbidding painted faces. When they reached the car, Gadget draped his arm around Claw's shoulders, facing him. "Give me a clue," he prodded. Claw leaned down enough for his nose to brush against his. He loved seeing Claw's grin increase at what he said. He also loved watching him think, his face going through various emotions, not always subtle./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"At last Claw pulled Gadget closer, one hand rather rough in his hair, and pressed his lips to his ear. Still holding him, Gadget's grip tightened, jaw clenched for a moment. He was tense but hung off Claw's every whispered word. "No, that would be too easy. Let's just say I hope you're up for a truly novel experience."/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""Novel experience," Gadget repeated matter of factly. "Got it."/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Claw kissed his forehead and nudged him toward the car. "Come on." But when Gadget merely turned expectant eyes to him, making no motion to move, Claw laughed in soft confusion. "What's wrong?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""I'd feel better if I had a way to contact you," Gadget said, nudging his elbow into Claw's side with a rueful grin./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""But you're coming back tonight," Claw replied, stroking Gadget's cheek with the backs of his fingers. "You know the way…?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Gadget leaned into Claw's hand and sighed with contentment. "Yes, I know the way…"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""Then you'll arrive when you arrive. I'll wait until sunrise for you." He made a soft loving sound as he gently touched their foreheads together./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Gadget would have purred if he could, but still he not so easily distracted. Smiling gently, he pressed, "I might not get to come by at all tonight. I wouldn't be able to sleep if I knew I was keeping you waiting...please, Damien…"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Claw sighed hard, knowing he lost this battle. "Very well," he said with a loud kiss to his cheek. Acting a little put out, he fished out a different burner phone from his back pocket, and brought up the number. One of Gadget's eyes made a clicking sound and Claw could have sworn he saw a metallic eyelid sweeping closed for less than a second./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""Got it," Gadget said with a satisfied little smile, and turned large eyes to Claw. He threw his arms over the other's shoulders and they kissed. Claw hated giving out contact information, even to the burners, but at that moment, the way Gadget gazed at him right now, the way he smiled when he said, "I'll text you," as he broke away...it made Claw want to share with him every secret he'd ever known./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"***********************************/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""Don't say it, Genie," Gadget laughed, but with clear warning in his voice. "What's new with the case?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Gene took him to the lab, where von Sickstein worked in the background and the piece of purple fabric waited on a tray. "This is a fragment from a shirt. The material is common, we found it could have been purchased almost anywhere and then altered. I couldn't find any copies of this shirt that include the text that was originally on it; there's only this tiny bit left to extrapolate from. I think it's a uniform."/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Gadget nodded gravely. "Just as I thought. Find the school-"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""No," Gene cut in. "Not a school uniform, something else. We know that some nefarious activity was happening there; we know at least two MAD agents talked about their meeting at this location the day after so we have to assume more of them were there that night, and one was wearing this." She held up the scrap./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"His mind was reluctant to let go of that initial worry, but he admitted with a nod that what she said made sense. "Alright...what were they doing there?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Gene relaxed visibly and had him look into a microscope. There was a powder looking substance under glass; it was crystalline under magnification. "I found that on the fabric in a trace amount. The professor is still trying to find a match but we think it's a newly fabricated poisonous compound. Perhaps whoever wore this shirt handled it."/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"Gadget looked at her. "Ideas?" he prompted anxiously. He was formulating plenty of his own./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""Well we can safely assume someone is selling a deadly compound to someone else," the professor chimed in, clipboard in hand. "Excuse me…" he reached around Gadget to grab the sample. "It's not the deadliest I've ever seen though," he mused as he put the sample beneath his own microscope, searching for different data. "In fact it's only lethal in large doses, from what I can guess now. So why bother with it?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""Well we know the identity of at least one of the two parties," Gadget said, throwing a look to Gene, who nodded. "MAD, of course. Most likely the buyer."/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""To stock up?" Gene asked pointedly. "Or for a specific purpose?" She looked to the professor. "How long is the compound's shelf life?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""Hmmm? Oh, approximately 2.7 days. More if you store it in a dry place."/p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;""We have less than that to stop whatever's about to happen," Gene said to Gadget. Together with professor, they studied the compound and discussed hypotheses, all of them grim and impatient to find an actionable answer. All these details about the poison but nowhere to go./p
p style="font-family: 'Nimbus Roman No9 L', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"So they went out. They talked to the witnesses they'd already talked to, visited the same places. Discussed old and slightly new ideas to death. Figuring the drinking water supply was a likely target, they spent hours at the treatment plant and questioned everyone they saw at least twice. Gadget suggested they just don't leave for a week, but Gene bemoaned that the plant was so large that even between them both, they could not guard it all, among other issues./p