II.
Walter chuckled as he and Astrid got halfway through the film. "Why this film is absolutely absurd! And you say this was very popular back in the day?"
"Yeah, it was," Astrid responded.
"But it's completely historically inaccurate".
"Well the love story isn't real, Walter. It's supposed to be the forefront of an historical event."
Walter grunted and said "oh forget it, then. Turn off that ridiculous documentary." He was already up and back running around in the lab when Astrid turned off Titanic.
She watched him as he mindlessly went about his lab routines, struggling to find the courage to get some important information out of him though she didn't know why she found it so hard to.
"Walter," Astrid began cautiously. "Could I ask you something about your past?"
"Well certainly, Ar-…er…uh…yes. Would you like to know how I taught Peter…"
"No, I don't," Astrid sighed. "I wanted to know about the whole St. Claire's incident."
Walter looked up to face Astrid but his eyes were slowly finding his way back to his work looking quite sad. "Oh…I see. What could you possibly be interested about that for?"
Astrid was shaking nervously now. This was probably the first serious conversation she had ever had with Walter about anything that didn't involve him slicing open bodies or testing explosions. "I wanted to know about how you got in there. What happened back then that got you…arrested?"
She didn't know what other word to use. The expression on Walter's face didn't change nor did he bother to look at her in the eyes when he coldly said, "I assumed you would've read all about it in my file. Agent Dunham has done so and…"
"Yeah, I did. But I wanted to know about the people who were…you know…assisting you…back then. What were they like?"
Walter squinted trying to struggle with retrieving the memory from the back of his mind. "Oh I don't remember. A bunch of college-aged students, studying at some major university lab. Can't recall the name of the place though."
"You mean Harvard?"
"Oh…could be," Walter said smiling. "Unusual place to have a lab of unique science such as this though. I would never consider setting up my lab on such a campus."
"We are in Harvard, Walter."
"Oh. Well…let's see. I think there were two men and a woman. Very intelligent, though not as genius as my son Peter of course…but they were deeply passionate about my work. I chose them you know. I had to chose the best but it's more about the best…it's about whether or not you would be willing to strap yourself to a chair and allow 200 kilowatts of electricity to run through your system for a split second. It was about being determined and curious enough to put you hand inside of an ovis aries and re-alter it's digestive system without taking it out. It was about…"
"Okay, I get it. They were good."
"They were more than the best. They were curious."
Curious was the word that struck Astrid the most. She had been curious about Walter's work from day one, there was no mistaking that. But she highly doubted that she was as gifted as Walter's former students. Heck, she wasn't even really a student let alone had the GPA to get somewhere prestigious as Harvard.
"They were their way to being my associates you know. I even considered one to replace old Belly. We were having a few disputes you see. He was on his way to starting up his own company…
"You mean Massive Dynamic?"
"Something of that nature anyway. I was going to prove to Belly that my work wasn't a waste of time and I had one particular student in mind until…"
"Until the accident." Astrid was afraid she got to the point a bit too quickly and Walter noticed. She knew about the accident and she knew an assistant got killed. Walter wasn't stupid. He knew exactly what was on her mind.
His eyes darted back directly at Astrid and she could sense the pain that was welling up behind them as she looked back at him.
"Are you scared?" he asked her.
"Scared of what?"
"You know what. Are you scared that the same thing is going to happened to you?"
"Well I don't even know why or how your assistant got killed, but maybe I am a little, but scared of what…I don't know."
At that moment something hit Walter's consciousness. A memory. He went over to a dusty bookshelf that was located against the wall and Astrid follow him curiously. Seeing that he was trying to move the bookshelf away from the wall Astrid assisted him. There was something behind that bookshelf he was seeking.
Astrid couldn't quite understand what it was until she carefully looked at the wall. The wall behind the bookshelf had not been exposed for 17 years and lying there was an enormous black and blue spot as if the wall had been scorched. Suddenly a familiar odor began to dwell in her senses, as she got closer to it. It was the same smell (and feeling of nausea) she got whenever a body was brought into the lab.
"What the heck," Astrid said coughing.
"I'm sorry to say," said Walter. "That is what remains of my assistant…the one who…"
She squinted at the ugly awful spot on the wall in disbelief.
"Hmm," said Walter in a serious tone. "I think the blue spots were her hair and nails. Cells that were already dead before affect have a different response to the chemicals."
There was no way actual body remains could still be intact on that wall unless the dead assistant had been atomized.
"What chemicals?" asked Astrid.
"The chemicals we were using to control growth of the skin using flammable substances."
"You said your assistant was a she, Walter."
"Yes," he said sadly. "And god rest her soul…I've forgotten her name…" He sighed and said. "You are scared then?"
"Um…yeah…maybe."
"Then what's to stop you from staying here? Why don't you just leave if there's the slightest chance I plan to atomized you in some catastrophic experiment?"
"Well I'm sure whatever happened, you could prevent it from ever happening again."
"Try telling that to my son," Walter said grinding his teeth. He began to pace the room angrily and said. "Night after night we argue about what happened when I stabbed you and then he tells me that I would be your death…like I was with that assistant…He was starting to believe that I did killed her on purpose…me, killing someone who respected me and enjoyed my company…I…"
"Walter, hey." Astrid cautiously approached him as he was trying to hold back tears. "We've gotten past what you did to me, remember? And you don't have to take everything Peter says seriously." Without even thinking twice about it she put a hand on Walter's shoulder. This surprised Walter more than anything. Given that he seemed to have lost her trust, it almost made him want to happily cry that she would have the guts to get this close to him.
That was what he loved about this girl (damn his ability to remember names). She seemed like a curious risk taker even when bridge of trust between them had been weakened by his own hand.
"I'm kind of sorry, I brought this up. I…"
"No, I quite understand." Walter carefully slid his shoulder out of Astrid's comforting grasp as to not offend her. As much as he truly was comforted by the approach he didn't want to make things between them anymore awkward.
"Well…now you know how and old fool like me landed in St. Claire's. But still I fear Peter is right," Walter said shaking. "There is only so much I can do to prevent the mistakes of the past…and…I have a common tendency to not learn after so many years."
"Well, no everybody learns right off the bat, Walter. You know it took me three years after I got my driver's permit to learn how to drive a car without nearly killing someone?"
"Is that so," Walter chuckled finally. "Well I have too many stories about that. But still the question remains as to why you do not make an attempt to stay clear of the danger I possess."
"First of all, Walter, I think I'm aware of who you are. You're unpredictable but I know none of it is truly meant to harm. That's not you. And second, Broyles insisted I stayed on, regardless of any risks."
"Whatever for?" he asked curiously.
Astrid smirked. "I already know to much of your…science."
Walter giggled and looked at his watch.
"Well Walter," Astrid said, hoping to preserve Walter's enlightened mood. "It's almost lunch time. What should I order seeing that Peter's going to be gone all day?"
"Oh well…do you think you know a place that serves horse tenderloins?"
"Was that a joke, Walter?"
"Well it was actually. You know Peter's spending his whole day at the horse track to avoid me of course. I thought it would be a fun trick to play on my son."
"Or maybe it will just gross him out," said Astrid laughing. "Will pork tenderloins be okay?"
"Oh fine forget the trick then."
Walter happily went back to his work. Before Astrid could dial the number to order pork tenderloins. She thought of one more risky thing to say to Walter, but in her heart, she felt it had to be said. After all she was finally ready to accept that there was no knowing if she would still be alive if she stayed by Walter's side. But her risk taking and curiosity have overpowered her fears. She was, much to the horror deep in the back of her head, here to stay.
"Walter?"
He looked up.
"No matter what anyone says…or whatever you were being charged with…I believe it was an accident…"
Walter smiled and softly said "yes, an accident…thank you…thank you".
Astrid smiled and went back to ordering lunch. She was unaware that Walter was watching her. A happy realization occurred to Walter: how little things changed. Everything he ever loved and appreciated about his former assistants from two decades ago seemed to mold perfectly into this one FBI assistant who was spending more time in lab with him than his son was.
FBI Assistant? Ha. He thought. That girl was born to be a scientist. Her risk taking and curiosity alone was enough to make her win a place in the scientific side of Walter's heart. Watch out, Belly.
Still it still unnerved him from time to time. As much as Walter "loved" this difficult to remember assistant, there was still that chance of him one day atomizing this woman until she one day becomes another scorched horrid memory on the walls of this very basement.
Until then…he made a point to work on a new project…a device to help an old man like himself remember the names of his co-workers.
Okay, there may be one more part to this story but I am hesitant to write it cause it might bum some people out. (Hint: it's pretty dark given that I like reading/writing the angst). This is where your reviews come in handy. Lemme know if you want that epilogue chapter. And since this is the first thing I've written in a while, I'll understand if you find Astrid or Walter acting a bit OOC. I'll take anything for reviews sake! Heh.
