AN: Engage brains for this chapter, please! It's important! Don't worry, the "science bit" goes away pretty quickly.
It was like looking at a section of the cells of a honey bee's hive with all the hexagonal patterns which were imprinting themselves on the back of her eye. Except of course, these hexagonal cells weren't perfect replications of their immediate neighbour: some parts had double carbon bonds, some had single and some were bonded with those cute little oxygen and hydrogen pairings that gave the resulting hydroxyl group its shocked appearance (OH!).
Some of the pairings too were with more complex groupings like on the structure which looked like a caterpillar rearing up for an assault on a juicy leaf. The caterpillar's feelers were actually a combination of a methyl grouping and the abbreviated symbol for a complex ester structure! And never mind the other structure across the page which looked like a frog taking flight!
Casey sighed. It was moments like these, faced with the complex chemical structures of Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS) that reminded her of why she had chosen medicine rather than biochemistry as a major. Even the relatively few hours of biochemistry lectures and seminars that formed a part of her degree in medicine had been enough to bury any love she had ever had for covalent bonding and aromatic hydrocarbons in high school chemistry lessons. Sure there were some parts which were interesting she was sure…somewhere…right?
"Wow! That looks heavy going!" Rosita said bringing her hot chocolate and its accompanying bar of chocolate with her to sit next to Casey.
Her friend nodded. "A bit of light reading while I'm waiting for Derek." She confirmed with irony and glanced up at the staffroom. It was empty apart from the two women. "It's a report from Derek's case file." She told her friend.
Rosita, Bea and Casey had become good friends by now, so Rosita had been included into the very secretive club that was "people who knew Casey and Derek's past". It had been necessary at the time because Rosita had seen Casey freak out when they had been accidental witnesses to an armed hold-up. The latter had sat on the sidewalk and blabbed about guns and not being prepared for twenty minutes before Bea and Rosita had managed to frog march her into a nearby Starbucks for a restorative drink.
"What's it on?" Rosita asked drawing Casey's attention back to the file.
"Anabolic Androgenic Steroids." Casey said.
"Bless you!"
They giggled.
"It's a background report that was produced in the early days of Derek's involvement in the steroid investigation, long before he was shot. Apparently, according the accompanying file note, no one on the team understood the terms that Derek remembered or dug up so they commissioned a layman's guide to AAS. It totally fails in its purpose. It's so technical even I'm having problems with it and I got a 92/100 rating on the AAS assignment I was given in medical school."
"A 92/100 huh?" Rosita sounded impressed. Casey wasn't.
"It should have been a 100 but the professor was off sick so they gave the assignment to his TA to mark it. She thought I was after her boyfriend so she marked me down."
"Did you appeal?" Rosita was pretty sure she knew the answer.
But Casey surprised her when she shrugged. "What was the point? It didn't count towards my final mark and Derek had only been dead two years – I was a mess in all other ways. I couldn't give a fuck about her boyfriend and I certainly couldn't give a fuck about her." She sighed and rubbed at her temples. "I wish all this made more sense though. It's amazing the stuff that works its way to the back of your mind never to be seen again."
"So what are you hoping for by reading this?"
Casey blew out a breath. "If I'm struggling with this, the chances are everyone else in the original department gave up after three paragraphs. I'm hoping if I persevere with it I might find something."
"Something?"
"I don't know. A new angle that they hadn't thought of? A missing link to the chain?"
Rosita nodded as she unwrapped her chocolate bar. "Well my knowledge of organic chemistry is limited but if there's anyway I can help, just shout."
"Thanks."
"No problem." Rosita said dipping her chocolate bar into her hot chocolate. She waited a moment, removed the bar, placed it into her mouth and sucked. A look of totally ecstasy covered her face and Casey's eyes widened.
"Actually, there is something you can do for me." She said.
"Oh?" Rosita wiped a chocolate smudge from the corner of her mouth.
"Yes. You can tell me what the hell you're doing with that bar of chocolate!"
Rosita giggled. "It's a Wispa bar!" She said.
"I know. I've seen them before."
"My little cousin in England sends me them a box at a time. I think she thinks we don't have chocolate over here. Anyway, when I was last over there visiting she showed me how to dip the bar of chocolate into a cup of hot chocolate and then eat it. It only works with machine-made hot chocolate - you know the really horrible water-based stuff? I think it's something to do with the temperature. Anyway, it makes the little bubbles in the chocolate bar fizz. The bar only just holds together long enough for you to put it in your mouth and then the chocolate suddenly melts into this sort of velvety mess in your mouth! Honestly Case, it's like a chocolate orgasm."
Casey laughed. "I guessed that much, the look on your face was one that…well…you get the message."
Rosita reached into her pocket. "Here. I've got a box full in my locker you can have my emergency one." She said handing Casey the blue-wrapped bar. "I've tried it with every type of chocolate I can find but it only works with Wispas. It's the tiny bubbles. Go try it."
"Derek will be here soon."
Rosita was up and over to the drinks machine. "You've got time for a quickie though." She said winking and within minutes, there was a hot chocolate in Casey's hands.
Derek entered the staff lounge in time to hear Casey exclaim loudly "Oh my god! That was just…"
He chuckled. "That was something I thought I'd have to wait another half an hour to hear."
Casey glanced up guiltily her lips covered in chocolate.
"I was just…"
"I was corrupting her." Rosita said with a broad grin as she stood and collected her garbage. She winked at Casey. "I know a good website where you can order those in bulk." She said and then turned to leave.
Derek watched her go and then turned back to his girlfriend. "You ready?"
"Just give me a few seconds." She nodded towards her drink.
"Sure. I know better than to come between a girl and a chocolate orgasm." He grinned.
A few days later, having finally finished reading the report, Casey was none the wiser.
She thought she pretty much understood most of the science. AA Steroids had both medicinal and performance-enhancing properties. Although clearly the latter was more lucrative on the black market, there was still a lot of money pumped into the respectable research labs because of the positive effects the drugs had on people with conditions such as hypogonadism and muscle-wasting diseases, including HIV. Consequently research into AAS was a legitimate field, hence why there was someone able to author a report for the law-enforcement agencies investigating Derek's case.
There was however, the more lucrative side, the illegal side. AAS provided increased body mass and strength which was a boost to sportsmen in many fields. Drugs such as Nandrolone (or "the caterpillar" as Casey had nicknamed it) were quickly banned in the sporting arena almost as soon as they were developed. And the development was pretty fast-paced - similar to that of so-called recreational "designer drugs". The constant desire was for something bigger and better with a greater success rate, fewer side effects and less traceability.
This fact sort of confused Casey. Sal's organisation would not be the only one trading in the latest AAS. Sal and the people behind this case had disappeared: tracking them down would be difficult and expensive. Most government departments would close the case and write it off to experience. Spike hadn't closed the case because he was sure it was solvable but even so it was still a long shot. All Sal really had to do was just wait it out and he would get away with it – had got away with it.
The steroid at the centre of the case wasn't important anymore. So much time had passed a bigger, better version would be available. No one in the original investigation had even attempted to find and publish its structural diagram. There had never been a sample taken and in reality its very existence was just a matter of conjecture.
So why did it appear that Sal was still interested in finding Derek? What was it that Sal thought was vulnerable in his organisation that it still needed protection from any and all witnesses? Derek's ego thought it was because he was a threat. But what if it wasn't him and what he knew of the past but what he meant to the future?
Casey was missing something. They were all missing something.
Derek and Casey had discussed the case at length, but they tried to keep the discussions out of their apartment. They were conscious that what they had was too important to allow too much stress into their private time. It was very rare for Casey to read the case file at home these days and aside from the inevitable "be careful" speeches, it was rare for them to even mention the case.
So for Derek to come in to the kitchen one Sunday morning to find Casey sitting at the table with a print out of the case file spread out in front of her was a bit of a surprise.
"What's up?" he asked kissing the top of her head and then pulling up a chair to sit with her.
"I dreamt about the file last night." She said apologetically. "I'm sorry. I'm just giving myself an hour and then I'm going to make myself put it away."
He chuckled. "No sweat, honey. Take your time. It's my ass you're trying to save anyway. What was the dream about?" he reached for her hand and stroked her fingers as they lay on her lap.
She frowned. "It was just so bizarre. Lots of different things whirling around in my head. People, places, names." She smiled at him. "Did you sleep okay?"
"Yeah. I felt you shuffling around a bit and I think I considered asking you if you were okay at one point, but I must have drifted off again."
She smiled. "Sorry. It's just I know I'm missing something obvious."
"Maybe, maybe not."
"I am. My subconscious is trying to rub my nose in it. I kept dreaming about London and my old hospital, and you and bizarrely Steven."
Derek's ears pricked up. "Steven?"
He asked not because he didn't know who she was talking about, Casey's friend from Medical School was someone Derek was rather wary of. He'd never met the guy but he knew that Casey considered him to be one of her closest friends from the old days. He also knew that Steven's mother had harboured hopes of a marriage between Casey and her son. Aware that the idea hadn't come out of nowhere, Derek often wondered if there had been more between them than Casey was admitting.
He wasn't impressed that she was dreaming about him but he wisely kept that to himself.
"Yes. Steven." Casey said. "It was so strange. In my dream one minute I was being rushed down into the Toronto hospital from the landing pad with you and the next I was with Steven in our hospital in London." She lifted her hands from his and started flicking idly through the papers on the table.
"You should stop eating cheese at night." Derek said.
"I wasn't eating cheese last night it makes my PMS worse."
"That's more information than a guy needs to know, even in a relationship like ours."
Casey grinned at him. "Oh Derek. Be serious! I could go into far more detail than I have you know. I could tell you all about my breasts and…"
He held up a hand. "Casey. You don't need to tell me about your breasts. I know them intimately enough. I could recognise your breasts blindfolded." He smirked. "Get a scarf! I'll prove it!"
Casey smacked at him. "Der-ek! You're thinking with your groin again."
"It's Sunday morning Casey. I normally wake up to you groping me. Instead you're out here reading a medical report. If you want to be a doctor today I have better uses for your skills."
"Is that your way of telling me it's time to come back to bed?"
"Duh…yeah. Next week I won't be able to do this so…"
She sighed and shook her head, but Casey was grinning and she stood up to comply with his request.
Derek smiled gently as she glanced at the papers. "Leave them. We'll look at them after breakfast."
"It's our day off."
"Once won't hurt." He said kissing her. "Come on MD, I think I might be suffering from "Priapism". I need you to take a look."
Casey snorted, but let him lead her to the bedroom. "Honestly! I tell you a medical term one time!" She narrowed her eyes at him. "You have a doctor-thing, don't you?"
"What?"
"A fetish. You have a doctor fetish!"
"Oh totally. Except it's only triggered by one doctor."
"Oh my god!" Casey exclaimed later as she came into the kitchen from the bedroom, showered and dressed this time.
"I was good, but not that good." Derek said without looking up from the table where he was eating a bowl of cereal whilst looking at the papers Casey had been reading earlier.
Casey didn't react to the comment. She walked quickly to the table started rummaging in the file and then yanked a document out with a flourish. Derek watched as she speed-read her way down the cover sheet.
"I knew it!" She exclaimed.
"Knew what?" Derek asked frowning.
"I knew I was missing something important." Casey said, her eyes not leaving the paper.
"Which is…?" Derek pushed.
Casey looked up, excitement in her eyes.
"I've met him."
"Met who?"
Casey looked confused as his own confusion.
"This guy. The author of the report." She said.
Derek's frown deepened. It was a rather anticlimactic solution to her nightmares.
"How?" He asked.
Casey sat down tossing the report onto the table.
"Shortly before I graduated I needed to do a sort of internship at a major hospital. It had to be related to where I was planning to end up. Steven knew I wanted to go into Trauma like him and I mentioned that they had been short on staff at London and that's why you had to be diverted to Toronto. Steven said that was funny because he knew someone in London. He said they weren't in the Trauma arena but they were on the board of the hospital. Anyway, he made a few calls and got us interviews. They liked us and took us on."
"And one of those who interviewed you was the author?" Derek tried to guess.
Casey shook her head. "No. On the day we had the interviews we had a quick snack in the cafeteria place first. I was in full panic mode though and I felt really queasy. Steven took me outside to get some fresh air and in my panic to get out as quickly as I could I bumped into someone in the corridor. I apologised, he glared at me. Then a strange thing happened. He looked at Steven and the two men nodded at each other as though they recognised each other. I sort of expected them to speak but they didn't. It wasn't until we finally got outside that Steven cleared the mystery up. He said, I quote:
"Thank god you didn't barf on the guy. You and I would have never lived that down." When I asked why, he said. "That would have looked great this afternoon. The fact that you'd just vomited on the guy that recommended you for the interview!"
I asked him how he knew that was the guy and he shrugged and said "That's Quentin Smythe, renowned endocrinologist – although these days he's more into research than clinical practice. He's my uncle!""