What forms beyond clouds? Part 5

Buzz Watson sat peacefully in the electronics room by himself, watching the interviews of the two widows being conducted. Wife number one, Jessica Lawrence, sat across from Julio and Mike, while wife number two, Penelope Brooks, sat across from Provenza and Amy Sykes.

Lieutenant Flynn had gone off somewhere and the Captain was in a meeting. It left Buzz sitting alone in electronics with his headphones on as he listened to Provenza and Sykes ask about Martin Brooks and his school years. Penelope had married the guy straight out of high school. The woman seemed a bit jittery seeing her eyes kept darting to the side. She obviously felt nervous about something. But then again, being a civilian himself Buzz could relate to the situation; being interviewed by the police in one of their interview rooms was a nerve-racking experience in itself certainly.

The door into the electronics room opened and Buzz looked up. Of all the people in the building, it was Doctor Morales and not quite someone Buzz expected to stick their head into electronics. The doctor was wearing a suit in a shade of dark blue with a light grey shirt underneath.

Buzz took off his head phones, "Can I help you, Doctor?"

"Oh," the man put a hand in the air, smiling. "I was just looking for Captain Raydor? Is she in an interview?" Morales came further into the room so he could look at the screens, the door closing behind him.

"No, she is in a meeting with Chief Taylor and Chief Pope, I think."

"Oh," the doctor looked at the screens, "So is that…?"

"The widows," Buzz supplied.

"Oh," the doctor hummed and then surprised Buzz once again by sitting down on the chair closest to Buzz, emitting a little hum.

After a second or two of watching the monitors, the doctor swiveled on the chair and faced Buzz with a broad smile, "Do you know when she will be back?"

Buzz shook his head, his gaze drawn to the checkered black and blue matte tie the doctor had donned. Buzz liked the whole ensemble. It was certainly more stylish than his own sweater and nondescript pants.

"Do you knit?" the doctor asked him, the weird question seeming to come out of the blue.

"Erm, excuse me?" Buzz said with a raised eyebrow, catching the doctor's eye directly on his sweater of the day; it was a knit but most certainly not self-knitted. Buzz could feel his mouth turn upwards at the notion.

"Oh never mind, I just thought…," the doctor gave another easy-going smile. After a prolonged pause, Morales spoke again, this time with a little shrug, "Never mind. I shall wait for the Captain."

Buzz smiled politely and then reached out to put sound over the speakers. The other man leaned back in the chair and turned his attention back to the monitors.

They listened to Provenza and Sykes for a short moment before Morales started talking again.

"You are training to be in the reserve, right?"

Buzz nodded, "Yes."

"Well, how is it? Is it exciting? Do you practice shoot?"

Buzz's smile widened.

Every time he so much as mentioned training in the reserve, Provenza would either ignore the comment with an eye roll or make a snide comment about it. Buzz was beginning to think the older lieutenant had a grudge against the reserve people in general. For once, someone seemed to be asking Buzz about the reserve with actual interest.

Buzz smiled excitedly and answered, "It's going well so far, only, and I'm having a bit of trouble with my aim when it comes to shooting. I don't like guns that much." He said the last with a shrug and a smile.

Morales nodded, "You and me both; too much of a work hazard, I guess."

"Exactly," Buzz agreed with another smile.

"Do you enjoy art?" Morales asked Buzz.

"Well, I suppose," Buzz shrugged and he wondered how that question related to being in the reserve.

Morales smiled even wider and tilted his head, his eyes on Buzz. "You know, I have two tickets for an art exhibit this Friday, overseas artists – European artists mostly. It should be a hoot."

"Oh," Buzz replied. The whole thing seemed weirdly absurd – in a good fashion, somehow.

"There'll be free bubbly and appetizers," Morales raised a cheerful eyebrow, his eyes on Buzz with an intensity that felt slightly overwhelming.

To Buzz it felt like an invitation out of the blue.

Though on second thought, the doctor seemed to be everywhere Buzz looked as of late. Also, there was that whole indecipherable incident back in early January. The Police Commissioner's annual New Year's Soiree was usually a quiet affair and Buzz had stood off to one side, sipping some cheap champagne that technically should not be allowed to be called champagne. The team had scattered and Provenza had just left, leaving Buzz essentially alone. Not for long though, as Buzz recalled. The doctor had joined him, and held up a rather entertaining conversation for the rest of the night.

It just reinforced what Buzz already had thought about before in regards to himself and his social life; he was a fool when it came to recognizing when someone was flirting with him. Obviously he needed neon signs flashing – or being directly asked out.

"I don't have anything planned for this weekend," Buzz said with a little smile, "I mean – are you asking me out on a date?"

Morales smiled and simply answered in a confidant voice, "Yes."

"Oh."

Buzz quickly averted his look and instead stared at the monitors, trying to hide his expression of surprise, and on a deeper level, joy.

The last time he had been out on a date was too long ago to even mention.

"Okay," Buzz turned his head with a nod, a slight blush warming his cheeks.

"It's a date," Morales punctuated with a smile and joyous tone.

After a brief pause, the silence eerily awkward as they both looked at the monitors and the interviews, the doctor spoke again, "Have I ever told you about that one time I got shot at, in Nevada?"

Buzz shook his head but the question was more rhetorical because Doctor Morales continued, "I was out working for a friend of mine, a peculiar case. The body was skinned alive -," the doctor continued talking but Buzz did not hear much of it, he blanched out at the image of someone being skinned alive.

Morales leaned conspiratorially closer, his eyes gleaming, "And then, out of nowhere, shots were fired left and right – and my friend; who's extremely level headed under fire, logs us behind the cover of a shelf -,"

Buzz hummed but he was more fascinated by the smile on the doctor's face; thin, lean lips that tugged into an excited smile, though half morbid considering the topic.

"As it turned out, the murder was punishment for rape," Morales continued, "the victim was hanged from his ankles and then drained of blood before his skin was peeled off. You see, if you nick the carotid arteries in the neck, and you hang upside down, you bleed out pretty quick and then -,"

Buzz smiled weakly but he quickly forgot about the gory details; he had never really considered the eye color of the doctor before. Up close the color drew him in. The color seemed deep and dark, the crinkled skin at the sides and the smile beneath that curled markedly upwards only made the expression more poignant.

Maybe the doctor fascinated Buzz more than he had realized.

…