Joseph looked like he'd like to swallow glass when Billy opened my office door and stood glaring down at him. I rolled my eyes and focused on Mallory's voice coming through the headset of my phone.
"The Church won't be able to contain Adana's absence forever, they'll have to announce that he's dead, but from what my source is telling me, they aren't looking to make him a martyr, yet." Of course not, the Church acted like a fucking rehabilitation for supes gone wild and it was a fucking con. "I know you have Vought's files and you're working through them. Have you come across anyone-"
"With the ability to do what this one seems capable of?" I had to be vague, I couldn't be sure Joseph couldn't hear me from his position at the door. "Not that I can think of, but I haven't gone over Billy's notes yet." I sighed. "When this comes out-"
"It won't." Mallory sounded convinced. "The Church is bargaining for the same status as other churches, the tax free bullshit that organized religion always gets, but since it works under different structures, it's been denied. They won't make waves by making accusations, not while Vought is working hard to rehabilitate the Seven and Compound V." She sighed and I felt another one of my own build. "We have to find out who this rogue supe is, Dr. Taylor, preferably before Billy goes-"
"Completely outside of the bounds of control?" The sigh I'd felt growing finally forced its way out of me. "I think I managed to-" I felt a blush burn on my face and couldn't finish. There was no way I was going to tell Mallory or anyone outside of Billy and I just how I managed to calm him down. Nope. Not going to happen.
"Yes, well, as long as he's not making himself famous for domestic terrorism again, I'll trust your methods." Fuck. "Let me know if you find what we're looking for in those files. A name, a location. Something that would let us get a bead on what the hell is going on." I agreed and then hung up.
"Joseph," I forced my lips into a smile, walking to the door and stepping around Billy's hulking figure. "What brought you to my office?" I watched the man swallow hard, his eyes darting at Billy and back to me.
"I-" another gulp. "I came across this request from-" He was sweating and I came close to closing the door behind the two of us so Billy would be trapped in my office and the man in front of me would be more comfortable speaking, but it was MY office. "Here." He thrust the paper into my hand and turned to rush away. Well, that was interesting.
"You terrified him," I accused, turning to see the amusement on Billy's face. Shaking my head I moved back to my desk as I read the request that Joseph deemed important enough to bring to my attention. My eyes roved down the paper and I grew confused. Why would anyone ask for- And then my eyes landed on the name of the person who requested it and I sat down in the chair that Mallory had used. I was trying to make sense of what I was reading.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," he muttered, but I didn't pay much attention. "What does it say?" I handed it to him and waited for him to read through it, while I was still turning it around in my head. "What the fuck?"
"Why would they want to know where-" My eyes met his and I had to shut mine because I swore he was going to ask for more distraction, but he didn't. Yet.
"He's supposed to be kept safe and secured away," he muttered, pacing. "I was told he would be." I nodded, that was the deal. "Why would-"
"I don't know," I answered, reaching for my phone. "But I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen."
A call up the chain of command, telling them about the request that had been brought to my attention and wanting verification that the information requested would be denied, I felt marginally better when I hung up. Marginally.
"Why would he run it through this office?" I asked, once the handset was back in the cradle. "Isn't that tempting fate that you'd find out?"
"He wanted me to find out," and I could see his point. "He knows I was recruited for this little endeavor, and he wanted to poke the bear."
"And did he?" I wanted to know if I needed to have Billy contained before we moved on with the next fucking shitstorm.
"Am I asking for a distraction?" His eyebrow raised and I felt like Joseph must have, although I doubted that Joseph felt a twist of something dark and pleasant in the pit of his stomach and I definitely knew he didn't have the memory of how it felt for Billy's facial hair to burn my skin as he worked his mouth down my neck. Shit. "I'll let you know when that cunt pokes me hard enough to need-" he licked his lips and his eyes were on mine. "I'll let you know."
Somehow, maybe because there wasn't a whole shit ton we could do with the hint of intelligence we currently had on the mystery supe who could pop people's heads like a dart flying into a balloon at a carnival game, Billy and I managed to go back to working through the files from Vought. We worked just as quietly as we had before he'd asked for me to distract him. And I was trying very hard to NOT notice how close he was, or how his body heat seemed to invade my personal space.
When lunch rolled around, I decided I didn't want to eat in my office. I wanted to go at least a short distance away from the entire fucking situation. I didn't assume he'd come with me, in fact, I thought I gave him an out to leave my company to do whatever it was he did when he had downtime. As we were seated by the hostess of one of my favorite restaurants, Billy across from me, I held back from asking why he didn't take the escape from my company I'd offered.
Ordering was simple, since all we had to give our server was our drink orders. Chinese buffet, simple and as fast or slow as anyone cared to enjoy it, was what I'd picked. He seemed surprised by my choice, and confirmed it once we gave the waitress our drink preferences and moved to the steaming tables.
"Didn't peg you for a buffet fan, Ronnie," he said, as we wandered up and down the offerings with our plates in hand. Shaking my head, I carefully filled my plate.
Looking up, seeing Billy Butcher in a loud Hawiian shirt holding a plate in a buffet was a pretty fucking weird sight, and it caused me to smile. "Guess you don't know me much, Billy." I could hear the small snort he gave as he too filled his plate.
Walking back to the table while he continued to peruse the offerings, I smiled as our server set our drink glasses down. Thanking her, I took my seat and waited for him. It didn't take long, and there he was sitting across from me again. "You didn't have to wait for me to get started," he offered, taking up his utensils as I did the same.
"Etiquette, hard to get past, Billy." He studied me as I took my first bite. I was curious as to what fascinated him about what he was seeing, but with a shake of his head, he too tucked into his lunch.
As we ate, Billy started asking questions. Not work related ones, but ones that if I didn't know better would make it seem like he was trying to get to know me better. "Why'd you pick the CIA?" His voice was quiet, and the dining room wasn't full of people, so it wasn't like we had an audience.
A shrug of my shoulder, my go to gesture, as I took a drink from my glass was my first answer, but he didn't say anything else so I wasn't getting off that easily. I sighed. "The FBI has an abundance of agents that can profile criminals, being one of a herd didn't appeal to me. And actually, the CIA approached me." They had, once I'd started being published more in journals and other media. My ideas on the inner workings of criminals weren't that far off from known profilers, but my psychological background, coupled with the fact that I didn't focus on serial killers, but on those people who committed differing atrocities helped highlight ways they could better utilize my abilities.
"Why'd you become a doctor?" I snorted so hard a noodle nearly popped out of my nose. Taking a moment to compose myself as he stared at me like I'd lost my mind, I shook my head again.
"If you ask my parents, I'm not a REAL doctor." A distinction they make during every fucking dinner party they force my ass to attend. "I chose psychology because the inner workings of the human mind and the reasons for their behavior fascinates me." The absolute truth.
"Parents can be fucking useless." He muttered, his understanding dripping through his voice. "Come from money?" He was looking at me as he took a bite, and I nodded. "Makes it worse, don't it?"
I sighed around my own bite. When I knew that I could without shaming myself, or my mother, I answered him. "It makes it less agreeable than most people assume." Like my ex husband for example. He really expected my inheritance to come fast and furious to me when we got married, but boy was he in for a shock. "They never seem to factor in the expectations that come with the perks."
His eyes were still on me as I ate and spoke, and I knew I should be uncomfortable with the attention, but it didn't feel strange somehow. "You eat at places like this-" a gesture around at the simpler surroundings than my parents would appreciate, made me nod. "Drive a truck that's HUGE, and you carry a gun." Another nod from me. "I'm sure your mum and dad are just pleased as punch with all three."
I laughed at that. Maybe Billy Butcher was more than he seemed. Then again, I knew that, I'd written the fucking report on it.
Lunch was pretty interesting, as was getting back to work after. The easiness we moved beside one another, pads and pens ready, working through each file made me wonder why it was this simple. I chose not to dwell on it. If Billy Butcher and I could coexist without friction, then I was more than willing to take it. Just not, you know, take IT. With friction. Shit.