Life Goes On Part 20
Early the same morning the Main Hall at Wayne University was being redecorated...
When it came to working for a lab, there was no rest on the weekend. Howard was well aware of that little fact when he asked to start that Saturday morning. There would only be half the staff working that would normally be around on a weekday and so it would be easier to settle into his new role.
Doctor J greeted his old colleague in the ornate main lobby with a firm handshake and a grin. "I thought that it would be best to start with a tour to get you acquainted with the facility. We'll start from the basement and work our way up." 'Well... not the lowest level basement,' he inwardly smirked.
"Very good," Howard relied as he returned the handshake. "Thank you, again, for this opportunity, J. I've been itching for the chance to get back to what I love doing. You're a good man for being so gracious." 'And so generous with the use of your equipment and wonderful supply of chemicals,' he added silently with a deep chuckle in his mind.
Leading the way to the elevator, the metallic-armed man smirked, "My pleasure. You are, after all, going to be a much-needed help in teaching some of my less than experienced staff." Stepping into the elevator, he announced, "Let's get started, then."
Throughout his little tour of the facility, Howard made sure to notice any and all details that might have been out of the ordinary. He quickly memorized the names of the staff that he was introduced to in the event that he might be of need of their assistance in the future. Despite the friendly demeanor that Doctor J was showing, he still couldn't help the nagging feeling that the man was hiding something.
From what he had seen, however, the retired scientist had to admit that there was nothing to hint to such a thing. With that, Howard just decided to keep a keen eye and ear open at all times during his stay.
At the end of their journey, Doctor J stepped into the last of the laboratories that they had yet to visit. On the black tables that stretched from one side of the room to the other, there was a variety of vials and beakers atop burners.
Hundreds of clear canisters with labels marking the contents within were set up in holders against the walls. Howard made sure not to let his eyes linger too long on the canisters. There'd be time to locate the chemicals that he needed. It was best not to draw too much attention to his interest in them.
There was one lone person working at one of the center tables with their back to the old men, studying the beaker of fluid that they were boiling over a burner. Opening his arms, J stated, "This is where you will be working, my friend. As you can see, I am lightly staffed, today." Cupping the side of his mouth with his robotic arm, he called, "Liz. I would like to introduce you to your new mentor."
Her back straightening, the white-coated young woman rose from her stool and quickly turned off the burner at her station. When her feet touched the ground to reveal her petite height, her head of shoulder-length mouse brown hair flowed with the movement.
When Liz approached, her green eyes widened with a small gasp, "Oh, very nice to meet you, Sir. Doctor J told us all about you and how you had worked together in creating the first ever neko. This is a great honor to be working with you."
Smiling warmly at the girl's clear enthusiasm, Howard accepted her hand in a firm shake and nodded, "The pleasure is mine, Liz. I understand that you and your team will be focusing on stem cell research. That, my dear, is one of my best fields. I hope you would not object to our getting started right away in a private lesson?"
"Really!?" the lovely young woman gushed. "I'd be honored!"
Doctor J chuckled deeply, "I best leave the two of you alone to get acquainted, then. I've much work to finish, myself, before I leave for the day." With a nod to his new employee, he stepped from the room.
Clapping his hands together, Howard asked, "Now, my dear, what is it that you had been working on before we old men so rudely interrupted you?"
Liz chuckled deeply, "Oh, I was just working on a breakdown in the second layer of a stem cell that I've been taking samples from. We're focusing primarily on the contamination of the cells that lead to a variety of paralysis."
"Excellent!" Howard cheered. "This will be a most interesting thing to teach you." With a friendly hand on her shoulder, the old scientist led his new pupil back to her station, finding the excitement in the girl's green eyes was contagious. It'd been some time since he had felt the same rush in being a part of something that was important to him with his practice - to help others.
Once they were sitting across from each other at the thin black table, Liz's smile faded into a worried frown. Glancing around to make sure that they were alone, she leaned in and whispered, "Sir, I hope that you don't find me weird for saying so, but something is definitely... off about this place."
Raising an eyebrow, the white-haired man replied, "First, I will not answer to the name 'Sir,' since it is not what my mother named me. Howard will do just fine." As his student blushed a bit at her embarrassment, he leaned in and asked, "Now what do you mean by 'off'?"
"Well," Liz bit her lip before explaining, "I'm only telling you this because you had the decency to leave Dekim's labs when you knew what was in store for that neko that you helped create. I thought that maybe if you thought something wrong was happening here, that you might want to know about it before getting too involved. I certainly wouldn't want any part in anything that went against my own morals."
In seeing the sense in that, Howard nodded, "I appreciate that, dear. As much as I love the thought of returning to work in this field, the last thing that I would want is to jump from one frying pan into the other." Folding his arms and resting them on the table, he pressed, "Now, what is it that has you so concerned?"
Swallowing hard, Liz nervously played with a few strands of her short hair and answered, "Less than a week ago, I was in the basement collecting some data reports that were stored there. When I went to get the elevator to ride back up here, I could have sworn that I heard it rising up instead of lowering. The crazy part is that there is only one basement level to choose from. But, I know what I heard."
Her green eyes looked about once more before she said in little more than a whisper, "No one knew that I was in the basement to begin with. We're to report whenever we wish to go down there, but I was in a rush to get back to the test that I was running in here.
"I think... I think that I heard something that I wasn't meant to and I'm afraid that someone will find out. But then, why would there be a whole other floor that no one else knows of if Doctor J was acting ethically?"
By the worried look in her eyes, Howard could tell that Liz was clearly fearful of what might happen if she was found out. She obviously believed what she had heard enough to want to talk to someone that she thought she could trust. Who better than a new mentor that she knew acted out of his conscience by leaving his prior profession.
More than that, what the young woman had to say certainly did tie into the odd feelings that Howard felt when in J's presence. He would certainly have to look further into what she believed she had found.
With a kind smile, the old man spoke reassuringly, "Liz, I promise you that not a word of what you said will leave this room." His smile widened as he commented, "I'll be sure to keep my eyes and ears open for anything out of the ordinary. And I will look into this mysterious floor that you believe exists so that both of our minds could be put at ease."
Liz's shoulders relaxed with a deep sigh that pulled from her lungs. Returning the warn grin, she nodded, "That would be wonderful. Thank you S-Howard." She chuckled lightly at her near slip of the name.
Howard gave a supportive pat on her shoulder and winked, "I have a feeling we're going to be fast friends, my dear. For the time being, however, let's focus on what you're doing here so as not to appear as though we've done nothing but sit here and conspire this whole time."
"Good idea," Liz remarked. Clearing her throat, she pointed to the beaker with one hand and turned the burner back on with the other. "Well, this little pattern that's still blue from the heat is the one that I'm currently watching for any changes..." As she went on, her teacher leaned in for a closer look, nodding to himself and assessing her findings. Throughout her discussion, his eyes drifted to the canisters lining the walls for a quick assessment.
At the end of the day, when he stepped into the elevator, Howard noted the security camera that stared down at him from the square ceiling. Glancing away from it, he let his eyes glide down the buttons of the different floors.
To the inexperienced eye, much like Liz's and the countless others that worked for J, nothing seemed out of place. In Howard's case, having worked for Dekim, he noted the tiny patch in the metal that was not the same shade as the rest. It would have gone unnoticed even to him had he not known to look for such a thing.
Sure enough, the discolored metal patch, no bigger than a keyhole, was most likely covering just that. It would give the few that had the key access to a level no one else would have even known was there.
Quickly looking away from the patch, Howard folded his hands behind his back and hummed a merry turn to himself while rocking back and forth on his feet.
With a 'good night' to the guard at the lobby desk, the white-haired man stepped out just as a new batch of snow began to drift from the dark sky. Looking back to the tall building, Howard frowned deeply, "And what on earth would you be hiding, 'old friend'?"
* * * * * *
Solo stirred his large cup of hot chocolate as he stared into the dark whirlpool highlighted with white from the marshmallows that were melding together. Normally, he would have been enjoying such a treat. Before attending Wayne, he never got to experience such simple pleasures that humans seemed to take for granted.
Well... with one exception in Heero, that was. The Japanese teenager was clearly savoring his own cocoa from where he sat across the table. When he thought about it, Solo had to admit that the art major seemed to relish in everything- much like his cat-eared lover.
Duo sat beside Heero with his tail wrapped around his spoon to stir his steaming drink as he reached with a hand for the large bowl of marshmallows at the center of the table. Adding the handful to his already heaping collection, he grinned widely. Gathering a spoonful that was more melted marshmallow than the actual drink, he hummed in bliss to himself.
"You're going to be so high on sugar tonight you won't be able to sleep," Heero chuckled deeply, shaking his head. "I can't even see your hot chocolate any more!"
His violet eyes widening, Duo pushed away the mountain in his cup enough to show the dark liquid below. "See. It's there," he grinned. The unruly-haired teenager just mock rolled his eyes and smirked.
The whole scene only served to remind Solo how alone he was. He missed Cassie so much it hurt. He missed Danny and the rest of his family more than he could say. To not have any contact with them, to not have any reassurance that they were all right was killing him.
What was more, now Solo didn't even have the companionship that he had in Eric and his other fraternity brothers. At least while he was away from his family, he could at least rely on them for something as simple as having someone to talk to. Now, they were gone.
He was completely alone.
From across the table, Duo tilted his braided bead and frowned in worry, "You okay there, Solo?"
"Hm?" the blonde neko hummed as he lifted his head. Seeing the worry in the violet eyes watching him, he shrugged, "I'm all right. Just... coping with everything, I guess. Somehow, I don't think that the other fraternity members will be thrilled for selling out some of their own even if it was the right thing to do."
Duo shared a look with Heero in another silent discussion. When the art student nodded, his partner grinned, "You could always crash at our apartment in our living room if you're uncomfortable going back to your dorm. We only have a week before our winter break, so there will be plenty of time for things to blow over."
Blinking in surprise, Solo looked back and forth between the gazed on. When he found only sincere acceptance of the offer, he sputtered, "Y-you would really do that for me? Why?"
The braided neko chuckled, "Well, we're friends, remember? So, we look out for each other."
'That word again,' Solo thought to himself. He almost laughed at the notion. Weeks ago, he hated Duo more than anything else in existence because of his jealousy. In the time that they knew each other, he'd made a point to make life miserable for him until recently. Somehow, the very person that he was taught to disgust had become the only real person that he could trust and rely on.
Everyone knew that Duo never lied. He would never have called Solo a friend if he didn't mean it.
When he found his voice again, Solo swallowed hard and replied, "T-that means a lot. Thank you. But, I think that I best stay at my room for the rest of the semester. I'm not normally one that runs from my problems. Better to just face them."
Along with that, he decided, better to not have to explain why he slept at night with his baseball cap on. Better to just return to his single where he could always be on his own. The line at his dorm was also the only one that J and his henchmen could reach him at.
Heero looked a bit uncertain and asked, "Are you sure? It wouldn't be any trouble."
Already nodding before he finished his thought, the blonde neko grinned, "I'm sure. But I really do appreciate the offer. I'll definitely keep it in mind in case things ever do get uncomfortable."
Both Heero and Duo smiled before returning to their warm drinks. A little more at ease, Solo went back to his own cocoa, actually enjoying it this time.
Later, when he was dropped off back at his dorm, the blonde young man headed to his room without any problem. Once he was closed away, he removed his cap and pulled his grey sweater up to stretch his white ears and tail. Flopping onto his bed, he looked up to the ceiling with a deep sigh as he thought to all of his revelations regarding his changing relationship with Duo.
Small tears of fear filled his brown eyes after a long, silent inner discussion. In little more than a whisper, he committed aloud, "I have to tell him."
TBC...
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