by Viridian5
All that fidgeting made Nathan want to touch him again. Last
time, Nathan had felt the energy running through Vic's arm, the
twitch of barely suppressed movement in the muscles, even
through the sweater. Irresistible. Maybe it was some kind of mind
ray at work.
But Vic's reaction to being touched ranged from tolerating it to
glaring in a way that said get-your-hand-off-now. So maybe it
was a prototype the other man tested out, probably unwillingly.
Nathan wrenched his mind away and scrambled back to safer
topics. He was a nobody; it didn't even pay to think about—
Once upon a time it had surprised Nathan to see a secret shadow
ruler doing his own research instead of having pawns do it for him,
but Vic seemed to be beholden to the Alien Queen in some way,
under her command. What that said about the future of the human
race was rather depressing, especially if all the aliens turned out to
be like the Director.
But it cheered Nathan a bit to think that at least one member of the
shadow government was benevolent and kind. No matter what the
Queen might command, he couldn't see Vic doing anything truly
terrible. Vic was also one of the few people willing to listen,
although he pretended he didn't know what was going on and
constantly tried to draw Nathan out on it. Trying to find out what
I know, no doubt. It's not like he needs me to tell him about the
Queen Mother's stranglehold on the world or the bug creatures
or... But it made Nathan feel warm and important somehow.
"I think I should look at the records for the year before, too,"
Victor said. His voice, soft and husky, was a perfect instrument
for the whispered secrets and dark, smoky rooms of a conspiracy.
It felt like a light breeze in a stale, dusty warehouse...
Sweating under that long-lashed, expectant gaze, Nathan took a
panicked hit off his inhaler, snapped himself back to attention, and
handed over some papers from his pile. Vic looked at him oddly.
"You had these ready?"
Oh, no. I let myself get too distracted, forgot— "They were
right with the others," Nathan said and hoped Vic wouldn't see the
lie. He couldn't let the truth get out.
This warehouse of dusty information was Nathan's sanctum
sanctorum—far more than his house, with Mother, would ever be—
and he knew it from top to bottom. It never took him much time to
anticipate and find anything any of the agents might need. He just
delayed, made it look more laborious and difficult, to keep his job
safe and have some company for a while. While Vic was his
favorite person, even some time with Ramsey and Janczyk and the
Alien Queen and the bug creature that called itself Li Ann broke
the routine, even if some of them did scare him more than a little.
Mostly the women, or the creatures who'd made themselves look
like women.
He'd never been in one job for so long before, and he liked it. To
his surprise, he'd found comfort in going to the same place
everyday and seeing some of the same people. He felt... almost
secure, here in the bowels of the heart oh, that was a horrible
combination of metaphors of a shadowy government agency
they do exist! Here's proof!, which was stupid when you
considered all the conspiracies and plots going on.
Vic had quirked an eyebrow. "Nathan. Nathan..." It sounded like
he'd been repeating the name for a while, but he sounded more
amused than angry.
At least Nathan hoped so. I've just been rude to him. I don't
think he's the type to send a black ops team later to discipline me
for it... "I'm sorry?"
"I wanted to thank you for helping us find the Director. It was
good work."
The suspicious, pleasant warmth showed up again. Maybe some
kind of conditioning system used by the shadow government to
make us work for them? "Thanks. I was just doing my job." It
was just the sort of response Vic would like.
Mac Ramsey flew in. "Vic, we got a location on the balloon
salesman. We have to motor."
Nathan often wondered how a consummate professional like
Victor could stand to work with a reckless maverick like Ramsey.
He still didn't know.
"I found what we needed." Vic picked up a sheaf of papers and
followed his partner out at a run. "Thanks again, Nathan."
In a few minutes the dust had settled again, although into slightly
different patterns. Nathan picked up the records Vic hadn't taken
with him and started to put them away.
athan covertly watched Victor Mansfield from under his lashes
as he pretended to look through more paperwork. Vic sighed and
chewed at the end of a pencil as he sorted through the records he'd
asked for. Long legs folded, unfolded, and refolded, and he
occasionally twisted the chair around a bit as if impatient with the
sedentary nature of his study.
