by Viridian5
Something seemed to spark in Victor's green eyes, but then he
said, "I'm not personally involved with every council directive,
Nathan. Worldwide conspiracies are too big for one person to
know everything that's going on."
"I understand. Top secret. Need-to-know only."
Victor sighed, then placed his finger on Nathan's lower lip in a
silencing gesture that made Nathan's heart skip a beat. It felt
strange, heavy, and warm. Only self-discipline kept him from
touching his tongue to it to taste it.
"Could you do something for me?" Victor asked.
Silence or speech? What did Victor want right now? Nathan
decided to nod his head.
Of course he would grant Victor's request, no matter what it was.
He would do anything.
Vic moved in so close that Nathan could nearly count his long,
dark lashes and whispered, "Does she keep you under
surveillance?" He took his finger away, and Nathan missed it
instantly.
No need to ask which "she." She. The Director. The Alien
Queen. In any case, that was definite permission to speak. "She
once said she didn't, but I'm not sure she was telling the truth,"
Nathan whispered back. "You know she keeps everyone under
surveillance. Hold on a moment." Nathan went to get his tape
player and put it on the nearby table. He turned it on, and
Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" blasted out. At Victor's raised
eyebrow, Nathan said, "I play music now and then. It makes me
feel better to think she can't hear me working. Besides, it gets too
quiet here sometimes."
Victor's hand settled on Nathan's wrist in a comforting way before
he said, "The... Alien Queen has a group that looks like a near
duplicate of mine. There's a version of Mac, of Li An, and of me."
"Do you think she wants to use your doppelganger to take your
place on the council? Use him as her mole?"
Victor looked relieved. "Yes. Yes, that's it exactly. I haven't had
any luck finding out anything about them. But you're good at this
sort of thing. Could you dig up information on them?"
"Yes, of course."
"The Director can't find out about this. You might be at risk if she
did."
"I'm just happy to be helpful."
"That's great. I appreciate it. Thanks." Victor picked up the
folders he'd come in for and left.
Nathan just sat there with what he was sure had to be a stupid
smile on his face for about five minutes before he picked up the
folders Victor hadn't needed and refiled them.
Mac and Li Ann met Vic in the hall but didn't talk to him until
they were outside. "Did it work?" Mac asked. "Is he going to look
into it?"
"Yeah. He agreed to it the moment I asked," Vic answered.
Mac smirked. "Really? Did you put out for him or something?"
"No. He thinks I'm part of the black helicopter brigade."
"He's delusional."
Says the guy who works for a shadowy government agency.
Nathan's not completely wrong. That doesn't mean he's not
delusional, though. "Anyway, he'd do anything for me," Victor
said, feeling a sharp stab of guilt.
"And he has the world's biggest crush on you."
Guilt stabbed deeper at the memory of Nathan's narrow, bony face
lighting up at Victor asking him for something. "Yeah."
"Maybe Nathan will have better luck finding information," Li Ann
said. "I hate being left in the dark."
"Why so down, Vic?" Mac asked. "It's Nathan's job to research
for us. We're just asking him for extracurricular research."
I still feel like I'm using him, taking advantage of him. Vic
shook it off and tried to smile. "It's nothing. I'm fine."
"Nathan's there to be used," Mac said, and it took everything Vic
had not to hit him.
"Nobody is 'there to be—"
"Testy, Victor. You know what I mean."
"Do I? And you know what I mean." I'll make it up to Nathan.
Not... like that, but somehow.
ictor's arm always felt so solid under Nathan's fingers. Nathan
sat as close as he dared and said, "They're spraying insecticide
against mosquitoes at odd hours without warning the citizens. My
sources say that New Yorkers have learned to look for cover or
close their windows whenever they hear helicopters. First the
New York City government claimed it was to stop encephalitis,
then West Nile virus. The government claims the insecticide is
harmless to humans, but people are understandably nervous,
especially since its named malathion. It seems like an
uncharacteristically open and heavy-handed move for the council
to make, but I was wondering if you—"
