| "Dogfish or Catshark" | |||
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May 19, 2008 Raritan Bay 1900 hours She had reached a decision earlier that morning. It had pulled at her mind all night and was refreshed by her time spent with the one who had planted the idea in the first place � Safara. Paige had spent a good portion of the morning with Saf at the Edison training facility, though Paige only managed to get the woman to wear the regulator and stick her face in the pool, and even that had taken two hours. There would be no going underneath the water for Safara, no going anywhere near underneath the water. It had been a start, Paige thought, and a start was better than nothing. The quandary still flitted in her mind even as Saf grinned sheepishly from behind her mask and shook her head softly setting Paige off into another encouraging speech. Even through all that, the question remained, the decision had to be made, and the major factors came down to two things: how much would Paige risk; and how far was she willing to go? She sat in silence, one hand holding a beer, the other on her reel with her index finger gently underneath the line. Her legs were folded under her as she balanced on the padded covering of the inboard engine, and she had taken her hat off letting the slight sea breeze play with her hair. They had cast their lines, ate their sandwiches and had caught nothing...yet. Her own baited hook, she imagined, lobbed softly against the bay floor as she stared thoughtfully at Joshua. He made it a point not to look at her as he busied himself unnecessarily with his line. He would be a good fisherman, she thought, once he had felt what it's like to have a fish on the line. Now, he was nervous, and she secretly reveled in it. It was not often, probably not ever, since meeting him, that she ever had the upper hand. But it was a fa�ade, he was the one really with the power, because he had knowledge, and knowledge always represented power. "Why are you nervous?" she asked suddenly. He shifted his weight under a passing swell, "not nervous," he said evenly staring intently at his line. She smiled, thinking, yes you are. He then looked up to her. "I expected something from you...anger, yelling...but not this." "My profile doesn't cover this scenario?" she asked. He shook his head. "Well, that's too bad for you." She paused for a moment, "you can call Michael if you'd like...perhaps he could offer some advice." There was no malice in her voice, no condescending tone, but the comment had been used to drive home a point. "That's alright," he smiled, "he has nothing to do with this." "Oh, but he does," she said as she watched his smile fade and the once Level 5 Joshua surfaced. "See, he's 'allegedly' searching for some information which personally, I believe is a line of bullshit but whatever." She watched him but his expression had not changed. She had to be careful because soon enough the balance of power would shift in his favor and she had to choose the right time. She hoped, as the tiny scenarios played out in her mind one of them would favor no shift in power, but hope was all it was. The power scales always seemed to tip in his favor. Not to be discouraged by her own thoughts, she continued, "I want that information." His face softened in thought as he studied her, shifting his weight under another rolling swell. "What is it?" he asked finally. "Glyconutramine variant 17b," she watched him intently. His eyes narrowed slightly...he knew what it was. "I want its chemical structure, phys props, line of entry, anything you can get." He smiled then, laughing softly and shaking his head. The power had shifted, she felt it as tangibly as the boat swaying beneath her, but it had not quite tipped all the way. "You owe me that much," she said flatly. He placed his pole in the nearest holder and took a couple steps to stand in front of her. "I," he pointed to his chest, "owe you that much?" He was beautiful, she thought as she stared at him silently. Beautiful, but dangerous, she reminded herself, even more dangerous with the position she was putting herself in. "I can't get that information for you," he said gently. "Yes you can. You're Oversight, get on that little laptop of yours and get those files. There's no way Madeline did it alone." "This why you got me out here, sweetness?" he said reaching for her face. She slapped it away, "don't patronize me," she hissed. He held her gaze for a moment with that blue eyed intensity that always seemed to accompany him...and he laughed. Of all the things she thought he might not do...she had not expected him to laugh. The sound hit her square in the chest as the power shifted completely in his favor. "What do you want to know, huh?" He put his hands up at his side. "That Madeline did it? She did. An experimental chemical injected into Saf during her recovery from the Immersion mission engineered to make her compliant, eradicated from her body thanks to Gideon and Michael." She continued to stare at him feeling small and incompetent. "Want more?" She could see the anger now rising in his features. "I personally checked into it once I was informed about it, no other ops were tested, including yourself, it's a dead issue. Let it go." "She deserves to know what it was," Paige seethed at him, attempting to recover from his scathing harshness. "She was told everything we know about it," he said. "And that witch Madeline gets away with it? And that's ok with you?" "No, it's not ok, I don't like the bitch experimenting any more than you do, or Saf for that matter, but Michael and I are handling it." "Then let me help, get the information, I'll figure out what it is, that way we can at least have something to use in case she starts up again." He shook his head, "it's not that easy getting into any of those types of files..." "But you're cleared for that sort of thing...you can get in unnoticed, and even if it was, who would question you?" She pestered him, not ready yet to offer 'anything' in return for the information. He finally quieted down and took hold of his temper and looked thoughtfully at her for a moment, "I'll see what I can do." Well that response had surprised her. It wasn't a yes, but at least it certainly wasn't a no either, and underneath that dominating aggression, she believed he would try. She thought for sure she would have to do more to obtain the information, and, she admitted, she was pretty much prepared to do anything. She might have to do more in order to give him further incentive to help later...but that would remain to be seen if necessary. "Would that make you happy?" he asked leaning both hands on either side of her. He had a patronizing tone to his voice, as if he was speaking to a child, though she fought to tell herself that it was something else. "Yes," she said quietly, admitting defeat. "Done," he smiled. "Thank you," she smiled back. He just stared into her eyes then, not moving and not saying anything, the tension coming from him was almost palpable. It seemed whenever an argument was struck up between the two, the anger did not dissipate, it merely transformed, and she knew he would look for other ways to rid himself of it. She finally dropped her gaze. "Hey," he said, picking her chin up, "it all works out in the end." "Yeah," she said quietly. He did not let go of her though, and using another swell leaned in to kiss her gently. It was then she felt the line tingle her finger. One creature's misfortune was another's fortune. She broke the kiss, "got one." She pushed Joshua out of the way and grabbed her pole. She waited a moment to make sure it was still on the line, then jerked the pole to set the hook. The conversation momentarily put at bay was replaced with the task at hand. She reeled and pulled in intervals feeling an unfamiliar yet familiar tug on the line. "Not a Black fish," she said, "get the net." Joshua was at her side with the net near the water. "What is it?" he asked as a white belly flashed beneath the water. "Dunno yet," she said pulling on the pole one last time bringing the fish to the surface. "Get it...there." Joshua snared the fish in the net and brought it up on the boat. They laid the fish out on across the seat that covered the engine. "Hm, Dogfish or Catshark?" Paige said amused as she watched the turquoise green eye of the fish attempt to focus out of its natural environment and her mind immediately pulled up everything she knew about it, including some genetic code and evolutionary trends that brought the fish to where it lay now. "Squalus acanthias, Dogfish...no anal fin," Joshua said quietly running his hand along the fish's body. Paige looked up in surprise, "Correct. I'm impressed Mr. Lovell, you've done your homework." She apparently had to redefine her assessment of his intelligence. He shrugged, "I grew up on the east coast, too, you know." "She's pregnant...kind of early," she said as she also rubbed her hand along the swollen belly. She then felt the familiar guilt that came with fishing, "hold her gently." Joshua gripped the fish as Paige worked the hook out of her mouth. His hands (always these hands) so gentle, and so menacing. She then stroked the long body one last time before leaning over the boat and letting her go. "And here I thought nothing lived in the bay," he said with a smile. "Did you know there are about 12 species of shark including the Sandtiger that drop their pups in here?" "I did not know that," he said nodding his head. "Yes, and these dumbasses come out waterskiing and what not...if they only knew," she shook her head baiting her hook again. Just then the far off flash of lightning caught her attention. "The Mayor said a storm was coming in," Joshua said seeing the flash as well. "Huh," Paige said staring out into the zone (the horizon on the ocean line), "I didn't know." She mentally chided herself for not checking the weather before coming out, and worse, not having the radio on whilst on the boat, but then the weather had been the furthest thing from her mind when she had made that phone call to him. "We should go in, it's not far off," she said tossing the killie into the water and setting the pole on the deck. Joshua reeled in his line as Paige started the engines. They had drifted considerably during their conversation and by the times they had reached the docks, rinsed and secured the boat, the air was thick with ozone and the lightning flashed continuously. They had only started up the docks when the rain came in cold heavy sheets. They ran to Paige's apartment and finally ducked inside, shivering and soaked to the bone. Paige flicked the light but it did not go on, "powers out, I'll get some towels." She kicked off her sneakers as Joshua followed suit though he did not follow her into the hallway where she retrieved two towels. When she had returned to him he already had his shirt off and stood shivering slightly. The blinds were fully opened and allowed the dock lights in to sheen off his rain slicked chest and arms. The lightning flashed off his eyes, showing the blue intensity glazed over now with lust. He was beautiful, her mind taunted her, and it seemed every time he looked at her that way a little piece of her was taken by him, just a little more control surrendered. "Paige," Joshua said grabbing her arm lightly. She froze in his hand. He pulled her close grabbing a handful of her wet hair moving as a predator might to snare its prey. "Please," he whispered in her ear kissing it softly, "let me stay." She said nothing though her breath quickened as she fought to control the urges her body betrayed her with wanting him. She did not have to answer, he would do what he wanted and take what he wanted anyway. He continued to kiss her cheek as his hands (always these hands) found its way under her shirt and rubbed the cold away from her back. "Please," he whispered again holding her tighter. She had wanted him to beg softly, but she had hoped it would be for his life. She would take this though, apparently, and use it to deepen his desire to pacify her so he would obtain the requested information. She gave in, again, and moved her head, her lips searching for his... Return |
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