No Chance, Ch 6
No Chance
Chapter 6
copyright 2009 comidacomida
Daryl waited until after he heard Courtney return to her room. He and David had talked for some length about whether or not an unaffected human would be able to understand Fred; judging by Fred's noise level, the panther was certain that some kind of interaction occurred. It was moments like that when Daryl really despised David's casual, impersonal approach to people in general.
Taking a deep breath, Daryl strode into the ad hoc work room and made his way over to the welding corner where Fred was busy at work trying to repair one of several ruptured transfer tubes. With barely a thought, Daryl's pupils slitted to almost nothing; it was strange the way he could feel the involuntary muscular contraction of his irises but it made the bright light from the welder that much more muted, avoiding any overexposure to viewing the searing white sparks and eliminating any damage cause to his eyes by the piercing light.
Fred stopped welding and dropped the goggles from his paw. The bear let out an exasperated sigh, "You know... if she comes back in here I think I'll pop her head like a grape." Daryl recognized Fred's bland, deadpan humor, but it didn't make considering it any more comfortable... at all.
"Fred..." the panther interrupted.
"I could claw her in half easy enough." the bear continued, flexing one of his massive paws.
"Fred." Daryl noted, more insistently.
"I could tear her head off with a single bite." Fred mused, unabated by the panther's interjection.
"Fred!" Daryl hissed.
"Maybe just sit on her until she suffoca--"
"ENOUGH!" the panther roared.
Fred 'hrumph'ed, and picked up his welding goggles from where they landed beside him, "Lighten up... it wasn't my idea to show her around, and I sure as hell didn't want to have to deal with her."
"It wasn't my idea either." Daryl slowly smoothed out his fur, which was standing on edge, "David had to know how universal this whole communication thing is."
"You're a good desk agent, Daryl... I'll give ya that." noted the bear, rotating the whole upper half of his body as he gazed around, looking for something, "But you're shit as a field agent." he managed to locate the welding torch and hefted it back up awkwardly in his paw.
"Why's that?" the panther inquired, used to constantly harsh critiquing by the senior agent.
"Simple... you follow orders all the time and without any question. You're a lackey." Fred answered.
"I see." Daryl responded, watching the bear adjust his grip on the device. Although the panther didn't know much about welding, Daryl did know that most torches required two hands to start. He also didn't know a lot about Fred, but knew enough to be aware that the resourceful agent had a lot of ways to accomplish a task.
He wasn't surprised that Fred had created a one-pawed welding torch that would start with nothing more than a firm squeeze. He filed that away for later, promising himself he'd inspect the device to see, not only how it worked, but how Fred could have fashioned it together with nothing more than the rudimentary use of paws.
"I don't think you do see, Daryl." Fred answered, "Not yet anyway... otherwise you never would have brought that cute little bucket of piss and vinegar to the base."
"I thought you liked David's idea." Daryl challenged the bear.
"Just because I didn't object didn't mean that I liked it... and, even if I did like the idea, that doesn't mean YOU had to. She's not MY fiancee."
"Well, she IS a good twenty years too young for you." Daryl noted, trying to offer some semi balance of humor to the statement.
The bear turned to regard him flatly, then looked back to the transfer tube. Fred started up the welding device; it was a sure sign that their discussion was over.
"Always great talking to you, Fred." the panther added plainly.
"You hate talking to me." Fred called back.
Daryl tried chuckling, swallowing a sigh as he made his way out of the work room. It was hard for Daryl to admit, but Fred was right about many things-- usually the more accurate Fred's statement, the more he hated to admit it. The past several weeks had been difficult for the panther. He really didn't have a lot in common with the other two agents and, while either of them were reasonable enough to talk to about their current situation, neither really allowed for a personal connection. They also both kept their personal views and emotions out of the equation; that was something that was getting harder and harder for Daryl.
He'd heard that people in an adverse situation often bonded but both of his fellow agents seemed far too different for him to find common ground. Even though they both worked for the same agency, it seemed like their individual job descriptions were worlds apart. Fred and David had plenty in common, even if they seemed to dislike one another they had a similar background.
The sigh finally escaped as Daryl closed the door behind himself. He slid to the ground, taking in a deep breath, and smiled just a little. He could smell that Courtney had been in the exact spot, a mixture of fear and frustration permeating her distinctive aroma. Her scent was one that he enjoyed more than anything else he had smelled, both before and after attaining his feline form. Since his sense of smell increased, he could identify it more clearly, and, in his current mood it was like mana from heaven.
Daryl would have continued relishing the aroma, if not for the sound of a jingling making its way toward him from down the hall. He recognized the sound immediately as dog tags on a collar. Slowly standing, the panther strode forward to meet Rex. "Well?" he asked the dog, "Is everything okay?"
"Courtney is sleeping." Rex answered simply, "She gave me scritches." his tail wagged.
"What about the meeting with Fred?" he asked. Although he knew David would have objected throwing another 'variable' into the 'experiment', Daryl really had no interest in letting Courtney face Fred all alone; the bear was too unpredictable.
"Oh... Fred did not give me scritches." Rex replied, his tail stopping its wag and tucking a little between the dog's legs.
"No... I mean..." Daryl took a steadying breath, "She didn't understand him... did she?"
"No." Rex shook his head to accentuate the comment, "But I did... You do too... and so does David. Why doesn't Courtney?" the question had the faintest hint of a concerned whine.
"Courtney wasn't exposed to the... well... whatever it was. I think that's one of the things David wanted check." the panther ventured.
"Yes... that is exactly what David wanted to check." David confirmed. The ferret emerged from a side hall, leaning against the wall as he regarded the two of them. Rex quickly recoiled, practically curling into a little ball as he moved to the opposite wall in the hallway. Daryl's first reaction was to leap upward, claws brandished, but he managed to restrain himself, and leave it at barely more than raised fur.
"Hi, David." Rex offered, looking fully and truly like a cowed dog.
"Hello, Rex. Did you have a good evening with Courtney?" David inquired of the dog, though his eyes were on Daryl.
"Yea." Rex responded, slowly coming out of his 'beat dog' position, tail wagging, "I like Courtney. I think she likes me, and she says I'm a good dog. I am a good dog, right?"
"Of course you are, Rex." David responded, reaching out to pat him on the head, eyes never leaving Daryl, "You do exactly what you're asked to do by those you respect and love, even if it's something you really shouldn't do."
Daryl had no doubts that David was displeased with his performance, and he was completely certain that the ferret knew the modification that he inserted into David's 'experiment' involving Courtney.
"David--" the panther began, but was interrupted.
"Why don't you go get some rest, Rex... we have a lot to do tomorrow. Maybe go see how Abe is doing before you go to sleep." David glanced back to the dog, who wagged furiously at that.
"You mean I can go see Abe?" Rex's tail was practically wagging like a helicopter.
"Of course you can. I'm sure he'd like the company." David smiled at the dog, who quickly raced off down the hall. Daryl could see that the smile was relatively empty of good will. The ferret was mad.
"David--" Daryl spoke up again.
The ferret turned to regard him, "Daryl... do you have any idea what kind of problems you may end up causing if you can't get yourself under control?" the comment, although well into the realm of accusatory, still managed to come out matter-of-fact and neutral. That was one of many things that made Daryl uncomfortable when David became upset.
"It wasn't a big deal." the panther responded, "We learned what we needed to know."
"Perhaps... perhaps not." David answered cryptically.
"Damn it, David... we could have just marched her into the room and said 'Here. Talk to Fred and see if you can understand each other.'... would that have been so hard?" he felt his fur starting to rise, and it riled him to think that, despite David's mood, the ferret's fur never did that.
"I understand you have your concerns, Daryl--" David offered in a neutral tone.
"Damn right I do!" the agreement came out a little more forceful than Daryl had planned.
"And I understand that you are as confused and as concerned as the rest of us--"
"You certainly don't seem all that confused or concerned." the panther accused.
"Perhaps because I handle myself with poise and purpose." David responded, "Field agents learn how to cope with pressure; I'm beginning to wonder if insisting that you come along was a mistake-- I had thought that you showed more promise than most of the other office workers, but, unfortunately, I am starting to have doubts."
Daryl wasn't exactly sure how to take the comment which somehow managed to be both an insult and a compliment at the same time. Spending too much time with David when he was displeased was a punishment in itself, and always managed to make his head hurt. He could see why Fred preferred to keep his distance from the case's commanding officer.
"This isn't a normal situation; I understand that." David continued, "I am not asking for something you would usually do, see, or experience during a day at the office; this I know. You are being asked to perform at a level far above what you'd normally expect and, I realize, beyond what might even be considered fair. What I DO know, Daryl, is that everything I've asked of you, and everything I WILL ask of you is something you can do. I have faith in you, Daryl, or I wouldn't have asked specifically for you for this investigation."
"Yea... well..." Daryl wasn't sure how to respond to what he guessed to be the most praise he had ever heard from David, "sometimes I wish you wouldn't have." he let out a deep breath, his fur finally managing to fall back into place.
"Listen," David responded, resting a paw on his shoulder, "This has been a stressful day; I understand. Courtney has been a little more involved than I'm sure is comfortable for you and I don't fault you the frustration and unease. What I can say for certain is that you'll feel better in the morning. It's late, Daryl... go get some sleep."
"I'll sleep better once I know that you're done using Courtney for these 'tests' of yours." the panther responded. He thought at first to shrug the ferret's paw off his shoulder but, in the end, he really didn't have the energy to bother. David was right... he was tired and drained, and he really did just want to forget everything from the day's many events and just fall into the comforting unconsciousness of sleep.
"Alright, Daryl... I'll tell you what," David offered, "we'll discuss any further research before I decide to conduct any tests. If you want, we can even include Courtney on the planning stages and she--"
"NO." the comment almost came out as a yell, and Daryl quickly reassessed his volume and spoke more quietly. Courtney only knew a few reasons why the team had brought her to the installation. Daryl didn't agree with all of them, and certainly not the part about David's experimentation, but he had done little to nothing to dissuade the senior agents about including her in the debacle. Daryl didn't think he could face her if she knew the whole truth.
"No..." David repeated, "Just leave her alone, and keep all this between us. The fact that she's here is fine and you don't have to go explaining to her that you wanted a test subject for all of these crazy hypothesises of yours."
"Hypotheses." David corrected.
"Whatever." Daryl responded, "Just leave her out of all of it for now, okay? You already have a good set of answers and I don't want you putting her in any more danger."
"I would still point out that, at no point, was Courtney in any real danger. We have taken every precaution to--"
"Just promise me you'll let us all have a say before you decide to involve her any further." Daryl interjected.
"Of course. You have my word." David offered a calming smile, much more genuine than the others he'd seen from the ferret during the encounter, "We all want to find out what's going on and what we can do about it, Daryl. We may have different ideas on how to do that, but we're a team. We'll figure this out together, alright?"
"Yea..." the panther nodded, feeling weary and drained. "Good night." he added, nodding after the returned sentiment from the ferret. David proceeded down the hall back towards his room. He had no idea when it was that he started feeling like he was on-edge, but he didn't like it. David was a man that he had respected for most of his career; he was a field agent who was skilled, insightful, and well-respected among his peers.
Although anyone could have a bad moment, especially after being transformed into some kind of human-animal crossbreed, Daryl really liked to think of himself as a calm, rational, and team-oriented person. The aggressiveness he had been displaying toward everyone seemed out of sorts for himself. Taking a deep breath, the panther rubbed the back of his neck, making sure any of the last vestiges of his fur was back in place, smooth and flowing, like he wished his nerves could be.
Daryl wanted to have a chance to speak with Courtney. He wanted to sit down with her, face to face, and explain everything. The panther wanted to tell her the truth about why she was present. Although he still didn't understand all of it himself, the fact of the matter was that, between all three agents, Daryl was the only one of them who had a deep connection with someone outside their job. David demanded that they have someone who would be able to stand in for what he called a "control group"; the ferret needed someone who was not infected, or mutated, or diseased, or whatever it was that had happened to them.
For the millionth time since Courtney's arrival, Daryl wished that there had been a way to avoid involving her. David had noted that having a 'control subject' would be the best way to devise a solution to their problem. The ferret assured him that he needed Courtney so that they could understand what had happened to them and then, hopefully, how to reverse it. David led a private life, practically invisible to the world outside the agency, and, although Daryl knew little about the Fred, he had heard that all of the bear's family was 'gone'. What that meant, the panther didn't know. What that meant for Daryl, unfortunately, was that Courtney was their number one test subject.
The panther hated to think that it was his relationship with Courtney that qualified her to be that test subject. David said that someone who would be able to trust one of their number was pivotal, and Daryl hated to acknowledge that the ferret was probably right. Only someone who had a vested interest in one of the agents would be able to remain calm enough and be involved enough to have any chance of remaining calm and centered. Daryl smiled to himself at the horrible humor of the situation; as far as the relationship went, Daryl was the one who was usually calm and centered... he wondered if the plan was doomed to fail from the beginning.
Shaking the thoughts from his head, Daryl returned to his room. He let out a deep breath, trying to remain calm. David had promised that he wouldn't run any more of his "experiments" without consulting the other agents first, and that included Daryl. The panther realized that he couldn't exactly overturn a decision made by David, but at least it provided him a chance to plead his case.
Taking a seat at the small work table in his room, Daryl began sifting through the many papers he had appropriated from the science labs in the lower level. Since the contaminant had gone inert, he and David had begun exploring the lower levels, collecting whatever notes and journals they could from the labs. David spent his time going over the scientific aspects of the papers while Daryl stuck mainly to invoices, records, and dates. Between the ferret's scientific knowledge and the panther's attention to details, they hoped that something could be done to shine some light in their predicament. At least... that was the hope.