Leader of the androids. Fuck me. Had I struck gold? Ezekiel tucked a strand of hair behind his eat. He nodded as I remained silent, but what was I supposed to say? I couldn't just ask him about Daniel's weaknesses, for the location of the android base; all of that would come with time I hope.
I grinned and moved closer. "So, why'd you agree to join us?"
"I'm tired of fighting," he said.
"But that's what we're doing," Katherine piped in, hugging her clipboard against her chest. I looked at her as she dipped her head and her high bun teetered to the side. Could I scowl? It wasn't acceptable but really didn't need her to be a part of this conversation. She was only in this room with us out of principle; she served no purpose to our cause.
I moved in close to her and whispered, "Could you give us a minute?"
Katherine looked at me. "Are you kicking me out?"
Yes. Grinning, I gently bumped her shoulder. "Come on, you're never around for the deeper stuff. You sign the paperwork and submit it to the city. And," I faced her, "you run to the basements if the riots get bad."
She sidestepped, looking up into my eyes. "There hasn't been a riot in weeks—"
My brows shot up. "You know it's only been two months since Daniel decided to incite war—"
"And," Katherine lifted her hand, shutting me up, "I think I need to know what happens inside of my building."
"You do, rightfully so." I forced a smile, then I motioned to Reggie and Ezekiel behind me. "When we have information to give you, we will."
"Will you?" She balanced her weight on one foot. "I took you almost a month to let me down here."
Okay, we were bickering; that was what our work relationship became. I understood her purpose and what she needed to do, but she didn't. I didn't want to keep her in the dark but the last two riots ended with buildings burning, countless deaths, and people injured in the streets. As much as I hated her company and what it did to my life, it'd be wrong to not protect her.
"If you must know," Ezekiel came closer, "there will be another riot soon. I am here to help Elijah fight back before it begins."
I sharply turned around and looked at him. My blood ran cold. Instinctively, my computers scanned him. Surging with electricity, internal core temperature rising; Ezekiel wasn't lying.
I gulped and looked at Reggie who shrugged slightly and scratched his head. "I told Vicky and Frank he'll be great," he said to me. His eyes flashed blue. "We need him."
This was what I was fighting towards, right? A way to disrupt Daniel's plans, to create a connecting bridge for stability. The fights were fresh, the blood was still warm. If we nipped this in the bud now, we could restore this planet, we could slow the ticking clock. Maybe I could grow old here. Everyone could.
Smirking, I looked back at Katherine. "Is that enough information?"
She passed a finger over her brow and sighed. She looked down at her clipboard before tossing it on the table beside us. "Ten of the new 800s are off the belt. Prepare them if you need to."
When she turned without saying anything else, I looked back at Reggie and Ezekiel and nodded. "What's the plan?"
***
Frank huffed as he closed the medicine cabinet and pressed his forehead against it. With the door shut behind us, all I heard was the quiet echoes of the working technicians in the Bridge outside the bathroom. And Frank's heavy breathing.
I cupped my hands behind my head. "What's wrong?"
Frank turned, resting against the sink beside him. He blocked my reflection in the mirror, but I wasn't looking at myself, anyway. I observed him and the slight scowl on his face. He was mad. I didn't need my computer to tell me that. "Okay," I clapped my hands together before dropping them at my sides, "silence is rude."
Holding an ointment he pulled from the cabinet in one hand, he twisted off the top and spread the cream onto a small towel he had in the other. He sighed when he looked at me. "Shirt off," he ordered.
"That's also rude." I cocked a brow but did what he said anyway. I lifted my shirt over my head by the collar, then tossed it beside him. The dirt and blood stained the corners of the ceramic.
"I told you to be careful," he said, passing the towel over the cuts on my chest, gently patting at the bruise. Supposedly better than alcohol and iodine combined, it didn't matter that he was careful when applying it to my skin, that shit burned. I gritted my teeth as he looked into my eyes and continued. "I said he had intel on you and where he's coming from is dangerous, Elijah."
"First off, chill." I couldn't take it anymore. Grabbing his wrist, I held it beside his head and straightened it. I sucked in a deep breath to calm the sting sinking into my muscles. "I am being careful. It's not like he's treating my wounds right now."
Frank snatched his hand away. "This is just cream." He shook the tube, then pointed it at my forehead. "Up there, that chip is what's keeping you alive. What did Vicky say?"
I moved my head as I stared at his face. The concern, the worry, the way the emotions etched delicate lines on his face. His hair fell over his eyes as leaned back. He pressed his tongue into his cheek. I smirked. Now wasn't the time to look at him like this, but I had to admit, I liked the mean mug, the frustration. It was a good look on him.
"She said it was just some bruising." I shrugged. "And I needed to ice."
"You need more than ice," he muttered, dropping the tube on top of my dirty shirt in the sink.
"I probably do." Moving over to the next sink, I leaned against it and looked at myself in the mirror. My left eye flickered, a blue glowing circle slowly spun around the brown iris. Data appeared in front of me; a sudden change in the weather outside. I didn't think it would rain today.
Frank side-stepped, slightly shifting behind me. "These are going to bruise bad," he whispered, passing his hand over my shoulder, gently, softly tracing the lines of my arm. He sighed. "Scar, too."
I shifted my gaze and looked at his reflection, instead. He didn't comb his hair back anymore, letting go of that agent look; I didn't complain. The "I need a haircut" length was good on him. An improvement, in my book. He didn't look like the same man who pleaded on his knees for me to save the world. He was stronger, wiser, and understanding. A person I leaned on.
As I breathed deeply, he flattened his hand over my chest, feeling my heartbeat. He did this; I was used to it. "Frank," I slowly turned so we faced each other, "you need to relax."
"I know, I just, you know, I—" He was quick to change emotions, battling with himself. My computer chip scanned him. Flustered, but in a good way. At least for me. Playing with his raging heartbeat, I cupped his face, brushing my thumb over his face. The newly grown five o'clock shadow tickled my thumb. I parted my lips, so my breath hit his nose. He looked down so I couldn't see the emotion in his eyes, but I didn't need to. I saw it in the electricity pulsing through his body. I couldn't remember the exact point when we let that illusional curtain fall, but we saw each other, and I wasn't going back.
I forced him to look at me. "This is good, Frank. Ezekiel on our side is good."
"But not great. And I won't trust him," he grumbled. "Ever."
"Fair." I lifted my chin. We'd keep going back and forth if he didn't calm down. I got hurt today. The possibility that I could've died was there, but it wasn't high. I knew that but Frank didn't. He probably sat on pins and needles until he saw me come back. He needed a distraction. And something to get his head back in the game.
"Come here." I cupped my hand behind his head and pulled him close. His feet shifted forward; one leg moved between mine. I scanned his eyes once, then he closed them and came forward. Our lips brushed across over another before I groaned and took his mouth in a kiss. He fell against me, leaning his hands against the sink behind me. I smirked against his lips, quietly chuckling.
"Don't—" He shifted his head and slid his tongue between my lips, seeking mine. They danced for a second and I took in the left-over taste of mint gum. "—laugh—" I pushed against him. The two of us stumbled back into the middle of the bathroom, his foot catching on the vent on the floor. I grabbed his face and held him still as he bit my bottom lip, growling softly. My heart pounded as I caught his expression and heard the need in his breaths. "—at me," he breathed.
"I'm not." I nipped his top lip as I tilted his head back, so he'd look in my eyes. There was the desire. Words appeared over my eye as I registered his temperature, the electrical pulses in his brain; he missed me, worried about me, and I knew I had been elsewhere, but what were we supposed to do? "You're just being—"
"I thought something bad happened to you," he whispered, forcing his head down as he shook his hair. His heartbeat slowed, as did his breathing. I frowned as he looked back at me.
"But nothing happened." Cupping his face again, I kissed him again, softer this time. "I'm here. See? Like always."
As soon I said it, my computer chip picked up on movement right outside of the bathroom door. Homing in on an infrared silhouette, I saw the outline of a person—a technician. I sucked on my teeth as I dipped my head. "Someone's in here!" I called out.
"Sorry," a small, awkward voice replied, "but I really need to go."
"Oh." I lowered my head and grumbled. My hands slid down Frank's arms. "There really needs to be more bathrooms on this floor."
"Um, it's okay." Frank stepped back, chuckling as he moved around to the sink. He grabbed my dirty shirt and the used towel, then he put the cream back in the cabinet. Before he bundled up everything to go, I reached out and grabbed his wrist. He looked at me. "We've got to go, Elijah." When the technician knocked on the door, he nodded toward it. "We're holding this up."
"Come look at the 800s with me," I said quickly, rubbing my thumb along his wrist.
He sighed and rubbed his cheek, pressing against the red-flushed tint. "I've got to comb through the final data you prepared last week and—"
I tugged his hand gently as I shook my head. "Katherine says the new ones are ready. I could use the help."
It took a minute, but as he neatly folded my shirt against his chest, he nodded, quietly snorting. "I'll help because you never ask me to." He chewed on his bottom lip before he pointed at me. "And we'll talk while we work."
"Talk?" I knew what he meant. He was serious and he wouldn't stop until he said what he needed to say. I'd let him, but I wasn't going to have him thinking it'd be easy. So, as I held his gaze, I pressed my tongue into my cheek and cocked a brow. "I can talk if you want."
When I passed my tongue over my bottom lip, he laughed and opened the door. The technician stared at us with wide apologetic eyes. "Sorry," he whispered.
"Don't be," Frank said to him, then looked back at me. "Let's get to work."