Claire grabbed onto the dashboard and held her breath as Raven peeled out of the parking lot. She nearly screamed as they raced down the street, braking at the light.
“So where are we going?”
“I thought we were going to hell.”
He grumbled as he glanced at Claire and saw her frighten look, “What are you so scared of? You’ve got magic remember?”
She whipped her head at him, “That don’t mean nothing at break neck speeds!”
The light changed and the car sped off before Claire could say any more. Lights blurred and people became nothing but smudges outside the windows.
“Do you even know where the hell you’re going?!”
Raven barely glanced her way, “No but I figured we’ll get there when we get there.”
Claire graveled, “You’re such a moron.”
He turned to look at Claire, “What?”
She waved her hand, “Oh nothing, nothing. Just go to the Research Institute building off 49th.”
Raven was unsure they would find any specialist, let alone an artifact one there at this time of night but he listened and soon enough he pulled up into the parking garage of the Research Institute. It’s a private building where magic research is conducted and visitation is encouraged, during proper hours. Claire opened the car door and nearly crawled out of the car. Raven walked around and stopped when he saw the mage hovering over her knees trying to catch her breath.
“Oh come on now, that’s just over exaggerating.”
Claire held up a finger as she breathes deep. Raven crossed his arms in irritation as the show continued. Finally she stood up straight and looked him in the eye.
“Who in the hell gave you your license?!”
He shrugged his shoulders as he started walking towards the exit, “Don’t like it, walk.”
“No, no, no, no, no,” Claire ran up to him and blocked his way with a finger in his face, “What is up with your driving? You trying to get yourself killed?”
There was a moment of silence as Raven looked her up and down then smiled, “Well in that case I don’t need to worry anymore.” Claire tilted her head, clearly not getting it, “If I do, at least you’re there to help.”
Claire stood there stunned as he walked around her and out the doors. He smiled to himself as the gravel crunched beneath his feet, making his way to the front entrance of the building.
“You mean you accept me as your partner now?”
He nearly jumped out of his skin as Claire appeared beside him, “Will you stop doing that?! This isn’t Batman.”
She tilted her head yet again, “Who’s Batman?”
Raven’s hand paused halfway to his mouth about to light a cigarette as he stared at Claire, “You can’t be serious. Batman?” She only stared at him, still confused. He sighed in exasperation, “Tall, wears a cape, gravel voice, hero of the dark…daddy issues. You know the classics, Batman.” Claire only shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. He pinned her with a look as he lit his cigarette, “Didn’t you’re parents or grandparents tell you stories about watching Batman growing up?”
“No.”
That simple and blunt no brought Raven to a stop as the smoke filled the air, “Why not?”
Claire shrugged her shoulders again as she looked off into the distance, “I didn’t have any. I grew up in an orphanage.”
Raven stared at her, unsure of what to say. Finally he simply put a hand on her shoulder as he walked ahead saying a simple, “I’m sorry.”
She blinked as she felt warmth spread through her from where he touched her shoulder. She smiled as that feeling warmed her heart and sprinted to catch up with him, “Thanks.” They walked in quiet peace as they reached the doors and Claire finally remembered something as they walked in, “You never answered my question.”
“What question?” Raven pulled the door open and stepped aside as Claire went in.
“Do you accept me as your partner now?”
Raven looked up at Claire’s bright smile as he closed the door behind him, putting the cigarette out as he threw it away and grinned to himself, “No.”
He walked around her before she could retort and made his way to the front desk. The bored security guard was asleep, nearly falling off his chair. Raven walked up to the desk meaning to wake the man but Claire stopped him before he could.
“This way bonehead.”
She huffed off to the right towards the elevators as Raven glared at her back, “What’s with the bonehead?”
The elevator beeped as Claire pushed the button and waited for it to open. She crossed her arms, shrugging her shoulders as Raven stepped up behind her, “You’re being a bonehead so you’re a bonehead. You know, ‘if it walks like a rabbit, eats like a rabbit, talks like a rabbit, it’s a rabbit’?”
She smiled at Raven’s glare. She nearly laughed to herself as the doors opened and she stepped in. She keyed her passcode on the keypad as he stepped in behind her, about to give her a ‘what to’ but when she was finished typing the elevator soon glowed and shot up like a rocket. Raven grabbed onto the wall rails as they raced to the top 86th floor at break neck speeds.
“Does this thing have to go so fast?!”
Claire smiled her sweetest, most innocent smile she could muster, “No, not really, but don’t worry. You have me here should something go wrong, remember?”
She smiled sweetly as Raven’s eyes turned murderous. She only laughed as they reached their floor and the ride stopped. The glowing elevator stopped and the doors opened. Claire simply stepped out but poor Raven stumbled out, bending over his knees as he tries to catch his breath.
“Now who’s over exaggerating?”
Raven flashed her the finger as she smirked and waited for him to find his feet again. He finally stood up and pinned her with a look and a finger. He tried to say something, to find something to say but for the life of him he couldn’t think of a single thing to tell her. Oh plenty was going through his mind but none made it to his mouth. Finally he gave up and reached for his pack.
“Fine. Where to now?”
She snatched the cigarette from his fingers before he could bring it to his lips, “First, this is a non-smoking facility. Second, there’s only one door.”
Raven nearly reached for his lost cigarette but finally took notice of his surroundings. It was like they walked right into the lab of a mad scientist. Dr. Frankenstein is what ran through his mind. The first thing that registered were all the immense numbers of Tulsa coils. Some were ancient copper beast, others were fantastic amazing designs that Raven couldn’t even begin to wrap his head around. Books lined the walls from floor to ceilings with even more flying about with wings. More books and papers piled every available counter space crowding around jars and flasks of bubbling curious liquids. Unknowingly Raven reached out a hand to one vial that carried a simmering gold liquid that looked solid like metal at the same time.
Claire snatched his hand back, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. In fact, just don’t touch anything.”
His gaze was still transfixed by the liquid but as he blinked his eyes cleared, “What is that?”
“Um…” Claire screwed up her face as she tried to think of how much to say, “Let’s just say…it’s not something you want. C’mon.”
She led him through the maze of books and chemistry lab experiments. They walked past the book and Tulsa coil section and came upon a cleared area with scrolls piled on tables and alchemist circles drawn on every available surface.
“What is this?”
Claire glanced his way and chuckled at the look in his eyes, “Well this is her ‘old age’ section as she calls it. That before was her ‘new age’ section, but she’s usually in her ‘me’ section.”
“Wait, ‘her’?”
“Yeah,” Claire stepped over a circle and gestured for Raven to do the same, “She’s an old friend of mine and very smart too.”
Claire laughed a little as they walked into a back corner of the lab. The area looked like nothing more than a small kitchen and living room area. There was a couch with its back to them and the TV blaring, its light blocking out their view of the person on the couch. There was some anime show on the TV and the woman on the couch was whopping and hollering at the TV. Claire stepped up behind the couch and raised her voice to be heard.
“Elizabeth!”
A pumping fist in the air stopped and the woman scrambled to find the remote. With the remote found, the show was paused. Raven watched as the overhead light flicked on and showed him the woman who was now leaning over the side of the couch. The woman wore glasses with the frames barely seeable. Her red hair was in a bun but has lost much of its hair as it flowed around her face. That combined with her green eyes and freckled face were clear signs of her Irish heritage. Raven couldn’t see clearly but she was obviously wearing ‘stay-at-home’ clothes with a ragged tank top and panties. The woman named Elizabeth blinked as her eyes tried to focus on Claire.
“Oh hi.”
She turned back to the TV, blantingly ignoring Claire and Raven as the show resumed. Claire turned to Raven smiling, laughing at her friend Elizabeth.
“Raven, may I introduce, Dr. Elizabeth Wattson, PhD in Magic Artifacts, Magical Studies, Artifact Engineering, and Alchemist Philosophies.”
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