The Breach

9. Out Of Range

It was already getting late and Anna was feeling incredibly tired. It didn't help that she didn't really enjoy spending time in the Tombs. It was an old prison complex and to say that the surrounding were grim would have been an understatement. It was almost as if some kind of a riot took place in the prison and whoever was there previously left the location completely ruined. The only place that didn't remind her where they actually were was the main control room they usually worked in. It might have been thanks to the screens placed on the walls, but it did make the room appear a little brighter than it actually was.

The surroundings weren't the worst part though. She had to talk to Theo and she already knew it wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation. Going through multiple databases, including a few hospitals that shared test results and asked for consults, she finally managed to find out what happened to his father. She didn't really know how to go about it. Theo was definitely not going to be happy with the results of her research.

She shouldn't be so moved by it. It didn't really concern her, didn't really affect her or what she had to do in any way. And yet it still hurt somehow, it was still so unfair. She was worried about Theo. She was worried both about telling him the truth and about keeping it from him; there was no way to tell how he was going to react. But she promised. And she was going to see it through, no matter how anxious she might have been about it.

Right now though she was watching Theo work. He was standing by a metal lathe, milling some new fittings and a metal cone for the missile Keener asked him to help with. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing and it surprised her a little. She did know how skilled he was with databases and drones in general but this was something else entirely. Watching him operate the machine like it was the easiest thing he's done in his entire life made her both proud and hurt. It was a strange mix of feelings, probably having to do something with how brilliant he actually was and how unfair SHD has treated him knowing how much of an asset he could have been. It put what happened to his father in an entirely different perspective now and it was hard for her to pretend it didn't affect her too.

„Stop staring at me. I can't focus," Theo's words abruptly brought her back to reality.

„Quit flattering yourself," she answered with a scowl. „You're not the only one working on something here, Theo."

„But I'm the one doing actual physical work and you're making me uncomfortable."

„Uncomfortable how?"

„I keep thinking whether I look good enough to keep your attention. I don't need this right now."

„And how exactly is this my fault?"

„You're... very distracting."

She snorted and rolled her eyes.

„Look who's talking. You're the one showing off here. Just get back to work and pretend I'm looking at something else."

„You really think it's that easy, huh?"

„It should be. I was under the impression that you're a professional."

„Most of the time, yes," Theo smiled softly, taking his gloves off and drinking from a bottle of water nearby. „But it's hard when you're around."

„I thought it's easier when we're working together."

„It is. And it isn't."

She snorted again and returned her attention to the screen in front of her, feeling her heart sink again. She almost forgot what she had to tell him. Fuck, why couldn't all this be just a little easier.