In 2089, a man returns to his old team, greatly annoying his former partner. Time travel is not an easy matter, especially if you cannot trust the man beside you. Now they have to work together again, awakening feelings that should have died with th...
Same long, blond hair. Same lean, muscular body. Same mesmerizing, gypsy eyes. Quinn Fondant hadn't changed much since the last time Veer had laid eyes on him. The permanent scowl on his face was new, though.
Four long years.
"Well, boys, you know Veer Singh, so introductions are unnecessary," Felipe Ramsey commented in his crisp tone. He looked at his watch. "Russo and Hollander are about to return. Let's go to the Time Chamber."
Veer shook Michael Jagger's hand. The tallest of their team gave him a warm smile.
"Can I talk to you for a sec, Ramsey?" Quinn asked, giving his back to Veer as Veer moved to shake his hand.
"We're talking." Ramsey arched an eyebrow but didn't stop walking. Building C wasn't that close.
"It'd be in the best interest of Team Aegis if you partner Mr. Singh with one of the other guys."
"And why would I do that? You're the one without your other half."
The growl bursting out of Quinn after Ramsey's words was one Veer knew well.
"Yeah, that answers my question." Ramsey didn't even look at Quinn. "I'm not going to disrupt the delicate balance of each pair just because you feel whiny today, Fondant. Besides you were partners with Singh before, you can pick up where you left it off."
"Let's be professionals." Veer offered his hand again as they entered the elevator. This time Quinn could not avoid it without being blatantly rude.
The murderous look Quinn gave Veer when they shook hands would have made any other man shudder. All it did to Veer was make his resolve to go through the ordeal stronger.
I can do this. I know I can do it.
The creepy background music of the elevator felt like the soundtrack of Veer's partnership with Quinn. One part Carmina Burana, two parts Phantom of the Opera, two pinches of A Nightmare on Elm Street and a whole lot of Gladiators Gone Wild.
Metal doors slid open with a soft whoosh. Quinn hurried as far as he could from Veer without separating from the group. Veer sighed inwardly. They walked through the crowded lobby. People moved in all directions fast— an organized chaos, completely at odds with the one inside Veer. Still in silence, they crossed the tall glass entrance into a sunny morning. It should have been a starless night filled with gray storm clouds instead for the way they silently made their way to the building where the government's most prized jewels changed the course of history.
All seven buildings (A to G) looked like the headquarters of any multi-billion dollar corporation. However, unlike most reflective glass towers, these were not only heavily armored, but could withstand an actual nuclear blast once their doors were closed. They were in the middle of the city, and this was not a military complex, but the powerful weapons and shields that protected those jewels were so subtle that ordinary citizens had no idea what happened there.
Fingerprints and retina scanners acknowledged their identities, and they boarded another elevator inside Building C. The three time machines were on the seventeenth floor. One minute into the four-minute ascension, Jagger asked, "So Singh, what have you been up to?"
"Worked with Mossad as a consultant for two years, then went back to Punjab to help my grandfather manage some business."
"Your grandfather the Maharaja!?" There was a bit of fangirl tone in Jagger's question.
"Yep," Veer said.
Quinn snorted.
The doors of the elevator opened with a preposterously cheerful ding.
"You'll know all about Singh's princely adventures as soon as we finish our meeting," Ramsey offered casually as they were fingerprint and retina checked once more outside the middle Time Chamber, Octo. The other two (Septem and Novem) had their exterior red lights on.
Quinn snorted again.
Guards in Kevlar body suits nodded at them somberly.
Enough.
"Do you have a problem, Fondant?" Veer poured all the things tormenting him into his aggressive tone.
"No. Do you?"
They were nose to nose, eyes narrowed, fists closed, chests puffed.
"Hey, you two. Stop it!" Ramsey barked, pushing them apart. "I have no doubt Fondant has a boner for you, Singh, but I do know your religion forbids extramarital sex. So unless you two are about to get hitched, fucking cut it out. I don't have time for BS." He turned and poked Quinn's forehead with a thick finger. "Behave, you asshole. The rumors that Faludi's death wasn't an accident but a suicide won't help you if Singh files a complaint. Capish?"
"Yes, sir."
The chamber was a large circular space— its walls covered with computers and monitors and all kinds of giant gadgets. Those inside had been following their confrontation eagerly almost ready to place bets. A somehow collective telepathic "boo" swept the chamber as soon as Quinn and Veer withdrew.
An alarm went off. Thirty seconds later, the time capsule's titanium door slid up, expelling fumes and hissing. Ross94 Russo, naked and covered in sweat, rose from his crouching position and staggered out, his reddish hair plastered to his forehead. The door closed behind him with a bang. An assistant wrapped a robe around him and handed a bottle filled with rehydration fluid. He was a little thinner than Veer remembered him, but he looked good. Two minutes after that, Hall17 Hollander was puking all over the entrance of the time capsule as he crawled out. Veer was surprised by the two huge red dragon tattoos that covered Hollander's arms. Those were new.
"I told you not to eat that effing lamb!" Russo yelled from where he sat like a prize fighter between rounds. The assistant massaging his shoulders reinforced that image.
"Oh, shut up." Hollander wiped drool off his mouth with the back of his hand as another assistant helped him walk toward Russo.
Team Aegis was back together.
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