Deep Dark Blues

Chapter 2 - Hermit Crab

"Hello..." Reed muttered, startled at the sight of a very familiar face staring back at her from her own office. She hadn't seen Doctor Bell in years, having last seen him at that quite memorable convention.

He looked older, his wrinkles more prominent than ever before. His sand hair turned milky white, eyes hiding behind thick glasses, not to mention that Reed could have sworn the man shrunk in those past few years. The only thing that hadn't changed about him seemed his terrible sense of fashion, still sporting that mustard suit that was surely as old as Bell himself.

Bell readjusted his blue bow tie as if to make himself more presentable.

"I apologise, where are my manners...It's a pleasure to see you again Doctor Reed..." he offered awkwardly, as if not really knowing what to say and Reed couldn't exactly blame him. They had separated in less than amicable circumstances, Reed basically disappearing from the face of the world without even as little as a "goodbye".

"Erm... Please, sit down..." Reed motioned to the chair, walking around the man to take place behind her desk. It felt somewhat wrong, seeing Bell sit in the "guest" chair, while Reed took the position where he would usually greet her from, back at the university. But despite what their dynamic might have been almost a decade ago, now Reed was to some extent a different person. Yes, it brought her joy seeing the face of a man she'd used to think of as a father figure, but having spent so much time away from everything, his presence irked her.

"So, what brings you to the Institute?" she asked, deciding to go through with the routine set of questions. He requested a consultation. It was a business setting, not a reunion.

"I apologise for such short notice... I would have called you directly, but as you might know, your old number is not in service anymore..." Bell smiled bitterly, his black eyes looking over Reed with a mixture of awe and sadness.

"Yes, I have changed my phone number." She confirmed.

"How have you been?"

"I am alright, but I advise you to get to the point. I am already behind the schedule." It broke her heart to be this cold, a part of her wanted to hug the old man. He was once her mentor, a force of guidance introducing her to the world of biology, her only supporter in a world full of indifferent faces. But that was before... That was before the "trench operation" and that damned conference.

"It's been hard to find you... I mean, I have expected anywhere but Galway* of all places..." he didn't seem to take the hint, ignoring Reed's words altogether.

"You have requested a consultation at the desk. This is not a catch-up meeting." Reed added harshly. Despite the years going by, the topic of her sudden disappearance from the frontlines of the research remained sensitive for her. She didn't change her mind about justifying herself, the scar on her soul still aching.

Bell sighed as if expecting her sudden change of tone, but he remained persistent.

"Well, I am glad some things didn't change... Stubborn as always..." he chuckled humourlessly, taking Reed off-guard.

"I am glad to see you do well. I mean, look at you, having an office in an Institute... Doing research." He motioned at the rest of her cramped-up office, almost all of the surfaces covered in scans and documents.

"Although, I can see you don't get many guests often. I thought I taught you how to store documents properly."

"And I thought I have explained to you, how my system works..." Reed snorted quietly, the tension lifting up if only just a bit from their shoulders. Bell couldn't help but chuckle, eyes going softer. At times he looked more like a grandpa or a Santa Claus instead of an esteemed scientist.