Under the Microscope

Chapter 6

Crawford POV

Crawford and Alice had heard everything. The two of them managed to break off from Scott and the rest of the group when Crawford has suspected where Zach had gone off too when the search party had found Kevin's bike at the river bank. Skip, Topher and the other FBI personnel took Fred Nichols to the local FBI station for questioning. If Crawford was correct, he was sure that Zach was safe. Crawford new exactly the route to take to get to Leo's dome, because he had been their before.

Crawford and Alice made themselves at home in the wide, sturdy, but stealthy roots of a giant white birch tree. They listened to everything that happened between Leo and Zach.

"Shouldn't we go get him, Batman?" said Alice, once they were snuggled next to each other in the tree while listening to Leo talk to Zach, who had just woken up with a broken leg after almost drowning in the Hudson

"No, Alice," said Crawford, "you said I should take more care of Zach. I tell you from experience that he's never been in better hands."

"You know this man?" asked Alice purely curious.

"Quite well." said Crawford. "Leo's going to be doing Zach and us a huge favor."

"How do you know, this 'Leo' guy, Batman?" said Alice

Crawford had just then realized what a careless mistake he'd just made. No one living except Gen. Sanders and Utu knew about Crawford's involvement in PSP. Crawford then realized there was no one more that he could trust with his past than Alice McKay, his partner. But he still felt uncomfortable about it.

"Listen, I'm in the CIA, I'm entitled to some secrecy." said Crawford defensively.

"Not if we're going to be partners." said Alice, "I mean, you still didn't answer my question of why Pang called you 'Roland.'"

"With regard to Leo, lets just say that I was at a really low point of my life when I was a little younger than Zach is now when I met Leo and we went through the same regimen that he's going to go through with Zach. He's the reason I sent Zach's parents here in the first place" Crawford had informed Alice of his involvement as Hector Dillinger during the Charlie case, "It changed my life for the better since then."

Alice furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at that statement but she said nothing. It was clear that she had read Crawford's official file which says that he was born and raised in Portland, Oregon to Lionel and Samantha Crawford. Of course that's what my file says, I put it there.

"You want to know my story so badly," said Crawford, "that the vane in your forehead is bulging through your skull so intently its about to explode."

"Oh, alright its killing me!" Alice said like a child wanting candy, "Please, please, please tell me."

"So then why do we still need to be here then, Batman?" said Alice.

"That's a rhetorical question, right?" said Crawford.

"You got it, man," said Alice with a delightful smile, "However, how long does this guys little Mr. Miagi master apprentice thing usually take?"

"About a week." said Crawford. Then something quite obvious had dawned on him after he said that. What had dawned on Crawford was the fact that not everybody is like him. He had trained his body to go days with needing just the minimal amount of food and sleep.

"Um..." said Alice, doing a cute job of pretending not to be uncomfortable, "We're gonna have to sit like this for a week?" Crawford could tell that she was actually blushing.

Crawford looked at her with a comical curiosity.

"Major McKay," said Crawford, "you're not crushing on me are you?"