Time Passages (Queen or Freddie Mercury Fanfic)

Lab Rats: Busted

With a slight grimace, the distinguished physicist lifted one hand off the steering wheel and placed it on his stomach.  "I think there was something funny in that pork shank," he mumbled. 

Siang didn't miss a beat.  "It's only the pang of guilt."

"Guilt?"

"It was, after all, the flesh of a murdered animal you were sinking your teeth into."

He scoffed.  "Yeah, well, those mixed greens of yours didn't exactly ask to get picked, tossed, and dressed, either." 

"Plants do not have pain receptors, nor are they sentient organisms," she stated flatly.  "Animals do- and are."

Stuart rolled his eyes.  No wonder she and Brian got along so well back there. 

Now that the two of them were headed back to New Jersey, Stuart tried to relax somewhat.  He could not fully unwind, of course, chiefly because he was still in the presence of Siang Ling.  That woman had eyes like a hawk. Any time a face muscle of his so much as twitched, he could practically hear her taking inventory of the occurrence and filing it away in the vast banks of her memory, before addressing it formally in that mild, condescending voice of hers.

But even if Stuart were driving solo, all alone with his thoughts, it was unlikely he would feel any more at ease.  For a solid week, Stuart had foolishly been so confident in his team's skills, and so secure in his girlfriend's commitment to him and his projects- although not so secure as to keep him from taking a few underhanded precautions, one of which had violently exploded in his face that very afternoon.

Jules threw a paperweight at me, Stuart said to himself incredulously. 

He almost couldn't believe it had even happened, that the wild-eyed woman who had hurled that heavy glass prism directly at his forehead was indeed his meek, obedient little Jules.  Try though he might, however, he  didn't have a choice but to accept it- certainly considering all those minuscule shards of glass he spent ten precious minutes sweeping from the floor, off his desk, and out of his hair. 

And now, because of a single insecure, manipulative move -two unflattering words Stuart would never use to describe himself- he was forced to send out a few team members to wait there outside his girlfriend's house, for he would have been a fool to think she would follow through as planned, considering that afternoon's events.

Damn the timing! Damn that unlucky moment she caught him in the act! It was for her own emotional well-being that he did what he did, couldn't she see?  So many times she had assured him that Bucky meant as much to her as any one of her generic clients at university, so this shouldn't have sparked such a strong reaction, let alone one that could have given him a concussion were her aim just a little better. 

After all, what was a little deception when he had her best interests at heart?

It just goes to show, he's a bad influence. His tantrums rubbed off on her, I'll bet. Even if Jules caught us anyway, she would have taken it so much more calmly before, listened to reason as I explained it to her- instead of just up and trying to kill me! Look what that bastard's turned her into! Christ. All I know is, the team better have gotten their hands on him, K and C better be hard at work wiping that g--d--- brain of his. I can't take this stupid game anymore.

Ling spoke up once more, but Stuart couldn't make out the words.  "Hm?" he grunted, turning his head but keeping his eyes on the road.

"I said, I hope that colleague of theirs is alright," she repeated patiently. 

"Who?  John?"  "Colleague"?  How about, the bass player?  Or former bass player?  Good God, woman, where were you when that movie was released?