A Man For All Seasons (Queen or Freddie Mercury Fanfic)

Lab Rats: The More, The Merrier

K draped his trench coat over the back of his swivel chair. With a heavy sigh, he looked around him at this makeshift office space hundreds of feet below ground level, where he had spent most of the last week trying to keep the lid on an operation that had steadily come more and more unraveled with each passing day. Now, this mess had become so transparent that Brian and Roger themselves, not just the ever-expanding mass of inquisitive, dime-a-dozen press hogs, had spent a good portion of yesterday trying to reach a conveniently indisposed Stuart for answers.

God, this situation is such a clusterf-

Just then the comm on his desk beeped. Rolling his eyes, K answered, "Yes?"

"I just thought I would inform you," C's voice soberly announced from the lab, "the bridge's connection is at less than half strength now. Forty-eight point five percent, to be precise."

"Noted. Is total expiration still estimated to occur on Christmas Eve?"

"So far, yes. Around ten at night, give or take an hour."

K swallowed. "We'll have him by then, certainly."

There was a little skeptical snort on C's end; K waited for some abrasive follow-up remark, but none came. C simply ended the transmission without another word.

For the last twelve hours or so, C had been unusually quiet. Starting the night before, when the fearsome foursome finally left Julia under round-the-clock surveillance, he had scarcely opened his mouth to speak. Not that K minded, of course; if he had his way, that man would seal up his lips with quick-drying cement and never make another peep again. Currently, however, K was just grateful for the peace.

But C's strange reticence was only one reason for the hush that had settled over the sterile atmosphere. K picked up his phone, pulling up the group text he received as soon as he parked his car, and read to himself one more time:

"Not coming in. I'll be with Jules all day today. If Twinkletoes wants to get anywhere near her, I'll be the first to know. Already have the necessary assistance on call. Notify me asap if there's any developments on your end. -S"

Regardless of his personal allegiance, K had to chuckle at "Twinkletoes." It seemed a much less offensive name than "Bucky 13", as well as basically anything Stuart had branded Freddie on the drive back the night before.

"'The man I love,'" Stuart had kept repeating to himself, mimicking Julia's voice. "She calls him that five minutes after she hears the guy talk about how much he hates her. 'The man I love.' No, honey. That's not love, that's blind, toxic infatuation. I should think you, a counselor, would know the difference- but even the helpers need help at times, I guess. 'Physician, Heal Thyself' and all that. Jesus, what a spell he's got her under."

You'd think Freddie was some kind of cult leader, the way he talked, K mused.

It was inevitable, however, that thoughts of the last night's interrogation session would lead back to remembering his own feckless display. K's shoulders sagged. He knew Julia deserved some kind of apology last night, but in his cowardice he had abstained. Even when Dr. Preus dared to strike Julia across the cheek, and the only appropriate way to react would have resulted in a broken nose for Stuart and bruised knuckles for K, the old man's fists remained unswung.

Some ally I am, K sighed to himself. Sneaking around, keeping my mouth shut, completely liquefying the minute I feel the heat rise a single degree. I used to have a spine. What happened to me?

"Knock, knock," a young woman's voice floated through the open door.

K looked up, mustering a weak little smile when he saw Madelyn's face. "Good morning."