Orange M&Ms and Pretzels

Orange M&Ms and Pretzels - Part 5

2200, Doctor Massaru Devi and Agent Louis were removed and assessed of their health by Doctor Rachel Sampson. I was then debriefed and dismissed.

End of mission.

"Thank God in a hand basket of Twinkies, I'm done," said Reese as he saved the file and sat back in his chair. And he had a full fifteen minutes to spare.

Will applauded with a tiny golf-clap. "Congratulations."

"Took you long enough," said Louis, ripping open a packet of sugar for his coffee. "It's a report, not a memoir."

Will glared reproachfully at Louis before turning back to Reese. "I'm sure it's just what Watch One needs."

Reese nodded, clicking the print tab on the screen. "It is in simple language, telling the bare bones facts

"So nothing worth reading?" said Louis.

"I could go back and add in some of the more emotional bits."

Louis frowned over the rim of his coffee mug, his eyebrows dipping close to his sunglasses. The threat of confiscating Reese's safety deposit box still hung between them. "Stick with what you got, you ain't no Tolstoy."

Reese sneered for a second and then got up to retrieve his report from the printer. Sticking it in a manila folder he headed up to Cetz's office to hand it over. Having an edge on Louis' emotional outburst was one thing, using it was another. Even he knew it wasn't right to mess with what Louis and Will had.

***

2200, after the Luvor Mission

Reese dry-heaved into the half-full basin. He swallowed and snorted, trying to get the burning bile out of his nose.

As hard as it had been getting Louis and Massaru down his throat, getting them back up had a whole new set of problems. Being scanned by the BT-10 wasn't bad, nor having to lay still while Rachel loomed over him and strapped his torso down. Actually that part had been kind of fun. But feeling something alive being pulled out, choking and gaging him, was a big problem.

"Lie back and think of England my ass," he muttered. He lowered himself, shaking and pale, onto a chair next to a sink in the BT lab. Moving slowly he turned on the faucet and gargled his mouth clean, splashing his face to cool down. His throat burned.

Reeese had managed to not vomit when Massaru had been dragged out, but once Louis had cleared his mouth his stomach twisted and heaved. Rachel had him roll onto his side the moment she got the straps off. Thankfully none of it got on his tux, but he pitied the medical assistant tasked with cleaning out the basin.

Aside from the lack of a black eye, he had relived prom night all over again.

Peeling his jacket and vest off, Reese realized he was alone in the lab. How long had he been sitting there trying to keep his gorge down? Rachel must have taken Massaru and Louis to the Medical Bay. She had said something about their oxygen levels being low. But last he saw Louis he looked fine. Massaru though, he had looked a mess.

"Wasn't my fault," muttered Reese, draping his jacket and vest over his arm. On shaky legs he got up and headed out of the lab towards Med Tech. He wanted to tell Will how the "extraction" went.

Med Tech was sterile and calm. Technically a hospital wing that served all of Watch Two, it was amazingly quiet. Reese attributed the silence to the fact most agents had the good sense to not complain about their injuries. Then again, most didn't get shot. Obviously, Will was an exception. This was the second time the Fanboy had dealt with a bullet as an agent.