Open Doors

Chapter 1- Terrible Mornings and First Meetings

To say that Gerry didn't like the Institute was an understatement. He avoided that place as much as he could. That intense feeling of being watched coupled with the constant reminder of his father was reason enough for him to steer clear. So when he woke up that morning from another nightmare to missed calls from Gertrude, meaning he was needed in the archives, Gerry actually considered just rolling back over and dealing with his nightmares instead. He figured stopping the apocalypse was probably a priority, so he let out a resigned sigh and pulled on the cleanest looking clothes he could find from the floor.
The archives were the same as always. Dull and musty, to the surprise to no one. Gerry made his way down to Gertrude's office, fidgeting absently with the lighter in the pocket of his leather jacket. As Gerry walked, his mind drifted to whatever it was Gertrude wanted from him today. Hopefully it would include some book burning. That was always his favorite. His thoughts were forcefully interrupted by a tall man bumping into him, throwing them both off balance and sending the stack of papers in the stranger's hands flying. A little bit stunned, Gerry just stared at the man, who hastily apologized "I'm so sorry! I was going to file these for Ms.Robinson and I wasn't looking where I was going and I really am so clumsy all the time and I really hope I didn't cause you any trouble-" he rambled on as Gerry regained his footing and lent down to help pick up the papers. The taller man faltered for a minute as he dropped down to his knees to clean up the mess. "I'm Michael by the way, I'm one of Ms.Robinson's assistants" he explained. Gerry nodded, hardly surprised Gertrude had already replaced the last fool who took the job. The two of them had cleaned up most of the papers by that point and both went to grab the last few between them, their hands brushing together by accident. Gerry paused and looked up, meeting Michael's eyes, noticing how big and green they were, with a slight nervousness to them. Strangely, he was tempted to brush aside the strand of straw-blond hair that had fallen in front of Michael's face. Gerry suppressed the urge and averted his eyes instead, standing up abruptly. "Uhm, nice meeting you, Michael, but I figure Gertrude needs me." He nodded as he stepped towards the office door. "O-oh, yes nice meeting you!" Michael paused for a second at that "wait, you never told me your name!" He shouted after Gerry. "Gerard" he said simply with a slight smile and ducked inside Gertrude's office.