Gears and Steam

Bonding

Jules

Edmund was waiting for me, sitting criss-cross on a bench in the town square. He didn't even seem to be trying to protect himself from the rain, which had let up to a steady drizzle. There was a cloth bag sitting on his lap that seemed to be full of the parts he bought. His eyes were scanning over the streets, presumably looking for me. I knew I was a few minutes late. I didn't have much information to begin with, but Commander Smith had pestered me for every detail I had, including information on Edmund, Theo, and Freddie. I hated divulging their personal details, but if I didn't give significant data, the police would have another agent put on the mission. There was no one else in the square, most likely because of the rain.

A small smile spread across Edmund's face as I approached but it went away quickly. I definitely liked him smile better than his scowl, though I wasn't sure why I had a preference. I grinned back, trying to fight down the blush that was attempting to creep up my neck for some reason.

"Hey, Edmund, sorry I'm late," I greeted, sitting on the bench next to him and trying to ignore the drops of water that slipped down my face and seeped through my clothes.

"It's fine," Edmund responded, his voice quiet. He had obviously been out in the rain for a while, his curls were plastered to his forehead. "Freddie's going to kill us though."

I laughed. "It's not like she needs us around the house for anything."

"Still, she worries. Hey, why'd you come from that direction?" he asked, pointing in the direction of the police station.

Whelp, hadn't thought that through. "Took the long way around," I shrugged, hoping I would sound convincing enough.

Edmund glared down the street I had just come from. "I wouldn't go down there if I were you."

"Why not?"

"Coppers, police, whatever you want to call them. Even if they don't know you're doing something illegal, that doesn't mean they won't beat you up. One of 'em nearly killed Theo and I awhile back." Edmund shook his head as if getting rid of a bad memory. "They're horrible, most of them anyway. Come to think of it, you'd probably be fine down that way. You're clean and proper looking, except when you've been working in the shop with me. Maybe that's why Freddie's so insistent on making us clean up before we go into town."

"I...do you know who it was? The person that beat you up, I mean."

"No, they never told us. He had blond hair, sorta messy like yours, but I know that doesn't mean much. Not sure what happened to him, I try to avoid the coppers now." He fiddled with the edge of his grey vest.

I couldn't imagine someone on the police force doing that. We were supposed to protect people, not hurt them. Whoever the person was, I hoped he got fired or, better yet, jailed. To hurt someone that was doing something wrong in order to subdue them, that was one thing. To hurt an innocent person badly enough to nearly kill them, that was something else. Even if Edmund was doing something wrong, it wouldn't take much force to take him down. He had some strength from lifting slabs of metal around, but he wasn't a fighter. Theo, though he was more well-built, wasn't a fighter either. Plus, the two of them were just teenagers. Heck, one year ago I still thought of myself as a kid; Edmund was two years younger.

"Sorry," I sighed, "that that happened to you."

"It's not like it's your fault. You were probably somewhere with Phoebe, talking about horses. Seriously, you two really seem to love horses."

I gave a small chuckle at that. "We do, horses are wonderful. You ever ridden one?"

"No and, quite honestly, most animals freak me out. We had a cat for a while but Theo's allergic. That's about the closest I've ever gotten to an animal."