When Kurt and I stepped into our room, I wasn’t surprised to find a completely sterile environment. Smooth white surfaces, no seams. I had to sit on the bed just to make sure that it wasn’t a hard, plastic bench. It had some give, thank God, but I had a feeling that back pain was in my future.
“We shouldn’t be here.” Kurt was pacing back and forth. “You should have never taken this job.”
“Kurt, I had no idea that it would involve... this.” I ran my hands across my face. I was on information overload. “Still, Juktha...”
“I don’t give a shit what Juktha said.” Kurt spun on his heels, turning to face me. “These are not nice people. These are not people that need saving, and more importantly, most of them don’t deserve saving. You heard Dr. Duguard. They exposed people to an extremely infections, unknown virus.”
“I know.” I had never seen Kurt this fired up. It actually made me a little scared... And just a tiny bit turned on. “I didn’t know that when they hired us. I didn’t know that when I walked in the door this morning, and they, of course, waited to tell us until after we had signed the contracts.”
“The contracts that just made us prisoners in this fucking lab.” Kurt slammed his fist against the wall. “How the hell do we get out of this? Out of here?”
“We keep our heads down, and finish the job.” I stood up and walked towards him. Gently I placed my hand on his arm. “We, both of us, have faced hells much worse then this place. We can do this.”
“Do you really think they want us to ‘exorcise’ this Andrew guy?” Kurt leaned against the wall, the anger and frustration melting away into general annoyance.
“Not for one second.” I laughed. “I have no doubt that Dr. Duguard and Elizabeth are up to something. I just don’t know what. Not yet, at least.”
“We just have to be careful.” Kurt’s hand rested on my cheek. “Bobby, just keep reminding yourself that these aren’t nice people. No matter how many tears they shed, or engagement rings they flash.”
“You caught that, too?” I smirked. “She hadn’t been wearing it when she came into the office. I would have noticed. She’s a decent actress, but she breaks character a bit too much.”
“What do you mean?” Kurt looked confused.
“Every once in a while she cracks. She flashes her disdain for us. I doubt she even realizes she does it.” I kissed Kurt gently.
“What was that for?” He smiled, his cheeks turning a slight pink.
“It was a promise. That I won’t let them hurt you.” I kissed him again.
“And that one?” He pulled me closer.
“Just cuz I wanted to.” I laughed. For a brief moment I forgot that we were standing in the middle of what was basically a high tech prison. For a moment we were back home, in our apartment, in our kitchen. I could almost smell the food cooking on the stove, hear the TV in the background. For a moment I was calm.
A knock on the door dragged me back to reality.
The door cracked open, and Elizabeth, doing her best impression of a scared mouse, poked her head inside.
“We’re... we’re ready for you in the observation room.” Her voice was shaky and uncomfortable. Her discomfort at seeing Kurt and I being affectionate did not seem like part of the act.
“We’ll be right out.” I kept my voice light, friendly. I mustered up what was left of my calm to keep up the appearance that I still believed her story.
I looked to Kurt. “You ready?”
He nodded.
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