Morning came with a hangover a few hours later, but a shot of stimulants and pot of coffee helped me to take it with a little more grace. I had gotten just enough sleep to be tired but not enough to do any real good and felt half dead. If I were lucky, today wouldn't hold any surprises and I could make up for the lost sleep tonight.
The hard part of the morning came when I tried to get the Frother up. He was determined to sleep even if the building burned around him and K'rth watched as I kicked and cajoled without any luck. Even though the Shaktar had stifled any real laughter, my pride was still taking a beating.
"C'mon Sleeping Beauty, wake up," I said as I shook and prodded. The only reaction was a temporary disruption in the snoring. Each time he quickly resumed and I paced around in disgust. On the bright side, the extra activity was helping to wake me up.
After about ten minutes of intermittent attempts, I decided to take a more drastic approach. Grabbing the rear of the couch, I hoisted it up and dumped Angus into the floor with a loud ker-thump. After a few moments, the snoring resumed but was muffled by the pile of couch parts. K'rth was laughing out loud now and I'd had enough.
"Well funny guy, got any bright ideas?" I asked. He chuckled, which is a discomforting sound for a Shaktar to make, then got up and sat the couch upright. Pulling the debris off Mac, he flipped him onto his back like a dead rat and grabbed his shoulders. The Frother snorted, went quiet, then started snoring again in earnest.
"Help me with him" he said and we hoisted Sleeping Beauty into the bathroom. I tossed his socked feet into the shower and K'rth propped him in the corner before turning it on. After a few seconds of cold water, his puffy eyes creaked open.
"We there yet?" he asked.
I sorted through his drug pouch and slotted a shot of stimulant in the air hypo. Once it was fitted into his hand, his reflexes took over and he fired it into his thigh with a pop-hiss. Two shots later, he was coming around nicely and looked at us with a puzzled expression.
"Where thuh fuck's me boots?" he asked.
K'rth switched off the water and tossed him a towel as we walked to get out to get our gear. Behind us, the Frother dribbled a trail onto the carpet as he hunted the ever-elusive boots. I considered hiding one from him, but the booming at the door brought me back on task and I decided against it. The damn Chagrin is as punctual as he is loud, even on the worst of days. As I went for the door, K'rth helped Angus suit up and the four of us were stuffed into the elevator fifteen minutes later. My watch said we were going to be late again, but for once it couldn't be blamed entirely on me.
As the lift jingled and trembled down its shaft, I mulled the Necanthrope's "be prepared! be a soldier!" warning over in my mind. I don't quite trust their kind so only met it halfway. I wore my armor and packed my remaining speed loaders of HESH in my pocket, but didn't go so far as to bring my Mangler. If I needed more firepower than I was packing, I was dead already.
"Y'know Cole," Angus started, "I can handle any one uh th' MacLeod boys one on one, but they're cowards'n come atcha all at once!"
The stim had brought him screaming into consciousness at Mach 4 and he looked primed to chatter the whole way in. Maybe he'd start a conversation with Casper and leave me alone, but the repercussions would be ugly. Even with me running on almost no sleep and a lot of caffeine, the Waster had less patience than I did. On the other hand, what better way to test and see if she if the attitude adjustment held?
"I know," I answered absently.
"I mean, they're really some ser-i-ous badasses!" he continued. "I mighta been a dead man if ya hadn't come by when ya did. I really, owe you-"
"Look Mac," I said and met his eyes, "it was a long, long night and I'm too tired to want to think about the kind of shit you've gotten yourself into with a loan shark."
"I'm just trying to say thanks mate," he said. There was a hurt tone in his voice and I turned back to watch the door open.
"You're welcome," I said and saw his face brighten in my periphery. "Now shut up."
We walked past the crew replacing the busted vending machines and headed out into the streaming rain. Angus was trying to be quiet, his mind was pinging around inside his skull so hard that it was only a matter of time before it popped out. We made it to the subway, but by the time we were at the CCD's stop, he had blown and started chattering again. By the time we walked past the security fence, he had empathically thanked me at least half a dozen more times and given at least three blow-by-blow reports. I looked at K'rth for help, but he just chuckled and we continued in.
The sign-in sheet showed that Casper wasn't here yet, so there wasn't any way she'd know we were late too. As I scribbled "Rogue Shift" on the pad and wrote in the time, my mind started back on what today would hold. I really wanted to see how Casper would take the news that she wasn't highest ranked in the squad, but something told me not to flaunt it.
"Wonderful," I said aloud. "I'm feeling sorry for the little dictator."
"Huh?" Angus asked as he stepped up. Maybe he thought I had changed my mind about talking.
"Nothing. Shut up."
Casper and McNeil arrived next, walking with arms around each other about twenty feet in front of Gael and Nix. K'rth saw my expression and sounded concerned.
"What is it Alex?" he asked and I pretended to study the remaining crates.
"Nothing. Just wondering if anything is going to be different today or not." That wasn't exactly what was on my mind, but it sounded ok.
"She understands her position, but we'll have to see."
When the dynamic duo stopped in front of us, I couldn't help but wonder what McNeil saw in her. At her core, I knew she was self-centered, irritable, and had a violent hair trigger temper that put the 714 to shame. Angus leaned on me and somehow picked up my train of thought. This was not a good omen for the day.
"That boy must like to be beaten and whipped a lot!" he laughed.
Casper didn't hear the comment and ignored the snickering as we started distributing tools. When she started talking, the edge was missing from her voice and she sounded a little unsteady.
"Alright, we've only got eight more rows to finish and we're out of this broom job."
That was the first time I'd heard her refer to this as a broom job and wondered if she was collecting slang from everyone including me now. Since her patience is on par with Angus, I wondered how she managed to stay on task this long. Angus filled in my thoughts again…
"Probably long hot lunches," he said with a grin and nudged my ribs with his elbow.
I wondered how in hell he was doing that. I didn't want to be in synch with a damn Frother.
"Stop that!" I snapped and he just laughed and shrugged.
"T'was kinda obvious, wouldn't ya say?"
"Ok, if you boys are ready to get to work, let's do it" Casper interrupted. "Gael's with MacReady, Obie with K'rth, Cole and Nix, then me and McNeil. Let's do it."
Nix smirked and bounded over with a set of tools, being far more alert than any living creature had the right to be at this hour. Angus wasn't the only one that used stimulants in the morning to get going and it always hit her hard. If she didn't stop pinging around by noon, I decided to lock her in a crate along with Angus.
"Ready, long pig?" she asked and I gently slapped her muzzle. She snapped at my fingers and we walked towards the crates together and got busy. As I fitted the bar into a joint, I felt something on the back of my neck and saw Gael looking back at me. With a smile, she turned to her work with the babbling Frother at her elbow. Warmth ran across my chest but then Nix hooked my ear with a clawn and I snapped to face her. I wondered if she had noticed that I had been staring.
"Something wrong?" she asked.
"Nope, just a little tired," I said as I started to work on a crate hinge. Last night had been so busy that it was a wonder I had gotten any sleep at all. Come to think of it, I couldn't remember if I had.
"Hey Cole! Did you, Gaelyn, and Angus have a two on one last night?" Casper laughed, "You three look beat to hell!"
Nix cocked her head when she saw my expression and nudged me again.
"You're acting weird today," she commented. "You feeling ok?"
"I'm fine. Help me with this," I said as I tried to pop the lid of a heavy crate. She helped and I managed to keep her busy with the work long enough for her to forget to pester me further. Occasionally I knew that I was being watched, but didn't let on. I also caught Gael's look twice and the heat returned to my chest and face each time. I wondered what the hell was happening to me.
I felt really off balance.
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