Emma had never considered herself to be a princess or a girly girl, but their tip toeing trip down the back alley was enough to make her want to scream 'eeewwww!' She was more than happy when they made it into the main streets again.
"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry too." She admitted, pushing her hair back and studying him as he seemed to struggle with some internal decision. She was about to ask him what was the matter when he finally spoke.
"Mmkay." Who was she to argue? Again, Hansen had pulled her through this far and was giving her the tools to put her plan into action. "Let me help with the bags at least. I can pull my own weight." She suggested and when he just shrugged, she took some groceries off his hands and followed close as they began to move again.
Her mind began to wander, thinking of Simon and the others. Would they truly be willing to work with her and put an end to the threat? She had to believe they would or pulling it off solo was going to be a real bitch. Well, not quite solo. She had Liam, she reminded herself and while he was definitely rough around the edge, there was definitely an ooey gooey center to the man. Of course, he would never admit that and she would never repeat that thought out loud.
"Do you get headaches often?" She asked casually, wanting to get to know more about him.
****
As they started walking, Emma offered to take the bag of groceries from him. He shifted it to his other hand and gave it to her. It meant letting go of her hand for a moment and it made him feel odd. He'd become used to it in his. He decided it was best not to hold her hand for now. The street was getting a little busier as people started to leave work. Not that what most people did now could be classed as 'work'. It was mostly running administration for the government. The real work was done somewhere else, where few people saw what was happening. More people on the street meant it would be easier to avoid SPF's if they saw them, but on the other hand, they would be harder to spot in the first place. Leaving one hand free might be prudent.
They walked in silence for a little while before she spoke.
He smiled to himself.
Of course.
He kept walking. He certainly wasn't going to tell her about the voices in his head. He definitely wasn't going to tell her when they'd started. That was for another time, if ever.
Tell her the truth.
Enjoy yourself, fucker, you're going to have a rest.
Go ahead. You know what happens when you do that.
It's no worse than you. Laura will get rid of you.
Hehehe.
"Oh, in my previous work, I had a few close scrapes," he said. "I got knocked about a little. That's all. Now I sometimes get headaches that are a little stronger than most. I need something and then I'll be fine."
He turned to look at her as they walked down the street. She was intelligent and eventually she would know he had a problem. He would have to stop talking back to the voices. He'd done that already and she would start to think he was unstable.
It wasn't that he couldn't feel. He could feel. Jess and Cassie proved that. And Carl and Bonnie and Laura and Mrs. Chan.... Even Emma. But they had done things to him. Unspeakable things. He was an asset once. Now he was a liability. A liability that they wanted to destroy. Wished they had never created. He wished his life had turned out differently. Maybe not even been born.
You're getting maudlin, Hansen.
I'm fine.
Hehehe.
He really needed to get to the doc....
They got to the curb and paused. He knew he'd gone quiet again and Emma would be wondering if she'd asked something wrong, but he didn't really want to talk.
I need to get to the doc....
They waited for a break in the traffic of the public transport vehicles and crossed. They walked a further twenty metres up the street and there was a sign for a medical clinic. It was a government clinic. They all were now.
They stood a little away from the entrance and Hansen took out his comms unit.
Need it now. Head fucked.
He pressed send and waited for a minute. His comms unit announced a message.
Up. Now.
He wondered what Emma would be thinking. They were walking around meeting all these shadowy characters, each with different skills, and each just as dangerous as each other. She had been introduced to a whole new world. A world that was fighting against the world she lived in, the world she came from and knew.
Hansen eschewed the elevators and led her to an opening next to them. They climbed up the stairs to the first floor of the clinic and then rejoined the foyer and walked into the main entrance of some consulting rooms.
A woman in a white coat approached the doors, ushered them through and then locked the door. When she turned around, she looked at Emma with an expressionless face. Hansen nodded and she noticeably relaxed. Even with an expressionless face, the woman was beautiful. She was beautiful in a totally glamorous way, not the natural, endearing attractiveness of Emma.
Dr. Laura Black had short blond hair, was nearly as tall as Hansen and her pale skin was perfect.
She took Hansen into her arms and hugged him close. "I haven't seen you for weeks," she said, obviously glad to see him.
"I've been....busy."
She laughed. "You were last night. I saw the news stream. Now let me guess, Carl and yourself were out for some fun?"
"I wouldn't say
fun
," he said, "but yes, it was Carl and I." He paused for a moment. "And Emma," he said nodding to her.
Dr. Black hadn't let him go yet. She gave him another kiss on the cheek, a little too long for his liking in front of Emma, but then she let him go and stepped back.
She extended her hand to Emma.
"I'm Laura Black, Emma, nice to meet you," she said. "So you're why Liam hasn't called me in weeks?" she said smiling, but with no warmth.
Hansen looked at Emma. He knew her head must be spinning by now, but the look was the same she'd had a few times today.
You can trust her.
****
Emma felt as though she could buy that explanation, but as he fell completely silent after, she began to worry. There had to be more to the story or maybe she had pushed too hard. Once again Liam was pulling her through some loops. He seemed to know all sort of people in 'high places' or in his case, low places.
The glamorous doctor took her completely off guard. What sort of doctor looked like that? As if she'd just stepped off the pages of some glam magazine. She watched her hugging on Liam, her lips against his skin, her tall long body pressing close. For an instant she felt a sharp pang of jealousy and looked away, clenching her teeth.
Slowly bending at the waist, Emma unburdened herself of the grocery bags and wiped her hands on her jeans. It didn't matter who Liam kissed, he wasn't hers. They weren't romantically involved, he was shackled to her against his will and compared to Dr. Glamor Girl, she looked tiny and mousy.
Glamor girl extending a perfectly manicured hand. After glancing over at Liam, she took the woman's hand, although both of them clearly not thrilled with the exchange. Still, Emma managed to smile oh so sweetly. "I can't take all the credit. We only met a day ago...the rest of the time has nothing to do with me."
Dr. Glamor pulled her hand away, giving her a look that told her she was unconvinced and Emma almost laughed. Was the Barbie Doll jealous? Crazy broad. Still, it gave her a little thrill. "Liam is just helping get out of some, well trouble. Apparently he's good at doing such things."
Her eyes sparkled as she looked up at him and crossed her arms under her breasts and leaned against an exam table. "I could wait outside if you'd like....would ah...that help, you two...catch up?" She asked, raising her brows questioningly. "I really don't mind."
