Heather and Ted: Introduction

[Disclaimer:  I do not own the PPC, which is the property of Jay and Acacia.   Thanks to Bronwyn, JulyFlame, Mister Shoebox, Data, and VixenMage!  Apologies if I forgot anybody.]

“You don’t talk much, do you?”

“Hm?”

“Talking.  You don’t do it much.”

“Look, I don’t even know who you are.  You showed up five minutes ago, and have done nothing but raid the fridge since!”

“I’m Agent Heather Warner.  I’m assuming that you’d be Agent Ted Williams?”

“Yes.”  Ted blinked.  “So, why exactly are you here?  You still haven’t mentioned that.”

Heather beamed.  “I’m to be your new partner!”

Ted blinked again.  “Ah.  I see.”

“So, seeing as this is our RC, mind if I look around a bit?”

Ted shrugged.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”  Heather busied herself with exploring the fairly large room.  “Oh my.  That is a lot of weapons.”

“Please don’t touch those.”  Ted looked up from the partially disassembled laptop on his desk.

“Why?”

He shrugged again.  “My old partner requested that nobody touch those, so I’m going to leave them the way they are.”

Heather cocked an eyebrow.  “He ever say why you’re not to move them?”

“Something about his former partner.”

“Who waaas…?”  Heather grinned.

“No idea.”

Heather gasped.  “Your former partner asked you not to touch this incredibly shiny weapon rack, and you never asked who it originally belonged to?”

Ted shrugged.  “No.  I figured it was none of my business.”

“Shame on you, not taking an interest in your partner’s life!  Shaaaaame!”

“But-“

“Nope!  No talking!  You are being shamed!”

“But-“

“Shaaaaa-“

Ted grimaced.  “Seriously, stop that.”

“Well, you’re no fun!”

“Perhaps.  You, on the other hand, are irritating me.”

Heather stopped.  “That… that wasn’t very nice.

Ted spun half-heartedly in his chair.  “No.  It wasn’t.  I’m sorry.”

Heather crossed her arms.  “I hope you are.”  She looked around.  “So, which desk is mine?”

“The one I’m not sitting at?”

“Ted, that one has a jar of eyes on it.”

“Mine has three.”

Heather blinked.  “I...”

“Look, just don’t ask.”

“Wasn’t going to.”  Heather sat down at her desk.  “What I was going to ask was... well... what’s your story?”

“Hm?”  Ted had gone back to fiddling with the laptop, but didn’t seem to be making much progress.

“What continuum are you from?  How old are you?  Other such stuff?”

“Preacher, twenty-three, you’re going to need to be a bit more specific than that.”

“What’s your deal?”

“I wasn’t aware that I had one?”

Heather got back up and wandered over to Ted’s desk.  “You’re very short.”

Ted looked at Heather.  “I’m a good half foot taller than you are.”

“That’s not quite what I meant.”  She looked over the disemboweled laptop.  “Are you putting this back together, or what?”

“Yeah.”

“Here, let me have a go at it.”

Five minutes later, she had put the computer back together.

“Thank you.”

“No problem!  You still haven’t answered the question, though!”

Ted cocked an eyebrow.  “The question of what?”

“Of why you’re so quiet, of course!”

“Ah.  That.”  He nodded.  “It’s, well, I... hm.”

“You hm?”

Ted fiddled with his sleeves.  “I don’t like the sound of my voice.”

Heather’s eyes widened.  “That... that is adorable.”  She giggled.  “Don’t worry about it.”

“Eh.  I know it’s stupid.  Doesn’t make it any better.”  He shrugged.  “Anyways, where are you from?”

“Oh, I’m from an obscure little ‘verse.  You’ve probably never heard of it.”

Then the console went off.

Conclusion.

[Disclaimer: I do not own the PPC.  That is the property of Jay and Acacia.  I do, however, own Drew and Lucius.  This is the final part of a three part series, which started in Confrontation., and was continued in Click.  However, I would recommend reading it the order of publication, which means starting with Click., and then reading Confrontation..  The entire series takes place between Intermissions One and Two.  Thanks to Caddy-Shack, EllipsisFlood, and JulyFlame for beta-ing.]

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Lucius leaned against the console.  “It has been an interesting day.”

Drew nodded weakly.  “Indeed it has.”  He spun his chair half-heartedly.
“Lucius, look.  I... I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have acted the way I did.”

Lucius nodded.  “It’s alright.  I also overreacted.”  He sighed.  “I’m going to go get some food.  You want anything?”

“Nothing in particular.  I’ll go with whatever you get.”

Lucius patted his friend on the shoulder.  “Alright, mate.  I’ll be back in a bit.”

A few hours later, Lucius poked his head through the door.  “Hey, Drew?”

Drew was curled up in his chair.  Lucius sighed, and put down the tray, which was laden with food.  He shook his partner awake.

“Drew?  You okay?”

Drew started.  “Hm?  You’re back?”

“Yeah.  I went to the cafeteria, but none of it quite looked... edible.  So I kind of made some stuff up as I went along.”  He gestured at the tray, which held several plates of pasta,  fish, and what appeared to be a cake.

“You made all of this?”

Lucius nodded happily.  “Yes.  I admit, I went a bit overboard, but I haven’t
really had a chance to cook for anybody in a pretty long time.”

“Oh!  Neat!”  Drew poked the pasta.  “It looks pretty good.”

Lucius grinned.  “Help yourself, mate!”

“Damn.  That tasted even better than it looked.”

“I have plenty of practice.  I am Camorri.”

Drew looked at the fish.  “I must admit, I am not too sure about the fish.”

Lucius cocked an eyebrow.  “Oh?”

“I’ve had bad experiences with fish in the past.”

“Ah.  You may as well try it.  I shall take full responsibility should you get sick.”

Drew shot a mournful glance at the cake.  “Alright.  If you insist.”

“Okay, that was also pretty good.”

Lucius grinned.  “I am glad you like it.”

Drew looked around nervously.  “Hey, Lucius?”

“Yeah?”

“Are... Are we okay?”

Lucius looked surprised.  “Of course we are.”  He raised his eyebrow again.  “Why would you think that we weren’t?”

Drew stood up.  “I... I don’t know.  I just feel really bad about what
happened.”  He punched Lucius lightly on the shoulder.  “If we are good, I... I’m going to go take a nap.

With that, Drew wandered off.

Confrontation.

[Disclaimer:  I do not own the PPC, which is the property of Jay and Acacia.  I do own Drew and Lucius.  This takes place before Click.  It also contains references to the backstory bits of both Drew and Lucius, as well as Mission Three spoilers. Also also, mild profanity warning! Thanks to Vixenmage and JulyFlame for beta work!]

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Confrontations tend to have build-up.  A variety of contributing factors come together, until emotions boil over.

Such was the case in Response Centre 43042.

“Drew, turn the music down.”

“Don’t wanna.”

Lucius reached over and shut his partner’s laptop.  “There’s some... stuff we need to talk about.”

Drew rolled his eyes.  “I’m sure we do.”  He crossed his arms and lay back
in his seat.  “What shall we talk about?  The fact that I’m a zombie?
Because surely that’s the only thing that you put your serious voice on for.”

“Drew...
that’s not...”  Lucius sighed.  “I know we mostly talk about that.
But, that’s not quite want I wanted to talk about.”  He sat down.  “We
haven’t really talked about... Well, if you’re okay.”

Drew snorted.  “You’re not my mother.”

“Godsdammit Drew.  You are my partner and my... friend.”

“You paused.”

“I have had... trouble with friends in the past.”

Drew cocked an eyebrow.  “Well, that’s another thing we should talk about now, isn’t it?”

Lucius sighed.  “Yes.  It is.  But the main problem right now is you.”

“Oh, so I’m a problem now?  Well, you might as well leave me to my wallowing, hm?  I mean, it’s not like you’re forced to be cooped up in here.  You get to go out on missions and other exciting stuff.”

Lucius sighed again.  “Thirteenth.  This is going absolutely nowhere.”

“No, it’s going somewhere!  I mean, we’ve just figured out that you think that I’m a problem!”

“Drew, I don’t think that at all.  You should know this.”

“What, so I’m an idiot for not knowing?”  He smiled.  “Or, maybe, you just don’t know what you think!”

He stood up.  “I mean, you’ve been hurt in the past, have you?  Hm?  Well, you know what?  So have I.”  His voice rose.  “Shit, you don’t know the half of it.”

Lucius buried his face in his hands.  “Don’t talk about it like that.  You don’t know.  You weren’t there.”

Drew leaned forward.  “Hey.  Hey.  You’re forgetting something.  You weren’t there for my past either.”

“Godsdammit Drew, you are my friend, and I care about you very much.  But right now, the only thing I want is to hurt you.”

Drew snorted.  “Piss off.  You can’t hurt me.  I’m undead.  Also?  I watched my lo-my best friend off himself right in front of me.”

“I was tricked into killing both of my best friends.”

“Yeah?  Well?  You know what?  I...”  He paused, then sat back down.  “Shit.”

They sat like that for some time.  Neither of them spoke.

After what felt like hours, Lucius broke the silence.

“Drew?”

Drew sniffed.

Lucius stood up, and put his hand on his friend's shoulder.  “Do... do you need a hug?”

“No.”  He shook his head, then looked up.  “I think we need to talk.”

Click.

[Disclaimer: I do not own the PPC.  That is the property of Jay and Acacia.  I do own Drew and Lucius.  Just a heads up, this story swaps between three points of view.  The first bit (normal font) is Lucius’ side of an interview of some sort.  The second bit (italics) is the conversation between Drew and Lucius as they prepare to get pictures taken.  The final bit (in grey) is Drew’s side of an interview that takes place after Lucius’ bit.  Some parts of this will make more sense if you have read Drew's backstory bit, Lucius' backstory bit, Lucius and Drew’s third mission, and the subsequent intermissions.  Of course, it’s not necessary to read these, but if you haven’t already, you may want to.  Thanks to JulyFlame, Aster, and FlareShard for beta duty! Special thanks to JulyFlame for the picture!]

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Working with Drew?  It’s... interesting.  I don’t mean it’s bad.  Definitely not bad.  He’s a nice guy.  Just a little... unhinged, I suppose.  It’s not his fault.

     “I still don’t see why we need to do this.”
“I’m assuming it’s for our files.”
“Well, why didn’t they let us wear our uniforms?”
“Drew, the last thing I wanted was to see you change.  I’m just as unhappy about this as you are.”

     I like Lucius.  He’s nice.  It’s good to have a partner again, so it works out pretty well, I think.

     “Well, at least I’m wearing pants.”
“They don’t have anything like what I’d normally wear.  You’re lucky.  You wear jeans with your uniform.”
“Whatever.  I’m still the only one wearing pants at the moment.”

It’s... hard to explain.  I don’t like going into details, but, well, let’s just say I don’t like opening up.  It’s not that I don’t trust Drew, it’s just... I don’t want to have to relive the past.

     “Drew?”
“Mmmmyes?”
“Why are you wearing a corset?”
“It’s the manliest thing I can find.”
“Take that off.”
“Fine, geeze.  You don’t need to be a jerk about it.”

I don’t know why, but I don’t know that much about him.  I’ve... tried bringing his past up, but I don’t think he hears me.  Well, no, that’s a lie.  He hears me, but he... I don’t know.  He gets really quiet.

     “That shirt looks pretty tight...”
“Shut up.  It’s either that or a tropic-print shirt.”
“Hmm...  I like this.”
“Good!  Liking stuff is fun!”

I feel guilty about it sometimes.  I know he’s interested, but I don’t want to have to explain all of this.  Maybe I should, but, still.  I’ve been hurt in the past.  I don’t know if I could take that happening again.

     Click
“Alright, I’m done.  Now, you need to get your stuff together!”
“Drew.  Patience is a virtue.”
“A virtue which I am sadly lacking, and will likely continue to lack for quite some time.”
“Fair enough.  Have you seen my knife?”
“Nope.  I forgot my machete, think they’ll have a replacement?”

     I don’t know, I’d imagine he has his reasons.  I figure he’ll tell me when he’s ready.  I guess it’s none of my business.

     Click.
“Drew, why are you wearing a floral shirt?”
“YOU’RE NOT MY REAL MOM!”
“Fine.  Take the bloody picture so we can be done with this.”

No, really?  I never would have guessed that I worry about him.  He’s my friend.  And, in some messed up way, I feel that... that he’s my responsibility.  Yeah, it’s stupid, but still.  I think he’s been affected a lot more by what he found out than he lets on.  He buries his problems.  Someday, he’s going to have to face it.  And, well, that’s how life goes, isn’t it?

     Click.

Of course I care about him!  He’s my partner!  And my friend, but still.  What?  No!  I... I don’t have any interest in him!  I mean, yeah, sure, I lean that way, but still.  He’s... not exactly my type.  So, no, I don’t care about him like that.
What?  No.
No.
We’re not going to talk about Tom.
This is over now.  Good day.

     “Well, glad that’s done with."
“I’m hungry.”
“So am I, mate.  Let’s head back.”

---

Intermission: Of Pool Tables and Shrimp

[Disclaimer:  I do not own the PPC.  That is the property of Jay and Acacia.  I also do not own Elly and Nathan, who are the property of EllipsisFlood.  I do own Drew, Lucius, and The Shrimp.  Thanks to EllipsisFlood and FlareShard for beta-ing.]

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Lucius burst through the doors of Response Centre 43042, highly out of breath.  “DRRRREEEEW!”
Drew looked up from the pool table that he was sitting on.  “I’m right here, dude.  What do you want?”

            “Oh.  I assumed you’d be causing trouble.  Anyways, I need some help.  We need to get an aquarium.”
            “Aren’t you going to ask about the pool table and the guitar?”
            Lucius blinked.  “No.  I’m pretty desensitised to your antics by this point.”
            Drew looked crestfallen.
            His partner sighed.  “Look, I’ll act all pissed off about it when we get back if it makes you feel any better, alright?”
            Drew grinned.  “That would help.”  He paused.  “How are we going to go about finding an aquarium?”
            Lucius shrugged.  “No idea.  Door-to-door, I suppose.”
            The grin widened.  “Well, what are we waiting for?”

            Several hours later, their search had resulted in nothing.  Lucius slumped against a wall.  “I say two more tries, then we head back.”
            Drew stared pointedly at a door.  “RC 7331?”  He cocked an eyebrow.  “This sounds promising.”  He spun around.  “LUCIUS.  KNOCK.  YOUR PARTNER COMMANDS IT.”
            Lucius shook his head.  “Drew, you’re closer.  You knock.”
            Drew stared pointedly at his partner.  “I will bite you.”
            “Fine, gods.”  Lucius knocked politely on the door.
            “You suck at this.”

It took a whole while until an agent opened the door. He was rather tall, wore a black longcoat and had incredibly fluffy-looking dark blue hair.

The man tilted his head. “Good whatever time of day it is.” He was clearly confused by the two agents standing in front of him.

Drew grinned.  “G’day!  We were wondering if you’d happen to have a tank of some sort?”

The agent in the door frowned. “...you don’t mean the World of Warcraft sort of tank, right?”

“No, the other sort.”

Lucius stood in the background, looking mildly confused and moderately irritated.

The agent then turned around. “Hey, Elly, do we have a tank?”

“You mean...”

“Not the WoW sort.”

“Uh... to be honest, I don’t know.”

The agent turned back to Drew and Lucius. “My partner doesn’t know either.”

Lucius shoved Drew out of the way.  “Ignore Drew, he’s an idiot.  We were looking for an aquarium.”  He held up the talking shrimp.  “I don’t suppose you would know where we could find one?”

“Is that a shrimp?”

“Yes.”  The shrimp waved.  “I am indeed a member of the infraorder Caridea.  To be more specific, I am actually a Heterocarpus ensifer, a deep-sea shrimp native to many areas.”

Drew looked at the shrimp, pulled a bottle of soda out of his pocket, took a swig, and spat it back out.  “Lucius.  You got a talking shrimp and you neglected to tell me.  I’m afraid we can no longer be friends.”

The agent in the door raised his eyebrows at the more than eloquent shrimp. “So you need that aquarium for that guy here. Still, I’m not sure if we have one. Maybe, maybe not.” Again, he turned around. “They’re looking for an aquarium for their shrimp. We have one?”

“Dunno! We could look. This group is shitty anyways.”

The agent in the door nodded. “We could do that. My name’s Nathan, by the way. And you are?”

Lucius gestured at Drew.  “Drew you’ve already met.  I’m Lucius, and this is...”  He looked at the shrimp.  “Do you even have a name?”

“I am just The Shrimp.”

“Nice to meet you, Drew, Lucius and The Shrimp. Come in, but I dare you not to step onto the...” Nathan points at the floor which is almost completely covered with polystyrene balls. “Just don’t.”

Drew grimaced.  “Man, I hate polystyrene.  Gets everywhere, then doesn’t go away.”

“Is there a story behind this?  Because I would be interested to hear it.”  The Shrimp’s voice suggested that, should he have eyebrows, he would raise one.

Nathan looked behind himself again. “That’s Ellipsia’s doing.” He sounded slightly sour.

Ellipsia, who was just as tall as him, then stalked over to the group. “It comes with the figurines and I like it.” She pointed at the shelf next to the door which housed a huuuge amount of bleeprin pills. “Take if you want.”

Nathan immediately grabbed a handful and stuffed it into one of his pockets.

Lucius shrugged and did the same.

“Eh.  My brain’ll be melted before long, so it doesn’t make much difference.

“I do not appear to have appendages that function in a manner that would allow me to pick up the pills.”

Lucius grabbed another handful on behalf of The Shrimp.

Ellipsia looked at The Shrimp. “Talking shrimp? Okay, that’s new... so that aquarium is for you?”

“I suppose so.”  The Shrimp’s tone suggested that, were he able to shrug, he would.

“Then let me think... an aquarium...” Ellipsia started wandering around in the RC, not caring about the polystyrene any more.

Nathan flinched whenever she stepped onto one to the point of not returning to his normal facial expression.

Drew put his hand up.

Lucius sighed.  “Yes, Drew?”

“I wasn’t talking to you.”  He poked Nathan.  “We’ve been going door-to-door asking for one.”

Nathan’s eye twitched. “Well, I really don’t know if we have one.”

Meanwhile, Ellipsia continued to check in the bathroom. “I think I found one!... No, wait, that’s a... eww, there’s an intelligent civilization in the bathing tube.”

Drew shrugged.  “If we’re intruding, we could look elsewhere.”

Nathan shrugged too. “To be honest, it doesn’t look like we have one.”

Lucius sighed.  “Alright, then.  I guess we’ll go check somewhere else.”  He began to shuffle out.

Halfway to the door, Drew grabbed him by the collar, and took off at a run.  “You’re too slow!”

Several more hours later, Lucius and Drew were back at their response centre.  “Damn, this thing is heavy.”

Lucius grimaced.  “It’s a good thing it’s huge, considering what I went through to get it.”

Drew chuckled.  “The way you dodged that lava was impressive.”

The Shrimp made a noise suggestive of throat-clearing.  “You do realise that I have lungs, and, as such, do not require an aquatic-based storage unit?”

Lucius did a double-take.

“So, we could’ve used the terrarium in the corner?”

“I suppose so.”

Lucius sputtered.