Nighttime Interlude

'Moan moan moan, that's all he ever does is ramble on!' Olan thought to herself as her debriefing with the Lieutenant from the Assessor's Office threatened to be heard by several passersby.

Her head was pounding from the constant resonance and volume level in the office. Did he realize how loud he could actually be? A brief image of him as Napolean flitted across her mind before she brushed the thought aside, it would be too dangerous to be caught laughing at him now. She tried as hard as she could to keep her mind on the subject at hand but the intrusive manner of Calley's expressiveness kept her from getting the thought of him as the 'Little General' out of her mind.

"Dr. Chang, perhaps you'd like to explain to me how the only two suspects managed to escape from the Iso-lab?" Calley yelled as he paced Lieutenant Ehrenthal's empty office.

Olan just didn't get James Calley. By his record, he appeared to be a good man. On several occasions, he had done everything in his powers to protect people who had been victimized in some way by the Consortium, whether it was genetic experiments or fake Rekall experiences leading to brain washing. Yet, at work, he was the ultimate hard ass. Olan smiled faintly at her own joke quickly catching herself when Calley turned on her suddenly. Apparently, she hadn't caught herself quickly enough.

"You find this situation amusing Dr. Chang?" He snapped.

"Not at all, Lieutenant Calley. I was just thinking of how happy you'd be to know that I placed internal tracking devices on both perps when I did their medical work-up. Unfortunately, I was unable to give you the good news until recently." Olan said, a hint of sarcasm cutting through the thick air of Ehrenthal's office. She had him and they both knew it.

Glowering, Calley stared at Olan as though beside himself. Suddenly, he calmed down his face the usual emotionless mask. Walking over to the couch where Olan was seated, he towered over her intimidatingly despite his height. Slowly, he folded his arms, a hint of the musculature beneath his suit showing through the sleeves of his jacket as his arms flexed.

"Very well, Dr. Chang. Perhaps you'd like to show me the tracker so we could apprehend them?" Calley said, more subdued.

Just then, Olan looked up into his face, in shock that he was actually speaking calmly despite her obvious insubordination. Her eyes met the rare gentle gaze that was the reflection of his career record. Olan saw how he was capable of all the good deeds she had read about him when she watched the brief flash of compassion move across his face before it was once again replaced by the icy shell.

All hint of sarcasm lost from her mind, Olan stood and was shocked to watch Calley open the office door for her. As they walked through the halls of the CPB towards the Lab, she suddenly felt a nervousness she had never felt before in Calley's vicinity. Catching a brief glance at the man accompanying her, she watched as he swallowed hard before he sensed her eyes on him. Olan had another close call as his eyes turned to look at her. Quickly finding something to occupy her mind from his eyes boring into her, she pulled out her code card and swiped it through the slot of the e-lock.

A loud buzz followed her efforts.

"Damn it!" she swore softly, her Texas accent drawing out the words in a sensual manner.

Swiping again, she used more colorful language as she got the same results. Hitting the e-lock with her hand, she shook her hand in painful silence as the futility of hitting the lock brought a red hue to her face. Olan was just about to use the full arsenal of her self defense classes on the lock when she felt a hand gently restraining her.

"Allow me, Dr. Chang. These new locks take some getting used to." Calley said as he brought out some sort of device.

Running it over the lock swipe, the doors air compression lock released and with a loud chime, the door slowly swung open. "After you, Doctor." He offered politely.

"Thank you Lieutenant," Olan said appreciatively. She was still very suspicious of this strange change in behavior patterns Calley was exhibiting. They normally fought like cats and dogs, either openly or covertly with well-placed sarcasm. Olan didn't get this sudden niceness and was suspicious of his gentlemanly conduct. Olan entered the office with Calley trailing, not far behind.

"The tracking system can be incorporated into GPS and sat-link in your cruiser if you'd like to trail them, just set it to frequency 115." She said as Calley looked at the small screen on the device. Two blips on the monitor moved as one as they headed to Tier 31. He smiled appreciatively as he turned to walk out of the lab. Olan's face a mirror of shock that he even smiled in such a manner. Shaking the odd series of preceding events from her mind, she went back to work and before long, was totally focused on her job. The thought of Calley's strange behavior didn't come back to her until near the end of the day.

"Finishing up a little work?" Olan heard the familiar voice of Lieutenant Ehrenthal coming from the door. She turned and smiled as the CPB's commander walked into the office to chat. "So, I hear Calley talked with you earlier today?" He asked as he looked at a few multi-colored samples, comparing their color and reading the labels to see what was in them. She smiled when he slowly shied away from one marked 'Ionian Measles'.

"Yeah, that was an interesting experience," Olan said sagely.

"How so? Everything is alright, isn't it?" The Lieutenant asked, a bit concerned as he watched the range of emotions cross the face of the woman he considered a good friend. Olan stopped typing on her computer console and ran her hands through her hair as she tried to make sense of the situation earlier in the day.

"I don't know, it was strange. Calley was being nice to me." She said slowly, trying to digest the thought.

"Is that a bad thing to be nice to someone Olan?" Ehrenthal asked grinning at the thought that someone being nice should cause such a reaction.

"I don't know Martin. If it had been anyone else, I wouldn't have read so much into it, but Calley?" She said ending the statement off with an exasperated sigh.

"Okay true, something like that coming from Calley would be strange. Would you like me to have a few words with him? See if I can get him to lay off being so 'nice'?" Ehrenthal said, a hint of amusement lilting his voice.

"No, it's okay, Martin. I can handle him. It was just a bit of a shock catching this event earlier today, that's all. I'll be okay." Olan said as she smiled at the ridiculousness of the situation.

She was afraid of someone who was being nice to her. Why should that be? Maybe Calley really does have a heart somewhere beneath that icy exterior. The thought stuck in her head of Calley with actual emotions. It just didn't fit him. He acted more like an android than Robbie the Delta, the only exception being that Calley had a beating heart and blood running through his veins. She smiled disarmingly as Ehrenthal saw the troubled look on her face.

"I'll be okay really," Olan said again.

"Alright, well if you need me, I'll be at home getting a bit of rest. Just call me if you find out you do have any problems." Ehrenthal said before he walked out of the lab and out of the CPB for the night.

Sighing Olan went back to work. She only had five more vials to scan before she too could go home and get some rest. She had been up over fourteen hours and was looking forward to getting a few hours sleep in her own bed rather than the lab autopsy table. Seven minutes later, Olan heard the welcome beeping sound denoting the finished scans. Taking the vials of bio-matter out of the DNA scanner, she placed them in the microwave. Standing and stretching, she looked over at the empty autopsy table and felt as though great weights were pulling her eyelids down.

"Just five minutes of sleep, and then I'll go home," Olan said to herself as she climbed up onto the table that served dual purposes to her.

By day an altar to dissect the dead, trying to determine how they died and what killed them. By night a slightly uncomfortable makeshift bed for her. Olan snuggled into a comfortable position as she drifted off to sleep. She was completely unaware of a pair of ocean blue eyes staring at her from the darkness of the empty CPB squad room.

Calley had thought to go into the Lab once she had left but apparently she appeared to be bedding down for the night, again. He wondered if she even had a home with the way she had spent so many nights using that uncomfortable table as a bed rather than be late for work the next day. He admired her dedication and smiled softly when he watched her turn towards him in her sleep, a section of her hair falling over her face.

'I wonder if anyone has told her how beautiful she is when she's asleep?' Calley thought to himself, smiling. Walking over to the Lab, he opened the door with the silent electronic skeleton key as he kept his eyes on the Doctor to make sure she remained asleep. He placed his information on her desk and was about to walk back out when he thought of her sleeping on that table for the next six hours. Weighing the risks and benefits of taking her home with him, he decided to take her so that she could at least get some proper rest in his bed.

"Doctor Chang?" Calley said softly, so as not to shock her. He knew that she was uncomfortable from their earlier encounter and didn't want her to get the wrong impression if she should wake up in his bed. No amount of gentle prodding woke her though as she only mumbled incoherently before falling back to sleep.

Sighing softly, Calley effortlessly lifted the Doctor using those same muscles he saw Olan noticing earlier that day. He was mildly surprised when she wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders. Once he got to the CPB garage, he triggered the voice lock on his car and placed her in the passenger seat gently. Fastening her seat belt, he closed the door and walked around to get in on the drivers' side. Setting the auto-driver, he spent the entire ride watching Doctor Chang as she mumbled every few minutes.

Calley got out once the car came to a halt in his apartment's garage. Carrying Olan Chang to his apartment, he maneuvered her through his living-room and into the bedroom. Again debating, he decided to take her shoes off to give her a chance to relax. Calley didn't want her to think anything more had happened once she woke up and realized where she was. He tenderly placed the covers over her before stripping to only his pants and laying down on the couch.

For a long time, he couldn't get to sleep. His thoughts kept straying back to the woman laying in his bed.

'What was it about her that was so interesting?' He thought to himself as he finally drifted off to sleep.

Olan Chang stretched, reaching out as far out as she could. It wasn't until she opened her eyes that she realized that she wasn't in the Lab, or even her own bedroom. Looking around, she tried to find identifying items to tell her where she was. Nothing rang a bell for her. Olan quickly slipped out of bed and walked across the carpet to the door. Slowly turning the knob, she covertly looked out of the opening to see the outside world.

Her gaze fell on standard-issue living-room furniture, which gave no clue as to whose apartment she was in. Testing the air with her ears and nose, she smelled a familiar scent, a cologne, but couldn't place where she had smelled it. Also wafting on the air was the delectable scent of real food cooking. The tangy bite of real peppers, the cloying sweetness of vine-ripened tomatoes, like her grandfather used to grow on his farm in Texas before the floods wiped everything out.

Olan had no idea where all these smells were coming from but knew that she had to find out more about this place and whether or not she was captive. Slowly easing the door open, she slipped out into the living-room. In her socks, she slowly walked towards the smell of the cooking food. Just as she reached the door of the kitchenette and put her back to the wall so as not to be seen, she smelled more delicious smells. Whoever it was in the kitchenette had just opened the oven and lingering waves of blueberry muffin aroma drifted through the air, driving her insane with hunger.

"Good morning, Doctor, I hope you don't mind my bringing you here. You looked a bit uncomfortable in the Lab and since my place is closer to the CPB, I brought you here." The all too familiar voice said behind her. Olan whipped around to face the speaker. James Calley, the feared, the dreaded, the terrifying was standing before her. Draped in only a bath towel and the clinging air, he watched as she stared at him in stunned silence.

"I've saved you some hot water if you'd like to take a shower or bath Doctor Chang. Breakfast will be ready by the time you get out." Calley stated as he walked back into the kitchenette to continue with the making of their breakfast. Olan calmly pulled herself from the wall and walked back towards the bedroom. Closing the door, she turned on the tap in the tub. The water was indeed hot, almost to the point of scalding, when she ran her hand under it to test its temperature.

Stripping her clothes and throwing them in the Ion washer, she gingerly lowered herself into the steaming water as the tub filled up. Once she had fully immersed herself, she turned the tap off and sat back, giving herself a chance to relax from her day yesterday. The water felt good against her body as her thoughts turned to the man in the kitchenette cooking the first real meal she had eaten in almost a week.

Her mind toyed playfully with thoughts of his towel slipping off as she chastised herself for her thought of him as Napolean. 'He doesn't look little at all.' she thought to herself as she began scrubbing the previous days' grime from her back. As she traced her own arms with the sponge, she thought of how her eyes traced his folded arms the day before in Ehrenthal's office at the CPB. Olan grinned when she thought of how her eyes barely kept level with his, so anxious they were to see if her wandering mind's musings were accurate in its assumptions about Calley's physicality.

"I need to get a life." Olan stated out loud as she stepped out of her bath, a bit weak from the sudden change in temperature.

She watched as the stress and grime of her previous day swirled down the drain of the tub. 'Thank God for self-cleaning tubs.' She thought to herself as a memory of cleaning tubs with Ajax when she was a young girl flitted through her mind. Wrapping a towel around her voluptuous frame, she walked through the living-room and stood in the doorway of the kitchenette watching Calley cook.

"So, what's for breakfast?" She asked softly, a slight smile on her face.

It was Calley's turn to be shocked as Olan watched him turn to look back at the source of the voice only to lose his answer once he saw her, dark hair plastered to her head. Her body wrapped in a thick towel that covered just enough of her body to cause him to forget his own towel. It fell to the floor with a dull thud and lay there forgotten until Olan smiled slightly at the awkwardness of the moment.

Retrieving his towel, he quickly wrapped it around his exposed torso. The color change was almost immediate. Calley's entire back blushed with a red hue as he busied himself with the preparation of their meal. Olan wondered if she could get him to turn a deeper shade of the extraordinary red he was turning and walked over to him.

"You didn't answer my question Lieutenant." She watched as his eyes remained fixed on the pot before him.

Slowly, he began to tell of the menu but in a voice that was just between a grunt and a mumble. "Bacon, egg, and cheese omelet with sauteed tomatoes and peppers. Blueberry muffins, Orange juice, and coffee." Calley said without looking up.

"Sounds delicious, but why all first level foods?" Olan said as she watched him turn another shade of crimson as he shrugged his shoulders. "I'm going to go get my clothes, is it alright if I use your room to change?" she asked, changing the subject. Calley nodded affirmation. Olan felt rather than saw James Calley's eyes follow her back to the bedroom.

Smiling, she pulled her clothes out of the Ion washer and slipped them on. Underwear, pants, socks, and shirt all tingly from the Ionizer. It was like having thousands of tiny fingers caressing her over her entire body. Grabbing her purse, she pulled out her brush and comb to dress her hair. Ten minutes later, she was ready for the day with a ponytail hairstyle for efficiency. Olan walked out of the room and bumped into Calley just as he was about to knock on the door.

"Breakfast is ready." He said before hurrying into the room.

Sitting down at the table, she calmly waited for him to get dressed and seated before she began to eat.

'Oh my God, what do I do?' Calley thought to himself as he nervously paced his room between the bed and the wall. She had seen him naked, she must have seen it then. 'Oh God, I'll never live this down.' he thought as he slipped his clothes on. Grabbing a fresh suit, tie, and shirt, he hurriedly dressed and checked himself in the mirror to make sure he looked presentable. Satisfied with his appearance, he swallowed deeply before walking out and sitting at the table opposite Doctor Chang.

"You haven't eaten yet?" Calley asked, a bit puzzled.

"I was waiting for you. It's rude to eat before everyone is at the table," she replied, her smile intoxicating to the Lieutenant.

Mentally, he shook his head clear and tried to concentrate on breakfast but he would only look up and get lost in the warm brown of her eyes as she concentrated on her own food. Every once in a while, she would catch him staring, his reflexes or his will power not quick enough to turn him away from her face. Olan Chang would smile back, a little nervous but with no trace of the same fear that was evident only the night before. Her reaction shocked and pleased him at the same time. Calley found himself smiling back at her. They ate their breakfast together in silence but communicated by facial expression.

"Would you like a ride to work, Doctor Chang?" Calley asked, hoping against reason that she'd say yes.

He knew that the CPB rumor mill would fly if they were seen arriving together at the CPB. Calley wasn't sure if she would be willing to be seen with him, let alone in broad daylight. He nearly choked on his coffee when she said yes.

"Really? You're not worried what the people at the CPB might say to you?" he asked, still a bit disbelieving he had heard her right.

"Why? Should I be worried?" Olan asked back flirtatiously sarcastic. Calley began to change color all over again as his body reacted to the somersaults his heart and mind were both performing in response to Doctor Chang's actions.

"No, it's just that I've always gotten the impression that people are afraid of me or something. With some people I don't mind the reputation, it does come in handy when dealing with criminals. I don't like it so much when others are intimidated though." He ended meaningfully. Calley could see the reaction in her eyes. The recognition that he meant her when he talked about people he wished weren't intimidated by him.

"I don't know, I'm probably just rambling on," Calley said quickly as if to hide his own vulnerability. "Ready to go?" he asked softly.

Driving through traffic in the Two-hundred storied city was normally an easy task for James Calley. Nothing happening in the streets whether a stubborn mule or an overturned transport broke his strong concentration. The woman in the car next to him, that was a different story. He found himself becoming so enraptured by her every word, that he nearly crashed the car on three occasions.