The Good Doctor: Origins Ch. 04

I think this chapter may bring a lot of 'loose ends' together and make a more coherent story line for you Readers.

CHAPTER 4:

"Highly disappointed..." Sydney was saying for the fifth time that evening.

"I understand, Sydney," Trapjaw said, growing annoyed. "But our plan is still unfolding perfectly."

Sydney stood from his chair and strode over to the large window that dominated the far wall of the conference room the two men were meeting in. He was a tall man, nearly 6 and one half feet, and his thin figure made him seem even taller. His dark hair was slicked back, and he wore frameless glasses around his grey eyes. His tailored pinstripe suit gave him an air of pure authority, and even the intimidating Trapjaw was affected by his imposing presence.

"Explain to me how things are unfolding perfectly," Sydney asked with a hint of menace in his voice, "Because I don't think you understand the meaning of the phrase."

"Engineer has started manufacturing the mass-production facility and we should be online in six months time" Trapjaw explained to his investor and partner.

"And what of the escaped subject?" Sydney asked, "Have you forgotten about that little hiccup?"

"Hardly a hiccup; I have sent Rachel to find him and Nurse Sweet. They can't have gotten far."

"Rachel?"

"Miss. White." Trapjaw remembered Sydney only bothered to learn his employees' code names.

"Ah, yes, Miss. White. She is very capable." Sydney seemed more relaxed to Trapjaw. Perhaps he was actually beginning to trust his judgment.

"Yes, very, I seemed to have made the right decision in picking her as my apprentice."

"What of Vespucci?" Sydney asked, turning from the window to face Trapjaw.

"What about him?" Trapjaw asked, narrowing his eyes at the mention of his name.

"Was this Nurse Sweet sent by him?"

"Of course she was." Trapjaw said calmly, although quickly becoming more annoyed with Sydney's lack of understanding.

"And you don't see this as a problem?"

"Giovanni Vespucci's day in the sun is long gone, Sydney. He is the leader of a disorganized band of ruffians with minimal funds. The Corps is not a threat anymore, and once Miss. White locates them she will report their location and return immediately to base. Then I will crush the Corps once and for all."

Sydney was silent for a minute; thinking over Trapjaw's plan. In the past he had always trusted his partner's better judgment, understanding that he was better with managing finances than managing employees, but ever since his six billion dollar investment had walked out the front door, he was starting to second guess Trapjaw's decisions. However, he could see no inherent flaw in his plan; The Corps was weak after years of inactivity and the man who had escaped had no idea how powerful he truly was, so (at least for a while) he was no serious threat.

"Fine. But if you fail again, I will cut all of your funding and find myself a new partner." Sydney finally said and with that he turned from the window and walked to the door of the room.

"I will not fail, Sydney. I never fail." Trapjaw said.

"You better not, or I'll be the least of your worries." Sydney turned the handle and exited, leaving Trapjaw alone in the conference room.

Reaching into his jacket, Trapjaw pulled out a white cell-phone and dialed a number. A female voice answered after the third ring, "White."

"Have you located them?"

"Not yet, but I'm close."

"How close?"

"They stayed in a hotel off the highway. Came late and left early. They were heading southwest."

"Pick up on their trail and inform me as soon as you find their location."

"Of course." *click*

***********************

Nurse Sweet could not sleep. Never in her life had she been kept awake by such intrusive thoughts. All she could think about was Rob. Something about him made her mind go haywire. Earlier, she had watched him about to leave her life forever and she had stopped him...actually STOPPED him. Deep down she knew that if it were any other human being she wouldn't have even said two words as they walked out the front door; but for Rob she had actually taken the time to convince him otherwise. She knew it wasn't the fact that they had slept together...it couldn't be. She had slept with many men before and never felt more than in-the-moment passion for them. Rob was different somehow, she just wish she knew how...

Frustrated, Nurse Sweet threw back the covers of her bed and sat up, glancing at the clock on her night stand. The fait green glow read 3:00 am and she rolled her eyes, knowing that she would not be sleeping tonight.

After getting up out of her bed, Nurse Sweet grabbed a white bathrobe that was hanging from a hook on her door, and wrapped herself in it. The old house always got cold at night, and even with the added layer Nurse Sweet shivered. Slowly, she opened the door to the hallway and peered out. To her left and two doors down the faint glow of a light could be seen coming from under the door, illuminating the hard wood floor of the hallway. Nurse Sweet remembered this was Rob's room, and if nothing else he could provide her with some company if he was up as well.

'And why shouldn't he be up?' she thought as she crept down the hall, trying not to wake the other members of the house, 'He's had a lot to think about'

Once she reached his door, she softly knocked before opening the door a crack to peer inside.

"Rob?" she whispered.

"Yeh?" a voice came from within, quiet but not sounding as if the speaker had just woken up.

"It's Nurse Sweet, may I come in?"

"Sure."

Nurse Sweet opened the door the rest of the way and slipped inside, quickly but quietly shutting it behind her.

Rob was sitting in a chair by a desk that was pushed against the far left wall. The only light came from the desk lamp, and Rob had not even bothered changing clothes for bed. He still wore the jeans and t-shirt from the day before, and he looked exhausted.

"What's up?" he asked her, folding his arms in front of his chest.

"Couldn't sleep." She replied, taking a seat on the edge of his bed.

"Join the club..." Rob said, leaning his head backward and closing his eyes.

"I know this all seems a little overwhelming, Rob, but I promise things will make sense soon enough." Nurse Sweet laid a reassuring hand on Rob's shoulder, surprising them both.

She withdrew her hand suddenly, and Rob sat back up and opened his eyes and turned to look at her.

"Giovanni is a good man with pure intentions." She continued, "He will protect you and train you so that you can be the best you can be. You have a gift, Rob, I know I keep saying it but it's true. There are people out there with evil in their hearts, and it's up to people like us to stop them before they can get their way."

"People like us...how many 'people like us' are there?"

"In The Corps? At least twenty that I know of and probably much more that I don't."

"The Corps?"

"That's what this organization is called. It's a group of extraordinary people who fight together against those who cause mayhem."

"Does the public know of them?"

"Us...and no. We have to keep hidden or the government will exploit us for their own gains...you've seen the movies. Besides, ever since the eighties, the struggle between us and them has died down, only to pick back up again very recently."

"Them being the people who created me?"

"Yes. Giovanni knows what they've been doing as far as experimenting with bio-machines such as yourself, but he doesn't know exactly what they plan on doing with them. He fears they be building an army to seize control over the government...and ultimately the world."

"So I've heard..."

"So Gio's told you all about it? Well then you should understand the danger they pose to us! That's why we need you...and anyone else how can help."

"So I'm not alone?"

"Psh, you're not good enough to be alone in this." Nurse Sweet said, and then smiled. It was fleeting, but not quick enough for Rob to miss it and he smiled as well.

"Believe it or not, that's a big load off my mind." He seemed visibly more relaxed. He yawned loudly and stretched his arms above his head. "What time is it?"

"Three thirty." Nurse Sweet reported after looking at the clock on his stand.

"Well maybe I can get at least a little sleep before they wake me up." Rob said, getting up from his chair.

Nurse Sweet got up from his bed and began walking towards the door.

"Nurse Sweet?" Rob's voice came from behind, she turned around, "You don't have to leave."

She cocked her head slightly, and walked back without a word. She removed her bathrobe and folded it over the chair Rob had recently vacated. He threw back the covers of the bed and she climbed in on one side. She watched him as he peeled of his shirt and jeans and climbed in next to her in only his boxer briefs. Silently, she snuggled up to him and laid her head on his broad chest as he held her close. Soon they were both sound asleep and for the first time in a very long time, Nurse Sweet smiled in pure happiness.

**************

Rachel White leaned her head against the wall of the motel room, willing sleep to come. She needed sleep for her ability to work, and so far she was rather unsuccessful at obtaining it. Rachel knew what troubled her, but she did not want to face those thoughts. As the minutes sped by though, she knew she would need to put her mind at ease soon or risk losing the trail of Rob and Nurse Sweet. So, after taking a steadying breath, she closed her eyes and focused her thoughts on the source of her distress...Trapjaw.

Five years ago, when she was only twenty, she had been walking home from work when a group of thugs attacked her and almost raped her. It was then that she met Trapjaw and was plunged into this world. He had explained to her that she was special and he would like to train her to use her ability as well as to be his assistant. At first she was reluctant, not quite understanding her ability and unconvinced she could not be the kind of assistant he wanted her to be. She had agreed to train with him, though, and after a few weeks she had a better handle on her ability and found that she was unexpectedly drawn to her fierce boss. Soon, they had become lovers and Rachel began to fall head over heels for the super villain. They had shared a few happy weeks together, but things fell apart when Rachel finished her training.

What seemed like immediately after Trapjaw deemed her ready for field work, Rachel saw a change in the man she thought she loved. He became more obsessed with his work, and found less and less time for Rachel. In addition, he had also become more intolerant towards failure, and often snapped at Rachel when the test subjects she found were not adequate. Thus a rift began to form between the former partners, and their relationship became strictly professional. In response, Rachel became more promiscuous, and began using sex as a tool to lure subjects.

Somewhere along the line, Trapjaw had started to regret the way he treated Rachel and he tried to make things like they used to be. He was less of a boss and became more of a friend, but as far as Rachel was concerned, he had lost her heart a long time ago. Sure, they had sex again a few times, but now things were strictly casual.

But for some reason she could not get him out of her mind recently. Despite his previous behavior, she was still drawn to him and knew she always would be. However, deep down she knew he was probably the same person he had always been, and might end up hurting her again.

After a few moments of reflection, Rachel decided that she would adopt a 'wait and see' attitude towards the matter and see where this 'new' Trapjaw would lead her. Finally satisfied at having come to a more peaceful state of mind, she opened her eyes and stood up from the floor where she had been seated.

Miss. White took a few steps forward and turned around. There, seated against the wall, was Rachel White, asleep with her mouth slightly open.

"Good, I managed to finally fall asleep." She said, or rather her mind did.

Rachel White had always had the ability to astro-project; or leave her body while she slept. Until she had trained with Trapjaw, this ability had been sporadic, and she could only astro-project once in a while, and when she did she thought it was nothing but a very vivid dream. By the time her training was complete, she could astro-project at will, and had discovered a number of things she could do with her projected form that she could not do with her waking form.

One such ability was that she could pick up on energies left by people that had passed through a certain area. In other words; she could see what events transpired in a certain place in time simply by projecting herself to that area. The amount of energy that she could detect depended on how far she had to project herself as well as how much time had passed since the event occurred. The amount of emotion or energy the event possessed also determined how well she could detect it. Many people have the ability to pick up very emotionally charged events, even while awake; these people attribute such phenomenon to ghosts, but Rachel knew better.

Rachel had rented the same room that Nurse Sweet and Rob had, and having successfully projected herself into said room she began to focus her mind on detecting the energies that the two had left behind. Slowly, two forms began to materialize in the room; one was in the doorway of the bathroom and another was on the bed. The figure in the doorway was more focused than the one on the bed and Rachel recognized it as a woman. That meant the very blurry figure on the bed must have been Rob.

Both figures were becoming more distinct as the woman moved towards the bed, indicating a rise in energy...

"Oh God." Rachel said and rolled her eyes, "What a slut."

She focused her mind and the figures on the bed began to speed up, completing their dance of passion in mere moments. Rachel watched as the figures slowly became less distinct and then almost invisible as they slept. In fast motion, the male figure rose and disappeared into the bathroom, and then came out slightly more distinct as he walked towards the female. There was quick skirmish between the two, and then Rachel was slowed the passage of time as they headed towards the door.

She watched as they walked towards the parking lot, and sat down in thin air, indicating to Rachel that they had just gotten into a car. They talked for a moment, and then started floating towards the road. Rachel followed the car as it raced down the highway. She began to notice the figures getting fainter as she projected herself further and further from her physical body. For miles she followed the figures and just as they were about to fade completely from sight she saw them slow down, indicating to her that they were turning off the main road.

Looking around, she found a dirt road off the side and she projected herself down it, hoping that it lead somewhere because her guides had now faded from view completely. After a while, she came upon an old mansion with an iron gate that read "Vespucci" through thick vines.

Rachel blinked once and found herself back in the motel room with sunlight streaming through the windows. She was awake and had found her targets. Getting up, she got her cell phone out and dialed Trapjaw's number.

"I found them."

"Excellent job, Miss. White, please return to base immediately for further instructions."

She hung up and found that she was pleased with her success...though she was unsure of whether it was professional pride or the fact that she had pleased the man she claimed to have no feelings for.

*************

When Rob had awoken, he found Nurse Sweet had already left and that there was someone in the room with him. It was still dark, but Rob could see a very faint glow coming from the corner of the room that he sensed the person was standing in.

"Who's there?" he called, surprised to find that he was not tired at all, despite the minimal amount of sleep he knew he had gotten.

"It's just me." Came a deep, monotonous voice that Rob recognized immediately as Giovanni's. "Ready to begin training?"

"What? Right now? Can't I sleep a little longer...maybe get some breakfast?"

"Do you feel tired? Hungry?"

Rob had to stop and think, and found to his astonishment that he felt wide awake and was not even the slightest bit hungry, even when he thought very hard about food.

"Wow...not at all." He said as he swung his feet over the side of the bed.

"Remarkable...but I suppose we can study your physiology more in-depth later. Right now we really have to get started, please get dressed and meet me in my study in five minutes."

Giovanni walked to the door, the faint glow following him. When the door opened and light streamed into the room Rob realized that the glow had been coming from the large jewel on the hilt of Giovanni's cane.

'Cool' he thought, wondering why the jewel was glowing.

As soon as the door closed, Rob opened his dresser to find the top drawer full of black boxer briefs and white socks. The second drawer was filled with black t-shirts that fit snuggly across Rob's broad chest and large arms. Finally, the third drawer contained a large number of dark blue jeans.

'Not a particularly vast selection' Rob thought as he put on his clothes.

"Sorry about the choice in wardrobe." Came a female's voice from the door, "Giovanni likes us to be in uniform; says it 'gives us an image'."

It was Nurse Sweet, dressed in her usual nurse's uniform.

"Now I see why he has you wearing that...not that I'm complaining." he said, winking.

Nurse Sweet could feel herself blushing ever so slightly. 'What is this guy doing to me?' she thought.

"You'd better hurry. Giovanni isn't keen on people being late." She said after shaking her head to rid herself of her thoughts.

"Right, well then I guess I'll see you later?"

"Of course." She said, and disappeared down the hallway.

Rob found his way into Giovanni's study where he was seated at his large desk. "Take a seat." he said as Rob walked in.

Rob sat down in the chair he had been in the day before and watched as Giovanni pressed a hidden button on the arm of his own large chair. With a jolt, the floor beneath the desk began to sink downward, taking Giovanni, Rob and the desk with it.

'How cliché' Rob thought as he watched the room disappear around him.

After a few moments they came to a halt and a few feet above them, the ceiling closed itself up and a single light came on, illuminating the space they found themselves in. The room was a simple ten foot square with stone floor and walls

Giovanni got up from his desk and Rob followed suit. Behind where Rob was seated was a single steel door with no handle. Giovanni reached into his pocket and pulled out a small rectangular piece of metal. To the right of the door was small slot with an illuminated red light above it. It was this slot where Giovanni inserted the metal card. The light switched from red to green and the steel door slid open. Inside was a room about half the size of the previous one.

Rob followed Giovanni inside, and as soon as the metal door closed, the room started moving not straight down, but at an angle. After about a minute, the room stopped and the door opened, causing Rob to gasp at the sight before him.

The elevator had lead the pair to a huge space filled vehicles all lined up. On the far left was a row of cars and trucks; many were recreational and outfitted with a number of modifications and others were expensive looking sports cars. Rob recognized the white charger he had arrived in with Nurse Sweet. To the right of the cars was a huge tank-looking thing with an array of receivers and transmitters on its roof. Its sixteen tires were at least ten feet tall and the long, gray body was at least forty feet. The main body was rectangular and about thirty five feet tall from the bottom of the tires to the top of the body. In the front of the body, about ten feet was made entirely of tinted glass.