80- Duplicity of Folsten

When morning came Quayleigh was surprised to find herself alone in the bed. The familiar warmth of Tau against her absent as she opened her eyes. Rolling over, she was relieved to see him sitting on the couch, sipping on a cup of coffee.

"Morning," she groaned as she rubbed her face into the pillow.

"Morning, my dear. How did you sleep?" he asked, setting down the paper he was holding.

"Dreamlessly. And comfortably. What time is it?"

"Just past 7:30."

"Oh good, plenty of time. What are you doing?"

"Going through Dylan's, I mean, my mail. I spotted the stack on the counter and retrieved the rest from the closet. I remembered that you had told me that I needed to go through it."

"Anything interesting?"

"I'm not entirely sure. Most of it seems to be advertisements and paper books full of things to buy. Some of the pictures are quite lovely though. I've been separating out anything I don't understand. I was hoping that when you had a moment, you would be able to explain them to me."

She smiled at him. There was something incredibly refreshing about seeing him sitting in nothing but his boxers, taking care of an everyday normal thing.

"I'd be happy to, but first, bathroom, and then, coffee."

"The pot finished brewing about ten minutes ago," he said as she crawled out of the bed.

"Where's Uru?"

"On the roof. There's something he enjoys about the early morning sun. Do you want me to call him down?"

"No, let him enjoy it. I'm certain he's going to find the rest of the day pretty boring in comparison," she replied as she headed into the bathroom.

Morning routine complete, and a fresh cup of coffee in hand, she joined Tau on the couch. The mundane nature of going over the papers, and explaining them to Tau, was relaxing and the delight of her morning only increased as the sight of the crisp, new, Athigoom Irá Tafięk and Diama'tara Svöghiir were revealed under the last of the mail that was now stacked off to the side.

"I still can't believe you bought these for me. Cole must have charged you a small fortune for them."

"I'm not entirely certain. I gave him my wallet and he used one of the cards from it. He said it was accepted, so I must have been able to afford it."

"Which card?"

"The black one with the gold numbers."

"Remind me to pay that off later. Last thing you need is to pay interest on these two. And yeah, I'm certain you can more than afford them, but you need to start paying attention to what things actually cost. It's the only way you're ever going to learn not to go overboard with your spending," she said as she looked over at the clock. "Bother, it's already time for me to get ready. Folsten should be here in about a half hour."

"Are you nervous?" he asked as she groaned and leaned against him.

"No, not yet anyways. I'm sure that will change once she arrives though."

He kissed the top of her head and gave her hand a light squeeze.

"I know why you're doing this, but if it's too much, don't put yourself through it for my sake," he whispered as she turned and looked at him.

"I'm doing this as much for you as for myself. Knowing that we can safely separate you from this body will give me peace of mind and protecting you so we can live free while you're here, will make all of this worth it."

They shared a short, passionate kiss, before she changed into a pair of jeans, a long black sleeved shirt, and a light grey sweater. Returning to her spot on the couch to put her socks on, she asked, "Any idea when Cole and Kyffin are going to get here?"

"No, but given when they left, I'm not expecting them until after ten," he replied as she returned to leaning against him. "How are you feeling about what happened last night?"

"Bothered, but I'd rather not talk about for a few days."

"When you are ready, I am here."

"I know. You're the only one I never feel like I have to hide my vulnerabilities from. You've always carried my burdens with me." Kissing his cheek, she lingered for a moment, her temple resting against his. "It's why I gave my heart to you. No matter the torment I'm feeling, you've continued to keep that part of me safe. You are my strength, Tau. You give me strength. I love you."

"And I you," he replied, stroking his hand over her head as she turned and looked into his eyes.

"When shall we be leaving?" Uroxuz asked, having materialized into the living room, behind them, spoiling the intimacy of the mood.

"Just waiting on our ride to get here," she said, turning around to face him. "Are you ready to spend a long boring day with me?" she questioned, motioning for him to join them on the couch.

Slithering up next to them, he laid his head in her lap and she began to rub at the back of his neck and behind his head plate causing him to purr.

"I'm sure he'll find a way to keep himself occupied," Tau said with a light chuckle.

Their time alone together was brief, but valued, and at 9:30 sharp, Folsten called for Quayleigh to come down, as she was waiting at the back door for her. Pulling on her shoes, Quayleigh, kissed Tau goodbye and Uroxuz set his hands on her shoulders before vanishing from sight. Putting on her coat, she rushed out of the building to Folsten's car.

"Quayleigh!" Kyffin called out before she had a chance to get in.

"Hey! He's upstairs waiting for you," she told him as he jogged towards her.

"Be safe today," he remarked as he abruptly hugged her and whispered into her ear, "Renford is the Starbitten."

"Thanks," she whispered back as he released her and gave her a nod, Cole coming up behind them.

"Morning cher," he said before leaning down and waving at Folsten through the open door, "Ma'am."

Quayleigh gave Cole a warm hug, speaking quietly so only he could hear, "Uru's with me, I'm going to be just fine."

Taking a step back, Cole set his hand on top of her head, "You go have a good day. You need anything, you know how to reach us."

"I do. You two have a good day too," she said as she got into the car and closed the door.

Folsten tossed a wave as she pulled away from the curb.

"Good friends of yours?"

"Yes. Well, family really," she replied as she fastened her seatbelt. "Cole, the red haired one with the charming accent; I've known him for years. The other one was Kyffin, Dylan's older brother."

"Ah, that explains all the hugging. Bit too personal for my liking but with their looks, I might even make an exception. Especially for that red head," Folsten remarked with a smirk.

"I'm not about to argue that point, but just a warning, he's older than you probably think," Quayleigh replied wondering what Folsten's motivations were.

She had come across as calculating the previous day, and now she was playing at girl chat, talking about the hot guys, and acting like they were friends, and something about it didn't sit right.

The overly friendly natured conversation continued on their drive, and Quayleigh did her best to play along, staying as personable and friendly as she could, even when Folsten seemed to be pushing the boundaries of what Quayleigh thought to be appropriate, further reinforcing her initial thought, that this was just a ploy, a way to test her and see how much trust there was between them. It was as fake as the interest she showed in Cole. Not that Quayleigh thought it impossible, Cole was handsome, charming, and she could listen to him speak all day long, but it was the fact that Folsten's eyes, and the friendly waves, had all been directed towards Kyffin from the moment he had approached her and that gave it away.

When they arrived at the station, Folsten lead her inside to the conference room which was just off of the main squad room near the entrance, and after a short briefing about the days coded phrases, Harlowe came into the room.

"Good morning," he said, as gruff as usual, but Folsten's reaction to his presence, although subtle, told Quayleigh more than she wanted to know.

They were awkward with each other, and it was obvious that they had slept together. Folsten wasn't as good at hiding her reactions as she thought and Harlowe had no idea how to navigate the situation, even calling her 'Hayden' more than once and correcting himself after. He was clumsy, and for their affair to be kept secret, he needed to be completely on point. However, the struggle, made him far less intimidating.

"That covers everything on our end," he said, finishing up the paperwork which included the rules, regulations, and schedules.

He gave Quayleigh a station owned cellphone with the teams contact information already programed in, which was a nice touch, and a proper ID tag and new lanyard, that had to be worn at all times when in the station.

"Do you have any questions?" Folsten asked as Quayleigh attached the badge to the lanyard.

She did have questions, lots of them, but none that pertained to the situation or what they had just finished discussing, so, she shook her head, "No, all good here. Thank you."

"Okay then, time for the tour," Folsten replied.

"I'll leave you to it, and catch up with you both, once the Archivist arrives," Harlowe remarked as he left the room, Folsten watching him as he went.

Quayleigh wanted to ask, poke the bear a bit, but opted to bite her tongue. The last thing she wanted Folsten to know was that she was watching just as closely. She was used to people assuming little of her, and women like Folsten, they were the rule, not the exception; duplicitous at her very core.

Standing up, she put the lanyard around her neck, being careful not to hit her eye patch. Even though her eye looked as it should, she had decided to wear the eyepatch to normalize it as a part of her usual appearance, knowing that it would become easily overlooked.

Folsten walked her around the station and went over the coded phrases for a third time, before finishing the tour at Skye's lab, where she was briefly introduced to the woman, Skye Landry, who was quick to apologize again for what had happened the previous night.

"Is that the computer?" Quayleigh asked, motioning to the large glass computer case connected to the massive monitor.

"Yeah, that's it," Skye replied.

"I want to see the files he had on me; do you mind?" Quayleigh could have truly cared less about the quantity of the footage, one hundred or one thousand, it made no difference. ONE was an absolute, irreprehensible violation to her privacy, and it was enough for her to be glad Three was dead. This was more about testing the limits of her leeway at the station. She had been asked to go into the MET and gather information for them, but she still had no idea what they would share in return.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. This doesn't have anything to do with the case you were hired to work on," Skye replied, and she had her answer.

"No need to explain. I was just curious to know the extent that my life would be ruined when the men out there get wind of what's on that. And please, do me the courtesy of not lying and telling me that you're the only one who's ever going to see any of it. I'm pretty certain I can already guess at least two men here that will be sitting down for the show, whether they want to or not."

"Yes, Mazurka and Kavak will have access to any video that has relevance to their case, but I don't suspect yours will. And it's not like we enjoy watching all the fucked-up things these creeps have on their computers. For the most part, I use my video analyzing system to watch all this stuff for us. It helps to identify the videos that don't fit the parameters I set when looking for specific types of evidence. In the case of your videos, I'll use facial recognition to tag videos that you appear in as a waste of time. They will still be kept here as evidence, but only videos with activity that you don't appear in, will be watched by others."

"You mean it?"

"Yes. And if that changes, I'll make sure you know."

"In which case, I owe you an apology. I'm sorry about what I said. Thank you for explaining how your system works. It honestly makes me feel a lot better," Quayleigh said as she bowed her head to Skye.

"No worries. I get it. What he did, that can't be easy to deal with, and then to add the worry of a bunch of detectives possibly seeing it all too, it's bound to affect you. At least now you know, that probably isn't going to happen."

"It's more of a relief than you know," Quayleigh replied. "Getting back to why I'm actually here though. Is there any reason you can't show me the videos that are relevant to this case?"

"I'll have to get authorization first, but I don't see why it wouldn't be approved. Until then though, I can give you this," Skye said as she picked up a file from her desk and handed it to her. "Those are the pictures of the Karakaram."

"The what?" Quayleigh asked, confused as to why they had given Uroxuz such a strange name.

"Sorry, we are calling it a Karakaram because of a story Kavak shared with us," Skye explained.

"Oh, okay. I'll have to have him tell it to me when he has the time," she replied as she opened the folder. Seeing they were the same pictures that Yechiel had shown to her before, she wasted no time in examining them. "Thanks for these. They will remind me of why I'm doing this."

"I'm sorry but we are needed back at the conference room. The liaison from the MET should be arriving soon," Folsten remarked, having looked up at the clock.

"Do I have enough time to use the washroom?"

"Yeah, of course," Folsten replied, "it's this way."

Biding Skye farewell, Quayleigh followed Folsten to the washroom, leaving her there after giving her directions back to the conference room. Quickly looking around the bathroom, to ensure she was alone, she ducked into one of the stalls.

"Uru?"

"I'm here," he whispered appearing to rise from her clothing as vapor.

"I'm sorry if this has been boring for you, but hopefully it's about to get more interesting. Don't hesitate to do what we talked about. If you sense anything off, let me know."

"This is different, but it is not boring," he replied as he rubbed his nose against her cheek. "I have found intrigue in the woman. Rotten fruit, not to be trusted. Her words are hollow and empty. Her smile is bitter. She reeks of deceit."

"I figured as much. She's been far to chatty today. Acting like we're friends but asking the wrong questions. She's been testing me, and I've been trying my best to play ignorant, like I don't see what's really going on."

"You are doing well. It is best for her believe that you trust her."

"Keep a close eye on her for me?"

"Yes. I will do as you ask. If she becomes a problem, I will devour her at your whim." He purred and rubbed his cheek to hers as she ran her hands over his vaporous form.

"Thank Uru. You're the only one I can trust here. Now, if you don't mind, could you please wait on the other side of the door for me? I actually need to use the bathroom. And be careful, there are cameras in here too."

Uroxuz nodded and faded as he moved towards the door leaving Quayleigh to believe she was alone. After taking care of business, she washed her hands and felt Uroxuz's crawl back onto her shoulder's.

"Comfortable?" she whispered and felt him tap twice on her shoulder, letting her know that he was. Thankfully, aside from any pressure he willfully exerted on her, he was completely weightless, and that was perfectly fine with her.

Taking a moment to compose herself, she took a glance in the mirror, adjusted her eyepatch and smoothed out her jacket.

"As good as it's going to get. Time to meet the Archivist, you ready?"

She felt a heavy squeeze of her shoulder and a nuzzle against her cheek.

"Then let's do this," she muttered as she left the bathroom.