by Sydnie MacElroy
[Hoover's Hollow]
"What do you think?" Leo asked. He contemplated the beer in front of him, but didn't drink any. Under the circumstances, he wanted his reflexes at one hundred percent.
"About working with the Crosses?" Zenya asked, a derisive snort working it's way into the question. "Do you really have to ask?"
Leo shook his head. "No, but I want to hear it in your own words."
"All right." Zenya leaned back into the corner of the booth and reached across the table to take Leo's hand. "They're evil and they're dirty. There's no way to work with them without getting some of that dirt on us. The very idea infuriates me, but..." She trailed off.
"But?"
"It may not be all bad."
Leo looked at her, startled by that. "You're in favor of it? How..."
"I didn't say that," Zenya corrected. "I just think that if we're ever going to have a chance to get close enough to them... this might be it. Look at the things they've done. Things we know they've done, and we can't prove any of it. Why? Because we can't get close enough to get the proof."
"We've still got that tape," Leo said, patting his pocket where it was safely tucked.
"Yes, but no corroborating evidence. The Cross family is like a closed society and now, they're offering us a chance to get, if not inside, then at least a few steps closer. I don't like it any more than you do. I would just as soon see the whole lot of them wiped off the face of the earth, like they did to our families. But short of resorting to their tactics, I don't see any other choice."
"Not so long ago, that's exactly what you were ready to do. Changed your mind?"
Zenya shrugged. "Feeling a bit more cautious lately, I guess." She squeezed his hand. "Although, if I knew we could get away with it..."
Leo chuckled, but a moment later turned serious again. "So, what's your final analysis?"
"I don't know. I can't help thinking that if we accept their offer, we're just doing their work and setting ourselves up for them."
"Maybe we should just sleep on it and discuss it again in the morning," Leo suggested.
Zenya grinned. "You must have read my mind."
*****
[walking home]
"So, are you going to tell me what was missing from your desk?"
Leo shrugged. "Nothing important," he said.
"If you don't want to tell me, say so. But don't tell me it was nothing," Zenya said. "I know better."
"I didn't mean it that way. I'm just not sure what it's significance is anymore."
Zenya frowned. "Docker?"
Leo nodded. "A little research into his background. I couldn't find much. He's slick, I have to give him that much. Strange isn't it. Docker and the Crosses have a falling out. Suddenly, Docker, or we're assuming it was Docker, hands us this tape implicating the Crosses. The Crosses are offering to help us, and a couple of impostors posing as you and me appear and make off with my research into Docker's background. Makes an interesting little triangle, doesn't it? Coincidence?"
"Too much coincidence. What does it all add up to?"
"Some third party or parties unknown playing sadistic games with our DNA and using the results against us."
"That was a rhetorical question, but since you brought up the clones, we might as well talk about that. They might be able to copy appearance, but they can't duplicate personality."
"But just to be safe," Leo continued for her, nodding, "we ought to have some way of checking. A code word or something."
"That's just what I was thinking."
Leo put an arm around her and whispered in her ear as they walked. Zenya blushed and grinned.
"Was that a suggestion, or your code word?" she asked.
"Both."