Amid The Dreadful Silence

[Wesley Evans]

Dulcet tones overhead sounded off a chip tune version of "The Girl from Ipanema" at a calming decibel for the sole person  of the elevator that was headed downward.  For the first time in Wesley's life he chose not to hum along, as his mind was preoccupied with memories of his yet to be confirmed dead brother.  Despite the morose nature he had been in on a daily basis he was resolute in his search, forgoing rest so much that he had become visibly ragged.  His search brought to him to the morgue now, having come to it via process of elimination.  No hospital had received a corpse or injured civilian that matched Kyle's description and Wesley's reliance on mystical means was coming to a screeching halt.  Now he was simply crossing off as many possibilities as he could think of.  His current hunch that his brother may have already been found and processed, but via some error he wasn't added to the list of those lost that fateful day.  While he hoped that wasn't the case, he had to make sure.

 

  The elevator came to a slow, silent stop before the music dulled down to an inaudible level.  Next, the door retracted.  He stepped in to the hallway that was revealed once the door opened and began a brisk walk ( or rather what he would consider a brisk walk what with the cane he was still hobbling with his weight on).

 

The magus hoped to make it as far as he could before being stopped for questioning by more workers in the morgue.  Earlier he pulled a Sam and Dean Winchester and simply waved his badge while claiming he was there on official ARMA business, making sure to avoid answering any actual questions like "Why weren't we notified" and "Why would they say you could search the cadavers unattended".  It was sloppy work, but Wes was exhausted and had long sense stopped caring about procedure.  Unfortunately the desk he tried to pass to his right held an assistant who was staring at him while whispering into a phone.  He could tell she was being told to stall him, so he started reaching for his badge again.  The woman cleared her throat and hung up the receiver before pushing back her wheeled chair to stand and  address Wesley.

 

"Look, I'll be out of you guys' hair as soon as I do a check up.  Official ARMA business.  You understand."  The lady followed behind Wesley, heels clicking as she picked up her pace to match his.  "Yes but... but actually... you're supposed to wait for our chief medical examiner to sign off on things like this, you can't just wander in!" she interjected without stepping ahead of him.

 

Wesley turned only slightly to acknowledge her before looking ahead again.  "So go get him.  I'll be done by the time you get back.  Oh, and I wouldn't say no to a coffee. "  he said with a long yawn.  The woman made no attempt to step ahead of Wesley.  She only continued to complain as she followed behind.  By the time Wesley arrived at the end of a hall he didn't notice the large double door entrance required a punch code to open.  It seemed Wesley would be waiting anyway.

 

"Well?  You're the help, right?  So help.  Go get someone who can open this door.  Quick.  Like a bunny.  Scoot."   

[Keeley Saunders]

The beginning of February was already a little chillier than it had been in January. Keeley didn't mind the cold so much, given that she worked in an environment that was purposely chilled, but that didn't mean it was the most pleasant thing. It meant that the sky was dismal, the winds were brisk, and nobody cared to even pretend to be friendly as they huddled inside their coats. The weather also made people more unpleasant than usual. This time of year though was the most difficult for Keeley; winter having been Micah's favorite time of year, especially when there was snow to play in, and shutting out those memories were difficult. Luckily the events of the multiple bombings just a little over 2 weeks ago offered a distraction in the form of increased work.

The Chief Medical Examiner was a strict taskmaster in general, but ever since he'd been busting their balls more than usual. Everyone was working, breaks were not being taken, and there'd been enough law enforcement, and related enforcement factions, through the doors at such a speed that it left everyone winded try to remember who worked where these days. The workload was more exhausting than usual and she'd been sleeping little since the night of the bombings. Her coat was a little rumpled, her hair barely contained in its bun, and there were bags under her eyes. The only upside was that the bruises from those minor injuries sustained during the bombing had begun to heal including the scratches on her face. They were almost completely gone, but stood out still from her weariness.

 

And that left Keeley feeling extra cranky at the sound of someone being rude and bossy. . . to her own Coroner's Assistant no less. Stepping out of her office, she leveled a stare on him that had chilled more superior men to the bone.

[keeley]I would appreciate it if you'd use a different tone when speaking to my staff. Alana is not a secretary. She is a Coroner's Assistant. You will treat her with the proper respect or I can contact your agency to send another agent.[/keeley] Slipping her hands into her pockets, Keeley stopped speaking to let him digest the bluntly delivered words then nodded to Alana, [keeley]Go back to your work. I'll handle this business.[/keeley]

 

Alana gave a nod then hurried off just as Keeley turned back to the man.

 

[keeley]Now, I'm Dr. Saunders, the ME. What is your matter of business here today?[/keeley]

 

She stepped toward the door, but didn't remove her hands from the pockets of her lab coat to input the code. There wasn't a smile given at the moment either; her usual politeness put aside until this Agent tabled his attitude. The ones that treated her, and her staff, politely and with respect were usually received more amicably. If this one changed his tone and stopped making demands then she'd be less cold, but until then she continued to stare levelly at him.

[Wesley Evans]

Dark eyes rolled to the right, accompanying a light sigh before Wesley decided it was necessary to see who was addressing him.  He was in no mood to pander.  He hadn't the patience for it.  Not anymore.  The annoyance hadn't reached what was normally intolerable levels for Wesley, but then, Wesley wasn't himself anymore.  Exhaustion had set in.  Frustration came shortly behind it.  

 

As he pivoted on his heal he outstretched his hand for his coffee only to notice that the young woman was walking in the opposite direction.  Likely to get his coffee that she forgot.  

 

The woman continued to speak to Wesley in a no-nonsense manner, which was something he was prepared for.  There were very few instances where Wesley had the guts to throw his weight around with his badge.  In fact, the only time he ever did so prior to his brother's disappearance was once to scare off a hobo sleeping in a neighbor's garage, and that was only effective due to him convincing the man he was a policeman.

 

"Oh, I assure you I gave your assistant all due respect."  muttered Wesley as he turned.  All due respect.  That always seemed like an insult to Wesley.  Due respect.  The respect they have coming to them.  A specific amount.  As if to imply that he could have respected her more... if she deserved more than her job prestige would entail.   He wondered if the woman picked up on that... but only for a second.  He didn't care if he hurt this girl's wittle feewings.

 

...until he finally glanced up at the glowering woman.  The threat was stern and her posture was imposing but that wasn't the scary part.  Her blurting out titles and station didn't frighten him.  And the one thing he should've been most frightened of-- the fact that she could contact ARMA and his cover would be blown, didn't alert him either.  What gave him pause was the look in her eyes.  Not the haggard look that Wesley himself was sporting due to lack of sleep.  It was something he couldn't quite place, but felt familiar enough to him that he couldn't mistake it.  It was oddly enough, the "I brought you into this world, and I can take you back out!" look that his mother gave him when he was being a hard-headed little asshole.  Perhaps she was a teacher or a mother.

 

Whatever it was, it hit Wesley somewhere he wasn't prepared to defend, and it disarmed him.  He face faulted and stood up straight before clearing his throat.  "N-no need for that ma'am.  Miss.  Doctor?  Sorry."  blurted the now alert and less bitchy Wesley.  "I just need to check your most recent... arrivals."  he said, still incapable of saying corpse. 

[Keeley Saunders]

Weren't they always sorry after they got called out on their behavior?

 

Keeley rolled her eyes, doing her best not to snap at the man again. By now he at least seemed contrite which was all she could ask for at this point.

 

[keeley]You don't owe me an apology. You owe Alana one. Send her a basket of chocolate muffins and all will be forgiven.[/keeley]

 

Alana loved muffins. She was always eating them. Plus it'd save Keeley from having to pick up some every so often, and putting on weight in the process. Muffins were hard to work off.

 

[keeley]Yes, Doctor Saunders. Follow me.[/keeley]

 

She opened the door using her key card. Stepping through, she held the door open and once he had come inside would let it close. Without another word Keeley walked him toward the area for new arrivals. The majority of bodies were from the explosion, and a lot of them weren't even whole bodies. While he looked she checked over some paperwork on a few clipboards.

 

Letting him look for as long as he needed, but keeping just enough of an eye on him to be sure that he didn't mess with anything he wasn't allowed. She didn't need any evidence being compromised.

 

THE END