“Charlotte,” I frowned, “Look up at me.  Meet my eyes.”

Reluctantly, she did.

“I’m not stupid,” I told her.  “And as cute as that whole cliche is, you and I both know you saw everything.

This is serious.”

Yeah. No ignoring this.

She looked at the scene to our left, the doctor, Bryce, Lisa and Minor.  Leaning towards me, she whispered, almost plaintive, “Why did you bring me here?”

In part to have this conversation, I guess. Doesn’t hurt to get checked over by the doc, though.

“Because you’d already seen too much.  There was no avoiding it.  We couldn’t hide it from you without leaving you behind, and neither of us wanted that to happen, right?”

Fair.

“You don’t need to do anything?” She made it a question, a request.

That depends entirely on how much Taylor can trust you.

Honestly, I like the idea of this Arc ending up as Taylor collecting civilian subordinates, with Sierra, Bryce and Charlotte all ending up living in the Hive (although Charlotte might have a family to go back to) and working for Taylor.

I don’t think it’s going to happen, especially with Bryce, but I think it’s a neat concept.

“You’re the first person who knew me that knows about this.”  I paused.  “Or knew of me.”

Huh, yeah. In all the other cases, it’s been the other way around, with people finding out who Skitter is under the mask rather than finding out who Taylor is when she puts one on.

(The mask needs not be physical.)

She looked down at her hands, “I- I don’t… I didn’t see anything.”

Sure you didn’t. Just keep up that story towards others.

I moved into a cross legged position on the bed, adjusting the pillow behind me to keep the headboard from rubbing against my back.  I pointed, and told Charlottte, “Sit.”

Good job making her less spooked.

Although that might not be your goal. The spook in her might be your best bet to keeping your secret, besides gratitude.

She obeyed, but she sat on the edge with her legs dangling, her body twisted to face me, as if she wanted to be able to run at a moment’s notice.

I don’t think John Cleese would let her.

I feel like it says something that I thought about that before the six Coildiers standing outside the door.

After some consideration, I frowned and told her, “I don’t know what to do with you.”

Honesty. Good starting point.

Dr. Q ordered the remainder of Minor’s squad to leave until they were called in, which meant there were more people standing guard outside.  

Well, at least we know no one’s going to be bursting in through that door anytime soon.

I wondered if it was reaching the point where the guards would attract more problems just by virtue of drawing attention to themselves than we’d face otherwise.

Hm, fair. Though I guess John Cleese knows what he’s doing. The guards too, for that matter.

Charlotte looked spooked.  Maybe rightly so.  She had to be aware that she was privy to information and details to a degree that we couldn’t just let her go.

Yeah, which would be spooky enough if that information didn’t involve someone being a villain.

I could see Dr. Q grow more irritated with every person that filed into the office.

Oh my cod ahaha

Hiya, dr. Cleese. Got a bunch of people for you to patch up over here.

Ten people in total.  There were the eight that we’d all packed into the car and fake ambulance Coil had sent.  Lisa, me, Bryce, Charlotte, Minor, Senegal, Jaw and Brooks.  Two more, our drivers, had stepped in to verify everything was okay before leaving to stand guard outside the front of the building.

Ah, yeah, that’s a lot of people.

Considering the size I’ve been imagining Dr. Cleese’s office as all this time, my mental image has it quite crowded right now. No one can swing their arms without hitting someone else.

Of course, I don’t think the size has actually been specified, so that’s just how it looks in my head.

The good doctor took one look at our group, ordered us to put Bryce on the first bed, then sighed and said he’d patch the rest of us up when he was done with the boy.

Of course. The doctor can’t just let them walk out in the state they came in.

First bed? Sounds like the room is large enough for at least two beds, then.

Lisa suggested me for the next in line, which means I was made to sit down on the bed in the far corner.  It wound up working out on several levels, because it gave Lisa a chance to talk privately with Minor, and it gave me a chance to have words with Charlotte.

Ooh, nice.