Story 19 - Part 4 - Inside or Outside

Dev knew he should not have laughed, but he could not help it. Just imagining Agent James dangling from a subway ceiling was funnier than it should have been. Perhaps it was because he had been in a good mood all day, but Agent Driver ended up laughing for several minutes. Kai looked amused as he finished the report, while Brad had a look of long suffering and annoyance.

“We’ll send in another team to go process the hideout,” Dev finally said after he composed himself. “I take it you two would rather not be underground anymore.”

“Open air and light is nice,” Agent Moto responded.

“I hope someone else gets caught in a trap,” Agent James grumbled.

“Well, I think you two have done great,” Dev said, ignoring Brad’s irate comment. “If you want to, you can call it a day. If you don’t want to, you can finish paper work or basically do what you want.”

The two agents seemed a little surprised, but they took the cue and wandered off. Agent Driver kicked his legs up onto his desk again and continued through his stack of paper work. He had set a new record for the amount of work that he had gotten done. This was one of the first times that he had been able to do paper work for an entire day and he was nearly caught up.

“When are you planning on leaving?” Agent Michaels asked.

Regg walked up and dropped a file onto Dev’s desk. Dev almost scowled until he realized that the file was already completed. Agent Michaels had always been better at paper work, especially the part about getting it done on time.

Ever since Dev had gotten his unofficial new post, Regg had also been given a pseudo upgrade. According to the agency, especially the older agents, working through Agents Driver and Michaels was as good as going through Director Kazei. Kazei was annoyed by that obvious breach in command at first, but after working with Dev for several months Kazei seemed to finally trust him.

“Hello?” Regg said, interrupting Dev’s thoughts. “Earth to space case. Are you going to stay inside all day?”

“Over my dead body,” Dev answered as he stretched out. “Two more reports and then I’m out of here. Hope you don’t mind covering for any of the remaining hours.”

“Not at all,” Regg shrugged. “I was planning on working a little late tonight anyway.”

“You’re not taking your karaoke girl out?”

“She’s out of town,” Regg sighed. “It’s easier to have a girl before you join the agency, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know,” Dev admitted. “You’d have to ask some of the other agents who have done both. Either way, if she’s worth it then you’ll find a way.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Not a clue. I was just trying to sound like I could give awesome advice or something of that nature.”

“Well, tell Amy I say hello,” Agent Michaels finally said with a shrug. “Anything you want me to do?”

“Tease James about the subway tunnel,” Dev suggested.

“That has already spread,” Regg grinned. “I think we’re getting through to him. Moto doesn’t need to be turned inside out as much anymore.”

“Neither does James or Kazei.”

“What’d you do to the director this time?”

“I went philosophical on him. He’ll be thinking in his office the rest of the time.”