Page 18 of Tooth and Nail

“It was, trust me. I mean, think about it, fellas. Here I am, a gay drone being forced to fuck the queen day in and day out. It was torture. Between that and the tryphophobia, I lived my entire life in hell. I wanted to dieallthe time. Finally, my doctor convinced the queen to let me go. Thank God for him. She granted my request on compassionate grounds, I moved to San Francisco where there were plenty of other gay men. I lived as a human for many years after that fucker, Steve Jobs, stole my life,” Derwin lamented.

“But you left Silicon Valley at some point?” Ari said.

“Yeah. I left. I walked away but the job…I mean, how do you create the new world and then simply walk away? The personal computer was the new world,” Derwin said. “How do you leave that?” He hung his head, shaking it slowly. “I did, though.”

“You walked away to keep from making a stink and drawing attention to yourself,” Eoghan concluded. He’d said it before but hearing Derwin confess how it devastated him was hard to hear.

Derwin nodded. “I walked away quietly, went to live on Fire Island in New York for a while. Had a great time of it until goddamned Silicon Valley called my name again and I went back into tech. The whole world had changed but I had the time of my life catching up with it again,” he said.

Eoghan squeezed his eyes shut for a split second before looking back at the shifter. “They came looking for you at some point.” It was a statement, not like a usual back and forth, probably since it was relatively informal.

“Yes, when my new company’s CEO came up with the brilliant idea of mandatory corporate housing.”

“Your new company tried to make you live in a pod which led you to the I.S.R., right?” Ari asked.

“That’s right. I flipped out. I stung the property manager and two others, putting them all in the hospital before finally turning to the U.S. Marshals I.S.R.,” Derwin said. “I didn’t have another choice at that point. I’d heard from a friend that I was being hunted so I went into the program and was doing okay there until another drone who’d retired from the queen’s service, recognized me one day. As it turned out, Her Majesty had always regretted her decision to let me go. Maybe she figured enough time had gone by that no one would notice if I simply went missing.”

“Can you prove that?” Eoghan asked.

Derwin nodded. “I think so. When she outsourced my murder to the bumblebees, there had to be some sort of written exchange. If I somehow find that, then, I’ll have all the proof I need for the I.S.R. to lodge a formal complaint against the queen with the Agency.”

“Good. The Agency is good at handling the politics of that sort of aggression toward an individual,” Eoghan encouraged.

“She had me kidnapped with the sole intention of having me tortured before my murder. As far as I know, that’s against all Agency protocols and it can put a lot of pressure on her. So, you see, I’m right…she really is a jealous bitch and couldn’t stand the fact that I’d moved on without her fine queen bee ass and found fun and frolic with my own gender. She’s a monster!”

Eoghan agreed but he wanted more information before they got back to the office. “And you said it was bumblebees who kidnapped you?”

“Yes! They broke into my apartment, kidnapped me, and locked me in that horrible place last night. I shifted immediately and because of the tryphophobia, I couldn’t shift back, even when the museum opened, and those tourists came in. I was in complete shock when you guys came to rescue me today. If it wasn’t for you and how kind you were to me, Eoghan, I don’t know what I would have done. Anyone other than you might have used that bangstick to put me down.”

“How did they get in to disable the alarm system?” Ari asked. “The Broad must have a crazy, sophisticated security system, right?”

“I disabled it,” Derwin said.

“What? Why?” Eoghan asked.

“Because they threatened to kill, Sheldon, if I didn’t, and they know I have the technological knowhow to go in and disable the alarm in no time.”

“The bumblebees must have had bangsticks, then?” said Ari.

“They did. They left Sheldon trussed up in our apartment.” Derwin let out a little sob.

“Don’t you worry, Derwin. We’ll get someone out there to make sure he’s safe and brought to you. You’ll be reunited soon, just wait and see,” Ari said, patting him on the shoulder again.

Eoghan nodded his approval at Ari’s comment. He was highly impressed with his rookie partner…then again, he really wasn’t a rookie at all. In his heart, he already knew he’d have to stop referring to him as a civilian even though it had been a few hours since he’d thought of him in those terms. Ultimately, if he had to have a partner or get transferred outof the I.S.R. and bumped back down to civilian life, having Aristotle Brown by his side, was working out just fine so far.

Chapter Five

When they arrived back in the office, Wordy was waiting to collect their backpacks with the bangsticks and gauntlets. To Eoghan’s delight, he also held two cups of coffee which he handed off to them before turning to Derwin.

“I didn’t know if you drank coffee, Derwin,” Wordy said, pointing at the door to the coffee lounge on the basement level. “I’m happy to make some for you.”

Derwin shook his head. “That’s real nice of you, Wordy, but I don’t usually do coffee. If you have something sweet in there, I’ll take it, though.”

Wordy nodded. “Hot chocolate?”

“With marshmallows?” the honeybee asked hopefully.

“I think I can make that work for you.”

---