The day had started with rain and Dr. Elsie Chapman sighed
deeply as she watched the strings of rain drops continue to fall. It was
like a heavy, gray curtain coming out a slate-colored sky where clouds
obscured whatever sunlight might have fallen on the city. The bay was covered
by a fine mist and the wind was pushing it to the shore. The weather reports
had announced a period of rain and sadly enough, they had been right. Since
early last evening the rain was all there seemed to be. You could believe
it was late afternoon but it was just after one p.m..
Elsie dropped a microwave dinner container into the trash
and cleaned away the fork and knife. The little dishwasher was nearly full
and she decided to let it run, even though she knew that there would be
few volunteers to clean out the dishes and stock them into the cupboards.
She grinned. Craven would suddenly develop an allergy to the detergent,
Monique would have something important to check and Randy would most likely
develop an interest in a new computer program. And Nick.... The grin disappeared
and she sighed.
Nick.
Worry replaced the moment of good-natured recollection
and she pushed the 'on' button. The dishwasher started its preprogrammed
cleaning of the dirty dishes.
Three months ago, Nick's life had changed profoundly.
Three months ago the subconscious link he had always had with Godzilla
had been activated by a designer drug called Rush and from then on, the
instinct and gut-feeling had transformed into an empathic link to the giant
creature. As fantastic as it sounded, it had had terrifying results. Nick
was now a first-row spectator when it came to emotional feedback from Godzilla,
he lived it live and in Dolby-surround, and he suffered with the great
lizard when it came to injuries sustained in battle. Monique had helped
him train a kind of empathic shield, but it only worked if he had enough
time to prepare. Usually, he didn't have it.
Everyone had helped Nick, had supported him, and Elsie
believed it was what kept the young biologist sane. She couldn't even start
to imagine what it meant to feel alien, reptilian emotions, and whenever
she witnessed what it was to Nick in the extreme, she felt pity and sadness
battle scientific interest. Of course, there were also the moments of happiness,
of pure and undiguised joy. Nick had a bond with the reptile, had always
had it, and Godzilla saw his parent in him. Their relationship was a strange
and beautiful one, seeing this gigantic creature become gentle and careful
around the tiny human figure, trusting Nick implicitly. Fear and awe warred
inside her when she watched Nick touch the behemoth, and there was a kind
of jealously that always rose when she witnessed the expression on his
face.
Love.
Not human love. A parental love. Nick would do everything
in his power to protect Godzilla and Godzilla returned the favor. No hesitation.
Trust and protection.
Elsie sighed and watched the rain fall, then gazed at
the stairs leading to the first floor. She was alone in the building, except
Nick, while Monique, Randy and Craven had decided to go out and test something
or other on Nigel and the Heatseeker. Nothing spectacular.
She walked downstairs and looked around, discovering
Nick at the great hangar doors. They were open, Nick leaning against the
wall and staring out into the rain. He was clad in his usual outfit and
had wrapped his coat around him. In a way Elsie was surprised that he was
already back again. He and Audrey had had a date last night and she had
expected him to spend the night and also today with his girl-friend. Maybe
the reporter had had a call to go somewhere. Wouldn't be a surprise. Audrey
was a bloodhound when it came to a good story.
"Hey, Nicky!" she called and walked over to him.
The rain was splashing down outside, obscuring the sight,
and the bay was nothing but a hazy darkness.
Nick turned slightly and looked at her, smiling briefly.
Elsie winced at the expression in his eyes. Something had happened. She
knew it. Female instinct. Then again, when it came to Nick, she always
knew when something had happened. He seemed to radiate it like a beacon.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah," was the sighed answer.
Okay, not okay, she translated. He was bothered and it
wasn't Godzilla. Nick's moods when it came to his protégé
were different. Three months had given her enough training to immediately
see what she was facing.
"Want to talk about it?" Elsie asked.
Nick hunched his shoulders more, arms wrapped around
his body as if to keep warm.
She waited.
"Do you think I'm a freak?" he suddenly asked.
Oh, no. Not that again. Elsie steeled herself against
the discussion that would follow. It wouldn't be the first since the Rush
incident.
"No, I don't think you're a freak. You know that. I clearly
remember beating it into your thick skull, Nick."
He smiled wryly.
"What brought that on?" Elsie stopped and frowned. "Audrey?"
she hazarded a guess.
Nick sighed.
Okay, she was getting closer. "You and her had
date last night. What happened?"
"We broke up," Nick mumbled, eyes on the rainy outside
again.
Elsie held back a comment about how that was the best
thing for Nick. Instead she tried to see past her not-so-friendly feelings
for the reporter. In her eyes, Audrey Timmonds was a part-time airhead
and major pain in the butt. She showed up where no one wanted her and she
left a trail of emotional destruction behind. Especially in Nick.
"We had trouble already," the biologist now mumbled.
"Always apart, running around in different parts of the world, never staying
in one place long enough to work on their relationship. A little kiss here,
holding hands there, sharing a few hours of closeness the next time." He
rested his head against the cold metal frame. "It was nothing that could
last forever. In the end, she was right."
Elsie felt something inside of her contract. As much
as she disliked Audrey, she considered Nick amongst the best friends she
had.
"Audrey said I had changed. I was no longer the Nick
she knew." Nick laughed dryly. "Right! I stopped being the Nick she knew
the day she dumped me when I proposed." Bitterness swung in his voice.
"She said I had changed and she is right. I can't tell her what changed
me. I can't tell her what I feel because sometimes I can't tell the difference
between what I feel and what he feels!"
Elsie knew that. But she also knew that Nick was working
on telling his own emotions and those of Godzilla apart. It worked nine
times out of ten.
"She suspected another woman, then accused me of being
married to my work in the end."
"Well, you are," she teased him lightly.
Nick chuckled sadly. "I've known Audrey for a long, long
time, Elsie. Ever since college. I haven't changed in that regard. She
can't understand my dedication to H.E.A.T. though. I told her that she's
dedicated to her work as well, but she argues that it's in her job description.
And what is mine? Sitting in a lab and counting cells?" Anger swung in
his voice.
"So she dumped you again last night?"
He nodded slowly. "In a way we agreed on ending our relationship.
At least the one on a personal basis. We are still friends." He trailed
off, sighing.
"And now you feel bad?"
"I don't know what I feel, Elsie. That's the problem.
I should be sad or disturbed or... or... heart-broken, but I'm not! It
makes me wonder how much of him influences me, how much I become like him...."
Elsie touched his arm, squeezing it gently. "You are
still the Nicky Tatopoulos we all love to tease. Godzilla might share part
of you, but he isn't changing the other part, the Nick that makes you into
who you are. You and Audrey... you shared something intense throughout
the hunt for the first Godzilla. It was a reborn relationship out of danger
and adventure. Now.... I won't say things have evened out or have become
routine, but it's not like before."
"Thank you, Dr. Chapman. You might consider counseling
when the paleontology business runs slow." He grinned.
Elsie shared the grin, taking delight in the sparkle
in his eyes. "We all do what we do best," she chuckled.
"Maybe you're right," Nick then sighed.
"Maybe? When have I ever been wrong?"
He raised an eyebrow. "You want a list?"
She gave him a soft blow to the upper arm. "Oh, shut
up!"
Nick leaned against the wall again, gazing flitting over
the rain-soaked concrete outside. "You are right," he then said softly.
"I had tried to forget her, even if I carried her picture with me, and
then she was back. She stole from me, but still.... she saved me as well.
She helped me save a whole city. And destroy Godzilla." He swallowed once.
"Maybe I thought I owed her something."
Elsie listened to the soft, even words, aware that Nick
was opening just a little bit and might shut up any second now.
"We had problems for a while now, never seeing each other,
only when monsters popped up and she managed to get to where we were. It
couldn't last." Nick scrubbed a hand over his eyes and released his pent-up
tension in a gusting breath. "Damn!" he whispered. Hooded eyes closed briefly.
"It's so easy to blame this bond for it.... but maybe it wasn't that at
all. Still, how would I explain this to Audrey? 'Honey, I'm prone to suffering
aggressive bouts and breakdowns, which is nothing to be alarmed about.
Might just be Godzilla fighting off an intruder. Oh, did I mention I'm
empathetically linked to a mutated lizard?'." Nick snorted.
Elsie sighed. Audrey wouldn't understand. Heck, what
woman would? She did because she knew about it all, had seen it coming
and had been around Nick before the Rush had activated the empathic link.
Elsie had witnessed the link blossom; she thought she understood. Especially
since she had been with Nick several times throughout the earlier, quite
massive breakdowns. She had been frightened, but that had made way to acceptance.
As long as Nick kept on training the shields, he would get better at handling
Godzilla.
And what if Audrey found out? Would she make a story
out of it?
"I should have seen it coming," Nick now said in a low
voice. "Maybe I did and tried not to see it."
Elsie became aware that she was rubbing his back in a
comforting way. Nick shivered a bit and hugged himself tighter.
"C'mon," Elsie said softly. "I'll make some coffee or
tea, and we can sit down where it isn't wet and cold."
He gave her a weak smile, but he followed.
"Thanks for listening, Elsie," Nick said as he sat down
on the couch.
"Hey, that's what friends are for. Something I told you
before as well. If you need an open ear, come to me."
"Thanks," he said quietly.
Elsie smiled warmly.
Suddenly he winced and grimaced, briefly screwing his
eyes shut. "Damn," Nick hissed softly and buried his head in his hands.
Elsie put down the mugs and wrapped her hand around Nick's
wrist. "Bad?" she asked.
"Okay.... just... something must have irked him," Nick
breathed, not looking up.
Elsie kept her contact to him. It was something they
had discovered after a while. If someone touched Nick and Nick registered
the touch, he would snap out of whatever Godzilla had dragged him in. If
he was alone when it happened, he would need much longer.
After a minute, Nick exhaled slowly, then raised his
head, smiling dimly. "Thanks," he murmured.
Elsie gave his wrist another squeeze, smiling. This hadn't
been such a big attack, just a brief encounter with Godzilla's rampaging
emotions -- and Nick was getting much better at shielding.
"You okay?"
He nodded slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah."
Elsie placed a mug of steaming hot tea in front of him
and Nick grimaced. "No coffee in your condition. Don't need you hyped and
on a caffeine trip." She smiled.
Nick muttered something under his breath and stared sullenly
at the tea. He hated the stuff. Okay, so he drank it if there was nothing
else, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Elsie patted his back and
smiled at his dark look. She sat down beside him and searched through the
old throw pillows.
"Aha!" Elsie triumphed and held up the remote.
Nick chuckled, sliding deeper into couch. Elsie switched
on the TV and flipped through the channels, finally coming up with an old
black-and-white monster movie. 'Panic in New York'. Very old, with good
animation and a plot that had holes the size of Godzilla's footprint. Still,
it was good entertainment. They both sipped their tea, snickered over some
of the plot, and generally had a good time. By the end of the movie, Elsie
found that Nick had nodded off.
She smiled softly and took the empty mug from his hand,
then draped a blanket over him. Nick mumbled and buried himself in the
blanket, but he didn't wake. Elsie settled back and watched TV, sitting
by Nick's side.
He would get over Audrey in time. She knew he would.
In a way, Nick already had, but his mind and his emotions were not agreeing
on it yet. Audrey would still be around, still hunt her exclusives and
try to catch monster sightings as well. Nick was stronger than that, though.
And he had enough to worry about, among it a giant lizard, to be held down
by petty problems like Audrey.
Jealousy speaking? she thought.
Maybe.
Protective feelings?
Definitely.
She chuckled softly. Nick was a colleague and a good
friend. She'd do everything to help and protect him.
Elsie yawned and snuggled into the couch as well. Outside
the rain beat against the windows, a perfect weather for watching old movies
and drinking tea.
