[center][hr][h1]Henry Olin[/h1]
[hr][/center]

"Got any threes?"

[b]"Go fish."[/b]

There was a sigh on the other side of the communicator and the edges of Henry's lips curled up into a sly smile. But they soon fell as there was a celebratory chuckle on the other side of the com.

"Got any sevens?"

[b]"Damnit Eli."[/b]

They played on an honor code. One they had both agreed on. And it worked. They each carried their own cards for times like this.
[b]"That's a book for you." [/b]Henry sighed. He was losing. Badly. Some days peanuts, some days shells.

"Punch it, lizardman."

[b]"Yeah, yeah, yeah..."[/b]

There was a moment of silence between the two. When suddenly some other NEST agent chimed into their chat.
"These channels are for NEST business only. Go Fish is not NEST business."

Henry frowned.

[b]"One banger eight turbo."[/b]

That meant channel 18. Eli grumbled and Henry tapped a few times on the radio terminal of his touchpad.

[b]"Testing. Eli, come in?"[/b]

"Rodger under over. So how're things going over there?"

Henry sniffed, and whipped his snout with the sleeve of his nest suit. He tapped another button on the touchpad and switched to metahuman detector function. He hoped he wasn't catching a cold. When he gets sick it hits him like a train.

[b]"Well there are like, thirty meta humans around here. Counting NEST agents. Maybe seventy or eighty normals?"[/b]

There was some grumbling on the other side. And crinkling that sounded like a bag of chips being opened. Henry's thoughts drifted to the food longingly. He wasn't particularly hungry, but...

"Know any of them?"

[b]"Uh, lemme check. Hold on..."[/b] Henry said, selecting the radar application again. [b]"Show me identities."[/b] Henry said to his touchpad. Nothing happened. He furrowed his eye-ridge. [b]"Show me... Identities."[/b] He repeated. When nothing happened again- he shook his arm. [b]"Come on you stupid piece of-"[/b]

"High tech and expensive equipment."

[b]"Show me identities!"[/b] Henry just about yelled into the touchpad. He was positioned way above the people below on a ledge of decorative marble just large enough for him to cling to. It was just out of the way enough to not draw anyone's attention. Finally it began loading. Henry then groaned. Spinning color wheel of death. When the identities (finally) loaded, several names came up. Nothing that really drew his attention- save for Meifeng Vuhong.

Huh. The Vuhongs were here.

[b]"Hold on a sec, Eli."[/b] Henry said into the mic. Eli grumbled through the chips in his mouth in indifferent confirmation.
Henry tapped his touchpad some more and switched to the common channel for those undercover agents. Every NESTy was given and earpiece. His partner had just dropped off the ceiling to give a newcomer theirs. But they didn't have their touchpad- more than likely. So they were on the default channel for this event. The creatively chosen channel one.

[b]"Hey, hey, hey fellow NESTies! This is Dragonfly. You have a big man above watching out for you!"[/b]
He saw a few NEST agents look up. He saw one- Rob, an agent that was literally made of rubber, look up and flip him the bird.
[b]"Love you too Rob. Welcome to the squad, Li. If any of you scrubs need us- channel 18. Signing out."[/b]

He then switched back to channel 18. Eli was coughing. Henry laughed.

"The fucking sign in noise scared the shit out of me-" Eli said in between coughs.

[b]"Hey, how's Harmon doing?"[/b] Henry said, changing the subject. There was another pause as Eli cleared his throat. He could hear some tapping on the other side of his screen. He imagined the lanky nerd at his so called battle station- tapping away on glowing keys in a dark room with a few others hooked up to their own computers and talking to their own NEST operatives. His hair was probably a mess and his skin was probably extra pale. He could only imagine the bags under his eyes. The last several days days had been especially tough on everyone in Black Fall. And to be honest, it kinda sucked. Henry's NEST badge used to be something that was honored by those he knew and some of the people who used to be happy to see him were now hesitant to even look his way.

Eli is an insomniac. It's why NEST hired him. Henry often went for 30 consecutive hours or so without sleep on a semi regular basis. And Eli tended to be awake that amount of time no sweat. This gave the two a lot of time to bond as friends and co-workers when they were first paired together. Henry wasn't sure how often he slept. All he knows is the man is a genius, the insomnia isn't healthy, and he owes him a few beers. Since the incident though, Eli has worked to take Henry off the streets. Something he had to pull strings to do. When Henry had woken up after his long ass nap he had been alerted that he was now Agent Greenfield's spotter. Or the guy that keeps her safe and finds her targets. One of the safer jobs- as he was now out of the line of fire in just about any place he would be realistically located. Greenfield, or Sonya as she had insisted he refer to her as (in the nonmission area), was good. Really good, and it was really nice to actually have someone who was in his same skill and experience level to work with because god damn it made life so much easier. And she understood the need to keep secrets. NEST Black Ops and Spec Ops missions were things that the world didn't need to know about- and she never pushed him for the parts she wasn't there for. Because she knew that she shouldn't know. He respects that and returns it in full. Death Valley, the gang wars, and Mendel's race riots need to be forgotten.

Thinking about it, he owed her a beer. They haven't been [i]working[/i] together long (not on record at least)- but she was one of those few that really tried hard to be more than a soldier or a harbinger of death. He likes that about her- because he is that way himself. Most NEST agents either become cold as a rock or learn to forget that they're human. Ironic that they'd be the ones that fight the hardest to smile in spite of it all. But then again- they've had to prove they're human since the day their powers manifested themselves when they became adults.

That's another thing Henry likes about her. She reminds him way too much of himself. And that's a good thing. Despite all the secrets they need to keep and respect- he hopes that in time she'll be a close enough friend that they can talk about those kinds of things. They'd be able to talk to each other about that kind of stuff. He lives a lonely life outside of Harmon. Maria and Sonya? They're... they're the type of people he wants to have at his back. Not because they're dangerous (well, that too), but because they're the kind of people that would [i]get[/i] him.

Plus girl help. If Sonya can do it he... probably can?

"Just looked him up. Ivory Deer says he's doing well. Making leaps and bounds of recovery since Frank's been taken out of the picture."

Henry's pent up breath released forcefully. He was almost thirty now, and despite it all he considers Harmon to be his adopted son. Frank caused him a lot of pain. He doesn't like thinking about that. He wishes he could've helped Veronica. He could've worked better but he didn't and now she's...

"Henry, stop thinking about it." Eli suddenly warned. He always knew when Henry was working himself up. Probably because he could hear the heavier breathing. "Have you been taking your meds?"

Antidepressants. Right. The things he hates taking because they taste bad. He was on Paxil or something. So far all it's done is made him shake some and make it hard to roll out of bed at 4:30 AM. Which was probably completely normal.

[b]"No."[/b]

"Henry, c'mon man."

[b]"I feel fine. I haven't needed them lately. I dont really remember the incident much and I've been on reserve for a while. I'll take 'em as I need them. Okay?"[/b]

"Fine."

There was an awkward silence. Henry didn't like that much.

[b]"So, got any ones?"[/b]

"Fuck you. Yes."