"Wh-who are you?!" Tony stuttered, staring at the girl with the auburn hair and round glasses that stood in front of him In puzzlement. She looked angry and irritated like it was only a strand of patience that kept her from slapping him across his face.
"Who am I?" Her eyes twitched in anger. "Do you have any idea what you just did?! I'm going to lose my internship once Dr. Cortez finds out about this!"
For the first time since the two of them had been crouching behind Dr. Cortez, Tony noticed an ID card hanging around her neck. The name under the passport photograph read Hannah Danforth.
"You're a college intern," Tony said as he tried to steady his eyes around her.
"Well duh," Hannah sprang to her feet and dusted her lab coat. "I'm going to tell security."
"No, wait!" Tony grabbed both her hands as he pleaded. "Don't go, I can explain."
"Let go of me!" Hannah jerked with a big frown. "I'm not getting into trouble and risking my future because of you," she added, not minding his plea.
"Please, just give me five minutes to explain myself. I promise I am no thief."
The way he called spoke sounded so sincere that she became quiet. The innocent face and the sweaty hands told Hannah that the man holding her was too decent to be a thief, and too cute too, probably around her age as well, she guessed.
"Five minutes, not more, not less," she succumbed.
Tony's face lit up immediately upon hearing those words.
"Thank you so much! But first," he continued just as she was still studying him. "Let's go outside."
Again, without asking, he dragged her with him and they both bolted out of the door.
"Hey easy," Hannah yelled as he led her away from the long-empty lobby down to the first closet he found. He jerked the door open and jammed it shut after they got in.
The closet was small and dimly lit by a light bulb. A couple of carton boxes filled with soap or lab equipment were stacked on each other, crowding the room. Tony and Hannah stood inches apart in front of each other. Hannah felt a bit jittery as she gazed right back into his piercing eyes and held her breath.
"Well, go on," she urged, regretting the fact that she agreed on following him.
"I'm really sorry for putting you in this situation," Tony began. "But it's not what you think," just then, he remembered he hadn't even told her his name yet. "My name is Tony; I'm Dr. Bates' assistant."
Hannah's jaw dropped as her eyes gaped. "The Dr. Bates?"
Tony nodded.
"Woah," Hannah mouthed in disbelief. "I have been following his papers and I've been a big fan of his work since my sophomore years and a lot of my peers would often tag him as a visionary. Well not so much now after his last experience was a disaster and blew up a bunch of people," she finished but soon realized her words had left a sour taste in Tony's mouth.
"There's more to it, Hannah," Tony argued.
Hannah wondered how Tony knew her name. Then her eyes shifted from Tony's face down to the ID card clipped to her breast pocket. But the way he called her name sounded so intimate that she felt jittery again so she turned in over.
"How so?" She demanded with a glare. "You don't expect me to take your word for it, do you?"
"Dr. Cortez isn't who you think he is," Tony replied, with a firm tone.
"What does that even mean?" Hannah retorted with her arms out wide, growing impatient.
"Dr. Cortez was behind the explosion--"
"Back up right there," She held out a hand, stopping him as he spoke. "Can you hear yourself? That's absurd."
Tony didn't back down though. He kept his gaze locked on her as he continued.
"Yes, he wanted to bring Dr. Bates down right from the beginning so he sabotaged the project."
"You're saying Dr. Cortez, the scientist, the one responsible for providing hundreds of jobs and scholarships including the internship that brought me here, is responsible for the death of over twenty employees?" Hannah asked to understand.
"I know it sounds crazy, but yeah," Tony clarified with a nod.
Hannah stared in disbelief as the silence overwhelmed them. The man standing in front was claiming that a reputable scientist she had admired so much was a greedy monster who didn't care what happens to others as long as he got what he wanted and she didn't know what to make of it.
"I don't believe you," Hannah gasped finally. "Where's your proof?" She asked.
Tony rolled his eyes to the ground as he scratched his head nervously. "Uh, I had a phone with a record of wire transfers Dr. Cortez sent to some guy called Skullz who helped him with covering his tracks," he explained.
"Had?" Hannah raised a brow. "How convenient," She finished.
"I could swear I kept it on my nightstand last night, but I couldn't find it this morning. So I assumed Dr. Cortez had taken it somehow and that was why I was in his office."
"So you don't have any proof?!" Hannah glared. "And you were making all these accusations!" She put a hand on her forehead and shook her head. "God, I can't believe this!" She added with a scoff.
Tony didn't seem swayed.
"I wasn't expecting you to; even the police don't believe me," he said. "But I won't stop until I have proven Dr. Bates' innocence." The assistant said with a straightened chin as he balanced the pair of glasses above his nose.
"What the hell did I get myself into?" Hannah whimpered softly. She should have just dropped the files, Dr. Cortez, at the actual time he requested rather than trying to impress him by getting it done earlier. Now she was inside a closet, listening to a guy who fed her conspiracy theories. She sighed out in frustration. "You know what, this never happened," she continued, gesticulating with her hands.
"Thank you."
"Nuh-uh," Hannah snapped back immediately. "I didn't do this for you; I'm choosing not to go to the security because I don't want to get implicated too."
"Oh." Tony mouthed in realization.
"So that's it! Good day Mr. Tony, I hope we never meet again." Hannah turned her slim figure towards the door, her ponytail whipping Tony's face just as he was about saying something, and then she was gone.
Tony remained in the closet for a while, replaying what happened in the last ten minutes in his mind as he collected himself together. He was relieved it wasn't Dr. Cortez who had caught him and yet he wondered what Hannah was looking for in Dr. Cortez's office. If she had no shady motive at all, then it would be a hell of a coincidence, he thought.
He peered forward and glanced left and right after opening the door. Lunch was over now and everyone else started trooping into their various offices and labs. He emerged from the closet and began striding back to Dr. Bates' office. Then he heard a voice call him.
"Ash,"
Tony gasped as he held his chest. His heart skipped a bit the moment he heard Lucifer's voice. He tried wiping the uneasiness in his face as he turned around.
"Dr. Bates," He said with a jumpy smile as he walked towards Lucifer.
"Where have you been?" Lucifer demanded.
"Uhm, I was looking for Skullz's phone in Dr. Cortez's office, but then I was caught by this surprisingly pretty intern and then Dr. Cortez almost caught the two of us together," Tony smiled sheepishly as he explained the last thirty minutes to Lucifer. "Isn't that crazy?"
Lucifer clicked his tongue.
"Mhmm, I'm sure you had fun."
"Not really but I guess you're right," Tony responded, getting the hint that Lucifer wasn't interested. He cleared his throat. "How was lunch?"
"Horrible," Lucifer replied. "I think I made Lila mad."
Tony gave a puzzled look at his boss who was beginning to look less of a doctor and more an action movie star.
"Hold on, like literally mad?"
"Of course not," Lucifer snapped. "I meant mad at me?"
"Ohh, what did you do?"
"It's what I almost did that made her angry. Apparently, I was beating a close friend of the family; Peter, Karen's husband."
You killed her!
Lucifer could still picture the man's lament. Then his mind shifted to Lila, he wanted to make things right with her. He gave a quick shrug and spoke again.
"How can I get her to forgive me?"
"Well, you apologize," Tony answered. "Probably buy her flowers and something nice too."
"Hmmm, okay. Let's go."
"What? Right now?"
"Yes," Lucifer said with a slight nod.
"But we have to get back to work, break is over." Tony tried to remind him.
"I don't care, let's go," Lucifer replied firmly. "And this time, I drive."