9:02am
"Hi, Peter!" Lindsay gave her companion a hug.
"Hey Linds," he said into her ear, hugging her back. He had come to see everyone and talk to Matt. He really was glad to see everyone again. He had been staying with his friends for the past three weeks and had not seen anyone from the team in that long.
"Matt, Anton! Peter's here for a visit!" Lindsay called them in from the conference room in the Mobile Lab.
Matt motioned them to come in and sit with them. Peter hobbled over, but now able to master walking around with a cast on his left leg.
Lindsay and Peter took their usual seats at the table. Now the whole team was there; Claire hadn't been needed for the next case. They only knew it had something to do with some sort of animals; Elsinger hadn't given any more details until he could talk to the whole team at once. Peter had been called down to work on this case- his cast was coming off in a couple of days.
"So what's new?' Peter wanted updates on everything. He liked being up-to-date.
"Nothing much; Matt and Elsinger had another fight, Lindsay had one of our clients come on to her... you know, the usual," Anton summed it up for him. "What about you?"
"Nothing much, but I'm getting this damn thing off on Friday." He tapped his cast.
"We're going out to do one of your favorite things next week, Pete," Matt chimed in.
"Oh no. Not again."
"That's right! We're going snake-hunting!" Matt declared with mock anticipation.
Peter was ophidiophobic, in other words, afraid of snakes. He wasn't afraid of much, but he sure as sunshine was afraid of these.
"Elsinger is supposed to 'call' soon to give us the full details. He only told me to tell you that you didn't have to do this if you didn't want to," he told him sympathetically. He had heard many times about the little 'incident' that had happened nearly three years ago, under the management of Connor Doyle, when Peter, Cooper, Lindsay and Ray had been nearly attacked by an aggregate of angry snakes.
"What, is he suddenly getting a soft spot for you? I thought you guys hated each other," Lindsay commented.
"Yeah, me too," Peter replied, dumfounded. He thought about skipping this case, but he...
A beeping cut Peter's thoughts off mid-sentence. Frank Elsinger's familiar face took the place of the Office of Scientific Investigation and Research logo on the large screen.
"Matthew." Elsinger nodded. "Axon, have you decided to stay?"
"Uh, yeah..." Peter wasn't so sure, but he had to get over his fear.
Anton and Lindsay gaped at him with a very surprised look on their faces.
"Very well then. I want you to call Cooper and have him come down to join you. I don't want a repeat of what happened three years ago, Axon." Elsinger had been very disappointed when he had heard that Peter had almost had a heart attack the last time he had had a close encounter with snakes.
"I'll do that," Peter said while rising to leave, taking his cell phone from the pocket of his cargo pants.
"Sit down, Axon." Elsinger seemed to have a problem calling Peter by his first name. Hell, he couldn't even pronounce his last name right.
Peter took his seat but left his phone on the table in front of him.
"You will leave the day after tomorrow, Friday, for Hawaii, where you will be investigating a case of unusual snake sightings."
"What do you mean, 'unusual?'" Matt inquired more about the case.
"Several witnesses say they saw it 'raining snakes.' Literally falling from the sky."
Peter shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He didn't like this at all.
"You will check the whole surrounding area for evidence of a hoax. I want everything checked," Elsinger signed off and the screen at the end of the room once more showed the OSIR logo.
Peter stood up to leave and call the zoologist. 
"L.Q.," Cooper answered his cell phone.
"Hey Coop. We need you to go to Hawaii," Peter jumped right into the conversation.
"You're not getting rid of me that fast," Cooper replied sarcastically. "What for this time?"
"S-snakes," Peter stuttered. "Falling from the sky, or so they say."
"When?"
"Be there by Friday."
"You going? I heard Elsinger let you skip that case."
"No, I'll be there. Surprisingly enough..."
"Alright. Bye Peter," Cooper said before hanging up.
Peter stood outside another moment looking at the scenery. He got cold and headed back inside to tell Matt.
"Cooper's going to meet us down there on Friday morning," Peter announced as he walked into the conference room. He put his cell back in his pocket and took his place once more. Lindsay and Anton had been chatting quietly across the table, and Matt had been cleaning under his fingernails.
"Good. Pete, I want you to go home and rest until the cast comes off. You can meet us in Hawaii on Saturday morning." Matt slid a plane ticket and directions over to Peter. "We won't start without you."
"Thanks, Matt. Just do me one favor: please don't wear that ridiculous Hawaiian shirt again," Peter pleaded, referring to the time the team had worked in Miami and Matt had insisted on making a fool of himself.
"I'm not promising anything, but I'll try."
Peter smiled and left to go back to his friend's house for the night.
The large Chevy Suburban pulled into the driveway in front of the large house. Peter got out slowly and went into the house. A dog greeted him when he got in. She was a fair-sized dog with long silky brown-and-black fur and the cutest face Peter had ever seen. She licked his hands and followed him around, looking for something good to eat.
"No Ginger, not now," Peter told her, shooing her away. She put a rejected look on her face and left the room.
Peter went to his room on the first floor and fetched a suitcase from the closet. He laid it on the bed and opened it. He went slowly around the room looking in drawers, taking clothes and belongings out and putting them neatly in the case, making sure not to wrinkle his shirts. He left some clothes out for the next three days and all other things he would need between now and the time he left for Hawaii that Saturday.
Jay Wesst walked into the room, startling Peter. Jay owned the house and was letting Peter stay while he had the cast. Andrew had been staying while going house-hunting, but Andrew had found a house. Strangely enough, Andrew had sold his Suburban to Peter, which was odd because he had loved that truck.
"Hi Jay. You scared the shit out of me," Peter said, turning.
Jay smiled. "Going somewhere?"
"Yeah, I'm going somewhere on Saturday morning," Peter replied, knowing he wasn't permitted to reveal their location to anyone.
"Somewhere warm, I bet..." Jay had noticed the T-shirts and shorts in the suitcase.
"It'll be nice for a change..."
"Need any help?"
"No, I'm just about done."
"There's beer and grilled cheese on the counter in the kitchen."
"Thanks," Peter said to Jay, who was already leaving the room. He finished packing two polo shirts, then went into the kitchen for lunch. He grabbed a beer and the last sandwich that was on the plate. He settled in to the couch in the corner of the room and switched on the TV. He ate his sandwich and drank his beer while watching Stargate SG-1 and pondering the next case he'd be working on. As the credits rolled, he fell asleep. |
