Steampunk Shenanigans

Damien seemed absolutely stunned when Evie pulled back slightly.

“I guess you really did have a good time,” he said when he managed to collect himself. Evie laughed.

“I did have a good time, but not just tonight,” she admitted.

“What do you mean?”

“I have a good time with you. In general. I like you.”

“Really?”

“You’re a genius, you figure it out,” she teased. She leaned up to kiss him again and he kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her waist. She wound up staying in his room again, but thankfully she was nightmare-free this time. She woke up snuggled tightly next to him, and he was already awake. He blushed faintly as she opened her eyes and found him looking at her. Evie smiled, turning onto her stomach to kiss him.

“Good morning,” she said softly.

“Good morning,” Damien replied, still seeming a little dazed. Evie ran her fingers through his messed up hair.

“So you’re okay, right?” he asked.

“Of course I am,” she said, stifling a soft yawn. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I just meant, you're not having any regrets or anything? Because if you are I’m not going to pressure you or-“

“Damien.” Evie huffed and flicked his nose. “I regret nothing. I am very much content with my decisions.”

To emphasize her point she kissed him again and they didn’t even realize how late in the morning it had become until Minnie hopped onto the bed and demanded something to eat. She seemed quite affronted that they were still in bed and all tangled up instead of feeding her.

“Alright, I’ll be down in a minute,” Damien told her while Evie laughed. Damien reached over and tucked some of her messy hair behind her ear, smiling a little.

“Your hair is extra fluffy in the morning,” he said. “I was right to call you Ducky.”

Evie stuck her tongue out and then giggled when he poked her sides. He kissed her again and then they finally got out of bed and got dressed. Minnie ran in a happy circle when Damien fed her, then he put on her little backpack and the three of them headed out to the lab. Even while they worked on the spider, Evie found herself smiling most of the time. Damien accidentally smacked his finger with a wrench because she was gazing up at him with big dreamy eyes.

“Maybe we should take the tools away for now,” Evie said, taking the wrench and inspecting his thumb. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be a distraction.”

“I like being distracted by you. My broken finger notwithstanding.”

Evie dug around for a bandage and wrapped it around his thumb, planting a kiss on it for good measure. Damien cracked a smile at her. He sat down at the desk to work some more on the remote for the cuffs and Evie sat next to him. She liked watching him work, and liked looking at him in general.

“So would you say our connection is…electric?” Evie quipped, trying to maintain a straight face. Damien looked over at her and laughed.

“I thought I was the one who made the bad jokes around here,” he said and she cracked, giggling.

“Don’t worry, I could never keep up with you in the bad joke department,” she assured him. “You’re the undisputed champion.”

He scooted her stool closer and she leaned forward to kiss him. They had a couple of days with no word from Corbin and Olessa, and between that and Evie getting closer to Damien, she almost forgot about the situation they were in. But of course Corbin had to ruin it by summoning them back in for a status report and a job to do.

“We have partial plans for the modifications we need done to the spider,” Corbin said. “But we need the rest. Evie, you need to go see Skinner and get the rest. He’s managed to obtain them. I want to see them before we give them to our friend here to perform the modifications.”

Evie fought back a shiver. She hated Skinner. He always looked at her like he was imagining ways to kill her. But she could hardly argue with Corbin. She had a knot in her stomach as they went into a section of the city that was even seedier than where the Mycrofts lived. The neighborhood in question was called The Tombs, partly for the amount of bloody crime and partly because it was in the shadow of large old factory buildings that kept the area from ever really being sunny. Evie brought her gun with her, and she didn’t even hide it as they headed to the pub where she was supposed to meet Skinner. She held it at her side and in plain sight. A few people watched her and Damien, but no one approached them.

They reached the pub and went inside. Evie spotted Skinner right away, at a table in the corner. The room was hazy with cigarette smoke and she tried not to cough as she made her way to Skinner and sat down.

“You have something for Corbin,” she said. Skinner was a tall, gaunt man, and his skin always looked a little gray. He had a rough, raspy voice that always sent a shudder of unease down her spine.

“What, no ‘hello,’ Evie?” he asked, taking a drink from his glass. “I thought you had better manners than your boss.”

“Hello,” Evie said. “Some nice weather we’re having, isn’t it?”

Skinner smirked coldly. “See, was that so hard? If I didn’t know any better I’d think you didn’t enjoy seeing me.”

“Corbin and Olessa are just very eager to get what they sent me for.”

“Yes, I’m sure they are.” Skinner picked up a satchel from the floor by his feet, removing an envelope from it and tossing it onto the table. “They owe me the rest of my fee.”

Evie pulled the money Corbin had given her out of the inner pocket of her jacket and handed it to Skinner.

“You’re looking quite elegant these days,” he remarked.

“Thanks,” Evie muttered, grabbing the envelope and standing up.

“You should wear your hair up like that all the time,” Skinner went on. “It shows off your neck. Has anyone ever told you that you have a pretty little neck, Evie?”

Evie felt herself go pale, unnerved. Damien pulled her away from the table, putting her somewhat behind him and glaring at Skinner. Skinner smirked again.

“Got a bodyguard now?” he asked. “Easy, pretty boy. I was just giving her a compliment.”

“We’re going now,” Damien said flatly. Evie kept the envelope tucked under one arm and her pistol gripped tightly in her free hand as they left the pub.

“That guy gives me the creeps,” she muttered. Damien placed a hand lightly on her back for reassurance as she walked away from the pub as quickly as she could. Despite being on edge, she got a warm feeling in her chest. Once they’d gotten clear of The Tombs, she paused and looked down at the envelope. Then she opened it and pulled out the plans that were inside. She wasn’t an engineer, but even she was able to figure out what the plans were for after studying them for a few moments, and she felt cold.

“Damien, these are…”

“The blueprints for the war machines they used in the Gear Wars,” Damien confirmed. He looked as disturbed as she was. “These were supposed to be lost or destroyed.”

“They want to combine the capabilities of the spider with the power of the war machines,” Evie said. “The machines that literally ripped apart an entire continent. I knew they were up to something bad, but this is way beyond anything I imagined. When they give us the plans they already have, we have to destroy them all.”

“I agree.”

They made their way back to Corbin and Olessa, and she reluctantly gave them the envelope so they could check the contents. Once they were satisfied, they turned back to Evie and Damien.

“It still seems like it’s taking too long for you to complete the spider,” Corbin said.

“I told you, it’s a very complex machine to create and I’m working off of theory, not solid plans,” Damien replied.

“Perhaps you simply don’t have the right motivation.”

“It’s my fault,” Evie blurted, stepping between Damien and Corbin. “There’s a device that Damien needs, for the power source. I’m supposed to get it for him but I haven’t been able to yet. I tried once but I almost got caught, so I have to come up with another plan. He can’t move forward until I-“

Evie broke off and looked down as Corbin suddenly stepped directly in front of her. “I thought I made it very clear that you weren’t to slack off or fuck this up,” he said. He grabbed her roughly by the hair and she winced. Corbin shoved her sharply, purposely smacking her head on the grand desk he and Olessa kept in their parlor room. Evie saw spots for a moment as she crumpled onto her knees. She could feel wetness on her face and realized she’d gotten a small gash on her forehead from the blow. Her head was throbbing so hard she felt queasy and then she felt a jolt from her cuff and whimpered faintly.

It only lasted for a second, though she still had to catch her breath. She was vaguely aware of noise around her and managed to crack her eyes open to find that Damien had shoved Corbin, who had toppled over the desk chair and was flailing around trying to get up.

“Sorry about that,” Damien said with a shrug, though he looked a little murderous. “My foot fell asleep and I tripped.”