The Assignment

Chapter 3 – Lab Work

It was nearly evening by the time Allen Walker wandered into the Asia Branch Science Division. His snow-white hair stabbed out at odd angles, and his exorcist coat hung askew. He raised one gloved hand to his mouth, shielding a cavernous yawn. He kept blinking, like a night creature caught out under the bright fluorescent lamps of the laboratory.

Somehow, it all made him even more attractive to Lou Fa.

She swiveled her chair to face him as Allen tottered over. "Y'said you wanned to see me?" he asked.

Her stomach fluttered uncontrollably. She was grinning at him. She knew she was grinning. Lou Fa forced her face back to normalcy. Maybe he was too groggy to notice.

"Y-y-yes, Mr. Walker. You had t-to leave right after your innocence reactivated the last time you were here. We have your activation data from headquarters, but we w-would like to reexamine you here, with the equipment we'd calibrated to you during your reactivation training."

Allen nodded heavily and lurched forward toward the machinery at the center of the lab.

"Ah! W-wait! Mr. Walker!" Lou Fa leaped from her chair, grabbing onto his arm to stop him. "We... we do a lot of research here, Mr. Walker. Not just about exorcists and innocence. Director Bak had all the testing equipment we used on you moved to one of the small labs, where it wouldn't get in the way of the rest of our work. C-can you follow me, please?"

She slid her hand down his arm and slipped it into his, twining her fingers with Allen's own. The contact made a block of ice form in Lou Fa's chest. But Allen either didn't mind her hand or was too tired to notice. Silently, she guided him toward a small white door on the west side of the expansive main laboratory.

In reality, the Asia Branch Science Division did not do a great deal of research. Most of the Black Order's research and development work was headquartered at the central branch, under the authority of Science Chief Reever and Director Lee... Thinking about Komui Lee reminded Lou Fa of Lenalee, who was hopefully still asleep in her room. She repressed a shudder, remembering Lenalee's menacing admonition for her to stay away from Allen.

In reality, the Asia Branch did not do a great deal of research. But Director Chang had arranged to have all the innocence-testing equipment, still calibrated for Allen, moved to a small-study lab to assist with Lou Fa's new assignment. Past the white-painted door, Lou Fa led Allen into a rectangular room partitioned by a thick glass wall. On the side nearer the door, an L-shaped desk was strewn with cables, small electronics, and two large computer terminals. Past the glass wall, in the other half of the room, there were two rolling medical carts, a few aluminum folding chairs, a treadmill, and a steel shelving unit weighed down with odd-shaped metallic devices. Long, thin wires dangled from the ceiling in various spots throughout the space beyond the wall.

The Director had made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that Lou Fa was supposed to seduce Allen Walker. Just thinking about her orders brought heat to Lou Fa's cheeks. She had no idea how to seduce a man, especially not a man as strong and smart and beautiful as Allen. And she did not dare to imagine what might happen if she actually succeeded in seduci....

"Are you all right, Lou Fa?" Allen was staring at her, suddenly fully awake. She felt light-headed. Her eyes drifted down his body of their own accord, and she imagined what he might look like if he was not wearing... Her knees started to tremble.

Allen let go of her hand. She tried not to sigh. He whipped off his glove and pressed his palm to her forehead. Lou Fa closed her eyes and took a deep breath, drinking in the feel of his skin resting against her own. It was like sparks dancing all over her body.

She opened her eyes again as Allen's hand pulled away. "No, you don't seem to have a fever. But you look flushed. Lou Fa, if you aren't feeling well, I can come back for these tests later."

"No! N-no... No, Mr. Walker, I'm fine. Just f-fine." Two more deep breaths, in and out. There. Now she really did feel fine. "We should do the examination now, before you have to start on your assignment. It will be most convenient for both of us if we can get these tests out of the way now." She grabbed a clipboard off the desk and scurried to a sliding glass door inset into the glass wall, gesturing for Allen to follow her.

On the other side of the partition, Lou Fa led Allen to the treadmill at the center of the room. "We'd like to start by collecting some baseline data on your current physiological condition, Mr. Walker. That will help us compare your new data to the old data we gathered the last time you were here. So..." Lou Fa gulped, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose and hoping to hide her nervousness. "So, Mr. Walker, please remove your jacket and shirt."

Allen nodded nonchalantly, sliding his shiny black jacket off his shoulders and pulling his undershirt over his head. Underneath, his chest was pale and toned, with a wide scar running all the way from his collarbone to his waist. Lou Fa licked her lips.

"Now, Mr. Walker, could you please mount... th-the treadmill?" She could feel her cheeks flushing again. He was so beautiful. And she was supposed to seduce him. Oh God, she was actually going to do it. Lou Fa set her clipboard on one of the aluminum folding chairs and walked over to the treadmill. Putting one arm on the treadmill grip for support, she eased up on her toes and grabbed onto a bundle of the wires hanging down from the ceiling. The wires terminated in electrostatic sensors, tiny metal discs smeared with a reusable adhesive the Science Division had developed. They were ideal for measuring muscle activation and blood flow in the human body.

With the wires in hand, Lou Fa stepped onto the treadmill with Allen and leaned back against the instrument panel at the front, facing him. He seemed taller, now that she was almost chest-to-chest with him. With her left hand, she tenderly smoothed back the hair that fell in front of his eyes. As she pressed the first two sensors against his forehead, Allen shivered a bit from the contact of the cold metal. Lou Fa found it difficult not to stare at the inverted star etched above his left eye.

Slowly, she worked her way down his body. Her fingers traced across his skin as she set the sensors at all the major muscle groups. She took her time. Lou Fa's mission had nothing to do with testing Allen Walker's innocence. She was supposed to make him interested in her. That's what the Director had ordered her to do. And men liked to be touched, didn't they? She thought they must. There were so many times when Lou Fa had imagined Allen Walker touching her like this. The thought made her hands tremble.

Lou Fa kept her eyes glued to his chest, to the spots where she was affixing the sensors. She could not dare to look at his face. She knew she must already be blushing, just from what she was doing to Allen. And she could feel his eyes on her, boring into her like augers. She could not dare to meet those eyes.

Her hands trembled again, harder than before. Her whole arms shook. She couldn't be doing this, not with Allen Walker. You're only prepping him for the treadmill, a little voice said. There's nothing to be bashful about. But it felt like so much more than that. Lou Fa forgot herself and leaned her head back, looking up into his eyes.

Allen stared down at her, expressionless. She had never seen him look so serious, so inscrutable. Those eyes... She could become lost in those eyes so easily. Why was he just staring at her? Did she do something wrong? Was he upset with her? Lou Fa's knees wobbled, buckled, and she fell forward against him. Her arms twined instinctively around his chest to keep herself from falling. A hand rested gently against the back of her head.

Electric crackling rattled from the wall beside where the steel shelving unit stood. Lou Fa's head whipped around, and she saw Fou slide out of the rock and materialize. For a second, Fou's eyes settled on Lou Fa with an expression she could not describe, and then Fou turned to Allen. "So that's where you are. You come all the way to China and you don't even bother to say hello? What sort of man are you, Allen Walker?" She sounded angry, but then Fou always sounded angry.

Allen turned toward Fou with a smile. "I'm sorry. We were all so tired when we arrived, we just went straight to bed. Then Lou Fa told me the Science Division needed to run some new tests on my innocence, so as soon as I was awake I came down here. Lenalee and Chaoji are probably still asleep. We didn't mean to avoid you or anything, Fou."

"New tests on your innocence," Fou mused as she floated toward the treadmill. Lou Fa hurriedly pushed herself back from Allen and jumped off the treadmill. Something about Fou scared her just now. For some reason, she felt like she'd be safer away from Allen. How odd.

"Well, I still haven't had anything to eat," Allen offered cheerfully. "If you'd like, you can join me in the cafeteria after Lou Fa gets done running her tests. You can tell me all about what's been happening in the Asia Branch since I left." Allen gave Fou a warm smile. Lou Fa found herself wishing he would smile that way at her.

"That sounds like a great idea! Why don't you run along to the computers, then, Lou Fa. I can take care of the sensor hook-ups from here." Fou's lips split into a wide, toothy grin that made Lou Fa think of a wolf preparing for the kill.

"Um. Y-y-yes. W-w-why don't you help get Mr. Walker ready for the tests, Fou? I-I'll just… just…" For some reason Lou Fa's eyes seemed to be watering. "I'll just run along to the computers," she finished weakly.

"You do that," Fou chimed as she floated into the space at the front of the treadmill where Lou Fa had been standing a moment before. As Fou began fixing the sensors Lou Fa had disturbed when she'd almost toppled into Allen, the white-haired exorcist looked down and smiled.