Doppelganger

Chapter 19

Six hours later, and Quip was hiding between the couch and the wall with a couple of Logan's books that she had lifted from his bookshelves. Logan had tried to get her to call those people in Canada again, but Quip hadn't been in the mood to talk, hence her hunkering down behind the couch where Logan couldn't reach her without moving the whole couch.

It had been sort of funny for the thirty minutes he where he couldn't find her; she had blurred out of his office and into the living room, making sure to be quiet and not disturb anything. Of course, he had basically turned the apartment inside out and been sort of angry when he found her.

Logan half-heartedly tried to coax her out with ice cream and TV, but she didn't want any of that. There had been a little more placating, some begging involved, and then he eventually left her alone, retreating to his study to listen to the police scanner. After he had been gone a while, Quip had sneaked over to grab some books from the shelf before hunkering down behind the couch for good.

She was still mad at Max and Alec for leaving her here with the Ordinary instead of taking her with them to the airport. It wasn't fair. Yes, she was smaller, but she was a transgenic too, and she could be useful. She would've shown them that, if they had let her go.

Scowling to herself, she flipped through the pages of the book in front of her. The title, War and Peace, had caught her eye, but it really wasn't that interesting. The other book was one about a fish-type transhuman who ended up marrying a prince. It was a simple story and too short for her tastes. At least the artwork was pretty.

Leaning back against the wall, she listened to Logan typing on the keyboard of his computer and wondered when Alec and Max would get back. Logan was okay, and at least he didn't really treat her like a little kid, but he didn't seem to know how else to treat her either. He just looked generally uncomfortable when she was around, like he didn't know what to do with someone half his size. Quip personally thought he was a little weird but tolerable at least. Except when he was trying to make her call those Canada people.

She poked at the back of the couch. Why was everyone so obsessed with sending her to Canada? Okay, so she had shown up with a bullet wound that they had taken upon themselves to deal with and then they had to go after Krenski, but she hadn't really wanted to go to the hospital anyways, and she had offered to help catch Krenski. It didn't seem like she had done anything to deserve being exiled to Canada.

The people had sounded really nice on the phone, as if they genuinely wanted her to come live with them, but Quip was apprehensive. She knew that they had no idea what she was, and she wasn't particularly comfortable with that. There had been horror stories told in her unit about how some of the older series had serious defects, like insanity and something awful called 'the shakes,' and there was always the fear that there was some hidden defect in their own genome. What if she went off to Canada and suddenly developed some serious problem, and they took her to the hospital and they found out what she was?

What would they do with her then?

No, she really didn't want to think about that. She had managed well enough in Seattle without anyone. She could do it again if Alec didn't want her hanging around. But if everyone really thought it was best for her to go to Canada...

Setting the book to the side, she drew her knees up to her chest and rested her head on her arms. Why couldn't she just pay Alec rent for the pantry and stay in his apartment? They could set up some kind of system and everything, it's not like he had to provide for her. She could take care of herself, she didn't need him. He wouldn't even notice she was there; she would be the best apartment mate ever. She didn't want to go live on a farm in the middle of nowhere, even if there would be horses and puppies and other kids to play with. She was a transgenic. She didn't play.