InsaneJournal

Who: Nell Rex-Wood, Will Lowell, and Orin Monarch
What: Nell and Orin take a paternity test. She panics.
Where: Will's Lab at Monarch Industries
When: The day after The anonymous post about Orin.
Warnings: Mild panic, but nothing else.


Nell smoothed down her dress for the umpteenth time as she stood outside the building. She knew the dress was perfect - three outfit changes that morning had been more than just an outlet for her nervous energy. The black printed dress looked just fine with her boots and leather jacket, and thinking about it now was just another way to drag her feet. “Damn those years of therapy,” Nell muttered to herself in the cold air, pushing her hair from out of her face. “Just shut up and do it.”

With a deep breath, Nell stepped through the revolving doors of Monarch Industries. The lobby was large and busy, sunlight streaking through the glass walls and lighting up the figures that strode across with purpose. Nell strode up to the information desk, waiting impatiently for the group of suit-clad figures in front of her to get their visitor passes. “Hi,” she squeaked, before modulating her voice. “I’m here to see Will...” Damn it. What was his last name? “Well, a Will that runs tests. Genetic ones.” Great, she had been here for 2 minutes and was already acting like a headcase. “He’s expecting me?” she added, hopefully.

The receptionist behind the desk looked at Nell for a long moment before picking up the phone and dialing down to the lab. She glanced at Nell again when Will picked up on the phone on his end. “Dr. Lowell, there’s a young woman here to see you.” Will sighed into the phone and gave a quiet “mmhm” before hanging up and heading for the lobby. He had a good idea who the young woman was, and he wasn’t sure how well he was going to be able to handle a possible offspring of Orin Monarch. But as he entered the lobby, he forced a smile on his face. It was obvious who he was looking for when he saw the blonde girl standing there. “Eleanor?”

Nell turned towards the voice, glad to not have to suffer under the receptionist’s stare any longer. “Yes, that’s me.” Her left hand gripped the strap of her shoulder bag nervously, as she extended the other towards the scientist. “I go by Nell though. Or- Mr. Monarch told you about me?” She bit the corner of her bottom lip in an effort to keep herself from babbling. Breathe, Nell, she told herself sternly. It’s just a test.

He shook her hand and gestured back toward the hallway with his head before he started walking back toward the lab. “Nell.” His voice was quiet as he walked, glancing over at her. Yes, he could see the possible resemblance. “He told me he needed a test to determine paternity.” He paused, then trying to smile more even though he was tired. “And I doubt that you’re the paternal one of the pair.”

They came upon one of the first security doors, and he scanned them through with his badge, heading farther into the newly renovated lab. There were two more sets of doors to bring them into Will’s personal lab before he finally relaxed more and turned to her, realizing how nervous she seemed. “Don’t worry. It’s not a hard test.”

Nell followed the scientist through the halls, her mind automatically making notes of of the doors and turns in the route. It was second-nature by this time, drilled in so firmly that she wasn’t even conscious of doing it anymore. She met the smile with a nervous one of her own, grateful for the man’s attempt to lighten the mood. “What gave it away? My age, isn’t it. I always knew I looked too young.”

She glanced around Will’s lab, trying to make sense of the fancy equipment. It was strange how she automatically felt more comfortable around scientific apparatuses than she had all morning. For obvious reasons, the lab reminded Nell of her high school sciences classes (except way cooler), which had always been her favorite. “It’s not the test that worries me.” She turned her gaze away from the instruments and towards the man. “Well, not exactly. It’s the results.” Her voice was quiet and low, as though she were afraid that just saying them out loud would make them come through?

Will studied the young woman once they were in the lab, smiling at her own attempt at levity. Her confession made him nod, even as he started gathering the supplies he’d need. He couldn’t help the quiet chuckle though, taking a guess at her discomfort. “He is a bit much to handle. I imagine it’d be even worse as family.” He glanced up and over his shoulder at her. “Or is it the fame thing?” He finished laying out his supplies and headed for the phone near the door, dialing Orin’s office number.

Orin was waiting for the call. He’d been told the second Nell entered the building, and he’d been waiting for his phone to ring. He was standing near the window when it did, arms crossed, watching the skies darken and roll. Storm coming, he thought, even as the ringing jarred him from his thoughts. He reached back, pushing the button that would put the call on speaker. “Took you damn long enough, old man,” he said, not doubting for a second that it was Will on the line, even without looking at the caller ID.

Will rolled his eyes, enough that Nell would be able to see, and sighed. Enough for Orin to be able to hear. “Sorry for not running through the building with a guest. I’ll be sure to do sprints next time.” He stretched the phone cord so that it would reach his workbench again, causing a hazard for anyone that would be crossing his lab, and worked as he spoke, setting up the equipment. “Since you already know she’s here, why are you still in your office?” He glanced across the room again and gave Nell an exasperated look, obviously directed at the phone.

“The him thing,” Nell replied decisively. Will was obviously a smart man; he’d understand what she meant by it. A smile crossed her face as she listened to one end of the conversation. It didn’t take a lot of imagination to figure out what Orin was saying. At least the man was constant in his stubbornness. Closer examination of her feelings might have revealed to Nell that what she was feeling for the man was something close to fondness, but Nell wasn’t in the mindset for introspection. So she settled for the feelings she could put her finger on - nervousness, with a liberal helping of self-doubt, and a pinch of fear.

“I’m giving her space,” Orin said, the final word so thick with sarcasm that there was little doubt he thought this whole damn idea of space was a fool’s way. “How about you tell me how it’s going, or you issue me an invite downstairs?” he asked, but he was already moving, and it was audible over the phone, heavy footsteps on marble, then wood, then the stairs.

Will nodded at Nell’s comment and then rolled his eyes again at the thought of Orin ever giving anyone space. “Since when have you ever needed an invitation? I seem to recall that you go where you please here, even when it’s into labs at times that you shouldn’t.” He let the comment stop there, not going to say any more in front of Nell. “It’s going fine, since we haven’t started anything yet. And since you’re on your way down, I’ll just wait. You’re not that far anyway.”

Not that far meant Orin was already pushing on the door to the lab and shoving his phone into his pocket. “I’m trying to be understanding,” he said as he walked, every inch the lazy business owner in designer khakis and a white button down without a tie. He clapped Will on the shoulder when he got close enough, a grin on his face as he thought about his conversation with Hayley. It was a smug, I knew it kind of grin, and he turned to Nell immediately after. “Talked to your roommate last night,” he said in greeting.

Nell’s eyebrows rose, the look on her face sardonic. “He told me. Just... don’t make him pay for trying to be nice, okay?” The voice behind the request was resigned, as though Nell already knew just how little chance there was of that. “Lucas is sweet, and he takes care of me.” It would a good way to try and ingratiate her roommate to Orin, even if it hadn’t been true. Make Orin see Lucas as a protector, not a threat. How could anyone begrudge a person who had the patience to take care of a grumpy 18 year-old during her first hangover? Nell just didn’t get it.

Biting her nip nervously (she really needed to break that habit), Nell turned to Will. “So what exactly do we need to do here?”

Will let the conversation flow around him, not wanting to interfere with family business, and waited until they came back around to the test before handing a long-handled cotton swab to each of them. “Rub it against the inside of your cheek. I promise it won’t hurt until you purposely poke yourself. ...so don’t.”

“I’m just running a background check,” Orin said, “not going after the boy with a restraining order.” He hadn’t run the check yet, but seeing Nell had reminded him. He leaned a hip against the counter, and he crossed his arms as Will held the swab out. His hesitation was short, however, just a second, and then he was reaching for the swab and rubbing against the inside of his cheek. He held it back to Will a second later, and he lifted a brow. “How long?” Until the results, of course.

“He’s good people, no matter what a piece of paper says.” Nell stared at the cotton swab, and then at Orin. Did she really want to know this? What if the test came out positive? What if came out negative? Can’t think about that right now. Taking a deep breath, she took the cotton swab and followed the doctor’s instructions. “There you go,” she managed to choke out, and she handed over the stick. Panic threatened to overwhelm her, forcing her to go back to the calming exercises her therapist had taught her back in Musings. Breathe. Slow your heartbeat down. It’ll be okay.

Will took the the swabs from each of them, isolating them in their tubes and labeling them quickly. He could hear Nell’s heart start to race and her breathing start to go fast and shaky. He looked up, surprised, because the swab test shouldn’t cause any problems at all. He ignored Orin for the moment, attention on Nell as he took a step closer, voice low. “Hey. It’s okay... You’re alright...”

Orin was busy watching the swab, and he didn’t catch onto her panic right off. Once he did, his reaction was immediate and unthinking - an arm around her shoulder, and an easy tug against his side. “It’s alright,” he said casually, and he nodded to Will. “Go on. Do what you gotta.”

Distracted as she was by her pounding heart, Nell offered no resistance to Orin’s hug. For some reason, his presence by her side calmed her automatically; everything from his warmth to the way he smelled reminded her of being comfortable and safe. Nell pressed the palms of her hands to the backs of her eyelids, and began counting in her head. Inhale. One, two. Exhale. Three, four. You knew this was coming, Nell. You wanted to know.

The panic attack eventually subsided, and her breathing and heartbeat returned to normal. Nell’s eyes had been pressed shut so tightly that the spots for a few seconds when she opened them again. “Sorry,” she finally apologized, addressing the lab floor, “I don’t... I don’t know what happened.”

Will watched the two of them closely, concerned until he could tell that Nell was beginning to calm down. He relaxed a little more himself, realizing that the tension in the room had caused his own shoulders to inch up toward his ears. He sighed, relieved, when she opened her eyes, and offered an awkward half smile. “It happens. Science is pretty overwhelming sometimes.” He tried to keep it light again before turning to his bench. “And actually, that’s all I need you both for. Now the machine does its job and we go from there.”

“Will thinks science is special. Don’t go bursting his bubble,” Orin said, intentionally keeping the mood light and giving Nell’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze before letting her go. “And the first rule of being a Monarch? Don’t ever go apologizing,” he added, grinning down at her. “My mother never did like that rule.” He never talked about his parents, but he made the effort to do so then. It felt right, and probably meant he was as nervous as she was, though he wouldn’t admit it. “How long, old man?”

Nell’s mouth twisted up into a small half-smile. It looked sad, when compared to the full, dimpled grins Nell usually flashed, but it was something. Everyone knew that it wasn’t the science that was freaking her out, but she appreciated their efforts nonetheless. She looked up at Orin when he let her go. A Monarch? She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but the words just wouldn’t come out. It was a sad, sad day when Nell Rex-Wood couldn’t muster up the energy to get into an argument. Shaking her head ruefully, Nell turned her eyes to Will, waiting for the answer to Orin’s question.

The return to scientific questions was a relief, and Will glanced over at the PCR machine as he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.. “Probably two days if I don’t get distracted by anything else.” A significant glance was thrown in Orin’s direction. “Maybe less, depending on if I’m here to analyze things right away.” Translation: if he stayed late at the lab. “I’ll do my best to get it through as fast as possible though.”

Orin didn’t push Will. He knew he didn’t need to. He gave the other man a look that was all serious, a slight nod following it. “You just let me know soon as you got something,” he said. Me, not the surprisingly fragile little girl at his side. He hadn’t been expecting this reaction from Nell, and it was harder to handle than her constant shoving him away was. He refrained from ruffling her hair, and he just grinned at her (in what he hoped was a soothing manner). “You need help getting home?” he asked her, but his expression said he’d understand if she wanted to be alone. Three people had told his ass not to push at this point, and he was doing his best to follow their damn stupid advice.

Nell managed to keep the surprise from her face. The plans had been to do the test and then go to lunch, but here Orin was, giving Nell an out if she needed it. Surprisingly considerate, given her history with the man. She considered going home, but remembered that Lucas had plans for the day. The last thing Nell wanted was to be alone right now. For all their issues, Nell knew that Orin both cared about her, and had the ability to thoroughly distract her from the mess that was the inside of her head. “No, I’ll be fine,” she said decisively, finding both her voice and her composure. “I’m still down for lunch if you’re not busy.”

Orin nodded, and he clasped a palm on Will’s shoulder as he moved away. “Come on. There’s a good Italian place around the corner,” he said as he moved, calling back to Will, “tell Hayley hello for me, old man.” There was a smile in that last sentence, a tease, laughter rumbling deep in his chest, along with an I told you so.