12. Surprise

Thorne hurried through the corridor and barged into the door straight after knocking, without waiting for invitation.
“Sorry to bother you, but this is urgent, I need...” his voice failed as the lab assistant turned around. “...you?!”
She looked at him for a moment with an expression of someone who isn't quite present yet, after being torn from something that had their intense focus. Then her eyes glittered with recognition and she nodded in greeting.
“Nice of you to stop by.”
“What are you doing here, Minnie?”
“Lab work, obviously. I study artifacts the cats drag in.”
“No, I meant… how did you...” he stuttered, very uncharacteristically, then pulled himself together. “Well, you certainly look perky for someone who had a building fall on top of them.”
“...that was three years ago,” she reminded him, suddenly much more subdued.
“Three years, seven months and nine days,” he said, then shrugged at her quizzical glance. “I do keep count.”
They stood in silence for a moment.
“You're not a ghost, or an illusion, are you?” he asked almost despite himself.
She shook her head.
“I see the job makes you jump at shadows already. I mean, paranoia is always justified, sure...”
“...especially when you meet someone who you thought was dead.”
“One thing you should learn is that Wolf, Eagle and Swan are really good at saying things by not saying them… and not saying anything by saying a lot.”
“You didn't come here to just catch up, did you, agent?” she continued matter-of-factly. It never did any good to dwell on the past – especially on hers.
“Raven,” he supplied automatically. “No, I have this artifact I need you to look at. We send in a medallion about a week ago and now we need to know, if the two are related.”
“Is that for the not-a-murder-but-maybe investigation Owl is running?”