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Myfanwy was frowning at the morning meeting.
Gestalt pretended to be oblivious to the glances she cast in their direction, focusing on the tablets in their hands, and Conrad’s speech, and their notes.
The meeting ended with most of the work assigned to Myfanwy’s office, and she was swept away into the paperwork, crowded by Claudia and calling for Ingrid to pull up the information needed. She didn’t glance back over her shoulder, and Gestalt put the issue from their mind and focused on the day.
Two hours after lunch, Myfanwy entered the surveillance bay where Teddy and Eliza were posted, to argue with a technician about the angle of a camera. She gave Gestalt a disconcerted look when she entered, as if they unsettled her.
After the technician finally relented to her logic, Myfanwy tipped her head a Gestalt – a wordless invitation to step outside to speak.
To be perverse, Gestalt followed Myfanwy into the hallway with Eliza – leaving Teddy in the bay.
Myfanwy frowned at them, glancing back at Teddy.
“Is something wrong, Gestalt?”
Eliza raised an eyebrow, blandly innocent. “What do you mean?”
“Are you alright?” Myfanwy pressed. “Is there a reason you’ve dressed Teddy as Alex?”
Gestalt couldn’t help from smiling with all four bodies. They quickly banked the expression. “You noticed?” they asked. Eliza’s tone was breathlessly pleased.
Myfanwy blinked, taken aback. She looked around. “Can nobody else tell?” she asked. She was surprised.
Gestalt reached out to take her touch her hand, catch her startled gaze.
“Only you,” they said. Their tone was much more solemn than they intended. “You’ve always been able to tell.”
Myfanwy glanced back into the surveillance bay, where Gestalt was watching her with Teddy’s eyes through the glass walls. Her gaze raked over them, looking for whatever tell that only she could see.
The Teddy body and the Alex body were identical.
To everyone but Myfanwy Thomas.
Myfanwy’s expression suddenly firmed, mouth tightening into a frown as her brows drew down in confusion. “Then why? Are you testing me?”
Teddy stepped out of the surveillance bay and Gestalt urged her down the hallway, into the covered staircase and out of the curious gaze of every technician on the floor.
“I’m not testing you,” Eliza said.
“I promise,” Teddy finished. “Just a bit of harmless fun,” he said with Alex’s drawl.
Myfanwy grimaced. “That’s just too weird.” But a smile was tipping the edge of her mouth, and one hand rose, slowly, to touch Teddy’s loose curls.
Gestalt stayed still when she touched them. They did not stop her, didn’t brush her away.
“You’re a terrible actor, Gestalt.” Myfanwy teased weakly. She pulled her hand back.
Gestalt raised their eyebrows. “We are one person,” they pointed out. “Teddy and Alex are identical.”
Myfanwy gave a breathy chuckle. “So’re my left and my right hand. Doesn’t mean they’re the same.” She folded her hands together and glanced away, unaware of the effect her words had on Gestalt.
Even rewritten, Myfanwy knew them better than anyone. Better than their handlers, trainers, and every scientist the Chequy had ever employed to study them. Gestalt could feel their chest ache in all four bodies.
“I injured Alex’s hand,” Gestalt relented. It was a truth they would never have told anyone else. “It makes it harder to hold gun, and Alex was scheduled for an op this morning.” Teddy shrugged. “This was easiest and safest.”
Myfanwy’s brows tilted up in worry. “Injured, are you alright?” She looked around, at Teddy’s hand and then Eliza’s, as if uncertain as to where to focus her concern. She shifted her feet, and Gestalt wondered if she would rush to find Alex – as she had when she had learned that Eliza was shot, all those months ago.
Myfanwy was still frowning.
“It’s a minor injury,” Eliza wheedled, trying to soothe. “Just a bit sore. I hit a cabinet last night. I will be fine tomorrow.” Eliza shrugged. “I’m fine now, honestly. But I’m not going to go home and change.”
There was something in Myfanwy’s expression as she looked into Eliza’s eyes, then back up to Teddy’s. Her frown turned speculative. “You think it’s funny, don’t you? That no one else can tell you apart?”
Robert gave a startled cough, and the meeting organizer looked up at the noise. They shook their head, dismissing the sound.
Meanwhile, Eliza and Teddy remained still. Gestalt made Eliza’s expression inquisitive. Innocent.
Myfanwy smiled, suddenly and brightly. Gestalt resolved to do anything to make her smile like that.
“You do,” she crowed. “You have a sense of humor, you do.”
“Of course I have a sense of humor,” Teddy said, looming menacingly.
Wrong body. Myfanwy did something to them. Distracted them. Put down their guard. Alex swore, alone in the office. It didn’t matter what they did to put her from their mind, to control their reactions, she always saw right through them. She snuck past their guard.
Myfanwy smirked, and then tugged at the collar of the track suit Teddy was wearing. “You don’t look quite so intimidating, Teddy in Alex’s clothing.”
They had spent a lifetime controlling their expressions. But Myfanwy seemed to be reading something in their expressions that turned her smirk into a soft, fond smile.
“Alright,” she relented. “I won’t tease.”
Robert swallowed, hard. Disoriented. They could feel her, the power of her, buzzing through all four bodies. They found themselves smiling, Robert ducking his head to hide the expression from the other pawns in the meeting. In the office, Alex took a long drink of coffee and smiled into the cup.
“I’m glad you’re alright,” Myfanwy said earnestly, eyes twinkling with humor. “I was worried about you.”
“Ya don’ need ta worry about me,” Teddy said with Alex’s drawl.
She gave him an appraising look. “Almost there. Almost right.” She shrugged, shook her head. “Listen, I have work to do. I’ll get back to it. You take care of yourself, Gestalt.” She blessed them with another smile.
“And you too, Myfanwy,” Gestalt said.
They watched her walk away, bemused, a ringing sound in their ears. She looked back as she opened the door into the hallway, meeting their eye. She gave a breathless laugh and then disappeared.
“Fuck,” Alex swore, without heat.