“On, J, Q, can you meet me in the White common room?” Nat asked.
“When,” J responded first.
“Now.”
“OMW,” Q replied.
Nat was leaning over the coffee table, apparently doodling when J came down the stairs. Q arrived via the elevator as she passed the doors.
“Thanks for coming, have a seat,” Nat gestured to the couch beside him.
Q hung back and allowed J the spot directly beside the huge surfer. He wasn’t comfortable up close with the older boy. He was sure that something smartass or demeaning he’d said to Nat was one day going to generate a little retaliation.
“This is going to be a challenge for you, Q,” Nat said, looking around J. “And I hope something that will help you, J.”
There couldn’t be much the Big Dumb Surfer could come up with that would challenge Q, he was sure of that.
“This is the deal,” Nat began. “J’s squishy.” She raised her hand, starting to object. “Hear me out … I know you can heal anything but not if you’re injured already.”
She lowered her hand. That was something of a worry for her.
“I want Q to build you some protection,” Nat said pulling the paper he’d been scribbling on over so both could see. “This is what I envision, Q … something like a modification of your armor.”
Nat had drawn a fairly decent diagram of Q’s PAPA, only without the weapons.
“I would like to know if you can build her a suit …”
Q interrupted. “Of course I can build her a suit!” he snapped indignantly.
“… that will transform into a protective dome that will cover her and a patient, and it has to have a self-contained air system.”
The boy’s brows knitted in thought. It wasn’t a bad idea … He could see a few technical puzzles, but it was doable.
“Not sure what I could do about spreading the armor out and providing the same protection,” Q said.
“How about double to armor’s surface area by folding two layers together,” Nat suggested
Automatically Q snapped, “That’s a stupid idea!”
Nat’s quiet, unruffled “Why” made him pause.
In his head Q could see the armor panels and how they would form the humanoid shape to contain J. Then he imagined it opening and changing shape. He gave Nat a long stare.
“Where’d you come up with that idea?” he demanded.
Nat opened his hand and revealed an origami crane. Q reached across J and snatched it up, staring at it and unfolding it slowly.
“How big of an area would you like the dome to cover, J?” Nat asked.
It took her a second to respond, she was watching Q unfold the crane. She blinked and refocused on Nat.
“I’d say a couple of meters,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be all that tall, just enough to give me some overhead space since I’ll be either sitting or kneeling as I work.”
“Three or four cubic meters?” Nat suggested.
“Yeah, that would probably be enough.”
“How about the air, how long would you like that to last?”
Q was only half listening. “I can give you 20 minutes or so,” he offered as he refolded the crane.
“What about some way to move around?” Nat asked.
“No problem,” Q said. “I can put on a couple micro turbines and give her flight.”
“I could fly?” J sounded a little dubious.
“What about carrying the weight of the armor and just moving it?” Nat added.
“I can put in the same servos as mine, it’ll make her stronger.”
“You don’t need to do that,” J interjected. “I am a lot stronger than you think.”
Q looked her up and down, then snorted. “You’re only about my size …”
“And I can press a car,” J told him.
The boy’s mouth dropped open.
“Think you can come up with something, Q, or should I ask Thomas?”
Now that hurt and Q’s temper flaired, “Of course I can!” He balled the origami crane up and rose to his feet. Without a backward glance, he stalked out of the room and kicked the stairway door open, foregoing the elevator.
“Wasn’t that a little harsh?” J asked.
Nat smiled. “Q loves a challenge and this will be a double challenge.”
“How so?”
“First, the design idea was from the Big Dumb Surfer,” Nat grinned. “And second, the Big Dumb Surfer thinks Thomas is better than him. He will do everything in his power to prove me wrong and you will get a superior piece of hardware.”
“Wouldn’t have been anyway?”
“Of course, but now he will have a huge sense of accomplishment and I like his confidence high. He doesn’t realize it yet, but I think that boy can do anything he sets his mind to.”
J eyed Nat. “You play all of us like that?”
“J, some of you will never need me to.”
“Nat …”
“Hmm?”
“I am worried about the team,” she began. “I mean … Becca, Ave and I get along great and we love having Paige over but Snowy … she’s scared of us.”
Nat nodded. “I know … I’ve been talking with Mal about that very thing.”
“What’s she say?”
“She says give her time, and I agree, but I need to talk to Ben. I think he’s pushing her too hard.”
“Yeah, I don’t think he has any idea what to do.”
Nat put an arm around J’s shoulders and gave her a very slight hug. “All you have to do is be you. She’ll warm to you. You’re too sweet for it to end any other way.” He sat back as he removed his arm. “Now, what about Jack?”
J shook her head, “He might be worse than Snowy,” she opined. “I don’t think he has any idea how to relate to the rest of us anymore than she does.”
“What about now that he’s moved into the dorm?”
J shrugged. “He went out with Mikey and Dusk to pick up dinner and a movie, we’ll see when they get back.”
“Sounds like a good start,” Nat said.  “Hard to maintain a distance if you’re sharing pizza and a movie with someone.”
“It’s not distance … he just doesn’t seem to know how to relax with others his own age.”
Nat leaned forward, “We have Josh, Red has Carlos, looks like Jack’s your problem child.”
A look of determination crossed her lovely face. “Not if I can help it … I am going to drag him into the team by his ear.”
Nat laughed. “Sic 'em!”