He wasn’t flirting with her. No. He couldn’t possibly be that stupid. Alice risked a glance over at the station beside hers, only to find him just looking up from his computer, a smile ghosting his lips. He was flirting with her. And she had to admit that it was throwing her for a complete loop. That was the absolute last possible reaction she expected from him. She’d been a downright , only partially on purpose, and in return he was flirting with her? What the hell was he smoking? Nearly two hours had passed since they made it to lab six and they’d managed to work in relative silence without any mishaps. Alice gave him a small patient file to work on while she got down to business at her station, her knee bouncing beneath the table as her mind replayed his earlier actions. Why was it that everything he did stuck with her? Why was every little action, every smile, every bat of his dark lashes so vivid in her mind? She wasn’t particularly known for her photographic memory, but when it came to Dr. Henri Kang she remembered every little detail as if they’d been surgically implanted in her frontal lobe. She sat in front of her monitors, trying her hardest to stay focused on the task at hand, and failing miserably. He was a distraction. One she absolutely didn’t need. Maybe his sudden interest in her was just a defense mechanism, she wondered? Something like hers? But instead of getting pissed off, he turned into a flirt to deflect and disguise his emotions? Whatever it was, he was up to something and the more she tried to concentrate and found that she couldn’t, the more she flat out wanted to strangle him. 

    “Can I help you?” she snapped when she found him staring. Henri’s eyes widened.

    “I’m sorry?”

    “Is there something on my face? Do you need my attention?” She her stool to face him. “Or is your staring problem some kind of medical condition I should have been warned about?” Henri blinked at her for several long seconds before smiling softly.

    “Nothing so dramatic,” he chuckled. She watched him worry his bottom lip as he peeked up at her before returning his attention to his computer. “It’s nothing. Please excuse my rudeness.” He sighed, deeply, the sound drawn out and forlorn. Dammit. He looked upset. How did she manage to keep hurting his feelings?    “No, Henri, I’m the one who’s sorry. I told you I wasn’t intentionally being mean to you and it appears I am,” she huffed, pulling herself away from the desk. It hadn’t been two days and already the boy…Henri, had gotten under her skin. Why did he have such an affect on her, she wondered? She’d spent the last three years of her life avoiding any and all interaction with the opposite , to the point of turning into a ual recluse. And now some kid from Korea shows up and suddenly she can’t control her emotions? It was unthinkable that someone so young was calculating enough to be messing with her on purpose, which meant that this was solely on her end. She was letting his proximity get to her. And if they had any hopes of working together long enough to satisfy his residency, that had to stop.

    “I get it. We all have our demons, Dr. Morgan, and they all manifest in different ways,” he said, looking up at her. “I’d ask what caused yours but I doubt you’d tell me.”

    “Not a chance in hell,” she snapped before she even realized she’d spoken. Who was he to talk about demons? He wasn’t even old enough to have demons. Demons were for adults and…dammit. She kept forgetting that this kid was a doctor. He was an adult and his choice in profession alone spoke volumes for how mature he had to be. Of the things he must have seen and experienced. Medicine wasn’t exactly a place for the faint of heart.

    “I figured as much.” He smirked. “That’ll just make figuring it out even more exciting.”

    “Why? We’ve known each other two days, what would make you so interested in figuring me out?” she asked. Henri shrugged.

    “I don’t know. Perhaps I just think you’re an interesting person. I mean, you’re incredibly intelligent, beautiful, and you’re the first person I’ve ever met who didn’t instantly fall in love with me.”

    “Say what?” she asked and he laughed outright, the sound shocking the hell out of her. His laugh was…nice. It was deep and endearing, despite the wall she instantly threw up between them to put an end to those thoughts. She didn’t need to find him charming. That wasn’t part of the deal.

    “I’m kidding, Doctor. You’re different. Unlike any doctor, or woman for that matter, that I’ve ever met. And that makes you interesting. Is it too far a stretch to think that maybe I just like you in spite of your rudeness?”

    “Yes. Because if I were you I’d already have a request in for a transfer.”

    “Then maybe it was the moment we shared yesterday?” he asked. Her back stiffened.

    “Moment?” she asked, her palms growing hot as she flattened them against the desk. Henri smirked to himself. He could sense her agitation almost as if it were his own. And it made him curious. Why was she suddenly uneasy?

    “I wouldn’t necessarily call it magical, but it was…something.”

    “Why would it be magical? I out and was unresponsive. What’s magical about that?” she asked. Did she really not know? Had she not experienced the same thing he had? Was it really all on his end?

    “Well, I don’t know about you but, I felt something. Some sort of energy between us that I can’t explain. It was like…well, for lack of a better word; magic. Didn’t you feel it?” he asked and if it was at all possible he felt even more embarrassment from her. What did she have to be embarrassed about?

    “I didn’t feel anything.” Lie. “I wasn’t exactly conscious while everything was going down.” Also a lie. What was she hiding from him? Henri reached out then, his mind brushing against hers as he searched for entrance. Unlike Daniel, physical contact wasn’t necessary for him to completely infiltrate someones thoughts. Though it was still difficult to read people with a higher IQ, he usually didn’t have any trouble getting in. Alice returned to her computer, seemingly unaware of his intent.

    “Maybe it was just me. Or, maybe we have some sort of developing telekinetic bond we don’t know about,” he joked and she rolled her eyes.  He pushed harder, giving a mental shove that she didn’t appear to feel. The harder he progressed in his raid, the more mental walls dropped between them, putting a stop to his advance almost immediately. It was like Fort Knox; an indomitable fortress surrounded by a piranha infested mote. He was absolutely stunned. His eyes narrowed as he stared at her. 

    “Yeah, right,” she snorted.

    “Not a believer in Psychic Phenomenon?” he asked incredulously. His voice was edged in an agitation he couldn’t explain. Her’s wasn’t the first mind he couldn’t read, but there was something about being so easily thwarted that had the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. He couldn’t get in, which was unusual for him, but whether or not that meant she was psychic was still to be foreseen. Alice glanced over at him, arching a brow.

    “And you are? You’re a doctor, Henri, you don’t get to believe in fairytales.”

    “But what if it isn’t a fairytale? I mean, you’re a Neurologist, there has to be something about th