best laid plans

He's in his office, completing paperwork when the call comes in. A visitor is to be expected.

He goes to his workstation and reviews the data.

Just as the chime goes on his watch, signaling noon, there's a redheaded, bespectacled woman squinting at his computer screen.

"Doctor Benjamin Michaels, biochemist."

The woman just nods, and he explains the data. Something about her eyes is eerily familiar.

"Do I know you?"

In a fluid motion, her hair is dark, wig and glasses discarded.

"Pearl?"

"I promised to visit."

"I didn't think you ever would."

"You never planned on getting shot, either. "