Brock stammered as Cap dragged him down the hallway.

"Uhhh, what, I mean, I wasn't, it wasn't-"

"I watched the surveillance recordings this morning, you little turd, and that Sekkie bitch was all over you last night!" Brock was silently amazed at how her voice managed to sound like she was screaming while at the same time being no louder than a whisper. "Even worse, you tried to flirt back!"

"I... uhhh-"

"I'll put up with a lot if it gets Starak back, but I'm not going to sit around while you act like his body is your personal plaything! I don't care what kind of polycule arrangement you had in your previous world. I don't share."

"...a 'polycule?'"

"Don't play stupid with me, asshole. I've seen the latest Earth trends."

With an effort of will, Brock planted his heels in the hallway's carpeted floor and brought them both to a halt.

"Look, I honestly don't know what you're talking about." He waved his free hand in a warding gesture against Cap's narrowing eyes. "I'm not trying to make you mad, okay? Aphrodite's cool. We were just pretending at the Unicorn place so that way no one knew who she really was." He tried to ignore the sour sensation in his chest. "Besides, she's not into me anyways. We talked about it this morning in my apartment."

"...she was in your apartment?"

"Uhhh, yeah? We're neighbors. She stopped by to-"

"I'm going to kill KB," Cap hissed, cutting him off. "And then I'm going to kill the Director."

"I'm telling you," Brock pleaded, "there's nothing between me and Aphrodite. I don't even know if we're friends. Besides," his eyes narrowed, brain starting to finally recover from the unexpected ambush, "shouldn't you have known all this already? Aren't you, like, the squad leader or something?"

"She would have known if she wasn't drowning herself in half a bottle of gin and tears every night."

The new voice came from a fine-featured elvish woman with blonde hair stepping out of a doorway, a circlet of living laurel growing from her scalp keeping her long tresses swept back away from her face. Cap scowled at her, and the woman copied the expression with a mocking grin, saluting her with a thin brown folder held in one hand.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Don't get pissy with me, Tara. You know I'm an equal opportunity annoyer. If you don't do your job right, I'm gonna call you out on it same as anyone else." She turned to Brock, her eyes lighting up in pleasure. "Hey, rookie. Filled out any form Twenty Three-C's lately?"

She laughed at Brock's involuntarily shudder and pushed both of them into motion. Bemused, Brock let her, Cap still not relinquishing her hold on his wrist.

"Uhhh, hi, Verdant." A brief flicker of light drew his attention to her green circlet as they walked down the corridor, drops of dew shining among the leaves. "Why are you so wet?"

The ambient temperature around Brock's face suddenly ignited as he replayed his words in his mind.

...fucking fuck. I did it again. Does she have a skill that makes me say the most embarrassing thing possible? Is that a thing?

"Stop staring at her bushes," Cap growled as the elf burst into chiming laughter on the other side of him. "I know you Sekkies are always horny teenagers, but can't you think about something other than sex for half a second?"

"That's not- I wasn't... goddammit..."

"What can I say, rookie, a good debriefing is always so satisfying." Verdant licked her lips suggestively as Brock wished for his power to unlock so he could escape to another, less innuendo filled universe. "I'm already anticipating this one."

"I'm reporting you to HR," Cap warned, but even Brock could tell the threat wasn't serious. They turned another corridor and she finally let go of his wrist, almost reluctantly. A part of him felt relieved, while another part felt like he should reach out for her hand.

...is that you, Starak?

Once again, there was no answer, and the urge faded as quickly as it had arrived. A few steps later Verdant pushed open one of the numerous heavy wooden doors lining the hallway at regular intervals and he followed her through, Cap on his heels.

Inside was a small conference room dominated by a long rectangular table, screens set flush against each wall at head height so that anyone sitting at the table would always be able to look up and see at least one. Mikael, Fiona, and KB (Administrative)'s drone were seated along the far side of the table (or hovering above the seat, in KB (Administrative)'s case) chatting softly with each other. At the head of the table was a well-dressed orc, Director Shimada, and he smiled slightly as Brock entered.

"Ahh, Operator Manly, a pleasure to see you. I apologize for interrupting your day off, but needs must when the devil drives."

"Uhhh, sure," Brock replied awkwardly, sliding out the middle chair and plopping into it. Verdant took the seat to his right, Cap the one to his left, putting her at the Director's right hand side. Brock looked around hesitantly. "Sooooo, what's this all about?"

"We need to debrief you and get your after-action report down," the Director began calmly, hands clasped in front of him, "and then determine whether or not today's events intersect with our current investigation. To wit - whether the newcomer you subdued has ties to the Conductor, or was simply a coincidental encounter. Due to information security concerns, none of this can take place outside of a secure room, of course."

Brock heard the rustling of paper to his right, and he turned his head in horror to see Verdant pulling out a stack of sheets from her brown folder, far more than should have been able to fit in the thin sheaf.

"That's not," his voice cracked, lips suddenly dry, "form Twenty Three-C, is it?"

"Nope!" Verdant replied brightly, producing a pen from her suit jacket's inner pocket. Brock felt relief flood through his veins as the rest of the squad chuckled.

"This is form Twenty Three-C, (extended)."