Reiterations [Closed] - Printable Version
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RE: Reiterations [Closed] - saronym - 03-13-2019
Holland listened to her partial timeline with a clinician's ear. He nodded when she postulated that she may have been given something. He pursed his lips together looking somewhat contrite before admitting, “I think there's authorization to use big game tranqs to subdue weres in the field operations manual. So, it's likely you may still have some sedatives in your system.”Holland's mouth pressed into a thin line when she mentioned the jumpsuit. He gave her a cursory once over. “You can pull off detainee-chic.” He said with a wry half-smile.
She shot off several questions about what should be done and Holland sighed before scrubbing his hair through his hair. “I-” he hesitated, “well you -.” He sighed. “I was going to call Julianna to see if I could get Owen involved. They always know what to do.” Holland sidled next to Aphrodite and placed his hand between her shoulders, he gestured at the examination table. “Would you like to sit down? I'll go ahead and make the call.”
Holland pulled his phone and found the screen still open on Julianna's contact. The phone rang a few times before he heard her cheerful greeting. “There's a problem,” he started before putting the phone on speaker and explaining that Shrader Jehorem had essentially kidnapped a bunch of local wereleopards, including her best friend, Aphrodite. “I'm with her now, but they want her for interrogation. I don't know what to do other than stall and work on clearing her of whatever they think she did."
RE: Reiterations [Closed] - megs - 03-15-2019
Aphrodite moved away from the hand he placed on her back. Post-transformation was such a strange time for her. Even more so that she had been forced out of her leopard shape against her will. She felt both out of her body and hyper-aware of it. Both touch adverse and wanting to be comforted. Holland had barely gotten the question out before she hopped up onto the exam table. The sudden upwards momentum made her woozy so she fell back onto the uncomfortable table.
"The preserve is private property," she said again. Defending herself. She kept saying it, because she felt like it was important. A growl resonated from her chest as she rolled over onto her stomach. She had one leg cocked and one arm hanging over the table. The other arm propped beneath her head, made her look the picture of a lounging house cat.
She tucked her chin near her chest to watch Holland from where he stood at the end of the examination table. If she'd still had a tail it would be swaying lazily to and fro as she watched him carefully. Aphrodite liked him so much. she wondered if their potential was lost now. What could they have been if not for this shitty situation. "Julianna knows how to fix everything," she agreed, over-hearing one half of the conversation.
Aphrodite closed her eyes and sighed. "I want to go home."
RE: Reiterations [Closed] - saronym - 03-17-2019
Worry for Aphrodite continued to nag at his attention even while he talked with Julianna. The way she collapsed on the table told him she was feeling weak. He didn’t want her to despair. “Yes. She's as okay as she can be.” He said in closing on the call. “Got it. Thanks.”He tucked his phone back into his lab coat pocket and went to stand at her side by the examination table. “They're on it.” He said though there would be little reassurance for her until she and her pardmates were all released.
“You're probably dehydrated.” He observed. “I could give you a banana bag. Or I could sneak to the vending machines? Get you some Gatorade?” Holland ventured to brush her hair away from one side of her face.
However, the door burst open and a very troubled looking Sanders in full flight jumpsuit walked in. The two jumpsuits in the room remarkably similar. Though Sanders' was a forest green and sported a belt and the shining golden wings of a pilot on his left breast. “Maeve! Are you alright?” He asked as the door fell with a slam back into its place.
Holland marveled at the incompetence of the Military Police. They just let a completely random pilot into the room with their prime suspect. Before Holland could say anything Sanders was on him.
"What the hell is going on? Are you helping them with this-" the handsome pilot's face screwed up and he gestured as he search for the words “-what is this?"He was being awfully demanding for someone who had no business poking his nose into the situation.
“This isn't helping.” Holland observed trying to keep his cool. His hand had snapped back to his side when he saw Sanders enter the room. It bothered him greatly that her ex thought he could barge in with a show of heroics as if Holland was completely incompetent. It didn't help Holland any that the blue-eyed cowboy looked dashing in his flight suit with that perfect part down his dirty blonde hair. He looked more the hero than Holland.
Sanders was paying Holland no mind and was back to Aphrdoite. “Your face!” He reached for her chin to get a better look at her puffy lip. “What happened.” He fixed her with blue eyes that held only concern. While he was poking his nose in where it didn't belong Sanders felt he was completely in the right. That his presence would be a comfort to her.
RE: Reiterations [Closed] - megs - 03-29-2019
The agitated leopard didn't respond to his offer to hydrate her. She didn't want anything out of spite and camaraderie. She doubted her pack-mates were being treated with such careful attention. Aphrodite turned her face as his hand moved over her hair. It was hard to tell if she was smelling him, or just trailing after the comfort that his touch brought to her. "What are they going to do?" In the back of her mind she knew that Julianna and Owen could probably figure it all out, but right now her outlook was bleak.
The answer didn't matter, not that she would have had a chance to hear it. The door slammed open, and Holland's hand was gone. Yellow eyes that seemed to be melting back into a purple color popped open and she looked down the table to see her ex standing in the doorway.
Aphrodite groaned audibly, and loudly. "Ugh!" A scoff in her throat. Sanders came to stand beside her. He was very much the last person she wanted to see. "What are you doing here, Sanders?" She demanded, fixing him with a warning glare.
He had called her Maeve.
She didn't like it.
Sanders ignored her questioning, as the two men went back and forth with each other. Aphrodite knew it wouldn't be long until this turned into a pissing contest. Sanders reached for her face, and Aphrodite growled. Turning her chin away from him. "That shitface Inspector Jehorem is what happened to my face. I hear smacking women around is kind of his thing." She spoke in such a manner that was so unlike her usual demeanor. It was as if her usual personality was overcompensating for the feral nature of the leopard.
"Why are you here," she said again. Fixing him with hard stare. "Holland is taking care of it."
RE: Reiterations [Closed] - saronym - 03-30-2019
Sanders didn’t know that the scoff was for him. Or maybe a part of him did. But he shoved that part way down. It wasn’t for him. It was for whatever situation she was in. “The word is all over the base. Weres in lock-up.” He explained his presence easily.
A flame of rage ignited inside Sanders to hear that Shrader had hit her. It certainly sounded just like something the zealous man would do. The harsh tone of her voice was so unlike her. Her eyes even looked strange to him. Two toned and in transition.Though they’d been engaged, he hadn’t much experience with this side of her. He reached for her hand anyway.
“I came to see if you’re okay.”
“She’s just fine.” Holland interjected, feeling as if he had been completely forgotten. “Things are being handled. I don’t think she wants to be touched right now.” He warned Sanders for his presumptuous touching. He wasn’t sure how agitated and unstable Aphrodite was feeling and wouldn’t put it past any were in her situation to end up biting someone in frustration. And that's just what he needed right then. Dealing with a bitten and jealous Sanders. Sanders fixed Holland with an incredulous look. “Who’s handling it? You?” His voice pitched higher with his belief that Holland could be effectual in this, or really, any situation. “I think she can speak for herself.” He added.
“Yes! I’m -” Holland hesitated and re-grouped as if remembering he wasn’t speaking to just someone in his friend group. “Captain, you’re out of bounds. The situation here is unfolding by the minute and you’re complicating a very sensitive matter. Not to mention, you’re agitating my subject.” His voice took a vicious tone. If Sanders wanted to be nasty, Holland could give it back. “Return to the airstrip and report to your commanding officer for instructions.”
“Your subject?” Sanders stalked a step towards the man who easily outranked him. “I’m not leaving her alone here.”
RE: Reiterations [Closed] - megs - 03-31-2019
Aphrodite pulled her hand away from Sanders grasp. Holland wasn't completely wrong. She didn't want to be touched by Sanders. She didn't want the over-confident cowboy thinking she needed him to save her. Perhaps, she did need someone to save her, but it certainly wasn't him. "I'm fine," she said in unison with Holland. Apparently, the both wanted the nosy pilot gone.
A tension was rising in the room as the men went back and forth with each other. Aphrodite could feel it prickle over her skin as if someone was running one of those spiked pinwheels all over her body. The energy was almost palpable and in her current state she feared it would be enough to make her shift back to her leopard form. Then they would really have problems.
The leopard growled as Aphrodite rolled into her stomach. She propped herself up on all fours as if she still embodied the big cat she had taken the form of less than 12 hours earlier. "It's not like he is wrong," she spat at the two of them. That menacing sound till emanating from her chest, adding a vibrato to her speech. "'Subject' is the nicest thing I have heard anyone call me, today." She stared the two men down, perched on the edge of the table like she might pounce on them at any moment.
Feeling they had been appropriately threatened and chastised, she rearranged herself so she was sitting properly on the table. With her legs dangling over the end of it. "I'm not alone, Sanders," she stated, matter-of-fact. "Holland is here with me."
While the implication of Dite's words settled into Sanders with what probably felt like an ice cold dagger to the chest, The door opened once more at the hand of a very concerned looking Julianna. She wore a dark grey and tailored pantsuit, accented with a navy blue silk blouse. Black heels made her appear much taller than she was, as did the height of her severe-looking ponytail.
Her worried brow shifted into surprise at the scene she had walked into. Though, she didn't know why she was surprised to see that Sanders had heard the buzz and made his way to Aphrodite. Green eyes bounced around the faces in the room. Once, and then once again before settling on Sanders. "Captain," she said, coolly, knowing that he would resent her for it later. They couldn't be friends right now. Not until this situation was settled.
"The Lieutenant Colonel has ordered you to return to your duties."
She didn't wait for him to leave before she crossed the room to stand by her friend's side. They spoke quietly to each other, as Julianna pet Dite's hair like a concerned mother.
"Sergeant Major-" she spoke to Holland without looking at him, all her attention was for Aphrodite. She touched the other woman's face gently and tsked at the split on her lip. No doubt the work of Shrader. "Could you please update me on the situation so I can report back to the Lieutenant Colonel." She passed one more warning look to Sanders' who was hesitant to exit, over her shoulder, before turning her attention to Holland.
RE: Reiterations [Closed] - saronym - 03-31-2019
Holland’s eyes snapped to Aphrodite when they spoke in unison but they snapped just as quickly back to Sanders. Something was sinking in side her. He hadn’t meant to called her a subject. He hadn’t meant it like that. He was just trying to hide behind the veneer of professionalism for a second while he grasped the wheel as he steered what felt like a car veering of the road. He was frowning. Maeve, Maeve, Maeve. That name that Sanders called her pounded in his mind. Or was that his own heart beat? He stared at her perched on the edge of the exam table like a cat ready to pounce. Who would she take down?
The door opened a icy dread poured down his spine until Holland saw it was Julianna.
Sanders had his hands on his hips. He would have had something else to say if not for Julianna’s sudden presence and then he did have even more something elses to say. Everything clicked together the moment she addressed him by his title. He knew who was running the show and it wasn’t the scientist who now looked more nervous than a whore in church.
Sanders all but ignored the instructions given him. She was right in knowing he’d resent it. “I see. So Owen is taking care of this.”
Holland felt a flash of embarrassment on the tail of Sanders’ commentary but focused on delivering the details Julianna required. “Yes ma’am. It appears there’s been an -” he hesitated, “-an attack at the Preserve. Involving a military policeman.”
Holland paused and glanced at the other man in the room who was presently fixing Aphrodite shock. The white in the pilot’s eyes when they widened made the blue look almost electric. His nostrils flared with anger as his mind jumped to conclusions.
“An animal attack.” Holland clarified, obfuscating the truth of the situation with a euphemism that nobody needed. “It seems that Aphrodite’s pard were in the Preserve last night and are currently - all - being held as suspects in this attack. My team is collecting DNA samples and I have been instructed to prepare her -- for interrogation. The situation appears to be devolving. In addition to the obvious mishandling of the detainees.” He glanced at Aphrodite’s lip that Julianna had fussed over. “I’ve also witnessed at least one bite thus far.”
“Maeve, did you kill someone last night?”
That name again. “Captain you have your orders. Dismissed.” Holland snapped this time at Sanders who was hanging around despite having been told off twice already.
“This is fucking insane. This is out of control. What are you going to do about this?” Despite the way he’d brushed off her authority earlier, the brunt of Sanders’ questions were for Julianna.
RE: Reiterations [Closed] - megs - 04-07-2019
There wasn't even a hush among them when Sanders questioned her. He had finally been brought up to speed on the severity of the situation. Though, unwillingly. He'd not wanted details, he'd just wanted to save her. The fact of the matter was everyone just wanted him gone, for various reasons. Holland for two parts jealousy, and one part he had work to do. Julianna for equal parts, he was in the way and she knew it didn't look good for them all to be gathered around a suspected feral murderer. Aphrodite just wanted him gone, because the leopard couldn't stand the sight of him.
The blonde held up a hand when Holland tried to dismiss Sanders, again. A sort of wait, gesture. Her eyes were still yellow-purple like a healing bruise and the bore into cornflower blue ones that looked at her from across the room.
Two parts longing, and one part disappointment.
She remembered a time when staring into those eyes was all she wanted to do.
"Yes," she said with absolutely no emotion. "Yes, I did."
Julianna's attention snapped to the pilot when she realized he was talking to her. Her face was the neutral mask that those who worked with her were more than familiar with. Despite Sanders being a whole head taller than he, she could still manage to appear like she was looking down her nose at him. Her ears were pinned back towards the crown of her head, pressing into her hair. "We're going to get this taken care of, but for now you need to go. We can't all be seen loitering around in here, while she is still in custody. It's not a good look."She moved away from Aphrodite. Her heels clicked on the linoleum flooring. She stood in front of Sanders' and placed a reassuring hand on his arm. "We're going to fix it." She was gently nudging him towards the door. "We have to play along for now. She's still in CAF custody. We all have jobs to do. You need to go back to the airstrip."
RE: Reiterations [Closed] - saronym - 04-09-2019
It was plain for the room to see that Aphrodite’s confession crushed Sanders. He couldn’t hear what Julianna was saying. Her voice came to him in waves that didn’t make sense. Loitering around here…
To Holland, it looked like the cowboy was finally seeing the sun without the protective brim of his hat. What he thought she was had only been her shadow. And now the shadows were taken from his sun. He couldn’t hold all of her contradictions and brilliance.
For want of something to do, Holland turned his back on them all to change his gloves. He picked up a swab kit and fiddled with it. Plastic crinkling was the counter melody to Julianna’s attempting to reason with Sanders to return him to his place on the base. Play along for now… Sanders paid Julianna no mind, and spoke over her, literally over her head and over her voice. “How could you do something like that?” He could feel Julianna pushing at him but he only took one backward step in the direction she wanted him to go. Holland moved next to Aphrodite and touched her arm. He glanced at Sanders whose world was apparently crashing down. “It’s important that I look like I’ve been doing something here. I need to do a swab. Would you?” He gestured with the swab kit, testing Aphrodite’s willingness to comply. His voice was dispassionate, technocratic almost in the face of what appeared, to him, to be ongoing romantic tensions. He opened the kit and held the little q-tip like swab between index and thumb waiting for her compliance.
“Of course, you’re both worried about covering your own asses!” Sanders voice was raised now as he accused Julianna and Holland of pure self-preservation.
“This isn’t about you, Sanders.”
RE: Reiterations [Closed] - megs - 04-11-2019
Shock and betrayal played clearly over Sanders' features. She hated it. Not because she felt bad, but because he dared to behave as if what was happening what something she was doing to him. Aphrodite wondered if this would finally be what it took to push him away from her. While her love for him lingered like a dull ache in her heart, she wished that he wouldn't. They didn't work. The decision to end their relationship had been mutual. Why wouldn't he just go?
Aphrodite growled, her chin dropping toward her chest. Her shoulders hunched. Her fingers gripped the edge of the table to hard, her knuckles turned white with the effort. Holland was prompting her for a sample, but she jerked her head away from him. "You have no idea what happened." her voice was deep and rumbling. When she looked up at Sanders again her eyes were pure yellow.
"You need to go. Now," Julianna insisted. Pushing at Sanders' arm again.
"I did what I had to do to protect myself." When she spoke now, there were long and dangerous looking canines peeking out from behind her lips. Sanders was agitating her to the point of shifting back into her leopard from. "To protect my pard."
Julianna moved away from Sanders long enough to open the door. She swung it open and reached from the man's hand. In a show of strength that often went underutilized, she yanked him out of the room with her and closed the door behind her.
The added weight of Aphrodite charging into the barrier pushed it into the door jam with a slam that echoed down the hall. She glared at Sanders through the glass, teeth bared, face twisted in anger. "You don't know what happened," she yelled at him, before disappearing back into the exam room.
In the hall, Julianna watched Aphrodite retreat, exhaling sharply through her nose. She pulled her vest back into place, before rounding on Sanders. "If you think for a fucking second that what we are trying to do here is not ultimately for the benefit of my best friend, then you need to get the fuck over yourself." She had never spoken to him this way. So very rarely spoke to anyone this way. "You're being selfish. You need to accept that there isn't anything you can do. I know that you are worried about her, but you are making things worse."
She looked over her shoulder, to see Aphrodite hopping back up on the exam table. She was shaking her head and gesturing to something in response to Holland. Back on her best behavior, opening her mouth for a sample.
"Just...go, Sanders." she sighed heavily. "I will keep you updated on the situation."
RE: Reiterations [Closed] - saronym - 04-15-2019
As an intelligent man, Holland knew better than to keep his hand in front of the face of an increasingly agitated wereleopard. Even though he was trying to cultivate a whole romantic thing with said wereleopard, he still knew better than to press the issue of the DNA sample at that particular moment. It seemed to also be a questionable time to be pressing the issue of a romantic thing as well. He dropped his hand away from her and to his side. He kept his arm away from his body, maintaining perfect sterile technique with the swab. Holland moved aside from the table and took cautious steps backward away from Aphrodite. That sense of icy dread poured down his spine again. He looked to Julianna to control the situation that was quickly spiraling.
The muscles in Sanders’ body tensed as Aphrodite’s voice pitched deeper and became uncharacteristically gravely. He had no chance to respond before Julianna was hauling him out of the room. He caught a glimpse of flashing yellow eyes before the door closed as Aphrodite charged into it. Sanders recoiled away from the door horrified that she had wanted to pounce on him like that. Would she have bitten him?
Without a chance to process anything, Sanders was faced with the shocking ire of Julianna. He didn’t know she could burn so hot. He recoiled from her words and took a step away from her as if unsure if she would be the next one trying to pounce on him. He felt a burning behind his eyes and swallowed against the unwanted emotion that was welling up inside of him.
“I -” Reflexively, he tensed up and saluted her. “Yes, ma’am. On my way.” Sanders glanced once more through the holding cell door window. Aphrodite was sitting neatly on the table with her mouth open as Holland took a swab. With the bitter taste of humiliation in his mouth, he turned away finally and retreated towards the elevators that would take him back to the ground level.
Back inside the examination room, Holland had flinched in spite of himself as Aphoridte's body made a resounding crash into the door slamming it shut.
“That’s one way to get a stubborn cowboy to leave.” He held up the swab offering her another chance to give him the sample. There was a fine tremor in his hand that belied the forced calm of his sarcastic comment. Sure, enough she got back on the table and opened her mouth playing the part of obedient subject for him.
Holland stared the sharp canines framed against the cavern of her mouth as he thoroughly swabbed the inside of her cheek. Pointy.
He packaged up the swab in a container and labeled it in neat handwriting. “I’m sorry about that.” He said as he placed the lonely sample onto a tube rack. “I lost control of the situation. It’s the whites.” He flapped the lapel of his white coat.
“People around here treat me less like a Sergeant Major and more like a lackey. A lab rat.” He shrugged and idly twisted the test tube containing her DNA sample. He thought about all the sophisticated laboratory techniques he was itching to run on the unstable double helix. He had no intention of testing it for the benefit of the CAF. Anything he did with it would be for his interest only.
If anyone was the lab rat in this situation it was her.
“Is there anything I can get for you?”
RE: Reiterations [Closed] - megs - 04-30-2019
Sanders departed and Julianna remained outside to text Owen details of the situation.
Aphrodite could see her through the glass in the door. Purple eyes tracked her movements. Small paces back and forth as she typed. Aphrodite could hear her heels clicking outside. The height of her senses kept fluctuating. Quieter noises and faint smells she could have ignored, were assaulting her now. She breathed deeply, trying to calm despite inhaling the thick smell if sanitizer. "I feel bad," she admitted. "I've never wanted anyone to see me this way." She watched Holland seal up the sample. She touched tip of her tongue to her teeth. Still sharp, but receding. Aphrodite sighed and slumped her shoulders a little. She didn't have the energy to pretend to be the prim and proper English maiden that she portrayed. It was a lost cause in front of Holland, anyway. He'd seen the bad parts of her now.
"You don't have to apologize. Or explain. We've all been there." She waved her hand and attempted a laugh, but there was no humor in it. "There's not a lot of situation to control anyway. Stubborn cowboys and unstable wereleopards. All things considered you're doing remarkably."
Aphrodite scrubbed her hands over her face, pushing finger into her hair until they got stuck in her dirty curls. "I would love to go home, but if nothing else, I would settle for some tea. If that's even possible."
RE: Reiterations [Closed] - saronym - 05-27-2019
Though he was done playing scientist, Holland left his gloves on for the time being. Their protection gave him some sense of comfort. He was observing her carefully. The twitches of her eyes as she tracked Julianna's movements back and forth in front of the door's window. Her tongue explored the still remaining sharpness of her canines. He averted his gaze sheepishly when she admitted she hadn't wanted to be seen this way.
Her state was certainly a far cry from the neat and controlled appearance she usually presented. He felt bad for staring. For making her uncomfortable. Though he hoped she knew he wasn't judging her.
He looked up again and smiled. “I think I could get you some tea.” He moved towards the door but stopped with his hand on the handle. He looked back at her. “I know you didn't want me to see you this way. But - but this doesn't -- it doesn't change anything for me.”
He returned to the room a few minutes later with a steaming mug of water in his hands and a pocket full of the variety of teabags he could pilfer from MP breakroom.
“Julianna says Owen is on it. Just may be a bit of a wait.” He updated Aphrodite on the slow developments as he entered the room again. “It's hot.” He said offering her the mug. His hand disappeared into his lab coat pocket and produced a handful of teabags. “I wasn't sure which you would like.”
RE: Reiterations [Closed] - megs - 06-01-2019
Holland's statement before parting seemed to surprise her. Aphrodite didn't say anything, but she lifted her head enough to make eye contact with him before he slipped out the door. When he was gone she was left with the buzzing silence of the exam room and her own thoughts. Which were racing. Between the events of the day and the statement Holland had left her with, there was a lot to think about. There was a fluttering feeling her in her stomach when he returned. A surprise bit of nervousness. The kind that bubbled up when you really liked someone. A huge sigh of relief escaped her when she took the mug from him. "You're a saint," she breathed, holding the mug in both hands and enjoying the warmth for a moment. She picked through the selection he had brought for her and smiled when she saw an Earl Grey in the bunch. She didn't even care that it was from a bargain variety pack. She held the mug in one hand, tearing the little package with her teeth. They'd returned to normal while he was gone. Her eyes as well. They were wine purple and gazing at him with their usual intensity. She dropped the tea bag into the water, discarding the trash on the table beside her.
While she waited for the tea to steep, she leaned forward just enough to bring her face close to his. She was careful not to touch him. She was still covered in dirt, and other things. She air kissed the space near his cheek. "Thank you," she said, sitting back. "For everything. Were they able to get everyone released?"
RE: Reiterations [Closed] - saronym - 08-14-2019
Even as the hot cup left his hands, a rush of warmth washed over his whole body. He felt it creeping up towards his neck as she complimented him. His eyes went a little bit wide as she leaned forward and kissed the air next to his face. The heat reached his cheeks and spread pink under the constellation of freckles on his face. He gazed down at his feet, feeling simultaneously bashful and undeserving of the compliments. “I got you tea...it’s hardly…it’s the least I could do.”
Holland took a step backward and turned to occupy his gloved hands with the folder and vial of her DNA sample. He just fiddled with them.
“They are still working on the release. I heard they are calling in one of those little buses to transport everyone back to…” he shrugged. “I don’t know where they’re taking them. I’m really … I’m not that important around here. Just a white coat.” His breathy laugh was half-hearted. Obviously, he wished he could do more, be more for her right then.
“Owen and Julianna are on it.” He reassured her. “They will take care of everything. Owen is very … he’s very good with this kind of stuff. He swings his weight around and stuff happens.”
Indeed, Owen was barrelling down the hallway towards Julianna, barking orders at any military policeman that happened to be in his wake. The vein that bulged down the center of his forehead like a lightning bolt between his brows broadcast his displeasure and disgust with the whole business of the day. He locked eyes with Julianna and entered the room she lingered near.
There was a rush of energy when Owen flung open the door. Holland turned and eyed his friend carefully taking in the signs of his mood.
Owen nodded curtly at him. “You good?”
“Yeah, I’m -”
“Good. What is all that?” He waved his hand at the items Holland was fiddling with. “Nevermind. Get rid of it.” Impatient and bossy he turned on Aphrodite. “Whatever you and your pack did...we’re covering it up. Don’t ever do it again. Ah--!” He raised his finger to shut her up before she could begin to protest. “I don’t want to hear it. Nobody’s happy with any of this. Least of all me ‘cause I’m going to take shit for this. This is called compromise.” He softened some and moved towards her. "Your people are being taken care of. Darcy is working on your release remotely. Shouldn't be too long now."
As Owen was occupied with dressing Aphrodite down, Holland slipped the DNA sample into his pocket. He still wanted to run his own tests on it. Wereleopard DNA. What a treat. He might have been more offended on Aphrodite’s behalf if Holland wasn’t entirely too accustomed to Owen’s demeanor at work. It wasn’t personal. He would have to tell her that later.