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Post by Circe on Apr 6, 2019 17:18:37 GMT -6
Catherine took a deep breath and sighed. This was definitely worse than the time Brandon crossed all of the local territory lines in a single night. That had taken some doing and the kind of bravery that was almost indistinguishable from stupidity. "Molly, we don't ask about glamours.. you know that." the Warden finally said. There were some things that just went largely unspoken and unasked within the unseen world. They took privacy seriously, considering they were still newly in the public's eye for the first time in centuries.
Turning to the computer at her desk, and with a few short keystrokes Catherine found what she was looking for. Frowning, she looked over photos of the damage and which Councilor's had been victims of Molly's harmless fun. "... I normally don't agree with the Council.. but this was definitely appropriate punishment. Breaking, entering, and defacement of Council property. Seriously, what on earth ever possessed you to do this? You are extremely lucky that you were not placed in holding facilities."
Catherine hated to think of the time spent repairing the wards on each of the doors, given each Councilor had specific preferances and needs. Turning to Xander, she thought carefully, she knew that some fae just waited for an opening to exploit, and she felt Xander was no different. "Xander then.. you may call me Warden Dumitrescu. As for your charge, much of her behavior has been exemplary, I do however feel that her binding is justified given the circumstances." She spoke slowly, keeping the intent in her words neutral. She wasn't even going to mention the first few weeks with Molly just randomly letting herself into her office. Catherine had found it very disturbing to come in mornings and find things moved or taken. It had taken her a few weeks to figure out just who was doing, not to mention a mage willing to set the specific wards she wanted. Instead of outright punishing Molly, she chalked it up to leaving an opening that could be exploited, something she knew better than to do.
"But.. be as it may, we cannot afford to loose Sargeant Bronson just yet." Catherine ventured. There was too much to do and too few officers, especially those who were able to break and restore wards. "I would ask you, what other suitable punishments she deserves in light of her behavior." She said eyeing Molly.
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Post by demikara on Apr 7, 2019 9:23:23 GMT -6
"I know ma'am." Molly was definitely humbled apparently and kept her head bowed. It was not how the others had ever seen her before. Even being bound she hadn't been this humbled. Xander had an eye on her from the corner of his eye and sighed, mussing her hair. "I thought it would just be harmless fun. I made sure everything would come off super easy." She knew she had been lucky. Xander shook his head.
"Molly. Harm or help?" His voice was sharp. He had taught her better. She knew better. Harm or help determined who you were about the Ratatoskr. It determined how the In Between's harsh truths revealed themselves in you. He'd have to walk with her more often now, to keep an eye on her, given she had fallen into the harm side of mischief.
"Harm sir." It was a mutter more than anything, but still distinguishable.
"Then you owe them help. In light of that, I supposed you can remain. With conditions." Other suitable punishments. That would be tricky, especially given she had proven her immaturity. "I don't feel as if she's mature enough to continue holding a job. But." He paused and visibly considered an alternative. "Bare minimum, she should lose her rank all the way down to the lowest level. If there's an intern position, frankly, that would be preferable, given her age." And she was visibly a teenager, even if she had been hiding it for a long time now. He considered his charge carefully. "She'll also have to be escorted to and from work given she's about to move back in." Molly's head shot up and she was about to protest, then took a good look at his face.
She remained silent.
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Post by Circe on Apr 7, 2019 10:44:15 GMT -6
Catherine raised an eyebrow listening to Molly's excuse that everything would have come off easily. "I would think that as a wardbreaker, you would know not to tamper with another person's protective fields unless absolutely necessary. But I can see that that thought was incorrect." She remarked. This was going to be a hassle and then some to assure her mentor that Molly would be kept on a tight leash at MCU.
While Xander's suggestions weren't exactly ideal, she could understand roughly where they were coming from. However, she didn't see herself agreeing with the suggestion of busting Molly back to a cadet. "We do not have interns Mr. Xander, nor will I initiate the paperwork to start such a program." Catherine was clearly not in the mood for fae drama or MCU politics at the moment, or ignorance surrouding the organization. If anything, she was bored and tired.
"Excuse my rudeness here, but how old are you Molly?" The warden asked trying to formulate a response to this situation. Loosing one officer like this put them all at risk of failure, and she didn't think the other two even knew.
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Post by demikara on Apr 7, 2019 11:06:19 GMT -6
Oh that was rude. Molly hesitated, then acknowledged it was needed. Still, she didn't really want to say. "I'm...the equivalent of a 17 year old." She clearly didn't want to admit that she wasn't actually old enough to work at MCU. "I'm 512. It's only twenty-eight years until my majority though, which is practically nothing!" She rushed to assure the other. She didn't mention that she had been working with MCU since shortly after her wife died. She had been old enough to be wed, and that was all that really mattered, wasn't it? Xander had supported her at least, but it hadn't mattered in the least to her. Her Emile had known.
Xander shook his head. "You have to be the equivalent of 21 to be in MCU. I allowed her to join early, because she was mature enough. But I can see she's still going through bouts of teenage stupidity. Still, I understand that she appears to be vital to your organization." They would have to reach a compromise. Besides, she did enjoy playing cop and he really didn't want to put up with a decade of sulking teen.
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Post by Circe on Apr 7, 2019 11:43:58 GMT -6
"As I am well aware." Catherine acknowledged carefully, an slight edge creeping into her voice. Xander's constant interuptions and interjections were doing the situation little favor. She could feel the migraine beginning to worm it's way through her skull, ready to emerge when given the chance, right behind her left eye. The constant bickering, high pitched panicked pleeding, and Xander himself didn't help. "Fae age roughly 30 years to every human year," She began as she tried to pull the pieces together. It was far from easy, as the details kept changing and the desires of the other party did as well.
"But at the same time you were hired based on your merits as a ward breaker, and natural talents that had not yet been exploited by the Lotus program."
Catherine had seen the files, and had little good to say about the state sponsored program that had been run in conjuction with the Eastern branch of the Council. Individuals who had come out of that program were prone to many of the symptoms of war related illnesses and ptsd. While the individuals that it had created were certainly talented, they were also volitle. Rumor had it that the program was still running, just in a much smaller capacity due to the dwindling pool of candidates.
Steepling long slender fingers together for a moment, binding ring and silver signet ring catching the late afternoon sun as it drifted lazily through the westward facing window. Catherine considered the three individuals standing in her office, Xiaolian, Molly, and Xander. One of the three which had been largely silent the entire time, while the other two had been doing little more than talking around, at, and over one another. Her own words having been largely ignored in favor of what they wanted to say. She hadn't yet had to pull rank on anyone, fae or otherwise and that was the one small silver lining to this whole messed up situation.
"This is my only offer of remedy for this situation. Molly will remain as one of our specialists, however she will be placed on indefinite probation. Lt. Boyuan here, I believe will be more than happy to go back over any protocols and laws she somehow missed in academy. We can spare her one weekend a month, friday to sunday.. in human time, to allow you to further train whatever foolishness this is out of my officer."
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Post by demikara on Apr 7, 2019 11:53:13 GMT -6
It was fair enough and Molly was pleading with him with her eyes to accept it. She would also be moving in with him so he could re-enforce her behavior there. "Agreed. I understand cases can sometimes appear after hours. I will provide a method of contact to you so that we can get her here again." The signet ring was not lost on him. That was fae in nature, even if he didn't quite recognize the house. Interesting. Well, while the woman wasn't fae by her appearance, she must have something to do with them. He could trust Molly in her hands, more than likely.
Molly's shoulders relaxed as she looked between them. In definite probation sucked raw eggs, but given the alternative, it was a good chance. And she wasn't about to mess up again. Help or harm. She could help or she could harm and she ought to help if she wanted the other Ratatoskr to have anything to do with her at all. She was in trouble, but it could be a lot worse, and even if she didn't have access to some of her natural talents, she was still a ward breaker at least, and she could still be of use. Besides, she could just take the mirror system if she was called out to another office to help there. It did happen at times.
She was going to have to take the mirror system and cars from now on. That sounded absolutely horrible.
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Post by Circe on Apr 7, 2019 12:09:34 GMT -6
"Of course, and I do understand your concerns about the behavior of your charge." Catherine reassured Xander. Brandon had been a handful himself any number of times, and she had helped him with Laura. Eventually she lost count of the number of parent teacher conferences she had had to attend; some in the mundane schools and others in the unseen schools. It got old after awhile, and while giving bullies a dose of their own medicine was justifiable, it often left Catherine unsure if she should ground or reward them. However this was a bit of a different situation, and Molly had been expected to act professional in her position with MCU. Thankfully though this was only the first, and hopefully last serious offense.
"Before you leave Molly, you will need to sign off that you have accepted this solution and we have spoken about disciplinary issues that you are seeking to resolve. It will go in your file and act towards the Council favorably looking at removal of your binding." She added reaching into her desk to pull out a set of forms for Molly to sign. If she wanted to be an adult, she would treat her like one.
Scribbling a few quick notations on the form, she turned it around for Molly to sign, point at specific points on the form the rings clearly visible. "This is not a contract in any form, this is only a record of our proposed solution." Catherine explained, quickly remembering that the fae could be a bit avoidant when it came to such things.
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Post by demikara on Apr 7, 2019 12:34:55 GMT -6
Molly accepted the papers and took her time reading them, passing them to Xander to read as well, knowing full well that with him there he expected to read the forms over. Once done, she quietly signed them and passed them back to Catherine. She hesitated, not certain how to thank the other, before deciding. "I'll do my best to behave better with my second chance." She was going to have remedial academy lessons on top of whatever fresh hell Xander was going to send her through on top of her casework. Free time was no longer going to be something she was going to have.
Xander pulled her close in a half hug, letting her know he wasn't so angry with her that he would hurt her and she managed a slight smile, if not much of one. Oh he still planned on putting her through her paces though. She was going to earn back her reputation through hard work and quite a bit more. His rule was for every harm, three or more help in equal or great value were required, and for this harm in particular, she was going to seriously make up for it. This had been a big deal and he still wasn't certain how to drive that home in her mind.
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Post by Circe on Apr 7, 2019 12:43:29 GMT -6
"Of course." Catherine agreed. Molly when she applied herself and didn't allow herself to get bogged down could be an invaluble asset to the team, but lately she had been allowing herself become distracted. The incident with the Council was just the first record of the kind of chaos that the other could cause if left unsupervised or with too much free time. Catherine just hoped that the other actually followed through with what they had talked about, especially since it wasn't a contract or anything she could actively enforce.
"Now is there anything else you need or would like to ask?"
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Post by demikara on Apr 7, 2019 12:59:37 GMT -6
Xander hesitated a moment. "She is...at least reasonably safe here? She's a hunter, not a warrior, and I worry." It wasn't exactly a low danger job, and he knew it, but at the same time, she was like a daughter to him, and had been with her since she was roughly seven in human equivalent at least. Her parents had passed soon after, so he had sole custody of her for some time. He hadn't been about to let her go on her own, not when he could take her in.
Molly turned beet red at this, embarrassed he had even asked. Seriously, did he have to do this? Could he be more embarrassing? He had to act like her dad didn't he, and not just her mentor. He was kind of dad like, but what was with that question!
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Post by Circe on Apr 7, 2019 13:19:56 GMT -6
'Gods above and below this man is paranoid...' Catherine thought to herself as she considered Xander's question. Was Molly safe? He was right in being concerned as their job wasn't exactly looked upon favorably, and one didn't exactly make friends with it either. "While I cannot assure safety, no one can each day, I can however assure you that there is a team whose full support she has." She answered. The specialists tended to hang together as best they could, despite differences and attitudes towards one another.
"Many of my team come from rigorus training backgrounds, including myself." Catherine explained. So far many of their assignments hadn't been terribly dangerous, just complicated. Most of the time the target had been on Catherine's back as the head of the team; but then again she had made quite a few enemies in her career. "I do empathize with your role as her guardian. My own father was always very much concerned with things."
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Post by demikara on Apr 7, 2019 13:27:37 GMT -6
That would have to be enough. After all, it was dangerous work. A good team behind her was at least something, and better than she would have operating as a bounty hunter on her own. He looked to her one last time, then nodded. "That's all I can ask." He wouldn't thank her. That wasn't their way. But it was implied at least. It was clear he cared deeply for his charge, even if he was harsh on her. He still wasn't pleased with her remaining here, playing cop, but...every child had their hobby, didn't they? And he's was at least a helpful one.
"If we are done here, I should get going. I'm going to have to ready her room and enchant something so you can speak to her when she's in the fae realm." He would be back though, ready to pick her up so they could move her over. Though he would honestly probably also move most of her things while she was at work, or at least pack them up. This meant, of course, the Mr. Mephistopheles was going to be living with him. Great. The damned thing hated him. It was a mutual feeling.
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