NIKITA MYERS

Though she didn’t fully understand why it had upset Nikki quite so much that she’d done so, the fact the woman felt it necessary to repeat herself was enough for Kyle to understand that it was important to Nikki and that was more than enough for Kyle to nod in agreement. “Okay, I shan’t.”

Kyle listened to the explanation that was given, but her friend’s body language spoke much, much, louder. “It is true that she seemed rather busy, but that’s kind of to be expected with it being her first day and all. However, the matter at hand isn’t something that can actually be held off on. Not only would we ultimately be allowing a major error within the department to go unaddressed for longer than absolutely necessary, but in doing so, we’re also stalling an active case unnecessarily. Which, aside from affecting the department and its reputation, affects the victims involved as well. If it helps, I can take the information to her or accompany you…”

"Okay.” She nodded, relaxing after the confirmation from Kyle. Although with that in mind, Nikki made a mental note that she should clean up her lab a bit more often. Just in case, one will never know but Nikita should really clean up in here.... in case someone else decided to taste something they really shouldn’t. 

Kyle had a point. It wasn’t a good idea to hold this off especially if it would impede a case. “I..I can.. I can go myself.” While she really didn’t want to, this was her job so it wouldn’t be right to pass it off to someone else. She carefully put the files back together and made sure that she had everything she needed to explain the situation to the new Chief Deputy. “I’ll be r-right back.” She smiled softly before leaving the lab. 

Any other person would have been more than excused if they’d been startled by the sudden exclamation of their name that they dropped what was held in their hands. Nikki did it all the time. Kyle, however, didn’t even flinch at the sudden change in volume. Though, her right eye did give the slightest twitch at the hands suddenly placed on her shoulders.

“I understand it’s not really inline with basic safety protocols, not to mention the possibility of cross contamination, but I have smelled worse, and inhaled my fair share of far more toxic substances between the morgue and the funeral home. Also, I wouldn’t have tasted it if I didn’t have at least a 75% certainty that my assumption was correct.” She felt that would be reassuring. At the mention of sending the samples back to Foyer, Kyle suggested, “I think you should run it by Deputy Benson first. At worst he fabricated evidence, and at best this was very huge oversight. Either way, this needs to go through the proper channels….that don’t place you in the immediate line of fire.”

“P..Please don’t taste or i-inhale the samples.” Nikita repeated. Even if Kyle was 100% sure that it woulnd’t kill her, the thought of her ingesting anything from her lab terrified her. Who knew if there were other chemicals mixed in? The shifter really didn’t want to take that chance. She knew the explanation was meant to reassure her but it really didn’t. 

Her eyes widened, “S-She looked really busy though..” Nikita did see the the files on the Deputy’s desk... and the amount of people visiting her office. Was it always that busy? She rarely came out of the lab unless it was absolutely necessary or if she wanted to visit Kyle. But was she trying to avoid going up to the woman? Yes, because Keagan looked very intimidating. Kieran didn’t and so Nikita never had a problem talking with her but the new Chief Deputy... She looked scary. 

Kyle held her hands up to get Nikki to slow down a bit and prevent her from riling herself up. “Okay, one step at a time. Let me take a look at those samples,” she offered. It didn’t surprise her to see that their records showed they had been gathered and submitted by Foyer, given that his little display was unfortunately effective enough to get Nikki to want to prioritize them. She looked at one of the vials, and without too much preamble she opened it and it held i up to her nose. Then, before Nikki could stop her, she stuck her pinky in the vial and brought it to her mouth, confirming her suspicion.

“Doing additional tests isn’t going to remedy the situation,” she began. “The reason things aren’t matching is because this man’s submitted a vial labeled ‘motor oil’ to you for testing, but has actually provided you a vial that’s filled with corn syrup. I believe it’s the kind normally used for pancakes.”

Nikita was much to distracted to figure out the mystery that she didn’t quite hear Kyle. It wasn’t until she decide to take another look at the samples when she spotted her friend taking the sample and then smelling it directly. Her eyes widened but she wasn’t fast enough because before she knew it, the other tasted it. “Kyle!” Any worry over the case itself was gone. It was only when Kyle explained what it was that had her relax with great relief.  “D..Don’t scare me like that.” She had her hands on both of the other’s shoulders. “Kyle... p-please don’t smell the samples directly.. or t-taste them even if they turn out t-to be edible substances.” Nikki glanced over to the test tubes. “... They’re.. n-not right?” She groaned. “That would explain it..” She grabbed a pen and started noting down the inconsistencies. “...I.. I’ll need to send this back to him.” 

The warmth she couldn’t place was replaced by a feeling she was certainly familiar with when Nikki finally pulled away: disappointment. Of course, that only left her a bit more confused because why was she disappointed? This was hardly the first embrace they’d parted from and it wasn’t like there had been rejection, it was an organic end to the embrace as the focus became something new. Kyle was certainly more than glad to be given a straightforward to task to shift her own focus to, and immediately begin working her way between the reports and the stack of files.

By the time she heard Nikki speak again, she had made a sizable dent in the stack. Turning she asked, “What seems to be the inconsistency?” She was almost certain Nikki was speaking to herself, but if she’d learned anything, it was that talking things out loud tended to help her friend work through them.

Nikita looked up, “Oh.. Umm...” She walked over with the two reports in her hands, “I-It looks like the samples I have don’t m-match up with what was submitted..” She frowned as she laid the two reports onto the desk and returned to the stash of samples she had out for this case alone. “N-Not just the number, but a..also what they are..” The shifter started to pick up and put down each tube to read their label, just to double-check she wasn’t being crazy. The last thing she wanted to think was that someone swapped something out under her supervision.  “I’ll have to do a few more tests now..” She mumbled to herself, also dreading have to tell a specific person that their files are going to be delayed - or ask about the samples they brought in. Either way, their response was not going to be pleasant. 

It was when her friend pulled away and Kyle could actually see Nikki’s face, and take in just how close they actually were, that she was struck by a familiar yet altogether still new feeling. It was the same one that she never did manage to put a name to, that had drawn her to Lilly. But this time, it was different. With Lilly it had been such a sudden and striking matter, that it left her feeling like wind had been knocked out of her.

This time, it was far from that. The best way she could think to describe it was when one stared at mobile for a while, growing familiar with all its parts and then one day, they happen to sway into just the right position and the whole picture becomes clear and apparent. And when Nikki had their eyes meet, she felt a sudden warmth she wasn’t familiar with, but that she wasn’t alarmed by. She may not know what it was she was feeling or why, but it felt right.

At the mention of her friend needing to get back to work, Kyle felt oddly reluctant to leave. “Is there anything I can help with? If nothing else, I’m a fast typer,” she offered.

Nikita looked back at her friend, genuinely surprised by the offer. Her job wasn’t the most interesting - especially to those who didn’t know what they’re even looking at. However, the specialist wouldn’t turn away the help since it was offered. “Ummm...” She glanced around the lab as she thought about what she could give her friend. “A-Are you sure? You don’t have to... I’ve just been.. s-slow.” She pulled away entirely as she walked over to one of her other desks and patted the small stack of files on them. “I.. I do have these reports that just needs to be c-cross referenced with this stack..” She patted to another pile. “E-Everything should already be o-on there.. but .. yeah. if you c-could, that’d be helpful.”  A small series of beeps went off, catching the shifter’s attention and she went towards the machines she was referring to earlier and started looking at the results that came up. Nikita was already back to focusing on going through all the samples to see if anything concerning came out of them. “..That’s odd...” She mumbled as she spun around to look for something - only to jog over once she spotted the file and ran her finger down the list of lines. “...T-that’s not what was reported..” The girl was definitely talking to herself by this point. 

Kyle hadn’t really expected Nikki to turn around and reciprocate the hug, but at the same time she didn’t really see why she wouldn’t have expected that. After all, out of the two of them, Nikki was always the more outwardly affectionate of the two. Though it did take her a few seconds to register the change, Kyle did eventually manage to continue the embrace.

The reassurance that her friend would be okay did little to ease her concern. “You’re right, you know,” she mumbled in return, “It doesn’t feel nice at all to see a friend be upset.”

Her smile was hidden from the other but hearing Kyle say that was an improvement from when they first met. She even got two hugs out of this - or a long-lasting one. Definitely an improvement either way. The shifter could not wait until she got home to tell her mom all about it, positive that Serephina would be just as proud as she was.  She chuckled softly as she pulled away enough to be able to meet her eyes, “It.. I-it really doesn’t.” She shrugged. “But we’ll.. w-we’ll get past it eventually.” She smiled before looking back to her desk. “I do need to g-get these done though.” 

Kyle hadn’t needed to know Nikki so well to know just how she felt any time Foyer interacted with her. It was in a way, ironically enough, Foyer that had gotten them to be as close as they were. He was just so much like Eli in the way he seemed to zero in on the most obvious perceived weakness and then went in and decided that’s where he would stick and turn his blade. Of course, with Eli that sometimes was a bit less of a metaphor - as her scars would show - but it meant that without even having to speak, Kyle was able to understand -to some extent- where Nikki’s mindset was left, if not exactly her feelings.

Being that as it were, Kyle figured she might try doing something that Nikki would often do when she sensed that Kyle was in one of her ‘episodes’, as Ms. Seraphina called them. She may bot be able to shift into a soft, furry red panda, but she could still come up behind the girl and wrap her arms securely around her shoulders, as she lay her head just to the side of the other girls, her chin gently resting on her shoulder. And just, existed.

Nikki was almost burning holes into her screen when she felt Kyle come up behind her. Although not a word was exchanged, the shifter made a smile smile when she felt arms wrapping around her. Nikki leaned back against the other and her presence was already doing wonders in calming her down. The girl eventually turned around and wrapped her arms fully around the other. 

It wasn’t fair that Foyer kept picking on her - not that she wanted anyone else to be the target of his bullying but it felt like he purposefully went out of his way just to give her a hard time. “...I-I’ll be okay..” She mumbled against her friend. 

Kyle was on her feet half a second before Nikki and had already positioned herself directly in Foyer’s path effectively keeping him to just inside the lab’s doorway. “You’d have your results already if you had managed to get the contents of sad ‘tiny tube’ to Meyers sooner. I reckon Chief Deputy Benson would agree with me and have no qualms in taking a closer a look at your backlog of cases to try and find what the hold up with them is…”

She took a step closer and looked him directly in the eye before asking, “I do wonder, why is it you never seem to feel up for making this much of a fuss in my neck of the woods…are you scared of dead bodies Foyer or just don’t want to deal with someone who isn’t going to just let you run your mouth?” It was genuine question, no sarcasm. There was a behavioral pattern to this man and who he seemed up to accosting and who he left alone and Kyle was intrigued enough to wan to know what marked the difference. If nothing else, because he often reminded her of Eli…

Detective Foyer spluttered out some incoherent retort, being taken aback by Kyle’s presence. He glared at Nikita behind her but didn’t take a step towards her because Kyle was bound to block him more than she already had. “I want that report on my desk tomorrow morning.” He ordered before retreating back to his own desk. Nikita’s shoulders sagged with relief as she leaned against the desk the moment the man disappeared from sight. Quietly, she kept an eye on the machine and might actually be hoping they’d finish sooner than the time she set out for them just so Foyer didn’t return.  “Thanks..” It wasn’t the first time this happened and it was past the point of Nikita thinking that the mean deputy just enjoyed making everyone’s day as bad as his. However, he still intimidated her and she swore that he picked on her the most in comparison to everyone else. “Um.. I.. I should doublec-check those reports... Prepping them.. so I could plug in the r-results when they’re d-done..” She murmured as she moved to her other desk where her laptop was. 

Kyle looked over at her confused. “What do you mean you’re not really put off by it mate? You haven’t stopped complaining about it since it happened. Clearly it’s not something that you appreciate, and isn’t something you want to have just forced on you. I think that would class as being put off…maybe…”

Not really certain in what she was doing, but allowing herself some leeway to jus ‘do’ something, Kyle twisted herself around so she was actually fully facing her friend and reached out to take her hand. “I’ll make sure to keep him out of here, if you explain to me what you’re doing,” she offered as a deal. Kyle had come to really like listening to Nikki explain things and learning as she got to watch someone share their interests with her…which didn’t happen often.

It was almost as if he knew he was being talked about. Detective Foyer unceremoniously entered the room and looked around - even though the two women were sitting right there in the open space of the lab. Nikita was jolted from her spot, wide-eyed as she grew concerned that may it was because she was talking about Foyer that he came in. “D-Detective Foyer..” She greeted as she scrambled to her feet. “I.. y-your results aren’t ready y-yet.” The shifter stuttered while making her way to one of the machines whirring in the background to check on said results. “There’s still.. a f-few minutes b-before this is done.. a-and..” She still had to check over the data and a bunch of other procedures before she passed it down to him. Forever the impatient, Foyer made a scene about how it was taking forever and that it was a tiny tube that shouldn’t have taken this long. 

“Have you perhaps considered having a formal conversation with her in regards to what you’re willing to consent to in regards to your powers. She’s not an unreasonable woman. I’m sure if you let her know how uncomfortable it makes you to be startled, she’d stop,” Kyle stated. “Perhaps up to this point she considers your reticence to be like that of any other person who is annoyed, but not really put off…?”

Kyle pulled back into herself a bit, more so out of reflex than anything else, at the sign of distress. As easy as it had become for her to deal with Niki as a red panda, human!Niki was still something she was working on….as well as all other humans for that matter. She leaned away a bit, but reached out a hand to tentatively pat on the girl’s shoulder as she said, “It’s alright. I know what you meant mate. Not many well-adjusted people would wish that.” At the mention of the ‘mean deputy’ her face went steely. “Foyer can wait for his results just like everybody else. If he wanted them done quicker, he should’ve done his own job better and gotten you the evidence sooner.”

“...I.. I could.” She spoke quietly and she knew this was true. The Sheriff wasn’t unreasonable at all, but the the idea of needing to confront her about something that didn’t really happen... too often seemed a bit.. unneccessary. At least in her opinion. “I’m n-not really put off b-by it..” 

If Nikita still had her red panda ears, they would be drooping as Kyle said that the mean deputy could wait for his results like everyone else. Of course that was the case, Nikita knew that, but that didn’t mean he won’t be mean about it once it finally did get to his turn. She had been so glad that Keagan Benson became their new Chief Deputy because Deputy Foyer had been a lot more quiet since then. “...H-He’s really loud..” 

“Anecdotal data actually leads to the reasonable conclusion that scaring you is exactly what Sheriff Miller would do,” Kyle stated. “Even in previous situations when she’s been presented with a plethora of other options, Sheriff Miller has always been one to go default to the action that she’s proven to be effective before, and at that, has also been the most time-efficient.” She was quiet for a second as her brain caught up to itself and her brows furrowed as she added, “Oh, wait… you meant that you didn’t expect her to do that in this specific scenario. Sorry.”

Kyle nodded slowly, “Leisurely, yes. But as stated, it’s been quite a significant amount of time since you had a ‘sudden’ shift.” She turned to face her friend at the question, “Not terribly no. I finished up as we were getting called in so I should be alright unless someone else….” she trailed off remembering how her ‘direct’ approach to some things could lead to upset, and tried to reword the latter half of her reply, “…uh, suddenly is faced with the matter of having become…uh, unalive.”

Nikita waited until Kyle’s thoughts caught up to her before continuing. “B-But you have a point. That is something that s-she would do in ...a-any situation.” She sighed as she brought her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on them, “I-I think she just likes t-to see me jump which.. which isn’t v-very nice..” The forensics specialist wasn’t upset, but no one really enjoyed being surprised like that. 

Nikita wrinkled her nose, “O-Oh no! I.. I definitely d-didn’t mean f-for noooo.. I don’t wish for a-anyone to turn up... u-unalive.” She shook her head. “I still have a few r-reports which are waiting for the results so i-it’ll take me a while.” She was sure she wasn’t going to go anywhere until these were done and since it wasn’t all that interesting to the average people, she didn’t think it’d be fair to have Kyle wait or anything. “A-And one of them is for... t-that mean deputy..” She really didn’t want to be late for his report. He got very scary every time he was annoyed with something. 

The first thing she did, was make sure the lab’s door was locked behind them, and then after the ‘thanks’ she proceeded to sit down on the floor, legs crossed, as she carefully lowered the zipper to her jacket -not wanting to catch any fur- and then watched as the red panda tumbled out and made her way a bit aways. Kyle had then used her arms to spin around and give the shifter a bit of privacy as she changed back.

“Five months, two weeks, six days, and about ten or so hours,” Kyle replied, eyes still facing the opposite direction. “I expect your anatomy is reacting much like anyone else’s would if they went from barely moving about to running a marathon…or trying. Perhaps some routine stretching or even regular shifting would help ease the discomfort.”

While she wasn’t surprised at how accurate Kyle was, Nikita didn’t expect the other to keep track of her shifting, especially when she last shifted at ‘light speed’. “I didn’t think Sh-Sheriff Miller would just s-scare me like that.” At that, the shifter stretched out her back, letting out a soft groan. Did their boss actually have to scare her to get her to shift? Nikita would have done so if they asked .. and explained why they wanted her to. 

Once she got that stretch out of the way, she went to sit next to Kyle on the floor. “D-Don’t I shift pretty often already?” It was more convenient to find comfortable places to nap in her other form without anyone coming to find her after all, and Kyle was always around when she did so. “..Are you b-busy today?” 

Picking up on what Kyle was putting down, Mick was quick to shake her head and say, “No! Hunter is not a problem. As a matter of fact, she’s already been made aware of the supernatural, the only thing we’re aiming to keep from her is the fact that Sage is apparently capable of a range of emotions. Something I’m glad to see you’ve been working on yourself, since you at least bothered to ask about addressing the problem instead of just doing so…”

Turning back over to the chef, she asked, “So…any questions come to mind?”

“If anything, my sister would be very enthusiastic about all of this.” She sighed, “But I promise, she means no harm.” Her sister wouldn’t hurt a sole, unintentionally.. the girl was very clumsy at times that it stressed Sage out. Her eyes turned to the Sheriff when she was prompted for questions.  “I.. no.” Well, that wasn’t quite true, however she had a feeling that asking how shifting logically works probably won’t get her any answers that would make sense to her other it just being ‘magic’.  “Just even seeing this in person is.. unbelievable.”

“Enthusiasm for the supernatural world doesn’t always translate to something benign,” she stated, her tone even and matter-of-fact. If anyone would know, it would be her after all. “However, I shall trust the word of all three present here and assume there is no threat to consider.” Glancing down at the red panda still in her arms, she maneuvered the critter into her jacket and zipped it up to keep her mostly hidden. “If we’re done here, I think I’ll go ahead and get her back to the lab where she’ll be able to relax a bit more and hopefully change back so she can start on some of those pending diagnostics.”

With that, Kyle stood and headed out of the office, looking like a either a pregnant woman about to pop or someone who just indulged a little too much at dinner…

Nikki curled up easily into Kyle as she hid from the public and didn’t complain at all that she was being led back to her work. While she did like her job, she was pretty swamped with the amount of reports she had to write. People, including the Sheriff, were waiting on results and these take time. 

When they finally got to her lab, the red panda popped her head up through the opening and looked up at Kyle with a smile. “T-Thanks for bringing m-me to the lab.” She waited until she was released before she focused on shifting back. Once the human had replaced the animal, she immediately stretched her back. “I feel like.. I-I haven’t shifted t-that fast in a long time.. It feels w-weird.”

“It’s just so much faster when you do it as a defense reflex. And come on, let’s be honest, it’s not like you’re not enjoying Hayworth’s patented comfort techniques to help you calm back down,” Mick pointed out. “I mean, there’s a reason I called you both in here.”

The sheriff turned her attention to Sage, who seemed to have already gotten acquainted with the critter. “If your sister could see you now, she might throw a fit.”

Watching their furry friend snuggle into Kyle was very endearing that Sage eventually stopped scratching Nikita’s ear and took a step back. As cute as the red panda was - and one she could look at so up close, Sage did not forget that this was still the young forensics she was talking to just a moment ago. Although it was rather jarring to be hearing and seeing the panda speaking to them, she was sure that treating the other like an actual animal was a bit insulting. 

“Let’s not mention it to her..” She shifted her focus to the sheriff. “Hunter would never drop it.” Sage could already imagine the giddy smile her sister would sport once she learns of today’s event. 

A look of confusion crossed her features as she glanced between the Sheriff and the Chef, her hands never pausing in their soothing motions. “What’s the problem with the sister then?” she asked. “Is she a matter of concern? Because if she can’t be trusted, and you foresee it being an issue, I can address it…” Kyle trailed off knowing Mick would know exactly what she meant. The hunter knew there were possible threats in their midst on the regular, and some were just not within the margin’s of law enforcement or the Council to properly address. She herself had no qualms about it though.

“T-There’s a problem with H-Hunter?” She frowned as she sat there without intentions of moving from her spot for as long as Kyle was going to carry her. “I..I thought she was pretty fr-friendly.” She glanced up at her friend, then over to the Sheriff. “At least.. wh-when I talked with her...” She mumbled. “She’s friends with Luke and.. and the others.. S-surely, that’s n-not a bad sign.”

“No one is getting fired today,” she called out from the now open door. “…well at least no one in this office at this current moment. We’ve still got an entire day’s worth of work and a new Chief Deputy who is much, much, less amenable to some of the guys’ remarks than the Kid was so…” She shook her head as she stepped in after Sage and closed the door behind them, making suer all the office blinds were down and closed.

Mick turned back to ‘Odd Couple’ before her and knowing that Niki was probably already on edge, she just randomly picked a binder from her shelf and slammed it on her desk without warning right in front of the shifter, as she looked to Kyle and said, “Catch!”. Meaning, of course, that she catch the now flailing red panda. “Fun fact, Niki holds the record for fastest shift into her animal form in the entire town.”

Her eyes widened at the site before her. Although seeing Nikita turn in almost the speed of light, surely this wasn’t the best way to be getting the other to turn. Was it? Sage actually felt bad for the other when the Sheriff deliberately surprised her in order for this to work. “Oh.” However, she assumed that this was what Kyle was here for as the woman was already calming down the shivering red panda in her arms. “Must you scare her?” She sighed as she took a careful step towards Nikita. 

She definitely looked like a real animal but Sage was having troubles wrapping this around her head even though she saw the woman shift before her eyes. “That’s.. incredible.” She whispered as she raised a hand towards the other, only stopping just before she could actually touch her. “May I?” The red panda nodded and the chef carefully petted the animal, almost instinctively scratching behind the ears.

Kyle was already in motion before the binder even made contact with the desk, and had her arms out at the ready to catch the falling red panda that seemed to have replaced her friend in the blink of an eye. “Unfortunately, startling her seems to be one thing that still has her default to reflexively shifting into her smaller form. We’ve been working on minimizing the situations in which she randomly pops out an extra furry ear or what have you, and it just seems the better she got at that the more this became the go-to. Bit messed innit?” she asked rhetorically, already running a soothing hand up and down the furball’s back.

Nikita whined as she cuddled into Kyle’s arm, which had been her comfort zone since the first time she shifted before the other. “That... t-that doesn’t m-mean you n-need to scare me into s-shifting.” The girl was sulking because she was sure that she would shift if they asked her to if the point was to show Sage - although she might feel a bit shy because she didn’t know the chef very well, and it was just weird having someone watch you shift. “I..Is this .. w-why you wanted t-to see us?” The red panda just melted with all the scratches and the rubs she was getting. This wasn’t all that bad. 

svgexmagoro​:

Sage glanced back, surprised that it was going to be Kyle and Nikita whom she was going to meet. “Would it be better if I knew what they are prior to the meeting? Or at least, what I will be seeing?” Could one tell that Sage was not a fan of surprises? She really had no idea how to go about this since this was nothing she ever experienced before. Her sister would’ve been more excited but she wasn’t Hunter. 

Once they got to the station, the chef grew quiet as they went inside - already keeping an eye out for Nikita and Kyle. “Where are we doing this exactly?” It was odd, coming to the station. This might actually be the first time she ever approached this building altogether. 

No sooner had she received the text message from her boss, than Kyle had begun the process of cleaning up, knowing it would only be a matter of minutes before a certain someone came bursting into the morgue -forgetting what a morgue was used for- and that was not how she wanted to start off her morning,

Finishing up just in time for Nikki to come rushing in, it took another ten minutes to talk the shifter down and convince her to just make their way over to the Sheriff’s office. As they sat their, Kyle once again said, “Whatever she wanted us here for, I genuinely don’t think it’s about being in trouble mate. If that were the case, you wouldn’t be here.”

Nikita was just working on a case when the text came in. Although it wouldn’t be the first time she received a text from the other, they were mostly about reports and results. Rarely it was to tell her to meet at her office. And without any reasons following that text either! Nikita wasn’t going to text back and ask why so the first thing she did was to put away her files and report so to be safe. After she was done, she sped walk over to where her friend was. 

When she got there, Kyle already knew what she was going to say and had been trying to calm her all the way to said office. “What if.. if w-we did something wrong a-and we just didn’t know? L-like a miss in a report or something..b-but it… it turned about to be a v-very serious problem? What if we’re getting f-fired? I don’t.. d-don’t want to be fired. I r-really like this job!”