I10 Immediate Aftermath - Taking one for the team...

[Brigid Plunder]

Brigid purposefully made her way to Natalya's office earlier than she thought the other two would. She knocked on the door, nervously.

[Natalya Romanov]

Natalya was dressed casually, but her hair was pulled back severely. "Come in," she said. The office itself was quite a bit cooler than the outside hallway. The thermostat on the wall said "55". In front of a large solid wooden desk were three metal chairs. It looked like upholstered chairs normally sat there, but they had been moved to one side of the office.

[Brigid Plunder]

"Look," she said as she went in and sat down, "I just wanted you to know that... well, this was all my idea. So you shouldn't punish Alex and Christie for what I talked them into. I'll take responsibility here."

[Natalya Romanov]

"That's noble of you, but they should also have had sense enough to say 'no'," Natalya said.

[Brigid Plunder]

"They... they probably weren't thinking about how things are different for me, because of where I grew up. They haven't had any sort of training. I have. I should have known better."

[Christine Bowen]

Christie knocked on the door.

[Natalya Romanov]

"So should you. This wasn't prehistoric creatures or Savage Lands natives we were dealing with. It was Apocalypse. Your father will probably want to skin me alive when he finds out. Can you imagine what both he and your mother would have done had something serious actually happened to you?"

She paused to let that sink in and let the person outside stew for a moment before saying, "Come in."

[Brigid Plunder]

"I just thought... they would have wanted me to fight back," she mumbled, suddenly feeling very small.

[Christine Bowen]

Christie came in and sat down. "I'm sorry, Ms. Romanov. It was my idea to go out there, and you shouldn't punish the others for doing it."

[Brigid Plunder]

Brigid facepalmed.

[Natalya Romanov]

Natalya pulled out that tone that only adults are capable of, "Oh really?" She folded her hands in her lap and waited, just watching Christie.

[Christine Bowen]

"I was the one who encouraged them to go out and fight instead of going into the bunker." Christie said.

[Alex Carpenter]

Alex knocked on the door.

[Natalya Romanov]

"Hold that thought," Natalya said. "Come in."

[Alex Carpenter]

Alex walked in. "Look," he said, without any preamble, "This was my fault. They didn't really have a choice, I just grabbed them and took off over the RA's head, I didn't even really ask first. So... this was on me, don't punish them for it."

[Natalya Romanov]

"Sit," she said, indicating the last empty seat. "So I have an admission of fault..." She paused, "From all three of you."

[Alex Carpenter]

Alex sat where instructed. "They were wrong," he put in immediately. "It was my fault."

[Brigid Plunder]

"...you guys suck, you know that?" She mumbled.

[Natalya Romanov]

"I don't care who's fault it was. At some point you all made a choice. Defending the dorm was one thing, even though I can't officially condone that either. But putting yourselves in additional danger was foolish, reckless, and above all could have endangered others who had to look out for your inexperienced asses." She stood up, planting her hands on her desk and leaning forward. "Am I making myself perfectly clear?"

[Alex Carpenter]

"Yes, ma'am," Alex muttered.

[Brigid Plunder]

"...yes, ma'am," she said, having trouble making eye contact ever since her father was brought up.

[Natalya Romanov]

After getting an acknowledgement from Christie, Natalya gave them all another searching look. "Now, we have some guests staying with us and I talked to the head of the cafeteria staff and she says they can always use extra dishwashers and vegetable cutters when we have extra people, so I expect the three of you to report there to help with dinners the next two evenings." She stopped and actually managed to smile, "And before I see or hear about any shenanigans like this again, I expect to see your names on the training team rosters."

[Amanda Weinrich]

"Yes, ma'am." Christie said.

[Brigid Plunder]

"...right," she nodded. "That's... that's fair."

[Alex Carpenter]

"Yes, ma'am," Alex said, after the day before feeling more than a little intimidated by the prospect.

[Natalya Romanov]

"Now get out of here," she said, sitting back down.

[Alex Carpenter]

Alex didn't waste any time, standing up, though he waited for the girls to head out first before he headed out.