Chapter Text
Though Alice knew it was bound to happen eventually, she was still taken slightly aback when the summon to Lena’s office came.
“God, Alice,” Sam laughed, “I know you don’t have the best approach to doing your caseload, but did it really get that bad?”
Alice just gave a wry smile. “Guess we’ll find out,” she said with a wink. “As for my caseload, I’ll have you know I’ve been staying perfectly on top of it.”
Celia looked over her desk to where Alice was sat. “And I presume that’s why your computer isn’t even on yet?”
She laughed then, before reluctantly standing up. “You learn quickly!” she replied, before disappearing down the hallway.
Lena’s office wasn’t far — it was off to the side of the breakroom, and unfortunately, that did make coffee breaks a lot harder. If Alice had a nickel for every time she’d been taking a minute only for her boss to show up right behind her, well, she probably wouldn’t be working this job in the first place. At least the breakroom gave her a moment of respite before she had to go in. Running a quick brush through her hair to get the mess of red curls under control and wondering absent-mindedly what this was about, Alice took a deep breath —
Before pushing open the door.
Lena gave her a tight-lipped smile as she entered. “Ah, Alice. Take the empty seat, why don’t you?” she said, gesturing to the chair to the left of the room.
Alice frowned. “The empty —” Then she noticed. Oh. Right, she thought, staring at Gwen sitting in the other chair. Gwen gave her a look of apprehension, and Alice crossed her arms instinctively. “Is there a matter which requires both of us?” she asked.
An exasperated sigh escaped Lena. “Just sit down, Miss Dyer.” It was, quite frankly, the last thing Alice wanted to do, because the uptightness in the room was giving her a headache already, but, after a moment, she sat. “Now,” said Lena, “I presume you’re both aware of the upcoming inspection coming next Friday.” Alice had to bite her tongue to hold back a how could I not? It was the only thing Lena had talked about for half a year — hard to ignore, regardless of how much Alice had tried to.
Still, she gave a curt nod, and Gwen did too. “Good. Now, tell me — how long have both of you been working at the OIAR?”
Alice didn’t understand why this was relevant, but, after a moment, said ‘six years’ at the same time as Gwen said ‘four’. Lena hummed in interest. “And yet you, Miss Dyer,” she said, turning to Alice, “have never once applied for a promotion here. Is there a particular reason for that?”
There were a lot of reasons. Mainly that Alice had never expected to be working this job longer than a year or two, but she assumed that wasn’t the answer Lena wanted, so she just shrugged. “I don’t know — never saw an opportunity, I guess?”
A crease appeared between Lena’s eyebrows as she looked at Alice with intrigue. “You know, right before this, I was just having a conversation with Miss Bouchard about a… failed job opportunity she had.” Alice saw Gwen bristle out of the corner of her eye, and even though she didn’t even like the woman all that much, she still had to force herself to keep her mouth shut.
“Where is this leading?” Alice asked, not quite catching her drift.
“I was planning to fire Gwen from the Externals Liaison position, and simply pretend she still held it for the inspector visit,” said Lena. “But,” she said after a moment, “after a conversation with her and a… situation with one particular external,” she said, “I had to reconsider.”
Gwen looked over at Alice, then, though she’d been actively looking everywhere but her up until that point. “There’s a particular external the OIAR is interested in,” she explained, in such an apprehensive manner that Alice immediately knew it was the same thing that had attacked her that first night. “Lena can explain the rest.”
Alice tilted her head to the side as Lena looked at Alice through thick-rimmed glasses. “…Do you believe in the inexplainable, Alice?”
“I —” No was the response that would normally spring from her mouth, but after the last month… “I’m not quite certain,” was what she settled on eventually.
“And what if I told you the OIAR has been actively interacting with these phenomena for years now?”
She had to stifle the urge to laugh. “Rather open way of putting it,” said Alice. “And what does interacting mean? Because if it means contributing to the stuff we hear on the computers…” Alice shook her head. “I don’t think I believe you — or can help.”
“It’s not about contributing,” said Lena. “Regardless of how it may seem to you, this job is essential. What you’ve seen on the computers is only a piece of it— the larger scale?” put a hand on the table, sliding a sheet of paper in front of her. “I wouldn’t normally offer someone a case like this, and, to be fully honest with you, Miss Dyer, you wouldn’t be my first choice.”
“Then why choose me?” asked Alice. “And what does this case even entail?”
At that, Lena looked her over once — before evidently making up her mind about something as she leaned back in her chair. “The case entails a lot of what you usually do — looking through the computers, but for more… specific casss tied to this external. Then, when we’ve gotten more information…” She sighed. “That’s a matter for later,” she said, as though she knew full well what she was going to do, but didn’t want to divulge that. “And, if it eases your mind, you weren’t the only person chosen for this case.”
Alice paused. “Surely you don’t mean —” Her gaze met Gwen’s again.
“No,” she and Gwen protested at the same time.
“I highly doubt her qualification for this—”
“Well at least I didn’t already get fired from this job!”
Lena cleared her throat, silencing the two of them. “Now. I understand there may be some animosity between you two, but it’s the best way to prevent the situation from escalating. It’s not my preferred choice either,” admitted Lena, “but given how time-consuming preparing for the inspection is and how every other OIAR member is either a new hire or on leave,” she said, “it was the only logical choice.”
“Right,” said Alice, a sour taste in her mouth. So she was simply the last resort.
But she didn’t say anything. And when Lena pulled out a document Alice was sure was going to mark her doom, she knew her answer. “Alright,” said Alice. “Where do I sign?”
“That was the plan?” she began to argue, unable to hold it in the minute they stepped out the doorway. “Gwen, I get you want that job, but you should have at least told me!”
Gwen just rolled her eyes. “I got us closer to investigating this external, didn’t I? Sure, you’re not preferable, but—”
Alice froze, suddenly all-too aware of the blood rushing through her veins. “Oh, please,” she drawled, “first Lena, now you? Look, Bouchard,” she said, “you asked me to help, and I’m going to stick to that. But that means communicating,” she continued, pointing a finger at her, “not getting us both killed!”
Alice started walking down the hallway and Gwen, with a frustrated groan, followed her. “You know what? I thought for a bit maybe you would listen, that you were becoming less insufferable to deal with, but no! You insisted on me not going back to the job alone, only to—”
Alice spun back around. “You know what? I don’t get where you’ve got the implication that this,” she said, gesturing between the two of them, “means you getting to be as obnoxious as possible, and me just along for the ride. Just because we have to work together, that doesn’t mean we have to like that. We sure as hell haven’t for the last four years, and I think we’ll manage fine for the next.”
“Well,” said Gwen, her voice cold. “Guess that settles it, then.”
“Guess it does.” Alice crossed her arms, and Gwen stood there, neither of them willing to concede first.
Then Gwen turned around. “I’m going to the breakroom,” she began — “you should get back to work, Alice. …I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, and though Alice wanted to mention that the shift had barely just started, she was certain that would only make the sick feeling in her stomach worse.