Work Text:
Miss Pauling knocked on the door with no small amount of uneasiness. It was always a coin toss whenever the Administrator called her into her office – she never knew if the news was going to be good or bad.
“Enter,” a stern voice answered from behind the door. Miss Pauling gently pushed it open, and made her way inside. Stacks of monitors covered the far wall, and sat before them was the figure of the Administrator. She spun around in her high-backed chair, sharp facial features and a lit cigarette now visible beneath a head of perfectly coiffed greying hair. She took in the sight of Miss Pauling in her lavender blouse and skirt, nervously holding on to a stack of papers.
“You wanted to see me, Administrator?”
The older woman was silent for a moment, still sizing up the young woman before her. Miss Pauling tried desperately not to squirm uncomfortably, as she always felt the need to do in the presence of her boss. She also did her best to maintain eye contact, knowing that failing to do so would be interpreted as a sign of weakness. Finally, the Administrator spoke.
“Your workload will be increasing.”
Miss Pauling tried her best not to heave a sigh. She already worked 364 days a year, and didn’t need any more added to her already enormous work load. But what else would she expect? Certainly not what came next.
“Therefore, I have hired another assistant.”
Miss Pauling tried her best not to look as shocked as she felt as the Administrator pushed a button located on the arm of her chair, and a mechanical door off to the side whooshed open. Standing in the doorway was a tall woman of medium build, long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, blue eyes scanning the room around her. She was dressed similarly to Miss Pauling in a purple blouse and skirt, but of a deeper shade. She walked forward, quietly but confidently, to where the Administrator was sat, and turned to look at Miss Pauling. She gave a small smile.
Miss Pauling was instantly smitten. So much so that she didn’t catch the first part of what the Administrator was now saying to her.
“ … most of the paperwork and office duties, while you will be out in the field more often.”
The Administrator paused, looking carefully at her underling.
“Miss Pauling. I do hope you are paying attention.”
“Yes, Administrator,” Miss Pauling answered, snapping herself back to reality. She hadn’t even caught her new co-worker’s name. Her beautiful, gorgeous new co-worker.
“For your sake, I hope so. Now, hand those papers to Yana and show her to her desk. Your new orders will be waiting for you when you are finished.”
And with that, the Administrator spun back around and began to watch the myriad screens and monitors that filled the wall, keeping a close eye on every corner of the Mann Co operations.
Miss Pauling watched in silent amazement as Yana approached her and held her hands out for the papers that Pauling was carrying. Pauling silently handed them over, seemingly having lost the ability to speak, and turned to walk back out, mentally pleading for Yana to follow. They silently made their way down a labyrinth of hallways to a small room lit with incandescent lights. This was Miss Pauling’s office. It was already small, especially with the amount of cabinets, drawers, and filing systems designed to keep all the paperwork organized, but with two desks now crammed into the same room, it felt absolutely tiny. Miss Pauling held the door open for Yana behind her, and managed to finally find her voice.
“Right this way, uh … Yana, was it?” Why did that name sound so familiar?
“Thank you,” the blonde woman answered in a Russian accent. That’s when it hit Miss Pauling.
“Wait a minute – you’re Heavy’s sister!”
Yana looked at Miss Pauling, confused. “Yes. Did the Administrator not tell you this a few minutes ago?”
Miss Pauling tried hard not to blush. She was embarrassed that not only had she not been paying attention, but now she had made herself look like an idiot in front of such an attractive woman. She began to walk into the room to hide the color rising in her cheeks.
“Um, yes, I just … right this way, please,” she said hastily, trying to cover her faux pas with a veneer of professionalism. She indicated the new desk, and Yana sat down. On her own was a thick manila folder, filled to the brim with what Miss Pauling knew were her new orders. Watching Yana out of the corner of her eye, Miss Pauling opened the envelope, and took a peek inside. Sure enough: body disposal. How the Administrator could keep making enemies as fast as she dispatched them was beyond Miss Pauling, but that didn’t matter. She had a job to do. She reluctantly turned away from the desk and faced Yana, forcing what she hoped looked like a genuine smile across her face.
“Well, I’m off, but my number is in your Rolodex if you want me. I mean, if you need me. I mean, if you have any questions,” Miss Pauling half mumbled, half stammered. She felt like a complete fool. To her great relief, Yana smiled back to her.
“Yes, I will. Thank you, Miss Pauling.”
Miss Pauling couldn’t help but blush at hearing the way Yana pronounced her name. There was something almost musical about it. She turned before her blushing could be seen.
“Yes, well … guess I’m off, then.”
Before she could let herself get any more flustered, Miss Pauling turned on her heel and walked out. She’d only gotten a few feet down the hall before she made a last-minute detour into the ladies’ room, closing the door behind her and quickly leaning up against it, trying to catch her breath. She was head over heels for her new co-worker. She wanted to ask her out, spend time together, get to know one another, share a sunset-drenched kiss in the desert …
There was only one problem. Miss Pauling had never asked anyone out, before.
Sure, she’d heard of all the ways to do it, from formal to casual. People made it sound like it was no big deal. But it was a very big deal to Miss Pauling. She’d never even wanted to go on a date before, never felt the need. She’d always been too focused on her work, her career, and never figured there would be any room in her life for a special someone. But now she found herself mentally making room, already figuring out how she could rearrange her schedule and get a larger apartment and make plans for the future ….
Wait, wait, wait. First things, first. Miss Pauling knew next to nothing about her co-worker. Well, that was about to change.
Over the next few weeks, Miss Pauling procured and scoured Yana’s file like it was sacred text. There wasn’t much there, but Miss Pauling practically memorized all of it: family, background, languages spoken, skills and work experience, everything. She was surprised to find there was little in the way of administrative work in Yana’s background, making her an unusual choice for the position, but she was already linked to the company by blood, and perhaps the Administrator liked it that way. Miss Pauling’s thoughts were completely preoccupied with Yana, and she knew she had to act on her feelings. The question was how.
And when. The two women hardly saw each other, since Yana was now handling most of the office work while Miss Pauling was out in the field, disposing of corpses and interfacing with the mercenaries. Whenever she did get to see Yana, it was fleeting glances or just in passing, and she never had the opportunity to talk to her, other than brief, work-related questions and answers. Miss Pauling desperately wanted the chance to talk with Yana one-on-one, to get to know her, to let her know that she was interested in her. It seemed she would never get that chance.
Until a ‘tragic’ explosion occurred at a Mann Co ‘factory’ that left the bodies of dozens of ‘employees’ to be ‘taken care of.’
It was more than Miss Pauling could handle alone in the time allotted, and since Yana had been holding her own in the office, the Administrator deemed her worthy of helping out with such a task. Miss Pauling was unaware of this, until she was packing up the shovels, quicklime, and other needed materials into the bed of a pickup truck. She had just finished when she turned and jumped. Yana was standing right there, a calm expression on her face.
“Administrator says I am to help you. There are bodies that need to be buried, yes?”
Miss Pauling, still not over the sudden appearance of the object of her affection, could only nod in reply. Yana gave a single nod back, then got in the passenger seat of the truck. Miss Pauling walked to the driver’s seat, heart nearly beating clear out of her chest.
This was it. The opportunity she had been waiting for.
Miss Pauling turned the key in the ignition, and the engine sprang to life. She put the vehicle into drive, and began to make her way down the long, dusty road to the facility where the bodies were located.
The two women sat in companionable, if somewhat awkward, silence for several minutes. Finally, Miss Pauling cleared her throat – which was feeling awfully dry, all of a sudden – and glanced at Yana out of the corner of her eye.
“So … how do you like working for the Administrator, so far?”
There. That was an innocent enough question to get a conversation going.
Yana shrugged. “It is better than hunting bears. I am no longer cold. I am not hungry. So it is good.”
Miss Pauling was silent, again. Yana’s answer hinted at a hard life, one that would make Miss Pauling’s look like smooth sailing in comparison. Miss Pauling once again cleared her throat, and asked another question.
“You … like to hunt, then?”
“Not really.”
The short answer gave little in the way of opportunity for a follow-up question, so Miss Pauling sat in silence for a little while longer while her brain raced for something else to say.
“Well … we’re glad you’re with us. You’re doing a heck of a job.”
Yana continued to look out the window at the passing scenery. “Thank you.”
Again, no chance to continue the conversation. Miss Pauling was beginning to think that perhaps Yana didn’t like her, or at least, that she didn’t want to talk. She took a deep breath. She would try one last time, but she had to say something good. No ‘yes or no’ questions, no generalizations, something that would get Yana to open up a little about herself.
“So … you don’t like hunting. What do you like to do, then?”
Yana swiveled her head to look at Miss Pauling for a brief moment, but had turned back to look out the window before Miss Pauling could return the glance. She had no idea what the expression on Yana’s face was, or what she was feeling. Miss Pauling waited, anxiously, for an answer.
“I like to read. And I … like to write.”
Miss Pauling’s eyes lit up. “Me, too! I mean, I love to read. I wish I could write. I mean, I’ve written a little. Mostly poetry. Bad poetry. But I like it, you know?” she rushed out, almost all in one breath. She must have sounded like a manic mess, gushing all her words out in a rush like that. But if Yana noticed, she didn’t seem to care. She turned to face Miss Pauling once again, but her face was unreadable.
“You write poetry?”
Now Miss Pauling was starting to feel self-conscious. She had never told anyone that before, and here she was just blurting it out to someone she barely knew. And for what? To impress her? To make her fall in love with her over some poorly written verse? Miss Pauling tried hard not to blush, but it was difficult.
“Well, uh … sometimes, yeah.”
Yana considered this answer for a moment. “Poetry is nice. Stories are nice. I write stories. But they are in Russian,” she finished, once again turning her gaze out the window.
Miss Pauling fought to control the color rising in her cheeks, and found herself blurting out –
“You could read it, if you want. My poetry, I mean. I’d love a second opinion. If you want to, of course. You don’t have to. Don’t feel obligated. In fact, forget I even mentioned it. Bad idea,” she finished, her words once again all coming out in a rush.
Yana looked at Miss Pauling, her eyebrows knitted in confusion. “I do not understand. Do you wish me to read this poetry, or not to read it?”
“I, uh … well …” Miss Pauling stuttered. “If you want to. Do … you want to?”
There was a moment of silence where Yana didn’t answer, and Miss Pauling didn’t dare look over at her. She was still blushing furiously, and she hoped to god Yana couldn’t tell, although she probably could. At long last, Yana answered.
“Yes. I would like to see what Miss Pauling has to say.”
Miss Pauling had never heard sweeter words spoken. Yana had said so much more than just yes – she was showing genuine interest in her, wanting to see what she thought about things. She cared about her stupid poetry, and she barely even knew her. It was all Miss Pauling needed to hear.
Abruptly, she pulled the truck over to the side of the road, and parked it, engine idling. Yana looked at her, eyes wide in surprise, then looked at the landscape around her.
“Are we here? Where is the building?”
Miss Pauling pivoted in her seat to face Yana. She had something to ask, something she’d never asked anyone before, and if she didn’t devote her full attention to it, she’d lose her nerve. She took a deep breath, looked Yana in the eye, and spoke.
“Yana, would you – would you like to go out sometime? With me?”
Yana’s face was once again confusion. “But, we are out,” she countered, gesturing around them with her hand.
Miss Pauling shook her head, trying to suppress a smile. “That’s not what I meant. I mean, would you like to go on a date?”
Yana’s expression went from confused to shocked as her eyes widened in understanding. She looked directly at Miss Pauling, who was afraid those clear blue eyes would bore into her very soul. There was a moment’s hesitation that seemed like it lasted forever, silence hanging between the two of them in the arid, desert air.
Yana blinked a few times. “I would like this. Yes. I would like this date with you.”
Now it was Miss Pauling’s turn to blink a few times as she processed what had just happened. So many emotions were surging through her that they sort of canceled each other out, leaving her in a state of stunned expressionlessness. She slowly made herself nod her head in acknowledgement, before both women slowly turned to face forward at the same time, neither knowing what else to say. Miss Pauling put the car into drive, and absentmindedly left her hand on the gearshift. A moment later, she felt Yana’s hand on top of her own.
And that’s where it stayed.