Chapter Text
Daphne sat in the SDN waiting area waiting patiently for her meeting with Blonde Blazer. She was fidgeting with the hem of her pencil skirt as she heard the minutes tick by. It was quite the change to what she was used to. Instead of being in the field following orders from her Dispatcher, she would be the one in charge this time.
After the injury, she had no hope of being present in the field, she would have to sit in the sidelines and order people just like her around. How hard could it really be she asked herself. Daphne grimaced at the thought, realizing too late that she would have to deal with adults that had the temperaments of rebellious teenagers. She sent a mental apology to her Dispatcher who she now realized had the patience of a saint. She was wiping her sweaty palms on her skirt when she heard the distinct voice of Blonde Blazer calling her name.
“Daphne, thank you for meeting me today. I know this is a big change, but I believe you’re well suited for the job." BB said with her calming demeanor.
Daphne stood up, fixed her skirt and said, “To be quite honest with you, I was seconds away from bolting.”
BB chuckled “It’s totally normal to feel nervous, it can be odd going from following orders to the one giving them. But don’t worry I have the perfect person to teach you the ropes. Come let's go meet him.”
Daphne followed Blonde Blazer through the double door that led to the SDN dispatch cubicles. She’d been here from time to time, but never in her civilian identity. She was previously known as FireFly but ever since one of her missions went awry, FireFly was officially retired.
Blazer’s voice interrupted her thoughts and when she focused, she noticed that they had stopped in front of one of the cubicles near the side windows. Looking at her was a lean man, with auburn hair and brown eyes that were welcoming even with the bags under his eyes. She couldn’t help but notice that his right ear had a piece missing, she saw he had freckles and couldn’t help but acknowledge that he was attractive.
“Daphne this is Robert; Robert this is Daphne” Blazer continued “She’s the one that I would like you to train for the new team I was telling you about.”
Robert extended his hand towards Daphne “Hi Daphne, it’s time to show you where the real magic happens.” Daphne took his hand and shook. Nice and firm she noticed.
“Robert was in the same boat you are in, and he’s done a remarkable job with the Z-Team, so I thought it would be the perfect set up for you to learn the ropes.” said Blazer. She continued, “You’re in good hands. I’ll let you to it and once the shift is over, I would like to debrief in my office.” She waved at Robert and headed to her office.
Robert turned to Daphne and said “Before we get started, I want you to meet someone” he turned and got something from the cubicle next door. Daphne let out an “aww” when she got a clear look at what Robert was holding.
It was a small black Chihuahua that had clearly been spoiled in the food department. The little dog looked at her with such happy eyes that made her smile even wider.
“Can I pet him?” She asked, “Go right ahead, he’s way too friendly.” Robert got closer to Daphne, and she got a whiff of his aftershave that she couldn’t help noticing smelled nice.
She started to pet the dog and startled when Robert started talking in a deep crackly voice “My name’s Beef and I’m naked!” Daphne couldn’t help the laugh that burst out of her as she looked into Robert’s amused eyes.
“That was not what I was expecting” she said the smile still on her face.
“I don’t know why people don’t believe that's his real voice” Robert said while petting Beef. “Okay, let's get started.” He placed Beef on the ground and Daphne saw as he went to lay down in his little pet bed near one of Robert’s file cabinets.
She sat in the extra office chair in the cubicle and Robert handed her a headset.
“These are for communicating with your team, the green one is for the whole team, blue is for one on one and red is for the whole network. I had to learn that the hard way.” He chuckled to himself thinking of the memory.
Daphne watched as Robert turned his computer on and started the SDN dispatch program. “I heard Blazer mention that you were in the field before this, so you already know the logistics of the heroes in the field but as their Dispatcher you must know your heroes strengths and weaknesses. That’s the way to guarantee successful missions.” Robert turned and looked at Daphne, she nodded and he continued. “Today you’ll just watch how I normally do a shift” he handed her a folder and she opened it to find a headshot of one of the members of the Z-Team. According to the file their name was Punch-Up. “This folder contains my team’s abilities, as I go through the shift, pay attention to the type of calls we get and how their skills align to what is needed.”
Daphne closed the folder and scooted closer to Robert’s desk; she placed the folder on the desk and got the papers ready.
“Welcome back team, we have a special guest today observing, so please be on your best behavior. We don’t want to scare her away.” Robert said while turning to look at her. Daphne smiled at him. She was ready to become the puppet master.
At the end of the shift, Robert stretched his back and looked at Daphne. “So, what did you think?”
She looked at him with admiration in her eyes. “Remind me to send an edible arrangement to my previous Dispatcher, I never realized how much work went into it.”
He smiled at her and said, “That’s the beauty of this; both areas complement each other and are needed to do the job well.”
Robert stood and beckoned her to follow him. As they walked towards Blazer’s office Daphne asked, “How long did it take to earn the team’s trust?” Robert stopped, looked at her and said, “A few drinks, bar fights and, defeating Shroud.” Daphne couldn’t believe he said that with a straight face. The only response she could muster was an “Oh”. In her head the bar fights made sense, she thought back to her getting to know her Dispatcher and the time it took her to actually consider her trustworthy. A couple of bar fights would have made her trust her faster. When he didn’t say anything else, she said “Wait you aren’t kidding? Your team was behind arresting Shroud?”
He continued walking and said “Yup, that was us. Turns out having to save the world from mass destruction is a really good team building exercise.” That made Daphne chuckle and Robert only smirked. Daphne got serious and touched Robert’s arm. He stopped walking and looked at her hand, she pulled it away and said “Thank you, I remember that day, fighting the members of the Red Ring, thinking it was never going to end.” She trailed off for a second and continued “When it was finally over I wanted to personally thank whoever ended it.” Robert looked at her, serious expression on his face and said “It’s what we’re here to do.” He smiled at her. “I’ll give the team your thanks, they’ll appreciate it.” They looked at each other, gratitude in Daphne’s eyes and pride in Robert’s.
Robert broke eye contact first and said “The office at the end of the hallway is Blazer’s, she's ready for you.” Daphne looked at him once more and said “Thank you Robert.” He nodded at her “See you around Daphne.” He turned and walked away calling Beef to his side. Daphne smiled to herself and knocked on Blazer’s door.
“Come in.” a muffled voice said. “Hi Daphne, what did you think of today?” Blazer gestured at her to sit in one of her armchairs. She directed her gaze to Blazer “It really made me appreciate the work of Dispatchers. And I am also excited to start working. Before the training session with Robert, I felt that I had bit more than I could chew but after today it makes me feel a bit more hopeful. I am not expecting this to be easy, but I am ready for the challenge.”
Daphne held Blazer’s gaze and waited. Blazer smiled at her and said, “I am really glad you are expecting a challenge because this team I have for you is going to need a lot of help.” Blazer took out five different folders from her desk and slid them over to Daphne. “These folders contain information on your team, get to know it well and I can guarantee you it will make the process easier.” Daphne took the folders and looked at Blazer and asked “Is it possible to meet them before the start of the shift? I want them to put a name to the voice, to realize that there is an actual person behind the earpiece.”
Daphne had never met her Dispatcher in person during her years as Firefly, she guessed that it was the reason trusting her had taken such a long time. She only heard her, never saw her which made it feel like she was a figment of her imagination.
Blazer’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction “I think that’s a wonderful idea, it will definitely help them think of you as their leader. I am not done saving them Daphne, and you are going to help me.”