There was a moment where Martin had
no words at all, he was that baffled.
“Sir… May I ask why?”
“We couldn’t afford to lose a good
man, even temporarily, on our current caseload. Even at your worst you are
still better than most, Martin,” he said.
“I know you intend to ask again for
time off, but I will tell you right now that nothing has changed, and that we
still need you. Instead we have something else to discuss.
It’s been decided by my superiors and
I that you are being relieved of your current assignments and instead are being
given an entirely new SINGLE case to deal with. Alone.”
The emphasis on the words 'single'
and 'alone' was prominent. The Director paused to let that sink in.
“We’ve known from the start that
you were more of a lone ranger, though you’ve still done a marvelous job in
everything else we’ve thrown at you. The time has now come for you to act
alone.”
A ‘we’? Who was the ‘we’? Martin
sensed something off about the ‘we’.
Martin let out a breath and then
stepped around the chair in front of him, sitting down in the plush seat. He
wasn’t sure he was hearing anything right. He came to his Director’s office
expecting to be reprimanded, but instead he was being given a solo job. Surely,
he was misunderstanding something? when his racing heart settled and he looked
back up at the older man in front of him, he received a nod of approval.
“It is imperative that you know
that solo missions are not like those we assign Agents to. You alone are
responsible for everything pertaining to this mission; including finding and
processing evidence and locating appropriate resources. You won’t have any
lackeys to send around and have the dirty work done for you. Not that you’ve
ever been that type of man,” he said.
“So… you’re not going to fire me?”
Martin asked. He still wasn’t quite ready to let go of the possibility of
losing his job. It seemed too good to be true, though the Director had made him
a bit hopeful at this point. How wasn’t he dreaming? He must have fallen asleep
in his office while waiting, and would wake up to find he’d in fact been right.
Not only did Martin not believe he
deserved such a mission, he was positive that there was no way anyone else
could disagree with his thoughts.
The Director laughed a hearty laugh. “No, of course not.” he
cleared his throat.
“Martin, we know that things haven’t been so great for you as
of late. We can appreciate the fact that you need a break, despite the fact
that we are unable to give you one. You’re fine and your position amongst us is
fine, though I’m not supposed to tell you that". The Director said, looking
at Martin from the corner of his eye.
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