It was his first official day back on-duty, and Issimo wanted to disappear.
He had prepared himself for staring; scornful looks and distrustful scowls. He deserved it. He’d served a traitor to the cause with undying loyalty for nearly fifty years. But Shade Fox had spun no more lies when he’d finally broken from the Hunter ranks, and had been honest about just who he had duped so thoroughly, if only to brag about it. He drew stares, as predicted, as he moved through the halls, but none of them were angry.
It was almost worse, Issimo thought, to be pitied instead of hated.
He had no missions on the schedule today. Bark - now Commander of the 9th - believed that first days were better suited to learning procedures and routines, and had him assisting Vera with paperwork instead. None of the Hunters’ procedures had changed since Issimo had gone AWOL, but he appreciated the lighter workload nonetheless. He wasn’t sure he was ready to go back to wearing a mask so soon after-
The sound of the door hissing open snapped Issimo out of his thoughts, and he quickly looked back down at the report he was reviewing. He didn’t have Vera’s certifications to notarize, but he was pretty good at catching typos, and Artemis’ reports usually had a few to correct. Issimo didn’t look up at the person who entered the office, and quietly edited ‘acheive’ into ‘achieve’.
“Vera stepped out about ten minutes ago.” He spoke up to the newcomer without looking up. “She should be back in a few, if you want to wait.”