Summary: After being absent for a week, Gandra Dee shows up to the latest FOWL meeting ten minutes late with Starducks...and an egg.
@promiseddifferent @halfshellkayla
Read on AO3: “That’s Not a Smoothie”
Order was one of, if not the, most important things to be concerned about, if you asked Bradford. That also included the order of maintaining a schedule. That was the main reason why he insisted on everyone in the inner circle of their organization attending daily meetings, even if they didn’t necessarily have any plans or upcoming missions to discuss relating to their plans for Scrooge McDuck and his family, or the missing mysteries his grandmother had been searching for.
To Bradford’s relief – and he would have to admit, genuine surprise – the various…specialists he had hired to be involved at the highest level of F.O.W.L. were all very capable of sticking to the schedule he had set up for them, with minimal complaints.
That being said, Bradford wasn’t heartless; he knew that there would be times when the people he hired would be too sick or injured to physically be present for meetings, and he understood that. So, he did allow for sick days – even allowing for up to seven days paid sick leave – with the only requirement being that the members of the organization needed to contact him to inform him of their absence. That way, he would know to work around the fact that any potential plans involving that particular agent would have to be scrapped prior to any discussions or planning sessions.
Agent Dee had been absent from the meetings for almost a full week, and only the first day was accounted for.
Bradford had even asked Rockerduck (who the young woman had formed an odd sort of camaraderie with, particular after the duck had returned from the Foreverglades with a baby butler of all things) if the missing agent had contacted him at any point in the past week, only to be told that Rockerduck hadn’t heard from her, either.
By now, Bradford was beginning to get suspicious.
He already had a feeling that there was something up with Gandra Dee – she’d been acting a bit oddly for months, though she often attempted to excuse her strange behavior by claiming she was tired or some other seemingly innocent excuse. The director hadn’t been pleased by this unprofessional behavior, but he had chosen to overlook it, seeing as it hadn’t really affected her work in any significant way, nor had it had any impact of the work of others. These unexplained absences, however, were another issue entirely, and Bradford had already made a mental note to speak with her about it when she did return; and he was certain she would, seeing how the organization was the only place where she knew she’d get what she needed for her various…science projects.
For the time being, however, there were more pressing matters to attend to – most notably, their mission to possess all of the remaining missing mysteries before Scrooge McDuck and his family went on another dangerous adventure to claim them.
They had been discussing – or rather, between the various distractions and interruptions, trying to discuss – a potential plan to go after what sounded like a promising lead in St. Canard, when the door to the meeting room suddenly opened up with no announcement or warning, much less a request for permission.
Expecting one of the Eggheads, Bradford turned away from the projector screen and towards the door, ready to say something about the interruption.
“I sincerely hope you have a very good reason for this interruption, whoever you are,” he said sternly as he turned.
Instead of the Egghead he’d been expecting, however, standing just outside the doorway was none other than Gandra Dee, holding what looked like a paper coffee cup from one of those chain cafes than Bradford couldn’t remember the name of in one hand, and….something in the other; he couldn’t exactly see what it was, probably some new invention of hers, considering how tightly she appeared to be holding it.
Gandra rolled her eyes at the scolding and stepped inside, kicking the door behind her before making her way over to her usual seat.
“Hey, be glad I even came in at all,” she half-said, half-snapped as she somewhat awkwardly tried to sit down with both her hands occupied. “I still feel like someone decided to treat my body like a tube of toothpaste, but you only give us a week of paid sick days, and unfortunately for me, I need the money more than I want to just stay in bed.”
Now that she was at the table, everyone could more easily see what else she was holding….and it was definitely not an invention, not in the traditional sense. While the other agents present stared, seemingly unable to say anything at the moment, Gandra shifted her body slightly to move from her arm to her lap what she’d been holding onto so securely: an egg. She wrapped one arm around the egg, holding it close to her body – presumably the provide additional heat – and appearing to make sure she was satisfied with the position before taking a sip from her coffee cup.
The first one to speak was Black Heron. “So, Agent Dee….what do you have there?”
Gandra finished drinking from her cup before answering, “…An espresso.”
The wry tone of her voice made it clear that she was well aware of what the older woman was actually referring to.
Bradford wanted to get back to the purpose of the meeting, but he could already tell that this latest development meant that nobody else present was likely to pay much attention to anything he said; and so he decided to put the discussion on hold, for the moment.
Besides, he had to admit, he also had a few questions regarding Gandra’s egg. And there was no doubt that the egg was actually hers – Gandra Dee had never expressed any disdain for children, and in fact was among the first to warm up to the Fountain-changed Jeeves (or Jay, as some of the members of the team had taken to calling him), but she was not the type to just….adopt someone else’s egg. Though, that did raise another question.
“So, who knocked you up?” Steelbeak inquired, asking the exact same question that Bradford had been waiting to ask, albeit in a way that was much less tactful than the director would have preferred.
The bluntness of the question received glares from everyone present, save the young woman who had been the recipient, though she had bristled for the briefest of moments upon being asked.
“Beats me,” said Gandra with a shrug, placing her coffee down on the table and wrapping the other arm around the egg as well, now holding it tightly against her torso with both arms. “I had a few too many drinks after going out one night, and I think you can all figure out what happened next.”
Something about her tone seemed to imply that there was more to the story than that, but Bradford supposed it wasn’t the time for pressing the issue. He would be keeping a closer eye on her activities when he could, however, at least when she was at headquarters; he couldn’t do much when she was at home, particularly considering she’d never given him her address, preferring to receive paychecks in person.
Bradford’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of baby babbling. Apparently Jeeves had woken up from the nap he’d been taking in Rockerduck’s arms, and was now showing clear interest in Gandra’s new egg, reaching for it and making grabbing motions with his hands.
The infant’s guardian took hold of his hands with one of his own, gently pushing them down.
“Jeeves, don’t touch that,” he told the young Franken-dog. “You don’t know where it’s been.”
“Sure we do – it’s been up Dee’s c-“
Bradford spoke again, abruptly cutting off whatever it was that Steelbeak was about to say. Whatever it was, he was certain it was not appropriate subject matter to be discussing in a workplace environment, and he said as much.
“Could we not discuss this at the meeting? Or, preferably, at all?” Bradford asked, with a tone that made it clear that this was an order, not a request.
The rooster opened his mouth, appearing ready to continue the conversation despite the order, only to snap it shut with an audible clank; presumably he recalled the fact that Bradford could, and would, force him to stop talking if need be. That at least took care of that problem, for the time being.
However, there was still another issue to attend to – the issue of Gandra Dee and this egg of hers. He didn’t need to ask if she intended to keep the child; the way she was cradling the egg, and particularly her venomous glare at the way the other agents were looking at it, as though expecting them to try and take it from her, was enough of an answer.
“Is this going to impact your work performance?” Bradford questioned, looking directly at Gandra and waiting until he knew she was actually listening before asking. He didn’t want there to be any confusion between them, or even just her trying to claim she hadn’t heard the question.
Without hesitation, Gandra shook her head.
“Definitely not,” she replied. There was a brief pause during which the smallest hint of uncertainty showed on her face, though it was very subtle. “I mean, I guess that I’m not really going to be that good for field missions until after it hatches, but it’s not like I’m usually put on those jobs anyway, right?”
Well, at least she was honest about the impact this was going to have on her ability to take on certain assignments….And she did have a point that she wasn’t usually sent on the more physical field missions – Bradford tended to prefer having his agents work with their strengths, and Gandra Dee’s strengths lied in computers and other technology that Bradford could never be bothered to figure out past the basics. Which, fortunately, meant that her new responsibility wouldn’t have too much of a direct impact on operations at FOWL, much less Bradford’s own plan to put an end to Scrooge McDuck’s adventuring once and for all.
“And I would assume that you’ll want a short maternity leave after the child is hatched?”
It took a few seconds before the young woman responded; the expression on her face made it look like she was thinking about the question, or possibly about how she was supposed to answer. Most likely, she was wondering if he would withhold her pay if she said she would need time away from work following the hatching. And, honestly, Bradford was quite insulted by the thought; he might be admittedly stern, but he knew how to run a proper business, including providing certain benefits if they were needed.
“Kinda, yeah. I mean, even if I’m doing experiments, still going to need to adjust to the whole thing,” Gandra finally replied after seeming to consider the question for a few moments. Her expression made it look like she was expecting some form of argument, and it melted away to shock when Bradford immediately replied with, “Very well, then. As I have always made clear, I am not a villain, so we can discuss the matter more in the future.”
A quirked eyebrow indicated that the young woman expected there was a catch to the director’s generosity; but in Bradford’s eyes, this meeting had been put on hold long enough. He gave her a pointed look that silently told her that they could discuss the issue privately, after the meeting was adjourned, and that seemed enough to satisfy her for now.
“Any other interruptions?” Bradford asked, glancing around the table for answers, direct or implied. Heron, Blot, and Steelbeak all seemed ready to continue – though whether the rooster would actually pay attention was another question; while Gandra’s focus seemed split between the egg on her lap and Bradford, and Rockerduck was busy rocking a now fussy baby Jeeves in an attempt to get him to sleep.
Bradford sighed; all things considered, he supposed this was the best he could ask for, for now.
As he resumed the meeting, he took a brief glance over at Gandra, making a mental note to keep an even closer eye on her activities on the FOWL servers…as well as look into the other network that she was connecting with so often. He had a feeling that would be very useful information to have in store for the future…especially now that it seemed that she had other priorities besides their mission to put an end to adventuring.
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