A/N: Do not own. Spoilers for Confluence and Second Chance. This is my take on what should have happened at the end of Second Chance. Does include the discipline of an adult agent by her superior. If that makes you uncomfortable, don't read. It is, however, not very detailed. May be a little OOC.-x-
The look the Chris had given her, when she mentioned that Pride had asked her to come with him on the trip to Texas, had been confusing. Staring down at the folder in her lap, however, Chris' look made much more sense. Sonja bit the inside of her cheek, watching his body language out of the corner of her eye. She couldn't tell if he was upset or angry, Pride was just too damn calm.
"Imagine how it felt when the DEA asked if we also had an interest in a woman, who they suspected was part of a ring of drug-dealers that they were trying to bring down. I take it, that's where your friend lives. What were you doing there?" He remarked, keeping his tone emotionless as he glanced over at her. While part of the reason he had brought her was so that they could have this talk, he also wanted to spend more time with her, getting to know her.
"You told me to find closure." Even she could tell how lame that sounded. Sonja sighed, shrugging slightly. "I didn't tell you because I'm not even sure what I'm doing. I didn't think it was important." Or that he would find out. It was almost embarrassing; she had been undercover for so long, she should have been more aware of her surroundings. Just her luck, the DEA agent caught her staking out Marion's place. Not the hanging around outside had done her any good. She was no closer to closure than she had been a month ago.
Dwayne kept his eyes focused on the road, knowing that this would be easier for Sonja than meeting his eyes would be at the moment. "It is important. I know you are not used to letting others know what is going on, but that's what we do in this family."
"But it wasn't work related! Ya'll always want to yikkty yak, I don't yikkty yak."
He glanced at the young woman, giving off a soft sigh. With her arms folded and her eyes focused firmly on the road, he knew that it was pointless to try now. She had shut down, much as he had expected her to. But they were in a car and eventually she would talk to him again. "I am just asking you to be honest with me, Sonja; to not hide things from me. We operate as more than a team, and families talk to each other. You don't have to talk to me now but it is going to be a long ride. Just think on it." Dwayne replied, allowing his concern for the young woman to slip into his voice. Sonja was so much like Christopher had been, when he had first met the younger man. Christopher hadn't like to talk about himself or what was going on either. It took a while but eventually, he had gotten Chris to open up to him. He knew it would take time for Sonja to become comfortable with them and to feel safe enough to talk to them. He had picked her for this trip for a reason. He knew she could use the quality time and she had seemed excited about it before he had brought up the file. He'd just give her some time to think, she'd talk when she was ready.
-x-
When the adrenaline finally faded, she was exhausted. But for some reason she couldn't close her eyes and sleep, unlike Maslow who was sound asleep, and snoring, in the back. Pride was quiet, his eyes focused on the road. He had let her drive for a bit, after they had met back up and gotten a new car from the local PD. And they had spoken, briefly, about what had happened. Sonja felt unsettled and she wasn't quite sure why. Someone had tried to kill them, to kill Pride, and while that was upsetting, it wasn't that surprising. So that wasn't it. She was trying hard to ignore the urge to start a conversation, albeit a quiet one, with Pride. She was losing that battle. "I'm sorry."
He raised an eyebrow, glancing at the younger woman. "For?"
She hesitated, worrying her lip between her teeth for a moment. "For not telling you about Marion. Next time..." Next time what? She'd tell him first? She wouldn't get caught? She knew she couldn't promise that there wouldn't be a next time; it was almost guaranteed that there would be.
"Next time you will be on dish duty for a week." Dwayne stated calmly, keeping his voice low as to not wake up their prisoner.
She grimaced, glaring out the window for a moment. She hated doing dishes when it was her turn at work; doing them for a week straight would be awful. That would be a good motivation to not get caught, or to tell him first at least. "I'll try. I'm not used to asking." Sonja frowned, glancing over at him.
He gave a calm nod, forcing the tiny bit of anger down, as he knew she would think it was directed at her and it wasn't. For he knew exactly what those five words meant. It wasn't just that the young woman wasn't used to asking before going it alone or doing something dangerous. It was that no one had really ever cared enough to hold her accountable, to worry about her. And that made him angry, that one of his agents, one of his family, hadn't had someone in her life who cared. It had made him angry that Christopher and Sebastian hadn't had someone to care about them and it made him angry that Sonja had been the same way. But Dwayne knew that expressing that anger to Sonja would be unproductive. "We'll work on it." He glanced at her, smiling slightly. "Now, explain these 'kale chips' to me."
-x-
"Hey Pride! Can I talk to you for a second?"
He stopped walking, turning to see the younger woman. "Sure, Sonja. What's up?" He raised an eyebrow when she all but shoved a piece of paper at him.
She hesitated, focusing on the paper instead of looking up at him. "Will you sign this for me? It allows me to work with the DEA to bring Marion and her ring down." Sonja looked up at him, meeting his eyes for a moment. "This is me, asking."
Dwight gave her a soft smile, taking the paper and looking it over before pulling a pen from his pocket. What the young woman didn't know was that the DEA had already talked to him about her working for them temporarily. The paperwork could have been faxed over but he had asked them to give it to her, to see what she would do. Clearly, she was learning. "Alright. You can help the DEA with surveillance and information. You aren't going undercover, however. It's too risky."
Sonja worried her lip between her teeth for a moment. That wasn't really her call and she knew she could do so much more undercover. Pride didn't have to know everything, after all.
"I will talk to the DEA and I will be kept in the loop. You are to be careful, don't take unnecessary risks." He added calmly when she remained silent. He had checked with the DEA already, so he knew she wouldn't be undercover. Not without them getting his permission first, as she was still his agent. He knew Sonja could take care of herself but he didn't want her in any unnecessary danger. He signed the form, handing it back to her.
Well, she could try. What was the worst that could happen, anyway? He was agreeing to let her help, that was all that matter. "Thanks Pride!"
-x-
Dwayne forced himself to take deep, calming breaths. He forced himself to give no indication that Sonja's presence was anything other than that of just another drug-runner. She had been off grid for almost two weeks, ignoring all of his calls and messages. He had told his team that everything was alright, that she had some personal matters to take care of, even if he had been worried. But here she was, in one piece, and undercover. He had not signed off on that, so someone somewhere was not following protocol.
Sonja didn't fight the tight grip on her arm as he guided her away from the main group, off into the abandoned fort that they had been using as a cocaine factory. When Pride finally released his grip on her, she sighed softly before suddenly flinching when he smacked her bottom hard. "Pride!"
He took another deep breath, turning her back to face him. "What the hell were you thinking? I agreed to let you help the DEA, to do surveillance. And then we find you here, undercover. You've been off-grid for two weeks, Sonja."
"It wasn't my call, Pride. I would have told you." She grimaced, looking away from him. She didn't want to see the disappointment in his eyes, even if she really wouldn't have told him that she was undercover.
"Then whose call was it?"
"It was mine."
Dwayne raised an eyebrow, turning to see the DEA agent. "She's my agent. You are suppose to keep me in the loop. That's protocol."
He shrugged, meeting the older man's eyes steadily. "We have been having problems with a leak, I didn't want to take that chance." It was true and he was sure the older agent would get it, that he had been trying to keep Sonja safe, even at the expense of not following protocol. "What were ya'll after?"
"We thought this was a weapons manufacturing plant. That's navy TNT."
So that's where all the explosives had come from. That made more sense, at least. She had been wondering where they were getting that much TNT. "They think Marion is a ringleader in this." Sonja remarked, catching Pride's eye for a moment.
He sighed, shaking his head. He knew exactly why she had wanted to help with this and it wasn't just closure. He nodded to the DEA agent, waiting until the other man had walked away before moving to cuff Sonja, to keep her cover. "You and I will be having a long discussion when this is all over."
-x-
"We need to wait for backup!" Chris shook his head, moving to catch up with the younger woman. Pride would have their asses if they didn't.
"I'm not waiting! Not going to lose her again!" She retorted, moving toward the house.
"Sonja!" He hissed, frowning at what sounded like gunfire. He took off after the younger woman, to protect her back if nothing else. Pride was going to have a fit.
-x-
For the second time that day, he took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. The young woman had been undercover for too long, was too used to doing things on her own. That was a habit he needed to break and fast, before she got herself, or someone else, killed. The fact that they had not just ignored protocol but broke a rule of his, an important one, was aggravating. He even knew that this had nothing to do with Christopher. The younger man had only broken this rule twice before and he knew he wouldn't break it again without a very good reason. No, this was on Sonja. Dwayne knew that after the last talk he and Christopher had about not calling for backup, that the younger man was always careful to call for backup first and more often than not, waited for it to get there before acting. There were few situations where not calling for backup and not waiting for backup were acceptable. This wasn't one of them. "Christopher, I need to talk with Sonja for a minute."
He grimaced, glancing at the woman before looking back at King. "Aw come on, Keen."
"Christopher." The sharp tone made the younger man retreat quickly from the room. He sighed softly, turning his eyes back to the young woman. "Sonja, what are you suppose to do before engaging with a suspect?" He questioned calmly.
She tried to resist the urge to roll her eyes, she really did. But she knew what she had done wrong, so she didn't understand why this was necessary. She had read and agreed to Pride's rules, she just had a small lapse in judgment. "Call for back up." She answered finally, looking away from him.
He closed his eyes for a second, silently sending up a call for patience. This young woman was so much like a younger Christopher had been. "Attitude." Dwayne warned softly, raising an eyebrow at her shrug. "You should have called for backup, you should have waited."
Sonja bit her lip, keeping her eyes firmly away from him. "I thought I hear gunfire." She responded finally, knowing that excuse was weak, at best, since she had been heading in before the party poppers had sounded.
"You were heading toward the house before that. Now is not a good time to hide things from me, Sonja." He replied, letting the tiniest bit of his anger into his voice. He was about to continue but stopped, seeing Christopher in the doorway. He raised an eyebrow at the younger man. "Chris?"
"We have a problem." Chris answered, glancing at Sonja before turning his eyes back to King. They had to stop the cocaine from reaching the streets or people would start dying. He had a feeling that the DEA agents and King would not be able to reach Marion. But Sonja just might.
-x-
She was just glad it was over. Marion was healing and going into witness protection; her little girl was safe. They had brought down the ringleader and kept the tainted coke off the streets. Sonja was tired and she really wasn't looking forward to the lecture that she knew was coming. Pride had asked her to stop by the bar before she went home and she was debating just going home and dealing with Pride tomorrow. The looks Merri and Chris had given her, before they had both gone back to working, was enough to make her realize that not going would be worse in the long run. She had agreed to Pride's rules, after all. She knew she had broken some...several rules actually. So she was aware that Pride would fuss and that she would be stuck on dish duty for the rest of her life. She put the other consequences of breaking those rules to the very back of her mind, she hadn't done anything that she would consider dangerous and unnecessary so she wasn't going to think too much on that.
Dwayne glanced at the door of the bar, raising an eyebrow at the younger woman. He had been expecting her for a few hours now, but at least she had came. He tossed her a clean towel, nodding toward the tables, before turning back to polishing the taps.
She rolled her eyes, eyeing the tables that looked clean to her before starting on the nearest one. Pride was so particular about his bar, it had to be spotless. "You wanted to see me?"
He took a breath, glancing at her. She wasn't looking at him and he could understand that. None of his young family members had the ability to meet his eyes when they knew they were in trouble. And she was in some serious trouble. Sonja had broken several of his rules, including the ones that she knew would get her a smacking. "I did. I would like to know what, exactly, you were thinking."
"I was just...trying to get closure?" She hesitated, knowing that excuse probably wouldn't work. But she had no idea what to say, how to get herself out of the trouble she was in.
He raised an eyebrow, tilting his head slightly. "That's bull and we both know it. Why don't we start from the beginning, when you went off-grid?" Dwayne suggested, shaking his head slightly. She couldn't believe him to be that stupid, to think that the excuse of needing closure would make him drop it. It was more retribution than closure, for one thing. She should also know that breaking his most important rules wasn't something that there was an excuse.
"Two weeks ago?" She groaned, biting the inside of her cheek for a moment. "I got a call from the agent in charge of the investigation, I was working undercover at that point and he had secured a meet with a contact, to get me into the distribution ring. He told me to go off-grid, there was a leak in their office, so I went off-grid as a safety measure. I know being undercover was dangerous, especially if Marion had come to the site. She would have blown my cover. But that didn't happen and everything went fine until ya'll showed up." Sonja explained, wiping at a stubborn stain on the table. Sure, parts of it had been dangerous, but their job was dangerous. It was to be expected.
"Were you suppose to be undercover?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow at her complete disregard for her current situation. Most of his young family members would be trying to cover their bases, to dial down what they had actually done so as to keep themselves out of trouble. Sonja either didn't care or didn't realize that she was in trouble. He was aware, however, that she had volunteered to go undercover, as he had spoken to the lead agent in the bust. After he had explicitly told her and the DEA agents that she was not to be undercover. The agent had thought that he had granted permission because Sonja had requested it.
"I could help more undercover." She shrugged, not meeting his eyes. She knew he hadn't wanted her undercover but he couldn't really control that. It was her choice, not his.
"That's not what I asked you."
"No. But I could do more undercover and I'm fine, so it worked out."
He closed his eyes for a second, rubbing a hand across his forehead as he sent up a silent prayer for patience. "You do realize that you are in trouble, yes?" He questioned finally, wanting to make her aware of the hole she was digging herself into.
She rolled her eyes at the table, shrugging slightly. "I know you are upset, Pride, but everything
worked out in the end. So can we just let it go?"
Dwayne stared at her for a long moment, letting the silence built until she finally looked at him. He raised an eyebrow, meeting her eyes before she looked away again. "Sonja." He responded softly but sternly. "No, I cannot let this go, not if you are going to remain an agent with us. You broke several of my family rules, including some very serious ones. Do you know where you went wrong?" He wasn't sure that she did know, that she realized that her actions were not acceptable to him, to his team. She had been on her own for so long. But he also knew that she wasn't good at following orders. He had spoken to both her handler with the ATF and the lead agent she had been under when he officially hired her on. They had both given him an overview of who Sonja was as well as her habit of taking things on without talking it over with superiors first.
"I didn't wait for backup?" She lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug, grimacing slightly. She wasn't sure what answer he wanted. Her superiors at ATF had finally just let her do what she wanted, within reason. They didn't care if she did something dangerous. And her parents...well they only saw what they wanted to. They gave her what she wanted and didn't care what she got into.
"Are you asking or telling?"
"Telling. I didn't wait for backup. I'm sorry, Pride. I just...needed to take care of it."
He gave a firm nod, raising an eyebrow when she glanced at him. "What other rules of mine did you break?" He knew that she had never had anyone hold her accountable for her own actions before. He also knew that her superiors at ATF kept her undercover because she was good at it; because she was only accountable to herself, and her handler, when she was undercover. The agent there had told him that he believed Sonja to be so closed-off that he didn't bother holding her accountable if what she was doing wasn't illegal. He hadn't bothered trying to reach the younger woman. So here he was, trying to tear down those walls and he knew it was going to take time. It had taken time with Christopher and Sebastian, to get them to the place where they would open up, let others in.
She frowned, tilting her head. That was the only rule she broke, right? She hadn't taken unnecessary risks, she hadn't been in danger, she hadn't lied to him. She couldn't think of anything else. "That was the only one." She replied, flinching when her eyes met his; she could see the spark of anger there. Clearly, what she said he made him angry, so she must have done something else. Maybe there was a minor rule she broke?
He forced his emotions back under control, fighting the anger for a moment. He wasn't angry at the young woman. No, he was angry because she didn't recognize her actions as being dangerous. Because no one had cared enough to do anything if she placed herself in danger. His agents were routinely in danger, it came with the job, but the danger she had been in was unnecessary. He took a breath, letting it out slowly and focusing on the young woman in front of him. He had saw that flinch, after all. "Okay, Sonja. It's okay. How 'bout we go through it together?" Dwayne gave her a small smile when she glanced at him again. At her rapid nod, he gestured toward a chair. "Sit." He ordered softly, moving to take the seat across from her.
She obeyed without question, sitting down at the table she had just scrubbed. Her eyes focused on the table, finding patterns in the grains of wood so that she didn't have to look at him. She liked being part of his team, of his family. She didn't want to lose that, even if she would rather not be in trouble. Working with this team was so much better, and different, than being undercover had been. She just wasn't used to not being alone.
"When you first asked me to let you help with this investigation, I explicitly told you that you were not to go undercover. According to the lead agent at DEA, you asked to be undercover, after I told you no. Can you see where I'm going here?" He inquired, wanting her to reach the conclusion on her own, even if he knew it would take longer, doing this for all the rules she broke.
She hesitated, worrying her lip between her teeth for a moment. "I disobeyed an order?" She responded, grimacing at the raised eyebrow. It shouldn't be a question. She knew that going undercover was against what he had told her. Sonja just hadn't thought that he would find out. "I disobeyed a direct order." She repeated, more sure this time.
He gave a nod of approval, giving her a moment to see if she would reach the next step without pushing. When she remind silent, he gave a soft sigh. "What rule did going undercover break, besides disobeying an order?" He guided calmly. He had had to do the same thing with both Christopher and, surprisingly, Sebastian.
"It was a necessary risk." She argued, knowing where he was going now.
"Was it?"
She hesitated then, biting her lip again. She knew that was one of her tells but she did it when she was unsure, nervous, or keeping something to herself. "No. I could have helped without being on the inside. But it worked out in the end, because I was able to get in to Marion's daughter."
"Going in to get the child was a necessary, calculated risk. However, you were able to get past the guard because he knew you from your undercover days. Going undercover was an unnecessary risk for this case and put you in needless danger." He responded, leaning back slightly. He could tell that she didn't agree with that but he was more than prepared to explain it if she wanted him to.
Sonja scowled, glaring down at the table for a moment. It wasn't that dangerous. Her cover held up and she could still use it if she needed to. Sure, there had been a few touchy situations when she started back undercover but that was to be expected. But as stubborn as she was, she knew that he did have a point. She just didn't have to like it. "I'm sorry Pride. It won't happen again." She knew that it probably would but her past boss and her handler had always let it go at that. She had a feeling Pride wouldn't but it was worth a try.
"If it does, you'll find yourself back in this same position." He paused at the brief glint of fear in her eyes. Hopefully, it wasn't fear of him. Hopefully she wasn't like Sebastian; that had been hard on him and the younger man. But he also knew he couldn't let her go without consequences. If he did so, he would be no better than her previous supervising agents, she would learn nothing. "Yes Sonja, I am going to tan your hide. You broke four major family rules. If there aren't consequences for your actions, they are much more likely to happen again." As much as he didn't want to whip her, it being her first real offense, he knew that a lesser punishment would do nothing. And this was not something he could let off easy. Any other time, had she just broken one of his important rules, he would have put her over his knee, since it was the first time she had done something like this. But she had broke almost all of his major rules at one time, a regular spanking was not enough to get his seriousness across about this. If Christopher had done the same thing, he'd be whipping him without the protection of his jeans. While he wouldn't be that harsh on her, he knew how he had to respond, even if he didn't particularly like it. He never liked disciplining his family members, but he knew it was necessary. His mentor had done the same to him and it had made him stop and think before rushing into situations. He hoped it would do that same to his young agents.
She had never really experienced physical punishment before. She had been swatted once as a child and recently by Pride, but never fully punished. Her parents hadn't really care that much as long as she didn't break the law or get herself killed. "I've never.."She trailed off, looking away from him. It felt almost childish to admit that but the whole conversation made her feel childish, and perhaps that was the point. Because she knew that she would forget washing dishes or scrubbing tables once that punishment was over; she had a feeling she wouldn't forget this type of punishment anytime soon.
He gave her a soft, encouraging smile for a moment. Honestly, that didn't surprise him. It did, however, explain the fear in her eyes. A fear that he could ease. "Here's what's going to happen, Sonja. I'm going to have you bend over one of the tables and I am going to whip you with my belt. I won't lie to you, it hurts. But it will not permanently harm you. Once it's over, it's done. Clean slate. You will have dish duty for a week, for hiding something from me again. But it will be a clean slate. We won't talk about it again." He wouldn't mention that he had done this enough that he could easily tell when she was at the point she needed to be.
She bit her lip, standing when he did. She hesitated when he gestured toward the table, giving him a quick glance before looking away. What would he do if she refused? She knew, instinctively, that he would not force her if she was truly unable to do this. But she also had a feeling that he would be more than disappointed. Because she did, she thought, understand his reasoning for a whipping. No one else in her life had ever really cared enough to offer up consequences. And then there was Pride, waiting patiently for her to make this decision on her own. She could see him out of the corner of her eye and he was just waiting. She wasn't so sure she could do this but she took a timid step toward the table, hesitating for a moment before bending over it.
Dwayne rested a gentle hand on her back, hoping the act would calm her a bit. He kept his hand there for a moment before stepping back. He took a breath, doubling his belt before bringing it down on the young woman's backside. He didn't use anywhere near his full strength but the action still drew a yelp from her. This was never easy, for him or his young agents. By the twelfth strike, she was sobbing openly. He dropped the belt instantly, moving to rub small circles on her back. He waited until she was a bit calmer before stepping back to let her straighten up.
She grimaced at the flash of pain as she stood, tears still streaking down her face. She wiped at them with one hand. Sonja didn't like to cry in front of others, it could be taken as a sign of weakness. But she didn't feel that with Pride. Nor did she hesitated when he opened his arms to her. She flew into the hug, accepting the comfort that she normally tried to avoid. She wasn't yakkity or touchy-feely but right now, after that emotional roller-coaster, she needed it. Because as he whipped her, she thought of all the stupid, risky things she had done recently and she knew they could have ended much worse than a whippin'. "'m sorry." She mumbled into his shirt, burying her face against his chest.
"Shh. It's alright, Sonja. Clean slate." He responded gently, willing to hold the young woman for as long as she would let him.
"I'm never going to sit again." She grumbled, half joking.
Dwayne chuckled, shaking his head. All of his young family members said something similar after a whippin'. As much as he had hated doing it, he knew it was needed. He also knew that she would be able to sit comfortably much sooner than she thought.