The neat cut that ran straight down the center of face was cast into an ugly light beneath the cold, white light of the infirmary. An ugly grimace and impatient noise issued from deep within his withered throat and at last, fed up with the doctor's pointless silence following yet another pointless question, he said simply, "It is a matter of course. I do what needs to be done, so who cares how much fun I have along the way?" He gestures meaningfully to the sky with a scarred arm, "What I do out there is my own business. I have no idea why you continue to think what I do is 'behavior that warrants further investigation into potential breaks from reality and potentially breaks from Code.' A section 8, is what they were once called. A very long time ago. You're read the codices. And you should know this, my business is mine alone, and whatever the superiors have to say about my methods can stay behind closed doors."
The doctor frowned and marked off a box in a feeble sort of way. He hadn't changed. He was as stubborn as he had always been. It had gone beyond skirting past truth. He had fully ceased to acknowledge it's existence. "Des..." The withered man before him snarled at the name. "That is what the record says and so it is what I will call you, Des. I refuse to indulge you." His patient threw his hands up in exasperation and made to leave his chair. "Des! You will stay until the review is completed or so help me I will force you." A scoff and slight shuffle in his seat was his reply. "Breaks in procedure: None. Breaks in the concept of ally and foe: sixty seven. Enemies slain in open, direct combat: Four. Enemies slain via assassination and execution-style killings: eighty-three."
Des almost smirked. At the very least, his lined face lightened. "Breaks in the concept of friend and ally? I don't fire on fellow operatives."
"But you put them in needlessly dangerous situations. You seem to revel in the ensuing chaos."
"Revel? Needlessly? What the hell are you talking about? They're just as much a tool as I am. They're never in any real danger. They can all handle themselves. Besides, I'm sure you're precious records continue to fail to note how many times I've put enemies into delightfully compromising situations."
"Be that as it may..."
Des cut him off by standing and waving a hand at him in dismissal. "I'm leaving. I follow procedure."
"You skirt it's boundaries every day!"
"Have you read about who Loki was? Let me correct myself actually. Have you read about who Loki IS?"
The doctor's rebuttal was cut out by the sound of hydraulics opening and closing the door to the infirmary.