Chapter 10
Wolf Novis, a few months shy of his seventeenth birthday, had been running Ghost Pack Courier service for just over a year, in that time he'd spent absolutely zero time at alpha or delta, the two bases of the Trazen crew. If it hadn't been for near constant contact from his sister's and the rest of the Trazen crew, he figured he would have gone nuts during the first six months, but the solitude stopped bothering him after that.
He'd backed up the Trazen defenders a couple times when he needed a break from playing base to base courier for the Empire. And while he and Melody had found every moment they could together, the time apart put a strain on their relationship for a time. So much so she wouldn't answer his direct communications for almost a month after he'd stuck his foot in his mouth, about what he still wasn't sure, but they'd patched things up the first time they were able to get together in person between jobs. She even got the barber in town to cut his hair the way she liked it again since Wolf had let it grow damn near down to his shoulders again. They'd talked a few times about marriage, only once seriously, but they both liked the idea of settling down together once they got a little older, of course that conversation had taken place just after his fifteenth birthday.
As he came up on the village the Trazens called home, he hoped that the people would still recognize his black on red König Wolf. Melody had seen the base more than anyone in the crew had in the last year, Razor and Luna were a close second and third. The black haired man jumped from his cockpit on the outskirts of town and a few of the kids came running.
He ran around and played with them for a while, enjoyed a quiet meal at the local restaurant before heading back to alpha for the night. Blaze had been too tired from the journey back to join him, but Wolf was just too wired about finally being back to stay still. When they walked down the long passage that led to the hanger Vailen's face popped up on the com screen.
"Hey there Ghost, good to see you finally made it back," the older blonde replied with a chuckle.
"Yeah well I needed a break so I decided to come visit," Wolf replied with a chuckle of his own, "Who's in?"
"Right now just the Trazen Defenders, you're the first of the Pack to come in," Vailen replied with a smile, "Melody should be back in a day or two and the sisters are all finishing up their latest jobs so they should be here within a week or two."
"Good to know, how did we fair?" The blue eyed young man asked with a more serious tone.
"Could probably sit on our duffs for three months and still be solid if the numbers on the sister's last jobs are right. Can pull off at least two as it is now."
Wolf couldn't help but smile at that as the König walked into the massive hanger. The young man maneuvered the Zoid to its usual spot and began the shut down checks, he chuckled quietly to himself when he saw his weapons stores. A year without seeing home base and he'd only fired five shots as a courier.
"Only five shots? No way, that's gotta be wrong, you fired more than that as a defender with us," Razor said with a confused look as he stood on the egress platform.
"I can account for every one of the five that weren't fired as a defender," Wolf replied calmly, "Two of those were on an Imperial test range for sight checking purposes, the third was a small Molga driver who thought it a good idea to shoot at me, the fourth and fifth both went to a client who thought he could rip me off."
"How could that be though, we reloaded you every time after you worked with us," the green eyed man said with plain confusion.
"I told you the count fired with you, not the number needed to fill the hold."
"But they never loaded it at a base?"
"Never at one long enough, even during my overnight stays they'd have to get to her ammo hatches without, you know, dying."
"Well how about you and me kill some of those shots tomorrow on the long range?"
"Sounds like a plan."
Wolf climbed out onto the platform and Blaze uncurled himself and moved onto the platform from his usual spot on the König's back. Both of them were pretty burned out but Wolf had just enough left to get a good long shower before climbing into bed and sleeping clean through the rest of the day and well into the morning of the next. He met Razor and Vailen on the long range field just after lunch.
"Mobile or stationary?" Razor asked as he moved his black and white Zaber Fang to one side of the König.
"I'd go for stationary today Wolf, you slept a long while," Vailen said as his jade green Zaber Fang moved to the other side of the wolf, Tyrant and Blaze wrestling playfully just behind the massive cat.
"I'll take mobile just to shut you up Vailen," Wolf replied with a taunting laugh, "And just to make it fun since I've got full stores, twenty targets a round."
"You're on kid," the oldest of the three replied with a smirk.
Wolf's first twenty targets went down fast, Razor's first twenty only slightly faster than the young man's, but both only used twenty shots each, Vailen took twenty two shots his first round and a short time longer than his brother and crewmate. The three men increased the distance between themselves and the targets, waiting a few minutes while Tango and Lemur reset the targets for them.
Wolf started in on his second set and was about five shots in when a shot rang out from beneath the König's feet scaring the Zoid and him both. Before Wolf could react to what was going on he could feel the cockpit being violently shaken by something, when he looked up all he could see was the back of a Zoid.
"Umm, someone explain why I'm looking at a Zoid's back, please," Wolf said with a highly confused tone.
"Your wolf picked up a Heldigunner after that wild shot from between her front legs, she's got it by the guns," Razor replied with a bewildered look on his face.
"Let's take it back in, that way whoever's in that thing won't get far without explaining themselves," Vailen said as he turned his Zoid back towards the hanger entrance.
Wolf turned his König slowly and followed the green Zaber Fang back into the base, Razor took a moment to call Tango and Lemur back in before following the other two. Once they were all back in the base and Melody finished her landing, the König Wolf let the Heldigunner simply fall from her jaws. Razor and Vailen met the pilot with drawn pistols as they opened the cockpit.
"Who are you and what makes you think what you did was okay?" Valien asked once there was a gap to be heard through.
"I was just passing by, geez it's not like I shot anyone," a woman's voice replied.
The cockpit opened far enough to reveal a woman with silver hair and a pistol of her own pointed towards Vailen. Wolf, Melody, Tango and Lemur all four had pistols in their hands before the cockpit finished swinging open and Blaze and Tyrant had moved closer to the Zoid.
"You may not have shot anyone out there, but you don't put that gun down you'll be the one bleeding," Razor said drawing the woman's attention to the rest of them, "We'll ask again, who are you and how did you find our range?"
"I detected weapon's fire, just went to check it out, saw the range and couldn't help but take a shot," the silver haired woman said as she lowered her gun slowly back into the cockpit seat.
"Scared the hell out of my Zoid lady, not cool anyway I look at it," Wolf said as he holstered his pistol, "You want trouble, you'll find more than you can deal with in just me you do that again."
"Who the hell are you people?"
"We asked first lady," Tango replied, lowering his pistol but not holstering it, "You answer us, we'll answer you."
"My name is Tiffany Burk," the silver haired woman replied with a cold tone, "Now answer me."
"Lady you've got a lot to learn about manners," Lemur said with a chuckle as he slipped his gun back into its holster, "We're the Trazen Crew."
"That is such bullshit," Tiffany said with a cold smirk, "Trazen crew wouldn't be standing out in a desert shooting targets, they'd be off raiding the military."
"Lady, I'd smack you senseless if you had any in the first place, you're standing before six of the nine current members of the Trazen crew," Wolf replied with a cold tone of his own, "And I don't like being called a liar after someone scares my Zoid just because she wants to."
"You keep harping on that little man I'll take you over my knee, it happened, let it go!"
"You couldn't touch me to try it bitch," the black haired man said with an ice cold tone, his eyes slowly turning red.
"Ghost, go take a walk," Razor said as he stepped between the newcomer and Wolf, "Take Bomber with you, we'll handle this."
"That's right kids, listen to babysitter," Tiffany shouted as Wolf and Melody left.
"Tiffany, you need to shut up, you're sitting in a bad place for you right now, three people here are pissed as fuck at you, two of them still have guns in their hands," Vailen said with a calm tone, "If I were you, I'd think twice then speak instead of insulting the people with guns."
"Listen buddy your pal just wrecked my weapons pack, so either he pays for the new one or I go find the authorities in that little town close to here and tell them where you are."
Tango and Lemur started laughing out loud as both Razor and Vailen got an evil look in their eyes that Tiffany seemed to back up a half step at.
"Go ahead, we'll even ferry you out there since your Heldigunner seems unable at the moment," Razor said with a confident tone.
"What the hell has you so cocky? You act like you run the place," Tiffany replied with an annoyed tone.
"In a way we really do, that village is our home," Tango replied as he got his laughter under control, "We're the security detail," he added waving a finger between himself and Lemur.
The silver haired woman's jaw fell open as she stared at the black haired man and the man with three red streaks on either side of his head. Razor got her to get out of the Heldigunner's cockpit before she started asking to join up, the blonde accepted on the condition Tiffany did not do anything as reckless as shooting from under a senior member's Zoid again.
"You let her join?!" Wolf shouted when Razor broke the news to him and Melody in the small arms range area.
"We need the hands Wolf, pulling legit jobs, no matter how many isn't getting us med supplies and I want a full crew if we have to hit something again," the older blonde replied seriously, "Besides, it gives you someone to boss around besides your sisters."
"Razor that woman is only joining us for glory, we're not crewed for the kind of hits she's probably expecting," the black haired young man said as his deep blue eyes slowly shifted to red showing how angry he really was, "Damnit, the woman thought the fucking idea to shoot from under someone's Zoid was cool for gods sakes! The Pack would never do something that idiotic."
"I understand that she needs refinement, but she did make that shot," Razor replied calmly as he shifted a half step back and out of Wolf's reach, "But Wolf even you have to understand that if just one of our combat team goes down, we've got no backups right now, if she manages to make it a month then we'll have one."
"Since when does anyone on this team fall short of being able to handle four to one odds?" Melody muttered from her place next to the ammo locker.
"It's not about being able to face the odds Melody, it's about being able to keep the damn team going with the same odds."
"Razor, the woman pulled a gun on you and Vailen a few minutes ago, she's already on my 'do not trust' list," the brown haired young woman replied, "I don't care if it evens out the team or not, she doesn't belong here."
"Tango said the same thing, but I can't stress the point of being understaffed at the moment any further than I already have, she's in."
Razor didn't give them a chance to reply as he spun on his heel and left the range. Wolf spun his 'two year anniversary' gift from Razor and Vailen to point down range before unloading the pistol in near record time. It was the pistol Razor had bought for him to carry on his courier jobs, but the blonde insisted on calling it his two year gift despite only having been with the crew about ten months when giving it.
The black haired man was a little shocked to hear a second pistol firing and the target next to his filling with holes. He also was a little shocked to see that Melody had come two points away from scoring higher than he had.
It took nearly a week after the rambunctious Heldigunner pilot's arrival for Tammy, Luna and Sarah Beth to get back. Wolf had to brief his sisters personally since the desert camouflage Zoid had been quite the shock laying in the floor near the hanger entrance. Tammy was happy to hear they'd gotten a new girl in the team that she might be able to talk to, Luna and Sarah Beth, like their adopted brother, were suspicious of the woman with silver hair.
"Wolf, can you and Melody handle the village tour now that the whole crew's been introduced to our new hand?" Razor asked as he walked up to the young couple as they sat on the König's paw.
"Only if no one else will, you know how I feel about her Boss," Wolf replied with a serious tone.
"I'm asking you two for exactly that reason, we're on vacation but everyone spends it their own way, I don't even know where the sister's vanished to," the blonde replied with a chuckle.
"I do, don't worry on it too much," the blue eyed young man replied as he scratched the scar that went across his right eye, "I'm not allowed to say though so don't bother asking."
"We'll do this since no one else is around, but don't expect a happy return," Melody said with a serious tone, "I just don't like this woman."
"You don't like her because she shot your boyfriend's Zoid into a frenzy with him in it," one of the mechanics close by said with a laugh as he walked on by.
Melody ignored the man and started towards her Pteras before Wolf stopped her and jabbed a thumb at the cockpit of his König. Blaze went along and was stopped a group of kids who seemed determined to give him a wash and wax which had Melody and Wolf laughing as the black and red Organoid playfully made it difficult for the children while Tiffany watched confusedly from a little further away with her nose turned up a bit.
Wolf and Melody both watched with mild disgust as the silver haired woman walked through the small town with her chest stuck out, back straight as a board and an air of superiority about her. She picked up a few pieces of fruit from the market place without paying, eating them as she continued on her way. Melody covered two of her impromptu picks while Wolf was forced to cover the other one by the proprietor.
Wolf gave a quick gesture to Melody and she turned the three of them out toward the Heldigunner and the König Wolf so they could talk a little. Tiffany managed even still to stir a little trouble among the locals when she wouldn't stop for a passing group of children heading to the outskirts to play; walking straight through causing two of them to fall.
"I'm gonna try and be nice since we're going to be working together," Wolf started as he leaned against his Zoid's paw, "But, if you walk through town like that Tiffany, you'll stick out like a sore thumb and draw the wrong kind of attention."
"And to add to that," Melody said cutting off the silver haired woman's reply before it even started, "The fact that you just picked up all those fruits you ate as a snack or whatever, we don't thieve from our home or bowl kids over just because we're bigger."
"We cover these people's asses, we should get free stuff," Tiffany replied quickly as if to keep from being cut off again, "And what's wrong with drawing a little attention?"
"We don't cover these people's asses, we cover their livelihoods, their farms, their medicine, and occasionally what food they get," Wolf growled as he took a half step closer to the older woman, "If you could see passed your own damn nose you'd see these people don't have much to simply 'give' things to anyone."
"Let's get back, obviously she's not gonna get it this trip Wolf," Melody said before she started climbing up the König's leg.
Wolf followed her and Tiffany jumped into her Heldigunner and followed them back to alpha base. When they got there Tango led Tiffany out of the hanger on the boss' orders while Razor and Vailen sat down with Melody and Wolf in the briefing room.
"How did she do?" Razor asked bluntly as he took his seat at the head of the table.
"She actually managed to set off one of the fruit vendors in town to the point I had to pay him off instead of him taking Melody's money," Wolf replied with a serious tone, "She also drew every bit of attention she could get right to her, I swear if she'd stuck her chest out any damn further she'd have fallen over backwards."
"She also thinks we should be taking advantage of our position as the town's protectors," Melody added, rolling her eyes at the idea, "And that we should draw a mass of attention to ourselves."
"Doesn't exactly surprise me about the attention grabbing bit, but the thieving from our own home is something even normal bandits wouldn't do," Vailen replied in his brother's stead, "Razor, we can't keep her on if she's going to cause that kind of problem around home."
"Wolf I'll put her under your command, she can play courier for a while, maybe that will let her see what we really are," Razor said with a slightly worried tone, "If she thinks we're in this for the money then we need to fix our reputation, we're thieves for the helpless, not ourselves."
"Our reputation says that we take all jobs, she must think that means that protecting our home is a job," Melody said with a worried tone of her own, "Razor, I'm with Vailen, we can't keep her on despite the need of an extra hand."
"Until someone else comes along we have no choice," the emerald green eyed man replied seriously.
"I say we ask Hawk to come back on temp duty, I don't like the guy but at least it would give us a hand if we needed a good fighter," Wolf said with a serious tone as he leaned back in his chair.
"He's been playing body guard to the village the last few months since next to none of us were here, he's earned his leave of the team for a little while especially since he's supposed to be retired," Vailen replied with a serious tone, "But if things get desperate enough I'm sure he'll help Razor."
"I don't doubt he would, but I can't pull him back in when he was so adamant to leave," Razor replied honestly as he let out a long breath, "I'll talk to Tiffany personally, Wolf I want you there so she knows we're serious."
"Hey, Tammy, Luna, Sarah Beth and Melody are enough to keep the business running, I just cleared Sarah Beth to carry top secret so she can make the military runs I'm known for," the black haired man said with a slightly raised tone, "I don't want that woman under me because if she shoots someone for no reason other than being a damn psycho I'm on the hook!"
"I know that Wolf! But I can't keep this crew undermanned, we need new people to fill the gaps left by my wife and Hawk."
"Razor I get that but I've met some folk that are way better in attitude than this woman on my runs, hell those Dibison boys we ran that convoy with after Vanessa died would be better."
"If you can get those guys to run a job with us I'll gladly give them a cut, but I think you'd be reaching for a hope. For now Tiffany stays and she's on your squad."
Wolf slammed a fist into the steel table top and walked out of the briefing room, his eyes a smoldering red. Melody followed him after a couple more minutes of trying to talk the leaders out of it. Vailen was little help because of both a want for new hands and a dislike of the newest member. When the brown haired woman caught up with Wolf, he and Blaze were going at each other in what could only be seen as a real fight if she hadn't known the two.
Wolf dodged the black and red Organoid's tail and slammed a foot hard into Blaze's massive metal hip without flinching as the pang echoed off the walls. The Organoid retaliated with a hard swipe with his short left arm that the black haired young man dodged. Blaze followed through the failed arm swing using his head to send Wolf sprawling when it met his chest. Melody was shocked to see her boyfriend simply flip back to his feet and charge the Organoid with a fist drawn back.
"He really does spar with the Organoid," Luna said from beside the brown haired woman, "I'm impressed."
"If you'd seen what the new hand did in town, you'd understand why he's sparring with Blaze," Melody replied just as Wolf landed a hard left cross to Blaze's jaw.
The blow didn't even make the Organoid stagger but the metal pang from the blow echoed a little longer than the kick had. Wolf was so focused on his fight with Blaze he didn't notice that everyone in the crew had gathered around to watch, or that his sisters had even returned. The black haired young man landed two kicks and a pair of jabs to the Organoid's chest plates making Blaze take a single step back during the assault.
"Damn that kid can land some blows," Tango said with a chuckle as he ran a hand through his red streaked black hair.
The whole of the Trazen crew, minus Tiffany, watched Wolf for another ten minutes before Blaze landed another head swing blow and also managed to catch Wolf across the chest with his tail in the follow through sending him sailing for a good ten feet before he hit the ground. Melody was the first one to the black haired young man as he caught his breath on the floor.
"Are you alright?" the hazel eyed young woman asked with a worried tone as she looked him over for injuries.
"I'm alright, he got lucky that time though," Wolf said with a tired chuckle, "No cuts this time though so I'm better than usual."
*He usually can't get out of the way of my tail blades, he was upset enough for his reflexes to get him out of the way this time,* Blaze growled with a hissed laugh as he walked over to his friend and master.
"Deal with it Blaze old boy," the black haired young man said with a laugh as he got to his feet, "You lost this round."
"You ended up on your ass, and he lost?" Tango asked with a chuckle.
"Yup, I landed more blows this time, plus, no blood."
"You could count the hits at the rate you two were moving?" Melody asked as looked at all the scuff marks in Blaze's paint.
*He's had plenty of practice, something close to twelve years of sparing,* Blaze replied as he and Wolf started towards the door of the sparring room.
Tango and Lemur went their own ways towards the small arms range with Razor and Vailen. Tammy, Luna and Sarah Beth went to unload their haul from where ever it was they were with the crew's mechanics. Wolf, Blaze and Melody all headed out towards the med room on the brown haired woman's express orders.
"Is there a reason I'm getting the hands on version of an x-ray?" Wolf asked with a chuckle when she slid a hand along the side of his bare chest.
"I'm checking to be sure you didn't break anything, my job as Trazen medic and your girlfriend," Melody replied with a serious tone as she switched to the other side.
"Last time I broke a bone in a spar with Blaze I deserved it," the black haired man replied with a chuckle as he stopped her hand with his, "I'll be a little sore later, but other than that we're both pretty well in all the pieces we're supposed to be in."
"I've checked you out after every training session this will be no different, if a little more thorough since you were fighting with an Organoid," the hazel eyed young woman said with a stern tone as she removed her hand from his grasp.
*Melody, we've done this before, we know how to pull our punches so Wolf doesn't get hurt severely,* Blaze added calmly, *Besides, if the König is still standing in the hanger then you have nothing to worry about.*
"He broke seven ribs a little over a year ago, I'm sure your buddy would like to keep them in one piece Blaze."
Wolf finally grabbed both of Melody's hands and looked into her eyes as she tried to pull them away. It took him only a second to take both her wrists into one hand and raise her eyes chin with the other and lay a deep kiss on her lips. Blaze stepped out before the couple came up for air, closing the door with his well scuffed tail and walking back out to the hanger.
*Tyrant, where are you when I need a playmate that won't scuff my paint?* Blaze growled as he walked under the König Wolf and curled up hearing footsteps not too far behind him.
"Blaze, what's going on bud?" Wolf asked as he stepped under the König and sat down next to his Organoid, "Left in kind of a hurry there."
*Didn't want to be in the way Wolf,* the black and red Organoid answered without uncurling.
"Pal, you're never in the way," the black haired man said with a warm tone as he stroked his friend's armored back.
*Say that when you two are getting carried away in the med room.*
"Blaze, you've saved my ass in more ways than one and more times than I want to count over the last eleven years, and as much as I don't like admitting it, you leaving saved my ass from getting way more than carried away just now."
*Trying not to rush things?*
"Neither she nor I are ready for that step, and it would delay our leaving if we took that step now."
*Leaving? For what reason?* Blaze asked, his head popping up in curiosity.
"Got a training mission with Tiffany, you and I are going to run block for her first courier job," Wolf replied with a shake of his head, "Razor told her earlier while you and I were sparing."
*This new hand doesn't seem to like you much, I can't wait to see how she does in a professional situation.*
"You and me both pal, you missed the show in town, she was down right ready to kick anyone's ass who stayed in her way."
*When do we leave?*
"You've got one hour to handle the load up of the König before we leave base, you and I are going to spend a whole two weeks with the new Heldigunner pilot," Wolf replied sounding none too thrilled about the idea.
The König Wolf and the Heldigunner tore out of alpha a few minutes after the hour had passed, delayed by Tiffany's open reluctance to take orders from a man just shy of ten years younger than herself. About a day and a half into their run to Guygalos, Wolf was actually starting to enjoy the silent treatment from Tiffany, he'd spent most of the first day briefing her on how she needed to act since this was a legal job and a real business that he ran. That briefing had gotten him chewed up one wall and down the next by the silver haired woman. The silence was enough for him to turn on the König's autopilot and take a nap for a while.
"Wolf, I have an honest question," Tiffany's voice played through his radio just before sunset as they clamored for all the distance they could get from the day.
"If it's relevant to this situation, feel free," the blue eyed young man replied with a serious tone.
"It's not, but I'll ask politely," the silver haired woman chuckled, "Why aren't any of the people back at base afraid of that dinosaur of yours?"
*Because I'm kid friendly, and they've seen one of my kind before,* Blaze growled with a rather intimidating edge, *And I'm not a dinosaur, I'm an Organoid, don't slip twice.*
"Yes, he just threatened you, I'd take him seriously, he's very proud of his origins despite not remembering some of them," Wolf said when he heard the woman stammer, "A slip like that around Tyrant and you wouldn't have gotten a second chance."
"Who the hell is Tyrant?"
*Another Organoid in the Trazen crew,* Blaze replied as the König slowed to a halt as the last of the light left the sky.
The two Zoids settled in, Wolf choosing to eat one of the MREs he kept in the cockpit rather than interacting further with Tiffany. The rest of the trip to the little village they'd been hired by went with peaceable, if short, conversations. When they got to the edge of the village Wolf did most of the talking, collecting both the package for delivery and the money; fully paid up front since they wouldn't be returning to alpha on the same route.
The trip to Guygalos was quieter than the silent treatment and Wolf loved every minute of it since he could practically feel Tiffany brooding in her cockpit. The silver haired woman had refused to make the pick-up in the village so adamantly that Wolf trapped her into making the drop off, especially since it was supposed to be her job.
"Alright, when we get there, you're the one doing the talking, I'm just the body guard," Wolf said as the two of them walked through Guygalos.
"I know, what about the Organoid? He sticks out like a sore thumb," Tiffany muttered as she stopped to check a sign on a building.
*If you haven't noticed, I'm not actually behind you,* Blaze growled through the ear pieces for their radios, *You've got two blocks left, and you're on the wrong side of the street.*
The sudden jerk of the silver haired woman's head had Wolf holding back a laugh when he saw her eyes get bigger too. The black haired man gave a simple shrug when she gave him a slightly panicked and very confused look, Wolf was a little disappointed that she never once looked up higher than building signs.
"Blaze, hang out on the roof, let us know if anyone unfriendly appears to be heading our way," Wolf muttered into the mic just before entering the building behind Tiffany.
Watching the silver haired woman slowly disarm herself for the guards was just a little entertaining for the black haired young man since he'd never made a play at hiding his weapons. When she finally finished they let her pass through the check point, but the look she gave Wolf when he simply stepped through without taking the gun off his thigh would have frozen hell itself.
"Why do I have to disarm and you don't?" the silver haired woman asked angrily as they rode the elevator up.
"Because I'm permitted to carry this as an official military level courier, you don't have that status," Wolf replied simply just before the doors slid open, "Just remember not to let your anger show with the client."
"You could have gotten me that status so I could keep my guns."
"You earn that status with me lady, now do the job at hand," the blue eyed young man muttered angrily as he turned his back to the proper door for her to enter.
Wolf didn't talk to the workers and they barely acknowledged his presence at all until a crash came from the office behind him. He was through the door, gun drawn and aimed at the floor before anyone else outside seemed to react at all. Tiffany was standing over the man in the office, his nose bleeding profusely as he searched his jacket for something to stop it.
"What the hell did you do?" the black haired man asked pointedly as he stepped over to the desk to help the guy, his eyes falling solely on Tiffany.
"She didn't do anything young man, I landed in my seat wrong and it over turned," the man said through his hand, as he took the offered rag Wolf pulled from his boot, "Reacted almost before it happened though, she's fast, just not fast enough to stop a clumsy old chap like me."
"Well, I'm sure some of your hands have already called for assistance, we'll get out of the way," Wolf replied with a kind tone and a quick gesture to Tiffany.
"You work for me, we'll stop by the licensing place on our way out of town." He said when they were in the elevator, "But you so much as think about turning a job down because of your not wanting it or some other bullshit reason, you'll wish I'd left you to Blaze."