So, exciting thing: I've recently gotten a drawing of Chief Wells! It's what I've made as the cover of this story right now, but if you want a bigger picture, either check it out on my AO3 version or at DanScarf's Twitter, who drew the amazing piece!
So, now you all have a face to the name! And I was so excited at having gotten it that I couldn't help but write a (was supposed to be) short story featuring her, so, here we are. I hope you enjoy!
Be sure to check out more of DanScarf's amazing art at their Twitter at Dan_Scarf!
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE—
The alarm silences as a hand falls on top of it, instantly quieting the room, save for a small groan as Wells' eyes blearily opened, staring up at her empty ceiling, mentally dragging herself out of her tired slumber to get up for the day.
And as she does, she's given only about a blissful ten seconds before all of the work she's going to have to today invades her mind, from training, patrol, to paperwork. A lot of paperwork. The perks of being Chief of the Lombax City Guard.
She exhales a very deep breath while rubbing her eyes, attempting to at least try and not think about it and the inevitable headaches that are going to pop up throughout her day in dealing with all of that, and she only about half-succeeds.
But luckily, it was just enough to motivate herself to throw off her blanket and sit up instead of just going back to sleep to escape from the incompetence of her officers. No use in hoping that the City Guard's going to get better if she just lies in bed instead of getting up and doing something about it herself, after all.
She stretches out her back with a yawn, then stretching out her arms, before standing up and stretching her legs out as well, groaning slightly before moving away from her bed, and getting down on the floor to do her usual morning workout routine: fifteen pushups, fifteen sit-ups, ten squats, and cooling down with some good old-fashioned stresses. If she wants to try and instill some change and motivation in her guards to do better at their jobs, then she has to make herself a shining example, keeping up a good shape so that she's always ready to chase down a perp if need be—or more likely, run circles around her own men on the training course to show them how it's done the next time they start whining and moaning that it's 'too hard'.
She doesn't focus on all the times she felt anger every time she's heard that excuse, not thinking that it was too much to ask a goddamned City Guard to run a standard training course in an acceptable time, since it's not like any criminals that need chasing are going to stop and give them a head start because they can't stop shoving donuts into their faces and sitting on their asses in the breakroom instead of going to training because 'why do we need it if nothing ever happens?'
She grimaces in the midst of her sit-ups, already feeling that anger start to rise once again, but shoves it down as she instead focuses on her breathing, being a little heavier than usual, but not coming close to panting at all. She focuses on the light burn of her muscles, the blood pumping in her veins, and of course, the satisfaction in the fact that she was keeping her body in tip-top shape, ready for anything that'll get thrown her way.
About ten minutes later, she stands up from the floor, done with her post-workout stretches, mind now fully awake, and sets off towards the bathroom to continue with the rest of her morning routine—being primarily a quick shower and brushing her teeth.
It's another ten minutes later as she stands in front of the mirror, wiping herself dry with a towel in one hand as the other sets about brushing her teeth, taking the time to also inspect her brown coat for any stray furs, brushing them down a bit, and sometimes plucking the odd misplaced hair as well.
Wrapping the towel around her shoulders, she gargles and spits into the sink, looking back at herself in the mirror, once again mentally running through her daunting tasks of the day of not only running the City Guard, but improving it along the way—one little bit at a time.
"Alright." She says aloud, giving herself a firm nod. "You can do this, Alice."
And with that, she finally exits the bathroom, and after a quick stop to the closet, dresses for the day in her signature blue City Guard uniform, ready to look her part and serve her duty as Chief, not even a wrinkle out of place. And no matter how many times she's donned this uniform, it always brings a small smile to her face, never failing to fill her with pride for all the work she does to make her city just a little bit safer for everyone.
After looking in the mirror one more time, and flashing herself one more proud smile, she then walks out into her kitchen to fix herself a quick breakfast and cup of coffee before hopping in her City Guard cruiser, flying off into the dense city to officially begin her day proper.
As soon as she landed her cruiser in the City Guard's parking area, Wells already knew her day was going to start off just peachy when she saw another cruiser with a significant damage parked right beside her, the paint coming off and the hull dented and warped, canopy glass cracked, and the words 'LOMBAX CITY GUARD' printed across its side being pretty much illegible. If it weren't for all the other perfectly fine cruisers surrounding it, Wells might've thought that she accidentally just landed in a junkyard instead of her headquarters.
"Just… how?" She says aloud, throwing her hands over to it after getting out of her own ship, staring at it for a few more seconds before turning away with a grumble and furious scowl, marching towards the entrance of the precinct. "Just one morning. Just one morning I want to walk in here and find something that isn't screwed up already." She mumbles coldly.
As she marches to the door, any passing officer happening across her path either also coming in to work or clocking out of their night shift either give her a wide berth or a quick salute with a 'Chief!', already able to see the anger in her eyes and her frown, with her giving them little mind, only replying with a small nod.
She strolls in through the doors and into the lobby, where there were already officers milling about their business or escorting suspects to and from cells and rooms, chatting idly on their breaks, or just… existing there, with nothing to do. It was always that latter sight that made her blood boil, knowing damn well there's always something to do around here, and normally, she'd chew their asses out and give them something to do, but she had more pressing matters as she marched up to Jacks at the reception desk, one of the only people in this entire department she could very reliably depend on to do his job.
And as she walks up to it, he glances up from a form he was currently filling out, and was the first (and usually, only) person of the day to give her a genuine smile in greeting.
"Good morning, Chief." He says with a small salute, right before his smile falters as he registers the particularly angry look on her face. "Or, erm… I guess it's not, actually? What is it?"
"Jacks, do you know what in the hell is up with the trashed cruiser sitting in the parking area right now?" She asks irritably, gesturing out the door with a stern expression.
"Trashed cruiser…?" Jacks mutters, looking away with a bemused expression before it lights up in realization. "Oh, that cruiser. Yeah, it was Officer Huxley's; came back like that about an hour ago."
"Why?" She demands, crossing her arms. "The answer I hear better be that she was busting her ass trying to catch a perp on a high-speed chase and ended up with some collateral damage or her ass is grass." She states coldly, tapping a finger on his desk between them.
He sucks in his teeth, rubbing the back of his head, making her scowl grow even deeper. "Yeah… no." He answers, shaking his head. "She was just out on patrol, and she didn't book in any suspects when she came back, either. Just came back with that out there." He says, thumbing over to the door as well.
"So then what happened?!" She yells out, throwing an arm out.
"From what she said: She was reaching over for her coffee, but then she accidentally bumped it, so it fell on the floor, which distracted her, which caused her to get into a fender bender."
"A fender—That thing looks like it was slammed by a goddamn freighter! How in the hell do you call that a fender bender, Jacks?!" She cries out indignantly, jamming a finger in front of his face.
"Hey, those are the words she used, not me!" He retorts, leaning back and away from her finger, raising his hands up in defense. "I'm with you there!"
"So… You're telling me that while on patrol, she got distracted in her flying reaching for a damn coffee, absolutely wrecked her cruiser, nearly destroying City Guard property, endangering her life and others', all the while she's supposed to be out here to protect people instead?" She asks, retracting her hand to instead rub her eyes, already feeling a headache coming on.
"Erm… yep, that about sums it up." He answers with a shrug,
She gives a deep breath, still rubbing her eyes, at least trying to keep her cool. "Just… tell me, did she or anyone else get hurt in her accident?"
He shakes his head. "No, she didn't hit anyone else or anything. Just hit a light pole, and she didn't have anything more than a bruise or two, by the looks of it."
"Well, thank the stars for that at least." She says, bringing her hand down to reveal a scowl that was somehow even worse than when she began this conversation. "Now I don't have to feel bad about chewing her ass and ripping her a new one out from a hospital bed! Where the hell is Huxley right now?!"
"Oh, erm, she went home after filling out her report on her incident and finishing her patrol. She should be back tomorrow for her next shift."
"Like hell she is!" Wells angrily retorts, pointing at him again. "What she just did is finish her last patrol here at the City Guard, because any officer who flies with such reckless endangerment to end up with a cruiser like that is apt to kill someone with their incompetence, and people like that do not have a place in my precinct!" She states, furiously tapping a finger on the desk in emphasis. "When she comes in tomorrow, tell her it's so that she can drop off her badge and uniform and pick up her shit from her locker, because she is fired, you got it?!"
A little surprised by her sudden outburst, Jacks gives a short, curt nod and a salute. "Yep, loud and clear."
"Good." She returns, huffing out a breath before inhaling another deep one, trying to cool herself down from the intense anger she was feeling, giving herself a second before holding out a hand. "Alright, hand me her file and a form for termination, I'll get it back to you by the end of the day."
"Sure thing." He says with a nod, turning around to open a drawer in a filing cabinet, rifling through it for the necessary documents, grabbing them and turning back around, but then pausing for a moment before glancing down with an "Oh, right!"
"What?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.
"You'll also need this to requisition repairs on her cruiser, too." He says, handing Wells Huxley's file, a form for termination, and a good ten pages detailing an order of full repairs on her City Guard-issued cruiser. "Luckily for you, I was actually already filling it out when you talked to me, so I've already got the bulk of the damage listed there."
"Yeah. Lucky me." Wells grumbles, thumbing through the lengthy document, knowing from prior experience just how much of a tedious pain in the ass it was to fill one of these out, let alone on a cruiser as badly damaged as Huxley's, on top of having to tender another termination as well. Even though she's had plenty of recent experience with the latter, it didn't mean that it made filling them out any better at all.
She then gives a sigh before nodding over to Jacks, dropping her hand holding all the papers to her side with a simultaneously disgruntled and defeated look. "Well, thanks, Jacks. Keep up the good work. I wish more of these dumbasses around here did as good at their jobs as you do."
He returns a smile and another salute. "Thanks, Chief, keep up the good work too."
"I'll try." She grumbles, beginning to walk off to her office, ready to drop it off in the always ever-growing stack of paperwork of the day.
And given that it's only been about five minutes since she's walked into here, she could already tell today was going to go just swimmingly.
Just one person.
Just one person to pass the training course in a decent time is all she asks as she massages her temples, leaning on the console controlling the course on the observation balcony, overlooking a new batch of recruits run through it—and getting their asses kicked on it, too.
It was just some obstacles, a shooting section, then a gauntlet to swing your OmniWrench—and that was too hard for these people! Hell, half of them got winded by the time they finished the first third of it, almost none of them could shoot for shit, and she could count on her hands the number of times they didn't get clocked by the spinning dummies on the last stretch.
She brings her hands down from her face, looking over the current officer, currently performing the shooting section, and watched as he dropped his gun in the middle of reloading, having to fumble down on the ground for much too long before awkwardly popping a new clip in, and getting very poor accuracy on the shots he did manage to hit.
She scowls even more, and glances up the leaderboard displayed on the wall, with all the best times on the course—and most notably, the time that held Ratchet's.
Thankfully, his time got bumped down to a good tenth place since the little punk came in here to help her out on Kaden's suggestion, but that number was still much too high in her opinion. The whole idea of letting that pain in the ass run her course was so that it'd get everyone else into gear with the wakeup call that a little kid like him could run circles around them, easy!
And while she has to admit that overall performance has been going up, it's still nowhere near the perfection that she was striving for.
But right now, she had to worry about these new recruits being competent first before she can even begin to ask for perfection.
"Hah… There…" The current officer panted as he crossed the finish line, immediately dropping to his knees to catch his breath. "Done."
"No, you are not." Wells calls out irritably. "You and everyone else are going to stay here until I see some actually decent times out of all of you, you hear me?!"
"What? We can't even take a break?!" One of the officers sitting on the sidelines replies indignantly.
"Yeah, this course is hard! You can't expect us to be perfect!" Another argues.
"Hard?!" She retorts angrily, slamming a fist down on the console in front of her while glaring at him. "This is a basic goddamn training course, if this is hard, you shouldn't even be wearing those uniforms in the first place!"
She then walks away from the console to instead get on the lift to lower down onto the training floor, slamming a fist onto the button to take her down as she continues speaking. "Do you think any perp's just going to stop in the middle of the road to give you a chance to catch up because you think that chasing after them is too hard? Do you think a mugger is going to stop and taze himself out of pity when you miss every shot with her stunbolt blaster because aiming properly is too hard? If an armed criminal knocks you out with their wrench, do you think they'll drop what they're doing and help you up because you thought basic close quarters combat training was too hard?" Wells angrily states, never breaking eye contact with the officer as the lift finally reaches the floor, to which she begins to march up to the intimidated recruit, all the other officers staring at her with similar fear.
"Well?!" She yells out, her face now mere inches from his as she looks up at him.
"N-No?" He squeaks out, gulping.
"You're damn right!" She says, backing away from him, only to then look around at all the other recruits. "All of you signed up for this job so that you can protect the people of this city who can't protect themselves, but how can you do that if none of you put in the effort or drive to put yourself to that standard? People have to look up to you and trust that you have what it takes to protect every man, woman, and child of this city from anyone that stands to harm them; Be it from a reckless teenage joyrider having no regard for the rules of the skies, or an insane, bloodthirsty serial killer that'll roam the streets looking to paint the town red!
"But right now, I'm seeing no such officers worthy of that task standing in front of me yet—only a bunch of lazy bastards that bitch and moan about training being too hard, thinking they can join my department to sit on their asses on patrol all day without doing a damn thing to push themselves to be better!" She finishes, placing her hands on her hips. "So, no, you can't take a break until I start seeing some proof that I can depend on all you ladies and gentleman to represent the best the City Guard has to offer! Am I understood?!"
She then looks all around her, and sees all the recruits snap into a salaute. "Yes, ma'am!"
"Good!" She states with a firm nod, dropping her hands from her hips.
However, one recruit meekly raises a finger. "But, erm, Chief?" She weakly asks.
"What?" Wells demands, snapping her intense gaze over to her.
She gulps. "Erm… How do we know, well… when to stop training?" She asks, right before immediately following up as she sees the anger rise within Wells by her question. "I-I mean, like, when do we know if we're decent enough, I mean!? Like, score-wise!"
Wells stops herself from unleashing yet another furious tirade upon her clarification, and pauses for a few seconds as she mulls over the answer, glancing over to the leaderboard. She knew she couldn't demand greenhorns like this to get a top score up there, given that they're starting practically from the bottom, but then again, she couldn't ask too little, as it'd be apt to make them soft and throw her speech about putting in the hard work out the window.
But then, an idea suddenly pops into her mind, and she turns back to the recruit with a small nod.
"I'll tell you what; I will make your time to beat." Wells says, walking past her and all the other recruits as she heads to the start of the course. "I will admit I will go easier than I usually do for your sakes, but just know that with a bar this low, I want to see all of you pass it by the time your shift is over." She says as she reaches the starting line, stretching her limbs out a bit before turning back to all the recruits, pointing at them.
"But if you do not manage to pass my score, then I want to see your badge on my desk at the end of the day. Understood?" She asks coldly.
"Y-Yes, ma'am!" The recruits answer back with another salute.
"Excellent." She replies plainly, turning back to the course in front of her, poising herself in a running stance. "Now; Watch and learn."
And with that, she bursts into a sprint, setting off a beep as she crosses the course's finish line, setting off the timer as she begins snaking through the obstacles in her path with practiced ease, mind clear and focused on the path ahead.
She clambers across the monkey bars effortlessy, not yet even close to panting as she reaches the other side, rounding the corner to do a U-turn to finish out the next leg of the course, being balancing beams, a large ladder, and spinning solid-light platforms to jump between.
She glances over to the timer as she runs across the balance beams, checking to make sure she's not going too fast for the recruits, watching in awe, and she deftly climbs up the ladder in only a few jumps on the rungs before hopping between the platforms up in the air like it was nothing, where another beep sounded as she reached the other side.
And like clockwork, the course dematerializes away, only to be replaced with a solid-light shooting gallery before, in which time she already has her blaster out and ready to aim in a textbook-perfect shooting stance, breathing calmly to steady her aim as she begins hitting the bullseyes on the various targets like it was second-nature, making the solid-light dummies shatter like glass before they fade away into nothing.
After about a minute of shooting, she glances back to the scoreboard to check on herself, and realizes that she got a bit too caught up in perfecting her shooting skills, remembering that she was supposed to go easy on these recruits. So, she reloads another clip of stunbolts into her blaster, and turns and looks back at the recruits, staring slack-jawed at her unwavering aim before she simply points it up, and unloads her clip into the air, docking off a large deduction in her overall score for inaccuracy and missed shots.
"There. Should be a bit more fair now." She simply says as she still stares at the recruits, effortlessly reloading her blaster through muscle memory, right before pointing it back to the shooting gallery proper, turning her head to land one more bullseye on the last target, making it shatter and setting off one more beep, marking the end of the shooting section while she holsters it back into her Arsenal once more.
And in only seconds, the shooting gallery fades away, and materializes back in the form of a gauntlet similar to the first section, but with the addition of many solid-light dummies with wrench-like protrusions stick out of them, set up throughout the course and behind obstacles.
Wells jumps for the large pole that materializes next to her higher platform, landing onto the floor before taking out her own wrench, and sprinting down the course, effortlessly dodging the attempted attacks by the spinning dummies, and shattering them in swift and powerful swings of her wrench, the entirety of their interactions taking no more than a few seconds as she weaves through the course like water.
And before long, she's finally on the home stretch, seeing the end of the course marked with a large, holographic 'FINISH', with just one more dummy standing between her and the end.
However, as she runs up to it, she glances back to the scoreboard one more time, and once again finds that she accidentally did too well, barely giving these recruits a chance. So, she decides that it's time to mess up her score and time to give them a fair chance.
She stops running, and instead begins simply walking up to the dummy, taking the moment to stretch out her arms a bit, and to cool down from all the exercise she's just performed, the recruits simply staring at her in slight confusion as she stops just before the dummy, spinning around in an effort to attack her with its fake wrench.
Luckily, she knew by the programming that they registered hits on any part of the body when the wrench touches someone, so instead of getting blasted in the face or chest like all the other recruits, she simply holds her hand out, and lets it get slapped by the dummy's wrench, feeling no worse than a hard high-five.
"One." She says aloud.
The dummy spins, and hits her hand again. "Two."
Another spin, another 'high five'. "Three." Wells finishes, raising her wrench in her other hand, before giving it one final, hard swing, shattering the dummy into pieces just like the others, its solid-light shards sparkling on the floor before they simply fade away, allowing her to casually begin walking to the finish line as she holsters it.
"Three hits is what I'm allowing all of you." She says to the recruits as she leisurely strolls along the course, intentionally eating up her time to make up for the fact that she blasted through the initial part of the course too fast. "Any more than that, and it's an automatic failure, and you'll have to go back through again."
And about thirty seconds of walking later, Wells finally crosses the finish line, setting off one last beep as she turns back to see her final score and time next to the 'CHIEF WELLS, A.' on the leaderboard, placing her hands on her hips. While it admittedly felt strange and honestly kind of irritating to see her name attached to such a low performance, she still gives a nod of satisfaction, at least happy in the fact that it was perfect for this situation.
She then turns back to the recruits, also looking at the time with some dismay. "There. Once you beat that time, then you can 'take a break'." She says with air quotes. "But if not, then I hear Sparky's Pizza is hiring. Are there any questions?"
She raises her eyebrows, looking over the group of recruits, and after about five seconds of silence, she nods her head.
"Good. Have at it." She says, gesturing a hand over to the start of the course as she then walks past them and out the door, ready to continue on with the rest of her day, internally praying to the stars that at least one person here will be able to pass in a decent time.
Just one person.
Wells honestly hated patrolling. In the fact that it was just so boring.
She should be ecstatic that the city's safe enough to make routine patrols one of the most uneventful things in the world, but it didn't do much to assuage the simple fact that walking and cruising around the city for two hours was one of the most boring things to do. And as Chief of the City Guard, she sure as hell had better things to do than waste her time with patrol, like working on all of the paperwork she has to do by the end of the day, for starters, still not having had a chance to actually sit down and fill any of it out.
But, of course, one of her officers had called in sick, and with no one else freed up, she had stepped up to take over his rounds. She could've honestly grabbed some other officer instead, but she volunteered to set a good example in front of her men that even the 'high and mighty' Chief of the City Guard wasn't afraid of doing grunt work, so neither should they.
But honestly, as she mindlessly flew around the city, a small part of her wished that she did shove some other officer into her place instead, just counting down the minutes left until she can finally go back and do some actual productive work.
However, as she's flying, a ship suddenly whizzes past right next to her, weaving throughout the traffic and honestly startling her, right before it fades away into an odd mixture of relief and excitement that something's actually happeneing, but also anger at seeing someone so blatantly disregard speeding regulations like that, being apt to murder somebody with one wrong move or lapse in concentration.
She immediately pulls out of traffic and turns on the sirens and lights of her cruiser, and begins chasing down the offending speeder while using its built-on comms console to send out a message to them ordering them to pull over under orders of the City Guard.
She grips the steering wheel, admittedly wearing a small smile, thinking that it's been a minute since she's had herself a good old-fashioned chase through the city, ready to hone in her years of flying and knowledge of these streets to—
To see the speeder then immediately start pulling over, lowering their altitude until they reach the ground, landing on the side of the street, right as she was just starting to get excited about getting some action.
She knows she should be extremely thankful that this was a speeder who actually listened to orders to pull over unlike the other seventy-five percent of them who just ignore it and plays with their chasing officers for a good five minutes before deciding to actually listen.
But as Wells too slows down, lowering down onto the street, she still can't help but give a disgruntled sigh, admittedly more irritated at this speeder getting her hopes up as she lands, opening the canopy to hop out to have a chat with this offending perp, wearing a scowl along the way.
She sees the cockpit open, and walks up to the side, to find—not unexpectedly—A teenage Lombax boy, looking back at her with some fear, along with a Lombax girl in the passenger seat next to him.
She sighs, rubbing her eyes. "Do I even need to explain why I pulled you over today?" She asks with a scowl, dropping her hand to look back at him.
"I, erm… Yes?" He asks, putting on a fake smile that she's seen way too many times before, already putting her in a worse mood as she knows she's going to have to play this game again.
"You were blasting through traffic like a bat out of hell, almost slamming into at least a dozen other ships, which could've killed them and yourselves in the process." She says coldly, gesturing to the both of them. "So, what's the deal? This daddy's brand-new Nebula Flier and thought you could go on a joyride to impress your girlfriend or what?"
Neither of them respond, but Wells doesn't falter her intensely angry gaze, flicking between the both of them as she crosses her arms.
"…It's my mom's, actually." The girl quietly speaks up after a five second silence.
"Okay, and did your mom tell you what happens to speeders when they're pulled over by the City Guard?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.
"…No?"
"Well, excellent time for a hands-on lesson, then." She replies, taking out her notepad out of her pocket along with a pen, clicking it open before scribbling down onto it. "First, I'm going to hand you this one thousand bolt fine for speeding and reckless endangerment—"
"What?!" The boy cries out. "But—"
"Not finished." She snaps at him. "Then I'm going to take down this car's registration and issue a misdemeanor under the owner's file—which should actually be more like a felony with just how fast you were speeding there, hotshot, but you know what? I'm feeling nice today."
"Wait, no, you don't have to put it under my mom's name, she'll kill me!" The girl frantically argues.
"Just like how you two almost killed two dozen people whose only crime was flying safely down this stretch of road because you two thought it'd be fun to go on a stupid goddamn joyride?" Wells bites back. "I'd hope so."
"You don't have to do that, though, we can just take the ticket!" The boy argues. "A thousand bolts is punishment enough!"
"Like hell I'm doing that! This is standard procedure, and if you don't like the consequences, you shouldn't have done the crime in the first place." She says, glaring at him as she rips the ticket out of her book, handing it over to him.
"Oh, come on! We were just flying a little fast, how is that a crime?!" He calls out indignantly, throwing up an arm.
"Excuse me?" Wells asks coldly, staring at him while the girl worriedly grabs onto his arm.
"Erm, Aiden, I don't think you should be arguing with her." She tells him.
"I think you should listen to your girlfriend there, punk." Wells adds.
"We were just having some fun! No one got hurt, and yet you're right here grilling us and just being a bitch for no reason!" The boy continues in frustration while Wells quietly glares at him, clenching her fist as she starts breathing deeply. "You already give us a ticket that's way too expensive, then you go ahead and just rub salt in the wound by saying you have to put this on file? Why can't you just give us a warning and leave it like that, because I'm pretty sure we learned our lesson, and we won't do it again, so you don't have to do anything like letting our parents know what happened here!" He says, crossing his arms as his girlfriend looks between him and the increasingly agitated Wells before him, scowling with great fury.
And as he finishes talking, Wells then leans in, putting her face mere inches from his, the sudden action startling him slightly as he leans back in response.
"What did you just call me, you little shit?" She states in a murderous tone. "Because if it was what I think it was, then I have the full right as an officer of the Lombax City Guard to construe that little remark and your tone of voice as an act of aggression, which can and will be reacted with me dragging your sorry little ass out of that ship in front of your girlfriend you're trying to impress and throwing you in the back of my cruiser. And when I do that, I'll have no choice but to bring you back to the precinct, open up a brand new file under your name, and throw you in a cell where I will have to call mommy and daddy and tell them that their precious little boy has earned himself a night in the slammer."
She then suddenly backs away from his frightened face with a nonchalant shrug. "Or, of course, I just simply misheard you calling me a bitch, where upon I will simply give you this ticket, go ahead and register that misdemeanor, and have you two fly safely back home, having learned your lesson, where your parents will be thankful to hear that you got a ticket instead of a night in jail. Right?" She growls.
The boy hurriedly nods his head, along with his girlfriend right next to him. "Y-Yeah! Sure thing! Right!"
"Excellent, I'm glad to see we've come to an agreement, then." She says with a smile, gingerly holding out the ticket to him once more, upon which he takes while wearing an expression that was a mixture of grief and defeat. "I better not see you two behind the wheel of another joyride anytime soon, because repeat offenses are punished with jail time. Learn to fly." She says, bidding farewell with a wave before turning around and walking off to her cruiser.
While she's walking back, she's still able to overhear the little punk call her a bitch to his girlfriend one more time before he flies off, but Wells doesn't pay it any real mind, instead just frowning and quietly stewing in that anger while she climbs back into her cruiser, flying off as well to continue her patrol.
She was honestly thankful that they were only teenagers, because they're always the easiest to scare some discipline into whenever they decide to get mouthy like that, and once they get quiet and only answer 'yes, ma'am', the rest of the interaction usually goes on (almost) painlessly.
But that didn't make it feel any better whenever she gets needlessly insulted just for doing her damn job, with all of these people who speed, park incorrectly, jaywalk, or otherwise break some kind of law always thinking they're all high and mighty in the right when they're actually in the wrong. And in cases like this, where their crime could very well result in a lot of people getting hurt, it never failed to make her blood boil whenever she gets called a bitch or a hardass or an officer with a stick up her ass, because she is just trying to make her city just a little safer, goddammit.
But she gives a large, frustrated sigh as she flies along, ready to wait out the next hour of her patrol before heading back to headquarters, knowing that this was the kind of thing she signed up for when she first joined the City Guard, it being a thankless job where you usually get four insults for every one 'thanks' you get.
And it was always out on patrol when you're usually given all those insults, and almost none of the thanks, either.
And it was just another reason why Wells always hated patrolling.
Wells always made fun of pencil-pushers when she first joined the City Guard, always wondering how the hell people hope to get any actual work done by scribbling on piles of paper instead of actually going out there and doing stuff.
But now, as Chief, she eventually realized that the opposite was true. You always got work done not by going out and yelling at the recruits, or ticketing speeders, or wandering out and about, bored out of your mind on patrol. You got work done by filling out form after form, requisitioning new equipment, penning up new policies, balancing out budgets, hiring new recruits, firing incompetent officers—if you wanted to get anything done around here, it had to be in the form of a piece of paper.
And, because she always strived to get as much work done as possible in an effort to improve the City Guard from the lousy reputation they've had for years, that also meant that she had a lot of paperwork to go through. A lot.
And right now, she was only about a third of the way finished through her mountain of paper of the day, made worse by the fact that she had to figure out how to order repairs on Huxley's crashed ship, and also of course terminating her and figuring out her severance package.
It was borderline mind-numbing, having to write down number after number, name after name, form after form for who knows how long. The only thing that made it bearable was the fact that Wells actually enjoyed the alone time spent inside her office as she did paperwork, and also the small consolation that with every sheet of paper she successfully filed, was yet one more step to helping the City Guard become as great as it could be.
That, and the fact that since she always reserved her paperwork time until the end of the day, that the mountain of papers on her desk an abstract timer for how long until she can go home and finally relax from this hell of a day, just like they usually were, honestly.
And as she wrote down the details of as to where the cruiser was going to be repaired, she tried not to think about the fact that tomorrow was going to be just as tiring as well, having to deal with the same shit and same incompetent officers, trying to foster a better, more productive environment in this place and being seen as 'The Bitch Chief' for it.
Another day on the grind, another day full of headaches, another day full of the same monotony as well. Probably just like the day after that will be, too. And the day after that. Just like how it has been ever since she was promoted to Chief months ago.
Not thinking about all of that fails, however, as she can't help but let out a frustrated breath, getting into a sour mood as she places the paper in her 'out' pile, and grabs for the next one in her much larger 'in' pile instead, just hoping that she can get this done as quickly as possible with no distractions so she can finally relax at home.
However, right as she puts a pen to the paper, she hears a knock on the door, and she freezes, her grip on the pen tightening as she closes, taking deep breaths, just wondering what the hell she did wrong to have this bitch of a universe mock her like this.
However, she must've taken too long in trying to calm down, as another round of knocks is hear, making her eyes snap open as she yells out, cutting them off as she glares at the door.
"GODDAMMIT, COME IN, WHAT IS IT?!" She snaps, standing up at her desk.
The door then cracks open, and to her surprise, she sees not Jacks or another officer coming in to undoubtedly deliver some news that'll ruin her day even more, she instead sees a familiar yellow Lombax pop in through the door, furrowing his eyebrows while looking at her not in fear, but with small concern.
"Erm… Did I come in a bad time or…?"
"Oh, Kaden." She responds more gently, looking back at him with surprise before she quickly shakes her head, clearing her throat a bit before sitting down, gesturing to one of the chairs in front of her desk. "Erm, no, not at all. Come in." She says amicably.
"Really?" He asks amusedly, walking in before closing the door behind him, taking a seat. "Because it didn't sound like this wasn't a bad time." He replies with a small smile.
She gives a large sigh, rubbing her eyes. "I'm sorry, it's just… been a long day, is all. Thought you were someone about to walk in and make it worse somehow. Didn't mean to yell at you like that." She says with exasperation, and a touch of embarrassment as well.
"No, it's fine, I know I'm not on your shitlist, so you don't have a reason to yell at me." He says with another smile, right before it falters a bit. "Well… At least, I hope I don't. Did Ratchet do anything to piss you off today?"
"Oh, no, thank the stars." She replies, bringing her hand down to shake her head. "I'm not sure I'd be able to keep myself from strangling the little punk if he decided to tempt me today."
"Oh, well… that's a relief he didn't then, for both your sake and his." He says with a small chuckle, something that… made her mood feel a little less sour, for some strange reason.
But whatever that reason was, she doesn't pay it any mind, instead moving on to ask him something. "Well, little pain in the ass aside, what exactly brings a bigshot Councilman like you into my office today?" She asks, raising an eyebrow. "I'm assuming that you didn't just come all this way here to chat with me, did you?"
Kaden tilts his head from side to side, rolling his eyes. "Well… Actually, it's more like a little column A, a little column B." He says with a smile and a shrug, leaning back in his chair a bit.
Her eyes widen in surprise. "Wait, what? What do you mean?"
"Well, I am here on official Council business. Very important business, like I said we do, not just sitting in our offices all day like the 'bigshots' we are." He says amusedly while raising a finger, making her recall the last time he said that when she commented how Councilmembers have cushy jobs just sitting in their offices all day. "Since we got all those emergency exits newly installed, and it's been a week since then, the Council wanted to know if it was actually doing anything to help the sneaking out problems. And since I'm the one they deemed the head of this little project, they tasked me with finding this out for myself then reporting it back to them to see if I've been right about wanting to do that for the last… I don't know, decade or so?" He says annoyedly with a small frown before sighing.
"But, anyway, they told me to ask you to see if there's been any reports of break-ins or break-outs through the exits to see if my idea actually worked, so, here we are." He says, finishing off with a small smile as he gestures between them. "Or, erm, here I am, should be more accurate, actually."
Wells, however, raises an eyebrow. "How… exactly does that fit into your 'column B' of a reason you're here is just to talk with me? Because it sounds like you're here strictly on business from the Council." She questions.
"Well, all I have to do is just ask you if you've reported any dumb kids trying to sneak through the exits, and if so, how many. I could've just done that through a phone call or an email and that'd be that, job done and over with in five, ten minutes tops." He says pointedly, waving a hand across in emphasis. "But, I thought it'd be more fun to fly down here instead and ask you myself, and maybe catch up a little bit since the last time we talked with each other." He finishes with a bright smile.
Wells once again looks back at him with surprise, hearing that he voluntarily decided to take more time out of his day to come all the way here from the Center for the express purpose of talking with her instead of just knocking out this busy work that's been assigned to him.
"You… Really like talking with me that much?" She asks Kaden a little skeptically, looking back at him with furrowed brows.
"Yeah." He says plainly with a shrug and a nod, still holding his smile. "Honestly, the only other people I really have to talk to are all the other Councilmembers, but you and I both know how much I love spending time with those assholes." He says, rolling his eyes. "Then there's Ratchet, obviously, but he's back in his home dimension right now, and I have my other friends too, but, while I love spending time with them, don't get me wrong, I have to admit it's refreshing to have someone new to talk with. Especially someone as interesting as you." He says, gesturing over to her. "You're a fun person to talk to, Alice."
Hearing him call her by her first name instead of 'Chief' or 'Wells' like almost everyone else she knows admittedly throws her for a bit of a loop for a quick moment before she remembers how she suggested he call her that, given how awkward it was beginning to sound as they had more and more conversations together, happening to run into each other.
But more than that, it was just him hearing him describe how much he enjoyed spending time with her that made her feel… happy. A warm kind of happiness, too—a kind that she realizes she doesn't really feel all too often anymore, exemplified by the warm look that Kaden was giving her behind his soft green eyes.
However, a few seconds of her silence later, that soft look is instead replaced with one of confusion and slight worry as his eyebrows furrow. "Erm… Unless I shouldn't have come here, actually?" He questions uneasily.
"Wha—No!" She quickly answers, startling him a bit before she internally smacks herself for saying that much louder than she'd like, clearing her throat. "I mean—No. You're fine, I'm… glad you think of me that way, Kaden. Thanks." She says, giving him a small smile as well. "And… if it's any consolation, I'll have to admit that I think you're pretty fun to talk to, too."
"Well, that's a relief." He says with a small chuckle. "I was thinking for a sec there that I did come in at a bad time after all."
She sighs. "No, you're fine, you just happened to catch me in a bad mood from all the shit I had to deal with today." She says, leaning back in her own seat as well.
Kaden tilts his head. "Oh, well… Like what?" He asks curiously.
She raises an eyebrow. "You really just want to sit here and listen to me vent?"
"Hey, like I said, I'm here to talk to you, aren't I?" He asks with a smirk. "And besides, it's good to let stuff off your chest; makes you feel a bit better. So, sure, I don't mind being a listening ear. Shoot." He says, getting comfortable in his seat.
She smiles a bit, thankful to see him indulge her with some enthusiasm, with anyone else like Jacks usually only being subjected because she admittedly forces it onto them, so having someone literally ask to hear her problems was a refreshing change of pace.
However, the smile soon disappears, as she begins thinking about her day, and all the sour feelings that came up from it.
"Well, for starters, I show up to work here only to find one of my cruisers absolutely trashed—and I mean destroyed, too. I don't even know how that thing was able to fly back here." She begins, throwing up an arm. "And when I go to ask Jacks, he tells me it's because one of my officers got distracted trying to reach for a goddamn coffee, and just totaled the thing on a light pole! So then now I have to work with having to fire her dumb ass and order all kinds of repairs for her ship—which, honestly, at this point, I think might be cheaper to just buy a new one." She says, reaching for said papers, looking over the numbers written on them with a scowl.
She puts it away, however, exhaling a breath as she puts it back, Kaden all the while still patiently listening to her with an attentive look, arms crossed as he relaxes in his chair.
"And then I had to deal with training the new recruits, and it was the same bitching and moaning I always hear of 'oh, training's too hard! Can't we take a break? I thought the City Guard was supposed to be easier than this!'" She says, mocking the recruits' tone with a frown before throwing a hand up. "So then I had to grill their asses about what it means to be a City Guard Officer, and not only that, but run through the course myself so that I could set an example they had to beat or I'm firing them by the end of the day!
"And then I had to go out and cover a patrol for a mind-numbing two hours, during which I had to pull over some dumbass teenagers trying to kill people with their joyriding until I got the usual song and dance of 'oh please don't tell mommy and daddy' and having the little bastard have the gall to call me a bitch before I threatened to book his ass! And then I had to just sit in my cruiser and be bored out of my mind for another hour before I could come back here, where I have to deal with all of this goddamn paperwork before I can go home and call it a day!" She states, slamming a hand on top of her large 'in' pile sitting in front of Kaden.
But then she removes it as she crosses her arms with a scowl. "And honestly, I know that I'm just going to walk back in here tomorrow morning to have to deal with just as much bullshit as today, which is just a great thought to have knowing that I'll have to deal with all of this for who knows how long until things get better around here!" She says, waving an arm all around her in exasperation before giving a large groan, and planting both of her hands on her face as she leans back in her chair.
"I swear, sometimes I wonder why I was stupid enough to take this job in the first place, sometimes." She her muffled voice mutters behind her hands as she rubs her face. "Sometimes it doesn't feel like I'm doing anything at all to help this place turn around like I promised I would."
And as she breathes deeply, trying to cool herself down from all her ranting, she hears Kaden's voice calmly speak up in front of her.
"I wouldn't say that." He says. "I think you're doing an awesome job, Alice."
She wipes her hands down her face to see him giving her a reassuring smile while she continues to slouch back in her chair, wearing an unimpressed look.
"Uh huh." She replies, raising an eyebrow. "Easy for you to say that."
"Hey, I'm not just saying that, honest." He says, raising his hands up. "From what I've seen of you, you dedicate your all into this department, and I can see you're keeping that up with what you just told me here. It sounds like you did a lot today to make this place better!"
She scoffs, rolling her eyes as she crosses her arms. "Sure as hell doesn't feel like it." She grumbles, looking away.
"Well, maybe that's because you're just internalizing it all wrong, thinking of what you didn't do." He offers with a shrug. "But from an outside perspective over here where I'm sitting: You just said you had to fire an officer and order in a new ship, right?"
"Erm… Yeah?" She questions in an obvious tone, furrowing her brows.
"Well, sounds like you've already made this place better by cutting a weak link." He explains, making a snipping motion with two fingers with a smile. "And, yeah, sure, the ship thing might suck, but hey, you know that thing's going to perform even better than it used to if you're getting a new one, so you've just got yourself a net improvement over your fleet of cruisers!" He offers.
Wells doesn't respond, instead looking off as she considers his reasoning, admittedly finding some comfort in it, but Kaden doesn't wait as he continues talking anyway.
"And with those recruits—you said that you gave them a target to beat or they're gone by the end of the day, right?"
"Yeah?" She replies, looking back over to him with a diminished frown.
"Well, I think it's about the end of the day right now, so how many of those recruits are you going to have to fire in the next couple of hours?"
She takes a moment to think, resting a hand on her chin as she remembers checking in on all of their progress on the training course when she came back from patrol, right before heading up to her office here.
"Erm… None, actually. They all hit the target I gave them a couple hours after I left." She responds thoughtfully, still looking away.
Kaden grins. "See? Whatever pep talk you gave them, it worked! Now you're going to have a bunch of officers you can actually be proud of on your force, and if you're lucky, they'll get everyone else inspired to do better themselves!"
"I… I guess that's a good point…" Wells mutters.
"And with those joyriders, it might not be much, but if you were as intimidating with them as I've seen you be with… well… everyone else, I know you scared the hell out of them, and they'll think twice before doing anything stupid in your city again." He continues, crossing his arms with a firm nod and a smile. "Sure, it might've only been two people out of the thousands and thousands that live here, but you can't change the world overnight, so you have to take small steps at a time, and celebrate all the small victories, too. So, you're two people closer to making this city a better place.
"And, yeah, paperwork does suck—stars know I have to deal with way too much of it as a Councilman—but I'm sure you know as well as I do that it's the same principle: You're making this place better one sheet of paper at a time." He says optimistically before gesturing over to her 'out' pile. "And, I mean, just look at how much you've got done already! How long have you been at this, anyway?"
"Oh, erm… for about a half-hour now, I'd say?" She responds, glancing over to a clock on the wall.
"See? Hell, I doubt even I could do this much in an hour, let alone a half-hour, and here you are, flying through it!" He says with a reassuring smile as Wells looks back to him, to which he then leans forward a bit, resting an arm on the desk.
"So, no, Alice, don't go around thinking that you're not doing good enough or not doing any work at all, because you are. And not only that, you're doing a damn good job of it, too. Back in my time with the Praetorian Guard, I've seen other Generals with half as much drive as you have, and twice the responsibility, too." He says firmly, looking into her eyes. "Trust me. You are doing an awesome job, and you shouldn't be putting yourself down for it. You should be proud, and don't be worried about what tomorrow will bring, because no matter what it is, I know you'll kick ass at it like you did today. Alright?"
Wells regards him, not immediately responding as she looks back at him with some surprise in how fervently he was telling her that, still holding a smile, still looking into her eyes. Like she said, it wasn't often that she had people willingly ask to indulge in hearing about her problems—hardly anyone, honestly—let alone actually putting in all this enthusiasm to help her out, too, giving her all kinds of encouragement and praise for the work she does.
And once again, she was feeling that warm happiness fill up inside of her like it did when Kaden first came in here—but with it, the familiar fuzzy feeling of pride as she considers all his arguments for the work she managed to do today. If he didn't come in here today, she'd likely just be sitting here, grumbling and stewing in annoyance and anger for all the bullshit she's had to deal with today instead of now sitting here and thinking about all the good she did today. Good for the city, good for the City Guard, and good for herself.
And as she thought about all of that, she slowly begins to smile—the biggest one she's had all day, and responds to Kaden with a nod as she sits back up in her seat with a proud posture.
"Alright." She says warmly. "Thank you, Kaden. Thanks a lot. It… really means a lot, hearing you say that. I didn't know how much I needed to hear that until you said it just now."
"It's no problem at all." He replies with just as much warmth, leaning back in his own chair with a smile of his own. "I just hated seeing you down in the dumps and putting yourself down like that, is all. The Alice I've seen looks way better commanding a whole room of recruits and tazing her own men for calling her a bitch than just sulking around in a chair thinking she could do better." He says with a wink and a thumbs-up.
She chuckles—the first real laugh she's had all day. "Definitely one of the more stranger compliments I've gotten, but I have to say it's one of the better ones. Thanks, Kaden."
"Sure thing." He says with a nod. "But, I can tell that you're probably going to be at this for a while by the size of your little—erm, not so little pile of papers left to go." He awkwardly corrects himself, pointing to it. "So, I'll go ahead and leave to keep myself from distracting you any longer so you can get home and get some well-deserved R&R." He says, standing up.
"Wait, so soon?" Wells asks, unconscious of the disappointment she held in her tone as she said it, furrowing her brows.
"Hey, don't worry, I'm sure we'll have more time to talk later when you're not as busy." He replies in a friendly tone, right before his expression falters, looking away for a few moments, confusing Wells for a moment before he looks back at her with a smile. "In fact, why not tomorrow night?"
"I—Wait, what?" She asks, blinking in surprise.
"You know, maybe we can have another dinner together like we had the other night." He suggests with a shrug, still smiling.
She raises an eyebrow. "Erm… Why? Last time it was just so me and the punk could try and get along better. What's this one about?"
"Nothing, really." He says with another shrug. "Well, except that maybe we can just use it to celebrate all the hard work you've done for the City Guard so far, you deserve it."
"I… Um… What's bringing this on, all of a sudden, then?" She asks, unconsciously taking a small gulp.
"Well, last time we had dinner together, I happened to recall you saying that you'd be up for another little rendezvous like that sometime." He says with a smug smirk. "Unless, of course, I happen to be wrong in saying that…?"
"Erm, no! Not at all, I'd love to!" She replies amicably, smiling at him, right before it falters as she realizes something. "But, erm, is the punk going to be there too, again?" She questions, raising an eyebrow.
Kaden rolls his eyes. "First off, his name's Ratchet—again—and secondly, no, probably not, because I actually plan on going to an actual restaurant this time, take a break from cooking. And so far, Ratchet still has to get used to Lombax food, so it'd be a bit awkward if we had to bring him along, too. Hell, he still has yet to down a glass of Citricerbic juice without gagging at least twice." He says amusedly.
"Wait, a restaurant, really?" Wells asks, tilting her head.
"Yeah, nice one, too! I've been there a few times with other Councilmembers for meetings and stuff, really good food." He says with a smile, right before raising a hand as Wells opens her mouth to speak. "And, no, don't worry about the cost or anything, I can cover it. Plus, we go to that place because they give Councilmembers a discount, so it's a win-win!" He says with a smile.
Wells chuckles, rolling her eyes as she crosses her arms. "And you say that you Councilmembers aren't bigshots, Mr. 'Oh, I Can Get Us Free Food At A Fancy Place With My Councilmember Status'." She says with a smirk.
"Hey, I didn't say the food was going to be free, you know." He argues, crossing his own arms as well. "And I didn't deny that we were bigshots either; only the notion that we don't do anything outside of sitting in our offices all day. Like I said—"
"Very important business, yeah, yeah." She says amusedly, rolling her eyes once more with another small chuckle, which Kaden joins in. "So… tomorrow night, then?"
"Yep! Just lemme know when you get off work, and I'll go ahead and pick you up, no problem." He says with a thumbs-up. "Sound good?"
"Yeah, that sounds great." She says with a glad smile. "Thanks, Kaden. I'll see you tomorrow, then."
"Same here. See you tomorrow, Alice." Kaden returns with a small wave, walking to the door before stepping out of it, closing it behind him, leaving Wells alone in the office once more, wearing a big smile on her face.
His visit did wonders on her mood, completely reversing her attitude as she stares at the door for a few more seconds, letting his words of encouragement and praise replay in her head, and thinking about the undoubtedly enjoyable night they'll spend at dinner tomorrow night as well, recalling how much fun she had at their last one, even despite that little pain in the ass punk being there with them as well.
And so, she reaches for her next form to fill out in her mountain of paperwork—but not with dejection and annoyance, but with an eager fervor, spurred on his assurance that she was doing change around here, and ready to do even more of it by the night's end.
But right as she begins writing on it, the door suddenly cracks open again, and she looks up to see Kaden popping his head in with an awkward smile.
"I, erm, kinda forgot to do the thing I came here for in the first place." He says with a nervous chuckle. "So, uh, are there any reports of break-ins or break-outs through the city walls' emergency exits, then?"
"Oh, uh, nope!" She answers, shaking her head. "Haven't heard a thing ever since you had them installed last week, thank the stars. I was getting sick and tired having to deal with all those dumbass kids sneaking out of the old ones all the time." She grumbles, looking aside for a moment as she recalls the countless number of times in her career she caught kids doing just that.
"Yes! Suck it, Harold!" Kaden declares proudly, doing a fist pump with a triumphant smile on his face before he looks back over to her. "Alright, sweet! Thanks a lot, Alice, see you tomorrow night, then!"
"You too!" She bids him farewell once more before he shuts the door, leaving her to quietly chuckle to herself about his last-minute question, finding it strangely endearing that he got so sucked into talking with her that he forgot to even do his job he was sent here for in the first place.
But now that he was actually gone for good, she returns back to focusing on all the paperwork she has ahead of her before she can head home for the night and call it a day, resting easy on the fact that she has in fact made the City Guard a better place today, no matter how small the impact was.
And as she scribbles out form after form, settling back into the tedious monotony she was working in before Kaden visited her, she still wore a small smile upon her features instead of a frown, as for the first time all day today, she was actually excited for what day tomorrow will bring for her as Chief of the Lombax City Guard.
So, the funny thing is that I initially planned for this story to be just a quick little oneshot about Wells because A) I missed writing her and B) I wanted an excuse to show off this amazing art I got of her so my readers could actually see what she looks like now.
But, like everything else I wrote, this ballooned into a story that was MUCH bigger than what I'd anticipated it'd be, being about 11,000 words long, lol. It was super fun delving into Wells' head for a change, figuring out her character even more and figuring out what makes her tick.
And, well, I couldn't help myself but also pop in a little Kaden interaction as well, as I also missed writing the two together. And, I know I've already stated what my plans with the two are for later on in my AU, but I'm sure you can already tell with all the clues I couldn't help but drop in anyway ;).
And once again, huge thanks to DanScarf for drawing Wells in the first place, so be sure to check out their Twitter at Dan_Scarf for a lot more of their amazing art!
Until next time!