AN: Shorter chapters then the main story of Distilled Dreams to help fill in the AU around the OCs that will be reoccurring. Much like some side quests while they add to the main story they are not necessary to the main plot so feel free to skip them if you wish. I hope you enjoy.

Distilled Dreams: Side Stories

The Black Sheep of the Family

Chapter Five

Rosette stood watching the city though her office window as the sun fully set and the hundreds of thousands lights flicked into life. She smiled at the view despite the late hour and how tired she was from working late again. All the lights made the city look like a glittering and ever changing field of stars. Turning away from the view she heading back to her desk. She had come far in the last four years since starting the lawsuit against the Ranger Scouts. It would be over soon. Already many had taken settlements and the ones who had yet to, including the Wildes, would be hearing the final decision from the courts next month. Gathering her purse from the bottom drawer of her desk she left and locked her private office. Her office was in the top quarter of the building now and wasn't just one small room for her desk and files.

The next room she went though was already empty for the day and sadly had no window for those who worked out of this room. The four desks tucked into their own private corners would normally be filled with her permanently assigned aides if it was a reasonable hour. Now though they sat empty with only a few curios and photos showing any hint of life under the sullen glow of a since florescent tube still lit in the ceiling. She paused at one desk when she spotted a new photo frame. A red timber shewolf in a wedding dress stood paw in hoof with a lean deer buck in a well fitted suit. A thick stand of trees filled in the background. Rosette smiled at the look of joy and love forever captured on their faces. While she had not been able to attend the wedding she had sent the pair a gift and had chipped in some money for the honeymoon

She frowned after a moment. Isabella was still on vacation another few days for her honeymoon as far as Rosette knew so where had the picture came from and when. Glancing around she saw the small stack of mail and files was missing from the in-box and the thin layer of dust that had settled over the desk in the last three weeks was gone. With a sigh Rosette walked away from the desk. It would be the pot calling the kettle black if she brought up not working on your vacation when she next saw Isabella. Still it would have been nice if she had come say hello.

Opening the door to the final room assigned to her Rosette paused in surprise. All of the lights here where still on and the steady rhythmic clicks of hoofs on a keyboard filled the room from the single desk in the middle of the room. Tilting her head Rosette walked as softly as she could to stand behind her secretary. It wasn't hard to do with how this room was laid out. Thick carpet deadened her hoof-falls and the plush upholstery on the chairs scattered about the room for waiting clients kept noise from bouncing around too much. "Ahem," Rosette cleared her throat and winced at what happened next. The small ewe had practically jumped out of her own wool and managed to knock the mug holding an impressive collection of pens to the ground along with what had once been a neat stack of binders and files.

"Oh Ms. Blackwoole! Your startled me. I am sorry I didn't know anyone was still here," the ewe said quickly trying to gather the scattered pens and paper.

"The better question is why are you still here Dawn," Rosette said bending down to help pick up the mess she had a hoof in making. While all of her aides had been hoof-picked by herself her new secretary had not. "It's Friday and the weekend is ahead of you. You're young. You should be out getting in trouble with friends or having sweet nothings whispered into your ear by someone you care about," Rosette said with a knowing grin as she placed the binders back on the desk.

Dawn shifted uneasily as a light blush crept over her cheeks. "There was work left to do Ms. Blackwoole. I know my family name being on the side of the building forced you to take me on but I don't want to be a burden. I am not very good at my job yet I know but I am learning..."

"You will only be a burden if you stop trying or just sit there with your hoof polish as the phone rings," Rosette sighed with a sad smile placing her hoof on the younger ewe's shoulder and giving it a light squeeze. "You may not have been my first choice if it had just been a resume sitting on my desk but from what I have seen in the last week I am glad to have you here with me." Dawn was far too smart and perceptive for a ewe barely past her sixteenth birthday. She shouldn't be surprised though that the only child and heir to the entire Bellweather dynasty was this way. Rosette had done a little digging when she learned that her new secretary had been picked for her. Dawn had been in private schools and had personal tutors since she had been old enough to walk. An accelerated curriculum meant she already held her diploma like more of the children of the wealthy elite who bothered to apply themselves and was now waiting until whatever university she wanted to go to admitted her.

A quiet talk with her father and a small bribe of a bottle or two from the private stock Vivian kept sending home with Rosette the times she traveled back to Bunnyburrow had gotten her far more then the thin file from mammal resources. Rosette already knew that William Bellweather went though secretariats nearly as often as he needed a shearing but hadn't known how little he seemed to care about his own daughter. William had been happy when his wife had gotten pregnant but once they learned it was a ewe instead of a ram his mood changed. He hadn't even bothered to go to the hospital when Dawn was born and consequently hadn't been there when his wife died giving birth to her. After that the most he had to do with Dawn had been writing the checks to the wet nurse and sitters, then the tutors, and then the schools.

Lifting her glasses Dawn wiped at her eyes removing the tears gathering before they could fall. "Thank you Ms. Blackwoole for saying that."

"It's the truth Dawn," Rosette said reassuringly. She glanced over at the computer screen and the collection of files open on it. "What where you working on anyway?"

"Oh," Dawn said quickly looking over what she had typed before Rosette had startled her quickly deleting the nonsensical string of characters her hoofs had made and hit the save function. "Digitizing the older cases you worked on that hadn't been entered into the system yet." Dawn looked over her shoulder. "Some of the cases you worked on have been...interesting."

Rosette leaned in and read over the details on the screen and winced. It was not one of her pro bono cases but one where she was defending member of the Family. "Ah yes. I do my best to get a favorable outcome for clients I am assigned."

"Of course Ms. Blackwoole I am not implying you where doing less then your best with clients assigned by the firm!" Dawn picked at the poof of wool on her wrist in a way that Rosette recognized as a nervous tick. "It was some of your pro bono work that I was talking about. I found it surprising the number of pel...er...predators you've represented."

"Where you about to say 'pelts' Ms. Bellweather," Rosette said coolly. "I have little tolerance for that slur."

Dawn managed to pulled out a clump of wool as her nervousness increased making the tick worse. She looked down at her hoof and quickly hid the small clump of wool behind her back. "I am sorry Ms. Blackwoole. I...I...I am trying to correct that bad habit I picked up from school. It was an all sheep school and had very...negative viewpoints about many other species."

"I see," Rosette replied only slightly less coolly, "You would do well to correct that quickly especially around me."

"Yes Ms. Blackwoole," Dawn said meeting Rosette's eyes only briefly before looking at the ground.

"Good," Rosette said nodding warmth returning to her voice. "Go home Dawn and get some rest." She gestured at the small pile of files and the open screens on her computer. "These files will still be here next week."

"Yes Ms. Blackwoole," Dawn turned still looking at the ground and started to close out windows and exchanging her handbag for the files she had been working on in the locking drawer of her desk. Glancing up she saw Rosette watching her quietly with a slight frown on her face. "I am sorry Ms. Blackwoole I'll be done in a moment."

"Dawn...can I ask you a personal question?" Rosette said quietly watching Dawn go about her tasks mechanically without any joy at the prospect of the weekend.

"Of...of course Ms. Blackwoole," Dawn replied a bit of worry creeping back into her and she had to stop herself from plucking at her wool again.

"Is there another reason a young ewe like yourself would rather spend her Friday night at work entering dusty files into the system where they will likely gather the digital equivalent of dust until someone decide we need hard copies again?" Rosette asked quietly.

"...no...I just though this would be..." Dawn started to say before looking up to see the look on Rosette's face. Sadness with a touch of disappointment at the obvious lie. She had to look back down at the floor rather then face that look. "...I don't want to go back home and I don't have any friends I could stay with instead..." Dawn whispered. "If dad hasn't already drunk himself asleep he will be entertaining some ewe he managed to pick up or pay for the night." The tears splattering against her glasses did not surprise her. She had long since knew her father didn't care about her and 'home' was little more then a place to sleep. The warm arms wrapping around her was a surprise though.

"Oh Dawn," Rosette said hugging her tight. Letting go Rosette looked the young ewe up and down measuring her. "If you want you can come home with me tonight. We can pick up some dinner on the way and have a little sleep over. Tomorrow we can go on a girls day. Sorry dear but you look like you need it. I don't even dress as conservatively as you do. I know a few shops where we can find you something cute to wear. Who knows you might see someone while we are out that catches your eye!" She said a knowing grin and a playful wink at what she said last.

Dawn stood there stunned at the offer not knowing what to say. "Why?" she finally managed to say blinking though tears. "Why are you willing to do this for me? I'm a nobody to you..."

"You work for me now Dawn and you are not a nobody to me. I can see that you are hurting for some company that sees you for you. I have a niece a few years younger then you and you remind me a bit of her," Rosette said walking over and linking her arm with Dawns and walking them out of the office and towards the elevators. "I went though some terrible thing when I was your age and wouldn't have been able to get though it without help from my family. So consider me your Auntie Rose for the weekend. If that means you need a shoulder to cry on or a ear to listen then that is what you are going to get. If that means we need to pick up a few gallons of ice cream then complain about out figures tomorrow then my favorite is strawberry and I'll need to know yours."

"...mine is mint chocolate chip. Thank you Ms. Bla..." Dawn stopped at the playful stern look on Rosettes face. "I mean Ros..." She watched as Rosette's eyebrow rose and her head shook slightly. Dawn giggled, "Thank you Auntie Rose. I...I really need this."

Rosette reached up and ruffled the wool poof on top of Dawns head, "That's my girl dear. So that's a yes on the ice cream? I have been craving something sweet all day." Dawn nodded with a giggle as the elevators doors opened to the lobby and the pair of ewes walked out the doors.