I don't own digimon.

Veronica didn't really believe in the fairy tales of princesses and dragons. Money was what made the world go around, not whimsical tales with no meaning. Why was everyone else so insistent on disagreeing with her? It was absolutely illogical. As was the case right now, facing down the latest employee in need of 'leave'.

"So was my request for time off approved?" the employee inquired and got a sigh from Veronica. Of course that was the first thing people asked her. She would give a lot of things just to have a conversation that started with 'Hi. How are you doing?'. Or something along those lines. But no, the only thing the HR specialist got was endless strings of complaints and requests for time off.

"What do you think?" Veronica muttered and shot the employee a look. Absolutely scared, they were in the process of turning around and booking it out of her office. Like they should. Though, this was far faster than normal. Was she really that good or was there something else going on here that could only be seen from looking towards the wall.

Getting up from her chair, Veronica walked around to the door. Closing it behind her, she took the time to face the wall. Currently left bare, the only thing of note was a window. But all that was showing was the skyline at the moment. And even that wasn't particularly interesting in the slightest.

"Wonderful." she muttered and took a seat in the chair. So what if digimon had at one time walked around this place? They would just serve as a distraction. Much like the man that was entering. "What do you want?"

Coming to a stop, the man took a moment to clear his throat. Looking about the room a couple times, his focus eventually returned to Veronica.

"Uh… there's a large fiery dragon outside that wishes to see you." he explained and got treated to a look from the HR specialist. This was obviously an excuse to get her out of the office and goof off. Why else would this person spout such nonsense at a time like this? It was the only answer that made sense here.

"Tell them that they can wait a couple hours until my shift is over." Veronica countered and focused on her laptop. Maybe that would be all it would take to get them off her back. Wishful thinking, but possibly necessary to keep in mind. Thankfully, the person had decided to take their stupid story elsewhere. Hopefully they would get the message and leave her be. And it worked. For around fifteen minutes. Which was the moment a woman burst through and ripped the door right off. A couple feet taller than most of the other employees in the office, her attire was just on the verge of inappropriate for this environment. She would let that slide for now. What possibly couldn't was the large sword hanging to her back. What exactly could justify carrying around such a large blade? Nothing, that's what. Which made it all the clearer to Veronica that this wasn't a real employee. But with this whole tirade going on, she would need to wait for things to calm down before acting on that theory.

"The dragon has heard your offer. She still requested you and is now eating the potted plants. You know, the fake potted plants we just got installed, HR Lady." the totally real employee announced and stared towards Veronica. For a brief moment, she shot them a glance. Then it's right back to looking at her screen. Hopefully that would be all it took for her message to get through to them. Probably wasn't, though. "She was very insistent that you come down there."

"Tell them to wait without destroying the plants." Veronica announced and found herself facing down a look from the woman. "Please leave."

The supposed employee rolled her eyes and flipped the bird. Not that the HR specialist saw it, already back to working. Why were these people so insistent on interrupting her workday? Couldn't they tell that her job required quite a lot of attention? Attention that couldn't be wasted on silly things like dragons. This wasn't rocket science, just basic office work.

"Veronica, we really need you to come down." a voice from outside her office announced and Veronica rolled her eyes. By this point, she didn't have much of a choice here. Try as she might to ignore the problem, it was only going to get bigger and perhaps more destructive at this point. At worst, this would be an awful prank and nothing more. But she pushed that thought

"Fine! I'll go see this dragon!" the HR specialist announced and got up from her chair. Pushing it into the desk, she exited her office and focused on whoever it was that needed her attention that badly - the man from earlier. While not particularly frustrated, he did have that look to him right now to suggest otherwise. "Where are they?"

The man pointed to the elevator.

"I would be quick. Supposedly a large armored woman showed up and wanted to give the dragon head pats or something." the man explained and looked over to Veronica. Getting a shrug in return, she was already on her way over to the elevator. Of course she had to show her stupid face once more.

"What the hell did you do this time, Steve?" she thought, pushing the button as fast as her fingers could manage. Much as she loved her brother, there were limits to her love. Limits that had been well surpassed even back then. While the benefit would be nice to have here, such a luxury was not present and perhaps wouldn't be ever again.

Thankfully, the elevator came down and brought a short reprieve to that thought. Stepping inside, Veronica punched the lobby button and waited for the doors to close. Good riddance to all of this. As long as whoever this dragon was didn't waste her and possibly kicked her brother's ass, things would all be good and she could get back to her work. Or at least, Veronica hoped they would be that way.

The elevator came to a stop and Veronica's heart dropped. The whole lobby looked like someone's playpen in the worst possible way. Massive gouges lined the floor, lava pooling within. The walls were a similar state - the real difference being the little volcanoes set right against it. Which brought her to the massive volcanic drake before her. Decked to the nines in a massive princess gown with some kind of underskirt,they were in the middle of playing with a short pink-haired doll. Dressed in a pink sailor fuku and matching thigh high heeled boots, they look to be in relatively good shape.

"Vere!" the dragon announced and bent their neck down to be at the HR specialist's level. "You've grown so big! Can we play now or do you need to deal with the knight outside?"

The words rolled out and Veronica wasn't completely sure how to feel about this. Right now, she needed to kick some sense into her brother's ass. Ignoring the dragon, she made a beeline for the entrance.

"What the hell did you do this time, Steve?!" Veronica announced and looked about for her brother. He had to be around here. No way that stupid partner of h-

Before she even got a chance to finish that thought, the HR specialist ran into the side of a large metal leg. Letting out a sigh, she did her best to push the bad memories threatening to bubble back up down into her subconscious. Wouldn't do her any good. Especially if a proper fight did break out.

"Why the heck did you come back, Ophani?!" she screeched, only to find a large metal hand coming down to grab her. Not even attempting to struggle, the HR specialist was lifted up into the air and brought to meet Ophani's face. "Can't you see that I want to move on with my life and not have to relive the pain you inflicted?"

Ophani looked at her all confused. While this person looked familiar, it had been so long that she couldn't quite make heads or tails. Yes, it was entirely possible something had happened in the past to get on Veronica's bad side. But she had made an effort to mend those bridges. Even if most of that was just being on her best behavior. Heck, the only reason she had come this way was to see what was with that large dragon in a princess dress. The fact that they refused to let her get a head pat was annoying, but not the end of the world. Especially with groceries that needed to be brought back home for Steve and his husband.

Setting Veronica down, she gave a very careful wave.

"Come back here! I'm not done with you!" Veronica screeched and flipped the bird in the direction of the mega digimon. The nerve of Ophani. Did that armored suit of a bitch truly grasp the mental anguish she had caused? The least she could do was apologize for her actions. "Fine. I'll just deal with the dragon then."

Making her way back inside the building, Veronica did her best to mentally prepare herself for whatever awaited within. This couldn't be worse than whatever Ophani could do… right?

"Yay! Vere came back to play!" the dragon announced, wasting little time in picking Veronica up and holding her close. "We're going to have so much fun. You don't even need to think about work."

.

"Welcome home, ya tin can." Beelzemon announced, Ophani looking down as she crossed over from the streets into the nice fenced area that was the backyard of Steve's home. "You were on the news! Care to tell me what that was all about?"

Ophani didn't answer, choosing instead to take a seat on the ground. Setting the groceries down right beside her, Beelzemon made sure to pick them up. Heading back to the house proper, he watched her pick up a mannequin. Dressed just like Sailor Moon, it had been a birthday gift of sorts from Steve. Something to keep her busy when he couldn't be here.

"Steve, your partner needs you." the demon lord announced and watched the man head out of the house and over to his partner. Currently dressed in a green striped shirt and tan pants, he took a seat right in front of him.

"Did I do something bad?" Ophani called out and Steve shook his head. While part of him wished there was somehow a simple way to explain this to her. While nothing wrong had occurred, this was going to be a challenge. But that could be some other day. Right now, he just needed to be here for her.

Notes:

Why do I get the feeling that isn't the last time we'll be seeing Veronica?