Ronnie was deep in his cups when Dutch appeared in the Scythe and Skull.

"C'mon, Ronnie, he's gone. Time to come back and help put things to rights."

"Gone where?"

"Medical has him. There's a new section at the Academy Hospital for burnouts. Come on."

"Do' wanna."

"Get up. All you have to do is sit at your desk and look bored as usual. Ops will handle the rest; don't we always? Stand up now. Easy, careful, oh all right sit down – Barkeep! Coffee, here! Thanks. Ronnie, drink that." Dutch sat down.

"Is 'e all ri'?"

"Grell winkled him out – ah, you'd already left. Well. Spears went on a murderous rampage which ended with Admin in total shutdown, one-third of Security refusing orders and quitting – drink your coffee – most of the Second Shift Reapers hiding outside the Branch, luckily Sam was getting the interns out or we might have had a war. Here's a napkin, it doesn't work if you just spill it over yourself. He holed up in his office finally. Avram summoned Grell. So they didn't have to break down his door and bash him into submission. He'll be fine in a week or a month or a year or two. Keep drinking your coffee.

"But we have to get the Branch up and running right now, and part of that is the appearance of normality. That includes you, sitting at your desk and moaning about putting in overtime and missing a party somewhere. I've borrowed Brad back. What? Oh, Spears fired him and Depoy hired him and – Barkeep! Another coffee, please. We've cancelled all of Alan's calls, appointments, and meetings, and Wójcik is doing the same for Spears. Now we've got to find everybody who ran or quit. That's most of Second Shift. Documentation is open again and Brock says that Bookkeeping will open as soon as Medical puts Spears on official leave. Drink up. Now, can you stand?"

"Y'r not my boss! Will's my boss! An' he's gone, Alan an' Eric are gone, and Grell's gone to India...all my senpais gone…"

"And the only way to help us now is to minimize the damage. I'm going to port us back to the Branch's first-aid room. I'll request a blue-Monday pill to sober you up. You take a cold shower, find a clean shirt, and get to your desk as soon as you can pretend you're not squiffed. Now, up. Ooof. Oh, for – Come on. I have to persuade Duncan and Mallory to come back, and to do that I have to be able to state that Spears won't be back tomorrow just as demented, and to do that I have to be in the office to receive a call from the Hospital, so get up!"

"Won't! Not on duty! Rest shift. Jacobs said."

"Okay. I'll take you home and pour you into bed. Better you are found asleep there than on the floor here. In fact, hold on. Jake!"

Jake the bouncer approached. "Standard fee, Dutch, we know where he lives."

Dutch handed over a couple of bills. "I'd help but I absolutely have to get back."

"Understood. Bert and Ernie's Rescue Service will take him home, wait till he's lost the coffee and make sure he falls onto the bed. Better he's away from his post than drunk on duty."

"I'll cover that up if I can. Not too many heard Will put him on overtime."

"Ten percent refund on the drunk run if you tell me the whole story later."

Dutch ported back to the office, catching the phone on the fourth ring. "Operations, Ten Hagen. Yes, Ma'am. Doctor? Ah. Is he – thank you. You're sure? Let us know if there is anything we can – I see. Thank you. Please send the report to Senior Avram Jacobs, London Operations, Personnel."

Dutch walked did not run because we are in control here, dammit back to Personnel. Avram was on the phone, so Dutch pointed at a chair, raised an eyebrow, received a nod, and sat. Avram ended the call. "Yes, Dutch?"

"I've had a call from Medical. Spears has been admitted for evaluation and won't be released for at least two months. They are sending a full report to you. With your permission, Director, I'll start trying to get Second Shift back in here."

"I am not Director, having made it clear that I will leave for Mother Russia the moment anyone tries to put me in that position. In return, I have been threatened with the Directorship of Yakutsk in Siberia if I do not cover the Branch until the new Director arrives. Madame and I understand each other perfectly. She has stated that our new Director has been promoted from another city. He previously served as a Senior Reaper in London for many years."

"Is he filling in for Spears, or replacing him?"

"Not specified. I'm assuming replacement. Since Mister Spears' current responsibilities have almost nothing to do with the Branch, and since trying to cover both has had adverse effects on his health, I think that he will be given an office on an Upper floor as soon as he is discharged. Purest speculation, of course. But Uppers tend to win promotion after being tried to near-destruction."

"So he will be here for the loyalists and not-here for the people he's angered." Dutch considered. "Best outcome for most. What about Operations? Knox won't be in till tomorrow."

"And tomorrow he will be hung over." Avram cocked a wry eyebrow at Dutch. "I've been tracking glasses. Knox is being escorted to the dorms after several hours at a bar. Thank you for having the staff take him home. Dutch, you are Chief of Operations until our new Director overrules me. Knox will be seconded to your section. He is not upper management material. You will decide if he should be returned to street Reaping or passed on to Spears as an aide."

"He has a talent, though. Alan made a prediction which I think we should try to let happen."

"If the new Director confirms you in your new role, and if he doesn't fire Knox for responding to an emergency by getting drunk, then that would probably be best. Now. Do you think you can persuade our Security chiefs to return?"

"I'll try. Might swing through the Cafeteria first to gather up whoever's there."

"Do that, please."

Dutch stood to leave. He opened the door to find a tall Reaper of aristocratic bearing, exuding enormous personal power.

"I am told that you struck a superior officer, Senior Ten Hagen."

Dutch lifted his chin. "Yes, sir."

"Good man. Sarah and Fitz send their regards."

Dutch turned around. "Senior Jacobs, I believe you know Senior Roland D'Acres, Director of the Bristol Branch."

"Actually, Fitzwilliam is now Bristol. A timely promotion, richly deserved," said D'Acres.

But Avram was already coming forward to clasp hands with London's new Director.

Grell was near the end of her endurance. Will was in the hands of the doctors, furiously accusing her of betrayal, while she had been summoned Upstairs. She was sitting with legs spread in a man's posture, elbows on knees, head in hands, letting her voice drop into its natural register.

"I love him so much. To the limits of his ability, he loved me. But this is – unbearable. It depends on what he does when he stops raving. He wanted to execute Alan and Eric. He attacked Dutch. If he goes back to hitting me with his scythe, it's over. Do you know how long it took me to teach him not to do that? Do you know how long it took me to realize I did not have to let him do that? I am the Red Reaper of London, not Will's piñata. Never again, not for him and certainly not for you, Madame."

"Quite right. You do know that your absence is the cause of this…"

Grell raised her head. A bandage was visible over one swollen eye. "Bull, Madame. Overwork is the cause of this. Denial of change is the cause of this. I am not his prisoner or yours. There was nothing keeping him from visiting or calling me, or accepting calls from me. I wrote him letters weekly which he did not answer. I did my duty as assigned. He would have despised me if I had not. And yet he kept asking Chandra to send me back as unsuited to the job. He wanted to confine me like he did Alan and Ronnie. Alan worked around him until he was fired, and Ronnie reverted to the adolescence Will preferred. I refuse to let him seal me in amber so he can pretend it's still 1885."

"Grell, dear, that is not what we want from you or from him. What we do want is for him to recover fully and continue his work. Obviously you can help with that. But he must permit you to be yourself, not a caretaker, nurse, or servant. Agreed?"

"No. Add verbal target, submissive spouse, and punching bag to that list. I hereby resign the responsibility to manipulate his psychosis to keep him functioning. I am done with it, Madame, and it took me four years of working with a completely sane team to realize it."

"We will limit him to work that he can do without interaction with subordinates, behind a gatekeeper like Anton Wójcik. He will work one shift a day, no more. The doctors believe he will return to his normal behavior with rest and counselling. If we go forward in time far enough, we can obtain medications that will help steady him. The war has changed us all. If you have outgrown him, or if he has become someone you cannot love, I will understand. But we must try to help him to recover. Can you help him through his treatment process?"

"Not if it also requires me to go back to being the office joke. Never again, Eliza." Grell sat up, closed her legs and crossed her ankles. Suddenly she was fully the person she wished to be. "I am Grell Sutcliff, I am female, I am a lady. I am the best damn Reaper that London has ever seen, and I will never be less than I am now, not for any reason or anybody."

"Excellent. Stay around long enough to teach him that. Agreed?"

"Ah –"

"Good. You will Reap with Knox, who is not handling these events well."

"No. I will not come back to London until we all are recalled. Find Ronnie another babysitter. Will encouraged everyone in Operations to treat him as the Branch's kid brother. Get him back out on the street for a year or two, seconded to a mentor who will not tolerate shirking or whining, and let him recover his self-respect. I will continue to work the pandemic with Van and Chandra. I will use the portals to spend two hours here with Will each day – if you can persuade our Indian manager to agree. When Will is discharged back to our apartment, I will live there until he tries abusing me. Then I'm out."

"Very well, then. When visiting, you will offer advice when requested by Jacobs, Ten Hagen, Cortland, D'Acres and myself. You will be promoted a grade in your new role as adviser. Once the current emergency is over, you will familiarize yourself with all changes that have occurred in the Branch since your duties in India began. You will reserve the first and third Wednesday evenings of each month for a meeting with me, where I shall expect your keen observations and any suggestions you may have."

"Bridge game?"

"Officially, certainly, and with your favorite participants and refreshments."

"Pity you didn't do something like this for Alan."

"He served another purpose, and has been rewarded in an appropriate fashion. He and his partner must rest, for both are very close to a similar break. They are not lost, Grell; they are on an extended medical leave and sabbatical. They will renew and refresh their very different strengths, and share them with each other. They will raise up new generations of students and encourage new talents. When we need them, they will be steady, ready, and bored."

"First suggestion, Eliza. Don't count on 'bored.' Second, 'steady' is probable but 'ready' will take a lot of negotiation. Third, Alan taught me a lot. I have a job offer from Rio de Janeiro. Don't schedule into my rest shift or meddle in my personal life."

When Grell had left, Madame opened the Personnel folder on her desk, marked the first page MUCH IMPROVED, and smiled.