Let It Be Your Shirt (Story 3 of Sev & M)

Chapter 9

Zandra sat outside the HR office impatiently twiddling her thumbs. She had been playing on her phone but the battery was about to die, so she was resigned to staring at the wall and twiddling. This meeting had been planned for over a week now, she shouldn't have been nervous but she was. She took a deep breath but it didn't help. She didn't know who was in the office now and she really didn't care; she just wished they would wrap it up so she could get this over with. Finally the door opened. Jana and another member of the agency stepped out. He gave her a respectful nod when he walked past, she returned it although she wasn't sure who he was. Jana turned to her with a smile, waving her into the office. Once they were seated Jana gave her another warm smile.

"Well, I would be lying if I said I wasn't surprised to see your request come through," Jana started.

She nodded, "Yeah, well, I'm sure a lot of people are going to be surprised by this."

"Are you sure you want to go through with this? To stop being a villain? If you decide to go back to it, it will not be an easy process," Jana said.

"I know," she started, "I didn't make this choice on a whim. I've thought it through thoroughly. The only reason I would stop the process now would be if it would hurt the trial."

"No, nothing is going to hurt the outcome of the trial. Can I ask why you decided to do this?"

She had known she would be asked. She didn't want to explain but if anyone was going to understand, it would be Jana. "I just can't do it anymore. I'm sure you've noticed the losing streak. Every young hero set against me, when I look at them, I just see Caspian. I can't bring myself to fight them when I see him in them."

Jana nodded her understanding. She had never been nice to Jana, she had never been nice to anyone really, but Jana's previous relationship with Caspian gave her a soft spot towards Marcus and her.

"I figured as much. What do you want to do now? You turned in your resignation form for being a villain, but do you want to completely leave the agency?"

"No," she said slowly, "I would like to stay within the agency. Just not as a villain or a hero. I was hoping I could become an instructor."

Jana tried to hide her look of surprise but was unsuccessful. "An instructor? What made you decide that?"

"Um...well." She felt extremely embarrassed. To admit the truth it had been Nora, she had been teaching Nora self defense since the incident. She had caught on quickly and had offhandedly told her she would make a good teacher. "I just think I would be a good instructor. I'm one of the best fighters the agency has and I'm good at teaching."

"You have a point. I think that would be a good fit," Jana said.

She had a look in her eyes that told her she knew she wasn't telling her everything but she was going to let it go. Jana turned to the filing cabinet, taking out a thick packet and a thinner one, she handed them to her. She opened the top one to see several forms.

"These," Jana said, "is what you will need to finish filling out to fully resign from being a villain. You can ignore the forms about leaving the agency since you aren't doing that. The smaller folder is what you will need to fill out to apply for an instructor position. Be sure to note which age group you want to train."

She nodded her understanding and grabbed a pen out of the cup on Jana's desk. "I'll just work on filling this out now," she said.

Jana laughed, "That's fine but you'll need to do it in the hallway. I have other meetings."

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"Miss Pierson," Mr. Ethelberry started, "You are a part of the agency, one of the best villains currently so I've heard, why did you not suggest to your brother that you go to the agency for help?"