X - FORCE

Chapter 3 - Why Is It Always The f*****g Budget?

"What are you looking at?!" It was the slim woman with loose curls styled around her face. Olivia was tired. She had received shocking news and her afternoon had only spiralled worse out of control from there.

"Nothing, sorry. I was just worried about you."

"Excuse you?!"

"Your stance is unbalanced; any sort of physical variable would knock you down. You don't wear your bulletproof Kevlar, despite having an open position in the field, which is obvious if you just look at your hair. You style it with gel rather than spray to make it weather resistant. I can tell about the Kevlar because your form-fitting uniform doesn't show any signs of the natural stress seam you see where the Kevlar should rub. You're lacking power and you barely train."

"Maybe those who don't know anything, shouldn't be running their mouths." Christan glared down at her before storming past her.

The next day marked Olivia's first day at her new assignment. Alfred had made quick work of her transfer, having had all her clothes replaced with ones in the B Force unit colours, the insignia embroidered into them in just a day and her belongings had been moved into her Management 'Office.' She thought the name was kind of ironic considering it was more of a mini-unit.

'The workshop ladies and gents must hate him sometimes.' She laughed to herself.

An hour later, she walked out of her first meeting with a large stack of folders. Day 1 and it was already abundantly clear that she had her work cut out for her. The problems weren't just small issues either. She had half an hour before the next meeting which she used to sort the folders into the shelves above her desk and sort through the budget reports for the next meeting. Olivia read through the sheets, highlighting, and making notes about various issues, including unnecessary expenses, funding shortages and discrepancies in the spending. Her alarm sounded that it was time to head into her meeting. She sighed and clipped the paperwork back into the appropriate folder before breezing out of her bedroom.

The Higher up managers, as well as each team's representative member, was present as well as 2 of the Commanders. B-Force, of course, didn't send a representative and it was then that she realised why Alfred had assigned that job to her. The meeting had continued for 45 minutes, with ideas and solutions being tossed about and discussed but none of them really worked off paper. Thunder Force Commander Nathan finally interrupts the current discussion.

"If we retire a team out, the funding issue will be resolved." Murmurs stirred within the group as they discussed the solution. There were nods of agreement, however, there were also those that were of the mindset that funding was a temporary issue and would be resolved once crime picked back up again, so budget cuts were the more reasonable option. The decision was eventually made that a team would be retired, with the exception of if extra funding could be sourced. Of course, this responsibility fell to Olivia as she was now the Force Manager. The meeting was dismissed after the final verdict was delivered and Olivia got to work right away. She decided she would assess each team and its potential for growth and versatility as well as any overlap in expertise during the day, then, at night and in the mornings, she would look for sources of extra funding. Something long term and stable would be the most beneficial but harder to find. Olivia watched each team train, noting down each unique ability as well as any overlap and charting both skill and future potential in a graph, making it easier to read. Olivia was busy making notes as the Thunder Force members trained when she became aware of someone coming up behind her seat. Commander Nathan Lalfon dropped into the seat beside her, and Olivia resisted the urge to glare at him.

"Olivia. It's been a while." She smirked at her.

"Not long enough, Commander. Please refer to me using my correct title." His smirk only widened, and he let out a chuckle. He moved to lean over her. She shut her book and sat back, trying to avoid being any closer to him than necessary.

"Olivia... It would appear it's been too long since you seem to have forgotten your place. Come by sometime. I'd be happy to remind you." Olivia wanted to spit on him. Right in his face. But that would be highly unprofessional. 

"What do you want, Commander Lalfon?"

"I want B-Force out. They are a waste of resources, a waste of jobs and a complete waste of valuable training time."

"Commander. Might I remind you that your unit doesn't even complete 100% of allocated jobs as it stands? As for resources, your unit used 35% of allocated funding, even though all teams are supposed to have 25% equal shares. And as for training... Well, let's just wait and see, shall we?" Olivia turned her attention back to the training grounds, hoping the conversation was now done with.

A hand shot out and rough fingers gripped Olivia's neck and chin, tilting her head to the side to look at the raging man beside her as he clicked his tongue.

"Little miss Moss. It's as if you've suddenly lost your mind. Have you forgotten who you're talking to? I could end your life right now and there is nothing you would be able to do about it. Never forget that." He released his grip on her and she took in a sharp breath.

"Now, let's get back to the issue at hand. Either you get rid of B-Force or Thunder Force steps down. I don't think I have to tell you how damaging this will be to you, personally." Olivia narrowed her eyes at him. He wasn't wrong, it would look like Olivia's doing and it would completely ruin her career and reputation. But...

"Just throwing out B-Force would ruin all of their careers! Especially under the circumstances! Noone would be willing to take them in, not even the Gen Corps. I'd basically be announcing that they are all useless!"

Commander Lalfon threw his chair across the small observation room before storming out stating that they would talk again later.

As Thunder Force is leaving for the locker room, B-Force enters the training grounds. Olivia finds the sheet she had previously set up in her notebook for their training observation and settles in to watch them train, however, when the unit members notice her watching, the attitude of several members changes dramatically. Some members gave up on the idea of training completes and pulled out a deck of cards. Some of the members just started playing around with the equipment. Olivia sighed before heading down to the training room. She threw open the doors to the room and everyone turned to look at her as she made her unexpectedly loud entrance.

Ainsley watched the small girl stride over to him, a stormy look in her bright eyes. For a split second, he felt unnerved. For that split second, she reminded him of a small predator, stalking down its prey. Like a snake. He eyed her more relaxed style. Noting that while she was still technically wearing her Force uniform, she had altered it quite a bit. Her navy cargo shorts were tight on the leg and waistbands while the rest of the fabric gathered in between. These were being held up by a pair of suspenders that Ainsley noted were part of the shorts, themselves. She had on her pale pink button-up, that had little sleeves. It was tucked into her shorts neatly. Her navy tie sat neatly done in the centre of her collar and Ainsley was surprised to see that she had the B-Force insignia on the left of her waist, rather than the Force Delta one. Olivia reached him quicker than he thought she would and reached up and grabbed his upper arm, pulling him down slightly so he was closer to her level.

"Do you have anything to say about this?" She quipped as she gestured to his unit. Ainsley narrowed his eyes at the small girl and was about to pull his arm back when she addressed him again.

"No? Okay then." She then turned on her heel and started to drag him to the centre of the room, where everyone had now gathered and was watching the exchange. Her brunette hair swayed at her back as she walked and shined with the lights. The front had been braided into some sort of crown, holding the hair out of her face. She had hair ties loosely around her wrist, so she could pull her hair back if she needed. He concluded that she was practical if not anything else. She twisted his arm in a way that forced him around her and he was left standing with the rest of his unit.

"Is this really how you want to play it? You want to forfeit your training just to spite me?"

"We don't need to be babied. Having you here isn't productive at all. Like right now, you're just getting in the way." It was the witch that spoke. Olivia recalled her name was Aris.

"Lady Aris. Do you even know why I'm here?" Olivia raised her eyebrow at the woman.

"To make another useless report. Isn't that what you do? You make reports on our weaknesses and our downfalls and use that as an excuse to cut our funding and our job numbers." Aquilan Conell. He's a great undercover agent due to his ability to change people's perceptions.

'I thought Elves were supposed to be intelligent.'

"Actually," Olivia opened her notebook and held it up. "I'm here to assess your strengths and versatility, as well as your potential for growth. I'm also here to assess any overlapping skills between the units of the force. I'm here to watch everyone. Not just you."

"What, the notes from the old supervisor weren't enough for you? Just because you've been appointed to temporarily do our management duties, doesn't mean you are a part of this unit." It was Christians turn to criticise her. Olivia's eye twitched. They obviously didn't understand the meaning behind Alfred's words yesterday. She was very much, a very permanent, member of their unit now.

'I'm seriously starting to understand why Alfred said he wants to f*****g unalive them sometimes and it's only been one and a half days!'

"The old manager's notes are unreliable, bias and only half true. And you know what, if you weren't so hard to deal with, I could have been done by now. Seriously, it's been two days and I've barely spoken to you! As for you!" She turned her attention to Ainsley, narrowing her eyes at him. 

"You are supposed to be their leader! Why don't you try leading them? Get them to train, negotiate on their behalf, finish literally any of your reports and try speaking to any of the supervisors that come to see the team. That's your job!" She turned her attention back to the unit. 

"I need to see what you can do and what needs work before I can draft your individual and team training guides. I need you to work with me. If I must use the old stuff, you're only going to fall behind or worse, you'll be injured doing exercises that have absolutely no benefit to you!"

"Nice try, but it's Ain that writes all our workout routines!" The small kid stuck her tongue out at you after saying her piece. 

"It's supposed to be your unit manager that does those things, you just don't have one." Olivia pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. 

"You have a lot of versatility in this unit and barely any overlapping skills. You just need proper diet and training. The fact of the matter is it's actually become my responsibility to attend meetings on your behalf since you don't ever send anyone, so I had to come down here and speak to you anyway."

"We don't-"

"The budget for this quarter isn't going to be enough to cover the expense of all four units." Olivia paused for anyone to open their mouth. When all she got was shocked expressions, she continued. 

"I'm not here to hate on you or tell you that you're doing a s**t job. My role is to motivate and manage all the units and focus on their collective needs while also deciding where they can be the most useful out in the field. However, that also means that the budget issues fall under my jurisdiction and by extension, the wishes of some unit members and higher-ups, to retire a team. I don't wish to retire a team and I believe I'm fully capable of securing extra funding, given I'm provided with the right time frame. However, I need these reports," She waved the notebook at them. 

"To secure that extra time!" To Olivia's shock, it was Ainsley who spoke next. His voice was smooth and unwavering, like water in a stream.

"So retire us then. My unit doesn't need to jump through hoops so that they can look good on a piece of paper that's only going to be presented to people that don't want us here." He waved his hand and the whole team filed out of the training room without so much as a word. Olivia stood where she was and blinked a couple of times before turning swiftly to punch the tackling guard that stood beside her. She let out a small hiss of pain before sighing and taking out her pen from her back pocket to write what she did manage to observe before the incident.

'He can focus on his physical training after I've actually seen him do anything other than walk.' Olivia couldn't help but roll her eyes.

That only left four unknowns as those members hadn't started their training before they had noticed her.

Olivia walked through the door that led to the locker rooms. Since she was here and it was technically her team's allotted time, she might as well use it. As she rounds the corner to her old locker row, however, Nathan walks through the main door and heads towards her.

"Don't even bother with the threats or ultimatums, I'm not just outing a team. I'll do it fairly." Nathan grabs hold of her wrist and twists it, forcing Olivia to her knees.

"Little Livy, if you're not going to do it my way, should we maybe reconsider the punishment?" He smirked down at her as his grip on her wrist tightened. "I was being quite generous before, right? But I won't be this time."

The sound of a locker shutting startles them both and Nathan drops Olivia's wrist. Ainsley rounds the corner and eyes them both before smirking at Nathan, causing the latter to scowl. 

"Something funny, asshole?" 

"I just find it hard to believe that after all that bragging you do, you needed all that force on one little girl just to get her on her knees." He let out a breathy laugh and pulled Olivia up, into his bare chest. 

"She'd get on her knees willingly for me though, wouldn't you, sweetheart?" Olivia's cheeks and ears flared red at his reference, and she looked away. This caused Nathan's scowl to deepen and Ainsley's smirk to widen before he let her go and started to walk away.

"You bastard!" Nathan reals his arm back and steps forward in Ainsley's direction. Ainsley barely has time to turn around as he moves to dodge. However, Olivia pops up between them and Nathan's knuckles connect with her eye socket, splitting the skin in the arch of her eyebrow. A slight cracking sound echoed through the locker area. The force knocks her back and into Ainsley. Ainsley grabs her small frame in his hands before helping to steady her.

"You-!" Ainsley glowered at Nathan.

"Nathan. I'm sure I don't have to tell you what happens now if someone were to walk in." Olivia's threat was only implied, but it rung in his ears like an alarm. He sneers at her before storming out. Olivia turns to Ainsley before looking him up and down. His Navy cargo pants were fitted and sat straight on his long legs, and he had a black T-Shirt slung over his shoulder, leaving his toned chest and arms exposed. He had black combat boots with messy laces and the pale pink and Navy B-Force insignia on the left side of his belt. His hair was still damp from the shower he had obviously taken and was still messy on the top. The undercut he had would make it easier to dry and style. 

"I'm sorry you had to get involved. Thank you for the help." Olivia bowed slightly before turning on her heel and rushing out of the room, leaving no time for Ainsley to reply.