"Officer Machenet. Lieutenant Abbott requests to see you in his office after slop."

 Nadine paused for a moment, slowly putting down her spoon to glance back at the soldier. Indeed, it was Abbott's assistant, standing at attention with folder in hand, the perfect little model cadet. 

"Alright, then," the woman waved him off, keeping an air of unbothered disdain. "I'll be there."

As she shoveled in more tasteless gruel, Nadine wondered what the man could want with her. He'd be avoiding and ignoring her ever since their falling out about the whole brother situation. Unfortunate, really, that Abbott had overreacted about it. She'd had a good thing going with the man, but didn't know he expected it to be exclusive. She certainly was under the impression Abbott had experimented with other women during their time together, and quite frankly was unbothered by it. 

So when Grayson had approached her all hot and husky while Aldrich was deployed elsewhere, she had no qualms about burning off some extra energy. Grayson might be more rapier than greatsword compared to his little brother, but he certainly had technique. Nadine must have left enough of an impression on him as well, as it was Grayson himself who divulged their little night escapade to Aldrich. 

And now, nearly a year later, she was being called to Abbott's office. Was he finally over his little temper tantrum? Doubtful, as it seemed military men and women had a pride and honor complex. Must be something professional then: severe enough to take precedence over their personal drama. Then again, maybe he was just pulling rank to remind her of his superiority. Wouldn't be so much a shock.

Machenet lifted the bowl to her lips, finishing off the meal. She wiped her mouth on her sleeve, stood, and left the mess hall. It wasn't too long until she stood in front of Abbott's door. His assistant let her in, closing the door behind her.

His office looked just about how she remembered it: still the same curtains and desk that had borne witness to more than a bit of passion. Then there was the man himself.

Nadine lifted an eyebrow as she took in his cigar and booze: he must be unnerved to hit both. Was she the cause of his stress, or the unknown reason he called her in?

"Aldie," Nadine stood strait, hand resting on her hip. "Are ya finally done givin' me the silent treatment?"

He had taken drags from the cigarette until it had almost burned down to his fingertips. He took one last drag when his assistant let Nadine in and then put it out, washing away the smokey aftertaste with a sip of his whiskey. Aldrich put the glass down on his desk and looked at the darker-skinned woman with an expressionless face.

Aldie. The way she addressed annoyed him. It appeared that even after all this time, she still didn't respect him the way she should. He didn't consider the way he had ignored her to be the silent treatment. He liked to look at it as keeping the peace for the greater good of the military. But in all honesty, it had indeed been about giving her the silent treatment. It hadn't necessary bothered him that she slept with someone else while he was away, but the fact that it was his brother made the whole situation a whole lot complicated and ugly. He had never had a very close relationship with Grayson, but this definitely hadn't helped their case.

But he wouldn't stoop to her level. "Private Machenet", he said, exaggerating the formality of the greeting. He wouldn't give her the pleasure of using her first name, or a nickname. She had lost those privileges. "It seems like our paths cross again. Apparently you're still out there giving people a hard time."

He didn't offer her the seat in front of his desk, but she could sit if she wanted to. After all, they did have to talk about what the young soldier had brought to his attention. "I'm afraid there has been a complaint about you. And believe me, it wasn't me who complained about you." He could only just keep himself from adding 'and it wasn't me, although I could say a lot of things about you'. He would try to be mature about it.

"Private?" Nadine snorted, moving to match his formal tone. "Is this your way of telling me I'm getting a demotion, Lieutenant?"

So, he was still upset then. And what complaint was he going on about? It seemed like all her superiors wanted to talk about these days were complaints against her. If this was another talk about the black powder incident...

She briefly glanced at the chair, but decided to maintain standing. She preferred keeping the height advantage: really, it was the only advantage she had over Aldrich at the moment. Stupid military hierarchy leaving her unpromoted...

"You'll have to enlighten me, Lieutenant Abbott," the woman crossed her arms behind her back, lifting her chin. "I'm afraid I don't know what complaint you're talking about."

He blew nose out of his nose, the way you'd do if you were amused, but he wasn't exactly amused. It was more due to disbelief at her behaviour. "My apologies, I keep forgetting you're an Officer, because you don't quite act like one", he responded dryly. Kat Winters wasn't even all that bad compared to Nadine, but perhaps he was biased.

He glanced at the file he had on her on his desk. "Yeah, there seem to be quite a lot of complaints recently, aren't there?" he said, looking back up at her with a sarcastic little smile on his face. "This one is about you seemingly having a personal vendetta with someone in your platoon. That's not very professional of you, Machenet."

He really couldn't blame her for it, though. Before he was promoted to Lieutenant, he had behaved the exact same way when he was an active drill instructor. Now, he didn't spend as much time working with the soldiers directly, and he didn't get the opportunity to get annoyed by specific soldiers.

"I assure you, Lieutenant, I'm an equal opportunity offender to all my privates," Nadine replied dryly. "But if this is about Private Summers, she needs to grow a spine and take criticism like a soldier. Sleeping in past drills daily. Missing equipment. Lackluster form." The woman shrugged with a sigh. "I've never been one for reporting my soldiers, so I thought I could straighten her out before bothering you or Terach with it. Guess she took my reprimand personally."

Nadine had to admit, she did go a bit overboard yelling at the girl yesterday. Summers was only thirteen, but had to shape up if she didn't want to get killed on the field. Machenet did truly care about the soldiers under her command: she wanted them at their best. More than a handful of Nadine's privates had gone on to reach higher ranks than her, remarkable stalwart soldiers on the battlefield. She'd taught them how to survive. Not that people like Terach ever remembered that.

The last thing she needed was another Lieutenant berating her after the humiliation Terach put her through yesterday at the Sailboat. So she'd try to hold her tongue in front of Abbott...try being the operative word.

"Does Summers want reassignment?"

Aldrich wrapped his fingers around his glass, but didn't lift it just yet. "I would give you the benefit of the doubt, Nadine," he said, not bothering with the formalities of her last name any longer now, "But I know you too well to do that. If Private Summers feels like you have it out for her, you need to reassess your methods. She's thirteen, for goodness'sake. The fact that she would even come to see me speaks volumes."

He then took a sip of his whiskey. He wouldn't say it out loud, but it was just mandatory training, and Summers was one of the youngest ones that were being trained. He cared more about the soldiers that voluntarily joined the military and we're slacking than the ones that were doing their mandatory training. Yet he knew he had to care about this too.

"She probably doesn't even understand hierarchy yet. She doesn't understand that telling me about this may effect you. Get it together and don't take your frustrations out on Summers."

He liked this power dynamic. He wasn't just a Lieutenant, he also was also the contact for the other Lieutenants. If this was a problem, he didn't have to consult with the others what to do, he could go to Usher himself. Nadine and he weren't the best of friends anymore, but she would have to work with him, whether she likes it or not. 

Nadine couldn't help a scowl before returning her face to neutral. She had never known Abbott to ask an instructor to go easy on a soldier: it wasn't like Nadine was beating the girl. This was more about the lieutenant's need to flex his power. Unfortunately he had it in this particular situation. She'd have to play along until she could pull rank of her own.

She decided then and there to dedicate herself to working towards promotion. She was tired of overcompensating men trying to push her down. She would train. She would obey when she needed to. She would surpass Abbott and Terach. All in good timing.

"What is your suggestion then, sir? It would prove a bad example to my other privates to allow Summers to slack."

It brought him joy to see that she wasn't putting up a fight against his words anymore. Instead she asked what he recommended.

"Tell her that if she keeps slacking, one of the Lieutenants will have to speak with her. That ought to scare her straight. If she continues to be a problem, I want you to come see me again." He hoped the girl would better her behaviour, because he wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing Nadine again.

"But I also want to emphasise that you have to do better, Machenet. Like I said, there have been too many complaints about you lately. We can only ignore so many before we have to do something about it."

Her nose inadvertently wrinkled as if smelling something foul before she was able to get a handle on her expression again.

Threatening to report her private to the lieutenant smelled thickly of brat. Like a child whining they would tell their mother about a younger sibling's antics. Nadine hated it. It would disavow her of her own authority in front of her squad, a blatant "I can't punish you but the man in charge will." Why, it was like a father telling his daughter he'd involve the city guard if she refused to go to bed on time.

But Nadine kept her mouth shut, her expression as blank as possible with only a, "Yes sir."

She'd play the game for now.

"I hate to be a burden on you, sir," she replied flatly to his last comment. "You shouldn't hear anymore complaints about me."

If there was one thing that hadn't changed about Nadine, it was her inability to control her facial expressions. If he didn't loathe her like he did, it would have made him smile. He had always had a soft spot for women who carried their heart on their sleeve. Sadly Nadine did that a little too often. Perhaps that's why he had felt drawn to Regan Lassiter, although that situation was also starting to dissolve once they had taken their flirting to the next level. Military women were difficult creatures.

Aldrich wasn't able to contain a sarcastic chuckle when she said she hated to be a burden on him. "I wish I could believe that, Machenet." He took a sip of his whiskey and made a swatting-away gesture with his hand. "You're dismissed."

Nadine saluted, turning to walk open the door then paused. "One last question, sir."

Did Grayson ever sort out that toe fungus?

She bit down hard on her tongue before the phrase could slip from her mouth. It was the last thing she needed right now, getting the man riled up again. It would undo all the ego stroking she'd just subjected herself to. No, no matter how priceless the look on Abbott's face, it just wasn't worth it right now.

"Nevermind," she muttered gruffly, taking her leave out of the office. 

It was time to go pass the stupid order on to Summers: that's what the situation demanded. Then she'd get her squad working on making the barracks spotless, resetting the training grounds and repairs dummies...yes, they would have a lot of work to do. 

And she would get that promotion.