Angelo and Nathan, sometime today

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Nathan, Angelo, and Ellen are attempting to get some work done. Rachel, who settled down for a brief nap after her earlier upset, wakes up - with a vengeance. Ellen meets the metaphorical straw that breaks the camel's back. Nathan fires her.


The muscles along Nathan's jaw were twitching. Anyone who knew him at all well knew that that was a bad sign, and that his temper was being held in check by the slimmest of margins. He was concentrating very hard on what was on the screen of his computer, stonily ignoring both Angelo and Ellen, the only other people in this office this afternoon. It was a tense silence, as if the other two were well aware of how close to the brink their boss was, and neither was at all willing to break it and see what happened.

Someone else, though, wasn't so concerned about the matter. "... waaaaah," came a muffled, piteous cry from the direction of the nursery. Nathan straightened with a jerk in his chair, his eyes darting in the direction of the closed door.

"Go back to sleep," he muttered under his breath, almost in a plea.

"Waaaaaah!"

"I'll see to her", Angelo said, sliding quietly out of his chair and heading for the closed door. "Try an' get her back to sleep."

"WAAAAH!" The nursery door flew open, and Ellen, who was trying very hard to type something, nearly jumped out of her skin. "Maaabah! MABAAAAH!" Rachel shrieked as she came floating out, her face as bright red as her hair and her tiny fists clenched.

"Oh, lord," Nathan muttered, getting up. "Ray, sweetie..."

"WAAAAAAAH!" #WAAAAAAH!# Paperwork on the nearest desk went flying.

Angelo was closer, and reached for her, trying to project soothing thoughts. "Rachel... I know you don't like it. It's okay. Come here..."

"AAAAAAAAAH!" The shriek was truly impressive, echoed telepathically as well as aloud. More paperwork went flying, and all of the books on the nearest bookshelf to the floating baby rattled. "Maabah!" she sobbed, her feet kicking in the air. As soon as Angelo got too close, though, she was on the ceiling in a flash, intermittently letting out a wail. She happened to crawl by one of the new light fixtures and the bulb imploded with a crash. Ellen shrieked, and Rachel started to scream even louder, hammering her fists on the ceiling.

"It didn't hurt you", Angelo said with an irritated look over his shoulder, then turned back to the baby. "Rachel, I know you want Mommy, but she's okay. She'll be back soon. Really. Come down to Uncle Angelo."

"BAAAH! BAAAH!" Rachel shrieked in what sounded uncannily like derision, and promptly divebombed him, missing his outstretched hands - and then Ellen's head - by mere inches before she shot back up to the ceiling. "MAAA!" she shrieked, beating on the ceiling again. Another bulb exploded. "Maamaamamaa!"

Nathan's head, which was already throbbing, started to pound. "Ray," he said soothingly, reaching out to her telepathically as he came over to stand beneath where she was on the ceiling. "Come down to Dad, sweetie... we'll go see Mom."

"Maaaamaaamaaamaa!" Rachel howled, and a stack of books on Ellen's desk toppled. The secretary jumped out of her chair with another yelp, flushing bright red.

"That's IT!" Ellen declared shrilly. "I can't work like this! Either you keep that little monster under control or-"

"MONSTER?" Nathan roared at her all at once, abruptly forgetting that there was an already-upset telepathic baby on the ceiling. "I beg your PARDON!"

"You heard me!"

"WAAAAAH!" Rachel screamed and divebombed Ellen again. "Maaaammaa! Baaamah!"

"Nathan!" Angelo not-quite-snapped warningly, managing to snag Rachel by the back of her jumpsuit and pull her into his arms, holding on firmly and - he hoped - comfortingly. "Sssh, Rachel, it's okay."

Rachel sobbed and wriggled in Angelo's arms, and although there was a definite telekinetic push going on, it wasn't as strong as it had been a moment ago, but it was still noticeable, at least for someone holding her. "Waaaah..."

Nathan swallowed his rage and focused on Ellen. "I understand this is a complication you didn't expect-"

"A complication? She's a horror!" Ellen shrieked at him, and Rachel started to cry harder. "I never know what she's going to do next!"

Nathan tried not to grind his teeth. "Please lower your voice."

"I can't have her in my workplace! How am I supposed to keep an office functioning with a telepathic flying baby on the premises half the time!" Nathan opened his mouth to respond to that, but Ellen shook her head, waggling a finger at him in obvious agitation. "No! Either she stays up at the school while I'm here, or-"

"You're fired."

Ellen gaped at him.

Angelo stroked Rachel's fuzzy hair, whispering to her as he eyed Nathan and Ellen warily. Other than soothing the baby, though, he chose to keep his silence. It seemed wisest, with Nathan in this mood.

"You can count on me for a decent reference," Nathan went on in that same cold tone, "and I'll pay your salary for the next three months as severance, but clearly this is not working out. You're a very efficient person, but perhaps you should consider that there are more important things than efficiency. Like flexibility," he said, a bit of a bite in his voice for the first time.

Rachel snuffled and cried more, burying her face against Angelo's shoulder. Ellen stared at Nathan for a moment, wide-eyed, then looked at Angelo and Rachel.

"Perhaps... you're right," she said stiffly. "Maybe that would be best."

Angelo made some attempt to be conciliatory, though the matter really seemed to be settled already. "You know she's not always this bad. She's just upset, aren't you, Ray? An' you can't expect her to stay up at the school when her dad's down here, all day every day in office hours."

"I have to take her up to see Charles," Nathan muttered, turning to Angelo and Rachel. "Come here, sweetie... come to Dad." Rachel peered at him for a moment and then reached out her hands imploringly. Nathan took her from Angelo, sighing as he settled her in his arms. "I'm sorry," he said to Ellen, sounding more like himself. "But I really think it's best."

"I'll just... finish up what I was doing," Ellen said, then looked guilty as Rachel hid her face against her father's shoulder and started to cry again.

"It's just a bad day", Angelo said quietly. "But with Rachel pickin' up on everythin', especially if it's to do with her mom an' dad, there'll likely be more of them. An' we really can't leave her up at the house."

Ellen nodded jerkily, heading back to her desk. Nathan grimaced. #Walk me out,# he sent to Angelo. #Then come back and make sure she's okay.#

Angelo nodded quickly, moving round the desks to join him. #I'll do my best.#

As they walked out onto the deck, Nathan was shaking his head. "It's not entirely fair of me," he said, "but the simple fact is, I can't have her directing that much negativity at Rachel. She's phobic. It's that simple."

"She had a chance to get over it", Angelo said fairly. "It's been, what, almost a month now? An' it hasn't got any better."

"Lorna was right, you know. We should have written 'must be able to deal with telekinetic infant' into the job description with the agency. I'll have to make sure that comes up in the interview with the next one..." Nathan shook his head as he started down the steps. "I was serious about giving her a good reference," he said, looking back up at Angelo. "Just because she thinks my daughter's a little monster doesn't mean she's not a good secretary."

"She got the office straightened up quicker than I thought anyone could", Angelo agreed with a grin. "She'll do fine, when she doesn't have to deal with the flyin' baby."

"Mmm," Nathan said dourly. Rachel immediately started to kick and thrash and cry louder, and he grimaced, shifting his hold on her to something more secure. "Off to Charles we go - hold down the fort, okay?"

"Will do. An' I'll make sure she knows you meant what you said, about the reference."