The maps all over the conference room table immediately drew his attention the second Aaron entered the office he shared with Cadence, but since he knew paying them any mind at all would mean he’d have to pull himself away from them once Ashley arrived, he somehow managed to walk past them to his desk.
The new blonde Hunter had only completed her training a few weeks ago, but she was already proving her value. She’d seemed hesitant at first, but in the last few hunts, he’d noticed she was beginning to hit her stride, and he thought she showed some real promise.
While he was surprised she’d asked to meet with him privately, he hadn’t questioned her as to why. Cadence had something against the girl that he just couldn’t understand, and he really hoped that Ashley’s request didn’t have anything to do with the lunch she’d scheduled with Cadence. Sometimes his fiancée had no idea how she affected other people.
He sat down at his desk and straightened a few items that were minimally askew. Having everything exactly where it was supposed to be was calming. Knowing that any time he needed a pen or a sticky note they were right where they were meant to be allowed him to think about other things, and since his mind was literally running all of the time, there were some things in life he insisted on being neurotic about, even if it was a bit of a joke to the rest of the team. There were plenty of worse things to be teased about.
Ashley had said she’d be there in less than ten minutes when he let her know he was available, which meant any minute now. His mind went back to a discussion he’d had with Cadence not too long ago where she insisted that Ashley had some sort of crush on him. He thought it was ridiculous. Even though his superpower—before the Retransformation serum had given him X-ray vision and a few other abilities above and beyond the typical Guardian—happened to be reading other people’s emotions, he couldn’t get a very good read on the new blonde Hunter. For some people, it just didn’t work as well. He couldn’t read Cadence that way either, though he’d been with her long enough to know now how she was feeling most of the time. Ashley having feelings for him just sounded like a ridiculous reason for Cadence not to like the other girl, and part of him thought perhaps she was just a tiny bit jealous that Ashley had stolen some the attention that had previously been lavished on Cadence. But then, just because he could tell what a woman was feeling didn’t make him any better at deciphering why she was feeling that way. Cadence was often more of an enigma than he cared to admit.
Mrs. Carminati, the older woman who had served as his secretary for decades, was a human, but she did have an IAC. She was one of the few brave enough to try it since her mind wasn’t quite wired to work as quickly as the Guardians and Hunters. Since she used it almost exclusively to talk to Aaron and Cadence, it wasn’t a problem. “Ashley Stone is here to see you,” her familiar voice whispered into his mind.
“You can let her in,” he said, taking a deep breath. Not knowing what a meeting was about, not being able to prepare for it, was always a little trying.
Through the door he heard Mrs. Carminati say, “You can head on in, sweetie.”
Despite the direction, Ashley knocked on the door. Aaron stood and said, “Come on in, Ash.”
Cautiously, she stuck her head in and surveyed the room, and he assumed she was checking to see if Cadence was there. She looked slightly relieved to see they were alone. Aaron took a few steps toward her but didn’t cross the expanse of the room, and the Hunter closed the door behind her, taking some deep breaths herself as she crossed to meet him.
“I’m so sorry to interrupt you,” she said, taking the hand he offered to her.
“No, it’s fine. I actually needed a break anyway.” He gestured at the maps that covered the majority of the large wooden table. “And since Cass had her procedure done early, it all worked out.”
“Oh, yeah,” Ashley said, glancing at the maps. “That doesn’t look like a whole lotta fun at all.”
“It isn’t,” he assured her, offering her one of the two chairs in front of his desk as he went around behind it. “But I think we’re getting pretty close to figuring out what’s going on.” He knew it was right in front of him; he just had to put the last few pieces together. “Anyway, what’s going on?”
Ashley’s demeanor changed almost immediately. She had seemed to relax slightly once he’d started talking about the maps, but now that they were back on the topic that had brought her in, she became rigid. She was wearing a pantsuit, black slacks with a red jacket, and heels, like something one might wear to a job interview, which he thought was slightly odd since clearly she already had the job. Her legs were crossed and her fingers were interlaced around her knee, her arms taut, her eyes downcast as she pondered the simple question.
“Well, I hope you don’t mind that I wanted to talk to you about this, although, I’m honestly not sure if it’s a question for Cadence. Or for both of you. Or what.” She looked up at him slightly, chuckled nervously, and then dropped her eyes again. “But, honestly, I felt more comfortable bringing it up to you.”
Aaron leaned back in his chair. Having no clue what a person was talking about was uncharted territory for him. “Whatever it is, if it’s something Cadence needs to know about, we can bring her in.” Ashley's eyes raised to meet his, her eyebrows arched, almost a look of terror. “Or I can talk to her about it later if you prefer.”
She gave a little giggle. “I’m sorry. I… it’s just… there’s really no easy way for me to bring this up.”
More than a little concerned now, he leaned forward, placing his elbows on the desk in the exact location he’d carved out for them amidst his perfectly positioned items. “Ashley, whatever it is, I’m sure we can figure it out. What is it?”
