Tanya
"You wanted to see me?" Tanya asked, sitting down.
Wayne said nothing. Simply turned to the TV screen and pressed play. Tanya watched the security tape in horror of the massacre that had occured.
"You recognised the assaliant?" Wanya asked when it was over.
"Yes."
"I thought you said you dealt with her."
"I did!"
"And yet?"
"I can't explain that! I put a command in her head that if she did she'd die. Even hurting them would hurt her," Tanya gestured to the screen. "That shouldn't have happened."
"Well, it did. And we've lost fifty people. More than that."
"I kinda noticed that!" Tanya replied. "I'd like to explain it, but I can't."
"Then how about explaining this. There was - is - a death warrant on her. And you chose to let her live?"
"I went into her mind, Wayne. Normally, yes I would have. But I had reason to believe her, outlook, shall we say, had changed. I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt."
"Tanya, this is a -"
"I know it's a serious situation. I'm not damn well stupid. But I've done that command before. It's worked. They all resent me at first of course, but it works out for them in the end... I don't know how. I swear I don't know how she could have possibly been able to do that."
Wayne sat back and sighed.
"Another telepath, perhaps?"
"Possible. The command I gave isn't exactly Master-specific. An Expert could esily do the same. Advanced too, I believe."
"What about Craig?"
Tanya considered this.
"Maybe... I'll look - say, speaking of powers, did we see any being used in that tape?"
"No, we didn't."
"That's insane. Spook should have been easily contained."
"But she wasn't. That's a good point, Tanya. Why didn't they use their powers?"
Silence.
"I'll make it my personal responsibility to fix this one."
"No. You can do the research part, but I don't want you to go after her."
"Why not?"
"Well, for a start, you're pregnant."
"Why is it men always think pregnant women can't pull their weight?"
"Funny. Secondly, these people didn't use their powers for a reason. Your primary weapon is your power. No I think I would rather another agent without a power as their primary weapon take her down."
Tanya nodded.
"Very well."
"And Tanya, this time, she is going down."
"I understand. Is that all?"
"No."
Tanya inclined her head.
"Congratulations."
She grinned.