When Lady Bird came back into the base, Number One met with her and fell into step slightly behind her. In all the years she had known him, he never walked beside her. It annoyed her slightly. Sure, she was his boss, but that didn’t mean he always had to be subordinate to her. Other minions would keep pace with her, especially if they were talking to her. Why couldn’t he? But the one time she had mentioned it, he’d nodded and still kept a step behind her, so she’d never brought it up again.

“I told the others to not crowd Terri and to stay away from her room.” He informed her. “I figured she didn’t need any help in feeling overwhelmed. Wayne was trying to talk to her, but she wasn’t even answering.” Number One sighed a bit, very unusual for him. He must’ve been worried about what he saw. “Usually, she at least responds when someone talks to her, even if she doesn’t reply verbally. I haven’t seen her that way since…”

Lady Bird nodded. She could recall that time. They’d felt so bad for the kid that they drove her back home without a fuss.“I’m not surprised. That seems to be her response to an emotional situation. She’ll talk when she feels like it.”

Lady Bird didn’t mind one way or the other if she kept quiet or not. If it started to become a problem, she’d confront her, but it wasn’t doing anyone harm right now. She probably just needed time to absorb everything and get the situation straightened out in her head.

“Just have someone check on her once and a while if no one’s seen her outside her room. I don’t think she’ll run off, but we also can’t have her wandering around too much. It might not be the safest area outside the base.”

Being in the warehouse district meant that they were in a rough part of the city. Not the roughest, but sometimes nasty people trickled in once and a while. They knew better than to trespass on her property, but she saw someone hanging outside once and a while before a patrol chased them off. Chances were that no one knew who Terri was, but it was still a good idea to make sure she stayed inside the property.

“Very well then. I’ll go to supervise the production line.” Number One stated as he started to walk in a different direction. “We’re trying to catch up from the Gentlemen incident the other day. We should be able to.”

“And we’ll have enough excess to sell off to someone, right?” While they weren’t weapon dealers, it was always good to have a way to make extra cash on hand. Villainy didn’t pay that well.

“It looks like it. Though I do wonder who the Gentlemen were gathering information for. Beretta doesn’t use them. She prefers to do the digging herself.”

Lady Bird nodded in agreement. Beretta’s own mentor had been a private detective, albeit one who worked purely on cases involving supervillains and she had picked up tricks from him. She herself had never gone into the business, at least as far as Lady Bird knew.

“I’m sure we’ll know soon enough.” It annoyed her to think of how easily the Gentlemen had gotten away. Maybe she should’ve questioned them before trying to kill them. “I’ll be there shortly. I just want to stop by and see how Wayne and the kid are getting along.”

She was about to enter the container when Wayne came out. He gently shut the door and motioned that he wanted to speak to her a little bit aways. They were still in sight of the container, but the kid probably wouldn’t be able to hear them if she was inclined to listen.

“We’ve got most everything unpacked and put up, but I think there’s some more things she wants, but she wouldn’t answer me when I asked. I invited her to have dinner with us tonight, but I’m not sure she’ll come.” He sighed a bit. “Birdie, I haven’t seen her that withdrawn since her mother died. I know it’s going to take time, but I can’t help but be concerned.”

“Don’t worry.” She assured him as she looked over to the container. “I know the kid well enough to know that she’ll bounce back pretty soon. She just probably needs some time to herself and a little encouragement. You go onto work and let me worry about this. I have a feeling she won’t come out much today. I’m going in to talk to her for a bit.”

She gave Wayne a kiss and he went on to where the car he usually drove was parked. Lady Bird straightened her mask and made sure every part of her costume was in place. After all, she was still a villain. She couldn’t be completely casual with her, the kid would definitely think something was up. She knocked on the door of the container.

“Hey Kid, I’m coming in.”

As she predicted, there was no response. But Lady Bird didn’t let that stop her from opening the door and coming in. All of Terri’s clothes were hung up on the rack and the suitcase was sitting under the bed. Her laptop was on the desk plugged in and her cell phone was on the nightstand. She noticed that there was also a lamp there and some books sitting on the desk. Maybe they needed to invest in some bookshelves.

The kid herself sat on the bed, leaning against the wall and hugging her knees. She hadn’t even taken her shoes off nor had she taken her jacket off. Lady Bird wasn’t sure how she could stand to wear the jacket since it wasn’t that cold, but it was probably a security thing for the moment. Hopefully, she wouldn’t get too hot in it. It didn’t look like she had been crying, which was a good thing. Lady Bird made sure her shoes clacked against the floor until she came to a stop right in front of her.

“I see you’ve made yourself at home.” She stated as she made a show of looking around. “Good. You might as well make yourself comfortable since you’re going to be here for a while. So if you want something else to add, you’ll need to tell someone. Around here if you want something, you speak up. Got that?”

The kid nodded before she started playing with the ends of her dark hair. She had grown it out since the last time Lady Bird had seen her, probably to match the way her mother’s hair had been. Or she just hadn’t bothered to get a haircut.

Lady Bird got as close as the bed allowed her to. “And I expect to hear that you’re at least coming out to get something to eat. Now I know that Wayne invited you to dinner and would like to see you there, but it’s your choice if you want to come. But no one’s going to be bringing you food, you understand? This is not a restaurant.”

Again, all Lady Bird got was another nod. The kid didn’t appear to be scared, but she could tell that by the way she refused to look at her that she was very unsure. True, Lady Bird had never mistreated her during her occasional abductions, but she never had to live with her and unlike her minions, she didn’t have that much of a relationship with her. She probably knew as much about Lady Bird as she did her.

Lady Bird headed out of the container. “I don’t know what kind of deal you and Beretta had going on…” A complete lie. Her minions had once mapped out their routine for her back when she thought psychological warfare was still a good idea. “But it won’t be that way here. There will be no coddling or anything like that. So don’t expect any special treatment.”

She shut the door and then wondered if she had been a bit too harsh. After all, they were supposed to be her guardians, not her long time captors. But maybe the familiar treatment would help her settle in a bit more. If she started acting like a mother right off the bat, it would scare the kid. Besides, Lady Bird couldn’t picture herself acting like that and being genuine. The kid would be able to tell that she was just acting and that wouldn’t get them anywhere. She’d check in on her later. Right now, she had some weapons to produce.

--

It was around noon when Lady Bird ordered a break on the production line. They weren’t quite back on schedule, but they were getting pretty close to it. And she needed to go peek in on the kid. She hadn’t seen her, but if she plucked up the courage to come out of the container, she wouldn’t come to a place where she knew there were a lot of people. Most likely, she’d be in the room that served as the cafeteria or in the break room. First, she would check in the container.

When she knocked on the door, there was no answer. Lady Bird opened it to find it empty. Maybe she had talked some sense into the kid with the harsh act back there. Now hopefully, she hadn’t made her feel like she wasn’t going to get food at all. If she joined them at dinner tonight, she would make sure she and Wayne talked to the kid, see if they could come to some sort of arrangement that worked for everyone. The kid wouldn’t be able to do whatever she wanted, but she’d be able to do a lot.

As she made her way to the cafeteria, Number One met her. He, once again, fell into step behind her. If anyone knew where the kid was, it would be him. It seemed like he always knew where everyone was in the Nest at all times.

“Number One, have…”

“Have I seen Terri, boss? Yes, I have. She’s in the breakroom with her lunch, a cup of yogurt and a granola bar.” The kid had never been a big eater, even under better circumstances. “She was nearly finished with it when the minions started coming in. I don’t think she left from there if you want to check on her.”

“We probably should. I know they can sometimes be a bit… much.” Sure, she had ordered them to keep their distance, but sometimes they didn’t realize when they were crowding someone. And since they knew her, they probably wouldn’t be thinking of why this time was so much different than the other times.

When she arrived at the break room, she had to part the minions like the Red Sea. Apparently, they had taken the no crowding order literally and decided that they needed to stand at least ten feet from the kid at all times. But the break room wasn’t that large. Only one minion was sitting at the table with the kid. It was Blabber.

"I think you're going to like staying here, Terri." He told her as she attempted to dig the last of her yogurt out of her cup. "The Boss is not a bad boss, so she'll treat you good too, even if she's a bit tough on you at first. She's never had to take care of a kid before, so it would be good if you could cut her some slack."

Lady Bird would be lying if she said that Blabber's words didn't touch her. Maybe the minion with a psychology degree was more than just the office gossiper and HR person. Once and awhile, he did manage to say something profound or useful.

"Besides, she's as nervous about this as you are. You see, she didn't have a good relationship with her mother so she doubts she would be a good one. Which is why she keeps pushing away the adoption conversation with Mr. Boss…"

And now it was clear why he hadn't been able to get a job as a counselor in order to pay off his student debts and had to turn to minion work. She went up to the table, grabbed his shoulders, and hauled him out of the chair. He hit the floor, not having time to defend himself from such a maneuver.

"I told you not to bother her. Now get out, all of you!"

All the minions scrambled out. Lady Bird sat down and ran a hand through her hair, trying to smooth it back down without disturbing her mask too much. She found Terri's brown eyes staring at her with the yogurt spoon in her mouth. Lady Bird cleared her throat.

"I gave him an order and he disobeyed it. Minions need to be reminded of their place once and a while." She would not admit that she threw Blabber in order to prevent an awkward conversation. “He’s lucky I didn’t kick him.”

"Blabber wasn't bothering me." The kid had a quiet voice. But usually, it was loud enough for her to be understood. "He was just trying to make me feel better about everyone avoiding me. I thought I had done something wrong, but he assured me otherwise.”

Maybe she had been a bit strict about the keep away order. She hadn't even thought about how it might look to the kid for people who were usually very friendly to her to suddenly be giving her a wide berth. But could she really be blamed? She wasn’t a child psychologist.

"I just thought you would like the space. And I didn't want them to get too distracted. We're behind on work after all." Lady Bird crossed one leg over the other as the kid put the spoon down.

"I saw that you had a spot on the wall that wasn't like the surrounding wall. Who did that?"

"The Gentlemen came calling yesterday. They've updated their car and apparently hired an intern. Needless to say, it was a mess. Crushed the business phone too.”

"I imagine." The kid put the empty cup down and got up from the chair. "Um, Lady Bird, I… need a few things for my room." She paused for a second. "Not… not that your setup isn't good, but…"

"Why don't you write down what you need and I'll send someone to get it." Probably Number One. He seemed to understand exactly what people wanted, down to the color and brand.

The kid nodded. "Ok. Do you have something to write with?”

Lady Bird always kept a pen on her. Now paper was a different story, but a napkin would do in a pinch. The kid handed it to her after she was finished. Lady Bird folded up the napkin and put it in her pocket.

"I'll go back to my room now." She stated. "I'll be there if anyone needs me."

As she got up, Lady Bird reached out and put a hand on her arm. She quickly drew it away. "Hey kid, no pressure or anything, but I think Wayne would appreciate it if you came to dinner tonight. He doesn't get to cook all that often and really enjoys it.”

The kid nodded as she threw her trash away. She started to walk through the door and then paused to face Lady Bird once again. "Tell him I'll be there. I think there's a lot we have to talk about."

Lady Bird nodded. That had been her thought too. "See you then, kid. Let someone know if you need anything else."

The kid left the breakroom. Sure, the conversation hadn't been very long, but at least it was a start. Maybe Terri would adjust quicker than she thought. Maybe she would too.