“REARDEN!”<br/><br/>She brought up the security feed of the lab as soon as she heard His voice on the intercom, wondering what it was that she’d done.  Everything looked as though it were in order; the lab animals were back in their cages, the equipment was all put away—she’d even scrubbed down the tables before she’d left just so he wouldn’t have an excuse to yell at her.  She brought up another view of the lab, frantically counting the beakers, checking to make sure that none of the microscopes were missing and nothing was out of place.<br/><br/>It was pristine.  Every inch of it was pristine.<br/><br/>“REARDEN!  GET IN HERE RIGHT NOW!”<br/><br/>Terror gave way to confusion; she jumped out of her seat, no longer as afraid of Him as much as she was curious about what it was that she’d done.  She buttoned her lab coat and hurried through the hall; she stumbled for a moment and caught herself on one of the other interns, sending him sprawling to the floor.  She stopped outside His office and paused.  Her hand on the doorknob she took a deep breath, steeled herself, and entered.<br/>He did not look at her.  None of them did.<br/><br/>“Ms. Rearden, we’re going to need a half-dozen cups of coffee and a fresh pot, please see to it.”<br/><br/>Not for the first time in her life, Cat reflected that humiliation and relief made for interesting bedfellows.<br/>“Sir, that’s not really…” she frowned, not sure how to phrase it.<br/>“Do we have a problem, Ms. Rearden?” his voice was even, like a surgeon’s hand.<br/>“No Sir, I’m sorry.”<br/><br/>She left the room and made her way toward the kitchen; she could hear them laughing as the door closed, and she had the uneasy feeling that it might have been about her.  As she made her way down the hallway the sting of her humiliation retreated; at first she was just trying to sort out how she was going to finish up all the work she still had to do down in the labs; two more operations, and all the paperwork and…  By the time she reached the kitchen and started brewing the coffee and setting the cups out on a tray, she was too busy planning out the rest of her workday and dreading the 9 o’clock train ride home to be upset about the way she’d been treated by her boss.<br/>