Consequences

by shallow15

Rage, Frustration, and Memories

Tempest was fuming as she peeled out of the mall parking lot. Almost a decade of service to the country protecting it from threats the populace couldn’t even begin to dream of and she was being bested and blocked by a bunch of fucking high schoolers!

She could already hear the Director berating her in her head as she drove through the streets, heading for her next appointment. God help Adagio if she failed to show. The way Tempest felt right now, she’d be more than happy to hand over all three to STORM so she had somethingto show for all the wasted time spent in this town.

“You need to learn to let things like this go.”

Tempest winced as a familiar itch rippled along the scar across her eye. Her hand instinctively shot up to rub it.

“Sometimes they’re ready for you. Sometimes they legitimately don’t know anything. All investigations hit snags. Nothing’s perfect.”

“Shut up,” Tempest hissed aloud. “You’re gone. You’re not here. Shut up.”

“You can’t just bully your way into every situation to prove you’re the one in charge. It doesn’t work like that. They’re people, not sheep.”

“Could have fooled me,” Tempest growled. “Fat lot of good it did you, didn’t it?”

“Listen… don’t let this harden you. Not everything is a threat.”

The memory of a cough echoed in the agent’s skull. Tempest’s knuckles whitened as her grip on the steering wheel became rigid. Her foot pressed down on the accelerator.

“You’re not as much of a hard case as you think you are.”

“You don’t know me!” Tempest snarled. “You thought you did, but you didn’t know a god damn—”

A horn sounded, breaking Tempest’s trance and she let out a curse as she became aware of the delivery truck barreling at her from the side. She’d run a red light. She quickly swerved to give the truck more room and managed to shoot across the intersection without causing an accident. As soon as she was a decent distance away, she pulled into an alley and turned off the engine. She let out a scream of frustration and bashed her hands against the steering wheel.

She took a few deep breaths and picked up her phone.

“THORM Intel. ID and Thecurity—”

“It’s me, Grubber.”

“Tempetht? Whath’s up? You thound… off.”

“I’m hitting a snag. I need info. Now.”

“Thure, okay.” There was a sound of office supplies being scattered around. “Whatcha need?”

“Dig into the principal and vice principal of Canterlot High. Celestia and Luna. I want to know everything about them. If there’s so much as a citation for littering, I want it. You got that?”

“Okaaaaay,” Grubber was clearly perplexed. “Why?”

Tempest growled but decided to answer the question. “I have a hunch they know exactly what’s been happening out here. They’ve blocked me from talking to the people I need to talk to. I need leverage. Something. Anything.”

“Got it. Although…”

“What?!” Tempest snarled.

“Eathy, tiger,” Grubber soothed. “I jutht wanna make sure thith is what you really wanna do. I mean, it thoundth like that thing that happened in Lath Pegathuth—”

“JUST GET ME THE GOD DAMN INTEL, GRUBBER!” Tempest jabbed the “End Call” button and nearly threw the phone out the window before she stopped herself and put it down on the passenger seat.

“Are you done having your tantrum yet?”

“Shut. Up.”

“You’re going to have a heart attack before you’re 35, you know that?”

“You are not here. You are not real.”

“In this job, kiddo, you’re going to find a lot of stuff you thought wasn’t real… is.”

Tempest grabbed the steering wheel, took a series of short breaths through her teeth, reared her head back, preparing to smash it into the wheel –

--and was interrupted when the notification chime went off on her phone. She picked it up and glared at the screen.

4:00 PM. Meeting with Adagio.

Tempest took a deep breath through her nose, then put the phone away, started the car and drove out of the alley. She didn’t have time for this. There was work to do.

Author's Note:

Yeah, another short one. Sorry about that.

Comments

[CapNTilfy]

Short but sweet! I knew she was gonna be super-pissed, but I wasn't expecting that!

Tempest was fuming as she peeled out of the mall parking lot. Almost a decade of service to the country protecting it from threats the populous couldn’t even begin to dream of and she was being bested and blocked by a bunch of fucking high schoolers!

"Populace."

I might be wrong, but maybe that voice is Cantata?

[CapNTilfy]

9456232
From "Dilemmas, Debates, and Jacuzzis"

“I wish Cantata was here.”

Aria blinked and looked up sharply at Adagio. A scowl crossed her face and she felt anger flowing through her. “Well, she’s not!” she snapped. “And in case you’ve forgotten, STORM’s the reason why!”

Aria stood up, not caring she was exposing herself. “You damn well remember what they did! What she had to do! You know what? No. Fuck. No. Don’t tell Tempest anything. Why the hell should we help them after what they did to us? To her!”

[RoboRed]

Hmm...guess I was wrong.

[Pr1deM0rn1ngstar]

Man she sounds overly pissed