Performance Review - 1/? - Ensemble
"Performance Review"
Summary: Kennedy is called to Japan to do a performance review. Witches and worlds collide and are torn down.
Rating: R - violence, swearing
Notes/Warnings: Began writing this after reading a promo for Buffy 8/22 - therefore, nothing of the Vamp/Slayer public relations war is included in this - spoilers through 8/19. Some slight Willow/Kennedy, though not the focus.
A high-class military organization, and they couldn’t even spring for an aisle seat.
Kennedy stared morosely out the window at the grey ocean below. Her legs were cramping and the Tylenol provided by the harried stewardess was doing nothing for the pulsing throb in her skull.
Fucking performance review. She was a soldier, a far cry from being a bureaucrat. Especially so when she had to eavesdrop on the conversations that preceded them, instead of being a party to them. But then, when all the decisions were made by the Sunnydale Three, one had to be resourceful, didn’t one? Especially when Willow made her guilty faces all the time and brushed Kennedy’s questions aside instead of telling her what was wrong.
She wasn’t a well-heeled brat for nothing, she thought with satisfaction.
“Look, Buffy, you need to do something about the rumor situation.”
“Rumor?” Kennedy’s ears strained to pick up the words from the small voice recorder she’d secreted in a drawer in the command room. “What rumors are those?”
“Well, your little…um…thing with Satsu?”
“That’s been over for some time, now, Willow.” Buffy’s exasperation came through the tape, and Kennedy could almost see her rolling her eyes.
“It’s not over for the girls, though,” Willow continued. “You promoted her pretty fast after that happened, and…well…you know what people say.”
“They’d do better to shut up, if that’s what they think of me,” Buffy snapped. A pause. “Willow…is that what you…?”
The silence continued.
“You can’t think that I’d do something like that…”
“I think you had the best intentions,” Willow said carefully. Kennedy knew that voice, it was the voice Willow used when she was attempting to avoid an argument. “But let’s face it. There are dozens of girls ready for leadership, and the one you just slept with happens to be the one handpicked for the new opening? She’s never even led the Alpha troop, several of whom are older than her.”
“I didn’t pick favorites!” The suspicious anger in Buffy’s voice surprised Kennedy - she’d have thought tears would come before anger on this subject. “Are the troops really talking, or is this just from you, Willow?”
“It’s not from me,” Willow said evenly. “There are a lot of girls at this base and others that resent the fact that you have favorites - I mean, the Alpha group. And that’s your choice. But I think you should do something to show the troops that Satsu is an able leader, that she didn’t just…you know. A lot of the other Alphas are capable, and they‘re not happy about this.”
“Well, she gave the final command to the troops during the battle in Japan…and…” Buffy trailed off. “They’re all young and inexperienced - she did show initiative.”
“I’ll just bet she did,” Kennedy said sourly to herself, listening to the tape.
“Well, hey, it’s military, isn’t it?” Willow said brightly. “Get someone who isn’t a known friend of yours to do a performance review. Maybe follow with performance reviews of all the leaders. We couldn’t post the full results, but showing that we’re doing something like that might keep them from gossiping.”
“So send Kennedy to do Satsu’s performance review,” Buffy snapped.
“We just…I mean, I haven’t seen her in…”
Willow’s protest heartened Kennedy. At the same time, it unnerved her. If she hadn’t been feeling guilty about this, then what?
“Well, it fits your criteria,” Buffy said. “She can make a report, and everybody knows that we’re not friends.”
With good reason, bitch, Kennedy thought, lips quirking.
“Plus, you know you guys have the whole lesbian-sisterhood thing going on, so she’ll probably go easy on her,” Buffy finished.
“Fine.” And Willow’s voice gained an edge of irritation that Kennedy approved of, whether it was for Buffy’s remark or the ordering of her girlfriend out to Japan.
A pause.
“Willow, she wasn’t really sixteen, was she?”
“’Fraid so.”
And so, like that, a plane ticket was shoved in Kennedy’s hand, and she was sent off to put a stamp of approval on Buffy’s decision.
The snoring businessman beside her shifted, turning his head to snort in her direction. Disgusted, Kennedy tried elbowing him discreetly, as Willow would want, then gave up and bodily shifted him to lean the other way, and off of her. It was a partial victory - her ears still rang with the snotty sound of his snores.
With no other options, Kennedy unzipped her iPod pouch, digging for her earbuds to ride out the rest of the trip. Folded above her iPod, however, was a small paper note. Anticipating a little love letter from Willow, Kennedy took in the unfamiliar handwriting and jumped ahead to the signature. Buffy.
Kennedy,
Look, I know we don’t get along, but don’t take it out on Satsu, okay? She’s a good leader, and I think she deserved the base. Be nice in your report, and that’s an order.
Also, if you could bring me back some sushi from the base? Ship it in refrigerator packs or something. That was the best.
Thanks,
Buffy
Kennedy tore the note into bits and stuffed it inside the motion-sickness bag. The businessman beside her woke up at the loud noise and glared, but she followed with an even fiercer one. He subsided, turning away and snuggled into his buckwheat-stuffed traveling pillow.
She flung herself back in the seat, firmly resolved to not even visit the base. If all Buffy wanted was a report praising Satsu’s leadership abilities to the skies, she could scratch out a few lines in a hotel room before touring downtown Tokyo. Screw this assignment.
An altitude chime rang, and Kennedy glanced out the window to see the coastline of Japan appear, a smudge of light against the dark of the ocean as the sun began to set. She glowered at it with pure hate.
Summary: Kennedy is called to Japan to do a performance review. Witches and worlds collide and are torn down.
Rating: R - violence, swearing
Notes/Warnings: Began writing this after reading a promo for Buffy 8/22 - therefore, nothing of the Vamp/Slayer public relations war is included in this - spoilers through 8/19. Some slight Willow/Kennedy, though not the focus.
A high-class military organization, and they couldn’t even spring for an aisle seat.
Kennedy stared morosely out the window at the grey ocean below. Her legs were cramping and the Tylenol provided by the harried stewardess was doing nothing for the pulsing throb in her skull.
Fucking performance review. She was a soldier, a far cry from being a bureaucrat. Especially so when she had to eavesdrop on the conversations that preceded them, instead of being a party to them. But then, when all the decisions were made by the Sunnydale Three, one had to be resourceful, didn’t one? Especially when Willow made her guilty faces all the time and brushed Kennedy’s questions aside instead of telling her what was wrong.
She wasn’t a well-heeled brat for nothing, she thought with satisfaction.
“Look, Buffy, you need to do something about the rumor situation.”
“Rumor?” Kennedy’s ears strained to pick up the words from the small voice recorder she’d secreted in a drawer in the command room. “What rumors are those?”
“Well, your little…um…thing with Satsu?”
“That’s been over for some time, now, Willow.” Buffy’s exasperation came through the tape, and Kennedy could almost see her rolling her eyes.
“It’s not over for the girls, though,” Willow continued. “You promoted her pretty fast after that happened, and…well…you know what people say.”
“They’d do better to shut up, if that’s what they think of me,” Buffy snapped. A pause. “Willow…is that what you…?”
The silence continued.
“You can’t think that I’d do something like that…”
“I think you had the best intentions,” Willow said carefully. Kennedy knew that voice, it was the voice Willow used when she was attempting to avoid an argument. “But let’s face it. There are dozens of girls ready for leadership, and the one you just slept with happens to be the one handpicked for the new opening? She’s never even led the Alpha troop, several of whom are older than her.”
“I didn’t pick favorites!” The suspicious anger in Buffy’s voice surprised Kennedy - she’d have thought tears would come before anger on this subject. “Are the troops really talking, or is this just from you, Willow?”
“It’s not from me,” Willow said evenly. “There are a lot of girls at this base and others that resent the fact that you have favorites - I mean, the Alpha group. And that’s your choice. But I think you should do something to show the troops that Satsu is an able leader, that she didn’t just…you know. A lot of the other Alphas are capable, and they‘re not happy about this.”
“Well, she gave the final command to the troops during the battle in Japan…and…” Buffy trailed off. “They’re all young and inexperienced - she did show initiative.”
“I’ll just bet she did,” Kennedy said sourly to herself, listening to the tape.
“Well, hey, it’s military, isn’t it?” Willow said brightly. “Get someone who isn’t a known friend of yours to do a performance review. Maybe follow with performance reviews of all the leaders. We couldn’t post the full results, but showing that we’re doing something like that might keep them from gossiping.”
“So send Kennedy to do Satsu’s performance review,” Buffy snapped.
“We just…I mean, I haven’t seen her in…”
Willow’s protest heartened Kennedy. At the same time, it unnerved her. If she hadn’t been feeling guilty about this, then what?
“Well, it fits your criteria,” Buffy said. “She can make a report, and everybody knows that we’re not friends.”
With good reason, bitch, Kennedy thought, lips quirking.
“Plus, you know you guys have the whole lesbian-sisterhood thing going on, so she’ll probably go easy on her,” Buffy finished.
“Fine.” And Willow’s voice gained an edge of irritation that Kennedy approved of, whether it was for Buffy’s remark or the ordering of her girlfriend out to Japan.
A pause.
“Willow, she wasn’t really sixteen, was she?”
“’Fraid so.”
And so, like that, a plane ticket was shoved in Kennedy’s hand, and she was sent off to put a stamp of approval on Buffy’s decision.
The snoring businessman beside her shifted, turning his head to snort in her direction. Disgusted, Kennedy tried elbowing him discreetly, as Willow would want, then gave up and bodily shifted him to lean the other way, and off of her. It was a partial victory - her ears still rang with the snotty sound of his snores.
With no other options, Kennedy unzipped her iPod pouch, digging for her earbuds to ride out the rest of the trip. Folded above her iPod, however, was a small paper note. Anticipating a little love letter from Willow, Kennedy took in the unfamiliar handwriting and jumped ahead to the signature. Buffy.
Kennedy,
Look, I know we don’t get along, but don’t take it out on Satsu, okay? She’s a good leader, and I think she deserved the base. Be nice in your report, and that’s an order.
Also, if you could bring me back some sushi from the base? Ship it in refrigerator packs or something. That was the best.
Thanks,
Buffy
Kennedy tore the note into bits and stuffed it inside the motion-sickness bag. The businessman beside her woke up at the loud noise and glared, but she followed with an even fiercer one. He subsided, turning away and snuggled into his buckwheat-stuffed traveling pillow.
She flung herself back in the seat, firmly resolved to not even visit the base. If all Buffy wanted was a report praising Satsu’s leadership abilities to the skies, she could scratch out a few lines in a hotel room before touring downtown Tokyo. Screw this assignment.
An altitude chime rang, and Kennedy glanced out the window to see the coastline of Japan appear, a smudge of light against the dark of the ocean as the sun began to set. She glowered at it with pure hate.