“That should be just about it, Mrs. Brayer.  Once the rest of your family gets here, we’ll be ready to finalize the adoption,” Bridget said with a gentle smile down to the Alpha standing atop her desk at Aegis, her fingers neatly crossed together a few paces away on the surface.

            “That’s wonderful,” the woman answered as she gazed up at the colossal figure before her, relief evident in her words.  She placed a hand over her heart.  “After all the… horrible things that have happened, you know, I had so hoped this would be able to go through without any problems.”

            “I understand,” Bridget said truthfully, shuddering in memory of the file that had been placed before her a week before.  Casey Ross, an eight-year-old Beta, had been abandoned by her Alpha parents in their home, which they’d fled without a trace and without a word of explanation to their child after emptying their savings.  The young girl had been left alone on the kitchen table for five full days with only a few scraps of food and a low dish of water to sustain her, until the concerned Mrs. Brayer and her husband, knowing of the girl’s incredibly strained home life, had come by to check on the lack of communication with Casey, who happened to be their Alpha daughter Esther’s only friend.  After the abused Beta had received medical attention, the decision was quickly made with Casey’s and Esther’s enthusiastic support to adopt the essentially orphaned girl.

            The case had caused something of a stir the day it came in to the facility.  A couple of the enforcers had even started looking into tracking down the Rosses to ensure they received their comeuppance to the fullest extent allowable by the law, and probably then some, though nothing had shown up yet.  Meanwhile, Bridget had been handed the case after an emergency had arisen for its previous handler, though the speedy transition for the family to help put Casey back into a safe place as soon as possible, surrounded by the only loved ones she had left in the world, was already in its final stages.

            “Mrs. Brayer, I do need to ask one final thing.  As your case worker now, it’s my job to make sure every… possible eventuality is accounted for,” Bridget prefaced with a casual glance over the rest of the pristine white office, empty save for the two of them.

            “Yes?”

            “Esther and Casey are very close, aren’t they?”

            “They’re inseparable,” Mrs. Brayer said with a warm chortle.  “Honestly, I… I couldn’t be happier.  Esther’s had such trouble making friends at school.  She’s always been more of a loner, and then when she met Casey… well, I guess you could call them kindred spirits.”

            “And Esther is seven years old, if I’m not mistaken?” Bridget said, quickly thumbing through the file for confirmation.

            “Yes, she is.  Why?”

            “I’m aware that they spend a great deal of time together, and that she has had plenty of practice in handling Casey.  Of course, there is no mandated test or licensing issue for her handling a Beta.  I just… have to ensure, for the sake of Casey’s complete safety…”

            “Oh, absolutely,” Mrs. Brayer said with a nod, realizing where this was going.  “My husband and I decided that the three of us are going to be taking a short course, for the extra practice of handling her.  Esther will go too, of course, but I have to say, she’s become so wonderful at it in such a brief time, I think she’ll hardly need it.  Whenever we go somewhere with Casey, actually, she always just wants to be held by Esther.”

            “That is good,” Bridget answered with an amiable smirk.  “I’ll make a note of it.”

            “You’ll see when she gets here.  Esther’s really quite marvelous.  She would sooner let herself trip and fall than see a hair on Casey’s head harmed.”

            “I see,” said the Omega with a reassuring nod, warmed by this added explanation.  “I guess there’s absolutely no cause for concern on our end, then.”

            “None at all.  I think they should be getting here any minute,” Mrs. Brayer said.  At that moment, a blue light blinked on Bridget’s desk with a soft “ping” to alert them of the elevator’s arrival across the office space.

            “Perfect timing.  We can go pick them up, then,” Bridget said, laying her palm flat on the desk for the woman to board, which she did gingerly over the massive outstretched fingertips.  The sound of the sliding doors shutting quietly echoed in the otherwise empty room.  “All set?”

            “Yes!”

            “Great.  Now, we’ll just…” Bridget said, rising slowly to her feet and keeping her arm rock-steady with practiced focus, when her eyes met with the person entering Aegis, and she paused, biting her lip.

            “Is something the matter?” Mrs. Brayer asked sweetly, instantly noticing the startled look of anxiety on Bridget’s face.

            “No.  Sorry about that.  Let’s go pick up your family,” Bridget said, returning her attention entirely to the eager Alpha and making her way toward the pick-up zone, ignoring her mother Evelyn for the time being, who silently took a seat in an empty desk and began waiting patiently for the enforcer to return.

            In short order, Bridget had Mr. and Mrs. Brayer loaded up in one hand from the elevator, and Esther and Casey in the other.  She noted that the Beta seemed to tremble briefly at the sight of someone so comparatively monumental as Bridget, though with a delighted tingle, she caught sight of Esther whispering something inaudible to her friend that got her to relax again almost immediately.

            Once they’d returned to her desk, Bridget had to keep tearing her eyes away from the sight of the girls to avoid appearing peculiar to the Brayer family, though it was awfully difficult.  If Mrs. Brayer’s glowing review of her young daughter’s handling hadn’t utterly reassured the correctness of this family union, then seeing Esther and Casey with her own eyes for the first time certainly did.

            Even with the difference in their scale, Bridget could tell immediately that Esther’s form was perfect.  Despite being seven years old, her arm was clearly trained by now to barely wobble in any direction side to side or up and down as she held Casey in her upturned palm.  Her fingers were curled in just enough to provide a protective barrier, yet they still allowed the Beta room to move about freely.  Her eyes darted down regularly to make sure her friend was still secure, but the rest of the time she appeared calmly alert about her surroundings.

            Bridget wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but her years of personally unwavering dedication to the safety of every being of all sizes on the planet had made her an intensely critical judge of handling techniques.  Most Alphas and Omegas held the belief that anyone could learn to be good enough to keep smaller beings acceptably safe, but she didn’t share that sentiment.  She’d often have to hold her tongue when she’d see an Alpha’s hand quivering or tipping even slightly when a Beta was on board.  It struck Bridget as sloppy and selfish.

            She had no such critique to make of Esther.  The girl clearly cared a great deal for her friend, and evidently was aware of the responsibility in taking a life equally as significant as her own into her hand, however briefly.  It was subtle, and something most wouldn’t be able to distinguish, but Bridget’s keen eyes noticed it, and it warmed her heart tremendously.

            The Omega hadn’t seen dedication like that since…

            “So are we all set?” Mr. Brayer asked with an earnest smile, interrupting Bridget’s train of thought as she had to pull her gaze away from the adorable pair of young friends and soon-to-be sisters again.  The Alpha couple had just finished making a few taps on the screen of Bridget’s tablet to officiate the adoption.

            “Yes.  All set,” Bridget confirmed.  “Congratulations to all of you.”

            “Hear that, Casey?” Esther gasped, positively quivering with glee but, incredibly, still keeping her hand absolutely steady.  “It’s done!”

            “We’re sisters?” peeped the enthralled squeal of Casey’s voice such that even Bridget could hear it, her miniscule arms flapping enthusiastically.

            “That’s right,” the Omega replied with a smile, careful not to let her voice boom too powerfully as she directly addressed Casey.

            The young Alpha brought her palm up close to her cheek and nuzzled the Beta against it, who in turn stood up and hugged herself against Esther’s face.

            Bridget was almost certain she’d melt into an emotional puddle if she didn’t force herself to blink and return her attention to the Brayers, though she was unable to keep a goofily happy smile off her lips.

            “Thank you so much,” Mrs. Brayer said with another relieved laugh, obviously noticing the look of shared joy on their case worker’s billboard-sized face.

            “If there’s anything else you need, please don’t hesitate to contact me.  We’ll check back with you in six months, and the best of luck to you all,” Bridget promised with a convivial twinkle in her green eyes, glancing again at Casey and Esther, who were still lovingly managing the closest version of a hug they could.

            As soon as the elevator containing the newly expanded Brayer family was boarded and descending to the subway system below, Bridget felt her mother’s hand on her shoulder.

            “Bridge…” Evelyn Cade began as gently as she could.

            “Please don’t call me that, Mom.  I’m not ten anymore,” the enforcer requested with a stiff upper lip.

            “All right,” the woman replied, knowing perfectly well that the real reason for her daughter’s sudden distancing from the shortening of her name had nothing to do with her age.  “Can we talk?”

            Taking a deep breath, Bridget wanted nothing more than to cut off the oncoming subject with her mother and never speak of it again to her, but knowing there was no real escaping it forever considering the pair of them would soon be living under the same roof as Alexandra for the better part of two years, she bit her lip and realized it had to be dealt with sooner or later.

            “Why don’t we go sit at my desk?” Evelyn suggested tenderly, wrapping her arm around her daughter’s shoulders and leading her in the right direction.

            Bridget’s eyes darted furtively toward the entrance to Aegis, fearful that someone else would join them in the room and she’d be forced to discuss the matter in front of anyone other than her mother, but luckily there was no one in sight.

            The pair silently took a seat near the corner of the massive office space, where the elder Cade worked as an urban planner for Aegis, with a focus on designing structures and thoroughfares that safely accommodated mixed class commutes.  A tablet with a partially constructed blueprint onscreen sat on her desk, but she quickly waved it away and casually placed a fist over her lips to study her daughter.

            “Well,” Evelyn sighed.  “Is she home already?”

            “Yes,” Bridget said as she leaned against her mother’s desk.

            “And I’m guessing, then, you already started her…”

            “Sessions.  Yes.”

            The woman placed a hand over her eyes, stroking her forehead, then threaded her fingers through her own yellow locks, just a few hues brighter than her daughter’s but without the curls.  “Then you probably already know what I’m going to say.”

            “Go ahead anyway,” Bridget conceded.

            “Are you sure you’re up for this?” she asked.  “You know I and everyone else would understand if you just…”

            “Yes, I’m sure,” the enforcer cut in confidently.

            “Honey, there’s no need for this.  You don’t have to… prove something to anyone, or her.”

            “I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone,” Bridget lied through her teeth, crossing her arms indignantly and leaning further back as she sat on the edge of the desk.  “It’s just a job.  I’m doing my job.”

            “No, it’s not just a job.  And you’d be a pretty poor enforcer if you’d convinced yourself otherwise,” Evelyn continued with brutal honesty.  “But you’re not.  You’re one of the best they have.  So why are you doing this?”

            “Because a lot of innocent people were hurt by someone I know… used to know… wouldn’t put a finger on anyone without asking twice first,” Bridget scowled, less at her mother and more at the return to the painful subject, before adding with a rhetorical huff: “What am I supposed to do?”

            “Let someone else handle it.  That’s what.  You’re going to let this eat you up, and don’t pretend you’re not.”

            “I’m a big girl.  I can take it,” Bridget declared.

            “You are.  You’re incredibly strong, honey, but that’s not what this is about.”

            “Then what is it about, Mom?”

            At that moment, the sliding doors opened up across the room and Melody King entered, her hair done up in a ponytail.  She gave the pair an acknowledging nod and somewhat embarrassed grimace, fully aware of whose custody Alexandra was in, before making her way to her desk.  Taking a seat, then, she delicately deposited what appeared from that distance to be a pill onto the surface a few dozen feet away from her hands and got to work.

            Despite knowing the gently reserved Omega wouldn’t dream of eavesdropping on the conversation purposefully, Bridget took the sudden prompting of additional company to seal her lips and slide off of Evelyn’s desk, effectively ending the exchange.

            If nothing else, this conversation had shown her just how it important her next moves with Alexandra were going to be, and how vital it was to stay the course with unflinching resolve.

            Silently, she renewed her vow.  She would have answers and justice for all in equal measure.  That much was certain.

            “It’s about you wanting everything to be like it was again.  Believe me, honey, I love her as much as I know you still do,” her mother explained in a hush after an agonized pause, her eyes pleading with her daughter almost as much as her strained words.  “It’s about you getting hurt over something that might not have a happy ending, no matter how much you want it to.”

            “I don’t get hurt,” Bridget answered frigidly as she turned her back on her mother and marched toward the sliding doors.