Terri walked into Hades Headquarters and pulled off the jeans jacket. Her mind was miles away, back in the bar with Logan, as she walked up to her office and carelessly tossed the jacket onto a chair and sat behind her well-ordered desk. Maps and piles of computer printouts were stacked in neat piles, the screen-saver on the computer scrolling by, reading "What are YOU looking at? I AM working!". She pulled out the keyboard from under the desk and activated the screen, checking her e-mail. There was nothing requiring her immediate attention, so she pulled over a stack of papers and began going over the financial records for a company named Anderson International. They were looking to hire the Team to strong arm a competitor called Walker Enterprises. Tom had asked her to compile the financial records for both companies, and find out the motive behind the needed strong arm tactics.

Two hours later she was still looking at the first page, not really seeing it. Her mind refused to focus on the work in front of her, regardless of there being a deadline set by Tom to have this done by noon tomorrow. Her mind was instead focused on Logan and what she had said about her Team. That they were trouble, and that she was in it. And the more she thought about it, the angrier she got at him.

How DARE he try to tell her who she should be or what she should do! Who was he to tell her that the people who were her Team were bad news and that all she was doing was getting into trouble? He didn't even KNOW them. Not personally. He had never spent any time with them! He certainly hadn't stopped by the office and talked to any of them. Chances are the only thing he knew about any of them were their basic backgrounds. It was possible that he had found Tom's service records. She knew they weren't the best recommendation for the Team, but Logan should know that people can change, and that they are not always the same as they appear on paper.

She sighed as she attempted to balance a pencil on it's eraser. He couldn't possibly understand her motives for joining. Or her reasons for staying. She had started to try to explain it, but when he had jumped into the whole parental-concern-thing, she had just given up. She understood the motives. He had watched out for her safety when she was just a child. She supposed there was some residual left. But when he had sat there so calmly and told her that her Team was made up of questionable characters, and that he was sure that her parents wouldn't approve, that was the end of the conversation.

"Hey, Terri!" The deep voice of Pit Bull came from the doorway and she looked up and smiled. "You know," he said, "we're not on a mission, and the office closes at six, so what are you still sitting here for?" he smiled, and his long tongue lolled out of his mouth, good-naturedly.

"I know, Pete." Terri smiled a little tired. "I've just got a lot on my mind." She opened the desk drawer and dropped the pencil inside, then carefully stacked the papers and put them on a corner of her desk. She saw Pete move into the office and shut the door and she looked up at him and gave him a tired smile.

Of all the members of the Team, Pete was her favorite, and her best and closest friend in the whole world. She knew he could tell she was distracted and wanted to talk about it; she understood it as being part of having heightened senses. Pete had said it was almost like having an empath, because just like a dog can scent fear, he could scent it too, and a whole range of emotions and feelings, thanks to that sensitive nose. It was one of the things she liked about Pete. He always knew when she was upset, or happy, and was always willing to share in either the misery or joy. And, like her, he found life as a Hades Member as exciting as she did. They both got a rush out of the danger, the tension, and the thrill of the chase.

Pete sat down on the desk, and neither one of them really cared that it messed up the stacks of paper. He just looked at her with those soft brown eyes and waited, knowing that eventually, she would find the words to say what was on her mind. He almost smiled. For a woman who had graduated from Vasser with a degree in Public Relations, she sometimes had problems putting together the words to say what was on her mind. He found it endearing, that the Smooth PR rep was only smooth on camera, and otherwise had the tendency to end up with her foot in her mouth.

"I just don't like it when people jump to conclusions when they don't have any concrete evidence proving that you're scum." Terri finally blurted out, and Pete spent a few moments, while Terri frowned at her desk, sifting through the different scents to try to figure out what brought that on, and what that meant, exactly.

"I don't blame you." Pete said when Terri finally looked up at him. "So who said we were scum?" He figured this might have something to do with her afternoon meeting, but wasn't going to put words in her mouth.

"Logan." Terri said, her tone a little sulking, and Pete smiled. For all the she was an adult, and only a year younger than he was, she was still such a kid in some ways. "He said you guys were all trouble, and then topped it off by coming across like my father and saying he didn't approve! Christ! The way he sounded, you'd think he was still in the employ of my parents. And it's not like he has the right to approve or disapprove. He doesn't know you guys. And he doesn't even know me anymore. Hell, Pete, it's been eighteen years! I'm not the same little kid anymore."

Pete nodded. "Nope, you're not." He agreed, deciding not to tell her much like a little kid she sounded right now. "yeah, she might hit me." He thought, and almost grinned. Instead he met her eyes and shook his head. "You grew up, I'd guess. So can I ask you something?"

"You know you can, Pete." Terri said, a tone of exasperation in her tone, suggesting he should already know the answer to that one. But Pete felt it best not to assume anything with Terri, as she had an unpredictable temper.

"Why do you care?" Pete asked bluntly. Tact was still a trait he was working on, and sometimes things still came out bluntly. Terri never held it against him.

Terri looked up and saw the honest curiosity and hint of defiance in his deep brown eyes. She thought for a minute and decided he had a point. Why did she care? What difference did it make what Logan thought of her or the Team? He didn't know them, and he didn't know her. So his opinion was uninformed at best, and ignorant at worst. Still, for some reason, it did matter. She did care. "I dunno." She finally said. "Maybe it's because he was my hero as a kid. Maybe it's because he was more of a father than my father was. Maybe it's because I still have a problem believing that I have a place here, that I have the respect of the people here. Maybe . . ."

"That's bullshit, Terri, and you know it." Pete said plainly. There was no malice, and he was careful to put it simply and in a matter of fact tone. "You know you have a place here. You've been here for almost four years. You were one of the first to make the cut before we ever decided to go public. And do you honestly think Reynolds would let you stay if he didn't respect you?"

Terri laughed quietly. "No. He's toss me out so fast my grandchildren would spin around and ask 'what was that'?!?" she sighed. "It's still taking some getting used to. Mom and Dad didn't exactly make me feel like I had a place in their lives, you know."

Pete nodded. They had talked about her past a couple years ago, and he knew she had a self-image problem. In all honestly, he wouldn't mind roughing up "Marc and Mitzie" a bit for how they had managed to give Terri such a rotten self-esteem. "And if they didn't really want you around, how can we, right?" he asked.

Terri nodded, still frowning. "I know it's stupid." She said. "And I'm getting there. And now Logan comes around, after 17 almost 18 years, the guy who was my hero, kind of like a father and a best friend when I was little, and he says he doesn't approve, and that my friends are losers." She shrugged. "It hurt."

Pete slipped of the desk and gathered her into his arms, picking her up and taking her place in the desk chair and placing her on his lap. He, better than anyone else Terri was associated with, understood her, and knew sometimes before she did what she needed. And right now, Terri needed someone to hold her and assure her that her instincts about the team were not wrong. "I know." Pete said simply. "He was someone you respected and liked, and he questioned your decisions and your intelligence, and didn't give you credit for being old enough to make smart choices, and it made you second guess yourself. And he was wrong, Terri. He had no right to do that. He doesn't know us, and he doesn't know you anymore. And you are old enough and smart enough to know what's right for you. And he doesn't know enough about you or us to have the right to judge."

He wasn't telling her anything she didn't already know, but Pete knew Terri needed to hear it. And at the same time he paid attention to the residual scents on Terri's clothing. He disregarded Doolie's, knowing he wasn't the cause, and found the scent of the aggressive protective male who scented a little like metal. He made a mental note to talk to Reynolds, and he'd keep his nose to the wind. And if he ever found the guy, he definitely had some words to give to this . . . Logan.

Terri nodded, and Pete gauged the scent. She was beginning to feel a little better, and was done being hurt. Now it was just angry, and residual disappointment. Pete could almost hear the sounds of a breaking childhood dream, and barely managed to restrain the growl. Terri had had enough dreams broken, and Pete was beginning to believe that the next person who broke one for her was going to learn the hard way why Pit Bulls had a reputation for tenacity, as his teeth found their throat and he didn't let go.

He hugged her briefly and, allowing a little wildness enter into his eyes he gave her a kind of doggy-grin. "Ya want me to go rough him up for ya, babe?" he asked, joking with her. They both knew it was not a serious threat, "At least not yet," Pete thought, and it helped release the last of the tension.

Terri laughed and hugged him, grateful that Pete was here, that he was on the team, and that he cared so much about her. "Nah, that's all right. Don't worry about it!" Terri affected a fake New York accent and grinned. "Ain't nuthin' I can't handle. And don't you forget it, buster." She flicked a finger over his nose and he mock-snapped at it, his powerful jaws coming extremely close to nipping off the tip of her finger.

"I'll give you something to handle, babe," Pete growled. "I know just how to help you work off some of that angry energy." His tone was very suggestive as he picked her up and slung her over one shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She gave a little squeak of protest as he carried her out of the office, closing the door behind them, and toted her off down the hall, heading to the gym for a work-out. He could almost hear the bell ring, starting round one.