“I see.” He murmured, reaching over to the side table and flicking through a file. “It says here that you got into an altercation with Private Fisher at last night’s social. Do you want to talk about that?”
“Her boyfriend was one of the guys on Team C. She needs someone to blame. I'm here. So she's blaming me.” I stood up and walked towards the bookcase. Pausing as I ran my fingers over the various titles.
“How does that make you feel?”
“I don’t feel anything about it. Not really.” I admitted. “I’m not Frankie, so it’s not remotely my fault. I wasn’t even there.”
“So you think the attack on Team C was Frankie's fault?” Dr. Lee concluded.
“I think that something attacked Team C,” I said. “Frankie lived long enough to get to a hospital. The rest of Team C died in seconds.”
“That’s not what I asked.” Dr. Lee's lip twitched sadly.
“I don’t think it's anyone's fault,” I admitted. “But I don’t care. I didn’t know these people. You're all Hunters, and I'm...not.” I tapped my pinkie against an out of place romance novel on the bottom shelf. Standing up, I pushed Frankie’s hair out of my face.
“Okay.” Dr. Lee nodded and picked up his notepad, flipping it open. “You said before that you don’t think you're a good person?”
“I’m so not.” I trilled a laugh.
“Can you elaborate?”
“No.” My answer was firm. I didn’t want to elude or even hint that I might be a Demon. I was confident that every word out of my mouth was going to go in a file somewhere to be perused by Davenport.
A thought occurred to me.
If Davenport was going to read my file, I might as well have some fun.
“I've had fantasies Doctor,” I admitted breathily. I wished that I could force a blush to rise on Frankie's cheeks. “I dream about Davenport tying me up. Spanking me. Making me do things.”
Dr. Lee quirked a brow. Amused. “Fantasies are normal. Healthy.”
Ahn-Jae Lee was hard to shake. My tone got deeper. More wanton. Jae leaned back in his chair to look at me as I circled his chair.
“I want to lick him all over. In front of everyone in the Mess Hall. I want to whip him. I want to—”
“Frankie.” Jae's tone was severe. “I know you're trying to change the subject.”
I sighed heavily and sunk back down onto the couch. “But this is so boring.” I moaned. “Everything here is so boring. There are no restaurants. No sex clubs. No Fae. No Sin. No crime. I want to go back to NYC.”
Jae made a note in his pad. “You aren't allowed out on any missions until you have completed your psych eval in two weeks, and have been cleared medically for duty.”
I snorted. “Davenport won't clear me. I'm out of the door as soon as whatever killed Team C is dust.”
Dr. Lee rolled his eyes. “You always have a place with the Hunter’s, Frankie.” He assured me. “Even if you never return to active duty. When a Hunter is Called, there is no going back.”
“Called?” I cocked my head to the side. “Do you guys have, like, a telemarketing platform? Like that Windows scam?”
“Called, Frankie,” Jae replied meaningfully.
“I told you, I'm not Frankie.”
“Why don't you feel like Frankie Gardiner?”
“Dude.” I sat up, shaking my head. “I don't feel like Frankie because I’m not her.”
“It’s common to feel like a different person after a traumatic event,” Jae replied earnestly.
I inhaled deeply and prayed to the Seven Circles for patience.
“What are you?” I asked instead of replying to his therapist's questions.
Jae turned his head to the side. I could see the cogs in his mind. Frankie would have known what he was. I could delve deep into her mind to find the answer, but her thoughts didn’t just float up. I had to watch through memories. It was tedious as Angel feathers.
“You taste like birthday cake.” I blurted out. “That’s why I said... Earlier...”
“I’m a Nephilim.” He said, studying me.
“Right.” I giggled nervously. A half Angel? Fuck a duck. “Are all of the Hunters here 'special,' like you and Hugo?”
“Some.” Jae's violet eyes focused on mine. “Team P. I'm on Davenport's squad.”
“P?” I gaped. “That’s a lot of Hunters.” A whole alphabet of Demon killers.
“P stands for Phoenix.” Jar explained.
“And C?”
“Cerberus.”
My eyes widened. “I’ve never met an Angel before.” I squirmed in my seat.
“Nervous?”
My borderline hysterical laughter was the answer.
“I'm just a person, Frankie.” He assured me. “I eat, sleep, and shit like the rest of us.”
My nose wrinkled. “Not at the same time, I hope.”
A snort escaped his nose. It was cute. He sobered quickly. “Have you had issues with your attention span since you were discharged from the hospital?”
“I’ve always been this way.” I beamed.
Dr. Lee’s intense gaze made me uncomfortable. His violet eyes looked right through me as if he knew what I was thinking and feeling. I saw the tentative emotion flash across his face as he debated how to voice something. “Frankie—”
“Not Frankie.” My smile tightened and became brittle.
“Okay.” He nodded, looking back down to his notepad. “You said that Davenport knows your true identity?”
I nodded.
“Do you feel like you can talk to Warren about what’s bothering you? You mentioned that you have had fantasies about him—”
“I’m going to stop you there, Doc.” I waved my hands in front of my face. “I have fantasies about everyone. I’ve imagined you naked and sticking your cock in a watermelon, and I only just met you.”
“A watermelon?” His voice pitched as Jae Lee shook his head to banish the image.
I licked my lips and leaned forward, smiling in earnest. “I think about sex all the time.”
“Again,” He reminded me. “This is healthy. Unless you start to engage in dangerous activities, such as unprotected—”
“I’m a virgin.” I interrupted. “But I want to lose my virginity soon.”
“That’s a big step.”
I eyed him shrewdly. “You’re beautiful. Maybe we could—”
Jae Lee stood up and slammed his notebook down on the side table. “Enough.” He said, his lip twitched. He found me funny. I could tell. “I know what you’re doing.”
“What am I doing?” I asked innocently.
“You’re trying to make me uncomfortable, so I will end the session.”
“Is it working?”
“No.” He glanced at the door.
“Darn.”
“Frankie,” Dr. Lee said my name like a warning. A put upon sigh. “I think you might be having issues adjusting after your accident. I think that you are a strong and brave woman who doesn’t like to talk about her feelings. It is my opinion that you are perfectly healthy and mentally well. Aside from a possible ADHD and imposter syndrome diagnosis. Both of which are common for women in stressful and professionally demanding environments.”
“ADHD?” I repeated, choking on air.
He nodded. “We would need more sessions for a true diagnosis. The goal of today’s session was to talk about your feelings towards Riley Fisher and to resolve a possible workplace conflict. I believe we have done that.”
I tapped my fingers against my thighs. Anything to keep my hands busy. I glanced at the doctor to try and gauge if he was serious. I looked away and then looked back. His expression hadn’t changed.