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On the rare occasions when she’d stuck her nose in, she’d regretted it.

We’re a top-secret shifter sanctuary in the middle of nowhere, run entirely on less-than-legal gold, she’d protested as Robb had closed his eyes and shook his head grimly, apparently appalled at what he was seeing. Or not seeing. What need could we possibly have for policy documents that exist for the sole purpose of playing by human rules?

It never hurts to cover your bases, he’d said. And anyway, they’re not just there for decoration. They’re there to help make sure that accountability and transparency are upheld. And to make sure that staff and the organization alike are protected.

Tahnee had thrown her hands up in the air at that.

Whatever, she’d grumbled, as Robb had printed out a WorkSafe poster and stuck it on the break room wall.

She’d been grumpy at him for the rest of that day, wondering if their styles really were too different – but now, looking back, she was glad for it all. While things had worked well before, they ran like clockwork now, and her team were making their own suggestions for further improvements, emboldened by the presence of someone who actually enjoyed flowcharts and process manuals.

It had helped greatly that Robb still deferred to her authority about the running of the sanctuary and that he respected her team’s expertise in general, seemingly happy to no longer be the one with all the responsibility on his shoulders. It genuinely felt like he was here to understand how things worked and to help out, rather than to stomp all over everything and remake it in the Agency’s image.

It might have taken a while, but now they were a team. A real team.

Beyond that, he was helping out with their security processes as well. While Hargreaves were much less of an issue now, there were likely still pockets of them lurking out there, and it was always best to be prepared. And who knew what other threats might come out of the woodwork?

Robb’s links with official channels and top-secret defense tech complemented Liam’s network of less-conventional contacts and his team’s love of creating their own devices, and the two of them worked together well. Tahnee had wandered into Liam’s office on more than one occasion just to see the two of them huddled together over a screen, thick as thieves, as they looked at specs for whatever the latest gizmo was.

Not that that was likely to happen again for a while, as Robb’s presence meant that Liam had finally been able to take a year-long sabbatical to spend more time with his family.

Keeping up with all the latest threats to the sanctuary’s security had led to a lot of unofficial overtime for Liam, and now that Tahnee was making her staff actually report their exact hours, she could see that people were at risk of burning themselves out for the love of the sanctuary.

Whenever she’d brought up the possibility of people doing excessive overtime in the past, they’d always minimized her concerns with jokes and dismissive handwaves and general evasiveness – and she’d let them, her aversion to authority extending to herself. As far as she’d been concerned, they were free to do whatever they wanted.

Well, there’ll be no more of that.

Not that she was about to become a tyrant, or even just strict. But she was going to actually keep track of overtime from now on, and to make sure her people were taking their leave.

Last she’d heard, Liam and his family were eating wildly overpriced lobster rolls at the Salamanca markets in Hobart, and apparently having a great time.

And Robb was great with the rest of her staff, too. Which she’d known would be the case on an intellectual level – no one could hold together a team with Rhys, Hector, and Trent, and not be good at people management – but it was another thing to see it in action.

Even though his reserved style was pretty much the opposite of her gregarious nature, he seemed to have an innate knack for knowing exactly which people needed gentle guidance, and which ones needed a firm hand.

She could see, though, that she was having an effect on him as much as he was having an effect on her. He was more relaxed than when he’d started. More approachable. His method of dealing with problems became less rigid, and more flexible.

The two of them made each other better.

They completed each other.

A lot of the younger staff seemed to see Robb as a mentor figure, and it made her heart sing to see him doing what he did best. The brolga always got a warm and fuzzy feeling whenever it saw him doing anything it interpreted as having a fatherly air, and Tahnee had to admit that she felt the same.

He really seems happy, she thought now. Like he found the missing piece in his life.

Still, she knew he missed his team from the Agency – despite their regular contact – and so she’d organized this little get-together at the sanctuary.

‘One-year Agency retirement anniversary’ had been her official excuse for it – but really, did they need an excuse to get together with friends?

“Hi, Tahnee! It’s good to see you again.” Delilah, Euan’s mate, gave her a hug as she walked up to her, and Euan nodded to Tahnee in greeting.

“Hello, you two,” Tahnee said when Delilah pulled back. “How’s the exhibition going?”

Delilah was an artist in Sydney, and Tahnee had been following her work with interest. She didn’t know much about the art world, but she did know that Delilah was very good – and, by all accounts, very successful. Her works went for eye-watering amounts of money, though Delilah had donated the ones currently hanging in Tahnee’s office, and had refused all payment.

“Exhausting,” said Delilah honestly. “But also exciting. When the invites go out, you’ll be the first to get one.”

“I’d better be,” Tahnee said with a laugh. “And how are things going with you, Euan?”