The Boss Of Me

Chapter 1 - Top Dog

Anti growled as he paced around his makeshift office, hands behind his back and attention on the floor.
He told them ten minutes.
His tail flicked from side to side. The more time passed, the more he bared his fangs.
Ten. Minutes.
His pacing stopped abruptly when the large door to the warehouse jolted and began to rise, letting daylight slowly seep inside, revealing the various crates that lined the edges of the walls.
He walked to the window and looked down at his guests, tail still flicking behind him as they slowly trudged in to the centre, rubbing sore spots and fresh cuts with accompanying groans. None of them seemed to realise that he was there above them. The again, none of them were looking up. Each person was looking at the floor while they poorly nursed their injuries and one of them walked to the cabinets at the far end of the room for the first aid kit.
Anti growled again, abruptly spinning on his heel and marching out of his office. The sudden slam of a door hitting against a wall made everyone else jump and look toward the stairs, watching as Anti walked down them, somehow managing to remain just above the line of sun that shrank as the door shuddered down behind the group.
"I said ten fucking minutes." He started, looking at each of the men stood before him when he came to a halt before them. "Ten. Fucking. Minutes. TEN. An HOUR later, you all show up!" He bared his fangs, once again, looking around to each of them, daring one to speak.
"We...got caught up...sommon saw us an' ambushed us." The guy behind Anti mumbled.
Anti span on his heel again, glaring at the one who spoke with death in his eyes, his hands clasped tightly behind his back.
"What was that, Daniel? You said something? Are you trying to tell me of your incompetence?" Anti snarled, gripping his own hand tightly behind his back in an attempt to keep his calm.
"I-...I...erm..." Daniel cleared his throat, speaking a little louder. "I said we got ambushed, Sir. We were...in the van an'...some...erm...." He glanced over his boss' shoulder to the rest of the group, seeing some of them slowly shaking their heads in silent warning while others looked shocked. Scared, even. Nevertheless, he continued when his eyes met Anti's once again. "...so-...sommon saw us, Sir. I guess they knew who we were or sommut. 'Cause, next thing we know, we're bein' shot at an'...well, we had to deal wid it, you tol' us not ta...ta bring people back here if there were any trouble. So, we had a rough and came back like you said." He finished, smiling as though he were proud of his little explanation.
Anti didn't share his pride.
"You...were ambushed?" He whispered, smiling slightly as he stressed the word. "Someone recognised you?"
Daniel nodded. "Yes, Sir. I...guess so? We...we sorted 'em, though! All dead. Promise."
Everyone around Anti and Daniel took a step away from them, sensing the air around the two shift as they spoke.
"You...promise." Anti smiled again, putting on an air of mocking happiness as he spoke, turning to the others for a moment, waving his hand in the air. "Well, that's alright, then! They're all gone and you promise!" He turned back to Daniel, directing the waving gesture to him, now. "It's not as though someone knowing who you are will make any difference to our jobs if they're dead, right? As long as you promise. Right?" At this point, his smile looked almost painful to maintain, his open hand folding in on itself to make a fist. The shine in his eye not matching the happy tone to his voice or the slight twitch in his lip that revealed his fangs just a fraction more.
Daniel swallowed thickly, daring to take a small step back as Anti spoke. The corner of his mouth twitched with a nervous smile. "Y-yes, Sir. I mean! No, Sir. They won't cause no trouble." He laughed a little, scared. "All dead, so, no problem."
Anti lowered his hand, managing to turn his smile to a kinder one as he looked at his employee. He gave a short nod, stepping closer to Daniel.
"Yes. No problem." He repeated, clasping his hands behind his back once more. "No problem at all."
Again, Daniel swallowed thickly, slowly starting to walk backwards when his boss got a little too close for comfort, though Anti had only taken one step. His back eventually hit the brick wall and he glanced behind him. When he turned back he jumped, unintentionally letting out a yelp as he saw how close Anti had gotten in the moment it had taken him to turn.
He hadn't heard him move.
"I really regret to inform you...Daniel..." He started, walking forwards and talking slowly, his voice calm. "...that you don't seem to understand the situation. Someone knew who you were and, because you killed the group who attacked you, you think we're safe?" He asked, giving a small, encouraging smile as he stopped before him.
Daniel went to copy the smile, but faltered. Instead, he gave a small nod in reply.
" It doesn't work like that, now, does it? Think about it. We all work together, hmm? But, we're not always together, are we?" Anti continued, softening his voice more, even though the stress that he placed on his words was giving Daniel a good look at his fangs.
This time, Daniel replied with a small shake of his head, looking down for a moment to try and break the tension between them, only to instantly realise that he made it worse, forcing him to look back up into the mismatched eyes of his boss.
Anti waited until Daniel had looked up to continue. "No. Sometimes, I send three or four of you out while the rest stay here. More than once, those people have returned to tell us that they recognised someone we need to...visit. Have they not?" His tone was sickeningly sweet, as if he was explaining maths to a child.
Another nod in reply.
Anti continued once again. "And, when they have, I've sent out more of you to get them, haven't I? I stay here, knowing that we saw someone in the city that we need. While you lot go out to take care of it." His tone took a slightly higher pitch as he spoke, adding more sickly to the sweet while making Daniel feel like he was sinking beneath the condescending glare. "So, let us turn the tables, yes? If you all get killed, I still know that the person is out there in the city. All I need to do is track them down with another team to finish the job. And, because I know they're out there, they can still be killed." Anti nodded his head ever so slightly as he spoke, keeping eye contact with Daniel. "So. Turn the tables back. How do we know that they have not got the same operation as us, hmm?" At this point, his questions were no longer questions. Daniel was a child under an adults' glare. He finally understood that he'd misbehaved. He was to be punished.
He looked back down, giving a tiny shrug as he managed to find enough strength in his voice to mumble a reply. "We...don't, Sir."
Anti continued to look at him, shrugging a little while giving a Moriarty "oops" smile. "That's right. We don't."
It took a few seconds for Daniel to work up the courage to look up at his boss. When he did, Anti snatched both the opportunity and his neck, lifting him up from the floor with a snarl.
"I cannot afford mistakes. Do you understand me, boy?" He stressed, eyes glowing as he tightened his grip.
In the air, Daniel struggled and coughed. His hands flew up to Anti's, trying desperately to pry it off so he could breathe once more.
Anti hissed, gripping his neck tighter, beginning the choke the life out of him. Behind the scene, the others watched, horrified, but, too scared to stop it. By now, they should have been used to Anti's outbursts, but...as Daniel's lifeless body fell to the floor, they realised that they could never get used to watching as their teammates died.
Anti closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath to collect himself as he placed a hand on his chest. When he opened them, he looked towards Daniel at his feet, watching blood pool under his neck from where Anti had dug his nails into the sides.
"That was...unintentional." He mumbled under his breath, looking over the cuts properly, wondering if it was the lack of air that killed him, or if he hit some sort of vital piece in his neck that would kill him if a sharp object was buried deep enough inside.
His thoughts dispersed as he remembered his employees stood behind him. He smiled a genuine, calm smile, turning to face them with the hand that was still on his chest covered in Daniel's blood.
"One of you clean this up, would you? I have to make sure we haven't gotten ourselves into any trouble after your little dogfight in the street. When you're done, bandage yourselves up and go on a beer run or something. We're done for today." He turned away from them, waving a dismissive hand over his shoulder as he walked back to the stairs that lead to his office, only half listening to the mumbles of 'yes, boss' that echoed behind him.
When he reached the top of the stairs, he stopped, hearing someone speak, and turned to look down to whoever had now decided they didn't hear that they were done for the day.
"Anti? Sir?" Max asked from the bottom step, his hand on the rail as if he were about to ascend them.
"What is it." He demanded, in less of a good mood now than when they had first arrived.
"Erm...Sir, I was wondering if the, er...the beer run-" He started.
Anti snapped. "Spit it out, I'm busy!"
Max jumped, snatching his hand away from the rail like it had burned him as he took a step back, still looking up at his boss.
"Sorry, Sir! I was wondering if the beer run means you want one? I mean...do...do you want one of us to bring a pack up to you when we get back?" He asked, almost standing to attention, he looked so stiff.
Anti sighed, looking away from Max as he rubbed his eyes, shaking his head, "Whatever." He waved a hand in the general direction of the door. "Just...bandage up, do the run. If you want to kiss my ass that badly, bring me a pack up." He opened his eyes, lowering his hand as he walked towards his office door, his voice tired and careless. "Just make sure you knock when you get up here." He added, going into his office, not truly caring about whether or not his little addition was heard.
He wouldn't mind replacing two men.