Aaron and Natasha walked out of the conference room and onto the access road where a worried Andre, Harry, James and Margaret were waiting for them.
"Harry, demolish this conference room. We won't be needing one until the headquarters if finished. Make sure those remains are fully pulverized." said Aaron coldly.
"S-sure boss." stammered Harry, as he looked at the blood splattered across the walls and floor.
"Andre, any leads on the truck or those bombers?" asked Aaron.
"Yeah, we managed to run the plates, it was stolen from a local rental company - Terri logistics. And we got lucky with the prints of one of the bombers on Mario's duffle bag. Belonged to a guy named Hakim Hussein, nothing on his record except for the fact that he was an Iraqi student here on a visa." said Andre.
"Anybody looking for him?" asked Aaron.
"No missing persons reports so far, but we caught the truck just night before last, so it's likely that his friends and family have not started to panic yet." said Andre.
"Fine. I want this handled quietly Andre. I'm in no mood for a circus, and we're not ready for the attention a formal investigation will bring yet." said Aaron, his voice cold and commanding.
"Yes sir. I'll take care of it." said Andre.
Aaron nodded curtly, and got into the logistics truck, followed by Natasha. He started the engine, and drove off towards the temporary office.
----
Natasha sat in the passenger seat, her heart and mind racing with the events of the day.
She had just killed on Aaron's orders, without hesitation.
She should have felt remorse, or at least some kind of moral conflict.
Instead, she felt sadistic pleasure and satisfaction of killing a traitor, awe for Aaron, and a hint of arousal towards him.
They arrived at the temporary office, and she followed Aaron inside.
"You sure move fast." commented Natasha, seeing the new desk and terminal that had been set up for her in Aaron's office. They had been gone for less than an hour.
"You can use the terminal to access any of the compound's security cameras, and radio orders to the contracted guards." said Aaron, sitting down at his desk.
He pressed a button, and the door locked with a loud click. He placed his head in his hands, and his shoulders slumped.
Natasha mentally kicked herself for letting herself get carried away by Aaron's Stoic composure and brilliant competence.
She knew that behind that Stoic mask, was an 18-year-old boy, who had just thwarted a nuclear proliferation attempt, and had she not accepted the position, been forced to kill a friend who had betrayed him, and nearly destroyed his company.
She got up from her chair, and walked over to Aaron, gently pulling him into a warm embrace.
"Sir, you did the right thing. Even indebted to you, I would not have killed if I didn't think it was right or necessary." she said softly, stroking his hair.
Aaron didn't pull away, he just let her hold him, as he shed silent tears. After about a minute, he pulled away, and wiped his eyes.
"Thank you, Natasha. I knew I could count on you." he said, his voice steady and firm.
"It was my pleasure, Master Zakhrov." replied Natasha, her voice steady and calm.
She wasn't lying. She had enjoyed killing Mario, was touched that Aaron had trusted her enough to be vulnerable in front of her, and was genuinely looking forward to serving him.
Aaron straightened up and pulled his chair closer to his desk.
"I'm alright now, Natasha. You can now familiarize yourself with the security system, and then you can come up with a training plan and vetting parameters for the personnel you will be hiring." he said, his voice back to its usual cold and commanding tone.
"Yes sir." replied Natasha, sitting back down at her desk.
She logged into the terminal, and started going through the security camera feeds, familiarizing herself with the layout of the compound, and the locations of the cameras.
She had to admit that Aaron had done an excellent job of planning the security and surveillance systems, with overlapping fields of view, along with both video and infrared feeds.
After a few minutes of watching the security camera feeds, she finally remembered that she was still technically supposed to report back to Monica.
"Um sir, how do you want me to handle Monica Goldberg?" she asked Aaron.
"Share whatever you want with her at your discretion, just make sure you tell me what you have shared. I want her to think that her pathetic attempt is working while being unaware that you belong to me now." said Aaron giving her a smile that sent shivers down her spine.
"Yes sir" she said fighting down a deep blush at Aaron's statement that she belonged to him.
With a small shake of her head to clear her thoughts, she started drafting a training plan and vetting parameters for the security personnel she would be hiring.