She was waiting for a couple of minutes, before Hal stepped into his office... and froze for a second when he saw her.

"Oh, Hollie." he said.

"Hello." he greeted her.

"Well... I suppose this is good timing." he then admitted, making his way to the desk and grabbing a form of sorts.

"What can I do for you?" he asked her as he started to fill it out.

Hal paused again for a moment, before thinking about something.

"Uh... well, it's good timing because of the form I'm filling out, but we'll get to that in a minute." he told her.

"And yes, I can see that you're still quite hurt from the earlier encounter." he went on.

"But... pardon me, but I have a question." he then said further.

"I can deal with your injuries with but a statement from you, but you need Illias?" he asked her.

"...wait..." he muttered.

"Did... did he actually manage to...?" he started to ask, but trailed off, though she knew where he was going with it.

Hal was silent as Hollie said what she did, before he acquired a nasty look in his eyes.

"...so. He actually did it." he growled, before pausing.

"Well... ok, TECHNICALLY the pen did." he sighed.

"Ugh." he groaned, shaking his head a little.

"Right, well, firstly, do you want me to take care of your more regular energies?" he asked her.

"........" Hal was silent when Hollie insisted on knowing what the paperwork was for.

He then turned the paper around, and pushed it towards her.

"It's not quite finished, yet." he told her.

When Hollie looked at it, all she needed to read was the header of the form.

Internal Review to Determine Fitfulness of Position

Hal waited until Hollie said what she did, and then sighed.

"But this incident could be considered potentially catastrophic." he said. "You had to invoke your right to absolute control." he told her.

"Yes, this all resolved with the pen and tome being recovered and separated, but the fact that this happened in the first place is proof enough for some that I need my fitfulness for my position reviewed." he reasoned.

"And yes, I do know you get the final say in that." he went on. "It's why I said it was good timing, as it could be given straight to you." he then said further.

"As for your third point... oh?" he asked.

"To be fair, we're both at fault for that." Hal responded.

"But fine then, if you say this doesn't need to be filled out and filed, then it won't be filled out and filed." he said.

"Moving on to more... immediate and pressing concerns..." he went on.

"You are injured, and there is one injury that I cannot deal with." he continued.

"Do you want to have your other injuries dealt with right now?" he asked.

"If you do, you know the magic word." he added, a hint of a smirk in his tone.

Hal nodded, and snapped his fingers.

When he did, Hollie was awash with a very invigorating sensation, that was gone as quickly as it came. However, when it left, she felt herself reenergized, and noticed that all but one of her injuries were gone.

"Now, then..." Hal muttered.

"We just need to wait for-" he started to say, before the comm on his desk went off.

"Sir, I received word from the medical wing, Illias is awake and conscious." the secretary said.

"...talk about timing." Hal muttered, pushing the button.

"Thank you." he replied.

Hal nodded.

"Yes." he said.

"He needs to fix your injury and he needs to do it NOW." he told her.

"Let's go." he said.

With that, the two of them made their way to the medical wing, and to Illias' room. When they arrived, they found him cuffed to his hospital bed, a hood locked over his head, to prevent his snakes from doing anything.

There was also a pair of armed guards at the bed.

"...right, I didn't order this." Hal told Hollie.

"Just FYI."

One of the guards was about to protest, when Hal interrupted.

"Remeber that she is the Head of the Council." he said.

"And -I- am in charge of this Unit." he went on.

The guards were then silent for a moment, before they left... reluctantly.

"Great." Hal sighed.

"This is a pitiful sight." he said, looking at Illias.

Before Illias could answer, Hal snapped his fingers, and the hood was gone.

"THAT'S gonna need to disappear as well." he said.

Illias was silent, a shameful and guilt-ridden look in his eyes.

He then looked at Hollie, though it was clear he didn't want to make eye contact.

"Okay..." he replied.

"...but why me?" he asked.