"Liz, I need the…" Chris stopped speaking into the intercom system to his office assistant's desk as the woman entered the room, the files he was about to ask for in her right hand, a cup of black coffee in her right.
"I wish you wouldn't do that, Radar," he finished, using his nickname for her.
She had the unnerving ability to know what he was going to ask for before he asked, much like that of Radar O'Reilly in the old TV series M*A*S*H.
"Do what?" she asked innocently, depositing the coffee and files on the desk in front of him and turning to leave, without waiting for the answer to her rhetorical question.
"Thanks Liz," he said instead of answering, picking up the top file and opening it, sipping the hot black brew as she went out the door. He subconsciously thanked himself for hiring the woman and made a mental note to do something nice for her after this case was closed.
Elizabeth Ann Morgan had become Team 7's office assistant shortly after the team was formed. The strange group of men went through 6 different receptionists assigned by personnel in 8 days, none of them surviving their antics and temperaments for more than a day or two. One lasted as little as two hours. Finally AD Travis had told Chris to hire his own assistant from inside or outside the ATF.
Liz had walked into his office for her interview carrying a cup of coffee.
She was dressed in a simple business suit and had an extreme air of confidence about her.
But she also put Chris at ease at the same time. From the start it was almost like she was conducting the interview, instead of the other way around. Chris hired her on the spot, pending security clearance, and she had become a valuable member of their operation, not to mention of the Team 7 family.
The day of the interview was the last time Chris saw the suit she had been wearing, although it resided in the coat closet of her office area just in case it was needed. Her manner of dress from that day on was decidedly casual, usually consisting of jeans and boots and some sort with a sweater or shirt and jacket. Chris didn't care. He saw no need for fancy clothes to answer the phones and file.
But Liz did so much more than that. She kept them all organized and grounded, helping the team keep moving like the well oiled machine that it usually was. The woman, who each one had guessed at different times as being anywhere from 25 to 45 (Ezra even had a pool going on the subject, of which she was totally aware), also put up with the jokes and games that ran rampant in the office. In fact, she even had one-upped a few of the men a time or two, putting Buck, especially, in his place more than once. She had even participated in a belching contest Buck and JD started one night at their favorite bar. She had won hands down.
No one claimed that the woman was pretty. She was actually quite ordinary, standing about 5'7" and weighing a bit more than those silly statistics said she should. But in her quiet efficient way she had won the heart of each Team 7 member and was considered a sister to each. She was the one they asked when they needed an escort somewhere and didn't have a date, and she often asked the same of them. She was also the one that they talked to about breakups and women when they needed another woman's opinion.
Their odd working hours didn't seem to phase her at all, working as late as need be or arriving in the wee hours of the morning, whatever was needed. She was there to take care of them and do whatever needed doing, supplying them with a constant flow of coffee, massaging a shoulder to ease tense muscles, and making sure they ate when there were long hours involved in planning a setup.
She had earned many nicknames with her actions, all given to her with affection. At any given point she might be called Liz, Beth, Eli, Elizabeth or Morgan. Chris had given her the name Radar. Vin called her Nanny because she watched over them all and JD had picked it up. Ezra, always the polite southern gentleman, called her Mizz Morgan. Josiah, who often called the men Brother, called her Little Sister even though she wasn't so little. And Nathan had shortened that to Sis. She answered to any and all of them, except the one bestowed on her by Buck. She refused to answer to Betty. In fact, that one usually called for retaliation on her part. Strong retaliation.
Only Chris and Orrin Travis knew of her background, her history with the ATF and FBI, her family's tradition to service, and the reasons she was content in an assistant's capacity. Her technical title was receptionist, but she knew she was much more than that. Better still, she knew Chris knew she was more than that and it made her feel needed and valuable.
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Round One: Angel
Round One: Camille
