Poem: "Their Need for Our Disciplinary Assistance"

This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls. It fills the "alphas" square in my 10-1-20 card for the Fall Festival Bingo. It has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred, technoshaman, and ng_moonmoth. This poem belongs to the China's Mistake and Finn Family threads of the Polychrome Heroics series. It follows "Worth Defending," "Comfort on Difficult Days," and "Beyond Any Other Emotional Pain," so read those first or this won't make any sense. To get the complete coverage of Boss Finn stomping her way up the ladder, read the stories "Boss Talk" (with Rinaldo), "Lateral Discussion" (with Gigio), "Captain's Prerogative" (with Pinocchio), and "Meeting of Minds" (with Il Dottore). It takes her that long to run out of different sets of Things People Have Fucked Up Today.

Warning: This scene is emotionally tense and painful. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes the aftermath of a kidnapping attempt and extrajudicial killing, which violated medical neutrality, Boss Finn in a coldly ferocious rage, Leo dropping like a rock, Boss Finn being very dominant but not all kinky so she doesn't fully grasp just how much impact she's having on him, an excruciating dissection of what went wrong and how it is to be fixed, authority and discipline, parental nightmares, concern about suspicion, debates over orders and ethics, the pros and cons of disclosure vs. discretion, solution-caused problems, Mercedes will make the news for yet another negative incident, consequences to locals including the town's supervillains, the Marionettes have stepped on Boss Finn's toes by failing to ask before acting in her territory, severe cross-cultural conflict, reference to moral injuries as collateral damage, betrayal, serious disagreements over cape politics, execution vs. murder, but the bad guys probably wouldn't have stayed in prison had they been left alive, arguing over disclosing the chain of command, Leo's fumbling attempt to shift an agonizing lecture to a beating from someone who is as vanilla as the bean, emotional flailing, painfully divided loyalties, Boss Finn just keeps digging for information about Leo's immediate boss, and resorts of very credible threats, submission, hopefully temporary banishment from house and family, misery, first steps toward apology and restitution, intense shame and guilt, trembling, nonsexual intimacy, and other mayhem. If these are touchy topics for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.


"Their Need for Our Disciplinary Assistance"

[Thursday, February 4, 2016 around 8:30 PM in Mercedes, California]

Elisabeth Finn marched into
the office, closed the door firmly
behind her, and then flipped
the switch for the privacy field.

She wanted to pace, to run,
to scream and punch something.

She did none of those things,
because they wouldn't help.

Instead, Elisabeth moved
the guest chairs away
from the desk, and then
braced herself against it.

"Come here," she said to Leo.
"I will not strike you. I will not
raise my voice. However, I am
very angry with you and your Family
right now. You hurt one of mine and
trampled on our ethical standards, so
after I finish discussing this with you,
I will also have words with your boss."

Leo obeyed without protest, standing
very nearly at attention and within
arm's reach of her. "Yes, Boss Finn."

That nickname had started almost
as a joke in Omaha, but Leo was
taking it with complete sincerity.

"We will examine what went wrong
and why, along with discipline and
restitution," Elisabeth declared.

"You don't seem as ... shaken
by that as some others," Leo said.

"I'm not immune to disciplinary problems,
and it's up to me to make strong choices,"
Elisabeth said. "It's my responsibility."

"That's what makes you Boss Finn,"
Leo said, acknowledging her authority.

Well, at least they wouldn't be
arguing about that tonight.

"Earlier you announced
that several men were killed
after their attempt to kidnap
Edison," said Elisabeth.

"Imagine how much worse
it would've been if they'd
gotten him," Leo muttered.

"Leo, I've had that nightmare
ever since Edison was two and
almost set the house on fire,"
Elisabeth said. "That's when
we put all the tools out of reach."

"Oh," Leo said quietly. "Yeah,
I guess that's ... concerning."

"What also concerns me is that
the actions of your organization
could cast suspicion on us,"
Elisabeth said. "That's bad."

"No, no," Leo said, shaking
his head. "It was done with
care, to look natural. No one
will suspect any of you, and
everyone here has a solid alibi."

"The police aren't stupid, Leo,"
said Elisabeth. "They will notice
four men dead of survivable injuries,
even one from delay and three from
assault. At the very least, if you were
set on murdering them, could you not
have waited until they left the area?"

"No, that would have taken too long,"
Leo said. "All of the kidnappers
had pretty severe damage."

Apparently Shiv had been
thorough in his protection.

"Well, that's what happens
when you threaten this family,"
Elisabeth said. "You wind up in
the hospital or court. Continue."

"The threat was traced back
and eliminated, discreetly,"
said Leo. "You have nothing
to worry about from that angle.
We use these methods because
they work, Boss Finn. They
have been tested by time."

The Mob had been around
for centuries, in one form or
another, and had its roots in
protecting its own people from
a long line of foreign invaders.

Sometimes they kept close to
that original protective goal;
other times they strayed into
less moderated violence.

That must be a difficult
tightrope for them to walk.

"Who gave you the orders
to come here and say what
you did?" Elisabeth asked.

"With respect, Boss Finn, I
can't tell you," Leo replied.

"We'll come back to that
later," said Elisabeth. "Did
you question those orders
before following them?"

"No, Boss Finn," said Leo.

"Why not?" Elisabeth asked.
"Did it not occur to you that
this might cause trouble here?"

Leo looked profoundly unhappy.
"I have seen what can happen
when people discover ugly truths
that were hidden from them,"
he said quietly. "It is better
to get things out in the open
where they can be dealt with."

"Well, now you've seen that
sometimes telling makes matters
a great deal worse," she said,
"and Shiv just paid the price.
That, too, is a costly lesson."

Leo stared at his feet.
"Yes, Boss Finn," he said.

"So we have four dead men
in a town that has already
made global news, repeatedly,
for various unsavory reasons,"
Elisabeth said. "What do you think
that will do to the local supervillains?
The neighbors? My family, who
everyone knows is tangent even
if nothing can ever be proven?"

"I hadn't thought about the effect
on other supervillains," Leo said.

"For pity's sake, the local stores
put all their high-calorie snacks
on end caps every time they notice
a surge in soup activity," Elisabeth said.

"I guess this might not be good for
that support," Leo admitted.

"There's another aspect of
reputation to consider, too,"
she said. "You keep calling me
'Boss Finn,' and I wonder how
serious you are about that."

"Completely serious,"
Leo said without hesitation.

"Yet someone disrespected
Clan Finn by making a decision
about my Family without consulting
me beforehand," Elisabeth said.

"It was not my decision,"
Leo said, looking down.

"Did you agree with
the decision?" she said.

"I ... don't know, now,"
said Leo. "I was ..."
His voice trailed away.

"If you say 'just following
orders,' I will increase
the consequences,"
Elisabeth declared.

"I am loyal to my Family,"
Leo said softly. Then he
sighed. "But I deeply regret
the injury I did to yours."

"A conflict of loyalties,
then," said Elisabeth.
"That I can understand."

"Thank you, Boss Finn."
Leo sounded relieved.

"Would you treat another boss
in the same way that you've
treated me?" she asked.

"I have, in Italy," said Leo.
"Another boss would be ...
more familiar with the rules."

"A cross-cultural difference,"
said Elisabeth. "All right, I'm
plenty familiar with that and
I know how to handle it. You'll
need some lessons to account
for working here in America,
as well as working across
the lines of cape politics."

"I'm not sure I can learn
what you want me to learn,"
Leo said. "I am still a Mobster."

"You can and you will," she said.
"You're not stupid, Leo, and despite
tonight's execrable performance,
you're not a monster either. If you
have better tools in the box, then I
trust you to use them appropriately."

"Thank you, Boss Finn," said Leo.
"I will try to be worthy of that trust.
It depends on what my bosses
may direct me to do, though."

"What they order you to do is
their responsibility," said Elisabeth.
"What you choose to do is yours." She
cocked her head. "Tolliver and I have
had some very interesting conversations
on that topic. You might ask him."

Leo winced. "I doubt that Tolliver
wants to talk with me. He's probably
even angrier than you are tonight."

"Probably," said Elisabeth.
"After all, he's liable to wind up
cleaning the mess you made."

"You mean the suspicion?"
Leo said. "It's under control."

Elisabeth shook her head.
"I mean the moral injury,
most of all to Shiv. Graham
and I are deeply disturbed by
what you and your people did,
but we know how to handle
difficult feelings and situations."

"Moral injury?" Leo said.
"But none of you did anything."

"Leo, we're your friends, or we
thought we were," Elisabeth said.
"We did not expect that you would
do to anything like this, and that
hurts. It damages our self-image."

"Oh," said Leo. "That was ...
not our intention at all."

"What's worse, Shiv is new
to the whole idea of morality,"
Elisabeth went on. "He can't
make fine distinctions, yet, so
to him it felt as if society itself
turned on him when he was trying
to be good, and undid all his efforts."

Leo winced. "I didn't know he'd be
so upset until he flipped out about it.
I thought that he's muscle, so
he should understand it."

"We have spent two years
helping Shiv explore better ways
of behavior than he grew up with,
and you just pulled the rug out from
under him," she said. "That is
a very nasty payment for all of
his hard work doing better."

"I understand why you're
upset about that," Leo said,
"but this had to be handled."

"It was being handled,"
she snapped, "in a manner
according to law and justice."
Then she sighed. "I'm sorry, I
shouldn't have spoken so harshly.
I'm really not comfortable with murder."

"Execution," Leo said quietly.
"That wasn't the same as murder."

"Really? Your organization has
that authority?" Elisabeth said.
"I wonder what the government
of Italy would think about that."

"We are a ... parallel of them and
the police, in many ways," Leo said.
"They would probably encourage
you to be discreet about this. It
was not murder for personal gain,
but execution for violating our laws --
and Italian and American laws too."

Elisabeth rubbed her forehead.
"That still doesn't justify this kind of
extrajudicial killing," she insisted.
"The thugs would've been tried
and jailed under our laws."

"Are you sure of that?"
Leo said. "Sure enough
to stake your family's safety
on it? Those men were pros.
They had securities lined up,
people to get them off the hook --
hell, they could've been teleported
out of prison for all we know."

"Point," Elisabeth said grudgingly.

That had happened more than
once; even the best prisons had
to rely on the widespread custom
that escaping prison was like
welching on a bet, except
in cases of outright abuse.

Leo had a point there, but
she didn't have to like it.

"We don't do things for
no reason," Leo said.
"That's bad for Business.
It's better to stay discreet."

"I need to discuss that with
your boss," Elisabeth said.
"I intend to take this as far
up the chain of command as
necessary to make sure that
nothing like this happens again."

"No," Leo said. "If you have
complaints, you can take out
your temper on me instead."

"I don't criticize people for
things that are not their fault,"
Elisabeth said firmly. "You
didn't make the bad decisions,
you only chose to follow them.
That limits your responsibility."

"You're allowed to do more than
just criticize," Leo said softly.
"If it'd make you feel better --"

"No." Elisabeth cut him off
with a slice of her hand. "I
know that some gangs use
corporal punishment, but I
don't support that. We don't
beat our children, Leo, and I'm
certainly not going to beat you.
It wouldn't teach you anything."

"Then what do you want from me?"
Leo asked, clearly at a loss.

"An apology, when you are
ready for that," Elisabeth said.

"I don't know if I can," Leo said.
"I mean, I regret hurting you,
but I won't leave my Family."

"I'm not asking you to leave,
I'm asking you to think about
the orders you follow and how
that makes you feel about
yourself," Elisabeth said.
"Besides, they may change
after I talk to your boss."

"You're really not going
to let that go, are you?"
Leo said, looking worried.

"I'm really not," she said firmly.
"I am uncomfortable with what
happened today, and I need
to talk that over with someone
in a position of authority, to see
if it's safe to continue associating
or if we have to part company
over irreconcilable differences."

"I'm expected to keep secrets,
and we both know you're not
going to beat it out of me,"
Leo said, trying to look tough.

"I'm not," Elisabeth said. "I'll
do something much, much worse.
You know we have other connections
besides you -- even besides your Family.
I won't hesitate to use those to find who I
need to talk with, and that could attract
more attention than you really want."

"You would, too," Leo grumbled.

"I absolutely would, but I'd rather not,
because it's rude," Elisabeth said.
"Now, will you help me discuss this
privately like bosses should, or do
I have to do it the hard way?"

Leo slumped in submission.
"I can give you his card."

"Yes, please," Elisabeth said,
and held out her hand for it.

The card was plain white with
crisp black print in Italian, which
she couldn't read, but the name
was clear enough: Rinaldo.

Under that were lines for
phone numbers, a vdress
and an email address.

Elisabeth checked the time.
It was after 9 PM in California
and barely 6 AM in Italy,
but she didn't care.

She'd try every option
on the card until she
hunted down the person
responsible for this fiasco and
gave him a piece of her mind.

"Thank you," Elisabeth said.
"I'll take care of this as soon as
I can. Until this matter is resolved,
you and yours do not come to
this house or anywhere near
my Family. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Boss Finn," Leo said,
looking abjectly miserable.

"Good," said Elisabeth. "I'm
glad you're taking it seriously,
because it's a serious offense."

"Is there anything I can do
to make this right between us?"
Leo asked. "I mean, between
me and your Family, if I can
do that, if it's allowed ..."

"Let's talk about that,"
Elisabeth invited. "What
do you feel sorry for doing?"

Leo actually put some thought
into that, which was good, since
he came from a different culture
and didn't want to leave it.

"I disrespected you,"
Leo said. "That was
wrong; I should have
reminded my boss
to check in with you
before making a move."

"Agreed," said Elisabeth.
"What else can you think of?"

"I hurt all three of you," Leo said.
"That was ... collateral damage,
which is not good. I think it hurt
each of you in different ways,
though, and I'm not sure of
all the details on that."

"Then that's something
for you to consider as you
work through it," Elisabeth said.

"Doing what?" Leo asked.
"I don't know what you want."

"I want to avoid a repetition,"
Elisabeth said. "That means you
need more knowledge and skills.
A course in followship wouldn't
go amiss, maybe more EFA too,
and you definitely need to study up
on moral injury -- that one I'll ask
of everyone involved in this."

"Yes, Boss Finn," said Leo.
"Do you want specific courses?"

"No, but I want specific coverage,"
Elisabeth replied. She clicked
her fingernails on the tablet
that lay on the desk. "I will do
some research, talk it over with
your boss, and let you know."

"Thank you, Boss Finn,"
said Leo. "I appreciate
a chance for improvement."

"Everyone deserves a chance
to make amends after making
a mistake," Elisabeth said.
"Making mistakes is a natural
and necessary part of learning,
which is a vital part of life."

"Yeah, but it's still
rough," Leo said.

Elisabeth noticed Leo
looking at the clock on
the wall of the office.

"Are you getting bored
in here?" she asked evenly.

"No, Boss Finn," said Leo.
"You're just ... taking a lot of
time with this. I would have
expected that you'd spend
this time with your family,
since everyone is feeling
so unsettled about today."

"Good discipline requires time,"
Elisabeth said. "When we have
no time to give our children and
subordinates, or no time that we are
willing to give, we don't even observe them
closely enough to become aware of when
their need for our disciplinary assistance
is expressed subtly. We fail them."

Leo hung his head. "Thank you
for taking time to tell me how I
displeased you, and how I can
make up for it," he said. "I've
had bosses who just wanted
to have a pretty bookend, and
that's ... not a good feeling."

"I believe that you're worth
the time I've invested in this
talk, Leo," said Elisabeth.

"Are we okay?" Leo said.
"I mean, will we be okay?"

Elisabeth put two fingers
under Leo's chin and
pressed gently until
he looked up at her.

His chin raised, all right,
but he could not meet
her gaze for more than
a moment before he had
to drop his eyes again.

"Look at me," she ordered.

He tried, he really did,
but he just couldn't hold it.
He was trembling in her grasp.

Elisabeth took mercy on him
and let go of Leo's chin.

"When you can look me
in the eye," she said,
"then we'll be okay."

"Yes, Boss Finn,"
Leo whispered.

"You may go." She
opened the door.

Leo made his escape.

Elisabeth followed, watching
as the front door closed behind him.

She wondered how Shiv was doing,
since he seemed pretty broken up
during the earlier exchange.

Elisabeth pulled out her phone
and checked her messages;
she'd turned it off for the talk.

Sure enough, she found
a message from Tolliver.

Shiv wants you to solve for him,
it read. He doesn't want to talk
about apologies, just have someone
fix this for him. He's pretty shook up.
Simon and I will patch up what we can.

Thank you for taking care of Shiv,
she wrote back. I have completed
a discussion with Leo. I plan to talk
with his immediate boss next, and take
this as far up the chain of command as
necessary to resolve the matter. There
will be no repetitions of this nonsense.

A faint sound reached her ears,
making her stand up straighter.

After a moment, she heard
a floorboard creak overhead.

The familiar pattern suggested
that Graham was checking
on the rooms upstairs.

Elisabeth relaxed, satisfied
all was well in hand for now.

Then she realized that she
was stroking her phone in
the same way that Shiv
sometimes stroked his knife.

That made Elisabeth stop and
smile, sharp and determined.

It was time to make the next call.

* * *

Notes:

This poem is long, so its notes appear elsewhere.