Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

Jen's voice cut through the buzz of the lab, "Hey, boss! Boss! You gotta come see this, is it the files we were looking for?"

The boss hurried over to the computer, fingers flying over the keyboard. After a moment, he confirmed, "Looks like we got some data recovery happening, but I'm not sure it's what you're after. Someone give this a look?" Liz immediately took his place as he stepped aside.

Seconds ticked by painfully slow. Jen, unable to contain her anxiety, pressed, "Well? How much did we get back?"

"...Most of it, I think." Liz bit her lip, her expression hard to read.

Jen, unsatisfied with the ambiguity, double-checked herself. A wave of relief washed over her, "Thank God, nearly all of it's back!"

She threw her arms around Roseanne, claiming, "We owe you big time. Without your help, we'd be buried in work for weeks trying to redo all this."

"Sharp as ever, a true Kingswell University gem," even the tech guru couldn't help but praise enthusiastically.

Stoddard nodded in agreement, admiration clear in his eyes, "Absolutely, all thanks to young Anne!"

He then added thoughtfully, with a hint of jest, "No wonder Mr. Reynolds saw potential early on. Snagged a brilliant mind ahead of the curve, impressive!" His words were serious, but his gaze hinted at more.

though his hand clenched into a fist

than he'd like to admit, he took a

were

she were some kind of exotic creature,

"Roseanne, have

Roseanne just stared blankly.

and Stoddard burst into laughter, and

just glared at Roseanne with this cold,

noted Roseanne's bewildered expression, Owen's resigned look Sammy's curious glances towards Liz,

to get

have to remember to bring some sunflower seeds from home

...

issue, ranging

was adamant, "We need to track down

reassured, "Don't worry, even if you didn't ask, the university would have us