Ken smiled as Agent James went on about it.  He, like everyone else, was somewhat curious Humes, but not everyone was curious for the same reasons.  Mareno, she probably just wanted to know enough to either tease him into agony, or fuck him.  Some wanted to know because it was gossip.  Some wanted to know just to know, and others wanted to know so they knew what they were dealing with in the field.  For most, it was some combination of the above things.  

Ken cared because it was his job, and lives of people and the agents depended on him knowing what was going on.  

James was a prime example of how important it was to observe and make calls based on his own thoughts and experiences and not on other less important things--like the opinions of people  who didn’t realize how unimportant their opinions actually were.  

When James was recommended to him via Chief Givens, there was a LOT of flak in the air.  There was politicking, posturing, and veiled threats here and there.  The short of it is that her father was someone important some where, and some people thought that her getting recommended was simply an extension of that.  The good news was that if anyone cared less about pushing weight around and catering to egos than Ken himself, it was Chief Givens.  Sure, the Chief would dance the dance often, but it was generally only if it ultimately meant nothing.  He didn’t let his own ego get in the way of things or worry about placating people just to get favors.  It was refreshing.

So James was thrown his way, emails and calls were made, advice was given but ultimately the call fell on the shoulders of Ken and the Chief knew to trust his judgment.  The end result was that she was as squared away as it gets--not a total package, but everyone had faults and flaws.  Ken himself included.  

Ken ignored the apology that was thrown his way and just smirked out the side of his mouth.  It was tough being in charge.  He knew that had he been anyone else, there would have been no apology but instead some form of joke or ribbing.  But there had to be SOME level of respect and he understood that.  “[color=f26522]We’ll be there in a few.  You feel like taking point today?  Giving the brief, delegating out tasks and setting up?  You know the drill.  They block off, we go in, our TAC on standbye, their own SWAT ready behind that.  The normal drill[/color].”

He was curious how she’d react but he assumed she’d take the chance to step up and run with it.  She was eager, he’d give her that, but his challenge with her was getting her to look at the reason for that eagerness and assess whether it was positive or negative.  She was prone to want to do things to prove people wrong, or prove herself to be right, and there was no real place for that.  Decisions had to be made from a place of common sense, logic, and insight.  

He studied her out of the corner of his eye as he drove, already knowing what the answer would be but eager to hear it come out.