"Just let us know what you want, and how much; we'll do our best to oblige." Bain grinned again. "Always a good idea to keep the CO happy, you know."
Cortin couldn't help laughing, in spite of the pain. She knew that a commanding officer taking part in a team's sexual activity tended to have an extreme effect, one way or the other; it could tear the team apart, or it could weld it into near-unity. From watching hers work together, she was certain it would react positively, so she said, "And from my experience with other teams, I doubt you'll find at least that aspect overly disagreeable."
"Or at all difficult," Bain agreed. "I'm looking forward to it, in fact." He gestured in a way that told her he was still unsure. "I've been with a lot of civ women, paid or curious about an Inquisitor, but they didn't—oh, hell!"
"You're not the first one to tell me that," Cortin said drily. "I was lucky, always had enough willing troopers around I never had to go to a civ man—but I always got more out of Special Ops men. The emotional feel was better, even when physical things were the same."
"You do understand, then." Bain's look was full of relief and something else she couldn't quite identify.
"Yes—and if this works, I want all of you to feel free to come to me. Other duties permitting, I'll be more than happy to help keep up morale." She grinned. "Rank doth have its responsibilities, a few of them pleasant; a CO is expected to be available for counseling whenever it's needed."
Bain chuckled. "'Counseling'—I like that. You may have the best-counseled team in the entire Service, here shortly."
"Most counseled, anyway," Cortin said. "And while you're here, I've been meaning to ask—if you don't mind talking about it, I'd like to hear how you ended up in the Strike Force. Records are all very well, but there's no feel to them."
"I'd rather not," Bain said slowly. "Fair's fair, though; Mike told us all about how you got into this." He paused, clearly trying to organize what he wanted to say.
Cortin had suspected Mike might have given them the details of her background, probably because he'd thought it would somehow help her. He'd be right, too, if it helped her get insight into her people. She waited for Bain to speak.