A couple of minutes later, finally arrived at the mess hall. The place was dimly lit, mostly empty save for a few night shift soldiers too afraid to approach.
The moment they saw Vivian, most of them stiffened and quickly found something incredibly interesting on the floor or ceiling to look at.
Commander Ajax moved quickly, ushering them in. "Everything's prepped and ready. I'll, uh, make sure the kitchen is fully at your disposal."
Vivian clapped her hands once with genuine delight. "Wonderful! It's been so long since I last cooked for my son."
Reid quietly prayed that his mom would change her mind and allowed Ellie to take over, but that prayer didn't seem like it would be answered.
They entered the kitchen, and the moment Vivian laid eyes on the tools, her excitement doubled.
"Oh, look at this!" she said, picking up a comically oversized knife and twirling it with deadly grace. "I haven't seen one of these in years."
