Futuristic Diggin' Deeper

[The Mockingbird]

Once they entered the apartment, Nero took a couple steps back. He wanted the suspects attention to be on Lavanda directly. She began questioning him, showing a picture of the victim. Of course, he couldn't tell much of a difference in his face. His specialty wasn't reading people, it was more along the lines of hurting them. This was another reason why he was glad that Lavanda had joined the investigation. Things like this would've been a nightmare for him.

As she continued to question him, she remained relatively calm. At least, that's what it appeared on the outside. He wondered what was going on through her mind during all of this, but it was probably methodical in nature. It wasn't long before the man showed visible signs of pressure. He stumbled over his words every once in awhile, averting his eyes, sweating. Obviously he was a mess and the initial tone of him seemed to have shifted drastically. It went from aggressive to defensive over the course of about ten minutes. Nero was impressed at Lavanda's proficiency in interrogating and questioning suspects.

Suddenly, Nero's cell phone began to buzz in his pocket. This slightly startled him, not expecting a call at this point. He fished it out of his pocket and checked to see who it was. Turns out, it was his boss. "Oh, huh.... I, uh, gotta take this." He seemed a bit confused, but it had to be important for his boss to call him directly, rather than the apartment. He pointed towards the door and gave Lavanda a nod, signaling he was stepping out for a few moments. If this guy was the murderer, the last thing they needed was for him to hear confidential information regarding the murders. He walked through the doorway and into the hallway before shutting the door behind him. It was unlocked, so he shouldn't have any issue getting back inside. Just everything inside the apartment would be silenced through the thick walls of the building. It would only be for a few minutes, so leaving her alone wouldn't be that bad..... would it?

 

[Dagfinn]

A moment of silence as Lavanda waited for Nero to leave the room, she'd been civil and orderly the whole time but that couldn't last for too long. He certainly did it, there was no doubt in her mind on the fact. Lavanda wouldn't be as stupid as to attack the man, physically or verbally. Although now she felt a bit more liberated in calling him out on the crime outright, instead of hinting at it.

"So, how much did they offer to pay you? A lot I'd bet," he wasn't apart of the group... Or the orchestrater of the deaths. Knowing what she knows now, it could just be one person hiring others to do the dirty work. This man did the deed but had no motive, and low intelligence. He didn't care about the ex-soldiers or the prosthetics, he just killed out of cold blood. For now the most logical conclusion was him being hired, she would hang her life on it if she needed to.

 

[The Mockingbird]

The man's eyes watched as Nero exited the room and heard the door shut behind him. If he could lock it, it would be a lot easier fighting one on one. Sure he didn't have a weapon on him, but it shouldn't be too hard to overpower this woman interrogating him. Plus she had a gun, so if he did grab that, he had the high ground in both strength and a weapon in hand. The suspect felt like a lot of the tension left the room with the man. He gained the courage, tuning out most of what the woman was trying to drill him with at that point. He still portrayed that nervous look, but was about to spring his attack on Lavanda.

"Yeah, it was a fucking lot...." He looked down for a few moments in his chair before suddenly springing out of it and tackling Lavanda into the island of the kitchen a few feet behind her. Her back hit with a loud thud before her head struck a moment after. It took the man a short time to recover, but Lavanda was dazed from the blow. With that, he scrambled for the gun at her hip. Unclipping the clasp, he drew the gun and put it in his waistband of his jeans. Now what to do with her? The man wondered, knowing he couldn't think about it for too long. It would only be a matter of minutes before her partner returned through that door, so he had to make a break for it.

After a few moments of debating, his best course of action was to make sure so she couldn't chase after him. Lavanda began to stir, her arm reaching for her head. The man reached for the pistol in his waistband stood up. He kicked her in the ribs and the face a couple times before slamming his foot down on her tibia before he felt it give way. At this point, she was already unconscious from him kicking her in the head. He debated on finishing the job with the gun when he heard the door knob jiggle. It was the first time he was ever thankful for living in a shitty apartment.

"Oh? What the fuck?" Nero said as he tried to turn the handle of the apartment door. Something was jamming it, but it didn't feel like a lock, so it was probably just something faulty in the door itself. So, with that he place his free hand and tried to force it open. After a brief moment of attempting it, he heard a loud noise and felt a sting in his hand like something really hot just got pressed up against it. "OH SHIT?!?" He was so confused, but pulled his hand down and saw that blood began dripping down his arm. There was a small wound from a bullet in his palm and a bullet hole in the door. He was shot? How and why was he shot? He heard so very muffled rustling before he lowered his shoulder and bashed the door a couple times before it flung open.

The sliding glass door that lead to the balcony adjacent to the fire escape was flung wide open. He quickly scanned the room and noticed Lavanda unconscious against the island. He leg was mangled and face was bloody. He panicked for a moment, unsure what to do. Should he administer CPR? Was she dying? He ran over to her and took a closer look. She was messed up pretty bad, but her breathing was relatively steady. He grabbed his phone with his good hand and dialed 911. He just said he needed an ambulance at the apartment and they were investigators. He hung up before the operator could ask anymore questions. Nero took one last good look at Lavanda before running to the balcony. He quickly vaulted over and landed on the fire escape a level below them. He had to chase this guy. It was obvious now that he was the guy that murdered the most recent ex-soldier. He was their only lead and it was their job to get the truth from him any way possible.

 

[Dagfinn]

Not much of the rest of the day could be recalled by Lavanda after the attack. Most of what she remember was her intense focus on breathing. Didn't matter what her injuries were so long as she focused on breath there was a chance of recovery later. The police and ambulance didn't take too long to arrive at the scene, they were of coursed confused as to what was happening but at least she could get the help she needed quick enough. As bad as the injuries looked, she'd endured worst and this certainly wouldn't be the end of her.

***

By afternoon of the next day Lavanda was patched up and felt more or less fine. Her face bruised and a long cast on her right leg, she probably didn't look the greatest but she wouldn't complain and stayed pretty quiet keeping to herself as she read a book on her phone. Edge of the Horizon, a title that piqued her interest after breaking into Nero's home. Lavanda's interest in reading waned back and forth, recently she found it rather boring but this could be good... By the time she was interrupted she neared the end of chapter one. Not enough time to assess if it was good or not.
Nero walked in, and it somewhat surprised her. It made sense for him to come, she had some things to share with him regarding the case and she had questions of her own about how yesterday turned out. However, she wasn't interested in talking about any of that just yet.

"Nero, good to see you," she grinned, calm and happy as ever. It's like she didn't even acknowledge her injuries.
His eyes were instinctively drawn to the rather large bouquet and balloons at her bedside, of course he didn't dwell on it and was about to greet her but she cut in.

"They're from my not so 'secret admirer', you jealous?" she teased, "he thinks he's sly, but he's not. Though to be fair he thinks I have actually friends and family, and more than a couple people know I'm here right now."
The man was one of her neighbors. A single father with a lovely young daughter, 6 years old now. Sometimes Lavanda wondered if in another life she'd actually form a relationship with the man. In theory he was perfect and his daughter too. The culmination of what she'd wanted when she was younger. But now... Getting married and having a family seemed so far fetched. For now he was too timid to ask her out directly, and didn't want to have to say no so she pretended not to know it was him. He was a sweet guy and he deserved a lot more than she had to offer. For a moment her calm and happy demeanor faded as her face fell flat thinking about it, but quickly she returned to something more cheery attention back on Nero.

"You don't have any competition to worry about though," she teased some more, giving him a cheeky wink. Although given the other day she was pretty sure the two wouldn't hook up teasing him was still fun.

 

[The Mockingbird]

Nero quietly walked in, not wishing to disturb Lavanda if she happened to be sleep. She wasn't, so he relaxed a bit as he saw her condition. It wasn't the prettiest, but she looked a lot better than when he first found her. He gave a light smile as she greeted him in her typical upbeat fashion. It honestly surprised him a bit, figuring she would be in a decent bit of pain. Sure, there was pain killers and numbing agents in her system, but that wouldn't take away all of the ache from essentially getting the shit kicked out of her the day before.

His eyes seemed magically drawn to the large bouquet accompanied by balloons sitting a couple feet to her left on a bedside table. Of course they didn't linger too long, however. He knew if he stared, she notice that they were bugging him to a degree. What are they there for? Is she actually seeing someone else? As soon as those thoughts crossed his mind, she gave a snarky answer almost in response to his quick glance at them and formulating questions in his mind.

As she mentioned that she doesn't have family or friends, it caught his attention. Are they all dead? It made sense, to a degree. Her lifestyle of former mercenary to detective probably meant she was a loner to some degree. But just how old was she? She was probably a lot older than she looked. Especially if the government took notice of her, considering her assignment to this case. With this insight, from a throw away comment, he tucked it away as a mental note on Lavanda. As she slowly began to unravel, her story became more and more interesting. The sides she voluntarily shows and the past he can directly ask about make the mystery of her as a whole a lot more amusing and worth his time.

"Oh, I don't?" The man replied as she teased him about not having interest in the admirer. Lavanda meant it as a joke, but Nero was a bit too innocent to catch onto that completely. He rolled his eyes, but his cheeks did get a shade of red for a few moments. Him and his romantic innocence made it real easy to get embarrassed about things like this. He was too naive to understand everything about people and relationship the way Lavanda did. This made him a perfect pet to play with. She picked up on all of the little quirks about his lack of knowledge in that department.

Shaking it off, Nero returned to a relatively normal level. He was more or less over the first incident a couple days ago. Too much had happened in that span of time to keep bringing up that fluttering feeling of awkwardness he felt around her. They needed to pick themselves up and continue where they left off. Trying to salvage as much of the investigation as they could would probably be the best course of action. Crossing his arms, his face contorted for a moment. The bullet wound was still quite tender under the bandages. He had a couple broken bones, but the doctors simply cleaned and wrapped it tightly. So, it was going to be a bit before he regained full control. "How you holding up, Lavanda?" He sounded genuinely concerned, hoping she was eager enough to get working despite what had happened.

 

[Dagfinn]

"Holding up just fine," there was pain but she didn't let it show. If it weren't for her visible injuries most anyone would assume her to be in perfect health. If she actually had to go out and about Lavanda wouldn't be able to hid the pain completely, but as she sat there she could ignore what issues she had. Lavanda never complained about physical pain unless it was a joke. For the most part if she didn't think about it, it couldn't hurt... That badly. Pain is temporary after all.

Lavanda grabbed her left shoulder with her right hand, making a loud slapping sound to draw emphasis, "my arm was practically put through a meat grinder before it got ripped off my shoulder. And you don't wanna know what happened with my leg. I'm sure I can handle a tiny crack in my bones. How about you then, what's the deal with your hand?" Of course she couldn't not mention his injuries. She was somewhat worried, but only slightly. At least they looked like they'd been well tended, that is to say the bandages didn't look like he put them on.

As important as the investigation was Lavanda wasn't in a rush to get back to work, at least not in this moment. Tomorrow, or maybe in just a few hours, she'll be pulled towards work by her own curiosity and paranoia. For now though... She somewhat enjoyed talked to Nero about slightly different things. And while he wasn't drunk. Now he seemed somewhat more human? At least more relaxed. Even if there was a twing of worry. She'd been pretty badly hurt after all. His blushing and awkwardness helped make him more endearing. When working he takes himself so seriously, which to a degree makes sense. It just felt robotic to Lavanda. This however was pleasant.

 

[The Mockingbird]

Nero wasn't sure on whether he should believe her or not. Still, he had no choice, to be perfectly honest. He wasn't going to force her to tell him anything and she had no reason to lie that she didn't feel good or bad about her injuries. So, he just left it at that and moved on. As she began to brag about her other injuries which lead to the prosthetics, he couldn't help but wonder what she meant by that. Obviously she meant something terrible happened some years ago, but just exactly how long ago did it happen. He did take note that the prosthetics were an older generation typically used with people who couldn't afford the newer models. It couldn't have been from the initial war..... right? Maybe just some odd stray got through and attacked her. Yeah, that makes much more sense.... Even though he tried to convince himself, something didn't feel quite right about that. Too many things didn't add up, but he wasn't one to judge. He was probably just overthinking things. He couldn't treat her like he treats the case.

She then questioned about his wounded hand. The bandages and the wince of pain earlier probably gave it away. He didn't want to draw attention to it, considering her injuries were much more serious at the time. Oh, uh.... it's doing alright I guess..... It's still tender, but there isn't much they can do. Just gotta keep it clean and wrapped for now.... I gotta comeback in a couple weeks for a government check, anyway." The last bit, his voice got a bit softer. He wasn't sure he was supposed to share that information, but since she was his partner, it wasn't that big of a deal, right? That what Nero assumed, anyway. He glanced away from Lavanda, feeling a bit sheepish as the last sentence left him. He was an easy card to read around people he was comfortable with.

"Guess, I get to keep you company for a bit..." The statement was true to a certain level.Though he was antsy to get working on the case and catch the guy that broke Lavanda's leg and shot him, he wanted to make sure Lavanda was alright. Even if he wouldn't admit it aloud, there was some strong feelings brewing inside of the man. She could easily read the signs from his social awkwardness, but she seemed to enjoy it. The case would be on hold for the most part until they both agreed to get back to work. This just meant that she had plenty chances to poke around Nero's mind, though. He was going to squirm more than the suspect was.

 

[Dagfinn]

"Well if you plan to stay a bit longer why don't you take a seat?" she offered. He'd been standing, practically in the doorway, the whole time. Lavanda figured he wouldn't stay too long, assuming he'd want to head back to work quick; however, she didn't mind him sticking around a minute more. Maybe for a moment she learn a bit more about him. Not much opportunity for that at work, there was only enough personal information passed around to make her intrigued and little more. Nero was defiantly more interesting than any other person she's ended up working with.

"So a government check huh? Guess they treat you well," sometimes it was hard to hid her resentment, but for now she was civil, "how long have you been a government worker?" While she did have a distaste for the organization as a whole she would never be so silly as to hate everyone that worked for it. Though he seemed to have high respect and trust, and she wondered why. There was a sort of naivety lining his trust of the government that seemed almost out of character... At least for what little she knew. There had to be some logic explanation, he seemed to be a pretty straight forward and logical guy.

 

[The Mockingbird]

As Lavanda offered him a seat because she noticed he was standing only a couple feet from the doorway since he first got there, he shrugged, looked around and found a seat. He let out a soft sigh and relaxed a bit. Visiting Lavanda was the least he could do and sticking around actually sounded pretty good at this point. She seemed in a good despite her injuries, so at least she wouldn't be negative. They both needed a breather from the case, whether Nero would admit it or not.

"Hmmm.... I, uh, worked internally for a while...." It wasn't obvious, but there was some indication that he had trouble remembering something with that sentence. The way he paused and felt unconfident for a few moments were subtle indicators that something was 'wrong'. "I just know it's been at least ten or twelve years now... I was lucky to get in at such a young age." His tone switched from the slightly unconfident to a more joking and lighthearted tone. He was trying to cover for the earlier statement, but he was easy to read for Lavanda.

Nero didn't even notice the subtle resentment in her tone of her question. He was practically blind at a certain point at reading people. He was too socially inept to notice a lot of these subtle hints that someone like Lavanda could pick up on. "I think they'll put me under for a bit and probably patch me up. Happened to me before, when I've been shot or stabbed. They fix me up in a few hours and I'm almost as good as new." While Nero didn't think anything was wrong with his confident statements, it was still offsetting to a certain point. The way he phrased it could raise some flags to certain people. Although modern medicine has advanced drastically, a bullet wound still takes some time to heal, especially where his was located. Something like a broken leg could be repaired within 7-10 days, depending on any complications and how it broke. It would only be a matter of time before Lavanda would be up and walking.

 

[Dagfinn]

Nothing came across to Lavanda as entirely off beat as he spoke. Having been a solider for many years she was used to bizarre technology and advances in science. She herself was a feat of science. One that was pretty useless as it couldn't be replicated at will as of now, but regardless still something of merit. Sure his quick healing would be off to some people; however, she could easily chalk it up to him being another just another guinea pig. Perhaps had she not been on such heavy medication she would take issue with how he spoke about the topics... Though in her state of mind Lavanda wasn't as sharp as normal, and mostly it seemed he hesitated only out of not knowing what he was allowed to divulge to her. After all she's an outside hirer and not a government agent like himself. Or maybe even without the drugs she wouldn't have picked up on anything, him drawing a blank on exactly what to say wasn't exactly a smoking gun.

Lavanda adjusted how she sat taking a moment to speak up again, she almost asked a bit more about his surgeries but that seemed a bit boring and she didn't want to dwell on their injuries any longer.
"Nero... If you don't mind my asking," time to completely change the topic, "you've made it pretty clear you dislike the ex-soldiers, so why are you working this case? You seem pretty dedicated to a job for not caring about the victims."

 

[The Mockingbird]

As Lavanda adjusted herself in her bed to a more upright position, it caught Nero's attention. It seemed like she was about to same something. What was it? What was she gonna say? He wasn't necessarily worried, but wondered what she might've thought about his response. He wasn't gonna hide the fact that he had a fuzzy memory up until a few years ago, but wasn't gonna outright say it, either. If it didn't need to be said, then so be it.

It caught him off guard that the entire conversation had changed suddenly. Maybe it was the medication or she didn't actually notice his little mistakes, so he just shifted his focus to her new question. He took a deep sigh, knowing that this will be a long conversation. He wasn't sure that he was fully prepared to tell her everything, but again, there was no reason not to. They were partners, so things like their pasts and stuff didn't need to be hidden from each other.

"Oh? I guess I should tell you. You got no real reason to be concerned, I guess...." He began, but also remembered that she was still most likely a daughter of a ex-soldier. It might be insensitive, but there would be no reason to hate her specifically, right? "It, uh.... all started out when I was young. My parents were killed some years after the initial invasion, but I was fortunate enough to be saved by one of these soldiers....." His face got a little red and he looked down towards the ground. He felt like she might misinterpret this part, thinking he should have no reason to hate the soldiers. "So, with my parents dead, she took me in under her care. I spent the next twelve years with her.... I wasn't the greatest kid, but she loved me like I was her real son...." Pausing for a moment, he noticed his heartbeat quickened a bit. "During a mission..... she was betrayed by one of the other soldiers on the squad.... Everything went to shit and none of the soldiers even tried to help her..... Those fucking bastards are all dirtbags that'll do anything for a fat paycheck.... They ruined my life by ending hers...."

 

[Dagfinn]

Lavanda recalled the woman with Nero in the photo, and the night he came home wasted not knowing she hid in his bathroom... A small twing of guilt twisted in her gut, but as per the norm she didn't let it show. Instead of guilt she looked sympathetic, as any normal person would be. Not that she didn't also feel sympathetic, she certainly did. Still it took her far too long to shake the guilt. That's not an emotion she's accustom to. It felt odd for it to come back...

"That's v-... Disheartening," as much as she found it silly that he hated them all for the actions of a few, she could understand. There was a time that she shared very similar feelings. Time was the only thing that changed her mind and she wasn't about to attempt to change his. Besides he wasn't likely to learn about who she was so his opinion didn't effect his treatment towards her, and somehow it didn't effect his work. Very professional despite his opinions. He wasn't entirely wrong though. It seemed most of the solders still alive were fairly egotistical and materialistic. Lavanda herself did some pretty nasty things for a check, but she had her limits... She told herself she did at least, they were rarely tested so who really could know? He didn't exactly answer her question, she still didn't know why he worked the case. But she learned something she didn't expect and that was more than good enough for her.

"I've lost plenty of people... Due to plenty of different caused," unlike before she didn't make a joke out of it, being fairly serious, "from all of it I suppose I've learned that you have to... Allow yourself to heal. You can't let your life be ruined forever..." she glanced down at her fidgeting hands before looking back at him, "it takes awhile to pick yourself back up, but wallowing in devastation isn't what your loved ones would want, right?" Of course the advice was a bit hypocritical. She could act cutesy and happy all she wanted and from a strangers perspective she'd moved on and continued her life, but if she was honest with herself she'd let her life come to a stand still. All these years and nothing ever changed. No friends or family, she let herself be consumed with her job. Lavanda hadn't let herself heal at all and deep down she knew that, but couldn't admit it.

 

[The Mockingbird]

Nero felt a bit better as Lavanda attempted to comfort him at first. He honestly didn't want to dwell on it. At least, not in front of her. It was something he prefered to keep separated from his work life, including his partner. So, he took a few moments to help clear his mind, trying to push the memory of losing his foster mother out of his mind. He took another deep breath, shook his head a bit before sitting up in his chair. His face looked a bit more cheery, even if it was a bit fake. The feeling of this lingering sadness and pain would be gone soon enough, as time healed all wounds.

The woman continued, talking a bit more about her past and what she learned from it. He was glad that she opened up a bit, allowing him to gain some wisdom, despite being older than her. She had an odd charm about her, feeling like she might be an 'old soul' or something along those lines. "Yeah.... I guess you'd be right. Sitting around grieving isn't what she'd want...." He shook his head slightly in agreement. She was right, sitting around and crying about the past isn't something she would've wanted him to do. She would want him to push forward with his life, living a full life. "Guess that's why I'm doing this for her, then..." He said aloud, albeit a bit soft. He wasn't really think, kind of letting his mind wander a bit as he contemplated Lavanda words with his own life.

After a short period of silence, Nero came back to reality. The room had grown heavy, but he wasn't hear to make things worse. He wanted to cheer Lavanda up and make sure she was doing alright despite the injuries. The case would be on hold, more or less, until she got better. The only way they'd work on the case before her major injury was healed was a break appeared in the case again. Their primary suspect managed to escape after losing Nero across a road with heavy traffic. He was lucky he didn't receive any more injuries, but did manage to wound the suspect in the shoulder. Still, a wound meant nothing if he got away. So, they were back to square one, hoping to find a clue of some sort. Until then, resting and healing would be their primary focus.

 

[Dagfinn]

As the mood lowered in the room the two of them were less prone to talk, Lavanda tried to continue the conversation but she felt a bit muddled and somewhat embarrassed after sharing. Even if it was with limited detail, she rarely if at all talked about her past. At least not without joking about it. Eventually the conversation dwindled to nothing and Nero took his leave. Despite the awkward ending Lavanda was grateful for his visit. She learned a bit about him and it did alleviate some of her physical pain, or at lest for awhile she was distracted enough to stop thinking about it.

* * *

It didn't take long for Lavanda to be released from the hospital, now able to walk with the aid of crutches and taking lighter less mind altering pain medication. Of course she wouldn't be at the top of her game, but that didn't bother her and she figured to go into work anyway. Distracting herself with work seemed better than staying isolated at home, rest wasn't appealing as it meant being left alone with just her thoughts.
Lavanda arrived at the apartment in the early morning before Nero and started the morning with writing notes down. After all she wanted to get out what she learned from her previous encounter before she lost all the details. Although what she really learned was that the man was useless to furthering their investigation. Not that he shouldn't be put away for his crimes, it's just that further questioning wasn't likely to aid them in any way.

 

[The Mockingbird]

It had been a nearly a week and Nero visited Lavanda every other day, pretty much. He liked to stop in and check up on her and talk for a bit. He was enjoying his time off, to be honest. It wasn't often that he had this much free time. He read a lot of books and watched tv for the most part. He went out to eat every so often, but never really did much else during this time. He wanted to keep the case on pause because Lavanda had just as much invested in it as he did. Seeing as her injuries were caused by one of the murderers, she probably had a certain drive to crack this case, but was unable to work on it with him at the moment.

Like normal, Nero arrived at the hospital and went to the front desk to sign in. He talked to the clerk there, but she told him that Lavanda had requested to leave sometime the previous day. It shocked ther man, but it wasn't too much of a surprise, considering how stubborn she had been about the injury. She never showed any real discomfort or sadness about it. She probably just wanted to get back to work. They man thanked the clerk before leaving and began heading to the fake apartment. "God dammit.... That stubborn asshole." He light-heartedly joked under his breath.

After about a fifteen minute drive, he arrived at the apartment and quickly entered. Nero quickly noticed something was different and knew that Lavanda did indeed return to work. "Lavanda? Why didn't you tell me that you were coming back so soon?" The question wasn't really serious and he had a soft smile on his face. He was glad she was back. It was just unfortunate that they were back to square one, but they wouldn't dwell on something like that. They knew they had a lot of work ahead of them if they were to make noticeable progress once again on the case.

 

[Dagfinn]

"Hmm, I thought I told you," she finished a sentence of her notes before looking up at him, "it must have slipped my mind last we spoke."

Simply lies not that he could tell. Lavanda just figured he might argue with her if she said she was coming back into work. Maybe he wouldn't have either way she didn't want to risk it. He seemed to have genuine concern over her and her injuries, as sweet as it was it did somewhat impede their case. In fact she wanted to start working again much sooner, not that she didn't somewhat enjoy his visits and time off... Her enjoyment didn't matter, as far as Lavanda knew she was still a target and someone new could die any day now. They needed to move on with the case.

Her mood defiantly shifted to something a bit more quiet and focused, staring at images she's seen a million times before. All they had was mere speculations and ideas. Nothing at all solid here. Lavanda would never say it, but at this point they'd probably need another murder to move the case any further. Unless there was something obvious she was missing here...

 

[The Mockingbird]

"Huh... Alright, whatever." He took it at face value, not questioning the fact that he might've forgotten that she mentioned it. She had no reason to lie to him, at least in his mind. He wouldn't have really protested her coming back to her work if the doctor didn't have much of an issue with it. The last thing she needed was to get another prosthetic leg to replace the broken one she brought back too early. Still, she was using crutches and not putting much weight on the leg. It would only be a few more days until it was fully healed, but it was still relatively fragile and weak in it's current state. So, the crutches were a good sign that she wasn't in too much of a rush to get back into the swing of things.

Nero walked in further into the apartment, passing by Lavanda who had the hologram table up with the crime scene photos from the old crime scenes and the most recent one.There wasn't much to go over at this point. The two of them probably put in nearly a hundred hours of just examining the photos. There wasn't anything new to see, really. Still, it wasn't his place to judge. Maybe she noticed something that he missed at some point. So, he just simply left her to it, hoping she might notice something subtle that would prove to be important.

The man sat down on the couch and let out a long sigh. He was a bit glad to be working on the case with Lavanda again. He would miss the free time and just overall relaxed nature that his little break provided him. After a few moments, his phone began to buzz, signalling a call. "Hmmm?" The man let out as he took notice of it. Nero picked it up, greeting the person who called. It was a brief call, but the only thing that mattered was there was another murder that happened the previous night. "Shit! Another one? Alright, we're on our way." With that, the man stood up and looked at Lavanda. She probably overheard the conversation and could tell by the face he made. "Let's go...."

 

[Dagfinn]

Well the timing couldn't have been any better placed, not that Lavanda would admit such vial a thing. As the death rate continued to climb all she could think was how stupid it was only two people were really actually working on the case. Sure there was a few others processing and cataloging some of the evidence, but no one outside of the two of them were dedicated to this investigation. Hell, to Lavanda it seemed like those who did help didn't at all care. The whole idea of it became more odd than it did annoying as time went on. Sure they wanted to distance themselves as far from the soldiers as they could... It just was an odd move to make, like they didn't want the case solved... Lavanda didn't dwell on the idea. Partly as it was silly, and partly because they arrived at the scene.

Janette Blackburn, 53 year old woman. One shot directly through the head, the obvious cause of death. Knife wounds were post mortem, an clean and nearly bloodless cut across her throat. And like with everyone else, she had missing equipment. Her leg from the knee down, odd thing was though her whole leg was a prosthetic. Instead of removing it they cut the thing in half.
"No sign of forced entry or a struggle," Lavanda noted, "and since she got shot at point blank... She let in whoever did this."

Whoever did this also chose to lay her down on the couch rather than leave her sprawled on the couch. A sign of remorse maybe? It that was true than Janette possible knew her attacker... Possibly, there were other reasons to let someone in. Regardless, whoever did this one was a lot more careful than the last. It didn't look like they'd find any DNA evidence... Not that it would stop them from looking.

 

[The Mockingbird]

As Lavanda was questioning the whole situation of the case, the man's mind was swirling with the possibilities that could come from the crime scene. There wasn't much talk and they arrived relatively quick. Nero's face didn't show much emotion as the crime scene wasn't nearly as brutal and messy as the previous. It was still unfortunate that someone was executed like this. As he approached the body, he inspected to wound more closely. This, was indeed the work of someone much more capable than the last suspect who mutilated the body.

"Hmm... Yeah, it seems like it." The man replied to Lavanda's observation. It was hard to refute it, seeing the lack of defensive marks on her skin. What would have made her open the door to her killer. It didn't make sense, but obviously something fishy was going on with this murder. Maybe she knew her killer? Was it possible that this murder wasn't connected? It had some of the same connections to the previous, but there are some discrepancies, as well.

Taking a long sigh, he took a few steps back and allowed to let Lavanda take a better look over everything. She was a better investigator than he was as it had become apparent. She had a better eye for detail in these crime scene investigations so far. Nero began to look around the apartment, searching for any minor clues that anyone might've missed earlier. It could lead to a lead, but he wasn't hopeful. This killer was clean about their work, so careless clues were highly doubtful at best. He was hoping they could gather enough real world investigation and maybe get more time with the holograms to piece everything together. For now, Lavanda was doing the hard work.

 

[Dagfinn]

Lavanda stopped walking around the apartment standing a few feet away from the couch the woman laid on. Nearly still, even for a moment she stopped breathing as she focused on the scene. Same knife, same victim type, missing prosthetics... So much effort in making the crimes look the same, while at the same time allowing each killer to do pretty much as they please. Maybe there was some sort of message they were trying to send with the knife? Whoever orchestrated all of this didn't seem to be trying to communicate with anyone. More annoying than that Lavanda still couldn't figure why they only took certain parts of the prosthetics. After perhaps a minute too long of standing still she sighed and walked outside of the apartment without a word. Not leaving all together, just standing outside the door.

Every minute that passed was a minute closer to her own death, a minute closer to another victim. They had absolutely nothing. No motive, no leads. As far as she could tell someone just ordered others to kill and even if they find another killer or two there was a chance they knew very little or nothing about the person that hired them. What she needed was for someone to make a huge mistake... But of course she didn't want to wish for that, it meant another person's death. No... What she did wish for was more people working the case. Most of the time she trusted in her skills, but right now she was pretty much useless.

 

[The Mockingbird]

Nero glanced over his shoulder and watched Lavanda for a few moments before turning back and looking at the rest of the scene. He didn't want to disturb the woman who dangerously focused at the time. Still, there wasn't too much to be said as the tension oozing from the woman silenced any small talk that could be brought up. They way she was staring at the body, he could tell that she was contemplating something deeper than just the victim's corpse in front of her. It made him wonder what she was thinking about in that thousand yard stare she was giving off. It was only speculation, but he slowly concluded that it was probably something along the lines that the killers are slowly making their way towards her parent. That with each victim and each crime scene they visit, it was one step closer to hitting home.

Of course, the man still was unaware of the fact that Lavanda was actually a potential target for these killers, as well. She kept it a mystery to him and anything related to it has never come up in a conversation between the two of them before. Although, part of this was that Lavanda had assumed that he knew a lot more about her than what he really did. His boss and the other higher ups never released any more information to him, so he just assumed there wasn't much special about her. She appeared to be a few years younger than him, so he just figured there was a 2nd degree of connection to the case, like him.

It was only a few moments later that she stepped out of the room in a sort of frustrated, brooding aura that surrounded. She stood in the door way in silence, taking a breather away from the scene and gathering herself. She was quite disturbed with something and Nero didn't know if he should step in. Was it something about the victim or was she getting lost in her thoughts? This kind of behavior was unlike anything he had seen before from Lavanda, especially at a crime scene. He took a deep breath to prepare himself before walking over and approaching his partner. "You good? Notice anything important on the victim?"

 

[Dagfinn]

"Depends..." Lavanda knew he meant important to the case, as for that she came up short. All she managed to get was a few details about their victim prior to their death. For a moment she glanced back into the room then finally directed her attention to Nero.
"I'm fairly certain she knew she was letting a killer in and she was prepared to die, signs point to that being the case anyway. She didn't take her medication this morning, there are a few voicemails on the answering machine and she only made tea for her guest... Just to name a few things- I'm sure if we checked she's probably updated her will recently, she does have two kids. All that's just from a glance, I could take another look around," not that much of that mattered at this point, "As for learning anything about the perpetrator, I've come up short," she simply shrugged. Trying to lessen her stress by not being too hard on herself. Lavanda needed to keep confident in her abilities, she's solved more complex mysteries hasn't she? Well this case had the most victims and somehow to least amount of evidence. The orchestrator was probably laughing at their incompetence and utter lack of progress.

"Even if we catch another killer... I don't know how close we'll be able to get to our mastermind. They're keeping their hands clean and I'm fairly sure the people they hire know nothing of them. We might need to go about this differently, I just don't know how," Lavanda adjusted her crutches and looking away from Nero as she glanced down the hall. There had to be a better way to go about this...