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Of Kings and Pawns (IC)

Never had Thalia been this hyped about anything, let alone a guy. It almost didn't matter that she and Frank came from two different ends of the spectrum of justice. She was most certainly falling for him. And Karin was fully supporting her. It couldn't get better than this. She did feel only slightly bad about this whole thing: they were caught. Tony saw her laying hands on Frank and holding him close. Maybe a bit too shady for his liking. He already had some burning hatred for this girl. Dating his partner? That would make things worse. But who was Tony to judge what his partner did on his personal time? But it was like Karin mentioned: mixing business with pleasure. Dangerous, indeed. Her being close to Frank might put him in more danger than not. The second Ra's finds out about her newest boyfriend, he'll do anything and everything in his power to put an end to it. Oh, Frank, why did I have to fucking fall for you like that? I'm soooo dumb, but I'm craving that crazy stupid love feeling. And I reeeeaally like you. "Tony can shove it. If he doesn't like that I'm dating Frank, I'll be sure to kiss him in full view of his sorry ass. He might have a grip over our lives at the moment, but he doesn't tell me or his partner what to do with their personal lives." The more this name-calling and harassment continued, the more uncomfortable Thalia had become around Tony. What if he did betray her in the end? Would Frank stop him? The way he sounded made Thalia believe him. But was she becoming that much of a fool for romance?


There was the issue about pampering herself properly for the date. And Karin was willing to help with that, as well as some other advice about dating and how guys think. She'd never gone out with a guy in that way. One night stands? Sure. But the only long term relationship she's had with a guy was Ra's. And that was too one-sided to be called a partnership. Seeing how much Thalia was panicking about her fear of a date, it came as a relief to have Karin by her side to help. Hell, Thalia would always hear that love wasn't always about the physical. It wasn't about how well she could make herself look for a date, or how attractive she was without the makeup and dress. Maybe Frank saw something deeper in her. It still helped to look the part of a cop's date, and not the part of a lowlife thief. Jolting her shoulder, the redhead thanked her friend, "You are the best friend a street girl could ask for, Karin. And all for some chick who robbed you yesterday? You are THE best." Of course, she didn't think those thanks alone sufficed for everything that Karin has done to this moment. Thalia wanted to pay it all back someday, be it financially or otherwise. Whatever it was, she was prepared to help this caretaker. For a bit, she felt like she was in college bonding with that roommate who came from a totally different background. That in mind, they really did come from completely different places in the social food chain, but they were also very alike. Alike enough to foster a friendship.


Karin's support meant so much to Thalia. She was happy for her friend, and when the hyper girl was taken into a hug, she reciprocated without hesitation. She enjoyed hugging Karin; it showed how close they'd become in such a short time. Hell, in just a day, she found a new best friend and a boyfriend. What a day it's been for Thalia. "Marriage? Seriously? I haven't even got my high school degree, you know," she uttered with a laugh in the mix. "Ahhh, but you're such a great friend, and a huge help, Karin. Thank you." Thalia felt like she'd be asking a lot of dating questions to Karin, who seemed to have more experience. A set of questions for another day. Now? The two remained in their embrace for a good while, and when they pulled away, Thalia took advantage of an opportunity to poke fun at Karin's recent crush: James. Gently gripping her friend's shoulders and swaying her around playfully, she popped her question. "Soooooo, you and James. Don't tell me there was no chemistry between you two. Don't tell me you weren't screaming on the inside when you saw him. I can tell you were peeking at the guy a biiiit too much. And then you told Joe that he's your boyfriend? You either stole my idea, or you've got yourself a crush, girl. Go on. We're alone, right?"


What an innocent-enough conversation for the two to engage in. Especially now that they'd be alone for a while.


--


The worst liability to any case, for a detective at least, is doubt. Making assumptions. Tony knew this, yet broke this solemn rule actively every time Thalia's name came up in the investigation.  As much as he'd like to deny it, he knew Frank made a point. Maybe Thalia was innocent of some of these crimes. Maybe she was guilty. And maybe there was more to it like duress. He couldn't know, and the girl herself didn't seem willing to talk all that much, obviously. Maybe she was defending Al-Asheera, maybe not. Again, it was beyond his knowledge. Moreover, the more he provokes those girls, especially Thalia, the more likely they are to back out of this whole thing and stab both detectives in the back for all of this. Tony resisted becoming physical this time, sure, but he was still rude around Thalia. Name calling and putting her down. But after what she pulled in the backyard with his badge and gun? He figured he had all the right to do that. How can he not call her a thief after she literally swiped his badge under his nose with no good reason that she could be certain of? Frank's got a point. If there wasn't so much margin for error, I would be in the right about this. Now, I'm just making myself look like I'm vengeful, sloppy, making this personal. God damn it, it is personal! But was it Thalia herself that shot Richard? Yet another question he can't possibly know of. He'd have to ACTUALLY see her files later, the files of the mystery redhead, and see exactly what Thalia has done, both in Philly and LA. Only then can he properly judge her character. Same for Frank. It might also snap him out of his daydream of dating a pretty girl they literally had in cuffs yesterday.


"Meh... You're right. It's too soon to tell anything. Maybe later, we can both review Thalia's file. We'll see--and get the record straight--what exactly she's done over the past eight years. Don't get me wrong, but she doesn't seem like she'll come clean to either one of us anytime soon." Maybe not to Tony. Frank? .... She might. Something in her wanted to come clean in hopes he wouldn't arrest her. "Once we assess the details, we'll decide if we arrest her or not. Is that fair enough for you? I won't call her names, I won't slap her, and I won't put her down. We need her, whether we like it or not. I don't like her. I don't like what she represents. And I hope you see it the way I see eventually. She may be troubled, but she needs some solid years in a cell to pay. And if she's killed? .... well, she did this to herself. But again. We will review this ourselves. It's for our own sake."


Would that shut Frank up now that he conceded? Hopefully. Because Tony planned to arrest her unconditionally.


The idea of his cousin's name on Thalia's list was still troubling, and almost felt painful for Tony, only because it was sort of believable now. He couldn't admit it to Frank, though. It might call his decisions into question further than they already have been. Or was this all just a sick joke from this girl? Beats him. Tony decided to drive to the station, regardless. He'd had enough of lingering around and dueling with troublesome thoughts. Time to get  on the same page as his partner. "Well, as for the executioner.... as ugly as it's going to be, we might have to. He's a cop. It's going to go on record if he disappears. If we are going to eliminate him, we need to be discreet about it. Toss his body into the ocean or something. Get rid of it somehow, someway. But before we kill him, we need to find him. Out of so many cops in the department, high and low ranking.... hm.... Do you think Human Resources keeps record of noticeable injuries? I don't think this person would go on record saying he got those burns from a removed hand tattoo, more specifically, clan ink. He's probably hiding under the excuse that he's suffered a significant burn on his hand after a chemical accident or a cooking mishap or something." A probable theory, at last, a good idea from Tony. Maybe to forget the bad ideas and quotes from earlier. "Got a better idea, partner?"
 
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"You go. Let the world know - Well, don't let the world know yet, but eventually, you can wander around Santa Monica and show Frank off as much as you want. I bet he's got some muscle under that suit of his. Guy like that? No way does he work as a cop in the LAPD and not be even slightly toned." She grinned. "But yeah. Don't worry about Tony - As much as I'd like to say I like the guy, he's just not the sort of person I can click with right now." She said, "He's like one of those jocks you get in high school, he's just..." She thought for a moment and realized that Thalia hadn't been to high school, so her experience with high school jocks wasn't exactly up in the high ranks. "Basically, high school jocks, they live and breathe sport, they only care about getting laid, rely on sports scholarships to get into college, and are generally just assholes that pick on people that are more vulnerable than them, purely for the reason of 'because they can' - That's what Tony reminds me of. Not the best impression to have of a sophisticated Detective, but, that's just what I see him as. I do my best to get on with him, but the way he acts with you just pissed me off so much. He treats you like some sort of caged up animal." She sighed.


"I suppose you're the best friend an... Average college drop-out girl could ask for, too, Thalia." She laughed, "Safe to say we got off to a shaky start, but, I have a good way of spotting the good and bad in people." She tapped the side of her head. "With you? I just saw someone troubled, rather than someone who was set in stone to be part of the life you had before now." She shrugged, "Heck, I'm no saint either, so, neither of us can complain about each other that way. Once all of this is over, and hopefully once we have some money by then, I'll take you out shopping. Heck, if things go okay, I might be able to go shopping with you before then. But, yeah. You know, there's one color that all redheads look great in, right? And that's green. Green is a color that you'd look brilliant in, without a doubt." She said. "So, whenever we get the chance, we'll go out and find you something real California-like, a dress, maybe a darker shade of green. It'd go nice with your eyes, too, I reckon." She shrugged.


Yeah, Thalia was definitely like a different-background college room mate to her, too. She enjoyed spending time with her, and she wanted to spend more time as an actual friend with her rather than just someone she was trying to help out of a bad spot, someone she was stuck in bad business with. Hopefully it'd change sooner rather than later, and hopefully she found herself in a relationship with Frank. Karin would like to see that happen.


"Oh, come on. I already told you I found him kind of... Y'know." She shrugged, "Maybe I have fallen for him a little bit. He's suave, mysterious, unique, down-to-earth. I like that sort of thing in guys. He seems pretty edgy in his own little way, too, and looks like the guy that won't take shit. Better yet, he's honest, or at least as far as we know he is. Then, he was nice to Joey, too, so I can't really complain about him. He's got a 10 across my scorecard, sister, that's for sure." She laughed and shrugged, "Plus, he didn't complain when I said he was my boyfriend, so, we'll see how it goes. If it's an act that we need to keep up..." She bit her lip and grinned, "Maybe it'll actually happen, right?"


Speaking of Joe, he soon revealed himself. He was clean, but dressed in his pyjamas again.


"Karin, I'm gonna' lie down for a while. I don't feel all that well."


"Oh, okay." She frowned, "You were in the bathroom for ages. Everything okay?"


"Yeah, I just took a long bath to see if I'd feel better, but..." He shrugged, "Didn't do much." He said. "I don't want anything to eat right now, either. My blood sugar's fine, though, I promise." He said.


"Alright. Just give me a call if you need anything, okay?"


He nodded and smiled at her, then slowly wandered back to his room and closed the door behind him after going inside.


"Well, that's trouble in paradise for you." She sighed and leaned back in her seat. "Joseph won't be eating with us by the looks of it, but... You want some breakfast? I don't always cook in the mornings, but today, I definitely should. What are you feeling? Bacon and scrambled eggs? Sausages? Waffles? Pancakes?" She asked. "I make it all myself, so, take your pick." She said. "Maybe another cup of coffee, too. I know I could use one after all we've had to deal with today. All the excitement's worn me out, too." 


--


"She doesn't seem like the type to come clean, but she doesn't seem like a killer, either." He said, shaking his head. "I know killers. I've met killers. I've helped lock up more murderers and rapists than I can keep count of. She's not like any of them. She stands her grounds, but there's no psychotic traits." He said. "There's nothing in her that gives her away as a killer, and that much I'll say right now. I know it's not easy trusting either of them, but, I'll tell you what I told Thalia. The first thing that made me trust Karin was Joseph - Why? Because he's not the sort of kid that's grown up around crime." He said. "He doesn't have the right traits for it either. Kids with dads that are criminals, all that, or moms that are off doing drugs and stealing shit instead of raising them? You notice it in the kids in the first thirty seconds you talk to them - you must have seen them a few times." He said. "Joseph... Joseph has manners, is very fond of his sister, very honest. He's not someone who's been surrounded by bad shit all his life. The worst we saw him was yesterday - if he was surrounded by crime, seeing people with guns wouldn't have shaken him up so much." He explained.


"Now, Thalia's living with them." He said. "I trust a kid's judgment. They have ways of seeing things in people, different to how we do. They have more space to think about the other details - At our age we judge people based on, say, jobs, their friendships, their social abilities, what college they went to and whether or not they have a family of their own. Kids, they look at people based on their personality more than anything, what they talk about, how they act around others. Everyone has the potential to be a role model - If Thalia was some brutal psychotic serial killer, Joseph would have ran out of that house with us yesterday. But he didn't." He said. "I'm not saying that removes the possibility, but I'm saying, I think it's unlikely she's anything more than a small time robber. She already said - Ra's would never have a female predecessor. If that's the case, why the fuck would she even bother pinning murders to her name, right? Unnecessary trouble. More things to tie to her, and at the end of the day, she'd never get leadership. And what good's a leader to an organization like that if they're, A,: A woman, or B: Someone who's never killed anyone before? Thalia might be both of those. An excellent thief, maybe, but a killer? I'm swaying towards not, but we will figure that out." He said.


"I agree, if she's a stone-cold killer, then arrest may be necessarily. If all she's done is hold up a few liquor stores and get tossed around by that rapist of a leader for eight years? Then I don't think she should serve time. We made a promise, Frank. If she helps us do this, she walks. Look at McAllister - he's been told he'll be pardoned and put in witness protection if he helps take down Bradan. That son of a bitch has robbed, killed, and done Christ knows what else. He'll be a citizen we'll be obliged to protect soon enough." He said. "It's all fucked up, but, at the end of the day, if this works out and Thalia's no murderer, then I'm sticking to the promise we made. I'm a man of my word, and quite frankly, if we don't stick to our word, all she'll do is tell the judge everything we did. False information, improper justice, aiding and abetting, police brutality - We'd be locked up for longer than she would be." He said. "I'm not one to think about myself that often, but, I don't want that to happen to me. Cops don't survive in prison - we'd both be dead within a week."


The talk of The Executioner came up, though.


"Killing him is probably the only way, but, the oceanfront will be too busy right across the state." He said. "Our better bet is to either make his death look like a suicide, or an accident, or kill him and take him out into the Mojave. Bury him in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere, where no one will find him. The worms and snakes will have at the corpse. They'll be lucky if they ever find the remains." He said. "No CCTV out there, either. We could drive him out there, kill him, bury him, and no one would be any the wiser. In my opinion, though, we should take an unmarked car, one not registered to the LAPD - that much should be obvious." He said. "Once we have that, we track the guy down, then we grab him as soon as we get the chance. Like I said earlier, there's cloroform in the evidence locker, so no one would notice if we borrowed that. If we can spark him out, shove him in a trunk, we could have the whole thing closed up by the end of tonight, providing we manage to find him." He explained.


The worst part about being a Detective wasn't that you solved how people committed murders, but you also learned how to commit them. At the same time, you learned all the possible ways to get away with them, too.


"As for your plan on finding the guy, it sounds like a good one. If he had the tatt burned off after he joined the department, he could have reported it as a cooking accident, vehicle accident, whatever... Would have got paid time off, and, well, yeah." He shrugged. "Better yet, all employee profiles have facial pictures. In the picture, we'll see the neck tattoo. If he's got a pig on his neck and details of a scar on his hand, then we'll have our guy." He said.
 
"Oh, trust me. After the few times I've touched Frank, I'll tell you from now: there's muscle under that suit. God, I will so tell you about it if I ever see him shirtless." Already, Thalia was getting all sorts of ideas about what the two would do on their first date. Where would they go? What would they do? How would she behave? Would she impress him? Till now, she's already shown that she has the capacity to be a dork who seems younger than she is. How does a cop see something in that? But her priority at this rate: don't do anything too public so Ra's doesn't get wise and find her. If he finds out that she's dating the detective hunting her down, Frank's as good as dead. Despite her lack of a high school degree, Thalia knew how the food chain worked there. Knew it well enough, at least. She could get the picture about how Tony and Frank were in that regard. Frank was that good-looking, quieter, sympathetic one. Tony was the jock with a girlfriend on his dick and feels like he's king of the world. Thalia was only giving back what he was giving her when it came to shit. Maybe he'd calm down eventually and respect her at some point. It was guys like Ra's, and in some ways Tony as well, that made her prefer girls in her time in Al-Asheera, but she still wouldn't say no to guys either. Especially not to Frank.


Friendships really come from the strangest of places. Especially with Karin, who welcomed Thalia with open arms, and was even pushing to take their friendship further. She spoke of date preparations, a wardrobe adjustment. Thalia wasn't a fashionista, and never planned on it anytime soon, but at the same time, she didn't have any sort of formal clothing. Plus, most of it's black or some other dark colors. It never crossed her mind to wear some sort of green to complement her eyes. She peeked down at the black shirt she'd been wearing this past day, then back at Karin. "Trust me, you don't want to see my clothing. I'm not original at this whole matching thing at all, so I just stick to black. Once this is over, we really need a shopping day, you agree? It'd suit us both well." When she mentioned both of them doing this together, she flicked at her friend's hand playfully, winking to her as well, reminding her that she had a guy to impress as well.


"Well, in that case, seems like you two hit it off pretty well." Hearing Karin fangirl over this guy, going on and on about he was perfect, put a smile on her face. It felt so good to know that both girls were enjoying themselves with their boys of interest. Maybe they could double date? Share, as Thalia once mentioned? That would be extremely awkward, but she's done it plenty of times with Al-Asheera for stealing purposes. In that moment, an idea came to Thalia's mind. Rather impulsive, too, based off what she'd pulled earlier with Frank. She leaned over to her friend in almost a pouncing manner, tempting her further with idea. "I dare you to kiss him in front of your brother next time he comes!" Just like she did to Frank. "Come on, girl, you know you want to! You have to sell the act, right? And if he doesn't mind, he'll react well to it. Trust me, it worked for me." Would it work for a shadier figure like James? Frank is a detective, and clearly had something deep down for Thalia. She wasn't entirely sure about James. It was a hit or miss.


After all this time, Thalia was wondering what happened to little Joseph. He went to shower and just never came back until now. He wasn't feeling alright, a damper to the gleeful moment the girls were having, but he was taking care of himself. Still got to the redhead's heart as she saw him go back inside. "Awww... feel better, Joe, okay?" Such coordination the brother and sister had. Maybe one day, when she goes back, Thalia could have that with her brother, too.


Food. It's been a while since she's had a hot meal, and coffee and hot chocolate were the closest she's gotten. But no way in hell she'd let Karin do all the work herself. No more being useless for Thalia. She wanted to be an active part of this house. "Hmm... I can't say no to bacon, you know. Can I help you out? I... haven't exactly cooked before, but I can watch the first time if you want."


--


A kid's judgment, as Frank told of. Yet, that kid's same judgment was indisputable fear the second he saw Thalia walk in the house yesterday. But now they live under the same roof and the boy doesn't mind. Joseph's mannerisms sure do tell a lot about Karin, but he hasn't seen much affection between him and Thalia. Karin might be an excellent caretaker, but her friend? There's still nothing to prove her goodwill. Yet there's nothing to disprove it either. Still, Joseph was a good kid. Odds are Karin is, too. It made Tony like the white-haired girl a bit more. Even admire her for all that she's done to take care of this poor child for the past five or so years. She gave it all up to raise him. And he found it... noble. Following up, Frank made a convincing point about Thalia as well. Sure, she wants to see the downfall of Ra's. That's what they had in common. But does she want power? Like she said and Frank reiterated, there's no way a group like that would accept a woman as their leader. They are just that old-fashioned and regressive. No matter what, Thalia could forget about being the next Head, and she's well aware of that. But a killer? Tony couldn't be so sure about that. The file would tell for sure. But something about her just bothered him. Why does he see blood spilled whenever he looks into her green eyes? 


"Promises...." Tony muttered, a bit bothered by the defense. "As a detective, I've made many promises in the past that I didn't follow through with so all the guilty parties could see justice. Most of these promises, Frank, they're worse than just a mild sense of deception. How can we be sure that Thalia and Karin won't come forward with a deal to get them off the hook and us in jail? You said it yourself. Cops don't last in the pen. Look, we'll decide on that later. I want to know more about this girl's history. See if she's some sort of psycho. Thinking about it... she was under the wing of Ra's for so long, a man who murdered his parents in bed. Twice. Don't you think that kind of madness rubbed off on her? Perverted her mind? Again, like hell she's going to admit it."


Was it some sort of jealousy? Did Tony only act this way as some sort of feisty flirt? It was the story of the grade-school bully/bullied. Was he only acting this way because he was fond of Thalia in some sick way? Not with a long-term girlfriend, he refused to believe it and quickly wiped that idea out of his head.


Committing murder for a greater good? Yet another necessary evil that Thalia and Karin could rat them out for. This was all so complicated, and he couldn't help but think in a vengeful sense. His cousin was low priority at the moment. For now? The Bullet. He nodded to Frank's plan. "Deal. First thing's first, finding the guy. Maybe we can get lucky and he's not at the station. Makes our lives a lot easier to know he checked out and didn't return. Sounds a lot better than him going inside and never leaving, know what I mean?"


The conversation was cut short by a phone call to Tony's cell phone. Melissa. Finally, something positive to lighten the mood. He instantly answered. She must've received his text.


"Hey, Mel, thought about what I told you?"


"Hello, Detective Walsh."


Immediately, Tony put the call on speaker. That voice was NOT his wife, but instead a thick, male, Middle Eastern accent. Worried, he held the device out to his side so Frank could hear. In a deep, emotionless voice he responded, "Who is this?"


"None of your concern. What is important is that you know who we are. So an introduction is not necessary."


This had to be Al-Asheera, no doubt. "Why do you have my girlfriend's cell phone?"


"Again, detective, none of your concern. Another question like that, and I will start removing fingers from your precious Melissa."


A sigh of discontent, but he played along. This wasn't what he needed in his day, and his heart felt like it was collapsing from hearing someone else's voice instead of Mel's. "What do you want for her back?"


"Resign from the LAPD in the next two days, and stop pursuing Al-Asheera, and we will contact you again with details of the location of your beloved."


"That will never happen! How do I know she's not dead already? That you animals didn't kill her the second you found her? HOW did you find her?"


A dumb question. Al-Asheera were out of touch, but resourceful. There was a pause. Then, the voice alternated to a frantic female one. "T-Tony? What's going on?"


"Mel?!" 


"Is that proof enough?" the groggy Arabian voice returned to the call.


"Son of a bitch, you are making this personal all for NOTHING!"


"Not for nothing, Detective Walsh. You picked this war. Now you will bring it to a peaceful conclusion. Resign. Stop looking for us. And you and Melissa can walk on the beach like you do every weekend together at sundown. That is a nice ritual, am I right?"


He knows what Tony and Melissa do on weekends?! How the fuck can he possibly know that? "I--"


"For every day you are disobedient, fail to submit your resignation, or file a missing person's report, Melissa will be tortured. Mutilated. Skinned. Cut up. Until there's nothing left to harm on her on the outside... then we will harm her on the inside. She will grow to despise you and everything you stand for. If you delay your end of the deal, Detective Walsh, you will get Melissa back. She just won't return the same way you last saw her."


"You sick son of a bitch, you let her go NOW! If you want anyone, take me instead!"


"Farewell, detective. Remember. Your decision how she comes home. Either without a scratch on her body.... or a little bit used. Your call."


The call dropped. Tony dropped the phone to the cup holder and didn't flinch beyond that, just furiously focusing on the road in front of him and not letting this moment of rage get the better of him as they were headed for the station. Was this Thalia? No way. She was with them most of the day. But did she alert her men? Is James Al-Asheera, and literally left the house to abduct Melissa? He wasn't going to say a word of accusation. He knew how Frank would react from him pointing the finger. Instead, this:


"Thalia was right. They are going after the people closest to us."
 
"Well, I never said I didn't plan on throwing a kiss his way next time I see him. Maybe he'll consider it a pleasant surprise, eh?" She laughed. Ah, the talk of all of this. It had been a long time since she'd spoken to anyone like this, and it was nice, honestly. Sure, she could tell a little bit about her love life to Joseph, but at the end of the day, he was a 10-year-old boy. He didn't really care that much for vast details of what his sister got up to, or what really interested her when it came to guys. It's not as if he could do anything with that information, aside from maybe behave better when he was around 'her type of guy' - At the same time, though, Joseph hadn't exactly worked wonders when it came to helping Karin score. As soon as most guys find out she's got a kid under her arm, they're long-gone. Too much responsibility, not enough money, some of them would say. Karin was never angry or regretful about Joseph, though. She'd pick him over any dream guy any day of the damn year. The thought of James did make her wear a curious smile, though.


She didn't know what it was she found so amazing about him - In some ways he was just your average guy, but, there was that odd quirk to him. Most people take one look at people like him and say 'hell to the fucking no' just because of the way he behaves, but, Karin only found herself drawn closer to that. She also knew he was a little bit older than her, at the very least. Given all she'd had to do over the past five years, she was quite a lot more mature in herself. Not only that, James was accomplished, at least in some ways. He'd done things he wanted to do, he'd developed his skills and made money from them. He stood for something. He believed in something. Even if what he was fighting for was something as ambiguous as freedom, it was still something. I suppose that's what Karin found the best in James.


And the fact that the guy knew how to wear a suit and look good - that was just a bonus, though.


"I definitely need a shopping trip at some point. Don't get me wrong, the stuff I've got is nice enough, it's just very..." She paused for a moment. "Last-season, I suppose." She laughed. "Either way, we'll be seeing plenty of James before we even get the chance to go shopping, so let's just hope he's not hard to impress. I get the impression that he's the sort of guy that walks around his house in a bathrobe, lives in his mansion, smokes Cuban cigars on weekends, and has a pool in his backyard. I don't know why, but first impressions are everything. He seemed serious, well-dressed, and rich. Some people who have a lot of money give it away just in the way they walk and talk, and him? Mhmm... He screams money, in my eyes. But I guess that's something else we'll have to wait and see." She said.


"Food, though, yep, you're free to watch." She smiled, "Come on. It won't cook itself. I'll make you the best bacon and eggs you've ever had, believe me. God knows I've made it enough over the last five years." She grinned. It was a fairly simple process, really. Bacon and eggs isn't exactly rocket science. She always made scrambled eggs, too, because you literally can't fuck scrambled eggs up. If you manage it somehow, then... Well. Karin knew she wouldn't be alive right now if she couldn't make scrambled eggs without mistakes. Thankfully, she could. That was simple enough, and the bacon was, too. She fried the bacon, made it so the fat was crispy and not chewy - She'd learn to always make the fat crispy thanks to Joseph. It was in her head now, she had to do it, because Joseph wouldn't eat it otherwise. He wasn't necessarily fussy, but, he didn't like the fat on meat, which is fair enough. But yeah, while the bacon was cooking, she boiled up some more coffee and made another two cups of that for them, too.


A nice morning so far, it seemed. She was concerned at one point where Joseph suddenly came out of his room and went straight back into the bathroom. She knew it was likely he was sick, but she didn't know what from. He hadn't eaten anything that could have made him ill, from what she knew. Maybe it was worry? Panic? Anxiety? After yesterday, she wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. After a few more minutes, he emerged and went back to his room without a word. If he was sick, then... Well, she'd have to find some sort of way to deal with that in a bit. As long as he was inside and in bed, he was fine. At least to some extent.


Anyway, as expected, as soon as the scrambled eggs and bacon was cooked, she divided it onto two plates. The scrambled eggs she'd made with, well, eggs, obviously - butter, milk, salt and pepper, and even a teaspoon of mustard to give it some extra flavor. That was that, though.


"And there we have it." She said, sliding a plate with a knife and fork over to Thalia. "One standard breakfast that I usually make every weekend during school semesters." She chuckled. "Usually it might be a little more fancy than that, but, I've been told I do it right. If you ever want a judge for your cooking, just ask any ten-year-old you can find. They'll soon tell you if you're any good or not." She smirked. "Maybe that's another thing I can do for you some time, eh? Cooking lessons?" She suggested, giving Thalia a small nudge.


--


"Yeah, we've all made promises. Sometimes we make promises just to be a comfort to people - I promise you're going to be okay, I promise you're walking away from this, I promise I'll find him, I promise I'll help them for you. Empty promises, or at least promises that you can't decide if you'll keep or not. Some promises are just down to fate, but others? Others can unfold exactly how you want them to. This is one of those things. If we get on their good side, then having them stick to the deal won't be difficult to do. We be assertive, but we play nice. If we do that, then they won't get too cocky, and at the end, they'll be happy enough with us to make sure they don't rat us out. It's a delicate situation, I know, sort of like a glass that'll shatter if you whistle too loud. We just need to find the right level, balance it out, and hey, Bob's your uncle." He said.


As said many times before, he trusted the girls to keep to their end of the deal. He didn't see what reason they had not to, other than if they were that pissed with Tony that they wanted to fuck him over, which would have been a tad bit mean, but, hey, if that's what they did then it'd be out of his control. He was going to assume for now that they wouldn't do that, though.


"She may have been under the wing of a psycho, but, from what she's told so far, she wasn't there willingly." He said. "Obviously, we don't know how valid that is, but... If she was a psycho, I'm pretty sure she would have butchered Karin and Joseph and gone back to Ra's by now. If she was anything like the guy, at least." He said. "The way she talks, she seems to hate him with a passion, seems to want him dead and gone. Only time will tell if that's truly what she wants, but, I wouldn't put it past her." He shrugged. "But yes, let's get to finding this son of a bitch." He said.


But they were cut off by a phone call. He thought all was normal until he heard the voice, and his heart sunk further and further with every word spoken. 


They had Melissa? Oh, shit. Okay, now, hostage situations weren't something he was fully equipped to deal with, but, what Al-Asheera probably didn't know was that they were working off the books to take them down now. They had their own unorthodox methods to take them down, and it was all going to start with The Executioner. He waited for the call to end, and ultimately, Thalia had been right -  They went after those you were close to, as Tony had pointed out once again. This was solid evidence that unless they worked fast, they were fucked. Okay, dealing with this would hopefully be simple enough, but it was decision-making time.


"Right, change of plan." He said, his voice firm and certain. "We can do this a few ways. You can hand in a fake resignation, and you can call it a day. I don't take the word of these pricks, though." He said. "Or, we can get our hands on their inside guy, because as far as they know, we don't know about him. We get our hands on him, and we can do one of two things - We can offer an exchange. Melissa for Pigman." He paused and took a sigh, "Or we can drive the guy somewhere quiet. Somewhere no one will find us. An old warehouse that's been abandoned or something - And..." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I think it's obvious what I'm saying. We strap him to a chair, get a car battery, some pliers, a Jerry can of water and a cloth, some meat scissors - We do whatever it takes to get the information out of him. Because if you ask me, if anyone knows where Mel would be, surely it'd be one of their most fucked up trusted members, right? After all, we're safe to assume that it's because of Pigman that all of this is even happening in the first place." He said.


"Ultimately, Tony, this is your choice to make. Whatever you think the best option is to do, count me in." He said.
 
"Just how to cook? Girl, I've got a lot to learn besides that." As painful, and shameful, as it was to admit, Thalia made a point. Sure, biologically, she aged after the age of 13, but mentally and from a socially competent perspective, she was stuck in that rut of a teen barely entering puberty. She didn't get a chance to enjoy her childhood, but also failed to take advantage of any opportunity to become an independent woman. For so long, she'd been the puppet for a psychopathic kingpin, doing whatever he asks and nothing more, which was certainly not enough to teach her some basic essentials to take care of herself. Fighting and stealing is one thing. Being able to land a stable job, talking to people without getting scared and stuttering, cooking for yourself, making a bank account, learning to drive, keeping your temper controlled, even the basics of a high school education. Thalia didn't get any of that. She instantly remembered the feeling going through her head when she entered the bar last night. Not only did she freak out at a social gathering that she wasn't crashing, but in hindsight, she felt she embarrassed Karin, too. From her lost gazes around the room, to her abuse story at the table, to hugging her in public so abruptly, it just lingered in her head that she did something that wasn't exactly socially acceptable. Karin might deny it, but the worry still existed. A worry still hanging over her that she'd be more of a pain around the house than her brother.


She took the eating utensils in her hands and looking down to the plate. It smelled really good, that was for sure. Nobody ever cooked in Al-Asheera. It was all delivery or microwavable dinners. Nothing this appetizing. That's why she watched so attentively this time, trying to learn. If she tried to cook herself right now, she'd either start a high school science fair type explosion or a fire. Best she observes for now. A lick of her lips separated her friendly smile to her friend as she explained the burden on her mind. "Karin... I'll be honest, I really feel like I'm going to be a bother around here. I'm just another mouth to feed. A stranger. Even worse, a criminal. If the police were to find me with the full knowledge of what I've done, I'd go to jail for a while, and so would you for having me stay here." At this point, she could only hope Frank would uphold his end of the deal and keep them safe. With that pause, she took a cut out of the eggs in her plate and gave them a try. When was the last time I had something homemade... back when I was home? "Mmmm... You've got quite a touch. So good... then again, I wasn't necessarily one for anything fancy. I got used to cold microwavable shit. So this is like a fancy restaurant to me." She giggled a bit at the remark before continuing, "My point. I may look like a young adult, but I took off at such a young age that I never really got a chance to grow up, take responsibility for myself. I'm just... so helpless. And I don't like that. I appreciate that you want to help me. Help me get my high school degree, teach me to drive, cook, all that kind of stuff. You have no idea what that means to me. I've never had a friend who would do all of that for me. But you can be sure that once I get a job, I'm going to pay it all back. Until I find a place, I'll help you out with whatever you need around here. I'll help pay your expenses. And once I can hold my own, I promise I'll move out. I'll get of your hair for good. Just... don't think I'll be a burden forever. I give you my word, I won't." But what's a thief's word really worth to another?


A part of Thalia, though, wanted to stick around. Stand by Karin for the longrun as her roommate. Help her keep the lights on, keep Joseph medicated and in school, keep food on the table, keep the roof over their heads. Separate? The two might return down the dark road they were on before meeting. Thalia might go back to robbing people on her own terms without the backing of Al-Asheera. Karin might continue to mug people too, even continue into prostitution if she had to. Surely the diner wasn't enough for her. Thalia knew this and wanted to help whether Karin liked it or not. Maybe this would be her way to pay her friend back, and not be alone in case things didn't work out with Frank.


Frank.... his phone number rested by Thalia's plate as she continued eating. She couldn't stop thinking about him. Thinking about his promise. Thinking about him in general. She was still crushing on him in her mind. Would he keep his word? But boy, was she thinking about other things. Fantasizing what a date with him might be like. How would it go? Would she impress him? HAS she already impressed him? She covered her daydreaming while eating with a quick compliment:


"My god, K..." Shit... did you just give her a nickname? Will she mind? "You need to teach me to do this sometime."


--


"You can't deny that this is unacceptable, Frankie. These monsters took Mel just to get to me, get me out of the way. I'm not going to give them what they want. No way in hell am I resigning. We're going to the station and finding our rat. We have enough to identify him. Isolating him? Might be an issue. Like you said. Chloroform could work. Or, if we're lucky and he's not in the station, we can go after him with almost no holds barred. Of course, we'll try to do it with no bloodshed, but he's not getting away. No questions asked. But first thing's first? We need his name. That's why our first stop is Human Resources. Follow my lead when we get there. I've got a cover story in mind. Once we apprehend our guy, we'll negotiate terms of a trade. Him for Mel. No other way."


The idea of his long-term girlfriend being kidnapped was taking a toll on Tony psychologically, even made his driving more careless and a bit faster than usual. It made him look back at how one decision can impact so much. Had they not found Thalia, he would not be marked. Had he not been marked, Melissa would be okay. He could still hear the fear in her voice over the phone. It killed him in every way possible. Sure, Thalia was the most valuable asset to taking down Al-Asheera, but was it worth it? Especially if it was her that landed him a bullseye on his back. If he were nicer to Thalia, would she still stab him in the back like this? So many questions that he couldn't answer. Too much uncertainty. "Kidnapping. That's a new level of low for Al-Asheera. First the 7/11 owner's daughter, now Mel. Frank, I'm going to ask you again. Is there anyone here in LA that you immediately care about? Even slightly. Because if they matter to you, these guys won't hesitate to snatch him or her. You heard what they'll do on the phone. You don't want that. Trust me, you don't."


Tony tried not to think that one person he might care about is Thalia. He just hoped that her name wouldn't come out of his lips as a response.


It didn't take much longer for the partners to arrive at the station and clock in. Not too suspicious. It wasn't quite noon yet. Coming in a bit late, especially while on a case this big, is sort of normal. Keeping their heads low was a good idea, though. They didn't need to get caught by this inside man without even knowing he's just staring at the check-in logs. Surely, looking at any officer passing by the lobby would take ages to find this guy. They needed something quicker: digital logs in HR. Tony lead the way in the station over to the Human Resources department, approaching the front desk and showing his badge for the woman there, some older woman clearly reluctant to be in her place.


"Bertha. Detectives Walsh and Hale. We need access to the employee digital database in order to find a specific officer within the department."


"What's this about now, Tony? What orphan got killed this time? What burning building? Oh fucking joy."


She knew his name, but Tony felt the need to start with formalities. Bertha wasn't quite fond of him either, evident by her sarcastic attitude and almost refusal. Their tension was a long story to tell Frank later, obviously. "It's need-to-know."


"It's always like that, isn't it? Because I'm growing sick of that excuse. I let you by this desk to my unrestricted access more times than not, and you don't tell me what you do back there, and hardly a thank you either."


"It's about a case in the past. A while ago. An ex-employee that I want to see if he worked on a particular case I'm revisiting. And if you keep this up, I'll file a complaint on you for impeding an ongoing investigation. And who do you think they'll believe, Bertha? You tell me."


The woman groaned. She and Tony had... a bit of a tough relationship, especially with all the excuses that the detective brings up. But besides her annoyance, she caved at his threat. "Fine, fine. You've got 15 minutes. One second longer, and I'm telling the chief you're sniffing after women who used to work here."


"Huh. Devious. I like that, Bertha. Keep it up. Thank you." His voice came out with a degree of bitterness to the woman at the desk, emphasizing the last two words. Christ.... why hasn't anyone fired this tight bitch yet? Nobody should give me this much of a hard time. Finally, the woman stood up from her desk and walked away. Tony's cue to go around and sit at her place. Full unrestricted access to the list of current and ex-employees, plus when they were hired. Tony then turned to his partner and asked him, "Any hints about Bradan's inside man? I know Ra's' guy will stick out, but we have two rats on the inside. Any clue? Otherwise, feel free to call up your guy for McAllister. He's our next stop after our executioner."


(No roleplay post in my life has ever pissed me off THIS much from how many times my laptop's trackpad accidentally took me to the 1x1 topic listing and erased all of my progress in the textbox here (like 3 times, once when I was almost done). So if this post is sloppy, it's because I did it in a very bad mood and I'm writing based off of memory, so there might be bits missing from my original. If so I'll edit them back in.)
 
Karin was stood there eating as well - she wasn't someone who ate a lot, just what she needed. She wasn't one to overeat or eat out of boredom, no, she just... Fueled up and got to work, basically, and that was all there was to it. Now that she had the time to have a relaxed breakfast, sadly without the presence of her brother, she was doing her best to savor it. What was better than good food and a nice chat with her friend? She didn't often get a luxury like this one - She knew that it wasn't necessarily her responsibility to teach Thalia a load of things, either, but what else did she have to do? What else did she have to give? She had a lot of heart and not enough people to share it with, but over the course of two short days that had already changed. Or at least it was in the process of changing - Thalia, James, Frank, and possibly Tony if they could start getting on better. She wouldn't complain - everyone could be Karin's friend if they got into her good books, and so far, most of them had. 


"You're not a bother." S!he shook her head, "There's room in the house, and don't worry about any risk associated with it. Things are fine." She smiled at her. "There's lots of people like you out there, you know. Lots of people who lost their childhood, either to falling in with the wrong crowd or to some form of tragedy. If I wasn't here, one of those people would be Joseph, too." She said, "Look, what I'm saying is, I'm not gonna' hold it against you, am I?" She laughed a little bit. "Sure, I may use a little extra food and might have an extra bedsheet to wash each week, but, so what?" She shrugged, "Doesn't make much difference to me. And seeing as I'm indefinitely out of a job right now, having the time to do things isn't a problem anymore." She explained. 


The thought of no longer having an income made her stomach roll over, honestly. She hadn't thought about it much until just now - If she didn't have money coming in soon, the very little money she still had left was going to be gone before she knew it. She coudn't let that happen, not while she had Joseph to look after. The last thing she wanted was for any of their stuff to get repossessed, but, sadly, she could see that happening if improvement didn't come soon. 


"Paying it back isn't something you have to worry about just yet." She said. "Let's focus on things, one at a time - It's a diploma, by the way." She said, "The high school qualification doesn't count as a Degree, it's more a Diploma. Degree's like... A higher level. The sorta' thing you go to College and University for. I mean, I guess it's a degree in a sense, but, it's also not." She laughed. "It's just me being picky, though, so don't put much thought into it. But yeah, once we have some money, there's a good book that helps you study for it all. All you'll need to do is register your name to a high school, and they'll let you sit exams under their school." She said, "Chances are you'll be in a room alone with an invigilator and all, but, you just go in, multiple choice questions... Fill out the answers, and boom. If you hit 70%, you pass." She said. "I think it might be different for people that aren't actually high school age. You might have a generalized test that covers everything, but, I'm not sure. Either way, we'll make it happen." 


"And get out of my hair for good? No..." She shook her head. "I wouldn't want that. Sure, long-term goal, it'd be nice for you if you could get with someone - Frank, maybe? - and get your own place with whoever that is. Settle down, do whatever it is you want with life, but it'd be nice if you could settle somewhere nearby." She smirked, "You act like I want you to just up and vanish - no chance. I wouldn't just help you out then shove you out the front door. You're welcome to stay here for as long as you need, like I said. So, don't think too deeply about it. And once again, if it ever comes to you moving out, don't ever think you need to just vanish and never mutter a word to me again." She smiled. Maybe if they did split, the dark path would crack its way back in, but, at the same time, the exact opposite could happen. If they both achieved stable lives, then that could be avoided. They could live happily ever after, basically.


"The lessons in cooking will come, too. Just sit around and watch whenever I'm in the kitchen - It's rare for me to order take-out, or to cook frozen meals. I try and make everything myself, so, if you ever want something explained, just hit me up." She shrugged.


--


"It is unacceptable, but we'll get her back, and we'll make these fuckers pay - You can count on that." He said. "In LA, I don't really have anyone I care for. Not anymore." He said, "The only people I'm really concerned for are you and other friends in the department, but obviously, that's not kept on any records." He shrugged, "Don't worry about me. Let's focus on getting Mel back." He said. Yeah, that was his main priority now, He needed to help his partner get his loved one back - Frank didn't have anyone out there that was at any major risk. He was doing a lot of thinking - Tony wanted to negotiate a deal with them. Hand over the executioner in exchange for Mel, but, Frank couldn't help but feel there was a flaw in that plan. Still, he stuck with Tony, and he just went through the process of... Well, following him. What else was there? There was nothing else to it, really, and that's as simple as it got. 


The woman at the desk wasn't someone that Frank had much experience with. He'd seen her here and there, but, he'd never really butted heads. He was seeing her true colors now - Professional environment, my ass, he thought to himself. Imagine if she was the poster child for the PD? Something told Frank that if that was the case, they wouldn't be hiring many people at all. Still, he let Tony do the talking, and even though she was hesitant on letting them through, she still did it in the end. It wasn't hard to tell that the two of them had history, but, now wasn't an appropriate time to question it. He had to forget it and move on, and focus on the task at hand. The task at hand being finding the son of a bitch responsible for Tony's current misery.


"No, I've got no hints about the Clover's inside guy." He said, "I'll call about McAllister in a minute, but, as for these files..." He sighed. "If the guy moved here recently, then you should check the newer files first, obviously. Department keeps a record of any injuries officers receive, so, it'd be worth looking there, checking for any names that have 'burn victim' under them. A good place to start." He said. "Cops don't sell out for no reason. They're either being blackmailed, or they're doing it for money. Even though that's just an assumption, it'd be a good idea to check two places - Lower ranked folders, and then the guys up top, too. Lieutenant and up, Division leaders - It could easily be one of them, and if it is, that complicates things, but we'll have to deal with it." He said.


"Tony, I hate to bring it up, too, but..." He thought for a moment. "I know you want to hand this guy over in exchange, but I've been thinking... Will a trade work?" He asked. "We've already clarified that these guys kill any vulnerabilities. If they get caught and put in prison, they die. I know we're not arresting this guy, but he's an inside man and he's getting found out. Who's to say that when we show up for the trade they won't just shoot all three of us? I know, he's a member of The Ten, but..." He shook his head. "I don't know. All I'm saying is, it wouldn't be hard to find another Executioner, nor another inside guy. If he's let them down, how do we know he'll even be any good to them after this? He won't just be able to come back to his day job once we catch him." He explained.


Whenever that talk ended, though, he did get on the phone to the guys at the prison he'd asked them to transfer McAllister to. Yeah, things were going fine. An off-the-book transfer to a prison that McAllister had never set foot in in his life. It was obvious that McAllister knew something was going on, but, was he really going to complain? The only hard part was going to be convincing him to sell Bradan out. He had a lot on the line that Bradan would gladly rip to pieces right in front of him, so, things were going to have to be convincing.


Either way, the detectives had the next part of their day all nicely planned out, it seemed.
 
Thalia couldn't help but feel dumb by misinterpreting the idea of a degree or a diploma. It's been a while since she's heard those two words or even thought of herself achieving one of them. There was a time when she did, though. A time where she was actually considered book smart. A time where she thought, for a moment, she could be something. Maybe not something she wanted to be, hence her running off, but she would've had some bit of success, not some failure like she saw herself now. Karin was almost exemplary to Thalia. Someone whose life got derailed, but managed to be content anyway. Unlike her, Thalia derailed her life on her own terms and paid the price. Maybe it's not too late to derail it again, the right way? She isn't expecting big things, but just enough so she can get her life together. Baby steps.


"Would you believe me if I told you I was really good at school? Through elementary and middle school, I mean." Not like she expected Karin to believe that. It was quite a stretch coming from the one that ran away, after all. "Call it out all you want, but I was doing well. I was in the top one percent of my class in my county, and my school let me skip the 3rd grade." It came out with a laugh as well, her hands running over face quickly with it. "It sounds crazy, I know. My mom was a teacher, so she pushed me. A lot. Not that I had fun with being slapped by a ruler and forced into all sorts of extra circulars that I couldn't stand... oh boy, book club, French club, fucking ballet, ugh, all sorts of shit I couldn't stand... but I did well in school and I was a perfectionist. Even at the ballet, which sickened me. No kidding. Huh, who says you can't be smart and pretty? Pfft. So wrong. I don't blame you if you don't believe anything I've said, coming from the same girl who literally can't do anything she should do at her age AND can lie to save her ass, but I'm dead serious. I wouldn't lie to you. Plus, I'm a fast learner. Guess that's why Ra's became fond of me, right? He turned the perceptive daughter of a pastor in Philly's most wanted juvie girl. And nobody ever put two and two together."


She took a few more bites from her food, going quiet for a moment so that Karin could digest what she just said. "I mean... It's just to reassure you that I won't be a pain in your ass for a while. Not to brag, but at some point, I'll be cleaning your house better than you in time, and I'll probably zoom through my deg---I mean, diploma. I just hope to god I'm not going to be around a bunch of 14 or 15 year olds. You said I take my tests alone? I can handle that. God, why am I... excited for this? Once a geek, always a geek, right?"


Finally, Thalia felt like she was competent at something. It wasn't until now that she felt that she could actually go back to school and do something with her life. Maybe it took Karin's encouraging words and friendship for her to realize that. "I won't just up and take off, Karin. Odds are, I probably won't leave California. I lived 21 years in Philly. I kind of needed a change of scenery... Maybe even a tan, too. Ra's used to say I'm too pale for my own good. For once, he said something with his head screwed on straight...." Just thinking of the man made her grip her elbows, disgusted by the idea. "Ugh, the thought of me agreeing with him gives me the chills." One day, hopefully, she wouldn't have to think of him anymore. "I didn't say I'd just live in your basement forever. I just don't want to be all that far away from the person who... sort of helped me get my life together? I mean, without you, I would've probably held up three more places in Burbank by now.... It's lame, forget I said that."


You keep getting embarrassed when you want to get a point across. THAT'S your problem, girl. You have no sense of confidence around people you care about. Not around Karin, nor Frank. But you can get in Tony's face and act like a complete bitch all you want. Your afraid of having friends. Afraid of saying you want to stay close.


A sigh came from her before she recovered, aware that her thoughts were the truth. "One step at a time. That's how I'm going to take it. Once I can pay for high school, I'll sign up. Wouldn't hurt to... start studying though, right? Not like I have anything to do with my life, except be Tony's slave whenever he wants some new info about Al-Asheera. And be your little household protege. And get myself a job.... boy, did my privileges suddenly change. But in a good way, right?" She felt like a child, sure, but one that was growing up. One who finally wanted to grow up after all these years of being stuck a slave to a kingpin.


--


"Maybe it doesn't have to go down like a trade, Frankie." Of course, Tony had a plan B. Frank had a point. A trade? Plenty could go wrong. Sure, the executioner would be better off dead. But the two of them? Hell no. And what guarantees did he have that they'd deliver Melissa? Absolutely none. Ra's is a maniac, and might just kill all four of them; this Bullet character in private, then corner him, his girlfriend, and his partner and gun them all down. He's right; too many variables, too many possibilities for failure. Likely ones. So, like any skilled detective, Tony had a backup plan. He zoned out for a few moments as Frank managed the Clovers jailed rat, while he entered the employee logs. "Take care of whatever you need to, make yours calls. I'll find our rat.


Here it goes. Plenty of filters to make this easier. Recency? Past month, Al-Asheera couldn't have planned this any further in the past. Age? Any, Thalia didn't give any specifications. Gender? Male, Thalia said she's the only female in The Ten. Nationality? Again, she didn't give any. They didn't even know his name for god's sake. There was no filter for tattoos, because honestly, why would there be one for a search on a cop's name? But there was one for disabilities. Location and type. Easy, right hand and burn. Unfortunately, Tony didn't want to risk placing a ranking or position in the filter, so he left it as any. At this rate, the injury alone has narrowed the search by a ton. Thalia, if you were bullshitting us... Oh boy, Tony's thoughts were going to the extreme as he sat back and waiting for the algorithm to work its magic. What if there was no inside man? At least in that case, it confirms that Thalia ratted them out and got them both marked. Unfortunately, that wouldn't fly for an excuse to hit her again. Because it gave a result: one name, a member of the comms department. "Whaddya know, little miss bank robber..." Maybe Tony could trust this girl a bit more now. She wasn't giving him crap about an inside man after all.


Bernard Sullivan. A newcomer to the comms department. He must hear EVERYTHING. He probably overheard the talk about the 7/11 operation, that the police and SWAT were all over it. And who better than the star detectives and the SWAT commander to mark and send death threats to. But that reminded Tony: If they took Mel, did Al-Asheera get to Redgrave's family? He could only hope that a part of Frank's calling chores was checking up on the guy. He has a family, for fuck's sake. And these guys apparently don't mind hurting children. The file had plenty to say about him to make him seem more and more like a clansman: it says he sustained a burn injury across his right hand after a cooking accident at home. Shitty cover-up, very obvious that that was where his tattoo was. He recently moved to Los Angeles from Philadelphia, yet another red flag. He has a police brutality charge for firing his weapon at an uncalled for time while working for Philly PD as an officer, but he was let off the hook. Shady. And of course, the big one: his neck. His portrait showed the slight bits of a tattoo on the left side of his neck. Whether that's a pig or not was beyond him. But the evidence is damning. Damning enough to go find him and have a little chat. Unfortunately, he was in the comms room now. Walking in and pulling him out would be a bad idea. It'd be more prudent to wait till his lunch break starts at 12 or 1 or something. Until then....


"Frankie. I think we've found Pigman."
 
"I'd believe you, yeah." She said. "You give me that impression. Some kids are just born for it." She shrugged, "I always did well in school, too, but I never really had any interests in any after school clubs or societies until I was in my later years of middle school. Wasn't like my parents were going to force me, either, because by the time I was that age, they had Joseph to worry about, too. I was left to do my own thing, but I did what I could with it. The only ever thing I was in was something to do with Law, and then there was the debating club in high school, too. God, that was good fun." She laughed. "Debating stuff we knew we'd probably never have the power to change... It was good fun, but, hell, even if it was pointless to some degree, people quickly learned not to argue with me, know what I mean?" She asked. "It taught me a lot about arguing. I know how to stand my ground." She said. "Not that I like arguing with people nowadays, but, I know how to if it ever comes to it. Look at Frank and Tony." She chuckled.


"Not only that, but, that skill's helped with Joseph, too. Not just in arguing with him, because we hardly argue at all, but... As I've raised him I've had to teach him as much as I can. Being able to help him get his point across, teaching him to stand his ground when he needs to - It all helps." She said. "He's not the argumentative type, but, he'll stand up for himself if he's put in the situation. He's pretty soft in personality, though, and he's not someone who goes looking for trouble, which I'm grateful for. If he was, something tells me I'd be faced with a lot more medical bills." She sighed. Yeah, thank god. Joseph had never broken a bone, never needed to go the hospital for anything other than his diabetic clinic stuff. Karin was grateful that the boy knew how to be careful, of all things. She wanted him to get back into sport, and even though that increased the risk of injury, she still wanted him to do it. That was another long-term goal that she had. 


All in good time.


"The high school thing is different for adults. You wouldn't be surrounded by a bunch of kids, because you'd be doing the High School Diploma for Adults. Literally. Not every state offers it, but California does. Given its size and the amount of people here, I mean. Some people have even gotten their diplomas while studying Undergraduate courses at college, believe it or not. Some of them literally take online classes and then go into some booked location to sit an exam when it comes to it. Kinda' similar to taking your theory exam for your driving test, I guess." She shrugged, "So yeah, I reckon you'll have an easy time. If you're a fast learner, I don't think there's gonna' be too much of a struggle." She explained.


Karin was excited to help her, honestly. It was her first time ever doing something like this for someone, so it meant a lot to her, too. Thalia was someone who deserved a second chance more than anyone, in Karin's eyes.


"You can't spend too long in the sun as a redhead, trust me. You'll burn like paper to a match out in the California heat. I know, it's a big stereotype, but there is actually some truth and science behind it all." She laughed. "Either way, one step at a time, like you said. Life's gonna' make a big turn here, I reckon. Once you get a job, you'll start to enjoy things a lot more. Once you get your own job, your own car... You'll love life, believe me. I think you'd be a good counselor of some sort, honestly... I think you'd work well with kids more than anything. Maybe gettting in as an assistant teacher in a grade school would be a good job for you. You're the sort of person I reckon kids would get on really well with. You like kids at all?" She asked.


--


Frank didn't know what the other alternatives were, honestly. He knew the two things he'd suggested - torture or exchange, but that was about it. He knew they couldn't just kill him anymore, so unless they planned some sort of large-scale ambush on them, he didn't know what else could work. He just hoped all of this was going to end okay, because honestly, he could tell already that if Tony loss Melissa, it would just break him beyond all extremes. Especially after that chat they'd had - He'd been with her for so long, wanted to pop the question at long last, and he was getting on in age. Losing his loved one now would take maybe years to heal from, and by the time those years had counted down? God, life would have gotten on a little bit, he imagined. Frank didn't want that to happen to him. He wanted this to have the best possible outcome, so in order to achieve that, he had his full cooperation. 


Frank did make that call, though, like he said he would. McAllister was being trasferred to the California Correctional Facility, east of LA, just by Corona. Not too long of a drive, but a place that not every inmate got transferred to. As long as it was outside the city, that was the important thing. It was a shame they didn't have any news on the rat that worked for Bradan, because if they did, all of this would have just been made easier. Either way, he was there and waiting by the time Frank had gotten off the phone. He'd been taken there already and was just getting settled into a holding cell, as per Frank's orders. All they had to do was go down there, drag him into one of the visitation rooms, and have a nice little chat and offer him some terms. It was as simple as that. Then they could get to work on the other side of the gang life - Bradan.


Frank was worried for how much Bradan was going to be putting at risk, especially for the officers that had pissed him off the most. Even though he wasn't a cop killer, the gangs of LA had been surprising them a lot lately. He was wondering how much Bradan would take before he finally snapped and went on a cop-killing spree. Frank hoped not, because he knew his name would be on that list somewhere, too. He didn't want to even try and seek out if he was a target, though - if they were going to kill him, he wanted them just to sneak up on him and shoot him in the back of the head. At least that way the death would be quick.


When he went back into the room, he was surprised to hear that they'd got a hit on the traitor.


"We fucking found him?" He asked, simply. He rushed to Tony's side to take a look at the folder, and he couldn't help but smile and also feel angry at the same time. "Son of a bitch. I remember that guy transferring." He said. "Communications. One of the new dispatchers - this guy has the potential to fuck with so many different operations in the department. We'd be doing everyone a favor by getting rid of this son of a bitch." He said. "So, Tony, what's the plan we're going with here? How are we gonna' bag him?" He asked. "And after that, what did you have in mind? If we're not doing a simple exchange, what's the alternative?" 
 
In Thalia's eyes, Karin always seemed like a really argumentative person. Always getting up in people's faces to make a point. She remembered how this girl stood up to her in the diner hold-up. Not only was she brave, but she knew how to argue. Even convince the girl to quit robbing. Karin told her outside that if she had a bit more time, she might've convinced Thalia to drop the loot and leave empty-handed without doing anything further. She might've actually done that. She found Karin convincing. And she liked that about her. It made her stand out from all the other people she'd robbed. Another reason she came back in the first place and started this whole domino effect of events. Well, she was truly convinced to turn things around for herself, and the more they spoke about it, the more probable it all felt. As she finished her breakfast, Thalia placed her fork and knife into the plate in an X shape and moved to the sink, passing by Karin and playfully poking her shoulder.


"Would've never considered this without you," she told her with a wink in her eye, placing the plate in the center of the sink. "So I've got hope to not die in some heist gone wrong, thanks to you. And hope to continue studying..." She wanted to do her own dishes, but didn't want to ruin the usual routine for Karin, so she turned around and propped herself up to sit on the counter again. "Just watch... I'll kick this diploma's ass... however that goes, you know? However that goes? Does it go down? I dunno..." Just a moment of getting lost in her own dumb words to get a laugh out of herself and her friend, which continued at the remark about her burning under the Cali sun so easily. "Alright, maybe I won't sit out in the sun for TOO long, but it's California, damn it. I've been here a week and barely seen the beaches. Only from a distance. And that's no fun. I want an excuse to see Frank shirtless. Think that'd work for a second or third date?"


Frank came up again, of course. She still couldn't get over their spark, and she was still jumpy about it, thinking about him nonstop. Could Karin blame her?


But off the topic of dating. Her future. There's learning the basics. And beyond that? "If I had the choice, I would've joined a sport as an extra curricular. Or something psychology-related. Maybe.... like you said. Counseling might be down my alley. Maybe an assistant teacher. God, like mother like daughter. That'd be so weird if I came home to her and told her I was doing that. Oh well, as long as I don't put wanted felon on my resume, you know?" A bit of a smirk came over Thalia's face, just thinking after all the hateful thoughts she had about her mom, she'd follow in her footsteps. Maybe she could tell a bit more about it to Karin. Looking up and swinging her legs back and forth, she told her story, "My mom... she was born in Paris, stayed there until she turned like 22 when she got her teaching degree... diploma? I don't fucking know anymore, you tell me. I was smart, but an 8th grader's knowledge. Hell do I know.... well, Maman..." She spoke of her mother's name in French with the proper accent, out of a force of habit. "...met Dad at some lecture he was giving. He was a hardcore Christian, doing all sorts of weird speeches and bringing a whole congregation into the living room every Saturday night. How a pastor could marry? Beats me. I was never religious. One of the things that pushed me away. But Dad's a completely different story. Then there was Maman... Boy, was she strict. She was a 4th, 5th, and 6th grade teacher at my school. So you can imagine... my mom was the teacher, and the teasing that comes with it. The pressure was on. She was always so hard on me, always pushing me to do more. She forced me into all sorts of clubs, activities, all that jazz, stuff I didn't enjoy. Not to mention how she pressured me to speak French in front of her even when I didn't want or I couldn't completely make my point. Sure, she taught me both languages in a co-dominant way, but I just like English more. She was always so demanding and expecting more from me when I didn't think I could give it. I figured it was her job that made her like that. Maybe the stress, maybe just her constant feeling that her students can do more. That's why she just took everything out on me. It caused a lot of bitterness between the two of us. She just... got on my nerves so much until one day, after I finished middle school? I just couldn't take it, and I just ran away. I left it all behind because of a dumb rivalry with my mom. I bet she's still... sad about it. I saw the news reports. How she was crying and hoping that I'd see the news and come home." She looked down to Karin. "I saw those reports. But I didn't come home. Until a year ago, when she got herself in front of a camera again and said... I had a brother, born shortly after I left. She didn't put him in front of the cameras, so I never saw him, but still..." She had control of herself this time. No tears. No sorrow. "I just hope that when I get my life in order, I can visit her. Tell her that her little girl is okay. You know? She thinks I'm dead. That I didn't last... She should know that I did. Someday."


Such a sudden sentimental feeling that came over Thalia. She hadn't thought of her mother in years. I miss you, Maman. Think you could forgive me someday?


Enough of that. Karin had other questions. "Kids? Well.... kinda? Depends. Like, I haven't been around all that many, but I know the innocence of a child. Aside the scary get-up I used to put on, I had a light touch for children. On crowd control and such. I'd keep the kids from crying. Comfort them. Keep them in line. Then there's Joseph... You know, remember when I said I was worried about him? I really was. And I know it's water under the bridge, but I'd like a chance to bond further with him. Maybe in September I can take him to school, if you let me? I'll try to connect. I'll see how I fair in a non-hostage situation... Then there's Charlie. You know how I feel about him... Last night, I dreamed about him. I told you I don't know how he looks, but I can still imagine. He was there in my dream. He was talking and talking about things I missed in his life, and I was there wishing I was there to supporting him with our parents and such.... then at the end.... Karin, he hugged me in the end. And I woke up wishing that it was real. It FELT so real. You know... I hope it comes true one day..." You are so emotional. Get over yourself. "Maybe I can try babysitting? I'll see how I like handling kids that way."


--


"This is our guy," Tony confirmed, clicking a 'print' button at the top of this guy's paperwork on file. He spoke as the printer worked its magic and ejected the papers. This Bernard Sullivan was tan, bald, clean shaven, thick brown eyebrows, and aged in his late 30's. What a clansman this was... "He transferred a week ago to LA from, guess where? Philly PD. Coincidence? He's got the burn marks on his right hand just like our guy, and as you can see in the portrait? A tattoo on his neck. Can't determine if that's a pig, but it's enough to assume it is. Only problem is: he checked in to work today. And you know just as well as I do that we can't just march in there and pull him out. It looks way too suspicious, even if we're doing the department a favor. If we can't break him, it's a lose for us, because he'll report us to the Chief, and then to Ra's, who will start cutting Mel up, which we don't want obviously. I've got a plan on how to reel him in at his lunch break. Should be soon, too. I'll explain in the canteen, which is where it'll all unfold, because Sullivan goes there every day for lunch." Tony shut all the files he had open on the computer, then grabbed the printed ones from the printer. "Bertha, the dinosaur is yours again."


The older woman took her place back from the detective, unamused at his discovery. "Just don't keep making this a habit, Walsh."


"Wouldn't dream of it," Tony nodded with a clearly artificial smile, while his head echoed, Would you just die already and relieve us all of your dirty looks? As he walked alongside his partner out of HR, he asked for a rundown from his partner. "So, after we deal with Sullivan, our next priority is McAllister. You make 100% sure that he's at your location later today. You're heading up that interrogation. Your witness, you take the credit for it. But... I have to say, Frankie. You were right about one thing with Thalia. If this rat is legit, then she didn't spill the beans on this operation. She really.... I hate to admit it, but she's on our side." It took a lot to get those words out of Tony's mouth. "I dislike her. A lot... everything about her bothers me. But she is useful. And if she continues to be useful with the list of The Ten, then I might just let her walk. Her and Karin. Just to tell you, Frank... Thanks for helping clear my head about this whole thing. One day, and you've already proven your worth as my partner. I'm surely putting a good word in for you if we ever have to go our separate ways."


As much as he wanted to bring it up, he didn't interrogate Frank further about his almost hug with Thalia. He didn't approve of any kind of romance between the two, but now wasn't the time to ask. Maybe he'd have to wait for that day to come that he walks in and find the girl in a bedsheet at his place.
 
"I can't say I know how the adult Diploma works, Thalia. I've never sat one." She said, and immediately started laughing. "Sorry, but, I wish I could tell you otherwise - Regular HS Diplomas are a little different from what I know. Pretty sure the chef I work with - or worked with - in the cafe did one of those adult diplomas. He never really said much about it, but, he went from someone who was considered almost illiterate to someone who was a High School graduate, all while working at that place, so, it works a little differently. Online classes, probably adapted content - Once you can afford it, you should do it. I'll help you study. You heard what James said. I got an A in everything except Physics, so, let's see if you can beat me in terms of grades, huh?" She grinned. "For your second date, though... I think the beach would be pretty chill, yeah. Not only is it quite the romantic place, but there's a lot to do. Loads of places to get food, cocktails... Tourist stuff, too. It's a little too heavy for a first date, but second or third, I'd say it's perfect. By then you've had a feel for each other, and you won't just be sat there awkwardly in the sun not saying anything." She explained.


"I went on one beach date in high school, you know. With a guy named Roman Baldwin." She chuckled, "Now Roman... Roman was an interesting guy. Kinda' dorky in some ways. Wasn't the best-looking guy in school, but, he was nice. Knew how to get shit done, how to get his point across, and shit, he treated me like I was a fine-cut diamond. The beach was perfect, honestly. Spent the day on the beach, had ice cream, lunch, then went back to his place - We got showered and cleaned up, and to top it all off, we went out to the movie theater and had dinner out after. Easily one of the best date-days I've had. Try and do something similar with Frank - I imagine Frank knows how to take a girl on a good date, though, so you just show up and be yourself, be a pretty face and all that." She winked. "But yep, that date I had, we went back to his place at the end of the night, and... The rest is history." She said, laughing. "Was with him for quite a while, because it was towards the end of school. We split when he went off to college. He traveled all the way up to Pensylvania. The University of Pittsburgh. He was studying something high and mighty, some form of Psychology. He wanted to go into Psychiatry. He would have graduated last year, and, well, he'll be going to med school by now, I reckon, getting licensed and all that." She explained.


"Long story, I know. But you get the idea."


Thalia also had quite a long story to tell, and in some ways, Karin understood why she ran away from it all.


"Well, it's a long story, but it makes sense why you would have gotten tired of it." She said, "I mean, your parents may have wanted you to be successful, but, they didn't give you enough breathing room, it doesn't sound like." She said. "I think when kids are growing up, even more so as they get towards their teenage years, they need a certain independence from their parents. If their parents have such a tight control over their lives, of course they're gonna' get pissed off about it." She said. "Don't beat yourself up about it - Yeah, your mom and dad will probably miss you. It'd be absolute hell for any parent. Your mom might even blame herself a little - It might not be what you want to hear, but, I plan on being honest, y'know? If your mom had the guts to get up on TV and beg for you to come home, then she'll probably accept you back any day of the week now." She said. "So, how about this - We clear your name, get some shit straightened out at the very least, and once that's done, we call your home up and let them know you're alive?" She asked. 


"Who knows, by then, maybe you would have figured out that you enjoy working with kids. Maybe you won't be a teacher - maybe you'll help direct some sort of recreational group. Art, music, writing - maybe you'll fall into the work of some sort of social service worker. You'd have more experience in all of that than anyone. You'd help kids get out of bad places and into the right ones. Community Trust, even." She shrugged. "It'd be a good start to even volunteer in a place like that, show them what you're worth, and then start working there good and proper. It could end really well, you never know. Then you'll have this whole new plate of stuff to tell your parents about, make them proud with, then maybe Charlie will know his big sister as someone he can look up to, aspire to be like. You'd like that, right?" She smiled.


"Also, if you want to bond more with Joseph, you can. Honestly, just say the word, and once things settle a little more, once we're more in the clear, we can go out and spend the day together, all three of us. You'd get to know him a lot more - I think he already kind of likes you, though, so don't worry."


--


So, they had their rat, and that was that. Pigman. That son of a bitch. How many police officer deaths was he responsible for?


As they were walking out of that little room, an idea popped into his head. If these guys had had the one-up over the cops for this long, then this Pigman could be linked to more than a few things. I think it was easy to see what Frank was thinking about - Richard. If this guy had been intercepting communications, then, maybe he had something to do with that? Frank didn't know how deep Richard was on the whole Al-Asheera thing, but, if he was a partner of Tony, then he had a feeling the guy was also a damn good detective. If he was in deep, who was to say that he didn't get death threats? Who was to say that Pigman didn't play a part in luring him somewhere to get him whacked off, and he walked away lucky? Maybe this was a warning to him. Maybe that was all it was going to take to make him steer away from Al-Asheera for good. Who knew?


"Right, the canteen. Good place to start, yeah." He said. "I'll take the lead on McAllister, gladly. I know this guy well enough to know he's not going to be easy to get to. It'll take a lot to force him to sell out Bradan, but keep in mind, he might be a little bitter. He may have been one of Bradan's right-hand men, but, that didn't mean Bradan was going to take the fall for something instead of him. For all we know, McAllister's serving time for something he didn't even do. Even though we know this bastard's guiltier than O.J Simpson, we don't have any proper evidence on him other than the heist gone wrong, where he may not have even been, but still ended up going down for." 


"No need to thank me for Thalia, either. I was doing it for your own good, really." He said. "I didn't want you to take your eyes off the prize when we didn't know the full truth, and seeing as this has worked out, it's evidence she's just as hellbent on taking these bastards down as we are. If things work themselves out, she'll walk clean, and all of the guys on that list are either going to be six feet under or behind bars. Preferably the latter, but whatever comes first, I suppose." He said. "I don't expect a good word at the end of all this, but, it'd certainly be nice." He chuckled. "You know, I might write a book once this shit's over with - 'The Streets of LA - A true recollection of the famous gang takedowns'." He smirked, "It'd be a seller if I could pull it off. Feel like being a co-writer if all goes well?" He asked.


It may have sounded like a joke, but, honestly, Frank was more than serious.
 
"Hey, if I can't trust my best friend to be honest with me, who will?" Hearing Karin's dating story was quite a blast. This Roman guy seemed to know how to treat her, make her happy. Thalia hoped that this new guy in the picture, James, would do the same if things kicked off between them. Karin deserved a guy who was ready to go the extra mile and treat her well. Would Frank treat HER well? Beats her. "Awwwww, you and your romance story. Too bad it didn't last. Must've been fun though, right? I mean, maybe more fun than a boyfriend you didn't ask for or want for like, eight years. I mean, exhibit A right here." She pointed to herself as she mentioned that. "Can't go back on most of my life, right? Buuuut... If you want a war for grades, it's on. You've set the bar pretty high, though. Can't wait to beat your Physics grade." All in good fun, though. This whole adult high school program thing was all new to Thalia. She didn't even know it existed until now. It wasn't until now that she considered going back to school anyway. She didn't doubt her capability to hop back into the old grind, though. As she told Karin, she was prepared to go the extra mile.


"Yeah, I definitely wanted that kind of freedom. I just didn't get it at home, so I kinda... took it upon myself? If that's the right word?" Maybe it was. A bit harsh and selfish of her now, in hindsight, but that's how she felt at the time. "Don't judge me, but I can't wait till I tell them I'm okay." Making amends was something Thalia did rarely under the rule of Al-Asheera. They weren't exactly a forgiving or reconciling bunch. It was that feeling of righting the wrong that ate at her about Karin and Joseph and the diner, the one that made her turn back and check on them. Who knows, maybe her parents are still waiting for her and willing to welcome her back come the day.


Social service worker, another term that was a bit distant to Thalia. Not a surprise, seeing where most of her life these past few years was. But when knowing exactly what she'd be doing, nothing could fit her profile more perfectly: helping people get out of a tough spot in life. A sort of recreational environment. Her experience was one that made her understand the struggles of people who end up here. Her story of a road to recovery, or at least a plan for one now, is one to show that there is no point of no return. Her story certainly was one of the phoenix rising from the ashes, a comeback of sorts. She'd love to share her experience with others to help them the same way she was helped. Not everyone had that kind of friend. Karin was a one of a kind person that not everyone gets the luxury of running into. If Thalia could do the exact same thing for others, it could make up for all the wrongs she's done with her life. It doesn't erase them, but it shows she changed. "I love that idea. Who better to hear about there being hope than from someone who was also in a dark place? I wouldn't want anyone to be forced into the same hole I got forced into. I'd also make a difference, you know? In a good way, not by spreading fear. What better way to give back to the city that gave me a second chance than to help those just like me, right?" So now you wanna be like those dumb brain-dead role models on TV planting trees and kissing babies for show? Pfft. Naive. As. Fuck. Thalia didn't want the fame or recognition. She just wanted to do some good in a world consumed by evil. Evil like Ra's, and make sure nobody ever falls slave to a man like him again.


Time was ticking. Where was James? A quick check at her phone revealed that nobody had called or texted besides the one from Al-Asheera begging for her to come home. Fat chance. In that moment, she took Frank's number on the slip of notepad paper back into her left hand and entered it as a contact with her right. Maybe later that evening, she'd call him. She missed him in some weird way and wanted to hear his voice again, even for just a minute. She sighed, getting over the dreamy thoughts in the moment and asked, "Soooo... any word from your little heart-throb? I mean... not as your boyfriend. But our hacker friend. You know?" Part of her was anxious to see what he'd pull on her brother. Not like an eight year old boy had any skeletons in the closet or any sort of secrets. She wasn't expecting her brother to be a killer or anything. The last thing she'd want to hear is of a little Ra's Jr. in the making. If it were, was it her fault for not being there for him? Maybe not. And maybe if he is, when she goes back, she planned to help her brother. Until then, she hoped to hear good things about the boy.


--


The thought that Pigman had something to do with Richard's injuries did come across Tony's mind, no doubt. The ambush, there was no way Al-Asheera could've been that prepared that fast. It was almost too quick in any conceivable timeline. They saw the police coming and were prepared to fight back. Pigman tattled the second he heard about the ambush. Probably got a nice little payday, too. It gave Tony more reason to want to put this insider away. And he had the perfect way of going about it. Using his abilities as inside man against him. Get his girlfriend back, and still have one less dirty cop in the department. All they needed was... excellent timing to say the least. Then came Frank's idea for writing. A bit unusual, and it seemed like a joke. Writing a book about their little caper? Laughing a bit to the idea, he answered, "Why not, pal?" Little did he know how serious Frank was. 


Upon arriving to the canteen, Tony bought the pair... coffee from the station? Even after they agreed indisputably that it's shit. But still, a part of his plan.


"I know this stuff's absolutely nasty, but we could use it," Tony explained, handing one of the cups down to his partner as they sat at a table in the corner. "We're going to wait until Pigman comes out of his den and picks up something for lunch. And... he's going to have a bit of an accident. You're going to walk up to him with your coffee and hand and, well, run into him and spill this shit on him. Force him to dash off to the bathroom to wipe off the embarrassing coffee stain that'll be on his shirt. He'll go in the can... where I'll be waiting for him. You can leave the rest to me inside. Just make it look convincing out here so that he doesn't get wise and run. I bet you can do that. You play a darn convincing good cop, so I don't doubt your acting skills. If this goes wrong and we lose our jobs as detectives, you should definitely try show business along with that writing venture." A light joke followed by a playful fist to his shoulder. "Anyway, when he shows up, we split."


With that, all that was left was to wait, giving on-and-off but frequent glances at the lady serving coffee and other refreshments. It was approaching lunch hour, so all the office rats will come out of their cages to snack up soon. Plenty of department men chill here during the break, but thankfully, this Sullivan guy stuck out like a sore thumb. Burnt hand, pig tattoo. Tan and bald. Just a matter of waiting... until he showed up. Once he purchased his cheap deli sandwich and shit-tasting coffee, Tony gave his partner a tap on the shoulder, signaling him to follow through with the plan while he had a chance. "I'll be in the bathroom...."


Game time. Tony stood up and took to the canteen's bathroom, unseen by Pigman. But he saw the man at the cashier paying. The tattoo was obvious as hell but nobody asks questions. The suit he wore didn't exactly cover it up. How was he not busted or fired for this? Oh yeah, Al-Asheera has money. That's why. Then the burnt right hand. It seemed like the burns were roughly the same shape as Thalia's tattoo. This was their guy. Now all he had to do is wait for Frank to make his move.
 
"Yeah, you used the right word for it." She clarified, "With all of this, though, the best thing you can do now is just move on, y'know? I mean, clearly you're doing that already, but..." She thought for a moment. "I guess what I mean is really make an advancement, bigger than anything you've achieved so far. That's what you need to do now, and it looks like you're making your way towards that pretty quick. As I've already, once things clear up a bit, the ship will really sail, and you'll be on your way to this newer and better life." She smiled. "It's good, really, because not everyone gets that second chance to make things right again. Sometimes I wish I could go back and talk to my dad, maybe try and convince him to take it easy on the bottle, but..." She sighed and shrugged, "Not really possible, is it?" She let out a laugh as well. It had been a long time. Their parents' death didn't really trouble her anymore.


"We'll see how things go." She sipped at her coffee and glanced Thalia over a little. Yeah, she could definitely see potential for some sort of social worker or trust officer. It seemed fitting - the once-troubled girl helping out the now-troubled. It seemed like quite a nice end goal, even if she was just doing something as simple as talking to a teenager about life problems, it'd be something meaningful. It may not have been the traditional route for kids with pushy parents to go down - Usually it's along the lines of doctor, businessman or woman, or something else that's high-flying and impressive. Social work was good, though. Karin didn't know what it took to get there, but, she had a feeling that if things kicked off with James, he'd be able to help pull a few strings somewhere in the system. It would have been morally wrong in some senses, but, at least Thalia would be getting something she wanted out of life for once.


"I'm... Not actually sure if James has gotten back to me yet, to be honest." She said, "Let me go grab my phone. Chances are if he's found everything else about me, he'll have my number. I guess that saves me having to give it to him, doesn't it?" She laughed, and after putting her plate down in the sink, she quickly dashed off to her bedroom and retrieved her mobile phone. She really did hate it - she wanted one of those fancy modern ones that most people had now. Joseph didn't have a phone, but, she knew he needed one, just in case he was ever out with friends and he had an emergency, or something. Or if he was staying at a friend's house and forgot to take insulin with him.


Just the little things.


Still, she went back to Thalia, but before doing so, she gave Joseph's bedroom door a knock and checked on him - when she asked him how he was, he just said 'I'll be alright', which basically meant 'there's something wrong with me'. Karin would get to the bottom of it eventually, but, for now, she was happy to have him resting up a little bit. When she rejoined Thalia, she checked her messages, and the sigh of relief said it all.


"He sent something. It says... Hi, half the way done and should be finished by tonight. May drop by either later this evening or tomorrow at some point." She read. "Okay, that's not too bad. He's working quick, it looks like." She grinned. "And that proves that he's genuine, I guess? I don't know how else he can really prove it to us." She smiled. "And he may be dropping by? Hmmm..." She thought for a moment. "Let's hope Joseph's feeling better whenever that occurs. He seems to like the guy." She said. "Perhaps he'll pull the romantics out the hat before Frank does? Swing by with some bubbly and a box of chocolates." She laughed.


--


So, Tony had a plan, and Frank was going to be the bad guy in this situation - at least at first, it seemed. He was the one responsible for kicking it all off, for starting the riot, letting chaos ensue. He didn't mind throwing some coffee over the guy that was possibly responsible for a few deaths in the department. Guy deserved a ruin shirt and burnt skin, honestly, so he was going to be doing that with pleasure. All in good time, though. It was a matter of waiting now, waiting for him to come out of his hiding place so they could throw this plan into action. He didn't know what Tony was planning on doing in the bathroom, but, he was going to do what he needed to and trust in Tony.


So, when he saw the guy enter, and when he saw Tony take off to go to the bathroom, he was ready and waiting. He needed to time it right, otherwise things were just going to go to shit. If the timing wasn't right, it'd be obvious, so he stayed seated for a minute until he knew it was the right moment. As soon as he saw a good opening, he got up from his seat and whacked out his phone. With his phone in one hand, he made himself look perfectly distracted by something on-screen, and he made a beeline for this man.


A very unobvious beeline, of course.


He eventually came up on the guy and walked right into him, and a nice splash of hot coffee flew out of the cup and quite gracefully made its way down the guy's shirt. That wasn't a stain that would go unnoticed if he didn't get rid of it. Frank almost felt bad. Almost. He immediately looked up from his phone and tucked it away. He saw this guy and could only imagine that he wasn't happy at all, but, he had to sell the act to make it a little more believable. He just hoped the guy wasn't a complete slob - He may have been a member of the comms department, but, surely he wouldn't just walk around with a coffee stain on his shirt?


"Oh, shit, I'm really sorry." Frank said, doing his best to put on the act of guilt and shock. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be rushing around like I was. Jesus, you alright? That shit didn't burn, I hope." He said, simply. 


Was there really anything else he could say now? 


He felt like he'd caused all the trouble that was needed.
 
Sure, Thalia had her burdens, but Karin also had her own very different ones. Loss is a unique occurrence and impacts everyone differently, and different losses to the same person can also provoke different reactions. If Thalia heard that Ra's was killed or in jail, she'd be relieved rather than saddened. If she came home one day and found Karin and Joseph dead, she'd be horrified and beyond guilty. If anything were to happen to her biological family, she'd be devastated, not even a chance to say good-bye or meet her brother. The redhead probably wouldn't understand the pain of losing her parents until it actually happens, and even when that did, it wouldn't equate to the same pain that Karin endured five years ago. No, Thalia didn't even want to imagine that. Worse, she didn't even have the words to comfort her friend. She felt bad that Karin's life was derailed to become the helping hand for Joseph. It was still a skill to admire greatly. Maybe in a few years, she might be just like this girl, holding her own. Upon bringing up her parents, before she left, Thalia reached forward to lace her fingers into her friend's hand. "If it helps... you feel like that big sister I never had. You know, the one that tells you right from wrong and prepares you for the cruel reality of life... I'm sorry about what happened to your parents. I really wish it didn't happen because you didn't deserve a tragedy like that. But you picked yourself up on your own. Not many people could do that. I know I couldn't. But, though years down the line, you caught me when I fell. I'll be there to catch you whenever you fall." Words from the heart, which were becoming more and more frequent. Before, it was all bitter threats and angry conversations. Not anymore.


Eventually, she let Karin go retrieve her phone to check if James got word back to them. Thalia took those moments alone to contemplate about her new lifestyle, her far superior one. Karin's house was nothing special, sure, but it was also very cozy. Felt like a nice place to live. It's not like the two-story home she had with her parents back in Philly, but she didn't want anything classy. She was never fond of the high-life. Not hard to accept when she was in the slums through the first year in Al-Asheera until she worked her way up to Ra's' mistress, and eventually, the future Bride of the Head and an active part of The Ten. Was that high-life? Maybe, but she still resented it. She returned to that childish fantasy of finding her life partner and living in a small place in a quiet part of town. For the first time, she felt like she could dream and not be judged by it. So far, she was sort of living that dream. She'd be here with the Held family for a while, it seems, and Karin doesn't look like she minds. Whether the caretaker liked it or not, Thalia was going to help out however she could. Learn the ropes and be more than just a thorn in someone's side. Get over her own insecurity and have more control of her life. This, indeed, was a start. She could at least look at herself in the mirror and not seem so... disgusted. Humiliated. Slowly but eventually, she was becoming a better person in her own eyes, able to smile to herself and others without forcing or faking it. Pretty, they keep saying? Maybe. Just maybe.


Karin returned, delivering the news of this man's work. Surprisingly, he was working quickly. Plus, he was still doing it for free. What kind of joke was this? Thalia knew too well that no criminal works for free. James wants something in the end. If it was to hurt Karin, she'd happily defend her friend, even if it's extreme. For now, she didn't want to stoop to Tony's level and show hatred on baseless assumptions. With business out of the way, Thalia couldn't help but return to the topic of romance. With ideas of Frank still fluttering over her eyes, she wanted to do the same to Karin. "Oh, boy. He'd better, or else I will personally to a market, get him a bottle, some chocolates and roses, and make him stand at the door for you. Just to sell the act." She'd sounded devious on other occasions, but this was a different kind of devious. The playful kind in which both parties knew it was all in good fun. Thalia gave a light punch to her friend's shoulder followed by a laugh, trying to entice her to make a move on James to see if he's interested. "Hey, you don't have to kiss the guy like I did. Just... leave him a hint? Even in the most unnoticeable way. I'm no good with romance, so who am I to judge? Did you see how jittery I got around Frank? I'm such an idiot, aren't I?" She dropped her body from on top of the counter and stood before Karin, her hands over her shoulders and their eyes in line with each other. "Tell me right now you're going to tease him. Catch his eye. Because you deserve someone in your life...even a shady criminal. You'll have two in your life, am I right?" All good fun and laughs wasn't it?


--


Upon feeling the hot coffee spill on his top and bleeding through onto his skin, the undercover Al-Asheera member flinched and screamed on contact from the burns. He jumped back a few steps from Frank, completely caught off guard by this whole ordeal. "Hey, watch where you're going! Ugh... god damn it..." Obviously, starting more than a verbal altercation would be too suspicious for either of them. "Look, don't touch me. Like hell this burns.... You owe me a meal, pal!" That is, if he'd get a meal after all of this. From there, he took off to the men's room in the canteen.


As the bald man stood before the sink trying his hardest to try to get rid of the stain, he couldn't help but feel there was more to this. He'd seen that man's face before... but where? Was this an unlucky day where some young hotshot wasn't careful and spilled coffee on his perfectly good suit? Or was this more? He had plenty to hide being a clansman, but that also meant he'd seen too many faces for one lifetime to be able to pinpoint who exactly that was by memory alone. Not without some reminder. As he continued scrubbing, he heard the clicking noise of one of the stalls behind him. He didn't know he wasn't alone in here... but when he looked up at the mirror, he realized something. He had his reminder of who that man was. Hale and Walsh.... son of a... But it was too late for him to even try to retaliate. The hands of a man roughly his age gripped his neck and full force and drove his face directly into the bathroom counter. If that didn't break his nose, he didn't know what would. Boy, Tony was stronger than he anticipated. And when he was incapacitated and couldn't really fight back, he felt the brute force of his head being repeated slammed into the counter time and time again, blood spurting from his nose and dripping down his face defenselessly. Overkill from Tony? Definitely, but this was Melissa they had at stake.


"Where is she?" Tony growled into his ear softly. Nothing more dangerous than an enraged lover, after all.


"Fuck yourself," he bit back with a nose stuffed from the blood build-up and a bruises eye, only to feel his face plow into the hard metal counter twice more.


"I'm losing my patience. Melissa Kane. Where is she, pig boy?!" His words were certainly increasing in volume. Someone outside might hear his voice. Fortunately, Sullivan wasn't screaming in pain. He was trained to resist pain. A look at the left of his neck revealed the pig tattoo Thalia spoke of. "So your daddy was a butcher? I'm going to butcher YOU if you don't spit something out soon! Something useful!"


Sullivan spat out a broken tooth and a spurt of blood from his mouth, all hitting the mirror. The counter looked like someone committed a murder. Thank god there were no security cameras in bathrooms. "Fuck. Yourself. And your precious girlfriend. I bet Ra's is having a blast with her. And we had a deal: your resignation for her return."


"I don't believe you. Ra's doesn't sound like the negotiable type."


He chuckled. "Al-Jameela is feeding you information, isn't she? That's how you found me. Just say it. Won't hurt anyone."


In that moment, Tony forgot that the name he'd just been given was Thalia's clan name, and as a result, slammed his face into the surface in front of him again. Yanking him up to see his bloodied, bruises, and slightly disfigured face in the mirror, Tony continued with his string of threats. "I don't know who that is, but clearly you don't know how much I love that woman. And if Ra's wants be a brute, I can be a brute in return. I will do this to every member of The Ten until I find her. Now... you will get me Melissa back. You know you're a dead man at this rate. So do one last good thing in your life."


A grunt came from Sullivan, along with another spit of blood at the mirror. "Fuck yourself."


This time, Tony launched the man's face against the long mirror spreading across the wall in front of them. If he hadn't attracted attention before, he did now. Hopefully it wasn't anyone besides Frank. But this rage he unleashed... all for one life. Frank wasn't going to like the sight of this. Did the end really justify the means here?
 
"I'm happy to be like a big sister to you. You'd be surprised, that means a lot to me." She said. "The thing with my parents is, as much as I wish it didn't happen, the way things are now?" She shook her head, "Sure, there's stuff I'd change, Thalia, there's the financial situation that I'd change. I'd change the level of care Joseph is on for the diabetes. I'd change a lot of things, but, the things between me and Joe directly?" She shook her head, "I wouldn't change what the two of us have for the world. Things went the way they went for whatever reason, but because of it, look at us two now." She explained. "You know, it's hard for some people to understand why I'm willing to do so much for Joe. Why I'm willing to care for him when he's sick, why I help him do his injections, why I'd sacrifice so much of my own time to make sure he's okay... People do it because they think I have to, they think I don't have a choice." She laughed once, quietly.


"Joseph... I love him like a mother loves her son, and I mean that." She said. "I don't see him as a little brother anymore. After all these years, I do see him and treat him as one of my own, basically. He feels much more like my son than anything else, but, I can't ever tell him that, can I?" She said. "To him, I'm still a sister. If I told him that I saw him as a son, I just have a feeling he wouldn't know how to take it. It might make him withdraw himself a little bit - if he doesn't feel the same way in return, then he'll feel nothing but guilty. I don't want to even take that risk, but, y'know. That all links back to the talk of what happened to my parents. It sounds dark, but weighing out the positives and negatives... If they were here, sure, things would be a lot more stable in our way of life, but... I wouldn't have what I have with Joseph. Joseph would be a completely different person."


"Not only that, but I never would have met you, or Frank, or Tony, or James. I wouldn't have met half the people I know now if all of that hadn't happened. It's a weird thing, life, and how things unfold. Plus, Joseph's happy enough. He was young when it happened - for a long time he was always worried something would happen to me, but, nowadays he's a lot better in that sense. He doesn't worry about me that much. He just focuses on living life, being himself, being a kid. It's all I want him to do right now." She explained. "I appreciate you, Thalia, and your nobility. You're not a bad person at all - just someone who got mixed in with a bad crowd. You don't need to catch me when I fall, but, it's nice that you'll be there to do it, anyway." She smiled at her.


The jokes and laughing about James, though, was nice to have. Yeah, Karin may have had something for the guy, but that didn't mean the whole situation wasn't nerve-racking in that sense. It had been quite some time since Karin had really been with anyone, or even tried to get with anyone. Having someone so suddenly come onto the scene, amidst all the chaos that was going on, too, was definitely a bit of a shocker. Love throws everything up in the air, after all. She had her plans, though. "Oh, I'm sure a man like that wouldn't need forcing. He'll come with some sort of gift - At least he better." She chuckled, "I mean, what guy wears a suit like that, with leather gloves, and doesn't bring flowers or at least a bottle of wine when he comes over for the evening, right?" She grinned. "Heh, we'll wait and see."


"If I want Joseph to believe what I said, then we need to do at least something, even if it's just a tiny kiss. That's me dreaming more than anything, but, in some ways it's true. Joseph will be looking out for it, I reckon. He goes on about how I should get a boyfriend, so now that it finally happens, he's going to have his eyes wide open on the whole thing to make sure everything's going to plan. We'll wait and see - I'm just surprised he's going to stop by. If he's sending the money to us, I don't get why he'd be dropping by again, do you?" He asked. "We've already clarified there's no payment, so, let's hope for the best, right? Maybe he's here purely for... Pleasure." She put emphasis on that last word just to make a big joke out of what she was saying, and immediately, she was laughing. Even though it was a joke at the time, the thought did cross her mind. What if James was legitly just coming back to be social?


"Even if the guy is a bit of criminal, that's no problem. A double date, though, imagine that." She said. "Me, James, you, and Frank." She shook her head. "Criminal and cop together at the same table. I bet those two would get on quite well, though, because they both seem smart. It's hard to say how well they'd click. Let's wait and see if it happens, shall we?"


--


Frank made sure he sort of lurked around the area of the bathroom, just to make sure no one else walked in, and also to be there for backup just in case things went pear-shaped. He had a feeling Tony would end up tearing the guy in two, but, if somehow the tables turned, and it was Tony getting his ass beat, then obviously he was going to have to run in there and help him out. He stood over by the door for a moment, drinking what was left of his cheap coffee. He had to admit, spilling coffee down that guy's shirt felt pretty damn good. He wasn't going to make a hobby out of doing it to every random person he could find, but he wouldn't deny he got a feeling of excitement as soon as he saw that guy in a little bit of pain and annoyance. It was mainly because the guy deserved it that Frank found it so amusing, but hey, moving on from there.


He heard talking, mainly, but when he heard the smash of what he could only assume was a mirror, he rushed into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. For the sake of the cleaners, there was a bolt that could be turned on the inside of the bathroom so it could be locked and cleaned without anyone else coming in. Frank locked the door, and that was them alone in this bathroom for now. The worst part was, though, when it came to getting this guy out of here, how were they going to do it, exactly? Frank was in for a gory sight, and when he saw it, he didn't know what to think. Was it really going to be possible to slip this guy out without anyone noticing him? Unless they lied about him attacking Tony, then they could arrest him and throw him in a cell, and no one would know any better. Two words against one was going to win the case, surely to god?


Either that or the found a way to kill him in here, and just left him there. Maybe sat in one of the stalls, or something like that. It was hard to say what the most worthwhile thing was going to be, but. All he kneww was he needed to figure somethng out, otherwise the two of them would be finding themselves knee-deel in shit if this kept.


He ran up and quickly put a hand on Tony's shoulder and ripped him away from the guy. This was getting too gnarly to just carry on.


"Wait, wait!" He said, briskly. "Just hang on. You're going to kill the son of a bitch. I've got a question myself, but remember, this guy's no good to us dead." He said, simply. He had a few questions and threats of his own, too. He couldn't let Frank tear into this guy so much to the point where he couldn't speak, though, or to the point where he was dead. That wouldn't help either of them. Instead, he went up and sent a punch into the man's back, then pinned him down against the sink. He didn't want him getting up, or fighting back, so immobilzing him that little bit more was his best bet; he leaned in a little closer so he could talk to him quietly.


"Listen to me, fuckface." He said, "I don't know how much they're paying you to risk your ass like this, but now's time to realize that all of that's at risk." He said. "If you don't cooperate, you're going to end up dead or behind bars, whichever one's easiest. In both scenarios, I'm pretty sure someone kills you, anyway." He shrugged. "So, what's it gonna' be?" He asked. "Your loyalty really worth your life? Because the way I see it, if you don't start talking, I'm gonna' drag you over to a stall and start drowning you in a toilet. Consider this your last chance to take the easy way of doing things."
 
With an understanding nod, Thalia nodded. She got Karin's perspective of a brother/sister bond. It was almost like a mother/son dynamic. She saw it firsthand when she held up the diner the other day, how Joseph clinged to her like a son to his mother. Had Karin looked older than her age, she would've assumed they actually were. "I admire that relationship you two have. I haven't met my brother, and I don't know my cousins personally. Family was never a selling point for me, and I never bonded with anyone. I was a clueless 13 year old girl, what did you expect? And from what I've seen, most siblings are always at each other's necks. Kind of like us at the diner, right?" A light chuckle came from Thalia. "Hey, we're both grown women, and if you are my big sister, I will impress... Hey. Maybe one day, me and Charlie can be like you and Joseph. It'd mean the world to me."


Though Karin declined the help when needed, 'catch you if you fall', Thalia would never accept it. "Nonsense. We all rise and fall. And you can't ask me to just not do anything when you feel down and low. When I was, you put a roof over my head. Sure, I can't do the equivalent of that, but I can try. I can do what it takes to help you. I can stand in front of the gun if that day ever comes. Even your shoulder to cry on when you feel miserable. Fate. It did bring us together for a reason. It brought you to me to get me out of Ra's' wing. Maybe it brought me to you for something else. Hell do I know. Someday, it might be clear. You seem to believe in things happening for a reason. So...." She flicked a bit of Karin's hair with the pinch of her index finger. "I'm sure as hell sticking around to catch you if you fall or go down trying."


Talks of hooking up and double dating were all the more appealing for Thalia. She was crazy for Frank, and Karin seemed lost in the thought of James. With their hacker friend coming over, it made things more fun. More company to have fun with. And Karin brought up pleasure. "Ooooooh! You come with me, right now, sister, cuz you're not going to be unprepared!" She gripped her friend's arms in a playful manner, walking with her back to the living room, and tossed her onto the cushions of the couch, landing right next to her, more excited than she should be for her friend's potential romance. "So. From the way I see it, you seem a bit... out of the game. I may seem out, but I've seduced my fair share of men. Just look at Frank... the only issue with Frank? We both melted. Sooo I looked really pathetic. BUT: you have the social caring-yet-feisty vibe going for you. You also look super edgy too, and from my experience with hackers? THEY LOVE EDGY. All that's left is to make that serious stone-cold SOB melt in your goddamn hands! Not saying take him to the bedroom, but you know.... maybe some cheek action, like I did to Frank? A bit of hand action over his body to sell the act for Joe? Maybe watch a movie? All bets are fucking off."


And since it as all too tempting, Thalia brought this fact up again, simply for the laughs: "Hey, I'll share mine if you share yours! Or we can all share each other!" Whoa, T, what the fuck are you thinking, starting an orgy in this girl's house? Fucking creep. You're trying to scare your roommate away?


--


Sullivan remained silent through Frank's attacks, up until he was asked a question. But much like the answer came out with Tony, he gave Frank the same treatment: "Fuck yourself. You have nothing to do with this, Hale. Back off."


Tony wasn't having any more of this 'fuck yourself' bullshit. With the door locked, the two had their privacy. Frank would have his ass later for the horror show he created out of Pigman, but that's a fight for another time. in fact, he had a plan to make this work with an incooperative hostage. He wouldn't exactly work for them, but they can forge a statement. He reached into the dirty cop's suit pocket to reveal his cell phone. A crappy old flip phone, too. Must be some secure line or a burner so he can contact Ra's undetected. Flipping it open, Tony took the initiative himself to dial the first number on the list of recent calls. An unlisted blocked number. That's probably someone suspicious. Tony was taking a HUGE risk doing this. And even if it was Ra's on the other end, who knows what he'd do to Mel simply by tempting the beast. But the physical coercion seemed to get them nowhere. Tony's new idea, though? More peaceful. But devious. He left the phone on the counter and placed it on speaker so the whole room could hear.


"You are going to answer whoever's on the other end of this line and tell them I've submitted my resignation. Or else I will find your wife, Brittney? Yeah. I read your file. You lover her just like I love my girlfriend. You may not fear pain or death, but she does. I swear, I will go to her house, and the same way that you bastards are going to rip Mel apart piece by piece? I will do the same thing to your wife. And I'm going to send her chopped up disrespected remains to you in the mail. You'd like that now wouldn't you?"


The man with the pig tattoo growled back, unhappy with Tony's decisions. But he wasn't entirely worried for his wife, keeping his emotionless expression. "Have fun with that, Walsh. You don't have the stomach."


"You just watch me." A similar fire in Karin's eyes in the face of a masked Thalia appeared in Tony's. He might just do it if he's put in that position if he finds out they are doing the same to Melissa. "Do what I say, and you won't have to know. Remember: I resigned. And you will tell us where Mel is after."


Moment of truth. An Arabian voice, clearly not fluent in English, picked up the phone. "Speak."


"Mawlaye, fashalet." [Your Highness, I have failed.]


Tony didn't know Arabic. Obviously, he didn't know what that meant. It could literally be anything. But by the sound of his stern voice and another spit into the sink, it can't be good. And he wouldn't be speaking Arabic without trying to hide something. But it would become apparent later. He glanced to Frank in confusion.


"Taarif ma lazim," [You know what you must do.] The voice on the phone answered.


"Naam, mawlaye." [Yes, Your Highness.]


What the fuck is going on? Tony could only ask himself. But then, the hostage broke out in an action he almost couldn't believe. Catching Frank by surprise, Sullivan pushed back at the cop pinning him down and turned to face him. His hands, rather than go for Frank's body, immediately went for, of all places, Frank's holster. Sliding his pistol out, he held it to his mouth, and right before Frank could snatch it back, he placed the barrel down his mouth.... And...


Bang. An unsuppressed gunshot in the bathroom, followed by Tony yelling, "NO!!" In that moment, he realized their best bet to reach Ra's and save Melissa was gone, his brains and blood splattered across the shattered mirror behind them and his body drooping over the sink. How did he not anticipate the chance he'd off himself? This did NOT look good for the two detectives. This looked like it could've been a torture scene made out to be a suicide. And the door locked too. Soon the room would be swarming with other officers. A gunshot like that doesn't go unnoticed. Tony ran his hands through his slicked hair in agony, questioning what he could do now. Sure, he had the rest of The Ten to go after, but his thought process was a mess after seeing his best shot to get Melissa back off himself. As he leaned face first against the wall, shattered by lost hope, the man on the phone spoke, in English this time:


"Melissa loses a finger. Next stunt you pull on me or any of my associates, and she loses another. Do not do this to your beloved. You brought this upon yourself, Tony. And she will be told so." And that ended the call.


Tony was left speechless. Mind drawn a blank. Unsure of what to say. He genius plan now costed Mel. And Ra's would convince her it's his fault. He turned back to Frank, his face telling the whole story, broken. I'm.... I'm sorry, Mel. "W-What do we do now?"
 
"If things fix up, Thalia, you'll have that bond with your brother. It's different with every sibling, really. I know a load of people who didn't do anything but fight with their brothers and sisters, but then, at the same time, I knew people who didn't do anything other than get on with them. Plus, with the age gap between you two, like the one with me and Joseph, chances are you won't ever fight. He's younger than Joseph, too, practically just a little kid. I bet he'll get on great with you. You'll be a big role model in his life if you get properly involved with him." She explained. "I'll give you some pointers, though. Seeing as... Well, I'm guessing you haven't spent much time around young kids, so, my advice will stay simple, but its a way to win them over. As much as people will tell you that kids are these bundles of joy that think deeply about everyone, even though that's true to an extent, keep in mind that kids are far more materialistic than people our age. It's mainly why a lot of older kids don't get on well with the younger kid of the family. Older kid gets something nice, the younger kid wants the same or something better. Materialism at its finest, basically." She chuckled.


"So, the way to win a lot of kids over, isn't just to show that you're fun to be around, but also that you can get them the stuff they want. Kids want the bigger ice creams, the 3D glasses and a 3D movie in a movie theater - They want the slightly bigger meal at McDonalds, they wanna' order off the adult menu in a restaurant even if they know they'll never finish the food. It's things like that, right - Obviously that's not everything, but, that'll draw them closer to you. Some people, kids just seem to flock to, for some reason. Why that is, I don't know, but it's a kids' intuition thing, I think. They see someone and they deem that they're trustworthy almost straight away. I guess it's just something about them." She shrugged. "But yeah, you wanna' get close with your brother?" She paused for a moment. "There's a lot of important stuff to remember, actually..." She smiled.


"Remember, he's never met you before, and you've never met him. Rome wasn't built in a single day, so, the first time you ever meet you can't expect him to be running up to you and giving you the big hugs and all that. You gotta' take that time to find a way to relate to him. Find out what interests him, and in a controlled environment where he won't be forced out of any comfort zones, y'know, maybe with your parents around or something, find a way to spark those interests and get him involved. For example, if you asked Joseph to tell you something about computers, you'd just wake up a passion of his and he'd talk for ages, no matter who you are. It's all the little things like that, and gradually you work your way up and away from just common interests. Start doing other stuff - Movie theaters, going out for lunch, going to the park, the beach, a museum, Go-Karting, whatever you think would be best. If you do things right, you guys will be like two peas in a pod in a matter of no time." She said. She thought maybe she went a little crazy on the advice, but, it was clear that Thalia's brother meant a lot to her, and she wanted to be able to help her build a proper bond with him whenever she got given the chance.


She still worried about them and Ra's, though. What if Ra's found out about them? Would he kill them as soon as he found out that Thalia had betrayed him? Would he do something horrific and use it against her? She didn't like to imagine what that man was capable of, honestly, but, she didn't want to make any bogus assumptions. They were at the other end of the country. As far as she knew, there was nothing to worry about. Plus, Ra's was none the wiser to her betrayal. For all he knew, she was off getting the money, right? 


Karin just hoped he didn't shoot her on sight when she delivered the cash to him. That'd be disastrous. 


On the talk of their guy friends, though, Karin just laughed. "Out of the game indeed. It's been a long time." She said. "But you have experience with hackers, eh?" She asked, "Well then, if they like edgy, I'm sure James isn't all that much different. Let's see how it goes. I'll give him edgy, play a few mind games if I can - As for sharing, I told you already. I don't graze on another girl's grass. You've got Frank all to yourself regardless of how well things go with James - Same applies in reverse." She said, then winked and gave her friend a gentle punch on the shoulder along with a laugh. 


--


Frank thought that they were maybe getting somewhere with this guy when he started talking on the phone - Frank didn't know any Arabic, either, so he couldn't get a word of it. Regardless, the rule he grew up remembering was this: If it seemed too good to be true, it probably is. The chances of this guy just handing over what Tony wanted was unlikely, especially from an organization like this. Not only that, he seemed calm in the midst of everything. He was getting beaten and abused, threatened with prison and death, and he wasn't even as much as wide-eyed. He was either a very good actor, or he wasn't scared. He wasn't labelled The Executioner for no reason, though. He was probably one stone-cold son of a bitch, and honestly, the phone conversation seemed far too brief for him to be saying anything along the right lines.


Then again, as said, Frank knew no Arabic. He didn't know if this guy was telling him Tony resigned, or if he was bragging that he banged the Chief's wife. It could have been anything.


It was proven that something wasn't quite right when Frank was shoved off, and had his gun snatched from him. He was convinced that he was dead in that exact moment, but, it turned out to be quite the contrary. Frank didn't know how to react to having his gun taken just like that, but, he had to deal with it. In that moment, though, the man put the gun in his mouth and shot himself. Frank couldn't even speak - he'd seen gore more than enough, but seeing that knocked him back, and he had to blink a few times just to come to terms with what happened. Other than the fact that their rat was now dead, which solved at least one problem, there was another problem that popped up with it:


Now, they had no direct line to getting Melissa back.


Fuck.


The first thing Frank knew he needed to do was go over and unlock the door, so he did that as quick as he could. If anyone tried to get in and the door was locked, it'd look nothing short of murder. At least if it was unlocked, it was less obvious. Still, Frank shakily wandered back over and linked his hands at the back of his head.


"Holy shit." He whispered. "They're... They might be bluffing." He gulped. "They might not hurt Melissa at all, they might just be trying to get to you, trying to pressure you. We can still save her. We can." He whispered. He wasn't so sure anymore, though. He was in a bit of a shocked state - watching the guy's brain and chunks of skull go up the mirror wasn't going to help him sleep tonight, that was for sure. He didn't know how much worse it was going to get, but, for some reason he felt like it was only going to get worse from this point on. Not the best feeling in the world, really, but one he was having to deal with.


"We..." He thought. "We need to try and get a trace on that number. It's the only other way - Either that or we plan an ambush. If you're willing to get into the crosshair." He gulped, "We'd need help, though, and unobvious help. Maybe... Maybe that friend of Thalia and Karen can help us trace the number? You know, that... James?" He asked, simply. "He's a shady son of a bitch. He can probably help, right? Fuck me, Tony, I don't know what else to-"


The door flew open, and in rushed a Lieutenant with her gun at the ready.


It was Lieutenant Nina Thorn. Everyone's favorite Lieutenant. She was in her forties now and had been with the department basically her whole life, with her father serving the LAPD before her. Now and again she brought her eldest son in, he was still in high school, but a nice kid all the same. He did all sorts of charity events for the school and she helped him get the LAPD on board when she could. Four kids in total, she had. She was the nicer of the Lieutenants, though. Much more calm and kind, very helpful to anyone new or needing a hand. Some would say she was in the wrong job, others, not so much.


"Holy shit..." She looked at the dead dispatcher lying on the bathroom floor and slowly holstered her gun. Judging by the looks on the Detectives' faces, she wasn't jumping to conclusions. "What the hell happened?" She asked. "Hale? Walsh? Fill me in here. Jesus Christ, this isn't..." She looked at him. "Isn't he... Isn't he new here?" She asked. "One of you please tell me what's going on." She said, her tone turning from shocked to worried. She was suspicious, too, but doing her best not to show that. Frank just stared down at the dead body, and his own gun that rested in its lifeless hand. 


Fuck.
 
Perhaps Thalia was getting too excited about actually SEEING her family again that she forgot that it wasn't going to be a walk in the park. Kids can seem simple on the outside, but it's a whole other complex on the inside. What kids like. What they like to do. How they think. How they view the world around them. All things she didn't consider before. Her excitement transformed into fear with Karin's words of wisdom, but it was a good kind of fear. The kind that would push her to work hard for her brother's trust and love. She had a weakness towards children, sure, due to her own experience, but it was, again, her own insecurity and inability to communicate all that well with others that hindered her from being some sort of skilled taker. When Joseph toured her of the house yesterday, on the inside, she was nervous. Frightened that she’d say something wrong. She already scared him before. She didn’t want that to be the case with her brother. When she returns to Philly to visit her family, she’s going to make the best of it. As much as she’d want to stay there, she couldn’t. LAPD may drop charges on her, but Philly PD might not. Once her identity in Al-Asheera is exposed, she might not be able to go back… unless she convinces her folks to move to LA. It’s always a chance.




“Sorry if I came off a bit… stupid, or foolish there, Karin. I really don’t have much experience as a caretaker or with kids in general, not like you. I was just excited. Maybe I’m just sentimental like that. But if I pushed that boy away instead of get him to see me as his sister… would I hate myself for it. Maybe someday he’ll lighten up to me. But I know one thing: I care about him. I hope he at least knows that…” Her voice was much calmer than her past enthusiasm when she spoke about him. Even if she went back home, would her parents let her get close? What would THEY think? What would anyone think of her, the nerve to come back and try to beg for forgiveness? Nonsense. At first, the only reason she WANTED to go back was for her brother. Now, after telling the story of her mother, Thalia wanted to see her, too. Unusual how she wanted her normal life back, normal being her past one before Al-Asheera. Maybe she and Charlie could’ve been different at this stage. He’s roughly eight years old. Thalia’s 21. It’s quite a gap, about the same as Karin and Joseph, maybe a bit more. She had plans to get his trust, taking her friend’s advice into consideration. Thalia didn’t like being lectured; it’s always been negative in her eyes. But she made an exception for Karin. She was warning her before she made some rash mistake in front of her family. That was greatly appreciated, at least.




You’re going to screw up the second you meet your brother. I’m telling you from now. He’ll hate you and never want to see you again.







Hopefully not.




Did Thalia fear death? Before today she didn’t. Now she was horrified of it because of what she’d leave behind. What she’d miss out on doing when she’s gone. The friends she’d abandon in death. The things she’d never get to do. The faces she’d never meet. It was a horrifying thought knowing that her little sting operation against Ra’s could be the end of her. Could she trust the LAPD to protect her when that day comes? Could she defend herself if the monster tries to attack her or end her life? Would Karin—or anyone—miss her when she’s gone? She didn’t know anything anymore. And now she was getting carried away in thoughts of family, children, her future, and guy troubles. So consuming, but she enjoyed it to mask the worry.




“Al-Asheera had a hacker at one point, a few years ago. A girl, actually. She was scary good at what she did, kind of like James. She was edgy as hell, but even if she was, she was pretty. God, she was pretty…” She’s dead. Stop thinking about her already! Maybe a bit too much of a hint that she was close to Vanessa. “They still haven’t replaced her, but bottom line, hackers are edgy, and like edgy. Rule of thumb. And you, my friend…” She gently pushed her friend’s arm. “…You are edgy. He’ll love it.” She smirked at the response to sharing. She could’ve guessed. “Only fair. James is yours. Frank’s mine. I guess I’ve had waaaaay too many threesomes. All were for the purpose of stealing wallets and purses, but go figure.” It was all clean fun, sleeping and snatching, depending on how ‘clean’ that is in other books. The sex was good, that was all Thalia knew. She got a kick out of the pleasure and got the loot. Win-win. Guess her tendencies didn’t fully diminish with time after all.




--




Using yet another criminal? Things were only getting worse for Tony. It already bothered him to use Thalia. Now this James character that doesn't even know they're cops? Desperation would've been the biggest selling point for him now. He had no way to get to Melissa anymore, their lead's insides spread across the room now in the most gruesome of ways. But Tony quickly attempted to calm himself down, breathing less heavily and soothing his rage and pain by thoughts of a potential lead on the cell phone. Could it be traced? They were giving it their all to cover themselves up. Why would they throw it all away by not speaking on a secure line? Especially with the risk that after offing himself, the detectives would take the phone. It was worth a shot.




The one thing that could've made the bathroom disaster worse was someone of authority dashing in to see what the commotion was about. The loud noises of skull bashing into metal, a mirror shattering, and most prominently, a gunshot did not do them any favors for keeping this encounter private. Lieutenant Thorn, a popular face among the others and one that Tony knew well and trusted, was the first of many to witness the horror of this new guy killing himself. Still, this was a suicide, and Tony and Frank still had a chance to sell it as such. But his DEATH was a suicide. The blood and shattered mirror showed signs of a struggle. Torture. That wasn't going to fly, not a chance. There would most certainly be an investigation, and all Tony could do is give his word. But what word? Certainly not that he and Frank cornered this man on an off-the-book operation and tried to coerce him. Just saying that he approached Frank, grabbed his gun, and offed himself wasn't going to cut it with the scene. But, in the midst of his shock, Tony fabricated a new plan, swiping the flip phone from the counter without her noticing and pocketing it discreetly.




Think fast, Tone!





"Lieutenant.... There was nothing we could do. My partner and I were going to the bathroom on our break, we turned around to see this poor guy.... God, what the hell was going through his mind?" Painting this guy like something he's not. Not something that could be proven. Or disproven. "He was bashing his head up against the sink for whatever reason, then against the mirror, as if he’d seen some ghost or was possessed by a demon. Freaky, if you ask me. Looked like he was having a psychotic break of some sort. My partner tried to calm him.... even though I thought we should've called for backup first. But god... he suddenly reached for Detective Hale's weapon, then.... bam. It was all over. What was he thinking? Does he have a history of mental illness or anything? I don't think people could break just like that. Out of nowhere. I could've sworn I've seen him around this week, one of the new guys. Did they miss this in psyche eval? Shit... poor guy."




Another glance landed on the dead man dangling off the sink with Frank’s gun at hand. A sight nobody should have to see. But Frank and Tony saw it live and in action. Absolutely horrible. Not just that a man died on station grounds, but one lead to Al-Asheera gone. Still... there were the remaining members of The Ten to pursue. Would they do this too, end their lives if caught? It's a precaution for the two detectives to consider when they encounter the next one. At least he managed to cover up this horror show with a reasonable enough excuse. Was Thalia rubbing off on him in that manner? Perhaps. Would the Lieutenant buy the story, though? Nonetheless, The Ten committing suicide when caught? At least they were seeing justice. Dropping like flies.


Two down. Eight to go.
 
"Well, don't let me put you off!" Karin laughed, "You don't need to worry yourself. Worrying yourself about it is the worst thing you can do - another one of my lecture notes for you, kids are good at telling if you're sad, nervous, upset, angry, whatever you want." She shrugged. "Kids run off happiness if they're from the standard background. Last thing you want is them clocking onto any nervousness - it's like babies. They can detect when you're stiff, when you're uncomfortable when you're holding them. They scream if you're like that, right?" She laughed. "Literally, just treat them as a person, only littler than what you're used to - and keep what I said in mind. Someone like you? You'll be just fine doing it." She grinned at her.


"The main thing is that you care about him. That'll be what fuels you. That'll be what carries a healthy relationship with your younger brother." She said. "Don't worry, Thalia, and don't feel like you're being too excited. Excited is good. It's... Nice to see you're looking forward to seeing him. Getting to know him. I'm sure he's gonna' love you, even more so if you can do everything your average 21-year-old can do by the time you meet him. If you can drive, that opens up an even bigger world of things. You could take him right across California if you wanted to, if you had a car and everything." She grinned. "Something I wanted to do with Joseph at one point, take him on a little roadtrip. Maybe that's something we could do - Us and our brothers, in an RV or something." She chuckled.


The thought of that didn't seem too bad in her eyes. Thalia's brother was younger than Joseph, sure, but not too young to be able to make a friend out of a ten-year-old. Kids in that age group click easily, from what she'd seen, so all of them spending time together would be pretty amazing. At least she thought so.


"Al-Asheera had a hacker, too?" She asked. "From what I've heard about them, that's quite a surprise. I couldn't imagine any crime group in today's world not having a hacker. Sounds like something you'd need. Can you imagine if she and James met, though?" She said. "Or any other hacker, for that matter? I bet it'd be chaos. I mean, I don't take James for the bloating and bragging type, but, you never know. When it comes to hacking I imagine he gets a bit protective about how much he can do, and what he's capable of. You never know." She said.


She did get the immediate impression that maybe she was close to this hacker in Al-Asheera, just of the way she spoke of her. It did make her wonder, but, was she really in a place to ask? She figured not. It didn't seem right to ask anything like that.


"So, with this girl that was in Al-Asheera, the hacker?" She cleared her throat, "She ever teach you any tricks?" She asked. "Can't say it's ever been something that's overly interested me, but, it might be a different story for you." She said. 


--


"A psychotic break?" The lieutenant walked up and looked at the body and all the mess that was left behind. It wasn't looking good so far. It was hard to believe, but, as was said, it couldn't exactly be disproven. There was no signs of struggle, just lots of bruises, basically. Hopefully anything the forensics guys could pull up wouldn't reveal any bruising on the back of his neck or anything when his head was pushed down. That was the only thing Frank was worried about, but he did have a solution to that. Or at least an excuse that would explain any bruising they found outside of his head aread.


"Jesus." She said, simply, then looked over the two men. "I'd have to check his records for mental illness." She said. "From what I know, he passed the screening. Mental illness is quite easy to mask, but at this level, it's unlikely he would have got through without someone picking something up." She scratched the back of her head, then scanned over the two detectives again. Her eyes went to the gun on the floor, in the dead man's hand, though. 


"Whose gun is that? Is that his?" She asked.


"It's mine." Frank gulped, "After we came in and tried to stop him there was a struggle wheere he reached for my holster. He got hold of the gun, and at that point I couldn't really do anything else. I didn't want to subdue him in case he turned and shot me. I didn't expect him to shoot himself, though." Frank said. "That explains some of the mess, though, the little tuffle me and the guy had. I thought he was attacking me, initially, but it turned out it was quite the opposite. He was just getting hold of a gun." He shook his head. "LT, I don't know what else I can tell you. The guy just snapped. Went crazy. Did what he could and got to his end goal as soon as he got hold of my gun." 


"You're not going to be able to take your gun back. We'll need to process it as evidence, Detective. I hope that's no problem."


"I have a replacement at home." He wiped his forehead, slowly. "It's fine."


"Alright. I..." She looked down at the body again. "We'll get forensics up here, guys, but I'm going to need you to fill out statements for the incident, try and recall what happened in the best detail you can, okay? I know it's not going to be easy, especially after witnessing something traumatic like this, but..." She sighed. "It's got to be done."


"Right." Frank nodded.


"I better close this place up, guys. Go get those statements down, leave them in my office. If I need anything else, I'll contact you directly." She said.


Seems as though she bought the story.


Frank didn't like the situation they were in, though. He didn't expect it to go down this way.
 
"A road trip? That never really crossed my mind." It really never did. Being stuck in Philly most of her life did that to Thalia, having little to no desire to explore the world--let alone the country--all that much. It wasn't until the dramatic jump from coast to coast that the urge suddenly came to mind. But she didn't want to do it alone. Back when she felt bound by his chain, Thalia considered exploring different places with Ra's, which he fulfilled when he promised to bring as many cities into submission as possible. Not exactly a girl's dream honeymoon, but it's all a brute like him could give in his position. Nobody would be happy to hear the psycho boy who murdered his parents at the age of 12 reappeared out of the blue after 30 years of incognito. Likewise, Thalia didn't want to be discovered either. Not the way she was. Maybe once she was no longer associated to Al-Asheera, she could embark on a road trip like that. Maybe take Karin and Joe with her? And if her parents allowed for it--if Thalia could prove to be a responsible adult--she would consider Charlie, too. Entertaining the thought was fun, but she's been spending a lot of time in her fantasies and less in reality. Can't blame a girl for dreaming, right? "From someone who hasn't been around... I'd like that. A lot. Think we could do that when this all settles down? I'd trust you to lead the way, seeing you know your way around a bit better. But I've also kinda wanted to explore the country, too. No better way to do it than... with my best friend and family?" Best friend. Karin might just be.


Thalia wanted to tell Karin about her relationship with Vanessa, but was afraid that it would scare her off. She wasn't ashamed of being into girls as well as guys, no, but it was more of a fear of Karin being uncomfortable with it and get the wrong idea, despite how the thought of getting her pants never crossed Thalia's mind. The two were close, sure, but Thalia at least had a sense of self-control to respect Karin. They were living under the same roof, after all. She didn't want to do anything to compromise it or push her friend away by an event in her life that could send all the wrong signals and destroy their friendship. It would even put all of her own mannerisms into question; it might give the impression that her endgame is to sleep with her, when it wasn't. Thalia just wanted a friend. Nothing more.


"Yeah, you wouldn't expect Al-Asheera to have anyone with hacking expertise. We don't really utilize tech all that much, but things have changed since Ra's' heisting days. A few years ago, we got a lucky break and inducted a hacker into the organization. She... wasn't exactly willing in the beginning. I remember she looked like she'd received a rough beating, and we found her barely hanging on to life outside a hospital because she couldn't afford healthcare. Ra's took her in with a private medic, saved her life in return for undivided loyalty to Al-Asheera. And she knew how to provide." Ah, good memories. Something she missed from that girl. "She was giving a clan name that translated to "The Miracle", simply because nobody expected her to survive, and she claimed she practically faced death in the eyes. I didn't get caught up in the details... but her real name, Vanessa. Easier than the Arabic name, by far. She and I were good friends. Really tight." That was enough to avoid suspicion, right? But her nervous voice told another story, that this girl had more significance than just that. "She did teach me a few things, like how to jam CCTV cameras or set a loop, she taught me how to kill cams like the ones in the diner we held up? So if the cops turn up empty for footage inside the diner, it's my doing. It's my brief knowledge of some scripting shit, or whatever it's called..." She'd probably get called out for ignorance there, but no matter. "...that didn't prompt us to find another hacker after. Apart from that, a lot of what she did was kinda difficult, so I never picked up on it in time before she.... well..." The shocker. She gulped before continuing, a gloomier face coming upon her. "Before Ra's executed her for breaking her promise for loyalty."


Did she just say too much? Did that reveal her secret of how close the two really were? Karin's not an idiot. And she most certainly is suspicious.


"Um.... Yeah. If she were still around, I bet she and James would have a blast. Right...." Idiot. You fucking idiot.


--


"Don't worry about us, LT. We're both big boys. W-We can handle ourselves."


With the Lieutenant out of the bathroom for the moment, Tony needed to get word to Frank about what to do for the statements. This wasn't something they could both make up as they wish and end up with a contradiction. If that happens, they're blown and in jail for murder. Melissa dies under the bloody rule of Ra's, and Thalia and Karin walk away. That last part might be okay, but the rest? No way. Plus, the longer the two stay boxed in filling out paperwork, it's the less time they have to pursue Al-Asheera and the Clover Boys. They still had an inside man to interrogate, Frank's guy, McAllister. Time was of the essence, so the paperwork would have to get done with as soon as possible. Leaning close to his partner, he whispered,


"We can't slug around with the statement, Frankie. But we can't tell them anything about our investigations into Al-Asheera. Nothing about Griffin and Held. Nothing about McAllister. Nothing about Ra's or Bradan, absolutely nothing about our off-the-books operation. Not even that we snooped at Sullivan's file..." Tony gave one more glance at the man he tortured. Blood had flooded down his nose like a waterfall, his face black and blue from constant contact with the counter, and broken bones evident across his face. You did this, Tony. Would Mel be proud of you if she knew you did that? Even for her? You might as well join Al-Asheera. You're showing that you're no better. He suppressed the guilt, winced, and returned his head to Frank's ear. "We came in here, we saw him slamming his head on the counter like a lunatic. We tried to stop him, but he grabbed your gun by surprise and shot himself, but you were too afraid to get involved when he was armed." Shock definitely took a toll on both men. Tony attempted to sympathize. "Frank, I know it's tough. What we just saw in front of us? It's horrible. I feel worse. Our lead to Mel is gone. But we still have the rest of The Ten to pursue, and we can go back and ask Thalia if she knows anyone else. So we can be prepared for next time. But we need to keep our heads in the game. Plus, you're still running point on McAllister. Your guy, and I'm sure you can handle it. Just keep your cool. Got it? Think you can handle this?"


Tony was a bit iffy for himself. Not because of the bloodwork on the mirror or the gory pulp known as Sullivan's face. But by what Ra's was doing to Melissa now. That got to him more than a crook offing himself. But now the two might have a spotlight on themselves because of being witnesses to a cop suicide. They needed to clear it. Soon.


"I'll talk to Lieutenant Thorn later, get her off our backs for a bit. For now, let's head up to my office and get these statements over with."


Shock was still beating at Tony's voice, making him seem a bit weaker than he was. Naturally so, just catching a man's gruesome suicide from the corner of his eyes would staple that image in his head forever. Not the first time such gore was a part of the job, and certainly not the last. Especially with more of The Ten to come around.


--


Once more, Ra's and his messenger from before had yet another conversation.


"Mawlaye."


"Yes. I am aware..." Ra's sat in what looked like a booth for a bar, sitting at a table with several luxurious bottles of booze around him. He toyed with his beard in his cushioned seat as the servant stood by his side.


"Al-Rsas was following protocol. He died loyal to you."


"He failed me. And he was caught, too. The woman. Start whipping her. And you do not stop until I say."


"Mawlaye, we might kill her at some point--"


"I do not care." Ra's didn't raise his voice as he reached forward for a rectangular bottle of aged Scotch, pouring it into his glass. "Do as I say."


"Yes, Mawlaye."


"And make sure the other members of Al-Ashra are aware of the threat. Detectives Walsh and Hale probably know where to look."


"How can they? They don't know anything about us."


"No, they do not... Al-Kha'ina is telling them about us. She might have compromised the names and occupations of Al-Ashra."


"Al-Kha'ina? You mean Al-Jameela."


A sip of his drink separated his speech with a head shake side to side. "No. Not Al-Jameela anymore. Sharmoota... Kha'ina... Anything but jameela."


"If we find her, we will bring her to you immediately."


"See that you do."


Bitch. Traitor. But not beautiful anymore. That's how Ra's saw Thalia now.
 
"I'd love to travel with you guys." She said. "Joseph would, too. It's not often me and him get to go on vacation, so, I reckon he'd be down for that. He's one of those adventurous kids - loves going new places. He'd be over the moon if I told him we were going on a Californian road trip one summer." She said. "I'd be happy to take all of us, your brother included, on some sort of trip. I mean, I'd lead the way, of course. I haven't been far in California, but my map-reading's fine, and I know the way to San Diego from here. The best thing to do would be avoiding the highways as much as we can, though, because if we get glued to the highways it'd suck. We'd take the dirt roads and stuff, so it'd be a lot more fun, a lot more scenic. Obviously highways can't be avoided entirely, but, y'know." She grinned.


"Man, that'd be really cool." She said. "All the cities, beaches, little cool places that not everyone knows about. The kids would love that, I bet." She said, "Imagine, a few months from now, maybe me, you, your brother, and Joseph could all be sat on a beach at the other end of California, eating some sort of expensive ice cream or food from one of those beach huts. That would be incredible. A thing to look forward to, you know?" She said. "Who knows where time will take us. By then you might be all settled in with Frank, might have a job - I might be all settled in with James, too. With a bit of luck." She laughed, "I'm sure Joseph would like that just as much as I would, too. As a single... Parent, I guess, I can only do so much for him. Joseph needs a dad, too. I'm not assuming James would want to do that, but, I'd hope so. He seemed to click with Joe when he first met him."


The talk of how she knew this girl in Al-Asheera was definitely bringing up a few suspicions, and Karin immediately was under the impression that there was more to it than her just being a tutor of some sort. The way Thalia spoke of her, and the nervousness behind her voice, sort of said that it was a lot more complicated than that. Everything she said seemed to give it away just that little bit more - especially at the end. It seemed Thalia was just extending what she was saying bit by bit, it almost looked like she was trying to exaggerate the details she was feeding to her. Karin wasn't one to make assumptions, but, it was more the nervousness behind her voice that concerned her.


Karin wasn't a judgmental person. Thalia could walk in the next morning and tell her she was only interested in African-American men in their forties with pink dyed hair, and she wouldn't care at all. She wasn't one to develop prejudice based on someone's interests, not at all. Being a parent for the past five years had taught her a lot, and outlining people for things did some damage. It was funny how it sometimes takes as much as being a carer to a kid to realize that. Joseph had told her the stories of bullied kids at school, bullied for both simple and complex things, and the whole scene just saddened her.


"I don't mean to be pushy, Thalia, but..." She paused, "You talk about this girl, and... I get the feeling that there's something else to the story?" She asked. "I don't want to intrude, obviously. Your business is your business, but, it just feels it's a lot deeper than how you make it sound, you know?" She said, forcing a small smile. "You just seem kinda'... Saddened by it all. Like, quite a lot." 


--


"You got it, Tone. My lips were sealed from the start about what we've got going on, don't worry. The story we've got for the stiff here is solid - It's not something that anyone can disprove unless they've got concrete evidence, and as I've already said there was a struggle between the two of us, if there's any additional marks or bruises, that'll explain that. We just hope they don't try and cram a lie detector on us, Tony, because that will really land us in the shit." He said, simply. The sympathy from Tony also meant something, but in an event like this, sympathy couldn't do much. Frank hadn't found himself shaken in a long time, at least not like this. He'd seen the aftermath of fathers and mothers going crazy and killing their whole family. He'd seen gang executions. He'd seen the works of serial killers.


But for some reason, this was just too much to take in at first. Any lunch he could have potentially had was now well off-limits, because he knew he was going to have to spend a few hours coming to terms with what happened before he'd be able to eat anything. It was just one of those things. I guess everyone has their limits - this was just one thing that he couldn't quite handle. Maybe the thought of someone committing suicide hit a little too close to home for him, but, at the same time, he saw that Tony was just as shocked as he was, too.


"Yeah, Tony, you're right. We can't let this hold us back." He said. "We've got a lot of work to do, and we need to act quick. I want to help you get Melissa out of there, man, I really do. I want to help you save her from those sons of bitches, and if we're going to do that, we need to do those statements and get to work. We've got our story down, we've got a 'recollection' of what happened to this guy, and I also saw you swipe the cell phone. That'll be a good start for everything, really. I think our first order of business is to go back and find Thalia, ask her some more questions, see if she can point us in the right direction. We need to get moving, though, so..." He gulped down what was left of the disgust and shock of viewing the man's corpse. "Let's do this statement and roll out." He said.


The statement was easy enough done - even though he was still shaking just that little bit, he kept to the story, and he hoped that that would be enough to convince them that he and Tony were innocent and had nothing to do with that man's death other than the struggle with trying to prevent it. He hoped nothing linked back to them, and, not only that, it wasn't going to look like Frank planted the gun on him. Fingerprints would be all over it, and the ballistics report would show the angle the bullet went in was a plain suicide. A staged suicide is often under the chin or in the side of the head, not inside the mouth. 


After the statement, however, Frank knew that McAllister wasn't the most important of people right now. He'd clarified that already. McAllister wasn't going anywhere just yet, so, they had some time to deal with him. Melissa, however, was a more pressing matter. She was someone who was on limited time, and unless they worked quick, she was as good as dead. Frank hoped that wasn't going to end up being the case, because god only knew how his partner would react to such news. Still, things were fine for now, or at least, time wasn't a completely pressing matter just yet. They had some time to think about things, time to figure things out, time to hopefully get things worked out, time to organize a plan.


Frank thought, though, what about Thalia? Could she get Melissa out when she went in there? If they could give her time, then maybe... It was a longshot, but it also depended on one thing - Would Melissa be kept alive for that long? It was hard to tell. Frank hoped so, because they didn't have much hope.


The drive to Karin's house was more or less silent. He didn't really want to talk, and there wasn't much to talk about, but time went by, as it does, and arriving back there was inevitable. From the distance they were at, things seemed rather quiet, as per usual. Things seemed quite normal, in fact. Could they really expect anything else?


"Home away from home." He said, simply, and unbuckled his seat belt. "Let's get in there, Tony, and see if there's anywhere she can point us. If she can't help us out, then that James guy they know might be our last hope. Unless we can send Thalia in to get Melissa when she takes the money, but..." He shook his head, "I don't know. It depends how long the money'll take to be with us." He explained. Part of him wanted Tony to fill out a resignation - if the circumstances were later explained, they'd surely let him straight back into the department without question.


"Good to go?" He asked.
 
The atmosphere in the car on the way to Karin's was rather dull. Eerie. As if between Tony and Frank, there were unspoken words between them that showed how they felt about entire ordeal of seeing a man die before their eyes. Then the words of the voice on the other side of the line threatening to torture Melissa. It was a lot to digest for Tony, and it really didn't sit well in his stomach through all this time. Melissa is still out there, maybe even one step farther after their little stunt. Now the two detectives were under a microscope after the little mishap in the bathroom. He felt distant from reality, but connected enough to drive back to the old house. Boy, from how much time they were come and going to this place, it really felt like home away from home. "Indeed, pal. Indeed," he muttered.


He wouldn't attack Thalia when they go in. He would approach this calmly at first and explain his position. Explain his girlfriend was kidnapped. Was he mad that there were still things they didn't know because this girl probably 'forgot to mention' them? Definitely. But like Frank kept reminding him, the more he does this around the girls, the more they'll push him away, and the less helpful they will become. They needed Thalia and Karin. If they slipped away or refused to cooperate, all four of them were as good as dead. Little did they all know that the redheaded clanswoman had a bullseye on her back by Ra's. They'd all have to proceed with caution.


Turning the engine of the car off, Tony prepared to dismount and spoke to his partner, "Let's go, Frank.... and, don't worry too much about me. It was tough on me through this past while, but I'll be okay. I'm a big boy. I can handle this."


Can he? Maybe. Just maybe. With a trustworthy partner like Frank? Better chances.


--


As much as Thalia wanted to continue talking about the joyful thoughts of kids, road trip plans, and her brighter future, Karin grew curious about the relationship between her and the former Al-Asheera hacker. Not like Thalia was giving an effort to conceal it, and even if she were, she was doing a terrible job at it. Just the thoughts of her friend brought back toxic memories, ones she tried her hardest to never resurrect. Talking about it to Frank was one thing, and she didn't feel this sickened. Maybe because she knew he wouldn't judge her. She had no clue how Karin would react. Would she be kicked out? Treated different? Kept away from Joseph? She knew Karin was a sweetheart deep down and a really great person, but enough to accept her for who she was? Again, Thalia feared that Karin's first thoughts were that she was trying to hook up with her this whole time and this was all an elaborate lie to get there. It wasn't. It never was. She trusted Karin, who basically let her in her house to stay indefinitely. Would that change if she admits this? She didn't want to lie either. Talks about her friend would return at another time and she'd be back in the same corner. 


"We... we were, Karin," Thalia sounded like she was giving an effort to find the right words to make this come out properly, her head bending over shyly. "We were more than friends. And thinking of her does make me really sad. Ra's killed her for breaking her loyalty because... she was in love with me. And I was in love with her." That should've sent a clear enough message. Slapping her hands to her thighs, she looked away, as if to be ashamed. "There. You know now. And I bet you're super uncomfortable now knowing I'm bi, so whatever you've got on your mind, any questions you may have about how I feel about you? Just get it out. I never thought about you that way... n-not that you're not pretty or anything, because you are, and if I wanted to I could be into you, but...UGH." Her head hung downward, falling into her palms in confusion. Now SHE was sending the wrong messages. "Whenever I tell people, they think I'm some sort of slut, that all I want is to sleep with people, which I'm not. It's just who I am, okay? Just don't overthink whatever we've been through this past day and think I'm crushing on you, because I'm not.... well, not that I wouldn't want to, because you really ARE amazing, but that's not what's been on my mind this past day. I swear...." She sighed, trying to catch her breath from the jumble of words. "You don't believe me, I guess? Yeah. It's fine. If it helps, the only girl I've actually felt serious about is Vanessa. She's the only PERSON, guy or girl, I've felt serious about that wasn't just a meat stick to rob them. Then... Ra's took her from me the second he found out. And made me watch her die." In that moment, unlike with Frank, the gruesome thoughts of the actual execution reappeared in her head. Thoughts that sickened her. "Oh, god.... you wouldn't know. He planted horrible thoughts in her head while torturing her for a week or two. I went to see her and she wasn't the same anymore. She hated my guts. Blamed me for what was happening to her. D-Do you have any idea how much that hurt? To know she cared about me, then couldn't stand me because Ra's brainwashed her? I couldn't blame her... that's just what he does. And if he didn't think it was bad enough, he made me stand there and observe the execution to teach me a lesson to never betray him. I had to watch as he held her in front of me, this brainwashed version of Vanessa... and slowly cut her head off her body. Watching the blood fall from her neck. Her screams... her head separating from her neck... It's horrible. Then he...." Tears came back down her eyes and her voice was clouded and unclear by her emotions. "He made me hang her head in my room for a week as a constant reminder... not to cheat on him again... It's why I hate him so much. It's an awful feeling that I did this to her. If I just... didn't tell her that I loved her.... Oh, god, I think.... I'm sorry, Karin." Without even giving a warning, Thalia stood up from her place, covering her mouth in a manner of disgust, and dashed for the bathroom. Locking the door behind her, she knelt down in front of the toilet, lifted the seat, and let her head hang down over it to vomit. The thoughts were that sickening to her. Not of death, which is what she focused on with Frank. But the thoughts of her beloved's death, about what Ra's did to her physically and mentally, and how he punished her in the end. Top that off with the fact Karin would either treat her differently or boot her from the house, and it became too much for her to handle. She spent the next minute crying and throwing up in the bathroom. She needed her privacy for the moment.


God, damn it, T. She probably hates you now. Thinks you're some perv, or all you wanted was to have sex with her. Come on. Don't tell me it didn't come up once. It did, the moment she talked about 'sharing' Frank or James. But that was it. Anything else she felt was purely platonic. This is on you. Now you're back on the streets once you get out of this bathroom. Have fun.


At the worst of times, too. The doorbell rang. And following was the voice of Tony. "Ladies? It's us. We need to talk. Now."


No way Thalia was going to be of any help the way she was now. What could they do?
 
The story didn't do anything other than make Karin feel sorry for her. She was forced to endure something that no one should ever go through - having someone you love ripped away from you and being made to hate you was painful enough in itself. That alone was enough to make some people just give up. Then there was everything else - being forced to watch her murder, having her head strung up in her room like some sort of fucked up decoration. That was what did it for Karin, and she was speechless from that point on. She didn't really know what to say, but that was only because she didn't know if anything she could say would make this situation any lighter, or make Thalia feel any better. At that moment in time Karin regretted even asking about it. I suppose there was a slight feeling of guilt running through her head, too, but she tried not to think about that. 


Now her friend seemed to think that she was going to have a swayed opinion of her - Honestly, the thought of Thalia possibly falling in love with her didn't even cross her mind. It was the last thing she was thinking about, but, she could most certainly understand why Thalia would have thought that the whole story and confession of bisexuality would have made her uncomfortable. Did Thalia still not know that Karin was more or less rock-solid? There wasn't much out there that bothered her, honestly. This was one of those things that got added to the list of 'not really bothering at all'. The only part of the whole story that bothered Karin was what Thalia and this Vanessa went through. It was horrific on both ends of the table. Karin didn't think there was really anything she could say that'd make any of this better, but, she had to at least try, didn't she?


"Oh my god, Thalia..." She whispered, "I'm so sorry. That sounds awful, I'm... You didn't deserve to go through something like that. No one did." She said, but, before she could say anything else, Thalia had sprung to her feet and ran off to the bathroom. Oh dear. 


Karin wasn't surprised, really. Recalling what she went through would make anyone sick to their stomach.


She was about to get up and go and knock on the bathroom door after a minute or two, but the doorbell rang, and Tony's voice signified that the detectives had returned and wanted to talk yet again. Hardly the most convenient of times, guys, Karin thought. Still, she couldn't let them stand out there - That wasn't safe in many respects. She didn't really want too many people knowing that they were here, just to be safe. She quickly went to the door and opened it up, motioning an arm towards the interior of the house to signal them to come inside.


"Come in, come in." She said. "Sit down, make yourself at home." She smiled, "Yeah, Thalia needs a moment before she can join us. She's not... Feeling all that great." She said. "So if you just take a seat and excuse me for a few minutes, I'll talk to her and hopefully move all this along." She said, "Wait right here." She nodded to them both and quickly made her way down the hallway, but first, she went to Joseph's room, knocked on the door, and entered. Joseph was already awake, if not a little sleepy, so he was already rolled over and facing the door when she entered.


"Hey, sweetheart, how are you feeling?"


"I'm... Okay, I guess. Sick, though."


"I thought so." She said, "You're quite pale... I was wondering if you could do me a favor, Joseph." She said, "But if you're not feeling well, don't worry. There's no rush."


"No, I can..." He shuffled out of bed and rose to his feet, then picked his bathrobe up off the floor and slipped that on. "What's up?"


"The detectives are here, and I need to talk to Thalia for a minute. Can you go and make them a cup of coffee for me?"


"Sure."


"Get yourself some water, too." She pulled him into a small hug and kissed the top of his head. "Hope you feel better soon. James might be coming over a bit later, so, after you've done what I've asked get back to bed and try and nap for a couple of hours, alright?"


"Uh-huh, sure." He nodded against her chest, then pulled away. They both walked down the hallway, but Karin stopped at the bathroom while Joseph continued onto the kitchen. He started to make two cups of coffee, quite simply. With coffee, Joseph had found that unless you completely nuked the cup with sugar, you could hardly taste the sugar. He didn't know how the two of them liked it, but he did say hi to them both, and he did ask how they liked their coffee - so that was that. Once he had the orders up, the coffee started flying. While he was doing that, Karin was stopped at the bathroom door, and after a couple of knocks, she spoke out to Thalia. She wasn't going to try and barge in there - she just wanted to offer a few words of comfort to a saddened friend.


"Thalia." She said, "Look, I'll leave you alone for a few more minutes if you think you need it, but, I just wanted to tell you... I don't think any differently of you. What you told me doesn't change anything - between us, I mean." She said. "I don't think you're a creep, and the thought of you wanting to... sleep with me, never actually crossed my mind. You never gave me that impression, so honestly, don't beat yourself up about it." She said. "I don't think you're a slut, either, I don't think you're anything like that at all. You're my friend, Thalia, and remember, friends don't turn their backs on each other. Especially not ones like us." She said, "Just remember, okay, I've got your back. I'm not going to turn on you for telling me the truth - It was a brave thing you did there, sharing that story, and I'm sorry you had to go through something like that. I really admire your strength." She said, quietly.


Second call of business, though:


"Hey, you know, as those guys are here, they must have something important to talk about. Like I said, I'll give you a few more minutes alone if you need it, alright?"


Back in the living room, Joseph put the cups of coffee down in front of the two and gave them both a weak smile.


"I'd hang around and chat and stuff if I could, but, I'm not feeling all that well, so, I'm gonna' go back to bed." He said. "See you guys some other time, I guess." He nodded, and with that, quickly wandered back to his bedroom. Getting back into bed had never felt better, honestly. He just wanted to sleep, which was fair enough. Despite the fact he wasn't feeling well, Frank was kind of glad he wasn't going to be hanging around. They were going to be talking about some deep shit, hopefully soon, and all of that was the last thing a ten-year-old needed to have ears on. If he heard the stories of what had gone on, he wouldn't sleep for weeks. Yeah, Frank figured that him being off the scene was the best bet. Now, they just had to sit and wait for Thalia and Karin to return. What was going on?


In the meantime, he sipped his coffee. Yeah, much better than the station's one, as usual. The taste of decent coffee helped removed the foul taste of the situation that had occurred not too long ago, but the memory stayed. Now he was going to have a phantom taste every time he saw gore, he was certain. Every time he saw gore, he was going to be able to taste - and smell - nothing but that shit-tasting brew from the canteen. Jesus Christ. Not the best of things to remember - he was definitely going to have to go off-site for his morning coffee from now on.


I guess the suicide was good for one thing - getting rid of bad coffee once and for all.


But that was just insensitive, so Frank wasn't going to voice that.
 
The vomiting eased over. It wasn't pleasant for a great breakfast to make a second appearance--especially after reenvisioning one of the most sickening moments of her life--but the alone time letting her tears fall over the toilet seat was soothing in its own right for Thalia. A reminder of the past, how miserable she was when Vanessa was killed. She could still remember waking up to the dismembered head hanging on her dresser that Ra's wouldn't let her get rid of. To the kingpin, it was a reminder of her mistake. And that image of the head just sitting there still haunted her and made her want to puke when it came to mind. She couldn't hold it back this time. Not exactly the best welcome party for someone offering their house. The solace of being alone to wallow in her sorrows was cut short by Karin's knocks. What does she want, to lie to make me feel better? "Please go away. I need time by myself." Then she spoke... But Thalia knew Karin too well by now that she was always upfront, not one to lie about a thing. If she said she wasn't bothered by her confession, Thalia had half a mind to take her word for it. Karin was different from the rest. The mere fact that she invited a criminal to live in her house, be near her precious brother, was a sign enough that she wouldn't just toss her to the curb on an assumption. Could she stay? She didn't know. But Karin's words had weight, sincerity. Enough for Thalia to believe her for the moment. But the second she suspected any sort of changed behavior, she'd pack her things up and leave overnight. It wouldn't even matter if she continued to go after Ra's. She'd run away from it all and find another place to live.


Frank and Tony came back? It seems like they were making this place a frequent visiting sight. More like a meeting place for their off-the-books operation. Now was definitely not the time, not the way she felt or looked. But Karin was of little to no help when it came to Al-Asheera. They wouldn't ask her friend the questions. They wanted to ask HER. She stood up from the can, flushed the toilet, and took a look at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were red and her mouth was dripping some of the excess vomit lingering around. She opened the sink beneath her, placed her hands under the running water, leaned in, and tossed it over herself to wash her face. Try to look somewhat presentable. Was being presentable ever a big deal for Thalia? Not really. Now, more than ever. Now that she felt more convinced that people saw her as attractive. Only naturally, she assumed. Once her face was relatively clean, she reached over for a towel rack to her right, ripping the cloth from the loop and throwing it over her face. Once the towel came off, she looked back to the mirror. It wasn't exactly physical appearances that disgusted her. It's the thoughts in her head that did. Even though she was clean, with the exception of her swollen eyes, she couldn't get over what was scaring her on the inside, the dark place she spoke of when she and Karin met outside the diner. Leaving the privacy of the bathroom felt more like an obligation than a will. Putting the towel back where she ripped it from, Thalia took a deep breath, unlocked the door, and exited, her hands over her stomach, which still stung from having just thrown up moments ago. Karin was waiting outside.


"I'm sorry..." Thalia shook her head, trying not to cry again. "I never thought of you that way. I would never unless I knew it was okay." What was there left to say? By trying to cover up for someone else's assumptions, she went by her own, which were way off. "I don't like talking about that story. The details about it... I don't wish that on anyone. But... you're right. I'm your friend. And you're my friend. I don't want that to change, not because of something stupid like this. I should've have assumed that you'd kick me out or something, and I apologize. I've just... creeped others out when I told them I was into girls. I'm just weird like that. But if you can look past that and know I'm not trying to do anything like that with you? I mean... you've looked past so much about me. More than you should, and you should know that it means a lot." Hesitantly, Thalia's hands moved from her stomach and around Karin, hugging her. "Thank you," she muffled from under her friend's shoulder. Finally, someone she could feel comfort with again. Sharing the story was not only a relief, but a big step in Karin and Thalia's friendship, knowing one of the darkest parts of her life. One that still hurt to this day. A part of her life that Karin accepted.


But there was still the detectives inside, patiently waiting for their little chat. Tony, after taking a sip of the much-better coffee than the station's, looked over to his partner in a questioning manner. "Frank, I think one of us should go check on them. And seeing how Thalia doesn't exactly.... like me, I think it should be you." He didn't need one or the other trying to attack each other. So Frank was certainly the better candidate.


Melissa. The thought of her was still bothering Tony. Would this mystery girl they've rounded up be of any help? How to get her back, how to anticipate Ra's' next move for The Ten?
 
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Karin was being fully sincere in what she said, and ultimately, she was glad that her friend realized that. Thalia would soon come to realize that she wasn't going to be treated any differently while she was staying there, not even after the little drama they'd just dealt with. Karin was kind-hearted, and had been for a long time. She didn't want to outline Thalia. She did come to the realization that it would have been good to just leave Thalia alone for a while and let her deal with it, but at the same time, she didn't want her to get the wrong impression of what she thought, and at the moment, they needed Thalia for whatever urgency the detectives had.


Back to the point, though, her kindness sourced from raising Joseph more than anything. As much as she wanted him to find his place in the world, having him be kind and respectful to other people was a big priority of hers. She wanted him to be a good person, that was what mattered. She wanted to do her best to make him into a good young man as he grew up. Once again, not easy as a single female parent, but she was doing her best, and she knew he'd learn by watching her implement her own teachings in her own actions. It was the best way.


"Don't worry about it." She said to her as she hugged her, "I get why you'd think I'd think badly of it all, but I don't." She said, "It took a lot for you to share that with me. I respect that. I'm not going to hold it against you - this can be between me and you, alright? No hard feelings." She said. What else was there that she could say? There was only so much in comfort that she could do, but she hoped what she said would be enough. 


The peace wasn't going to last long, though, because Frank nodded to what Tony said and immediately got up to go and check on the girls as he asked. He wasn't overly concerned, but he did think how Thalia was having a 'moment' was rather out of character. He got up from his seat after another gulp of coffee and wandered down the hall to find the two of them hugging it out. Some kind of drama going on?


He felt like he was intruding, but, he knew there was a pressing matter at hand that needed to be dealt with. For now, things seemed okay, but with every minute they wasted, they risked Melissa going through even more agony. Frank didn't know if they were actually going to hurt her or just use that as a form of pressure, but he didn't want to take the chance.


"Hey, ladies." He said, simply. "Everything okay here? We were just a little concerned, so I came to check up on you both. We all good here?" He asked.
 
Upon hearing Frank's voice, Thalia instantly parted ways with Karin to face him. All was forgiven, and the two could move past it. At least she hoped without the awkwardness. She'd hate to lose Karin after all they've been through. Seeing Frank again caught her a bit off guard, unsure of how to act around him after their last encounter. Boy, did a lot happen between the two to complicate things. Karin seemed to get a kick out of her crush on Frank. Tony would kill her if he saw them even shaking hands. For now, even if they were in private, Thalia just raised a hand to wave to the detective. "Hey, Frank..." She oddly didn't stutter this time upon introducing herself. A sign of built confidence despite how she still ached a bit inside? Possibly. "No, everything's okay. I just... had a bit of an upset stomach. But I just went to the bathroom, felt a lot better after." Probably not very believable with her puffy eyes and her face clearly been washed. Any detective could deduce she wasn't okay, but she kept it to herself. Besides, she knew Frank was hurting on the inside as well, so if he was concerned about her the same way, it'd be a two-way street. "Um... how about we talk about whatever we need to discuss inside the living room, yeah?"


Seemingly, Thalia lead the way inside to see the detective she seemed to dislike waiting on the couch. The last person she wanted to see in that moment. Did he hear anything? Is he suspicious? One thing's for sure: Thalia didn't want to be smacked around like a ragdoll by this man, and if he tried, she might just break his hand from how on-edge she was. But Thalia wasn't a hothead; she knew how to keep her cool and remain relaxed in front of an enemy. Enemy... a rather strong word to use for Tony. He was on their side, seemingly, up until it came time to pick between arresting her or letting her walk. That was still up in the air, too. If it came to that moment, the runaway girl would consider continuing her life as a fugitive, just so she could have even a slight chance to live and reconcile with her loved ones. But until then, confrontations and planning were what stood in the way of their plan.


"We have a problem." Tony wasn't going to beat around the bush, his tone as serious as usual. Thalia sat down on the couch across from him to hear him out in a more relaxed position. Better off for her. Standing was a bit uncomfortable after vomiting, too, but she tried her best to suppress her emotions. Not like Tony cared. "When you said Ra's would come after the people we love, I didn't know you meant that fast."


"W-Wait... that fast?" It almost seemed like Thalia was surprised.


"You have no clue?" Her shock was unusual to Tony, too, who saw her as the Al-Asheera know-it-all. "Ra's snatched my girlfriend and now has her held up in whatever nuthouse he's got. We went after that executioner in the LAPD, caught him pretty damn quickly, and... well... shit hit the fan. Badly. Pigman killed himself in front of us both and snitched to Ra's, who said... well..." Tony's voice cracked bit by bit as the sentence progressed from after his first pause. But Thalia could... relate?


What.... fuck. They must've REALLY pissed Ra's off. What hurt even more was that Thalia knew Tony's pain precisely. The pain of him taking the one he cared about the most. Even the same threats, unbeknownst to her. Some people never change after all. "Tony... I'm... so sorry..."


"Sorry?" It came out with a scoff of disbelief. "Your people do this all the time. And all you have to say for yourself is 'I'm sorry'? Why didn't you warn me he'd come after her almost immediately?"


"Because he doesn't do that, not usually," she argued back. "And don't think you're the only sorry ass who got the one they loved taken and killed by Ra's. Some people watched their loved ones die in front of their face!" That came out a bit too personal, but unconsciously so.


"Because you're the one who cuts their heads off."


"Because Ra's killed a friend of mine in Al-Asheera because he was jealous! That's why! We were in love, he found out, and he couldn't stand it! ... What, do you really still think I'm the same kind of evil as him?" Now she was becoming angry at him. She really wasn't in the mood for Tony's attitude as she stood up in his face, him doing the same. But Thalia had had enough of Tony's accusations and how thought she was a devil of sorts. Sure, she was a bad person. But not this bad. "Maybe you should get your head out of your ass and realize for one second that I'm not like him. It may be hard for you to believe, but I've never killed anyone or meant to hurt people. but I've seen more death than any other cop on the force. Deaths of people I cared about. All because of Al-Asheera. And the fact your girlfriend was taken? I know exactly what's going on in your head. You're worried you'll never see him again. Trying to fabricate a one-man-army plan to go running to the duplex and kill everyone to get her back. Well, it doesn't work that way. He's got men armed to the teeth who will happily kill a measly cop like yourself. We have a plan, and we can get her back if you just trust me for one second of your life. Please."


Thalia was careful not to mention the ugly parts of her story or hint at her being bisexual. He shouldn't have gotten a hint.


Only then did Tony come to terms with his relationship with Thalia. How they had more in common than meets the eye. Maybe this is how they should've started. The way she spoke... she lost someone to Al-Asheera. She wants vengeance. Whether it also means taking control of the organization or not is beyond him, and not his concern at the moment. "Thalia... I think we've met some sort of common ground. You've lost someone to these thugs. And I'm sure you don't want to watch someone else lose the one that means the world to them."


Thalia shook her head. "No. No, I can't. I'm not your enemy, Tony, as surprising as that is. My tattoos say one thing. My heart says something else. Please, let's bury the hatchet. Stop judging me for a past I regret and let's start working as a team to give me a better future. To take down a common enemy, and get your girlfriend back." Her tattooed hand reached forward in a handshaking manner to Tony. "Truce?"


Tony gave her inked hand one look, almost in disbelief that he'd be teaming up with an Al-Asheera clanswoman. But another look at her remorseful eyes made him believe her for once. She wanted to help get Melissa back. He placed his own palm in hers and gave it a firm shake. "Truce. Thank you, Thalia."


A truce was the last thing Thalia would've expected from Tony. And vice versa. But it happened. Once they both felt satisfied by the shake, they both sat down at their places on the couch to discuss their plans. Tony took another sip of his coffee, while Thalia lifted her legs crossed with each other in her place, trying to relax the stressed feeling in the pit of her stomach. God, did she feel physically awful. Hopefully Frank didn't notice too much. "What has Ra's told you so far about your girlfriend?"


Placing his cup back on the table, Tony spoke of his phone calls, "He called my cell phone once, warning me to resign from the LAPD for her safe return, or she'd be tortured..." Tortured. Like Vanessa was? Hopefully not. "...then we found your LAPD rat, held him up in the bathroom. We tried to, well, coerce him to help us, faking a testimony that I resigned, but to no avail. He..."


"...Wasted himself on Ra's' orders. That's protocol if anyone in The Ten is compromised. He spoke in Arabic, grabbed a gun, and swallowed a bullet, right? And I'm guessing he didn't help you at all?"


"He did the exact opposite. He ratted us out, and Ra's is threatening to start cutting fingers off...." Yet another painful thought that Tony was trying his hardest not to react about. "Do you know if he's bluffing?"


Shit... Is he? "I... I'm sorry, Tony. I really don't know. What he did to you is no different than any other cop he's pulled off of his case. The difference is, those cops backed down and got their loved ones back unscathed. No one's ever.... provoked Ra's. I don't know if he's trying to scare you or he's actually going to do it. I'm really sorry, but that's all I know of, I swear."


A sigh of disappointment came from Tony, his head crashing into his palm thinking things over. "So we have nothing."


She couldn't tell him that. Tony needed hope. While Thalia wasn't exactly the best counselor, she could try her best. And in doing so... an absurd plan came to mind. "You have me. And I have a new plan: to go back there and find out where exactly she is for you." Are you crazy?! Ra's will kill you!


"No. Absolutely not. You told us you're at risk if you go back."


"I said I THINK I'm at risk. I don't know for certain until I actually try."


"And risk getting shot instantly?" He lifted his head, appalled by her incredibly stupid plan.


"I am willing to take the risk, Tony. I'm just going to go in, show my face to a few guys, and try to find your girlfriend. I won't confront Ra's. And I know my way around. I also need to grab a few personal belongings from the place, so Ra's doesn't find them someday."


"Ugh... you really are stubborn, aren't you, Thalia....." Unbelievable, she'd risk it all, just for Mel? She said she lost someone to Al-Asheera's rulings before. This must have a personal meaning to her. A loved one that was killed, but Thalia refused to tell him the whole story. Her entering the belly of the beast would be beneficial, but extremely risky. "In that case, we're voting. Karin, Frank, what do you two think of her little suicide mission? Please tell me you think the same way as me and think it's absolutely nuts."


As far as Thalia's concerned, Karin would never agree to that. Frank? A different story.
 
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