A/N: Welcome to Precinct XIII! This bunny has been floating in my head for about a month now. Don't expect any quick updates... I've got a bunch of other stories to work on, too, but I'll do the best I can with the time I've got.
Why do I do this to myself?! T.T
So. This is obviously an AU. This time it's modern. I think it was inspired by watching far too much Law and Order, Bones, and CSI and stuff like that. It'll be a murder mystery, eventually.
Enjoy!
1. The Rookie
The guy at the ice cream stand knew them by now.
"Two sea-salts, coming right up," he said the instant they reached the front of the line.
"On me," Riku said, and paid for both in spite of Sora's protests. "Hey, I said it's my treat, in honor of your joining the force and all."
"The police force?" the ice cream guy said. He was dark-haired, with a big nose. "In this town? A squirt like Sora? You're kidding."
"Nope," Sora said proudly, flipping open his wallet to show the guy his brand new badge.
"You joined up yet, Riku?" the guy asked, shuffling through the cash register.
"No," Riku answered. He looked resigned. "Still working at the Belle."
The ice cream guy's next words seemed to be just what Riku expected.
"I'm surprised, considering your family history. Well, not bad to break away. You have a nice day, now. Enjoy."
"Hey, Riku," Sora said thoughtfully as they walked away with their ice creams. It was one of the rare sunny days, and light sparkled on the river. Tourists were enjoying it. "Why don't you enter the force? I mean, well, I don't mean to compare you guys or anything, but your dad and your brother both…"
"Yeah," said Riku. "I know. But one officer in the house is enough. Plus Fridays, you know."
"But wouldn't your dad have wanted…"
"I don't know what my dad would have wanted," Riku said, cutting him off. Sora blinked, dismayed.
"Sorry."
"'s not your fault."
Their bench was empty. The friends took it right away—on sunny days, tourists made up half the crowd and wouldn't hesitate to take this spot, with its spectacular view of the Falls.
"Aren't your cousins from Midgar in law enforcement for that company? Shin-Ra, wasn't it?" Sora asked. Riku smiled mysteriously.
"Something like that."
Sora gave up, turning instead to his own woes.
"I'm nervous," he said. Riku stared.
"Oh, come on, Sora!" he scoffed. "You know the guys! You see them at my place, like, every Friday!"
"Not all of them!"
"Yeah, but you know Braig."
"That's about it."
"You've met lots of the others," Riku argued. "Oh, Sora. Look, you've met the captain, haven't you?"
"He's scary!" Sora moaned. "So are some of the others… Ias, and Ranele… she's, like, beyond scary."
"Ranele's a girl. Like Kairi, and Naminé."
"Yeah, right. She's nothing like them."
"Ias is nice," Riku assured him. "So is Ansem. Seriously, Sora. Just stick with Xeha. He'll introduce you to everyone."
"He took the left hallway."
"I could have sworn it was right."
"It was left. Didn't you learn anything in kindergarten?"
"Shut up. Left it is. Let's go."
The first group ran into the second coming down the next hallway.
"He went in the warehouse door."
"One, Seven, Nine, in. Three, come with me."
"Where's Thirteen?"
"Around back, covering the exit. We'll get him for sure. Come on."
They split into two again, the group of three sliding in through the next door and the other two backtracking. The man was inside, just as they'd expected. The moment he saw them he made a run for it. He tried to open the warehouse door and failed… it was locked.
"That you, Thirteen?"
"Yeah! Got it!"
"Nine, cuff him."
"I'm on it."
"Hold it, hold—"
At the first flash of light on metal, the guns were out, but too late.
"Drop the guns or he gets it!"
"Keep them on him."
"I said, put them down!"
The weapon's aim was transferred instead to one of the others, but the captive was still close enough to danger.
"Bang."
The call came from the catwalks above.
"Gotcha. Game over, boys."
The "suspect" sighed and holstered his weapon.
"I lose. Again."
His former captive laughed, giving him a shove.
"Hey, isn't that the point?" he asked.
"You guys should have dropped the guns. I would have had Axel anyway. He could have shot at any time," the sniper called down. "Could have gotten any one of you. Makes a messy crime scene if an officer dies. Ansem would kill me."
"Makes a messy crime scene if the suspect dies," Axel pointed out.
"Yeah, but when guns are involved, it's gonna get messy no matter what," Demyx said. "Just… why is it always me?"
"Because you need to work on keeping your guard up," Saïx said flatly.
"Is someone gonna let me in?" Roxas called. "I can't move this thing all by myself."
"Let the rookie in," Xaldin said. Demyx helpfully pushed the door open.
"Not bad for a first-timer," he said. Roxas grinned ruefully.
"Yeah. Maybe soon I won't be on back-door duty, right?" he asked.
"Give it some time. More practice. That was smart, locking it up," Xemnas answered. "All right. Let's call it a day."
"Can someone else be the villain next time?" Axel asked. "Why is it always me?"
"Because you think like a criminal," Demyx teased. "It's called typecasting."
"I thought you did good, Axel."
"Session's over, Sora, you can drop the codenames."
Sora scratched the back of his head ruefully.
"Right. Sorry."
He tagged along with the others as they made their way out of the old warehouse they'd used for the scenario this time. Braig locked the door behind them, then stretched and yawned.
"Time for some coffee," he said. "I'm beat, and it's not even six."
"You need to get more sleep, man," Ael told him. "You're the last person we need to get an itchy trigger finger. You might actually, you know, hit something. As opposed to Deym, who will miss whether he's jittery or not."
"Wouldn't caffeine make his trigger finger more itchy?" Sora asked.
"Caffeine's all in the mind," Dilan informed him. "I should hope Braig doesn't let something like that distract him."
"Man, so coffee won't actually keep me awake?" Braig groaned. "Well, fuck."
"No thanks."
"Who said I was talking to you?" Braig scoffed. "Maybe I was talking to Xeha."
"I think not, Braig."
Deym chuckled and turned to whisper in Sora's ear. The boy was very red.
"Don't worry, he doesn't mean a word of it," he said. "He's always teasing Xehanort like that, but they're just best friends. They've known each other since they were kids."
"Yeah, I know," Sora answered in an uncertain-sounding squeak. "I go over to Riku's… well, to Xehanort's place on Fridays a lot. Braig's always there, unless he's sick or something."
The group split up as they reached the office. As Sora expected, Braig headed straight for the coffee machine. The brunet followed. He was most comfortable around Braig. The one-eyed man (there were plenty of interesting stories regarding that. Sora had heard at least twenty, but Riku had told him that Braig got his scars from an explosion while on duty) was easier to get close to than Xehanort.
"So, what do you guys talk about?" Sora asked, sampling the coffee. He ended up coughing and spluttering, as Braig smacked his back.
"Careful," the older man warned belatedly. "It was Ael's turn to make it this morning. Spicy. There's always work, natch, or girls, or guys. The gossip. All that jazz."
"You might need to elucidate," Elaeus put in, coming over for a cup. The looming officer had made Sora nervous at first, but he was so courteous and soft-spoken that the rookie had warmed up to him right away. "He hasn't been here long."
"Gossip? What do you have to gossip about?" Sora asked.
"There's always Ansem's love life," Ael snorted, trying some of his own coffee and downing it without a fuss. The others chuckled, but Sora was lost.
"What?"
"The relationships between certain members of the precinct are… interesting to watch and to discuss," Elaeus said.
"Yeah, like our wise and beloved captain's," Braig said with a grin. "Hey, just a little friendly advice to a pal, Sora. Don't walk into Ansem's office during lunch break."
"Why?" Sora asked, still completely lost. Ael's grin was positively wicked.
"'Cause Xeha'll already be in there, and I guarantee they're doing more than paperwork. Trust me. Don't make the same mistake I did. You'll never look at either of them the same way, man."
Sora scratched his head.
"I still don't get it."
"You poor, deprived kid. Don't worry, you'll understand someday."
"Don't corrupt his mind, Ael," Aramuil reprimanded, coming up and seizing two cups. "He's only fifteen. At least wait until he's older."
"Two? Working overtime, Ara?" Braig asked. Ara shook his head with a secret smile.
"No. I'm just heading down to the labs."
"Gonna try and get Vexen to thaw out, huh?" Ael asked. He raised his cup in a toast. "Better you than me. Good luck."
"Why do you call him Vexen if we only use codenames when we're out?" Sora asked.
"Because I think he likes it better," Elaeus said.
"Man, are you kidding? Vexen's never not out," Braig clarified. "Well, not out out like us, but he's always on duty. I swear, he doesn't eat."
"But if anyone can do it, it's Ara," Ael said. "That guy could charm an oyster out of its shell, I swear. Not to mention he's completely mad for him."
"Mad?" Sora asked.
"Forget it," Braig said, as Elaeus wandered off.
"You know, while we're on the subject of codenames and all that, there's something that confuses me," Sora said. "Why is Xehanort Xemnas? Shouldn't Ansem be Xemnas, instead of DiZ?"
"Naw. It adds a little confusion. Same thing with why he's One and I'm Two, but I'm the one who's in charge under Ansem, right?" Braig replied. "I don't know. Just proves that Ansem's crazy. But, you know, a good kind of crazy. Forget it. It's just been that way."
"If I wanted to go down to the lab sometime, am I allowed to?" Sora asked. Braig snorted.
"Feel free. Might wanna bring a barf bag or something. I think Even'd kill you if you messed up the floor."
"Is it really that bad?"
"You seen those shows on T.V.?"
"Yeah."
"It's worse than that. See, on a T.V. you can't smell anything. But when you're actually there… yeah. Go on down if you want. Don't come crying to me after you get nightmares, though."
A/N: Poor Sora is so oblivious. XD
Please review and tell me what you think!