Chapter 1 – Axel
"Aqua Lowe: perfect test scores at the Academy, the youngest woman to make Detective in the history of Radiant Garden Police Department, and no less than half a dozen commendations each year you've been on the force."
Captain Eraqus lifts his gaze from her file to look her in the eye. It's a stormy gaze, flickers of anger hidden behind the grey, and Aqua tries not to sigh too loudly when she realises what is inevitably coming next.
"Your file is exemplary," he says, setting it down on the desk. Her ID picture grins up at her with a cascade of blue hair long enough to reach her waist. She'd forgotten how long it used to be. "Which is why I'm so disappointed in you."
She grimaces and lets her shoulders slump.
"Sir, if I may…"
"You may not."
"But Sir…"
"No, Lowe," he says firmly. "You deliberately omitted information from your report on the Facilier case. What we thought was the work of the suspect trying to destroy the crime scene turns out to have been one of our own detectives so bored on the job, he decided to play with fire. Literally."
"Von Brandt's file does mention he has a history of childhood pyromania and…"
And whatever else she had been about to say catches in her throat like a winter coat on brambles when she spots the look Eraqus is giving her. Disappointment mixed with anger and surprise and the slightest hint of regret.
"I am well aware of Von Brandt's medical history. His trouble with impulse control is one of the reasons we put the two of you together in the first place."
She nods as he confirms what she has always suspected. Axel is unconventional as far as police officers go, but he's grown to become one of the best partners she's been lucky to have. She tempers his rough language and behaviour and the jagged contours of his personality balance out the gentleness of her own. An odd pairing, sure, but it works, somehow.
The Captain pauses to deliberate her punishment and she watches him warily, wringing her fingers behind her back. There's a picture on the shelves behind him of his younger self, sergeant stripes newly earned and proudly displayed, grinning with an equally happy boy whose blue eyes are cast in shadow by a large peaked cap. It's the only photo he has in his office and he looks so far removed from the man stood before her that Aqua can almost taste the guilt on her tongue. How many of the lines that now mar his forehead are down to her?
Eraqus draws in his breath as he pinches the bridge his nose and then sharply exhales.
"I don't want to have to do this Lowe, I really don't, but I'm left with very little choice." He fixes his gaze to hers, eyes steely, before continuing. "As punishment, you and Von Brandt will spend the next fortnight working the night shift, though you will remain on your current rate of pay. When the two weeks have elapsed, I shall review your performance and we will discuss your next assignments and schedule. Do I make myself clear?"
Her response is immediate and trembling. "Perfectly, sir."
She bows her head and waits to be dismissed but it doesn't come. Instead, he sweeps past his desk to place a hand on her shoulder and her eyes flick up to see the corners of his mouth quirk slightly with something that looks dangerously close to fondness.
"Aqua," he starts, and she jerks upright at the sound of her first name. His voice is softer now, more that of a concerned parent than a boss. "Don't berate yourself too much. See this instead as a learning opportunity, a time for self-reflection. You're one of the best officers I've had the privilege of supervising and please forgive me for saying so, but it is rather comforting to know that you are actually capable of making mistakes just like everyone else."
She can't help but smile at that. Outside of performance reviews, it's probably the most honest thing he's ever said to her.
"Now, please go and put your partner out of his misery and inform him of my decision. I do believe he's been trying to lip-read our entire conversation.
She follows his gaze to the window and spots Axel loitering by the water cooler directly opposite the Captain's office. He's doing his best to be inconspicuous but he's long and lanky and has a mane of hair the colour of a raging bushfire, placing him firmly at the bottom of the list for undercover operations.
"Will do, sir," she says and is dismissed.
Axel looks up instantly when she shuts the door and tries to catch her eye as she heads for her desk. He takes his time to reach her, ambling over while she scrambles around for her bag.
"Well, don't you look horribly solemn?"
The greeting is typical Axel, nonchalant but still inquisitive. It's what makes him so excellent in the questioning room, a man who switches easily from good cop to bad cop within the space of a heartbeat.
"Couldn't possibly imagine why," she says and the hint of bite in her words causes Axel to sigh and scratch the back of his neck.
"Look, I can tell from your expression that you're pretty mad at me, and probably yourself as well, so consider this a pre-emptive apology."
He reaches into his pocket and pulls something out that she unable to properly identify until it's safe in her own two hands; a lollipop stick with the word WINNER etched into the wood.
She cocks an eyebrow. "How many ice creams did you have to eat to get this?"
"Almost a dozen. But I seem to be getting better at it. There was no puking up afterwards this time," he says with a stupidly proud grin that is as Axel as his initial greeting had been.
Aqua finds her own face breaking to match his and clutches the stick tightly to her chest. "I'll treasure it forever."
"Don't overdo it, Lowe," he snorts before glancing at the clock by the entrance to the bullpen. "You ready to go get lunch?"
"Sure."
Ten minutes later they manage to snag a table at Tony's, which Aqua's pretty sure owes its continued existence to the fact that it serves the strongest coffee within the city walls and is thus a godsend to the overworked and sleep deprived. At least half its clientele are dressed in suits that reek of red tape and bureaucracy.
She brushes a figure down the menu and settles on the spaghetti, a dish they're famous for, while Axel goes for pizza.
"You're paying by the way," she informs him and he acquiesces with a frown instead of an argument.
"Figured as much." His elbows land on the table and he laces his fingers together, chin balancing coquettishly on top with his head angled just enough to make him look the right side of curious. "So, you gonna tell me how screwed we are or should I just continue to catastrophize internally?"
"What've you got so far?"
"Honestly, knowing how uptight the Captain is, anything's possible. Worst I've got is that he dismisses my application to transfer over to the Arson Desk."
She recoils in mock horror. "You mean… you want to leave me?" she gasps and watches in delight as he struggles not to laugh at her pitiful attempt at the dramatic. He reached over to clasp one of his hands with hers.
"Aqua, you know I think you're one of the most fantastic, beautiful, and badass women to grace this world and that I would never leave you unless I had to. But fire has always been my first love and always will be and you have to admit, I would make a pretty awesome arson investigator."
He would. The number of things Axel knows about fire and its applications borders alarmingly close to obsessive. The Arson Desk would be lucky to have him.
"You think I'm beautiful?"
"For a woman, yeah," he says and she shakes off his hand with a laugh because of course Axel would take a compliment and find some way to add a dash of insult.
"Well, you have my sincerest apologies for not being a man."
"Nah. You're worth at least ten men. Plus if you were a man, they'd be all this distracting sexual tension between us and Roxas would probably kill me six ways to Sunday for even looking at you."
"Thank goodness you're gay then."
"Yup! Now, as fun as the amateur dramatics has been, can we please turn this conversation back round to the question at large," he says, drawing a languid circle in the air with his right hand before pointing it at her. "What's our punishment?"
She sighs and sips her drink before answering. "Two weeks on the night shift."
"Shit!"
"I know! I only just managed to get tickets to see the Seven Sisters play next Friday night and now I'm going to miss them. Do you have any idea how often they play outside of Atlantica?"
Axel leans back in his chair and raises a fine eyebrow. "Aqua, you've known me what, three years now? It's cute you actually believe I give a crap about opera."
She gives him a pointed stare. "Your boyfriend is a music major. And you wouldn't be so blasé about this if you'd heard the soprano on Ariel. Her voice is so beautiful it makes you want to steal it."
"Okay. First of all," he says, holding up a pale finger that looks better suited for playing the piano than lighting fires, "Roxas is studying music production, with an emphasis on pop and R&B. Secondly," and another finger comes to join the first, "I concede. If you're advocating stealing then she must be fucking amazing."
"The best," she groans. "And I'm not going to get to see them. Plus, I'll have to find someone to sell my ticket to or else I'll have wasted 70 munny on nothing."
Silence lingers at their table for longer than she expects as Axel stops to mull something over in his mind. Her eyes wander over to the large picture on the wall opposite, a portrait of two dogs eating spaghetti by candlelight, a cocker spaniel and a mutt, and despite the number of times they've eaten here, she still doesn't know the story behind it. She almost asks the waiter when he brings their food but then she spots his obsequious smile and weary eyes and decides against it. She simply thanks him and begins to tuck in, Axel still silent and making no move to cut up his pizza.
"Are you not hungry anymore?" she asks and nods towards his food.
"What?" He blinks several times, a look usually reserved for the just woken on his face, and glances down at the plate in front of him. "Oh, yeah."
He makes a start, slicing his pizza with such vigour she's surprised it doesn't go flying straight off the plate. Spaghetti has never been easy for her to eat so she lowers her head in a desperate attempt to keep her shirt sauce free, napkin tucked firmly under her chin. It's good stuff, tasty, though she's not sure it deserves its widespread reputation as the best pasta in all of Radiant Garden.
They sit in relative quiet for the next few minutes as they eat, the silence companionable this time. She's nearly finished when she hears Axel set his knife and fork down with a loud huff and then he does something that's almost unheard of. He apologises.
"Sorry."
Aqua coughs. "Pardon?"
"I'm sorry," he repeats, looking almost distraught as he says it. "This is all my fault and you don't deserve to be punished for something I did just because you're my partner. It's not right."
"Axel, you don't need to apolo-"
"Oh, but I do," he interrupts. "You did what, miss one word out of your report and now you're stuck working nights for the next two weeks? That's a pretty shitty decision if you ask me, and I'm the one responsible for landing you in this mess. So please, accept my apology."
He looks at her so sincerely she can't help roll her eyes. "Fine," she says, dragging out the word with a shake of her head. "Apology accepted.
"Good," he grins. "And don't worry about the concert. I'll have a word with the Captain and see if he'll let you off for that night. And if not, then I think I know a guy who'll be more than happy to buy your ticket."
"Really?"
"Really really. Now hurry up and eat. Our break finishes in like ten minutes and I want dessert."
She laughs and then looks at him, really looks at him, and feels her gaze soften as she conveys her gratitude. "Thanks, Axel."
He nods, but averts his eyes and reaches for the back of his neck. "Yeah, well, what are partners for, right?"
"Getting you stuck on the night shift, apparently."
"You're never gonna let me live this down are you?"
"Nope!"
"Great," he says but he's smiling.
When they eventually return to the police station, stomachs full and Axel's wallet empty, they're four minutes late but Eraqus declares that he's had enough of disciplining for the day and decides that for once, just this once, he'll let it slide.
A/N - I totally did not come up with this after binge watching 10 episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine on Netflix. Not at all. Don't know what you're talking about.
Regarding their surnames, Von Brandt comes from German and means, "from the area cleared by fire". And since Axel is a pretty popular German name, I left him as Axel rather than Lea.
Lowe is me trying to make a mild language based pun, as it's effectively a homophone of the French, 'l'eau,' meaning, 'the water.'
