March 10th, 2005.

Since me and Myra are dating now, we can't be partners anymore. It sucks, but that's just the way things go. Today's the day I'm supposed to meet my new partner. I just hope they are just as good as Myra was, if not better, and someone I can stand…

Sebastian sighed softly at feeling his wife straighten out his tie yet again. Honestly, how many times had Myra come over and fixed something about his appearance? "Myra, stop worrying." He looked at her while Myra glared faintly at him.

"It is not about worry. It is about making a good first impression." Myra relaxed her gaze and smiled. "I wouldn't want your new partner to think you are an utter slob."

He rolled his eyes at that. It wasn't that he wanted to start off on a bad foot with this new partner he would be meeting. But, this person would not be Myra. No one would ever be his fiery spitfire of a girlfriend. They had worked well together, but protocol would not allow them to be partners and dating at the same time. At least losing her as a partner was so worth gaining her as his lover.

"Trust me, Myra. If I have as good of luck with this new partner as I did with you-" He laughed at feeling her slapping his upper arm lightly.

"And then me and you would have to discuss why neither of us would be good at polyamory." Sebastian laughed louder and kissed her forehead.

"True. We're both bad about sharing." He felt Myra kiss his cheek before taking a step away from him. He watched the way she looked him up and down. Not in the way that she wanted to strip him of his clothes unfortunately. More so making sure wrinkles did not show themselves and his appearance looked impeccable. Too bad he couldn't get her cold eyes to look heated right now.

"And you look good enough now." Myra smiled at him while gripping her purse. "Good luck, Mr. Castellanos." Her smile turned into a faint smirk. "Or maybe I should wish that good luck on your new partner?"

Sebastian smirked at her and winked. "You know best dear who needs the good luck." He told her before grabbing his bag and left their apartment alongside her.

Oh, the convenience of them both working at the same place.

He walked to his desk after having put his bag in his locker. Just before he sat down, he glanced over to see a desk that looked quite different from the others. He raised an eyebrow at the computer that looked to be from the 2000's rather than the 1990's and even a small laptop next to it. Now that hadn't been there the last time he worked. As he observed the desk, he happened to notice a Japanese lantern along with a glass hanger with multiple glasses of an older fashion resting on it.

Curiosity got the better of him as he walked over to the desk. He leaned over to examine the glasses, seeing the large lenses and frames to accommodate the lenses. Whoever wore these either had terrible vision or didn't care to have their eyes looking all bug-eyed. Who was this person though? Had to be someone new since no one else around here had this kind of equipment or aesthetic.

"Is there a problem?" An unfamiliar voice spoke behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see a man with black hair and some of the hair sweeping of the right side of his forehead. Glasses rested on the bridge of his nose that were also on the big side.

"No. Just not every day I come to work and see someone actually belonging to the modern era." He pointed at the computers. "Yet also doesn't at the same time." His finger now aimed at the two pairs of glasses. "I would almost say identity crisis if it wasn't for the fact this place probably does need a computer upgrade." As much as he had gotten used to his computer, he knew it didn't match the speed of the newer computers and laptops.

A faint chuckle escaped the stranger's lips. "I believe we all have our old-fashioned tastes." The man adjusted his glasses to keep them resting in perfect alignment. "But, I do agree about the computers. It feels like I'm back in my teen years being around so many Gateways. How do you all stand that?"

Sebastian found himself chuckling as well. "Maybe you've just come to the wrong place if you believe we all think it's an issue." He waved his hand about, motioning to how all of the computers matched except for the stranger's. "To answer seriously though, guess we're just used to it? Not like Krimson City always knows how to use its funds right." Because otherwise, the place probably would look more modern.

The stranger shrugged before blinking a bit. "Oh, how rude of me."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow and then noticed the man offering his gloved hand to him. Huh. Leather gloves covered both hands even though he wouldn't say it was cold enough for such. He stopped himself from asking as he gripped the hand in a firm grip.

"Joseph Oda." The man introduced himself with a polite smile on his face. Yet, Sebastian swore he saw the man faintly eye twitch. Why, he didn't quite know.

"Sebastian Castellanos. I prefer Sebastian though. Mister Castellanos or Castellanos is too formal." Even though he said that, it didn't stop people from disobeying his preference. "If you must call me by my last name, just leave off the Mister." He added to insure he wouldn't feel like an old man at the age of twenty-nine going on thirty in a few months.

"Alright, Castellanos." Okay. That was one point down for the stranger. He pushed back the irritation though since it knew it silly to get angry. Joseph did at least leave off the Mister.

"So, do you prefer Joseph or Oda?" Sebastian figured he should ask as he noticed Joseph had already let go of his hand. Had they even shaken their hands? He hadn't been too focused on that.

"Oda for now or Mr. Oda" Joseph quickly answered. Sebastian thought the man must have been used to people asking him that.

"Alright. Oda. Guess you are-"

"Detective Castellanos!" Sebastian stopped himself mid-statement to look over to see the police chief coming his way. Normally, he would assume he had done something wrong. Considering he was supposed to get a new partner today though, he decided to hope the encounter would be a good one.

"I see you already met your new partner. That's good. I don't have to do a formal introduction then." The police of chief smiled at them both in a friendly manner like he wasn't paying attention to Sebastian's widened eyes.

So, his partner was going to be Joseph? Sebastian turned his head to focus his gaze on Joseph again. "Well, I wouldn't mind knowing if I'm partnering up with a newbie or not." He mentioned to see if either of them would elaborate on if Sebastian was going to have to experience what Myra had went through dealing with him.

"No, I transferred here from another department. I've been a detective for about a year now." Joseph answered which caused Sebastian to tilt his head a bit. He couldn't help but notice it was about the same amount of time as himself.

"Yes, he moved here from another city just recently. It seems you both have raising through the ranks quickly in common since he too rose fast in his previous police department. Figured pairing two talented detectives would be a good idea." The police chief patted them both on the shoulder. "I wish you both the best."

Sebastian narrowed his eyes slightly at seeing the police chief whisper in Joseph's ear afterwards. Probably something bad about him that would sour Joseph's opinion of him. Swear the man had it out for him after the one time he happened to beat up a suspected a child molester to the point of a bloody nose and a broken arm. Something about the reputation of the police department and so on so forth that he hadn't cared to listen to.

The police chief moved away and he saw Joseph looking back at him. He could almost cut the silence with a knife before Joseph coughed a bit. "So…he tells me you have quite the trigger-happy pair of fists, huh?" Sebastian totally called the police chief saying something bad about him.

"Hey, the guy deserved it for doing what he did." Sebastian still couldn't bring himself to feel guilty about giving the man a taste of his own medicine by inflicting pain on him.

"Yes well, I don't exactly appreciate bad cops." Joseph crossed his arms across his chest. "Even though I do get that sometimes it might be hard to resist for people with low self-control."

Sebastian narrowed his eyes briefly and slightly. Was his new partner trying to act better than him? That rubbed him the wrong way.

"So, try to behave yourself?" Joseph asked in a tone that wasn't necessarily condescending as Sebastian had expected. More like a tired plea from someone that hadn't the energy to deal with such.

He shrugged softly before smirking faintly. "I'll try if you give me incentive."

Joseph raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"You heard me. I would want incentive. As in…make it worth my while to behave." Sebastian smirked more and walked the few feet that separated them to make them quite physically close without touching. "Because let's just say I don't like the idea of people getting away with things just because the law says they can."

The two stared at each other for a minute or two before Joseph huffed loudly. "It's called following protocol, Castellanos. And trust me, I don't like suspects getting away either. But, there's a reason we have the law. We as part of the police must be the best role models at following said law to truly have the right to enforce it." Joseph explained with a frown on his face. "If you go along with playing the good cop, I'll show you we can put the bad guys away without force."

Sebastian furrowed his eyebrows and took a few steps back from Joseph. He noticed the way Joseph relaxed and no longer held a frown on his face. He could only assume the guy really didn't like the personal space invasion.

"Fine. And if we so much as fail once? We'll be doing things my way." He said firmly. "Now if we've gotten that settled, why don't I introduce you to some of the people around here? Help you know who to go to and all of that."

Joseph shrugged while nodding. "Sounds like a good idea. Lead the way."

Sebastian nodded and then started to walk ahead, hearing Joseph follow behind him.

Hopefully, this new partner would last longer than a day.