The rain was falling. One raindrop brought along a million others per second, just like every other day this cursed month had brought. What good would come out of it, nobody could say. The police were already on a breaking point during the newest crisis the society has been faced with. But the people were hopeful that they would never have to deal with such a threat, and that they were the ones who could defiantly stand against any danger. The ones that knew, however, would see just how far they had to go for someone they love.
The Origami Killer had claimed his newest victim Shaun Mars. The police had found him near a railroad track with an origami figure in his hand and an orchid on his chest, his face covered with mud. The father, Ethan Mars, was seen having commited suicide just the day after. Nobody could reach the mother of the family, though she is assumed to have shared the father's fate.
Norman Jayden of the FBI had been a large part in the latest case. He had frequent arguing with Police Lieutenant Carter Blake, whom often would disagree with Jayden's theories. Jayden, especially, felt the failure to save Sean as a crushing blow against his morale. In most cases he would have returned to his usual means of escape through Triptocaine, but he worked so hard to fight his addiction in his determination to find the killer that he managed to stay away from it... Jayden decided that he would need some to get over this, however. To give the case a final look-over, he visited the Police station.
"Might as well see how the shithead couple Perry and Blake are celebrating this..." Jayden muttered.
To his surprise, however, Blake wasn't to be seen at his desk, where he usually spends his time during office-work duties. Jayden looked towards Perry's office, assuming he might have gotten Blake in there for himself. However Perry, who's the captain of the station, didn't seem to be around either.
"What the hell's going on?" Jayden said, looking around. He turned to the reception where the woman who usually works there is. Jayden could never remember her name.
"Excuse me, can you tell me where Captain Perry and Lieutenant Blake are?" Jayden promptly asked.
"Captain Perry is currently holding a press meeting, sir. Can I get you an appointment?" The receptionist almost mechanically answered, as always.
"Ah, should have figured..." Jayden said to himself. "No, that's okay. What about Blake?"
"He's in a meeting at the moment. Ah, but he asked me for your contact information, Mr. Jayden. If you would wait for a few minutes, he should be finished soon, and you could perhaps take care of business then?"
"Sure.. Thanks." Jayden hesitantly said and took a seat a few meters away from the receptionist. He didn't expect Blake to be around, but might as well have a final word him before being done with it for good.
After a minute or so of being idle, Jayden pulled out his favorite glasses and glove, those being the ARI; he felt like doing some ball-tossing to pass the time. Besides, his arm gets some exercise out of it too, which is always a bonus.
"Hm, I'm sensing Déjà vu here.." Jayden mused, tossing the ball against the wall. "Let's just hope Blake isn't planning to flip out on me or anything... It was already enough during the case."
As soon as Jayden got lost in his mumblings, a nearby door opened and a person was heard promptly stomping out from the room.
"Fucking hell, what's your damn problem! Not my fault the lunatic commited suicide, he was neurotic anyway! I have criminals to catch, so why don't you go make yourself useful before I lose my patience."
Jayden heard a loud voice he knew all too well yell loud enough for the entire station to hear. Sure enough, it was Blake. Jayden could only wonder which officer he was keelhauling with verbal assaults this time.
"Well, I see you are as cheerful as always." Jayden rose from his chair, pocketing his ARI-glasses. "What's wrong, someone dared to have an opinion in there?"
"Norman? The hell are you doing here?" Blake said, seemingly as if he didn't notice the sarcastic comment. Jayden wondered if it was because he didn't hear what he said, or if he was just immune to it. "Thought you were not gonna show here again."
"Well, I figured I should give the case a final look before I close the book on it, you know? Call it a sense of having it properly finished, I guess.. The kid who died deserves that."
Blake went quiet as he sorted some files, then chuckled briefly. "Yeah, what can ya do about it. Looks as if the family's joined in on it too; the precinct's been giving us hell and back for it. The damn case isn't exactly pretty.."
Jayden simply observed Blake's file sorting capabilities, which were basically in the steps of digging through a drawer, trying to line them up for a minute or two, then muttering "fuck it" and jamming the files in with the other inhabitants there.
"Well, you have my sympathies." Jayden quietly added.
Blake laughed some more. "You sick or something, Norman? Ain't like you to be like that with me. Your profiling head playing tricks on you?" He poured up some coffee to himself, before stopping half-way. "Oh shit, that's right... I need to talk to you about something. But we can't do it here... You got time to follow me somewhere?" Blake decided to chug all the coffee he poured up, since he realized he won't have time for it later, anyway.
"Uh... Sure." Jayden uttered hesitantly. Anywhere privately with Blake isn't what he's used to, outside of chasing criminals. "Any place in mind?"
"Well, meeting ran long, so I haven't had anything to eat yet. Mind tagging along for some Chinese take-out?" Blake was putting on his coat and was reaching for his cell-phone.
"I don't mind. I'm on a break from things for a while, so I've got time. Haven't eaten yet, either." Jayden replied, waiting by the door.
"Gotcha." Blake said, holding the phone to speak. "Hey Ash, it's me. Cancel the next meeting, the damn things are clogging up the schedule more than expected. Well can you at least postpone it for a while? I need to get something to eat, or I'll starve. Alright, good." He pocketed his phone and threw a glance towards Jayden. "C'mon, we'll take the car."
Jayden could only wonder what Blake was up to this time. Normally, he wouldn't be this 'friendly' with him, if you could call it that, but here they are, sharing dinnertime together. Not the first time, they had some stakeouts together during the Shaun Mars case, sure, but it's not something Jayden had ever considered happening off-duty.
"So, what do you have to say?" Jayden finally said to question the purpose of what Blake was doing. "And I'd rather you don't screw around, because I don't need that right now."
"Dammit Norman, not everything is out to fuck your life up." Blake said as he turned the key to start the engine of the car.
"Sometimes, I have to wonder..." Jayden said with a sigh, resting his head in his hand. "Couldn't even save Shaun Mars in the end, I couldn't save Ethan; it feels as if I can't fuckin' save anybody."
"Well, you know something?" Blake said, looking through the back-window as he backed the car out of the parking spot. "I knew you'd be like this; you're a goddamn wimp as soon as something goes wrong."
"Dammit Blake, I told you, leave me the hell alone!"
"Hey, calm down already! I'm talking, so shut up and listen. We both know that Ethan Mars is innocent now. I thought he was the Origami Killer, and I'm man enough to admit I'm wrong."
"Oh please. Knowing you, you'd beat the guy unconscious and ask questions afterwards."
"That's not the damn point here, Norman." Blake said as he turned the wheel. The car was approaching something resembling a Chinese part of town. Restaurants and stores were filling up the views surrounding them, as the duo went silent for a while.
"...What I'm trying to say, Norman.." Blake started. "..is that you can't rely on the problems you have to go away by themselves. I've had men die on me during tough operations, but you gotta learn to put it behind you and keep going. Just hanging yourself up on the issue will just fuck you up more than ever."
Norman simply shook his head and rolled his eyes. "The last person I need to play therapist for me is you, Blake." He said with a distinct tone in his voice. "Speaking of which, I hope you didn't beat more of those up, or they'll be an extinct race before long. But hey, I'm sure they appreciate the increased demand in the field from your police brutality."
Blake didn't say anything in return, and a silence dawned for some time again, until the car slowed down before it finally stopped at a drive-through for the Chinese restaurant. Blake lowered his window, then stopped to turn to Jayden. "What're you gonna have, Jayden?"
"I'll pass, just take one for yourself." Jayden said, not seeming the least interested in the menu at all.
"I thought you didn't have anything to eat yet."
No answer.
"Welcome! Can I take your order?" A female voice, slightly distorted by the effects of a speaker said.
"Fuck sakes, Norman, do you have to be an asshole about this?" Blake said, lowering his voice to hide from the microphone. "It's just some goddamn food..!"
"Yeah. It's just some goddamn food and I don't need it!" Jayden brashly replied, not caring if the microphone picked his voice up or not.
"Oh, for the love of... Two Beef Chef Specials with Kung Po sauce. Make that one and a half portion for both."
"Two Beef Specials with Kung Po sauce." The woman from the speaker replied, notably stressing the pronounciation on the name of the sauce. Blake didn't pay that any heed, most likely because he didn't notice.
"Please move on in the line." She continued, and Blake complied.
After a minute or two, they recieved their meal and moved to a parking spot. The area was close to a park. The rain kept falling and it was the only sound heard in the otherwise silent moment. After a short while, Blake started eating, before handing Jayden his meal.
"Eat something, Norman." He said, chewing on his beef meal. He was surprisingly adept at using the chopsticks provided with the order.
"I've lost my appetite." Jayden promptly replied.
"Doesn't matter. Your profiler head can't profile jack without some food."
"Can you not talk about my job for a while?"
"This is exactly what I meant when I said you need to leave things behind and move on. You're a fucking mess! I didn't make Lieutenant by bawling over every lost life. It happens when you have a job like this. You can't do anything about it."
Jayden turned to look at Blake. "If you just brought me to give me your bullshit about how I handle my job, then you can keep the food."
Blake shook his head, starting to noticeably get more annoyed. "Look, all I want is to have one fucking time where you don't have to be a piece of shit about things. And the last time we see each other, I thought I'd give you a chance. Because you were right about the case, we got the wrong guy as a suspect, so your methods might be more than just some fancy bullshit. Put this behind you and try again."
Jayden raised his voice to match Blake's. "Blake, this isn't a fucking game. You can't just beat up every guy that's in your way until you get a confession. Your damn rank isn't because you do a good job, you just lock up the first guy you see and kick them around until they say what you want them to. Newsflash: your badge doesn't give you the rights to do as you goddamn please!"
"Fuck you, Norman! I do this in order to save lives! If people won't talk, we don't have time for friendly methods. We cut the bullshit, and show them that we don't take their crap! The Origami Killer doesn't fuck around, and we can't afford to let him kill another person! I do what I have to!"
"Oh shit, Blake! You just gotta catch those criminals, don't you? Or else Perry will fuck your job up, and all that asskissing will have been for nothing! You're nothing but a goddamn puppet, dancing and dancing just so you can get your praise and fame for a day longer! Who knows, maybe you'll make Captain one day and your shitty job won't be so bad anymore and you can finally stop doing tricks on command for the jury!"
"FUCKING ASSHOLE!" Jayden's face became acquainted with the Beef Chef Special, Kung Po sauce and all. His tie met Blake's right hand, which was gripping it tightly in a fist. "Get the -fuck- outta my car, you shit-eating pissant!" He let Jayden's door open and shoved him out of the car, before slamming it shut.
Jayden layed there on the street, expecting Blake to zoom away from him. One minute. Two minutes. Five. Neither person made any signs of movement. Slowly, Jayden stood up, not even bothering to check how dirty his clothes were this time. The ARI-glasses were luckily intact, though. Jayden saw a bench not too far away and decided to walk towards it. But... his head hurt. Was it from falling out of the car? No, he didn't feel so bad just a minute ago... Nausea... Hands shaking. ...Triptocaine. He had a tube in his pocket; the only tube left for an emergency, just in case. And in any other situation, Jayden would have considered using it, but today he didn't even care. Maybe it was the soothing rain, or maybe it was apathy towards anything at the moment.
He could still navigate himself somewhat decently, the bench was close enough to make it to in order to collect his thoughts. His hands shaking and body shivering, he slowly put the ARI-glasses on and stared blankly up into the cloudy, rainy sky. The ARI environment made Jayden immerse himself in his own world, just disappearing and forgetting about the real world, almost as if he never had anything to do with it to begin with. It was a nice feeling, to him. Once again, the time passed. One second became ten. Ten seconds became a minute, which turned into five minutes. The rain just kept falling. To Jayden, the time felt as if stood still, and that was all he wanted.
Blake didn't feel anything. He was angry, sure, but it didn't feel like usual. It was far from the first time Jayden had angered him, but this time it wasn't just some stupid morality thing about police conduct, or disagreements about suspect handling. It was as if it it was... more. Jayden was hurt, so of course he'd say a lot of things. And really, Blake didn't have any place to be, and he'd already put some effort into this anyway; no sense in ruining it more than it is.
"Dammit, Norman..." He said to himself. And sure enough, Norman stepped in front of the car, wobbling a slight bit, grabbing his head as if in pain. Blake looked at him, but couldn't do much to help. Luckily, Jayden did just fine on his own and finally took a seat at the bench. Then he had his glasses on, and he didn't move at all after this. What was Blake to do now? Not his business if Jayden likes getting a cold; why should he care.
"Fine, take your goddamn time..." Blake muttered. He didn't want to just leave Jayden alone. Didn't feel right after bringing him all the way here in the first place. Besides, people at the station probably would ask questions if Jayden got hurt or something... Or maybe he just didn't feel like leaving. He didn't care what the reason was, anyway.
Time passed, Jayden didn't make any signs of having intentions to leave. Blake made thoughts about Jayden planning on getting pneumonia, but didn't really take himself seriously. The fancy glasses could most likely do anything Jayden wanted anyway.
Jayden had no intentions of moving anywhere. ARI gave him the peace of mind he needed. No stupid Tripto withdrawals to worry about, no murderers to catch, just him and the peaceful world around him. But something happened. The trees around him started to wither, and thunderstorms were approaching. It wasn't a withdrawal, as his hands weren't shaking, but... his eyes hurt a bit. He had a light headache, too. Nothing bad yet, Jayden assumed it was the weather playing tricks on him.
"What the fuck is that...?" Blake took a good look at Jayden. He still wasn't moving, but it looked as if something was different about him. He almost seemed utterly transfixed about what was going on in his glasses.
"Is that... blood!" Blake opened up the car's door and approached Jayden. Indeed, some red streams were running down Jayden's eyes, but it's as if Jayden himself hadn't noticed it at all.
Jayden saw a looming shadow approaching him. He couldn't make out who it was, though, it was strange. The shadow muttered some words, but Jayden couldn't understand what it said. He was just so tired and his head hurt. But then, the shaking intensified; he couldn't even control himself at all.
"Snap out of it, Norman! What the hell's going on with you?" A voice called to Jayden. Jayden could slowly feel himself being brought back to his senses, yet he couldn't feel himself able to move, apart from the constant shivering he's been undergoing.
That's when he felt a heavy blow hit against his cheek. He fell off the bench and onto the ground, face down. His glasses came off, though it didn't hurt for some reason. It took a few seconds for Jayden to register what had happened.
"Blake..?" He quietly said, squirming around on the ground, trying to get himself up. For some reason, it had been the first thing to come to mind after having the ARI escape him.
"You wouldn't respond, Norman.. I didn't know what to do." A voice replied. Sure enough, it was Blake.
"What the hell..?" Jayden gave up and chose to lie down on his back. He felt so weak all of a sudden. Helpless, almost. He ran his indexfinger across his cheek and looked at it. It was red with blood. "Shit..."
"Those glasses aren't that great after all, are they..." Blake said.
"They are the absolute worst kind of shit imaginable..." Jayden weakly replied.
"Goddammit Norman, you are one crazy motherfucker..." Blake hunched over Jayden, looking him in the eyes.
"Crazy gives what crazy gets..." Jayden said.
Blake took Jayden's hand and pulled him up. Jayden still wobbled as he tried to walk and supported himself against Blake, who took Jayden's arm around his shoulders.
They both turned quiet as they entered the car. Jayden got in first, before Blake went to the other side where the driver's seat is. There was roughly 30 seconds of silence where they both tried to process what had happened and what they should say about it.
"So.. what the hell happened out there?" Blake said to break the quiet moment. "You wanted to get sick or something?"
"The lovely wonders of Triptocaine withdrawals..." Jayden replied. "It's kinda like a romantic comedy. Take it once and you've seen it all, but they keep coming up and you can't stop it." He said and turned to Blake. "Kinda fitting with 'the crazy motherfucker' persona I have, right?"
The grumpy police officer scoffed and reached in the backseat for something. Jayden didn't bother to look, it was probably just a file or something.
"Ha... What you need, Norman," Blake started. "is to eat your damn food before you grow even more pale. If tripping out with your glasses is better than nutrition, then you bet your ass that you're crazy." He put the boxed food in Jayden's lap. "And I bet the idea of eating is crazy to you, so how about you try it?"
"Best fuckin' kind of crazy I've heard from you yet..." Jayden said with a slight smile as he digged in.
They both shared another talk as Jayden filled his stomach with some well overdue dinner, and they later returned to the station before parting ways.
The rain was falling. One raindrop brought along a million others per second, just like every other day this cursed month had brought. What good would come out of it, nobody could say. Perhaps nothing especially good would come out of it, but Norman Jayden would feel that even if the Police Lieutenants in the station are useless, they do have their own merits that not even psychological degrees and great glasses can match