A/N:Hey, so this is my first fanfiction. This idea has been brewing in the back of my mind for a while now and I've finally plucked up the courage to start writing it. It's a bit slow the first chapter or two Hope you like it.
Oh, I own nothing, except Val, Ziggy, and Lola
Movies and TV shows really overdramatize undercover work. The hero/heroine is always dressed to the nines in some sexy leather outfit equipped with an insane amount of hidden weaponry, and they have an entire SWAT team hiding in the wings in case something goes wrong. And something always goes wrong but by the time the backup gets there the protagonist has already gone and done some bad guy butt whipping.
My current situation was not at all like the movies. I was not dressed all in leather, and the only special gadgets that I came with were a hidden earpiece and a small microphone wedged between my boobs. As for backup; there were several vans filled with Seattle's finest ten minutes from where I was. So if shit hits the fan I had better be good at dancing around bullets.
"Hey, did I mention you look super sexy as a red head?" came the voice of fellow investigator Joey Hopps from my earpiece.
"Did I mention that I know about a dozen ways to chop off your balls and turn them into accessories?" I murmured.
Joey laughed "You sweet talker you. Now get in there and catch us some baddies."
"Do it yourself you lazy-ass." I grumbled, squaring my shoulders and marching towards a small, rundown warehouse. What was it with bad guys and warehouses?
Rain was pouring down as I made my way towards the entrance. A black leather ensemble may look fabulous and intimidating on screen, but a drab grey windbreaker beats it out in weather like this, which for Seattle, is almost every day.
I reached for the handle but the door wouldn't budge. This was the rendezvous point, wasn't it?
"Front entrance is closed off," Said a voice from behind me, "they don't want any Girl Scouts coming to sell cookies, you know?"
I turned my head to see Hugo Dobic, ex-drug dealer, standing beside me. His brown hair hung lank around his shoulders and his cloths were rumpled and looked in need of a good wash; no change whatsoever from the last time I saw him.
"So I'm gonna take a guess here and say they got you wired." he said conversationally.
I nodded.
Dobic grinned. "Right, well then let's go get us that murdering son-of-a-bitch."
I gestured for him to lead the way.
We walked silently around to the loading area. I banged on the door. A guy who looked like he could be Hulk Hogan's stunt double answered the door.
I smiled flirtatiously "I'm here to see Mr. Domonero."
"You got an appointment?" he grunted.
I unzipped the duffle bag I'd been carrying and showed him a wad of high-marked bills.
"Good enough." He let me through, Dobic squeezing in after me.
"Alright, that went smoothly enough." Joey murmured in my ear. Thank you Captain Obvious.
The Hogan look-alike led me down the hall to an office somewhere within the bowels of the warehouse. At the door were two guards and another stood just inside door way. The headman himself sat at large expensive looking desk that contrasted greatly with the surroundings. I plopped the bag down in front of him.
Mr. Domonero glanced up at me. "And who do we have here?"
"New recruit." I said.
Mr. Domonero raised an eyebrow "Shouldn't someone like you be working at Hooters? Paying off college loans?"
I shrugged, "Can't make enough on tips and minimum wage, thought I'd take on a side gig to help pay the bills. A friend of mine told me business was good working for a guy like you so I thought I'd come looking."
"A friend?" Domonero asked.
"Yeah, Hugo Dobic. Know him?"
"Who's Dobic?" Joey asked.
"You bet he does." Dobic growled beside me, glaring daggers at the man behind the desk.
"Have you spoken to him recently?" Domonero asked.
"Nah, can't seem to find him. But he told me that I need to pay some sort of assurance fee," I nodded toward the bag "mind you, it took me awhile to scrounge up all that so I hope the bucks come in quickly."
Domonero smiled, "You are a very forward young lady Miss…?"
"Grouper. Kinsey Grouper. And please no fish jokes." I grimaced.
He chuckled "Miss Grouper, I must say I like your attitude. But I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about by my "business"."
"All you gotta do is get him to talk about the drugs. Then we'll tag and bag him." Joey whispered. Once again, thank you Captain Obvious.
"Don't worry, you're hot looking. Domonero always gives in the hot looking ones." Dobic encouraged. I had to struggle not to roll my eyes.
"Well if you don't know, then I guess I came to the wrong warehouse. Sorry about that. I've must have taken a wrong turn; I've got a lousy sense of direction." I made to leave but was blocked by biceps-for-brains.
"Now, now Miss Grouper that won't be necessary; I was only teasing. I'm sure we can find a line of work for you." Domonero stood up and I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. I passed five-foot-ten easily, without heels, but this guy was five-foot-nothing. The new up and coming drug lord wasn't even taller than a 6th grader.
"Okie-dokie. But what exactly would I be doing?" I asked.
Domonero scrutinized me with a look that would have most women reaching for their can of mace.
After a moment's hesitation he said "Why don't you take Dobic's job? It might be a bit much for a beginner but you seem like you could handle it?"
"Dobic's job; that's crack right?" I asked, trying to play the part of the dummy, "At least that's what I think he sold."
"And other stuff too, I wasn't picky." Dobic chimed in.
"Yes. And on occasion he'd sell off any of our other stock that we had excess of." Domonero said. "Now we can't give you anything to sell at the moment; we're actually changing locations. Meet us at the Southside docks tomorrow at noon and I'll give you a personal tour of our facility and stock rooms."
"That's enough to nab. Sit tight, we'll be there in a few." Joey said.
Boy was this Domonero an idiot for a pretty face. He was about to be nailed for a drug bust, and he's sitting there smiling away. Shouldn't drug dealers be smarter than this? I glanced over at Dobic. Let's see if I can get Domonero for homicide as well.
"What about Hugo?" I asked innocently "Won't he be pissed if I take his job?"
"Unfortunately we had to terminate that business relationship." Domonero said.
"Terminate? Terminate? Is that what you call it?" Dobic roared "What sucky sci-fi movie did you get that word from?"
He lunged forward and raised his fist to punch Domonero. I bit my lip to stop from calling out. Dobic swung and would've knocked Domonero flat on his back with one hit, except his hand went right through Domonero's head.
"Shit, I forgot. This whole being dead thing is a real pain in the ass." Dobic whined.
"No kidding." I retorted.
"Pardon?" Domonero asked.
Crap, forgot they couldn't see.
"You killed him didn't you?" I asked.
"Whoa, wait, what?" Joey sputtered. "Domonero… homicide? Where the hell… coming up with this…"
Joey's words faded in and out like a bad radio channel. Crap, had the earpiece broke? I looked at Domonero; his lips were moving but nothing was coming out. Dobic was still trying to strangle his former boss, his mouth undoubtedly forming a plethora of swear words, only I couldn't hear them. What was going on?
Then my vision decided to take a hike. Then my legs gave out. I could feel myself rushing towards the ground but I didn't feel the impact. Instead a presence filled my mind and body, spreading warmth throughout me.
"Human…" a voice that seemed as old as time itself whispered into my ears and soul. "Human, you are the only one who can hear me. You must help. Orion has lost his way. The Matrix is failing. You must…" but its words were fading away, as was the presence. Reality was rushing back.
"Please…help." was the last I heard.
First sense I got back was hearing. And whatever it was I was hearing it was loud. There were shouts and gunshots going off. I felt someone drag me to standing position and then cart me off with their arm around my neck. As my vision slowly faded in I saw several officers running down the hall towards us. I glanced up and saw one of the goons holding me.
"Let the girl go." One of the officers commanded.
I bristled. Girl? Seriously? I was young but I was an adult. How about woman? Or at least young lady?
The muscleman holding me gripped my throat and reached for his gun.
Oh, no. I wasn't having any of that. First I had a spirit trying to force communication with me, now I was going to be held hostage. No way in h-e-double-toothpick. I mule-kicked the guy as hard as I could in the place where the sun doesn't shine. He doubled over, releasing me. I hit him with a nice uppercut for good measure. He went down.
I turned to Domonero and the rest of his lackies. "I wouldn't try to escape if I were you. I'm seriously pissed off right now and you don't want to make things worse."
They stared at me for a moment before they were tackled by a group of uniforms. I made sure they were subdued properly before I slouched out of the warehouse. Joey Hopps came jogging up to me.
"You ok? It sounded like you fell." Joey asked.
"Yeah sorry, it's PMS and I had a mega-cramp."
Joey grimaced "Didn't need to know that."
"So do we have enough to keep Domonero behind bars for awhile?"
"Well we dispatched another team to the warehouse at Southside. They called back saying they found quite a stockpile. The drugs alone will get him a long time in the slammer, but with the homicide…"
"He admitted to it?"
"Yeah, we heard it on the tape. Didn't you?"
I cringed and rubbed my stomach "No, wasn't paying attention; cramps."
Joey shrugged "Right, well now we got him for drugs and murder. By the way, how'd you know?"
"About what?"
"Hugo Dobic."
I wiggled my fingers at him. "I've got powers beyond your comprehension."
Joey snorted "O-kay, you're weird."
I smiled grimly "You don't know the half of it."
"We're gonna wrap things up here, you should go home and get some rest. Tomorrow's gonna be full of paperwork."
I groaned "One of my favorite things."
Joey bumped my shoulder "I'll get Todd to take you home." He waved over a uniformed officer.
"Howdy Val" Todd said.
"Hey Todd, how's the wife and kids." I asked as I followed him back to the cruiser.
"Fine, just fine." Todd was not a man of many words. Which was fine by me; I had quite a bit to think about.
As we drove away from the scene my mind wandered back to the spirit. I'd never encountered such a strong one before. Usually when spirits want my help they take human form and ask or just annoy the hell out of me until I snap. But this one actually grabbed hold of me, its presence actually had a physical effect on me.
My father had once told me that some of the older spirits could muster up enough energy to have some pull in this world, but whoever, or whatever that was certainly was not your common household ancient. It had power. And I definitely got the feeling that this would not be the last time I'd be hearing from it. It had a message that it needed to get across. I just hope it didn't decide to visit while I was driving, or worse, in the bathroom.
What was it the thing said? Something about a guy named Orion? Was it talking about the constellation Orion? Something else about a matrix? Well the only "matrix" I knew of was that confusing movie trilogy that Ziggy had made me watch; the one starring that Reeves guy. I sighed and rubbed my eyes, spirits could be so annoying when they're cryptic.
I waved goodbye to Todd after he dropped me off at my apartment. The rain had dissolved into a mist now. I turned my face up to the sky and let the moisture cover me.
Right, you're going to hear this spirit out. I told myself. It's just another soul in need of help, it just happens to be a whole heck of a lot stronger than anything you've encountered before. No reason to get spooked.
Still I felt a nervous flutter in my stomach.
No! I was not going to be intimidated by a ghost!
No ghoulie was going to frighten me!
After all Valerie Darby lived to see the dead.
I'm pretty sure that's not how a drug bust goes down, but I did my best. Please review!
