A/N: Hey peoples! So this fic will be a police procedural AU without powers or Titans. I saw this prompt online somewhere and I was originally going to write a one-shot but I had more ideas. I might post the one-shot version later but let's see how you guys like this one.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed my last story and to claudia d:"Obrigado por comentares. Não és a única pessoa que pensa assim. Tenho alguns amigos que também gostariam muito de ver a tempestade emocional que acontecia se a Zhalia tivesse mesmo matado o Dante. Mas pessoalmente eu acho que não seria capaz de terminar sem chorar." (I don't speak Portuguese so thank-you to LiliumHeart for translating for me.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Huntik. If I did I would've promised a season 3; you'd still be waiting but it's the thought that counts.

"Hey did you know? Games always have rules. It's decided from the beginning…"

"You knew that, right?"

-Alice in the Country of Hearts

-Narrative Pov-

"I don't care if the deadline is two weeks from now. I want that article on my desk tomorrow morning or you're fired!"

The sound of David Maro's yelling traveled to his employees' ears, making them wince and quiet their conversations. When their boss is mad, it is best to just make yourself look small.

The man in question was sitting in a spacious corner office with floor to ceiling glass windows on two sides showing off the beautiful city of Venice and yet, Maro was too busy fuming at one of his many employees on the phone to even appreciate the view.

More sounds of yelling could be heard, then the slamming of a phone made the whole room quiet down for a few minutes, wondering what he would do next.

Employees started their conversation again, but then stopped when they heard the sound of a fist hitting the wall, a sound they'd come to expect when their boss got frustrated.

The office door opened and Maro walked out. Blood dripped from his knuckles and he closed the door.

"Call someone to fix the hole in the wall," he demanded to his assistant in a low tone, who replied with a "Yes, sir," before proceeding to call a repairman.

The room stayed quiet as his footsteps wandered back into his office and the door closed behind him. Murmurs of conversation started up once again, as the employees went back to their work.

Once Mr. Maro sat back down at his desk he opened the top left drawer of his desk to grab his first aid kit. He immediately began to clean his wound with the antiseptic and then moved onto wrapping his right hand with gauze.

As he finished up, he heard his private elevator ding off from the left back corner of his office. Maro spun around in his wheelie chair to face the elevator. "Who the hell do you think you are using my private elevator—" the words died in Maro's throat as he found himself looking straight down the barrel of a gun. His blood ran cold but he was never one to back down and raised his eyes to meet its wielder.

The gunmen smirked, "I told you it wasn't over." And with that he opened fire.

-Narrative Pov-

Agent Vale wasn't sure about her innocence, but he was positive that Madalyn Blackstone was the most stubborn women he had ever met. They had been in the interrogation room for about half an hour now and she still hadn't answered a single question he had asked, merely evading them and making jokes at his expense.

If Miss Blackstone hadn't been the one to discover Maro's body he wouldn't have to be interrogating her right now. Then where would this story take us?

"Okay just answer this then: Did you try to kill David Maro?" Dante asked. 'Why didn't I just lead with this?'

"No." the bluenette replied curtly. 'Even if I did, it wouldn't have been a try. He would be dead.' Madalyn thought. Had she tried to kill her quasi-boss? No. Although, she would've have loved to have been the one to wipe that egotistical smirk off his face. The CEO wasn't exactly what you could call a great guy. She was working with the company under contract as a pen tester. (1)

Dante sighed in relief. They were finally getting somewhere. "Okay then do you know who may have wanted to kill him?"

"I'm sorry, what happened to 'just answer this'?" Madalyn answered.

Out of frustration, Dante face palmed. 'And we're back to square one.'

Madalyn smirked at his antics. "For the Foundations' best agent you sure are doing a lousy job of gathering information, Dante."

"Wait, I never told you my first name." Dante said in confusion. He expected Miss Blackstone to give some kind of indication that she may have slipped up, but instead she just rolled her eyes. She was a hacker so maybe...

As if she could hear his thoughts she answered, "I saw it when you showed me your badge, genius." Her face was no longer stoic, more bored than anything.

"Look I understand you don't want to be here, but any information you can give us would be very helpful." Dante said.

"You're right; I don't want to be here. If you're looking for someone who would've wanted to kill him why not check out his legitimate employees, instead of a fellow foundation agent." Madalyn said, before pulling out her own badge.

Dante looked at her with disbelief, before checking to see if the badge she was holding was real. It was; the ID card read Zhalia Moon. "So you're the Foundation's new lone wolf? Any reason you couldn't have told me this from the start."

"Where's the fun in that? 'Besides, what better way to find out information?"

"By asking nicely?" Dante questioned.

"If you haven't noticed, I don't do nice." Zhalia shot back.

Before Dante could respond, Guggenheim— his case director— came in. "Dante there you are— oh and I see you've met Zhalia." The German man said. Zhalia gave him a nod in response but remained silent.

"Well you could say that." Dante answered. Or you could say he'd just been forced to run around in circles for this woman's amusement, but hey it's all about perspective.

"Well I'm sure Zhalia can finish catching you up on her undercover work in Maro's Media Enterprise and then the two of you can head back out to the crime scene and get started on this case. I'm putting you both on the case because with Mr. Maro's popularity we need this case closed as soon as possible." Guggenheim said.

Dante and Zhalia nodded before glancing at each other, both analyzing the person who would be their partner for this case. Dante took this opportunity to assess the woman in front of him as someone other than a possible suspect.

She was about 5'2 with a slender but curvy figure, olive skin that contrasted nicely with her midnight blue hair and piercing hazel eyes. By anyone's standards she was a sight.

"Well let's get a move on Vale." Zhalia said before rising from her seat and walking out of the door.

Dante chuckled before giving Guggenheim a somewhat questioning look. Guggenheim simply laughed and clapped Dante on back.

"Don't worry. Of all agents, you have the best chance of tolerating you."

'We'll see.' Dante thought before walked out of the interrogation room to catch up with Zhalia.

"She's beautiful, sophisticated... and she'd shoot you in the face just to make sure the gun worked."

— 06x21 - Ka Pono Ku'oko'a (The Cost of Freedom) Hawaii 5-0

A/N: so what did you guys think? I literally just finished this because school got in the way but I'll try to update at least once a week. (I do have a summer class starting soon so that might cause an issue but I have amazing friends who know how make sure get it done — love you guys.

(1) A Pen Tester is someone who checks the security of websites and other digital platforms to find flaws in the system and then reports them so they can be fixed. (I'm pretty sure I could be wrong but this is my understanding)

Don't forget to review!