Hidan sat on the couch in the wee hours of the morning, a cig in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other, watching infomercials he could recite by heart.
He used to scoff at the rundown people he saw in movies at one time, the ones who always had scruff on their face, living in a rundown piece of crap passed off as an apartment. Either drowning their woes in a bottle or through the neatly laid out white lines on the coffee table.
At one time he scoffed them, till he found for himself it wasn't just movie lore. Here he sat on a couch riddled with holes in a rundown apartment that was too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter, drowning himself in a bottle and wearing the clich scruff on his face. He went from having all he wanted to nothing in a heartbeat.
The more he thought about that moment the more he drank. It was an involuntary reaction now. He hadn't even noticed he'd raised the bottle back to his lips nor had he noticed he was chugging the amber substance till it began to burn his throat.
He only pulled it away when his cellphone rang.
Groaning and rolling his eyes, he picked it up and flipped it open. Yeah? What do you want? You sound cheery as always. Shut it. You calling me at three in the morning only could mean one thing. ...yeah. We found another one. Same MO. Can't I ever just be depressed in peace? You're a cop Hidan, there is no peace. And being depressed comes with the job. Don't start the psychiatrist bullshit. You left that behind remember? So whats the address? ...I can send a car if you want? You sound damn near smashed. I can drive just fine. ...fucking cop my ass. Alright. The voice on the other end read off the address and before he could say any thing more, Hidan hung up on him. He got up and placed the bottle back in it's home in the cupboard before dressing half assed and grabbing his badge and keys.
He stumbled a bit as he made his way to his car and almost called his comrade in arms back to get that ride but thought different of it.
He instead climbed into his car and peeled off down the street.
Hidan had actually been a member of Homicide for over three months now, but in the eyes of everyone else on the force he was still a cop. Not by actions but by experience. Not that he lacked it, he earned this place for a reason, but he acted like he cared little for it, like he didn't want to waste his time with it at all. But everyone knew the reasons for his actions and so never pushed him. Three months prior he had lost his wife and baby, and according to the coroners report...it was a murder suicide. He and his wife had been having trouble for some time, mostly over his job. He worked the graveyard shift when he was still on the beat, but when he got promoted things got much worse. He could be called in at all hours and some days may even not come home. It was bad enough she had to worry about him being killed in the line of duty before, but now there was still that possibility plus hardly ever seeing him. She even started to accuse him of cheating for whatever reason. She was just slowly going over the edge.
Then, two weeks after being promoted, it happened. It was one of the rare nights he had actually been home and the baby had woken up and was crying. He was going to get up to check on him but his wife was already up so he laid back down.
He found it odd that she went downstairs instead of going to the babies room but he presumed she was getting a bottle. Well, she had gotten a bottle alright, a bottle of pills. She downed the whole thing downstairs before coming back up and going to the babies room.
The baby had quieted a little but was still doing little whimpers and occasionally screamed. He had almost gotten up again but heard her coming back and going that way so he didn't. But he wished he had. Not long after the baby had gone completely silent and his wife had not returned anytime soon after that. He figured she was just staying with the baby, seeing as they had another huge fight earlier in the evening and he knew she was still pissed with him. But he got up anyway this time and went to check on them. He found her sitting in the rocker next to the bed, baby in her arms. She looked like she was asleep but her head was tilted back, and one of the babies arms was draped loosely over hers.
He swallowed hard, feeling his chest tighten. He slowly walked closer, praying it wasn't how it looked. But to his horror it was. The baby was completely blue and his wife s eyes were slightly open. She had killed herself and taken the baby with her, having suffocated him with his pillow. Hidan never recovered from that night. He felt he failed them. It wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for his damn job.
He had really turned around from how he was when he married her, now he reverted back to it plus some. The others on the force were wondering just how long it would be till he too followed them.
But Hidan had chosen another path, a path to punish himself for causing it. For not being there like he should have been. Most would be infuriated at their wife for doing such a thing, but he wasn't. In his mind he drove her to it. It was his fault, and he'd never forgive himself.
Hidan shook the thoughts from his mind as he approached the crime scene, already feeling like he wanted to turn back around and say fuck it. He couldn't even understand why he stayed. He just surmised it was because his dad was a cop and had been killed in the line of duty, he felt it was a way to honor him. Though he couldn't feel honored the way he was acting now.
He parked the car and slowly got out, trying to keep himself steady and at least make it look like he was mildly sober. He walked over to where he could see the cops moving around doing crowd control while CSI was processing the scene. The Homicide detectives were gathered just outside the crime scene, waiting for CSI to finish up so they could start their investigation.
Hidan walked up to stand next to the buddy who had called him, lighting up a cigarette as he watched CSI finish up.
Looks worse then the last one. The blond turned to regard him, flicking some hair from his face. That's cause it is. She was completely gutted along with the usual MO. Plus shes got all these weird symbols carved in her from what we could see from here, un. Hidan kept his voice low, not wanting any of the gathered crowd or reporters to hear. So we guessed right? Cult oriented? Possibly. Have to get in there to look at the symbols first, un. Could just be an overly religious man, seeing as I'm guessing shes a prostitute like the others. Could be the opposite. Just have to wait and see. Hidan nodded and took a long drag from his cig, blowing out smoke circles out of boredom. The blond looked at him, taking in his appearance.
...you could try to look presentable. Your shirts not even tucked in, un. This isn't High School anymore. I'll do what I want ok Dei? The irritation was quite obvious in his voice.
Deidara let it slide as CSI gave them the ok to start their investigation, and the team slowly moved forward. They bent down and took a good look at the body, or what was left of it. The stomach area had indeed been completely hallowed out, the organs scattered around her in an intricate shape.
Sure as hell ain't no religious guy Dei. Hidan said before turning his attention to the symbols. I've never even seen symbols like that before. Sure ain't no Satanist either. Well, there's plenty of cults to look at, un. So we'll limit the list. Find the most violent. Ones that have been known for human sacrifices in the past. Just cause they say they don't do it anymore doesn't mean they're telling the truth. Deidara nodded and got up to check the rest of the crime scene. We got blood splatter on the brick wall over here. Must be the initial strike, un. Hidan got up and walked over to where he was standing. Yeah. And look at the path. Sideways, thick to thin, must be where her throat was slit. So he was in front of her then, so she was talking to him. Must have been acting like a John. Probably working out a deal, made her drop her guard. Then he pulls the knife and slits her throat. She had no chance to defend. Yeah, seeing as I saw no defensive wounds on the hands or arms. Hidan nodded and looked closer at the blood spray. Doesn't look all that thick either, I don't think he cut her deep. Just debilitated her. Sick fuck probably wanted to see her suffer. Deidara walked back over to check the corpse, just trying to see if things coincided. Yup, cuts not deep in the throat, doesn't even look like he hit the Carotid Artery. Definitely wanted her alive. He wanted her to watch as he cut her open. She may have been in shock from the first attack to the neck, may have made her body lag in reaction to him cutting her open. Which means she watched most her organs come out before she died. Well, least till her body started to shut down from the vital organs being removed anyway. But I know one thing, she sure as hell suffered quite a bit before she finally died. So all prostitutes so far, the perps getting bolder, and there's definitely some ritual behind it. Just what the hell is going on, un? We'll see if the coroner can judge when each organ was removed. Figure out if we can find some sort of order and see if it matches up with any cult that pulled organs in that order. But we do already have one lead. Yeah? Yeah. He left the heart.
Some time later, just after dawn, Hidan found himself back at the station after they finished up talking to people to see if they witnessed anything. Of course the answer was an resounding no. People are too in fear of their lives to risk it for a dead person. So as usual they had to start with nothing and work their way up. Of course the murders had been going on for a month now and they were still at square one. They couldn't even find any DNA on or around any of the victims. The guy was either really good or a fucking ghost. Seeing as the latter was impossible, they were stuck looking for a flesh and blood person who didn't seem to shed any DNA at all.
Hidan sat at his desk and laid his head on his arm. He was too exhausted to think anymore. Plus he hadn't eaten in quite a while and he really needed a drink. Concentration was futile.
He was starting to nod off when a hand slamming on his desk right by his ear, jolted him awake. He was about to curse at whoever it was but shut his mouth when he saw the chief standing there. The chief was always angry and his flaming red hair was perfect for his attitude.
Hidan! Do you ever come into work not hung over! Pein, do you ever not fucking scream? Pein just glared at him before crossing his arms over his chest. Shouldn't you be doing research or something? My eyes are too blurry for that right now. And who's fault is that? Dei can do it. That's the problem. You have Dei do everything cause you can't keep your dumb ass sober. I could be doing worse. Hidan, despite the fact that your incapable of taking care of yourself and your an idiot where everything else is concerned, you're one of the best we have. I need you on this, I need you at a 100%. Well this is as good as you're gonna get, so deal with it. Pein finally had enough and grabbed him by his collar, yanking him up out of his seat. The entire office around them went silent.
No ones making you stay here Hidan! If you don't want any part of this you can just leave! Like you guys could solve this without me. There's always someone better then someone else. I'm sure someone would take your place soon enough. Not soon enough to end this quicker. Pein just growled before dropping him back into his seat. Then fucking be presentable while you're working. I'll have Dei work on the cult research, for now, you would know more about that area then him. But right now I need you to head downtown and talk to the victims boss. ...her pimp? She had a normal job too. We ran her ID through the system and she has no family, perfect background to throw her into the profession she chose. Anyway, it did bring up her current employer, she must have been trying to clean herself up. But he is the only lead we have and he may have been the last to talk with her. He pulled a slip of paper from his pocket and slammed it on Hidan's desk. That's the address, try not to kill yourself getting there. Hidan just looked up at him as he walked away. Sighing, he picked the paper up and looked at the address. He knew the place well, it was a cafe about two blocks away from where he lived. He had never been there cause it wasn't quite his scene.
Throwing his dress jacket back on, he got up and headed out of the office. At least the upside was he could get a decent cup of coffee.
Twenty minutes later he was parked outside the cafe already feeling out of place and he hadn't even gotten out of the car yet.
People were sitting on the outside patio drinking their coffee and typing away at their laptops probably trying to write the next best seller, or at least trying to just look cool. Something he had admittedly did when he was younger but now at twenty-seven he saw it as poor taste.
Finally just getting his 'fuck it' attitude back, he got out of the car and sat at one of the outdoor tables and waited for someone to come around.
Not too long after a young woman came over with a bright smile. What can I get you today sir? Just a cup of black coffee, and I need to talk to your boss. He said as he flashed his badge. Her smile fell slightly as she wondered what was up, but she quickly nodded and headed off.
A few moments later she returned with his coffee and a croissant. My boss will be with you in a moment. He's...kinda busy at the moment.
Hidan raised a brow, obviously wondering what that meant by the way she said it. But his curiosity was soon answered as yelling emanated from within the building. Everyone around stopped talking and looked to the doorway as a young man, probably only about sixteen, came stalking out. Behind him an older man followed still screaming at him.
Hey! I'm not finished with you yet Mitch! You fired me! I'm pretty sure you're finished! You were stealing from the till! This is far from over Mitch! You're waiting here for the cops! Fuck you old man! ...old...man...IM' TWENTY-EIGHT YOU LITTLE SHIT! Hidan just stared, coffee mug halfway to his lips as he watched the scene play out. But it wasn't the scene that was causing him to pause.
He slowly got up and walked over, standing behind the boy. The boy quickly turned on him and started screaming in his face. What the fuck do you want! Hidan just held up his badge and glared at him. The younger man instantly shut up.
How much did you steal boy? ...couple hundred... And what was it for? The boy just looked down, not wanting to answer.
I see. Well if you're stealing it for drugs I'm guessing that's not the only thing you stole to pay for it? ... Look, I'm in a different department now so I don't deal with this shit, but it doesn't have to go to the cops if we work it out. The younger man looked at him, a questioning look on his face.
There's a program you can be put on, a buddy of mine runs it. We'll keep it out of the cops hands if you do what he says, stay in that program, and pay him back in installments. You back out, I turn you in. I won't give you another free ride. ...ok... That sound good to you Kakuzu? Kakuzu was still gawking at him and only heard a percentage of what was said. But he snapped out of it enough to nod.
Ok then. I'll give my buddy a call and he'll get a hold of you through Kakuzu here. Remember, this is your only chance. Again the younger man nodded.
After they finished with that, Hidan sat back at the table and got back to his coffee before it got cold.
Kakuzu sat down across from him and just stared at him. ...that's plastic right? The badge? No. ...your a real cop? You? Detective actually. Homicide. Homicide? The little gang banger is a Homicide detective? That was High School Kakuzu, I grew up since then. Family? Hidan froze at that, wondering if he should just say no and leave it at that. ...not anymore. They died... ...sorry to hear that. Hidan just shrugged. That's not why I'm here. I'm here about an employee of yours. Can we talk in your office? ...course. They got up and Hidan followed him back to his office and took a seat as Kakuzu closed the door. Kakuzu took a seat at his desk and templed his hands on it. So what's this about? Judy Tristan. ...yeah. I just hired her a month ago. She in trouble? She's dead. Kakuzu looked at him and leaned back in his seat. ...that's a bit shocking. She was such a nice girl. She was more then you think. She was a prostitute. The chief thinks the job here was her way of trying to get out. She never got the chance. We found her in an alley last night. Can't go into details since it's an open case but...it was bad. I'm basically here to see if you noticed anything? Was there anyone she was having problems with? A certain person that may have constantly come in here and sat at her table? Not that I noticed. And she didn't look scared or anything. She was talking about getting a house one day and moving out into the country. Normal shit. She walk home at night I take it? She'd walk to the bus stop just down the block. And she seemed ok when she did? Yeah. Never looked over her shoulder or anything. ...how would you notice that? Wouldn't you be in here closing up? She'd leave the same time as me when she worked nights. She did huh? So maybe she was scared of something then? Maybe. But she sure never showed it. Where does she live? You're a detective and you don't know that? Don't fucking start. I was with Dei the rest of the night looking for witnesses. The rest of the team took care of that. I was sent here soon as I got back to the office. Kakuzu nodded, dropping the direction he was going. He and Hidan never really got along and it seemed they still didn't. But he felt the case was more important. Thirty minutes from here by vehicle. Low income section. And she did get on the bus last night, right? Yeah. Saw her get on when I was driving by. ...we found her clear across town in the warehouse district. That bus sure doesn't go there. Unless she got on another one later. Well she got there somehow. I'm starting to think she knew who it was. Only reason she'd head way out there. And I doubt she was abducted, she would have fought. She'd have defensive wounds and she didn't. Are you even supposed to be telling me any of this? Kakuzu asked as he raised a brow.
What I'm saying ain't much, and you wouldn't say anything. You've always been big on not backstabbing people and shit. And you'd never mess with the law. The law. I still can't believe you're on the other side of the line now. People change Kakuzu. Though I see you haven't yet. Still a money grubber I see? Hey, there's nothing wrong with me. Saving money isn't wrong. Way things are today you never know if you'll have money tomorrow. Your change was a needed one. I remember well the last time I saw you. I was holding your dumb ass on the ground trying to stop you from shooting that guy. Stop you from throwing your life away. Hidan leaned back in his seat a bit, looking uncomfortable. I try to forget those days. That's another of your problems. You always try to forget, you never try to face anything. It isn't good to hold all that shit back man. I didn't need to remember it. My life got better, though it still took a while. I was still messing up, getting in trouble till I was twenty. That's when I met Jade. She helped clean me up man. But the past came back to bite me in the ass. I got arrested for something I did back then, sat in jail for a while. But she waited for me. I fucking knew what I had to do, and I wanted to make people proud of me for once. So I went into the police academy. Followed dads footsteps to honor him and cause I looked up to him. I was fine then, I didn't need to face anything. But now you do. You're running away from what happened. Hidan just shook his head and stood up. There was no way he was going into this with him right now.
If you remember anything else give me a call. Hidan pulled out one of his cards and set it on his desk.
Hidan... Stop man. I'm not here to remember, I'm here to solve a case. You're burying yourself in it. I bet every case you work on you push yourself as long as you can just so you don't have to risk falling asleep for too long and thinking about it. ...I don't see pictures on you desk, or a ring on your finger, so how the fuck would you know how I feel! You're right, I didn't follow the same path as you. I don't have a family. I can't even presume to know how you're feeling. But I do know you. I know how you get with these things. You used to be this sweet little kid, till your dad was killed. Then the only thing that mattered was you. You locked away any emotion you had. From what your mom said you didn't even cry at his funeral. You just stood there stone faced and stared. By this point Hidan was well beyond the point of being civil. Kakuzu was pushing his buttons far too hard. It was something the man had always been good at, but now just wasn't the right moment for it. Hidan was growing more irritated by the second and he was about ready to flatten the man out.
I didn't come here to get bitched at Kakuzu. I'm working. My past, how I feel, is none of your fucking business. You quit caring about what happened to me when we got to High School, so don't pretend to care now. If I didn't give a shit about what happened to you I would have let you kill that kid that night! It's been nine years Hidan, I think we've both grown enough to put those childish actions behind us! ...just call if you remember anything. I gotta go before my ass gets chewed out. Hidan turned quickly and made his way out the door, slamming it behind him. He wasn't about to give Kakuzu another chance to berate him or rile him up. Hell, had he known Kakuzu was the woman's boss he would have switched places with Deidara.
Growing more irritated by the second, he just got in his car and peeled out and headed back to the office to add what little he got to the rest of the info on the no doubt growing list. But you can't really solve a case on info alone. Cases that just went on circumstantial evidence were hard cases to win. But they didn't even have a suspect to begin with so handing anything off to the DA was far from happening. He slammed his hands on the wheel as the sickening feeling grew in him again. The one where he knew he was failing all the victims and their families. The one where he knew he was failing yet again.
It was well after midnight when Kakuzu finally emerged from the cafe and locked the building up. He had spent a lot of his time trying to find any info about the woman he may have over looked, anything he may have seen that may not have registered at first. But he came up with nothing. On the outside she seemed happy, no doubt a facade now that he knew more about her. She had all these big dreams she would talk about constantly, and now she'd have no chance at reaching them. It pissed him off how people could just snuff out a life so easily and walk away with a smile.
Now truthfully, he wasn't the kind of guy that cared much one way or another for people. He was centered on his own life and making his way to the top. But there's always those few people you meet in your life that can make you act differently then you are. He was always a stoic quiet man. Hardly smiled, short tempered yes but rarely blew up unless you gave him a reason to. But somehow she had always managed to make him crack a smile. The only other person ever able to do that was Hidan. Well, when he wasn't irritating him to the point where he wanted to snap his neck anyway. And he tended to be irritated with Hidan more then anything else. But there was always those few times where he couldn't help himself. He'd crack a smile at one of Hidan's stupid antics or, heaven forbid, even laugh. But more often then not towards the end of their High School years, he just wanted to kill the boy. Hidan was a complete ass. He hardly did any of his work yet somehow managed to graduate, though he was at the very bottom of the class.
Yet after the last time he had seen him graduation night, he still worried. Hidan had become one of those guys you'd wonder if he was still alive years later.
He was, he had done better with his life, yet he was still the irritating ass you wanted to strangle. But regardless of how long they had been apart or what had happened, Hidan was still his friend. He always thought of him that way even after nine years of not knowing if he was alive. He was one of those people who touched you, as was she.
Kakuzu shook his head when he realized he had been standing there staring at the lock this whole time. He made his way to the parking lot and got into his car. Digging in his pocket, he pulled his keys out when something fell out with them. Picking it up from the floor where it had fallen, he realized it was Hidan's business card. He stared at it a few moments before pulling out his cell and dialing the number. He frowned when he got no answer. Deciding he couldn't just leave this, he started the car and pulled out onto the streets. He needed to find him before he did something stupid.