After playing The Assignment I realized something. For someone who was only in the police department as an infiltrator, Kidman seemed all too happy to use Sebastian and Joseph's first names instead of their last. I can understand Sebastian's, his is a bit of a mouthful, but Joseph's only three letters. That plus a desire for more Evil Within stories led to this.
Enjoy.
When did it start?
The question had been running around Kidman's head for a while. At first, she thought the change must have been gradual, having just started over time when she wasn't looking.
When she first started this job as a detective in the Krimson City Police Department, she hated the very idea of it. However it was the orders from Mobius, and they were not people you just said no to. Not if you wanted to live at any rate.
Kidman wasn't there to make friends, the job was just that, a job. She had to work alongside the two men she had been assigned to as junior detective but that didn't mean she had to like it or them.
Detectives Sebastian Castellanos and Joseph Oda.
The former was a temperamental alcoholic with a near permanent scowl and a haggard appearance. His little regard for the rules and regulations their job really got under her skin. Perhaps he was good at what he did but he took the phrase 'bending the rules' a bit farther than it should. Kidman knew he already mistrusted her from the beginning, but that didn't faze her in the slightest. He was that way with everyone save his partner.
The latter was almost a reverse of the other. Always fairly cheerful and well kempt. A by the book man through and through. To Kidman's initial surprise, he never took offense to his partner's way of solving cases but he never encouraged it either. If the woman had to take a guess, he had long ago tried to do something about it but after repeated failure gave up and went with the flow.
Another parallel to Sebastian was the fact that Joseph instantly trusted her, despite the lack of evidence that he should. The Asian-Canadian took it upon himself to show her the ropes as best as he could. Kidman almost felt bad for completely misleading him. But as she continuously reminded herself, she wasn't there to make friends.
Ice cold professionalism, that was what she needed to maintain. There was never any need to go out for drinks with either man nor the patrol officer that often accompanied them on cases, Connelly. Spending time outside of work was unnecessary, she couldn't let herself get close to any of them.
Getting close meant getting attached.
Getting attached allowed a person the perfect range to stab you in the back.
It was a lesson Kidman learned long ago. Everyone eventually turned on you, no matter how long it took them to do so. After running away from her family, Kidman had many good teachers of this particular lesson. Her life until joining Mobius was not a pleasant one.
The people with the biggest smiles were the most sinister, luring you in with false promises and honeyed words. Their knife would always drive deepest.
This was the way of the world, Kidman could trust no one save herself. Not even Mobius, the closest thing she had to a real home, could be trusted. That was just the way it was, nothing could be done about it.
No matter how many times Joseph invited her out to god knows with him or anyone else, she always turned him down. Sometimes she would tell him she had work to do, sometimes she wouldn't even feel like coming up with an excuse, instead just telling him she had plans already. To her surprise, he never tried to ask just what they were. He would always smile and tell her if she needed help to just ask or give him a call.
Initially, Kidman took his behavior for being flirtatious, despite the man being married already. She quickly discovered that the way he was acting was just how Joseph was. He wasn't actually hitting on her, he merely always did his best to be friendly and welcoming.
The very idea of a serious relationship was not something Kidman ever put much thought into. Being intimate with a person... only made their betrayal hurt all the more.
Kidman would never allow a person the chance to hurt her again.
Despite her attempts at keeping everyone way out of arms length, something changed. What first brought it to her attention was something anyone else would see as a minor detail, but to her it was anything but.
She started calling her partners by their first name.
It was something Kidman never did, part of keeping people from getting close was by using their last name whenever talking to them. Using a person's first name meant you were familiar enough with them to do so. It was one reason why she hated when people used her own first name.
For the longest time, Kidman was unable to figure out when she started using their first names. No one ever called her out on it, they just accepted it.
Kidman eventually did remember when it started. It was a case with just her and Sebastian...
One of the good things about her job was being able to deal with criminals, the scum of society. Kidman was no stranger to the wickedness her fellow humans were capable of so she was all too happy to have a hand in getting rid of them.
There were more than a few she'd much rather just shoot and be done with it but doing so would draw unnecessary attention, not to mention cost her the job that Mobius put her into. She had to settle for putting them behind bars.
Richard Maier, the man, if he could even be called that, they were after now was one such criminal she'd prefer to just kill. Three victims already was his handiwork, all women around Kidman's age. Each brutally raped then beaten to death without mercy.
The count would be four, except the fourth woman survived but only barely. Having been found and brought to the hospital, she took days to wake up enough to remember what happened. Thanks to her, they were able to identify their culprit.
However, Richard had pulled a disappearing act. He may have heard that his latest victim was still among the living. Sebastian and Kidman were not the only ones searching for him but he remained elusive.
With Sebastian behind the wheel, her and the Spanish detective were heading to the Richard's place out in the suburbs of Krimson City to see if he was either there or find some trace of where he could have gone.
Just the mere thought of a man like this going to jail for several years then getting out, only to continue his grisly work, made the rage boil in Kidman's veins.
The woman suddenly found herself reminded of a line spoken in some movie she couldn't remember the name of. "Men get help, dogs get put down."
If Kidman was lucky, Richard would resist arrest and she would get the chance to shoot him in the...
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the car's engine shutting off.
Sebastian was silent as he exited the car, Kidman right behind him. This was one of the few times Joseph was not with them, the other detective was out sick for a few days.
Leaving Kidman alone to work alongside Sebastian. At least the man in question didn't reek of alcohol like he often did, or not as much as he usually did. How he could drink so much and still be such a damn good detective she had no idea.
It felt... strange to be alone in Sebastian's presence. The man was not much for talking, neither was Kidman. Most of the time if there was a conversation it was Joseph who started it. Without the other man it was almost silence.
With Sebastian in the lead, the pair of detectives made their way to the front door. The windows of the house were dark, bereft of movement.
Kidman was having an uneasy feeling about this whole situation. Something was off but she couldn't place it.
Sebastian prodded the front door with his foot, the wooden portal creaked open slowly. Dark and unlocked, it screamed trap to Kidman.
Both detectives drew their pistols from their respective holsters and slowly entered the door. As Sebastian flipped the light to the entryway on, Kidman's eyes scanned the room. Nothing seemed to jump out at her that anyone was here.
When Sebastian motioned her to the stairs, Kidman answered with a head nod and moved to the staircase as Sebastian continued on to search the lower floor.
Each step caused the wooden stairs below her feet to creak softly. Kidman felt her heart beat slightly faster the further up the steps she went.
The weight of the gun her hand was a comfort as she reached the top of the staircase.
Flipping on lights as she went, Kidman cleared each room one by one. Not a single sign that anyone was even there nor had been for a while.
Kidman was entering the final room when the attack came. She had just hit the light switch and stepped forward when the crowbar came swinging from behind the door.
Before she had a chance to react, the blow connected with both of her wrists and knocked the gun from her hand before she could even fire a shot. The weapon clattered to the floor where it was kicked aside by her attacker.
Kidman barely managed to cry out in pain as a solid punch connected with her jaw. The blow threw her off balance, leaving her wide open for another hit.
Grabbing the front of her shirt, her attacker, whom she now recognized as Richard, pulled her into the room where he slammed her up against the far wall. The impact caused the back of Kidman's head to hit the wall hard.
Kidman's vision was blurry as her head spun from the head trauma. Her unfocused mind was not even able to make her body move to form a counter-attack.
Richard smiled as he looked at her up and down. "Such a pretty little thing."
Kidman barely heard the words through her fogged mind, but she did feel when another fist struck her stomach. The air was blown from her lungs as he doubled over in pain, a second later her head was slammed up against the wall again.
At this point the only reason Kidman was still standing was because Richard was holding her up against the wall. He didn't even have to have her pinned, Kidman's limbs wouldn't respond as she tried to move them in any attempt to get away.
"I should just kill you, but I think we should have some fun first." Richard practically giggled as he wrapped a hand around her slender throat.
A sharp whistle caught Richard's attention before he could do anything else. When he turned around toward the noise, a new fist collided with his face.
In some distant part of Kidman's mind that was still clear, she could hear the crack as Richard's nose broke.
Stumbling away from Kidman, Richard clutched his bleeding nose as a large blur tackled him to the floor.
With nothing left to keep her upright Kidman fell to the floor in a heap. She weakly tried to get back to her feet but almost instantly fell back down. The entire room was spinning faster and faster with each movement. Another attempt to get up allowed her to make it to her knees but that lasted only a few seconds before she fell yet again but this time onto her side.
The sounds of a struggle echoed through the room as Kidman lay there on the floor. Eventually she heard the rapid retort of multiple gunshots.
Kidman needed to get to her feet to see what was going one. Once again she did not make it far. Only this time before she had a chance to fall on her face there was a pair of strong arms that caught her just in time. The pungent aroma of alcohol wafted into her nostrils.
Normally Kidman hated the stench, but right now it was the sweetest scent she had ever smelled.
"Whoa easy there." The room was still spinning but the gruff words could be heard clear as day by Kidman's ears. "Can you hear me Kidman? Juli?"
Of all the things Kidman could have responded with, she all but growled. "I hate being called that Sebastian."
A quiet chuckle reached Kidman's ears. "Yeah you're fine."
With Sebastian's help Kidman was able to get up to a sitting position against the wall. Now that her vision was clearing somewhat, she could see the body laying on the other side of the room. Two near gunshot wounds in the middle of Richard's chest, a third much lower.
Kidman would have laughed if she wasn't feeling so bad. Apparently she hadn't been the only one thinking torturous thoughts on the drive over.
The female detective tried to stifle a hiss of pain as Sebastian's fingers probed the back of her head. She likely had a nasty concussion if the dizziness was any indication but at least she didn't seem to be bleeding.
Sebastian was saying something into the radio but Kidman couldn't hear it as she was hit by another dizzy spell. It took everything Kidman had not to pass out.
Sounds of footsteps running up the stairs caught the attention of both detectives.
Of all people Kidman could have expected to suddenly show up, Connelly had been one of the last. The patrolmen had his sidearm drawn but when he saw Richard's body off to the side he instantly holstered it.
"You two okay?" Connelly moved over to the pair and dropped down on one knee to look Kidman over. It was very different to how Richard had looked at her earlier.
"Took a good knock to her head but at least we got the guy." Sebastian was first to answer. "Look, you got this?"
Connelly flashed them a smile. "Don't worry about it. See to her and I'll take care of this."
With Sebastian's help, Kidman was able to get back to her feet but her balance was completely shot. The only thing stopping her from tumbling over was Sebastian's arm around her waist.
Later when they had to file the report on the shooting, no one was all that surprised the Sebastian shot the guy. Nor were they all that judgmental about her pretty much getting her ass kicked by some two bit murder rapist. They were more concerned about her being alive and mostly alright.
It was... not what Kidman was expecting. Firstly, she never expected Sebastian to come to her rescue. It was always her assumption that no one was going to look out for her at all. Her own two hands, that was all she could believe in. It was the first time anyone ever fought on her behalf.
The second thing she expected was the total disappointment from everyone else in the department, maybe a severe reprimanding that she was all too ready to brush off no matter how much it bothered her deep down. At first Kidman thought it was because they doubted her skill and abilities. She found out it was actually because everyone else thought any of them could have been caught in that kind of situation.
Kidman had honestly no idea how to react to the way everyone was treating her.
Working with Mobius meant failure was never accepted. Disappointment was not something to be taken lightly. Consequences for letting your superiors in Mobius down were always severe.
Kidman felt like she had let everyone at the police department down and expected them to reflect Mobius' view of failure, but they didn't seem to care.
"You got the guy off the streets, I'd call that a job well done." Joseph told her once he got off sick leave.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to see what it was like to get drinks with her partners one of these days...
Looking up from the rim of her glass, Kidman looked at the two men sitting at the table with her. Yes, it was that day months ago when she started using their first names. She realized that day she was actually welcome at the Krimson City Police Department.
The next time Joseph invited her for drinks, she actually agreed. No one ever said a word about her change of heart, not even a peep from Connelly to her eternal shock.
If either man noticed her using their first names regularly they didn't mention it. They still used her last name though, not because of a lack of familiarity, but because she threatened to shoot both of them if they didn't.
This actually turned out a long longer than I was hoping. Let me know how I did.