Chapter 2: You Are What You Drive
Sora couldn't help but laugh quietly as Roxas and Riku sized up one another. He was trying to pay attention to Leon's briefing, knowing full well that the other two weren't and they would expect a full summery later, but the tension between them was so palpable it was hard to ignore.
Okay, so maybe it was a little ironic that Riku had been the one who cut Roxas off in the parking lot. And of course Riku's "Hell no, I don't want to carry around a newbie, especially one who can't even park" probably wasn't the best way to introduce himself to Roxas. And it was certainly awkward when Roxas told Riku to stop making "bedroom eyes" at Sora (not that he was…) but Sora didn't understand why they couldn't at least pretend to get along? At least until Leon left… facilitating the murder of one of your employees by another employee probably wasn't the best way to start off a term as Captain.
It would sure make for an easy case though, with all the other detectives around as witnesses and plenty of physical evidence at the scene. The two detectives' DNA was already in the system too. Not that he wanted Roxas to go to jail. Or Riku, or…
He felt his phone go off in his pocket, grounding his run-a-way train of thought. The vibrations were so strong that the sound was almost as loud as a normal ringtone would have been. He got a few annoyed looks from the surrounding detectives. So what if he was the only techie here? He'd bet that Leon trusted him far more than anyone else in this room, with the exception of Riku and maybe Axel. He was Head of Forensics. He was the one that made sure all their little search warrants and arrest warrants could be backed in front of a judge. He gussied up for court almost every week to present his complicated findings in a way that the common juror could understand. He deserved to be here.
Stopping that thinking before he burst out into a lecture on how criminal technicians were underappreciated, he retrieved the phone and flipped it open. He skimmed the text message, ignoring Leon's disapproving glare as his Captain caught sight of his requested guest ignoring the meeting outright. Sora hoped his lackeys had something good. He wasn't disappointed. The atmosphere needed some positive energy, what with the serial killer briefing, the missing kid and the mental war going beside him.
Glancing at the others attending the briefing and finding that most weren't from their department, he motioned Leon over for a private conversation. No need to go spreading their case details with those not assigned to it. Leon gave a brief dismissal to the group, asking in conclusion for all officers to be on the lookout for cases fitting the killers M.O., and then stalked over to their corner. A scowl appeared on his scarred face when he caught sight of Roxas' and Riku's private "conversation". Sora half-thought to warn them but perhaps a good glare from Frosty McCreepertin would help them get over themselves. It had certainly helped Axel and himself.
Said red-head seemed to have the same thoughts, giving the approaching man his best Cheshire Cat smile while reaching out under the table to slip a ten into Naminé's outstretched hands. Demyx caught Sora's eyes and rolled his own, coughing up a ten himself and giving it to their forensic artist as well. Even without hearing the bet, Sora knew Axel was hoping for a public humiliation while Demyx was betting on personal yet sarcastic remark. Had Sora been sitting on their side of the table he would have gone for the long and detailed lecture after everyone else had left.
Of course, as Head of Forensics, he had never sunken down to betting on his coworkers. Never. That's what the lackeys were for but they were away in lab so he kept his money.
Drawing close to the feuding partners, Leon leaned down between them and whispered, "Jenova, Kibun, do we need to get you a room or would you like to share your secret love with the rest of us?"
Demyx did a subtle fist-pound into the air and accepted his winnings from Naminé.
Roxas slowly turned to face their superior while Riku found an interesting spot on the table to focus on.
"It's good to know you two can ignore missing 4 year-olds without regret. That's the kind of hard-ass guys we need in this place. In fact, why don't you two take over the case? When you find him, just smother him and dispose of the body in a public place as a warning to other kidnapped kids that we don't give a shit about them. And then why don't you find another kid to hand over to this psychopath. I mean, you think this guy is doing us all a favor, am I correct?"
So maybe Leon on "intense" mode wasn't what Roxas needed during his first week. Sora was sure that if his eyes got any wider they would become stuck in that position. Then they'd have to move him to night shift because he'd be able to see in the dark and the only way Sora would be able to talk with him would be to buy some giant light and install it on the roof of their building that he could use to call Roxas from his lair like Batman...
Sora didn't realize he had laughed out loud at his Roxas-Batman image until the others were staring at him, their expressions ranging from Riku's relieved look to Leon looking as if he was going to throw Sora into a mental institute.
"Err." He tried to come up with a way to explain himself. "Dun na na na na na na na?"
The silenced dragged on. Sensing Sora's growing discomfort, Demyx jumped into his rescue, popping up from his seat and screaming "Batman!"
The blond ran over to Sora and gave him a big high five.
Leon stood, pinching the bridge of his nose while the others chuckled, some sounding more forced than others. Roxas and Riku actually shared a relieved look until they realized that the motion was a step towards being decent to each other and resumed glaring.
Catching Leon about to launch into a different disciplinary tactic, Sora broke in before he lost his chance to share his team's findings. "Oh! Leon! I have some results from the Dragons case!"
With one last final look at the feuding partners, Leon turned to lean over Sora. "What have you got for me, Sky?"
Sora drew up closer to the much taller Leon, aware that some of the other detectives where taking their time exiting the conference in hopes of catching some news of their case. The fact that Leon's division was the corporate favorite for investigating high profile crimes was well known and other officers tended to be curious about the workings of such an elite squad.
Undoubtedly the few remaining were questioning their reverence of the Major Case unit after his "Batman" outburst. It was for the better, really.
"I think we may finally have some evidence worth presenting to a judge. Cid narrowed down the list of previous gangs in the basin area to those that had some connection to the Land of the Dragons which is where we think the Huns started their operation. There's one, the Red Army, which worked the weapons exchange between Hollow Bastion and the Land of the Dragons, which had some run-ins with the Huns. It disbanded a few months after the Huns took over its main supply route."
Leon ran a hand through his hair, tugging on the ends and leaned in closer. "Gives us somewhere to start at least. Got any more information on this 'Red Army'?"
Sora shook his head, frowning at Leon. "C'mon, you didn't think I called you over hear just for that, did you? You're losing your detective touch in that captain's seat." Leon rolled his eyes, knowing full well that Sora had been one of his biggest supporters for the promotion. "The leader of the Red Army has kicked the bucket since the gang disbanded. His second in command, however, is still a citizen of our lovely little city. He goes by the name Fa Zhou. No criminal activity since the end of the gang but I figure he might know something about why the Huns want to see their old rivals dead when they're not even a threat. I've got Yuffie running our vics against known Red Army gang members and I'm hoping we'll get a hit."
"I know you will," Leon replied, straightening as he motioned for Axel and Demyx to move in. "Hanabi, Kawa, I want you two to go talk to Zhou. See if he knows either vics and whether he has some idea about why he Huns are going after his fellow gang members."
Axel smiled. "They do always seem to care more when they could be a potential target." He and Demyx gathered their papers and headed out of the briefing room to collect their equipment. He turned to Roxas and Riku, who had laid their differences aside for the moment in hopes of getting a decent assignment. "Jenova, Kibun, I want you two looking for similarities between our vics that might give Yuffie something more to go off of. If we find a link between these two and a particular gang we might have enough to start some real detective work. In the meantime, get something to eat." He smiled as Riku moaned, knowing full well what that meant for the pair. "You've got a long day ahead of you."
Aside from giving them a new lead on the case, Sora was thankful for the team's findings because it had caused Leon to end what could have been a lengthy meeting just in time for lunch.
Contemplating his food choices as he walked down the hallway towards the entrance, Sora didn't notice Riku's stealthy approach until the other boy poked him lightly in the back and fell into pace beside him with an easy smile. How he had managed to catch up to him must have only been thanks to his too-goddam long legs. Sora hated being reminded of his petit figure. Even Roxas had sprouted up a few inches since he had last seen him.
He really needed shorter friends.
Unaware of Sora's mental disgruntlements, Riku grinned, looking way too happy than anyone who had been arguing with a partner they didn't want and had then been yelled at by Leon had right to be. "Ready to convince some munchkins that you're a god and they should follow in your footsteps?"
Sora cursed silently. Leave it to Riku to remember his schedule better than he did. Today was his tutoring day.
Most of those interested in criminal justice and its related careers went to the academy, which specialized in the fields that were employed at the institution. Having been at the top of his class and the only one of those top members to have been truly successful in his field thus far, the school had requested that Sora do some "life tutoring" of their best and brightest students. They hoped he could help convince more lab technicians to stick with the science side of crime fighting, since a good number of forensic graduates eventually left the labs for street duty and detective work.
The nearest clock read 11:43, just in time to catch the shuttle. Sora grimaced. He didn't have anything against public transportation, no, he was all for saving the planet, going green and all that other fun stuff. It was the person driving the shuttle that made him fear for his life and his innocence.
The driver of Hollow Bastion Criminal Investigative Unit's shuttle was not a good-looking lady. Sora had been in-tune with his sexuality from a young age, so while he knew almost nothing about what constituted as an "attractive" female he was pretty sure his heterosexual counterparts would not considered her appealing. She, however, found him very attractive. Her roaming hands and the way she could make everything she said sound like one of Axel's sexual innuendos made for a very uncomfortable shuttle ride.
The obvious solution would be to buy a car. He had gotten his permit and completed the required driving hours before going to college but had never found the time to set a court date for his license. Then a mandatory structural engineering class had shown him the many fatal flaws of "five star safety rated" cars. Combined with his rather poor driving ability (he'd really only received his permit because Roxas' parents had know the instructor), Sora decided against getting a license and therefore against getting a car. As long as he had good friends, he'd thought, he could just carpool with them.
Except at lunch time. You can never count on friends at lunch time. It's a little thing called priorities that says no one wants to go out of their way to drop you off at the academy when the cop-friendly restaurants offering much needed discounts were on the other side of the city.
Contemplating his future agony at the hands of the shuttle lady, Sora missed most of Riku's comments as they walked down the many hallways leading from their division to the front parking lot and shuttle stop. Hoping that Riku didn't notice his earlier lack of response, Sora paid extra close attention to his friend now, looking for something that would hint at the topic of conversation.
"-so I figured I'd offer you a ride to the academy. Not only do I get to spend time with you but I also get an excuse to not have lunch with the newbie." Riku flashed his most flirtatious smile, the one that would have all the girls and most of the guys bowing before him.
Sora didn't really see the smile. He heard only two words, "ride" and "academy". A halo and wings appeared around the already angelic silveret. He was all set to give Riku his signature glomp-hug when someone reached and grabbed his arm, pulling him back away from the now more demonic looking Riku.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, newbie?" It was amazing how fast Riku could change personalities. The man had the most mood swings of anyone Sora knew.
Roxas just gave his partner a cheeky smile. "Oh, it just a rule of the best friend club. Don't let creepy men drag fellow members to their cars alone." He made a move to herd Sora away.
Instead, Sora pulled out of his grip and stood between the two aggressors. "Guys, I don't mean to complain or, y'know, break up this lovely moment but I really need a ride. Could we get over our differences for the next few minutes? I don't want to be molested by an ugly woman!" He closed his eyes, put his hands together in front of his face and prayed for peace between his car-owning friends.
He kept his eyes closed as the two deliberated silently. He couldn't bear to watch his chance slip away in the tides of confrontation. Finally he heard Riku sigh and cracked one eye open to watch his friend run his hands through his hair. Riku always touched his hair when he was frustrated or unhappy. Considering giving Sora a ride would involve Roxas, it could be a good sign…
"What if… we all go to the academy?" Riku held his hand up as Roxas began to protest. "We can all go in my car, so Sora is safe from the shuttle and you can learn where the academy is for future reference. Unless you'd like Sora to write up some directions for you?" He smirked as Sora stuck his tongue out at him for the obvious jab at his navigation ability. Sora knew his way to the academy… mostly. "We'll drop Sora off and then I'll show you where the best restaurants are. A few give some pretty big discounts to cops and on our salaries we need all the help we can get."
Sora didn't say anything. Riku being decent to someone he disliked was a rare occurrence and Sora didn't want to break him out of whatever trance he had been put in. He did, however, send up another prayer of thanks.
Roxas, although obviously not happy with the idea, took one look at Sora's pitiful face and reluctantly agreed. The three soon found themselves speeding out of the parking lot in Riku's car.
No, not car. His Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, a name which Riku had practically forced Sora to memorize. No one called Riku Jenova's ride a car.
Truthfully though, Sora wasn't even sure if he put all the names together correctly and he certainly had no idea what they meant. The only thing he knew was that the car was probably just a flimsy and as much of a death trap as any other car that had been in that structural engineering lecture. And at 14 miles to the gallon he had no idea how Riku managed to drive it all over the city and still have money left for food.
From the look on Roxas' face, the blond didn't even know how someone living off a detective's salary could afford a $46,000 car in the first place. It wasn't so hard to understand when you knew that Riku's father, Sephiroth Jenova, just happened to be the Mayor of Hollow Bastion. And although father and son were estranged now, the car had been a gift during better times.
"So tell me more about this "Dragons" case. Sora only gave me the general story and Leon's briefing keeps getting put off." Roxas leaned forward between the two front seats where Riku and Sora sat. Being the smallest there, Sora had offered to sit in the compact back seat but Riku had adamantly insisted he ride in the front. Roxas hadn't made too much of a fuss over it, so here they were, Sora stretched out in the unneeded space and Roxas shifting around in an attempt to get comfortable.
Riku, noticing Roxas' fidgeting, only scowled and muttered, "It's built for two people, which is how many should be going on this little outing," under his breath but Sora interrupted before another fight broke out.
"Well, it started as just another gang-related murder until the second and third body showed up. All killed in signature Hun style and all left out in the open on Hun territory. It's just not like them to leave such obvious clues about their hits so we started trying to link the killings together and came up with some old gang affiliations. All the vics were older guys who had apparently been part of some other gang back in the day."
"Or one crazy fraternity," Riku chimed in, having apparently given up sulking over Roxas' presence. "They all share an old style sword tattoo on their chests but without prints we have no solid way of matching the bodies up with identities. And we have so many small-time and short-lived gangs in the city, the tattoos alone aren't enough. Without IDs, we can kiss any sort of search warrant good bye. Gang lawyers are good about turning search warrants based on hunches into police harassment. So there was really nothing we could do to get close to these sickly old prunes before they shrivel up for good."
Giving Riku a scolding look for referring to the elderly in such a degrading manner, Sora picked up where he left off. "We did some digging and managed to narrow down the list of possible gangs based on how old the victims are, where the gang's range was and whether the gang had any connection to the Land of the Dragons, which is where the Huns originate from. Gangs usually don't bother with each other unless some part overlaps. The Red Army was the only one that fit and only surviving member we could find is Zhou. He's been clean for years, not even a driving ticket since the gang-"
A quiet, "Not that guys that old and blind do a lot of driving", came from the direction of the driver's seat.
"-but that doesn't mean we can't try to nail him for something associated with the old gang and hope to get some info about his case from the interrogation." Sora turned to Riku, motioning for him to jump in.
"That's where we come in." Riku looked up into the rearview mirror to catch Roxas' eye. "You're the newbie so we'll probably be focusing on the old cases instead of the real detective work." Roxas visible bristled at the accusatory tone. The stab was a bit unfair, as he hadn't been the one to pair them together. "Our job will be to investigate unsolved crimes that were linked to the Red Army during their short run and see if we can find something that the Huns might be interested in now. It means a lot of paperwork and a lot of interviews, which will introduce you to the big time court system. No hick town policies here. Whatever you were use to in Twilight Town will have to be beat out of you and I have so thoughtfully been assigned the job." Riku smiled hugely into the rearview mirror at his partner.
Instead of getting into another argument, like Sora expected him to, Roxas decided to look out the window, possibly to cool his temper. The Roxas Sora had known would have never had the control he had now. It was weird to see his childhood friend acting so much more… mature. Five years of street duty would do that to you, he supposed.
The rest of the ride was filled with friendly chatter between Riku and himself consisting mostly of him bringing up current events and Riku chiming in with his opinion every once in awhile. It was these moments Sora lived for, the quiet times to enjoy close friendships, even with Roxas' silent brooding darkening the atmosphere.
After a few minutes of idle chit-chat the academy came into view. A large grey building, what the headquarters showed as prestige, the academy brandished for intimidation. Admissions officials used whatever they could to weed out the less than fully dedicated recruits, including keeping the entry grounds as dismal as possible. A chorus of gun fire could be heard radiating off the surrounding buildings. It was only after completing two successful years at the academy that students could use the firing ranges and even then it was only on administration approved days; the sound meant that there were some very eager, and armed, recruits about. Fantastic.
Riku pulled up to the side door that was the closest way to the lab section of the academy, knowing from experience from driving Sora to his meetings and appointments. With a quick farewell to Roxas and warning to Riku to be nice, Sora slipped out of the car and watched it drive out of sight before turning towards the academy. Sighing, he pulled his phone out of his back pocket. No messages. Nothing to distract him from the task at hand. With five minutes left before his luncheon, he headed towards the classrooms opposite of the private meeting rooms. Strolling along the hallways, looking in on the rising students, Sora couldn't help but feel nostalgic. It was only a few years ago that he was behind one of those desks, an eager student hoping he would be able to change the world.
The idea that one person's efforts could be a real force of good wasn't so hard to believe back then. Now, a few years into the business, Sora didn't know if what he did really made any dent in the criminal activity. No matter how many finger prints he lifted or DNA samples he matched or shrapnel he put back together, there was always another case waiting. It was a vicious cycle where the euphoric feeling of solving one case was crushed by another violent act that drove him to get justice for that victim which produced the euphoria again. How does one explain such a masochistic profession to college students?
He didn't have any more time to ponder the task at hand as the doors of the classrooms flew open and students filed out for their lunch break. He slipped through the crowed hallways easily, putting his height and slight build to their only advantages. A taller person might have been able to muscle their way through the students but it seemed so much easier to be able to flit in and out of the small gaps between people.
Using his patented "Sora skirt", he made his way back along the hallway to the employee break room where his tutees would be waiting. The break room had various private meeting areas where the luncheons took place. All but one of the private rooms were already occupied which made finding his fairly simple. There was no one in the room when he came in but a small fold-up table that had been erected along one wall held a platter of store-bought cold subs. Good to know the academy valued his time so much as to serve him with gourmet food. The sad fact was that the subs were gourmet compared to his usual diet of instant meals and iced coffee.
The first student entered as he poked around the sub platter. She was a nervous sort of girl, giving Sora a shy greeting before selecting a chair on the opposite side of the room from where he was standing. Sora smiled back but didn't say anything. If she was afraid to talk to him, there was no way she was going to go before a grand jury. He doubted she would continue with the program, no matter what he said.
Within a few minutes the second undergraduate entered, another girl with blond hair and big blue eyes to match. Apparently Sora's hopes for attracting more males into their science programs wasn't going to be realized today. Despite the academy's constant push for more female detectives, his forensic unit was already filled with females. He sighed to himself and turned to address the two girls.
"Hey guys. Welcome to "forensic technicians are fantastic" with Sora Tobu. I'm Sora, as you may have guessed, and I'm here to talk to you about being a techie with the great city of Hollow Bastion means and perhaps answer some questions. Remember, there are no stupid questions, so if you're ever feeling particularly dumb just ask a question and you'll be cured!"
He got a slight smile out of the first and a blank look from the second. Both obviously needed more prodding to speak. "So, you want to tell me who I'm advertising to?"
They both glanced at each other, hoping they wouldn't have to go first. The blond took one look at her quivering brunette partner and must have felt some pang of sympathy. "I'm Alice. Alice Liddell." Her declaration seemed to encourage the other girl, who added quietly, "And I'm Shelinda Sodashi, sir."
Oh, he loved it when they called him sir. Such a feeling of power and respect. If only Shelinda wouldn't cower when she said it. He wasn't Leon.
Sora sat down across from Alice and Shelinda, the former having found an interest in the bricks of the walls and the latter looking down at her hands folded in her lap.
This was going to be a long lunch.
To his surprise, Shelinda proved knowledgeable about forensics and actually interested in Sora's work. Alice mostly ignored the conversation, only interrupting with random facts and irrelevant information that Sora might have been interested in if he hadn't been using up his lunch time to come talk to the girls. Discussing obscure things was something to do in one's free time, not waste someone else's lunch.
After the luncheon, he'd given his contact information to Shelinda in case she had any more questions or whatever she needed to further her career. Alice didn't ask for anything and Sora was happy to withhold it. There were quite enough weird people in the industry already, himself included.
Using his hand to block the sun from his eyes, Sora eagerly watched the road coming into the academy for any signs of Roxas and Riku. He wanted to hear how their lunch bonding had went, having high hopes from their almost civilized compromise earlier.
When his arm started to ache, he abandoned his watch and turned away from the sun just in time to see a slight figure dash between the parked cars in the academy lot. Knowing that no students were allowed to wander the lot, he trotted closer to get a better view of the intruder. He knew from experience that the lot was a dangerous place, with squad cars and their stressed drivers speeding in and out. Going to get a staff member would take too much time and Riku would be pulling in soon enough anyway, so he decided to pursue the retreating figure. Even if it was just a lost first-year, he could use the distraction.
The thrill of the chase was something even the techies could admire and although Sora didn't have the muscle memory of it like the other detectives, he easily cleared the chain-link fence surrounding the lot. Petit builds win again!
Further evidence of Riku's training came through as he darted around the cars, subconsciously naming the make and model as he went along. As if Sora really needed more useless knowledge to distract him. He was slowly catching up to the figure, which he now saw was not a uniformed student but a rather thin person in a dark sweatshirt and hat. Classic bad guy. Sweatshirts were never good signs for pursuers though, the loose material making it easy to conceal weapons, but when the figure made a wrong move in the chase Sora seized the opportunity and took him down. Knock them off their feet, onto the ground, pinned down, hands retrained, just like Riku had taught him. It worked perfectly. Of course, now that he had the figure pinned they were both stuck like that; Sora couldn't move without releasing him and the man couldn't move at all unless Sora moved first. Thankfully, their impasse lasted only a few seconds as Riku and a confused looking Roxas came out from the sea of cars to his rescue.
"Aspiring to be in lot security now, Sora? I thought you were here to encourage students to become scientists, not let them encourage you to find another job."
Sora only vaguely heard Riku. He was more focused on the intricate tattoo that ran the length of the man's arm which had become visible during the struggle. It was a black raven done in a tribal style. The marking of a Hun member.
Without waiting for Riku's help, Sora flipped the man over to face him, still managing to keep his arms and legs restrained. "What are you doing trespassing on a government facility?"
The hood fell away from his face, revealing a young man with a cocky look on his face. Hard to pull that when you're pinned beneath a lab geek. He didn't know that of course, but…
The man didn't provide any answer, so Riku leaned in to help Sora slip cuffs on him. "Nice work, techie," Riku said admiringly, tousling Sora's hair. Sora would have beamed at him if Roxas hadn't chosen that moment to roughly shove his way in between them and lead the man to Riku's car.
Guess that lunch time bonding hadn't gone as well as he had hoped.
Ugh, planning weddings is not fun. Someday I'd love to be a guest and not part of the set-up team. My advice for this chapter? Elope.
So yeah. Another one down. And yes, PoV will switch around, partially because I get bored writing as one character, mostly because I love Sora and Riku more than Roxas. C:
Reviews are good. I never understood just how much they mean to authors before I started writing myself. They're like drugs! Or children, if you're a Torchwood fan and get what I'm talking about. So review and make me a happy person. Loved it? Hate it? Think I should spend more time speaking English with my family than French? Let it all out but stick around until the next chapter!
