Brass and Lightning Chapter 2
Lightning stretched in the riders' leathers she was wearing as put the stand down on her motorbike. Looking around most of the other officers all had eco-cars, chuckling to herself she rolled her eyes. Her pink hair fell to her shoulder as she took her helmet off as she walked by Jihl's car, it was... a Prius. The woman was a ruthless special forces captain and she drove a Prius. If she was hoping to be a badass she'd have to upgrade her mode of transport. Filled with a sense of pride Lightning turned around and looked at her bike parked beside Jill's Prius. It was a Honda CBR1000rr which had cost her quite a bit to get transported over from Cocoon. Apparently, Gran Pulse preferred Cocoonian technology, which was a dozen or so years behind to stay where it was and to rather 'Live natural, live healthily." She cringed at the stupid slogan and pushed through the doors, that healthy crap didn't stop the person who always parked beside her on their GSX1100.
Hurrying through the maze of desks and people that had been stirred up recently, Lightning expertly made her way past a group of male prostitutes and an augmented midget. Unable to help herself she stared at the tiny guy smoking a cigarette and tapping on his robotic knees with his equally robotic hands. "Come on, so I had a few concealed modifications who doesn't these days..."
Looking back up she pressed herself against a wall as Ingrid pushed a trolley filled with boxes. She stopped and gave Lightning a smile. "Oh good morning, now I got something for you... Where did it, AHA!" Reaching underneath the boxes she produced a thick black folder and handed it over. "There you go. Oh and the Lieutenant wants to speak to you about your assignment. Have fun." She spoke with as much forced excitement as she could muster before she hurried off to deliver a few hundred more folders.
Lightning sat the folder down on the benches behind her desk and began changing out of her riding gear and into her uniform. Picking up the bulky bulletproof vest she huffed and shook her head, putting her arms through the holes and doing up the thick straps before reaching down for her shirt. Thankfully it had been redesigned just before she transferred here so she skipped out on wearing the tacky old olive green military era uniforms. Instead, she changed into a white button up shirt with the Gran Pulse Police Department insignia stitched over her left breast and on her shoulders. As she finished buttoning up her shirt and fastening the navy blue tie around the collar of her shirt as she reached for her dark black cargo pants earning a whistle that drew her attention away from the garment. Looking over to the buffoon who was about to see the error of their ways, she groaned, ignoring them as she went back to dressing.
"Hello Officer Yun."
"Oh, it's a good morning now Sunshine." Fang took the time to watch all of Lightning as she rushed and pulled her trousers on. Fang being apart of the GP20 didn't have an official uniform and so was dressed in her signature black tank top and blue jeans. Throwing a thick silver hoodie with 'ASIX' written across the chest in large black letters. A pair of expensive as hell Converse high top shoes ran up the bottoms of jeans.
"Please tell me you didn't come down here just to stare at my ass." Lightning shot the woman a glare before continuing to get dressed.
"Would you be upset if I did?" Fang recoiled from the expression Lighting was giving her. Given that she had been staring at Lightning's behind a second ago even she might have overstepped it. "Actually Jihl sent me. Turns out that John you shot last night goes by the name Marcus Ingrid. A prophet in the Freedom Liberation Group."
Lightning shut her locker and walked beside Fang. Maybe now that she wasn't giving out parking fines she'd actually get to do some work. "So what, I'm joining the GP or something?"
Fang paled as she looked to Lighting. "Oh. You haven't spoken with the chief yet have you?"
"I just got here." Lightning looked up at the stocky man, standing in the doorway of his office. He waved her over before stepping back inside.
Fang collapsed down into Lightning's chair and grinned. "Talk to you in a bit." Much to Lightning's annoyance and judging from the mischievous smile on her face, Fang was messing things up on purpose, already. "I'll put everything back sunshine."
Lightning nodded and punched her in the arm "Stay out of my drawers this time." If there was anything Lightning valued it was her privacy. In the bottom drawer of her desk she kept letters from her friends back on Cocoon for whenever she felt betrayed by the justice she fought to uphold, which considering she got thrown into parking duty any time she neared an actual case, it was pretty often. The rest of her little sister's letters were stashed back in her apartment, it helped Lightning pass the long hours of paperwork.
"Hey lady. Come on, I have a pocketknife in my hand, is that really illegal?"
"Sorry?" Lightning looked at the man from before with the synthetic leg and arm. She clicked her finger as her brain went into overdrive mode and dug through so much useless information. "Umm... Yes if it's an aftermarket concealment it's classified as a dangerous weapon under the Synthetic Rights Act Part 3: Synthetic Defence Modification Laws and Regulations."
The officer escorting the man, Hargrave maybe, smiled and gave her a slight nod. It wasn't the first time that she had helped him with a loud criminal, although it would be nice if he could just bring up information like that. Just read the damn book. She kept her complaint hidden under her stoic expression as she continued forth.
The synth huffed and shuffled past, mumbling to himself in defeat. "It was a damned pocketknife, I used it for boxes..."
The chief's door closed and shut out the noisy hustle and bustle of the station outside, leaving the white noise of the air-conditioner and the clink of the chief's cigarette lighter to fill the room.
"Sir. Officer Yun said you wanted to speak with me." Lightning stood at attention two feet in front of his desk.
"Please, have a seat." The chief sat his cigarette down and looked at her with his eyes bearing that telltale sign of something unpleasant.
Lightning knew it too. The whole sit down thing only happened when the higher-ups wanted a Pulsian to take over a case and make them look good.
"Right sir." Yet she followed along and sat down.
"You already know and I'm sorry Farron. The higher-ups are keeping everything Freedom Group away from non-Pulse officers. Here's your new case." The chief awkwardly avoided the stupid 'Cocoonian' label Pulse had given them after the way, it sounded stupid.
Lightning nodded. "Makes sense, we can't overlook the possibility they have people on the inside." She looked at the picture of the short blonde on his desk as she reached over and took the folder. Her cerulean eyes scanning over the long-winded contents that pretty much said 'parking tickets, yay. "Well, at least it's not garbage duty this time. How's Kate?" Lightning sat the folder down wanting to change the subject.
The chief sighed in relief, most of his Cocoonian officers exploded when the higher-ups swooped in and took their case off of them, Lightning, however, was a rarer case. She had exploded once and that was when the command had stepped in to stop her from arresting a circle of drug traffickers. She went ten rounds on her locker especially when they put her on parking duty immediately after.
"She's good, finally settling in at that bakery, what was it called..." He scratched at his short black beard hoping to jog his memory, fading over the years spent behind a desk. "Ah the damn thing escapes me. It's nice to see the bakers there are treating her right though, hard to find anyone who will take people from Cocoon."
"So who's taking care of Ingrid's kid?" She raised an eyebrow and looked at the captain.
He nodded and picked up his cigarette. "She's been taken into protection. I'm not a liberty to say just who is taking care of her." He scribbled something down on a piece of paper and slid it across the desk. 'Lebreau.' Taking it back he lit the corner with his lighter and sat it in his ashtray. "So your assignment's clear?"
"Yes sir, although I'm a little surprised that they gave me something that could actually classify as work."
The captain smirked and took another puff of his cigarette. "Well, it did take a lot of pushing and pulling, especially by Captain Nabaat. You're technically under guard in case of a retaliation attempt by the terrorist group and the only unoccupied officer is Officer Yun. Which brings me to the next thing, I want you to undergo therapy with Officer Yun."
"You're kidding?! Sir?" Lightning winced at her little outburst.
The captain picked up his cigarette. "You know that I have all of my officers undergo counselling when they first pull the trigger. Yun is available and can keep you in the field as she checks you out."
"I think she's already had plenty of time to check me out, sir. May I ask why I'm being assigned with Yun and not Heather or Sinclair?"
"Heather and Sinclair have their hands full with all the effects of the terrorist activity. One last thing, with all this anti-pulse terrorism the higher-ups want to push the idea of Pulse-Cocoon unity so they're coming around to the idea of you teaming up with members of the GP20 for a while. However, I want you to be careful. They might excellent officers but from what I've seen they're more dangerous than the terrorists.
"Of course. Is that all sir?"
"No." The captain ignored her comment, having worked as police chief for three decades he was well aware of Pulse's idea of unity. You're dismissed. I'll leave you to Officer Yun then." He looked out the window to the Pulsian spinning around in Lightning's chair and adjusting the height and the angle of the back.
"Yes, sir." Lightning gave him a salute before hurriedly walking out before the pesky woman could do too much damage.
Fang sat with a saddened expression as she held the photo of Lightning and her little sister, Serah who was clinging onto Lightning for dear life. It was the day Lightning left Cocoon with Fang. Lightning and Fang were inseparable back then, the two rookies who were going to change the world. Her gaze shot away from the little lycanthrope that she was looking past and over to the officer walking towards her.
"Who's a cute little werewolf? You're a cute little werewolf..." Fang grinned and poked the little lupin in the chest.
"Fang." Lightning growled and glared daggers at the woman hiding behind the werewolf that Serah had sent her for the release of some stupid magical movie back in Cocoon.
Fang sat the little guy back up on the desk and then pried herself from Lightning's chair, grunting as she rose to her feet. "God, how do you sit in that thing all day Sunshine?"
"The promise of pay and a hot meal when I'm done." Lightning looked at her desk and sighed in relief, Fang had at least taken care to put everything back in its place, including... Her fingers ran over the newly added slip of paper tucked under a stack of books. Pulling her hand back she spun around, she'd look at it later when the Pulsian wasn't around to tease her.
"So Sunshine, you all ready to go kick some criminal butt?" Fang grinned and threw her arm around Lightning's shoulders, much to her annoyance. Mumbling under her breath, Lighting moved away from Fang.
"So I'm helping you with paperwork or something?" Lightning grabbed her badge and gun just in case, making sure the safety was on before she tucked it in the holster on her leg.
With her usual cocky grin, Fang proceeded into the elevator. "Nope, I've got to check out a few places today, there's a chance they might have ties to the Freedom Group. Figured I'd dive right into the action and since you're here to watch my back." The doors closed behind them and Fang pressed the button for the ground floor.
"Wait... You mean actual work." Lightning's heart rose and left her feeling relieved, no garbage duty for her today. She hummed practically brimming with energy as she rested against the wall. She hadn't felt this excited for work since the academy. Fang really knew how to treat a girl. It was a shame she wasn't more serious like Jihl, not that the blonde didn't have flaws of her own. Her personality for one could be downright scary at times.
"Yep." Fang crossed her arms over her puffy grey jacket and snuggled down into the fur collar. "So I'm sure the chief told you about the psych stuff." She glanced over at Lightning who was looking down at her phone.
"He did. So you're making the rounds on the girls again?" lightning tucked her phone back into her pocket.
Fang looked over at her and grimaced, her hand nearly reaching out to Lightning's shoulder before she slumped back against the wall. "You're still angry about that?"
"Of course I am. You just up and left me because of your work and then a week later you started going out with other girls." Lightning furrowed her brows and projected her anger towards the floor. "You called have at least talked to me..."
"It wasn't... like that. It was work."
"Really work? At a cafe over cakes?" Lightning looked over to Fang who was stripped of her usual bad-ass attitude.
"Yes, I find it's easier to talk to someone when you're not being peppered by bullets."
Lightning took a deep breath to keep herself from tearing up. "Right so why'd you leave me then, was getting in their pants apart of your work too?"
"No!" Fang looked at Lightning and scrunched up her face. "I never... You're right. I screwed up okay."
The elevator doors opened and a tiny man looked at the women and stepped back from the deadly aura coming from the elevator.
"Grab the next one." Fang closed the doors again and looked back at Lightning.
"Claire. I had just been put into the GP and dealing with everyone's problems as well as fighting remnant cie'th from the war, I didn't want to involve you in all that."
"Urgh!." Lightning grabbed Fang's collar and pulled her close. "But I wanted to be involved Fang! I knew the risks and still tried to be beside you. I told you that four years ago, back in the academy remember. Yet you just pushed me away." Lightning let a choked sob escape to the surface and she let fang go, "Goddammit. I left everything to be here with you Fang. My sister, my friends, my home... and you just threw me away."
Fang stood there stunned, her mouth sitting agape. "Claire I wanted to come back I was just... I didn't want you to get hurt."
Lightning managed to put her usual stone-faced look up before she turned to the emerald green eyes hiding behind Fang's messy black hair. "Scared? Yun Fang, you were scared of me?"
Fang nodded weakly and moved a little closer to the cerulean eyes that had caught her attention the first month of the police academy. Back then things had been different, pleasant even. No weight of the world on their shoulders, just two kids dreaming of being policewomen one day, then again putting it like that made them seem like a bunch of old ladies now.
A long forgotten smile caught Fang's attention as Lightning softened and took a deep breath. "After you left me and after the rumours started up I thought you had never loved me... That I was just a game to you, all this time. You really piss me off you know." Lightning took a deep breath and gave Fang a subtle grin. It was nice to have the idiot back in her arms, even if the idiot had left her when she needed her the most. Without anger and frustration Lightning continued. "Why didn't you come back?"
"After our fight you mean?" Fang's shoulders sagged. "We fought just before I was getting deployed with the GP, back when we were actually hunting cie'th. Well, our mission was prolonged a bit when we stumbled upon an unopened ark. I can't say what happened down there but we stopped being the GP defence force and started being the GP20. There were seventy-three members before we down..." Fang took a deep breath and shook, much to Lightning's surprise who reached out and held onto Fang.
"Fang..."
The Pulsian gave her a smile and pulled her into a hug, one which Lightning didn't mind all too much.
"Lightning, the things I saw it gave me nightmares, horrible ones and then the hallucinations and it tore me apart. I couldn't go back to you like that, I didn't want you to see it. Jihl forced me to take a few months medical leave so I studied the counselling thing. Figured if I could figure out what was wrong with me I could fix it. Then you know, the women, the cafes. It was nice to sit and talk to someone who knew nothing about me, just a stupid woman with nightmares. It helped and eventually the nightmares stopped, the hallucinations stopped. When I went to go back everything crumbled, I was getting redeployed. One of my regulars, a friend I guess went drinking with me, I wanted to talk to her about it and about you. But I screwed up, had too much to drink. Next thing I know I was waking up in her bed and as sore as hell, a headache that felt like it too."
Lightning's heart crumbled as she watched the woman she had known to be invincible spill her heart and guts, her eyes red and teary. When Fang looked up at her Lightning swore under breath and met Fangs look.
"Fang I'm sorry...
Fang chuckled and sighed, stepping forward and pinning Lightning to the elevator wall, she had waited years to do this. "Don't be Sunshine. I'm just glad now you know."
In a moment of surprise, Lightning leapt on her, figuratively of course and kissed her. Her pale pink lips pressed against Fangs as they both reminisced for a moment, forgetting about everything, well nearly everything.
'Brrr. Brrrr!' Jihl snapped and grabbed her phone, darting at lightning's speed to shut the damned thing up. It was too late... They had heard her.
Both Fang and Lightning had looked over to see the blonde woman fumbling with her phone and then drop it.
"Oh damn it." She crouched down and picked it up, letting out a quick huff when she noticed two pairs of eyes on her. The show was over but her friends... She could nearly break character and give the two a genuine smile, something she only ever did when she was back in the safety of her apartment. Gotta stay cool Nabaat, she reminded herself as she stood up.
"Jihl, morning." Lightning was red-faced as she stepped back and quickly tidied herself up, her hair was a mess and her face, oh god. She relaxed when she felt a hand on her shoulder, closing her eyes she took in the soothing Pulsian accent that followed.
"Hey, I guess we'll finish this later. Morning Ma'am." Fang went out first and waved to Jihl as she hurried outside. Her captain had just found her making advances on her friend.
Coughing, Jihl smiled. "Good morning to you too. I'm glad to see you're back together?" She raised an eyebrow at Lightning who looked no worse for wear as she stepped out, not that the mess of pink hair could get any worse.
"I'm not too sure at the moment. I'll see you later Jihl."
"Sure thing. Though in future do remember elevators don't go forever. You do have quite a comfy bed though." With a smug grin and reddened cheeks, Jihl hummed as she hurried inside and looked around for any fluids... "Urgh." She repulsed at the thought of standing in, something. Waving as the doors closed she started humming to herself.
Having studied with Fang and Lightning for years at the same time in the academy, she had grown accustomed to watching those to kiss and cuddle and be childish around their dorm living room, it had been a welcomed break from the relentless onslaught of studying required to take the role of captain. Although the three o'clock in the morning arrivals of them being lovey-dovey and standing in the door was a nuisance. Oh, and the times they came back drunk and made themselves comfortable on the couch. With a long drawn out sigh Jihl was starting to remember why she pushed Lightning and Fang to get a place of their own.
Fang was spinning a cigarette in her fingers as Lightning came out. "Hey want one?" She leaned forward and held it out for her. Lightning considered taking the brunette up on her offer, cigarette's and good quality ones like the ones the chairman had given her sold for hundreds of dollars a pack.
"Maybe later."
"Oooh." Fang cooed as she tucked it back into the packet in her other hand. "Quitting are we?" In a big arch, she brought her legs to one side and scooched up to the seat, giving Lighting room to climb on.
"No. They're unfortunately the only stress relief I've got at the moment." Lightning said as she sat behind Fang. Her skin was still the slightly dark shade that was from tanning under an actual sun, unlike Cocoon's manmade sun. Lightning had grown accustomed to pressing herself against it back in the academy dorms. Looking up without thinking Lightning regretted it as the blinding light connected with her eyes. It was easy to forget the little things like that. How the entirety of Cocoon's eco-system was manufactured and made to withstand the burden of overpopulation and pollution.
The sound of the motorbike starting up brought her attention back down to earth. Fang was holding a helmet for Lightning in one hand and her cigarette in the other.
In a quick motion, she tied her hair into a bun and pulled the helmet over it. "Shall we?"
Fang gave her a wink and tossed her cigarette under her boot. Putting the bike into gear Fang began driving.
"So where are we going?"
Fang glanced back as she pulled to a stop at the exit of the police parking lot. "Cafe Eden."
Cafe Eden. It was something right out of a cheesy action movie. Lightning kept her eyes on Fang as they walked passed a few burly customers chatting with each other or reading the morning paper. Their eyes cast towards the police officers as the doorbell rang.
From behind the counter, a much smaller and more welcoming man smiled. In a cheery upbeat tone, he greeted them. "Good morning ladies. It is a pleasure to have you."
Fang slapped the folder of photos on the counter and pointed to some of the faces. "We would like to ask you a couple of questions about the people in these photos."
The man stepped out and wiped his hands on his apron. "Shall we take a booth." He walked to a booth near a window and sat down, Fang and Lightning followed after him and looked around. Lightning stopped and looked to Fang who grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the counter. Leaning over she whispered quietly in her ear. "Lightning, I want you to check the rooftops."
Lightning looked at her and nodded. "Expecting trouble?"
"These guys are supposed to be the import hub for any and all freedom soldiers so I wouldn't put it past them."
"You gonna be fine in here?" Lightning looked over to the waiter who fidgeted and looked over at them and smiled. "Alright well be careful."
"Will do." Fang winked and walked over to the booth and sat down.
The door closed behind Lightning as she hurried across the street. The eyes watching her were unsettling. As she entered the alley she looked over her shoulder for any followers. As she rounded the first corner towards the rear entrance the sound of clanging bins caught her attention. "Jeez... You'd think these guys would at least get basic training." Lightning hurried through a back door and into a busy restaurant, her presence barely gaining the attention of the busy cooks as she darted through and out onto the floor. Her followers, however, lacked such finesse and ended up colliding with one of the cooks, who then proceeded to yell as loud as he could and make threats with a very, very large knife.
Carefully she pushed out the front doors and around the building to the fire escape for the building next door. The fire exit, of course, was as well maintained as well... No matter. Lightning quickly stretched her legs before getting a run-up. After a quick sprint Lightning ran up the bins and onto the wall before leaping across and grabbing onto the railing with a loud clang.
"HEY! Goddamit!" The lackey threw his hands in the air and turned to his partner who was covered in soup.
Lightning looked down and grinned. The man waved and grabbed a radio catching Lightning's attention. Hurrying as fast as she could up the stairs, she cleared the staircase and threw herself to the ground, sliding across the rough surface she scuffed up the knees on her pants.
Her attacker a French man by the accent tipped his hat and took a drag of his cigarette. "Ey that was pretty good mademoiselle. Not many can dodge my blade." The French man turned to his comrades who raced up the stairs their guns at the ready. "Thank you monsieurs. I shall take it from here." He gestured for them to go before taking another drag of his cigarette. They shared a glance the two men nodded and holstered their firearms. "Très bien monsieur. Radio quand vous avez terminé."
"Garde une bouteille pour moi." Turning back around, the French threw his cigarette on the ground and pulled out his pistol. "That's a pretty lady down there. But know that I am fighting for a pretty lady too. Oui France is a beautiful woman worth dying for..."
Lightning got to her feet and drew her gun, clicking the safety off while keeping her eyes on the sniper. She had to finish this up quick yet she would prefer to injure the guy than kill. Going off the rather hazardous amount of cigarettes and the large calibre rifle perched on the ledge overlooking the cafe, he was probably the bad guy.
Lightning dropped the magazine from her gun and kicked it at the French man who threw his arms to block it. Quickly he threw his gun up and scanned for Lighting, leaping back in reaction he let off a few rounds, the bullets scraping across Lightning's arms leaving trails of blood underneath the tattered fabric. Darting forward she danced around the bullets, tucking her body in close she jabbed forward with her knife, coming close to piercing the sniper's stomach. With the last of her momentum, she deflected his gun from her face and towards the sky. With a loud bang, it went off and shattered a window. Just for a moment, Lightning thought she heard, her mind glancing over for a fragment of a second. When she turned back she closed her eyes, the French man connected his boot square with her face, sending her back.
From his ear, he grabbed another cigarette and brought it down to his mouth. In one hand he held his gun and the other a lighter. Lightning's gun, which she had dropped in the scramble crunched under his boots.
"What a shame Cherie. Well, I guess that's how it is. Anything you want to say to your friend?"
Lightning tensed up as a dozen or so gunshots when off from behind the French man. His chest turning red as he dropped to his knees and collapsed.
Fang breathed heavily, she had blood on her but no visible wounds. Her gun was still smoking as she looked to Lightning. "Claire!" Fang rushed over and dropped her gun, looking over Lightning quickly. "Did he get you anywhere?" Fang had to stop herself from tearing the woman's clothes off to check and looked over at the assassin who was definitely dead.
"No, I'm, fine." Lightning grunted as she stepped up, the scrapes on her arms weren't the only places the bullets had gotten her. "Going to have a hell of a bruise tomorrow though."
"Heck yeah. Bruises are great though, women love 'em. Now let's get you up." Fang pulled Lightning over her shoulders Fang moved towards the fire escape, her radio buzzing on her belt. Grabbing it she looked over the ledge before starting down the stairs, in case any more soldiers joined the two she had incapacitated. "Yun here."
"Yun hows officer Farron?"
"She took a blow to her vest." Fang quickly tucked the radio back in its pouch and grabbed her handgun from the front of her pants and aimed it at the corner of the alley.
Relief washed over her as a Cid Raines, one of the other operatives rushed around the corner and waved. "Yun it's all clear."
"Right wanna catch this one?" Fang moved to the edge and waited for Raines to come over.
He grunted and nearly dropped Lightning before helping her back to her feet. "Heavier than you'd think."
Fang dropped down and grabbed Raines gun from him. "Hey, hows the package?"
"The cafe? We've got it locked down and everyone detained." Raines walked beside Fang who hurried up ahead and to the street. A few officers looked her up down with concern before she flashed her badge. A woman in a hoodie carrying a sub-machine gun was a very concerning sight for most police officers.
Helping Lightning to one the cars Raines looked inside and pulled a first aid kit. "Now miss... Lightning?"
"Farron, officer Farron." Lightning looked at Raines, he was different from when she was staring at the ground. He glanced over to Fang who was bossing their way past officers and into the cafe. Shaking his head he opened the box and looked through it. "So just some scrapes?"
"I think so." Lightning pulled her sleeves up and showed the grazes on her arms.
Raines smiled and nodded. "Impressive. It's not every day you see someone dodging bullets at close range. No wonder Yun talks about you a lot."
"Really?" Lightning grabbed the anti-septic bandages from Raines and wrapped her arms.
"Yeah like annoyingly so. But you know it's a good break from the others. Makes me wish I hadn't put up my uniform sometimes." Raines looked over to the cafe and then back to Lightning. "Hey, do you mind?"
Lightning shook her head and reached into her pocket for her cigarette's. "Not at all."
Fang had taken off her Hoodie and was towering over the waiter in her not so white t-shirt. Her hand was as much coated in blood as her shoes. "Pierre for god sake, talk you stubborn son of a-"
The door opened, catching her attention as Raines walked in.
"How's he going?"
Fang groaned and looked at the waiter on the floor. "You know this usually works. Wanna give it a shot Raines?"
"Done. Pierre, one second." Raines pulled out his phone and dialled a number. "Hey, Rosch you there yet? Okay, put them on." Raines reached down and placed the phone in front of him. On the screen, a woman and child shouted out before another man picked it up. "Pierre. We know the Freedom Liberation has been prodding around arks. Why?"
Raines paced around in silence for a second. "We're fighting for the same thing you know. I too have a wife and child, he'll be five years old next January Pierre. You have a daughter right? Rosch, what's Pierre's daughter's name?"
"Amanda, sir."
"You know it'd be a shame if this Christmas, Amanda and Rebecca had to spend it alone or maybe they won't get a Christmas at all. So Pierre why are the Freedom Liberation touching the arks?" Raines placed the phone down again.
Pierre looked at the phone and his wife, clutching their four-year-old daughter in her arms. "Revenge. We want revenge for the stone sickness. Give us a cure dammit!"
Raines looked at him and shook his head. "There is no cure. Everybody knows that. Are they planning on using the arks against Pulse? What arks have you touched?"
"I don't know." Pierre looked at him and gritted his teeth. The woman who had beaten him earlier was sitting back, wiping the blood off of her hands."
"Rosch."
Pierre's gut dropped as the sound of a gun cocking came through the phone. "God. What the hell is wrong with you people?!"
Fang and Raines both stared at him. Fang stood up and walked over. "Stone sickness isn't what the arks are for. You people know nothing."
"Because you tell us nothing!"
Fang turned to hit him and stopped as Raines held out his hand. "You want to know that the arks do? You think they just turn you to stone? We ventured into those arks to save our humanity, ironic we came out nothing but monsters. Now, who leads the Freedom?"
"Alright, Rosch let's see let's go with a finger from the..." Raines looked over to Fang who pulled out a coin and tossed it.
"Heads. The wife."
Raines sat the phone down in front of Pierre so he could see Rosch holding Rebecca's hand down on the table.
"10, 9, 8 -"
"Stop. I don't know!" Pierre looked at the phone in horror and bit his lip.
"Then give us a name. 6, 5-"
Pierre looked away from the screen before Fang grabbed him from behind and pressed his face in the screen. "Pierre... A name or her fingers."
"4, 3, Pierre we're at 2 now. One. Ro-"
"Golden Gardens!" Pierre's face crumbled as he was forced to watch his wife sobbing on the screen. "The Golden Gardens Club."
Raines grabbed his radio.
"Captain Nabaat. Golden Gardens Club. Yes Ma'am." Raines put the radio down and turned to Pierre. "Alright, Pierre. Good work you now let's continue... The next one please Pierre. 10, 9, -"
A/N - I don't speak French so I'M SO SORRY to anyone who speaks actual french and was deeply scarred by my attempt at it so if you know what it's supposed to be then just pm and lemme know. Regarding the massive break, I kinda fell out of writing with things IRL. But I'm getting really into writing lately and wanted to get this finished up. So I hope you enjoyed. TAT