A/N I'm really flattered and appreciative for all the support! And don't worry about Elphaba. She's a little tightly wound, but it's just because someone seems to have a supernatural ability to get under her skin for some reason... :P Keep the reviews coming!
It's always fun to read what you guys have to say!
3. Enter the pretty blonde
Lawyers surrounded them.
They were all of different races and genders, but they all gave off the same stand-offish vibe. As much as she disliked the Agent standing next to her, Elphaba disliked lawyers more. They would always twist and mangle her words, turning what she said into something else entirely. And the way they would nit-pick – oh the way they nit-picked!
Just being in the same room as a lawyer made her sick.
Fiyero didn't seem too comfortable being in the lion's den either. He had his hands shoved in his trouser pockets and his eyes were darting around the lobby while they waited for the lift. A few seconds into waiting, an overly energetic voice came from behind them.
Distinctly female, and several octaves higher than Elphaba was comfortable with.
"Fiyero! What are you doing here at the D.A's office?"
They turned around and came face to face with a petit blonde. She had the sweetest smile and bluest eyes she had ever seen – even more so than Avaric's, and he came from a fairly pure gillikinese bloodline. Her hair was bunned up neatly, save for the few aesthetic curls she allowed to frame her perfectly symmetrical face.
"Glin!" Fiyero grinned, obviously happy to see a familiar face. He seemed a little stunned when 'Glin' leapt up and pulled him into a tight hug, but the affection was quickly returned. When they pulled away from each other, the blonde turned to Elphaba with a smile.
"You must be Detective Thropp! I've heard so much about you!"
Elphaba felt her eyes widen in horror. "From who?"
It couldn't possibly be Fiyero. They've only known each other for 2 days, and the thought of being discussed just made her stomach flip… Why would he bring her up anyway? It's obvious that Fiyero and this 'Glin' seemed to be close…
"Everyone, I suppose. You've done a lot of great work with the ECPD, and your cases have always been pretty rock solid." The blonde said with a little laugh. She then reached out with her hand, which Elphaba grabbed in a confused daze. "I'm Glinda Upland, by the way. State Prosecutor."
"O-oh hi…"
Glinda's enthusiasm was dizzying to Elphaba. The blonde prattled on about some of Elphaba's cases that she has witnessed in court, and she went on and on about the importance of forging a good working relationship between the lawyers and law enforcement.
And when she was finally done, she reached up to Fiyero for a kiss on his cheek, and she crushed Elphaba in a tight hug from which she could not escape. And then in a blink of an eye, Glinda was gone.
Quite suddenly, Elphaba found herself without any idea how she had managed to end up in the State Prosecutor offices. She didn't even recall stepping into the lift. At least Fiyero seemed to be just as confused as her.
She turned to him with her brow furrowed and her brain in a fritz, "W…what just happened? How did we…?"
"I don't… know." He said finally, emerald green eyes scanning their surroundings. "But it's just something Glinda does. It's very easy to get swept up with her and her bubbly personality."
"Oh."
They fell into an awkward silence, and Elphaba took a step away from him when she suddenly noticed how close they were standing next to each other. Curiosity, however, got the better of her.
"So… You and Glinda?"
Fiyero flushed slightly, which he quickly attempted to hide with a cough.
"U-uh, no." He said awkwardly as he scratched his nose, and cleared his throat. "Yeah, well, we dated a little bit in college."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"It's really none of your business though."
"I didn't say anything."
"I could literally feel your judge-y eyes – it makes my skin crawl." He said as he ran a hand through his perfectly combed back russet hair, like a nervous tick.
Elphaba shot a look at him, "You're saying that I make your skin crawl?"
He paused, and glanced down at her. Something seemed to sit at the tip of his tongue, but he bit it back. Finally, he cleared his throat, "Yes you do."
At this, she rolled her eyes. "Insufferable douche."
The good news was that the D.A was running late in a meeting, and they had a chance to take a seat while they waited in her office.
When they had finally arrived, Elphaba was overwhelmed by grandness of the room. She had never met the District Attorney in person, but she's seen enough of her in the news. An enlarged version of her official D.A portrait was displayed prominently behind the faux leather seat.
Helen Morrible.
She was a pale skinned, large set woman with a penchant for the dramatic. In most cases, the District Attorney rarely made appearances in the media, but Morrible seemed to bathe in the attention. Her startling blonde hair was done up in a tower of curls – the height giving her an added presence. Amber eyes peered down at them behind her rimless glasses as the portrait smiled widely… A smile that felt a little out of place…
Elphaba could feel the tension coming from the man sitting next to her. Fiyero was making his own observations of the room as well, and while Elphaba was engrossed with Morrible's unsettling portrait, Fiyero was staring at the empty suit of medieval armor that stood in the corner of the room with a worried look on his face – as if he were afraid that it might come to life.
"Ah! Sorry to have kept you waiting."
The Detective jolted – why hasn't she heard Morrible come in? Fiyero seemed a little spooked as well, but he hid it better than Elphaba. The pair stood, and they both reached out to shake Morrible's extended hand.
She was even more overwhelming in person than in portrait. Her face was caked in thick white foundation, and her eyes were powdered with a deep purple shadow. But it was her lips that rattled Elphaba.
It was red.
The shade of fresh blood.
She felt a nudge on her ribs and shot a look at Fiyero, when she realized that she had been staring at Helen's lips quite unabashedly. "Oh, sorry." She apologized awkwardly as she released the District Attorney's hand.
Morrible raised a perfectly drawn brow at her, but said chose not to say anything about it. Instead, she pulled her lips into a smile, and Elphaba felt a shudder run down her spine. There was just something about Helen Morrible that made her uncomfortable.
"Agent Tiggular, and Detective Thropp, am I right?"
Both Detective and Agent nodded.
"Good, good." Morrible nodded and gestured at them to take a seat. Once they were in their chairs again, she continued. "This case regarding Colonel Cherrystone is very important to the government, and we, of course, must do our duty to the great Wizard and the free Land of Oz" Morrible paused to take a sip from her mug of steaming hot coffee that Elphaba hadn't notice was there. "And in saying that, I must inform you that the Colonel's family has received a call from his abductors, and they are demanding a 3 million dollar ransom."
"What?!" Elphaba nearly leapt from her seat when she felt Fiyero's hand holding her down by her shoulder.
Damn it, he was stronger than he looked.
"I think what Detective Thropp meant to ask was why didn't the Colonel's family inform us right away? How old is this information?"
"And why did they go to the D.A's office?" Elphaba asked firmly.
Morrible shook her head, and her face was set in what Elphaba assumed was supposed to be sadness. "I believe that a little background is in order." She said wistfully. "The Colonel and I were good friends when we were younger. We were both up and comers in our fields, and we often attended the same social gatherings. I've become very close to him and his family over the years."
"That's odd, his wife never mentioned you when I interviewed the family." Elphaba commented, she tried really hard to hide the tone of accusation, really.
"She must've been too upset." Morrible sighed. "Abduction of a loved one and all."
"Do they have a recording of the call?" Fiyero asked.
"They did, fortunately."
"Alright, we'll head down to the Colonel's house after this meeting. Is there anything else?" Fiyero raised a brow. Elphaba felt the same way – if this was all Morrible had to say to them, why did she insist on having them rush down to her office when this could've been a 5 minute phone conversation.
"The family's quite distraught right now. And the Colonel is a very important man, both to the government and his family. I've asked the two of you to come by because I'd like to implore that we simply pay the ransom."
"Ma'am." Fiyero's eyes were wide at the implication. "You know that it's Bureau policy not to pay the ransom at any cost. We can't just give in to the criminals. At least, not this early in the investigation. Unless, you could share with us why this seems to be so important?"
"Call this a personal favor." Morrible said with a frown. "We need the Colonel alive, Agent. His life is not yours to risk."
"Personal favor?" Elphaba felt her temper beginning to flare. "Madame Morrible, we can't break the law for you just because you need a personal favor. We'll solve this case and we'll bring the Colonel home without having to compromise our integrity."
"Your integrity isn't going to be able to lead our country's armies, Detective Thropp." Morrible narrowed her eyes slightly. "The reason why we need the Colonel back so urgently is on a need to know basis, and you two," she glanced towards Fiyero, "do not need to know."
"Not even with the Colonel's life in the balance?" Elphaba frowned thinly.
"Paying the ransom would be more likely to save his life than an investigation that may drag on for months!" Morrible's amber eyes seemed to bore into Elphaba as she said that. "Pay the ransom, Detective. Or the Colonel's blood – and the blood of this nation – is on your hands."
When they left the sanctity of the quiet lift, the doors opened up to a lobby full of lawyers scattering around, handing off case files and standing around talking. Fiyero dared a glance at the Detective and watched as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were closed, and it was easy to tell that she was regulating her breaths as a way to calm her nerves.
He'd have to admit, it's been a long afternoon.
"Hey! Finished with that meeting with Morrible?"
The cheerful voice, which was oh so familiar to him, came up to them from down the hall. Glinda's bright smile quickly turned into a concerned frown when she noticed how uncomfortable the two of them were.
"Something wrong?" she asked.
Elphaba exhaled sharply and shook her head, and when Glinda turned to Fiyero instead, he shrugged – not quite sure where to start. Did he really want to tell her that her boss, the District Attorney herself, just threatened them into paying the ransom for Colonel Cherrystone when they were only 2 days into the investigation?
"A bump in the road. The usual politics." He said as he smiled weakly, trying to reassure her. "We'll figure out what to do. Now we're just on our way to our victim's house."
"Oh... Hey, look. You're the best Agent on the Gale Force I know." She smiled, and a dimple appeared on her left cheek, "and you've got Detective Thropp to help you along. She's basically the best Detective in the entire ECPD!"
"Oh no…" Elphaba's eyes went wide and her cheeks seemed to turn a shade darker, which Fiyero assumed was her equivalent of blushing.
Huh.
Deep down, he supposed that despite the coarse exterior, Elphaba has her moments.
"Don't be modest! Especially not around Fiyero. Based on his track record, he's really into ladies who're a little more assertive…" Glinda laughed despite his protests, and she nudged at Elphaba, whispering conspiratorially, "and he gets really insecure when women talk really softly to each other in front of him!"
"H-Hey! I can hear you!" He frowned, although without much effect. He wasn't insecure… He just didn't really like it when girls whispered to each other like that. It makes him uncomfortable.
Elphaba raised her brow at him and her lips quirked into a little smile. He was sure that she was simply feeling amused at his expense, but he figured that he rather preferred a somewhat smiling Elphaba to a brooding one.
But it would be up to him to keep Glinda from further bonding with his new – temporary – partner. Lurline knows what kind of embarrassing things Glinda would expose to Elphaba, especially things about him while he was just a stupid kid in college.
"Alright, alright." Glinda laughed and reached over for a quick hug. When she got what she wanted from him, she turned to Elphaba, "We'll have to meet up again soon. Preferably in a more social gathering."
"If you've got more tips on how to tick him off – I'm game." Elphaba said with a small chuckle, uncharacteristically friendly.
Cheerily, Glinda quickly engulfed the green Detective with a hug and Fiyero had to stifle his cackling when he saw the startled look on Elphaba's face at the unexpected embrace. He shrugged when he noticed her narrowing her eyes at him, hoping that maybe this time, he wouldn't have to worry about his passenger attempting to leap out of his car while he was driving.