Promethean Blood - ch 4 -
Manga continuity: HyperNotes/V5 continuation fic
Deunan & Bri in a police drama in Olympus - Actiony smiting & swearing ahoy. some cuddles. A lot of shouting. typical appleseed fic (I hope)
All characters and themes are Masamune Shirow. This is just my take on how I wished unfinished-V5 might have gone...
BRIAREOS
It was difficult. It was always difficult, he found, after a rough day on the squad, to manage to fully get his head around the idea of 'home' at the end of the shift. Briareos sat gingerly on the edge of the bed, not bothering to undress immediately as he simply listened to the normal sounds of Deunan humming to herself in the bathroom as she completed her usual nighttime preparations. Uniform in the hamper, the rough fabric sliding into the drawstring sack she hung on the door for just such things. The various clicks and thumps of brushes and tubes and bottles as she fussed at the sink, the inevitable soft rain of the shower head, pitches changing as she stepped beneath the spray. He shifted a little, half motivated to get up and join her, whether or not he actually needed the shower, just for the chance to further immerse himself in the safe sounds and scents.
The nap he'd managed to snag earlier hadn't left him particularly rested. Although god knew he'd needed it, he rubbed his face, chagrined at the knowledge that his mood had not been good for most of the day. Poor Deunan, he sighed, she'd really taken it on the chin, running interference for him as she had for the last twelve hours. He owed her something nice in apology. He'd think about it when he had more than two braincells left to rub together.
Getting as far as the shower wasn't happening, he decided, but at least he could stop sitting like a chump. Drinking after the day – days? - they'd had? Probably not the smartest idea. They'd both be rough tomorrow. He reached a thought out to nudge his personal calendar tool that cross-linked with the ESWAT database, checking their morning schedule. Sure enough, they were still slated for AM training as soon as they walked in the door. All day too, from the look of it, unless they got pulled off onto another case. Or the bullshit from today came back to haunt them further. He rubbed his face again and began the chore of stripping out of his uniform and checking himself for any further damage from their various unwanted adventures. A lot of new scratches, a few dents, Briareos took inventory with a frustrated sigh. At least there was no obvious mechanical faults turning up on his diagnostic. That was the last thing he needed. Funny how people always told him how 'awesome' it must be, to be him. They never saw the never ending pile of bills. Bruised humans healed. Dented cyborgs either learned to live with it, or paid for new panels.
The shower shut off, Deunan's humming audible again as she padded around, muffled during the few minutes she toweled her hair. He looked over at the bathroom as the door opened. Noting that she'd opted for one of his t-shirts rather than any of her own clothes. A gesture of solidarity? Was she still second guessing his mood? His girl knew perfectly well how 'cute' she looked when she did shit like wear his clothes. Normally, the sight of her, compelled to roll the sleeves of his _t-shirt_ in order to wear it at a short sleeved dress, made him smile. Briareos wordlessly watched as she navigated around the room, haphazardly tidying before she turned off the lights. She hadn't rolled the sleeves this time, leaving the fabric covering everything to midway down her fore-arm when she wasn't actively pushing it back. The wide collar practically fell off her shoulders it was so loose around her slim torso. The problem, he supposed, with her choice of clothing, was that it made her look even smaller than she already was. Not just petite, but almost childlike as she puttered out into the hall to turn off the lights there as well.
"Hey." Deunan paused, coming back into their room. "You alright?"
"Yeah." He sighed, reaching sideways to flip back the blankets in open invitation for her to get in bed.
"'Cuz you don't look alright." She crossed over to his side of the bed instead, standing in front of him with a worried frown. "C'mon, big guy. It's been a shit day. You've earned a sleep. I've earned a sleep. So stop _thinking_ for a few hours and just let it go, alright?"
"Easier said than done." He admitted. Still, he let him self be guided down to the mattress by her gentle push. Settling against the pillows, Briareos lifted his hands to catch her waist, gathering the loose cotton to her skin as he supported her ambition of climbing over him.
"Someone needs some help relaxing, huh?" Deunan offered him a playful smirk as she opted to simply sit on his stomach rather than continue her clamber to her usual side of the bed. Leaning down, she pressed a kiss to his lips, her deft hands petting the metal skin of his arms and shoulders. For a moment he allowed the caresses, needing the feel of her, warm and real, soft and familiar to ground him in the reality of being safe at home once more.
It wasn't going to be a good night. Too much stress, too much excitement during the day, too many things that could have gone wrong. Briareos grimly wondered if it was even worth laying down. Probably he'd spend the next several hours staring at the ceiling as his subconscious rehashed every possible what-if from the past twenty-four hours while he listened to his girl sleep. Still, Deunan got anxious when he didn't at least start the night with her. _She_ slept better with him nearby, usually, and undoubtedly she needed it more. He exhaled slowly, trying to relax into the moment for her sake. Having her stressing over _his_ stress was something he wasn't above a little subterfuge to avoid. Tilting his face, Briareos kissed her back, playing along with her intention of 'cheering him up'. A minor shift while she was distracted however, and he easily got her cuddled against his side.
"You, hellcat, need to sleep. You'll look like a badger tomorrow if you don't." He chastised gently as she pouted up at him.
"Spoil sport." She declared, worming her hands between them to tease his stomach. "A quickie then. Something to give you good dreams..."
Leaning down to kiss his girl's cheek when she might have teased him further, he silently weighed going along with her initial plan for the night against the more rational goal of encouraging her to sleep. Rationality won. Briareos nuzzled her cheek and hair until his girl returned his playful gesture with a laugh. Gradually he leaned back, encouraging her to follow, and pet her back and shoulders as she made herself comfortable. Rather than continue their game, he changed his rhythm to a slower caress, tricking her into a sleepy state of mind. "How's your back holding up...?Any sore spots that your long suffering partner can rub for you before you go being all athletic tonight?"
True to form, Deunan curled against him, near boneless at the offered indulgence. "A few. God that feels nice..." She rested her head on his chest as she found her way to her usual sprawl, eyes already drifting closed as her exhaustion caught up with her. "...just a few minutes of this huh? A girl could get spoiled..."
He ran a gentle hand over her shirt, soothing her further into a sleepy state of mind. Sadly, the more relaxed she became, the more he was reminded of all the reasons why he _couldn't_ be similarly calm. Hiked up to her shoulder with her sprawl, the t-shirt exposed what he'd been afraid of, dark mottled bruises stained her skin from where she'd undoubtedly bounced hard off the bulkhead of the ship. Briareos waited until his girl's breathing slowed into its usual pattern before daring a gentle finger to nudge the fabric back further, grimly impressed by the marks on her shoulder and down her back where the loose shirt allowed him to easily check.
He should have demanded that he be allowed to look her over earlier, he scolded himself. Her insistence that she was 'fine' was all well and good, but how _often_ had he heard her say that lately? Briareos hissed softly and pulled the fabric back up against her skin before she woke from the chill. Deunan made him crazy when she pulled shit like this. It was never lying, not exactly. Half the time he swore that she simply didn't notice, or care, how hurt she was while the adrenaline was still flowing. She'd happily ignore it all right until the moment that she dropped, or finally had down-time enough to stiffen up.
Had Deunan even the sense to get checked over by medical? Had she used the damned ointment? Briareos tested the easier to reach portion of skin with a tentative finger tip, finding it grease-free. She hadn't reapplied anything after the shower, at any rate. The girl was a masochist. The urge to wake her up and drag her to at least the HQ clinic, if not the ER, was strong. He weighed it against the knowledge that she needed the sleep just as much as the check-up. Besides, it had been hours since the wreck, and they'd been running around like mad men – and women – all day. Surely if it hurt bad enough, she'd have done something about it by lunch, right? In the morning, he promised himself, he'd make sure she went to the clinic for a proper once over, or twice over, if need be. Even if it meant pinching her by the ear and dragging her.
Doubly careful, in light of her bruises, he lay back and settled his hand on her hip, hoping she'd make some sign of he was inadvertently pinching further injuries with the weight of his fingers. Deunan merely sighed in sleepy contentment, functionally dead to the world as she slept. He huffed softly at her. As far a she was concerned? There was no reason for fitful sleep. She was snug at home, clean, warm, curled up on her favorite metal-plated 'pillow'. Of course she was having good dreams. He stared up at the ceiling, wishing his own needs were so simple.
He'd get up in an hour. Briareos promised himself. If he couldn't sleep, he'd sneak out of bed in an hour and do something else. Daub his girl's bruises while _she_ slept maybe. Read a book. Watch whatever old movie was playing on the classic cinema network. Briareos shuttered his lenses, willing himself to at least pretend to rest. His AI helped as best it could, muting his audio pickups to the point that the city beyond their window was non-existent, detaching from all but the emergency priority frequencies of the ESWAT communication up-link. He exhaled softly as his world narrowed to merely what he could hear in close proximity and feel against his skin. Deunan's heart beat lulled him, as it always did. He turned his face towards her, letting her hair tickle his chin as he inhaled her scent. Maybe sleep wouldn't be so long in coming after all.
The ship was sinking. Briareos lunged from his perch atop the bridge with the first concussive explosion beneath the deck. Diving for the open hatch to see what was wrong, he was blocked by the frantic scramble of men, officers and criminals alike as they were bolting _out_ of the ship. Cries of 'we're sinking' and 'bomb' blended with other chaotic babble around him leaving him wondering if anyone was even listening as he hammered out alert codes and shouted orders to marshal some semblance of a coherent evacuation. Water erupted over the feet and knees of his exosuit, white and frothy as it spilled out of the guts of the ship and across the deck.
"Where's 109?" He caught one of the frantic evacuees by the collar as the man rushed by. "Where's the lieutenant who was with you?" The blank look he got in reply made him want to shake the man. "The _woman_, god damn you. Where is she?"
"Below somewhere!" The officer shrugged loose and bolted leaving him empty handed. The ship groaned and began to tilt, taking on water frighteningly fast. He was no seaman, but he could guess as well as the next person that the vessel was critically damaged. Pushing into the narrow confines of the hall below deck, he cursed immediately concluding that even without his second layer of armor, he just wasn't going to _fit_.
"Deunan?!" He hailed on their private channel. The static he got in response made him more anxious by the second. Smoke was filling the precious little of the cabin not already waist deep in water. Probably there were air pockets left around the bulkheads, but the ship was definitely sinking. The hole the blast had made must have been god-awful large. "109? Answer me damn it!"
Compelled to grab the door frame as the boat tilted further, Briareos struggled up to the deck again, obliged to engage his Hermes system instead of walking across the steeply sloped floor and risking simply sliding into the sea himself.
"109! 109!" He tried again, wondering if he could hear her voice beneath the noise. Half jumping, half floating, he plunged into the sea next to the foundering ship, catching hold of randomly struggling officers as he passed and physically pushing them upwards towards the surface in a bid to give them momentum in the right direction. There was going to be hell to pay for the wreck, he thought dazedly as he sank too. He didn't have time to care, not until he was certain his girl was alright. He let his hands brush along the hull to carry any sound within along his arms and to his ears, all senses tuned for signs of life.
"Bri?" Her voice was the barest whisper. "Br-" Deunan abruptly choked and coughed wetly, making his blood run cold. Telemetry told him to go left, he jetted through the water.
"Hold on, girl." He insisted, blinded momentarily by the bubbles foaming free from the cracked hull. Each abortive breath on the other end of the line reminded him that seconds were passing that she just _didn't_ have.
Why hadn't he kitted everyone with a spare breather? He wondered abstractly as he found the approximate point closest to where Deunan was in the ship. He slapped his palms against the unblemished section of metal, cursing the lack of easy access. Why hadn't he at least compelled _her_ to wear one? He _knew_ she was crap at holding her breath under water. She always had been. Stupidly, he'd assumed that the smugglers wouldn't be dumb enough to sink themselves to avoid capture. He'd _assumed_ that she'd stay safely encased in her exo.
Her combat armor had to be breached. Beneath the sound of her increasingly panicked gasps he could _hear the water gurgling. "Deunan, I'm almost there..."
He slapped the plastic explosive the the side of the hull, praying that she wasn't pressed directly against the blast zone. It was a risk he'd have to take. He laid in only the minimum amount of charge. Enough to bend the plates without imploding the chamber beyond. "I'm blasting my way in..."
More bubbles and an eruption of super heated water followed as the ship peeled inwards like a sardine can. Briareos fought against the current, first pulled and then pushed by the new current flowing through the wreck. He hadn't used enough. The hole wasn't big enough. Able to get his head and one arm through, he peered desperately into the darkness within, seeing nothing but metal and cable. "Deunan? Where are you?!"
Pulling back he used his exo's strength in tandem with his own, wrenching at the crumpled steel in a desperate bid to peel it back further, make just a little more room. This time he could get in far enough to fit one of his exo's extendible scopes in as well, pivoting it in a full circle as he searched for his partner. At last he spotted her, pinned against the inner wall of the sinking ship by a broken ladder and pile of torn pipes. By the glow of the water-impervious safety lighting, he could just make out her wide eyed stare as she reached for him one handed- her visor half filled with water.
"No." He struggled in increasing panic. She was holding her breath, both nose and mouth covered as she struggled to free herself. "No! Deunan!"
Air escaped her suit in a steady stream of bubbles, rising upwards within the tilted darkness as they fell together towards the seafloor. His displays flashed red as they crossed the 60 meter mark. He wasn't equipped for deep diving he knew, but the worry was secondary to the fact that she couldn't breathe at all. Puling back he scrabbled desperately at his hole to make it larger still. Abandoning his exo might work, he knew, but without it he'd sink like a rock. There'd be no way to swim to her. The only option was more PE. He fumbled for it, and to his horror, _dropped_ the fuse chip just as he was setting it into place. A rogue current in the water caught the little electronic device, and whipped it away from his grabbing fingers, sparkling slightly as it sank out of sight.
There wasn't another one. There wasn't the time to rig a fake with his radio. His radio connection to Deunan cut out abruptly as her suit's power gave out. He floated in uncanny silence, as the water grew increasingly dark around him. Still clinging to the side of the wreck, riding its downward pull he wondered that he was the last living thing to be found aboard. Stunned, he wondered if he really was still alive. He looked up at the torn hull as it fell beside him feeling as if he too had just been unexpectedly dealt a deathblow. "Deunan...?"
Briareos awoke with a jolt, frustrated cry of disbelief only a gasp away from being verbal instead of just echoing in his head. He blinked at the dark familiar lines of their bedroom ceiling, wrestling with his AI as it tried to respond to his sudden surge of adrenaline and raw horror by cycling his cybernetic systems up to high alert. 'False alarm,' he chided it silently wishing it was clever enough that instead of just reacting to his nightmares it could fucking _stop_ him from having them in the first place.
"God damn." He panted as he tried to bring his breathing back to normal. "God. Fucking. Damn it."
Even knowing where it had come from, and why, he cursed the phantom memories of what might have been. He did not _need_ this shit right now. Bad enough he was still prone to having dreams of what-ifs from years ago, did his subconscious _have_ to give him the 24 hour rehash as well? He raised the hand not instinctively clutching his girl to rub his forehead tiredly, feeling more exhausted than before he'd closed his eyes.
Deunan shifted against him, mumbling sleepily as she reacted to his wakefulness. Too tired to open her eyes, she tightened her fingers against his shirt as she yawned slowly. "Bri... you 'wake?"
"Go back to sleep, girl." He sighed softly, resigned to his stupidity. She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder as she settled contentedly at his side. Running his hand lightly over her hair and neck he lulled her back to her previous napping. The bed was warm, and his girl was clinging comfortingly to his side. Briareos tried to will himself to just forget, forget and let the dream go. She was alive, he was alive, neither of them had drowned. So why did the dream feel more real to him than the reality?
He rubbed his head again, morbidly amused, as he often was, at his brain's stubborn insistence on worst-case scenarios. Even after over a decade of 'good times', his inner pessimist couldn't just acknowledge the fact that everything he touched wasn't turning to shit at the first opportunity. Part of him was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Really, he had over ten years now of imbalanced karma, he reminded himself. He'd been riding Deunan's wave of luck for years now. When the tide turned at last, the ensuing disaster would be truly epic.
Checking his internal clock, he huffed again in dark amusement. Half an hour. That was as much 'sleep' as he'd managed to get. It wasn't a record, but it was hardly brag worthy either. Deunan mumbled again, cuddling closer as she dreamed of who-knew-what. Briareos let his hand come to rest against her hair, finding it too hard to move from their bed. Resigned to watching the light of the occasional passing car slide over the ceiling, he let himself drift, determinedly thinking about nothing.
Two more dreams of his girl drowning. One where he didn't even find her in time, but was obliged to confirm her corpse when two stoic-faced teammates pulled what was left of her from the wreck during the cleanup. And then, just for the novelty of it? His subconscious threw in a curve for the finale. He gasped awake for the fourth time in less than two hours, tasting bile at the too-real drama of his imagination. Realistically, Deunan wouldn't have been more than five or six, he figured, back when he was still running from the KGB. Yet somehow past and future had abruptly collided in his dreams, the old sadists hunting him had caught his partner instead, gleefully using her as a pawn against him after an ESWAT op gone bad. Briareos exhaled slowly, too tired to rationalize _why_ his subconscious would want him to wrestle with the no-win scenario of caving into their demands or watching them hurt her instead. Naturally, despite his pleading, they'd killed her anyway. Was it probably a realistic scenario? Sure. Was it something he'd _ever_ wanted to dream about? Definitely not.
Briareos detached himself carefully, first from his girl, and then tangle of bedding as he made his escape. Enough was enough. Another hour of 'sleep' like that and he'd drive himself mad. Better at times like this , he told himself, that he just stay awake. Clearly his brain wasn't ready to relax, so he might as well distract it with something trivial for a while. Settling into his chair in the living room, he sighed in annoyance at the unfairness of it. Tired enough that he _wanted_ to sleep, he just didn't have the nerve to try again. Next time he really would wake up screaming, and that would do neither he nor his girl any good. It'd been years since he'd let himself slip that badly. Besides, it was already two AM. He wouldn't have to wait long until morning. Picking up a book at random from his stack of half-finished idle reading, he opened to the bookmark and endeavored to lose himself in the text.
Sunrise came and went without comment. He reminded himself of their early start-time as his internal clock ticked over to five thirty. A shower helped to jog him into a relatively 'ready' state of mind. His instinctive morning rituals did more to help him break from 'yesterday' and into 'today' than the sight of the sun did. Stepping softly past his still sleeping girl, he decided to let her rest a few minutes more, changing in the living room rather than risk waking her by making too much noise in the bedroom. There were some emails that had come in overnight while he was ignoring them. He idly scanned through them as he righted his belt letting his AI resynch with the news feeds in order to catch up with their to-do list for the day. Magus was apparently keeping equally awkward hours. Two of the messages were from him, instructing them to make a detour on the way back to work in the morning in order to grab some paperwork related to the investigation. He sent back a brief confirmation as he picked up some of his living room clutter, not needing to pay attention as he completed the chore by rote.
Briareos inspected the kitchen clinically, noting the trash that needed to be taken out, the dishes that needed to be done, not particularly motivated to deal with any of it in the limited time before work. Settling on something he _should_ do, he reached into the refrigerator to produce a quick breakfast for him and his girl. Frying up eggs required minimum preparation and attention. Really, that was about the extent of his stamina for the day. He hoped whatever the colonel had them doing for drills, it wasn't going to require him to think very hard, or ideally, to care at all.
Some distant rustling - just as the first batch of eggs were out of the pan- heralded his hellcat had finally rejoined the realm of the living. He shook his head, telling himself to get something resembling a good mood together before obliged to interact with other people again.
"Bri?!" Her holler came from the bedroom warning him, if he needed it, that he was not in her good books. Briareos cocked an ear to listen, minority amused by the sound of her swearing and rushing to throw on clothes. She sounded like she'd fully recovered from their marathon the day before, with energy to spare. From sleeping soundly to panicked whirlwind in two minutes flat. That was his girl. If she hustled, she'd have plenty of time for breakfast, he mused as he started a second pair of eggs for himself, but that wouldn't stop her from chewing on him apparently.
"Bri, so help me if you left me behind so that _I'm_ the only one late, I'm going to punch you _so_ hard..."
He plated her eggs, sighing at her predictable temper. It was definitely going to be one of those days.
DEUNAN
Deunan awoke with a jolt to realize six hours had passed. Damned cyborg, she realized as she blindly patted at the otherwise empty mattress, eyes still gummy with sleep. He'd sweet-talked her into a shower, and a shoulder rub before the main event. The next thing she knew? She was well rested, but all of their precious free time was blown. She forced her eyes to cooperate and checked the clock. Unless their schedule had dramatically changed while she was comatose, they were due back in uniform on the double.
"Bri?!" She hollered towards the bedroom door, aggrieved both at his obvious 'handling' of her the night before and his seeming indifference to the fact that she was going to make them both late. He couldn't even bother to set the alarm? If he'd gotten up so bloody early, it was the least he could do to shake her awake on time. Sliding out of bed, she padded to the bathroom for a blitzkrieg shower of alternating icy and scalding water, and then down the stairs, buttoning a fresh uniform up as she tried to remember where she'd left her boots. "Bri, so help me if you left me behind so that _I'm_ the only one late, I'm going to punch you _so_ hard..."
"I'm right here, woman." He remarked, materializing from the kitchen, and pointing her towards the table with a spatula. "Eggs. Sit. Eat. We're not going to be late. I was about to call you down."
"You should have woke me an hour ago." She was not in a mood to be mollified easily, even by breakfast. Still, fuel was fuel. And there'd be precious little time to raid the vending machines if the morning was as crazy as their last shift had been. Deunan sat down and methodically shoveled the first forkful into her mouth.
"Coffee." He didn't bother trying to answer her complaint as he set the other morning necessity down next to her elbow. Briareos was, of course, already dressed and ready to step out the door. She cursed his cybernetic resiliency. Not that he'd probably ever been a heavy sleeper in the first place. Deunan resigned herself to always playing catch-up in the mornings years ago, and so wordlessly downed her first cup, and let him top her off as she attacked her breakfast with necessary haste.
Moving quietly back to the kitchen, he ate his own breakfast standing contemplatively next to the stove, letting her have her space. She watched him, feeling a little guilty at barking at him without so much as a good morning. But if he was offended, he gave no sign. He too had grown wiser over the years, having learned to let her organize herself into something equivalent to a human being before trying for more than the bare minimum of conversation.
Deunan rubbed her face one last time and forced her brain to get it together as he locked the door behind them, leading the way to their car. Not really their car, she blinked at the sight of the 'loaner' vehicle they'd picked up from the motor-pool on their way to their meet-up with Sokak. It wasn't anything special, just a standard middle class run-around car, but it was jarring to see it parked in their usual space.
"I can't even remember where we left _our_ car yesterday," she mused aloud as she climbed in behind the wheel and took the keys from his outstretched hand.
"Our usual space at HQ." He wedged himself in to the passenger side with a noise of frustration, cramped even with the seat pushed back as far as it would go. "We can grab it at the end of our shift, unless something _else_ comes up."
"Bite your tongue." Deunan grimaced, "I do _not_ want a repeat of yesterday. Not for at least another six months..."
"How're your ribs?" He carefully avoided talking about his own take on the general disaster that had been yesterday morning for him. It went without saying that he was probably _still_ waiting to hear just how badly events on the ship would count against him with the higher-ups.
"Hurting like a bitch." She replied candidly. "But moving just fine. Don't worry about me. Do we swing by Hobishi to ask after our truck driver first before heading over to the office? Or are they sending someone else?"
"They're sending someone." Her partner agreed. "On the off chance Sokak is there nosing around, it wouldn't do for us to be there too. We're to swing by Akichi Motors though, grab their paperwork and take a few statements, since they're nearby. Once we're at HQ I want you to get your side checked out by the medics."
"Don't mother me, Bri. I told you. I'm fine." Deunan changed her mental course-plot to include a trip to Yoshi's worksite.
Chances were that their bioroid friend wouldn't be at the garage yet, being the sleep loving sort even with his genetic and psychological enhancements over mere humans. But _someone_ would be opening up the facility and would be willing to give a friendly hand to her and her partner as they tied off that portion of the investigation.
Briareos made a noise of disparagement but refused to argue further with her while she was driving. Shifting in his cramped huddle next to her, his seat as far back as it was possible to go, he stared out the window instead. Deunan frowned at the stubborn set of his ears, wondering if she wasn't the _only_ one to wake up surly this morning.
Sure enough, Yoshi was just wandering in as they were heading out, copies of the relevant papers in hand. He was sleepy looking as always. Made more mop headed than ever from his ride over on his motor cycle he looked almost like he'd stuck his finger in an electrical socket during one of his intricate build-outs. Yoshi raised a hand in cheery greeting as he bee lined to the obligatory coffee pot tucked into the alcove of the showroom. "Deunan! Briareos! Sorry I'm late... the boss get you what you needed?"
"All set. Thanks." She couldn't resist reaching up to muss his hair further. It was funny but true, that all the supposedly 'superior' bioroids that she knew were coffee addicts given half the chance. Yoshi especially seemed to be an eternal teenager in his habits. Deunan was always entertained by his kid-brother attitude when he grumbled and ducked his head at the friendly assault.
Briareos raised a hand in silent greeting, slipping past them to escape the showroom. Not so much as a hello for one of their friends? She rolled her eyes at his continued anti-social behavior. Luckily Yoshi was too lethargic to care that his favorite cyborg had just given him the cold-shoulder. She smiled for his benefit. "You guys are off the hook, we're definitely homing in on some suspects with your shippers though. Hopefully we'll have things mostly wrapped by tonight."
"And the missing gear?" He smoothed his hair down with a free hand as he sipped from his mug. "No luck, huh?
"Not yet, but it'll probably turn up in the next week. Not like your submersibles have much further use for the crooks at this point. We think they've gotten everything out of it that they were going to."
Yoshi blinked at her in confusion. "What use? They wanted to go collect samples from the coral reefs or something?"
"Or something." Deunan agreed, sympathizing with his sleepy confusion. Neither of them were 'morning' people, really. And Bri, who usually was, was seemingly more out of it than the pair of them combined for once. She patted the bioroid sympathetically on the shoulder, not wanting to confuse him further with an explanation when she herself still wasn't sure what was going on. She'd explain later, once the case was close, provided the brass didn't classify the whole thing after the fact. Even then, she'd probably be able to give some approximation of events. "Have a good day, Yoshi. If Hitomi stops by, tell her I said hello. And also, that I said she's not to torture you with babysitting again while you're at work. That's pretty callous, even for her!"
"Thanks, Deunan." He smiled weakly. "Not that she'll listen, but thanks..." Pretending she didn't hear the man's somewhat defeated reply, Deunan made her exit.
Climbing back in her car, she noted Briareos was patiently waiting. Deciding he might as well be useful if he was just going to sit there, she handed over the two folders she was holding before steering them onwards towards the main offices. Three traffic lights and onto the main arterial, and he still made no comment. She glanced sideways at him, wondering at his odd mood.
"Something wrong?" She couldn't help a little of the crispness in her voice, annoyed all over again now that they were alone. He could be catty to her if he really wanted. She was used to it. But it was a dick thing to do to a bioroid like Yoshi. It was like kicking a puppy.
"Nothing's wrong." He stated impassively. "Less than thirty minutes until morning drills, woman, step on it."
Deunan clucked her tongue as she stopped at the intersection, waiting for the light to change. "They know we had to stop and pick stuff up, tin-man. Don't get your cables in a twist. They're probably expecting us to be late..."
"You'll need time on level three before you suit up, too." He remarked in his typical 'I'm not fighting with you, because we both know I'm right' voice.
Deunan rolled her eyes, biting back the immediate sarcastic response that she wanted to give. Hell, he'd gone fifteen whole minutes while inside the showroom without nagging her about her shipwreck-induced injuries yet again. It was probably some kind of record. Still, it galled to be treated like a little kid. She was half inclined to tell him that she wasn't planing to go to the clinic at all, except that would only delay the inevitable. He'd probably drag her by the hair, if she pushed him enough, she decided grimly. And besides, some painkillers before practice would probably be a good thing.
HQ was as chaotic as ever. Several of the faces she'd past were people she'd seen before leaving the night before. She wondered if they were pulling double shifts, or if it was just _her_. That was always the way it went in ESWAT. It was a wonder any of them even had homes to go to, they spent so little time in them. Deunan navigated the crowded hallways and into their usual annex by the simple expedient of letting her partner lead. His caustic mood must have been noticeable to others as well, nobody really seemed keen on making small talk as he walked in.
A brief detour to the medical wing, and Deunan was finaly obliged to make her own way. Her partner waited in the hall for her. She rolled her eyes, wondering if he was standing guard on the off chance that she'd bolt at the last minute. Or maybe it was simply that his dislike of doctors extended even to the combat medics they worked with every day? Neither were particularly charitable thoughts, Deunan told herself. Probably he just didn't want to get an earful about his shipwreck again by going upstairs alone without her to run interference. That at least she couldn't blame him for. Yesterday had been a debacle from end to end, it seemed. She only prayed that the gossip Sokak had given over had been worth something. If he'd been feeding them false leads, that really would put a clinch on the day as far as 'wasted effort' went.
Patched and taped, Deunan escaped her medical examination in good time for morning drills. She patted her ribs on the way out the door, feeling almost as good as new. Forcing her tin-man to link arms with her as they strolled as far as the elevator, she beamed up at him with her returning good cheer. "Ready for action, big guy. Let's go."
"Yes ma'am." He agreed, mood lightening a little with the favorable report. Briareos humored her clinging a minute or two before shaking her loose, proving that he wasn't a complete sourpuss for the day, but not willing to let her make too much of a spectacle in front of the coworkers just the same. Deunan didn't take his eventual brushoff to heart, just glad to find he was willing to lighten up if encouraged. Probably, she mused, he'd just been bracing for her to put up more of a fight over it. It wasn't like she was a complete masochist, she wanted to scold him. She wasn't dumb enough to ignore her aches and pains entirely. It just irked her when he went all parental. There were nicer ways that a guy could encourage his partner to get checked up. Bullying didn't _have_ to be his default MO.
Finally the found their way through the throng to their usual annex. Multiple badge-access doors gave way to ESWAT central. The main meeting room relatively empty as most of their squad mates were gearing up for the day. Deunan moved towards the locker room as well, when Briareos caught her elbow to get her attention. Someone had started a new threat-assessment during the overnight hours. The usual wall of potential-trouble had a new area filled in. Briareos paused in front of it, huffing in satisfaction at the various images and documents already pinned up. Deunan bounced on her heels with pleasure as she admired the new data too, agreeing that it was a nice way to start the day. Sokak's names had proven the real deal, positive identification of multiple suspects. She could feel her cyborg's mood lightening as he appreciate that their initial tidbit of intel had proved fruitful once the data-miners had gotten their hands on it.
Briareos tapped at the center of the cascaded collage of paperwork in quiet vindication. "Two-for-one... Not bad for a pair of hard-luck LAPD lost in Olympus, huh?"
"Hey now. Don't sell us short, old man. We're the best. Always have been." She answered cheerfully. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, giving her a congratulatory squeeze as he found something at last to be happy about. Deunan winced, and then felt bad as he immediately withdrew his arm, sensitive to her hurt. She stuck her tongue out at him to try and distract him from her flinch, but the damage was done. He was worrying again. The helpful doctors had not only given her some meds, but had done her the favor of wrapping her chest in some additional support mesh to brace her against further damage. But that didn't mean that direct pressure didn't cause a twinge or two. She waved her hands at him to show that it wasn't bad. He didn't look like he bought it.
"I'm fine, look! I can bend over and everything!" She demonstrated by twisting and stretching to prove her mobility was unimpeded. The bandages were paper thin but gripped tightly under her padded training uniform, providing plenty of support. No pain, and no real stiffness, she nodded appreciatively to herself before patting his arm in encouragement. "You just managed to find the _one_ bruise they _didn't_ wrap, handsome. Stop worrying."
Pointing back at the wall, she sought to distract him with what the techs had found out about their cyber-sex-doll. Three photos hung together at the center of the growing data-sheet. The images were much better than anything she or her partner had been able to scrounge up. There were not just two, but _three_ women featured, each distinct yet alike the others.
"Deinoa, Enyo and Agara." She mused aloud, reading the names thoughtfully before following a helpful bit of string to a second, far-less interesting photo of the middle woman, dressed in a cargo-hauler's uniform. "Holy shit, our guess paid out? The forged-id chick from Hobishi and the lady chasing us from Preston's were _actually_ connected? I figured it was a stretch at best."
"You've the devil's luck, girl." Briareos huffed again, patting her carefully on the shoulder. "And to think I was ready to play stupid to Sokak later, if it turned our our 'evil sister' angle didn't pan out... this is better than expected. It'll totally look like I'm the guy in the know."
Deunan whistled in appreciation as she looked over the other evidence gathered. The trio of female cyborgs had been very busy ladies since the end of the war, from the look of things. None of it was even remotely legal. "These girls sure have a history, huh? Nice. Glad to see we're working with professionals this time."
"Still no clear-tie in between Preston's missing subs and the shipwreck though." Briareos pointed out, slightly diminishing their shared glow of success with a dose of reality. "But it's nice to see that they're not completely irrelevant to the general situation. Solid persons-of-interest, and probably persons-non-grata right now too. What do you bet that they're in town because of the summit?"
"Says here that they've done work with Mufadi terrorist cells before now. Not exactly zealots themselves though, from the look of it though." Deunan tapped a smaller picture, Enyo apparently, looking drunk off her ass and wearing a barely-there costume in what appeared to be an LA nightclub. Then again, given the homogeneous nature of nightclubs after a certain point on a Saturday night? The photo could have just as easily been Tokyo, or Paris. "Doesn't look like a chaste and solemn member of 'the faithful' does she?"
"No. No I'd guess not. But with that pair for sisters, can you blame her?" Her cyborg snorted in amusement. She nodded in agreement examining the considerably more militant 'candid' images of the other two women. Both of them looked like serious bad-news by comparison, but then, looks could be deceiving. The prettiest of the trio might be the most trouble. Weirder things had been known to happen.
Her partner patted her shoulder again to encourage her to keep moving and not get distracted by the new intel on their mystery women. It was the detectives' job now to sort out how it was all connected. Their responsibilities cut out as soon as the lead was confirmed. They'd get called back in later, if there was a shootout, but probably not before. "Come on, girl. Three minutes till morning A.A. We'll come back at lunch to see the progress."
"What. You mean you're not going to want to use our last few minutes of down time today to play hypochondriac over my _bruises_ some more?" She drawled playfully at him. "Color me shocked, big guy."
"The doctors let you out with a clean bill of health." He shrugged, unrepentant for his earlier fussing. "Excuse me for having your best interests at heart, hellcat."
Tempted to reply with something nasty just to needle him for being confident that he was right, yet again, Deunan practiced her self restraint instead. Pushing through the lockerroom, she split from her partner to swap one uniform for another before joining up with the squad.