If you are reading this, PLEASE take out just a minute- not even- to write a review so I know how many people are reading this fic!
-----
The exhausted figure of police captain Capt. Hughes bent over yet another report file. A single bulb above his desk lit his work, seeming all too little illumination to tackle the shit pile that landed on his station's doorstep just a few days earlier. Line were showing prematurely around his eyes and cutting across his forehead. Some days he swore this job would put him into an early grave.
The station was quiet; all the other officers and detectives had gone home. They'd done their job for the day. His, however, was just beginning.
The echo of a clanging door caught his attention. He looked up from his work just as Lotus was opening his office door. She peeked in and smiled concernedly.
"Hi dad." She slid through the door and let it close behind her. She shrugged a pack off her shoulder and went to sit on the corner of Capt. Hughes' desk.
"Lotus, you're here awfully late. How did you get in?"
"Spare key." She held up a swipe card and grinned. "I snatched it from you room." He tried to frown disapprovingly but found himself returning the smile. Lotus' cheeky smile faded as she took a good look at her father's face. "You look like crap, Pa. Why don't you go home and get some rest? Start fresh in the morning?" He shook his head, looking down and shuffling the papers strewn out before him.
"Can't. There's too much to do." He picked up a sheaf of paper and threw it in the garbage. "Dead leads this way and that. False reports, copycat killers…" A pudgy hand came up to rub the bridge of his nose as he gave a deep sigh. "Did you know this asshole's committed three more murders already?" Lotus' eyes widened.
"N-No, I hadn't heard." She murmured. "Who were the victims this time?" He waved a hand, shooing the question away.
"Eh, you shouldn't even be hearing this. You're still a kid, you don't need this stress." She grabbed the dismissive hand and squeezed it lovingly.
"No one does. Especially you." Hughes smiled warmly and rubbed his chin, as if contemplating something. After a moment, he gathered all the papers and opened a drawer behind his desk, dumping them in.
"You're right." He admitted. "This can wait until tomorrow." He stood and slid his jacket on. "What do you say we go get a late night snack, eh, Lotus?" She smiled and nodded.
"Coffee?"
"Sounds great. I- Oh, wait a minute. Forgot something." He turned back to his desk and fished his wallet from his pocket. She watched as he pulled out a small key and locked the drawer with the Akimil's papers before tucking it back into his wallet. He returned to Lotus' side and put an arm around her shoulders. She smiled weakly, not exactly able to meet his eyes. He didn't notice. The pair left the office, and a sad feeling settled in the bottom of Lotus' stomach. She didn't sit well what with she would soon do, but at this point, did she have a choice?
----
"Three murders already?!" Robin paced furiously, a file clenched in his hand. "Not even two days- two days- and this guy has killed again!"
"This is…most unfortunate. For everyone." Starfire chimed in, a calm contrast to Robin's angry tone. "but how are we to fix it without a lead?" Their leader opened his mouth to reply but found that no answer came to mind. He slowly sank down on the sofa and let the papers drop from his hands. The four Titans sitting near him looked at him expectantly.
"I-I don't know." Robin finally answered.
"So…that's it?" Beastboy asked. "Evil guy wins?"
"No." Robin said firmly. "No, we're not quitting. We just have to figure out what our next movie is." His gloved hand came up to rub his chin; it was a habit of hi when he was in deep thought. "How did Lotus do it?"
"Do what?" Star asked.
"Manage to get so close to finding him. How did she get those leads? What's different between us and her?" The five pondered this for at least five minutes before the resident Cyborg snapped his fingers and stood excitedly.
"Connections." He stated. He waited for a response, but found none, so he explained himself. "Her dad. He's a cop. She's got to have access to top secret police files."
"Well, we have access to police files too." Robin pointed out.
"And that's got us pretty much all of nowhere." Raven continued.
"But the local police are as far as our reach goes." Cyborg replied. "What if she had deeper reach then just the cops? What if she had access to the FBI?"
"Where's your proof?" Robin asked.
"So far it's just an idea. But a few background checks should show us if it's more then that."
----
An hour later produced two interesting finds.
Over night, a very important set of files had disappeared from Captain Hughes' desk. No one had access to Hughes' desk but himself. The station is still investigating its employees for answers.
The second find was an article published nine years ago in the Jump Tribune. The reporter had written a tragic story covering the death of one Mary Hughes, wife to Captain Hughes and mother of one.
Minutes after reading it, Robin ordered the five Titans to do a city wide search for the girl to bring her in.
-----
Lotus trekked down the sidewalk, being bustled and jostled this way and that. An inconsiderate passerby stepped on her foot painfully. "Prick." Lotus muttered, shooting them an unseen glare. They continued on, ignorant. "Damn the midday lunch rush." She reshouldered the pack on her back and continued on. Every building, telephone pole, and free surface she passed had flyers stapled on it, all featuring the single photo of Akimil and the words "Have You Seen This Man?" underneath it. She reached up and tore a flyer down from a bakery window. She stared down at it, rememorizing the features of the mass murderer. The very same features that inspired hate deep in the pit of her gut every time she encountered them. She folded and pocketed the picture to remind herself why the papers in her pack were of the utmost importance.
The winding roads of Jump and a few back alleys led her to the Jump City Scrap Metal Park in under ten minutes. There was no real reason she was there; she only needed a pretty secluded place with little to no traffic. Any place would do, but being around metal also had a tendency to cool her nerves. She passed through the entrance gates and the son of the manager, a lanky black haired teen named Laris who also happened to be an employee, called out to her.
"Lotus, hey!" She turned, surprised. He was sitting on the hood of a rusting light blue Beamer. "Haven't seen you here in a while."
"Yeah. I've been kind of busy lately." He tossed his greasy bangs out of his face.
"With what?" She shook her head.
"Sorry, I can't say. It's kinda private." He frowned.
"Oh. Well, okay then." She smiled and continued in, deeper into the forest of twisted metal. Trucks, washing machines, toasters, chain link fences; they all formed the walls of metal towering on either side of her. Their solid presence calmed her. She finally settled down on an overturned shopping cart and opened her pack, taking a quick glance around before pulling out the stack of papers from her father's drawer. The first few papers were nothing more then false reports and sightings. She set those aside and discovered a small stack of pictures paperclipped together underneath them. They were dark and fuzzy, as if taken at night, or perhaps by a security camera. She picked them up and studied the topmost one. Or ,she attempted to; as soon as she set eyes on it, a shout from the front of the yard stole her attention. Lotus glanced up, brows furrowed.
"Laris?" she called. A few rattles of metal broke the silence before she heard him cry out,
"Lotus, run! They're looking for you!" She gripped the photos tighter.
"What? Who?" she yelled.
"The Titans!"
Lotus swore and leapt yup, shoving the papers roughly into her pack and swinging it over her back before taking off at a pounding run. She risked a look over her shoulder and saw the silhouette of a furling cloak in the air. "Crap!"
"Stop running." Raven said, soaring down lower. "You'll only tire yourself out needlessly."
"Long as I get away from you, I don't see it as needless." Lotus yelled back.
"It's not just me. The other Titans are on their way. I've alerted them to your location. You can't win." Lotus' glare deepened.
"Watch me!" She lifted both arms and flexed her senses, feeling the bits of metal around her. She strained to call them to her, and only managed to get a few small pieces to loosen themselves from the piles and fling themselves at Raven. She formed a shield, deflecting each one.
"You're too weak with your powers to fight me, much less all five Titans." She continued. "You're making this much more difficult then it needs to be. We're not going to hurt you."
"Oh? Then why chase me down?"
"…Azara-"
"Oh, no you don't." Lotus turned and planted her feet firmly into the ground, Raven stopped, watching her. She cried out, using all the force she could muster. The metal around her groaned under the pressure. Lotus grit her teeth and pulled both arms inward and towards the ground. The screech of sliding metal echoed through the air and began to get louder.
Suddenly something blunt and hard slammed into the back of her skull, making her eyes swim in blinding pain. She lost what little control over the metal she had and sunk to her knees, disoriented. She looked up, blinking rapidly.
The form of a masked boy stood over her, a smirk on his face. Raven landed behind him, shaking her head.
"I told you."
-----
Now see what you got into Lotus? Hehehe.
The Titans dug up something pretty bad, but you won't figure out what until next chapter.
But, until then, review please!