This Chapter is brought to you by ShadowMajin

"You have an update for me?"

The messenger stood in a darkened room and he could barely see inches in front of his face, but that was how the boss always liked things. Shadows that played on the edge of his vision made him anxious to get this over with and he gulped as he shifted on the creaking wooden boards, staring at the thick blackness. No one had the slightest clue to his boss's identity and considering the business they were in, that was perhaps for the best. "Ox-King won't be a problem for us anything longer," he reported. "The same goes for Kakarot's Spawn. We're not sure who got Ox-King, but we know the Android took out Spawn. However, she found out Spawn was teaming up with someone else and tried to take him out. As far as we can tell, her team has been wiped out and she's MIA, possibly KIA if she hasn't betrayed us too."

A short silence filled the room before the boss replied "Kakarot…again. I thought we were finished with him."

"He wouldn't have done what he did had he not had a plan in place," the messenger reminded him. "He may pretend to be a fool, but he's anything but."

"True. Do you have any information concerning Spawn's accomplice?"

He was prepared for this question, even though he wasn't exactly thrilled with what he would have to report. Although the boss was a patient man, he did have his limits and returning nearly empty-handed was unacceptable. "No ID currently, but our source in the NAIE says they have a suspect in mind. They're only referring to him as 'Paul Kay'—"

"Paul Kay? Isn't that one of the identities we gave our agents?"

"Yes, it's one of Kakarot's unused ones. Considering that this mystery person was with Spawn, it's highly likely that he gave the identity to his accomplice."

Another silence passed before the boss grumbled, "This is becoming more trouble than it's worth. I want this 'Paul Kay' dealt with immediately. No more kid gloves. Send the Demon."

The messenger nodded his head in affirmation, even if the boss couldn't see him. Or maybe he could, considering that he was always in this room. "Yes Sir."

Gohan sat in front of the computer, his shoulder hunched over as he nervously looked around himself. Being in a public place wasn't a good idea for him, especially since someone already made an attempt on his life. Yet, he needed to be here. Where else was he going to be able to do his research? The internet only had so much he could access.

Considering that what he wanted to do was read what was contained in the Malone-Envall Bill, there were only so many places that would allow him access what he wanted. One such place was the law library at the city university. Anything and everything that dealt with the law could be found here. The only hurdle that he had was getting access to the library since only law students were allowed here.

It was at that point that Goten had risen from the grave to lend him his help in the form of his laptop. After exploring the programs that his brother had installed on it, Gohan had found the program his brother had used to get him a job at the Blue Star Tribune. It had taken an hour and another of his father's passports, but he was now Himura Kenshin, Orange Star University law student.

And all of that led him here. Although he had been nervous as hell when he first arrived and asked for access, everything had gone swimmingly so far. Returning his eyes to his screen, Gohan let his fingers fly on the keyboard, searching for anything on Malone-Engvall. He was currently in the university's database and with a click of his mouth, a page full of results with the words Malone and Engvall highlighted appeared. Scrolling through them, he read the summaries each result provided. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the actual bill.

Going back to the search bar, Gohan added a couple more words into the bar and redid the search. A few new results appeared and after reading them, one of them seemed promising. Clicking on the link, his eyes lit up when an article summary appeared and detailed what the document was. Opening the document, a PDF program window opened up and loaded. A moment later and a digital page appeared with the words Malone-Engvall Bill in large print at the top.

Greedily, Gohan began reading the document. Word by word, line by line, and page by page flew by as he studiously examined every part of the bill. It soon became apparent that this was some sort of federal agency regulation document full of various earmarks for infrastructure projects. A part of Gohan wondered which part Ox-King was referring to that made it so bad. Although he wasn't anything close to being an expert with the inner workings of writing laws, he felt as if this was just your run-of-the-mill spending bill, or at least that's what his political science professor would have told him. Was there really anything wrong with this bill or was it just disgruntled partisan-laced mutterings of a disapproving lawmaker.

With a sigh, Gohan leaned back in his chair and shut his eyes. He needed a moment to rest his eyes after staring at that computer screen for so long. When he opened them, he looked at the page number and nearly groaned. He was at page 10 out of nearly 150 pages. Dear Lord, why did they have to make this thing so long?

"Hey, psst!"

Gohan jerked his head up and looked from side to side. To his left he found a young-looking woman staring at him from the computer next to his, her blue eyes boring into him intently. "Are you working on Professor Yellow's assignment?" she whispered to him.

Oh boy, an actual student here. Shaking his head, he replied softly back "Sorry, I'm working on something else."

The woman seemed taken back by that. "What the heck else could you possibly be working on?"

"A different assignment," he shrugged before turning back to his computer. "Sorry I can't help you." As Gohan began reading the document again, he continued to feel the woman's stare on him. It was almost unnerving for him, but he tried his best to ignore her. As it turned out, she would not be ignored.

"Why don't we help each other out?" she said again as she moved her scooted her chair over to his. Looking back at her, Gohan was startled by her offer. Was this what law students usually did? If so, there was no way he could really help her with her work other than to make sure she failed it.

"Umm, I'm not sure that's a good idea," he replied uneasily.

She frowned at him as she raised one of her hands up to her face to move a strand of long black hair from her face. "Why not?"

"B-because…" Gohan trailed off, trying to rack his brain for any possible excuse he could come up with. Unfortunately, he was coming up with nothing. "Well…"

The woman rolled her eyes as she moved in closer to Gohan, one of the pigtails she had formed with her hair brushing against his shoulder. "Just tell me what you're doing so I can help you."

Gohan gulped. He hadn't been expecting this. Were all law students this pushy? "O…okay. Umm, I'm just reading this document. I heard from one of the…uhh…professors that he saw something odd with it and I wanted to see what it was."

The woman paused before looking up at him. "That's it? You're looking at this paper instead of studying? How the hell did you get enough free time to do that?"

Gohan raised his hands up to try and pacify the woman. "I told you it wasn't a good idea for you to help. I'm sorry if I misled you or anything like that."

"Whatever," she said as she rolled her eyes. Looking at him again, she then stated "I don't think I've seen you around before. What's your name?"

On instinct, Gohan blurted out "Gohan." A moment later and he was mentally slapping himself. Why the hell did he just give some random woman he had just met his real name? He was a wanted man after all; giving out his name was just asking for trouble. Unfortunately, he couldn't take it back now, so he might as well try to make sure he didn't raise any suspicions in her head. "What's yours?"

"I'm Videl," she answered as she raised a hand up to him. "It's nice to meet you."

Giving her a small smile, Gohan took her hand and gave it a shake. Taking a good look at her too, he had to admit that she was pretty. It also helped that her white dress shirt had the top couple of buttons undone, giving a nice hint at of cleavage. "It was nice to meet you," he eventually replied.

Videl continued to hold his gaze before looking back to his computer. "You know, this would be easier if you just printed it out."

You have to be kidding me."Umm, you do realize that it's 150 pages, right?"

The woman looked back to him and gave him a look that she probably reserved for her mentally-handicapped brother. "And your point? It's much easier to read the whole thing if we split it up instead of the both of us just staring at the same computer screen."

Gohan stared at her dumbly. Is she still trying to help me out?What was she getting out of this? Why would she want to help out when it had nothing to do with her, not to mention that he was interfere with her own studies. Didn't she have that assignment from that Yellow guy? "B-but what about your own work?"

Videl looked to her own computer for a moment and then turned back to him. "I can spare a day before I have to get back to it." Holding a hand up to wave towards Gohan's own screen, she added, "Besides, you've got me curious."

A part of Gohan was immediately cautious. He had spent this entire time trying to dissuade her from even looking at his document and yet she was still trying to help? Something was off about this…

"Or do you not want my help?" Videl suddenly said, her eyes boring into Gohan, challenging him to admit as much.

In that instant, Gohan felt his resolve crumble. Yeah, he had no backbone when it came to women, so sue him. "I-I'd appreciate it," he mumbled out, earning him a winsome smile from Videl.

"Good. Now print that thing out and we'll go somewhere else so we can concentrate better. Maybe your place? Mine's a bit crowded at the moment."

This case was turning out bigger than Tien had ever imagined. Although he knew more agents of the NAIE were being sent in, he had no idea that included the agency director.

And today was starting out to be such a good day too.

NAIE Director Roshi had been the head of the agency since beyond Tien's time. The man knew the job, that went without question. Considering that he had had decades to get acclimated to the position, you would hope he knew what he was doing. There was even a rumor that he had begun growing his long, white beard the day he was appointed.

Regardless, Tien held the old man in high regards. Although it wasn't often that Roshi did field work, there was no one better at the agency. And the fact that he was in Orange Star City meant that something had sparked his interest and that the bald man and his partner were a precarious step away from having their case taken away.

And considering that the old man was responsible for a majority of the sexual harassment lawsuits aimed at the agency over the years, having a case pulled from you by an alleged sexual deviant was not something to put on a resume.

Currently, Tien and Sharpner were back at their hotel, which was currently being commodore into a temporary agency headquarters. As was proper with his rank, Roshi had taken over the Presidential Suite and was sitting behind a large oak desk. From behind red-rimmed sunglasses, the old man stared at the two agents. The three of them were alone in the room, which meant both Tien and Sharpner had to tread carefully.

"So where are we with the Ox-King Assassination," Roshi asked as he leaned back into his plush leather chair, his iron-pressed suit moving with his body.

"We have determined the assassination method," Tien immediately reported. "Our assassin was positioned in a building across the street from the senator's office. He got a clear shot of the vic through the office window and took him out."

"Any suspects?"

The bald man shook his head in the negative. "None unfortunately. However, we do have an eye witness that was in the room when the senator was killed. He disappeared shortly after the first responders sealed off the crime scene."

Roshi's head tilted up upon hearing that. "Do you have an identification of this witness?"

Sharpner took the opportunity to answer that question. "He goes by an alias, 'Paul Kay.' He had a meeting set up with Ox-King at the time of the assassination. He was claiming to be a reporter for the Blue Star Tribune, but we have since discovered that he forged employment records so he could get access to the senator."

"You make it sound like he might have been involved in the shooting," the director pointed out. "And considering his fleeing of the scene, I would have to agree with that sentiment."

"The shot that killed Ox-King definitely came from outside the building," Tien interjected. "What Kay's involvement is still unknown, but it would be too early to rule anything out as we stand."

"Agreed." Roshi then leaned forward in his seat, his fingers entwining together on the desk. "I'll be frank gentlemen, I'm not impressed with your work on this case. This was supposed to be handled quickly and quietly, and while you have succeeded in the latter, you have failed in the former."

"It would help if we weren't pulled to every other crime scene in the city," Sharpner muttered under his breath.

Unfortunately, Roshi heard that. "And that's no excuse for not doing your job," he sternly reprimanded him. "If you can't swim in these waters, Agent, then I highly suggest you leave. Don't think I won't hesitate to remove you myself."

Sharpner immediately straightened his posture. "Sorry, Sir!"

Tien glanced at his partner, resisting the urge to physically shake his head in disapproval. Still, what he did say had merit. "He does have a point, Director," he spoke up. "We've been called to two different crime scenes during our investigation, yet they have been helpful in our investigation."

Roshi looked torn between voicing his disapproval of Tien and letting his curiosity get the better of him. Fortunately, his curiosity won out. "Explain yourself."

"We were called to a car bombing in a motel parking lot on the south side of the city. During our interviews of the motel residence, we found out that Kay had been staying at that motel along with a partner. The bombing had killed Kay's friend and Kay hightailed it out of there."

Roshi seemed taken back by that. "Who was he with?"

"As it so happens, it was with a real Blue Star Tribune reporter, Son Goten. A little digging into Son's background and we found that he was in town to interview Ox-King and Kay's forged employment records also showed that he was partnered with him. Son also had a history with the senator. The two of them butted heads over various issues Ox-King blacklisted Son."

"Which would explain why Kay was with Son. Still, it is very suspicious that he's at the scene of two different murders."

Tien fell silent as Sharpner coughed uncomfortably.

"Let me guess, three murders."

Tien swallowed as he bought himself time to compose his next words carefully. "The Carlton Gates Bombing, we found video evidence that puts Kay at the hotel right before the bomb went off."

Although he couldn't see it, Tien could feel Roshi's eyes switch focus between and Sharpner. "So we at least have visual confirmation. What about forensic evidence?"

"Every scene he's been at has been wiped down for fingerprints," Sharpner rejoined the conversation. "We have hair samples, but nothing to fully ID him."

Roshi moved to lean back in his seat once more, one of his hands stroking his beard thoughtfully. "He's a careful man," he murmured to himself. "Tell me more about the Carlton Bombing."

"There were four bodies foundin the hotel room where the bomb went off," Sharpner continued, "None of them were killed or touched by the blast. Instead they were shot by a pistol. A fifth man was found in the Security Room of the hotel, shot by the same gun. Preliminary reports show the shooter killed all the men from the bedroom doorway, blow up half the room, then went down to kill the man in the Security Room and erase any security footage of him in the hotel."

"Anything else, Tien?" Roshi asked as he turned his head to look at the bald man.

Tien paused for a moment, carefully considering what he was about to say. "Sharpner reported everything that we've found out at the hotel, aside from the possible presence of a woman."

"And your personal feelings?"

Here goes."I think there might have been two shooters," he answered. "Those men in the hotel room were there for a reason. I think they got their hands on someone the shooter knew and had taken them to that room. The shooter had gotten into the room and surprised them by leaping out of the bedroom and killing them. The shooter's friend managed to get their own gun and killed one of the men."

Sharpner was looking at Tien by now, his face twisted in disbelief. Roshi, on the other hand, seemed to be considering his words. "So five men dead, possibly two shooters, and a woman," the old man said. "Or maybe one of the shooters was the woman. It would explain her presence."

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Tien shrugged. "I won't make any assumptions until Forensics completes its report of the crime scene."

"That would be prudent." The old man then sighed before a stern look appeared on his face. "For now, I will give you two some leeway with your cases. Your link between them is very weak though. I highly suggest you either bring in Kay or find something stronger to connect all of these cases, otherwise I will take them away from you. Is that understood?"

"Yes Sir," the two agents said in unison.

"Good. You're dismissed."

Turning around, Tien and Sharpner made their way to the door. However, before they could leave, Roshi called out to them once more. "Oh, by the way, if either of you see Candace, be sure to send her in. I need her…help…with something…" He chuckled lightly, stroking his white beard.

"Yes Sir," Tien repeated before leaving the room with Sharpner at his heels. The moment they were in the hall, the two of them sighed.

"That sucked," the blond man said succinctly.

"For once, you and I agree," the bald agent replied. "But he's right, we need to make our case stronger and we're hanging everything on the coincidence that one man was at each of the crimes."

Sharpner looked downtrodden at that. "So what do we do now?"

"Keep working. Sooner or later something will break our way. We just need to be ready to jump on it when that occasion arises."

The blond nodded his head. "So where to?"

Before Tien could answer, an attractive brunette walked by, her arms loaded with case files. "Hey boys," she greeted them with a winsome smile.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tien saw Sharpner light up. "Hey Candace," the younger man returned the greeting. "Looking good as always. Oh, by the way…"

The bald man knew instantly what his partner was about to say and purposefully interrupted him. "You have a good day."

Candace paused at that before nodding her head. "Uhh, thanks Agent Shinhan. I-I will."

The two men watched the woman head down the hall before Sharpner looked at Tien curiously. "What was up with that? She acted as if you never talk to her."

"That's cause I don't," Tien answered. "Besides, we have other things to do."

"But what about Roshi? He said to tell her to see him."

"Think for one moment. Roshi has single-handedly gotten our agency hit with twenty sexual harassment charges in the last twelve months. We don't need another one at the moment and I rather keep Candace from becoming charge number twenty one."