Yay! New chapter!

Yeah, I got some reviews recently that brought my attention to this story again. I'd been working on my other story, Dragons Will be Dragons, hoping to get it done before concentrating on anything else. I'm so close, too! But then two reviews pointed out that I've left this un-updated for… three months. Again.

Whoops.

In all honesty, I didn't mean to do it this time. I just wanted to get something done for once, and my other story is actually pretty much written, compared to this one. But three months is too long, so I'll update this now.

What you need to know about this chapter:

I couldn't write it at all. I had one paragraph written from three months ago. But two reviews requested an update, so even though I stared at the first paragraph (which I am very proud of, and is well written,) for an hour and didn't get any inspiration, I had to attempt the second paragraph. And that second paragraph, (though not being quite so well-written,) struck inspiration and I burned through the rest of the chapter with that. So, don't thank me for writing the story, thank the second paragraph.

And the moral of the story is; more reviews, faster updates!

(Oh, and the inspiration of the second paragraph carried over to the next chapter, and now ch. 12 is halfway written. Still need to finish and fine tune it, but it'll be up soon.)

Note: what's supposed to go here again? Some kind of 'disclaimer'? on some show that I'm supposedly ripping off? That supposedly doesn't even air on the TV screen anymore? That doesn't even make enough of an economical standpoint to advertize their dvds enough so that the vast majority of its viewers can invest in the company? That one? …Oh, you must be talking about the show; Fillmore! Yeah, I don't own it… I guess…

Ch. 11: Complications

It wasn't long before the trio found themselves in front of Folsom's office. Vallejo was mentally preparing himself for the confrontation of his principal, Ingrid was giving the report (the one containing the info on all the cases they were investigating) one last glance-through to make sure they hadn't missed anything, and Wayne was seriously thinking about inserting earplugs into his ears so he wouldn't have to listen to Folsom rant.

The door opened, and heads turned to see the principal and vice principal walk through it. Ingrid blinked, surprised at how worn out Principal Folsom looked; her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, (something that rarely happened)… her suit was crumpled in places (something that NEVER happened,) and there were rings under her eyes, (cleverly hidden by her glasses,) that betrayed what little sleep she'd been getting. The woman's attention wasn't on the children, but she was speaking on the phone at the moment.

"Yes, I realize—Yes…" she winced slightly at the phone. "I'll be sure to put more effort into it, chancellor… yes… no… of course!" she said to the person on the other side of the telephone line. "Yes, thank you." She nodded finally and hung up.

As soon as the phone was off, she tossed it over her shoulder, leaving Raycliff to catch it before it fell to the ground. The frustration in her voice broke into an annoyed scream, "Urrg! Goddamnit all!" she shouted, running her fingers through her pulled back hair and stretching. At last she finished, turning her attention to the kids.

"Ah, you're here," Acknowledging the children, she made her way over to her desk chair and practically fell into it. "Good."

Ingrid had to forcibly close her mouth, which was hanging open in pure shock. She took a deep breath, plastering on a calm, neutral look as the principal sat down. The boys beside her still stared, so she began. "You wanted to see us, right?"

Folsom, who seemed distracted, blinked at the comment. "Yes," she said finally, after remembering what the meeting was supposed to be for. "I want a progress report."

Immediately handing over the file, Ingrid let Folsom look over it. While the principal was distracted, the dark-haired girl took the opportunity to elbow Wayne in the arm. He winced and glared mildly at her, but he finally stopped gaping. Vallejo was hopeless, though. Ingrid finally had to step on his foot to make him look away, and that lasted for only a second before he turned back to the blonde adult, gawking once more.

"What happened to you?" he blurted out suddenly, making Ingrid and Wayne facepalm.

Folsom glanced up slightly, then back down to the report. "I thought that was obvious," she said with dry amusement. "I've been swamped with concerned parents and guardians, and now the chairman of the city council is getting involved," she muttered with a sigh. "If this goes on any longer, I swear they're going to eject me from my position as principal…"

The three sat up straighter, their faces clearly alarmed. Folsom, though, in all her tiredness, missed it. She went on, her voice as light as it had been before. "Mr. Valdemar of the science department wouldn't be too shattered over it, though. Since he was running for principal before I managed to snake the job away from him, he's pretty happy at the recent problems I've been having. Perhaps they'll even choose him as the next principal…." Folsom narrowed her eyes at the document she was reading. "A gang? In my school?!" she demanded, her voice finally becoming appropriately angry.

"Actually, two," Wayne supplied, relieved at the subject change.

"Ugh," she sneered at it, finally leaning back in her chair. "Can't say I approve," she muttered. "Of the gangs, at least. I do approve of the amount of information you've collected since the last time we met, though. Perhaps I should offer incentives more often… you worked faster in these two days than you have all last week."

A blush crept across all of their cheeks. "Yeah, um…" Wayne tried to explain.

Again, Folsom wasn't paying attention to care. "It's enough. I can easily submit this to the higher-ups," she said to herself, rising from the chair. She slid the painting behind her desk away from the wall, revealing a safe hidden there. With precision in her movements, she twisted the dial and opened the vault and took out a pass. Afterwards, she snapped the door shut, leaving the Vice principal to readjust the painting over the safe once more as she sat back in her comfy chair.

"So," she started up with a decisiveness that made the group jump. "Which one of you is going to Fillmore's house?" she asked, snatching up a pen. "I did promise this, after all."

"Ingrid?" Vallejo asked, but the girl shook her head.

"I've been there a total of one time, and that was with Wayne," she pointed out.

"I've been there loads of times," Wayne spoke up. "I could go."

Vallejo nodded. "All right."

Folsom carefully spelled out Wayne's name on the silver pass. She then handed it to him. "Don't abuse it," she warned dangerously. Wayne took it examining it curiously. "And one more thing," Folsom leaned back in her chair.

"Keep me posted on the cases, will you? I've got everything to loose if this goes wrong."

Ingrid nodded. "We will."

-

-

Back at the HQ, a group of newbie officers huddled around Wayne's silver prize, Oohing and Aahing. "That's what an official pass looks like? Sweet!" commented one.

"They don't give those to just anybody." Said a girl.

"Yeah, he must be on a super-top-secret assignment!" exclaimed the last. They huddled around the slip of paper, trading gossip of what, exactly, the assignment Wayne had could be.

Ingrid watched with amusement at her desk. Wayne, having no desk to himself, had requested to set his things on a newbie's desk, and that had included the pass he'd just gotten. He steps out for a minute and the rookies go crazy, Ingrid thought dryly with a smirk. One of the newbies, who was not huddled in the group, caught her eye. Not all of them, though…

It was the boy she'd seen a few times in the office before named Ray. He sat at his desk, the only clue that he cared about the silver 'immunity idol' that was the object of his friends' attention was a casual glance in their direction before going back to his work. Curious, Ingrid roamed closer to him.

He seemed deep in thought, considering his computer monitor with curiosity. With a sigh, he sat back and rubbed his eyes, muttering something. He stood, stretching out his back. "I really need a break," he moaned, glancing around. He looked ready to leave, but something curious caught his eye; a note on his desk.

Slowly, he picked it up and examined it. After a moment, though, his face turned to disgust and annoyance, and he slapped the paper down without reading it. Afterwards, he stormed towards the door. One of the girls, who was still admiring Wayne's out-of-school pass, turned to give him a curious look.

"Ray? Where are ya goin'?" she asked in a slight southern accent.

The boy took a deep breath. "I need some air. And a break. I'll be back in a while, Jamie." He assured her. When she didn't protest, he left.

With a frown, Ingrid made her way over to his desk, picking up the note. It was sealed, so there was no way to read it without him knowing, but she could clearly make out a symbol etched onto the paper's outside. Ingrid recognized it; it was the same image that had been left on the school's floor when the shard gang had dumped glass at the entrances of the school.

She would have pondered it further, but Wayne walked back into the room, making the rookies scatter. For fear of being seen by them, she carefully set the paper back down on the desk and went over to Wayne. "You need to keep a closer eye on that pass," she informed the boy. "The Rookies were ready to frame it and worship it as a god."

"Heh, I doubt it," Wayne grinned. "Besides, I don't need it until tomorrow."

"What?" Tehama, in front of them, turned around to ask.

Wayne shrugged. "Vallejo and I talked about it, and since the day's almost over, it's probably wiser to let Fillmore go home and we'll get in his house tomorrow. It wouldn't do to have him walk in on me." He sighed.

"Yeah," Anza sighed. "But just keep a closer eye on the pass. Don't lose it!"

"Don't let the rookies steal it, either." Ingrid teased.

Tehama turned back to her work. "Don't let a goat eat it."

"What?" Wayne asked, confused.

Ingrid burst out laughing. "Oh my god, I totally forgot about that," she said turning to Wayne. "Fillmore got one of these passes once, and he went to the city. One of the police officers there—what was his name?"

"Officer Langley Turk, I think." Anza supplied. "I can't forget it, he says it too often for me to forget."

"Right." Ingrid nodded. "Officer Langley Turk was getting on Fillmore's case about not being in school, so Fillmore was going to show him the pass, but a goat ate it. He nearly got busted because if it…"

Wayne frowned. "Turk. Yeah, I remember him. He was always getting on Fillmore's case, even after he joined the safety patrol." He shook his head. "Anyways, I'm going to go get something to eat, since school's almost over and I don't want to get stuck in the hallways when the bell rings." He slid his jacket on.

"I'll come with you." Ingrid decided.

Shrugging, Wayne started towards the door, but paused. "By the way, looks like Danny was right," he informed Tehama.

"…right?"

"About being attacked." He said. In a side note, he pointed discreetly to the left, out the HQ door, where Ingrid saw a few kids leaning against the wall watching them. "I've talked to the rest of the people at the HQ, and they say that there's been these kids with claw necklaces following them around everywhere. A few of them were jumped, like Danny was earlier. These kids came to their rescue."

Tehama sighed in annoyance. "I know." She muttered. "I was jumped too. But I was lucky; there were those kids who came out of nowhere to help me."

"Looks like someone's got it in for us. Everyone watch your backs." Ingrid said.

"It's ok, I think someone else's already got that covered..." Wayne said, heading out to the hallway once more.

Ingrid followed. Once outside in the hallway, she was silent for a moment, but then spoke up. "Say Wayne," she said.

"Mmm?" Wayne asked distractedly.

"What do you think of that rookie, Ray?"

He blinked at the question. "Ray? That rookie who Vallejo thinks he'll give a promotion to?" he inquired, leaning back on his heels to look at the ceiling tiles. "He's… odd."

"Odd?"

"He reminds me of Frank. A lot." Wayne elaborated with a smile. "I talked to him. He's really into the Safety Patrol, but he seems a tad distracted."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Ingrid agreed, remembering the notes.

Wayne sighed. "So why do you ask?"

"Hm? Oh. No reason. I'm just curious." She answered quickly. "Just… Curious…."

-

-

Back in the HQ, Tehama and Anza watched them go. "We could get something to eat, too." The boy pointed out.

Tehama blew a dyed bang out of her eyes. "We should, but I'm busy." She said, tapping a pile of papers on her desk. "How about you go con one of the rookies into taking some of my paperwork down to the student council office?" she asked as she gave him a look that said 'that-was-an-order-not-a-request'. With a sigh, Anza headed off to one of the rookie's tables.

Of course, Tehama didn't seem to ever not be busy. Always working, always concentrated… even too much to get a candy bar with him. Sometimes it made him annoyed, but he knew she was dedicated. It was one of her charms.

So was her stubbornness… but there were lots of people around here that had that trait. It bugged him to no end, how stubborn she was, but at the same time it made him smirk for some reason—it was something that made her… interesting. And that, annoyingly enough, was confusing.

Anza looked finished talking to one of the rookies. Once the rookie left for Tehama's desk, Anza glanced up to see Vallejo wandering around the room.

Speaking of being confused… He headed over.

"What are you doing?" he asked his boss.

Vallejo continued to send glances around the room. "I was wondering if you know where Frank is? I haven't seen him anywhere…" he explained.

"Frank? Wasn't he in the AV room?" Anza wondered aloud. "Why do you need him?"

"Actually, he needed me for something." Vallejo clarified. "I'll look in the AV room though, thanks." He nodded and left.

Anza blinked, suddenly reminded of the conversation Wayne and Tehama had had before he and Ingrid left. He wondered if he should run after Vallejo and tell him about the situation, but before he could react, a rookie came up to him and started spilling out a problem to him. She practically demanded his attention.

Oh well, Anza thought to himself. I hope Frank is on the ball enough to let Vallejo know about the situation. And with that, he immersed himself in his work.

-

-

Frank was, indeed, at the AV room. Vallejo walked in, finding the boy in the dark room, the only light coming from the screen and lighting up his face with an eerie glow. The Junior Commissioner wondered if he should turn on the lights, but upon seeing his friend's face, he decided it was better to let the kid brood.

Carefully, he approached. As he suspected, Frank Bishop was in what seemed to be a very, very bad mood. The kid didn't even bother to acknowledge Vallejo's appearance before going off on a rant. "How many people are involved in this? It's not even funny! There's over a fifth of the school that's acting suspicious, and everyone's getting all worked up, there's been scuffles in the hallways and officers being attacked and information being traded right under our noses—why did you not include me in all this before?" He sulked.

Vallejo blinked. "What?" he asked finally, unable to understand what his friend just said. With a sigh, Frank pointed irritably at the tape he was watching.

Leaning over his shoulder, Vallejo could see clearly what he was watching; a clip of a huge ten-person fight. It was eventually broken up by some teachers, but Frank fast-forwarded it to two hours later, when there was another scuffle involving Tehama and three other kids. When the clip was done, Vallejo frowned and stood straighter.

"I wasn't informed of this," he let his friend know. "Tehama hasn't said a word."

"She's not the only one, either. I checked it out. Danny's story about being jumped was true, and there were at least four other similar brawls today involving safety patrol officers."

Vallejo sighed and made a mental note to grill his friends later about this. "I didn't know." He repeated.

"And on top of that, there's been information trade flying like crazy." Frank muttered, ejecting the tape and inserting another one.

"…What?" Vallejo asked again.

Fast-forwarding it to the important part, Frank let Vallejo see what he was talking about. It was a security tape of some lockers, showing groups of kids wandering around the halls, carrying notes and talking wildly on cell phones. The kids with the notes were stuffing the information into people's lockers. Again fast-forwarding the tape, Vallejo could see kids during lunch break finding and reading the notes, turning on cell phones, making calls, conversing with one another, and generally—

Wait…

Vallejo leaned in to the tape. "That's Fillmore's locker." He stated.

"So I noticed." Frank strummed the counter in front of him in annoyance. He watched as the African American boy on the tape went through the same steps, finding the note, making his own phone calls and conversations. "But the question is, why? And what is this information trade?"

"I don't know." Vallejo admitted.

"They've definitely got a secret," mumbled Frank. His comment made Vallejo curious.

"A secret?" He inquired.

The boy considered his words carefully. When he spoke, his voice was dark and thick with anticipation. "I think something big is brewing under our noses. Something… big. And I don't like it," Frank growled, his eyes glued on the screen. "I don't like it at all."

End of CH. 11.

Keep your eyes peeled for the next chapter. It'll be up soon.

And now, a special announcement from the author:
A new study shows that it's beneficial to your health to Review:laughs maniacally: er... review... please?