Disclaimer: I own only my OCs, and I should probably apologize again to the people who liked Malcolm. But don't worry, he will be avenged!
Arlua opened her door and found Supai on her doorstep, his face reddened and slightly swollen. His eyes were bloodshot, with dark circles underneath them. The technician let him in without a word, and the boy went straight to her couch and collapsed onto it.
"You have to stop doing this to yourself," she told him quietly. He made a frustrated sound, full of anger and pain.
"I can't stop until I find it," he growled.
"The first time you came here, you were exhausted because you spent thirty-six hours at the hospital, trying to speed up the autopsy process. And then you only came here because it's closer to the hospital than your house is, and you didn't even sleep then," she sighed. "So what is it this time?"
"Results are in. They found an injection site but no trace of any foreign chemicals in his body. He supposedly asphyxiated without any detectable catalyst," the boy growled. "But people don't just do that. They don't just asphyxiate randomly." Arlua sighed. She knew about wanting revenge; Natsuki's bizarre rage and her still-present threat were proof of the lengths grief and rage could drive people to. But she didn't think that going against the people who had killed Malcolm would help. Not the way Supai was doingn it, anyway.
"Tania and I discussed the situation earlier, after you left. We agreed that you're being too obvious. You're an information broker; you should know the value of subtlety," Arlua said quietly.
"There isn't time for subtlety," Supai snarled. "Malcolm was my friend. I know my cousin can pretend he doesn't care about people beyond his supposed love of humanity, but I can't just leave Malcolm unavenged. I can't."
"You don't have to. You just have to be smarter about it," the technician retorted. "You're acting like a hurt child, which is going to get you killed. The fact that Malcolm was murdered was bad enough, but who do you think that warning spray-painted over his head was for?" The boy looked up at her, horror in his gaze. "It was for you and Tania. Think about it; it's not a particularly challenging puzzle. The only people who would potentially be emotionally and mentally crippled by Malcolm's death are you and her. The only parts I haven't figured out are what you two did to irritate the responsible party, and who that responsible party might be." Her voice softened and she walked over to him. "Look, everyone's still in shock, and hurting. I know you want to act, but you need to calm down."
"Why do you care? You barely knew him. What right do you have to-" She cut him off with a glare.
"Tania was going to tell you herself, but you've been rejecting her calls, and you haven't replied to her texts. So she told me everything and asked me to let you know if I saw you before she did. Her brother, your friend, is dead, and she wants to make sure that the one boy who was willing to befriend her emotionless brother, the boy who she taught to shoot, doesn't get himself killed," Arlua snapped. "You've been running around bullying hospital personnel and drawing attention to yourself. That's just going to get you killed for interfering." Supai fell silent.
"You think I don't know that? But the quickest way to find out who they are is to draw them out," he whispered after a moment. Arlua shook her head.
"The quickest way, maybe. But they used an undetectable poison. Because you're right, people don't asphyxiate randomly. They could have killed you instead of Malcolm just by injecting you with whatever they got him with," she pointed out.
"So I'm just supposed to sit here and do nothing?" he snarled.
"No. You're supposed to act smarter. Don't bully the hospital people. We'll get an inside man and have him check things out," Arlua said firmly. "And then we'll ask around more subtly." He started at her.
"So…you'll help?"
"Of course. You and Tania and Malcolm are – were in Malcolm's case, I guess – my friends. No one threatens my friends and gets away with it, and no one kills my friends and doesn't spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders, afraid of when I'll decide to strike." He voice was sharp, her eyes darker than usual. Supai nodded.
"Will Tania help, too?" he asked.
"Of course. She and Shizuo are going with me to persuade our 'inside man' to help, too," she added.
"Who's this 'inside man' you keep mentioning?" he inquired, a hint of curiosity making its way onto his face through the grief and frustration. Arlua bared her teeth.
"Why, the friendly neighborhood underground doctor, of course," she told him. "Shinra Kishitani should be able to figure out what poison was used, and maybe even provide some insight on who would use it."
To: Nakura23
From: Lu_Chan
Subject: search
You said before that you have a network of human contacts. You get information from them?
To: Lu_Chan
From: Nakura23
Subject: re: search
Yes. Why? Do you need to know something?
To: Nakura23
From: Lu_Chan
Subject: re: re: search
Yes. A kid I know was killed. I need any information you can give me on the poison he was killed with, and the people who use that poison.
To: Lu_Chan
From: Nakura23
Subject: re: re: re: search
Of course I'll help, Tek-chan. What poison, and who uses it?
To: Nakura23
From: Lu_Chan
Subject: re: re: re: re: search
I'll let you know when I find out. But finding the people will probably be something you need to do.
Can you guess what poison was used or who killed Malcolm? If you can, let me know via PM or review, and if you're right, I'll write a oneshot on a prompt of your choice.
