Scarlet Lady: The Toshin Quest
By Indigo Siren
Disclaimer: Tekken is © to Namco, and that all characters mentioned from under this label are only used in this fan fiction for entertainment purposes only. No money is being made from this story; it is just for fun. I do however own the basic concept and characters of my own creation.
Chapter 12
She not wanted to face him straight off, but of course, she knew she'd have had to face him anyway, even if it were a few hours later.
It was not long after eight o'clock when Anna had returned to the hotel, being given a lift by Hwoarang. They'd not really said anything to each other after their night of passion. Words would have just spoiled the mood, and especially with each one set to what they wanted to do regarding the Toshin case. A simple goodbye had left her feeling achy as he left her there; it was not what she had wanted in the first place. This fling had turned everything upside down - or, could everything have already been upside down when she had had to face Nina again?
Whatever the case, she wanted to have some time to sort her head out, but no, Forest had been waiting for her to come back. The minute she'd stuck her key into the door, he was suddenly there at her back, obviously infuriated by the way he stood tensed behind her.
They didn't exchange a word at first as they both entered her hotel room. He waited for her to sit down on the bed, accessing her bruised figure, before starting his interrogation.
"Where the hell have you been all night?"
"Out there!" Anna pointed out the window smartly, shaking her head at him with tired fury. She just didn't want this, but it was obvious he wasn't going to let up on her, for the sake of their job. But then again, he could have been concerned for her too. He was always fathering her in a way.
"You think you're really clever, Anna. You think that you can just go out there and BAM, everything will be perfect and you'll bag your bad guy. How many people have died, Anna? How many lives have been messed up? We're so close on this case, and you're one of the best detectives in IPD! Are you really planning on getting yourself killed before we end this thing?"
She locked her gaze with Forest's, looking into the rage that had engulfed his dark brown eyes. His anger wasn't as strong as she hoped it was, because the look seemed to falter when her face-hardened, not cracking to the pressure between them.
Anna stood slowly, closing the distance between them until the only thing that kept them from touching was the thin breath that came between their faces.
"You have no idea what I'm going through, Forest," she said as almost an eerie whisper. "I am not playing around with this case, or trying to go out there and play the hero for anyone. I just want this over, and if I have to die to save my sister and get the bad guy, then that's fucking life, isn't it? Fate has never been good to me; in fact, it's tortured me. I've never had anything good and the one little piece of salvation I could make for myself, to heal a rift, is going to be taken away from me. Fuck morality, Fuck IPD, FUCK EVERYONE!" She pushed him back, watching his face change to something between shock and fear. He'd not expected her to fight back so strongly. She just shook her head to him. "To fill you in, because I know you and our darling company really want to know what happened. I got out there, I got attacked, I beat up some bad guys, got a few bruises… and I faced Toshin."
"You faced Toshin…" Forest parroted, racked with disbelief.
"I nearly died, but it was worth it…" Anna wasn't afraid to say it. She had been so close. "It was better then waiting for IPD to pull their heads out of their asses to actually do the job. Yeah, we're close, but for crying out loud! Where are the clues? We'll never be closer then we are now because the next piece to the puzzle is always gone before we can reach it! Maybe just going out there and using our authority will get the job done then sticking to searching for clues that within twenty four hours become useless."
Forest didn't know how to come back on this one. He felt uneasy just standing in the same spot so he forced himself instead to pace up and down in front of the younger woman.
"Well, Forest? Do you really think I don't know? Do you really think I'm stupid…" She just chuckled bitterly. "Maybe I'm stupid… actually, crazy. But it's worth it."
"You're not making any sense, Anna," he said quietly. "You must have taken a head shot."
She just smiled at him, not a pleasant one and slumped to sit on the bed, almost lying back.
"Why don't you want help, Anna? You always do this; you always push us away! IPD Japan could have done some serious work yesterday, but they were too busy, chasing after your ass to make sure you didn't die and mess up operations." He came to stand in front of her again, a little shaky to actually do it with her ever changing temperament. "Just stop it, Anna. Stop making this all about you. You're making every else's life a living hell because you've got problems. You're botching up the operations." He chuckled himself, just as bitter as Anna's had been. "And I thought I was going to be the problem."
Anna looked up at him, giving him one of the dirtiest looks possible, but he just stared right back at her unmoved.
"Give up this hard girl act. I'm getting tired of you being a bitch to me. You're only thinking of yourself." He shifted around pretty fast to slump himself in a chair by the window. "We're suppose to be partners, but you're acting like the rebellious teenager against a trying parent."
Neither spoke for a while after that, instead, just becoming absorbed in the silence that dominated the room. Anna shifted tiredly on the bed, just wanting to go to sleep, while over by the window, Forest just stared out blankly over the city under the soft light of morning.
The surprising soft voice of Anna eventually spoke up. "I'm sorry."
Forest's attention was on her, close to believing he'd just imagined her saying it, but the look on her face, part regret, part tiredness gave him his answer.
"Anna, I hate having to be the whiner and the crier to you, but if you were me, you'd want to kill you too," he said, starting to grin.
Anna's tense body melted with the soft chuckles that came from her throat, lying back and looking towards her calming partner. "Yeah, I guess I can agree with you."
"So, you're night was rough? You going to giving me the full details and not push me away?" He asked, nicer then his pushy assault he'd gone for first off.
And so, Anna began her long story, flowing from her inspiration by Julia, all the way to the fighting with Toshin's groupies and to the final part with Toshin itself. She kept the Hwoarang saving bit in, but didn't tell him of the private parts of the aftermath between the two.
"Hwoarang saved you? I thought he would have killed you first?"
"He's one confusing bastard," Anna concluded, though, she knew already he had a lot of reasoning behind his feelings.
Forest leaned so he could rest his elbows on his legs, resting his hands under his chin. He drifted into contemplation.
"Let me guess, you're thinking about what we can do now?" She inquired.
"Yeah, it's just so messed up. With hardly anything to go on, we're going nowhere fast."
Anna reached to drag a pillow beneath her head, keeping herself positioned so she could see Forest. "Well, I'm not saying we should just do what I did and go demon chasing, guns blasting, because it ain't going to work."
"Then, what's you're plan now?" He was definitely eager to know since he hadn't a clue.
"You know, for once, I've run out of options," she said, to the utmost surprise of her partner. "I used up my last plan."
"Great, when you run out of ideas, we know we're in deep shit," Forest said, groaning in loss.
The phone ran on the bedside counter, making them both jump. Anna cursed under her breath, not wanting to be disturbed, and let her hand thump against the phone, giving the best, composed voice she could. "Yeah, hello?"
"Anna, finally! And I thought I'd have to come identify your body over there!"
"And a happy hello to you too, Lei," Anna sarcastically responded.
Lei let out a deep sigh, making it known across the phone line that he wasn't in the best of moods with her. But then again, was he ever?
"Your attitude as of recent has been abominable! The way you've acted towards your comrades and how you've neglected your official duties! It's a wonder why I ever stuck you on this case!"
"Because, I'm good," Anna pointed out, rolling onto her stomach to stare at the phone as if she was really talking to him. She could just imagine how pissed off he looked right now. It was okay to goad him since she was on the other side of the world.
"Anna, I've been informed of what has happened, and how you've been irrational in your work." Anna looked towards Forest, whole looked apologetic. She just rolled her eyes, unable to blame him for doing his job. "Please, tell me you didn't screw up operations last night?"
"Well, I can give you the short version of the story…" It came out rather short in her view, but it was a long, eye popping account of events to Lei. It took a few minutes for Lei to regain his voice.
"Anna, you're crazy. You almost died! What did I say to you about working with people? Don't you ever learn?"
"Yeah, but everyone is too damn slow and stuck to routines," she said irritably. "It's not my fault that Toshin has hidden tricks up its sleeve. I thought I could handle it."
Lei sighed again. "Look, Anna, I'm sorry, but after recent events, I don't think you're fit enough to continue working this case. You're state of mind is been clouded by family issues. I'm sorry for what's happened to your sister, but you can't let it get in the way of your professional duty. It would be best for you to return to New York as soon as possible."
Forest's eyes widened, really surprised that their boss wanted her off the case. She was a top worker, known for reliability. She was known to go crazy over cases before and not get pulled. Yeah, this was different, but Lei would normally let her go on with a thousand and one warnings stapled to her head. Maybe he was really worried about her?
Anna didn't say anything for a moment, making both men edgy. Lei waited patiently for her to shout down the phone line her reasons to stay on, and Forest himself was bracing for the worst.
"Sir…" Anna's voice was calm, as normal as can be. "Can I speak freely?"
"Well… I'm sure, yes, go on," Lei allowed.
"Sir, do me a favour? Go home, and get yourself laid." Forest's eyes bulged in the background as these calm, everyday conversation toned words came out.
"W-what?" Lei was equally shocked.
"Get screwed, get stuffed, you know, because I don't give a flying shit whether you ask me to come back to New York. You know, demand me if you want. Shout, scream, threaten to drag me back by my hair, do what you like, but I'm staying here, could call it a vacation, but I'm still doing my job and I'll do it, for the IPD and for my sister." She took another breath and smiled to Forest as she spoke sweetly. "Oh and sir, have a nice fuck." And she pressed the button to hang up, reaching down to pull the phone wire out of the wall.
Forest just gaped at her. "You didn't just do that…"
"No, you're just dreaming," Anna said with a laugh. "Now then, no more shit, let's get down to business. We're not facing any ordinary demon, we know that and we've always known that since we stepped into this case. We know what Toshin wants, but we don't know where to locate it. I don't know if the 'Red Eye' is part of a demon or not. It's a power, and if we could chart any anomalies with high power readings, it could just give us a clue to where to look."
"Anna, we've been following readings most of the time anyway. There is no way we've been able to track it before," he said doubtfully.
"Then we're gonna have to look for different things. Look for readings that seem to be nothing, but could be something. Anything could be this 'Red Eye'," Anna assured.
"I'll put it through to IPD Japan to take their equipment back to the suburban areas they checked before," Forest said, pulling himself up from the chair.
"I'm going to be making a few phone calls around, to see if anyone around the area I was in last night saw anything weird. It may give us a direction if we have at least one eye witness," Anna said, grabbing her laptop and re-plugging the phone back in the wall.
"Could be another long day," Forest said softly. "Promise you won't get nasty and run off?"
Anna saluted him. "Scouts honour, partner. I maybe tired but hell, I'll sleep when I'm dead!"
"Please don't say that," Forest said, a slight bit of humour in his voice. "Could happen one of these days."
"One day soon you hope?" Anna laughed at him as he gave her a mock-hopeful look, turning to leave the room to make his call.
She got down to work.
'I wish that death wasn't the only was for you, Nina. I feel that it's becoming impossible for you. Though my hope still shines, despite what everyone else says. The Black Dome may not be the place for you but hell sure doesn't deserve your company yet. I'll save you, I promise.'
*********************************************************************************
A/N: Not a very interesting chapter, just a filler, as it is getting close to the long stretch that's building up to the grand finale. The next chapter is going to begin the way to the final fight. Hope to get that to you soon!
By Indigo Siren
Disclaimer: Tekken is © to Namco, and that all characters mentioned from under this label are only used in this fan fiction for entertainment purposes only. No money is being made from this story; it is just for fun. I do however own the basic concept and characters of my own creation.
Chapter 12
She not wanted to face him straight off, but of course, she knew she'd have had to face him anyway, even if it were a few hours later.
It was not long after eight o'clock when Anna had returned to the hotel, being given a lift by Hwoarang. They'd not really said anything to each other after their night of passion. Words would have just spoiled the mood, and especially with each one set to what they wanted to do regarding the Toshin case. A simple goodbye had left her feeling achy as he left her there; it was not what she had wanted in the first place. This fling had turned everything upside down - or, could everything have already been upside down when she had had to face Nina again?
Whatever the case, she wanted to have some time to sort her head out, but no, Forest had been waiting for her to come back. The minute she'd stuck her key into the door, he was suddenly there at her back, obviously infuriated by the way he stood tensed behind her.
They didn't exchange a word at first as they both entered her hotel room. He waited for her to sit down on the bed, accessing her bruised figure, before starting his interrogation.
"Where the hell have you been all night?"
"Out there!" Anna pointed out the window smartly, shaking her head at him with tired fury. She just didn't want this, but it was obvious he wasn't going to let up on her, for the sake of their job. But then again, he could have been concerned for her too. He was always fathering her in a way.
"You think you're really clever, Anna. You think that you can just go out there and BAM, everything will be perfect and you'll bag your bad guy. How many people have died, Anna? How many lives have been messed up? We're so close on this case, and you're one of the best detectives in IPD! Are you really planning on getting yourself killed before we end this thing?"
She locked her gaze with Forest's, looking into the rage that had engulfed his dark brown eyes. His anger wasn't as strong as she hoped it was, because the look seemed to falter when her face-hardened, not cracking to the pressure between them.
Anna stood slowly, closing the distance between them until the only thing that kept them from touching was the thin breath that came between their faces.
"You have no idea what I'm going through, Forest," she said as almost an eerie whisper. "I am not playing around with this case, or trying to go out there and play the hero for anyone. I just want this over, and if I have to die to save my sister and get the bad guy, then that's fucking life, isn't it? Fate has never been good to me; in fact, it's tortured me. I've never had anything good and the one little piece of salvation I could make for myself, to heal a rift, is going to be taken away from me. Fuck morality, Fuck IPD, FUCK EVERYONE!" She pushed him back, watching his face change to something between shock and fear. He'd not expected her to fight back so strongly. She just shook her head to him. "To fill you in, because I know you and our darling company really want to know what happened. I got out there, I got attacked, I beat up some bad guys, got a few bruises… and I faced Toshin."
"You faced Toshin…" Forest parroted, racked with disbelief.
"I nearly died, but it was worth it…" Anna wasn't afraid to say it. She had been so close. "It was better then waiting for IPD to pull their heads out of their asses to actually do the job. Yeah, we're close, but for crying out loud! Where are the clues? We'll never be closer then we are now because the next piece to the puzzle is always gone before we can reach it! Maybe just going out there and using our authority will get the job done then sticking to searching for clues that within twenty four hours become useless."
Forest didn't know how to come back on this one. He felt uneasy just standing in the same spot so he forced himself instead to pace up and down in front of the younger woman.
"Well, Forest? Do you really think I don't know? Do you really think I'm stupid…" She just chuckled bitterly. "Maybe I'm stupid… actually, crazy. But it's worth it."
"You're not making any sense, Anna," he said quietly. "You must have taken a head shot."
She just smiled at him, not a pleasant one and slumped to sit on the bed, almost lying back.
"Why don't you want help, Anna? You always do this; you always push us away! IPD Japan could have done some serious work yesterday, but they were too busy, chasing after your ass to make sure you didn't die and mess up operations." He came to stand in front of her again, a little shaky to actually do it with her ever changing temperament. "Just stop it, Anna. Stop making this all about you. You're making every else's life a living hell because you've got problems. You're botching up the operations." He chuckled himself, just as bitter as Anna's had been. "And I thought I was going to be the problem."
Anna looked up at him, giving him one of the dirtiest looks possible, but he just stared right back at her unmoved.
"Give up this hard girl act. I'm getting tired of you being a bitch to me. You're only thinking of yourself." He shifted around pretty fast to slump himself in a chair by the window. "We're suppose to be partners, but you're acting like the rebellious teenager against a trying parent."
Neither spoke for a while after that, instead, just becoming absorbed in the silence that dominated the room. Anna shifted tiredly on the bed, just wanting to go to sleep, while over by the window, Forest just stared out blankly over the city under the soft light of morning.
The surprising soft voice of Anna eventually spoke up. "I'm sorry."
Forest's attention was on her, close to believing he'd just imagined her saying it, but the look on her face, part regret, part tiredness gave him his answer.
"Anna, I hate having to be the whiner and the crier to you, but if you were me, you'd want to kill you too," he said, starting to grin.
Anna's tense body melted with the soft chuckles that came from her throat, lying back and looking towards her calming partner. "Yeah, I guess I can agree with you."
"So, you're night was rough? You going to giving me the full details and not push me away?" He asked, nicer then his pushy assault he'd gone for first off.
And so, Anna began her long story, flowing from her inspiration by Julia, all the way to the fighting with Toshin's groupies and to the final part with Toshin itself. She kept the Hwoarang saving bit in, but didn't tell him of the private parts of the aftermath between the two.
"Hwoarang saved you? I thought he would have killed you first?"
"He's one confusing bastard," Anna concluded, though, she knew already he had a lot of reasoning behind his feelings.
Forest leaned so he could rest his elbows on his legs, resting his hands under his chin. He drifted into contemplation.
"Let me guess, you're thinking about what we can do now?" She inquired.
"Yeah, it's just so messed up. With hardly anything to go on, we're going nowhere fast."
Anna reached to drag a pillow beneath her head, keeping herself positioned so she could see Forest. "Well, I'm not saying we should just do what I did and go demon chasing, guns blasting, because it ain't going to work."
"Then, what's you're plan now?" He was definitely eager to know since he hadn't a clue.
"You know, for once, I've run out of options," she said, to the utmost surprise of her partner. "I used up my last plan."
"Great, when you run out of ideas, we know we're in deep shit," Forest said, groaning in loss.
The phone ran on the bedside counter, making them both jump. Anna cursed under her breath, not wanting to be disturbed, and let her hand thump against the phone, giving the best, composed voice she could. "Yeah, hello?"
"Anna, finally! And I thought I'd have to come identify your body over there!"
"And a happy hello to you too, Lei," Anna sarcastically responded.
Lei let out a deep sigh, making it known across the phone line that he wasn't in the best of moods with her. But then again, was he ever?
"Your attitude as of recent has been abominable! The way you've acted towards your comrades and how you've neglected your official duties! It's a wonder why I ever stuck you on this case!"
"Because, I'm good," Anna pointed out, rolling onto her stomach to stare at the phone as if she was really talking to him. She could just imagine how pissed off he looked right now. It was okay to goad him since she was on the other side of the world.
"Anna, I've been informed of what has happened, and how you've been irrational in your work." Anna looked towards Forest, whole looked apologetic. She just rolled her eyes, unable to blame him for doing his job. "Please, tell me you didn't screw up operations last night?"
"Well, I can give you the short version of the story…" It came out rather short in her view, but it was a long, eye popping account of events to Lei. It took a few minutes for Lei to regain his voice.
"Anna, you're crazy. You almost died! What did I say to you about working with people? Don't you ever learn?"
"Yeah, but everyone is too damn slow and stuck to routines," she said irritably. "It's not my fault that Toshin has hidden tricks up its sleeve. I thought I could handle it."
Lei sighed again. "Look, Anna, I'm sorry, but after recent events, I don't think you're fit enough to continue working this case. You're state of mind is been clouded by family issues. I'm sorry for what's happened to your sister, but you can't let it get in the way of your professional duty. It would be best for you to return to New York as soon as possible."
Forest's eyes widened, really surprised that their boss wanted her off the case. She was a top worker, known for reliability. She was known to go crazy over cases before and not get pulled. Yeah, this was different, but Lei would normally let her go on with a thousand and one warnings stapled to her head. Maybe he was really worried about her?
Anna didn't say anything for a moment, making both men edgy. Lei waited patiently for her to shout down the phone line her reasons to stay on, and Forest himself was bracing for the worst.
"Sir…" Anna's voice was calm, as normal as can be. "Can I speak freely?"
"Well… I'm sure, yes, go on," Lei allowed.
"Sir, do me a favour? Go home, and get yourself laid." Forest's eyes bulged in the background as these calm, everyday conversation toned words came out.
"W-what?" Lei was equally shocked.
"Get screwed, get stuffed, you know, because I don't give a flying shit whether you ask me to come back to New York. You know, demand me if you want. Shout, scream, threaten to drag me back by my hair, do what you like, but I'm staying here, could call it a vacation, but I'm still doing my job and I'll do it, for the IPD and for my sister." She took another breath and smiled to Forest as she spoke sweetly. "Oh and sir, have a nice fuck." And she pressed the button to hang up, reaching down to pull the phone wire out of the wall.
Forest just gaped at her. "You didn't just do that…"
"No, you're just dreaming," Anna said with a laugh. "Now then, no more shit, let's get down to business. We're not facing any ordinary demon, we know that and we've always known that since we stepped into this case. We know what Toshin wants, but we don't know where to locate it. I don't know if the 'Red Eye' is part of a demon or not. It's a power, and if we could chart any anomalies with high power readings, it could just give us a clue to where to look."
"Anna, we've been following readings most of the time anyway. There is no way we've been able to track it before," he said doubtfully.
"Then we're gonna have to look for different things. Look for readings that seem to be nothing, but could be something. Anything could be this 'Red Eye'," Anna assured.
"I'll put it through to IPD Japan to take their equipment back to the suburban areas they checked before," Forest said, pulling himself up from the chair.
"I'm going to be making a few phone calls around, to see if anyone around the area I was in last night saw anything weird. It may give us a direction if we have at least one eye witness," Anna said, grabbing her laptop and re-plugging the phone back in the wall.
"Could be another long day," Forest said softly. "Promise you won't get nasty and run off?"
Anna saluted him. "Scouts honour, partner. I maybe tired but hell, I'll sleep when I'm dead!"
"Please don't say that," Forest said, a slight bit of humour in his voice. "Could happen one of these days."
"One day soon you hope?" Anna laughed at him as he gave her a mock-hopeful look, turning to leave the room to make his call.
She got down to work.
'I wish that death wasn't the only was for you, Nina. I feel that it's becoming impossible for you. Though my hope still shines, despite what everyone else says. The Black Dome may not be the place for you but hell sure doesn't deserve your company yet. I'll save you, I promise.'
*********************************************************************************
A/N: Not a very interesting chapter, just a filler, as it is getting close to the long stretch that's building up to the grand finale. The next chapter is going to begin the way to the final fight. Hope to get that to you soon!