Angels with Newfound Hope
Act 1 Chapter 4: Homicide
Alex's Apartment - Day 2, 9:30AM
Alex awoke from a turbulent slumber. Dreams of everyone he met meeting a fiery end plagued his mind. He wanted to know if the police had found that violent bastard yet. He was in the middle of deciding on breakfast when the doorbell rang.
The human didn't notice who was in the doorway until that fiery red hit his eyes. His blush from yesterday returned in full. Bryce's gentle smile snapped him out of his groggy stupor.
"H-hey again." Alex stuttered. He swore he finally got rid of that problem of his years ago.
"You all good there, Alex?" The chief questioned. His demeanor changed in an instant when he noticed the man's own.
"Y-yeah. I just d-didn't exactly expect to see you." He straightened himself up. "So I take it you've got some news about Reza?" Thankfully, he managed to adopt a more serious disposition. The dragon nodded solemnly at the statement.
"I'm afraid it's bad too. But first, how are you holding up?" The chief glanced toward Alex's shoulder occasionally. The only evidence pointing to him getting shot now was the bloody hole in his shirt.
"Much better than yesterday. My shirt, however, will need some patchwork and cleaning. There's only so long I can stand it having a hole like that." The human commented whilst inspecting the area. Bryce was admittedly still skeptical as to whether he was even injured, but decided not to ask about it for now.
"Then how about we take a walk. We can discuss this on the way over." The dragon offered. Alex patted his pockets to make sure he had everything.
"Sure, that'd be great. Just let me grab a couple of things and we'll be out." The smaller male left him to grab his gun, which fell next to the sofa again. He was surprised his karambit hadn't unclipped itself from his belt. He snapped on the silencer and was ready within thirty seconds. The reptile glazed him over suspiciously.
"How come I didn't notice that thing before?" The dragon pointed to Alex's pistol. He patted its holster gently, admiring his favorite weapon.
"Maybe you just weren't inclined to check out my thighs." The man dropped a subtle bit of flirtation. He knew it was terrible, but still was curious to see how he would react.
"Or was I?" Bryce winked at him, sending him into a red-faced frenzy. He took a moment to recuperate before following his temporary companion out the door.
The duo walked a much different path from yesterday. The brunette figured this was about more than just fresh air as he tried to calm his mind. He only spoke up when he was positive he wouldn't stutter.
"So." Alex cleared his throat. "I'm going to take a shot in the dark here, and say you guys didn't find Reza." The dragon shook his head and looked him straight in the eyes. The human could feel his cheeks reigniting when those gorgeous ambers met his dull aqua-gray.
"I wish we did. We hoped he'd come back on his own by now. Do you have any clue where he could be hiding? Maybe he mentioned some place that holds some meaning to him." The officer questioned. The smaller male could only shake his head as the dragon's disappointment grew.
"I'm afraid not. We didn't talk much before last night. The only thing I'd have is that he acted like an asshole." Alex explained, to which the reptile's gaze grew stern. At least he could breathe easy now that his entire face wasn't ablaze anymore.
"There's that too." Bryce said simply. The smaller male genuinely wanted to diffuse this situation as quickly as possible.
"I can't say I know why exactly Reza did that. I already saw that he and Maverick weren't fond of each other, but this." The human paused. "How is he anyway?"
"He's fine, but there's still plenty of blame to go around. He also said you used that weapon of yours last night. Is this true?" The larger held a concerned look that Alex really didn't like. It wasn't like he could lie since they already had Maverick's statement.
"Unfortunately yes. I had to use my gun last night. After Reza shot the two of us, I shot at him during his escape. I was only hoping to immobilize him, make him easier to catch. But don't go thinking I'll just use it whenever I please. I only ever brought it for self defense. Unless I'm in danger, this thing stays unloaded and holstered." The man explained. Bryce pondered his answer for a moment before speaking up again.
"What exactly made you think you'd need a weapon in the first place? I thought your people said we were the only other civilized life you've met." He groused with a serious tone. Maybe that was true for Reza's case, but not Alex.
"Not exactly. Me and a friend were experimenting with another portal privately and came across another separate world. The people there weren't exactly friendly. Hell, some of them thought humans were out to kill them." The dragon was taken aback at his statement. He couldn't quite believe there were hostile civilizations out there somewhere.
"So that's why you brought that." Bryce muttered under his breath. "That still doesn't answer the suspicion of you two planning something, though. Maverick mentioned that as well. Do you know anything at all?" He furrowed his brows in a grim manner. The human thought back to what Reza said the night before.
"He mentioned something happening, but never an attack or anything like it. That does make me wonder what exactly he kept going on about." Alex mulled over the details. He never got to hear that plan because of Maverick's spying.
"How do you mean?" The chief asked. The human wished he knew a better answer than what he could give.
"He mentioned something happening in the future. I don't know how near or how urgent. But if that's what made him act so rashly, then we need to find him and find out what he knows ASAP. Aside from that, we haven't spoken in years. We weren't exactly the best of friends anyway." The smaller male explained grimly. Both of them knew something was at stake and were going to find out what.
"Good point, but there's just one problem. We only have Maverick's statement. He is the one who spent the most time with Reza after all." Bryce took a breath before continuing.
"Even then, he had no reason to follow you around yesterday. That was completely out of line. I'm just glad you came out okay. He'd be suspended right now if he weren't already on mandatory sick leave. You can bet your ass this won't be taken lightly once this case is closed." The officer was pretty pissed with Maverick's actions. Who wouldn't be? He attacked an ambassador for another species entirely. Alex went silent himself, knowing full on what Onyx's SWAT team has done to assassins in the past. He, thankfully, hasn't had the displeasure of duking it out with them yet.
"I know it won't. Onyx's police would personally come here and whoop Maverick's ass if they found out. He will so be crying for his momma." The reptile burst out in laughter at that comment. He couldn't believe what he just heard, and his companion had no problem joining the fray.
"No shitting? Let's hear about them. I'd love to know who will supposedly wipe the piss off Mav's muzzle." The dragon tried to hold in his laughter as he spoke, and poorly at that.
"Sure thing. The SWAT team's a bunch of mean sons of bitches who'll make you cry for mommy too. Their armor is augmented heavily. I'm talking military stuff here. Super strength, extreme speed and stamina, even night, thermal and sonar vision built into their helmets. I have a few myself. For example..." Alex activated his shield. The hologram intrigued the dragon for a moment.
"Is that seriously a shield?" Bryce asked to a proud nod. The dragon only chuckled at the sight. "Yeah, that's not going to help you." He held a cocky grin. Alex only let it drop with his own smirk.
"Are you doubting the strength of Terran technology?" He kept the smirk even when the officer faced him.
"It's a hologram, bad science fiction. I'm sure I can just poke a claw through that and push you back." The larger male condescended. The only response he garnered was the smaller stepping in front. His shield was held out as a challenge.
"Go ahead then. I dare you to poke through my bad sci-fi." He made Bryce an offer he almost wanted to refuse. He shrugged and raised his paw. Alex held the shield up as the hefty limb landed. Lifting himself up, the chief was now standing on the shield with his entire front end.
"How in the heck...? There's no way this thing is solid. How is it even holding me up? How are you holding me up?" He was completely stunned by that thing.
"Yeah, don't ever doubt my bad science fiction again." The man chuckled. He deactivated the shield with his company still on it. Needless to say, he stumbled as he fell back to all fours.
"Anyway, back to business. We still have a wounded dragon and missing human. This could lead to a diplomatic crisis." Alex sighed. "I just hope Reza starts feeling guilty and turns himself in." Both of their faces turned grim once again. Each knew the repercussions of what would happen. Especially if they didn't find Reza at all.
"Same here. In the meantime, let's keep quiet about this for now. I don't think either of us want our people panicking." The reptile proposed, to which he nodded in agreement. They both arrived at the police station now. Inside was the chief's office. The cool colors and darker wood tones gave the human a sense of comfort he hadn't felt in a while. He was asked to have a seat and give out his formal statement.
Bryce asked him about Maverick and Reza as well. He couldn't give much as he knew nothing of what preceded his arrival. The lack of knowledge of this mysterious catastrophe wasn't any help either. The chief eventually thanked him and went to file the statement whilst he tried to enjoy the atmosphere. The human felt like he was sitting in his aunt's house. The only difference was the lack of pastels.
Alex listened idly to the goings on of the provincial town police department until the chief returned. It wasn't much different from Onyx's own department, just less busy. The dragon eventually came back with someone in tow. They seemed urgent by the tone of their voice. The chatter continued for a solid minute until the door opened again.
"I'm afraid there's more bad news now. Reza's officially became a murder suspect." Bryce informed. The human sprang up from his seat, shocked.
"Excuse me, murder?" The brunette couldn't believe the pompous upstart he knew through college would possibly kill someone. And yet, all that crumbled when their gazes met.
"We're headed to the crime scene. Would you mind terribly tagging along? We could use a bit of help." The reptile's eyes were almost pleading as he looked into them. He normally didn't do much forensics, but wanted to be on his best side.
"You really want me to come with you to a murder scene? It's been a while since Chris dragged me to one, but I'll do my best." He held his fist up to signify he had their backs. Bryce smiled appreciatively at the gesture.
"You have no clue how glad I am right now. I was worried we'd have to persuade you for a second there. You've really shown your trustworthy side today, aside from sending me to the ground a bit ago." The chief snarked. Alex chuckled nervously and held his own arm.
"Well of course I'm going to help. I'd rather help close a case than sit around feeling useless. Now let's go get that son of a bitch." The human adopted the most determined smile he could muster. Bryce wasn't about to reject any help at all. Their department was understaffed as is.
On the way over, Bryce tried to prepare him for what would come. He thought back to the few scenes Chris let him go to after Forensics were there. A dragon's corpse shouldn't be too much different from a human or anthro's corpse aside from wings. He had his vigilantism to thank for witnessing several more murders outside of police vision. He still remembered the day he had to help that guy and his daughter out of a huge mess...