I don't own anything.

Detective Ikari

Chapter Nine: Little Problems

"So I'll pick you two up tomorrow for the reunion?"

"That would be wonderful Horaki," Spades replied as he climbed out of the car. "Come on Chief." The woman climbed out of Hikari's coup and Spades shut the door.

"Well, thanks for a great evening," Hikari stated.

"It was our pleasure," Spades replied. "Drive safe."

"Always." Spades stepped up onto the curb and watched as the car pulled out.

"That was fun."

"Yeah," Amber replied. "Sweet girl."

"Yup."

"Probably the first time she's even seen a gun."

"Definitely."

"Too bad she met us," Amber commented.

"Yeah," Spades agreed as he turned to stare at the man standing outside the main door of the lobby. "I really should have had you knee capped."

"Your friends aren't here Mister Ikari," the man stated. "You will come with us now. Whether you come willingly or not is up to you." Spades started for the door, but the man blocked his entrance. Spades sized the man up and sighed in annoyance.

"Step aside kid. Beating the shit out of weaklings gets me down."

"Bullshit," Amber snorted. Spades glared at her over his shoulder. He turned back to the man in time to see him shove his hand into his jacket. Spades wasn't going to wait and see what the man pulled out. With little wind up the straight left jab to the man's nose wasn't enough to put him down, but the right hook to the side of his skull was. The simple combo had taken less then a second.

"Watch out," Amber warned. A little too late because Spades had no time to react as a pair of arms wrapped around his chest.

"God damn it," Spades spat. He hated sneak attacks. Spades leaned forward and slammed the back of his head into the man's face. Something crunched and the man let go with a cry of pain. Spades broke free and spun, using his own momentum to deliver a powerful right hook to the man's face. He spun dazedly and sank to the ground.

"Behind you," Amber commented. Spades spun, dropping to a crouch. The man who had tried charging his back had no time to react as Spades launched himself forward. His shoulder hit the man in the stomach and they both tumbled to the ground. Spades landed on top and quickly sat up. He swung once and his fist slammed into the man's jaw, sending blood spraying across the concrete. "Well that was quick."

"Yeah," Spades stated as he staggered to his feet, adrenaline making him clumsier then normal. He grabbed the man's throat and lifted the body into the air, quite intent on ended his miserable existence.

"We're trying to avoid the cops Spades," Amber commented. Spades scowled and dropped the man. He turned, checked his carefully styled hair and dug a Gold and Mild out of his coat.

"Yeah."

"Feel better?" Amber asked as she leaned back against the wall and took a drag on her Gold and Mild, probably the one she had taken from his desk a few days ago.

"Much," Spades stated as he tried to light a match. It fell from his fingers as the post-fight shakes began to set in. He sighed in annoyance. He glanced at Amber and leaned across the space between them. He lit his cigar off of hers and leaned back.

"We should probably call the cops."

"Yeah."

(:ii:)

Helen sighed and picked up the phone. She had been about to go out and grab lunch when it started to ring. "Young Private Investigations. How can I help you?"

"Save the song and dance number," a calm voice ordered.

"Spades?"

"The very same," Spades replied. "Is Freddie there?" Helen looked around the office and spotted the large man.

"Yeah."

"Ask him if he's still buddies with the Naval Attaché in Japan."

"Hey, Freddie?"

"Yeah?"

"Spades wants to know if you're still buddies with the Naval Attaché in Japan," Helen stated.

"Hell yeah," Freddie replied. "I saved that bastard's life when we were both SEALs in the Panamanian Civil War."

"He is," Helen summarized, ignoring the older man as he launched into another long winded story.

"Ask him to call that guy and start an investigation into a UN initiative in Tokyo-3. The initiative is NERV."

"What happened?" Helen asked. "Are you and Chief okay?"

"We're fine," Spades assured her. "NERV sent a couple of guys to abduct me, but I took care of them."

"Where are you right now?" Helen asked, already fearing the answer.

"The police station."

"You didn't kill any of them, did you?" Helen asked in annoyance.

"Killing them is too much trouble," Spades replied. "I just smacked them around a little."

"Alright then," Helen stated. "We'll get right to work on causing this NERV thing a shit storm."

"It'd be appreciated."

(:ii:)

Amber yawned and stretched her hands over her head. "These guys are just like the assholes in LA! How many times do we have to say that they attacked first?"

"A lot," Spades replied as he checked his watch. "Good thing I put my weapons up in the room. If I had a gun then we would have been there for at least another eight hours."

"Yeah," Amber agreed. "Why didn't you press charges anyway?"

"It would be bringing up charges against a United Nations agency," Spades stated. "That's a bigger fight then I'm looking for at the moment."

"Oh," Amber replied. That made sense.

"And the cops are all in NERV's pocket," Spades added.

"I see." Now that made a lot of sense. She chuckled.

"Ah yes," Spades stated, "the hilarity that is corruption."

"No," Amber replied. "It was funny seeing you in there. The way you were spouting regulations and procedures was incredible. How did you know all that?"

"Something my guardian told me when we first met," Spades answered. "In a state of emergency NERV has the authority to do just about anything they damn well please. Outside of a state of emergency they have no real powers. They cannot legally detain me or even touch me." Amber smiled. Sometimes Spades did seem a lot like a lawyer. The man had a steel trap of a brain for facts and statistics.

"What time is it?"

"Six o'clock," Spades replied. "They could have at least given us a ride home."

"I thought you jogged ten miles a day," Amber commented.

"I do," Spades stated. Amber looked around the lightening streets of Tokyo-3. The sun was just beginning to come up. An all night diner caught her eye.

"Let's get something to eat."

"Alright." They crossed the street and walked inside.

"You think NERV is going to try something like that again?" she asked.

"They're too stupid to try anything else," Spades replied, running a hand over his infuriatingly neat swept back hair. "You up for blowing off this reunion yet?"

"What do you mean?" Amber asked. "This is starting to get really amusing."

"For you," Spades commented.

"Does anything else matter?"

(:ii:)

Gendo stared at the papers spread across his desk. It almost seemed surreal. The boy who had fled to America six years ago would never have caused this kind of damage. Broken ribs, a shattered jaw, two broken noses, and a hairline fracture in one of the agents' skulls. "This is. . ."

"You're son was a boxer in college," Kozo interrupted. "He even held a few state titles."

"That changes nothing," Gendo stated. "We will need him for the success of our operation."

"I suppose the diplomatic approach would never have worked," Kozo commented.

"The chance for diplomacy ended when he ignored the letters," Gendo stated. "He alone can pilot Unit One and that machine is the only one that truly matters."

"I see," Kozo commented. "Have you thought about sending Colonel Katsuragi to speak with him?"

"I have," Gendo answered.

"And?" Kozo pressed.

"Do you really think he'd be thrilled to see that floozy?" Gendo asked. Kozo sighed. The Colonel was still a highly attractive woman, but the Third Child certainly wouldn't care. He had lived with her for too long and gotten to know her too well for her charms to work on him.

"Not really."

(:ii:)

Spades scratched the back of his neck and lit his cigar. "How's the French toast?"

"It's pretty good," Amber replied. Spades glanced down at his toast and sipped his coffee. "So what are your plans for the reunion?"

"What do you mean?" Spades asked.

"What do you want to do?" Amber asked. "Are you going to look for your friends. . ."

"What friends?" Spades interrupted. Amber hesitated and frowned.

"Get drunk?" she asked.

"Bingo."

"Pick a fight with some stupid bastard who also wanted to get drunk?" Amber saw one of Spades' eyebrows cock upwards. 'Oh no.' "That was a joke."

"Sounded like a good idea to me," Spades commented. "If a couple of people haven't changed their ways then maybe its about time someone taught them some humility."

"Not this again."

(:ii:)

"Hey Spades?" Spades sighed and set the speed loader he had been prepping down on the bedside table.

"Yeah?"

"Which dress do you like better?" Amber asked as she held up two dresses. One was a green dress and the other was a more modest black one.

"The black one."

"You always say the black one," Amber argued.

"Yet you always ask me," Spades shot back as he picked up the speed loader again. His finished loading bullets into the tiny device and set it back down.

"I guess the black one is kind of cute," Amber murmured. Spades glanced at the woman out of the corner of his eye. She was holding the outfit in front of herself and staring into the mirror. "Yeah, the black one's fine. What are you wearing?"

"My suit," Spades replied as he nodded towards the outfit he had already laid out on the bed.

"That thing?" Amber grumbled. "You always wear that thing."

"I have the black suit that I wear on special occasions," Spades argued.

"This isn't a special occasion?" Amber asked.

"Not in the least," Spades replied as he picked up his snubby and carefully ran a brush down the weapon's bore.

"What are you doing with that?" Amber asked.

"Clearing residue from the barrel," Spades replied. "Residue build up can affect accuracy. The accuracy of a snub nose is already not great because of the short barrel."

"You're going to hide that thing, right?" Amber asked.

"I was planning on wearing it on my hip," Spades replied. "That'll keep people away."

"That will also lead to a docked paycheck."

(:ii:)

Hikari knocked carefully and heard the click of the door unlocking. It swung open and Hikari smiled at the man inside. "Hey Ikari."

"Good evening Horaki," Shinji replied politely. "Come inside."

"You shaved," Hikari noted as she stepped into the hotel room.

"Not by choice," Shinji said dryly. Hikari had to laugh at that. Shinji stepped in front of the mirror in the room and checked his clothes. He was wearing the same brown suit that he had been wearing for dinner the previous night. He buttoned up his vest and ran a hand over his hair.

"Is Amber still getting ready?"

"Of course," Shinji answered. "She's been getting ready for the past three hours."

"I heard that!" The bathroom door opened and Amber stepped out in a relatively nice black dress. "Spades, your tie is crooked."

"Let me." Hikari stepped forward and carefully straightened the man's tie. "There. Looks good Ikari."

"Thank you Horaki."

"Ick. You two are so formal," Amber grumbled.

"Japan is a fairly formal place," Shinji replied as he pulled on his brown jacket and picked up his fedora.

"You aren't Japanese anymore," Amber commented.

"Ah yes, American. Forgive me if I don't drool on myself."

"Two words three syllables," Amber growled.

"Docked paycheck?" Shinji asked.

"Bingo." Hikari finally couldn't take it.

"He threatened you with a gun!" Hikari took a deep breath and blushed when she noticed that both Amber and Shinji were staring at her. "I'm sorry."

"Not a problem," Shinji replied dismissingly. "I remember the first time a guy pulled a gun on me."

"You freaked out?" Amber asked.

"Well, not exactly," Shinji replied. "I broke his arm in four places."

"Now that sounds like you," Amber stated.

"No it doesn't," Hikari murmured weakly.

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Well, pretty much a bridge chapter. One fight and then talking. Oh well, next time is the reunion! There will be some fun reunions. . .well I suppose that would be self evident.