This is the first time I'm writing this, but thank you all so much for your reviews. It reminds me that I have a reason to keep writing. Oh, I feel so loved! I hope you like this chapter, cos it leads up to the next chapter, which answers a few questions. A few, mind, I still need to keep a secret or two to make things interesting. Again, thank you all SO MUCH!

I am so sorry for the time it took to write this. I'm so lazy, don't look at me. DON'T LOOK AT ME! But look at the chapter, and review, review as if your life depended on it! Cos if you don't, it might.

Disclaimer: I do not own Chrono Crusade or Chicago in any way. But tomorrow's another day... Oh, and I don't own scooby doo. Tell me if you find the vague reference.

Chapter 5 Hair Styles and Drinks

Or

Being Melodramatic And Scarily Obsessive About Chrono

Continuing straight from Chapter 4:

Rosette stood, watching the car drive off. He was so sweet sometimes. But she stood by the original comment, that she would fix his hair next time something important was happening. Rosette rubbed her hands together gleefully. That would be fun. As the car turned a corner so did she, and she ran upstairs to her flat. It hadn't changed in the time she had left, still messy, dingy, with everything littering the floor. Cleaning wasn't a specialty of hers. Sighing lightly, she decided to have a shower to get all the gunk off her face. Slipping out of her dress and dropping it on a chair in the main room, which was everything but kitchen and bathroom in the small studio apartment, she closed the door and turned on the water. She wasn't prepared for how fast the hot water came on, and yelped, almost slipping on the bath tub's bottom (it isn't a separate shower unit) and quickly turned up the cold. Too far, causing her to yelp again in shock and turn both off fast. This time, she was more careful with the water. Finally, as the jets were corrected, she sighed happily. The thing was a crappy trickle, really, but it was still very relaxing. Letting her hair out of the knot the girls had arranged it in, Rosette sighed again. It was nice to relax in the shower every now and then.

She was half asleep when she got out of the shower, in part from the lulling affect of the water, and in part from the food she had had. There was also a nagging feeling that Chrono had something to do with the relaxed, almost drunken state she felt she was in, and it annoyed her. Glancing at the chair, she remembered that her blue dress was at Sinners, and so was staring at the pink dress on the wicker chair. She groaned at the thought of having to bring the dress in a bag to give back. But, it wasn't a huge complication, and Rosette easily dragged herself to her bed, thinking naughtily -at least she thought so- about what her employer was doing at that moment.

She yawned, but said goodnight to Joshua, told him a quick summery of the evening, as she did every night, or morning, on working days.

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She was back the next evening, with the pink dress in a large handbag. Her hair was sparkling golden in the sunlight and Rosette had a bright smile. More to the point, she had no idea why she had a bright smile. It was just a work day, nothing special would be happening. Except, maybe something would. And that was all it took to make Rosette grin as she strolled along the stone path.

The evening was pleasant, if normal, though something did happen, and even though it didn't actualy concern Rosette, she decided that she wanted it too. In a strange way.

"Girls," Announced Chrono as he entered the dressing room. Rosette quickly slipped into a robe, smartly memorising his knock by day two. "Girls, I need you all to be on your best behavior." That got a few curious looks. "Yeah, I know that sounded strange. Two suits are coming round to check everything's legit. And, as far as I know, it is. Unless one of you is bootlegging in the basement." The entire room pointed at Rosette, who got them to change direction with an dangerous glare. They then pointed at Florida, who nodded pathetically.

"Yep, it's me. And I would've gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you damn waitresses." She got to the end of the sentence in a strained way before desolving into tears of hysteria, joined by most of the others. Chrono, leaning against the door frame with his arms folded across his chest, smiled and chuckled in a contented way.

He put his hands up for quiet. "Florida," He laughed. "The liquor's gotta be out of the club by tomorrow afternoon. Feel free to stash it in my apartment." Again, a pause for laughter. A room full of girls equals a lot of uncontrolable giggling. "But seriously, we all have to be good for Mr Smith and Mr Kingsley. Including me-"

"I'm fixing your hair!" Announced Rosette.

"What?" Chrono, Sally, Martha, Dixie, and Florida uttered the sylable in unisen. Rosette chuckled.

"Just what I said. I told you that I'd be doing your hair next time something important happened, and this counts." Chrono looked cautious. She put her hands on her hips, fighting an annoying smile. "I'm afriad you have no choice. I'll even come in early." He sighed in a defeated way.

"No choice? Oh well, I've been there before, though never with a dominatrix." He got a well deserved slap, and just laughed. "Alright, alright, I'll behave if you all do. In the meantime, I'll remain completely and utterly terrified." He strolled out of the room to more of the inescapable laughter, chuckling to him self, and rubbing his cheek. Taunting Rosette was harzardous to his health, but in a fun, swimming with sharks sort of way. Rosette, meanwhile, was trying to figure out what she could possibly do with his waist length hair. Club, or braid, or plait, if there was any difference between the two, or... She had no idea what else. But still, she rubbed her hands together, grinning in the same way she had when she had first thought it.

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Chrono was creeping around the club. He was searching for Rosette, so as to get the hair over and done with. Never doing anything with the violet strands but put them up, he didn't know what she'd do to them. But, never one to shirk responsiblity, he was going to be a big boy and let the girls do his hair. That brought an ironic grimace, but an extremely distinguishable laugh made him sigh and head backstage.

He popped his head around the door without knocking, then quickly ducked back out when Rosette threw a shoe at him. "Knock first!" She screamed as the door closed, The shoe missing poor Chrono by centimeters. Of course, he wouldn't know how many, because they measured in inches then, I think. The point is: Long live the Metric System!

After a minute and a half, the door opened again. Without looking at him, Rosette pointed to a chair. "Sit." She ordered, and Chrono obeyed, feeling like laughing due to the almost formal atmosphere. Almost because he was obviously not the only one near laughter. Turning, though, Rosette maintained a look of solemn dignity. Ablite an intensly manical one. He gave her a curious look. She looked like a surgen. "Now," She said in a purring voice. "Just sit back and relax."

"I'll sit back." Replied Chrono, trying to mask the laughter in his voice. "I'm not promising to relax. Not when you have access to the back of my head." Giggles broke through the calm mask, till, though Chrono couldn't see it, Rosette held up a hand, silencing them. He couldn't see a mirror, so almost jumped when he felt a hand at the nape of his neck. He relaxed a little and the rubber band came off.

"My god." Laughed Rosette. "You keep your hair up with that? Oh, no no no. It won't do at all."

"Now you're scaring me."

"Don't worry, you're in safe hands." She cooed, then, holding his ponytail in one hand called to one of the girls. "Brush." She was handed a brush quickly, just as Chrono muttered:

"You sound like a surgeon." Only to be given a sharp tap with the brush, which was silver, and hurt. "Ow. Alright, I'll be good. Just this once."

"Just this once." echoed Rosette, beginning to brush his hair gently. Chrono couldn't help finding it a queer, if pleasant, sensation. Rosette was taking this extremely seriously, and asked for a comb in the same doctor's voice. He was starting to wonder what she was doing , and she was ruffling his fringe, then, for a while, silence, till she asked for her final 'instrument'. "Ribbon."

"Ribbon?" That didn't sound good.

"Quiet, pacient." Replied Rosette in a dark tone. After a moment, she sighed and stood back, then her voice turned completely manical and she let out a diabolical laugh. "It's... Alive! Or at least, very STYLISH! Wah ha ha ha!" She continued laughing psycotically till Chrono moved his hands to feel what the blonde had done without standing up, and felt a long, thick braid.

"Stand up!" Said a girl. "Rosette won't let us see what she did!" Blinking, Chrono obeyed, and turned, with a collective gasp from his feminine audience. "Ooo." They said together, and burst into applause. Giving Rosette a strange look, he moved to a mirror.

WARNING! A paragraph of descriptive language to do with Chrono. Yes, a full paragraph. And though it is technically being thought by Chrono, it will be girly and obsessivly precise. Oh, and it will be full body, not just hair and face. I live for descriptions, but feel free to skip this, that's what the warning is for.

He stared at the reflection. Sure, it was still Chrono, with the wide, crimson eyes, framed with dark, curled lashes, a slightly darker shade to his hair and brows. The same deceptively child-like innocent eyes, below them chiseled cheek bones and a precise nose, above, the strange trio of freckles on his forehead, an oh-so-amusing birthmark. A small, slightly incredulous smile hovered on the edge of deep pink lips, showing a hint of ultra white teeth. But the hair was the surprising, though impressive, part. (the girls would find that debatable, due to those times in summer he had been repairing some rooms, and taken off his shirt. They hadn't had any idea that ganster/office work could have the same results as triathlon training) Anyway, the smooth, violet strands had been carefully woven together into a long braid that hung to his waist, with a thick, golden yellow ribbon tied into a bow near the end, finishing with a paintbrush style tuft. His fringe and shorter tendrils of hair were tumbled and messy, with a precise, elegant look. It didn't seem possible, but there it was, making him flick his head to the side to get the jagged locks away from his eyes, and making him look like a cross between a school boy and a businessman. He turned, smiling at Rosette.

I hope you enjoyed that, because I had fun writing it.

"Thank you." He said in a soft voice that meant more to any of them than flowers and chocolate. The softness turned to bemusment, the smile to a cheeky grin. "You've made me pretty." Rosette bowed, grinning, abandoning both serious and insane doctor forms she had taken on.

"I take my work seriously."

"Mr Chrono?" Came a questioning voice from the doorway. Chrono turned, braid swinging behind him in what Rosette found a delightful way. It was Leon, the bouncer, wearing his customary black. "Two guys in suits are here to see you. Cool braid." Chrono chuckled in a resigned way.

"Unless we can assasinate them without a scandel, I better go greet them." He groaned, heading for the door. Reaching it, he paused, turning and flicking his head in a smooth motion. "And again, thank you Rosette. I love the new look." Rosette smiled back easily, but when the door closed, sighed and colapsed on a chair, a dreamy look on her face.

"I'm glad you like it." She sighed, possibly in full knowledge that he had left the room. Possibly not. Either way it made the others laugh, but in one mind, they all agreed that the braid suited Chrono deliciously.

Meanwhile, Chrono tucked his hands in his pockets and went to greet the detectives. Only he knew who they really were, and they knew he knew, so no-one bothered with pretenses, or even politeness. Usually he was the personification of worldly elegance and charm, but it wasn't worth it for two scum-sucking officers. He was cold as he greeted them, and turned without a word, expecting them to follow, which they did, and took chairs before her could offer them as he took a seat behind his oak desk. That they seated themselves so certainly didn't bother Chrono, as he hadn't intended to offer chairs, yet hadn't wanted to have to look up at them, so this way he won and they still seemed the rude ones. If he was good at anything, it was making himself look good. Though this time he had Rosette's help, he though ruefully. But he switched his mind away from the beautiful blonde to concentrate on 'Smith' and 'Kingsley'.

"Yes?" He asked blandly. Both stared stonily back at him.

"Mr, ah, Chrono?" Asked Kingsley, the bearded one.

"Of course I'm Chrono." He snapped, impacient. "Who else did you expect?" He wasn't usually this rude, but recent sleepless nights had left him annoyed. Of course, the presence of those two didn't help things. The two men glanced at each other, surprised.

"We didn't mean to be insulting." Said Smith in a dull monotone. "We're just searching for the right words."

"Well you can't be doing a great job."

They both held they same looked of mild startlement, but it wasn't for long. "Please, sir. You need to understand that we are working together. The three of us need to compunicate as a team." Chrono glared.

"Three of us? You may want to get yourself checked out, imaginary friends aren't healthy." Cynicism wasn't in Chrono's nature. The fact the he was acting that way meant he was nearing breaking point. Why did the police affect him that way? Well, that was a stupid question, really, he knew exactly why they effected him that way, but Chrono disliked violence, and few people had seen him mad. He wanted to keep it that way. Neither Smith nor Kingsley seemed comfortable.

"Sir." Smith made a point of emphesing the word. "We want to get to the bottom of the case four years ago-"

"And have you gotten any further?" Interrupted Chrono. Deep breaths were reducing his anger, but slowly. Still, his voice was lower, and the two men took it as a good sign.

"Yes, we have gotten further in the case. Have you heard of a family known as Christopher?" Chrono froze, but only for a second.

"No." He said in a slow voice. "I don't think I have."

"Well," Said Kingsley carefully, obviously not wanting to give anything away. "The family may have been concerned with the, ah, incident." Chrono nodded blankly. "We don't think they were involved directly, mind you." Continued the man in the same droan. "But possibly witnesses or mild law breakers. We thought it was important to come ask you if you had seen anything more." Chrono almost ground his teeth.

"No." He said slowly, in a soft voice. "I don't know anything more about the case. You always come back to pick my brain, to see if there is something I've forgotten." He gave them both a penetrating stare that left them flustered. "Or if there's something I didn't mention, something that you think time might have loosened my tongue about. Well, gentlemen, I'm afraid not. You'll just have to put up with me either being forgetful, truthful, or a very good liar, and at the moment, I only promise that I'm not the former." The delicate way he put the words would, Chrono knew, torment the detectives, but after the court cases, and the amount of people he testified against, there was no way anyone could assume he was a villian. That would be one of the advantages of returning to a life of crime, if he didn't loathe the proffetion in the deepest pits of his soul.

The two men glanced at each other in the exact same meaningful way all the others did, but stood. One tipped his hat. "Sir, Chrono, good day to you." Without another word, and obviously not expecting curtesy from Chrono, they left the well-furnished mahogeny office, and then the club completely. Chrono yawned widely. Well, that was most of the trash taken care of. Now came the white trash: paper work.

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Rosette had been thanked profoundly and repeatedly by Chrono for the hair, and she had laughed and told him to try to do it up like that again, as it suited him. Smiles, a kiss on the cheek, a whispered goodbye, and she went home. It was early morning by that time, though earlier morning than usual, as it had been a wednesday, but still, she almost colapsed in her bed that morning, with nothing but an 'I did his hair. It looked good', for picture Joshua to think over.

Rosette sighed as she fell asleep. Work was almost too good to last.

Minus the almost.

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AH! Friday! Busy! So. Very. Very. Busy! Girls in dark red were running, balancing trays filled with drinks, but not splilling a drop. Rosette, an accident magnet, did spill a drop. More so. But in the craziness, volume, and the sheer capacity of people Sinners could hold, she managed to duck away before someone noticed a spill. And by then they probally blamed someone else. She was exhausted by nine o'clock, but this wasn't a novice thing, everybody was. Both Joe the pianist and Felix the male singer had been away, so Chrono, dressed in his own uniform, purple hair trapped beneath a newspaper boy cap, was bartending and playing the piano in turns, swapping with various girls who could play the instrument when his fingers got sore.

Somehow, despite a small headache from the music that seemed a permanant part of working in nightclub, everyone was jubilant, if looking extremely harassed. Between loud jazz and shouts for drink orders, Rosette got in short chats with some of the others, and asked why tonight it was so busy. Friday was, on the whole, living hell, but it was never that bad.

Asking Dixie, she got this answer. "I think it's got something to do with those cases." She whispered. Rosette nodded. The recent hanging of two condemed criminals was all over the news, and would be till the next murder trial, which, in Chicago, couldn't be too far away. "Oh, and honey, careful. Don't accept drinks from strangers." Nodding with a laugh, Rosette went back to work. She couldn't stay still for more than a minute, it might tip the scale, and let the club get totaly over run. But it was intersting. Two criminals dead, and, ironically, Sinners is filled with people. Funny how humanity worked. And the other thing was hysterical, but true or not, Rosette was smarter than that.

Everyone was reaching fainting point as the night wore on. Rosette felt like she would melt into a puddle and like it, since it would give her a rest. Her brain had reached melting point, and she had forgotten anything but her name, and how to wait on people. This turned out to be very, very bad. Not that she would realise it at all that evening.

It was three in the morning and a group of people were laughing and grinning, and whispering to each other. Rosette weaved over to them, holding a tray of drinks. There was one extra glass, as she handed them over, but ignored it, till a hand caught the back of her dress. She turned, started, in full knowledge that if she wanted to keep her job she couldn't hit however touched her. They all seemed drunk. It wasn't their fault. But looking at the young man who smiled at her, she saw that he didn't look drunk. He smiled.

"There's one drink left, and our friend's gone. Do you want it?" Rosette blinked, then turned away again. Her mental capacity had shrunk drastically during the evening. She just couldn't be bothered commenting. But he called again. "Come on, share a drink. You won't regret it..." He trailed off suggestivly, then changed tact when he realised this had no effect on her whatsoever. "Oh please, I'd hate for it to go to waste."

"If I drink the damn thing will you drop it and let me get back to work?" She growled, exasparated. He grinned and nodded, holding out the drink.

"Cheers." He laughed, and Rosette sipped. "That board looks really old." He said lightly, training to make conversation. Rosette turned, and the still crowded room, the noise level, meant she missed the gentle plop as something fell into her glass, the fizz as it desolved.

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A high, squeaky laugh that dessolved into sluggish giggles peirced the air. Sinners was emptying, and Rosette sat on the lap of the brunette boy, holding a glass. From the bar, Sally watched her with worried eyes. Sally was slightly addicted to booze, but she had never gone that far. How would Chrono take it? Did Rosette even mention she was a drinker? Oh, wait, what...? The boy helped her up, obviously heading towards the door with the tottering blonde and his other friends, who all looked throughly amused. Without another word, she darted off to find Chrono.

When the imposing looking man walked towards him, Brendan wasn't too worried. It could be anyone. And who was he, just a boy escourting his drunk girlfriend home. The thought made Brendan grin, till he noticed the man's eyes, which looked disturbingly like blood, and were not only furious but staring straight at him. But, he couldn't, that wasn't-

"I suggest you let go of her." The voice was soft, dark, murderous. Brendan took an unconcious step backwards. The man held out a hand. "I'm not stupid. She's wearing a uniform. She obviously works here." Bredan, despite obviously being rumbled, didn't back down.

"What if she does? Work's over, and I'm taking her home." The man gave an I-don't-want-to-hurt-you-but-I-will kind of look.

"I work here too. I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. You're going to want to let go of her now. And yes, I'm talking about the present." Bredan backed down.

"Alright. It's just what she told me. But she's gone, so if you know better." He almost flung the girl who called herself Rosette into the arms of the red-eyed man, and left as fast as dignity would allow. Maybe a little less.

Chrono looked at Rosette, who was blinking feebly at him. "Well, you're not getting home, and I don't know where you live." He whispered, lifting her into his arms. "So I'll just have to take you home with me. Lucky it's not a long walk." He began walking towards the back of the club, and was mobed by twelve anxious girls.

"Is she alright!" "What happened?" "Do you know where she lives?" "We had no idea, really we didn't!" Chrono gritted his teeth. This wasn't a great time.

"Shh!" He shushed them, not unkindly, but with obvious force. They quietened down and gazed at him. "Um, yes, she seems alright, I'm not sure what happened, a few to many drinks is probally all, she's going to spend the night at my house, and I know you would all have told me." They nodded together in a worried way, but Chrono's house had a spare bed, and a few girls had stayed with him when they needed too. So, he wished them all goodnight, said he'd see them all the next day. And took the stairs up to his office. He didn't stop at the second floor, but continued up the second stairs to the third, and through a locked, boring looking door. Inside was a luxery apartment that Chrono called home. He ignored all else and walked straight to the spare room, then threw a disgusted glance at what he saw.

"Oh, right. Laundry." The entire bed was covered in clothes, a mound that only showed the pillows. With a sigh he spun around, Rosette turning and snuggling tightly against his chest. "I'll give you the main bed, shall I?" He said softly, walking to his own bedroom. He hadn't been able to help himself at the time, but never once regretted the choice. Most of his room was taken up with a huge king bed, that was almost dripping with dunnas, blankets, and pillows. The pillows were memories, really, like a five year old's comfort blanket, or a thirty year old's comfort blanket, but he was so used to them there was nothing more comfortable. Pulling back the blankets carefully, which wasn't easy considering he had to hold onto Rosette, who was clutching his shoulder and muttering incomprehensibly. Yet he manged, then carefully lay her on the bed, distangling the hand that refused to let go of his violet braid, which he had wrapped beneath his cap, but had fallen of onto the way up the stairs. "Let go." He whispered, gently, moving her fingers, which curled tightly together when they finally released his hair. He pulled the blankets back over her, and smiled to himself. Leaning forward, he kissed her on the forehead. "Goodnight Rosette. Just relax till morning." He turned away, prepared to sleep on the sofa if it meant avoiding laundrey for another few hours. But he moved so quietly that he caught the muttered comment returned by Rosette.

"Goodnight Chrono."

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Rosette woke slowly tucked into a soft, warm bed. She had no idea what was going on, but was experiencing her first hangover. But, through the thick haze of her brain and the killer migrian, she vaguely noticed that though the bed was terribally comfortable, something wasn't. She was still dressed! Why hadn't she gotten out of her clothes before bed. Still too exhausted to think, Rosette managed to strip beneath the covers before sinking back into the warmth of the bed. It felt like night, everything was so dark, so the fact that it was acually nine in the morning didn't register. With a sigh, she fell asleep again.

Chrono got up to check on his ward, a little worried. Rosette hadn't seemed like a drinker, but how could he know? He opened his own bedroom door a crack, and seeing she was fast asleep, smiled and walked in. The first thing he noticed was how dark it was, strangly, even though he went through that every morning. Or, afternoon, depending on the working hours. The second was a dark red dress, bra and stockings, which made Chrono blush dark pink before backing out of the room. He had stuff to do. She could wake up when she wanted, all he could do was hope that she would remember that he had only put her in the bed. Despite himself, he grinned at the thought.

Considerately, he left a note saying she could use the shower.

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Did you enjoy that? If so, please review! And add anything you think might help me improve. Like I said, tell me if you find the Scooby Doo reference. It was vague and pointless, so I don't blame you if you didn't.

Now, I know theres something else I want to write, but as I can't remember what it is, never mind. And please check out the next chapter. We find more interesting information that I didn't write in this chapter but was supposed to.

P.S Stay tuned for Newspaper Clippings, which is important.