"You can get much further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone"- Al Capone


Neo woke within the warm embrace of a bed and pillow, looking up she was met with an unfamiliar celling. She got up and rested her feet upon the carpet below, her throat still hurt from the operation yesterday. Standing up; she walked over to the single door beside the window, looking outside she was met with an unfamiliar treeline.

She walked out of the door to be met with a sweet smell emanating from the room joined to the corridor she was in. walking over she saw the detective cooking something on a gas stove before he turned around and looked at her.

"Ah, you're awake. It's been two days since the surgery… Try speaking"

"Haaarr…" emanated her new vocal chords "Ayy can speek?" before gasping in pain and clutching her throat

The inspector ran over with a mug of something and offered it to her. She drank it down and the tea warmed her throat and alleviated the pain somewhat, she was directed by him towards a rustic table and sat down on a chair "Take it easy, whatever he did certainly worked… You want some more tea?" Seeing her nod he poured her a cup of mint tea and added a few drops of honey and a slice of freshly cut lemon (This is a common medicine for literally anything to do with the throat in the east).

She drank a few cups before finally ending her spree and looking around, the room was quite plain with a rather barebones kitchen in front of her and an antique fridge to the side of the room. Two doors lead out of the kitchen; one leading to a small room full of shoes and outdoor coats, the other one being a store room of sorts with jars of all sorts.

The detective handed her a plate of egg and sausage and sat down next to her in his pyjamas and tucked into his own plate. The eggs were good with the yolk remaining liquid while the outside was nice and firm, the sausage wasn't bad either although it was slightly painful to eat.

"So" began the inspector "I suppose now that you're no longer bedridden we should get to the elephant in the room eh? My name is Schultz Lehmann although I usually go by Inspector Schultz. This place right here is my house, built by my family back in the old days out of scrap material and improved on by me. You've been staying in one of the spare bedrooms and I don't mind you staying here for as long as you want but if you wish to move out once you've received your first paycheck I won't mind too much"

"What now…" managed Neo before starting to cough again

"Well you stay here for now. Once you're healed back up you'll fulfil our agreement and work in the MPD with me for 5 years, during this time you'll be paid… I'm pretty sure I've already told you all of that, to get more specific you'll be working as a Junior Detective under me; so coming on jobs with me and acting as an assistant. You with me?" after seeing affirmation in her features he continued "However I've managed to get you leave for the next two days so you can recover but I still need to be at work. Spend your time recovering, drink lots of tea and do whatever; just don't leave the land please, remember the explosive round your ankle… anyway I've got to go, make yourself at home"

He had put on his suit, coat and hat and had left within five minutes; leaving Neo with nothing but a warm plate of egg and sausage. She had wondered around the house at first, looking over the architecture and noting how literally everything was homemade… even electricity and Wi-Fi access had visibly been squashed into areas not built to house it; it was easy to tell considering how some walls had little bulges and scrapes here and there with evidence to show someone constantly repairing them. She walked outside to be met with a large vegetable patch and a few sheds in the back.

It wasn't much, only an area of about 10x20 meters and yet it was filled to the brim with all sorts of vegetables and even a small patch of wheat and other grains. In the corner beside the shed stood a chicken coop with a small house and a few chickens pecking around in the dirt while a small tray of feed and water stood to the side.

The serine scene was fleshed out by stone paths winding around the crops and a small tree with a swing tied to it.

Walking into the shed in the back (Which was unlocked for some reason) she found a small workshop with ammunition and a few gun parts lying amongst tools and cans of paint and what not. To the side she found a washing line with a few pairs of trousers hanging off it as well as an overturned metal tub which was no doubt used to wash the aforementioned trousers.

Walking back to the house she wondered around for a while before finding the ladder leading to the second floor. It creaked as she clambered upwards and soon she found herself in a smaller room (Most likely Schultz's) with a bed to the side and a writing desk beside it; a few bookcases scattered around the room.

Having explored the whole pace she found herself boredly lying on her bed reading one of the books from his shelves. "The Curious Case of the Woman in the Well By Lehmann S" she read. It was certainly not a published book… the whole thing was hand-written, with even a few pictures stuck to the pages beside the orderly handwriting.

It reminded her of when they first escaped the mines and began their career. The house reminded her of Torchwick's old place… a shoddy apartment in Vale which they'd shared until he rose to his current position. She treasured those memories fondly, back before she worked with Cinder…

She stopped reminiscing on the past and focused on the book. She wondered if this was a real case at first but as the evidence built up and the pages became dirtier, one with even a few drops of rusty blood she concluded that this murder was real and that the book must have been a diary of sorts.

Putting the book down she headed back to the kitchen to soothe her now empty stomach. Sneaking into the fridge she took some ham, eggs and cheese and made herself a sandwich. She then headed back up to the detective's room and continued slowly reading through the various books on his shelves.

Of course there were a few more of these 'case books' but she honestly didn't want to read any more seeing the sheer level of detail they went into. Thus she set upon the other books instead; many were reference books on firearms and the like but since she had no interest in them she skipped those. The remainder were fiction novels spread over all sorts of themes in addition to a few books on farming; she started on the novels.

'That which comes at night' 'Endworld', 'Triumph of will: the extended history of Mycelle'. She slowly read through the whole lot until it got too dark to read. The continent's history was certainly interesting, as was the detective's fascination with literature on the apocalypse.

Just then she heard something outside and looked out to see the detective getting out of his car and entering the property's gate.

Schultz Lehmann walked into his house and hung up his coat. He was glad that today's dose of nonsense was over and that he could get back to looking through the real stuff instead of filing out paperwork for his subordinates and all the leftovers from the raid a few days back.

Now he was back at home and had to deal with the enigma that was Neo; he had driven her back and put her to bed expecting her to stay under for a little longer but 'oh well' he thought as he entered the house and took of his shoes and coat. He couldn't see her anywhere on the ground floor so he headed up to his room to find her lying on his bed and reading one of the many books within his library to the light of the table-lamp he kept beside his bed "Are you feeling better?" he began

Neo first tried to gesture affirmation but then decided to try and speak "Yeah… I feel better now" before taking a swig from a cup on his desk

"You haven't recovered just yet, don't worry about speaking for now. Anyway do you like the place?" upon her nod he continued "Yeah, it was built by my family when they first moved here because the housing within Murmansk was too expensive, now I own it since my grandfather retired. I assume you've seen the farm?"

"Yeah" answered Neo with a rasp

"I sowed that because there aren't many shops nearby and I couldn't be asked to travel several kilometres for a few eggs. Unfortunately I can only grow low-maintenance crops since I only really have the weekends to tend to them. Anyway it's getting late, I suggest you get some sleep; I have some work to do…"

Neo woke to the sound of chirping birds and the cool breeze of a window which she forgot to close last night. Sitting up and heading over to the bottle of water on the table beside her she looked out and closed the window; ending the morning breeze.

No longer thirsty she headed out into the corridor and entered the kitchen where the inspector was reading a newspaper with a cup of tea in hand

"Would you like some?" he asked

"Yes please" said Neo, her throat no longer hurt but speaking was by no means comfortable

"Of course" he poured her a cup "I see you can speak somewhat properly now… does your throat hurt anymore?"

"No, but it is not very comfortable"

"I see, anyway today is your last day of recovery leave; as granted by the MPF high commissionaire. As such I believe it is time for me to get you equipped for your future work. Of course if you don't feel up to it we can always go tomorrow…"

"No its fine, I suppose this place was getting a bit boring anyways"

"Please do not disrespect this house… it was built out of scrap timber by my great grandfather on the few acres of land he was allowed to retire on. Now the place may not be magnificent but my family has always known it to be 'The Lehmann Mansion' (Despite its underwhelming looks)"

"Alright sorry, I didn't mean to offend" said Neo carefully. She did not want to piss off the only thing keeping her out of prison


They moved towards the car outside after putting on their respective outfits and the Inspector hit the pedal down the dusty track that lead to the house. They drove this way for an hour or so before the inspector moved his hand down to the antique radio built in next to the steering wheel "Dispatch this is Schultz, over?"

A cranky but distinguishable voice was heard over the speaker "Yeah I hear ya, what is it?"

"I'm requesting leave for the first two hours of my shift. You can use the time I spent on the raid working overtime"

"You got it boss; today your shift begins at 1:00pm, good luck!" and with that the radio spoke no more…

Driving into Murmansk their first stop was at the supermarket complex in the east of the city. The large three-story high concrete box was filled to the brim with shops and even a large farmer's market on the first floor.

Entering an elevator in the corner of the floor she was whisked up towards the third floor and after walking a few meters to the side the inspector lead her into a store abled 'Army 'n Police'

Entering the store she was confronted with rows and rows of old uniforms, vests and even a few old guns mixed in with all the diversity of a warehouse. The Inspector led her over into the store's far-right hand corner where she was various Police uniforms "Now then, here we'll get you an armour vest. No offense but the poison dart that my man shot you with would be easily deflected from one"

They picked up a simple vest thin enough to not be bulky but strong enough to stop handgun rounds (If you're lucky) as well as a new pair of shoes since her current semi-heels were deemed to be unsuitable for her new job. Now she wore her cream coloured coat with the vest underneath as well as her new shoes; yet the shoes did not work too well with the trousers she wore so she was forced to get a pair of simple grey combat trousers.

Now with her new outfit complete she wondered where they would go next "Alright, now you look the part of an officer I'll bring you over to the station and then you'll be briefed on your new job, kay?"


With her nod they left; driving along with the near-non-existent morning traffic. Eventually reaching the familiar police station, they walked in and entered his office on the second floor; not too far from where she had been held previously held…

They once again entered his office and hung up their coats on the hooks the inspector had on one of the walls; they sat down and the inspector poured them both a cup of mint tea.

"So, do you have any questions you want to ask before I lecture you on your new job?"

"Erm… I suppose I'm wondering what kinda stuff I'll be doing?"

"Fair enough… This city is quite full of criminals" he began "it is our job to purge them; but not too much or else they'll smarten up, but keep their population down and concentrated to only a few sectors of life. I suppose you could say were like filters; purifying the stuff coming through us but not at 100%... the mafia knows about this and that's even better for us since they leash their members not to cause too much trouble or else"

"Yeah, but what do you need me for?"

"I suppose a second opinion? I may be good but I do miss the occasional detail. I also belive that two hands is always better than one and having you around is extra safety when I'm on investigations" he paused thinking of anything else but instead nonchalantly shrugged and asked "Anything else?"

"No. wait actually erm… am I seriously going to have to serve you like this for Five Years?"

"Of course, but you're not a servant but an apprentice. Besides, five years is the least you would have been locked up for had you rejected my offer. Consider this simply another means to pay off your debts to society"

Neo was bored; like really fuckin' bored. She had listened to the whole lecture on her responsibilities and stuff but now there was literally nothing she could do while the detective walked off somewhere, "About our current case" he said. Even if the wait was reasonable that didn't mean she had to like it…

She stood up to stretch her legs since she'd spent the last hour sitting down and walked over to the window and undid the blinds hanging over them only to be overwhelmed by the light outside due to just how dark the inspector's office was.


He returned a few moments later carrying a stack of papers and a leather case with something in it as well as… Her umbrella! He put them down in front of her on the desk and began "Alright, here are the things you'll be issued with, your umbrella has been granted instead of a standard truncheon since you seem to know how to use it so I believe the only new equipment you've been issued is this" he said pulling a handgun out of the grey leather holster. It wasn't too big and the grip fit snugly in her hand as she took it and looked it over. It was somewhat blocky but was smooth enough not to catch on anything

"This here is a P1911, the design itself it quite old but it is cheap and reliable so the MPD uses them extensively, it comes with two mags and uses 45 police special although it could be loaded with 9x19FW for use against armoured vests. The cleaning kit is here" he said passing her a tube about the size of a grenade. The manual is also in there so you can read that once you get back to my house"

"Hang on a second" began Neo "Why would I need a handgun? I've been fine so far without one…"

"Listen Neo, do you think a criminal will go quietly when someone points an umbrella at them? No but they know what a pistol is and they also know that if they do not comply they will be shot… otherwise it's all regulations; I have to carry one as well, not that I'm complaining of course"

Seeing she wouldn't get anywhere with this she asked "What about the folders?"

"The folders? Oh yes, this is the case I'm working on currently; A man was tied to a chair, tortured and then beheaded, the head turning up on top of a church steeple. The man was of the White Fang so my guess is that the Mafia had something to do with it"

"Anyway, it's getting close to 10:00 so you'd better go now" he said pulling out a few lien. Go find yourself a cab and ask the driver to take you here…" she took a sheet and scribbled a postcode onto it "That should do the trick, aside from that stay in the city as long as you want. Just don't do anything illegal or at the very least have the decency to not get caught."


Neo walked out of the police station with her gun holstered underneath the coat she now wore and gave her umbrella a few swings, it had only been two or so days since her arrest but it still felt a bit odd to be without her umbrella for even an hour; but no more. She headed off down the street until she found herself a Café and ordered herself some Vanilla Chocolate and Strawberry ice-cream (This mixture is known as Neopolitan Ice-cream) and finished the bowl within five minutes.

After that she did as the inspector said and got a cab to their residence and made herself some dinner since the inspector had not yet returned. Looking at the clock it was already seven and the sun was slowly setting behind the lush forest surrounding the house. Then the phone rang.

"Neo? Can you hear me?" said the inspector with a hint of nervousness

"Yeah? Why haven't you returned yet?"

"Look, there's been a mass spree shooting in Vale; they're ending me and by extension you there to help out the VPD investigation. Pack your things and be ready to leave at once!"

And with that all the built up calm disappeared.


Author's note- I'm entering my GCSE examination period right now so I probably won't be able to post the next chapter for another month or so…

Also I have done a lot of art for the story in one way or another, check it out on my website (Link is in my profile)