Justice is ServED

ConfusED

Disclaimer: I don't own EEnE, or the characters, nor do I claim ownership of Nat as he belongs to c2ndy2c1d. All I own is the plot.

Kevin didn't know how long he'd been sitting in his car after returning, but he couldn't bring himself to get out and go back into the station. His left arm rested on the window jam and his hand rested against his lips as he stared impassively out the windshield. The car was off but with the window down a cool breeze wafted through the car every once in a while, rustling his red fringe that fell through the hole in his cap. Edd was on his mind and wouldn't leave it. The whole way to the precinct, Kevin's mind was cycling through question after question repeatedly.

Why did he come back? Hadn't he said he wouldn't? Why did he cut off all contact with everyone? As far as he knew, even Ed and Eddy hadn't heard much from him before they too left town. How long has he been back in Peach Creek? Why did he live at his parents' house and how has he done so without Kevin finding out? Kevin still lived in the cul-de-sac for crying out loud! Why did Kevin even care about the dork? They weren't really friends, merely acquaintances who acknowledged each other's existence.

There was one question though that interrupted his thoughts often. No matter how hard he tried to push it away, no matter how much he didn't want to think about it. He'd spent the last six or so years trying not to think about it but despite his best efforts there were constant reminders. He knew he couldn't run away from this anymore, he was going to have to face it head on, but could he do it?

Why did Edd kiss him and then leave?

Biting down lightly on a knuckle, Kevin took a deep breath, letting it out in a huff then rolled the window up and got out of the car. Shoving his hands into his jacket pockets he slowly made his way into the building. Upon entering the station, he was surprised when several people came up to him as he passed through security asking, more like demanding, to know the condition of the "adorable new tech". These were mostly women, but a few of the male officers inquired about the health of the dork as well and Kevin was taken aback at the show of concern for a man they'd just met.

Internally, Kevin felt a small swell of happiness go through him, he'd never seen so many people have genuine concern for Edd. He knew the dork would be overjoyed at so many people concerned for his well-being. It wasn't until he was almost to his desk that he realized what he had thought. Why did he care if people cared about the man? Furrowing his brows together as he glared at the floor while making his way to his desk, he shook his head, resolving to figure it out later, he had a job to do.

Today has been one hell of a day so far already and he couldn't waste his time worrying about the dweeb at the moment. He needed to catch a killer. He couldn't dwell on the man or the confused feelings he was having about the nerd. It wasn't that he hated Double D, it was more the fact that he was happy the man had returned that confused him more. That kiss the night of graduation had thrown him off and was the start of a series of events that Kevin wouldn't change for anything. In a way, he was grateful to Edd for having the guts to do what he did, it quite literally changed his entire life. But, it had changed his entire life and he couldn't deny that there were some negative feelings that were embedded in his heart as a result of the man's actions.

Falling heavily onto his desk chair he booted up his desktop computer and waited for the machine. For now, he would sate only a part of his curiosity. The part that was wondering about his reaction to Kevin's outburst about him living with his parents. The detective knew that Edd's relationship with the two who should have raised him was strained at best. He also knew that despite how irresponsible and neglectful Edd's parents were, the nerd still loved them dearly.

Kevin was ignoring the noise and movements around him, and he was doing well, until a hand ghosted along the back of his neck and he growled lashing out behind him. He knew it was Nat, knew the man's reflexes would save him from being hit by his fist, but he pulled his punch a bit anyway. A sniggering laugh reached his ears before he caught sight of his partner grinning mischievously at him as he danced out of Kevin's reach.

"Woah there tiger, you can't kill your partner!" Nat laughed as he pulled his own chair over to the fuming detective who'd turned his attention back to his computer screen. Gold eyes watched him curiously as the redhead didn't respond and instead Google searched Double D. "What, doing a background check on the cutie pie? You know the precinct already does that don't you?" Ignoring the teal-haired man for the moment as Kevin scrolled through the first page of results, found the nerd's parents' names then searched for them. "You're searching for his parents?" Nat sounded confused, but then again Kevin couldn't blame him. He hadn't told anyone at all about what happened between him and Double D.

A grunt answered him as the man scrolled through the results before his eyes widened when they landed on a link that sparked his interest. Upon clicking it, an article with the headline, Husband and Wife Scientist Duo Killed in Horrific Accident, was the first thing that popped up. Scanning through the article from a newspaper from a few cities over, emerald eyes widening the more he read. How could he not have heard about this? Is this why Edd moved back? Scanning for a date he saw that the article was from late January, it was May now. There's no way Edd's been back that long without him finding out…right? Sighing heavily after closing the browser he glanced at the smirking Nat next to him.

"Dude, I don't think I've ever seen you like this. What is it about the adorkable new tech that has your panties in a twist?" Kevin leaned back in his chair and rolled his eyes at Nat's choice of words. Removing his cap and flinging it onto his desk, he messed with his hair before running his hands over his face. Edd coming back was affecting him more than he cared to admit.

"Maybe later dude. I don't feel like waitin' anymore so let's go crack the dipshit." Nat stood and followed the distracted detective. It was true that he'd never seen Kevin so preoccupied but he thought they told each other everything, that he knew everything there was to know about his partner. One would think he'd feel upset that his partner was keeping something from him but a small smile crept onto his face instead. Kevin had something he was hiding and Nat could feel that it was positively juicy. He'd wait for the man to tell him, because tell him, he would! Even if he had to handcuff the man to himself to get it out.

Jordon MacConnell sneered at the two detectives as they came into the interrogation room. Kevin had a folder and a cup of water and his face was schooled into a blank stare as he placed both items on the table. Nat spun one of the chairs around and straddled the seat, draping his arms on the back of the chair. The redhead opted to remain standing and the two men just stared hard at the suspect across the table. Both men had decided to go with their Interrogation Tactic Number 3, Nat liked to call it The Stare-down.

"Well, howdy ho, how's yer little bitch doin?" Neither man so much as twitched. They knew he was trying to upset them, to make them flustered but the two detectives have been doing this for a while and very little affected them in this room. The two detectives could easily ignore crass statements like that roll over them and not allow it to affect them. The whole point of going with this tactic was because the man didn't crack earlier when Nat actually questioned him out right. This time, they would wait until MacConnell grew nervous from the silent blank stares he was receiving and eventually – hopefully - he would just talk on his own.

That was the plan. Sometimes this plan didn't work so well. There were occasions when they had full blown staring contests until one of the two detectives, usually Kevin, would snap and start yelling. That was usually enough to get people to start talking, though. Kevin didn't like criminals thinking they could manipulate him, but sometimes he allowed it to get them to lower their guard. It was surprising how easy it could be to manipulate a criminal who thought they were manipulating you.

The silence stretched for several long minutes and Nat was having a difficult time of keeping his blank face as he watched MacConnell's face cycle through several different expressions. Smug, irritation, anger, back to smug, so on and so forth. This big brute of a guy wasn't as smart as he probably thought he was if he was showing the two detectives exactly what he was thinking. It didn't take much longer for him to sneer once more and place his cuffed hands on the table, leaning forward slightly.

"Hey, you think that lil' fag o' yers likes it up the ass?" Nat fought to keep his expression blank, he knew the guy was just fishing for something to rile them up and he prayed it wouldn't work. Nat was pretty pissed already but he didn't know the new kid, not like Kevin seemed to. But, he couldn't look at Kevin to see his reaction because that would validate the asshole across from them, whether it was true or not. But Nathan knew his partner and what he hoped was that the man was in his 'ignoring the asswipe until something substantial came out of his face' stage of the interrogation. The lack of movement or sound from the man standing next to him made him feel better, but the lack of reaction out of both detectives royally pissed MacConnell off.

"The fuck is wrong with you? Ain't you supposed to be asking me questions an' shit? You guys ain't got nothin' on me! You can't keep me here!" A grin eased its' way onto Nat's face as MacConnell's face turned red with anger. He glanced at Kevin who nodded slightly at his silent question, this interrogation was his then, it seemed.

"Is that so?" he questioned, his tone light and curious as the grin on his face only grew when the man across the table stiffened and clenched his jaw shut tight and little beads of sweat gathered on his forehead.

"Fuck yeah! I ain't done shit!" Nat chuckled this time and settled his chin on his arms, tilting his head in amusement. Gold eyes sparkled at their suspect, god he loved his job! It was a hobby of his to see how far he could push people until they reacted, and he loved to see those reactions. It gave him a sort of joy, knowing he was using his powers of being a gigantic pain-in-the-ass to his advantage.

"What about earlier? Or is your memory like a goldfishies?" The childish tone Nat used seemed to startle the suspect for a moment before he slammed his hands on the table in a show of anger. If he was hoping to startle or make the two detectives flinch, he was sorely disappointed when Nat's grin merely grew and Kevin smirked.

"This is bullshit!"

"Look MacConnell," Kevin finally spoke, "You were the one who tried to run. You took hostage and assaulted an innocent civilian. We can hold you on that alone. What we brought you in for, was the murder of Sam Dunhill, and we have a witness placing you at the scene only minutes before the victim died." Kevin spoke evenly, merely stating some of the facts they had at the moment. They needed MacConnell to identify the other man they knew he was with and find the murder weapon in order to close this case. It was fairly straight-forward, just a mugging gone bad, some poor soul was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I ain't no snitch asshole!" Kevin chuckled.

"Maybe not, but you just admitted to being an accessory to murder. Right now, you'll be charged with that, assault, attempted kidnapping, and resisting arrest. You're lucky you didn't touch me when I chased you this morning, otherwise I could add assaulting an officer." Kevin listed off, one finger for each charge. Nat grinned before he added.

"You know what the max amount of jail time you're looking at right now for all of that?" When the brute of a man just glared and growled at the amused detectives Nat's smile turned a bit sadistic. He leaned forward, fingers wrapping around the top of the chair and his gold eyes filled with amusement hardened.

"It's about thirty-four years in a maximum security prison." The room was silent for several moments and the man across the detectives was beginning to sweat more profusely. His hands curled tightly into fists and he began to shake before he relaxed slightly and a smirk settled on the man's face.

"I wanna lawyer." Kevin frown at that, just when the guy was starting to talk he had to ask for a bloody lawyer. The two detectives stood at that point and walked out of the room ignoring their suspect's evil grin. They would have to wait for the city to send a defense attorney before they could speak to the man again and that irritated Kevin to no end.

"Well, since we have nothing else we can do, how about we go get some food and you tell me all about the yummy new tech you're so hung up on, hmm?" Green eyes rolled as Kevin followed his partner out into the main lobby. They told an officer in the Processing area to take care of MacConnell and call him a lawyer and then them when the attorney arrived before making their way out of the building.

"So, how do you know sweet cheeks?" Nat said before taking a bite of his burger, watching the redhead with a raised brow before waving a hand in the direction of the elderly woman who smiled from behind the bar. They'd gone to a diner just down the street from the station. It was a mom and pop run place that all the officers frequently visited and the owners absolutely loved having them, the man's own son having served with the precinct for years before being tragically killed while on duty. Turning gold eyes back across the table he eyed Kevin interestedly. Kevin wasn't normally this quiet about anything so Nat was extremely curious about what could possibly be distracting his partner.

Moving a fry through the ketchup on his plate, Kevin thought for several moments about what to say. He knew Nat wouldn't have a problem with what happened or what Kevin was going through. In fact, the nosy detective would probably butt in and try to fix everything despite what Kevin may or may not want. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell the man either though. He'd spent so long burying the memories and feelings, or at least trying to, that he was pretty sure he might have forced himself into denial. But could anyone really blame him? He'd been a kid back then. After several seconds of silence, he sighed before speaking.

"We were neighbors growing up. Us and a bunch of other kids in my cul-de-sac all grew up together. We weren't friends. He used to hang out with this gigantic asshole and another guy and they would try and scam the others outta their money." Kevin ate the thoroughly ketchup-soaked fry before taking a bite of his own burger, not looking at Nat.

"So, you hate him?" Nat questioned, from what everyone told him, Kevin had acted more like a concerned friend than anything when the cutie was being held hostage. Was that just the protectiveness coming out in him or was there something else? It didn't make much sense to the teal-haired man. His partner shook his head and swallowed before continuing.

"Nah, never hated the guy. He was super smart, always friendly, a bit weird, but he was a good guy. Used to get picked on in high school like you wouldn't believe but he was always smiling, always helpful, even to people who'd hit him." A small smile appeared on Kevin's face as he recalled a memory from years ago.

"Ya know, I once saw a big guy push him into a locker so hard he blacked out for several seconds. Then, a few weeks later, that same guy was begging the kid to help him pass a test so he could play in the basketball championship game, and the kid just smiled and said he'd help! Who the fuck does that?" Kevin mumbled the last bit, his brow furrowed like he was trying to sort out his thoughts.

"Wow, I wouldn't that's for sure. But I don't really care about that. I wanna know why you looked like your brain was hurting when you came back from takin' him home?" The redhead put his burger down and took a swig of his soda, looking away from Nat and around at the other diners in the building. Nat knew he was trying to avoid the real reason for acting odd today, but come hell or high water, the teal-haired detective was going to find out. They couldn't work with him if there was animosity between them, it just doesn't make for a very good working environment.

"Dude, I've never told anyone this but, the night of graduation," green eyes looked down at his food and the hand he had resting on the table clenched into a fist, "He kissed me. Told me he didn't want to regret not telling me how he felt about me and then the next day he ran away." Nat stared wide-eyed at Kevin, that was not what he was expecting. Despite that though, he was having a hard time containing his grin.

"So, smarty-pants is gay?" A dull shrug was his answer. Kevin took another bite of his burger, still avoiding Nat's eyes. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what the other was thinking, good or bad, either way, Kevin knew it probably wasn't good for him anyway. Nat would interfere, that's what he did, that's what he'll always do, and Kevin knew this. He knew this but he also knew that Nat always – mostly – had good intentions.

"But that wasn't what bothered you, was it?" Nat knew Kevin had nothing against homosexuals or anyone that wasn't society's definition of "normal". Nat himself was pansexual and that was the first thing Nat told him when they met, well after hitting on him of course. Smiling fondly at the memory of a wide-eyed Kevin and his confused response of, "Okay, so what? You still seem like a pretty cool dude," always made him happy. That was why they worked so well together, Kevin accepted him for all that he was, not in a romantic sense but in a brotherly sort of way.

"Not even a little, but that's now. I won't deny it Nat, but I freaked the fuck out that night. I went to a party, couldn't get the nerd off my mind, especially the kiss. Everything changed because of that night." Gold eyes widened, now he understood why Kevin seemed so confused by everything.

"You mean, that was-" Kevin nodded cutting him off midsentence.

"I know it's not his fault and I won't deny that when I saw him again I was fucking happy to see his stupid ass but, Nat, I haven't exactly had time to come to terms with any of those feelings, if there are any." Kevin looked unsure of himself. It was understandable for Kevin to not know how he felt, he'd been pretty busy the last six years, focusing on work and his personal life. He needed reassurance and Nat could definitely provide him that.

"Look dude, we're in a profession that forces us to risk our lives daily, that's the nature of law enforcement. I'm not going to tell you to choose between anything because you don't have to. What you need to do is realize that if you find happiness somewhere, you should go with it. Things never happen the way we want or think they should but let me tell ya: if you're going to deny yourself the chance to be happy just because you're scared to think about this, then you're gonna be alone for the rest of your life."

Kevin watched Nat as he spoke. He was right, Kevin knew that. He'd been without someone for a very long time and the loneliness was starting to get to him. Edd, Edd was someone Kevin knew, someone he knew he could trust. But did he really think of him that way? Sighing as he played with a fry, he nodded. Maybe he could try and see how things went. He wouldn't deny himself if he truly felt attracted to the guy. He'd never forgotten about that kiss and often thought about it when he saw or heard something that reminded him of the nerd. So maybe…

"What if he doesn't feel that way anymore?" Kevin mumbled throwing a half-eaten fry on his plate and reaching for his phone next to him after it vibrated. Poking a few a few buttons on the screen his brow creased slightly.

"Then you move on or try and rekindle the flame." Nat smirked and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively when Kevin glanced up at him with a raised brow. He snorted lightly in response before his attention returned to his phone and his fingers flew over the screen as he typed out a text and set the phone back after he sent it.

"We forgot to get Double D's meds, I'll have to take him after work. Would you mind-," Nat shook his head no while drinking his soda.

"Nope, I'll take care of it. So, why do you call him Double D?"

"Hmm? Oh, his name's Eddward, with two D's. His two friends were also named Edward so we called one Ed, the asshole was Eddy and Double D." Kevin shrugged as if it was common knowledge taking a large bite from his burger then stuffing a few fries into his mouth too. Nat watched him slightly grossed out at the amount of food the man had shoved in his mouth. How he didn't choke was beyond the teal-haired detective.

"I see. So Double D huh?" Nat watched Kevin very carefully from the corner of his eyes as he finished his own burger, a small smirk on his face. The name was cute, but Nat was curious if Kevin was going to claim that only he could call the man by the childhood nickname. If he did, Nat would know which direction Kevin's feelings were leaning toward, not that he didn't already have an inkling. His smirk grew wider when the man twitched slightly and glared at his partner burger stuffed in his mouth, pausing mid-bite. Nat laughed obnoxiously and Kevin blushed lightly at having been figured out. A cheery tune sounded from Nat's jacket pocket and he pulled out his phone.

"Gorgeous Detective Nat speaking, how may I ass-ist you?" he sang into the phone. Kevin choked lightly on his burger at the man's greeting as he laughed and inhaled a piece of meat. Thumping his chest a few times and gulping down his soda while Nat laughed hysterically, Kevin blushed in embarrassment. They've been friends since entering the academy together but Nat still managed to surprise him after all these years. Once he was able to breathe again, Kevin chuckled slightly, his embarrassment fading despite the many stares the two men were still receiving from the other patrons of the diner.

"Roger that, missy, we'll be back soon," Nat ended the call and reached for his wallet, slamming a few bills on the table and standing, "Patty says both lawyers have arrived at the station." Kevin nodded shoved a few more fries in his mouth and laid a few bills of his own on the table before the two made their way out of the building, waving slightly at the elderly woman who shouted a 'take care' as the door swung shut behind them.

Yay Chapter 4! I had so much trouble trying to decide how I wanted this to go. I literally had two different ideas and several more angles I could have used but I think I preferred this one. That's partially what took me so long to post it. I'm hoping to get the next chapter finished soon. I ended up adding a lot so the chapter that was supposed to be next is gonna have to wait a while.

Hopefully the flooding where I am doesn't get worse otherwise I might not be able to post as soon as I'd hope. I'm lucky where I am but it's never flooded like this before so anything can happen. Fingers crossed!

Anyway thanks for reviewing - for those who have and those who will!