"So, how do you want to work this kid?" Ford asked. They had taken the young man back to the police station. There wasn't much more to be done at the scene until it was processed. "While he probably hasn't done anything, he's trying to act tough. I say we refrain from being too gentle."

"I'll leave it to you, then." Fate answered. She looked through the two-way mirror into the interview room where the boy sat. He had a smug smirk on his face. He didn't seem to mind being interrogated by the police.

Danny 'D-Dog' Dodge was ecstatic. He had actually been taken in by the cops! Maybe he'd even get a criminal record! The guys will be so jealous when they heard about this! His street cred would sky rocket!

He watched as the old man and the chick walked in and sat in front of him. Damn, was that girl fine. That long blonde hair, those sparkling red eyes, and that rack that noticeably bulged out of her uniform. If he played his cards right and showed her how hardcore he is, she'll be begging for him to see what was under that black jacket.

He shot her a wink, and she responded with a sad smile. D-Dog imagined how her face would be lost in pleasure when he showed her his manliness.

"Eyes over here, kid." Ford snapped his fingers in front of the delusional boy's face. Ford didn't want drool all over the table. Sometimes he thought the young Enforcer was too pretty for her own good. "So, Danny-boy, why don't you tell us about what happened last night?"

"The name's D-Dog, pops!" D-Dog puffed out his chest. "And I don't gotta tell you nothin'!"

"You said you were hanging out with your buddies." Ford went on. "What are their names? Where can we find them?"

"I ain't sellin' out my homies!" He seemingly waved his hands about at random, select fingers pointing outwards. "We be tight, yo!"

Ford suppressed a groan. This kid was being ridiculous. He might as well get it over with.

"What if I told you all your buddies were dead?"

Danny balked for a moment. "You… You're just playin' me!" He said, his defiant tone now replaced by a wary one. "You're lying!"

Ford silently tossed the bag containing the bloody necklace across the table. "You recognise this?"

Danny lost all muscle control in his face. His jaw hung open and his skin became even pastier. "That's… that's B-Sly's bling! Why… This… this is some kind of joke, right?"

He studied the detective's face. The man didn't look like he was kidding. The hot blonde sadly shook her head.

"Oh God." Danny shot up, knocking his chair back. "Ohgodohgodohgodohgod…" He repeated over and over. He breathing became heavy and erratic. "Nonononono…"

"Crap. Some one get a paper bag in here!" Ford ordered. Fate crossed over to the boy and lightly held his shuddering shoulders.

"Calm down, Danny." She whispered. "Control your breathing. Do it nice, and slowly. In and out, in and out."

Danny listened to the sweet, soothing voice in his ear. He followed her instructions and he levelled out. He took the paper bag Ford handed to him and begun breathing into it. Fate gently eased him back into the chair.

"I know this is hard." She said. "But we need you to help us."

Danny shakily reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. "Their names…" He whispered. "On my contact list… The only ones listed in the 'friends' group…"

Fate took the phone. She'd give it to Shari to run the names. But first…

"Is there anyone you want us to call to come and be with you?" She asked.

Danny gave her a shy side glance. "I… I want my mom."

X-X-X

Danny's mom, as it turned out, was also his lawyer.

"On what grounds are you holding my son?" Shirley Dodge demanded as she breezed into the station. Ford was there to greet the business suit clad woman. She was a pretty lady, no older than forty. Her brown curls bounced when she stopped in front of the detective.

"Your son isn't in any trouble, Mrs Dodge." He assured her. "There's been an incident, and we'd like to ask him a few questions. Your presence was requested for emotional support."

The professional determination disappeared from her eyes, leaving only the concern of a mother. "Where is he?" She asked. Ford took her to the interview room, where Danny was still being comforted by Fate. The moment Shirley entered the room, he jumped up and ran to her.

"Mom!" He cried, clinging to her. He sobbed noisily into her chest.

"Danny!" She returned the hug. "What's wrong, honey?"

"They're dead!" He sniffed. "They said they're all dead!"

"Who's dead?" Shirley looked to Fate for answers.

"Please, have a seat, Mrs Dodge," She said. "And we'll explain."

After everyone was sitting down, Ford summarized the situation.

"This morning human remains were discovered in the warehouse Danny says he and his friends hung out at last night." He said. "The remains are unidentifiable, but there is a distinct possibility that the remains belong to your son's friends. Danny identified a personal effect that was found at the scene."

"How were they killed?" Shirley asked.

"… I can't tell you that." Ford answered. He thought it best they didn't know the horrific details. "We need you to tell us about your friends, Danny. We need to know what you guys did last night."

"O… Ok…" Still shaky and weeping, Danny spoke. "My friends and I, there are seven of us including me. We like to dress up like this, and pretend to be gangsters. We don't do anything real gangs do. We just hang out, walk the streets, act like we're big shots… We… We were just trying to be manly." He wiped at his eyes. "Guess I'm not being very manly right now…"

"Real men aren't afraid to cry." Ford said in absolute seriousness. Danny seemed to brighten a little at the comment.

"It was Friday, so once we got out of school, we just chilled out… went to the arcade, loitered around the food court… We'd just strut down the street. It felt really good to see people trying to avoid us…"

"I've met these boys before." Shirley added. "They're all good kids. This gangster front was harmless."

"Well we… we got a little carried away sometimes…" Danny admitted. "Some one bumped into us, so we gave him a hard time about it… but nothing serious happened, and I apologised, too… That was the only time we caused trouble for anyone, I swear!"

"It's all right." Fate said. "Please go on."

"After we got tired of walking around, we just headed back to the warehouse… We had found that place not too long ago. Decided to make it our secret base of sorts… We… uh…" He passed a shameful glance at the two women in the room. "Had bought some… dirty magazines to look at…"

"That's perfectly normal, Danny." His mom told him. Fate followed up with a nod.

"Well…" Danny continued. "We were just hanging, and at nine I went home because… there was this special about battleships on at ten that I really wanted to watch…"

And that show, Ford mused, was what saved his life.

"I went to bed after it was done. Then this morning, I went back to the warehouse to meet up with the guys… and… well, you know the rest…" The boy finished.

Fate was secretly grateful to the homeless man. If this boy had been the one to discover the scene…

"Did you have any rival gangs?" Ford inquired. "Or perhaps you know of some real gangs that might not have liked you and your friends hanging out in their territory?"

Danny shook his head. "Like I said, we didn't cause trouble for anyone. We only acted that way because we knew the area was safe…"

Ford didn't expect that line of thought to go anywhere. His money was on those poor kids simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But he had to play it safe.

"Ok, here's the deal." He addressed Shirley. "We're going to take your son into protective custody."

Danny's eyes turned to saucers and he clung to his mother's arm. "Do… Do you think the killer will come after me, too?"

"There's a chance." Was all Ford said. Danny's breath began getting heavier again.

"Danny, how would you like to ride on an Interdimensional Warship?" Fate asked quickly before he started hyperventilating again. Danny's breath hitched and he looked at Fate curiously.

"A warship?" A little excitement lit up his eyes. "You mean, like the kind that floats around in space?"

"That's right." Fate smiled. "You'll be safe there, and you'll get to travel around the universe."

"Can… can mom and dad come too?"

"Of course they can." Fate shot Shirley a look. The other woman nodded.

"Come on, dear." She said as she rose. "Let's got call your father." She wrapped a supportive arm around her son's shoulder and led him out of the room. When they reached the door, Danny turned to Fate.

"Um… Miss… Earlier I thought some very… rude and inappropriate things about you… I'm really sorry…"

"Don't worry about it, Danny."

X-X-X

"You sure have a way with kids." Ford commented when they were alone. It made Fate smile a little. They exited the interview room and were greeted by Shari and Teana. The two teenagers had solemn looks on their faces.

"We tried calling the numbers in the phone." Shari said. "There were no answers. However, the team at the crime scene were able to find six cell phones when they rang."

Ford cursed and ruffled his hair. "So we have the technology to make cell phones that still work after being thrown around and soaked in blood, but we're powerless to protect a bunch of kids playing a stupid game from being turned into puddles of gloop. What a world we live in."

Fate studied her aides. They were only a year older than the boys who were killed. Their chosen profession came with risks. They had long since accepted that they may fall in the line of duty. But the boys were just students having a night out on the town. The thought that some one would see fit to end their lives in such a way would never have crossed their minds.

The red warehouse flashed through Fate's head. Her stomach stirred uneasily.

"Did you get the names and addresses of all the victims?" Ford asked. Shari nodded. "Ok then. Let's go girls." He sighed. "We have lives to ruin."

X-X-X

Fate spent the next several hours doing just that. It was never easy to see the uncertain terror in people's eyes when they see law enforcement on their doorsteps. Never easy to watch as people broke when they heard the news. Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandparents, they all cried when told their family would be forever missing a member. Some tried to deny it, tried to pass it off as some sort of mistake, but they would face the truth eventually.

Even though they suffered, questions had to be asked, information gathered. Were you aware of your son's activities? Did he mention having trouble with some one? Was he worried about anything?

Between sobs, the answers were all negative. His activities were a harmless game. He didn't cause trouble. He was only worried about the normal things that came with being a teenager.

Fate felt horrible as they left each shattered home. She was powerless to ease their pain, their grief. She wanted to offer some sort of comfort, but knew all she could give were empty words. The families would never have closure until the monster that did this was caught.

Would Fate act like that? What would she do if she opened her door one day to see a uniform before her, telling her that something had happened to Erio, Caro, or Vivio? How would others react if it was Fate herself that was killed? Those were questions Fate hoped never to learn the answers to.

X-X-X

It was early evening by the time they returned to the police station. All they could do was sit on their hands until the report from the crime scene came in. Fate looked miserably into the cup of coffee she had no intention of drinking.

"There's not much for you to do around here, kid." Ford told her. He could see she was trying too hard to hold it together. He tried not to speak too loudly, for he feared the vibration would knock her over. "I suggest you head on home, get some rest. Maybe take tomorrow off, too. It's been a rough day."

Fate shook her head. "No, I'm fine. I can handle it."

"Enforcer Harlaown." Ford replied sternly. "There's no way what you saw today isn't haunting you right now. No one is that hard boiled. Go home, take a few days. Get it out of your system. I'll keep you updated on the investigation."

"But…"

"Fate-san." Shari jumped in. "To be perfectly blunt, you look like hell." If Fate had a mirror handy, she would have seen just how much the shadow that had gathered under her eyes stood out on her pale skin. "Teana and I can handle things on this end. We just need to analyze that unknown reading you picked up. I have no idea what you saw in there, but I know it wasn't good. Please allow yourself some time to recover."

Fate looked into Shari's concerned gaze, and then saw the same expression on Teana. The truth was, Fate wanted to accept the offer. It hadn't crossed her mind at all during the day, but she actually had plans for the evening.

"Thank you…" She muttered. Her day had been filled with nothing but death and misery. She needed some warmth and kindness.

There was a certain person she really wanted to see.

I feel this chapter could have probably been better, but nothing particularly interesting happens anyways. It would have been longer, but I felt that was a good place to end the chapter. As such, all the Fate/Yuuno stuff will be in the next chapter. Look forward to it.