Hey everybody!

Here is Chapter 22 called Lion!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my ideas. "Lion" is by Rebecca St. James.

Working the late night patrol was a thing that Helga G. Pataki hated the most about being a cop. Sitting up all night patrolling the streets in the car by herself was just a pain in the ass. And being a rookie cop in the Seattle Police Department literally meant squat. She knew she should have just stayed in Hillwood and become a security guard. But considering the face that she spent most of teenage years tormenting the security guards at the Hillwood Mall, it probably wasn't a good idea to go back there and try to get a job with them. Especially when the head security guard made it his mission to make her life a living hell as soon as she set one foot into the mall. Even now as a 27 year old cop. But she sat in her car, driving along the streets when she saw a shadow peek out from a dark alleyway, look around quickly before sneaking back into the shadows. It was suspicious but not suspicious enough to get out of her car and onto the streets. So she continued on and pulled into an alley across from a 7-11 and scrambled around her bag for some loose change for a coffee and maybe one of those donuts. She parked, knowing that if anyone saw the police car sitting in that alley, they'd slow down. People in Seattle, especially this small hick area full of goody-two shoes, knew that the Police was something to be feared. Which made her job easier, sort of.

As she exited the store, donut in her mouth and large black coffee in hand, she saw the same shadow in the alleyway across the street, heading towards her car and she scrambled across the street. She got a few feet away and hid behind a dumpster. She was still a few feet away from her car but far enough that she knew it was actually a person who had decided to lean against a police cruiser. Dumbass.

"Police. Hands in the air."

The shadow did nothing as she stood up and placed her hand on her gun.

"Who are you?"

She stared at the figure in the shadows in the distance. He was tall. At least she could determine it was a man, by the way that he stood, the way his hips angled themselves against the hood of the car. The fedora on his head tipped over his eyes. He wore a trench coat and she gripped her gun a little tighter as he stood up straighter and walked over to her.

"Don't come any closer!"

She pulled the gun out of the holster, aiming it at his heart.

"Seattle Police. Put your hands up."

He stood, facing her. She could see the grin forming on his mouth. Sneaky. Clever. Someone that was managing to scare the crap out of her and make her heart beat out of her chest at the same time. But she found herself slightly curious at the mysterious figure in front of her.

"I can help you."

She felt shivers go up her spine at the sound of his voice. He tilted the hat up slowly, but she could finally see the deep green of his eyes. There was something in them that she didn't expect. Trust. But she wasn't gonna let his eyes be her downfall.

"What makes me think that I can trust you? You came out of nowhere."

He walked closer to her and her grip on the gun tightened.

"I said don't move!"

"Officer, please. I won't hurt you."

He touched the edge of the gun with his fingertips, her fingers buzzing on the trigger but he looked into her eyes and she dropped the gun to her side.

"What makes you think that I need any help?"

"You looked bored out of your mind in that car."

"I'm on patrol. Make sure guys like you don't try anything."

"Guys like me? Officer…Pataki, is it? Look, I'm a trustworthy guy."

"I doubt that."

"Does this look like a face that would lie to you?"

"Considering I can't see your entire face because of that hat…"

He placed his hand on his head and removed the hat, placing it on the hood of the car.

"There's something going on around here…not usual for a small town near Seattle. I mean… this place has innocent written all over it. Usually. But let's just say find these guys, can help the both of us out."

"What makes you think that there is any trouble out here?"

"See those guys in the truck over there. The bald one and the one with the rather large soda? They aren't from around here. Check the plates."

She turned her head and looked down at the bumper of the truck on the other side of the street. She could barely make out the plate, but she read it enough to make out a state.

"Florida?"

"Now why would two guys be in a small town near Seattle if they are from Florida? Little suspicious if you ask me."

"That's not enough to go on."

"Yea, but you've always been one to take a leap, haven't you?"

She turned to face him but realized that he wasn't leaning against the hood of the car, but rather right behind her. Standing less than a few inches from her. He smirked and she felt her knees almost give out, but stood her ground, looking him dead in the eyes.

"Let's see if I can figure you out, Officer… you were raised by both your parents in a small town much like this one. You've been in Seattle your whole life, never even though of leaving it, even if you may have gotten a bigger job offer across the country. East Coast, maybe?"

She looked down at the pavement and whispered.

"Boston."

"Boston. Makes sense. You would've been good there. Let's see what else… hmm…your parents didn't really value you as much as they should have. You're not an only child though. Certainly the youngest from the way you act. Not sure of anything, but impulsive. Quick with an insult or a joke. You've always been a tough girl, haven't you? Since your parents only paid attention to your older sibling, you thought that being tough and a bully would get you some attention growing up."

She looked up at him.

"I'm not done."

"I think you are." She hissed.

"You've been too trusting with your heart, been broken too many times. Decided to join the forces to bring the bad guys down. Smart. Considering you almost went down a dark path yourself."

"That's enough." He ignored her.

"It's a shame really. Tough cop Pataki can't get any love anymore. Not from her parents, not from her boss, not from her co-workers, just not good enough to do anything…"

"ENOUGH."

He stopped from his rant to notice the baton at his forehead and laughed.

"A little touchy there, Officer?"

"I could arrest you right now."

"Look, I get it. I went too far…"

"You're damn right you did…"

"But everything was right, wasn't it?"

She looked at him before pulling the baton away from his face and back into the loop of her belt.

"Officer, I've seen you around. You may not have thought you've done a whole lot, or that there is even a lot for you to do here. But…maybe you're not letting yourself see the bigger picture."

"Let's just not…"

"Talk about it?"

He raised his hand up to touch her face and she didn't pull away as quickly as she would have wanted to. There was something about this lowlife that seemed different. He knew everything about her, maybe not in complete details, but enough that he knew exactly what she had been going through. A change of pace from the people around her that didn't really seem to care what she did and when she did it, as long as she followed the rules everyone had placed her under. Her head was racing as she eventually did manage to pull away from him.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Nothing." Another smirk.

She huffed before getting back into her car and turning the ignition.

"You coming or what?"

He smiled again and her heart fluttered instantly, silently cursing herself as it did. He attempted to climb in the front seat of the cruiser before she stopped him.

"Back."

"Back seat? What, you're treating me like a criminal now?"

"Just get in the back."

He grumbled, which surprised her, considering how cool and collected he had been the couple hours that she had met him. It showed that he couldn't just be Mister Smooth, he might actually be a normal human being with other emotions and attributes besides a rather charming personality and a pleasure in annoying the crap out of her and probably other people just like her. She couldn't be the only one that he was doing this too.

"So this is what it's like in the back of a police car. Makes me feel like I don't wanna be on the other end…"

She looked up at him through the mirror, but didn't say a word and continued to drive ahead, stopping at the end of the alley and waiting. Her two new suspects were still standing by the now running car, one smoking a cigarette and casually blowing smoke rings into the night air while the other tapped his foot with the car radio and sipped at his soda.

"So what are we gonna do Officer? We can't wait around all day. Gotta make a leap."

"We don't even know if they have done anything wrong yet."

He slumped back in the seat and she kept her eyes glued on the two men across the street. So far, they weren't doing anything at all out of the ordinary. It just looked like two guys from Florida who may have gotten lost and needed to take a break. She felt breathing through the metal cage against her neck.

"Can I help you?"

"They're criminals."

"What makes you so sure about this?"

"Telephone pole, across the street, left hand side, there is a wanted poster."

She turned to face the direction and squinted to look at the poster. She groaned inwardly. He was right.

"America's Most Wanted since 1982. Arson and murder. Nice."

She turned and glared at him while he grinned back innocently.

"Looks like this could get you on the map, Officer. Maybe get you somewhere bigger and better instead patrolling the streets for public indecency."

"Would you shut up for a minute? I'm thinking."

She rested her hand above her radio, hesitating before calling it in.

"Dispatch, this is Helga Pataki, badge number 325620. I've got a possible suspect in a mini mart, Roanoke County off of I 119, over."

"Dispatch to 325620, we're sending back up now."

He leaned back in his seat, putting his feet onto the grates.

"You called for back up?"

"It's procedure."

"Forget procedures, Pataki. Take a risk!"

She paused, turning from the men across the street to the badge sitting in her passenger's seat. She opened the glove compartment and pulled out her extra gun.

"Out."

He didn't question her as both of them got out of the car. She pushed the gun into his hands.

"Know how to use this?"

"You could say I'm pretty good…"

"I don't need your cockiness. Just stay quiet and stay behind me. If I get caught, I swear to God, you will be my first kill, understand?"

He nodded as they moved silently across the street, carefully watching the two men standing by their car. The cigarette man still breathing smoke rings as the soda man continued to take long gulps of his soda and tap his foot to the rhythm of the songs on the radio.

"Stay down and wait for my signal."

"What's the signal?"

"You'll know."

She walked ahead of him, crouching to the ground and keeping her eyes on her targets. It's when she realized that this could really be the first big break that she ever had, which made her tense up in a combination of nerves and adrenaline. She breathed quickly, taking in and letting out a few low puffs of air before she continued. As she rounded the car towards the cigarette man, she motioned for her "partner" to sneak behind the soda man, knowing that he was a lot weaker. She lifted the gun to the middle of the cigarette man's back and watched him tense up in front of her.

"You. Put your hands in the air and lay on the ground. After that, you make no noise, you do not move, you stay there until I tell you to move. Understood?"

The cigarette man turned his head slightly and growled.

"And why should I?"

She flashed her badge at him.

"Seattle Police. That's why, dirtbag. Down on the ground, hands where I can see them."

The cigarette man did as he was told. She moved out from behind him before she noticed that her partner had already done the same thing with the other criminal. She nodded to him and he smiled halfheartedly before they both heard the sound of sirens in the distance.

-kayhampster-

As both of the criminals were pushed into the cop car, Helga's commanding officer approached her.

"Great job Pataki. We've been looking for these guys for years. It's a good things that Detective Shortman was helping you out. He's looking for a partner you know. I'll keep you in mind."

As her commanding officer started to walk away, she tried her best not to cheer and dance around. A detective position with the SPD? This was a dream come true…wait…

"Sir?"

Her boss turned around.

"Did you say Detective Shortman was helping me out?"

"That's right."

She turned back to the car and the hat sitting in her back seat and grumbled.

"Son of a…"

"Now, now Officer Pataki, don't want the Captain to hear such a foul mouth."

She turned and faced him, the smirk plastered on his face.

"You're a detective?"

"Yes, m'aam."

"Then why do you look like one of these guys?"

"Undercover."

"Doing what exactly…"

"Supposed to be looking for big drug ring here. People aren't as innocent as you'd think. Gotta get used to looking at the bigger picture…"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"What...and take the fun out of everything? You were doing so well thinking I was a criminal. Being all commanding and such. I like a girl with some fire under her."

He winked as she rolled her eyes and started to walk away.

"You know Officer Pataki, the Captain is right…I am looking for a new partner. That is, if you're interested in working with me again…"

She turned back to look at him before staring down at the pavement.

"There's just one thing though, Officer."

She turned to face him, placing her hands on her hips.

"And what's that?"

"I need a name. I won't accept you as a partner til I get a name. The first name."

She went back down to looking at the pavement and grinned.

"It's Helga."

Sorry for the long wait! I'll try to post more often, but I can't guarantee it. :( I'm currently moving from my old apartment into a new one and my senior year at college is about to start. Eep.

But I am currently in the middle of Chapters 3 and 4 of Mission Forever as well as Chapters 23-25 of Songs of Hillwood. So hopefully, they will all go up quickly.

Here's your hint for Chapter 23!

"I can hear the sound of violins, long before it begins..."