"Kay… your friend is… scary." Simon murmured to Kay, who was sitting next to him in the backseat of the squad car. Simon had just finished another day at the new school Mister Faraday enrolled him in; apparently, Mister Faraday was in court that day, so he had asked Detective Tyrell Badd to pick Simon up from school, and bring him along with Kay to the courthouse.

Kay was only in kindergarten at this point. No full school days for her yet.

"Aw, it's okay, Simon," Kay grinned toothily. "Mr. Badd's really a big softy. And he's an eagle-eyed detective, y'know! So he's only scary to the bad guys."

Needless to say, this did not placate Simon in the least. He simply didn't have the same history with this man as Kay did. To a twelve year-old boy like him, Tyrell Badd's scruffiness was… intimidating. Never mind the numerous bullet holes that adorned the man's big gray coat – it was the guy's rough-looking face that made Simon uneasy. The gruff beard. The weird-looking cigarette in his mouth. The slick black hair. The sharp, calculating stare. Yup. If there was a picture next to the word "scary" in the dictionary, this man's mug shot would be it.

If Simon had met Mister Badd at random – no indication he was a detective, no police squad car to indicate he was a member of the police – he probably would've screamed bloody murderer. Dangnabbit, the guy looked like a friggin' serial killer. Or some other criminal of a similar serious nature. In that hypothetical scenario, Simon's line of thought would have been roughly, 'This guy looks really rough around the edges. Has he committed murder before, and might that be the reason behind the bullet holes?'

Of course, as intimidated as Simon might have personally felt, he had the decency to keep in mind that this man was a member of the police, a respected one at that, and that Kay felt at ease around him, so he couldn't have been that bad as a person.

"A-Ah. R-Right." Simon chuckled awkwardly, and from there, a somewhat uneasy silence ensued that seemed to go over Kay's head. Sooner rather than later, they arrived at the courthouse, and Mister Badd escorted the pair of them to the third floor lobbies. When he gave Kay what appeared to be a "substantial" amount of money – about twelve $1 bills, when Simon counted them – the girl's eyes sparkled, and she dashed off down a hall without a word.

Regrettably, this left Simon Faraday (the last name of 'Keyes' had no significance to him, seeing as how it was only given to him by the orphanage because he did not remember his parents, so he took the last name of Faraday out of courtesy) with Tyrell Badd. Alone. Okay, so there were guards in front of the doors around the room, but otherwise, the lobby was empty.

This did not make Simon feel at ease.

"You… do not trust me… do you, boy?" Badd had his mirror out at this point, and he didn't need to look at Simon out of the corner of his eye to see the boy's unnerved expression. "It is… fine… to be intimidated… I would find it strange… if you weren't even a little wary…"

"Y-Yeah…" Simon hesitantly agreed. When he got a sense that Badd was listening with rapt attention, he hastily explained himself. "I… I mean, I don't think it's r-right that people judge you by your l-looks… B-But you do have a p-presence. A-And, w-well… I guess it's not your fault I'm wary of you. It's… It's just who I am. I-I know that sounds like an excuse, but… I haven't known very many… nice… people…"

Simon finished his explanation off lamely, and waited to see if Detective Badd had anything else to say. Honestly, he couldn't help but be somewhat curious of the man. Even if he had an intimidating countenance, Detective Badd apparently had a "softer" side, at least if Kay was to be believed. And while Kay's young innocence might be construed as naiveté, she couldn't be wrong, otherwise Mister Faraday wouldn't have entrusted the man to look after his daughter. Wouldn't have called Mister Badd a friend.

'Cause that's what Mister Faraday had called him. A friend.

"You are… unique," Badd eventually spoke up again, as Simon expected he would. "Kay and her father… trusted me from day one… But you… Yes, you are 'wary', but you are… objective. You do not offer weak excuses for your… wariness."

"W-Well… It's not fair to judge someone by l-looks or personality…" Simon repeated himself. He looked down at the floor. "I never really got along with the other kids at the orphanage… Part of it was my fault, but part of it was also their fault. I… They eventually saw me as a crybaby loser. To an extent they were right, though; I did cry a lot when I was there. But that didn't give them the right to treat me like that…!"

"Well… I wouldn't exactly our situations are 'similar'," Badd mused. "After all, there is a… world of difference… between a homicide detective and… a grade school child… But… I see the similarities you bring up. Some circumstances are simply out of your control, and you are judged 'unfairly'… But then, you know full well about the unfairness of life, don't you, boy?"

Admittedly, Simon was a little shocked when Badd pulled that stick out of his mouth toward the end there. He'd been puzzled at the weird-looking cigarette, and wondered if Badd's speech pattern was purposefully "dramatic", but it looked like all those "pauses" was just Detective Badd sucking on a lollypop.

Who woulda thought such a hardboiled detective had a sweet tooth?

Still, Simon rubbed his arm when Badd brought that up. Yeah. He knew that fact a little too well…

"Um… Mister Badd, if you don't mind me asking… Why did you become a detective?" Simon wasn't quite sure why he felt bolder than usual, but… he honestly wanted to know. When you're a detective, you have to do so with the knowledge you'll be seeing the worst society has to offer. On a frequent basis. Sometimes with your life on the line.

Simon had unwillingly been among their kind for several years. He couldn't comprehend why someone would want to deal with those kinds of people.

"Hmm…" Badd went back to enjoying his candy. "I guess you could say… it's my Detective's Spirit…!"

Simon blinked when he didn't elaborate further.

"And… what is a 'Detective's Spirit'?" Simon queried.

Badd took the lollypop out again.

"It is… the Detective's sense of duty. To protect the innocent, to bring justice to those who deserve it, to doubt every suspect until they are proven innocent. To find out the truth, no matter how bitter it may be. A detective must be dedicated to his job…!"

… Well, quite frankly, that ruled out that line of work for Simon's future career. Really, it sounded noble and selfless, but Simon honestly wouldn't be able to handle a job like that. Of course the idea of 'justice' sounded appealing, but sooner or later, Simon would feel obligated to seek… illegal… means to delivering "justice" to wrongdoers. Particularly if the crime was personal to him.

It was respectable that Detective Badd was that kind of person, but it wasn't who Simon was.

"That's… cool," Simon conceded and smiled tentatively at the detective, but before he could say anything more, Kay was back with two packs of Swiss Rolls.

"Sorry! The silly machine wasn't working, so I had to get the Rolls myself!"

Both Simon and Badd visibly recoiled at Kay's claim.

"K-Kay… you aren't serious…!" Simon said in a strangled voice. Though Badd didn't speak up, he could tell the detective was equally shocked.

"Hehe! Just kidding!" Kay grinned toothily. She took great pleasure in their gobsmacked expressions. "An officer helped me out! Got you pretty good, huh?"

… Simon took this as an omen of the things to come. Not a simple sign, no. An omen. It was a simple practical joke, but with her size, it was kinda believable she could've gotten into the vending machine somehow.

He would have to watch her very carefully from now on… if not for her own safety, then for his poor heart's health…


Author's Note: That was fun. I like Badd's character, I really do. I honestly just wanted to get to a scene between Badd and Simon; the two would have an interesting dynamic. That being said, it's a little weird for Simon to be thinking about his future career, but... eh. It's a 'what do I want to be when I grow up?' thing. Simon's got a different life ahead of him; will he still wind up working for the Berry Big Circus, or will he wind up doing something else...?

Well. I already have an idea for that. So, y'know, rhetorical question. XD But if you have any speculation about that, I wouldn't mind hearing it. My idea's not firmly cemented yet, so if I hear something better, I'll consider it.