Thanks for sticking to the story! :D Hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well!

Thanks to Aerle for betaing!

Chapter 2

"What do you mean, he's gone missing?" Smoker asked as he followed her inside. "Did he escape?"

Tashigi looked a little troubled. "Well, yes, he's not in his cell anymore, but the thing is… the cameras didn't record any sight of him. And the door was still locked too, so I don't understand how he could have gotten out."

"He must be on some tape, I'm sure you've overlooked something," Smoker commented.

"Maybe, well, we haven't watched all video recordings yet, but…"

"I'm sure we'll find something, Tashigi, people don't just disappear." They immediately walked into the video room and Smoker greeted Hina, the station leader of this town, who was already intensely watching one of the tapes.

"Hina doesn't like this the least bit," she commented. "It's like he just dissolved into thin air."

"Well, that's just not possible, so we'll just have to keep looking for clues." Smoker sat down next to her and started up a video of another area of the police station. "He might have messed up the video evidence."

"How? There has been a guard in the video room all night," Hina commented.

"Well, our prisoner seems to possess ninja-powers, so I wouldn't be surprised if he found a way."

The three of them spent the whole morning watching every video recording there was from in and around the station, but there was no sign of the arson suspect. Nor were there parts missing from the tape , he hadn't taken off on his bike, as the red Honda was still parked inside the station's garage, where it had been put when it became clear Ace would be spending the night here.

"Could he still be somewhere inside the station?" Smoker asked, his eyes tired of looking at all the videos.

"Very unlikely. We've searched the whole building," Hina answered.

"Well, maybe we should just give up," Tashigi said. "I mean, to be honest, we would have to let him go today anyway. We don't really have much reason to keep him locked up, even if he is guilty. He's not an immediate danger for society, so he's allowed to await the investigation and trial at his own home."

"I know that, dammit!" Smoker slammed his fists on the table. "But no one escapes from me, no one, you hear? So I will find that damn brat!"

"Hina agrees with Tashigi," the pink haired woman said as she placed a hand on Smoker's shoulder. "We should leave him for now. Our main concern is how he was able to break out and that is what we have to find out now. His current whereabouts are of less importance."

"Yeah, but if we find him, he can tell us how he did it."

"I don't think he would tell you that, Smoker," Tashigi brought in, and if Smoker was completely honest with himself, he didn't think so either. He'd probably just deny everything, just like he had done yesterday.

"But we haven't even checked his home."

Hina stood up. "Fine, you can check whether he's home or not, but you are not allowed to take him into custody. Are we clear?"

Smoker looked at her, but then turned around and walked away without saying anything. She might be his boss, but that didn't mean he liked being bossed around.

However, Tashigi was able to convince him to let it rest for now, because, she said, they could always go find him when they really needed to and Smoker could better use his time for other stuff that had yet to be done. The pile of work that was still in front of them was one of the main reasons why they had needed him in the first place. Smoker eventually agreed with her, but swore to himself that when the time came, he would be the one to track down the arsonist, capture him again and make sure he would stay behind bars.

That evening, he was leaning on the fence of the walkway before his apartment, enjoying the sunset and a cigar or two. That was a small down side to his new home; it didn't have a balcony. But the walkway served that purpose kind of well too, at least for days like these, when the weather was nice.

Smoker looked up when he heard a loud, but muffled laughing. It obviously came from behind Izo's door. He hesitated for a moment. He was invited for a drink, after all, so he could just ring the doorbell to see if he could get it now. But after a second thought, his neighbor probably wouldn't appreciate that when he was already having guests.

At least that was what Smoker assumed. Izo had never said he lived there alone, so maybe the other person he heard – and saw the other day – was his partner or something? He didn't need to be a guest. Not that the person he heard now, would necessarily have to be the same person he saw yesterday…

Smoker turned back to face the sun that stood near the horizon. He was overthinking things and he wasn't even sure why.

A few moments later the door of his neighbor's apartment opened. "Oh, get a room, you two!" It was Izo's voice. "Or… just your own apartment, which is two stores down, if I need to remind you."

"Oh come on, Izo, don't be like that!"

Smoker's ears immediately stood to full attention and he spun around to see who had just spoken. Izo just pushed a couple out of his apartment, one of them the blond he had seen yesterday, the other an all too familiar raven head. Smoker's eyes widened. "You?!"

Ace let go of his boyfriend to face the source of the sound he'd just heard. "You?!"

"You two know each other?" Izo commented slightly amused.

Smoker had to keep himself from grabbing the freckled guy, push him against a wall and take him in. But Hina had forbidden him to do that, so he kept his distance. "How did you escape?"

Ace laughed a little nervous and confused. "You're not gonna arrest me?"

"If you stay available for further questions and your trial, then no, I shall have to leave you for now," Smoker said with much difficulty. "How did you escape?"

The freckled man put on his innocent face again, the one Smoker had seen a few times before and the one that was really making him want to strangle the kid. "Escape from where, officer?"

Smoker clenched his teeth. "You left your memory behind in that cell at the police station?"

"What, a police cell?" Ace pulled a face as if he'd never heard something so ridiculous. "I was never in a police cell! Do you know anything about a police cell, Marco?"

The blond looked at his boyfriend with slight annoyance. "I only know that you weren't at home yesterday. I don't follow every movement you make."

"Izo?" Ace tried to get another on his side.

But Izo held up his hands. "Hey, don't get me involved. You clean up your own shit."

The freckled man scowled at him. "Thanks, Izo."

Izo chuckled. "You'll get wrinkles if you keep up that look for too long. Come on, you should be going."

"Yes, we should," Marco said and he put an arm around his boyfriend to get him to go with him. Without another look at both Izo and the man's neighbor, Ace went with the blond.

When the two of them were out of earshot, Izo turned towards Smoker with an apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry for that. They're my brothers."

That almost sounded like their behavior came from the fact that they were his brothers, Smoker thought. Wait... "Both? They are both your brothers?"

"Yeah." It seemed to take a moment before Izo realized what he was trying to say. "Oh, no, not like that! I mean, we're not actually brothers, we just call each other that, because… we're just like a family."

"Ah…" Smoker just hoped his new neighbor wasn't part of some sort of gang. That would be a shame.

"So… you're a cop?" Izo asked while giving him a good look over, only now seeming to realize how good he looked, if Izo's face was anything to go by. Well, it wasn't the first time Smoker was being checked out. Men and women alike gave him looks like that more often than he'd like. But to be honest, the white wife beater that clung to his chest probably attracted some attention to his body as well.

Smoker nodded. "Yeah, I got your brother arrested for arson yesterday. Among other things."

"Officer Smoker, hm? Sounds good," Izo said, flirting just a little less obvious than his younger brother had done the day before. "But yeah, Ace is that kind of guy. Not that you've got that from me," he quickly added.

Smoker couldn't help but chuckle a bit. His neighbor didn't seem to be such a bad guy. "Say, what about I take you up on that drink right now?"

Izo looked at the last rays of sunlight illuminating the sky for just a few more minutes and pursed his lips together. "I would really love to, but… I actually still have to prepare some work for tomorrow. So, what about Saturday? I'm free then."

Being a little disappointed, but glad because of the new proposal, Smoker nodded. "Sure, Saturday's fine."

The next day, Friday, he could barely keep his eyes open when he and Tashigi strolled through the center of their relatively small city. There were a lot of bicycles being stolen lately, so the two of them had immediately been send out to check if they found anyone behaving suspiciously. Smoker hadn't even had the chance to drink a cup of coffee before he was sent out into the streets. Well, at least he had his cigars.

"You'll never believe who I found living in the same building as me and happened to be friends with my neighbor as well," Smoker started a conversation with his partner.

Tashigi turned her head towards him with a look of interest. "Who?" Just a moment after she'd asked it, she bumped into a street light. That pole looked hard and the bump slightly painful.

"You alright?" Smoker asked her.

She straightened her glasses and blinked for a moment, before walking around the pole as if nothing had happened. "Yeah, I'm fine. So who were you talking about?"

"Portgas. The damn brat walked around there like nothing happened! He even tried to deny that he was ever in a police cell in the first place, can you believe that?" Smoker shook his head in disbelieve of the memory.

"You're kidding? Sometimes I wished we could keep those kind of people locked up," Tashigi answered. "Though we still don't know how he escaped. I'm betting he didn't tell you anything about that?"

Smoker took a deep drag of his cigars. "Of course not. He was never in a cell, so he didn't know what I was talking about when I asked him about it."

"We'll get him," Tashigi assured him. "The investigation will almost certainly point to arson and together with the witnesses, he won't get away with it."

"He'd better not." Smoker yawned, while looking at a new group of bicycles they neared. No one suspicious to be seen around them.

"Had a tough night because of it?" his partner asked.

Smoker shrugged. "Not necessarily because of that. Just haven't been sleeping very well the last few nights. Probably because of the new environment or something."

"Let's hope it'll get better soon then. Because sleeping pills aren't that great either."

"They aren't," Smoker agreed. "But if my nights continue like this, they might seem to become a good idea."

After walking around for a while, passing the same spots three times and not seeing anything unusual, they decided to head back.

That night, he lay awake again. Smoker didn't understand it. He was tired, but he just wasn't able to drift off to sleep. Thoughts about the arsonist and the bicycle thief, who were both still walking around freely, were occupying his mind all the time. It bothered him a lot that he hadn't been able to really do something about anything, since he'd come to this city. Yeah, paperwork, he had been able to work away some of that.

Smoker sighed frustrated and turned around in his bed. He stared at the door of his room and listened to the silence that should calm him and make him want to sleep. But it seemed too quiet. Too quiet to properly rest. So quiet that it was actually really loud, screaming at him.

Until he suddenly heard a creak. He sat to attention immediately and listened if he heard another sound.

Nothing. He waited ten seconds, twenty, thirty. Nothing. Or did he hear something?

Smoker sighed. It was probably just his tiredness playing with his mind. Still, he got up, just to make a hundred percent sure there wasn't a burglar in his apartment.

He quietly opened the door of his bedroom and carefully started to scan his home. No one, just as he'd thought. However, again, he had left his curtains open and the bright moonlight created all kinds of freaky shadows in his living room. Smoker really wasn't in the mood for a game of shadows and annoyed, he pulled the fabric in front of the window, effectively blocking out most of the light.

In the little light that seeped through the curtains, he found his way to the bathroom. He pulled the string of the lamp to get some proper illumination and – after being blinded for a few seconds – searched for the small box of sleeping pills he should have somewhere. He found them in a small drawer and it appeared they were only two months over their use-by date. Well, that was probably still alright, Smoker decided and he took one with a bit of water. Only tonight, he promised himself.

He went back to bed and after about ten minutes, he finally felt his eyelids become heavy. He was almost asleep, not even aware of whether he had his eyes open or closed, when he noticed a movement in his room. Saw it, so his eyes had probably still been open.

At least they were now. Smoker scanned his room, set on finding the thing he had just seen, even if he couldn't really place what it had been. It really had been more of a movement than an actual physical thing. After looking at every corner of his room and not finding anything, he let his head fall back on his pillow.

He was just tired and imagining things now. Nothing and no one could have come into his apartment anyway, all doors were locked and windows were closed.

Smoker slowly closed his eyes and was fast asleep within a minute.

The doorbell rang. Smoker had just taken a shower after having worked the morning and part of the afternoon. He had put on his pants, pulled the towel from his head and placed it around his neck, when he opened the door.

Izo looked surprised at him. "Oh, I'm sorry, were you… taking a shower?"

"I was just done, actually," Smoker answered.

The black haired man did nothing to hide the approving look on his face as he scanned the half-naked man in front of him, hair still dripping. "I… uhm… I came to ask you something. I know I've invited you for a drink, but I was wondering if you'd be in for dinner as well."

Smoker couldn't help but smirk a bit, seeing as he made his neighbor – coming across to him as quite confident – stutter a bit. "Sure, sounds great."

Izo smiled. "Good. I'll go work on dinner then. You can come by in about an hour." He seemed to be leaving, but changed his mind at the last moment. "Oh, and you don't have to bother putting on a shirt, if you don't want to. Everyone can wear what they want to wear and be who they want to be in my home." He winked and then he really left.

Smoker didn't doubt that, but still put on a T-shirt before he rang his neighbor's doorbell, an hour later.

As soon as Izo opened the door, his smile faltered a bit. "You really didn't have to do that." He stepped aside to create some space. "But come in nevertheless."

"I know," Smoker answered as he stepped inside. Strong scents reached his nose. "Smells good. Are you a cook?"

Izo chuckled and closed the door. "Not really. It's really just a very easy dish, don't expect too much of it."

Nevertheless, when they sat at the dinner table – set with two candles in the middle, even though it was not nearly dark outside – the food tasted delicious. "So, what is it you do? Since you keep denying that you're a cook."

"I'm an actor. Stage actor, to be precise," Izo answered with a smile.

When Smoker asked him what kind of plays he did, he told him about the many things he had played. He also told him about the thing he was working on at the moment, a heavy romance between a man and a woman, where he played a part that was very unlike himself, which he loved doing. It gave him a bit of challenge.

Smoker really enjoyed Izo's company. It was nice to see how passionate he talked about his job. It gave him an extra sparkle that made him even more beautiful, in Smoker's opinion.

They talked a bit about the costumes he had to wear as well, and somehow ended up talking about Halloween costumes, as Izo asked him how he used to dress up as a kid.

"Well, I wasn't very creative in that," Smoker admitted. "Just went as a ghost, you know, pull a sheet over my head with two holes for my eyes. One time, when I was a little older, I just went as a half slaughtered human."

Izo snorted. "That sound like a nice view to have on your doorstep."

Smirking, Smoker answered. "Isn't that the whole point of Halloween?"

A chuckle escaped his neighbor's lips. "Maybe."

"So what did you use to do for Halloween?" Smoker asked. The food was long gone by then and there was just a glass of whiskey to be emptied.

"I used to love vampires," Izo smiled. "Somehow, the idea of sucking the life out of someone sounded really appealing to me."

Smoker raised his eyebrows. "You must have been really creepy as a kid." He could just imagine Izo doing his best to go completely up in his character. He hadn't become an actor for nothing, after all. And seeing as his pale skin and hair as black as the night worked with him already, he must have made a very believable little vampire.

Izo seemed to be holding back his laughter. "Yeah, or so they say."

The evening went by faster than Smoker had expected and it was around eleven p.m., the sun just below the horizon, when Izo stood up. "I'm sorry, I'm having a great time, but I need to get up early tomorrow."

"On Sunday?" Smoker asked a bit surprised. He was just having a good time at his neighbor's place, so he wasn't really keen on leaving already.

"Yeah, I… need to go to church." Izo started to collect the glasses and stuff, but didn't look at him.

"Really?" Smoker discovered new surprises about this man every minute. "I didn't deem you a religious man."

Izo chuckled. "I'm not. But a friend asked me to go with them."

Smoker got a feeling in his stomach that something wasn't right, but it wasn't really based on anything, so he let it slide for now. He stood up as well. "Alright, I'll go home then. I had a great time too."

Izo looked into his eyes now and Smoker noticed the black haired man was slightly smaller than him, even though his aura made him look pretty tall. Izo smiled and after a moment of silently looking at each other, he spoke, his voice a tiny bit deeper than usual, "I'm glad. I'll see you again then."

"Definitely," Smoker agreed.

After one more moment, Izo stepped aside, so Smoker could walk to the door, he himself following his guest. Smoker opened the door and turned around. "Well, good night then."

His neighbor smiled a little mysteriously. "Yeah, good night."

~ bonus ~

He leaned with his back against the closed door and let out a relieved breath. Then he chuckled. "Church?"

He walked back towards his living room, shaking his head. "Poor church."

TBC.

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