Good Cop was on his feet in a flash and headed straight for Business, but Benny was a split second behind him and managed to snag Good Cop by the back of the shirt just a few feet away from the former overlord. Business took an instinctive step back, and Emmet placed himself protectively in front of him.
"Let me at him!" Good Cop snarled, straining against Benny's grip.
Benny dug his heels in. "I thought we just had this discussion!" he wailed.
What's going on? Bad Cop asked worriedly.
"Business is here and your brother's going back into murder mode!" Benny yelled over Good Cop's furious shouting.
Oh for the love of- Stop him, will you?
"What do you think I'm trying to do?" Benny howled, hauling back on Good Cop.
Emmet was shouting now, too, trying to keep Business from running while simultaneously trying to figure out what was happening. Jenkins had stepped back a ways, having dropped the supplies, and was now clinging to Unikitty, who had gone completely scarlet and was trying to join the fight. It was complete chaos, and the few other officers still at the station were starting to edge closer curiously.
Then someone screamed, "Enough!"
Everyone froze. All heads turned to Jenkins.
She looked absolutely livid, holding Unikitty away from her by the scruff of their neck. "I have not slept in nearly eighteen hours!" she shouted. "And I've spent all day filling in for Bad Cop! Do you know how hard his job is? No wonder he's always angry! Now you guys are coming in here with your weird mindspace shenanigans and personal vendettas and who knows what else!" She jabbed a finger in their direction. "Emmet and Business are here to file a report and we are cops so let's all sit down and do our fucking jobs like reasonable adults!"
This was met with stunned silence. She stood there with her chest heaving, glaring at them. But as the silence stretched on, she grew uncomfortable under the wide-eyed stares. "Um," she said after a moment, lowering Unikitty, who was dangling limply in her grip. "Sorry. I haven't had a good day."
It was if a collective breath was let out. The tension in the air eased, and everyone began to relax. Good Cop was still wound tight, but he wasn't trying to get at Business anymore.
Benny was the first to speak. "A report?" he asked, looking at Emmet and Business. He hadn't let go of Good Cop yet.
Emmet nodded wordlessly. Business was still trying to hide from Good Cop's glare behind the construction worker.
"Suspicious activity," Jenkins said, placing Unikitty gently on the floor. "We should go sit down and do this properly."
"Yeah," Benny agreed, then said to Good Cop, "Maybe you'd better stay here, G. You could probably use some rest."
Good Cop closed his eyes. "I am a bit sore."
"Business is the one who's reporting it," Emmet said. "I can stay, help you patch up. You look like you could use the help."
"That's a great idea," Benny said, pulling Good Cop back towards the cell. "I hope you don't mind if we lock the door, just in case."
"It's fine," Emmet replied, scooping up the kit and ice pack Jenkins had dropped.
Benny made Good Cop sit down on the cot, and Emmet sat beside him. Good Cop still hadn't taken his eyes off Business. Benny locked the cell door and ushered everyone out of the holding cell area. As they left, Benny heard Emmet ask, "So how come you're wearing Good Cop's glasses?"
Benny led the group into Bad Cop's office and sat down behind the desk. Jenkins sank into one of the other chairs, and Unikitty hopped back onto her lap. Business stood uncomfortably in the middle of the room.
"So," Benny said. "Suspicious activity?"
"Yeah," Business said, fiddling with the end of his tie. "I actually, uh, wasn't going to come to the station originally. I went to tell Emmet instead, but he…" He seemed reluctant to continue.
Benny raised his eyebrows at him.
"He told me not to be a weenie and made me come here," Business admitted.
Benny let out a snort of laughter.
Business looked down. "I really am truly sorry for what I did to them," he said quietly.
The amusement vanished from Benny's face. "We're not here to talk about that right now," he said. "And I'm not the one you should be telling this to anyway. We're here to talk about official bus-" He stopped, struggled to think of a different word. "Official stuff."
Business smirked, and Benny glared at him. "Alright, alright," Business said, lifting his hands in concession. "It's actually been going on for a little over a week, though I didn't really think much of it at first. Lately, I've been helping Emmet supervise some of the construction sites, and I started noticing some weird people hanging around. Emmet probably didn't notice because he's so focused on work, and he's just not that great at spotting stuff sometimes. But I'm a bit more obsessive than he is."
"A bit?" Benny asked dryly.
Business rolled his eyes at him. "At first I just thought they were just curious onlookers, but I started seeing the same ones at different sites all over town. Now they've started taking pictures. I chase them off when I see them, but it's just too weird."
Benny folded his hands on the desk in front of him. "That is suspicious," he said. "Sounds like it could be the Duplos. They like targeting the construction sites."
Business nodded. "That's what I thought."
Benny pinched the bridge of his nose, then put his hand over his mouth. "What do you think, B?"
Bad Cop made a contemplative sound. Put Jenkins on it, he said after a moment. She's familiar with a lot of the construction workers since she directed cleaning up the stations.
"She's running on empty," Benny murmured, looking over at where Jenkins was struggling not to nod off where she sat.
She can start in the morning, then.
Benny sighed. "Jenkins?" he asked.
She snapped awake. "I wasn't sleeping!"
"We want you to investigate this," Benny said.
Jenkins looked completely crestfallen. "Sir-"
"It's okay," Benny interrupted. "Just gather up the files on past attacks on construction sites and go home and get some sleep. You can pick it up in the morning."
Relief washed over Jenkins' face. "Yes, sir," she said, lifting Unikitty off her lap and placing them on the floor. She stood up, crossed the office, nearly opened the door into her face, stepped out, and was gone.
Benny returned his attention to Business. "Anything else?"
Business looked down. "I suppose it would be out of the question to talk to Bad Cop…?"
"I don't think he's in the mood to listen," Benny replied. "Come back when he's less angry."
Business gave Benny a hopeful look. "When do you think that will be?"
Benny gave him a flat look. "How would I know?"
Business looked away in disappointment, and Benny sighed. "Look," Benny said. "He'll come to you when he's ready, alright? You'll have to be patient."
Business ran a hand through his hair. "I've never been very good at that."
"Well, you're going to have to learn," Benny replied, standing up and crossing to the door. "If that's everything, you wait outside, and I'll go get Emmet."
Business nodded, and Benny held the door open for him as he walked out. Benny closed the door behind him and made his way back to the holding cells, Unikitty trailing on his heels.
Emmet and Good Cop were still sitting beside each other, with Emmet in the process of packing up the first-aid kit. Good Cop's nose had been bandaged, and he was holding the ice pack to where Benny had kicked him in the head. They looked up as Benny entered.
"We're all done here," Benny said, unlocking the cell door. "Business is out front."
Emmet stood up and held out his hand to Good Cop. "It's nice to have met you on better terms this time," he said.
Good Cop smiled weakly as he shook Emmet's hand. "It sure is, buddy."
"Alrighty, then!" Emmet said cheerfully. "See you later, alligators!" He gave them a two-fingered salute and disappeared out the door.
Good Cop leaned back against the wall, his eyes sliding shut. "What a day," he murmured, lowering the ice to the cot beside him.
"You look like you could use some sleep," Benny said.
"I think you're right," Good Cop replied. He eased himself onto his side and tried to fluff up the pathetic excuse for a pillow as best he could. "Sleep sounds really good right now." Within moments, his breathing had evened out into the steady rhythm of sleep.
Benny looked down at Unikitty. "Mind keeping an eye on him?" he asked.
"Nope!" they replied. "I'm on it." They trotted into the cell and hopped up onto the cot, curling up beside Good Cop.
"Alright," Benny said, running a hand through his hair. "Okay." He walked back to Bad Cop's office and sagged into the chair behind the desk.
Ben, I need to talk to you, Bad Cop said.
"We're talkin' right now, dude," Benny replied, leaning back.
I mean face-to-face.
Benny sat up at that. "Like… mindspace?"
Yes.
Benny swallowed. "Do we really, uh, gotta?"
Benjamin, Bad Cop said. There are a few issues we need to sort out if we're going to be sharing a body for the foreseeable future. The main one is your apparent problem with mindspaces.
Benny wanted to tell him to lay off, but that would be childish and counterproductive. It was true. The way they were working together now, Bad Cop couldn't get five minutes in without Benny having a panic attack. Bad Cop was the Chief of Police, and he had a job to do. Benny was just his deputy. He didn't have the authority or even the know-how, and being Bad Cop's mouthpiece would be clumsy and awkward.
Benny had barged into Bad Cop's mindspace, and without complete permission, at that. That was why they were in this situation, wasn't it? And Bad Cop had told Benny some pretty deep stuff about himself, and Benny hadn't really opened up in return.
He supposed it was time to do a bit of sharing. "Alright," he said reluctantly.
Bad Cop was relieved. Thank you, Ben.
"Yeah, yeah," Benny muttered, closing his eyes. "See you on the other side."