So sick :( Sorry if its not the best quality! (and a little short)
As always, I do not own Fairy Tail, it belongs to Hiro Mashima and I thank him for allowing me its use in my own creative expressions *bows*
The traffic had disappeared almost entirely by the time Laxus made it to the park, he was thankful because he only had about 5 minutes to spare. Parking was a different story, the streets around the popular family spot were completely full and he ended up in a residential area a few blocks away. He sprinted to where he was supposed to have the meeting, slowing down right before he got there so that he didn't raise any suspicions with the crowd. Not that it would have made much of a difference; there were a lot of people out that night because of the weekend and the gorgeous weather.
Laxus made it to the bench at 7pm right on the nose; he took a seat and started looking around, trying to appear normal and calm. At 7:03 he felt rather than saw someone sit down beside him, a tall man dressed in a long dark jacket that was done up even in the heat with a black baseball cap pulled low over his eyes.
Laxus eyed him for a second before relaxing and leaning back on the bench. "You look like a potential child kidnapper," he remarked dryly.
His companion stiffened in response and gave him an aggravated look from under the cap. "I am just trying to be discrete," Freed's blue eyes glittered as they narrowed. "You never know who could be watching." They both scanned the crowd looking for familiar faces but didn't see any.
"No one knows us," Laxus replied. "This is why we always meet here." He watched as a family walked in front of their bench, the father arm and arm with his wife while pushing a stroller with two other children running ahead. He couldn't help but be a little jealous and wish that that was him right now but he knew he had other things to worry about. "You said you got the files? Does anyone suspect anything?"
"I got the file," Freed confirmed, nodding for emphasis. "As for suspicion… the detectives on the case are Erza and Gray. They realized something wasn't right but couldn't figure out why, I think they are expecting Crocus to pull rank and seize the case because of Zoldeo's gang ties and not because of you."
Erza and Gray pulling the case was another stroke of bad luck, if they even vaguely believed that the agency could be involved they would not stop until they found out the whole truth.
"What does it say in the case file?" He asked.
Freed opened his coat and took out a letter sized manila envelope. "Here is a copy of all the notes they gave us, including a lab report that was sent over later. It seems that Zoldeo was shot at close range in the chest; he didn't have any other injuries on him and he had no gunshot residue on his hands or his sleeves so they don't think he had a chance to shoot back at his attacker. The only witness is an old man who was walking his dog, he claims he didn't hear anything from the shooting but there was a couple arguing in the alley just minutes after it would have happened."
"Gajeel and a girl…" Laxus gave Freed the short version of events from the night before and what they were doing about it now. "We are hoping to keep the girls safe until we can figure out who is after them. I have a meeting scheduled tomorrow night with Quattro Cerberus but there is no guarantee that they will tell us anything even if they weren't involved."
Freed nodded again. "They can be unpredictably dangerous, you should let Bixlow and I-"
"No, I can't do that," Laxus cut him off. "I cannot afford to lose you right now and if someone finds out that you are giving me information on open cases it would not end well."
"Fine." Even under the ball cap Laxus could see his face harden. "But someday when you come back we won't need to do all this sneaking around."
"When the time is right we will work together again," Laxus agreed. "But it hasn't come yet. There is another thing I need you to do for me."
"Anything."
"Another open case from today, assault and potential kidnapping downtown, Mest will be the primary responding officer but I don't know who the detective in charge is."
"OK, can I ask why this case is important?"
"When you get the case file you will read that a pink haired man assaulted a hair stylist in his salon this afternoon and then kidnapped his assistant."
Freed's face never wavered from his serious expression. "And did Natsu do these things?" He asked.
"Yes and no, it's more complicated than that. I haven't gotten his side of the story yet but Mest is looking for him, either as a suspect or person of interest, so we will eventually have to deal with it or it will cause big problems."
"How does this relate to the shooting?"
"Indirectly, the assistant is the roommate of the witness from the alley."
Freed nodded in understanding. "So if they find Natsu and question him about it then there is a chance they will figure out the connection. I will see what I can do about the file, but it won't as easy as Zoldeo's murder, there is no connection to my unit and they will be on guard because of Natsu's involvement." Freed thought to himself for a second. "But I might be able to convince Officer Conbolt to volunteer for a special assignment with our taskforce tonight, he could let something slip."
"Do what you have to do but be careful about drawing attention; we have enough heat on this as it is we don't need any more." Laxus scanned the crowd again. "I might need you again, keep your lines open."
"I will let you know if I have any luck with Romeo or the file. I also put some important information on Grimoire Heart in with the copies. Be careful Laxus, they are dangerous and unpredictable and there is a lot that we don't know about their organization."
"I'm always careful. Don't worry I have the whole team on this, the sooner we figure out why they murdered Zoldeo and are after the girl then the sooner we can bring it back to you guys."
"You will forgive me for not being reassured that your men can properly watch your back. Natsu and the rest are capable, this is true, but the fact that there is already another complication does not give me much confidence. I wish that you would let me be of more help."
"You are being helpful; I need you right where you are, not just for this case but for everything else."
Freed let out a breath like he knew that it was pointless to keep arguing with the man. "Very well, I will go." He stood up and pulled his hat back down. "Stay in touch." And then he melted into the busy park like he had never been there.
Laxus relaxed on the bench for a few more minutes enjoying the fading sunshine that filtered through the trees. Freed was right to be nervous about their situation, it seemed that everywhere he turned something new popped up that made things even more complicated. He didn't like complicated, Laxus liked all his ducks to be nearly lined up in a row before he did anything but that rarely was the case in his line of work.
He glanced down at his watch and saw that it wasn't quite half past seven yet; the meeting had taken less time than he had thought it would. He stood almost reluctantly and started making his way back to his car; he might as well get over there and question Natsu about the salon.
Little did Laxus know that not too far away in the penthouse suite of one of the tallest skyscrapers in Fiore, a high ranking member of Grimoire Heart was having similar thoughts. Zancrow Agni stood at one of the large windows and watched the traffic below; although at this height the cars looked almost too small to make out clearly.
He sipped scotch from the heavy glass tumbler in his hand, he desperately needed the drink after the conversation he had had with Purehito. The alcohol, which had been aged to perfection, was meant to be sipped and not downed like cheap liquor but Zancrow was not in the mood to care about conventions. There was a knock at the door and then it opened slightly before he had a chance to answer.
"Boss?" The man in the dark hoodie tentatively pushed through it with his driver behind him.
"Good." Zancrow shot back the rest of his drink before turning to them. "I've been waiting for you."
The two men watched as he went to the sidebar and poured himself another glass, this one more than two fingers deep. "Have you been able to find the girl yet?" He asked.
"Ah…No Sir," the man in the hoodie cleared his throat awkwardly. "We got a more thorough background on her but it was all dead ends. We thought it might be easier to track her through her roommate but she disappeared from work and there isn't a signal coming from her cell phone so they've gone underground. The Dragons must be hiding them somewhere-" The sound of glass shattering interrupted him as Zancrow threw his empty tumbler against a far wall.
"You don't think I know that already?! You fucking idiots! Why didn't you get to her sooner? You could have avoided all of this if you would have just gone in and took her when you had the chance."
"But sir-"
"I'm tired of excuses! Find them, find her, find that envelope or else what happened to Zoldeo you will wish happened to you." The malice and promise in Zancrow's voice was enough to send them scrambling back out the door.
Once they were gone he turned back to the window and surveyed the busy streets outside, everything was going according to plan except for one thing. He cursed himself for letting the envelope get taken before he had a chance to retrieve it, if the girl or the Dragons knew what she had in her possession things would become much worse.
Zancrow recalled the meeting with Purehito hours before, the man had been furious that the information had not yet been recovered. He had known that by showing up downtown at his office that he would put the man off guard and have to face his wrath about meeting in such a public place.
"What do you think you are doing?" His face had been hard and dark as he spoke.
"I think that in emergencies like this it's better to speak in person, yes?" Zancrow replied, trying to retain his usual confident and cocky demeanor.
"This isn't one of your games, Zancrow," the old man responded without expression. "This is a serious liability and breach to the organization. I don't know why Zoldeo tried to betray us but the rat got what he deserved. Now we need to secure that document at the highest cost, what are you doing about that?"
"I have men on it," Zancrow leaned back casually on his heels, contradicting Purehito's urgency purposely. "They will deal with it."
"They had better," the man spat back. "Before anything else happens. I have to make an appearance at the Police Ball tonight but I expect it to be taken care of by the time the time I return, with a full report."
"It will be done," Zancrow's tone was serious for the first time in the conversation. "Have you found out how Zoldeo got a hold of the information?"
"No, but we will. I also want to know who he meeting in that alley and what they already know. Turn over any rock you need to, as many resources as it takes. This is your slip Zancrow, do not disappoint me."
Zancrow had left quickly after that, trying to figure out how he was supposed to make it happen. His plan had been perfect, flawless and genius, nothing was supposed to go this wrong. He had to find that girl quickly before the rest of it became unraveled.
He looked over at the bar and contemplated another drink even though he was halfway gone already. Liquor always seemed to make the unbearable situations a little less painful, but he decided that he was in need of what was left of his wits. He walked over to the cordless phone sitting in its cradle on an ornamental side table and pressed one button.
"Sir?" Came the pleasant woman's voice on the other end.
"I need all the information you can find on the Seven Dragons Detective Agency in Magnolia; employees, associates, as many clients as you can find and all their backgrounds, within the hour." He slammed the phone down again without waiting for an answer.
He had a feeling that he was going to need to play dirty and the key to that was knowing your opponent's every weakness, what would make them do anything you asked or what would break them. Zancrow smiled and then laughed at his own brilliance, a situation was never impossible, he would still accomplish what he had set out to do and he would use the Dragon's to do it.
Fingers crossed I kick this illness soon! Thank you for all the comments so far, they are very helpful and supportive! *smoochies*