They had been on their way when Natalya called again to report the evolving situation. What had initially begun as verbal abuse escalated to assault.

A customer had been harassing an employee and the manager was unable to defuse the situation and asked the infuriated customer to leave. The relentless customer refused and the manager called for police assistance.

Shortly after the brothers left the station, the customer decided to take to the next level and throw the coffee at the employee. The manager recognised that as assault and was working on preventing the customer from escaping before they showed up.

It was a good thing Ludwig thought ahead and took the necessary equipment, the bag that sat at his feet contained everything they would need in a worst-case scenario. The two brothers were underdressed compared to regular police officers.

Ludwig thanked Natalya for the update and tucked his phone back into his jacket. Beside him, Gilbert was restless in the driver's seat, his eyes flickering between the road and his brother for the entirety of the phone call.

"You can make the arrest," Ludwig stated before Gilbert could ask, and shook his head fondly when Gilbert pumped his fist in celebration. "I'll take the worker's accounts and get the footage."

"What about the employee? Do they need an ambulance or something?"

"The manager seems to have a level head, I'm sure we can assume they organised something."

The rest of the ride there was over fairly soon and they were pulling up in the car park. Ludwig ruffled around in the equipment bag for some body cameras, handing one to Gilbert along with a pair of handcuffs, before attaching one to himself. Depending on if the situation escalated further, or if the customer was especially petty, they'd need the insurance of the footage. Ludwig could never be too prepared.

Despite knowing there was nothing he could do for Vargas' case, he hoped this wouldn't take his attention off it for too long. He felt guilty getting caught up in other things, things of the present while the past drifted further away. Ignoring the weight in his jacket that seemed to pull him down, he took a deep breath and focused his thoughts on his current role.

As they approached the doors Ludwig was able to see a glimpse of the commotion inside. He could hear muted shrieking and cursing coming from inside the restaurant.

A young man dressed in a construction uniform and a young woman in McDonald's uniform, likely the manager, were preventing someone from passing them. But with their backs turned to him he couldn't make out what the customer looked like. The customer was cursing them out and the manager was arguing back with an authoritative tone, backed up by the construction worker beside her. Other customers seated around the room were staring at the scene with different variations of annoyance and entertainment.

Due to the focus on the disruptive scene, neither of them had been noticed yet.

"Okay, I can hear it's a woman," Gilbert stage whispered as he peeked through the window. "But is she old?"

Ludwig looked at him blankly and opened the door, unleashing the noise from the confines of the building.

"We're on the job, act professionally."

"Fine," Gilbert sighed and stepped inside.

The source of the commotion was a lady who looked to be in her 40s and was acting like she was completely justified. She was ranting on about how the situation was 'ridiculous' and threatening to complain about the store and have them all fired.

Though her tone abruptly changed when she saw the two officers. From her now pale face, Ludwig assumed the manager didn't let on that she called the cops.

"Alright ma'am," Gilbert sounded way too cheerful for the circumstances, "you'll be coming with us."

"You're under arrest," Ludwig clarified and nudged Gilbert, prompting him to go through the procedure properly.

Deciding to leave his brother with the task, he introduced himself to the young woman and clarified she was the manager. Both the manager and construction worker were happy to give their accounts, which Ludwig quickly jotted down on a notepad.

It seemed like the manager had already been over customer service and was just waiting for an opportunity to confront someone. The construction worker was waiting to order and stepped in when the lady started to make a scene.

After they finished their recap, Ludwig asked for the whereabouts of the employee.

"She's just in that booth around there with a nurse who was here for lunch," the manager was calmer than before, "was there anything else you needed?"

On a new page of the notepad, Ludwig quickly wrote down Natalya's email and peeled it off. It would be better sent to her so she could forward it to whoever would be taking over the case once they got back to the station.

"I don't suppose you could send over the footage of the incident?"

"That'll be no problem. I'll get that to you soon." The manager smirked and turned to the construction worker.

"Have you ordered yet?"

"Oh, no," he shuffled around dumbly, his earlier confidence now ebbing into polite awkwardness.

"Well, do that now and I'll give you fifty per cent off."

Satisfied, Ludwig turned his attention back to Gilbert, who had finished listing the woman's rights as she seethed.

"By the way, how old are you?" Gilbert asked.

Her head whipped around.

"Excuse me?!"

"Gilbert," Ludwig shot him a warning look.

"What? It's a standard question!"

Ludwig held back a sigh.

"Ask to see her identification."

But don't ask him why he was encouraging this, though he supposed they'd have to see it at some point.

"Do you have a license?" Gilbert asked the woman.

"Well I can't exactly grab it, now can I?" she snapped back.

"Well I can't uncuff you and I don't think they're coming off for a while."

Ludwig knew Gilbert hadn't had fieldwork in a long time, but he still had thoughts on how Gilbert was handling it. Thoughts he was very close to voicing right here in this Mcdonald's.

"In my phone in my bag," she grunted dramatically. Gilbert carefully reached into the bag slung over her shoulders and located it. He examined it for a moment.

"Forty-five. Y'know most toddlers stop having tantrums way before then."

The woman began cursing him out while some of the remaining spectators laughed. Ludwig was torn between violently facepalming himself or his brother.

How anyone could take Gilbert seriously, he'll never know. His brother couldn't even act serious for five minutes.

"Go to the car," Ludwig demanded and held his hand out for the license. "Don't be surprised when you're on probation next week."

Gilbert just cackled and lead the glaring woman outside.

Ludwig un-clenched his jaw and rolled his shoulders, trying to release the building tension. He made his way around to where the manager said the employee was. A teenager in a fast-food uniform sipping from a cup and an older woman in casual clothing were at the furthest booth, keeping an eye on the situation. He walked over and kept his introduction brief as they both knew why he was here.

The teen's face was a little red and uniform blotched from the contact with the coffee. Her shoulders were tense and she gave the impression she was done with customer service. Ludwig couldn't blame her.

He pulled out his notepad and asked her to start from the beginning.

"I was making coffees and since it's lunch rush there's a lot to get through and that lady came up to me and was telling me that hers wasn't hot enough. I told her I was sorry and I could remake it in a minute but she kept going on about how it was basically cold and I knew that wasn't right because I've been using a thermometer so it wouldn't be cold. Then she said I needed to lose the attitude and I said 'sorry, I can remake it right now if you'd like' all nicely but she didn't like that and said she wasn't going to 'wait that long again' so I just said sorry again but I didn't know what she wanted."

The teen took a break to lift the cup and take a few mouthfuls of water before continuing.

"Eventually she told me that she had wanted it extra hot but whoever took her order didn't put it through that way so I made it normally. Then she kept telling me to stick my finger into the coffee because it wasn't hot and I told her I wasn't going to do that. At that point, I just told her I'll be right back I'm getting my manager for her and she just told me to be quick so she can complain about me but I wasn't worried 'cus knew that she wouldn't be taken seriously."

Ludwig nodded and waited for her to continue as she drank some more water.

"My manager went off at her. It would've been great if she was actually affected by it, that lady just argued back and threatened to complain and call the cops. Then my manager asked her to leave and the lady just started swearing and insulting us. Then my manager said she was going to get her a refund and left, but since she didn't go to the till I'm assuming that's when you guys were called. Anyway, she was still going off at me and then that construction guy confronted her and she kept turning it onto me about how I'm stupid and deserve it and he was calling her out."

She downed the rest of her water nonchalantly.

"And then she threw the coffee on me."

Ludwig frowned.

"Will you be pressing charges? If you say yes we'll take care of the rest." He made sure to sound reassuring, presenting the fact it wouldn't be a further hassle than answering the question.

"Yeah."

"Okay," good.

He turned to the nurse and asked for her account. Apparently, off duty, it was fortunate she was in the right place at the right time.

"She's going to be ok," the nurse concluded and smiled warmly at the teenager.

"Yeah, physically," the teenager slumped in her seat, "'least I get to go home now."

Ludwig, not an experienced people person, didn't know how exactly to respond to that beyond agreement. He thanked the two for their cooperation and bid them a good day.

Walking back out into the parking lot, he could see Gilbert leaning on the steering wheel as he waited in the car. Ludwig tucked his notepad away as he got into the police vehicle. Strapped safely in the backseat was the still handcuffed woman, who was pointedly glaring ahead. Ludwig was sure it was for everyone's benefit that she realised it would be wise to remain silent.

Still, he did feel sorry for the teenage employee for holding the line as long as she did. Especially since she was unaware backup was on the way.

The drive back was uneventful. Gilbert opted to listen to the radio instead of polluting the air with noise himself, with the window all the way down inviting the wind to ruffle his hair even more than his usual scruffy style. Ludwig know that the woman in the back wouldn't have put him off in the slightest if Gilbert wanted to chatter about anything and everything. If anything, he'd be more amused that the prisoner would be subjugated to him, and choose more annoying topics to get a reaction.

It was unprofessional and Ludwig would never do it himself, but he would admit it's satisfying seeing irritable people come undone by the same irritation they impose on others.

Luckily the thought hadn't crossed Gilbert's mind yet.

Ludwig passed the ride with his arm rested against the frame of the window, his eyes unfocused on the passing lights and colours, mind lingering on Vargas. He was itching to make headway on the case, and waiting would prove tedious. Ludwig just wished he knew what would come out of the next step now so he could plan for the next one. If he knew the DNA was already in the database, then he could start finding the location of whoever matched. If he knew there was no match, he could have a profile made and plan for the next step.

Ludwig moved his hand from the window and ran a hand down his face. He supposed that was plans enough. He trusted his methodical brain to come up with the same plans tomorrow that he would now. Shifting to lean more into the seat, he crossed his arms and kept his eyes forward. Tomorrow and the results would turn up soon enough.

They arrived back at the station soon enough, and Ludwig waited for Gilbert as he helped the woman out of the car. She didn't resist but made no effort to make the job easier for Gilbert.

"Take her to the holding cell, I'll pass the statements off to Natalya."

"Okie," Gilbert responded casually as he steered off in another direction.

The lobby was peaceful, almost empty besides a middle-aged man sitting on the waiting chairs, filling out forms at a relaxed pace.

"We've apprehended the customer, Gilbert's taken her to the holding cell," he stated as he stepped in. Natalya turned from her computer and stared at him, indicating she was listening.

"This is her license," he pulled it from his pocket and placed it on the desk.

"The store footage will be sent to your email and I'll email the statements from those involved to you as well." He'd still give her the notes, but he figured it'd be easier to pass on a digital copy as well.

When it was clear he had nothing else to report, Natalya rotated back to her computer.

"Okay."

With nothing left to cover, Ludwig left for his office. He didn't pass anyone on the short journey and was seated across from his computer before he knew it.

Waking his computer, his emails were conveniently already open, along with the tabs for Vargas' case. Ludwig mentally apologised to the boy for diverting his attention yet again but refused to close the tabs. Somehow he felt it represented the burning flame in the back of his mind quite well. Even with his eyes focused elsewhere, he could still feel the heat on his back.

He took his notepad out and quickly typed out the statements. Not long after he was pressing send and tearing the select pages from the pad. Not one to wait on tasks he could complete immediately, he put the computer back to sleep and left to hand in the notes.

He wasn't surprised to see Gilbert already there, animatedly describing the earlier encounter to Natalya, using some choice words to comment on the customer's character that Ludwig hoped his brother would know better than to repeat to anyone else.

"How insufferable," Natalya agreed impassively when Gilbert finished complaining.

"Hey Luddy," Gilbert shot him a silly grin as he waved some paper around his face like a fan. "I have something for you!"

"No," Ludwig crossed his arms firmly, "we'll split it."

"Nooooo," Gilbert smacked his face with the paper. "I already have paperwork to do!"

Ludwig sighed but refused to let his brother off the hook. Really, as the older one, Gilbert should be a better example.

"We can split it 20-80." He narrowed his eyes as Gilbert visibly considered it.

"Ok, I'll take it," Gilbert relented and handed the paper to Ludwig before leaning against the wall.

"Anyway, Nat, doya think forty-five is old?"

"Forty-five is middle-aged."

"But is that old?"

"No."

"Damnit," Gilbert whined and whacked his head against the wall.

"He bet ten dollars would be an old lady," Ludwig explained as Natalya's eyes darted between them.

"Well, she's older than us! That should count!"

"No," Natalya interjected flatly.

"This was your bet," Ludwig commented, "you should've considered the possibility of losing."

"I just wanted to make things interesting!" Gilbert was annoyed as he pulled his wallet out and passed over the money. "Don't spend it all in one place."

"It's ten dollars."

"Budget properly."

Ludwig just shook his head and pocketed the note.

"Let's not put it off any longer," Ludwig flicked the paper, causing the papers to audibly snap back in place. "To your office, Gilbert."

Gilbert groaned.

"Isn't there anything else we can do Nat?"

Natalya kept her focus on the computer and didn't respond. Ludwig was certain she was amused, even if she didn't outwardly show it.

"Fiiine," Gilbert whined and stalked out the room.

Upon arrival at his office, Gilbert immediately jumped into his swivel chair and pushed some papers aside on the desk to give Ludwig room to work.

Ludwig refrained from commenting, instead opting to open the blinds covering the windows to let in natural light, then sitting across from his brother and taking out his pen.

As long as Gilbert put his head down and worked, the ordeal wouldn't last too long.