Mr. Saturday Night Special
04
Commissioned by alethiophile.
"Madison Clements, please report to room 302."
Madison's heart leapt in her chest and she stood up, gathering her things. One of -her friends- the girls nearby sent her a curious look, but Madison simply shrugged. She had to remind herself that these people weren't her friends. She had spoken with Detective Kusanagi—Shinji—on the way home, after… the mind-blowing sex they'd had that had left her feeling relaxed and stupid for most of the ride. Every one of them was a backstabber, just waiting for a chance to climb the social ladder by pulling her down. Especially after what they had done to Taylor.
"If they'd do it to her, what makes you think they won't do it to you?"
That… made a scary kind of sense. Emma had been Taylor's best friend, before coming to Winslow. Like a sister to her. And Madison saw how that had turned out.
Madison wasn't Taylor. She couldn't take the kind of torment they'd put Taylor through, for as long as they had done it to her. She knew she was weak. Madison wasn't going to pretend otherwise.
So the thought of going to prison, where things would be so much worse for her than what they had done to Taylor? It had put the fear of God into her. At this point, Madison would do whatever it took to stay out of prison.
If that meant riding Shinji's cock, or sucking him off, or whatever else he wanted? Then she was wet and ready to go. She wouldn't even consider that a chore. He was a cute older guy and he knew how to take charge. Sure, it was a bit degrading and she felt kind of bad about it, like she was selling her body—but the alternative was so much worse. And, well… she'd never had sex before, but she was pretty sure Shinji had ruined her on other guys.
If it meant selling out Emma, Sophia, and literally everyone else in the school, then so be it. As long as she didn't have to go to prison, that was fine by her.
Entering the room she'd been called to, she found Shinji waiting there, tapping away at his laptop. He looked up, blue eyes meeting her brown. "Good, you're here." Digging in the pocket of his brown trench coat, he pulled out some gizmo. "Come here."
"Yes sir," Madison responded instantly, as the tone of voice made her insides flutter and grow warm, and for a moment all she could think about was the warm feeling of his spunk filling her up. I want to do it again. Maybe I can now?
Shinji tapped at the gizmo, turning it over so she could see the bottom edge. Grabbing something there, he pulled out a cable. "This plugs into a phone. Don't worry about what kind of phone it is, it'll reshape to fit whatever plug you stick it into." He turned it over and pointed to one of the buttons below the little screen. "All you have to do is plug it in and hit the 'go' button, then unplug it when the green light comes on here and it says it's done. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir," she nodded, feeling a naughty thrill as the words left her lips.
"Good," he turned her around and Madison yelped as Shinji's hand came down on her ass in a slap, making her jump at the sting. "Get to it."
She hurried out of the room and made her way to the gym, to find Emma's and Sophia's phones.
If I do a good job, maybe he'll give me a reward?
Alright, what've we got, Shinji hummed as he plugged the data dog into his laptop, dropping into his desk chair and sipping at a cup of tea. Opening his forensic tool, he let it run and waited. A few minutes later, it announced it was finished and he opened the first of the two reports.
An hour and a half later, Shinji stood up and walked away from his computer in disgust. Heading outside, he lit up a smoke and leaned against the railing along the back porch.
He had known going in that it would be bad, but the private texts between Emma and Sophia were just… completely over the top. Beyond the pale. Emma was quite clearly insane and had been since the incident with her nearly being raped by some ABB ganger. Sophia had fed into that with her own form of insanity, in her ridiculous 'predator and prey' mentality. He felt dumber for having read it, honestly.
And then there were the texts between Hess and her handler. The handler knew what was going on, one hundred percent. So, why the whole ordeal?
Bullying Taylor made Emma happy.
Sophia started it as a favor to Emma, but she enjoyed it as well, because she felt Taylor was weak. It was a good way to blow off steam, after dealing with Piggot and other PRT-related bullshit.
The handler—one Amanda Fields—was aware, after Blackwell reported it to her. Fields allowed it, because having Shadow Stalker as a case to show the 'force the vigilantes into the Wards' program worked would mean a promotion, bonus, and raise—and as long as Fields' reports about Sophia came back positive, she would continue to earn small bonuses and accolades as long as the program continued and Sophia kept doing good work in the Wards. Hess doing well reflected well on the PRT, on Emily Piggot, on Fields, and on Winslow… and that was worth more than one nobody's suffering.
Blackwell was aware of both the bullying and Sophia's identity as Shadow Stalker. She had been in contact with Hess about toning it down, but Hess ignored her, until finally Blackwell got fed up and sent one last text: So long as no one dies, do whatever you like. Well, one last text until the Locker Incident. That one was followed by a terse 'come to my office,' and what Shinji believed was a verbal dressing down that went in one ear and out the other.
Finishing off his smoke, he dropped the butt in the nearby ash tray and made his way back inside.
Why go outside to smoke? The same reason Shinji didn't smoke in his car. That shit was disgusting and got everywhere. Tar turned wallpaper and car interiors yellow or orange. It stank to anyone who had to deal with it and wasn't nose blind to it. Everything exposed to it was covered in a layer of nasty funk. And the less said about what it did to electronics, the better. Although, he noticed the smokes modified by Amy didn't do that, somehow.
Heading back to his office, he began printing receipts. Pictures of students and faculty, pictures of events that had taken place, still frames of videos with notes for which one it went to, specific text messages, and more. Then, he grabbed the magnets and started putting everything up on his magnetic whiteboard. At the bottom was Taylor, then Madison, Emma in the middle, Sophia near the top, then Blackwell, Fields, and Piggot. From there, other students towards the bottom and faculty closer towards the top. Texts, pictures, and notes went up. Then, he broke out the string and started connecting everything together.
Grabbing his chair, he dropped into it and turned to study the board, putting together a list of what he needed next.
Need to confront Barnes and Hess and get them to turn on each other and the faculty. Make Barnes turn on Hess and Hess turn on Blackwell and her handler. Once I have their phones and confessions, I can officially start working on the rest. Have Hess do some sneaky shit for me with her powers and get access to the teachers', Fields', and Piggot's phones—and computers for those last two, since there's no way I'm getting access. Can't sneak into the PRT and no judge is going to issue a warrant against them.
Considering the board a moment longer, Shinji checked the time. It was after nine, so he nodded to himself and went to get dressed. Making his way across town, he pulled straight into Winslow's parking lot. Having had access to the building and grounds for the last few days, he knew for a fact that they had no cameras, no alarm system, and the only thing securing the school at night was the locks on the doors.
A few seconds with his auto-pick and Shinji was in. Hurrying down the halls using a red lens flashlight, he made his way straight to the main office. Another few seconds with the auto-pick and he was through the door to the main office, then through Blackwell's door. Powering on her PC, he waited for it to boot to the login screen, then plugged in the data dog. After a few seconds, it flashed green once and told him it had finished pulling her documents, pictures, emails, and login credentials.
"Easy peasy," he muttered, standing and slipping the tool back in his pocket, even as something tickled at his senses.
At that exact moment, the room was filled with bright pink light. "Hands up where I can see them. Nice and slow."
Shinji sighed, hanging his head. Fuck. Never tempting fucking Murphy again.
Holding his gloved hands up, Shinji started to turn around. "You move one step and I'm going to blast you—"
Her voice cut off as Shinji finished his turn and smiled ruefully. "Hey, Crystal."
"Shinji?!" Crystal Pelham, aka Laserdream, stared slack-jawed.
"Yeah. It's me." Shinji only had a moment to brace before she was flying at him. "Shi—! Oof!" And then, he had his arms full of curvy blonde in skin tight spandex. The moment they got close enough, he felt it—that connection to her, like he'd never left. It was why he had resolved himself to a life of never seeing a girl more than a few times anymore. He didn't want a back door into someone's head and didn't need that kind of power over someone—especially someone he was romantically interested in.
"Oh my god, what are you doing here?" the girl demanded, looking up at him with wide, crystal blue eyes.
"Workin,'" Shinji shrugged. "Better question, why are you here?"
"What?" The blonde frowned. "Mom said some bad shit's been going down here—probably cape-related. So every night, one of us does a fly-by or two to check for anything out of the ordinary. I saw that old piece of crap—"
"Hey!"
"—and I thought it was a junkie or a thief or something. Found the front door unlocked so I came to check. What do you mean, you're working?"
"Come on, let's get out of here," Shinji jerked his head at the door and led the hero outside, making sure to shut off the PC and lock the door behind him. He stopped at the secretary's desk, finding the PC powered on, so he went ahead and pulled the data from that one as well. "Short version, we're working the same case from different ends. I'm a detective with the Brockton Bay Police Department now. I was assigned to investigate the Winslow thing after the detective handling it was killed. So, this is me investigating."
"Isn't that… illegal?"
Shinji rolled his eyes. "There's some wiggle room with state wiretap laws and I have permission to be on school grounds to conduct my investigation—if I need to, I can say I needed to check something after hours. Anything found directly this way is inadmissible, but only if I admit that this is how I found it. If a student or faculty member were to come forward and give testimony, that would give us probable cause to get a warrant."
"A warrant for the thing you've already searched, for information you know is there."
"Bingo," Shinji nodded, disconnecting the data dig when it flashed green. "Come on. Next one. We're getting them all tonight."
Crystal sighed and followed, floating along. She shivered, rubbing her hands over her arms. Shinji sent her an amused look, noting that her nipples were clearly visible through her suit. "I've told you to wear a jacket—"
"I forgot it, cut me some slack," she grumbled. Rolling his eyes, Shinji pulled off his trench coat and offered it to her, after moving his tools to his suit jacket pockets. "Thanks," Crystal murmured.
They moved upstairs in silence, until eventually the girl sighed. "Ugh. This is awkward and dumb. How are you, Shinji? Haven't seen you in a while, Shinji." She floated ahead of him, before turning and glaring at him, hugging herself under his coat. "Did you forget how to pick up a fucking phone, Shinji?!"
Shinji sighed. "Can it wait until we're done here?"
"…Not going to cut off all contact for another, oh, five years?"
"No."
"Alright," Crystal nodded, moving to the side and dropping back to float beside him again. "So, anything you can tell me about the case?"
"It's a shit-show. It's looking like everyone knew it was going on from the top down and just let it happen, because—" Shinji cut himself off. "Reasons."
"'Because reasons.' Uh huh. And these reasons wouldn't happen to be something my aunt is going to be interested in?"
"Oh, she definitely is."
They fell into a companionable silence as Shinji worked and they moved from class to class, copying the contents of the computers belonging to the people on Shinji's list. Finally, he finished up and locked the last door, and they made their way back outside. Crystal climbed into his car and Shinji started driving towards the Pelham residence.
"So?"
"I'm sorry. I should have called once I finished school and the academy. But I figured that by now, you'd be in college yourself. With that, on top of your heroing, you wouldn't have much in the way of free time. And I know how Carol rides your ass—"
Crystal crossed her arms and glared. "I decide what, and who, I have time for Shinji. Not my parents, not my aunt, and not you."
"That, and I thought you'd have found someone and moved on by now."
Crystal snorted quietly. "Yeah, that didn't happen. It's just not the same."
Of course it's not the same. Because I'm not accidentally brainwashing you every time we have sex, Shinji did not say, even though he wanted to.
"What about you?"
"Hm?" he asked, signaling for a turn.
"Are you seeing someone?"
Shinji thought about Madison, then immediately ruled that out. He was fucking Madison for the express purpose of using her for this case. He wasn't dating her. "Nope."
"Want to?"
Shinji laughed, looking over at her long enough to see the blonde grinning and a faint blush on her cheeks. "Someone's gotten bold."
"You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take."
"True," Shinji nodded. He considered her for a moment, and what he was feeling off of her. A little more than five years apart and she hadn't gotten over him. Not entirely. The things he had accidentally done to her head were still there. She was still interested, but… How much of that is her, how much of it is brainwashing, and how much is just plain classical conditioning? Who's going to turn down the person who makes them feel best, sexually?
"We could go out, grab dinner, catch up. Come on, it'll be fun~!"
"I'll think about it," he eventually relented.
"Do you still have my number?"
Shinji resisted the urge to wince. "Yeah."
Thankfully, Crystal didn't harp on it. "Good."
"So you are in college now?"
"Three-year law school program, yeah," she nodded, before chuckling and adding, "I guess aunt Carol rubbed off a bit."
"Defending people or putting them in jail? Or lawsuits?"
"All of the above. I want to try everything and get a bit of experience doing it all before I decide. I'm working part-time as a paralegal for aunt Carol while I'm in school—actually helping with this case. Once I graduate, she's thinking of splitting off and making her own firm." She sent him a considering look, before continuing in a sly tone, "You know, a law firm could use a good PI…"
Shinji rolled his eyes. "That's a pay cut."
"Who says it has to be a pay cut? You can work two jobs."
"The department generally frowns on that. But on the other hand, everyone knows times are tough, so I think my superiors would rather I was doing that than moonlighting as a hench or something cape-related."
"Yeah, no kidding," Crystal nodded. Reaching out, she laid her hand on his thigh. To his annoyance, Shinji found his body reacting out of habit with Crystal as his pants became uncomfortably tight. "So… no girlfriend, huh?"
"Not at the moment," Shinji denied.
"Mhmm." Crystal unbuckled her seatbelt.
"What are you doing?"
"Hm? Me? Nothing," she denied, even as she leaned over and laid her head in his lap.
"That doesn't look like nothing."
Crystal quickly undid his belt and got his pants open, before fishing his cock out of his pants. "And neither does this. For me?" she asked, sending him an impish smile, before bringing her head down and running her tongue over the head of Shinji's cock.
Shinji gripped the wheel with both hands and tried his best to focus on the traffic around him. It was torture as Crystal opened her mouth and took him in—sucking, licking, and pumping his cock in all the ways she knew he liked. Another of those little side benefits of his power—whoever he was with also gained some sort of insight into exactly what he liked best, even if she put her own spin on it. Not that it was all that hard—guys are easy to please.
Shinji turned off onto the street that led into Crystal's neighborhood, dropping down a little under the speed limit as he did. Crystal must have known where they were, because she redoubled her efforts, adding her other hand and starting to gently squeeze his balls as she forced his cock into her throat.
"Got rid of that gag reflex," he groaned appreciatively.
"Mhmm," she answered, smirking around his tool as her head bobbed up and down, blonde hair tickling him where it touched.
Shinji wasn't trying to run a marathon here and Crystal had entirely too much experience with him—and a great sense of timing, because he made it to her house and parked just before he would have wrecked. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and held her down on his shaft as he started to come, his vision blurring a bit at the force of it. Crystal swallowed around him, making happy noises as she stroked his thigh and stomach in a very intimate way that Shinji had missed.
When it finally ended, she wrapped her lips around him tightly and pulled back, using her tongue and lips to clean him off, before tucking him back into his pants. Sitting up, she smiled and swallowed audibly. "Saturday. Seven. We're going dancing."
And then she opened the door and slipped out, taking a moment to toss his coat onto the seat behind her, before heading into the house—her ass swaying under that skin tight spandex the entire way. Shinji groaned as she disappeared inside, slumping against the wheel. "Christ, woman."
Fixing his pants, Shinji made his way back to his house to crash for the night. He could review the data tomorrow.
He had wanted to keep her at arm's length if they ever saw each other again—which had always been a possibility, with him on the force and her working as a member of New Wave—but she had completely destroyed that plan. He supposed he hadn't accounted for how Crystal felt about things, how she would react or what she would do. She had always been strong-willed and gone after what she wanted, for as long as he'd known her. She didn't make all of the first moves in their relationship, but the ones she did make were surprising. She asked him out, for one. So he couldn't even put this down to being his fault for mind-fucking her. No, if anyone was to blame, it was her mom and aunt.
But do I really want to push her away again?
Shinji frowned as his phone rang. Checking the caller ID, he saw it was the office—the sergeant's line. He answered and put it on speaker as he went back to reviewing files. "Detective Kusanagi speaking."
"Kusanagi," the man greeted. "I need a report on that case."
His phone is also on speaker. Someone else is in the office with him. "Making progress, sarge. I have a key witness and enough evidence to get a warrant, but I'd like to take a few more days to work on some other witnesses."
"Who's your witness?"
That was not SOP. Definitely someone in the office, and not someone I want to have that info.
"Sorry sarge, can't say. Playing this one close to the vest. Anyway, let me let you go. I need to go question some people."
Shinji disconnected the call and took a few moments to secure his computer against possible intrusion from a tool similar to his own. Namely, booby-traps he'd installed when he bought it—switches that would physically disconnect the front USB ports from the computer and connect them to the main outlet, so whatever was plugged in would get one hundred and ten crunchy volts. Then, he rearranged the board with his strings to make it less obvious that Madison was his witness.
Gathering up his things and some printouts, he left for Madison's house after sending her a text letting her know he was coming. He took his bag out and went up to knock on the door. The brunette showed up wearing a pair of leggings and a tight blouse, looking nervous but radiating horni so hard that he felt her coming from inside the house.
"Yes sir? Detective? Shinji?"
"Where are your parents?" he asked as she invited him inside.
"Dad's at work. Mom is 'at yoga.'"
So, cheating with her yoga instructor, and Madison suspects, he mused with a mental shrug. "Alright. We've got some things to go over."
"Sure." She led him into the kitchen and they sat. Shinji began pulling papers out of his bag.
"So to get started, if any other cops talk to you, you're to tell them to talk to your parents. Understand?" Madison nodded at that. "Good. Now. I've got a list of students here. Who do you think would be the most likely to fold next?"
Madison took the list he passed her and read over it. "Can I have a pen?" He slid her one and she started marking out students. "These are the ones that would know the most and be the most likely to sell out."
Shinji nodded and passed her another sheet. "And the teachers?"
Madison snorted. "Oh, Gladly for sure. Number one. He's the kind of guy who tries to be friends with all the popular students, but you can tell he's a friendless loser outside of school and a pushover. He's dating a senior—Kate, I think. Want me to find out when they're going out next so you can take pictures or something? I've been binge watching a lot of detective and private eye shows and movies lately, since, you know. That's something you could use, right?"
Shinji chuckled. "You should stop watching that trash. But yes. Student/teacher relationships are forbidden, but she's old enough that it's not illegal. So at most, I could threaten his job."
"He teaches at Winslow. You really think he's got other options inside the state?" Madison asked, and Shinji had to admit, she had a point. He was young, which meant little experience—which meant getting the shit jobs no one else wanted. Winslow was the 'inner city school' of Brockton Bay, in Brockton Bay where no sane teacher would want to live or work. If he had options, he'd have taken them.
"Alright. Do that."
"There's a new romcom movie that came out last night. I'll see about spreading the word and making her want to get him to take her to see it. The whole, 'if I had a boyfriend, I'd make him take me tonight, then buy me dinner, then go back for some fun time.'" Shinji nodded and Madison continued, "You might want to talk to Mrs. Knott. She doesn't give a shit about the students, but she's the type that likes to complain about other teachers and has an axe to grind with the principal. Pretty sure she'd do it just to see Ms. Blackwell fired. Mr. Quinlan's going to be a hard no. He likes to brown nose Ms. Blackwell. The circled ones," she passed the paper back, "are your best bet."
"Alright. You get on that and let me know what she decides. I'll go after Knott."
"So," Madison drew the word out as she looked up at him through her lashes, biting her lower lip as she did. "Did I do good?"
Shinji hummed. It wasn't hard to figure out what she wanted. "We'll see." She deflated and Shinji continued. "Come here."
Madison walked around the table as he directed. "Sir?"
Shinji reached out and laid his hand on top of her head, petting her. Madison's eyes went half lidded and she leaned into the touch. "But it's a good start. If this pans out, I'll see about giving you a reward."
"Can we…" she hesitated, blushing and looking away. Quietly, she forced herself to ask, "Can we go for another ride in your car?"
"Sure. Now, do you have anything else for me?"
"I uh, I've been talking to the other students. I told them we should make a special project just for Taylor. A video and picture compilation of everything. Put it all together and play it in the auditorium for everyone to watch when she comes back. Emma loved the idea and now everyone thinks it was her idea. One of the guys in the AV club volunteered to run the projector. Everyone's sending in their stuff to him. I'll find out once he has it. Sophia said she can make Ms. Blackwell make a mandatory announcement for the whole school that day, then once everyone's there… roll film."
"Holy—" Shinji winced, palming his face. "Christ Madison, that is some next level shit."
"I know. But all the videos and stuff will be on one computer. That's good, right?"
Shinji couldn't argue that. It really would be fantastic. If he could get that, along with the email server—which, now that he thought about it, was probably run and hosted by the school district not Winslow themselves—and a few key devices in one fell swoop of warrants, it'd be an open and shut case. But he needed to have all his ducks lined up in a row first. "It's good. See if you can have Emma lean on everyone to get this done by Monday."
"I will."
"Good girl. Get those things done and let me know how it goes. I need to go question some teachers."
"Yes, sir."
With that, he gathered his things and left. Checking the addresses on his list, he made his way over to Mrs. Knott's house—which wasn't too far from Madison's, actually.
He knocked on the door and waited. A few moments later, an older woman's voice called out, "Who is it?"
"Detective Kusanagi. Mrs. Knott, I'd like to like to ask you some questions."
The woman cracked the door open. "If it's about the case, you can talk to my attorney."
"Sure, sure," Shinji nodded. "Let me start with one though. How would you like to see Blackwell arrested?"
Knott was silent for a moment before the door opened wider. The woman wore a nasty smile as she asked, "Why didn't you say so sooner? Come in, come in! What is it you're looking for, detective? And what makes you think whatever I have to offer is going to be enough to get that bitch thrown in jail?"
"You alone? Maybe not. But your testimony, combined with a few others? Definitely so. I need to know if Principal Blackwell sent out any kind of email telling you and the staff to keep quiet about the things going on with Ms. Hebert, for starters." Of course, she had. It was in the emails Shinji had read through that morning. But he needed a chain of evidence that didn't begin and end with him breaking into the school.
"What guarantee do I have that if such a thing were to exist and I were to give it to you, that I wouldn't be caught up in all of this? I'm nearing retirement age, son. I've got to look after my pension. I remember you from my classes, before they shuffled me out of Arcadia into the cesspit that is Winslow. Quiet boy. Very bright. Studious. You and Ms. Pelham just thought you were being sneaky."
"Then you also remember that I do the things I say I'm going to do. If you provide evidence, I'll see to it that you aren't prosecuted for any actions you took under Principal Blackwell's orders. You were afraid of losing your job at your age. Perfectly understandable. Your name won't ever come up unless we need to call you in for testimony, which I doubt will happen."
"Alright. Come on." Mrs. Knott led him deeper into the home, to a small room functioning as an office. She powered on an ancient PC and equally ancient printer. "I've got all the emails here. I'll print them for you. Whatever you need. Just let me know when you're going to arrest her. I want to be there to see her face when she gets dragged off in cuffs."
"Absolutely. Thanks, Mrs. Knott."
Shinji checked the time on his dash—ten past midnight. How long was this movie supposed to run? Fuck sake.
"You take a girl on the best dates," Crystal teased from the passenger seat, eating the remains of a box of takeout Chinese. She wasn't dressed as Laserdream tonight—instead, wearing tight jeans, a sweater that showed off her sweater puppies, and a jacket. Even with the heat on, Brockton Bay was still cold enough at night to warrant it.
"But it is a date. Which you wanted."
"Barely. I said I wanted to go dancing, and instead you invited me to the movies… To a stakeout outside the theater."
Shinji sent her a raised eyebrow. "I just know your favorite dance is the horizontal Mambo. Give you five minutes on the dance floor and your panties will fall off. I didn't want to wade home."
Crystal rolled her eyes. "You really know how to make a girl feel special, Shinji."
"You knew what you were signing up for. I'll make it up to you later."
"True. I did," she admitted with a sort of fondly exasperated look at him. She turned her eyes back out the windshield. "Oh! Is that him?" she asked, as a man who looked about Shinji's age and a blonde girl walked up to the car Shinji knew belonged to Gladly.
"Yup." He hefted his camera with its telephoto lens, took aim, and snapped a couple of pictures of Gladly and the girl walking together side by side and getting into the car together.
"Well? What're you waiting for? They're getting away!"
"No they aren't. Why do you think I invited you?"
Crystal blinked, before sending him an annoyed look. "Oh no! It's cold out there!"
"I'll warm you up later."
"Geh. Fuck. Okay! Fine! Gimme that stupid thing. I'll trail them from above and call you if they break off somewhere."
"You read my mind."
"Yeah, well, you'd better be reading mine right about now, buster!"
Shinji made a show of putting his fingers to his temples. "I see us going back to my place and watching a movie."
Crystal grinned. "Not the hours of mind-blowing sex I was hoping for, but I'll take it. Alright, I'm off."
The game was afoot.