Check 8 - No plan ever goes according to plan

Cass paced. With not much else to do but sit and wait, she found herself feeling more than a little restless. Shortly after Daisuke's declaration of lock down, she'd decided it best to return to her room. There obviously wasn't much she could do there, and Hiro seemed to agree, as he'd followed her.

Now the teen lay on her bed, stomach to the mattress, holding his head up with his hands as he watched her agitated steps cross and re-cross the room. Baymax stood nearby, also observing things.

Jaw gnashing a bit, Cass stopped, ruffling her hair. "This is so frustrating!" she complained. "Why can't I remember?!"

While the pseudo interrogation had brought to light something she probably should have mentioned earlier, it also reminded her of other incidents that didn't quite feel the same. Whoever it was that had stared at her at done so with dark intent. And, even though her thoughts had roamed to the possibility of Hydra, she somehow doubted it. Outside of being someone they use could as leverage to control Hiro, she hadn't exactly been in the limelight for the whole kidnapping events.

Hiro didn't comment as he watched her. His own thoughts roamed back, trying to find any details he may have missed. It was so much easier when he was in a hypnotic state, a bit different from the meditative one he'd tried the other day. If Loki were there, it would make things so much easier. In fact, the Asgardian god could probably just do what he'd done with Hiro and pop into Cass's memories, look at the details, and have this whole thing solved before dinnertime.

Speaking of dinner time, both Hamadas paused in what they were doing, both mentally and physically, as their stomachs seemed to growl in unison. Lunch had come to an abrupt end before it was even over. And, in the course of cleaning up and giving their statements, neither had exactly felt like eating much. But now their hunger manifested as if synchronized.

"Well," Cass said with a bit of a chuckle, "sounds like we both should have asked for a snack before coming upstairs." She gave Hiro a chagrined smile, her thoughts calming now that her body had inserted a desire that took priority. One couldn't think on an empty stomach, after all. Even if it wasn't actually dinner time.

Hiro rolled off the bed in that almost graceless manner of all gangly teens, regaining his feet. "I guess we could ask someone in the kitchen to fix us something." He offered a bit of a hopeful shrug. "Should we go down or call someone?"

Cass glanced at the nightstand, momentarily forgetting they were in a private home and not a hotel. The décor was similar to one or two she'd stayed in. instead of seeing the corded device she expected, her eyes landed on her cell, which momentarily lit up as if from a notification. She walked over and activated the screen. Well, that was weird, she thought, seeing no icon indicating any kind of message. She resisted the urge to shiver.

"Why don't we go down? I'm feeling a little restless," she admitted. "Maybe, if we take the stairs that will help."

Hiro gave his aunt a look but chose not to question it as she pocketed her cell. His was still in his pocket. He, too, had noticed her phone screen momentarily light up but decided not to comment on it. He'd ask Baymax to look into it later.

….

Daisuke stood far enough away from the investigating officers that he shouldn't be in the way. Someone had already cleared away the chairs and kneeling rugs from the grave area. There were still the paper lanterns lining the path to the small clearing, but that wasn't important. Chances were good someone would take care of them later, unless he decided to finish out the day's original activities.

Several officers in uniforms meant for the forensics teams were combing the area, especially the copse of trees in question. They were likely looking for footprints they wouldn't find. The ground was too hard for that, unless some kind of puncturing footwear had been worn. But it was possible they would find bits of a torn camouflage suit, broken branches, or similar.

He signaled at a drone with one hand, indicating it should fly over the area, scanning on all frequencies. If he'd known to do this earlier, it probably would have given them better results. As things stood, any infrared would only reflect those searching the area now, and not any who had been there that morning. He sighed, wishing Cass had mentioned something sooner.

"I want a full scan of the area in question, as well as any possible routes on and off the property from here," he instructed HEUSC. "Analyze all available footage."

That taken care of, he gave the area one more cursory view before heading to the next location, the villa. He'd just gotten word from Suzue that Hoshino and his men had finished up there. He didn't want to step on their toes, effectively informing them of his intentions to investigate despite instructions not to. Asking him to do that was like telling a fish to not swim and just lie there, dead in the water. It wasn't going to happen, but he knew the inspector had to say it out of protocol.

Yellow police tape cordoned off the majority of the room he and his guests had had lunch in. It made sense. They'd outlined any necessary details with numbered tags. In fact, their photographer was still there, taking a few last minute pictures. Whether they liked it or not, a few of the manor staff waited in the wings to clean the food up. It wouldn't do to invite in unwanted pests.

Daisuke put on his tinted glasses, activating the virtual function. "Calculate the projectile's trajectory," he ordered as he stepped up to the porch, glancing at the spot in the wall where the dart had embedded. One of the officers had removed it, of course, and taken it as evidence. He'd have to make sure HEUSC retrieved the report once it was complete.

Using the footage from the security cameras, HEUSC recreated the flight path, digitally highlighting the small hole in the wall, drawing a red line away from it to a location outside of the room. The line continued as Daisuke turned to view its inevitable destination, the foliage.

Careful to not disrupt any crime scene paraphernalia, he followed the line across the slight clearing between villa and trees. A quick look back indicated the possibility the target could have been Cass. But it also said it could have been him just as easily. He chose to ignore that for the moment and continued towards the trees.

More indications of police activity surrounded the area in question, though none were quite accurate in location. Not yet having the security footage, they hadn't been able to predict an accurate trajectory and had therefore had to guess. It helped to have a digital butler to do the hard work.

There were some signs of rough passage in the indicated zone, Daisuke noted. But, again, without comparing it to the footage of the officers exploring for clues, he couldn't be sure if any were caused by the intruder or not. That was another thing he'd have HEUSC compare.

Seeing something on the ground, Daisuke bent to get a closer look. Thankful he'd thought to wear gloves, he gingerly picked up the dark green bit of plastic that had almost been lost in the mulch. It looked like the back end of a dart, somehow removed from the whole. He had no idea how that had happened but chose to worry about it later. Instead, he held the item up to the light. He'd have to have it scanned for fingerprints, though chances were good there wouldn't be any. He'd bet a couple thousand yen it belonged to the dart that had almost skewered either himself or Cass.

He pocketed the item and turned to go. There didn't seem to be too much else he could do there. But before he could take another step, something else caught his eye. If he hadn't been looking down, he would have missed it. Caught in one of the bushes was a filament of some kind, probably a thread. He snatched it between two pinched fingers. It was time to return to the mansion.

….

After what had to have been one of the longest days of his life, Haru Katou heaved a sigh of relief. Daisuke wasn't always forthcoming in his plans; something Haru thought the man did on purpose to remind him who was really in charge, despite his being the senior partner. Well, it was whatever.

He exited the taxi that had stopped just outside his apartment complex. The travel arrangements had not exactly been the most direct, though he supposed that was necessary. Eastern Europe had its reputation and he had technically dropped in without his passport. He'd have to remember to keep it on him at all times from now on.

It was thanks to HEUSC that he'd made it back at all. It probably helped that he'd had his detective credentials on him, something he always carried with him. One never knew when he might get called to active duty, even on his time off. It was unfortunate he'd missed the festivities, but he supposed that had been inevitable. Black market deals had to be taken care of swiftly. And when the AI butler had informed them of the change in their target, there hadn't been much time to waste.

Haru walked up the stairs and unlocked his pocket-size apartment. In comparison to Daisuke's place, it was nothing more than a closet, but he was more than happy to call it home. After all the craziness with his partner, it was nice to come back to a small piece of peace and quiet that looked more than normal.

Kicking off his shoes at the door, the detective re-locked the door and headed towards the bedroom. A nice shower would help get the kinks of air travel out of his back, he decided, and so prepared a change of clothes with that in mind.

But before he could get that far, his phone rang. With a heavy sigh, gaze momentarily turned towards the ceiling, he answered. "Katou here."

He had to pull the phone away from his ear for a moment as the voice on the other end came across louder than was probably necessary.

"There's no need to yell. I'm not deaf!"

He listened for a few more seconds before having a chance to reply. "Fine, I'll be waiting outside. Just give me a few minutes."

He slid the phone into his pocket, giving the small stack of clothes he'd set down a glance. After a moment's hesitation, he reached for a duffel bag and stuffed them inside. He added a few more, for good measure, before grabbing his toothbrush from the bathroom and heading back to the front of the apartment. Never a dull moment, he sighed.

Back outside, he noticed a set of headlights waiting on the side of the street. He took the time to double-check the lock on his door before heading back down the stairs and towards the dark sedan waiting there.

The sun hadn't gone down yet, though it was heading that direction. As such, he could make out the outline of the driver, more than confident in identifying it. He pulled open the passenger door and got in. The moment he closed the door, the car peeled out.

"Kambe! For the love of! You're an officer of the law, would you mind not speeding!"

Rather than risk something happening, Daisuke had apparently decided to retrieve him himself. That or there was some other reason for the man to decide on this course of action. Wasn't he supposed to be entertaining guests?

Daisuke didn't so much as look his direction as he directed the car around the streets of Tokyo at speeds that were technically against the law. "I sent Suzue to get you from the airport. Why didn't you go with her?"

Haru clicked his seat belt, securing himself in the seat, something Daisuke hadn't waited for him to do before driving off. "Didn't see her," he answered, keeping his answers short. While he'd appreciated the private jet retrieving him a decent chunk of the way back to Japan, he was still upset with his partner for not warning beforehand about his journey out there in the first place.

A sigh escaped Daisuke's lips. "I wasn't sure if something had happened," he admitted, though it sounded like he'd had to drag the words out of himself. His tone was hard, as was his expression as they rounded a corner on almost squealing tires.

There was the unspoken thought that Daisuke had come out of a need to make sure for himself. Something really bad must have happened, Haru thought as he pulled out his phone, reminded he'd seen notifications he'd ignored earlier. There were a few missed calls from both Suzue and Daisuke, as well as various texts. And even one from Hoshino. What was that about?

"Did something happen back at your place?"

In answer to that, Daisuke's lips pressed more firmly together as his speed increased. If he wasn't careful, they'd have a whole troop of patrol cars chasing them for speeding. But the roads remained clear, probably thanks to HEUSC.

Haru counted to five, waiting to see if Daisuke's mood allowed for conversation. Apparently not, but he was going to press anyway. "What happened?"

Their speed slowed a bit, a light changing from green to orange, though Daisuke didn't stop. "We were attacked."

"What!" Haru almost choked on his spit. "Why didn't you call me?"

He thought he saw a slight eye roll as Daisuke turned to a side gate onto his property. "I tried. You didn't pick up."

Daisuke was definitely agitated, as Haru supposed was his right, though it wasn't his fault he'd had his phone on silent during the flight. He'd been too tired to really give the notifications a second thought before getting home. And now it didn't matter. Adrenaline had kicked in and he was wide awake. "I need details."

In the short time left in the drive to the main manor, Daisuke gave a brief rendition of what had happened. Chances were good any report would have been brief anyway. The man usually kept his speeches to a minimum. He'd probably get more details out of Suzue.

"My guests should be sitting down to dinner in a few minutes, which should give you plenty of time to clean yourself up."

The reminder of his current state was not appreciated. Haru had had every intention of showering before Daisuke's call, but he had to hold that emotion in check. After all, he'd been the one who'd unwittingly ignored several calls from the Kambe group. Maybe that was what Hoshino had called about, the whole incident. He'd have to give him a ring later.

Daisuke pulled up in front of the house. "We'll work out details later but I want you to act as a bodyguard to my aunt. I've asked my butler to prepare a room near hers so you can better keep an eye on her. He'll show you to it." This last part was said as he approached the door, the butler in question opening it before he got there.

Haru ran a hand through his hair, having followed after, duffel in hand. Being a bodyguard was not his usual gig, but he supposed the situation warranted it. So, while Daisuke disappeared into the depths of the mansion, he followed the butler to the main elevator and the room now assigned to him for the duration. He just hoped their division director wouldn't need him any time soon.