Consequence

Day 2, 9:30AM

Alex Thompson lay draped over his chair, enjoying a cup of tea. Or rather, trying to. His mulling over what Mongoose told him last night didn't sit well with him. What direction her interference would carry this round worried him...

The doorbell broke him out of his state of abysmal thought. He already knew who was on the other side. Hell, it would be a surprise if it was anyone but him. He checked his appearance quickly before answering the call.

His bullet wound seemed to have healed fine at least. Whether or not it would 'reset' after everything was merely an assumption to him. After all, the others seemed to miraculously disappear when he stepped through that portal.

"Good morning amba- Alex. Are you alright after everything? Those wounds of yours looked pretty gnarly." Bryce greeted with worry. He came right after his chest was taken care of. Of course, there wasn't much of anything to bandage the wounds with. So that resulted in a nasty looking hole.

"Nothing but a scar now. Is Maverick doing alright?" Alex queried with some concern. He figured that dragon can't be happy with receiving yet more wounds.

"I haven't had the time to check on him yet. Just know he's definitely going on sick leave." Bryce stated gruffly. "Could you come with me to the station? Something's happened." As much as the human loved the sound of his voice, he couldn't stand it when it was gruff or worried.

"Tell me it's not the worst..." Alex groaned. His facade seemed to be holding up, at least. He already found out what happened through Mongoose. The only thing that eluded him was the extent of Reza's damage.

"I'm afraid so. Come on. We can talk about it on the way over." With that, the dragon waited for his company to collect his things before they stepped outside...

The pair's trip was deathly quiet for the first few minutes. It was only when they crossed into Tatsu Park that Alex got tired of the silence. He felt he had to say something to help break the tension.

"So, I'm guessing you guys couldn't find Reza?" Alex said to a somber nod from Bryce. As soon as his eyes met the other's, he returned his head forward. But his eyes seemed to stay mostly fixated on him.

"I'm afraid not. That murder report certainly didn't help things last night-"

"I'm guessing that's the worst?" Alex interrupted. He really needed to work on that tendency.

"Yeah. Someone called last night with an anonymous report. The crime scene is where we'll be going, if you don't mind, that is. We could really use the help. Speaking of, I'm glad you turned that recording in to us. That'll help us out a ton in this case." Bryce was admittedly more chipper upon mentioning the recording Alex took last night. A bit of evidence can really sweeten things with a police investigation. And maybe the police officer as well.

"It's no problem. I was already suspicious he'd try something like this. All we needed was a motivation." The human explained his process as they came up on the scene. The moment they passed the tree, he took a glance.

A flier was sitting against a tree, draped in that ever significant sheet. Blood had painted the grass below them a visceral red. Crime scene tape marked the zone he should be giving a wide berth... for now. In the meantime, he'll just be helping where he can...

"Okay, so let's go over everything again just to review. Alex, you were heading over to deliver the generator back to your world when you got the idea to interrogate him, and find out why he was acting funny. And when he found out you'd been recording everything, he shot you and Maverick and ran off. Is all that correct?" Bryce looked up to two faces: Alex's and Maverick's. They'd passed through the park on the way to his office, as per Bryce's request for a statement. Alex nodded grimly in response. Maverick waited patiently for his turn.

"And Maverick. You were supposedly out for a walk and spotted Alex on his way to Reza. You followed and caught their meeting. But when you were spotted by Alex, he tried to motion you back to your hiding spot, and that's when you both got shot. Is that right?" Bryce reviewed his statement as written last night. Maverick nodded his own confirmation, to which his boss shuffled through more papers.

"Looks like everything lines up. I can't say your charges would be very comfortable, Mav, but you're already on sick leave. We'll discuss this once you've healed. Alex, I hope you'll be willing to come back-" A knock interrupted the chief mid-discussion. He stood up and answered the door. And a moment later, he came right back with a grim expression painting his face.

"I guess it's time to go." Alex stood with him, matching his face. The other silently nodded as he looked toward Maverick, who went to leave them be. It was clear he wasn't to follow them. He wasn't wanted or needed at the moment. And his last look at Alex said exactly what he wouldn't out loud...