Mission_8: Under Observation
Whi-Two hurries across the hall as fast as her long legs could take her, a stack of papers in both her hands. She makes a beeline along the corridors, barely dodges a fellow officer and a water dispenser, and takes a sharp turn to her left, leading her straight to a blur of dark blue zooming right past her.
The girl hits the blur squarely, sending the pile flying. Papers scatter .
"Hey!" she hears the blur growl as she fell to her bottom. Whi-Two winces from the hit.
"S-Sorry!" she squeaks. Then she opens her eyes and finds the mess she's made.
"Oh no…" she mumbles, immediately dropping herself to her knees.
Whi-Two hurriedly gathers all her paper and starts stacking them back neatly, afraid that she may have forgotten how they were arranged. Especially when her inspector told her specifically to be careful with the stack's arrangement.
She starts cursing under her breath, unable to take note of the extra pair of hands gathering the sheets with her.
"Mary, mother of God, this is a mess…," she mumbles, almost wiping the tiled ground with her sweaty hands. "Inspector will kill me…"
"Upper right…"
Whi-Two raises her head in response to the voice, and it was only then that she notices the small stack being handed to her. She followed it with her gaze back to the hand that held it, and then to the face of the owner.
The owner looked as surprised as she was.
"E-Er… I'm sorry?" she whispers. The owner again clears his throat.
"Look at each page's upper right corner. There's a serial for each." He nears the stack back to him to gesture at the small writing at the upper right corner of his stack.
"It's a little hard to decipher on your own, but I think you can base it all on how this is arranged."
Whi-Two eyes the corner for a few moments before uneasily reaching for it, all while gradually returning her gaze to him.
"T-Thank you, Sir…"
The owner smiles as he stands up.
"No problem," he says, reaching his hand to her. Whi-Two, though dumbfounded, proceeds to reach out for it.
"Though, I suggest that you be careful the next time. Those are some pretty important documents you're handling."
Whi-Two blushes at the thought.
"O-Of course... T-Thank—" Her tongue freezes at the last word upon hearing a certain set of heavy footsteps.
"Uh-oh…"
"Whi-Two, have you processed the reports to…"
Lack-Two stops in his tracks, just in time to watch Whi-Two slowly turn herself to him, the disheveled pile still disheveled within her long trembling arms.
The young inspector simply raises a brow and sighs.
"...Need I ask?"
"I-I can fix this, Sir!"
But the boy had already rolled his eyes in disgust and resignation.
"To be honest, it doesn't really matter. You can deliver those shredded for all I care... Just hurry and get those delivered pronto. We don't have all day."
"But…"
"Is that any way to treat UNPol documents, Inspector?"
Whi-Two's head performs another quick turn, just in time to watch her unexpected helper to step up, a look of familiar annoyance in his face.
"I ought to report you to the higher-ups for insubordination."
Lack-two only returns to the speaker in his normal, deadpan expression, but upon seeing the other's face more clearly, the expression drops.
Then, before Whi-Two's eyes, her inspector's face slightly lights up with the look of amusement she's only seen once or twice in her entire stay in Nimbasa.
It scared her.
"Well well well... Just when I thought this visit could not get any more irrelevant," Lack-Two mumbles under his breath with a chuckle, crossing his arms, walking closer to the other.
"I thought the building suddenly smelled of cheap hairspray. Guess it wasn't just a thought."
To that, the other chuckles.
"Ah, Nathaniel Maureen Alart…" he sighs.
"I always thought that when I see you again, it would be in prison. Though, I was sincerely hoping you'd be behind bars."
"Better luck next year, then, Slick," Lack-two chuckles. "So what brings you here, Probie? UNPol finally decided to kick you out?"
"Probie? Hah!" He then fishes out what seems like a badge from his pocket and flashes it to the young inspector.
"Try 'UNPol-Delegate', Slick."
Lack-Two does a fake-sounding gasp, letting his hand animatedly fly to his chest, as if amazed.
"Aww, look at you. Five years of working your ass off overseas and they finally let you flash a badge? You must be deep in your shit in excitement." He then takes the badge and examines it.
"Is this what they give their interns?" He flips it around, a look of acknowledgement in his eyes.
"You know, I heard if you get at least ten stickers on this, you get a free planner."
The owner gives him a deadpan look, steals the badge back, and hits Lack-Two with it.
Whi-Two had to suppress her giggle.
"I see you still thrive with the taunting tactics of a toddler," the stranger mumbles, putting his badge away.
"And I see you still thrive with that ridiculous hairstyle. I always thought Super Saiyans stopped being cool in the early 2000's. You only learned to catch on with the trend now?"
"And I suppose that sorry excuse for a palm tree you're trying to pull off is exquisitely popular around here?"
At that, Lack-Two shrugs.
"You know what they say: A little tropical can do you no wrong."
"No one says that."
"I just did."
Then his eyes returns to the visitor's hair.
"...So," he starts again, this time attempting to reach out to other's hair.
"Does UNPol give you a licence to go around flashing that weapon or...?"
The visitor hits his arm away.
"You know, you're lucky I don't let your crappy insults get to me. Otherwise, you'd be using that smart mouth of yours to find yourself a new job."
"Oh, what a disaster that would be!" Lack-Two cries, taking a dramatic step back.
"I mean, where else can you find a highly skilled and competent police officer who can report to both the SUU and the SRT?" Then he raises a brow at him, a taunting smile on his face.
"UNPol?"
"Funny you should mention that. I'm actually on my way to meet my dad. I'll make sure to raise that specific matter."
At that, Lack-Two steps to his side and performs a huge gesture to signal the hallway.
"Please, be my guest."
The other only rolls his eyes, but nonetheless starts walking along, with both Whi-Two and Lack-Two watching.
It was only then that Whi-Two decides to speak.
"D-Do you know him, Sir...?"
Lack-Two sighs,
"More than I would ever let myself know another person, unfortunately." Then he looks at Whi-Two.
"That's Superintendent Aldin's son."
Whi-Two's eyes widen.
"What?!"
"Hugh Richards of the United Nations Alliance Police Force," he continues, returning his eyes to join Whi-Two's in staring at the other's back, watching as he strode the hallways with the sense of subtle confidence Whi-Two knew that only Lack-Two can pull off.
"Look alive, Detective. Something tells me we'll be seeing more of him these coming days." Then he snorts.
"This should be fun."
He turns to Whi-Two and notices the slight smittened expression in her face, making him slightly frown.
"...So, will I be expecting these paperwork to scatter about and fly themselves to Admin or do you have any other magic tricks under your sleeves I have yet to see?"
-...-
Lack-Two enters the pantry almost too quickly that it catches many of the officers off guard. He breezes by quickly, ignoring the fumbling and the falling utensils as they try their best to conjure a proper salute, all of which he barely acknowledges.
Normally, he'd throw the extra scare of giving a scowl or maybe two to their direction, but even he had a heart.
It was UnPol Progress Evaluation season again-everyone was up to their knees in stress.
And to think that they'd send a delegate this year…
Lack-Two powers up the coffee maker, and from the peripherals, he notices a familiar set of blonde hair, hunched over stacks and stacks of paper. Heaving a soft sigh, he takes his mug and a piece of muffin and heads on over to the other's direction.
"Here," he whispers, landing the pastry just a few inches from the blonde's paperwork.
"You look like you could use a snack."
To that, Lailani looks up, her blue eyes slightly gleaming from underneath her round, golden-rimmed glasses. Lack-Two's face falls in an expression of disgust.
"...And some sleep."
The CSI-U Inspector makes a face, and sticks her tongue out to him, to which Lack-Two responds with a snort.
"Evals season, am I right?" he greets, finding himself a place in front of her.
Lai groans.
"Oh, tell me about it," she sighs, finally straightening herself and reaching for the muffin in childlike delight.
"I've been up all night finishing my reports… This is unbearable. Do you know how much of these I have to finish by today?!"
A snort almost escapes Lack-Two, and he tries to hide it by lifting his coffee to his lips.
"None of them if you finished them every after your missions like you were supposed to..."
"I heard that."
Lack-Two's snort turns into a chuckle. Lai rolls her eyes, though a small smile was forming in her lips as she did.
"Oh, you think you're so good just because you send your reports on time and with great and precise details," she mocks, nibbling on her pastry.
"Well, I'm sorry, Mr. Perfect, we can't all have subordinates who do our work for us…"
"Hey, you know I only make Whi-Two do those reports because she happens to like doing them," Lack-two counters.
"If anything, I'm doing the girl a favor."
"Jeez, if you want to go do her a favor, then tell her you like her already… Saves her the trouble of having to face your frustrated mood swings everytime you see her."
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing, Inspector Lack-Two…" Lai displays a huge-toothed grin to her fellow inspector's face, to which the latter responds with a deadpan expression.
"Are you seriously going back on board with that?" he asks.
"Trust me, Nate, I never left," Lai retorts. "As a matter of fact…" She suddenly reaches forward and grabs Lack-Two's mug and takes one large gulp-a gesture her old friend despised yet she somehow loves to do.
"I'm captain of this ship, and it's about to sail."
"Okay, how many girls will you have to force unto me before you stop saying stupid crap like that?"
"Until I get one right, and believe me…" She pauses, takes what's left of her pastry, and shoves it all into her small mouth. Then she picks up Lack-Two's mug, and rinses it all down with his coffee.
"I like my chances with this one."
"You said that last time…"
"And unlike you, I like to stay optimistic."
At that Lack-Two snorts, and he shakes his head almost in defeat.
"Why are you so desperate that I get a girlfriend, Lai?"
"Because I am honestly tired of people asking me if you and I are dating, and the longer you stay single, the harder it is for me to prove that it's not because you're hopelessly in love with me."
"I could be in love with you."
It was Lai's turn to snort.
"Please," she scoffs. "I'd rather believe you're gay. It's more plausible that way."
"Then what if I was gay?"
The two lock eyes for a moment, then they both break into boisterous laughter.
"Besides," Lailani continues, sliding Lack-Two's now empty mug to his direction.
"I don't think you'd fall for someone who likes to steal your coffee."
"Yeah, and by my count, that's the fourth coffee you stole from me this week."
"That isn't much…"
"It's only Tuesday, Lailani."
"Which means you should cut back on coffee…"
"Or that you should make your own coffee and stop stealing mine."
Instead of replying, Lai simply wags her finger at him, signalling that the conversation is over, and that she believes she's won. Lack-Two only shakes his head in pseudo-defeat.
Then his expression changes.
" ...By the way."
The change in tone catches Lai off guard, and she slowly returns her gaze up towards him. She notes the slight hint of concern in Lack-Two's eyes.
"Hugh's here."
Lai looks at him for a moment, a notable drop in her mood as she slowly returns to her work.
"I see."
The SUU inspector fidgets slightly in his seat before he clears his throat.
"Lai?"
"And what brings him back in the shores of Unova?" Lai suddenly quips, not taking her eyes off of her work. "Thought the moment he took that step out of this country, his ass would stay out of it for good?"
There was no change in her tone, and though it surprised Lack-Two, he simply goes with it.
"That was what I was hoping for too," he chuckles.
"...How is Hugh?" Lai asks. "Still fuller than Fayba during Buffet Tuesdays?"
"Oh, he's gotten even fuller. Chanced upon him a while ago and the first thing he did was flash his badge at me. As if anything can change my mind about what he actually does in life."
"You need badges to make people coffee in UNPol?"
"He does apparently."
They both laugh. Lack-Two was first to break from it.
"Seriously, though, I'm actually kinda proud of him. In just two years, he's already a delegate."
The word suddenly stops Lai.
"...Delegate?"
Lack-Two also pauses, and stares at her. The female inspector's focus was suddenly back to him.
"UNPol sent a delegate for this year's evaluations?"
"...Well, yeah."
"They... never do that." Lai straightens herself again, letting her work down for what Lack-Two hopes to be just the second time since she's started.
"What makes this year different...?"
"Well, actually, they did this before, if I recall correctly. The first time Lockdown was declared."
"Oh, yeah. I remember that…" Lai's contemplative eyes lands on Lack-Two's empty mug. "Though weren't they supposed to come back after five years? It's only been three."
Lack-Two simply shrugs, making Lai snort back at him.
"Oh, and what's this? Mr. Perfect shrugging at me? Telling me he has no clue? Fake advertisement, Nate, I thought you knew everything." She crosses her arms and lets out a comical huff.
"I want my money back."
The other simply chuckles.
"Oh, come oooonnnnn, you gotta at least give me something!" She nears her face to him.
"Come on. Give me a good guess."
Lack-Two watches her for a moment before letting out a slightly amused sigh.
"Well, if I were to make an assumption, it's probably because they're thinking about shortening the Lockdown period…"
Another sudden pause.
"What…"
Laughter with a slight inhale that no one save for Lack-Two can notice escapes Lai's lips.
"Why would they do that? That's…" She slightly shakes her head, her blonde hair rippling with the gentle motion. "Way out of protocol…"
"To be fair, Lailani, there is no protocol for these things to begin with. This is the first time in history that a country has almost no control over its own doors. So…" He trails off upon seeing Lailani nodding in agreement, realizing it was futile to keep going.
He knew just as much as she did how much of a tiresome topic Lockdown was for all of them.
"...Besides," he swerves instead. "It's only an assumption. Who knows? Maybe they just want Vegeta out of their clutches…"
At that, Lai laughs. Her usual, comical, lighthearted laugh. Lack-Two acknowledges the change in mood with a smile, but immediately drops it when he finally finds that he couldn't hold off what he'd been wanting to get from Lailani since he first brought their old colleague up.
"...Don't you want to go and see him? I mean, he might be here all day and I don't think I can take him staying at my office for the good of it."
To which Lai snorts, as she had been the previous times Lack-Two would suggest any of the sort.
"I don't think it'd be great if I go see him now, Nate…" She sighs softly, gesturing at her still unfinished work. "These reports won't write themselves you know."
The SUU Inspector stares at it absentmindedly.
"Yeah, I guess you're right…"
Lai smiles a bit ruefully before she starts ruining the short silence with sounds of her collecting papers from all over the table.
"Well, that's pretty much all the time I have for a break," she chirps, hitting the bottom of the stack against the metal surface. "I'll see you on the flip side, Mr. Perfect."
Lai then stands up and heads for the doorway, but stops when she hears Lack-Two speak.
"You know, you never did tell me."
The CSI-U Inspector pauses in her tracks, but does not turn.
"How things ended up between you and Hugh…" He fidgets a bit.
"You know, before he left?"
Lack-Two half-expected for Lai to change her disposition for the third time, but instead of simply walking away as if she did not hear anything-a response Lack-Two had long been used to and have unconsciously expected from her since long before-Lai actually spins on her heel to face him, a genuine smile smeared all over her face.
"Ancient history!"
-...-
"I-Inspector…?"
Lack-Two breaks from his momentary trance and returns his gaze to the previous object of his focus. But instead of the training room's dark green floor mats, two bright, blue orbs stared back at him in confusion, making him almost jump in shock.
"Is everything alright?" Whi-Two asks softly, leaning forward a little to peer at his eyes, hidden a bit as his head was hung low.
The Inspector blinks a few moments before clearing his throat.
"Yeah, I am," he begins, taking a deep breath as leans back. Then he opens them again to stare at his mentee sitting on the floor directly in front of his bench, looking back at him still with the same degree of confusion.
"What on earth are you doing?"
At that, the young detective slightly blushes and looks down.
"I-I went in here for a short workout and saw you here by the benches looking all forlorn so…"
"So you decided to sit there in front of me until I come to like the weirdo that you are?"
At that Whi-Two huffs her cheeks begrudgingly.
"Says the guy who's been mumbling to himself for goodness knows how long."
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing, Inspector…"
Instead of fighting back, Lack-Two simply rolls his eyes, and pushes himself to stand up and walk to the center of the grounds with Whi-Two following him with his gaze.
"But seriously, are you okay?" the younger asks after him.
"You seem so distracted." Then a pause.
"Actually, all the inspectors are… What's going on?"
"Well, if you paid any attention to all that's been happening, Detective, you wouldn't have to ask me that question."
"And if you learned how to orient your subordinates properly enough about what's been happening, I wouldn't have to ask you that question."
Lack-Two groans as he reaches for and starts adjusting a nearby punching bag.
"You know I really do hear you when you wisecrack me like that, right, Whi-Two?"
The girl noticeably grows pale. Lack-Two actually found it a bit amusing.
"...You're lucky I'm more often than not too busy to give so much of a damn."
Whi-Two watches as her superior swings the newly-adjusted punching bag a few times before she's realized she wouldn't get any proper answers from him unless she forces herself into his little world. With a sigh, she pushes herself up and jogs to where her inspector is, and holds the bag in place. Lack-Two seems to appreciate the gesture, as he takes a step back, readies his stance, and punches.
The bag stays in place. It makes him smile.
"Tell me you're at least aware that it's evaluations season for our station."
A few more, slightly harder punches. Whi-Two struggles a bit to stand her ground, but nonetheless does so.
"Well, yeah," she replies. "It's one of those special things the Nimbasa Division has to go through, right? Inspector Lai mentioned that it has something to do with the station retaining its status as Main Office."
"Yeah, that seems just about right," Lack-Two mouths in between grunts. Then he stops for a few seconds to wipe his forehead.
"For someone who complains for not being oriented properly, you seem to know quite the sufficient information."
"Well, those I can get from my manual, Sir…" Whi-Two reasons out, readying herself for her inspector's next set of punches.
"It's the UNPol delegate I'm more curious about."
Lack-Two pauses for a bit, looking slightly at the spot where he'd see his mentee standing had the punching bag not been there hanging between them.
"Believe me, kid, you're not the only one curious about that."
Then he changes his stance, swings his right arm back, and releases an incredibly strong blow, making the bag swing so violently, it pushes Whi-Two back, making her land on her bottom. Then she looks up and sees the bag swinging right towards her and she makes a mistake of using her right arm to block it. The stinging pain coming from her shoulder as the bag came into contact with her arm almost made her scream if it weren't overpowered by shock.
That shouldn't have hurt that much.
Lack-Two reaches forward and catches the swinging bag before it reaches his mentee the second time.
"Whi-Two?"
The girl takes a minute to force herself not to flinch before looking up to her inspector. His eyes were quick to mask the concern with confusion that it convinced Whi-Two to think she just imagined it.
Seeing that her inspector did not plan on saying anything, she tries to sit up.
"That was quite the punch, Sir," she tries but fails to jokingly comment. "I always forget just how much of a rage machine you can be during spar-"
"What on earth was that?"
The girl's alarms suddenly go off, unknowingly cradling her injured arm in hope that her inspector would not notice.
"I-I…"
But Lack-Two already stops her with a sigh.
"You know, I've been meaning to talk to you about your improvements in hand-to-hand combat," he begins, reaching for her. Whi-Two second-guessed before she gives him her left hand.
"But I can't seem to do so because there doesn't seem to be any."
Whi-Two almost falls over again at the statement as Lack-Two pulled her up.
"E-Excuse me?"
Lack-Two sighs.
"I've been monitoring your sparring sessions with the other officers lately, and I must say I'm not satisfied with your statistics. It's still one of your lowest scores." He crosses his arms as he looks her down.
"Care to explain why that is?"
Whi-Two looked him from top to bottom before giving a slightly confused look.
"Well, in all fairness, Sir, hand-to-hand combat isn't really my priority. I am, after all, a detective, first and foremost."
"That shouldn't be an excuse, Detective," Lack-Two argues, stepping back, making Whi-Two realize just how close they were before he did. "You're still an officer hailing from the main division of our department and much is expected from you."
Whi-Two watches him as he tries to adjust the bag again, possibly tightening it a bit to keep it from swaying.
"Besides," he says with a grunt as he pulled the rope and tied it into a knot.
"For someone who isn't expected to treat combat as part of her priority, you sure do find yourself in one more often than not."
Whi-Two feels blood rush from her cheeks as she watches him test the bag with a few light punches.
How much does he know?
"Alright," Lack-Two sighs, facing her. "Let's at least see how hard you can really punch." He pats the bag next to him.
"Hit this as hard as you can."
Whi-Two only stares at it a bit uneasily. She could already feel the unbelievable pain her arm would be suffering if she releases even just one blow.
She makes a mental note to herself that the next time she sees Lack-Two talking to himself by the benches, she'd just leave him be and let him make a fool himself.
So much for just being a concerned subordinate.
"I can punch well, Sir. You've seen me spar."
"Then I guess you wouldn't have problems hitting something that won't hit you back."
Whi-Two eyes the bag once more.
"Sir do I really have to…"
"An order, Detective, not a suggestion."
Whi-Two groans, but knowing that she has no other way to deny her inspector's orders, she assumes a stance, and after eyeing the bag well, she lets out her first strike.
The bag barely moves.
"I'm waiting…"
Whi-Two muffles a scream as she flinches.
"Any minute now, detective."
Muffling her scream makes her whole body tremble, and she had to swallow hard to stop it.
"Detective, we don't have all day."
Whi-Two tries to open her mouth, but instead of words, a squeak came out.
Lack-Two peeks from the other side of the bag and sees Whi-Two trembling, her fist still on the punching bag.
"Whi-Two?"
Said detective's squeak turns into a whimper gradually drops to her knees. As soon as she was done, she starts cradling her heavily-bruised fist.
Lack-Two watches on disbelievingly.
Whi-Two slowly looks up at him, still somewhat holding on the hope that maybe Lack-Two didn't see.
"H-How's that for a punch, Inspector…?"
Lack-Two's expression does not change as he watches her for a moment. Then he lightly pushes the bag to sway to her direction.
Whi-Two is knocked down easily as she was the last time. Except this time, Lack-Two does not offer her a hand, and Whi-Two didn't show any signs of wanting to get up anyway.
From the ground, she watches as her inspector walks over her towards the doorway.
"YOU SAID THE BAG WON'T BE HITTING ME BACK!" she calls after him.
"Guess we both lied," he called back.
-...-
"Why hello, Maureen."
Lack-Two looks up from his phone as he entered his office, and finds the chair facing his table swivel to his direction, carrying a smug, almost seductive-looking Hugh with it as it did.
The SUU inspector looked aghast.
"I want to question why the hell you're here and why you look like you want to jump the bone with me, but considering it's you and I've always known you've had suppressed gay dreams for me, I'm going to put all my attention on that swiveling chair you're on and how that got in my office."
"You like it?" Hugh chuckles, gesturing at it. "Had to disassemble the one at my dad's office and bring all the parts here. Want to say it was quite a lot of work, but that expression on your face makes it all worth it."
Said expression, true enough, remains on Lack-Two's face.
"And since the time you said you'll meet with Superintendent to now, that's all you've been doing?" The inspector shakes his head in disbelief before making his way to his seat.
"And you ask why I think you people are useless."
Instead of scowling, Hugh simply chuckles.
"Hey, the meeting between UPD and UNPol isn't for until a week from now, when my boss gets here, so until then, I'm free for all."
"And by 'free for all', you mean 'free to annoy me to your heart's desire," Lack-Two drawls, landing himself to his seat. Then a thought strikes him, making him put down his phone to look at the UNPol Delegate.
"What do you mean, 'when your boss gets here'?" he asks. "UNPol is sending more than one delegate this year?"
Hugh only smiles at him knowingly. Lack-Two simply looks on.
"Are you really that uncompetitive on your own that they'd have to give you a chaperone for your rounds?"
"Hey, it's not for me," Hugh retorts back, swiveling his chair once again to face Lack-Two.
"I'm not allowed to divulge too much information at least until the meeting begins, but I can tell you one thing…" Hugh nears his chair to Lack-Two's table and folds his arms on top of it to match his friend's current disposition.
"You're in for quite a wild week, Inspector."
Lack-Two simply blinks at him.
"You know, I can't really take you seriously when you're this close to my face. All I could think about was the last time we had a drink together back at the Academy and you were running your hand up against my..."
"Anyway," Hugh quickly cuts him off, pushing his chair back a little bit. "I don't want to talk about work."
"Then get out of my office. I'm busy."
"With what, Alart?" Hugh chuckles, reaching for a box of pens, fiddling around with it. "I know for a fact that all your reports are done, and during evaluations season, the inspectors are more often than not asked to stay in the office for any emergency preparations. Standard office protocol."
Lack-Two simply stares at him.
"Face it, Alart, you're just as 'free for all' as I am."
At that, Lack-Two simply sighs, returning to his phone.
"Well, unlike you, I like to make use of my free time in the most optimal way possible."
"And I'm assuming the 'most optimal' way to use your free time is playing games on your phone?" Hugh makes a point to look into the other's phone, which Lack-Two quickly pulls away.
"Don't want me to see how far you are with crushing those candies, Alart?"
"What do you want, Hugh?" the resigned inspector groans.
"Details, Alart!" Hugh exclaims. "We haven't seen each other in years! I want to know all that I could get."
Lack-Two simply stares at him.
"Believe me that makes two of us…"
"Well, unfortunately for you, I'm in no liberty to tell." There was a soft glint in his eyes as he puts down the box, subtle but enough to make Lack-Two notice.
"So the ball's in your court."
Lack-Two only gives him a soft snort before going back to his original business of going through his phone. Ordinary people would have left him at that and went on their way, but Hugh was no ordinary person.
Otherwise, he wouldn't last in a relationship like the one he has with the tight-lipped inspector. And if there's anything he's learned from all those years of putting up with this guys, it's that he knew that all he needed were the right set of questions.
"So," he begins, making it a point to pause long enough to catch Lack-Two's attention. He succeeds.
"That girl you were talking to when I got here…"
Lack-Two only raises a brow. But nonetheless, his attention was still under Hugh's command.
"Brown hair?All tied up in ridiculous-looking pigtails?" The UNPol officer continues, making circular gestures on both sides of his head with his hand.
"Ah, you mean Whi-Two."
"Yeah, her. New recruit?"
Much to Hugh's delight, Lack-Two actually lets go of his phone and folds his arm on the table to match his friend's. The earlier chuckles softly to himself.
"Not really," Lack-Two explains. "She's been here for almost a year. Ranked twice since then, I believe."
"Ranked twice?" Hugh repeats in slight disbelief. Then he snorts.
"Now where have I heard that before?"
Lack-Two mouth twitches slightly at one corner as he shrugs—a subtle but nonetheless intended display of pride.
"She your lady?" Hugh asks with a knowing lean.
"That depends," Lack-Two was quick to reply.
"Is your sister still single?"
At that, Hugh's disposition breaks, the confidence in his eyes replaced by confusion.
"...Yeah…?"
"...Then Whi-Two is not my girlfriend."
Hugh grabs Lack-Two's box of pens and throws it at the chuckling Inspector.
"Gets you everytime," the latter mutters, placing the box he's caught somewhere Hugh will not be able to reach. Then he faces his former colleague.
"I'm mentoring her."
At that, Hugh guffaws out loud.
"You're mentoring someone?!" he laughs. " You can't even give someone directions without shouting at them for crying out loud!" Then he shakes his head as he leaned back.
"Now I feel kinda bad for the poor girl."
"Yeah…" Lack-Two mocks, resting his chin on one of his hands. "Two promotions in less than a year and already a respected member of the SUU…" Sighs in fake dejection.
"Pretty unfortunate."
"Oh, don't you go crediting yourself. I bet the girl's just mighty talented."
"More talented than you, that's for sure."
"Oh go fuck yourself."
"You know I would if I could."
Hugh suddenly pauses, and gives his old friend a look of disgust.
"...Wow. I'm only an hour into this visit and you already make me want to leave Nimbasa right away." He sighs as he pulls out a box of cigarettes from his pocket, and then a lighter from another one.
"How do you do it, Alart?"
"Years of practice," Lack-Two leans forward and reaches for the cigarette before Hugh could light it. The latter watches him with disdain.
"Oh, you goddamn baby."
Lack-Two simply smiles as he breaks the butt into two.
"Hey, I learn from the biggest one there is." He leans forward, takes Hugh's open palm, and presses the now useless stick against it.
Hugh simply snorts.
"Funny you should mention Whi-Two…" Lack-Two continues, leaning back to his chair, spraying alcohol on his palm.
"It's funny. She reminds me of you."
Hugh looks up from shaking the remnants of his cigarette from his hands.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I mean, that ridiculous hairstyle…"
Hugh flicks a piece of the stick to Lack-Two's space. This time Lack-Two simply receives it with a smile, much to the other's chagrin.
"...She's got the skills with the guns," Lack-Two continues, looking down at the pieces of paper laid neatly at the side of his desk. "Remarkable skills." A pause, then a sigh.
"And quite an unhealthy dependence for it."
Hugh chuckles.
"And what?" He taunts. "You also gave her that litany you always give me? How guns don't kill people, people do? Well, I think guns help. I mean, if I were to point my finger at you and yell 'bang', I don't think you're going to drop down dead."
Then Hugh pauses for thought, looks at his index finger, then makes a handgun and points it at Lack-Two as he whispers, "bang!"
Lack-Two watches him with a raised brow.
"Eh, worth the shot," Hugh shrugs, fishing another cigarette stick and lighting it up after he made sure Lack-Two won't reach him.
The latter simply watches him, tapping his fingers against his wooden table until the other finally returns his stare.
"What?" he asks, a puff of smoke escaping his opened mouth.
"I can't believe you're still smoking," Lack-Two speaks with disdain. "Don't they prohibit that over at UN or something?"
At that, Hugh only laughs, letting more smoke come out.
"Please," he chuckles nonchalantly before taking another whiff and blowing it out.
"If they go as far as catch a sniff of nicotine from me I'll be stripped off of all my rights as a police officer."
"And yet your tone seems to say you don't give a rat's ass because…?"
Hugh breathes out another puff, and this time in short and consecutive bursts, filling Lack-Two's rather spacious office with small bubbles of smoke.
"I'm inside your office."
"Off point, as per eighty percent of the things that comes out of your mouth, but go on."
"UPD Inspector Privileges," Hugh chuckles. "What happens inside an inspector's office stays within the inspector's office unless called off by either another inspector or by the superintendent." Then Hugh leans closer, and puts on a set of pleading eyes.
"And because you're my friend, you're not gonna rat me out."
Lack-Two smirks as he gently shakes his head. But Hugh's pleading expression persists.
"...I'm still not letting you date my sister, but she has a friend and they practically look like each other…"
The smirk remains in Lack-Two's face as he sighs.
"And aside from that shiny badge that you could use to buy overpriced coffee, you have what else to lose...?"
Hugh stares him down for a few seconds, and then suddenly blows to his face. Lack-Two's smirk breaks into laughter.
"No smoking in my office," he claims, wafting away the smoke from his face. "My office's policy."
It was then Hugh's turn to laugh.
"'No smoking', my ass," he mocks as he flicks his stick to Lack-Two's ashtray.
"And I'm assuming that this thing is being used only as paperweight?"
It was then that Lack-Two suddenly falls silent, following Hugh's gaze as the latter picks through the glassware.
"Besides," Hugh was saying as he started picking on the stubs. "These look like they've been here not too long. As a matter of fact…"
Then Hugh frowns
"These look like they've been lit just this morning… All of them. And there are…" He counts under his breath.
"Four?" He looks up at Lack-Two, who quickly looks up to meet his gaze.
"Four cigarettes in one morning…"
Instead of replying, Lack-Two simply continues watching his old colleague as the latter begins to scrutinize him.
Then Hugh sighs.
"So I see you still haven't gotten over your bad habit of smoking excessively when you're stressed."
The inspector does not reply and simply watches him as he throws his own cigarette to the ashtray. Then he crosses his arms and leans back.
"So," Hugh begins, puffing one last mouthful of smoke, his eyes dead and direct at the now slightly frozen inspector.
"What's been bothering you this time, Alart?"
-...-
Whi-Two drops her arms with a disgruntled sigh, the pistol in her hand slowly getting heavier and heavier the longer she lets her fingers interlace with it. It has only been an hour and a half since she's started and her left arm had already been aching from the sudden pressure to be the dominant gun hand, and it's made her feel frustrated.
It's been almost two months since her injury that had left her right, dominant arm, almost useless in combat and the start of her teaching herself to try and shoot with her left, and even after all that time, Whi-Two was unsuccessful in doing at least one of two things: fully recovering, or simply hitting at least one bull's eye.
The exasperated young detective takes a deep breath before braving herself to look at the human silhouette at the other end of the shooting range, and as it had the past few weeks, the strayed bullet markings had only made her hopeless, and even more so, afraid.
It's only a matter of time before Lack-Two requires Whi-Two to accompany her in missions, and she had been hoping and praying that things would go back to normal before then. And God only knows just how long Whi-Two could stall that day from coming by agreeing to take paperworks after paperworks.
Once gain, Whi-Two eyes the silhouette and the holes that donned the walls behind it. Having been used to shooting with ease and perfection since she was old enough to hold a gun, seeing that almost none of her shots landed onto the target hurt her pride more than she's ever allowed anything to.
It shouldn't be this hard. She was a prodigy, after all.
Whi-Two considered. After a few minutes of contemplating, she changes the way she held her gun, and transfers all the weight to her right hand. Then she straightens herself, takes a deep breath, and as she exhales, she straightens both her arms and points the gun forward.
Her muscle memory knew the next step: give her target one short look before carefully bending her index finger to pull the trigger. But somehow, she couldn't move past the staring as her right arm began shaking uncontrollably as she tried to bend her finger.
As it had the numerous times that she's tried before.
And just like before, Whi-Two tries to fight, but just like before, the young detective was doomed to fail.
Whi-Two sighs as she drops her arms in defeat.
Perhaps today was not yet the day.
"Someone's a dedicated officer."
Whi-Two jumps and almost drops her gun at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. She immediately places the gun down and turns to find an almost unfamiliar suit standing just a few inches from where she did.
Hugh smiles as he lands his eyes on Whi-Two's forehead.
"Wow, you're tall," he whistles before returning his gaze back to the pair of horror-stricken blue orbs.
It was only then that Whi-Two snaps out of her trance and conjures up a proper salute.
"S-Sir Richards," she stammers, making herself stand straight and landing her stiffened hand to her forehead.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you come in."
"Ah, please," Hugh chuckles, waving his hand to gesture Whi-Two to ease. "I'm not an officer of this division, nor of this department. Salutes are really unnecessary."
Whi-Two eyes to her side for a moment before slowly dropping her hand.
"Also, 'Sir Richards' is my father. Please, call me 'Hugh'."
"O-Okay…" Whi-Two whispers, looking down.
"Sir Hugh…"
The UNPol Officer watches her for a moment as she fidgets slightly on her feet before letting out a good-natured laugh.
"You're quite polite for someone who works for this division," he comments, walking past her towards the shooting range.
"Normally, kids like you who get transferred to this so-called 'Heart of the UPD' develop quite an attitude and turn into stuck-up jerks who think they can shoot more than the bullets they can stick. Quite refreshing to know respectful rookies like you still exist." Hugh walks up to an empty table and pushes himself easily up to sit on it.
"I almost feel sorry you ended up being mentored under the hands of the crowned king of all those jackasses..." He then turns to look behind him at the target, and slightly frowns at the missed and almost scattered shots.
"And quite frankly, a little bit worried…"
He returns his gaze to the once again horror-stricken girl and gestures at the silhouette.
"There's a solid explanation for this, right?" he asks, pointing with his thumb. Whi-Two only watches, her left hand almost subtly reaching out to grab her right shoulder. Hugh raises his brow in acknowledgement before shaking his head.
"Nah, it's not like I'm any position to pry," he shrugs before reaching his hand over to her.
"I don't think we were able to formally meet: My name's Hugh Richards, one of the UNPol Delegates for this year's evaluations. Pleased to finally meet the only person to ever existed who can last under Alart's mentorship for more than a day. And live." He raises his brow knowingly at her.
"You must be a lot tougher than you look, Little Miss No-Attitude."
Whi-Two watches him a bit cautiously, but nonetheless takes his hand and daintily shakes it.
"R-Rosa Bilden, Codename: Whi-Two," she basically whispers before pulling her hand away. "Pleased to meet you too, Sir."
Then she chuckles a bit.
"And yes. It does require some getting used to." Then, she adds under her breath.
"Especially when you don't even know what he's usually PMS-ing about…"
Then she remembers who exactly was she talking to.
"I-I mean… Inspector Lack-Two is an amazing mentor! He…"
But Hugh was already laughing out loud.
"So you do hide some tiger claws, little kitten," he teases. Then he gives her a look as he points to her meaningfully.
"I like you."
Whi-Two finds herself blushing.
"Besides," Hugh continues on, crossing his legs and leaning against them with his elbows. "Everyone in this field treats his name like God. You can say he's murdered half of this country, and those in the higher ups would still put him up in a pedestal and kneel before his feet."
"Well, he is Mister Perfect, after all," Whi-Two giggles, feeling her jitters slowly ease as she watches one of the most respected officers in the world sit in front of her like they were old friends.
"Oh god, they still call him that?" the UNPol officer guffaws. "Imagine the tackiest title you can give someone and he allows it to remain with him even after he graduates from the Academy..."
Hugh sighs, and then shakes his head.
"What an asshole…"
The young detective giggles softly.
"So, mentee huh?" Hugh goes on, gesturing at Whi-Two. "There's got to be a rich story behind this one because if there's one thing I know about that shithead is that he'd rather take desk jobs than take a student."
Again, Whi-Two giggles.
"Oh, believe me, Sir. He's made that apparent since day one."
"Torturous?"
"On good days."
They both laugh.
"And yet here you guys are standing strong for almost a year now," Hugh was first to recover.
"Normally, if a detective is hard-headed enough to stay by his side this long, he's usually the one who jumps off ship and demands to swim back to shore himself."
Hugh gives out a knowing look
"Could there be something else going on here that I shouldn't be asking about?"
At that, Whi-Two slightly lights up.
"W-What? O-Oh! No no no…" She giggles nervously.
"Inspector and I? No. No no no. Noooo no no. Not even if he—no. Just no. Very much no. I'd rather be in a convent. No." She shakes her head, her voice slightly broken.
"Just no."
Hugh smiles.
"I think you made it clear with the first no. The other fourteen just felt like overcompensating."
Whi-Two glows even more.
"I'm kidding!" Hugh exclaims. Then he chuckles.
"Dear God, how could a sweet girl like you end up with an ass like that?"
"With all due respect, Sir, your dad thought it was a swell idea…" Whi-Two mumbles in defeat.
"Yeah, that explains a lot." Hugh snorts wistfully.
"Though, you know, had the cards been dealt a little bit differently, you wouldn't have had at least the chance to even work in the same department as he did. So, in a weird, masochistic kind of way, you're kinda lucky."
At that, Whi-Two blinks. Suddenly, the mood shifted slightly.
"What do you mean... Not in the same Department?"
Hugh chuckles.
"Detective, I graduated with the second highest honor at the academy, and I was given an opportunity to work for an organization as prestigious as UNPol. Imagine what they would have given Nimbasa Police Academy's most promising graduate?"
He straightens himself a bit on his seat and looks up at the ceiling.
"And if that buttcrack would just finally get his head out of his ass, he wouldn't take for granted the best opportunities presented to him on a silver platter each day." Hugh sighs and whisper under his breath.
"Yet, he still chooses to do this."
"Well…"
Hugh once again looks back at Whi-Two, who since he's entered has not moved from where she stood.
"Don't you think maybe it's because he still believes in what UPD can still do for this country? I mean, much as the years have made it almost impossible to believe that what we're doing yields results, it's... They're still there. The public may not know. But I know. The entire department knows."
Whi-Two's eyes slowly soften as she looks down.
"Inspector Lack-Two knows…"
Hugh watches her for a moment, a reel from his memories playing in his head. That of a young Police Academy graduate he once ridiculed for refusing the opportunity to study with him abroad and instead chooses to stay here.
He then smiles.
"Yeah," he whispers.
"You're Nate Alart's mentee, alright."
Hugh then clears his throat and slides down from the table.
"So," he begins, changing the atmosphere so easily, it's left Whi-Two in a blur.
"What are we trying to do here?"
The girl was slightly baffled but nonetheless walks up to him.
"Um, I'm trying to…" She gestures to her gun. "Shoot with my left.
"But somehow it's a lot harder to control when it's your non dominant."
"Uh-huh…" Hugh mumbles, slightly tranced as he eyes the target. Then he reaches for the gun with his left, starts dismantling and reattaching the magazine of the gun, and then assuming a shooting stance. After which, he places the gun on his right, and does the same sequence, both with the same amount of confidence and control.
Whi-Two eyes Hugh with awe.
"You know," he explains. "The mark of a true expert shooter is not having a 'non-dominant' hand. The goal is to be incapacitated, but still be able to shoot."
He hands the gun back to Whi-Two.
"Show me what you've been trying to do."
Whi-Two hesitates for a bit, but nonetheless attempts to use her left hand once more in shooting, assuming the same stance as before,, bu still with the same result.
She drops her hands in agony. But Hugh retains his solemn expression.
"Do that position again," he commands, in a more serious, formal tone.
Whi-Two looks at him with slight disbelief for a few moments, but nonetheless complies despite the feeling of discomfort that came with it.
Friendly or not, Hugh was still a stranger.
She raises her arms again, her left hand holding the gun resting tremblingly on her injured arm. Hugh does not speak for a good minute or two, and Whi-Two could already feel her arms giving up.
But still struggled to keep it still.
Then Hugh speaks.
"I think I see the problem," he claims, walking near her. Whi-Two retained position.
"You're trying to do a stance wherein most of the support will be done by your relatively more stable left arm, right?"
Whi-Two eyed around uneasily for a bit, feeling the pain on her arms slowly being replaced by numbness. But she still mustered up the energy to reply with a calm voice.
"Y-Yes."
"That makes sense," Hugh nods, now eyeing Whi-Two's feet.
"Impressive technique, especially if you have good control of your shooting hand, plus a sturdy supporting arm. Makes moving so much easier and targeting even more damn flexible."
Whi-Two actually thinks for a moment. She's never put much thought into the way she positioned herself before, but somehow that made so much sense.
"But judging by your condition now, I don't think your left hand is that well-practiced with the arts of shooting." Then he eyes her already trembling right arm.
"And god only knows how you're going to provide sturdy support with that right arm of yours."
Whi-Two noticeably gulps.
Hugh thinks for a moment, then nods.
"Okay here's what I want you to do."
And without warning he starts holding her arms from behind her and starts pulling it about to orchestrate her into a new position. Whi-Two, too dumbfounded, simply followed, wondering to herself if he was at all aware of what he was doing.
Or perhaps there just exists people like him and Lack-Two who clearly have no respect for personal space, and that Whi-Two was cursed to encounter them all one-by-one.
Why me?
"Okay, this looks just about right," Hugh mutters as he gently lands Whi-Two's right hand on top of her chest. Then he pauses for a moment.
"No, wait—"
He then grabs both her shoulders and ignores the slight jolt that came from them. Then he eyes the target from behind the girl, and gently twists her slightly.
"There," he mumbles, a sigh of satisfaction.
"You should be able to get better results with a stance like… this…"
Hugh trails off as he realizes just how close their faces was. With a fake cough, he quickly slides away to a more respectable distance.
"...That won't immediately help your problem with targeting, but it's a huge improvement with maintaining stability." He gestures at the target.
"Have at it."
Whi-Two eyes the target for a moment before she brings her attention back to her new formation: left arm forward and straight and right arm curled next to her torso. It all felt a bit new, but not unnatural. Her arms trembled still and her body felt stiff, but somehow, she still felt balance.
The kind of balance she hasn't been experiencing for weeks now.
She inhales deeply but steadily, slowly lifting her eyes back to the target as she lets the air go.
Then with one swift movement, like it was the most natural of all, she pulled the trigger.
A hole suddenly appears a few inches away from the center.
Hugh's eyebrows raise, impressed.
"Wow," he exclaims, walking towards the target. "I take back what I said, kid. You're a natural."
Then he faced her.
"Ever considered putting this to better use?"
Whi-Two's eyes widen for a bit, but before she could say anything, footsteps were heard from behind her.
"So this is where you went."
Both Whi-Two and Hugh turn their heads to the familiar set of disapproving eyes marching his way to where they stood.
The young detective immediately dropped her original form and passed the gun back to her right hand.
"D-Did you need me, Inspector?" she yelps, but quickly shuts her mouth when she sees him pass through her, all the way to where Hugh was standing.
"Came to apologise, Hotshot?" Hugh greets with a smug smile.
"Please," Lack-Two scoffs, rolling his eyes.
"One of the reasons why I wanted an office in the first place is so that I'd one day kick you out of it. I'd gladly do it again."
"Apology accepted, man. I love you too."
Lack-Two crosses his arms in slight annoyance.
"What are you still doing here?"
Then he finally turned to acknowledge Whi-Two's presence.
"Both of you. It's after office hours, detective."
"Oh, uhm," Whi-Two blinks, dropping her gaze to the gun in her hand before nervously gesturing for it.
"I was… sneaking a few rounds."
Lack-Two raises a brow.
"Why?" he asks. "You anxious about something?"
"J-Just anxious in general, Sir."
Lack-Two watches her for a moment before nodding in acknowledgment.
"Nothing new there," he claims as he gestured for the door.
"You know the rules, Detective."
Without hesitation, Whi-Two obediently nods.
"O-Of course, Sir," she springs, placing her gun down before going back to her inspector with a salute.
"Good night, Sir." Then she takes a moment to face Hugh.
"...and you too, Hugh."
"'Hugh'?" Lack-Two mutters in disbelief, facing said officer as well.
The UNPol delegate only replies with a smug smile before returning to Whi-Two.
"You too, kiddo. Take care going home."
Whi-Two blushes slightly as she bows her farewell before heading out. The two men watch as he pulls the door behind her as she walked out. And as soon as the sound of the doorknob clicking was heard, Lack-Two bends his right arm, and hits Hugh squarely on the stomach with his elbow.
Hugh yelps in pain.
"Yo, what the fu—"
"Hands off my mentee."
The other officer wheezes with a chuckle.
"Chill man! I thought you said she wasn't even your lady?"
"I heard what you told her, Hugh," Lack-Two claims in a low, serious voice.
"And I'm sorry but as her mentor, I highly insist that she is no culture fit to an organization that will only waste her potential."
"Lookit you," Hugh coos mockingly. "You are way worse when you're jealous."
Lack-Two glares. He chuckles.
"Relax, cunt. Like I said, I came here for an official UNPol business, and just so we're clear: it isn't recruitment."
Hugh continues with his chuckling as he walks to where Whi-Two dropped her gun.
"Besides, even if I was, I don't think I'd be able to convince someone with that kind of conviction. I mean…"
He faces Lack-Two for a moment.
"I never got to convince you, didn't I? And I happen to be very convincing."
Lack-Two watches Hugh as he snappily returns his attention to the gun Whi-Two left. The latter picks it up and starts fiddling with it.
Then the young inspector turns to the hole-filled silhouette before them.
"Yikes," he makes a face, returning his gaze to Hugh.
"UNPol really dumbed you down, huh?"
Hugh scoffs, not lifting his eyes from the gun.
"Please. That is not mine." A click resounds as Hugh re-attaches the magazine. Only then did he finally face Lack-Two.
"That's your sweet little mentee's."
Lack-Two narrows his eyes in disbelief.
"Whi-Two doesn't shoot like that."
Hugh simply shrugs.
"With her left hand, she apparently does."
"She's right-handed," Lack-Two quickly snaps, a slight hint of denial making itself apparent in his voice.
It was the kind that no one can distinguish.
No one except maybe Hugh.
"Why on earth would she shoot with her left?"
To that, Hugh can only shrug.
"Something about a training accident?" he muses.
"Her right arm is trembling like crazy. Poor girl."
Lack-Two only watches as Hugh finally gives that satisfied smile he shows off whenever a gun is finally to his standards after what seemed like an eternity's worth of fiddling.
"I personally train her. She's never been in any accident." Then, the young inspector stares back at the range, a subtle look of uncertainty in his eyes.
"...At least not that I've heard of."
Hugh only shrugs, finally done with fiddling with the gun. He faces the target once more, and positions the weapon firmly and expertly in his hands.
"Well," he begins, suddenly smirking as he drops his entire pose to face Lack-Two.
"If there's one thing we're both sure of, it's if that hand recovers, you're going to have yourself one heck of a talented subordinate. Like yours truly."
And without so much as a breath, he raises his left hand where the gun was held, and, without giving the target so much as a glance, shoots.
Lack-Two watches the bullet hit the middle with a straight face.
Hugh's smirk despite that, however, remains.
"You're welcome."
-Mission_8 Status: Accomplished-
"Subsequent to Unova's Lockdown, the country has been put under the strict governance of the agreed upon terms stated in the International Treaty of Peace and Security of the United Nations. This treaty declares that the Unovan government and all its subsidiaries and officiating bodies are to be placed under probation and are, in essence, ineffectual until evidences shown will deem the uplifting of the ban worthy.
As the frontline organization that has direct responsibility over peace and security within and around Unova, the Unova Police Department is under the strict observance of the United Nation's UNPol. Every year, an evaluation summit is conducted by UNPol officers, and during this time, all officers are to submit complete reports to be collated by their respective inspectors and to be summarized and presented by their respective colonels, or, for Nimbasa's case, by the Superintendent." - Excerpt from the UPD Troopers Manual, Ch 4: On Unova's Lockdown
Uhm, I'm back?
((Also, yes, I know, Hugh is a bit OOC, but hey. Who isn't in this story am I right?))