Pursuit of Justice (1x1 with Mitheral and Tamed

[Tamed]

"Only several hours a week?" Olivia looked amused. She waited for Kevin to shut everything downs as her fingers subconsciously messed with some loose strands of her hair. She stepped closer to him. once again accepting his hug, and she raised a brow at the program's full name — it didn't sound like Albert Einstein, so she suppose it had some other factors that led to it's title. "Going back the way we came is fine with me. And your... ‘walking on air’ as you call it, is pretty impressive. I'm going to go ahead and assume that's how you were able to leap onto the hood of my car." She allowed herself to be drawn into him and laughed at his choice of voice-activated command. "Really? Up, up and away?" She shook her head and grinned. "I think you stole more than a little from comic books, Mr. Dark Knight."


She politely accepted his offer of food at watched him with unreadable curiosity (and possibly some suspicion) as she saw him purposely put away some spices — she saw him move oregano — and peanut butter. As he washed his hands and came back over, she looked at him questioningly, a brow raising. She didn't outwardly ask him about his actions, but the curiosity was still there.


"I don't think your crazy," she said, "at least not yet." That last part was more out of humor, a small smile appearing on her face as she spoke it. If he wasn't acquiring information by any illicit means — Olivia believed him when he said he wasn't — she was wondering how he was obtaining it. He must have known she was going to ask because he answered it with his next sentence. "An informant?" she repeated, her head tilting quizzically. When he said he didn't know the person's identity, she looked at him with furrowed brows. "Isn't that dangerous? That he knows who you are but not vice versa?" Her mouth was open to continue talking, but she paused in that position as Kevin told her the informant had given him a profile on her and what information the profile contained. "What-- how did he get a hold of details like that?" She felt slightly disconcerted. "And why did he even give my data to you?" She listened up as he went on to talk again about her car, and nodded at what he was saying. Kevin seemed to have some interesting contacts as far as she was concerned. "Momentum Custom Auto Center? I'm not sure if I've heard of it."

 

[Mitheral]

“Well, my informant contacted me - out of the blue. At first it was just a tidbit - a meeting taking place between a drug supplier and a local dealer. No, I didn’t try to stop the buy. I went after the source. I am more interested in the flow of money. It is the money laundering I want to target. But yeah ... all that is dangerous. And I do not really like the fact that my informant knows who I am - and not vice versa.


“My informant doesn’t contact me directly. It is always encrypted texts or emails that self erase sent to a burner phone. But he has never spoken to me - ever. That was one of my first fears when our killer contacted you. But my gut says this is a different person. I have my reasons for that. MY informant is on a whole different playing field from yours. And … he is already watching out for your informant. He says he’ll contact me when there is reliable intel.”


Kevin tried to suppress a smile, but failed. “As to why give me such a detailed report. It wasn’t as if I needed to see your allergies. I guess you saw that. So much for getting things past you.”


Kevin reached up with his hand to pull a piece of glass that had been missed from Olivia’s hair. “I wonder if there is anyone else out there like me. It hasn’t been easy being a … freak. I had to stick to solo sports. And to be honest, I stopped competing in sports once I realized just how different I was. It sort of took the fun out of it. I feel bad enough as it is for all the trophies I did win.


“You know, I’ve been thinking. I have a ton of space here. If you want to stay here until we find this killer - like I said, I have room. I probably have better security here than you do. Of course, the feds would end up watching my place. That would put a damper on things. We’d have to watch conversations here. I mean the Dark Knight references. I am still wondering if doing the Matrix thing today was such a good idea. I sort of reasoned that it would draw all eyes to me. But part of me, I think, wanted to show the world that I wasn’t just some idiot in a costume.


“Stay the night at least. I don’t really sleep, though I could probably use a little bit if I can force myself to sleep.” He smiled a little sheepish. “My senses are sort of out of this world. I’ll hear every sound you make. Rest of my senses are just as heightened.” He glanced down looking through the table, then looked up smiling. “Black, my favorite color.” He turned beet red and cleared his throat.

 

[Tamed]

Olivia looked uneasy. "That's a little foreboding, don't you think? Those type of people — like your informant, who can find out information like its a cakewalk — are the most dangerous. They're the ones stereotyped as knowing more about you than you do about yourself." As of now, Kevin's canary seemed to be helping him; the notes he'd been giving him were of use. That didn't necessarily mean it would stay that way, and that was a risk. "He obviously has some sort of rationale as to why he remains unidentified, and it probably has to do with not wanting to get tangled up with the law. You're lucky he doesn't seem to be playing games, because that could spell disaster."


At the mention of a burner, Olivia thought of the one she received from her mysterious informant. "Not that I'm encouraging this form of communication, but our advisors — if I could even call them them that, considering mine is the killer — are smart. They know what they're doing, otherwise we would have already found out who they are."


She looked at Kevin curiously as he failed to hide a smile and found a muted smirk twitching at her lips. "I'm a fairly skilled detective, Kevin. Not much will get past me. Especially not when I was watching you move the food around — but I suppose you knowing my allergies is not such a bad thing. Now you know not to garnish my food or give me nuts," Olivia said in a lighthearted tone, "unless you want to kill me, which I don't think is something of your taste." She grinned.


As Kevin reached his hand up, she jerked back slightly out of habit (she didn't like people going near her face) before realizing that he was just pulling a piece of glass from her hair. She fixed her gaze on him as he spoke of feeling like a freak and to this she frowned. "Now you're just making me sad." Her arms crossed over her chest. "It's not your fault you're the way you are. Damn that sounds cliche, but it's true."


"I guess I could stay for tonight — you probably do have better security." Olivia looked at him quizzically at his mention of heightened senses but smiled slightly. "I'll try to be quiet then." She watched as Kevin looked down at the table, and when he spoke she stared at him with a look of incredulity and perhaps some discomfort as he turned a bright shade of red.

 

[Mitheral]

“Oh crap,” he thought to himself. “They really are black?” He had simply made an educated guess. She wore darker clothes to work - probably mainly to avoid dirt and grime showing up when out doing field work. But he had been trying to do a version of the interview scene in the first Christopher Reeves Superman movie. And pink hadn’t seemed to fit Olivia’s style. Black … was just a guess. It had just been one of those mischievous moments.


“Sorry, didn’t mean to embarrass you,” he lied with obviously feigned innocence. he cleared his throat again. “Shower and bath are connected to the master bedroom.” He paused. “Huh, I guess I need to get a guest bath built. If my sister ever does show up, I’d have to share. She might find that a little awkward. Uhm … towels … someday I need to remember to buy more. I guess I really haven’t made this place guest-ready. Tell you what, if you see something missing, make a list.


“If you like, we can drop by that auto shop tomorrow. Owner’s name is John Hughes. He has one employee, an ex con with a fairly decent rap sheet - chop shop work. He was a little protective of his employee too. He threatened a lawsuit, lawyers, harassment charges against Ryan. We had probable cause given that we chased a stolen car right to the vicinity of his shop before losing him. Whoever drives for him is apparently an extremely good racer. Hughes has connections to local racing - on both sides of the law. But noone has yet to pin anything on him. My informant researching him I’d lay odds. So I expect to hear something soon.”


He stopped, again realizing he was talking shop. “I’ll make sure you have towels. Otherwise, just let me know if there’s anything you want. And … “ he looked at her finally, fighting to look her in the eyes, not down. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

 

[Tamed]

"Didn't mean to embarass you," Olivia repeated in a slightly mocking tone, but no matter how disapproving her stare was or how sarcastic her voice, there was definitely some hidden laughter behind her eyes that she was doing a pretty poor job of not showing. She found Kevin's feigned innocence humorous and couldn't keep herself from showing the beginnings of a smile. She wasn't going to say it was something hard to guess — she did often wear colors on the darker side of the spectrum to work — but it had certainly caught her off guard.


"Don't worry about not having your place ‘guest ready’, as you said. I doubt you were expecting anyone to stay the night – I didn't think I was either, or I would have brought some of my things. I have no change of clothes or anything. And I'm afraid about making you that list — I'm worried it's going to be a mile long." Her nose scrunched as she teased him, but she patted him lightly on the forearm. "Just kidding. But we could definitely stop by the auto shop tomorrow; I'd rather my car be fixed sooner than later." Olivia listened to his description of the owner and grinned at him. "You have some interesting contacts," she commented, amused.


She tilted her head back to look up at him (considering he was a half of foot taller than her) and smiled gently as he looked her in the eyes, albeit she looked a bit sheepish. "Yeah, thanks," she said, almost shyly as she glanced downward before returning her gaze upward, "for everything. Protecting me, caring about my well-being — I appreciate it."

 

[Mitheral]

Kevin didn’t really sleep despite being more tired than usual thanks to having to heal from multiple gunshot wounds. Instead, once he could tell that Olivia was safely asleep he just listened for nearly an hour before finally forcing himself to go and work on his personal dragon to slay, the files he had been sent by Random Stranger, or RS as he usually signed his work. Part of him wanted to go and check on Keiko, but he felt compelled to stay. He’d have to check on her soon though or she might backslide.


He went back to study the picture of the dead daughter of Cantrell’s brother. That had been the younger daughter, Diedra. Also found at the scene had been a toy bow and practice arrows. The oldest daughter, Diana, was in her 20’s and had won archery competitions. It didn’t take much imagination to guess that the one member of that family that was now missing might have been a witness.


He reviewed once more the car - ripped apart as if by superhuman strength. Most would assume that the killer had been in a powered armor. But according to RS this was an assassin codenamed Hellburner. And Hellburner worked with others like himself. The thought left a pit in Kevin’s stomach. For so long he had always wondered if he was alone - unique. Now he half wished he were. For he had a very bad feeling that it wouldn’t be long before Hellburner and the others would be on their way to the US to deal with Dark Knight. He was looking at his own death scene.


He received an email from RS around midnight. It was an update on the background check on John Hughes. He checked out - even with a really thorough check. But RS was more than thorough. He referred to “according to sources” - even RS had sources - the driver of the stolen car had professional race car level skills. Further, the car had been insured by one of three companies insuring stolen cars in the area. And the companies didn’t seem to really exist except on computers.


When morning came around he had breakfast - complete with coffee - waiting. He already knew what Olivia liked - thanks largely to his informant. It did strike him as unusual the level of detail RS had gone to in researching Olivia. RS seemed to be limited to electronically accessible data. That meant internet, phones, traffic and security cameras, and satellite imagery.


They both had the day off - except for Olivia needing to go in for a debriefing after a shooting. She had shot a couple of the snipers. While not a face to face shootout it was SOP to see a shrink and suffer through an investigation. It had been a clean shoot out, so it wasn’t something to worry about. Having written gratitude from the Feds didn’t hurt either. Kevin had snapped a lot of digital images of her car to take to the auto shop with plans to take the car in as soon as John Hughes had an open bay.


“Something hinky about our chop shop and the source of its cars. Momentum may be a front for a sting op. So … we need to be careful how we approach this. John may be working undercover. The stolen cars have been traced financially to the same accounts as the one making payoffs to my father. I think it may be an undercover Interpol operation. It would make sense if he was trying to get in good with Customs if he wanted to watch for incoming contraband. But to get in good with the mafia, he would been to establish a cover. I just can’t figure out how he makes the cars disappear in under a minute.”


The address Kevin took Olivia to was a rougher neighborhood. On one corner was an old Rare and Used bookstore that was closed and boarded up with a sign that said Closed for Renovations and another that said Under New Management. I car that looked like the clunker sort a college student might drive was parked in front. The door was propped open by a young man watching the mess (late teens or early 20’s) who resembled Daniel Craig (James Bond) in his younger days. He looked as though one side of his face had been scalded recently.


Across the street was Momentum Custom Auto Center, the suspected chop shop. The street was filled with squad cars and tow trucks as they were towing of 3 cars that looked like they had driven through a gauntlet or hail storm. Every window and tail light had been busted out. Oddly, the rest of each car appeared undamaged. The scene had drawn a small crowd that was pointing and shaking their heads. John Hughes and his employee, Eugene Parks, were finally settling down after answering questions by police.


Kevin parked in front of the bookstore and nodded at the guy at the bookstore. “Hey James. What happened to … “ he gestured to the side of his face.


The young man smiled. “Oh, that. Just an accident.” He looked directly into Kevin’s eyes. It wasn’t the whole truth, but close enough. “No, I don’t own a restaurant in need of being extorted and have a grill to have my face pressed down on.” He laughed, but that sort of thing wasn’t uncommon around this neighborhood. “Oh … your book came in. I know we aren’t in business right now, but you paid in advance. Once I get a new manager - one who really knows book restoration, we’ll re-open. So .. who’s your …” he stopped and looked at Olivia.


Kevin cleared his throat again. “Detective! Uhm .. Detective Morgan. Uhm Olivia, this is James Stevens. He owns this place. The previous owner passed away. Good man. James, her car got shot up the other day. So we are going to check with the auto shop about getting it fixed up.”


“Sure, I’ll go find it and bring it over to you. Jennifer is crashing right now. She was probably half asleep through that whole mess over there.” James smiled.

 

[Tamed]

When Olivia entered the kitchen in the morning, she paused in the doorway with a look of mild confusion etched on her face. "How did you know what I — scratch that. Nevermind. Informant. Right." She shook her head with a sigh as she walked up to Kevin. How much information on her was in that profile? She didn't even want to ask — she was almost afraid of the answer. Olivia nodded after listening to his brief about the auto shop, saying, "Alright. I suppose we'll be able to figure some things out while we're there. And nice use of the word ‘hinky’."


The area Kevin took her to was definitely a rougher neighborhood. She took note of the bookstore and its boards that in tandem went with the sign telling it was closed for renovations, and also of the young man standing outside it. He bore resemblance to Daniel Craig, aside from the fact that he had a burn running down one side of his face. Then there was the Momentum Custom Auto Center opposite the shop. It was surrounded by vehicles — some there to be towed and some being patrol cars. There were three cars that looked like they'd gone through something rough, however the windows and tail lights were the only assets that seemed to have gotten destroyed; Olivia wondered what sort of an incident caused that to happen.


As they parked infront of the bookstore, she listened as Kevin conversed with the man standing outside of it. He was very vague when he said that an accident had caused the scalding on his cheek, but it was obvious that it wasn't the full story. As she was introduced by Kevin, said, "Pleased to meet you," before giving a small nod of acknowledgement.

 

[Mitheral]

Eugene Banks still looked nervous as a polecat. He was a John Henry looking African American, standing over six and a half feet tall. He dwarfed Kevin. But he looked as though he had been hit by a Mack truck. There were no injuries on note. But he looked shaky and every now and then his hand went to his chest. His eyes kept darting around as if he thought the place was haunted.


John Hughes looked more annoyed than anything else. The police had chewed him out for trying to get the place cleaned up so he could open for business. They had actually threatened to charge him with Obstruction. He was actually laughing at them and asking if they planned to charge Eugene with Interfering With the Path of a Bullet. That had Eugene coughing a little painfully, but highly amused, as he tried to laugh.


“Why don’t you guys NOT try to play detective and let real detectives have a crack at it? Speak of the devil. Brady!” John motioned Kevin over.


The instant he spoke the name of Brady’s father the uniformed cops all turned to look at Kevin. There was no mistaking the animosity. Kevin was, in their eyes, the son of a dirty cop who had gotten his own partner nearly killed. Kevin bristled a little, stiffening. But he did his best to ignore the cops. “John, I told you before; I’m not a detective. I’m not even a cop.”


John was still groused a bit. The cops had really badgered Eugene, insinuating that he had been part of an inside job. They had threatened drug testing and time spent at the station - until John pointed out that they had no grounds. Eugene wasn’t on parole. He was a free man.


“John, these guys give you any more trouble and I might know a soon to be attorney. While I won’t recommend him, I am guessing he’d steer me right and get us a good recommendation. And I happen to know someone in IA.” He pitched his voice for the cops and turned toward them. “So … guys if you are done, let the man open his business. I brought Detective Morgan here to get her car fixed up and it got shot up saving some Feds calling for backup.” That got the cops to start looking a little less abusive and working on moving out. To Olivia they were a good deal more respectful. Though, they did offer their condolences for being assigned to a division with so much dirt in it.


John looked over Kevin’s tablet as the images of the damage were played, trying not to stare at Olivia Mostly John nodded - at the pictures. When the show was done he smiled. “Well, the good news is that neither the front grill, not top of the hood ever got shot. So shouldn’t be any damage to the major mechanical. Looks mostly like cosmetic work. Yeah, I can get a done.” He smiled at Olivia.


John’s own pictures hadn’t done him justice. He had those good good looks one expected of hot shot pilots and race car drivers. He was the sort of man who could charm a girl with a smile. And he had the confidence to pull it off that Kevin lacked - perhaps a little too much confidence. He had no issues with hitting on Olivia by doing everything in his power to hold eye contact. And he was obvious enough about it that Kevin actually bristled a little.


Still looking more at Olivia than the images John spoke, “Yeah, I think I can expedite this one and have your engine purring in no time.”

 

[Tamed]

Olivia nearly cringed at the amount of enmity that lingered in the air as the name ‘Brady’ was said aloud; the cops weren't even trying to hide their feelings of hostility toward the son of an alleged — but not proven — dirty cop. It was disgusting, really, the way the police were acting, but she did no more than just shake her head in disapproval. Besides tensing up a bit, she was relieved to see that Kevin was doing his best to ignore the cops. Annoyance was clear on her features as she saw the sharpness of the officers' stares disperse when Kevin told the reason of their presence; it didn't seen quite fair that they treated her with respect and not him. Her expression continued to show her vexation as the officers actually offered her sympathy for being in the division of which she was a part. Olivia eyed them with irritation as they left.


Now that they were focused on the matter that had led her and Kevin to come, she watched his tablet as he showed the pictures that captured the damages to her car. She interlocked her fingers together as a way to busy her hands before glancing up at John, smiling in appreciation as he stated that he could repair her vehicle. "Thank you, really. I appreciate it," she said with a nod and a pleased expression.


Althought she was trying not to, Olivia couldn't help but notice John's attractiveness. He was a handsome man, no doubt, but she stopped herself from observing him in case her actions were too obvious; luckily she was able to keep these thoughts inside her head. Saying that John had confidence was a rather mild understatement — he had pride radiating off him like it was water. At this point, you'd have to be blind to not see how he was hitting on her since he wasn't bothering to hide it. It made her feel slightly uncomfortable as he continually held her gaze, but she was considerably flattered by it. Her smile turned shy as she looked away before resettling her attention back on John; she was growing to feel slightly awkward at how constant he was looking at her, especially because Kevin was right there. However, she just ignored the discomfort and smiled again. "Thanks again," Olivia said smoothly. "I'm grateful for your help."

 

[Mitheral]

Engine purring …. really? The innuendo annoyed Kevin a bit. But he continued to keep his anger in check. He had no real claim on Olivia. And if Olivia wanted to take the guy up on his offer there was little he could really say or do about it. Really Kevin didn’t want to hate John. The guy otherwise struck him as a decent guy. It was hard to imagine him as working for mafia. Then again, maybe that was what made him so effective.


The next few hours were spent with Kevin dropping Olivia off for her debrief while he moved her car over to the shop. John went over the car briefly and confirmed his earlier estimates. He asked about just how ‘like new’ they wanted the car to be. Kevin just smiled and told John to ‘surprise her.’ John just smiled and said that it ought to take about two days - mostly to acquire parts, match the paint. At worst he expected a third day. The actual labor time wouldn’t be bad though. The worst damage was the wheel as the brake drum had been damaged. Then Kevin dropped a minor bomb and told John about the armor piercing slug they had removed from the wheel.


John was a little subdued after that. Kevin was supposed to be a CSI intern. But there was something about how Kevin had spoken that made him wonder. How much did the guy know about his nightly activities? How much did he know about his attempts to infiltrate the mafia? Did he know about his family? Cantrell?


Well there was no way anyone was ever going to tie the stolen cars to him. And even if they ever did, the charges would never stick - though charges for evading the police, speeding and reckless endangerment might apply. But he really didn’t care. And as to speed, he had to laugh. He was used to 200+ mph.


Kevin picked Olivia up around Noon in time for lunch. She hadn’t been cleared for duty, but was told they would have a decision by the end of the day. She’d need to see a shrink later for evaluation. There was no point in putting it off, so that became part of the afternoon. Again Kevin was there to taxi her around. He didn’t mind really, especially having the day off himself and having little he wanted to do until night.


As evening approached he asked if she preferred to hide out at his place again or sit at her apartment with Feds crawling up her behind. Put like that it was an interesting choice. It would be easy enough to run by her place and pick up necessities.


Then he got down to talking shop again. He had waited until he felt comfortable they weren’t being listened in upon. “I need to head to my other job. Thing is I have more than one place to go. I want to check out that chop shop. I also want to see if I can track down some of those gun smugglers. I’m not planning to butt heads. I want to tail the flow of money. I also need to check on a friend and make sure they are okay. Sort of homeless and living in a shelter with some mental problems. I sort of owe them.


“The reason I am telling you all this is that if you want to keep me honest, you ought to get some sleep or grab more coffee. The place where my homeless friend lives is off the grid as it gets. So if you ever need a place to hide out, you need to know where that is - and my friend needs to meet you.”

 

[Mitheral]

Kevin had trouble talking Olivia into a short flight. But he didn’t want to just leave his car unattended in the area they were heading into. Now if it had been winter this trip wouldn’t have gone so well. But he had Olivia get changed so that she had a swimsuit underneath her clothes. The Atlantic waters would still be damnably cold, especially as deep as they would have to go. He explained that he was going to be taking her underwater - at night - into pitch blackness. Then he broke out one of his old costumes, made using a scuba suit. This one had lots of bullet holes in it. He looked blankly at Olivia and shrugged. “Better than nothing?”


Once in the area Kevin led Olivia down to the water. The spot wasn’t too awful far from the Brooklyn Bridge - a few miles south. "Wait here. I have a scuba excursion tow thing. You know those things you hold onto that pull you through the water? I keep an O2 tank on it. Pretty long underwater swim and it gets a bit chilly.


“Uhm ... the place I am taking us to isn't mine. I am honestly not sure how my friend is going to react. She (it was the first time he had admitted his friend was a she) is kind of reclusive. And I don't know how to prepare you for her. Let us just say she saved my life. Now I can hold my breath easily. My friend understands English, but she is can't speak. And she isn't human. She is both primal and highly intelligent."


“I have something for electronics like cell phones too – and anything else small that can be damaged by salt water. I always keep a few bags on hand.” He reached into his version of a utility belt and produced a plastic bag. Only it was the usual plastic bag the average citizen would have had on hand. It was an evidence bag.


The trip wasn’t very long – deep enough to make ears hurt a little and long enough to make any normal human lungs ache. But with an O2 tank it was nothing. When they came up Kevin told Olivia to stay near the edge of the water. It was still a little dark. They were in an underground harbor – right next to the submarine. Submarine? Yeah, it looked a bit like the Nautilus, straight out of the Jules Verne novel. It looked as though it hadn’t moved in half a century or more.


“Keiko?” Kevin shouted. “I brought company! She’s a friend.” Kevin was honestly not sure whether Keiko would freak out at an unexpected guest. “Olivia stay low. I better check on her. She usually greets me.” He waited for his guest to get situated then moved in.


Kevin found Keiko’s lab a mess. It looked as though she had flown into a rage and torn the place up. His eyes scanned over the chemical equations and structures all over the blackboard. Her latest experiment was spread from near where she normally had her heavy microscope and clear across the room where it had shattered against the wall. “Oh Keiko,” he spoke softly. “Keiko? It is just another way that won’t work. I’ll help you clean up.” He waited. He hoped she hadn’t taken off into the water.


He walked over to a locker where he had stored an antique gramophone. After her first fit of rage like that he had decided to hide it for times like these. He carefully wound it up and placed the needle on the record. It was an old recording of Pachibel’s Canon in D Minor, probably a record that had been played at many a wedding. After nearly a minute he heard her stir. Then Keiko moved in like a silent predator. She was practically mesmerized by the music. Her eyes closed as she listened and swayed a little, the agitation of her tail slowing down to something suggesting a recovery of her human mind. As the music stopped her eyes opened and she sniffed the air.


Kevin nodded. “She’s a friend. Let me introduce you.


Keiko looked my some lab accident where a human had been crossed with a salamander and a flying squirrel. While her general form was humanoid and female, she had the wings of a flying squirrel, but built somehow differently – with more musculature. She had a long prehensile tail that ended in a spike. He webbed hands were likewise tipped with deadly looking talons. Her eyes were dolphin like. Her skin was amphibious, but softer like a salamander, rather than a dolphin.


Keiko (Talon) moved forward and sniffed, making a gesture of firing a gun. Kevin nodded. “Yeah, she’s a detective that I work with.” Kevin looked at Olivia “I think she has sonar like a dolphin. So no point in hiding things from her. She’s the one who pulled me from the water when I got all those holes in that suit.”


The base looked like something built back before WWII. It was a treasure trove of antiques. The submarine had that antique look to it. What labware Olivia could see from across the cave looked like old museum pieces. The lighting was archaic.


Keiko cocked her head from side to side as she studied Olivia. She opened her mouth slightly to reveal sharpened teeth suitable for ripping apart flesh and gave a faint squeal a little like a dolphin, while sniffing the air. Then she backed off and leapt clear to the roof of the cave to grab onto girders that supported the lighting system, almost vanishing against the rock. Then she glided back down to land by the gramophone, picked it up and carried it back to the locker. Then she returned to the blackboard. It was scarred with claw marks where she had taken out her frustration.


She flipped the board over to reveal the other side which was still undamaged. Then she found some chalk and began to write. "I am Keiko." She paused and thought, then smiled faintly as she added. "I hope you like sushi."

 

[Tamed]

Olivia had regarded Kevin with mild suspicion at his request for her to have a swimsuit under her clothes, but she obliged; she did trust him, after all. When he had said he had a homeless friend, her subconscious had assumed that he'd meant someone living on the streets in some discreet location — not someone whom they would have to travel underwater, at night, to reach. Slight confusion simmered in her eyes but she made no move to voice it. Her eyes flicked over the scuba suit he'd pulled, and she stared at him questioningly, wondering what sort of a situation he had been in that led to so many bullet holes being torn into the fabric. About to ask him about it, she stopped herself and instead said, "Yeah, I guess."


The area to which he led her was rather familiar since she could relate the location to where she knew the Brooklyn Bridge was near. "Well gee, Kevin, that's comforting," she drawled sarcastically as he was explaining some details about whom they were visiting, especially when he made the comment of not knowing how his friend was going to react. The sentence that had caught her attention the most was ‘she's not human’; she should have been surprised, or perhaps even quizzical or disbelieving, but she reasoned that if Kevin could regenerate and walk on air, then surely he could know of an individual who didn't have defining human characteristics. She couldn't remember when her mindset changed to this, but she just shook her head — she was rather dissapointed that it didn't give her a shock. "Inhuman. Reclusive. Saved your life. Intelligent. Right," she repeated, restating his main points. "This wasn't exactly what I'd thought you meant by ‘friend’ by the way, considering that my first thought wasn't to assume that she was something other than human." Taking one of the plastic bags to put her phone in, her final words before they journied into the water were, "The more I get to know you, Kevin, the more I realize that your life is strange as all hell."


When they finally arrived, Olivia stayed near the edge of the water like she was told before following Kevin into Keiko's lab. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight, turning her head from side to side, even stepping in a circle to get a good look at the surrounding room. It was in really bad shape — something must have happened. What spiked her curiosity was when he took out a gramophone. Unsure of what he was using it for, she waited, and after a moment heard something and glanced in its direction.


Her lips parted slightly in surprise she first saw Keiko. She hadn't known exactly what to expect since ‘not human’ is a rather generalized statement; she looked to have features from a variety of animals. She glanced at Kevin before turning back to her, watching as she mimed a gun. "Sonar. That's incredible," she murmured before her voice solidified. "Wait — pulled you out of the water? What happened?" She paused when Keiko began studying her, and discomfort caused her to stiffen and tense. Her gaze followed Keiko as she made her way to the board and nodded slowly as she wrote. "Hi Keiko," she said softly with a small smile. Looking at Kevin, she decided that she would have to ask more about this after they had gone home.

 

[Mitheral]

Kevin smiled. “I got a little careless. It was back when I was just getting started at this. I didn’t have the armor I have now.” He patted Olivia’s arm, avoiding the potentially suggestive areas as though they were traps that might take his hand off. “Just the old scuba suit. Back then ordinary bullets were still pretty dangerous. I got chased down and surrounded at the Brooklyn Bridge. I made a run for the side, but got myself mowed down as I went over the side.”


Keiko was writing. “Not water. Catch.”


Kevin faced Olivia standing at full height. “The other night wasn’t the first time I had bullets work themselves out of me. His stance was just a little flirtatious. He talked back over his shoulder not really watching Keiko. “Took a few for Olivia the other night. She has a stalker, so I had her stay the night yesterday. Might need to put her up here for a bit if things get any worse if that’s okay.”


Keiko’s eyes locked in on Kevin’s body language and she stiffened, her own eyes starting to squint down in anger. Her tail started to lash like an agitated cat’s tail. Instead of writing anything further the woman pointed at the word sushi and stalked toward them.


She ignored both Kevin and Olivia, moving right past them to dive into the water. But it was clear that even Kevin recognized the foul mood his friend was in. And to his credit he distanced himself a little from Olivia immediately. Judging from Kevin’s reaction, he hadn’t even thought of Keiko in that way. His mouth had dropped open as he watched Keiko disappear. Then he looked nervously at Olivia. Silently his mouth formed the word, “Oboy.”


Keiko returned after several minutes flying out of the water with the speed and grace of a dolphin to land on the dock. She had an eel skewered on a claw. She walked back along a short corridor going into the base and entered what was clearly the kitchen and busied herself. She made it clear she didn't want to be followed when she slammed the door shut behind her. Finally she came out with three plates. She carefully set the plates down – all but one – which she allowed to drop the last few inches in front of Olivia. The sushi on Olivia’s plate was in disarray even before the plate hit. Everyone else’s plate looked picture perfect. The message was very clear.


Kevin decided enough was enough. He took his plate and swapped it out with Olivias, staring at Keiko sternly. Keiko’s tail was waving about in agitation. Jealousy was one thing though. Poor manners were another. And Kevin wasn't entirely sure the plate wasn't poisoned. It dawned on him a bit later that Keiko might not have cared about him either. But he had counted on her caring enough not to let him kill himself. There were no attempts to stop him from chowing down. But Keiko’s tail slowed down and after that she averted her eyes.

 

[Tamed]

"One day you'll tell me about all your misadventures," Olivia said with a breathy laugh, smiling up at him as he patted her arm. "Because frankly I don't doubt you've had some. You seem to have gotten somewhat of a hang of it now, though," she teased. She couldn't even imagine what it was like to be shot, let alone as many times as there were holes in the scuba suit. She noticed Keiko writing and cocked her head. "Catch? You caught him?" She figured the woman was referring to how she'd asked how Keiko pulled him out of the water. Olivia saw Kevin straighten himself to his full height and looked at him curiously as to the manner of his stance. If she wasn't mistaken, it was a little flirtatious. This made her smile a bit.


The grin faded in an instant as she was able to pick up on the anger in Keiko's expression. Unsure at the moment of what they had done to cause such a reaction, she took an instinctive step back, not wanting to be in any sort of line of fire. She shot a glance at Kevin before resettling her attention back on her, remaining very cautious as Keiko stormed by them and into the water. She turned her head from the water, to Kevin, to the water, and to Kevin again, her expression one of worry and anxiety. "Uh oh," she said, her voice almost a whisper.


Olivia was wary when Keiko returned, slowly realizing why she might had been maddened. She watched as she shut herself inside the kitchen only to exit with three plates soon after. Olivia got the message loud and clear when the plate was dropped in a mess in front of her, the other two remaining pristine. It wouldn't need an explanation.


Her hands gripped the fabric on her legs out of nervousness. As Kevin swapped the plates, he looked almost austere toward Keiko. She watched him apprehensively as he ate the sushi, her gaze shifting down to his plate — her first thought was, since it had been meant for her, that it had been altered dangerously in some way. She slowly turned to hers and decided, perhaps to be polite, to take a bite out of it. After she did, she turned to Keiko and said, "Keiko, I'm.. sorry." Her voice raised a part of an octave at the end, so it sounded more like an unsure question than a definitive statement. Although she didn't know if she should be apologizing, she figured that it would be a positive gesture. Olivia had figured out by now that that her temper had been out of jealousy. "I, uh, I didn't mean to upset you."

 

[Mitheral]

Kevin responded to Olivia’s apology rather that Keiko. “Olivia, you didn’t do anything wrong. If anyone did, it’s me. Keiko, you and I will have to talk about this later. But Olivia is a friend. I happen to like her.” It was the first time he’d actually said anything. “But just so you know, she just got assigned to our division. We work together. Some nutjob killer has been stalking her. Her car got shot up and is undrivable. So she is staying at my place for the moment. I am playing taxi driver. I already put her car in the shop. Shouldn’t be but a few days.”


He didn’t pursue the matter further. Keiko was still sullen. To be honest Kevin felt bad. It had simply never dawned on him that Keiko might have a crush on him. He, on the other hand, had already begun to develop one for Olivia. Like it or not, that scene with John -- Kevin’s thought processes had an epiphany.


“Keiko, I should apologize. I know the sort of look I gave you after that bit with Olivia’s plate. But I did much the same thing when some guy - that chop shop owner - tried to hit on Olivia. I got a little possessive. Fact is, for all I know she has a boyfriend I don’t know about - or hell, a girlfriend. Olivia, sorry about that earlier. It wasn’t really my place. Keiko, I’m a guy. We don’t take hints very well. Anyways, ladies, I am going to suggest we cool things for tonight and just talk shop or something. I really just wanted to introduce a new friend to you. If anything ever happened to me out there I wanted someone who knew about you and could check on you.”


Once things had calmed down Kevin offered to help with dishes, then show Olivia around. As it turned out the place had been built large enough to handle a few dozen men. From the dock area a corridor went back to barracks, storage rooms, labs, a communications room. The comms no longer worked. There was also a door to an elevator shaft. There was no power to the door and it wouldn’t budge. Kevin explained that it had been filled with rubble with rebar in it and had concrete poured over it.


“That bookstore that James Stevens owns sits right on top of us. The previous owner of the shop served in WWII in the Navy. I would make this my base of operations if communications worked. But down here cell reception is zero bars. And that is why I never stay long.


”This place is powered by a nuclear pile. And there is a section I haven’t been able to get into. The stove in the kitchen is electric - even though it looks like gas. And I have no clue how it really works. It isn’t even plugged in. The only thing I have been able to guess is a form of broadcast power. Tesla suggested such a thing was possible. But so far as I know science has never found a way.


“I haven’t been able to open up the submarine either. I think it’s nuclear - like the Nautilus in the Jules Verne book.”

 

[Tamed]

Olivia's expression was soft when she looked at Kevin. "It just felt right to apologize, I suppose," she said, smiling vaguely. She did feel sorry; it was easy to tell that Keiko felt a strong attachment to him. It was understandable that she would show some sort of jealousy when Olivia had appeared, somewhat out of the blue, and was ‘taking him away.’ In a way, she didn't blame her — she just wouldn't have externally expressed her envy like Keiko did, had she had to react to a similar situation. The smile remained on her face, perhaps even warming slightly when Kevin said he liked her.


Olivia listened to Kevin's explanation of his previous actions with a benign expression on her face. She supposed she would wait until later to tell him, since it wasn't something she would prefer to say infront of Keiko, but she definitely preferred him over John (the latter was too.. intense for her taste) Simce she rather enjoyed his company. "You don't have to apologize to me," she said, and supressed a near snort in reponse to his true statement of guys not being able to properly take hints.


She appreciated him showing her around afterward; the place was bigger than she had initially thought it to be. "I wouldn't expect the cell reception to be top notch considering that we had to swim down underwater to actually get here." She smiled. "But you said it's run on nuclear energy? That's an interesting source to use. And about the submarine — is it that you haven't been able to figure out how to open it, or the hatches are stuck?"


(Sorry for the absolutely crappy post, I ended up typing this on mobile and I hate writing out replies on my phone.)

 

[Mitheral]

Kevin frowned. “Well, I haven’t seen any signs of coolant systems. Nor are there any signs of leaks. Yes, there were geiger counters down here. I took one to an antique dealer and they made quite an offer for it. It was in excellent condition - circa 1930’s. They didn’t even become popular until the 1950’s. There were some of those as well. The one I found was custom built - by whom the dealer I found had no clue. Near as he could tell, someone created it from scratch - very professionally. It would have been beyond state of the art when it was actually made if the guy had submitted a patent.


“That seems typical of several parts of this base. The submarine’s hatch is locked. The handle won’t even budge. Oh, the gramophone? Not a single scratch or bit of corrosion on it. It is for all intents brand new. And I couldn’t access the back of the control panel to the nuclear pile. I’m not even sure …” He paused. “I’m not an engineer. I say it is a nuclear pile. For all I know it is antimatter. The first sustained and controlled nuclear fission reaction was in 1939 if memory serves. This base has items from the 19th century.


“Oh, I did find some gambling chips and a few decks of cards - circa 1920’s. I did some research and before the bookstore was built the place was a speakeasy. These was a still in one os the stockrooms and quite a few drums of moonshine.” Kevin laughed. “And … there were a few empty drums. I think some of the drums ended up used as chairs and nightstands after the place was converted.


“I still haven’t quite figured this place out - that is, the order things were built. But there are a number of things that existed long before they were ever invented. That means someone thought of the concept, engineered them, and built them - often technologically superior to later versions. I wouldn’t even be surprised if that sub is more advanced than anything we have today.”


“Anyways, you know how to get in and out of here with the scuba tow thing. We can get you a new scuba suit. I am going to head back out to check on my surveillance footages. Then I may go and do some patrolling. I know you probably need to sleep. (Wrong.) But of you ever want to tag along - maybe once your car is done - you can. I’m not so sure you’d care to run along the tops of buildings.”

 

[Tamed]

"The Geiger counters were still fully functioning? Despite being made in the '30s?" Olivia looked curious. "That was during the aftermath of the stock market crash, too; everyone was in such a destitute state then that it's rather odd that whoever made them had the money to do so — that, or he/she just had the parts lying around. The scenario is rather unlikely, especially for the time period, but not... totally impossible, I suppose. They must have been constructed well if they would've been as highly developed as you say.


"Why did most of the things down here remain in such good condition? I would think it would partly be due to the lack of use of this base after a certain point, but I'm not so sure. You say the gramophone hasn't succumbed to any signs of aging, but I would think if it's been underground for so long that it would have some exemplification of rust or oxidation or something. This base seems to be ahead of its time.


"But a speakeasy to a bookstore is a rather interesting transformation; I would think that it would be changed into something of similar content like a bar or club or some sort. The fascinating thing about this place, though, is that things existed before they were publicly invented as you said. It's like how they found the Antikythera Mechanism — the ancient Greeks used it to calculate the movement of the stars and moon. In a sense, it is believed to be the first analog computer known to man, far before its modern creation. Not necessarily the same thing that seems to be happening here, but it's similar."


Olivia smiled. "Yeah, a new scuba suit would be nice. I'm not so sure this one is so effective considering it haves various bullet holes piercing the fabric," she said with a small laugh. "If you ever needed me to check on Keiko, I would. I, not so sure if she would exactly want me here, but I would do it anyway. We can head out now so you can do what you need to do. Maybe I will tag along at some point, just to see how you go about things. But yeah, rooftops aren't my thing. Heights and all that." Her nose scrunched slightly at the thought.

 

[Mitheral]

Kevin cut the visit a little short, explaining to Keiko that he needed to check up on his surveillance - and to get Olivia back in comms with the Division just in case. As it turned out there was already a new lead in the case…


Feds and police had been searching for more members of the gun smuggling gang that had shot up one of their officers. While it was an unrelated case, Dark Knight had attacked the gang shortly after sunset. His costume had been upgraded to include real batlike wings. And the thugs the police had interrogated swore he had fangs.


The really odd thing was that all this had happened while Kevin - the real Dark Knight? - had been in the submarine cave.


The new Dark Knight had laughed maniacally while attacking the gang calling himself Batman. He had tossed the men around like rag dolls. A few even claimed that he had dragged their guys into the shadows and vanished. But as interesting as the story was, Kevin was not amused.


Once away from the ears of Olivia’s superiors Kevin explained. “Okay … I may have a copycat. Problem is this copycat is doing exactly what I don’t. I wouldn’t go after the gun smugglers. I leave that to police. I’d be after the suppliers and their money connections. Anyways, while you were busy being briefed, I checked my surveillance. John showed up at DeSimone’s. He’s there now. I can’t scour the city for this Batman dude and stake out a nightclub at the same time. But then I’m not sure it’s worth waiting on John to come out - except maybe to follow him wherever he goes.”


(Very short, but this is one of those decision points.)

 

[Mitheral]

Kevin had loaned Olivia his car - with all the reluctance of a man fearing for his pride and joy. He had tried not to be too obvious about it, but asked her not to get his car shot up. He may as well begged her not to put a scratch on his “baby.” At least he didn’t call it that. But he did look a little anxious.


Locating DeSimone’s wasn’t too hard. It was a large enough nightclub that it was literally an estate complete with wall, gate and valet parking. There was no way to even see inside the compound. If John had left in another car she was never going to know. But surveillance hadn’t picked up on his car leaving. Unlike on a normal stakeout, Olivia didn’t have to wait long for the unusual to happen.


A woman rose up into the car right through the floor to sit in the passenger seat. She was dressed in a purple costume - spandex that covered her entire body seamlessly every bit as well as in a comic book. Her mas looked like Rorschach's from the Watchmen movie. There were no actual holes for eyes, nose, or mouth. And when she spoke her voice sounded ghostly. She held a small electronic device that she activated as soon as she was ready to speak.


“Uhm, Detective Morgan, I am Random Stranger. This gadget is a jammer. I need this conversation to be private. I have enemies that want me dead. I was a witness to a double homicide. They are the same organization that ordered the hit on Diana Cantrell’s family - the same ones who killed Detective Shawn Brady - Kevin’s father. What I am not sure of right now is who you are staking this place out for - the man you know as John Hughes … or Detective Ryan Kelly. They are both in there. Ryan Kelly has been a regular for years. He works for the mafia. No, I can’t testify to this. But I happen to know who shot and killed Detective Brady and wounded Det. Kelly. The man never misses. If they ever found out I was still alive, he’d be contracted to hunt me down and kill me.


“John Hughes is also on a death list - still. If anyone figured out who he was they would put a contract on him. Diana Cantrell’s father help stage John’s death and the establishment of a new identity. These people killed John’s parents and younger brother. John was supposed to be an off books Interpol informant once he infiltrated this group. But now he is completely on his own with noone to call for backup. If you ask me, he is in over his head. Even if he tracks the people down, there is nothing he could do to stop them - and he has noone to inform.


“Now if you are tracking John, I know where he is probably going next. This is Saturday … and he almost always races on Saturday nights. Illegal street racing. The locations change every night races are held. The location is sent out to burner phones registered with the bookies. I happen to have tonight’s location. I saw them getting set up to race. I knew even before most of the racers. Now if I am right, John should be on his way out in the next 10 minutes. If you have questions for me, you have a few minutes.”

 

[Tamed]

Olivia was quite surprised that Kevin had agreed to lend her his car — he hadn't done it readily, but he'd done it nonetheless. She told him she would try (but with no promises) to keep his car in one piece. She wasn't about to swear up and down on something that she wouldn't have total control over. She sat in the vehicle once she arrived at DeSimones, one leg crossed over the other, not necessarily waiting for something to happen but surely expecting it. When a women in purple spandex rose up through the floor into the passenger seat, the only reaction she had was her fingers flinching instinctively toward a handgun she had on an inside pocket of her coat.


The person in costume — she introduced herself now as Random Stranger — explained different pieces of information to her in a matter of minutes that Olivia assumed it must have been a condensed version; there was far too many details that were probably left out. "So you're Random Stranger," she began, her eyes flicking to the jammer. "I was led to believe that you were a man." She inhaled and exhaled in succession, rubbing her eyes with her fingertips for a moment as she processed what she had been told. "I'm not here for Ryan — I'll deal with him later. I'm here to stake out John. You say you know who is responsible for the previous injury of Detective Kelly and the death of Kevin's father, but I'm going to assume that you have reason for not disclosing the name considering it's the man Kevin's arguably most after."


Olivia bit the inside of her cheek. "So John isn't actually John by name," she said. "Anyway, street racing you say? I wouldn't expect anything less." She massaged her temples. "As long as you give me the location, I'll be able to follow him. The only problem with attending one of these alone is that if the racers get a hold of the idea that I'm a cop, things are going to take a fast nosedive. I suppose I'll deal with that if it comes to it. As for questions, I guess I have a couple.


"Why've you chosen to help Kevin? Rather, why don't you reveal yourself to him as you have with me? Not face to face, but with your disguise? And I suppose this is a question of little importance, but I was just wondering: how did you get so much information on me? And why did you give Kevin a profile of it?" She didn't want this conversation to turn into an interrogation, so she quieted herself to allow RS the time to answer.

 

[Mitheral]

“Kevin needed someone to work with he could trust. So I vetted you. You’d be surprised at how much information you can get without ever leaving a room. And … I also have MY informant - one that makes me look like an amateur. Although he’s a bit of a conspiracy nut - and sometimes he makes no sense.


“As to why meet in person? I don’t know. Really there wasn’t time to put everything together and still get you to this race event.


“I have to warn you about Kelly. I think he is a borderline pedophile. He prefers young prostitutes. The club provides for services rendered. I can get you a dossier on one of the girls that worked in the club. She’s worked there as a teenager in an Adult environment. And she is Ryan’s type. He likes redheads.” RS seemed more than a little nervous discussing the subject, but felt compelled to get the information out there. “Someone paid off her debts to the mafia. Same man responsible for … Has Kevin shown you the pictures of what happened to the Interpol agent? If not, ask. Anyways, this prostitute is getting herself into worse trouble than she was already in. The enforcer is known as Professor Muerte among the cartels in South America. If you want another perspective on the guy, ask Pete Donnelly - Mary Donnelly's husband. I doubt he’ll give any indication he knows what you are talking about if Mary is present. He might even get angry. So be discreet.”


“Kevin doesn’t know I’m …” RS gestured to her body. “You’re the first - no second, I think - to know. I think my informant knows - though I have no idea how.”


“The man who shot and killed Kevin’s father was just a hired assassin. Pale Rider. I matched up the ballistics with the shooting of the Interpol agent’s car. Same guns used for both crime scenes. The man was rumored to never miss. But there was a trail of shooting at the latter scene that would say otherwise - like someone ran and never got hit despite several shots being fired.


“But as you say, you are here for John. He’s had very expensive, very detailed plastic surgery. He’s put himself through a great deal of pain to exact revenge. It was a very professional job. Interpol helped him establish a new identity and fake his death in a rather spectacular crash. They even faked the DNA evidence, dentures - everything. It was an off books operation. I keep calling the people who did this the mafia. But the fact is that they are a lot bigger than a mafia. They have people embedded everywhere. Kevin’s father had begun to suspect their existence…


”They killed John’s younger brother with a bomb placed in his car intended for him. There were rumors that John had developed some new generator technology that would have revolutionized the auto industry. And this technology had military applications in high energy weaponry.”


Random Stranger’s voice dwindled off as the gates to the club began to open. “I believe this is your cue…”


++++++++


With RS information, tailing John wasn’t even necessary. He could have lost her easily. And it sounded as though he had good reason for paranoia.


When she arrived John was already talking to some of the other racers trying to get a race. Judging by their expressions noone wanted to race him. He was simply too good. But he was smiling and making a new challenge that was harder to pass up.


“So my car is too much?” He nodded agreeably. “Okay … you pick the car I drive. A few conditions. It can’t be an automatic; has to be a standard. Has to have decent rubber on it. And I get to have a little time to tweak it a bit to be race worthy. Oh yes, and it needs to be fuelled up. If I damage the car, I’ll repair or replace it. In fact, I’ll offer a free tune up afterwards. And I’ll place MY car up as the prize if I lose. Whoever loans me the car doesn’t lose theirs. Oh .. and the car can’t be stolen. It has to belong to the person who loans it to me.”


It sounded like a bet they couldn’t lose. They still didn’t trust him...