J.D. covered a yawn with one hand as she read through various police reports in front of her. So far, nothing was making any sense to these shootings. She knew they were related, but no street sources had been able to pick up a hint of why they were happening. She yawned again.
"Tired?" Francis asked as he grabbed his phone to make a call.
"Yeah. For some reason I’m completely worn out today."
"Imagine that." He pushed a few buttons on the phone and listened, then hung up with a sigh. "Maybe you need a complete body massage," he said seriously. "I can help you with that." He pushed his chair back and stood. "Come on. Might have a lead on the weapon used."
J.D. stood, grateful to have some sort of lead, and grateful to be moving. She was, as she said, tired, and didn’t think it a good career move to fall asleep at her desk. They walked out of the office and headed down the small hall to the shooting range area of the building that was located in the vast underground complex. From the street, the building looked like any regional government office with a coffee shop out front, but most never knew that it hid a major CISA office below.
They walked down another hall, and past various other agents.
"New cadets," she whispered as she saw a large group coming their way.
Francis glanced, then smiled evilly and waited until they walked by before he spoke. "It's unfair!" he said dramatically. "Have a few people die in custody, and suddenly I'm the bad guy." He stopped, suddenly realizing that they were not alone. "Hey! New cadets!" he cried gleefully, giving them an insane smile.
J.D. sighed and shook her head. "Ignore him," she said, noticing that a few of the prospective CISA members were pale and close to panic.
"This," the recruit leader said, "is Lieutenant Francis McQhyn. Tag named 'Soul Patch'...tactical expert and all around pain."
"And one of the few who goes after any agents who goes renegade," Francis added, giving each cadet a warning glance.
"Renegade?" a meek voice asked.
Francis moved in like a cat going for the kill, and stood in front of the woman who couldn't be much older than eighteen. "A person who deserts a party or cause for another," he said, giving them the textbook definition. "Renegade is when one of you decides to use your...specialties...to go against your sworn duties to protect." He glanced quickly at another cadet, causing him to step back. "You only get so many chances in this game."
"Well, now that you've successfully scared them all, we'll be going." The leader smirked at Francis as he herded the cadets out.
Francis let out a chilling laugh as the door closed. "Gets them every time," he sighed in content.
"You're evil," J.D. chided.
"You just figuring that out?"
~~~~~~~~~~
"They have a lead on the weapon." The rogue CISA agent walked around the parking lot behind the building, his cellphone close to his ear.
"What?"
"I said they have a …"
"I heard you," the voice snapped back. "I want to know how."
"Some media footage that they subpoenaed."
"He said he destroyed the camera… and the person holding it."
"Obviously he didn’t," the agent snapped. "I got the personal records, and already have something on the go to break this up."
"You had better." She hung the phone up.
He stared at the cellphone. "Bitch." Then, he made another call. "Yeah. Have the pictures delivered immediately. Use a random courier, but I want it done by noon." He pushed the phone into a pocket and sighed. This was getting out of hand too fast.
~~~~~~~~~
The shooting range was brightly lit, the stark walls reflecting the light to the area in the back where targets were set up. They both took their weapons out, and laid them on the desk, receiving a small ticket in return. Target weapons only were allowed in this range, and just visiting was no exception.
A woman looked up from a table, and smiled. "Ahh… my two favorite people."
"Uh, okay." Francis looked at J.D.
"We had our own little pool going down here," the woman said. "You two made me a nice little sum."
Francis put his head in his hands and whimpered while J.D. laughed.
"Oh, come on," the woman said. "It was only a matter of time before J.D. stopped fighting the attraction she had for you, and succumbed to your charms."
"Nothing worse than a psychic gun expert," J.D. said dryly as she put a finger over Francis’ mouth as he went to speak. "You have a lead?"
The woman looked at Francis. "You were right, the gun was altered."
"Any idea by who?"
"Me."
They both stared at her. "Care to explain?" Francis said, all humor gone from his voice.
The woman smiled tightly. "Reel it in, cowboy." She sat on the corner of her table. "About five years ago, we… CISA… took a bunch of near antiquated weapons that were destined for melting, and altered them."
"Why?"
She shrugged. "To get an insight on how other gunsmiths were doing it. The reasoning was that if we could figure out certain aspects, then maybe it would lead to getting more of them off the streets." She smiled tightly. "And, it worked. By discovering what was needed, we were able to keep tabs on certain merchandise, and see who was purchasing it."
"Nobel," Francis said, still not letting his guard down. "But that doesn’t explain how one of your creations made it out of here."
"That would be your department," she said and handed over a computer disk. "Complete records of the storing and eventual destruction of the weapons. As far as I know, all were destroyed."
J.D. spoke up. "Then why say that you created that one?"
"Because the grooving in the bullets that were dug out of…well, everyone… match the records we have for that particular weapon." She stood. "We purposely altered the barrel so that we could match bullets during testing."
"I see." Francis sighed. "List of everyone who touched those weapons?"
She pointed at the disk. "Complete list of everything even remotely related to it, including backgrounds of companies of articles we used to alter."
~~~~~~~
"I’m hungry."
J.D. glanced at Francis as he went through the files on the weapon, then looked at the clock. "Break for lunch?"
He shook his head. "I want to get this done first. But, don’t let me stop you."
J.D. reached into a desk drawer, took out a snack bar and tossed it on the desk in font of him. He took it with a grunt, opened it with his teeth and bit into it. "Okay," he said after he swallowed. "According to this, the guns were destroyed two years ago." He took another bite, then stopped. "Wait…" he checked somewhere else, then went back. "The guns were destroyed off property."
"So… someone could have helped themselves to one there."
"I don’t like what that implies," he said as he took another bite.
"Me either."
They looked up as a cadet nervously approached.
"Lieutenant McQhyn?" he asked nervously.
"Yes?"
"You…you have a delivery," he said, holding out an envelope and a delivery computer card. "Sign here."
Francis scowled at the cadet, pleased when he paled slightly, then signed for the envelope. He watched as the young man hurried away.
"Why do you do that?" J.D. asked.
"Do what?" he asked as he opened the envelope and took out a typed note and a picture card.
"Scare the cadets."
"Because I can," he replied simply.
He read the note, sighing at the threatening tone in it, then touched the small tab in the corner of the picture card. He froze as images flicked across the small screen and immense anger started to rise. He brought both fists down on top of his desk, knocking things off, and causing the entire room to silence at his uncharacteristic outburst. They stared as he got up and stormed out.
Everything grew silent as Francis made it to the front desk. "Who delivered this?" His voice sounded strange to him.
Jake took one look at his eyes and had no back talk. "Courier..." he checked. "QuickTime."
"I need a secured line, no record, no trace, right now."
"I can't..."
"Do NOT fuck with me today, bro."
"He's not authorized," someone said from behind.
They turned to the voice. J.D. leaned over the desk, punched a code into the phone, then held her thumb against a reader. She looked at Jake. "Get lost for ten minutes." He left without complaint as she handed the receiver to Francis.
Francis’ hand shook as he took the phone. "Thanks," he whispered, then dialed a number.
J.D. turned to leave, but he caught her hand.
"Wait." He stepped away as the call was answered, and started to speak in an Asian dialect.
She couldn't understand what he was saying, but he seemed highly agitated and desperate as he spoke. She could see him shaking in effort to bring emotions under control. She had never, in all the years she'd known him, seen him this close to panic. She’d never actually seen him that angry, either. Francis seemed to pride himself on being able to keep a measure of cool in any situation.
Then she remembered the look on his face at the basketball game. He may work at keeping his cool, but there were definite times when it burst out. Even just standing a few feet from her, his stance and mannerisms were lethal looking; a direct contrast to the tone in his voice as he spoke.
He finally hung the phone up, and placed his head in his hands. "Tell me?" she said softly.
He glanced at her, then held the picture card out with the note. She looked at the images of a boy about ten; pictures obviously taken without his knowledge. He looked Japanese, but there was definitely some mixed parentage somewhere in his background that gave him lighter hair and features. She looked at the note: 'shame for something to happen to him.'
Francis' eyes clenched shut. "They threatened my boy," he whispered.
Whoa? What? J.D. stared in shock. His boy? "Your son?"
"Lives in Yachiyo...Japan, with his mother and her husband," he explained lamely.
"I didn't know you had a son."
"No one does." He stood straight as the implications hit him. "Fuck. No one knows. My names not even listed on the public certificate of birth. The only listing is in my personal file."
She stared at him as his professional cloak settled over the anger. "Fuck," she whispered as she realized what he meant. "We got a renegade."
He leaned on the counter and put his arms over his head. "I have to go." He stood.
"Where?"
"Yachiyo."
"No."
He turned and stared at her. "No?" he asked in disbelief. "Which part of what I said did you not get?!"
Uh, all of it. She held her ground, but softened her voice. "This is exactly what they want you to do," she said.
"I know that," he said. "I’m not stupid."
"Then stop acting it."
He blinked at her and the words ‘fuck off’ were on the tip of his tongue when he stopped. He knew she was right, and although he didn’t want to, he knew he had to stay. He had told his child’s mother to go someplace, and call him once they were safe, and he hoped that she did. If not, then he would contact her father, whom he had once worked with when stationed in Japan, and explain everything to him. Either way, he would make sure they were safe. He turned to leave the office.
"Francis?"
"Come home with me," he whispered as he looked at her. "Please."
~~~~~~~~
Francis had been quiet the entire way to his pace, brooding as his thoughts twirled through his mind. He had never anticipated anyone ever finding out that he had a son, and had taken great pains to hide the fact. Not even his family knew.
They entered his house, and he pulled her to the couch and sat her down, then joined her....wanting nothing more than to just be with her in a comfortable situation that didn't involve sex.
"Janet?"
She looked down at him as his head rested on her lap as they sat on his couch. Although she didn’t like to be called by her first name, she liked the sound of it on his lips. "Yeah?"
"Why didn’t you ask why I haven’t told anyone that I have a son?"
"You’ll tell me if you want me to know," she said calmly. "The fact that you’ve kept it hidden all these years means that you don’t want people to know."
He closed his eyes briefly. "It’s complicated."
"Okay." She continued to play with his hair, twisting the short stands between her fingers.
"Okay?" He stared up at her, then sat up to sit beside her. He stood and started to walk around, fighting annoyance that was starting. Damn her for being so understanding about it. He faced her with a sigh. "She was married at the time… and I knew it, but… " He sighed in annoyance. "Her husband gave me the option of walking away or… well, floating away with large weights around my ankles." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I agreed…for her sake, and for the baby. She sends me updates every so often, and pictures. Her husband finally got over his anger, and I’ve been there a couple times in the past ten years, but…" He stared at the floor, not really seeing it. "All Haki knows is that I’m a friend of his parents from Canada." He looked at her. "My life is not suitable for kids. They’d be in constant danger."
"Don’t explain your decisions to me," J.D. said gently as she approached him. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged in comfort. "The main thing now is to keep him safe."
He pulled out of her embrace, knowing that it was the wrong thing to do. "Why are you being understanding?" He asked with a stare. "I lied to you, my partner, since I met you."
"You didn’t lie," she said, not sure where his anger was coming from. "You just didn’t tell certain aspects of your personal life… emphasis on personal."
"You don’t get it, do you?"
"No," she said slowly, "I don’t get it. I also don’t get this sudden prick attitude that you’re giving off."
"This is the real me," he said with a sneer. "The rest was a façade designed to get you in the sack."
"Francis." Her tone held a dangerous warning.
He stared at her, wondering why he was trying to push her away. "What?" he snapped. "You wanted it, you liked it, and that’s all that should matter, right?"
He stumbled back into the coffee table as something shoved him, and stared at her. "I can’t believe you did that," his voice said dangerously.
J.D. glared at him as she reeled her inherited powers back. She’d always been able to mentally push things when angry, and had spent years training herself not to. "You can fuck right off, Soul Patch," she said in a shaky voice.
He watched as she turned and stormed out of his house, wincing as the door slammed behind her.
"Fuck!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the argument, J.D. went to her place, the cool evening air helping clear her mind. She should have known better than to get involved with Francis. He was her partner, and they had to rely on one another for survival in certain situations. Although he had flirted with her since nearly the first time they met, he never seemed to lack in willing bodies at his side. That alone should have been a warning sign that he was unstable in the relationship department. He was irresponsible, irrational, and completely impractical as someone she should get involved on an emotional level with.
Too bad she couldn’t make herself believe that, it would have made it that much easier to hate him. She sighed as she walked in her front door, and took her long jacket off to hang on the back of it after it shut. People like them were…different…destined to a life they didn’t ask for due to the sins of their fathers...or, in some cases, mothers.
Military testing, with excellent results until procreation kicked in, and the era of hereditary altered DNA was born. Children picked up the characteristics of one or both parents, certain aspects heightened by chance. Herself, she could push objects with her mind. Telekinesis, although nothing new, only flowed through her in times of stress. She closed her eyes, focused, then opened them and stared at the small alcove off the living room. A figurine moved easily.
J.D. inhaled, and tapped her anger and stress away to that little area inside where she put it all in case she needed it someday. Francis had his basketball…she had her hidey-place. She sighed as he crossed her mind again. She hadn’t quite figured out what his little specialty was beyond his ability to totally fucking annoy her.
A knock sounded at her door, and she opened her door, surprised to see a delivery person with three dozen roses; white, red and pink.
"J.D. Diamond?" he asked. "Sign here."
She took the roses, shut the door, and then touched the corner of the message card. Francis’ voice filtered through her living room. "I’m sorry," he said. "I know it’s not enough to say it, but… I didn’t mean what I said, and I have no idea why I'm trying to push you away." The voice paused. "I’ll be home all night…"
Putting the flowers in water, she placed them on a side table in the living room, then sat on the couch and turned on the television to watch the evening news.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Francis opened a fresh beer as he looked through the information in front of him and added some oral notes to the files. He read them through again as he finished that beer, and grabbed another one along with another computer disk.
The disk held no real information and he sighed when the thoughts he was trying to fight worked their way back to his brain. He knew he had royally fucked up with J.D., and tried to work through why he’d said what he had. This was a new record for him; it usually took at least a week to piss off someone he’d slept with.
The phone rang, and he grabbed at it, hoping it was J.D. "Janet?" he asked. He listened for a moment as another language greeted him. "Whoa... hold on… slow down….. My brain’s not up for translating tonight." He paused. "Switch to English, Seai," he said slowly. "Don’t tell me where you are. I just want to make sure that Haki is safe." He sighed in relief. "Good. Just stay where you are for a while. This will be over soon…..…yeah, I promise…" He listened intently. "Smart kid………he what?" Francis frowned. "What did you tell him?"
He was silent as the mother of his son explained that Haki wanted to know who his real father was. This was something he’d thought of, but didn’t anticipate for many years. "Yeah… I’m still here……….Me? No. No no no. You two decide what to tell him." He grimaced. "I’m not passing the responsibility. It’s just… the man who has raised him for the past ten years is his father. I’m just…well…I’m nothing." He ran a hand over his face. "You should go………yeah, be safe."
He held the phone in his hand for a while after she hung up, and stared at it. Even though he had a good grasp on his life at most times, there were things that totally threw him. This was all coming down too fast on him, and he was struggling to keep it in some sense of order. He hung the phone up with a sigh and glanced at the clock. Ten in the evening, and he was drunk and feeling more alone than he had in years.
"I wish I had a doob," he whispered. He contemplated calling Jake, but then he would have to explain why he was drunk, and wanting weed, and he didn’t want to go into any details. Besides, his half-brother would most likely be excited about the prospects of a nephew, and his family knowing would just open a whole new set of problems.
He got up to grab another beer and pulled his shirt off before sitting back down on the couch.
~~~~~~~~~
"Five houses, in and out."
The shooters looked at the large board at the front of the room. The images of five very exclusive mansions stared at them.
"Security is tight," their leader told them as she pointed to a lightly shaded in area. "We’re going to trip some circuits and cause a rolling blackout. Time your entry exactly to when your spotter tells you, and you should be able to make it in during the two seconds the backup takes to kick in for the alarms." She stared at them. "Don’t time it exactly, and don’t bother coming back here. Anyone who gets caught… gets forgot."
The men made their way out of the room, and she watched them with mild interest. It always amazed her that people would do anything for the right thing. Too bad their ‘right thing’, and her ‘right thing’ were two different things. After using them to do her dirty work, a simple call would be made to CISA, and the whole crowd would be rounded up and charged with murder and treason. And she would be free to pick up the pieces of so many broken empires and then carve her own niche in the world.
She looked as the man who would help her succeed walked in. She’d use him just like the others, but would not turn him in…until the right moment. "You look like you just killed your worst enemy," she said, motioning to the smile on his face.
"Close enough," he said as he sat down. "I got to the personal files, and found out that Francis McQhyn has a son that no one knows about."
"Scandalous."
"Indeed. I had pictures of the son taken, and then sent them to the good lieutenant."
She frowned. "You threatened his son?"
The renegade CISA agent smiled slightly. "It worked. He was completely thrown today." He leaned back in the chair. "And it has the bonus of him not being able to be involved in tracing me because of a conflict of interest."
"You’re playing with fire. I don’t like targeting children."
"The kid’s safe. If anything happened to him, Soul Patch would toss his oaths and go renegade himself to get those responsible."
"Soul…Patch?"
"Tag name," he explained and rubbed a small area just below his bottom lip. "Because he has one." He motioned to the door. "Something going on tonight?"
"Since they’re canceling fund raisers across the city, we’ve moved on to the next phase."
"Which is?"
"Hitting them where they feel the safest," she said with a smile that was purely predator in nature. "With enough fear, things will be perfect."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Francis opened the door, half-dressed and bleary eyed. "Hey," he said, finally recognizing who was pounding on his door at 3 am. "Come on in."
"Did I wake you?" J.D. asked as she entered.
"Fell asleep," he mumbled, then stumbled slightly as he walked to the couch. "Or maybe it was passed out…"
She noticed several beer bottles on the table in front of the couch. "You okay?"
"I didn’t think you’d come," he said slowly. "I said some hurtful things." He grabbed an open bottle of beer that looked barely touched. "And I don’t know why." He took a long drink.
"Why are you getting drunk?"
He stared at the wall and shrugged. "If I had some weed, I’d be gettin’ high along with it."
"Why?" she asked, trying to keep the exasperation out of her voice. She wasn’t used to this side of him, the side that looked too close to falling into a massive downward spiral.
"Because I’ve had a fucking shit day," he muttered. "I fucked up everything."
"No."
He ignored her. "Yeah, it’s what I do. Everything goes great, then I find some way to seriously fuck up." He took another drink, downing half of the beer at once. "I just...Outside of work, I do what I want, and I don't think about the future...consequences...anything. I don't think about it hurting anyone, because at the time, I don't really fucking care.1 "That’s one reason why I didn’t fight for a bigger part in my son’s life." He paused. "Well, that, and her husband would have killed me." He took another drink, emptying the bottle. "I knew I couldn’t be the kind of father for him that mine was for me, and I sure as hell didn’t want to be like my step-father." He lay back on the couch and closed his eyes. "The one time I forced myself to think about the future, and do something...right...for someone else...and it comes back to fucking smash me in the face.2 "So," he continued, abruptly changing the subject, "I guess I was mean to you now to spare the pain later." He jumped slightly as the couch was kicked, and opened his eyes in confusion. "What?"
"Sit up," she ordered, kicking the couch again. "Now."
He sat up slowly. "Wha…"
"Shut it." She walked to the couch and stared at him. "You can hide behind excuses if you want, but don't try them on me. I’m old enough to chose who I sleep with, and old enough to decide whether I want a relationship or not. I’m not going to let your whiny attitude dictate any aspect of my life. Are you diggin’ this?"
"Okay," he said slowly.
"Despite what your drunk brain is thinking, I actually like you, and I came tonight because I wanted to give you a chance to explain your actions. You made the first step by sending flowers…no one’s ever done that for me before, and I’m not about to let you blow this because you can’t get a grip on your past decisions."
Francis was staring at her. "You’ve never gotten flowers before?"
"What?" She sounded confused.
"Never mind." He shook his head. "You’re right. Bringing my son into this was something so unexpected that it threw me." He took her hand in his and pulled her to the couch beside him. "I'm sorry. I just...fuck..." he laughed slightly. "This is hard. I don't usually care enough to apologize for anything." He ran a hand over his face, frowing when he had to close one eye so he could focus. "I meant the flowers...I'm sorry."3 J.D. smiled slightly. "I'll make a list of things for you to do to make it up to me."4 Francis laughed and laid on the couch. "Ohhhh...." he moaned. "When the room stops spinning..."
5
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Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 6 of 6
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Gosh... I love this...
Soul Patch... What an ass...BUT, people DO act in strange ways when stressed...So you did a good job of the description...
I love the characters A lot... And they are developing nicely
I will be reading more of this for sure..
Ana
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Thanks
I wanted to make Francis the type of guy who can be an ass at times, but a loveable one. Some later chapters sort of explain a bit of this a little more.
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who everyone is*
not how. -
aw man
i missed the first chapter so i have no idea what is going on and how everyone is. :[ which stinks because it sounds really good. -
Nice background information and bringing in things to tie issues together. few spelling mistakes here and there. A little angtsy in places, but it recovers very quickly and makes sense overall. Nice plot twists, too, and the argument.. cool.
beginning: 4, language: 4, plot: 4, ending: 4, dialog: 4, characters: 4.
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Oooo I loved this chapter. Barbara, I LOVE how detailed you make it....it's done with perfection..nowwwwww I must go and read the next chapter. I am loving how this is unfolding.
hehe
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