SPPA Chronicles (Sarre & Nix)

  • So many newbies lately! Here is a very important PSA about one of our most vital content policies! Read it even if you are an ancient member!
Status
Not open for further replies.
"Everyone's first case is usually a large amount of luck. Remind me sometime when I don't feel like I'm dying, and I'll tell you about the teddy bear made of diamonds, a tiara and five shifters, that made up my first one."

For a minute, Xyne just stood there, head titled back, eyes closed. When he did speak it was softer. "Cass cannot go into the field for the same reason I cannot openly go into the Shifter district. My partner was out sick, and hers was on another assignment so we were working together. There was a big fight, seven of the top shifters, and we were the ones sent to break it up. We had it mostly settled when Avrost made a comment about how useless girls were at fighting. Cass set him on fire, literally. She was jumped by another shifter, so when Avrost went after her, I intervened. He put a rather high bounty on us the next day. There were several assassination attempts on us both before the Commander assigned Cass to a desk and me to the North district. Since I have so many contacts there, I'm usually safe, but Cass was still new and didn't have any. She's there for her own protection."
 
"You're giving me serious doubts about this Commander," Eleanor mumbled. "Sending you to the Shifter District last week and keeping Cass inside. It just sounds like lazy decision-making to me. What about practice? Training? There's no effort involved with tossing someone into paperwork."

She turned and peered through the glass at the pool table, and was surprised to find Cass staring straight at her. Eleanor was startled for a moment, but promptly looked away and lifted her back off the glass. "We should go back in. Unless you need to throw up again."
 
Xyne shrugged. "Why do you think I was so angry about it? In a way, keeping Cass under protection makes sense... Especially since one of those attacks was in another city." He sighed, and pushed away from the wall, looking slightly steadier than he had been before. "Yeah, we probably should. You still have to try on that dress and I'm hoping to drink some more to get rid of that taste." Xyne was positive there was a glass of Heresy with his name on it.
 
Katelyn always entered the office from a side door. It lead to the same room, but the side door didn't have that same feeling of announcement as the front doors did. The electric sliding's distinct sound invited a curious eye. The side door was like another office door. It was a background thing.

Not that she wasn't social - she definitely was. There were just plenty of people that looked away when they saw her, and who could blame them? She worked downstairs.

When she got to the little counter with the kettle and the coffemaker, the conversation of the two women there immediately paused. "Oh, hey Katelyn," one said.

"Hey," she said, offering her a smile. She had few friends, but there was no use making enemies, so she made small talk, went to the bar; brought treats to the office every once in a while. Stupid little things that people do.

Sometimes they would come around, and almost be a friend, but then she'd finish a job and people would see her slowly escorting her work, all bruised and limping and trembling and wide-eyed, over the carpeted floors of the office, to a desk for paperwork, and then out the double-sliding doors. And then they wouldn't be able to look at her for a few days.

That was what she hated most about working the Interrogation Department.

"Interrogation Department." That's what it was called, but it was just her, and whoever was assigned to guard the door. The "Forensics Department" was only two people. The entire organisation felt like a group of rogues playing at order.

When she'd gotten her coffee - powdered instant decaf, not the stuff from the machine - she left the women and headed for the stairwell. She glanced back before she opened the door. They weren't staring today. That was nice.


The two guards were sitting on those uncomfortable stacking plastic chairs with a spindly table between them, cards in their hands. More little courtesies and happy hellos, and then she was comfortably inside. Downstairs: a world completely devoid of the outside.

It was a lovely, neat, little room. Her predecessor had told her that it had been nothing but a concrete underground box before, but now it was renovated. Not that it looked prettier. After they had installed the soundproofing foam - two layers of it, they had painted the second layer of wall a muddy grey colour, to keep the room dismal. The ground was still cracked, and it sloped to the middle, where there was a drain. There was a hose on the wall for easy cleaning.

In the corner of the room was a large dog crate in which she'd shoved her newest assignment. Another one of her predecessor's tricks.

"Hey!" Katelyn said cheerfully, as she picked out studded leather whip from the closet. "I'm back."

Her project must have been asleep, because as soon as she spoke, the figure in the crate began to rock and whimper again. "Please..." it said, "I don't know... I don't know.. I don't know I dont know I donnow Idono....I don't... "

"Shhh," Katelyn said gently, silencing her. She slung the whip over her shoulder, flipped through a cabinet until she found Yela's clipboard, and parked herself on the folding chair she'd left by the crate. "I slept on it," she told the whimpering figure. "And you know what? I think you're right. I think you don't know anything, and someone has very carefully, and very cleanly, set you up."

She flipped through the clipboard's pages. "You've given me everything. Your fears, your friends, your childhood secrets, and that horrid experience you went through last time." Katelyn chuckled a little. "Though, I suppose this tops it by far. What can I say? I'm good at my job, and I enjoy it more than I should."

Yela said nothing, so Katelyn just sat there, continuing to flip through the pages of extracted information. There was a lot, none of it helpful to Officer Baker. Someone had put Yela here, and they'd succeeded.

After weeks of nothing to do, Katelyn had been a little overzealous with the tools in the cabinet. It had taken her far too long to realise that Yela had nothing, and she'd gone too far to go backwards. So she had to keep going, and find this new officer a fresh lead, lest she looked like nothing more than the mindless, sadistic, brute in the basement. Besides, Yela had only been here a day, and there was no telling how long it would be before more fresh meat would be sent down.

"Tell me about Luke again," Katelyn said,"The breakup."

"I didn't do it I don't know I don't kno-" her voice stopped short when Katelyn gave the crate a good kick. "Yes, yes," she said, leaning towards Yela. "You didn't do it. I know, I know. But if I let you out now, it'll be terribly lonely again down here. Now, just tell me about the breakup. Tell me all the reasons you hate him. If you're good, I'll get you some fresh-cut fries from the little deli down the street. Would you like that?"
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The minute Xyne and Eleanor stepped back into the bar, Lil seemly appeared, one arm firmly hooked around Cass and a sweet smile on her face. Xyne looked from Cass to Lil, twisted around to glance at Eleanor and then back at Lil, before stepping to the side. The Vampiress literally pounced, catching a hold of Eleanor and dragging both officers up the stairs.

Where downstairs was obviously Lil's domain, upstairs plainly belonged to Xyne. It was simple, almost homey. The walls a warm brown, and nice wooden floors. The kitchen looked clean and well stocked, even the furniture looked comfortable. That was, until they were pulled into Lil's room. It was done in a dark gray, with an elaborate coffin in the center of the room. The oddest part of the entire place was the fact there were no windows in this room at all.

Naturally, Lil simply couldn't be content with just dressing up Cass and Eleanor, even if Eleanor was more willing. Lil had to go all out, Piling Cass' red hair into an elegant bun, and at one point forcing the woman into a brilliant green dress that was actually very attractive on her. For Eleanor, she received an old fashioned coif, complete with a golden chain, and a stunning dark burgundy hourglass style dress. Lil, left her own hair down, as she twirled about in a red silk dress that was practically molded to her form. Then she insisted on dragging both girls downstairs for Xyne's approval.

Xyne, who had been working his hardest to forget ever eating Lil's food, was sitting at the corner of the bar, apparently reading a message. Abruptly, his head came up, eyes immediately catching on the three.

"Imey-er." Her tone was fond, that soft smile that no one else seemed to receive, curving her lips upward. "Now, tell me what you think. You are not easily pleased, so I believe your approval will mean more."

Despite being more interested in the message, he still looked them over. Cass was flushed slightly, while Lil was practically beaming. "I like the colors. They look nice." He glanced back down at the phone, then commented absently. "You look the best I think, Lil."

Pleased, Lil spun around with Eleanor a bit, perfectly content.

"Oh... Cass, you might want to change." Xyne grinned unexpectedly. "You too, Baker. Shena's back and we're invited to a party."

Cass' blinked, let out a cheer, and in a show if incredible good humor, latched on to Eleanor, and dragged her upstairs, explaining that Shena always meant a wonderful party.
 
Down here, in the dimly lit grunginess of the basement, time was irrelevant. There was no clock, no sun, and no interruptions. Her phone was silenced and far away, in her coat, hanging by the door. The only signs that time passed were hunger, thirst, bathroom breaks, and fatigue. There were times when she'd walk out to find that it was already afternoon, and people would stare because who the hell would want to stay late doing what she did?

When the desk-phone, an old, lumpy, thing that looked like it was plucked from twenty years ago, began to beep, she was furious. That phone was her line to the outside, and only one other phone was connected to it. It was by the door guards, on the other side of the soundproofing.

"Intermission," she told Yela, putting the clipboard down on the chair. "Not a sound out of you." She obeyed with broken obedience.

"What's up?" she said, masking her impatience with a gentle quip.

"Sorry, I know you don't like being disturbed but Shena insisted."

"Shena's back?"

"Yeah, she walked in about a half hour ago with spanish liquer and pastries."

Katelyn smiled. "Alright, I'll be up in ten minutes," she said.

Over the receiver, she heard his muffled voice. "She'll be up in ten minutes!"

"She's at the top of the stairs?"

"Yeah."

"Alright," Katelyn chuckled, "Five. I'll be up in five."

Anger diffused, she put down the phone and went to Yela. "Hear that? My friend is back, and she's inviting me up!" She picked up the clipboard, then the whip - making the werewolf flinch - and strolled across the room to put them away. "What time do you think it is?" she asked, continuing to chat. She dug up her phone from the pocket of her jacket, and found Shena's text. It was generic. She never sent generic, vague, texts to anyone, so she must have been sent it everyone. "A little past nine," Katelyn said, sighing and putting the phone back. She strolled back to the crate. "What do you think, Yela? How many people will show up. There are twenty people working here, but it's quite late. 'Back from Spain, brought fancy liquer to the office, if you feel like showing up.' That's what it says."

She sat back down on the folding chair and gave the silent crate a kick. "Well?"

"I-I don't know, ten? Ten? Fifteen? I don't know..."

"Ten or fifteen, huh?" Katelyn muttered. "I really hate the SPPA crowd. And they hate me too. They never show it, but I can tell. Who can blame them, am I right?" She laughed bitterly. In the crate, Yela let out a nervous chuckle, which made Katelyn laugh harder.

"So, ten or fifteen. Ten or fifteen..." she said, "I told Shena I'd be up in five minutes, but god damn it... Now I really don't want to. Shena is fine, I think I trust Shena, but the others... ugh, it'll be terrible. Especially since most of them know that you're down here," she said. Then she leaned forward and tapping the crate with her hand, almost affectionately. "They'll know. In the back of their head, they'll know that I'll be emerging from this dreary basement with blood under my fingernails. Well, alright, I haven't actually hurt you today, yet, but I can't exactly go around telling everyone that. 'Hey guys, I didn't hurt anyone today, so like me, please!'" She laughed again. "What to do, Yela? What would you do?"

"G-go," she stuttered. "I'd go."

Katelyn looked at her, and she shrunk away. "O-or stay. Stay..."

"It was always the same. You're all so afraid of being wrong that you never make up your minds. This part isn't the interrogation, Yela!" She gave the crate a kick.

"Go!" she whimpered, shrinking away. "Go!"

Katelyn let out a long sigh, and leaned back against the chair with her feet propped up over Yela. "Yeah, I guess I should," she murmured. She didn't move though, as if the will to move had been sapped with the prospect of facing her colleagues.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there, rocking herself pitifully against the plastic of the chair, but she was snapped out of the trance when the room gave a great heave, and the ground trembled. She nearly fell out of the chair, but she jolted forwards and planted her feet on the ground before the plastic cradle threw her backwards.

There was no sound after that, but the room was soundproofed. For all she knew, people could be screaming in agony up there - after all, nobody heard the screaming from down here.

"Shena..." she murmured, jolting out of the chair. She grabbed her hunting rifle, slung it over her shoulder, then snatched up a pistol.

"What happened?" she demanded, throwing open the door. As soon as the sound seal lifted, she heard the painful wailing and the frantic shouting.

There was only one guard by the door now. "Something went off," he stammered. "Owen went to help. Sounds bad."

Katelyn was running up the stairs before he finished.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It was actually rather amazing how quickly Cass could move and quickly she dragged everyone else along. She liked Shena, and it had been over a month since she had even heard from her, plus, Shena always brought good things back from her trips.

Because of that, They ended up walking to headquarters, because Cass was too impatient to wait, and Xyne didn't really care one way or the other. They were just over halfway there when there was a loud crack, like that from a gun, the squealing sound of tires, as a car came hurtling almost directly toward them.

The car started to spin, and as the driver tried to compensate, the car, tiled on it's side, just missing the three. It crashed into one of the buildings and promptly caught fire. A man jumped out of the back of the car and started running.

Xyne spat a curse and ran after the man, while Cass rushed over to the burning car.
 
Eleanor was stunned for a moment, unsure of where to go or who to follow, but in mere seconds, Captain Tristis was gone, and so she joined Cass at the car. The entire front of it had been crushed, accordion-like. Between the flames and the twisted metal, there wasn't a doubt between them that the driver hadn't survived. Eleanor examined the car carefully. The back wheels were still spinning slowly, and the torn tire screamed at her like a flag. Someone had shot it out.

"Hey, Cass!"

Another figure appeared, running and panting. Eleanor's eyes locked at the rifle in her hands. She wasn't wearing any uniform - just a t-shirt, a sweater, and jeans. "Damn it," she scowled, when she peered into the back of the car. "The shifter. There was a shifter in the car, all grey and spindly, and probably bleeding. Where is he? He had something with him. Big parcel."

"You could have killed us!" Eleanor said, before Cass had the chance to say anything. She didn't know who this person was, but she wasn't wearing any uniform that would give her any authority, and senior officers rarely ditched their coats. "What kind of person shoots a speeding car when there are people on the street!?"

"Hey!" the stranger sneered, veering to stare daggers at her. It occured to Eleanor that she wasn't wearing her uniform either. "I have no idea who you are, but this is serious and not your concern."
 
"Damnit, you two shut up!" Cass snapped. "Lord, if I was smart I would have gone with Xyne." Placing her hand on the rear of the car, she froze the entire thing, because she was not going to get blown up while those two yelled.

Satisfied, with the fire out and the ice melting as her temper grew. "First off, you." She pointed at Eleanor. "This is Katelyn she works with us. And you!" She spun pointing at Kat. "She works with Xyne." Crossing her arms, and glaring at them both, the redhead went on. "Katelyn, Xyne went after whomever was in the car. Baker, call this in, and someone tell me what the hell is going on?"
 
"Damn it you're the five-day genius?" Katelyn muttered bitterly. That was just lovely. She was glad she hadn't mentioned the details of what had been lost. What was worse, the little prick worked with Xyne.

Officer Baker was shooting a glare back at her. "Is that what they're calling me? The fiv-"

"Sorry, sorry, Nice to finally meet you, but I gotta go," she said, cutting her off. There was no time. "The guy in the car bombed the office, that's what happened," she told Cass hurriedly. "If Xyne's after him I'm not needed. Already shot him once. I'm going back. People are hurt."

By people, she meant Shena, and she cursed herself for thinking it. Who was she to think Shena was her friend, anyway? If she hadn't stopped to make sure she was alright, she would have landed a bullet in the shifter's back and that would have been the end of it. Or better, she would have stayed downstairs and shot him before he'd killed Arthur and-- ugh, damn it. Imagination was stupid, illusion was stupid, and masks were stupid, and she'd followed them anyway.

There was a stretch of road on her way back, before the shattered office came to view, where there was nothing to distract her but the sound of distant sirens, approaching from another direction. It was here when it dawned on her that she had killed someone. The man in the car hadn't been the shifter's driver - his car had been stopped and the shifter had forced his way into the backseat.

"Shit..." she mumbled to herself. There were two deaths, her hand in both of them, and yet here she was, racing back to the office, and for what? An acquaintance that paid just a little more attention to her than all the other acquaintances?
 
"Bombed the... Oh for the love of..." Cass continued on for a solid minute. Each curse getting more inventive, and most of them physically impossible. When she finished, She looked up at Eleanor, eyes completely serious. "Okay, here is what we do. One of us needs to wait here for the responding officers, the other needs to either go back up Xyne or go to the office and figure out what happened. I should go to the office, for two reasons. One." She held up a finger, the tip of it flickering with fire. "Because I know what needs to be done and two." She held up another one, this one completely frosted over." You need to be here when Xyne comes back." Even though Cass hated that Eleanor was Xyne's partner, in this type of situation, practical came first.

"You both come straight back to the office once he's back." Cass offered that as a parting shot as she took off toward the slight red glow that was illuminating the sky.
 
"Right, got it," Eleanor said, responding with more automatic panic than rational coolness. It was when Cass disappeared that she acknowledged the gravity of the situation - but her most immediate thought was: Who the hell was Katelyn, and why hadn't she seen her yet? She would have remembered such an asshole.

Perhaps it was because she felt so distant from the the other officers, who were just voices and whispers behind her back, and perhaps it was so far away that she couldn't even see the smoke.

So Eleanor stood there and waited for a minute, then two, and then began to feel restless. The others were helping, and here she was, stagnantly waiting. She went over to the car, all iced. That had been a beautiful show of power; and the captain was impressed with her. In Cass' presence she was nothing.

"Sir," she mumbled to the crushed, still, figure in the car. "The SPPA offers its humblest apologies." Then she sighed. This was stupid. She needed to help, yet orders - from Cass, kept her glued uselessly to a lost cause. Even paperwork felt more productive than this.
 
Xyne reappeared at the car about fifteen minutes later, looking dirty, missing the sling for his arm, and with a nasty looking gash on his forehead. His eyes were narrowed and his mouth pinched together in pain. He was moving slightly slower than normal as well. He took a moment to study the car, and shook his head. "Hey, Baker... I lost him."

It was much simpler to say that he lost him, than to explain about the tire iron, the smoke bomb and the decoy that slammed Xyne into a brick wall. He didn't care at all what anyone said, he was Definitely due some hazard pay.
 
"Are you alright?" Eleanor murmured. "Cass left. Someone showed up after you dashed off, a Katelyn. Told us the office was bombed." She nodded to the officers - regular cops, not SPPA - that had arrived for it. "I called this in. Cass told me to wait for them, and you." She looked at his injuries again. He was walking with a slight limp, and it was evident that he had fresh bruises in addition to the gash. She didn't have first aid on her this time, either.

"Should I call for a car?" she asked him, though she knew the answer before it came. No cars would come.
 
Xyne closed his eyes briefly, then nodded. "I see.. I'm a little surprised to hear Katelyn was here." His slight accent that was usually hard to hear was very prevalent on the name. "Cass went back to oversee things?" It made perfect sense, honestly, She worked directly under the Commander, and as such, she was probably the one the knew all the emergency protocols best.

"No, the roads will be closed and it will be a complete mess for days. It will be faster if we just walk." He offered her a tired smile. "Thanks though, I appreciate it."
 
"Yeah. I hope the people there are alright," she said. "It's the night shift, but it was after Shena texted everyone, right? It must have been timed..."

At mention of Katelyn, she gestured to the wheel of the car. "She killed him," she muttered. "Who is she, anyway? Good shot. Some kind of sniper for us? Do we have something like that?"
 
Xyne shook his head. "I don't know.. Whoever that was, they had a plan.. It could have been worse, in the day.. but then again, I don't know how many people where there for Shena." She was fairly well liked, especially since she was so nice to nearly everyone.

"Katelyn is the best shot in the agency, period." He stated honestly. "She mostly works in interrogation, but if the offices were bombed,it makes sense that she would be alright. Interrogation is downstairs." He kept glancing around as they moved, almost double checking everything. "No, we don't have snipers, well,not at this branch."
 
"Oh, I see," she said. "Interrogation, huh. I guess she's the one I'm waiting on for Yela..." Katelyn didn't look like the grisly, tousled, bulky men she had envisioned working down there.

Captain Tristis was speaking highly of her though, so she didn't continue with the train of thought she'd been brooding on. Still, she couldn't help glance back at the car. Who was that in the front seat, that they had killed? She supposed they'd find out soon enough. They were walking surprisingly quickly, despite the captain's injuries.

She heard the two ambulances before she saw them, and then the building came into view. There was also the pain, vocalised in the thick air, and plenty of smoke.


They found Katelyn first, standing with her arms crossed behind the crude line that had been set up. She seemed to be just watching, but stepped aside when they approached. "Captain," she said, nodding to Tristis. She glanced around. "Lose him, sir?"

"Shouldn't we be helping...?" Eleanor said, sending a cold glare to Katelyn. "Instead of standing around."
 
When the scene came into view, it was exactly as Xyne expected. Thick smoke heavy in the air, and the heat of the fire, contrasting with the cool night air. It was going to be a very long night.

Xyne frowned. "I hate it when you call me that, Katelyn." He paused, leaning a bit on his left leg. "Yeah, I lost him..." He planned on only telling the story once. That was enough for him. "Cass! You need us?"

The redhead, who was in the middle of the mess, glanced up, made a couple of gestures then went back to yelling.

"Cass doesn't need anything just yet. We can't start looking for people until the fire is out." Xyne's face was neutral, but his tone was very somber. He turned to Kat. "What happened?"

A short dark haired woman, darted past just then, slipping deftly under the hastily put up tape and moving quickly toward Cass, a slightly taller, brunette male following at her heels but he at least offered a small wave.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Katelyn waved back at the familiar face. It was an automatic response more than anything. She glanced at Officer Baker, but said nothing to her. "Force of habit, sorry, Xyne. I don't see you very often." She didn't see anyone very often...

"I was downstairs, ran up when I heard the ground shake. Owen was already up, and the shifter killed Arthur while he was inside." She glanced at Eleanor, figured she'd find out anyway, and said, "The target was Yela, sorry Officer Baker. It should have been my job to stop him."

"Well.. there was a bomb.. I guess you were distracted by that," she said.

"I'd hardly call a bomb a distraction," Katelyn replied, looking away to avoid creating an electric link of sharp glaring. "I went up to make sure people were alright and he snuck around me, and everyone else, in the smoke. Wouldn't you have done the same?"

Then, suddenly, another jolt of fear echoed inside her. She wasn't sure how far she'd broken the werewolf. Sometimes they recovered quickly after they left the basement. If Yela remembered what she had said, and told them that Katelyn had admitted to believing that she was innocent - well, that was the end of it all.

"I guess so," Baker said. "I'm sure I'll figure it out. It's my job."
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom
Back