Take-Two [ Tragictrees & Annyeong Bunny ]

About a week later- one where Austin hadn't bothered to message Lee, keeping his distance, because he didn't want to annoy him, but also because he wasn't apologetic, not even after getting some sleep -he was called to the Chief's office, presumably for a new case. This, unfortunately, also meant his partner would be there. Austin was still pissed; he was pretty sure that he was mostly in the right, and even if he wasn't, he couldn't bring himself to be less angry about it.

This, of course, was obvious when he stood at least a foot away from Lee, not bothering to sit as he shoved his hands in his pockets to keep them from moving. He had gotten new prescription sunglasses, so his eyes were hidden, and he didn't bother trying to act cocky and grin through it, because he was tired and the effort was too much for too little reward. The usual amount of touchiness he exhibited had gone from extreme levels to absolutely nothing.

The Chief wasn't there yet, so he took out his phone, deciding to shoot off a text to Evelyn, hoping that would keep him distracted and make him look less like he was avoiding saying something he'd regret, even though it was the truth. For once, the text had good grammar and spelling, because he really wasn't feeling like sending his cousin what would practically be hieroglyphics to decipher.

Text From: Austin
Text To: Lee

I know I'm not supposed to even mention talking about it but I am going to toss myself off the nearest bridge if I don't get my pills today. Or sleep. Or a break. Or a number of things. Also, you better be taking good care of Muffin.

Then he noticed it was the wrong number, and to the worst person he could've possibly sent it to.

Text From: Austin
Text To: Lee

Ignore that, it was for Evelyn.
 
To say that Lee had gotten over his banter with Austin was a lie. A complete and total lie. He had spent the past week forcing himself to stay calm enough to not finish what the other had started. Not only that, his anxiety levels were also going through the roof along with his sleep deprivation. So, that meant he really wasn't in the mood for the meeting with Chief and his partner. He didn't even want to look at the other, if he was honest. All his borderline 'friendliness' was thrown out of the window ever since that night.

However, as they were waiting for Chief to arrive, he watched Austin pull out his phone from the corner of his eye. Thinking nothing of it, he kept his gaze ahead of him, pulling at his right cuff, before his own phone vibrated. For a moment his body stilled and he didn't even want to look at his phone. But, against his better judgment, he pulled his phone out and read the texts. They were from Austin. As he read them, the detective felt his mouth turn into a snarl and he slowly dragged his tongue over the roof of his mouth.

"I honestly can't believe you." Lee snapped, his eyes turning to Austin as his features slowly turned to a grimace. "Why do you have to be such an idiot when it comes to stuff like that?" the detective's tone softened a bit, but he was still curt nonetheless. The room was tense, and Lee did his best to ignore it, but after speaking, he decided to walk to the other side of the room. A sigh escaped his lips and he tucked his phone away, his eyes taking on their usual bored appearance once again. Void of any and all expression.
 
Austin rolled his eyes. Of course that wouldn't just slide. "My bad for sending a text to the wrong person. Guess the world is gonna end now!" He grumbled, continuing to look forwards, hoping the chief would butt in sooner rather than later "Get back to me when I actually do something worth your time, since I seem to not meet your expectations with everything I do. Not like I was talking about you behind your back or anything, Christ." He retyped a message and sent it to the right person that time around, sighing a bit to himself.

Text From: EVIE <3!
Text To: Austin

She's doing fine, calm down. Focus on work, but also, don't stress out.

Text From: Austin
Text To: EVIE <3!

Too late I texted Lee with that message first and now I'm in what feels to be a stand off. I hate it and I want death (joke)!

Text From: EVIE <3!
Text To: Austin

I appreciate the labeling of your jokes but also, get back to work and stop texting me.
 
"Why do you have to be so goddamn dramatic? Who cares if you talk about me, it's not like it's something new." Lee snapped back, his irritation building back up in his gut and rising up his throat, threatening to empty more vicious commentary than he cared to. The detective turned his dark eyes to the ceiling before closing them, his jaw setting a bit. He didn't even know what he did wrong, and it seemed like his risk to put them back together was going down in flames. The feeling hit him harder than he thought, and he opened his eyes, releasing a breath slowly. He turned his gaze slowly back to Austin and grimaced, his eyes cold as he watched the other male.

"Fuck it. Do whatever the hell you want." Lee seethed, his eyes staying on Austin as he spoke, feeling them narrow into his famous icy glare. "Maybe next time you'll actually appreciate it when someone gives a fuck about your life." as he spoke, his tone was monotone despite his pounding chest as his anger rose. "If this was a partnership you actually liked, then you sure as hell don't make it seem that way. I don't care what your reasons behind it are, but you better pull your shit together before I walk outside that door." Lee threatened as he pressed a hand onto the table, pointing to the office door with his other. Situations like these were why he hated partnerships in the first place. People make their own decisions and push him away because of their own thoughts and ideology. He hated it -- he hated it, but he still wanted to give this partnership a chance. Nobody ever stuck around so long before, and it made Lee feel like an actual person.
 
"Jesus FUCKING Christ! Okay, you know what? Fine, you don't give a shit about my reasons, but I do, so against my better judgement, I'm going to lay them out for you." Austin was seething, hands out of his pockets, moving as he spoke "First of all, I was giving you space, and I wasn't saying anything now because I wanted to make sure I didn't say anything to piss you off, but I guess we're past that point, so, in your words, fuck it. You know something? I heard what you shouted the other night. And I do appreciate it. I appreciate people giving a shit about my life, but that isn't what I'm angry about, Lee. What I'm angry about is that you're being a hypocrite! You getting pissed off at me for caring about what happens to you is what I'm angry about! You say that you don't like when other people put their lives on the line to save someone else, but isn't that exactly what you were fucking doing? Not only the whole apartment situation, but your job in general. So, there's that. But I'm tired, and I'm pissed, so let me hit a few other pointers while I'm at it!"

Austin had been stepping closer as he spoke, voice raising, and he jabbed a finger at Lee's chest "Number 2, I'm annoyed that you act like you're the only person here allowed to get angry at another person. I think I'm within my rights to be a little angry! I'll say it, the whole going behind your back and changing partners was my fault, but surprisingly, some things aren't caused by me. Which leads me to point 3!" He was sure they were getting looks through the window, but at this point, he didn't care. "I am a fucking mess! I accept that, and I'm trying to work on it, but I'm currently at a very bad point! My meds aren't working, I haven't slept more than 4 hours for the last week and a half, this case is taking a turn for the worst, and a few people I like and care about are involved! Which means my brain is in total overdrive, and I'm practically running on fumes. So, you mentioning how much of an idiot I am? Doesn't really help my head situation. Which isn't fully your fault, but I was hoping, since we seemed to be on better terms, that you could acknowledge it and not look at me like I'm a moron for a bit!"

"All of that aside, I do value our partnership, a-fucking-lot, so I'm getting over myself and putting my thoughts out here because- because I'm hoping we can talk about this like two people who aren't emotionally stunted." At this point, the anger seeped out of his voice, and he just sounded tired, rubbing at his eyes with his hands, pushing up his glasses as he did "Because if I didn't get that out there, I would've continued acting like a petty little shit. But I'm tired, okay? Seriously. I'm just tired of you going all chilly on me after we actually get along. I feel like one of those poles that have the weird.....volleyball string contraption. Spinning around at wild velocities between two different sides. It kinda sucks, and I know I'm not really helping it, but....yea. I'm working on it, but this is a lot at once. I'd just like....I don't know, some sort of confirmation that you're working on shit too, because I know that neither of us were really looking for a partnership in the first place, and I also know we're both stubborn assholes."
 
Lee kept his eyes on Austin as the said male made his way around to him, going off on a tangent. He listened closely and scoffed a bit as a finger was poked at his chest. He swatted it away and lifted his chin a bit. The glare was still prominent, but his anger had diminished slightly as he more or less focused on what Austin was saying. There were so many misunderstandings, and Lee could admit that some of those may have been his fault. He didn't know how to socialize like the average person, so when it came to certain situations he wasn't able to word things the right way.

However, after Austin had finished his spill, Lee was still slightly aggravated. More so about the misunderstandings than anything, but he felt that he might as well clear that all up. Whether it annoyed him or not.

"Let me clear a few things up since you've finally got that off your chest." Lee kept his eyes on Austin and turned his body so that he was directly facing the other, taking a few steps so that only a foot separated them. He still had his glare, but it wasn't as harsh as it was moments before. "One, I have to care about your reasons, but when you act like this it's easy to say I don't. Two, I was pissed because to protect me, you were spewing about being the only one to take have to deal with the consequences. I was angry about that because of the fact that this guy whose obviously targeting you wants to fucking kill you. Do you understand that? Why would I be okay with you becoming another victim just so that I don't get hurt? How could I live with that?" Lee's mouth turned downward in a slight frown at having to explain that bit, as he assumed it was obvious why he was upset. The detective inhaled slowly to connect his next thoughts, but kept his eyes glued to Austin nonetheless. The glare was gone now and was replaced a look of ever-so-slight desperation.

"And with the whole apartment situation, I offered that so that you could have a piece of mind and feel safe. I understand that I'm risking my well-being, but in my mind, having two people in one place is a strategy. Especially against one person. And I don't give a shit at who you get mad at! I don't know where you got that idea, but who you get mad at and why is on you. The only reason I was mad this time was because you pushed me out and wouldn't talk to me for a whole goddamn week to explain why. The more time you spent avoiding me, which I stand by, since you walked out first, the more fuel was added. So yes, I was angry because of you for that reason." Lee paused and rubbed at his face, his eyes stinging from lack of sleep. "Plus, I understand you're going through some stuff and that it was my fault for not explaining myself better the first time around. We're both screwed and need sleep... and I don't know what it means to 'change', but I'm sure once we're both rested and taken care of, things should be better. No promises, but I might as well put it out there." Lee finally turned his gaze from Austin and exhaled, moving his eyes to the door.
 
Austin was silent for a moment, studying Lee. That was a different outcome than he had thought, but it wasn't unwelcome. "Well, uh...that actually turned out better than I was thinking." He voiced, crossing his arms and letting his glassed slide down a bit, not bothering to push them up "....So, basically, we're just really bad at...talking. Okay. That's good to know. God, I feel stupid now, this is just a conga line of misunderstandings. Fuck." His eyes flickered to the door, grimacing as he noticed the people staring at them through the window "......I see what you're getting at. And, uh, its.... its a very solid line of thought and I apologize for freaking out. Constantly. I'll make, like, an attempt to not do that."

He fell silent a moment, wincing a bit at the wording he used and how awkward it sounded. Now that it was out there, and Lee had replied, he did feel like maybe he was a little unjustified being that angry. Of course, it was still equally sort of both their faults, but that was due to misunderstanding and likely nothing else. It was obvious, as he spoke, that he was trying to be mature, and that it was difficult for him to piece together something to say. "....If the apartment offer is still up and you think you won't get the urge to strangle me while living with me, I think that it's....probably a good idea. If I don't get sleep soon, I'm going to go crazy." There was a pause, and then he added "But from this current awkward situation, I think that's pretty obvious. I think being hyped up on energy drinks might also cause heart and brain issues. I'm basically running a self-inflicted medical experiment at the moment, surprisingly not because I want to."
 
The awkwardness ebbing from Austin along with his lack of sleep hit Lee all at once. A tired smile pulled at his mouth as he rubbed his face, a short laugh escaping his lips. The situation thankfully was taken care of, but Austin was right. They really sucked at talking to each other, and for some reason that slightly amused him.

"It's definitely not just you. I'm literally uneducated in the field of socializing, so it's a learning curve for both of us." Lee spoke with a sigh, his smile slowly disappearing back to it's usual blank expression. As he turned his eyes to Austin, however, there was slight relief and amusement still in his gaze. "Plus, it's only natural to misunderstand each other with everything happening. It's like chaos is happening everywhere and we're just kinda stuck in the middle of it all." Lee added, running a hand through his hair. He thought a bit about the apartment offer, but had already made his decision on the matter when Austin had asked.

"I don't know if the urge to strangle you will totally disappear, but the offer's still open. You can let yourself in tonight if you need to, since you know the code. I'll make some actual food too that way we can start recharging. Even though I'm not good at medicine, even I can say that your medical experiment isn't faring too well." a small smirk pulled Lee's mouth as he crossed his arms, looking over Austin.
 
"Depends on how you look at it. Medical experiments don't always have positive results intended. Maybe I decided I wanted to play god and become a humanoid health hazard. I'm going to be detained by the CDC, that's my goal." The awkwardness slowly faded, and Austin seemed to relax when Lee had smiled and laughed. Talking things out had worked better than the alternative, which was simply continuing to ignore one another, and while that really shouldn't have been shocking, Austin was surprised all the same. "Besides, this is nothing. My ongoing experiment, which is now ending I guess, was eating Chinese food and Twinkies alone for 3 years. I haven't been struck dead yet!"

He glanced towards the window again, rocking back on his heels "In all seriousness, though, sounds good. Muffins already staying with Evie, so that's taken care of, and I have really 0 belongings that can't still be kept in the office. Jeez, d'ya think the chief heard yelling and she decided not to come in because of that? I wasn't expecting to finish a whole heart to heart in the time it took to get this meeting going."
 
There were people glancing at them through the window which made Lee feel slightly uncomfortable. He cleared his throat a bit and decided the best route was to not make eye contact and just stand there. "I'm not sure, but we do have an audience. You'd think that they would have better things to do than to stand around." as Lee spoke, he was slightly embarrassed and kept his gaze to the side, rolling his eyes. Chief really hadn't arrived yet, leading the detective to believe that she might have gotten word about their argument. That was even more embarrassing.

"I think she might be giving us a few minutes. Something tells me that she might have gotten word about our whole situation. At least, that seems the most likely right now." Lee turned his gaze to Austin, remembering his comment about Chinese food and Twinkies. "And honestly I think the only reason you haven't keeled over yet is because of the Chinese food. That's stretching it." the detective raised an eyebrow knowingly at the other.
 
"They mostly just stand around even when this isn't happening, so I'm not all that shocked." Austin shrugged a bit, before moving over to a seat to actually get settled rather than just stand there "Also, Chinese Food has all the nutrients I need, plus copious amounts of sodium. What more could you want? It isn't as if I'm close to dying of scurvy. My body is a temple and I obviously treat it with the love and respect it deserves, I don't know what you're giving me that look for. I'm the epitome of personal health."

He sighed, stretching out a bit, before leaning back in his chair. The prospect of actually getting sleep that night was appealing, even if it had come from a lot of yelling. Talking things out was exhausting; usually this would mean that he'd never attempt it again, but he had a feeling that he would need to, whether he liked it or not. It was either that, or things would get fucked up. Again. "I give the Chief another minute to get in here. Its that or I'm leaving this room to go find her. I just want to know what's going on."
 
Following Austin's suite, Lee sat in a chair and kept his eyes on the glass window. It really was odd that Chief was taking her time; usually it was more likely for her to break up the argument instead of waiting for it to finish. The thought put Lee slightly on edge and he turned to look down at the table, folding his hands together. "I agree with that. She's taking way longer than usual."

A few more moments passed and Chief still hadn't walked through the door. Lee furrowed his brow in confusion and moved to stand, scratching at the nape of his neck. The cogs in his brain started to move and he knew he was probably overthinking things, but her social and behavioral patterns weren't matching up. "Austin, I think something might be--"

Lee was suddenly cut off as he looked toward the glass window. All of the people were gone, and in their stead was a person. He was squatting in a childish posture to look over the sill of the window. Only his eyes were visible, and they were wide and bloodshot. Crazed. He looked to be smiling as well, sending chills down Lee's spine... and he was watching them without blinking. He felt almost frozen in fear before his brain caught up with him, which was to keep his eyes on the man and stumble backwards to Austin, patting his hand on the other to get his attention. By that point, the man's smile had grown wider, sending the detective's heart into hyper action.

"Austin. Austin, I think it's him. Fuck, Chief might be hurt, or somebody else." Lee spoke quickly as he tried to quickly narrow down his options. "We should split up. Check on Chief and I'll chase this guy... I know the second we move he's going to bolt." Lee was careful to not move his mouth too much to give away what he was saying to Austin. It felt like he was looking at nightmare fuel.
 
Austin was tempted to look towards the window, but he figured doing such would be against his better judgement, so he kept his eyes forwards. God, they really couldn't catch a break, could they? "Shit, really? Okay, not going to discuss this now, but we should probably start moving at the same time just so this maybe works." He said, running through his own options of where the Chief could possibly be. He could feel panic beginning to get to him, and tried to ignore it. "It probably won't. You have a gun or something, right? Because chasing a crazed person without one is a dumb move. Also, let's move on the count of three. Since you have eyes on him, you be the one to say when, I'm not looking over there."
 
"It's probably a good thing that you aren't." Lee commented quietly. He felt his back pocket and found his pistol. After the twisted message the last time, he was sure to get one issued to him from the station for his own protection. Thank god he had it now. As Lee took his hand away from Austin's shoulder, he took a deep breath and released it, keeping his face blank so the man couldn't read his expressions. "I have a gun. Ready... 3... 2... 1."

With that, Lee sprung forward, his eyes narrowing into a glare. The sudden action took the man outside by surprise as he stumbled backwards and bolted for the other end of the building. Lee was close behind, throwing the office door open and sprinting after the receding figure. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to make a connecting shot while he was running, the detective cursed under his breath at the fact that he needed to get closer before stopping to take aim. It was no easy task. The man was tossing pots and picture frames from the walls into his path, hoping to stop his pursuit. "Stop! You're under arrest!"

The chase continued for another minute before the man finally found an exit and shoved through it. Lee felt slightly panicked and sped up, reaching his arm out to grab at the man's shirt, only inches away. He missed. However, he was close enough, finally. The detective stopped quickly and pulled out his pistol, keeping himself calm as he aimed. The man continued to run, seeming to have gotten to the station on foot. Lee pointed the gun toward one of the man's legs and opened fire. He watched as the bullet connected, sending the man tumbling to the ground, laughing and groaning in pain. More or less creeped out by the stranger's reaction, Lee grimaced and ran forward, throwing his knee onto the other's back, pressing him into the ground. He then pulled the man's arms tight behind his back and managed to kneel on his hands as well. Not having a pair of handcuffs on him, the dark haired man decided to improvise. Pulling his belt free, he bounded the creep's hands together before pulling him up. "You're under arrest for evading arrest. You have the right to be silent, or should anything you say be used in the court of law." Lee seethed, shoving the man ahead of him.

"Do what you want, pretty boy~. My master will lick that look clean off your face!" the man screeched with laughter, throwing his head back to look at Lee. Disgusted at the performance, Lee refused to respond and brought the man inside where he was detained. Once he finally had a chance to think, the detective started to feel slightly anxious, worrying if Chief and Austin were okay. He jogged down the hall to see if he could find Austin or run into him, his chest still pounding from the encounter.
 
Austin ran out soon after Lee, but instead went for the stairs that led into the upper levels. The offices were on the floor above- the actually offices, that was, the ones that weren't part of the open floor plan that was the standard for the detectives. He almost tripped up the stairs as he was going, but managed to catch himself, bolting through the door once he was steadied. The first place he went to was her office, hoping that was really the only place he would need to check.

Luckily, it was. Unluckily, he looked like an idiot when he burst in, because apparently, she hadn't called the meeting. This, of course, meant there was good news as well as bad news. The good news was that she was fine, and that there was no need to worry. The bad news was that the text he'd gotten hadn't been from her, and probably, the weird murder person at the very least had his number, if not the chief's phone.

He excused himself quickly with an apology, heading back out the door. He ran into Lee near the stairs, trying to regain his breath. He really needed to exercise more, he decided, but that was something to think over later. "Hey. Hey, dude, did you get the guy? The weird window man. Jesus, that's creepy, I hate that." He said, running a hand through his hair.
 
Lee nearly gasped as he ran into Austin, throwing his hands out to catch the other by his shoulders. Realizing it was just his partner, he sighed in relief and let him go, taking a step back to inspect him. "Yeah, I got him. We'll have to question him later, but for now, what's up? Is Chief okay?" Lee asked breathlessly, his chest rising and falling. It was times like this that he often asked himself how adrenaline junkies did what they did. It was an anxious feeling.

Even as he stood there to collect his thoughts, he couldn't get his mind off of the image of the glass guy. His skin started to crawl upon bringing up the picture, to which he rubbed at his eyes. "God... as if I needed more nightmare fuel to add to the fire." Lee spoke under his breath before dropping his hands and looking over to Austin. It wasn't good that they were just running off of steam at that point, so it made sense that they both looked like they had run a marathon.
 
"Chief's fine. Actually, completely fine. So fine that she didn't actually call the meeting we were just at, and that's why she wasn't there." Austin explained, getting to the good news before the bad "...Which means that we got duped by whoever that guy was. I'm guessing you haven't questioned him yet, right? We should probably do that. Uh, I can do it, if you want, to avoid furthering your supply of nightmare fuel. I didn't really see him, so it'll be totally fresh and fun for me. We could switch? You go talk to chief about what happened, I question weird guy?"
 
At the twist of events, Lee blinked in slight shock. It was one thing for the murderer to know where they are, but it was another to be stalked and sent fake messages in order to be watched. A whole new level of crazy. The adrenaline continued to buzz in his ears at the thought of the challenge, and he slowly nodded at Austin's offer. If he talked to Chief, he could explain the situation and give Austin the chance to get his hands on the case as well.

"I agree. Let me know when you get done so we can go over clues on who that guy is. He said something about his 'master', so I'm sure there's a brain behind the pawn." Lee spoke quickly, patting a parting hand on Austin's shoulder as he walked past to go up the stairs. "Hopefully you don't need to play good cop bad cop, but if you do, you know where to find me." Lee paused and turned before heading up the stairs, giving a slight smirk to Austin before making his way to Chief's office. There was a lot that he needed to relay...
 
Austin, meanwhile, headed down to the detainment area. He grabbed two people on the way, and got them to agree to take the guy to the interrogation room, through persistent pestering. Once they did so- with minor complaining, surprisingly -he waited 2 minutes, to let the suspect get settled. He was a bit antsy to get in there, all things considered, but he didn't want to rush it. Interrogations were a bit difficult, because getting people to spill information was never easy, especially when they were probably absolutely crazy. He didn't have high hopes.

He took a deep breath, then let it out, steeling himself. After that, he headed in, grinning at the man in order to show that he wasn't disturbed. Of course, he was, but letting the guy in on that probably wasn't wise. "Hey there, nightmare man. I'm here to question you on what just happened. Oh, and let's be clear: you're not getting out of here until you answer my questions." He took a seat across from him, leaning back and taking out a pad "So how about we start with who you're working for?"
 
Once placed in the interrogation room, the crazed man leaned the side of his face against the wood table, opening his mouth to let his tongue fall against the wood. Drool started to stain the table and create a puddle as a strange sound escaped his throat. Then Austin walked in. Keeping his tongue sprawled against the table, the man lifted his maniacal gaze to the detective, his eyes following him until he couldn't strain to look anymore. When asked the questions, the ghoulish figure cackled through his open mouth before slowly lifting his head at last, pulling his tongue achingly slow back into his mouth. The drool dripped from his chin, and he watched Austin with wide eyes, just watching.

"Master will cut out my tongue if I tell~" the man cooed, clacking his teeth together as he clasped and unclasped his hands. "Don't smile in the face of fear or he'll tear your face off!"with another shriek of laughter that only seemed to affect him, the lunatic kept wide bloodshot eyes on Austin, licking at his lips. Slowly cocking his head to this side, he blinked and tapped an uneven yellow fingernail against the wood. A slight moment of sanity seemed to return as his eyes narrowed playfully. "Do you feel like the cat or the mouse right now, detective~?"
 
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