Take-Two [ Tragictrees & Annyeong Bunny ]

"Oh, great, I was scared that someone had killed you and replaced you with someone else." Austin sighed, before beginning to walk "This works better. Much better. If you were going to get us stuck in a vent, I'd kill you, and then there would be a murder case, but neither of us would have the privilege of working on it." He really felt more comfortable being the only one in the vent system anyway. Lee may have been a decent detective- not that Austin was going to say that to his face -but when it came to actually committing crime, or anything crime adjacent, Austin was sure he'd fail miserably.

He made his way outside, and over to the area that Lee had mentioned, looking up at it and squinting. Then, he sighed, taking off his jacket and sunglasses, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the light. He turned to his partner and held out the two items "Alright. Hold these, please. The jacket was a gift from my step-mom and the glasses are prescription, if you need a good reason not to throw them in the dirt. Blind as a bat right now, but it'll be dark in there, so I'm not really worried. It's that one up there, right?"
 
"Haha, so funny." Lee's tone dripped with sarcasm as he followed Austin. "It's amusing that you think you'd kill me, but we'll have test that scenario another time." the detective's ever so slight sense of dry humor managed to escape, and he sighed. He didn't hesitate to grab Austin's belongings, as he wanted to just get the investigating over with.

"I might not like you, but that doesn't mean I'd stoop so low as to destroy some else's property, even if I'm tempted." Lee rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue in annoyance. Looking up at the vent Austin pointed out, he nodded and stepped back, holding a hand over his eyes to block the sun. "Yeah, that's the right one. Once you get inside, don't move until I get back in the museum. I'll give you directions then."

With that, Lee jogged to the museum and made his way inside, going back to where Austin would be when he climbed into the vent. He waited until he could hear the telltale signs of Austin climbing inside to give him the directions.
 
There was a bit of trial and error, and by trial and error it's meant that there was a few minutes where Austin could not properly scale the tree in order to reach the vent. It wasn't that he couldn't climb trees; suggesting such would be an insult to him. He could climb trees, and he could climb them extremely well, but that was when he wasn't wearing tight jeans and no glasses. He had the blindness of a bat and the mobility of someone in a straight jacket. Nevertheless, he made it to the vent, removing the already unscrewed grate before climbing inside.

Once he was inside, he shimmied a bit, making his way to an appropriate section, before knocking his knuckles lightly against the metal to indicate where he was and wait for instructions.
 
Hearing Austin knock against the metal, Lee figure he'd be able to hear him without him having to shout. He closed his eyes and mentally pulled the blueprint to mind, finding the route that led straight to the spear case.

"Okay, you're going to go straight until you hit a dead end. Then, you'll turn left. Follow that shaft, since you'll hit a few dead ends with only one way to go. Keep following those. Then, you should come to an intersection. Turn left again and follow it a few feet until you can either go straight or right. Go right. Follow that all the way until you come to a dead end. The vent should be below you, right above the spear case. If you need any clarification, let me know. I'll be following along below you." and with that, Lee began to start following Austin, using the sounds of the vent to see where he was. He held the jacket against his chest, and the sunglasses in his hand, making sure to keep a hold on them. He didn't want the other detective to accuse him of doing something to them, anyway.
 
Austin followed the directions, wincing every now and then as he bumped into the metal around him. It wasn't possible to fully crawl in the space, not really; it was too small. So, it took him a bit to get there. Over all, though, he felt he did pretty well. He had a keen memory- though he liked to use it for medical procedures more than he liked to use it for shit like this -and considering the size of the space, being slow was to be expected. He kept an eye out, or a hand in this case, for anything of interest, before he reached the vent above the spear crate. There had been nothing, but he figured he might as well let Lee know he made it.

He removed the grate in front of him carefully, placing it further than the hole, before hanging himself through the space. It was also because he was curious how close it was to the spear, and also because he loved doing things like this. It made things more interesting. He just hoped the forensics team was otherwise occupied.
 
Lee cursed under his breath as he watched Austin start hanging out from the vent like a freaking monkey. He quickly looked around, and to his relief, most of the investigators had moved on to investigating the entrance, so there wasn't anyone by the spear case. The detective cleared his throat and looked back up at Austin.

"Did you find anything? I couldn't see anything when you opened the vent either." Lee observed as he traced the vent opening with his eyes. A frustrated sigh escaped his lips and he ran his free hand through his hair, feeling like they might not be able to finish this case. There was such a lack of evidence.

"If there wasn't anything, we might as well head out. If we didn't find anything, I doubt this forensics team will find anything either. Let's look over what we did manage to find."
 
"Literally nothing up here. Not even dust. It's clean." Austin replied, non-pulsed, unconcerned with the fact he was hanging upside-down out of a vent opening at a crime scene "Not that I'm surprised. Alright, cool, look, head back to the car, I'll be there in like....10 minutes, maybe 15. Going backwards is more difficult. Also, I have the keys, please don't leave without me, thank you, you're the best, bye now!"

He ducked back up, replacing the vent. He took a moment to just take a breath and sigh, steadying himself once more as he started to feel less light-headed. Blood rushing to his head? Well, unfortunate side effect of what he just did. Then, when he was ready, he started his way back.
 
Lee shook his head at the dangling Austin and muttered a "yeah, yeah" to the said male's comment about not leaving him. Turning on his heel, he made his way to the entrance, a few of the investigators stopping to look at him, to which sent sent a cool icy glare. Then, he was outside, leaning against Austin's car. Pulling out his phone, he figured now was the best time, if any, for him to thank Evelyn.

Text From: Lee
Text To: Evelyn

The blueprint helped a lot, despite not finding much other info. I guess you're not so bad, so thanks. And don't take it to heart or anything, it's just common courtesy.

He then texted the Chief, letting her know about their predicament and how little evidence they found. He also told her that the evidence found by the forensics team was useless as well, so he would assume that the case would go cold. Once he finished... 'socializing', he put his phone away and continued to wait, tapping his arm lightly.
 
Text From: Evelyn
Text To: Lee

Giving you the blueprint was common courtesy. You're working with my cousin. Consider this making up for it. Text me if you need anything, whether it's Austin translating, something about security, or more blueprints. Hope more comes up.

Austin took about 14 minutes to get back to the car, straightening himself as he hustled over, holding out his hands for his stuff. He had sticks and leaves in his hair, and frankly, looked rather frazzled, but he was grinning like an idiot, so it was safe to say he was fine. "Sorry, took me actually 10 minutes, but I fell out of the tree. Let's get out of here before I feel the urge to kill that forensics squad again."
 
Lee sent a single thumbs up emoji to Evelyn, as Austin had just shown up. Right away, his eyes locked onto the sticks and leaves in the other detective's hair and couldn't help but smirk. He would have laughed, but instead shook his head and sat in the car. Once Austin was in the car, Lee continued to see one larger stick out of the corner of his eye. Huffing in slight annoyance, he reached over and quickly plucked it, tossing it out the window.

"You're pretty clumsy, aren't you?" Lee observed, turning his head slightly to look over Austin's face. He tried his best to keep from profiling others, but sometimes, his mind did it on his own... whoops. To keep himself from doing so, he looked ahead, crossing his arms over his chest lazily. He was glad to be rid of that sad excuse of a forensics team.
 
Austin genuinely laughed for most likely the first time in front of his partner, eyes crinkling at the corners a bit as he shrugged his jacket back on and put on his sunglasses. "Clumsy? No way. Only when I don't have my glasses." He replied, tapping them lightly "As I said, prescription. I can't see without them. You're just a tall blob. So, like, can't see shapes leads to not seeing branches, push came to shove, and my face made violent contact with a pile of leaves. It is what it is. Now, lets blow this popsicle stand!"

It was a few days later that Austin got another file from the chief- who was less than pleased about the museum incident, since there wasn't any evidence -and instructions to seek out Lee. Of course, he listened to the instructions...after looking the file through and coming to a few conclusions. To be completely fair, it had only taken him an extra 45 minutes to do that, so it wasn't like he had kept him waiting days.

He spotted Lee, and then made his way up to him, stepping in front of him- ignoring whatever he happened to be doing -and holding up the file to get his attention. "Hey. Got something interesting. Kidnapping case." He said, waving it around "Take a look! I have some things to check out, because you know, covering bases is easier if you split up and all that. Should be a slip of paper in there with my number on it if you need to contact me or whatever."
 
As usual, people shied from Lee as he entered the department. He rolled his eyes and took a sip of his hot chocolate. He never cared for coffee, and he had an odd sweet spot for sweets... go figure. Maybe it served to balance his bitter attitude. He closed his eyes and secretly relished the warmth of the drink, knowing he sure as hell needed it. It had been a long night.

Pressing the cup to his lips, he pressed his upper lip against the whipped cream on top, sighing. He was so bored. However, just as he thought that, his eyes widened as Austin stepped in front of him. He had taken him completely off guard, and quickly turned his head to the side, holding a hand to hide his mouth as he licked the whipped cream from his upper lip. Goddammit, why did he have to pop up like that? Turning back to the other detective, he raised an eyebrow and sucked his upper lip in his mouth, his excitement starting to return. A kidnapping case? Those were always interesting.

"You already have something to look into? That was fast..." Lee trailed off as he opened the file with one hand, holding the hot cocoa with the other. He saw the slip with Austin's number and slowly nodded. "Okay. I'll get a hold of you if I come up with something." Lee skimmed the file, seeing some key points he'd focus on once he was in his office.

"Just don't go making more trouble. That's the last thing we need." Lee added, narrowing his eyes slightly at Austin as he sipped from his cup. While he had been annoyed with pairing with the male the last two times, the detective figured the only thing he could do was go along with it. As long as he was getting cases solved, he could try and deal with the annoyance that was Austin.
 
"I'm a goddamn treasure, okay? I'm adorable and a pleasure and I'm almost offended that you'd suggest I'd be able to cause trouble in any sort of capacity. Seriously! The nerve." Austin rambled, clearly more comfortable working with Lee than he had been the last two cases "But yeah, whatever. Scouts honor, I'll be good." Austin did a scout sign as he said it, though it was a little off "I'm not gonna kill anyone or steal anything. Catch you later, skater!" With that, he was off.

See, he did say he wouldn't kill or steal, but trespassing was a completely different ordeal. He had a lead, and that lead was in an abandoned building. A little snooping never killed anyone! And he refused to be proven wrong about that. Because, here's another thing: getting stabbed is different than dying, and so he was still right.

It happened when he was going up the old stairs, and he had hit a spot that happened to spring a trap, which happened to get him stabbed in the arm. It was an unfortunate sequence events that had him sitting on the staircase, blood soaking his shirt, and regret for going in the first place coming to mind.
 
Lee rolled his eyes and watched as Austin dashed to leave. He narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling as if something was... off. He brushed the feeling off and walked to his office. Sitting in the chair, he disposed his cup and cleared his throat. It was time for him to finally get his mind going again. A ghost of a smile pulled at his lips as he opened the file. If anything, stuff like this kept his mind off of other things, and that's why he enjoyed his job.

Looking over the details he groaned, noticing it was an aggravated kidnapping. Violent, in other words. The child had been walking home from the bus stop where it was assumed she had been kidnapped. Evidence pointing to this was the girl's backpack, blood spatter on on of the straps. Forensics showed that spit had been in the blood, meaning she must have been hit, most likely to keep her quiet. There were a few clues as to where the kidnapper could have gone, three places, in fact. One of those places must have been where Austin decided to go.

Lee tapped a pen against his mouth and exhaled, his brow furrowed. The kidnapper seemed dangerous if he managed to cover most of his tracks while carrying an unconscious girl in broad daylight. Taking out his phone, he put in Austin's number and decided to skip texting. It was faster to call. He sat there, leaning against the back of his chair as he heard the it start to ring through to Austin's phone.
 
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Austin cursed at his phone buzzing, shifting so he could grab it would annoying his wound too much. If he got tetanus he was going to throw a fit. He looked at the name on the screen, and sighed. Unknown number. Lee, probably. Either that or a span call, which would result in him destroying his phone. Taking care, he answered it.

"Lee!" He greeted, words slurring a bit, but hopefully not noticeably "Or, uh, I'm assuming. Hopefully. What's up?" This was already turning out great.
 
Thankfully, the phone picked up, and Lee opened his mouth to spill his entire theory to Austin. However, he paused, lifting an eyebrow as he leaned onto his desk, his mouth slowly closing. Something was up, he could tell in the other detective's voice. He learned to profile through face and voice expressions, so he narrowed his eyes as he caught on to the slightly slurred speech.

"I'm not an idiot." Lee spoke, his voice becoming slightly assertive as he talked to Austin. "What happened?" Lee stood from his chair and grabbed his keys, leaving the case file on his desk. Taking long strides, he kept Austin on the phone as he made his way to his car. "Where are you?"
 
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Austin relented almost immediately, too tired to deal with it. He winced, laying down on the floor, recalling a few things about stab wounds, though only vaguely. He stayed silent a minute, trying to dig up information from his head about stab wounds. "Uh, okay. No, not an idiot, very smart. I, um, got stabbed in the arm. I don't think- I'm not in shock, yet, probably won't be in shock if I'm lucky. Just, uh- fuck, ow, fucking hell--!" He cut himself up, hissing and cursing as he shifted the wrong way "Fuck! I'm going to kill myself before this stab wound does. Do you know anything about first aid or do I need to step you through this? When you get here."

There was another brief pause, before he added "Oh. I didn't tell you where 'here' was, right. Uh, old building mentioned in the file. I forget the address."
 
"Goddammit, okay, hold on. I'm on my way. I know where you are." Lee turned on his bluetooth ear piece and shoved it in his ear. The call reconnected and he started the car quickly. He thought about anything he might know about first aid and groaned. He was clueless about it. Give him a question about psychology, or how pain affects then brain, and he'd tell you an essay. But, in this situation, he had no idea.

"No, I don't know anything about it. I know the basics of maybe cleaning a wound, but that's it. Fill me in. I'll be there in less than five minutes." Lee pressed on the gas, feeling his mind race. He knew he might be speeding, but it was an emergency, and honestly, that was farthest from his mind as he mentally pulled up the three addresses. Only one matched the description of an old warehouse, so he made a sharp right and made his way there. "Just, you know, try not to pass out or anything before I get there. I don't know what I'm doing."
 
"Oh, dude, no, no, it's totally fine, no worries. I can like, walk you through it." Austin said casually, feeling a bit dizzy. Shock sign. Okay, not good, but he could deal with it. He elevated his feet, propping them up on a discarded box, raising his arm above his head and wincing, as the knife was still in it " 'S cool. I mean, I'm a medic. Or I basically am. I went, uh, to like....7 years of medical school, dude. That's a lotta medical school. Man, I miss trying to be a doctor." He lamented, sighing "It was so fun. Detective work can eat my entire ass." He paused, then added "I mean, no offense. You went for school for this, probably. Fuck. Shit. Blood loss is awful."
 
"You really do talk a lot, don't you?" Lee spoke with a fast exhale, focusing on the directions to the warehouse. He learned to not take offence to people in general these days, so he didn't care to respond. Making another right, he checked for traffic and sped up. Almost there. At least Austin was talking to him; it meant he was still conscious, at least.

"You know, if you would have done 7 years of detective work instead before trying to go off on a case like this, common sense would have told you to watch your step. But, who am I to judge." with that, Lee parked his car and hung up the phone, throwing his bluetooth into the center console. He could hear Austin's groaning from outside, since the door was so old, it was stuck open. Jogging inside, Lee furrowed his brow as he saw Austin. It was... bad. The sight of blood was okay, but it was the thought of it touching his skin that made him feel nauseous. It was one of his fears, after all.

"Okay, tell me what to do." Lee was alert and felt his professional mode kick in, all signs of his asshole nature gone. He crouched in front of Austin, waiting for his directions.
 
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