Shadowmaru { BP-501 } (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sassymaru) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
savetheearth2013-09-24 09:24 pm
sassymaru) wrote in savetheearth2013-09-24 09:24 pm
action --> video;
[ACTIONSPAM -- for Hospital]
[He all but jerks up out of sleep, unconsciousness, whatever it was, with a sharp gasp, and the only thing keeping him from sitting straight upright is the sudden stabbing pain in one shoulder, and the back of his head. There's a split second in which he's sure all those injuries are real and not some dream --]
[-- then there's the white wall of the hospital room. Breath. Pain. None of those would happen if he were dead, would they?]
[He settles slowly back down, eyes a little glazed and startled, fumbling around for a phone that isn't there. He has to call -- ]
[VIDEO START]
[And sometime after the initial shock wears off, and his phone is retrieved, a very disheveled looking man lying in a hospital bed, bandaged and pale, is holding the device up in one hand, like he's trying to see himself and record at the same time.]
[This is a terrible time for selfies, sir.]
I suppose that asking if anyone can hear me is a foolish question. However... I'll ask it anyway.
[He smirks a little.]
I'm so very intrigued to find out who it is I'll be speaking to in such covert means. A secret network? You have my attention.
Takenaka Yuji -- [He inclines his head, as best he can.] -- At your service.
[action]
[Nick rolls his eyes, looking vaguely affronted, even though he, too, would rather talk about this than the network.]
I have my own brand of skill, thanks, I'll stick with that.
[He's pretending he has no idea what Yuji is talking about with the other bit, and that it isn't even worth a response.
And that may be a focus shift, but not for long. There's no way Nick'll let that go.]
Yes, and yes. There's been others, and it's not always just visions. There's a guy who can talk to fish, so I'd say as long as you didn't get that, you're ahead.
[action]
[The lack of response earns the slightest smirk. Don't even try it partner -- if he can't hide things from you...]
As you wish.
[He says it with a little bow of his head, the best he can do without actually bowing.]
Not always visions... What else? [And then the cool exterior vanishes in favor of a rather impressive look of confusion.] Talk... to fish?
[action]
[He likes the not being able to hide stuff thing much better when it's the other way around. Still, he's going to ignore that smirk, too.]
Am I a farmboy now?
[The Princess Bride joke will throw him off the subject, right?]
Items. Abilities. Changes in physical appearance. It runs a pretty wide gamut, actually. [He smiles, just a little.] Yeah. He was the first I talked to on the network; I thought it was crazy. Honestly, sometimes I still do. But it's been over three months now, and it hasn't gone away.
[action]
Looking pathetic has its advantages.
[And he's back to looking smug, eyes half-closed. It's either sleepy or smug, it's hard to tell.]
I can think of about half a dozen filthy responses to that question. Shall I answer? Or would you prefer to keep your ears virginal?
[Nope.]
[He cracks an eye back open, back to listening to the information.]
You don't look different. You must have gotten lucky. [A slight frown.] Then... I'm guessing it's unlikely to ever pass. Hm?
[action]
[He grins at him, a teasing glint in his eyes.]
With you as my partner, my ears are hardly virginal. All the same, I think I'll pass.
[Damn it.
But he gets more serious, then, pushing his free hand through his hair.]
In that respect, yeah, I guess you could use lucky. For the most part, I've only gotten the vision things. But no, it's not. It's... probably only going to get worse. There's a lot you'll have to see for yourself, but when you do go on the network - don't tell them that you're a cop.
[action]
[He pokes his tongue out a little, at the grin. But that's about all.]
Pity. I had very good ones, thank you.
[The change in tone doesn't go unnoticed. He traces the edges of his phone with a fingertip, processing that as best he can under the circumstances.]
You're incredibly optimistic about this, aren't you? Saa. Why should I say nothing?
... This isn't about aliens, is it?
[action]
[That just makes his grin widen a little.]
I'm sure you did. And I'm sure I'll hear them at some point.
[There's a slight smile at that.]
Hey, I just wanted to make sure you're prepared. We can handle whatever they throw at us, man, we always do. [There, optimism.]
No, it's not. Well, some people think aliens are behind it, and some people have visions about aliens, but that's nothing to do with the cop thing. Most of the people on the network, they believe that the whole police force is in on whatever this is, that they're part of what's behind it. It's not true, of course, but it... it's not untrue, either. You know Detective Sherman? He's in on it. And so is the sheriff.
[action]
[He shakes his head slightly, then winces -- that's not a good plan. But the optimism is pretty good to hear, all things considered.]
That's more like it.
[But of course, it's back to serious business.]
All of us? But... then wouldn't we remember being a part of some hideous, nefarious scheme? Because I certainly don't. [He blinks, frowning.] How do you know that?
[action]
[He's mostly joking. Mostly.
But it doesn't last long, anyway.]
I don't, either. I think a lot of them are just paranoid and looking for someone to blame. We both know the police force isn't perfect, and there's always going to be corrupt cops, but there's no way everyone is in on it.
[And of course Yuji asks that. It wouldn't be his partner if he didn't. But this part is... hard to talk about, and it takes a moment for him to reply.]
There were two people who saw numbers, like us, a kid and a woman. The sheriff found out about them, and - the kid was killed. The woman disappeared. The kid was before I found out about the network, but the woman - I looked into her disappearance. There's security footage of her being interrogated by the sheriff and Detective Sherman, but there's no arrest record, no paperwork of any kind on her. That's the last time she was seen.
[action]
[His fingers rub over the edges of the phone case again, looking down at it. The images of the memory... combined with this new knowledge. It's more unsettling than he wants to admit. But the nervous habit makes it apparent to anyone who knows him.]
No, they aren't. I know. They aren't supposed to be in on horrible conspiracies though. That's... something out of a movie.
[His shoulders almost tense, but then there's a visible wince, and he does his best to relax. His fingers rub harder at the case, though his face remains closed, smooth and neutral.]
She could be alive, somewhere. Security footage in the building -- to show where they went after the interview...
Why did they bring them in? What was the... They couldn't have just pulled them off the street for no reason.
[action]
[It is obvious, but unfortunately, none of this is probably going to make it any better. Nick's almost regretting that he'd been happy about Yuji finally being involved in this - thinking about it objectively, it's a terrible situation to be involved in.]
Yeah. Yeah, it is. My life is pretty much something out of a movie right now, man, I'm sorry yours is, too. But I'm... really happy I don't have to hide things from you any more.
[Nick squeezes his forearm, lightly, thumb stroking absently over his partner's skin. He knows this is a lot to take.]
She could be. We don't know what happened to her, the last footage we have shows her being taken into a police car outside the station. There's no trace of her after that.
The kid went to them for help. He told them about the numbers, about what he'd seen, and he got killed for it. Candy - the woman - they found out about her being involved with the network, too.
[action]
[It's just a lot to take in. And it's a lot of doubt dumped onto something he thought was a sure thing. A lot of questions about who can be trusted, who should be trusted. What does he do now.]
Would it be worth now, to ask how much it is you have been forced to hide? Or shall I wait until they release me and you've finished one guilt trip, before starting you on another?
[He's going to pretend he doesn't grab onto his partner's hand just then. A comfort reflex. Even if his expression is outwardly calm, none of this helps.]
Who's looking for her? Someone has to be... And the boy. Surely, someone reported him missing. And there must have been remains.
How are they hiding this?
[action]
I'm not on a guilt trip.
[Not yet, anyway. All right, he is a little.]
I'll tell you everything, but - after we get out of here. When we're not in public.
[Then Nick'll pretend that didn't happen, too, and that he didn't twist his hand slightly so that he could grab it back.]
Her girlfriend is, and we are. But we haven't found anything. The kid... I don't know what happened. I think there was a fire to cover it up.
It's just the sheriff, and the other detective. If they never said anything, never gave us cause to be suspicious, how would we know?
[action]
Of course not.
[There's a slow, borderline shallow breath, as he forces himself to stay calm. Stay collected. His fingers tighten, knuckles a little white under the skin.]
A fire. Then it can be investigated. Right? Find if it's arson or not... And go from there. Right?
[If he sounds like he's vaguely grasping at straws... he sort of is.]
Because they're making suspects just. Disappear?
[action]
As far as I know, it was investigated, and someone was caught for it.
[He doesn't like talking about this. He hasn't talked about it, because it's hard for him to believe, and he still doesn't know what to do about it. What to think.]
She wasn't suspected of anything. If they were making suspects disappear, it'd be easier, there'd be a record, but... there's nothing. They leave just enough evidence for us to know, but not enough to do anything. At least, not yet. That's why we have to be careful about this, why no one can find out.
[action]
[And he hates that idea. He hates all of this. As much as he tries to keep it off his face -- the blank neutrality of his expression probably says it loud and clear.]
[Either that, or the pressure of his fingers does.]
Nothing.
I don't accept that. There must be something.
[action]
[All of the above says that, and Nick feels terrible telling him this. Not to mention that he hasn't come to terms with it himself. It's hard to explain what's going on when he doesn't really know.
He squeezes back, going for reassuring, but probably only succeeding at empathetic.]
Of course there's something. There has to be something, there always is. But it's not like our usual cases, man, it's not - we don't know who to trust. We can't tell anyone our suspicions, because they sound insane, and even though most of the station can't be in on this, there's no way they'd believe it.
Kotetsu - Sergeant Kaburagi - was the only cop who knew about the network for a while, and then it was just him and me. Then there was a rookie, and an undercover cop at another station, and - and now you. But we can't trust anyone else.
[Given Nick's trust issues - and the fact that Yuji was the closest person that Nick'd come to trusting in pretty much his whole life - it's strange to talk about trust now. But the network has changed that a little, if only by necessity.
Well. And because of Monroe.]
[action]
[Maybe this would be better to bear if the vision wasn't still dancing around in his head.]
[Or if he hadn't been shot. Or if he weren't a cop, if that hadn't been his entire life goal. Or if--]
[He feels his nails dig into his partner's hand, and forcibly stops himself from digging in too much.]
Us against the world. It never sounds as badass as it should.
[His head lowers, but his eyes flick up again, after a moment.]
Kaburagi. Isn't he old and decrepit.
[action]
[It's the cop thing that's the hardest. It's been Nick's life for so long, it's why he's still in denial about parts of it.
Nick doesn't mind the nails. He's had worse, and if Yuji needs something to hold onto right now, Nick can be it.]
Not the whole world. Just whatever may or may not be invading it.
[That gets an amused snort, and he's grateful for the mood lightening, even just a little.]
He's only like five years older than me, man. I wouldn't call that old.
[action]
[Yeah, it really is the hardest part. This is supposed to be something important. Something indivisible. Sure, there are dirty cops, there's bad eggs in every profession... but this? This goes beyond it, somehow.]
[It seems almost like he's dozed off for a second, with his grip releasing the barest fraction. He answers eventually, a little dazed-sounding.]
Invading. So there are aliens.
[And why does that sound somehow familiar?]
When you're young and beautiful like me, five years is a lifetime. He's old.
[action]
Or at least, it isn't for Kotetsu and Nick, and Nick knows it won't be for Yuji, which is the majority of Nick's sample there.]
No. Well, maybe. I don't know, I think it was proven that whoever definitively said it was aliens was lying. It... might be something supernatural, something magical. It might be aliens, it might be demons. Hell if I know.
[Nick shakes his head, chuckling.]
So is this the part where I don't mention your actual age?
[action]
Magical. You want me to believe this is... magical. Or demons. I'm Japanese, not Amish.
[Except his background has a long history of demons and weird superstitions but no dammit he has a point to make here.]
You don't know my actual age.
[action]
Dude really, Amish, that's where you went? Besides, the Japanese have plenty of demons and superstitions, you should see one of the Japanese entries in the book I got. And - I don't want you to believe anything. I don't even know what I believe, I just know that shit is happening and all we can do is deal with it the best we can.
[He shakes his head.]
Of course I do. I'd be a pretty crappy detective if I didn't know my own partner's actual age.
[action]
You're not allowed to lecture me about my own culture, just because I'm hospitalized.
... what book?
[He rolls his eyes -- dramatically.]
You have guesses. That's all.
[action]
All right, all right, comment withdrawn. And it's - I don't know, it's like a book profiling supernatural creatures.
[Very dramatic, man. Nick's suitably impressed.]
Uh-huh. You keep thinking that.
[action]