The HQ Team (PLOT)

With her grip firm on the sneaky nerd and the other little weird moss headed one leading the way, Karen stomped along, following whatever-his-name-is to where he'd found another goddamn body. That meant another ten goddamn hours of surveillance, that meant all this other fucking paperwork, and that also meant that no, she wasn't going to get a break from this anytime soon. Everything had been hunky-dory for fucking years and now? Now it was all coming apart by the seams and where were all the useful people to deal with this?

It didn't take long for them to reach the body, a small pool of blood draining out onto the floor where Mop Head had left him. Karen recognized this bozo's face-- this was one of her own Security people. Her face twisting into a far more livid snarl, she gave Cold Nips a furious glare before shoving him at Clair. "I know this guy," she growled. "This is one of my people. You're fucking with the wrong lady, Asshole." She glanced to Clair, a rare, dangerous glint in her eye, yet her voice was as calm as a placid lake. "Be kind, Clair, and take him somewhere secure while I deal with this?" Her hands curled into fists and flexed, obviously restraining some urge to punch the scientist in her sights. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

It didn't take long to find the body the idiot child had left completely unattended though to Clair it felt like forever. The entire way shit stain had been making increasingly frequent, and loud, squeaking noises as he tried not to hyperventilate like a pussy. Each little sound grated on her nerves and Clair felt her teeth clenching tighter and tighter to the point her jaw hurt as she struggled not to strangle the little shit right in front of Karen. He was so fucking lucky she was here. "I know this guy," Karen ground out as she looked over the newest dead moron. "This is one of my people. You're fucking with the wrong lady, Asshole." Well that was new.

"Whoever it is must be getting ballsier if they are taking out members of security now. Perhaps the human popcicle wasn't their first, just the first found." Even she was stupid enough to paint a target on her back like this person had by taking out one of Karen's men and she was a practiced killer. She kept her habits quiet which is how she had gotten away with it for so long. Whoever this new threat was they were no hunter, they were just dropping whatever body came near them. Where was the art? The pride? This was just tasteless. Clair could see the barely checked fury in her friend's eyes as they drew slowly over to her, the tall nerd slowly pushed in her direction as she spoke.

"Be kind, Clair, and take him somewhere secure while I deal with this?" Oh joy of joys! She had been wanting to be alone with this idiot since first talking to him in the interrogation room. Now she could finally do her fucking job and extract whatever information the shivering waste of a man was hiding in that labyrinthine mind of his. How long would he continue to hold out? Probably not long given the looks of him, not with what she had in mind. Too skinny. His nerves would be too easy to poke out with so little meat. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Oh take your time sweetheart," she replied in a honey disguised voice, already closing her hand around the new toy's arm. Her grip nearly vice-like as her nails dug in firmly to prevent him trying to flinch away. "I wouldn't want you to rush anything this important. Just give me a ring when you are on your way and I'll let you know where we've holed up." She waited until Karen turned back to look at the body before a sinister grin slowly crawled across her face. "I'll take care of him until you get there."

"Motherfucke-- you fucking serious?! God DAMMIT!" He stood there, trembling, hands clutched at his chest as if that would somehow protect him from the blood on his uniform, muttering about the blood- blood there was blood on him oh gods-

"Okay. Okay. You, shut up." Karen's voice cut through the long running string of his terrified thoughts and his head snapped up, breaths coming in increasingly quick gasps, eyes darting back and forth between the two women and his friend. What were they doing here!? What was going on!? "Show me where the body is. You," she pointed to Colress, the boy flinching at the hardness in that tone. "Don't make this harder for me and I won't fucking clock you straight into your Coke bottle glasses."

He opened his mouth to say- something, it wasn't like he knew what, but the woman grabbing him and pulling him out of the room sent the enormity of what had just happened crashing over him all over again, and all that came out was a whimper, the fire of indignancy doused by memories of the last time he had been so close to a dead person.

"And you thought this job would be easy, huh?"

"Fucking Lance--of all the fucking times to be out and about, jerking your own fucking cock! If he's not going to be here, then what's the fucking point of him?!"

Wally didn't hear a word they said. In complete silence, he led them to the body, shaking the whole while. When they drew close he stopped and stared at the body without actually seeing it.

Blood. Screams. Corpses. Death, so much death. Karen and Clair's voices were background buzz, lost in the recesses of screams echoing down the streets of the two little towns he'd called home.

Had the air always been this thick? His lungs were complaining. Breaths came shorter and squeakier, and he shook.

His mother still lived, barely, as he threw open the door to his home; guts strewn all over the floor, his mother turned her head to look at him with a sort of confused look, far past feeling the agony of the thing eating her insides-

Can't breathe can't breathe-!

Conscious thought switched off for the moment. Without any amount of thought at all about social conventions, the boy grabbed at the bottom of his bag, upending it and its contents all over the floor, the asthma attack set off by his panic attack in full swing as he dropped to his knees and groped through his belongings to search for his inhaler.

His lungs burned and begged for air, his head dizzy; somewhere underneath it all was the crushing terror of gasping for breath with a wide open mouth and still getting nothing at all.

When they made it to the body still oozing blood onto the floor, Colress couldn't even look at it. He didn't want any more bodies to haunt his nightmares. Karen shoved him towards Clair as she glared, "I know this guy." Oh no. Now she was going to want someone to blame for this even more. "This is one of my people. You're fucking with the wrong lady, Asshole."

"Whoever it is must be getting ballsier if they are taking out members of security now. Perhaps the human popcicle wasn't their first, just the first found." Colress wasn't even sure if she could be right or not, but if their only lead on Dr. James was him, then why would they think he killed this person? He unfortunately didn't have an answer for that, but it wouldn't surprise him if they made up something.

If looks could kill, then Karen's glare would have him dead on his feet, and her false calm tone almost promised that that wasn't off the table. "Be kind, Clair, and take him somewhere secure while I deal with this? I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Oh take your time sweetheart," Clair's voice dripped with venom and honey. That didn't bode well. She latched onto his arm with a vice-like grip, "I wouldn't want you to rush anything this important. Just give me a ring when you are on your way and I'll let you know where we've holed up." Wait. They weren't going to the station? Whatever color he had left fled. "I'll take care of him until you get there." Was she going to kill him? Why was she taking him somewhere hidden?

The questions fled from his mind when Wally suddenly dumped his bag onto the floor and started frantically looking through the contents. The boy looked like he couldn't breathe. "Wally!?" he cried out. Without thinking, he tried to run over to him, but Clair's grip kept him from moving. Hoping that one of them might do something, he yelled, "He needs help!"

"Oh take your time sweetheart," Clair purred behind her, obviously incredibly pleased with this turn of events. Karen knew it was likely that she was going to use some... creative methods to extract information, but at this point, Karen didn't care. The dick has the gall to go after her own, he'd get to live with the consequences. "I wouldn't want you to rush anything this important. Just give me a ring when you are on your way and I'll let you know where we've holed up." Karen grunted an affirmative reply and continued to stare down at the body, looking for any kind of clue. "I'll take care of him until you get there."

"Just don't kill him. I want him to suffer for this," she growled in a low tone, her fury kept under control by a small, thin miracle. It could break at any moment.

Her eyes shifted as the boy just dumped his entire bag on the floor and started looking through its contents in a frantic flurry of motions. He wheezed and squeaked, causing Karen to quirk her brow. What was this... an asthma attack? "Wally!?" Karen whirled around immediately, somewhat shocked that he'd actually make that loud of a noise, but her furious visage didn't leave her. "He needs help!"

"Shut up," she snapped back at him, but turned back to the pile and spotted the little white trinket amidst all the other nonsense in there. She plucked it out and shoved it in his face, growling as she passed him to further inspect the body. "Go lay down or something."

The guy was gross. His throat slit, eyes rolled up into his head. She looked up, scanning the hallway for a camera to see whether or not she had more hours of footage to scan. Unfortunately, as this was a relatively unused hall, there wasn't one. Fantastic. Standing, she peered into the closet, her anger ground further by the boy's constant weird breathing.

"You know, he's probably going to do this to you one day, kid," she grumbled. "Maybe he's practicing or some shit. I don't know. But he's a fucking psycho and you should steer the fuck clear."

Dear. Fucking. God. How could this rat be so fucking dramatic all the time?! How much fag blood ran through that family to make every one of them such a queen? Dumping out your bag on the floor like a drunken club hopper was ridiculously over the top for even her. What the fuck was he looking for? "Wally!?" Colress struggling in her grip made it tighten further, yanking him back firmly as he tried to break free to get to the runt. "He needs help!"

"Shut up." Thankfully, unlike either of these two drama llamas, Karen had some fucking sense and grabbed some tiny white trinket off the floor and threw it in the wheezing baby's face. "Go lay down or something." With a smile Clair quickly pulled Colress around and started off down the hall, not even caring if that was what Wally had needed or not. "There, see? He's fine. Of we go now precious where you will be my guest of honor until Karen gets done here." Let him protest if he wanted. With Clair's strides and death grip on his arm they would be halfway down the hall before he could even form a sentence and by then who cared?

Certainly not her.

With a sinister chuckle she ushered him across the compound toward her perfect lair, the prison. Those were her stomping grounds when her asshole cousin was actually here and pretending to be in charge. Oh how he should have regret giving her free reign over helpless pariahs like the ones that ended up in her care. She invented so many new ways to torture people in those cells the likes of which she had only dreamed about or read about in books. And now she had a new toy to add to her ever growing collection. Oh the fun they were going to have while she waited for Karen.

"He needs help!"

He heard nothing else that transpired between the three adults. The desperate attempt to breathe and how terribly that was going presented more pressing matters, and their voices continued to blur into the background, presenting themselves as little more than murmurs despite the fact that they were not muttering in the slightest.

But that one plea cut through all of the white noise, the boy ceasing in his search and lifting his head to lock eyes with his friend.

"C-c-Col," he wheezed, trying to cry out but only able to exhale a wheeze. Clair's vice grip on his friend's arm was lost to him. He saw only a guardian figure he trusted and nothing else. "He-hel-"

He had run out of air to speak with. Karen's voice was speaking again but he didn't hear the words.

And suddenly, his inhaler was being shoved in his face. He grabbed at it, quaking as he shook the inhaler as he'd been taught to do and then put it into his mouth to use the life-saving medicine. "Go lay down or something."

The insult barely registered. For a minute or two he only sat there, taking puffs of the inhaler, pausing between each one to give the little devise a shake. Inhale one puff of medicine every thirty to sixty seconds. Shake between use. Ten puffs. Those instructions were engraved in his brain.

"You know, he's probably going to do this to you one day, kid."

What? He raised his eyes to look up at her, eyes flicking about. Who was she talking about? Where had Colress gone?

... Come to think of it, where was Clair? Something cold and hard settled in his stomach.

"Maybe he's practicing or some shit." His head turned to look at her, then snapped back as he suddenly processed what she was talking about. "I don't know. But he's a fucking psycho and you should steer the fuck clear."

His jaw clenched as he felt his temperature rise. Oh hell no, he wasn't going to let her talk about him like that! "C-Col didn't do this and- and he's n-not a psycho." It was a struggle to talk around lungs that were still trying to work properly, but he didn't care. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted the body again, the color that had filled his face with anger now draining, leaving him sickly white and shaking. He turned his head, desperate to keep himself from looking at the corpse full on and spurring another panic attack.  "He w-wouldn't hurt a fly, let a-alone me."

Where was Wal? He wanted Wal. He wanted his cousin to come hug him and wake him up from whatever nightmare this was- wait.

Where was Colress, again? A chill settled over his shoulders as he remembered Clair was gone, too. With shaking hands, he fumbled with his pokeballs, feeling panic crush him once more as he happened to glance up and see the corpse.

By some miracle, his foggy mind was able to recognize the sparkle sticker on Orion's pokeball as his fingers brushed against it; dropping all of his other pokeballs, he pressed the release button on his fairy's container, the Gardevoir materializing with a twirl as the light solidified into his form.

He saw Orion jerk and stagger, grabbing at the wall with one hand as he struggled to process the sudden oncoming train that was the turmoil he felt, trembling as Orion turned around and knelt by his side, taking his shoulders. He was talking. What was he saying? He was having trouble breathing again, his inhaler slipping from his grip as he stared, uncomprehending, at Orion's face.

"Wally!? Wally what-" He froze at the sight of the body. Oh gods. Oh dear gods-

Okay, okay. Don't panic. Do not panic.

"Breathe, Wally, breathe. In and out, like this, see?" He gave the boy's shoulders a squeeze as he demonstrated, Wally's eyes lifting from where their gaze had drifted down to meet Orion's eyes. Slowly, he began trying to replicate him. "There, like that. Just like that. Keep doing that. Let me just-"

Letting go of his shoulder with one hand, he grabbed at the pokeballs lying on the floor, snatching up one with a pawprint sticker on it and releasing the Delcatty inside. She streteched as she materialized with a yawn, halting herself very suddenly as the scent of blood struck her. Immediately taking up a much more defensive posture, her head snapped over at the body. "Lavender!"

Her head turned their way. "Orion, what-?"

"No time," the fairy cut her off, voice clipped but not quite hiding how shaken he was. "Find Wallace and Steven. Now!"

With a nod she took off, Orion turning his attention back to his boy and taking his shoulder again. Wally was now breathing far better, but he still shook, eyes bright with tears and face full of horror. "That's it, Wally. You're doing fine. It's okay. You're safe; I'm here. I'm here. Lavender's gone to get Wallace; they'll be back soon."

Please. Please, she had to find them soon. Before he fell back into another panic attack.

"Shut up," Karen snapped. Despite her obvious displeasure, she did turn around to check on Wally. She shoved something in the boy's face that he latched onto. "Go lay down or something."

As Wally frantically used what Colress finally recognized as an inhaler, Clair forcefully turned him around and dragged him down the hallway. "There, see? He's fine. Of we go now precious where you will be my guest of honor until Karen gets done here." She sounded far too happy over this. Where was she taking him? Karen had more or less given Clair her leave to do whatever she pleased with him, and that did not bode well. Unfortunately, his brain could come up with plenty she could do, and it was mostly thanks to her iron-clad grip on his arm that kept him moving.

"C-Col didn't do this and- and he's n-not a psycho." Karen quirked an unimpressed brow at the shivering, shattering boy as she crouched over the corpse. "He w-wouldn't hurt a fly, let a-alone me."

"...Yeah, that confidence really speaks volumes," she commented in a stale voice. "Color me convinced." She turned her attention back to the body, trying to find any sort of telling signs. Apart from the fact that there'd been a murder recently, there wasn't much to link the two.

She flinched and had to reign in her anger when she heard pokeballs clatter and roll on the ground, her fists clenching and releasing to prevent herself from adding another body to the pile. Couldn't the brat just sit quietly while he panicked like a decent person? The moment she heard the pokeball open, however, she nearly lost it.

"Wally!? Wally what-" the newly released Gardevoir wailed. Christ. Yeah. There was no way she was going to get any work done here. "Breathe, Wally, breathe. In and out, like this, see?"

Turning to Eve, who watched the unfolding scene with a distant eye, she growled out, "Stay here with the body. I'm going to get to the station and start getting this shit cleaned up. Make sure Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumbass over there don't fuck up the scene." With a nod, the Houndoom watched as her owner stormed off.

Wallace was in Steven's office, as he generally was during the day, helping with Steven's mountain of paperwork. He sighed as he ran his eyes over a new report, his head leaning on a propped hand. He really hated having to go through these, but with them being so short-staffed, he had no other choice. He started when a Delcatty went rocketing by and he looked out as she ran. "...Lavender?"

Her nails dug in sharply with each new direction as she led Colress further into the compound and towards what had been converted into a prison for the HQ. Clair didn't recall what it used to be before that but they certainly had a decent security here before the world ended. Too bad security doesn't mean shit to the already dead. But now it was her domain and everything had been set up specifically to her desire in order to maintain control of any prisoners. Right now there was barely a handful of them down there but the ones who were would never see the light of day again. Certain crimes, when exile was out of the question due to some stupid sense of morality her cousin had (I mean honestly how can letting someone rot away in jail be any better than sending them out unarmed and sans pokemon into the world? It's just a slower death.), meant that they were there until they died. So no one really asked questions when a couple of them mysteriously vanished because everyone purposely tried to forget about them anyway.

Once the doors opened the smell of sick and the faint scent of blood, uselessly covered by the sharp smell of bleach, hit almost instantly. Clair took in a deep breath and smiled, letting out a happy little sigh as she carried on. She felt more at home here than she did anywhere else in the entire compound, even the offices where the seat of power was. While she enjoyed having control over the complex nothing was more complete than her control here and it was something Colress was about to learn very, very quickly.

The walls were metallic and gray as harsh florescent lighting cast stark contrasts between well lit floors and shadowed cells. In the darkness of several cages the deafening sound of Clair's heels hitting the ground caused shapeless masses to scurry from the light in favor of cramped corners, each hoping their mistress wouldn't spot them. They were in luck, however, for tonight she had brought a new toy to play with leaving them hopefully spared from the many blades and toys nestled around the wardens office. The sounds of whimpering and the occasional sob echoed in the uncomfortable silence and the softest noise bounced easily back to her trained ear and with each one her piercing stare would slide slowly to the creature that had created it causing the silence to grow ever more smothering. The feeling of being the only predator in a room full of trapped prey was intoxicating. Turning to the cowering man at her arm she offered him a barbaric smile, devoid of its usual false sweetness and instead lit up by pure glee, and gently pushed him towards an empty chair.

"Well then, shall we get started dearie? Have a seat."

Wally was incapable of paying Karen any mind, though Orion filed away the mention of her whereabouts just in case they needed it. Even though pretty much all she had said was in regards to where she would be, Orion felt some tiny bit of relief in his soul as the woman stalked off; the area was just a teeny bit safer. The houndoom's presence meant little to them.

"Hnngh- it- why would someone-" Wally was having trouble making his thoughts and tongue cooperate. "I wa-want W-Wal, I want W-wal-"

"I know, I know- come here; don't look," he soothed, pulling the boy close and placing a hand on the back of his head to keep it buried in his shoulder. "Lavender is getting him right now, okay? She'll find him and he'll come and help."

"C-Col was- Col was h-here- g-gone with C-Clair-"

His heart dropped. That sounded very bad. "I'll let Wal know when he gets here, okay? I promise; it's going to be okay. We'll find him."

--

"...Lavender?"

The cat, stopped short as she realized she had gone right past her mark; thankfully, having not overshot it by much, she skidded only for a moment, nails on floorboards, before she turned around and shot into his room.

She completely missed the familiar man walking down hallway, headed for his office. Indeed, she didn't notice his scent even as Steven Stone walked in behind her, the cat already at the desk Wallace sat at, pawing at his leg. "We gotta go! Now! Wally found a body, I think!? I don't know all I know is that Orion let me out and there was a dead person and Wally freaking out!"

And with that, she was off again, leading the two men to where their ward still knelt on the floor, shivering and wheezing, oblivious to their arrival as reality shifted and flickered back and forth between what was now and what had been four years ago.

The walk to wherever Clair was taking him felt like it lasted for an eternity. He wasn't sure if it was his own dread and terror making this last longer, or if it had actually been a long walk. It wasn't until she opened a door and a strong odor assaulted his nose that he paid more attention to his surroundings. He wished he hadn't. It took him a moment to discern the strongest smell as bleach. This didn't look like a bathroom or a lab where that would be used liberally... That was when he noticed the cells and the shadowy forms hiding in them. She had taken him to the prison. It had been a long walk. His breathing hitched at the realization, and then he got another lung full of the horrible smell. Bleach could cover up a lot, but there was something mixed in with the bleach smell. He couldn't place it right then, but there were a lot of implications. The terror and no small amount of nausea was making him light headed. If not for Clair's grip, he wouldn't have been able to move. He blinked dumbly at the predatory smile before she pushed him to a chair. "Well then, shall we get started dearie? Have a seat."

He obeyed the order if only because he had enough presence of mind to do so, but once he was no longer standing, it was getting harder to actually focus on her. The smells and the silence were oppressive. Hadn't there been sounds earlier? What happened to them? He blinked as he tried to regain focus, but it didn't work. The world started feeling like it was spinning, and the grey of the walls and the harsh lighting did nothing to help this.

This day was off to a terrible start.

Steven spent a good part of the morning with Wallace immediately following breakfast speaking to all of the investigators involved with the case and then, when nothing came up, wandering to try to find Clair or Karen to see if they had found anything. Unable to locate either woman, Steven decided they should take a break from the investigation and try to do a few other duties to ensure the city wouldn't come to a grinding halt while they tried to sort out the murder.

Given his eagerness to get the case over and done with, it wasn't a decision he'd made lightly. But with Sidney out of commission (and having been too sick to actually watch the security footage with Karen as a result) and Karen not turning up, it seemed best to try to calm frustrations before either of them lost it. And they couldn't sacrifice certain duties in running the city. So it was for the best, however reluctant Steven was to choose it.

Now, with the hour up and the Champion feeling like he would much rather go pass out in bed and forget anything existed, Steven trudged towards his office, where he knew he would find Wallace. Whenever Steven was needed around the city, Wallace always went here to do his paperwork for him, a fact that he both appreciated and hated.

It gave him less of a pile to work with later whenever he wanted to avoid sleep.

As he approached his office, he paused for a moment, noticing something fairly short and with four legs running down the hallway. A moment later he realized what or rather, who, it was. His insides went cold.

Any other thought fleeing his head, he picked up his pace and came up behind the Delcatty in the doorway as she chattered to Wallace, pawing at him.

"We gotta go! Now! Wally found a body, I think!?" His stomach felt like it was in freefall. He could almost hear wind roaring in his ears. "I don't know all I know is that Orion let me out and there was a dead person and Wally freaking out!"

Without another word she pushed off from where she had been on her hind legs, front paws in Wallace's lap, to rush back out the door, Steven stumbling against one doorjamb to give the cat room to exit. Casting Wallace a look of silent terror and fairly sure his face was white as a sheet, he turned and ran after her.

She was fast, but she knew how to be slow enough not to lose them. Steven didn't say a word the whole way there.

When they turned a corner to find a lump on the floor down the hallway and, a few feet from it, Wally huddled into Orion, Steven felt himself being kicked into high gear. The mind previously blank with numb terror switched on. Now there were too many thoughts, but he avoided letting them slow him down and came to a stop by the boy's side.

Fighting his urge to drop down and hug him (instead opting to let Wallace do that and avoid crowding the terrified child) Steven glanced over at the body, swallowing. The leader in him cried for him to at least examine it and the crime scene. The human in him quaked at the barbarity of what had been done, wrestling with grief and fear; something else inside him, something that he had not felt since the day of the outbreak, called to mind moments of horror, however hazily he rememebered the overall incident that had spanned several days, with dizzying clarity. It yelled that there was danger near, that they should flee. To trust nobody, because anyone could be a threat. It will be you, next.

It was the back-and-forth of Wallace and Wally's voices that pulled him from the dark depths of his mind. Wally had not been there for those indescriable days, but he'd found Wallace relatively quickly. Watching his best friend and his best friend's ward speak to one another, Wally huddled into Orion, Steven recalled a time when Wally had mentioned how it was thanks to Orion that he had lived to see this place.

He'd declined to share this information with Wally at the time, but Wallace had been much the same for him, grounding him and helping him get in contact with gym leaders, telling them all where to go, and then helping him wander around and help find whatever stragglers they could. They'd seen so much death those several days...

But somehow, as if Wallace were a good luck charm, they'd avoided seeing any of the cruelty Steven at witnessed between humans that first twenty-four hours it all went to hell, before finding Wallace. He had expected to see more of it, to be reminded what people were capable of when trying to save their own skins... but all he had seen was empathy towards one another as they'd picked people out of rubble and saved them from small hordes of undead. Was it luck? Or did Wallace just inspire people to be kinder? He had no idea, but he was grateful they hadn't seen any examples of human evil. Already reeling from shock and struggling to grapple with the daily danger, horrors blurring together until it was a hazy mush and he couldn't remember all of what had happened just a day ago, the Champion was fully convinced it was only due to Wallace that he had found the strength to go out there and save as many stragglers as he could, and bring them all to HQ. If not for him, he wasn't entirely sure he would have been able to keep even himself alive.

Silently, Steven thanked Wallace yet again for saving him in more ways than the man even knew of. There had been so much death back then, and thanks to Wallace, he was still here.

He took a deep breath and made himself look at death again, all this time later. Still unable to bring himself to move closer to examine it, he eyeballed it from where he stood right near his friends.

"That... didn't happen long ago," he croaked after Wallace had finished his barrage of questions and Wally had done his best to answer them, trying not to shake as hard as he was. "Di-did- did you see anything? Anything at all?"

Wallace had been the mother hen and confirmed the boy wasn't harmed, so now he had to unfortunately pick the child's brain to see if he knew anything. This might not be the same culprit--he had no idea who the victim was but if he turned out to be anyone important, Legends save them, because the crimes could be linked. He really hoped they weren't.

(I assumed that Wallace immediately started asking Wally a million questions and Steven would never bother asking Wally what he did before Wallace satisfied his fears over Wally's safety, so assume Steven's questions came after Wallace and Wally's little 'are you hurt what happened etc' conversation. Also, Steven didn't end up catatonic like Wally did and was at least 80% functional; Wally didn't tell Steven that his mind basically exited stage left so while Steven was in a baaaaaaad state as the world fell apart, he has no idea Wally was worse.)

Wallace hadn't even noticed Steven in the doorway as the Delcatty barreled past him and nearly threw herself into Wallace's leg. "We gotta go! Now! Wally found a body, I think!?" A... A body? A body?! Another one?! Wallace's eyes nearly bulged out of his head as the cat continued to scream. "I don't know all I know is that Orion let me out and there was a dead person and Wally freaking out!"

With that, that horrifically minimal amount of information, she shoved herself off of him and bull rushed out the door, and Wallace finally saw Steven there. They exchanged a wordless, terrified stare, before simultaneously racing off after the cat.

Another body? Another one?! How? Why? Why were all of these people suddenly dropping dead? Had someone snapped in their ranks from the stress of enduring an apocalypse and started just... killing people? Wallace had hoped the first murder was simply a crime of passion, but now... Gods above. They couldn't speak as they ran after the frightened Delcatty, but once Wallace laid his eyes on his sobbing, trembling cousin and the body near him, his actions weren't his own.

His arms reached out and pulled Wally close, shielding him from the dead body with the bulk of his body. "Wally, sweetie, I need you to look at me, ok?" he asked in a calm, yet hurried tone. "Are you hurt? Are you in shock? Oh, what am I asking, you wouldn't know--" He quickly rubbed Wally's arms, hoping to generate heat when he spotted the inhaler in his cousin's hand. "Did you have an attack?"

As Wally tried to answer, Wallace did his best to listen and not smother the poor boy with his mothering. Still, he couldn't help but hold the boy close and gently rock him as he stole glances at the body he'd placed himself in front of. He only managed to look up at Steven a moment before turning his attention back to Wally. The poor boy needed as much help as he could get.

"That... didn't happen long ago," Steven barely managed to speak. Wallace looked up at him again, worried by how pale his best friend was. Incapable as he was of giving much more support, he placed a calm, warm hand on Steven's. Perhaps he'd gain some of his own fortitude. "Di-did- did you see anything? Anything at all?"

Aww, the new pet was so obedient! "Good boy, sitting when you are told. Following directions will serve you well here. Now-" Clair began to circle the chair slowly, hands folded behind her back as the echoing click of her heeled boots on the hollow metal floor become a rhythmic symphony surrounding Colress. "-why don't we have ourselves a little chat, hm?"

After another small circle she made her way to a bench along the side wall of the room and began pulling out a few utensils she thought might be useful during their talk. "This is my own special interrogation room," she explained, taking out each tool and purposely holding it up high where Colress could see it over her shoulder before setting them down with a heavy thud on the bench. "I even designed it myself. And as long as you tell the truth there is nothing to fear. But you have to be honest with me, understand?"

Her selections complete Clair turned around with a predatory, triumphant grin intending to gloat more  before 'coaxing' the answers she needed out of the mousy scientist but it fell instantly once she saw him. Wha-? When had the little shit passed out?! Stomping over to him, all trace of amusement gone, she grabbed Colress's collar and pulled him up out the chair and shook him angrily only to let him drop limply back into it once he proved unresponsive. "You miserable fuck! Who the hell do you think you are getting out of your interrogation by wussing out before I've even done anything?! You're lucky you need to be in one piece when Karen gets here or I would carve out my fucking initials into your hide you worthless fucking worm!"

Yep. She was livid. And it was going to take a distraction to bring her down from this one. The grin was back as she eyed her darkened cages and began to select which one would take Colress's place since he couldn't be bothered to show up for his own party.

When they heard footsteps pounding down the hallway in their direction, both Orion and Wally looked up; at seeing it was his cousin, Wally let out a wail, the sobs overtaking him again, and reached up like a child. He had to wait but a moment before Wallace was on the floor beside him, pulling him into an embrace. The boy buried his face into his cousin's shoulder, shivers wracking him.

"Wally, sweetie, I need you to look at me, ok?" Oh no, no, no; he didn't want to do that. But, automatically, he pulled his face from the safety of Wallace's shoulder and raised his eyes to look at him. "Are you hurt? Are you in shock? Oh, what am I asking, you wouldn't know--"

Wallace cut himself off and rubbed his arms, the boy's breath hitching at the comforting gesture. Wally leaned into his hold, closing his eyes. The last comment stung a little,

"Did you have an attack?"

He flinched, eyes snapping open. He stuffed the inhaler into his pocket, berating himself for leaving it out in the open like that, where Wallace would see it and come to the obvious conclusion.

"Mi-Mild one," he muttered. He could feel Orion, who had relinguished holding him so that Wallace could do so, bristle behind him. "Be-better now. I'm n-not hurt."

He was taking advantage of the fact that Orion loved him too much to call bullshit unless it was seriously detrimental to his health to do anything else, but he wasn't going to admit this to Wallace. It was bad enough he knew he'd had an attack. And after such a long period without one, too. He wanted to shrivel up and disappear into the floor. But with that being impossible, he settled for closing his eyes and letting his cousin rock him.

"That... didn't happen long ago." Wally looked up at Steven, feeling a pang in his soul at the sight of how white his face was. Wallace reached out to comfort him, but Wally couldn't bring himself to move anywhere from Wallace's hug. "Di-did- did you see anything? Anything at all?"

He had to swallow a couple times before speaking. "N-no? N-not- not about- how he... died..." He shuddered. "I only found i-it. Nothing else. Everything was quiet and empty here before th-that."

At the time it had been same old, same old. Now the realization at how quiet and empty the hallway had been earlier felt positively eerie. His skin crawled.

"O-oh- I- Col!" He struggled to sit up straighter, moving to shove things back in his bag. Orion silently saw his struggle and took over putting his things away, Wally giving up on the endeavor in favor of talking to his guardians. He gave Wallace an apologetic, nearly guilty look. "I- I was- I was scared and... it was morning; you two could be anywhere and the only other person I trusted was Col and I knew where he would be, so I went to his room and Clair and Karen where there! And they were yelling at him!"

Ooooh, he was getting incenced all over again. That would be a good thing, if not for the fact that he was struggling to recall what exactly was said so he could be properly angry.

"And then I showed them to the body and- and I didn't feel well so I missed- I missed what happened exactly but when I looked up again Clair and Col were gone and Karen started telling me that he was gonna kill me someday and wo-wouldn't listen-" He cut off his babbling as he turned red. "And- and th-then-" Oh no, no; he couldn't tell them just how badly he started doing, how he'd checked out the way he had and missed where Karent went- but he had to tell them that Karen left-! "Th-then- uh-"

"Shhhhhhhh," Lavender purred, brushing her side up along the boy and pausing to rub her face against his cheek. "Slow down. You're getting too worked up."

"Ri-right, right." He rubbed his face and made a bigger effort to slow his speech when he spoke next. Calm down. Just speak. Let the words come. "I started feeling really bad s-so- Karen left but I dunno where to 'cause I wasn't paying attention."

"Station," Orion cut in from his spot at Wally's back, reaching behind him to stroke his hair. He wouldn't crowd Wallace just so he could hug the boy, himself, but nothing in the world could stop him from trying to comfort his human. "I wasn't out when Clair left with Colress, but I was when Karen left. She told her Houndoom she was heading to the station; I assume the nearest one. Colress and Clair should be with her, right?"

Click.

Click.

Click.

He could hear Clair as she walked around him; the heels making a distinguishable sound that broke through the haze. Unfortunately, with each step, the sound got a little fainter and the blue of her outfit started fading into a blur. There was a thought in his foggy brain that he was wearing his glasses, and that he should be able to see properly. When she finally walked towards the wall, he couldn't understand a word of what she was saying, and since the clicking stopped, his mind slipped away. His vision went dark as he slumped into the seat.

He could nearly hear the click of Wally's throat as he swallowed, feeling the dull ache in his chest sharpen a little at the sound. It was so quiet except for his frantic little breaths. "N-no? N-not- not about- how he... died... I only found i-it. Nothing else. Everything was quiet and empty here before th-that."

Relief. And disappointment. Wally would not have a murder comitted in front of him seared into his memory, but at the same time, they were right back at square one with nothing to show for it. Except for a traumatized child.

"O-oh- I- Col!" The boy's cry startled Steven, the champion removing his hand from his chin to glance at Wally in surprise. He was... shoving things back into his bag? With urgancy. But his hands shook too much, and Orion gently took over the task, leaving Wally free to give Wallace a look of apology, gaze then moving to skitter back and forth as he hunched, guilty. "I- I was- I was scared and... it was morning; you two could be anywhere and the only other person I trusted was Col and I knew where he would be, so I went to his room and Clair and Karen where there! And they were yelling at him!"

Steven's head jerked back but before he could open his mouth to probe more, Wally went off again, words falling from his mouth. "And then I showed them to the body and- and I didn't feel well so I missed- I missed what happened exactly but when I looked up again Clair and Col were gone and Karen started telling me that he was gonna kill me someday and wo-wouldn't listen-"

Steven's head spun. A lot of information relayed very quickly when the Champion was already a little scattered didn't make for quick digestion, but nonetheless, the gears in his head whirred to life and began piecing things together. Karen and Clair obviously knew something or thought they did, but why were they yelling at him- why even ask that question. Of course they wouldn't handle this well. "And- and th-then-"

He stumbled for a second, just a second, and it made Steven's heart leap into his throat, the Champion slowly moving to crouch beside the boy on the floor so he could stop towering over him and look him in the face. "Th-then- uh-"

"Shhhhhhhh," His Delcatty hushed him, moving to rub against him. "Slow down. You're getting too worked up."

"Ri-right, right." Wally rubbed his face and tried again. "I started feeling really bad s-so- Karen left but I dunno where to 'cause I wasn't paying attention."

"Station." Steven turned his stare on Orion, the fairy stroking Wally's hair, but his eyes meeting the Champion's. "I wasn't out when Clair left with Colress, but I was when Karen left. She told her Houndoom she was heading to the station; I assume the nearest one. Colress and Clair should be with her, right?"

"We're going there, then." There wasn't any need to think about it. That's where they had to go next. If he weren't so full of dread, he would have been pleased by the steadiness of his voice. He sounded fairly collected. "We can trust Eve to guard the crime scene-"

Wait.

"No, wait; it's not wise to leave her here by herself; she's powerful but if the murderer returns she's only one pokemon-" He reached into his pocket and drew out Malachite's ultraball, letting the fossil out.

The Cradily, being deeply unaccustomed to being let out anywhere but the arena (or, occasionally, in Steven's room), was more than a little surprised to find himself in a random hallway. And far more surprised to see the dead man lying not far from his trainer. "Uh, Steven!?"

"No time," he said, standing. "Help Eve guard the crime scene. Wallace and I-"

"I'm coming too!" Though unsteadily, Wally was climbing to his feet as well. Steven frowned. "I'm okay enough to go; look, I can walk! And I- I don't want to be far from- from someone I can trust please."

He felt his resolve shatter under that tearful, desperate stare. Leaving him alone in this state wouldn't be wise anyway, really...


It didn't take long to get to the station; it was but the work of a few minutes. Wally's steps, though shaky, were determined; he kept up with a single-mindedness Steven recognized and appreciated. Given that his last view of his friend (whose fragility was not lost on Steven) had been in Clair's grasp, and before that, he had seen him being screamed at...

Wally was no stranger to the fact that Clair was a bully. Though Steven himself hadn't often complained when they were together as the strange familial unit they were, Wallace spared no detail when it came to how Clair treated others. For him to see it in action for the first time after having just found a body...

It was no wonder he was frantic. Steven would be lying if he said he felt no fear, himself. He still remembered the haunted, frightened eyes from the doctor's interrogation and that small, shaky voice; that man was in no state for how vicious Clair's bullying could be, and if she thought he'd done it, she had every reason to yell at him until he confessed, regardless whether or not he did it. Her conduct yesterday made it clear that she found this whole thing an inconvenience she'd rather put an end to as quickly as possible.

Would she go so far as to extract a false confession from someone who was probably no state to defend himself? He wished he had a concrete answer to that, but he hesitated to say she wouldn't. Still, if Karen had sent Clair away to the station ahead of her with their suspect, surely the officers there would reel her in if she went too far.

As they arrived at the station, he pushed the doors open and walked in, calling Karen's name. From there it took just moments to find her. Hoping she would hold her tongue about the faintly trembling boy behind him and that she and Wallace wouldn't end up bickering again, he walked up to her, his voice all business.

"I heard about what happened. You have a lead, I assume? It's odd that you're not in the interrogation room." The last bit was an afterthought; why wasn't she in the interrogation room? Sure, she wasn't pleased about the investigation either, but she had been far more interested in answers than Clair had been yesterday. Why sit out on this one?

(Moving this along so that we can not take forever to find Karen. Wally and I co-wrote this because we wanted to not stick Wallace in the position of only being able to write a tiny post, because that's a dick move. And this will probably continue to happen in the future, too; we will try to note whenever this happens.)

"N-no? N-not- not about- how he... died... I only found i-it. Nothing else. Everything was quiet and empty here before th-that." Wallace couldn't help his frown deepen as he listened. Meaning that a murder had occurred in a public space -not somewhere confined and private like the labs- and no one had heard or seen anything? Moreover, the body was bleeding out now that it was out, but there had likely not been any when Wally found him.

"O-oh- I- Col!" Wally's sudden cry surprised both Wallace and Steven, and they looked at the boy with new concern. "I- I was- I was scared and... it was morning; you two could be anywhere and the only other person I trusted was Col and I knew where he would be, so I went to his room and Clair and Karen where there! And they were yelling at him!" Steven looked about to say something, but the word vomit had Wally something fierce. "And then I showed them to the body and- and I didn't feel well so I missed- I missed what happened exactly but when I looked up again Clair and Col were gone and Karen started telling me that he was gonna kill me someday and wo-wouldn't listen-"

They still thought little frail Col was a cold-blooded murderer? How? The man was barely capable of even hearing the word "blood" without growing pale or fainting. "And- and th-then-" Wally's stuttering brought Steven down from standing, the latter kneeling to see the traumatized boy at eye level. "Th-then- uh-"

"Shhhhhhhh," His Delcatty hushed him, moving to rub against him. "Slow down. You're getting too worked up."

"Ri-right, right." Wally rubbed his face and tried again as Wallace ran a soft hand through his cousin's hair. Hopefully it would help in calming him down. "I started feeling really bad s-so- Karen left but I dunno where to 'cause I wasn't paying attention."

"Station," Orion firmly stated. "I wasn't out when Clair left with Colress, but I was when Karen left. She told her Houndoom she was heading to the station; I assume the nearest one. Colress and Clair should be with her, right?"

"We're going there, then." There wasn't any need to think about it. That's where they had to go next. If he weren't so full of dread, he would have been pleased by the steadiness of his voice. He sounded fairly collected. "We can trust Eve to guard the crime scene-" Steven abruptly stopped himself, which drew Wallace's attention away from Wally to his Champion. "No, wait; it's not wise to leave her here by herself; she's powerful but if the murderer returns she's only one pokemon-"

"She's also standing right here..." the Houndoom grumbled.

Very suddenly, there was a Cradily in the hallway. Eve had to skimper out of the way to make room for the giant plant fossil, who promptly began to freak out. "Uh, Steven!?"

"No time," he said, standing. "Help Eve guard the crime scene. Wallace and I-"

"I'm coming too!" Though unsteadily, Wally was climbing to his feet as well. Steven and Wallace both frowned. "I'm okay enough to go; look, I can walk! And I- I don't want to be far from- from someone I can trust please."

There wasn't a choice. Wallace couldn't leave him like this, and clearly, judging from the expression on Steven's face, neither could he.


Fuck everything. Fuck this office, this chair, this computer, the dead body sitting in the hallway-- everything. Everything could bet set on fire and thrown in the goddamn dumpster for all she cared. Furiously, she looked through the cameras around the area where the man had died, but was already coming up empty handed. With Sid gone and Aaron still sick, there was no one to help with the burden of trying to find this asshole who clearly thought they could get away with this shit.

So the last thing she needed in her grand mood was a Champion strolling into her office and demanding information she didn't have.

"I heard about what happened. You have a lead, I assume? It's odd that you're not in the interrogation room."

Karen let out a short sigh and didn't even bother turning to face Steven. "I'm scouring security tapes-- does it look like I have a fucking lead?" she growled as she continued to work. "My only lead is with Clair. If they're not in the interrogation room, I don't know where else they'd be. Now kindly fuck off so I can get actual evidence to levy against that wiry scientist prick."

"HEY!" Wallace snapped, knowing that Karen's apathetic attitude toward Colress would only hurt Wally, "You're accusing a man of murder, not talking about fucking frat boys. Are you allergic to showing other people respect?"

"I don't have the time or patience to humor nosy little bitches!" Karen snapped, finally whirling around, her eyes filled to the brim with a fury rarely seen. "I don't know where Clair and That Guy are. Now go away so I can find some fucking evidence!"

Clair visibly seethed as she shoved Colress’s unresponsive body one last time for good measure, beyond livid that he had passed out before she had even touched the bastard. What good were interrogation and torture techniques on unconscious people? He had to be awake to appreciate such beautiful agony! She could start carving into him while he was asleep and let the pain register until he woke up but that would take all the fun out of instilling horror. Colress would wake up already scared and she wouldn’t get to watch that perfect moment when realization dawns behind someone’s eyes and that bright light of recognition fading instantly into a cold, dark terror when they realize it is no bluff. He took that from her.

Storming over to her work table she began pulling out a few of her favorite toys and slamming them down, the rattle growing louder with each new piece that was added to the metallic surface. Once she had everything she wanted she made her way over to the hallway of cells and ripped the small ring of keys from her waist to jingle them menacingly. Each shadowed cell saw brief flashes of scurrying movement as each occupant tried to shield themselves from her fearsome gaze but one unlucky fool was unable to get away fast enough. Snatching his dirtied blonde hair through the bars Clair pulled him ruthlessly against the door to his cell and chuckled low, her fingers wrapping around the matted locks until the scalp began to pull and her captive’s eyes began to water.

“Come with me now, Precious. It’s time to play.”

Wally figured he could not be more relieved if he tried when Steven and Wallace caved to his plea and let him come with them. Not only would he be near two of the people he trusted most instead of in a hospital or in his room, but he was going to be there when they found Colress. No doubt the poor man would need a hug, if nothing else.

... Not that he should probably hug him in front of the other two. His guardians didn't realize Wally considered Colress a close friend, at least to his knowledge (and, fuck, he may have blown that by admitting he ran to Colress after finding a dead person, even if he only did so because he knew where Col would be) and he wanted to keep it that way. Wallace and Steven would want to be his friends, otherwise... something Colress desperately wanted to avoid. Wally had to agree that although he wished Colress had other human friends, Wallace and Steven were bad choices, not because of their characters, but because of their high positions.

He knew the doctor wanted to keep a low profile. Thanks to whoever actually murdered Dr. James, that might now be impossible. He hoped that Wallace and Steven would be fine with making casual friends with Colress and that would be all.

... Assuming everyone came out of this okay. Everyone had to come out of this okay.

As they stepped into the station, Wally felt his stomach twist at the sight of Karen. After the encounter not twenty minutes ago, he'd be happy to never see her again. But she was the one who knew where Clair had taken his friend, so...

Staying close to his cousin, they approached Karen.

"I heard about what happened. You have a lead, I assume? It's odd that you're not in the interrogation room."

Karen sighed and didn't even turn around to face them. "I'm scouring security tapes-- does it look like I have a fucking lead?" Steven stared at her, not dumbly, exactly, but with a measure of surprise that at the same time managed to convey that he shouldn't be surprised at all. "My only lead is with Clair. If they're not in the interrogation room, I don't know where else they'd be. Now kindly fuck off so I can get actual evidence to levy against that wiry scientist prick."

Wally flinched, feeling his shoulders bunch up as he glared at her. But he lacked the strength at the moment to say anything.

"HEY!" Thank you, Wal. His tense body relaxed just the tiniest bit at the relief of having his cousin come to Colress's defense. "You're accusing a man of murder, not talking about fucking frat boys. Are you allergic to showing other people respect?"

"I don't have the time or patience to humor nosy little bitches!" She whirled around this time, Wally's heart stuttering at the look on her face. Oh, shit. "I don't know where Clair and That Guy are. Now go away so I can find some fucking evidence!"

A faint fire started up again, and once again, Wally found himself cursing his lack of energy.

But one look at Steven's face silenced all thought.

I have never seen that look before, he thought with numb shock at the stark fury Steven matched Karen's look with.

She didn't even look at him, and he stared at her as she went off on a barely-controlled temper tantrum. "I'm scouring security tapes-- does it look like I have a fucking lead?" Still not turning to face him, she continued to type away. "My only lead is with Clair. If they're not in the interrogation room, I don't know where else they'd be. Now kindly fuck off so I can get actual evidence to levy against that wiry scientist prick."

"HEY!" Before Steven could even process what was said, Wallace came to parry her words, righeous indignation written all over his face. "You're accusing a man of murder, not talking about fucking frat boys. Are you allergic to showing other people respect?"

"I don't have the time or patience to humor nosy little bitches!" At last she turned around, her eyes glittering with anger. "I don't know where Clair and That Guy are. Now go away so I can find some fucking evidence!"

So rarely did Steven grow angry that he didn't even realize, for a second, that what he felt was fury. He matched her glare and spoke with the easy grace he was used to handling situations with back in the day, feeling an eruption lurking just under the surface of his skin. His voice emerged at a normal volume but carrying a deadly undertone that promised consequences were not far off.

"It's your job to know, Karen, in case you've forgotten, the same way you seemed to forget that it was your job to be watching the cameras to begin with and that it's your job to know what your damn suspect's name is. If Dr. Gannon isn't here, then that means you can add kidnapping to your list of offenses, because law enforcement is supposed to bring suspects to the station, because 'innocent until proven guilty' is how our rule of law works."

They had attracted stares now; they probably had a few minutes ago, really, since Karen and Wallace were anything but quiet. Steven found he didn't care. Let them watch. "Now, because you seem to have also forgotten how numbers work, allow me to remind you. I am a Champion. Clair is a Second. You are her Second, which makes you a Third." One of the officers whistled. Steven didn't even hear him. The Champion leaned closer, blue eyes burning. "If you're telling the truth about Clair, I know you have a way to contact her, so if you don't want to be looking at the inside of a jail cell for helping her with what is basically a kidnapping, get out your fucking walkie talkie right now and figure out where she is."

Karen hadn't expected for Steven's spine to show up, not after he'd just spent the other day whimpering and limping about HQ. Maybe there was an unknown fondness for Dr. Whatshisface she was in the dark about. As Steven growled his threats at her, however, all curiosity was replaced by more fury. "It's your job to know, Karen, in case you've forgotten, the same way you seemed to forget that it was your job to be watching the cameras to begin with and that it's your job to know what your damn suspect's name is." Did he think she could just zip through the fucking tapes on fast forward and just know what was in them? Did he understand how the fuck she had to do this painstaking job? Apparently not, since he wasn't the one having to go through hours of tapes to find even the slightest bit of information. Her eyes widened and twitched in ludicrous anger, and for a moment, she fantasized about lunging him and ripping out his stupid throat with her bare teeth.

"If Dr. Gannon--" Oh, THAT was his name, "--isn't here, then that means you can add kidnapping to your list of offenses, because law enforcement is supposed to bring suspects to the station, because 'innocent until proven guilty' is how our rule of law works."

Hoo boy. That ripping throat fantasy was getting more and more appealing. "Now, because you seem to have also forgotten how numbers work, allow me to remind you. I am a Champion. Clair is a Second. You are her Second, which makes you a Third." For a small moment, Karen only heard ringing in her ears, and in that instance, she wondered if the rage alone would give her a stroke. "If you're telling the truth about Clair, I know you have a way to contact her, so if you don't want to be looking at the inside of a jail cell for helping her with what is basically a kidnapping, get out your fucking walkie talkie right now and figure out where she is."

The Elite trainer found herself with clenched fists, staring up at Steven from her chair. Oh, he was trying his damndest to intimidate her. He, the big bad boy on the block, was trying to put her in her place.

He knew who she'd worked for all these years, right?

Intimidation didn't. fucking. work.

She had to actively unclench a fist in order to place a finger on Steven's shoulder, her eyes firm and unwilling to break the lock on his as she pushed him away with that single finger. "First off," she growled in a low, dangerous tone, "get out of my face. I don't care who you are. No big dicked boybo is going to try and scare me into submission, no matter his fucking title." She rose out of her chair to meet him, her other hand still very much a fist.

"Second, you're going to lecture me on MY fucking job? What the fuck do you think I've been doing?! I've been sitting here in this godforsaken chair in this godforsaken office SCOURING these GODFORSAKEN TAPES for ANY MINUTE SPECK OF EVIDENCE, and you're accusing me of NOT DOING MY JOB?! You remember what was on them last time, right? A BLIP. A fucking BLIP. I'm not looking for some assfuck strolling down the goddamn hall and stabbing the shit out of someone, I'm looking for an achingly tiny detail on shitty pixelated computer screen! For HOURS! Because whoever's doing this ALREADY KNOWS ABOUT THE TAPES! It's a fucking miracle I found it the first time, and then all you fucking bitch about is that I haven't found anything else!?"

"And on top of all of that, you're threatening me?! Who the FUCK do you think you are to THREATEN ME? Oh right, a fucking CHAMPION, after your little power speech, right? Well you know what? I know my fucking place. I've known it for a long time now, and been pretty comfortable with it. You know what I've learned? That I can't order around people higher than me. You know who that fucking includes? CLAIR. So you, standing there and bitching at me for not tugging on her leash better fucking remember that I don't have it in the first place! That's YOUR job, CHAMPION. So you can take your fucking walkie talkie, your kidnapping charges, your shitty NUMBERS, and shove them up your ass. I'M. BUSY."

She loved how well trained her pets down in the cells were. None made a peep as she unlocked the door and dragged her chosen plaything out, leading him to the room Colress was currently occupying. She had the prisoner help her take Colress to her office within and set him in a chair, propped up so he wouldn’t crash to the floor, before having him take Colress’s place in the interrogation chair. Her toy worried at his lip nervously but didn’t cry, didn’t whimper, didn’t even sniffle as she sized him up. He knew it would only make things worse.

Clair hated crying. Absolutely hated it. It’s one of the main reasons she hated Wally so damn much. Other than being a worthless nobody who didn’t deserve the accolades her cousin showered upon the useless shit he was also a pathetic crybaby. He’d cry at the drop of a hat. Just look at that stupid music box of his she threw out. He’d tried so hard not to cry in front of her but it was there, eyes glistening even in his defiance. “Little fucking shit-“ she hissed angrily, flicking her wrist and slashing the razor in her hand across her captive’s thigh. He hissed sharply in response but wouldn’t cry. They never cried anymore.

There was nothing left to cry about.

Her work continued for a while, carving a new masterpiece into the already mutilated flesh of her prisoner. Swirls began to appear in an almost intricate lacing, decorating the man’s inner thigh as it was one of the few blank spaces left to her that could be hidden behind the prisoner’s uniform. Clair was always careful never to mark where anyone could see unless she could pass it off as unruly behavior deserving of a good hit. Bruising lasted for only a few days, however her patterns were eternal. Scars were beautiful in their own way but in her design they were like living tattoos, forever claiming them as hers. Her brand, her mark, each one carved lovingly by hand and no two the same. Such a shame Colress would have to wait to get down here on a more permanent basis to receive his now.

"First off," Karen said, her voice a low growl. Steven's glare didn't falter as he matched her look. "get out of my face. I don't care who you are. No big dicked boybo is going to try and scare me into submission, no matter his fucking title."

He wasn't trying to scare her, just fucking get it through her thick head that she couldn't speak to him like he was dirt on her shoe! Did this woman have literally any concept that didn't revolve around extremes!? Or was she just so pissed she didn't care to try to see anything other than that!? Legends, he was so sick of this! And he wasn't about to back down now, not even as she got out of her chair as if she were ready to physically fight him. He folded his arms over his chest to avoid acting on the growing urge to punch her.

"Second, you're going to lecture me on MY fucking job? What the fuck do you think I've been doing?! I've been sitting here in this godforsaken chair in this godforsaken office SCOURING these GODFORSAKEN TAPES for ANY MINUTE SPECK OF EVIDENCE, and you're accusing me of NOT DOING MY JOB?! You remember what was on them last time, right? A BLIP. A fucking BLIP. I'm not looking for some assfuck strolling down the goddamn hall and stabbing the shit out of someone, I'm looking for an achingly tiny detail on shitty pixelated computer screen! For HOURS! Because whoever's doing this ALREADY KNOWS ABOUT THE TAPES! It's a fucking miracle I found it the first time, and then all you fucking bitch about is that I haven't found anything else!?"

"And on top of all of that, you're threatening me?! Who the FUCK do you think you are to THREATEN ME? Oh right, a fucking CHAMPION, after your little power speech, right? Well you know what? I know my fucking place. I've known it for a long time now, and been pretty comfortable with it. You know what I've learned? That I can't order around people higher than me. You know who that fucking includes? CLAIR. So you, standing there and bitching at me for not tugging on her leash better fucking remember that I don't have it in the first place! That's YOUR job, CHAMPION. So you can take your fucking walkie talkie, your kidnapping charges, your shitty NUMBERS, and shove them up your ass. I'M. BUSY."

Unsurprisingly, everyone was staring. Though feeling vestiges of doubt creep in--and he had never used to feel such things this strongly, damn it, and he hated himself for it--the fire in Steven's chest hadn't gone out yet. Fuck this, fuck that, fuck this entire day. He was not about to let her bully him! Fingers tightening on his arms, he shot back at her, matching her fury but lowering his volume. "Well you weren't doing your job the night you were assigned to security, were you? There were several missing minutes from that tape! If you'd had even just one of your pokemon keeping an eye on it someone could have alerted you there was a problem, but no! I'm not bitching that you haven't found anything else because none of us have, but if you'd been paying attention then maybe we'd have a little more to go on! And yes, I know Clair is above you, but in case you haven't noticed, she hates me. And she is far more likely to answer where she is if you ask her, when she's not even supposed to be holed up somewhere totally isolated to begin with!"

He didn't have time for this, he realized suddenly. Legends, he didn't have time for this. He was supposed to be a leader! He could fight with her all he wanted later, once the body in the hallway was recovered and Colress was someplace not being likely bullied into a possible false confession.

"Legends- we can fight later. Just- get Clair on the walkie talkie and ask her where she is and then you can go back to your computer."