Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

VALENCIA NOIR

ACT VII

I tried to figure out where everything went wrong as I ran with Tyler and Cyrus from the police. Was it when we were caught by the gangsters in their domain? Was it when I decided that I was interested in Tayte? Or was it because this case was doomed to fail from the beginning and drag everyone that got involved down into the gutters? Maybe it was and this was as far as we were going to go. But as we ran, we didn’t consider quitting. There was too much invested in this case-Cyrus’s lost life, his request to meet the woman he loved one last time and our building being burned. Even if we did turn ourselves in, there was no way to tell if we would be safe from the gangsters, or our loved ones. There was only one way to escape the kind of nightmare that L.A. is famous for breeding and that was to find out who was really responsible for causing these series of events and this chain reaction of chaos and calamity.

After escaping the burning office and flying away, Dexter, Tyler and Cyrus ran and hid all day and into the night. They hid everywhere they could think of-alleyways, abandoned buildings, under the streets-all to avoid being found by the police and anyone that would recognize them and turn them in. Cyrus was proving himself to be more and more useful as the hours passed, his translucent form able to pass through solid walls and become invisible. He made for the perfect lookout and scout for the angel and werewolf as they traveled through L.A. They had moments where they could rest, even close their eyes to sleep…but they kept moving all night. Eventually, fatigue and hunger caught up with the ones that still had bodies and they needed a place to get a proper rest and some food. A lot of the places they could go-Dani and Ellie’s diner, the church that Sveta lived in with the nuns-were too dangerous with the cops hanging around so the group decided to go to a place that the cops probably didn’t know about. Under the cover of the early morning, Dexter, Tyler and Cyrus traveled to upper L.A. and to the towering apartment complexes. To the people that lived in the upper part of the city, these apartment complexes, made of glass and tinted blue, were called the Steps to Heaven. It was very appropriate, given who the detectives were going to seek sanctuary from. Sneaking inside of the building and climbing up the stairs to the right floor, they walked up to the apartment door with the nameplate “Aoi” below the apartment number.

Despite it being so early in the morning, the angel girl Reisen was still able to answer the door when the detectives came knocking. Her big gold eyes were still sleepy and her teal hair was let down around her shoulders, tumbling into her pure white wings. One hand held the top of a silk blue robe together at the neck while the other rubbed her eyes, much like how a child would. She stopped her rubbing and started to become more alert when she saw the boys at the door. “Tyler! Dexter! Oh thank goodness you two are safe! I heard what happened and I got really worried! I thought you two would be hurt!” The angel girl threw her arms around the boys, not noticing the ghost that floated behind them.

“Hey Rei-Rei. Sorry to drop in on you like this, it’s really on a short notice.”Tyler said as he gave his cousin a hug.

“It’s okay. I’m just glad you two are safe! I knew that you two didn’t do anything wrong, no matter what the police say! I mean, why would you destroy your own office? It’s so stupid…”

“Have the police come by here yet? Did they come and ask you anything about us?” Dexter asked. “Like where we could be or if we would come and see you?”

“No. I did go in to get Sveta the other day at the station and they did ask me questions about you…but I don’t think they know that Tyler and I are cousins now. They just thought I was a friend of Sveta’s and brief acquaintances of yours. And Raphael’s been out of the office so he hasn’t been able to tell anyone that I know you two well enough for you to come here. He threw a tomato sandwich at me the other day though while I was having lunch and Dani and Ellie’s!” Reisen had a deep seeded hatred against tomatoes-mostly because of Raphael throwing them at her while at school.

“I’ll punch his face in!” Tyler promised her, obviously in no mood to be dealing with Raphael being a jerk to his family.

Cyrus was still floating behind the boys when he decided to hide in Dexter’s hat again. “It’s better that I reveal myself to the young lady later…when she’s more awake and properly dressed…” He almost seemed embarrassed by the angel’s current garb and how comfortable she was in her robe in front of the boys. The ghost was painfully shy, despite being dead.

“Go ahead, buddy, we’ll help you with the introductions later.”Dexter whispered to Cyrus.

“What was that, Dexter?” Reisen asked, looking a little confused.

“Ah-nothing! Nothing, I’m just…really tired, we haven’t been able to stop running or really get any rest for a long time.” Dexter quickly covered for himself.

“Oh…okay. You two have been running since yesterday when the office was destroyed, right?”

“Yeah…it’s really a sudden thing to ask but can we stay here for a while? We need to rest and eat before we can continue our investigation.”

For the first time since showing up at her doorstep, Reisen looked a little worried then and casted a look behind her and into the apartment. “Ah…Ah…It’s-It’s not that I don’t want to help you boys out, it’s just that…my apartment is a mess! Yeah, that’s it! It’s a real pig’s pen in there! Ah ha!”

“Have you forgotten where we used to live?” Tyler said as he started to walk inside.

“There were mice in the walls, pipes leaking and something not normal living in one of our spare rooms.” Dexter added as he followed Tyler inside of the apartment.

Reisen started to look really nervous then and scurried after the boys, almost forgetting to close the door behind her. The apartment the angel girl lived in was just like any other L.A. apartment-which meant that it was spacious and had every means of being well decorated. Reisen had been living alone in the apartment since her aunt got married and went off on her honeymoon with Alexander. “Ahh…can’t you two come back in a bit? I’m not dressed and everything!”

“It’s okay, Reisen. We won’t look! Chances are we’re both going to be asleep on your couches soon anyway. I can barely keep my eyes open as it is…” Dexter said as he started to walk over to the couches.

“I’m with you on that. First I need a BLT. With lots of extra-WHY IS THERE A HALF NAKED GANGSTER IN YOUR KITCHEN!?!” Tyler started to say before he stopped at the kitchen’s entrance and pointed at the stranger standing at the fridge.

“WHAT!?” Dexter quickly joined Tyler and was just as shocked and disturbed by what he saw in the kitchen. And what they both saw in the kitchen was the gangster harpy with the blue hair and red eyes, Donavon Fallon. He was just about naked except for the pair of pants he was wearing, letting his strong physique show. It looked like he was going into the fridge to get some eggs when he stopped and looked at the two detectives. He looked a little surprised when he saw them-not startled or afraid or angry-just…surprised. The detectives were both gaping like gold fish-with the facial expression to match-before snapping back to life. “AAAHHH!!!” They both jumped back to get ready for a fight, Dexter summoning up a sword while Tyler jumped a knife from the chop block.

“Tyler! Dexter! What are you two doing?!” Reisen demanded to know while trying to get into the kitchen. They wouldn’t let her in but backed her up as Donavon started to walk out of the kitchen.

“Don’t worry, Reisen! We’ll protect you!” Tyler said as he started to really let his wolf out, eyes taking a beast like quality to them with growing fangs.

“Did he take anything?! Did he break anything?! Did he threaten you?!” Dexter asked, keeping his eye on Donavon as he leaned against the wall.

“DID HE TOUCH YOU!?!”

“What-No! Boys! I can explain, really I can! Just put down the knives and the swords and generally sharp, pointy things! Please!”

“Are they always like this first thing in the morning?” Donavan finally spoke up, sounding more annoyed than worried in the presence of such dangerous weapons and intent.

“No, not really…today’s just a bad morning…”

“Don’t talk to the criminal, Reisen! Especially when we’re about to smear him all over the walls!” Tyler told Reisen.

“Payback time for trying to kill us the other night! And for getting someone to burn down our office!” Dexter challenged as he and Tyler started to charge towards Donavon.

Reisen was really worried then. She was almost jumping up and down and making nervous little noises before she just shouted out the first thing that came to mind that could get their attention. “Uh-Uh-D-Donnybear is my blueberry muffin!!!” When the detectives stopped dead in their tracks and turned around to question what the hell she meant by that, Reisen activated a unique power of hers-hypnosis. Her eyes started to glow bright gold and her voice took on a sweet and commanding tone as she locked eyes with the detectives and gave them a command. “You two are really tired…it’s time to sleep.”

“Ahhh…but we…we need to…ahh…”

“…damn it…” Tyler and Dexter were both down on the floor in no time then, dropping their swords and knives as they fell asleep. The last thing that they could see before passing out was Reisen running into Donavan’s arms…

By the time Dexter woke up, he was on one of the couches and looked like he had been asleep all afternoon. Rolling over on his side and rubbing his head, he saw Tyler twitching as he dreamt the kind of dreams werewolves had. “Ah geez…Ty. Ty, wake up.” The angel picked up a pillow and gently threw it at the sleeping werewolf’s head.

Tyler felt the gentle thump from the pillow and opened his eyes. “Uhhh…oh God. Dex, I had a horrible dream…”

“Me too. Donavan Fallon was here with Reisen, she was all cute and cozy with him…”

“Beats my dream. In my dream, those two went to her shower the first chance they got…oh Mother of God…” The werewolf couldn’t help but shake and shiver in disgust then.

“Oh man…that’s really messed up.”

“And quite the opposite of what Miss Reisen would do.” Dexter and Tyler quickly looked to the kitchen to see Reisen sitting at the table and Cyrus floating nearby with a pot of tea sitting in between them. “Hello gentlemen! Glad to see you’re awake.”

“Cyrus?! What are you doing?!”

“He’s having tea with me! I’ve never had tea before but thanks to Cyrus, I know how to make great tea now! I didn’t know honey was better for tea than sugar, ah ha!”

“I could teach you a lot if you’ll allow me.” The ghost saw how confused the two detectives looked then and gestured for them to sit at the table. There were sandwiches and drinks waiting for them. “I decided to show myself once you were…unconscious and Mr. Fallon left. Miss Reisen and I have been talking ever since.”

The sleuths were quick to rush to the table and start stuffing themselves with food and drink. “So…Donavan’s not here anymore then?” Dexter asked past the mouth full of food.

“Nope! He had to leave for work a while ago.” Reisen replied while sipping her tea.

“Extorting business owners today I take it?” Tyler asked after tearing apart a sandwich with his teeth.

“He’s working at his studio today! He’s an artist whenever he isn’t visiting Mr. Kirk to run 'The Blue Caterpillar' or working with his siblings!”

“How did you two even meet!? Does Aunt Raisa know about this?! How can you be okay with what he is?!” Tyler demanded to know.

“Calm yourself, Tyler! I asked myself that of Miss Reisen when we got over the basic introductions as we met.”Cyrus said. “Miss Reisen works at a health clinic part time, as you both may know, and uses her gift of suggestion to help people get over their addictions, fears and bad habits. Mr. Fallon went in one day to help with…what was it again, Miss Reisen?”

“Donny wanted help overcoming a fear that came from a mental attack that happened during his last fight. He heard about what I could do and asked if I could help train him to withstand mental commands. One thing led to another…and that led to another and soon we were dating. He really is a sweetie… He’s smart, artistic and really gentle when he wants to be. Oh, and…Aunt Raisa and I both decided not to tell you and Uncle Alexander until after their honeymoon…she’s known about Donnybear for a while now, ah ha…”

Tyler couldn’t help but let his eye twitch and Dexter was frozen in place of eating another sandwich. “…I DON’T BELIEVE THIS!”

This conversation went on for a while before everyone could calm down and accept the facts: Reisen Aoi, the ideal angel…was dating a harpy gangster. There was nothing physical going on yet (Donavan always slept in Raisa’s room whenever he spent the night, according to Reisen) and that was a majority of what the boys cared about when it came to her. Despite this promise from the angel that nothing happened yet, it took a while to fully accept before they could move onto what was important then: Someone in the gangster world killed Cyrus to frame the Fallons while working to sabotage their control over the city. The boys told Reisen all that they could and what they needed to do then…which was keep looking for the real culprit behind all of this. Dexter remembered the glass shards that he picked up from the crime scene and presented them on the table. “If we could figure out what this was, maybe it could be another clue.”

“I could try and put it back together and see what it was.” Tyler offered.

“You do that.” Reisen had been quiet for a majority of this long conversation and looked like she had something on her mind. “Something bothering you, Rei?”

“Ah…well…Dex, can I talk to you in private?” Reisen asked.

“Uh…sure.” They both went out onto the open patio outside, leaving Tyler to start looking over the glass shards and figuring out how to re-piece them with Cyrus. “What is it, Reisen?”

The angel girl looked down on the street below and up at the late afternoon sky as if she was weighing something she needed to decide on. She finally decided. “I know where Tayte was the night Cyrus was killed.”

This truly shocked Dexter. “You-you know? You knew?! Well-Well why didn’t you tell us about it?! You could have just called us at any time with this and we would have gotten an alibi from her by now!”

“I know, I know, I know! But…Tayte made me promise and I didn’t think things would get this bad when I promised weeks ago! She was playing this whole ‘murdered a jockey’ thing like it was a joke, something that would never make it to court! I didn’t know that things were going to get as bad as they were…” Reisen looked really guilty about this, which made Dexter feel really bad right afterwards.

“Ah geez…don’t feel bad, Reisen… Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout like that.”

“I know…don’t let Tayte know where you found this out, okay?”

“I promise. Now, where did Tayte go that night?”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dexter found himself standing outside of a red brick apartment complex on the east side of Los Angeles as the late afternoon starting to cast its colors and drape its shadows for the early night. According to Reisen, this was the building in which Tayte Fallon was spending a majority of her free time for the last few weeks. That free time included the night in question. As the angel studied the building, he thought of what the harpy could have been doing here for so long. Strangely enough, no matter how innocent or plausible the reason he could come up with, he always ended up thinking of the one biggest possibility of Tayte’s presence at this building: She was meeting with a lover. “…NOOOO!!! NO NO NO! There’s got to be a better reason than that! Any other reason will work!!!” Dexter couldn’t contain himself or his feelings at that point and had to scream it out a few times at the building. The thought of Tayte coming here to meet some other man, having him kiss her all over and hold her in his arms…her making sweet cooing noises of love and affection and shining those big beautiful silver eyes at another man made Dexter feel like his guts were on fire and his braining running like a freight train that wouldn’t stop until he ran over the competition!

But…he shouldn’t consider it competition when he’s never talked to Tayte before…at least at a time when she wasn’t trying to kill him. “AAAAAAHHHH!!! WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME!?!” Dexter screamed at the building for a little while longer before he was spotted by an elderly woman and her grandchild and had to straighten up. He walked inside with a straight face but feeling like he was going to die of embarrassment and a broken heart soon. Walking through the lobby and taking the stairs up, Reisen told him that Tayte mentioned going up to the top floor and being able to see the stars on some nights. He thought that she would be staying in a room on the top floor. The more levels that Dexter went up in the building, the more he thought about the kind of man Tayte would want to be seeing in a place like this. Probably tall, buff, tan with a stony handsome face…probably with a dark mustache like that actor from “Gone with the Wind”. It drove Dexter nuts the longer he thought about it. But as Dexter got to the top floor and asked the residents, there was no one there with that description…or anyone that Tayte talked to. All the residents said that Tayte paid to use the roof whenever she wanted and kept the door to the stairs that went up there locked.

That wouldn’t be a problem to Dexter as he opened a window in the hallway and jumped. With a snap of his wings, the angel took off to the roof to see what the harpy girl had been doing up there for so long. He was happy-for a moment, at least-that she wasn’t here to see a lover. The flight onto the roof was short and he was looking around as soon as he landed. The space on the rooftop was wide and open enough to use as a work area of sorts. Someone has managed to bring up a few punching bags, some racks to hold weapons and posters from various circuses and acrobatic groups that featured flying creatures plastered everywhere. It was all very interesting, and suited Tayte for the most part…but the angel felt himself grow really confused when he saw the little structure made of chicken wire and wood boards. It wasn’t until he got a better look that he realized that it was chicken coop…but instead of chickens, there was a single hawk. The hawk was pecking at some raw meat before it turned to look at Dexter with big golden eyes. The hawk’s feathers were tawny gold and its left wing was all bandaged up and tied to its body. “Huh…hey there, beautiful. What are you doing up here?” Tayte really didn’t seem like one to put up with pets…and how did it get hurt? The angel was thinking pretty hard about this when the hawk started to squawk and click its beak at something behind him. He turned around just in time to see a halberd be swung at his head.

“AAAHHH!” The angel was quick to duck, the blade embedding itself in the wood of coop before a pair of heels could slam into his chest. The action was all too familiar to Dexter as he was forced onto his back, the heels pressing into his chest as the halberd was pointed at his neck. There was Tayte Fallon standing over him, dressed in tight black shorts and a wine red blouse with tall high heeled boots on. With halberd in hand and gun metal wings opened slightly, she looked furious. “Uh-I-I can explain-“

“You’re. Stalking. Me. Now. There’s nothing to explain. I’m putting you down like I should have done two nights ago!” Tayte replied, swinging her halberd back and towards Dexter’s neck. The angel grabbed onto one of her ankles and flipped her off of him, giving him enough time to scramble onto his feet as she went down and jumped back up like a spring. “I want you out of my life! You’re going to mess everything up!”

“But I want to help you!” Dexter tried to explain as Tayte charged after him. He summoned up a sword and locked it with the harpy’s halberd.

“You’re only doing what Tristan wants you to do because he paid for it, you good for nothing snoop! And that’s not going to help me no matter what he thinks or how much money he throws around! If you had realized that earlier and stayed away from me and the gangsters, you would have lived longer!” The harpy got particularly violent then. Jumping back to unlock their weapons, Tayte forced Dexter to open his body up by making his arms move away from his center and swung the blunt end of her weapon between his legs. Before he could even start to bend over in pain, she swung the blunt end around and at the side of his head. He was quick to crumple over in an unconscious heap at her feet. “Let’s see if angels can go to Heaven twice after death…” Tayte was prepared to end the unconscious Dexter then. She had the halberd raised like an executioner’s axe then, poised above the angel’s neck and ready to fall. The harpy had it ready…before she was stopped by a noise. The hawk was going nuts in its coop then, squawking and screeching and flapping its one good wing almost in protest.

“…no. No way! You’re getting too spoiled, I’m not sparing him!” Tayte said to the hawk almost as if it could understand her. “Everyone else wants him and that stupid beast partner of his dead anyway, so me sparing him won’t do anyone any good!” This argument of sorts continued on until the hawk’s screeching made Tayte kick Dexter in the side. “God damn it all!” He turned over onto his back from the force of the kick, his notes starting to slip out of his pocket. This didn’t escape the harpy’s attention as she picked them up and started to read these. “…huh.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first thing that Dexter could think of was how he hurt all over. His head was aching, his groin…that was another story. As he started to regain consciousness, other than feeling pain he felt that his arms were raised above his head. “Wha…what the…?” The angel tried to move when he felt something on his wrists. He looked up and saw that someone put his handcuffs on him and had him chained up to some pipes near the stairs. “What is this?!”

“From that reaction, I can say that you’ve never been handcuffed before. At least never handcuffed that way.” Tayte was sitting on a crate nearby, flipping through all of Dexter’s notes and reading at her leisure.

“Hey-Hey! Don’t read those, they’re private! They're part of the investigation!” Dexter tried to protest.

“Simmer down, detective boy. I’d like to see you do anything to stop me.” Tayte clearly wasn’t in any hurry or had any worries about Dexter stopping her. “I’m actually surprised by how far someone went to frame me…Okay, the hair thing was stupid and cliché…but the talon thing was new. How did you figure that was a fake?”

For some reason, Dexter felt himself blush then as he lay on the roof, totally helpless. It may have had to do with the fact that he was having a real conversation with Tayte for the first time. “The-The depth of the cuts…in Cyrus’ body…they were all the same. Tyler said-that claws and talons curl during a slice so the depth changes…they’re deep and then they get swallow…” The angel sat up a little then as Tayte hopped off her crate and walked towards one of her punching bags. Flicking and flexing her fingers, she drew her talons across the bag and sliced it open, watching the sand slip out like water onto the roof in uneven pools. “Yeah-Yeah, like that…”

“So what? You want a medal for figuring all of that out?” Tayte walked over to where Dexter was then and sat down next to him. She kept her talons out and hung them over the angel’s neck. “So, you have two minutes to explain why I shouldn’t kill your stalker a** right here and now.”

“I-I’m not a stalker, I’m a detective!”

“Same difference. You follow people around without them knowing it and learn everything about them.” Tayte pushed her talons down a little harder on Dexter’s neck.

Dexter didn’t want to argue about it. The strange combination of fear from having the harpy’s talons on his throat and excitement of having her touch him made him tongue tied. “Well…why do you not want me to help you? Why won’t you give an alibi to prove your innocence?” Dexter was so bold to ask.

“That’s not how this game works. You tell me everything, I tell you nothing and I may let you live to see tomorrow.”

“Can’t you humor me? You have chained up here, it’s the least you can do!” To that statement, Tayte pouted a little and quickly moved herself so she was sitting right on top of Dexter’s stomach. She was straddling him, his eyes on her shorts and then on the rest of her before growing wide with surprise. “Ah-I-I-! I-I-I-“ The angel was bright red in the face as the harpy placed her face right in front of his. They were only inches away, just like the first time they met.

“You really want to know? Fine. Because it’s a sign of weakness. In both the gangster world and in my own family. The minute any of us accepts help from chumps like you, it’s as good as putting a target on your back for being weak. I’ve also known that people want to put me and my brothers down and every time, we’ve strike back and put them back in their place to remind them not to mess with us. This is just another one of those times. I have my plan and I’ll strike back when I figure out who’s responsible for this and prove to everyone that I’m not one to mess with.”

“What…what’s your plan?”

“Thanks to you, I now have some clues about who’s trying to frame me. With the police and the Council breathing down my back, I have no choice but to leave L.A for a while until I can gather up some muscle and go after the bastards or bitches trying to mess with me and my family.”

The second Dexter heard that Tayte was thinking about leaving L.A for a while, he felt everything stop and his body tense up. “You-You can’t just leave L.A! You can’t run away from this!”

“I already have some plans to join the Kipling Brothers Flying Circus as they move down to South America for a show in Rio. It’s funny, I always had dreams of joining an acrobatic troop when the gangster life got boring…this could be a bit of a mini retirement for me.” Tayte looked like she was very fond of this idea, but there was a bit of sadness in her smile.

“So you’re just going to let these guys run you out of town without a fight?!”

“I plan to bring them a hell of a fight when I find out who did this. I still have my own forces looking into this. I won’t let this die…I just need to fight another day when I have a full arsenal to work this. The Fallon pride won’t allow a lose in any way so I need to be prepared.”

“It still sounds like you’re running away! That you’re too scared to do anything because you don’t want to face the police, the Council and the ones trying to frame you in a real fight despite the fact that justice is on your side!” Dexter didn’t know why he was getting so angry-or how he could get angry in a situation like this-but the thought of Tayte leaving…maybe forever…it killed him on the inside. Tayte really got angry hearing this as well and slammed Dexter’s head against the floor. She pushed herself in more against his body, her fingers wrapped around his throat and digging into his skin.

“Listen here, snowflake. Justice is swayed easily, especially in this town. Even if I decided to play by your rules, it won’t help me. The Council and the police will still throw me in the slammer for what I did regardless of what evidence you give them to prove that I didn’t do this. The only way to get them off of my scent and this opportunity to put a Fallon away is to dangle a bigger piece of meat in front of them…and they don’t get any bigger than the Fallons in this town.” Tayte hissed in Dexter’s face, eyes burning with hate and anger. Dexter’s gaze did not waver from hers as they stared at each other. The only thing that could break the tension in the air on that roof was the soft cooing of the hawk nearby. The tension in the harpy’s body melted as she sat up with a sigh and looked over at the coop. “Hold on, baby…I’ll feed you in a bit.”

“…what’s with the hawk? You don’t really seem like the kind of girl to want to keep a song bird nearby.” Dexter asked. He averted his eyes so he wouldn’t be looking at how Tayte was sitting on him again.

“…I decided that her name is Dasha. My guess is that she used to live here. I found her in an alley on the side of the building weeks ago. She was really messed up the first time I saw her…I don’t what happened to make her that way. Every day I walked by this building and I saw her trying to fly back up here to her nest. She would try and try before having to rest up and try again. I guess I liked how she was a scrapper…like me. She’s getting spoiled but she’s ready to fly and take her life back any day now.” For the first time since he met her, Dexter saw a sort of tenderness in Tayte’s eyes as she looked over to Dasha’s coop. She really was gentle when she wanted to be.

“…s-so…the straw from the stables…?”

“…it was cold that night. I thought Dasha would need the straw to keep warm in her coop.” There was a different kind of thrill in the angel then. He had his alibi! And it felt like a good, believable one! Tayte saw him smiling before turning back and looking down at him. “…do you want to ******** me?” She managed to say this with the straightest face possible.

If it were possible for Dexter’s face to get any redder, it would have been then. Of all the things that Tayte could have said to him, it had to be that. “Wh-wh-wh-WHAT?!” His face was burnt red, his eyes wide with a mixture of emotions that ranged from embarrassment to shock with a slight tinge of arousal. “What-what-what could have given you an idea like that!?”

“Come on. I know when men want me. And I do remember you from the club that night.” Tayte leaned in closer, her body resting against Dexter’s (to which made him tense up even more) as she used one of her talons to tilt his hat off of his face. “You have that same look then that you have now and that look is saying ‘Please Tayte, take my virginity! Pretty please!’” The harpy looked at the angel for a moment to see that she struck something in him that left him speechless. “You…you’re kidding me?! You’re still a virgin!?” It actually made her laugh as she sat on top of him. It was a sweet but mocking laugh that made it sting all the more. “I mean-I mean- I try and pick innocent looking saps during my shows to get some shock and innocent reactions in but I never expected you to be a real virgin!”

“Sh-Shut up! It’s not funny! And-And-And who says that I am or aren’t or whatever?!” Dexter tried to deny, looking angry and full of shame at the same time. The tension of having a woman try to kill you was turning into the humiliation of having a woman you fancied laugh at you for something embarrassing. It was still humiliating that Tayte could see that much in him. Humiliating to the point of tears almost… He wanted to break out of the handcuffs and just run off the roof then.

The harpy woman stopped laughing soon and saw how it hurt Dexter. “Don’t be like that. What? Were you thinking that if you solved the case and kept me out of jail that I would be yours? That I would be so grateful that I would give you my heart and body as thanks? I’d hate to burst your bubble but I’m not like that. So give it up. Go back to your mutt partner, call Tristan to tell him that it’s the case is no good and just let me run to South America. Forget what you saw in the gangster world and go back to your life in lower L.A.” She was really trying to get him to turn back now. The more she saw the angel, the more she started to feel…something other than the urge to chop his head off. It felt better to just let him go…but if he showed up again, she would have to kill him.

Dexter couldn’t look at Tayte for a few moments before he finally thought of something to say to her. “I was thinking that you’re a lot like Dasha.”

“What?”

“I wasn’t thinking it at the time but now I see it. You’re like Dasha: You’re meant to be wild and free. You’re most beautiful doing what comes naturally to you. And like how Dasha got hurt and you decided to nurse her back to health so she can fly again, I want to help you out. Just this once. So you can live as you want to and need to. Neither one of you is meant to be in a cage…I just want to make sure you can stay where you belong.” It was maybe the most embarrassing he did that day but he needed to say it or else he would explode. It was a miracle that he hadn’t already, what with Tayte handcuffing him and sitting on him like this. But now…now the buildup got to him.

The angel’s words stunned Tayte in a way that she wasn’t used to before. Like she said, she knew when men wanted her. She had heard it all and seen it all from those that wanted the Fallon’s heart. She made a wall around her heart so no one could touch it as she walked her wild and rowdy path in life…but Dexter’s words really touched her. He saw down to her core, her very being and some of the things that she valued the most. And he was still willing to fight for it after everything she tried to do to him. She thought for a moment that he was either a complete idiot…or simply a very sweet man. A total angel. The moments passed away with Tayte looking at Dexter with a softening gaze before she acted again. She leaned in again, body pressing up against his, hands going up to his face. She saw him flinch, the angel expecting her to try and strangle him and puncture his throat again but instead, she cupped his face in her hands. “You said your name was Dexter, right?”

Dexter started to feel the heat raise in his skin again as Tayte rested on top of him and held his face. He wasn’t sure what she was trying to do then, she was unpredictable. She could have killed him then and he should have been afraid of that…but feeling her on top of him, her soft body pressed up against his while he was helpless like this…her face so close to his with an expression he never saw in her before… It was easy for him to forget what kind of danger he was in and just get lost in the moment. “Y-Yes…”

“Tell me then, Dexter. Let’s say you do manage to convince everyone that I really didn’t kill that twerp Cyrus. Let’s say you managed to prove I’m innocent and still find a way to keep the Council off my back…then what? What would you want out of all of this? Besides Tristan's money that is.”

“…I really wouldn’t mind if you decided not to go to Rio. At least, not right now anyway.”

“You mean, not without you.”

“I-I never said that!”

“You don’t need to.” Tayte’s leg started to move around Dexter’s waist until she felt it move up against something that was up since she first sat on him. “There are parts of you that say it all when you can't…”

The angel was beyond surprised by how the harpy was moving her body. This was a place...never explored by anyone before and he didn't know what to do about it. Or how to control his mouth. "Ah! S-Stop moving around like that! That’s-That’s not how I feel about y-“ Dexter stopped himself before he could say anymore. His face was burnt red all the way to his ears from both the contact between his and Tayte’s body and from the shock that he nearly told her how he felt. “I-I mean-it’s not that simple-but I don’t-I don’t-just-just toss me off of the roof or kill me or whatever already!” Anything to free him from his embarrassment would do.

Tayte laughed again-but this time it was softer and sweeter, like she found something amusing about how Dexter was squirming and trying to hide his feelings. “Dexter…” The harpy pulled his face closer to hers, lips almost touching and her wings hanging over them both like a veil. “You’re starting to seem really adorable to me…”

…I…had no idea how things led to what happened on the roof that one afternoon in October. In most rational minds, there should have been no way Tayte Fallon would ever think of sparing a guy like me. I should have been killed for snooping around her private workspace and finding out about her secret soft side. If not that, I should have gotten the crud kicked out of me, all my notes stolen and left in a dumpster somewhere. But nothing like that happened. The dusky sun was the only witness to what really happened on that roof. Tayte Fallon had me, Dexter McBane, handcuffed and at her mercy…under her body and soft touch. After admitting that she found me adorable…she kissed me. She kissed me for a good, long…long time.

As long as I live, I’ll never forget that kiss…and what that kiss would lead to.