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

VALENCIA NOIR

ACT VIII

…I’m still not entirely sure what happened after Tayte kissed me on the roof that afternoon. I wasn’t even sure how I was able to find my way back to Reisen’s apartment after what happened between us back then! All I could think about was how Tayte Fallon-the most dangerous gangster (and maybe the most dangerous woman) in all of L.A.-was kissing me. The side of my brain that would have said “She’s just using you” or “She’s trying to seduce you to save herself” was melted away by the heat of that moment. Everything about her was more incredible than I could have imagined… The feel of her lips, their texture and taste…the pressure of her body on top of mine…the shine in her eyes that said “You’re all mine”…it was like a dream.

That was until she hit me over the head with her fist and I blacked out again.

When I came to one last time, Tayte was gone and the roof was deserted-save for Dasha in her coop. My hands were finally free from the cuffs around the pipe so I could gasp my aching head…and stumble upon the note that she left in my hat’s brim. She left me a simple message-

“I’ll let you work. Just don’t get in my way. Don’t get caught. Don’t prove me wrong either or else”.

My notes were all still in my notepad but blank pages were missing. She took them with copies of my notes written on them to pursue her own investigation. I would have been worried about this…if it wasn’t for what was written on the very bottom line of the note left for me.

“You’re really cute when you’re asleep.” I ignored the fact that she knocked me out.
I was walking on air all the way back home after that…quite literally for some parts. I walked off the roof in such a happy state and flew before managing to pull my head out of the clouds and remembered that I was a wanted man. So I snuck back without being seen on the ground. But as I walked through the door of Reisen’s apartment, I couldn’t have been happier…

Dexter McBane returned to the apartment of Reisen Aoi in a dreamlike state. His cheeks were still flushed and his eyes were glossy and distracted. He was barely able to remember how to get back to the building and that he was supposed to do so in secret. So the angel being able to return in one piece and without being followed while in this state was a miracle of itself. “Guys…Guys, I’m back…” He mumbled as he stumbled inside. The dream of Tayte Fallon was still drifting throughout his mind and his heart…that was until a particular argument pulled him back to reality.

“-and that’s why Lillian and I can’t have pink puppies!” Tyler, Reisen and Cyrus were all at the table again-and it was after dark. Just how long was Dexter out of the apartment?

“Oh, come on Tyler! Just imagine how cute they would be! And-And! Since you have white fur and Lillian has red fur, when you have kids, it only makes sense that they could be-“

“Don’t say it! Rei-Rei, if you love me, please don’t ever say that again!”

“Come now, Tyler! Don’t be like that! Miss Reisen has presented a lot of valid arguments for how yours and Miss Lillian’s children could have pink fur. And I think my argument point about the experiments performed by Gregor Mendel with the pea plants had a lot of crucial facts to prove her points!” Cyrus declared in favor of Reisen’s point of views.

“Ha! See! Even Cyrus agrees with me, Mr. Grouchy pants!” The female angel had to stick her tongue out at the werewolf as he started to bang his head against the table. That was when she saw that the male angel had returned. “Hey! Dexter! Dexter, you’re back!”

“Dex, where have you been?! We’ve been getting worried about you!” Tyler said, happy to have some form of salvation from this discussion. He couldn’t help but notice how…disheveled his partner looked though. “…what happened to you? You spend the afternoon in a cement mixer or something? You look terrible!”

Dexter needed to find a way to tell Tyler and the others about his…interview with Tayte, without revealing what actually happened between them. The only problem here was that he couldn’t lie to the werewolf-ever. He could already feel the heat rise in his face again as he started to think about what he could say. “Uh-uh-no, no…not exactly. I…I want out to check out a lead that Reisen told me about…”

“A lead? That’s why you ditched me to play jigsaw puzzle with evidence?!”

“And-And this lead…was actually good?” Reisen wanted to know.

“It-It was…very good.” For some reason, saying that just made him blush more. Which drew the suspicion of the werewolf. “But-But-now I know that Tayte Fallon didn’t kill Cyrus!”

“And how would you know that? Unless…you went to actually talk to her.”

“Wh-What?! Without you?! No, no!”

“…your voice just got higher so I know you’re lying. You went to see her!”

“…yes. Reisen told me where she likes to hang out.”

“Rei!”

“I’m sorry! I knew where she was this whole time and-and-I really wanted to help you guys! And I knew Dexter is better at interviewing people so…I fibbed about where he was this whole time! I’m sorry...and sorry for tattling on you, Dex.” Reisen apologized while bowing repeatedly towards Tyler and Dexter.

“Aaahh, forget that, Reisen. It’s okay…but something else happened during that time! Something super big that you’re trying to keep from us!”

“N-Nothing happened!”

“Dexter, why are you turning red? Did you catch a fever while you were out?” Cyrus noticed much to the angel’s dismay. The ghost’s eyes grew wide as he started to piece things together. “Did…something inappropriate take place…between you and Miss Fallon during this interview?”

That was what nailed Dexter’s coffin shut. There was no hiding it now. The angel’s face was burnt cherry red and the werewolf had his answer-much to his shock and that of everyone else in the room. Reisen let out a surprised squeal with her hands clasped over flushed cheeks before she started to blather whatever could come to mind. “You-You and Tayte-with-with the-touching and-and the-kissing-and-and-naughty places?!”

“Dexter, how could you?! Where’s your sense of professionalism?!”

“Forget that, where’s your pride, man?! You let Tayte Fallon bone you in the middle of an investigation!? I know being a virgin is tough but come on!!!”

“NOTHING LIKE THAT HAPPENED!!!” Dexter had to shout out in his defense, his voice still high with embarrassment, face still burning red. “I-I found her-she got the jump on me and handcuffed me to the roof and-“ That was a big mistake to make on his part as he saw the look on his friends’ faces. “NOTHING HAPPENED.”

“I need to check.” Tyler said before tackling the angel to the floor.

“Ty, Ty! Get off me! Come on, nothing happened! Gah-come on!”

“Shut up!”

“What’s Tyler doing…?”

“I really don’t know, Cyrus…”

What Tyler was doing was reading Dexter’s face for clues. Scanning it over for a few moments and looking him in the eye, he had the answer he was looking for. “Yep. Still a virgin.”

“I TOLD YOU NOTHING HAPPENED!”

“Oh, something happened alright. It just wasn’t ‘that.’”

The angel was stuck no matter what so he just told everyone what happened. After about…an hour of Tyler and Cyrus chastising him and warning him against the moves of a woman like Tayte in situations like these…and Reisen questioning him about what he thought Tayte was feeling at the time, he was let off the hook. That finally allowed them to return to the matter at hand. After being given a few sandwiches and some drinks, Dexter got a look at the glass pieces Tyler had resembled. “This is part of a syringe, like the ones that doctors would use.”

“Yeah, it took forever to piece all the shards back together. But it’s what’s on the syringe that’s important. Take a look!” Tyler said, offering up the reconstructed glass with a pair of tweezers. “When you put it all back together, you can see that there used to be a sticker on it. Most of it is torn off but what’s left of it was left on the broken glass.”

Dexter used the magnifying glass to study the little broken bits of paper plastered on the reconstructed glass. The text that would have been used to identify the contents of the syringe was rubbed out but there was still something that he could make out. It was a tiny symbol in the corner of a stylized rose with the Rod of Asclepius rising from its center. In the city of L.A., that meant only one thing: “Rosa Medical is involved?”

“What?” Tyler had to look at this. “That’s their emblem alright…but they own practically every hospital in town. And they got control over the private practices, training over the doctors and all the pharmacies. This can’t mean that the Rosa family is involved, they’re too commonplace.”

“The only way that a syringe with this emblem was able to come out was if it came directly from one of the main Rosa Medical Centers. It guarantees that whatever was in this syringe was high quality stuff, only available to those that can afford it. The Rosa Medical Centers train doctors with access to these kind of products…doctors that you and I both know sometime make money on the side patching up gangsters with high and regular offers to pay off medical school.”

“So you’re thinking that this syringe was supplied by a Rosa Medical guy or gal that works for one of the gangsters that want the Fallons out of the way. That actually makes sense…depending on what was in the syringe, they could have been drugging the horses!” Tyler replied. “Aiming to them slower, slipping them steroids so they’ll be disqualified from the races…either way, it screws with the Fallons’ stats at the casino and their street cred!”

“My thoughts actually!”

“Someone was trying to slip drugs to our horses?! That’s despicable…I can’t believe I was killed for walking in on such a disgraceful act…”Cyrus had to say. It seemed as if the idea that his death was because of him discovering such a deed in action had offended him even more than simply being murdered as a random act of violence. It was strange to try and understand until the ghost came to a horrible realization. “AH! The-The horses! There may be a chance that some of them were already drugged! This is-this is terrible! I have to tell Lillian! She has to take them to the vet right away!” The ghost was starting to make his way to the door.

“Whoa-whoa! Cy, hold up! You’re dead, you can’t go talking to people just yet!” Dexter said as he and Tyler scrambled to keep the ghost from leaving. The angel’s hand dropped right through his intangible body as he reached to grab his shoulder. “Oh man, that feels weird!”

“Cy, just cool your jets for a minute! I’ll give Lulu a call later and see what she has to say about the horses. She had to take them to the vet the other day so she’ll know if anything is wrong with them.” Tyler said to the ghost before he could slide through the door. “We just can’t have anyone else seeing you just yet.”

Cyrus stopped where he was and backed away from the door. “I…you’re right. You’re both right. It’s just…I really cared about those horses during my time at the track and hearing that someone may have hurt them is hard.”

“That’s why we’re going to work extra hard to find out who did this. Not only did they hurt you but they also hurt the animals. There’s has to be a law about that somewhere.”Dexter promised. That calmed the ghost down quite a bit and convinced him to remain hidden for just a little longer. The rest of the night was spent planning on what the detectives would do for the next step of their investigation. They decided that they needed to check out Rosa Medical to find out which doctors had connections to the mobs and if any of them has supplied any heavy duty drugs in the last few days. By the time everyone was turning into bed, the last few details for the next day were being covered. Dexter was already laying on one of the couches listening to the werewolf on the phone as Cyrus floated near the ceiling.

“-Yeah. Yeah, okay. You sure that was what the vet said, baby? …yeah, okay, I just wanted to double check. …yeah, I’ll pass it onto Dexter and Reisen. …I’ll be careful…when have I not been careful? …oh, yeah. Anyway, I’ll try and call you the next chance I get. …love you too, Lillian.” Tyler hung up and carried the phone back into the living room. “That confirmed it. The horses were drugged with something. They don’t know for sure yet but it was definitely a painkiller of sorts. The vets had to pull a broken piece of a needle out of one of the horses’ legs.”

“That would explain the missing needle’s end that wasn’t with the syringe.” Dexter said as he took the phone and started to dial. “We’ll have to find out what actually was used to narrow down the search. There may be a lot of doctors that use that drug and no way of telling if it was used for mob purposes.”

“If I understand your plan correctly…you two are going to break into Rosa Medical Hospital tomorrow and search their records for missing medical supplies and suspicious doctors? In hopes of gaining some new suspects for my murder and who is framing Miss Fallon?” Cyrus questioned while flipping over on his stomach to look down below as he drifted over the detectives’ heads.

“You sound like you have some doubts about this plan.”Dexter said as the phone rang on the other side.

“I must admit that I have a few…”

“Relax, we got this! Hey, she’s picking it up. Hey Sveta!”

“Hold up the phone so I can talk to her too, Dex!”

Held up between their heads, the two detectives were able to talk to their secretary and friend Sveta for a while. Ever since the bombing at the warehouse and the office burning down the other day, the homunculus was hardly allowed to leave the Church of St. Margaret. The nuns she lived with weren’t too happy about their little Sveta being interviewed by policemen and possibly working for criminals. The homunculus sounded really distraught over the whole thing as she talked to the boys over the phone. “The police keep hanging around the church and trying to get me to tell them if I know where you two are…I already told them no but they keep coming. The Sisters can’t chase them off forever and I can’t keep saying I don’t know where you are!”

“We know, Sveta sweetie. Don’t worry, this case will be over soon and the police will go away.” Tyler assured the homunculus over the phone. “You just have to hang in there.”

“Keep tough and everything will be okay. Can you get the stuff we asked for delivered tomorrow?” Dexter asked.

“Yes…but I won’t be able to hand it to you directly. I think I’ll be tailed as soon as I leave the church…and I can’t drop it off for you to find. That’ll draw suspicion too.” Sveta replied.

“Don’t worry, we thought that too. Just do this and everything will be okay…”The angel took a few minutes to explain the mechanics of this mysterious drop off and could almost hear the gears in Sveta’s head turn. “Can you make that happen?”

“Of course! That’s a really smart plan. I’ll have one of the Sisters do that tomorrow!”

“You can’t do it, Sveta?” Tyler asked.

“Uh, no. I can’t. I…I’m going bowling tomorrow with the rest of the Sisters!”

“…nuns bowl?”

“It’s for charity! And they really do need me to help with that…”

“We understand. It’s probably for the best that you keep your head low anyway and stay out of sight. Just get everything I asked for and we’ll handle the rest.”

“Alright. Good luck Dexter, good luck Tyler.” Sveta hung up then, leaving the boys with some inquisitive glances about the idea of nuns bowling for charity. They decided not to question it for the time being. They needed to get to sleep to get ready for their plans tomorrow…
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rosa Medical Hospital had a polished shine as it basked in the mid-morning light. The impressive hospital was painted with glossy coats of white and touched with soft purple details as it sat on top of a perfectly manicured lawn. It could have been mistaken for a mansion if it wasn’t for the sign out in front declaring this to be a hospital and the various driveways for ambulances to glide through with its precious cargo. The inside of the building was just as impressive and matched the color scheme of white, purple and green. It was quiet like any hospital should be with the only sounds present being the whispered urgent tones of somber doctors, perky nurses and observant staff members walking to and fro in the hallways. One look around this building, the people that worked there and the people present in its waiting rooms and anyone could tell that this was meant only for the very best of society. This would definitely explain to anyone new to the hospital the great amount of attention given to one sharply dressed old man by one very enthusiastic receptionist. “Ah ha ha ha ha! Oh, it’s so nice to see an old donor visiting our hospital again! What can I do for you today, Mr...?”

“Alfred. William Alfred!” The old man mumbled through his thick bushy beard of white hair. The old man was nicely dressed as he stood hunched over his cane, his eyes hidden under a floppy brown hat. The young man accompanying him wore a baggy over coat but was still dressed nicely enough. His thick black hair hung over his eyes and gave him the look of a sheep dog. “I’m here with my grandson today to visit and to see if I want to give the hospital another donation!”

“Of course, Mr. Alfred! I’ll find someone who can give you a tour and see where Miss Rosa is today-“

“Now hold on there, missy! I’ve been coming to this hospital for over sixty years, I don’t need no tour guide! Come on Billy, I’ll show you around!” The old man started hobble off down the hallway despite the protests from the receptionist. The young man that he was with smiled at the young lady and ran off after the old man. They walked down the hallway of the hospital for a while before they stopped, looked around and quickly dove into the nearest open room. Once inside, their real identities started to show.

The old man stood up to reveal his true height around six feet and took off the floppy brown hat to reveal a pair of furry white wolf ears. His white beard was really a certain mane of white fur pulled to the front of his face and styled with pins and rubber bands-which he shook out for a moment of relief. “Man, that thing is annoying to wear. And having to hunch like that hurts my back!” Tyler Levion-werewolf in disguise-complained.

“You’re one to talk!” Billy argued as he pulled away his black mop of sheep dog hair to reveal a head of golden blonde hair, his big blue eyes finally visible for all to see. “At least you’re not walking around with your limbs strapped to your back!” Dexter McBane-angel in disguise-complained as his wings shivered and ached under his overcoat under the restraint of ropes and harnesses.

“How are your wings doing anyway?”

“They’re fine but if we don’t find something that could help with our case soon, they’re either going to rip something open or get ripped themselves.”

“Okay then. Let’s get looking around then. We should look into some records…and maybe see if the nurses are gossiping about anyone acting weird lately.”

“Doctors working for the mob and possibly supplying drugs involved in a high profile murder should be on everyone’s lips if they know anything about it.”

Getting back in their disguises, the two sleuths got to sleuthing. They had no idea where things like the hospital records or inventory on medical supplies would be but they figured that it wouldn’t be too hard to find. So they went looking, hoping that their disguises of an old man and his grandson convinced the hospital staff that they weren’t two young men wanted for arson. Their search took them around the hospital for a while, pretending to have conversations about whatever while scanning rooms, studying doctors and listening to nurses. The best that they could get out of these medical maidens in white was their concern about two rogue detectives running around the city, burning down buildings left and right. Word was that the werewolf had gone rabid and the angel had fallen from God’s good grace and was bent on causing havoc. When they heard a gaggle of nurses discussing their thoughts on the motives of these crimes from around a corner, the detectives felt their eyebrows twitch and teeth grind in annoyance.

“…we’re asking for double the pay from Tristan after this.” Tyler said.

“IF he decides to pay us at all after hearing about all of this.”

Eventually their wanderings took them to the administrative part of the hospital and they stumbled upon a locked room with “RECORDS” printed on the glass. The sleuths felt this to be a good place to start. The angel was already testing the lock on the door with Tyler as his lookout when the werewolf signaled that they’ve been spotted by a man in a suit. “Ah! Mr. Alfred! It looks like you’ve found the main offices alright on your own!”

“Yes, yes of course! I’ve been coming here for a while and I was just showing my grandson all the in’s and out’s of the place. So if you don’t mind, I’d like to continue our little walk together-“

“You can do that later! Miss Rosa will want to see you to talk about this donation I’ve been hearing about.” The man was clearly all about business and it was now his business to push and prod Dexter and Tyler all the way down to the office of one of the most power businesswomen in Los Angeles. Despite their protests and attempts to escape, this man kept a good grip on them both as he took them up to the big office where the head of the Rosa family worked. Her office door had a tinted window with the family emblem in black stenciling and around the waiting area on the outside were portraits of all the previous heads of Rosa Medical. The portrait of the last head of the company was placed next to the door to the office and was of a lovely woman with long dark hair. Her husband stood beside her in the painting and bore a striking similarity to the angel in disguise. “Miss Rosa! Miss Rosa, you have visitors!”

“…I thought I told you that I’m not to be disturbed at the moment.” The feminine voice from inside replied.

“Y-Yes, I know…but Mr. Alfred is here for a visit and wanted to talk about another donation to the hospital and the company!”

There was silence in the office before the woman inside spoke again. “Give me a few moments and send him in.”

“Fantastic! Thank you, Miss Rosa!” The boys could feel like all eyes were going to be on them soon. There was no way that they could pull this off! Tyler based his look off of a donor that frequently showed up in the newspaper, he didn’t know anything about the real Mr. William Alfred! Miss Rosa was going to see through them both, call the police and that would be the end of them! Even if they did manage to convince the authorities that they didn’t do anything wrong, by the time they would get out of custody it may be too late for Tayte. She would probably be arrested or turned over to the Council by the gang trying to frame her or worse! All of these things flashed through both of the detectives’ minds in the moments that it took for them to be welcome into Miss Rosa’s office, pushed inside and had the door close behind them.

The office space of Miss Saria Rosa was impressive to say the least. The room still celebrated white and purple but was decorated with many fine things and curious antiques. Bookshelves lined a majority of the walls and were stocked with ancient tomes, modern medicine, science and magic books. The desk at the end of the large room was…almost too big for the woman that worked behind it. Whenever the detectives heard about Saria Rosa on the street, they always imagined an older woman as the head of a major company of medical suppliers, care and training. Maybe a little on the heavy side, but always intimidating. The woman that they were looking at now…well, barely registered as a woman at all. Mostly because she looked like a little girl.

“Ah, Mr. Alfred. Sorry for the delay but I really wasn’t expecting you to show up today.” Saria said as she fanned out her long locks of purple hair around her slender shoulders. She was a little slip of a thing, perhaps around…seventeen years old. Her skin was pale like a China doll’s skin, with big azure eyes and a serious air around her. It would have appeared silly to have such a gentle and tiny thing wearing the dark blue suit of a businesswoman but the air that this girl produced and how natural she appeared standing in this office changed that idea fast. She hiked down the line of her skirt a little, fixed the collar on her blouse and tidied up her desk before taking a seat in the big leather chair behind the desk. “So, what can I do for you today?” She asked while straightening up the flowers in a vase on her desk and quickly spraying herself with perfume from her drawer.

Dexter and Tyler were sweating bullets. They needed a way out and fast. Tyler had to think. “Uh…I’m just…showing my grandson around today. I was thinking about a donation too but I…forgot my checkbook at home! So I guess we’ll have to cut the trip short and head home...”The werewolf said, hoping to slowly back out of the room with Dexter without causing any suspicion.

“Hardly a problem.” With reflexes that almost seemed inhuman for a body that small, Miss Rosa whipped out a pen, flipped open a check book and scribbled something that shouldn’t have been so clean and easy to read. “I always keep spare checks around in situations like these. If you could just put in the amount you want to donate here and then sign your name, we can make this transition quick.”

It was almost one of those times when Tyler wanted to whimper like a wolf pup that just ran into a bear. And if it weren’t for the sheep dog wig that the angel was wearing, his eyes would have been conveying how freaked out he was. This girl-apparently the Saria Rosa behind Rosa Medical-was going to know something was up. Maybe it would be in which hand Tyler decided to use to take up the pen she was offering…but it would most definitely be when he tried to sign this thing and she saw that his signature doesn’t match with previous checks given by the real William Alfred. This was going to blow up in their faces so bad.

But the werewolf had to do something. He couldn’t just stand there like an idiot forever. He had gloves on his hands so Saria wouldn’t see the claws or lack of wrinkles and liver spots but he still had to decide-was Alfred a lefty or a righty? Reaching out, he decided to use his right hand. What were the odds that Alfred was one of those rare lefties? Apparently…pretty damn good. It didn’t take Saria more than a few seconds to zone in on this detail and shot an icy glare at them both. The werewolf tried not to flinch as he felt this and tried to continue his forgery.

“Is there something wrong with your left hand…Mr. Alfred?” The danger in the air was hard to ignore. They didn’t know how but this small corporate giant had something inside of her that made her dangerous and they needed to escape before they found out what it was. The detectives eyeballed the window behind her and were ready to make the jump and hope Dexter could free his wings in time…when someone walked into the office.

“Saria sensei, I have your tea ready…” The young man that walked into the office diffused some of the tension in that instance but then amplified it a hundred times. His lips never moved but they could all still hear him say that the tea was done-everyone was simply hearing his voice in their heads. As alarming as that was, it wasn’t nearly as bad as who this young boy was. His long black hair was pulled up into a ponytail and his black clothes were replaced with a doctor’s white coat…but Dexter and Tyler could never forget that face and those black wings. And they could never forget those violet red eyes.

“H-Hey! Y-Y-You’re-!”

“YOU’RE THAT b*****d THAT NEARLY BLEW US UP THE OTHER NIGHT!”

The young man-the ‘b*****d’ who was really responsible for the warehouse burning down-was taken by surprise at this outburst from what looked like an old man and a sheep dog boy before he saw through both of their disguises. Then his eyes shifted-from the eyes of innocent and startled boy to those of a cold and indifferent being. He dropped the tray of cups and tea and held out his hands where a dark mass was beginning to form between them. The dark swirling energies of black and violet red formed several small orbs that sat in his hands. These orbs soon opened up to reveal big, blinking eyes and bat wings which they used to take flight. They were poised and ready to charge at the two detectives that were ready to either fight or take flight. “Saria sensei-“

“YORUKAGE. That won’t be necessary. Mr. D, if you please.” Saria didn’t even bat an eyelash as she barked this strange order. The boys were ready to jump over the desk and break out through the window behind her when they saw something strange fall off of the coat rack near the door. This garment was familiar to them both…it was that same strange purple garment worn by the person this bomb boy was with the other night. And much like that night, it had a mind of its own. With the speed of a demonic cobra, this cloak of sorts had slithered and clawed itself over the floor and lunged at Dexter and Tyler. It tried to wrap itself around them both with its wide cloth body but their struggling made it difficult to wrap them in one smooth motion. The angel tried to summon up a katana to slice this cloak up but it seemed to…sense his intentions and wrapped a piece of itself around both of his hands. The same thing happened to the werewolf when he whipped his gloves off to use his claws. The detectives kept fighting despite their hands being tied…but it was all for naught. Within seconds, they were both wrapped up by this devil cloak and fell on top of Saria’s desk.

Dexter and Tyler were suddenly in a deep soup. Joint at the hip by this living cloak, they were both tangled up in a way that they could barely move, their hands forced above their heads. The mysterious girl that sat by calmly and watched this take place before she stood up to remove the angel’s wig and undo the werewolf’s beard. “Well, this is certainly unexpected. Two of Los Angeles’ most wanted criminals trying to sneak around my hospital and commit fraud by using the identity of one of my donors…most unexpected, indeed.”

“Y-You-You’re that little brat in the cloak! From the other night at the warehouse!” Dexter challenged while struggling to get off of Saria’s desk.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Yorukage, go get two stretchers with restraints on them. Have the rest of my equipment ready in surgery room five and some more tea prepared. You just wasted an afternoon’s worth with your…enthusiasm.”

The boy in the coat-Yorukage-shot Saria a cold look before turning to leave the room but before he did, he snapped his fingers. The little bombs that he made fluttered over to the boys on top of the desks and sat on top of their chests. Saria walked around her desk and went to the bookshelves where she pulled out a black leather bag.

“Before I turn you over to the police, I have some sudden questions about angels and werewolves. Such as…do werewolves really heal from any wound, no matter the severity, and leave no scars? And of course, if angels still have a heartbeat, even after death.” The little girl was pulling scalpels and syringes out of that black bag of hers. To which made the detectives cringe and struggle all the more. The cloak was squeezing them both though, threatening to break bone and suffocate them.

“You can’t expect to get away with this! People will wonder what happened to us and come looking here!”

“We know there are doctors working for the mobs in your hospitals and one of them supplied drugs involved in the case of the murder of Cyrus Gilmead!”

“…do you think that I care?” Saria started popping buttons off of Tyler’s coat and shirt, exposing his toned chest and stomach to her scalpel. “I’ll erase your memories anyway so you won’t remember any of this. Nothing at all from the last few days…”

Things were starting to look really bad. The angel was fighting hard next to his exposed werewolf friend to escape and save them both. The cloak kept squeezing on his hands and threatened to crush his wrists and the bones in his hands. Meanwhile, the werewolf was trying to flex and squirm his way out of the wraps of the demon cloak and away from the scalpel dangling above his skin. It seemed like his only option was shift into his beast of a wolf state and hope it was enough to shred the cloth and free them both. Tyler started to dig deep within himself, calling the beast inside him to the surface. He could already feel the curse burn in his blood, a snarl growing in his throat as his head tilted back to allow his snout to grow. Only…he stopped his transformation when he noticed two things. The first was a familiar scent in the air, previously disguised by the perfume. The second was a reflection in the glass window of what was hiding under the desk they were on top of. A person huddled up under the desk, covering up their head with their arms, with their back towards the window. “I know that butt and that skirt anywhere…Sveta!?”

“What!?”

It was only then that Saria’s calm mask disappeared and she pulled the scalpel away from Tyler’s skin. She looked…downright flustered. “What-what are you blabbering about?! There’s no one else in here! Yorukage, where are you with those restraints!?!”

There was rustling under the desk then before a small voice finally spoke up. “Saria…let them go please…”

Saria was completely flabbergasted by this point. Her cold façade was gone and the two detectives were severely confused. But they were grateful for a moment as the cloak untangled itself from their bodies and slinked itself up onto the defeated girl’s shoulders. They both stood up and whipped themselves around to see who it was that was underneath the desk this whole time. This person stood up then and it was, indeed, none other than their loyal secretary Sveta Simon.

“What-what-what are you doing here?!” Dexter managed to squeeze out of his lungs as he and Tyler gapped and gawked at the fact that their friend was just under the desk of a girl that was ready to play mad scientist on them.

Sveta flushed bright red and looked like she was about to cry while looking really mad at…something. “W-Well…what are you two doing here?! When you asked me to get you some clothes from the church and have a Sister drop them off for you, I didn’t think you were going to use them to sneak into a hospital! Those are the suits that the Sisters give to homeless men interviewing for jobs!”

“You still said that you were bowling with nuns today! You can’t fib about nuns like that!” Tyler added.

As crazy as things were getting, Dexter had to notice a few things about the office and the two girls. Purple orchids sitting on the desk, the way Saria was cleaning herself up when they entered the room, Sveta hiding herself under the desk…and the latest piece of matching purple jewelry that they were both wearing on their ring fingers. All of these little details fit into a puzzle that he had been trying to solve for weeks now: The mystery of Sveta’s new romantic interest. “Are…are you two…dating?” The angel finally asked with round surprised eyes.

The two girls went bright red then and Tyler started to see all of these clues too before reacting to it with double takes of Dexter and the girls. Sveta started to panic in her usual fashion of almost hopping while shaking her hands near her chest while trying to deny the angel’s accusations. Saria, meanwhile, let out a loud sigh before sitting on her desk. “Kitten, it’s no use. We’ve been figured out.”

“Oh dear…”

“Saria Sensei, I have the stretchers ready-“Yorukage stuck his head back inside the office and only needed a few moments to study the situation to know what had happened. “They know about you and Simon san now, don’t they?”

“They know everything, Yorukage. I should have used my magic for more than enlarging your bombs. Then it would have been a clean kill for both and we wouldn’t have this mess on our hands.”

“AH! Saria, you tried to kill them the other night?! And Yorukage, you were responsible for the warehouse burning down?!”

“To be fair, kitten, I didn’t know that these were the Dexter and Tyler that you were always talking about! Everyone thought they were a bunch of snoops that were going to turn us all in! It was chaos all over!”

“And my aim with my bombs wouldn’t have lead to that big of an explosion…if the angel didn’t bat them off target.”

“CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE BEFORE OUR HEADS EXPLODE!?!” Tyler finally screamed as he and Dexter were beginning to look seriously confused. “Sveta, how in the good name of Hell did you hook up with Saria?! Saria, what the Hell were you doing the other night in that warehouse and letting your doctors work for the gangsters?!”

Sveta took a deep breath then and sat down next to Saria on the desk. “When I first came to town, I asked Dexter to help me find out about my creators. When he couldn’t find anything, I went looking with other resources. Besides practicing in medicine, Saria is also a witch that studies and develops magic. I thought that since alchemy is a magical science she would be able to help me. I came and told her about my situation, she and I started to perform some tests and…one thing led to another and we started dating.” She reached over and held Saria’s hand then. “Please don’t be mad at her, or me! I just didn’t know how to tell you!”

“And as for your question about me, I was supervising my workers. No one is sneaking around in my hospitals to work on gangsters. I’m assigning them to specific groups and selling supplies to doctors that aren’t already on my payroll.”

“What now?!”

“If you can control and influence the actions of the powerful when they’re at their most vulnerable, you’ll be surprised at how much you can gain from them once they’re back at their full strength. By controlling the people that fix up the powerful at these times, you can control just about anything. That’s how Rosa Medical was able to become the number one medical company and line of hospitals in the city.”

“I don’t believe it…”

“Now then, since we’re asking questions…what the hell were you two doing trying to sneak around my hospital?”

Feeling extremely tired of trying to keep two steps ahead of everything, the detectives decided to just tell the witch and her winged sidekick what they knew. They left out details like Cyrus still being alive-in a sense-but told her about a group trying to take down the Fallons by originally drugging their horses but then framing Tayte for Cyrus’s murder when he saw what they were doing. The attempted murder of Nicky Fallon and Kristine Wellington was also brought up as an attempt by this unknown group to get rid of the more dangerous harpies. Saria and Yorukage listened to this with great interest. “…there was always a lot of talk about someone wanting to take the Fallons down like that. It looked like someone finally grew the stones to try it.”

“We were thinking that if we could compare the drugs and supplies these groups would order from you to fix up their guys on a normal basis to what was used to drug the horses, then we could figure out who it was that’s responsible for all of this.”

“…it’s a long shot idea but not a bad one.”

“Do you expect Saria sensei to just let you see these records now…if they exist?”

“It would be nice if she did.”

“Please Saria…they’re my friends. And if someone is trying to mess up the order of things that may affect you too. They may not need your doctors or medicines anymore…” Sveta pleaded with her girlfriend, looking at her with big eyes.

Saria’s eyes looked like they were melting into a softer expression as she looked into Sveta’s eyes. She hardened up to give one last order. “Yorukage. Show them everything we have on the gangsters. And I mean everything.”

“Saria Sensei…not to argue with your reasoning but I don’t think that’s wise. What happened to wiping their memories like you’ve done with all the others that have come snooping around here with the knowledge of your involvement with the crime groups?”

“I don’t want to turn them into vegetables, I don’t want to explain it to the cops, I have to consider how losing the Fallons could affect my business and really it’s not your place to wonder. Just do it! You’re an intern after all!”

“Be nice to Yorukage, Saria…” Yorukage couldn’t argue with this and went to lead the boys out of the room. They got their disguises back on and were ready to leave when Sveta stopped them again. She looked worried. “Ahh…you guys…won’t tell anyone about…Saria and I…right? I mean…I don’t care about what happens to me but…Saria has a lot of important business to worry about. Legitimate business that helps people. If anyone heard about us then…then…”

Despite everything that just happened, they couldn’t help but smile. “Sveta, don’t worry. We’re not going to tell a soul about you two.” Dexter promised.

“It’s really none of our business who you want to see anyway. The same goes for Saria.” Tyler added. They were both happy to see Sveta looking so relieved then. “We’ll try and see you again soon. And we’ll return the suits in one piece.” They left the room then, leaving Sveta to repeat her generous “Thank you” and Saria with her demon cloak and burnt red face ("DON'T ANYONE OF YOU THINK OF COMING BACK IN HERE WITHOUT PERMISSION AGAIN!!!" wink …and the the knowledge that both girls were in love with each other. “HOLY CRAP THAT WAS NERVE WRACKING.”

“God I know! I mean-we nearly get killed by a witch, then we find out she’s like…the Don of doctors in this town AND she’s dating our secretary!” Dexter added. “Though if it weren’t for Sveta, we’d be dead by now. Or turned into mindless vegetables.”

“I never thought I’d get to say this again but thank God for lesbians!”

“They’re both bisexual. Saria Sensei was...what do people around here say it...checking out the werewolf a few moments ago. Can we get on with this please? I still have a lot of work to do for that little b***h…” Yorukage mumbled in his unheard voice that echoed through everyone’s minds. He started to lead the way out into the hospital again as they straightened themselves up. “Why my father ever decided to make me study with her I’ll never know…”

“Wait up, intern bird boy!”

“I’m a crow youkai. My name is Tsubasa Yorukage. And don’t call me an intern. It's demeaning to my skills...”

“Tsubasa…where I have heard that name before?” Dexter pondered as Yorukage led them down the hall to the records’ room. “Hmmm…oh! It was in the paper a few weeks ago! Some yakuza runaways were found murdered and mutilated on a cargo ship and reports say that it was the demon executioner of the yakuza…Karasu…Tsubasa …” Looking at Tyler they both realized who they were talking to-and how crazy Saria Rosa was for treating the son of a Japanese crime organization leader like a worthless grunt! “You’re-You’re-You’re-You’re a real Tsubasa!?”

Yorukage took a tiny amount of pleasure in seeing how panicked and startled the detectives looked then before looking a little saddened by it. “Surprised huh? Most people are…they’re mostly surprised at how I have to talk to people with telepathy but then they’re truly afraid once they know who I am…but I’m actually pretty normal compared to my family.”

“Your family’s crazy even by demon standards! Our buddy Yang nearly pissed himself when that story came out and the idea of a Tsubasa being in town was floating around!” Tyler said, remembering Yang’s stories of how this kid’s father and family were all ruthless killers with serious psychological problems. It was rumored that they were cursed with these illnesses and that’s what made them perfect killers and leaders for the yakuza.

“That’s partly the reason why I’m here and working for Saria Sensei. With me being reasonably sane, I’m sort of a target among my family. My mother especially hates me…so my father felt it was necessary to send me out of the house for a while and find a skill to perfect. I have skills with magic and medicine and the Rosas are world famous in both so he set me up with a…”

“An internship.”

“…yes. I work for Saria Sensei in everything she does and keep her secrets…you’d think that would be enough to have her treat me better but no. I'm the lowly intern in her eyes...if my family finds out, that's it for her.” Yorukage took them both into the records’ room and to the back wall where the cabinets sat. Tapping the left cabinet in several places and moving a tag from its slot, the cabinet became as light as a feather and could gently be moved out of the way. A small door was in the wall behind this cabinet and Yorukage simply had to touch the lock with a glowing finger to unlock it. Inside were boxes and boxes of papers. “These are all the secret records and accounts of all the business that goes on between the gangsters and the doctors that work for them. All of their injuries, supplies that were ordered…even information that doctors obtain by overhearing their conversations and listening in secret. All obtained and stored by Saria Sensei's orders. These may help you in your search.”

“Thanks, Yorukage! You’re not such a bad guy! Neither is Saria.” Dexter said as he and Tyler dove into this secret room to start looking through these papers. He almost missed it but it looked like his compliment actually made the young crow demon blush. “We may not see her again but tell her thanks for us!”

“Y-Yes…Yes, of course!”

“Hey, you said that you’re mostly normal compared to your family…what are your hang up’s then?” Tyler asked as he pulled out the nearest box and looked at the papers.

“Oh, I suppose I did…well, I have claustrophobia for one…so I can’t do small rooms like these for long…I have a touch of anxiety issues, fears of rejection and inadequacy…and I can’t look in mirrors because of how my eyes resemble my mother’s.” Yorukage saw how both boys were thinking this over and decided to drop it before he revealed any more than they needed to know. He took a soft sigh before deciding to tell them something that they should know.

“You’re both trending onto dangerous grounds, I feel that I should warn you of this. The criminals that run this city are dangerous and they don’t like having someone looking into this business with the Fallons. Everyone is talking about who could have framed her and went after her brother but no one is stepping forth to claim the credit for it. They’re all waiting for Tayte-san to be arrested and praying Nicky-kun doesn’t slaughter them all before carrying on with normal business and waiting to see if this all benefits them. The idea of you two proving her innocent and keeping the Fallons on top is something that these people will not allow. Saria Sensei and I have nothing to gain from harming you-and I know that Simon-San will be safe with Saria Sensei around…but I can’t speak of what could happen to you two. The burning of your office was meant to scare you off…there’s word now that these people are aiming to kill you both if you show up again.”

Dexter and Tyler listened to what Yorukage had projected to them with his mind and knew that he was right. They were poking their noses into business that they had no right to. To the gangsters, it was simply a waiting game now with the mastermind behind all of this doing whatever he could to see to it that all the major Fallons were permanently out of commission. There was a lot of money, property and power on this game of theirs and everyone in the L.A underworld were players with stakes on the line. This was their chance to scramble to the top once the Fallons lost their power and they weren’t going to waste it or let anything stop them. No asked questions, no one wonder who or why…they were just grateful for the chance without realizing that someone may have already had a shot at the top. The one responsible for this probably already had a plan to make it big before any of these other mobs ever could.

That was why Dexter and Tyler had to figure out the answers to the questions no one was asking. They needed figure out this mystery before anyone else on the outside of this gangster world got hurt or arrested…or even worse, killed.

“We know the risks, kid. We still take these jobs though despite that.” Tyler finally said.

“Someone has to do it so it may as well be us.” Dexter replied, with a confident tone in his voice.

After an hour in the records room, the two sleuths eventually walked out with several boxes of papers documenting events and data on the gangsters’ activities from the last several months. Yorukage had them promise to return them once they were done and started to lead them back outside. The angel and werewolf tossed around the idea of going to see Sveta one last time and thank Saria for her…unique brand of help…but the idea that they could possibly walk in on the two girls while they were…up to something in her office crossed all of their minds and they decided against it (“How do you think I found out about those two? And Saria Sensei screaming to not come back?”). They exited out of the hospital without a problem and were ready to head back…somewhere. Reisen’s place was probably a bad idea-Cyrus could stay there but they couldn’t forever. So they needed a place to go and study these papers. They were ready to go find a place to hide for a while and say goodbye to their guide when they lost sight of him. A moment of searching and they found him with a young lady trying to pull a heavy suitcase up the stairs of the hospital steps. The young lady he was helping was a pretty but modest thing, with curly auburn hair in a pony tail and green eyes. She had to be Japanese because they couldn’t understand a word she was saying to Yorukage as he helped her out. All they could understand was that Yorukage must have said something funny to her to make laugh, her name was “Kisei” and this wasn't the first time they've met.

“You think we should be worried about that?” Tyler asked as he watched this. “He may appear to be normal but he may not have listed all of his conditions. He may still be a psycho, especially around innocent cuties.”

“…I have faith in him. He appeared to be honest with us and wanted us to believe that he was different than his family and their reputation. If not, I think Saria can handle him despite his pouting and his family. We have to trust her with Sveta after all for the time being.” Dexter said as he gathered up some boxes in his arms again.

“Yeah, I guess…what a crazy day huh? I can't believe we were nearly dissected...and I got checked out by a witch.”

“It may only get crazier from here on out. I can guarentee you that. Now we need a place to hide and read these things...”

Things were about to get crazy from that point on...it made me miss the craziness of Tayte's kiss...