A Touch of Blue - 10. Back and Forth

Zafiro

“And that would mean?” I ask.

Vero shrugs and smiles. “It can mean whatever you want it to mean.”

I roll my eyes and get up to go upstairs.

The place is an absolute mess in here. Chipped wood, holes in the walls, broken speakers. Tables are tossed on their sides and they also are broken or full of holes.

The bar doesn’t even look recognizable.

It also does not help that there are four dead bodies in here. I find that bit more annoying.

“Just ignore it,” Vero says. “We can handle the mess.”

Pursing my lips, I nod and walk up the stairs.

I pass by Piggie’s office room and see he is on his phone. My guess is that he is speaking with Ama. She likes to know if we ever get in trouble. Looks like she will just love to learn about what is going on right now.

I keep going up the stairs and hallways till I reach my apartment.

As soon as I use my key to unlock the door, Laneer can be heard running towards me.

I open the door and Laneer jumps up, licking my face.

“Hey there, Cutie!” I laugh. I try to push him down and walk into the room.

I look around for anything out of the ordinary.

“Anybody stop by and touch our things?” I ask.

Laneer just grumbles and tries to keep himself against my leg.

Yinx can be found chilling on top of the couch. He looks at me with lazy eyes and then goes back to sleep. When I scratch between his ears, he starts purring.

Well I am glad both of my children are ok. I was a little worried that the henchmen might have been a bunch of heartless bastards. Maybe they did not even bother coming up here.

That is a bit strange.

There were people all around the buildings surrounding this place, so why would they not send someone in here?

Stupid people I guess. That is not exactly a surprise.

Nothing seems out of the ordinary here. Not even in my little kitchen. Well that is not entirely true. The bag full of cat food is left open.

Dammit. Piggie is going to get my cat all fat.

Grabbing a duffle bag, I pick out a few pairs of clothes. The ones at the safe house were really bothering me.

My face wrinkles at the thought of going back to the safe house.

As much as I would love to be literally anywhere else, I have nowhere else to go that is safe.

If only a certain hot, sexy, former U.U.P.P. Officer would let me into his home.

Now that would be super safe.

No gang-banger in his right mind would attack or break into a U.U.P.P. Officer’s home.

I guess technically I would? Eh, not really. I am not in a gang and I have not broken into his house...yet.

I say yet because I have somewhat of a plan of getting him to help me. It tends to work with most cases so I am not entirely afraid of doing it.

That said, I am probably going to get arrested.

Honestly is that such a bad thing now? I technically would be safe and far away from Arturo and Cody’s clutches, but then that means I would have to use the bathroom in front of another person.

Actually I might not have to be worried about that. U.U.P.P. never seems to arrest anyone now. It is probably empty in there.

Maybe that is why Tin Can was so desperate to catch me. He wanted to add to his empty line of cells.

There is just a small problem with this plan.

Tin Can’s skin gets covered?...or turned into metal. He does not really trust me so he will most likely turn his annoying augment on and then I can’t really threaten him in peace.

I wonder if he feels pain with the metal skin. Let’s say that I would possibly hit him hard in the nuts with my metal baton. Would he fall over in pain or would it just be nothing?

If it is nothing, then I feel bad for whoever happens to get fucked by him when he has that metal skin on. They might have to be careful with the nipples too. They could seriously cut you.

I smirk at that thought and begin to strip from my suit.

No need for it today I guess. At least not until tonight.

I should probably try and not be seen in that suit. Most people know what it looks like so they will just rat me out to Cody and Arturo.

Oh maybe that is how Cody knew I was at Tin Can’s place? Some bitch snitched.

Hmm...who over there would secretly be on Cody’s side and why would they be stationed by Tin Can’s neighborhood? It was not exactly an amazing neighborhood. Yes there are fancy houses but not at all as fancy as the ones in the north.

Ah wait, that is Arturo’s territory. Cody probably has a guy to secretly selling over there.

Still, I do not remember seeing anyone but Tin Can last night. I will have to keep my eyes open this time.

Wait, before I do anything, I need to get that briefcase full of money.

Unlocking my window, I jump out and climb up to the roof, then I jump over the edge and grapple my way back to the Rich Side.

The briefcase is with my bike and I have that tucked away behind some building that was selling alcohol.

Should I use the briefcase to bring my stuff as well? Nah probably not. Cody had typed in a code so I think it might have a tracker inside. I will just chuck it into some random building.

An abandoned one of course.

After about hour or so, I return to my room with the briefcase. I also stop by to check on the guy I have tied up. He is still very much knocked out.

Now I can change out of my suit.

Eh, but do I really want to? I will just be putting it back on in like four or five hours. There are also the...other problems.

Fuck it. I will keep it on for now. I have to swing my way back to my bike anyways.

With the briefcase, I walk into Piggie’s office.

He looks up at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Did he pay you to knock a glass on top of his head?” He says sarcastically.

I roll my eyes and then dump the money into a pile on his desk.

“Of course he did,” I say. “He is that much of a freak that his idea of foreplay was to get knocked out cold.”

Piggie purses his lips and starts to stack the money out into neat rows.

“Sorry. That was probably a bad moment for a joke,” He says.

I just shrug.

“What do you want to do with all of this?” He asks.

“I only want one grand for myself.” I say. “Split the rest with the usual people.”

Piggie frowns. “That is a rather generous, even for you. Are you sure?”

I nod and stare at the floor.

I can feel him staring at me for a moment before he fishes out my cut. As soon as he does, I stand to leave.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” He holds his hand out to stop me. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Letting out a loud groan, I slump back into my chair.

“I need to know if there is anything else you got yourself into. Also why are you only taking that amount of money? You did not even ‘relish in it’s smell.’”

I just let out a small shrug. “I have nothing going on. I just don’t care for the money. Is that such a wrong thing? I am pretty sure most guru’s would be saying that I am smart for thinking like that.”

“What about visiting Roy Kyung? That doesn’t seem like ‘nothing is going on.’” Piggie folds his arms.

Again, I just shrug. “I was only asking for help.”

Piggie narrows his eyes. “What is going on in that head of yours, Zafiro? You are all about the money so obviously something is happening. Tell me what is on your mind.”

“I really don’t want to do this, Piggie,” I say. “I appreciate your concern but I do not want to think or talk about it.”

I do not want to think about how this money may have been touched by Cody’s nasty fingers. Hell he probably jacked off over them and then handed them in. The fucking perv.

Honestly, I don't even want to give it out to Ama or the others. This money feels nasty. Not at all like the money I earned before.

Piggie sighs and then gives me the gesture that I can leave.

I stand and make my way to my apartment.

Laneer is happy to see me again and follows me to my room.

Reaching under the foot of the bed, I lift it up and the bed pulls itself up and into the wall.

A trapdoor sits where the bed once was and I open in.

A small light turns on and all the treasures that I choose to keep sparkle.

There are all kinds of pretty jewelry with precious stones attached. My new favorite would be the mask with the giant sapphire.

Pulling it out, I hold it over my face and in front of a mirror.

It is pretty heavy but damn is it beautiful.

Reaching into the hole full of treasures again, I pull out a ring made of rubies and diamonds.

This was my Mama’s. It was her favorite piece that she had in her collection. There are a few things in here that were hers as well, but the ruby ring is my favorite.

Some of these treasures were actually targets that some people had asked me to retrieve. One look at them made me change my mind. I chose to keep them because the moment I looked at them, they became mine.

Sure, I missed out on some money and most people tend to get aggressive, but in the end, I end up with the pretty thing and not them.

Obviously I do not want my things here if random assholes are going to try and break into this building. I am taking it all with me to the safe house.

After trying to lift the bag once, I realized that I may have to put it in two bags and maybe three trips.

Actually...you know what? I will do this in the span of two days. I am way too lazy to be working on this right now. I already had to run back and forth for the damn briefcase.

Emptying the bag, I put all the stuff I like most in the bag. The favorites will be coming with me tonight.

Now I have a bag of clothes, a bag of goodies, and a briefcase that is possibly being tracked.

Perhaps it is best to deal with the briefcase now. I will just toss it somewhere in an abandoned building. Maybe one of the ones near the train tracks.

“Zafiro?” I hear Piggie call.

I pop over to my living room and find Piggie standing there with an envelop.

Eyeing it, I don’t move to take it.

“I said I only want the money I have now,” I say.

Piggie nods and holds it out to me. “Yeah well, this is from me. Not Cody. Use it for whatever the safe house needs.”

Warily, I take it. I am not sure I entirely believe this is his own money. I feel like it might be Cody’s. However, this is Piggie. He wouldn’t do anything like this to me.

I tuck it into the bag with all my clothes.

“Well, I’m headed out,” I say. “Do not leave the cat food open. Yinx likes to hop in there and eat.”

Piggie chuckles. “Yeah, yeah. Get out of here, kid.”

~~~
~~~

Roy

Part of me wants to say that today has been a nice burst of energy. Maybe I should consider it a sort of high?

After Zafiro’s visit last night, I have pretty much been thinking of ways to capture him and also how I could convince U.U.P.P. to allow me to help in the case with the gangs.

Avery said I should not get my hopes up at all. Of course I know that. Actually a huge part of me knows that I will not be allowed back into the force. Something about me breaking too many rules too many times tends to do that…

For most of the day, I have been running around my house, mostly thinking things over in my head.

After some time, I decided to set up a trap on the building next door.

It is a simple trick that places a hole on the roof. When Zafiro walks, lays or whatever he does on it, he will fall through and be stuck in a cage.

Once he is in there, I will call Avery, she’ll call U.U.P.P. and then hopefully I will have my job back.

Those assholes will realize that they shouldn’t have gotten rid of me soon enough.

Avery has not said anything about the phones Zafiro brought me, but I guess it is a bit too early for us to get anything on them.

Honestly I am not entirely sure how that detective stuff works. I am pretty much the guy they send to bag the bad guys.

There are times where I wish I was stationed off-planet. That could have been fun. I bet the officers there would not have been so lazy.

Sadly if I chose that, I would have missed out on Avery.

Sure she could pretty much be my Mother, but she sure feels like a sister. I would hate to miss out of her.

According to her, however, I apparently need more company my age.

I am fine...kind of.

It has only really been three days since I have been let go, but god is it boring.

I am no longer an Officer yet I still keep thinking about the things U.U.P.P. should be working on. It does not help that Zafiro stopped by. That just brought even more thoughts.

There have been stranger things that have been running around in my mind. Mostly about Zafiro.

They are pretty alarming honestly. Let’s not forget the incredibly awkward dream I had last night.

Now I have not really been out on a date in about...six or seven years, but apparently dream me wanted to go out with Zafiro last night. At first it started out as a mystery date. I could never see their face and their voice was distorted.

When the date was over and I was dropping them off at their house, the dark veil lifted and I found myself looking into Zafiro’s eyes.

That was when I knew I was dreaming. I am pretty sure something as normal as dating would not be a thing that would grab Zafiro’s attention.

Not only that, but why would I ever want to date him?

Sure, he is rather attractive, but he is obnoxious! He constantly teases me and constantly sends flirts my way. It does not help that I know he is most likely lying and saying these things just to get under my skin.

Zafiro is terribly annoying. Why my brain thought up a dream like that is beyond me.

It does not help that when I think of him, some strange anger boils up inside me. All of that put together frustrates me.

Why couldn’t this be someone who cared too much about their masculinity to the point that they would probably find talking to me too ‘gay’?

I bet that would have been so much easier to deal with.

Around dinnertime is when the high of today has died down.

Now I am back in the mindset that I should not be worrying about any of this. This mess pretty much belongs to U.U.P.P. even if the urge to do something is too strong.

Switching on the news, I see that there is another interview with the Star Squad.

I am not really sure why they are constantly needed there.

Remy and Remelia are the only ones that really do any missions now. Norian and Mekaias have pretty much moved on and will rarely help to liberate a planet.

I will say, it is nice to see Mekaias coming out of his shell more.

Don’t get my wrong, he is still incredibly shy, but it is nice to see him grow away from it.

The squad is sitting on two couches. The siblings are sitting together and the other has the soulmates.

As always, Mekaias and Norian are holding hands without any shame.

Not going to lie, seeing that makes me pretty happy. Mostly for them, but also because that feels somewhat relatable.

Sure, I don’t have a significant other, but hey at least they represent some part of my life.

A glint catches me eye. It shines from Mekaias’ ring finger.

Oh my.

Well they sure have been busy since last year.

I wonder if they are going to have a wedding? They don't really seem the wedding type honestly.

Well whatever they decide on, I am sure they will be happy regardless.

I reach for the remote to try and change the channel.

This is getting to the point that I am starting to feel a tiny bit lonely.

Maybe Avery is right. I should go out and find some friends. Maybe tomorrow? I should find people my age however.

Just where does one find a bunch of twenty seven year olds?

Avery constantly says things about how I have been ‘wasting my youth’. When you constantly hear that almost everyday, you get a bit tired of it.

Time for channel surfing.

So far it is looking like an empty day of tv. Nothing catches my eye.

Tossing the remote next to me, I lean back against my couch and close my eyes.

That is when I feel a blade held up to my neck and a hand gripping my head.

“You try and bring the metal skin out, then I drive this knife into your throat.” The intruder says.