A Touch of Blue - 7. Questionable Encounter

Roy

I talk about some gang case that Avery had worked on before.

Zafiro just gets comfortable and stares at me with the weirdest expression on his face.

It wasn’t exactly a bad look. It is just very intense, especially with his creepy yet pretty blue eyes.

Honestly, I am just saying nonsense at this point. I barely even remember what Avery had told me long ago.

Earlier, I had pressed a button on my phone that calls Avery.

We both have panic buttons installed incase one of us needs help. Not exactly for things like “oh no, I am about to die, call everyone in U.U.P.P.”

It is more so for when we just need the other person for back up.

Let’s just say that whenever I have a Zafiro emergency that could hopefully be capitalized on, I press it.

I have used it maybe...three times? Tonight would be the fourth.

Avery should hopefully be here soon.

Right now I am just trying to keep Zafiro here long enough for Avery to hopefully sneak up and catch him.

I do not know how she is going to get on top of a roof without him knowing, but since it is Avery, I am sure she will figure something out.

Zafiro smiles at me as he has his head held up in his hand.

It is strange. It is not at all in the usual taunting smile he gives me. It is different.

He will ask me random things about my little story then I would have to bullshit it and come up with something that I am pretty sure does not make any sense.

God he is so close! He is not even moving! Will today finally be the chance that I put him behind bars?

I will admit, the whole thing about a gang possibly trying to kill his family is pretty horrible, and I do want to help with that. It’s just...did he not have it coming?

I am going to assume that he got into something he shouldn’t have. Maybe the folder he got that was hidden behind the painting in the museum?

Either way, he did something he shouldn’t have. He should not be stealing in the first place. Now he is suffering the consequences.

A very small part of me is actually happy with this. That honestly scares me.

Why would I be happy that Zafiro feels threatened? His “Tia” and her children were held at gunpoint. That is not at all something I should be happy about.

Even before, I never wanted Zafiro to die. Never! I just wanted him to be tried for his crimes and sent to jail.

I didn’t even know that Zafiro had other family to care for. I kind of just assumed his mother was the last one, but she went missing so I assume she either died or left him all alone.

Knowing he has a family but still continues to steal is a bit troubling to think about. It is even more so when I learned that a gang is possibly trying to kill them all.

The fact that Zafiro felt the need to come to me of all people says a lot. He is terrified.

I know he tried to hide it but I could see right through his little mask. He is scared and he does not know what to do.

Unfortunately, I had to give an honest answer and say that I am not sure if I can help him at all.

U.U.P.P. fired me. Why would they ever listen to me? Obviously they won’t now.

Even before I was fired, I doubt they would have listened to me. They never listened when I told them about the thief or the few murders that were happening in the city. Why would they change their ways now?

Zafiro said there was the possibility of a gang war. I think that is a bit more important than a bunch of Aliens merging into our city.

Is it weird that seeing the bandaging wrapped around his head causes something to burn inside me? It makes me want to hurt whoever hurt him.

It alarms me that such thoughts are running through my mind.

There is no reason to care for the one who caused the damage. Zafiro said he killed her after all.

I wonder if that is the first time he has to kill someone.

Looking at his eyes, he just continues to smile. I think if someone killed for the first time, the person wouldn’t be smiling in the same day.

Yeah, I don’t think this is his first time.

For the past five minutes, I have been rambling about whatever. I even moved onto a different story that Avery told me.

Zafiro continues to listen and stare.

Speaking of Avery, where the hell is she?

I want to help Zafiro, but I think it will be best if he were to be behind bars as well.

While all this is happening, he is still a criminal in the base of it.

Zafiro sighs and stands, stretching his arms above his head.

You know, I never really got a good look at him. For all these years that I have been chasing him, he is constantly running and never standing still. For once I can truly take it all in.

He is short. Shorter than I thought honestly. We never really stay on the same ground level for a long amount of time.

He isn’t entirely on the slim side. There is a hint of muscle in his arms and a ton in his legs.

I guess that comes with climbing and running all the time. He has some massive thighs honestly.

The suit he wears is rather tight so it makes it pretty easy to tell what he is working with.

I know his skin is a dark tan, but I wonder if there are any other marks on him.

Based on the stitches on his head, I would assume that with his lifestyle, it would come with more marks like that.

His eyes really are creepy. It is like his eyes capture all the light during the day and so the blue color is way too bright.

Also, I never realized he wears eyeliner.

Well...more power to him I guess.

“I think I need to go,” He says all of a sudden. “I hope you can convince U.U.P.P. to do something about this.”

He has a beauty mark over the top right of his lip. I never really noticed that either.

Zafiro tosses a sack in my direction. I barely catch it in time.

That brings me out of my thoughts about how attractive this person apparently is.

God dammit, no! Avery should be here any moment!

“Why do you need to go so soon?” I quickly ask.

Wait...doesn’t that sound desperate?

Zafiro stands over the edge of his rooftop, looking over at a building next to us. He looks over his shoulder and smirks.

“Don’t worry handsome,” He says. “I am sure we will be keeping in touch.”

I frown.

He puts his goggles back on. He turns to face me and gives a lazy two-fingered salute as he leans backwards over the edge, then he falls.

Quickly, I lean over the edge of my railing and then I see that he did not fall to his death.

The sound of his grapple shooting out can be heard. Zafiro jets upwards and just as he is about to reach the top of a roof, the grapple he sent out detaches from the building. He free falls for a moment, straight down towards the busy street, then he sends out another grapple hook from his other hand and he swings above all the people driving and walking.

Soon he disappears around the corner of a building.

I let my metal skin retract.

Biting my lip, I pull out my phone.

Just as I do that, Avery’s car pulls up into my driveway.

Of course. God dammit!

I swear this is probably some kind of sick joke.

Looking into the sack, I find two phones.

Are these from the two who attacked his family?

I would assume so.

~~~

I put a shirt on and quickly run down to open the door for Avery.

She has a look of alarm and she has her gun in her hands. When I look at the blue light on the side of her gun, I can tell it is set to stun.

“Where is he?” She asks.

I sigh and shake my head, opening my door for her to come inside.

“He left already,” I say.

“Oh,” She says. I can tell she immediately feels guilty from the way she says it.

When I look at her again, I see she is dressed up pretty nicely again. It is another one of her suits, but this time there is a stain on her shirt.

I frown and lean forward to look at it.

“What is that?” I ask.

She pushes me back, “None of your business.”

I roll my eyes. I am pretty sure it is barbeque sauce.

Now I feel a bit bad. I probably interrupted a date for her.

“I was eating out,” She says.

“With someone?” I ask.

She scoffs and reaches into my fridge, pulling out my ice cream.

“Do I look like someone looking for a man?” She says bitterly.

I frown. “I didn't mean to offend you. I was just wonderi-”

“Where is Zafiro, Roy?” She interrupts me.

Right.

I sit down on a stool in front of her as she scoops a bowl of ice cream for herself.

“He came to me for help,” I say.

She stops mid scoop. “Why would he do that?”

I shrug. “Beats me. I think it has something to do with him being scared.”

She sets the ice cream scooper down and stares at me. “Scared of what?”

I reach over to give myself a spoonful of ice cream.

Avery snatches the spoon from my hands.

“Scared of what?” She asks again in a stern tone.

I tell her everything Zafiro told me.

“He said his “Tia” was attacked by thugs from a gang,” I start, “he also mentioned how a gang war might become a possibility.”

She raises an eyebrow when I mention his aunt.

“His Tia?” She asks. “I didn’t even know he had an aunt.”

I shrug. “Me neither. Maybe we should find her and ask her about the gang war.”

“Do you think he possibly found someone else to be his family?” She asks, “I thought Sophie Banderas was an only child as well.”

I pull her bowl of ice cream towards me. “I have no idea. I think you are missing the bigger picture here though.”

She blinks. “Meaning?”

“Hello?” I laugh, “A gang war!”

She grunts.

“Do you know if that is completely certain?” Avery asks. “Did he say why there would be a gang war?”

I try to remember anything from my conversation with him but I shake my head.

Zafiro only mentioned the family issues. The gang war comment was kind of thrown out of nowhere.

“Well…” She shrugs and pulls the ice cream bowl back.

“‘Well’ what?” I frown, “You aren’t going to do anything about it?”

She sighs and closes her eyes. “Roy, please. We can’t just send a panic in Sector 4 about a gang war if it is possible that it’s nothing.”

“It isn’t 'nothing!'” I exclaim. “Zafiro said it and he most likely works with these gangs!”

Avery’s face turns cold. “We cannot listen to some thieving lowlife who randomly mentions a gang war without providing any evidence. He could have been playing you this entire time, Roy.”

I clench my jaw and stay silent.

She was not there when he mentioned the family issues. I could tell he was scared.

If he wanted U.U.P.P. to deal with the gangs, then the mention of a gang war would not be a lie. That should simply be the cherry on top that finally grabs the force’s attention.

I know trusting Zafiro is not at all a good decision to make, but there is something about him that tells me he wasn’t lying.

Just look at tonight. He came out of hiding to tell me all of this. Something is clearly wrong and I want to fix it.

Sadly, Avery was late and so we could not capture him so that means that he can’t tell us more about the issues he had described.

“What if this is all a trick, Roy?” Avery says. “What if he wants our focus to move to the gangs so that he can do something with our eyes off of him? This could all be a setup for some grand heist.”

Shaking my head, I say, “Right now there aren’t any eyes on him. I am the only one who pretty much knows he exists right now. Why would he run out of his way just to tell me all of this nonsense? He wanted me to tell someone in U.U.P.P. when you and I both know that they aren’t looking anywhere in his direction.”

Avery sighs and rubs her fingers on her temples.

“You know I care about this too,” She says. “And I know you are trying to push me into telling the higher ups.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah sure, I guess I am. It is almost like I have no other choice since they fired me.”

“Don’t get mad at me,” Her eyes narrow, “That was not at all my fault.”

I take a deep breath to calm the pounding in my head. Then I give a firm nod. “Yeah, whatever. Just...can you please mention anything that I told you? I can just tell that something bad is about to happen.”

She nods her head slowly but her eyes narrow with uncertainty. “You can tell? Are you saying this because you are scared for your boyfriend, or because you truly felt something in your gut.”

“Can I say both?” I ask, “Also, again, he is not my boyfriend. I can care enough for a criminal not to die, Avery.”

Not going to lie, the boyfriend comment does make me think about how he was watching me however. I really don’t know how I feel about that.

“Uh huh.” She smirks. “Fine, I will see what I can do, but it is highly unlikely they will actually do anything.”

I grin at that. “Hey, that is all I am asking for.”

Before she leaves, I remember the sack of phones.

“Oh wait!” I say and hand her the bag. “These are phones from people who attacked Zafiro.”

Avery frowns. “Do you know where they are? I am sure bringing them in would be plenty of proof for a gangwar.”

I shake my head. “Zafiro killed them to defend his aunt.”

Avery gives a slow nod and then leaves.

~~~
~~~

Zafiro

Well...that felt absolutely useless.

It was a bit weird that he was talking about random cases that have nothing to deal with me.

After ogling him for a few minutes, it kind of hit me with what he was doing.

He was stalling for someone to come by.

Tin Can does not care at all about me or my issues. He has no reason to.

To him, I am just some dumb thief. He actually asked if I was going to turn myself in. Why the fuck would I ever do that?

I bet he is glad I am targeted by Arturo. Maybe he wants me to be taken care of. A nice goodbye to his life in U.U.P.P.

Screw him.

But you know what? I am probably still bringing my bitchass back to his house because I really do need the help.

If he will bother helping me, I do not know, but he did seemed interested in it. Well...I like to think he was at least. Maybe that was also a trick and he just doesn’t care.

That is honestly more depressing to me than anything.

The gang thing actually seemed to grab his attention. I should have told him more. I was kind of distracted staring at his metal nipples.

I wonder...if they were to harden, would they be able to cut open something? Is this some weird ass kink I have discovered?

Wait I am distracting myself again.

The next time I see Tin Can, or Roy...nah I am going to stick with Tin Can. The next time I see him, I am going to properly tell him everything.

I will just tell him to put a damn shirt on.

It is a bit sad that his tattoo disappears when the metal molds onto his skin. It is so pretty. It shouldn’t be covered.

At the moment, I am riding my bike through the Rich Side’s streets. I am making my way to the closest safe house from Tin Can’s house.

The safe houses were set up way before I was even born. Piggie and Vero had them made in the Rich Side incase they needed to get away from the Poor Side for things like this.

I just wish they could have at least come over with me. They are not safe over there right now!

My insides start to feel like they are rolling around again and so I pull myself into an empty alley of what looks like a library and a fancy apartment building.

I sit with my back to a door that leads down into the library.

I cover my head with my hands, careful not to touch the bandage.

What if Tin Can doesn’t help me? Or worse, what if he can’t help me?

It’s...It is all so much. It is all too fucking much, yet this is just from one man! A fucking gang leader.

This is all Cody’s fault.

Why would he make me do this? He probably knew that Arturo was keeping an eye on that folder, so why did he have to want it? Why did he have to drag me into it too?

I squint my eyes shut and try to ignore all the honking and sounds of the cars driving in front of the library.

Was this always bound to happen? Maybe the same thing happened to my Mama. Did she steal something she shouldn’t have? Is that why she had gone missing?

She worked with the gangs just like I do, maybe even more so.

Cody and Arturo talk about how much I was like her, but they say I should be putting in more of an effort like she did.

Maybe it is because I am going through this now, but it has never really sprung into my head that she was brought in by one of the gangs for stealing stuff she shouldn’t have.

I know that is thinking a little too much. There is the possibility that she possibly fell off a building and is lying dead somewhere.

Well...her bones at least.

I guess to some it may be considered morbid to be thinking things like that, but it isn’t like I have the same fears for myself. I risk dying almost everyday.

One of my grapple hooks could malfunction and that will be it.

Looks like I won’t be going out that way. I will be dying to Arturo before I even get the chance of splatting all over the street.

I get back to riding my way to the safe house.

~~~

The safe house that I am at is actually hidden underneath a really fancy casino.

Across the street, there is a funeral home that is pretty much always deserted.

I park myself behind the funeral home.

There are two dumpsters that sit against the back wall.

One is empty because the man who works here gets paid to leave that one alone.

Opening the empty one up, I jump inside. One side has a hole and a ladder leading down.

I close the dumpster flap and press a button on my goggles to grant me night vision.

I slide down the ladder and reach a man-made tunnel.

There are a few critters that run back and forth when I get too close.

The walls are completely made of stone.

About halfway of walking through, the walls turn into metal.

A metal door also shows up in front of me.

A keypad sits next to it and I punch the seven numbers in.

I remove my goggles as soon as the door makes a hissing sound as it opens.

Lights starts flickering on and the inside comes to life.

One thing about this place that is better than Piggie’s apartment would probably be the tech that is used here.

All the other safe houses are built as complete replicas.

There is a living room, four bedrooms, a kitchen, and three bathrooms.

The bedrooms are actually pretty small. They are skinny and don’t really fit much stuff.

The living room is probably the biggest thing inside.

None of these things were really made for anyone to be staying for long. They are supposed to be temporary homes.

That means there isn’t any food in here.

At least there is water, I guess.

I don’t mind skipping one night of food.

Looks like this is my new home for awhile.

Great...