FAMILY MATTERS
To Trick's relief, the Dal remained comfortably packed with patrons despite the trouble the evening before. To his surprise, however, one of the first customers of the night happened to be Kira. True to her word, the young shifter had shown up early and claimed the three stools at the edge of the bar. "Didn't expect to see you back in here so soon" the bartender greeted, approaching her. "Huh?" Kira turned back from scanning the room, "Oh...Yeah, sorry. I, um, I promised Kenzi I'd stop by and, uh, buy her a drink." "I see. Well, there's no need to apologize for that," Trick assured her. Eyeing her suspiciously, he added, "Unless you two planning on taking on another pair of ghouls again?" Kira snorted. Lifting her hands up defensively, she shook her head and replied, "No, no. One tussel was enough for me per city visit, thanks." "Good," Trick said, relaxing slightly. Though the ghouls had initiated the violence and there had been no request to take the issue before the Ash or Morrigan, the older Fae had little doubt the dark would be keeping an eye on the girl's movements while she was in town, "How's the shoulder?" "Sore," Kira acknowledge, reaching to stroke the area gingerly, "But my uncle has a lot of experience with battlefield wounds. He finished up where you left off." Trick nodded, frowning. It had struck him the night before that there was something very familiar looking about the girl. The clan she had claimed was small, but there were a few members (though not many of them regular patrons) present in the area. Starring at her curiously, he tried to see the family resemblance, if any, to those he could think of off the top of his. "Something wrong?" Kira asked sounding concerned as she noticed the look. "No," responded the bartender, shaking himself out of his stupor, "Is there anything I can get you while you wait?" "A beer would be fantastic," she replied before glancing over her shoulder and remarking, "Though I don't think I'll be waiting for long." Trick looked up and past her towards the Dal's entrance. He quickly spotted Bo making her way through the crowd, occasionally glancing to either side of the bar as if looking for someone. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Kira raise a hand to wave the succubus over. Spotting the signal, Bo's face broke into a smile as she shifted directions and pushed her way over to the pair. "Well, you're looking better," she greeted, as she took the seat to Kira's right, "How's the arm?" "It's good," Kira replied cheerfully, "And I am. Thanks. Where's Kenzi?" "Olah, Chica!" exclaimed Kenzi, slidding in from nowhere onto the stool on her other side, "So you ready to get this bitch started?" Bo and Trick exchanged a knowing look at the outburst, with the older Fae shaking his head exasperantly. Kira, however, seemed to take the human's perk in stride, offering her a sly grin. "Let's see what you've got, my dear," she replied. Then, motioning to Kenzi, she looked over at the barkeep and ordered, "Trick, Give the lady whatever she wants." "So that all happened within your first week within our world?" Kira clarified, staring at Bo somewhat stunned, "Jesus." Bo smirked. Tossing back her fourth, possibly fifth, shot, she pointed upwards and continued, "But nothing...nothing tops the giant freaking spider in our basement." "Yeah, can we not talk about that?" Kenzi interjected, looking up from examing the bottle Trick had left for the three. Bo reached over to pat her arm sympathetically as Kira looked between the two in confusion. As if coming to a conclusion, she closed her eyes and shook her head. "You know what," she said, reaching for her mostly finished beer, "I don't think I want to know." "Probably wise," Bo agreed. Bumping her shoulder gently against Kira's she asked, "So what about you? Care to share any crazy Fae adentures from the other side of the world?" Kira grinned. "Well, I could probably tell you a couple things to avoid in the Black Forest," she replied jokingly, then more seriously continued, "In all honesty, though, my interactions with other Fae have been...limited." "Why's that?" asked Bo, sobering slightly as she turned to face the young woman. Even Kenzi paused to pay attention. Kira shrugged, "Small things. I work with humans mostly, for one. I guess you could say I'm a bit more," she glanced uncomfortably at Kenzi, "Tolerant of them then many of the Fae. Plus, my parents were kind of strict when I was a kid. For my protection probably..." Drifting off, she finished off her drink, signalling to Trick for another. Something in the movement hinted she didn't want the matter pressed. Bo frowned, sharing a questioning look with Kenzi over Kira's shoulder, but gracefully changed the subject. "So how long are you going to be in town anyway?" "A couple weeks, I think," replied Kira, visibily relaxing, "I kind of have an extended vacation and now that all the pomp and circumstance with the relations is over...I figured I'd explore the city a little bit." "Are you still going be sleeping at your campsite?" Kenzi asked. Against her better judgement, she felt a stab of pity for the shifter. The tone that filtered in when Kira described her family was one she had used many times herself. "Hell yes," Kira replied enthusastically, "I don't get wolf out very often so...""Ladies," a male voice from over Bo's shoulder interrupted her. All three turned, just in time to see Dyson and Hale come to a stop behind her with the latter finishing, "How come no one told me it was girl's night out tonight?" "Dyson!" Bo exclaimed, startled, "What are you doing here?" Both detectives exchanged a bemused look. "Did I miss a memo saying my schedule changed this week?" Dyson asked his partner. "I don't know, man," Hale replied, shaking his head as he passed the three woman, "But at least Bo can remembered what your name is." "Hi, Hale," Bo amended sarcastically, smirking at him, and added to Dyson, "Sorry, you just surprised me. How've you been?" "Good," Dyson replied, leaning against the bar to signal Trick, "Hey, Kenz." "Yo," the small human gave the wolf a small salute before reaching back to swat at Hale's hat as the siren tried to tug a couple strands of her hair. She muttered something to him about that being the reason no one invited him anywhere. Out of the corner of her eye, Bo saw Kira look between the four of them curiously. "Oh, Dyson, Hale, this is Kira," she said, jumping slightly as she remembered her manners and turned to point out her companion, "I don't know if you two met her last night." "No," Dyson replied, gazing coolly at the young woman, "We didn't." Kira, for her part, returned his gaze with equal fearlessness. A sudden tension seemed to erupt in the air between them. It was as if each was trying to silently stare each other down. "Uh oh," whispered Kenzi loudly to Hale, "Dog fight." The siren snorted, shaking his head agreement. He was about to reply with an equally snide remark when Kira suddenly extended her hand in Dyson's direction. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she said, maintaining eye contact. "Likewise," Dyson briskly replied, returning the handshake. Kira's lips spread into an icy smile. "Okay" Bo exclaimed, feeling uncomfortable between the pair. Looking up at Dyson, she tried to get his attention by asking, "Is there something you wanted?" "Hale and I could use your help on something," he acknowledge, still not looking away from Kira. What Bo's help was needed on exactly, however, he wouldn't say. Taking the hint, Kira cleared her throat and surrendered the field. "Hey, Kenzi," she said, turning to the human, "Want to shoot some stick?" A brief moment of indecision passed across Kenzi's face. If she were honest, she would admit prefering to know what the two Fae detectives would be dragging Bo (and subsequently her) into but it was clear Dyson wasn't going to say anything in front of the new shifter. At the same time, though, she also knew playing with Kira might give her an opportunity to figure just what kind of bug seemed to have flown up Dyson's butt about her. "Depends," she replied, deciding Bo would fill her in later, "How much cash do you still have on you?" Kira shot her another sly grin before standing up and heading towards the pool table. Glancing over at Bo, Kenzi shrugged and followed. Bo turned to follow the pair a moment before focusing her attention on Dyson again. "Do I even want to know what that was about?" she demanded as he moved to take Kira's vacant seat and Hale moved into Kenzi's. "It's a shifter thing," he answered vaguely, nodding to Trick as the bartender put a drink in front of him, "Did you hear about the museum murder a couple days ago?" "Nice change in topic," Bo responded, "And yeah, why?" "Because Hale and I were assigned the case today and the victim," he pulled out a familiar looking red folder, "Was Light Fae." Surprised, Bo took the folder and, flipping it open, grimaced. Autopsy photos of the victim, a female security guard, stood out sharply from the page. Five large stab wounds were scattered along her chest and abdomen along with a large, deep gash along her throat. "Nice," she muttered in disgust, thumbing the page over, "What happened to her?" "Lost a fight with a silver encrusted spear," replied Hale, setting down his beer, "Part of medieval weaponry exhibit. Nasty way to go." "And the bracelet?" she asked, touching a small photo in the corner of the second page of the file. The thick, gold band lay atop a black velvet pad. At its center was embedded an oval olive green stone. "That's what we need your help on," Dyson responded, "According to the museum, it's missing and seeing as you've picked up a habit for finding lost items..." "You want me to find it while you investigate the murder," Bo finished for him. Dyson nodded. Letting a sigh, the succubus looked back at the picture and continued, "Okay, well, I can see what I can find out, but this isn't really much to go on. Do you have any suggestions, Trick?" The bartender had remained nearby the three, listening to their conversation. Now he was staring at the picture of the jewelry with a pensive frown. "I'm not sure," he replied, his frown deepening as he leaned in to examine the photo, "But there's something familiar looking about that bracelet and it's no coincidence a Fae guard was stationed near it," he glanced up at the three, "I'll see what I can look up." "Thank you," said Dyson, glad to see at least one of his and Hale's suspicions confirmed, "Hale and I will be talking to her family tomorrow. Hopefully they'll be able to tell us if she was there to guard anything specific." "Then Kenzi and I will start at the museum and go from there," interjected Bo. Looking over, she saw the frown on Dyson's face and added "Is there anything else?" "No," the shifter replied, not quite meeting her gaze. Hale and Trick, noticing the tone, exchanged a look and moved to beat a hasty retreat. Dyson glanced over his shoulder watching Hale make his way over to the pool table before leaning back against the bar looking over at the row of bottles behind the bar. Bo, however, just arched an eyebrow questioningly at him. "Come on, Dyson," she pressed, "You've got your broody face on. Something's up." "My broody face?" he asked, turning back to her with a faint smile, "I think you've been hanging around Kenzi a little too long." "Still," Bo argued, unconciously leaning towards him, "I can see something's bothering you. What is it?" For a moment, the shifter didn't reply. Picking up his glass, he tilted it back slightly, examining the edge of the bottom. Finally, he set it down without drinking any of it and looked at her. "What do you know about Kira?" he asked. Bo pulled back in surprise. Recovering quickly, she looked over at the young woman and then back at Dyson. "Not much," she admitted, "She's a shifter, Light, works for some defense company, and apparently gets into starring contest with other shifters. Why?" "Did she tell you which company?" he replied, ignoring her attempt at humor. "She didn't say," Bo responded, getting a familiar sinking feeling in her stomach as she remembered the incident with Cayden, "You don't think she has something to do with this, do you?" "No," said Dyson but she could tell the thought had crossed his mind, "It's just her arrival and the trouble last night just seem a little to...convient." "I take it you don't trust her, then" Bo replied. Though she could understand his reasoning, that strange inkling she had felt around Kira flared to life again. It wasn't attraction or even trust particularly; just the sense that there was something special about the girl. She was one of the good guys and should be treated as such. Of course, Bo could admit to herself the fact she had helped Kenzi probably made her a bit bias "I don't know her,"said Dyson, "And neither do you." "So is this your way of saying you want me to stay away from her?" she demanded, her sense of independence surfacing as annoyance. "I'm saying you should be careful around her," he replied, standing up, "Call me if you find something." A.N. Phew. Glad that's done. Hopefully you enjoyed and reviews are always welcome. (oh, and for Lauren fans, don't worry. I haven't forgotten the good doctor. She'll be making an appearance soon.)
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