A Town Called Justice...(The IC)

[InkedWolf]

Miranda was still in shock as the in-charge slapped a paper on her desk. "We got a disturbance, here's the address. Head out and investigate." Miranda looked up from her desk work as she took the paper.

"Not like getting a bit of time to adjust to the new precinct?" She smirked as she picked up her service weapon, "I'm on it."

The drive over was a good overview of Justice as Miranda located the apartment, the building was in a run down area just outside Old Town. Most of the buildings there had been bought out and were in the process of being updated for the new owners. This building on the other hand, looked like it needed to be condemned. Approaching the building, Miranda radioed in her location.

As Miranda located the apartment, she rapped her nightstick on the door. "Justice PD, open the door!"

No response. Miranda called again. "Justice PD, open the door. No response again. Slowly pushing the door open, Miranda unclipped her service weapon as she stepped inside. The perps were all out cold, drugs, and unlicensed firearms were all part of the scene. Miranda approached the unconscious perp with the revolver. She nudged the gun out of his hand with her foot, something nagged at the back of her mind. It was a bit too convenient.

Regardless, the individuals needed to be brought in for questioning. "Officer Ortiz, Badge 29313. I got two unconscious perps, drugs, guns. Bring a wagon." The radio crackled back as the dispatch officer responded.

"Understood, we have a unit there who can bring them in. Your assignment's complete, please report to the police chief to meet your new partner."

A few hours later, Miranda Ortiz sat in the office of the Police Chief. He seemed an upright guy, he kind of intimidated her a little to be honest. However, the crime scene had her more puzzled then the new boss. It seemed, staged.

--

Evee had completed her second painting inspired by the Freelancers. It was a man who held a mask partially drawn over his face. He still had the stark white painted skull of her first Freelancer painting. She thought about the idea's of masks, that some people wore them as protection. Others wore them as a symbol, something that united them in a common cause. An idea, something for the enemies to fear, something to warn their foes they were coming. As she finished the painting of the man with the skull mask, she placed several prominent icons at his feet. Spartans, vikings, templars, all famous warriors that came before the Freelancers.

As she finished the next painting, Perseus came by and gave a friendly meow along with nuzzling her leg. Smiling as she gave him a friendly scritch under an ear. "Oh so I think we got an approval." She looked at this painting, puzzling over the name for this particular work. Finally she set the next placard and began to write.

Masks.

She picked up her cell phone, and dialed her contact at the gallery. "Heya Tim, I got another painting that needs to be put up. How'd the last painting go?" She nearly jumped up and down for joy as she heard several positive comments her way. There was also two offers to purchase, one of them wanted to meet her first. "I'll be coming by to bring the latest painting from the freelancer series to hang." As Evee hung up, she picked up Perseus and gave him an excited hug. "We got a good review! Even a guy who wants to buy our first freelancer piece!" Stopping as Evee realized she was talking to her cat a little too much, she set Perseus back down.

Evee looked at her latest painting in the gallery, it hung beside the first of the series. Several patrons already had positive comments for her latest work. It was controversial, many patrons had approved the actions of the freelancers, and others who called them common thugs had incited much discussion. Evee looked about for the patron who requested to meet her. She wasn't really sure what to expect from the request, but if that much money was offered she'd show up to listen.

[PrettyLittleLia]

Scarlett had never been one too sleep in, but nor was she one to ever voluntarily leave a comfortable bed. Maybe it was the lack of sleep she'd had on the plane, maybe it was the sheets that smelt like fresh air. Most likely, it was knowing that she was around David again that had her so relaxed. It was strange, she knew, that she should feel like this about him, especially since it had been so long since they'd been together, but she couldn't help it. It wasn't a romantic kind of feeling, per se, but it was one that she thought could turn into that very quickly, if she didn't keep herself in check. Between Scarlett and David, there were years of history and, even if they hadn't seen eachother in two years, that time hadn't slipped from her memory and she could tell by the way he'd hugged her yesterday, by his body language when he showed her to the guest bedroom, that they hadn't exactly left him, either.

She heard him when he came in, in the morning. He was trying to be quiet, she knew, but he should have known better than that. She'd been awake for a few hours, curled up and comfortable, just staring at the wall and listening to the sounds of the street outside. From the corner of her eye, she could see the clock on the wall and the minutes that ticked along, so she knew what time it was when he came in. He'd been out all night, obviously, and was either sneaking around, or unwilling to wake her up. She decided to give him the luxury of thinking he'd gotten away with it and, after she heard the door closed, ventured outside of her bedroom.

She got up, ate and dressed, wondering the whole time, where had David been last night? It wasn't really her business, she knew, but she was still interested in his life, even if they weren't together. And she worried about him. He had a bit of a habit of getting into sticky situations, almost as much as she did. She dressed in a black peplum top, which accentuated the flair of her hips and was lace at the top, showing off the white marble of her throat and decollatage. Her jeans hugged her toned legs and fitted nicely around her backside in a way she knew would attract attention. Then she topped it off with her fitted leather jacket and a pair of red heels. Her signature colour. Scarlett.

She was late to the meeting, walking in just as words rang out in a voice she recognized instantly. She walked in and stood at the back of the room, behind everyone who was looking up at Diana. She was interested in what her friend was saying and, once she'd finished, walked through the crowd, voice breaking through the chorus of voices.

"Sounds like fun, but personally, I'd have to pass." Her voice rang out, the words spilling from her red lips, which twisted into a smile.

She'd made her way to the front of the crowd and beamed up at her friend. Diana's was another face that Scarlett hadn't seen in two years, one she'd missed almost as much as Davids. It wasn't a good idea to have best friends, or any kind of relationship, when involved with the kind of agency she and Diana had been in, but Scarlett and Diana were about as close as they came.

[The Xtreme One]

David

Having made request to meet the artist of the Freelancer painting; David waited in a nearby coffee shop. As he sat mulling over several plans in his head, Scarlett kept creeping into his thoughts. What they had had been a lifetime ago but seeing her again made it feel like it had all only happened recently. However, seeing her again didn’t just bring back the good memories. Scarlett’s presence gave David the horrid reminder of what had happened on the day Sam Grayson died. His shoulder wound felt like it was burning from the inside at the mere memory of what had occurred. Only two people knew of the events of that cold winters day; David and Scarlett. They had promised never to mention it again. Every now and again it would slip into his dreams and turn them into nightmares.

After a short while, David returned to the gallery just in time to see a new painting being put onto the wall. Another in what seemed like a new collection; it was entitled “Masks”. A man, wearing the same combat clothing David was wearing when he blew a hole through Isaac Jagielski’s chest. A mask, a skull, covering half of his distorted face. It had seemed like this artist was adopting the Freelancer skull into her works. It was an interesting concept and David couldn’t help but picture himself behind the mask of the painting.

Taking a seat inside the gallery, he watched as more and more patrons commented on the works of on Evelyn Rovere. He watched as a beautiful brunette girl stood looking at the paintings with a telling smile across the face. A man he had spoken to earlier pointed out that the woman was the artist. Pulling himself to his feet, David wandered over to the woman’s side and folded his hands behind his back. “Oscar Wilde once said; Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. I imagine that the Freelancer we all saw on television was well versed in that particular trope” He turned his head and offered the woman a hand. “You must be Evelyn. I’m David Rowan, I’m interested in purchasing your work” He smiled as she accepted his hand. “You’ve got some real talent here”

Diana

“Alright, Florida. You know the deal. You do your work, make sure they know it was us and get out. No mistakes. I’ll be in constant contact if you need me and if you need some assistance…” Diana waved across the group of Freelancers. “….You’ve got plenty of operatives to choose from” As she finished speaking, a familiar voice came from the back of the room. The Freelancer’s span to see its origin but Diana already knew. Her lips lifted into a smile as she watched Scarlett make her way through the crowd; whose jaws were appropriately dropped. Diana unfolded her legs and slid off the crate. “Bitch, you better give me a hug” She embraced Scarlett and smiled as she pulled away. “It’s so good to see you, sweetie” She stepped to one side and looked to the other Freelancer’s. “Guys, this is Indiana” Diana knew better than to call Scarlett by her given name, instead opting to call her by her original codename. “Don’t get any idea’s either. She’s had more experience in the field than most of you combined” She laughed as she returned her attention to Scarlett. “This is our bunch of reprobates. You should feel right at home”

[TheStinger]

Benjamin Steele

This morning...

Ben arrived at the precinct as Cpt. White ordered. As he walked in, he imidieatly noticed that almost everyone was looking at him and smiling. "What's wrong with you people?" He said smiling at them with his arms extended. "Why are you guys looking at me like that?" He said again as a cop rised from his chair, went to Ben, tapped him on the shoulder then headed to get some coffee. "We heard that White has a surprise for you. And that she's beautiful, with long black hair too." Said the cop as he smiled at Ben and sipped a little from the coffee. Other cops started laughing. "What are you talking about? Ehh...whatever!" Said as he shook his head and went to his desk, opened his computer and started typing down a report regarding the Black Panthers case. Ben was the one that handled the case regarding the activities of that gang. SWAT did the rest, although Ben insisted to participate in the attack at the gang's hideout. Afterall he hunted down these guys for two years. He wasn't bent on letting SWAT have all the fun.

Later that evening...

After a boring day of doing paperwork and typing in front of the computer. His full report regarding the Black Panthers and their activities was finished and Ben finally had his full. He always hated these kind of days. After busting that gang Ben never had anything else interesting to work at. "Hey Bennie, the captain will see you know." Cpt. White was a great man, and a good cop. Ben was happy when they chose him to lead precinct nr. 15, three months ago. There couldn't have been a better choice. He placed all the pages in a file and went straight to the Captain's office.

In the meantime...

Miranda stepped in the captain's office. The captain looks at her for a few seconds then rises from his chair, goes to the front of his desk and sits on the edge with his arms crossed. "Hello Miranda. I'm Captain James White and i'm head of this fine precinct here. I've just been appointed to this position three months ago. As you may know, after last year's incident with Old Town being razed and all, the image of the Justice PD has been seriously deteriorated. The ordinary civilians...even they started hating us because of what we did to that place. As if it wasn't bad enough that were inefficient and full of corrput cops, now we had to deal with their hate too. In hopes of improving this deteriorated image that not only the police department but also the Mayor's Office had, the Mayor's Council has instituted a purge in the Justice PD. All the cops that participated in the assault lost their jobs and the heads of the precincts from where those particular cops belonged to, were forced to quit their position. The man that led this precinct before me resigned three months ago. And I was chosen to replace him, since I had the highest rank in the precinct. But enough of that." Said the captain as he got back in his chair and started looking through Miranda's file.

"I've looked through your file today Miranda. You've got very impressive skills. In my honest opinion, you'll be SWAT in no time. But as usual there's a problem with that. In order for one to become SWAT he'll have to spend two or preferably more years as a police officer, in order to gather experience. Other requierments that you don't meet are a good record, which you don't have since you just started work today and also you must have a recommandation for SWAT from a superior, in that case, that would be me. But you don't have to worry about that. If you do your job right, then in two years i'll give you the reccomandation you need. And now comes the second problem. All rookies are usually paired together with an experienced officer. It's standard procedure around the country. Rookies need experience, they need guidance, they need to be shown how to do things, they sometimes even need help too, and that's why they are paired with someone with experience. No rookie ever works alone. And with that we go to the third problem." Said the captain as he got up from his chair again and went over to the window, staring through it.

"I don't have an experienced officer to pair you with. All of them already have a rookie that they work with. On the other handa I cannot let you to work by yourself, so i'm gonna do something that has never been done before. Something that basically screams wrong, but I have no other choice." He said as he turned around and looked at Miranda. "There are only two people in this precinct that don't have a partner. One of them is you and the other one is..." Said Cpt. White as he siddebnly stopped and looked down on the floor with his hands in the pockets of his pants as if he was reluctant to say Ben's name. He then raises his head, looking at Miranda. "And the other one is Organised Crime Detective Benjamin Steele. Now the guy is crazy to say the least. If you want Dirty Harry, you can forget about him, Ben is exactly the same, if not even better. He takes police work all the way to the extreme, sometimes even crossing those boundries if he feels like it. No one likes working with Ben. Because he always breaks the rules and ethics, wherever he sees a crime in action he just jumpes at it. Bastard thinks he's Superman. Sure we all love him here at Precinct 15, because of his dedication in protecting the innocent, but sometimes..." The Captain was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Who is it? I'm busy!" He asked. "It's Ben. I have the report on the Black Panthers case." Said Ben from the other side. "Come in!" Responded the Captain. "Put it on the desk over there." He said as he pointed to the desk. "Here it is. Two years of work in eliminating those bastards. Please don't tell me you are shutting down the case." Said Ben as he placed the file on the cattain's desk. "No, but i'm putting it on hold until something worth while comes our way. Like the whereabouts of Wesley, their leader." Said the captain. "But i'm not gonna rest until Wesley Anderson is behind bars. Be sure of that. Anything else you'd like?" Said Ben, asking a question at the end. "Yeah! This is Miarnda Ortiz. And she's your new partner." Said the captain with a small smile on his face as he went to his desk and took a seat. "What? Are you kidding me? You're gonna give me a rookie as a partner? What is this hidden camera or something? Do I look like a police officer to you? I'm a detective for the love of God. And besides that, you know very well what happened to Dave right? You want the same thing to happen to her too." Said Ben, upset by what he just heard. "First of all raise down your tone. And second of all...I hate this situation just as much as you. But like I told Miranda here, I don't have another choice. And I pray something will show up. But until it does, you two are stuck together. Dave...God bless his soul...has nothing to do with this. Now Ben, you can leave. You're done for the day." Said the captain as he calmed down Ben. "The same for you honey." He continued as he looked at Miranda. "I don't need this." Said Ben with a low voice as he bursted through the exit and went to his desk grabbing his car keys and leather jacket and heading outside, to his car.

"Well what are you waiting for? Go to him. You two are partners now. I'm gonna leave you guys to get know each other better." Said Cpt. White as he watched Miranda leave his office. "Oh and one more thing Miranda." He shouted as he stopped her just as she was opening the door. "Good luck! God knows you're gonna need it. And you're gonna need it bad. You'll see why for yourself why. Because your a young woman, just 24. And it would be a real shame that what happened to Dave to happen to you too." Said the captain as Miranda left. More puzzled then she was before as she rushed to catch Ben, who was now in the precinct's parking lot, opening his car.