Pilatus

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy

US Marshal Service Annex - City Hall - Hours Later

“Paige, I just want you to know I was almost certain you weren't a cop killer.” Art, her Chief Deputy, said sarcastically as they took the elevator up to the Marshal Service office space.

“Almost.” Paige replied. Any other time she would have smirked slyly at the confirmation of her instincts.

Art laughed, “I wonder where he got that jacket.”

“Probably stole it from the dry-cleaners.” Paige said crossing her arms and looking ahead at the metal doors as they ascended. “Any idea who he was?”

“No I.D. yet, but I'll bet my next check he came from Detroit.” Art said.

“How hard was it getting him up here?” Paige asked, changing the subject.

“Oh, not hard at all,” Art replied. He glanced over at her from the corner of his eye, but she showed no emotion. In the course of his long career he'd mentored many young deputies with all manner of quirks and habits, though Paige was different and often hard to figure. She wanted trust, but gave little. She wanted friends, but often pissed people off. Still, she was a damn sight sharper than the rest of his staff and had a natural instinct that couldn't be taught. In the few weeks she worked in his office he only observed two real weaknesses that concerned him: her big mouth and the man presently occupying his conference room. “Xi was in the area and picked him up, got him some fresh clothes.”

The elevator doors parted and he looked for any reaction on her face as he spoke. He knew that she was aware he was looking and kept her emotions hidden. From the elevator the view across the office to the conference room was clear to where Milo stood, still handcuffed. Paige started away, but Art grabbed her firmly by the shoulder. For a second, he could see it, the caged emotions hidden behind her face and the glare in her eyes. He held the handcuff keys in front of her and dropped them into her open hand. “Take all the time you need. I’ll be in my office.”

Paige strode across the office. She could feel the eyes of the other deputies and the site staff on her as she walked unable to hide the increase in her pace as she got closer, almost to a jog as she reached for the door. Everyone knew the relationship she had with Milo. They had told her the story of what happened and what SCPD passed along. None of it mattered though. He was alive. ALIVE! A voice in her mind shouted it above all others. She closed the door behind her quietly and looked at him in the eyes, instantly biting on her lip in a pitiful attempt to keep control of the urge to breakdown in the knowledge that she had just nearly lost him. Everything she bottled up was bursting at the seams in her mind like a pressure cooker. Her eyes were welling up. She wanted to cry just because it felt like it would feel good to just let it all out and the urge was beginning to overcome her senses of pride and reason. She forgot about unlocking the cuffed hands in front of him and just fell into his chest gripping him tightly and turning her head, burying the side of her face into his shirt, too embarrassed to let him see her shed a tear, but unwilling to let go of him.

@RoccanIronclad

Most anticipated Games of 2018-2019

F1 2018

I'm easily pleased.

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy

Old Sol Museum - Midday

Paige checked her phone again for the time and sighed in irritation. Milo was late. She hated when people were late and their time frame was a little sensitive. Double-parked behind Elvin’s stylish Bentley coupe, she leaned against her car and looked around for him finding no one other than regular foot traffic and the slow but steady movement of vehicles in the post-storm, sloshy mess of Sol’s streets. She brushed a few windblown blonde strands of hair from her face. Perhaps a pushy customer had delayed him, or even better, one with plenty of cash, she reasoned knowing people would fork over big dollars for his creations. She called once, but got no answer and left it at that, aware of how much he hated when people blew up his phone. Giving the lot one more glance, she resigned herself to taking care of business and went inside.

With the free exhibition hours having ended the sparse visitors dwindled down to only a few and it didn’t take long for the museum’s Curator, whose name Paige couldn’t remember, something… something, the image of a boxer came to mind…. She couldn’t remember and then it hit her all at once as he babbled on walking beside her across the soft carpet of the main lobby. Ali. That was it. Dr. Ali. He was a tad snooty and liked to talk about how important his job was and that Elvin Santos was a regular and a very honored guest. He didn’t want a scene. Paige paid him little attention and caught the unnerved look on his face when she adjusted the gun hanging on her hip slightly. Her mind moving from a feeling of surprise at the visit from the FBI agent to all around irritation.

Irritation was the right word and as she bottled it up, it always seemed to come in waves, like she had just about reached capacity for the amount of shit she was going to take at any given time. She felt much like she did before she and Milo had gone out before. Tired of self-important assholes, tired of bureaucracy, tired of having her plans wrecked intentionally or not, tired of the cold, tired of people being late. He wasn’t around to diffuse her this time and the scene that met her as she rounded a corner through a long corridor lined with paintings was going to be the last fuckup she was willing to tolerate for the day.

Leading Elvin out with his hands bound behind his back was a black jacketed, crew-cut, FBI agent.

“Ah, Marshal Kennedy!” Elvin pronounced with some of his usual bravado. “If you were coming down here anyway, why send the FBI to interrupt my private gallery?”

Paige’s glance narrowed further, but one eyebrow arched slightly quizzically. She stopped in their path along with Dr. Ali who seemed to be at a loss for words. “What’s going on here?”

“What’s it look like?” The agent said sternly. He was tall and well built and spoke with a gruff monotone. His presence seemed more like a soldier than an officer of the law.

“Did Barrett send you?” Paige asked, unintimidated.

“Well, he’s the boss, isn’t he?” The man replied.

Paige put one hand on her hip and turned back a short glance at the way they had come in then back at the pair in front of her. In spite of her annoyance she was genuinely perplexed. “I just saw him not fifteen minutes ago and he didn’t mention anything.”

“Well, maybe he figured it wasn’t any of your concern.”

“Except I told him specifically that I was coming here.” She looked around the room briefly at the paintings, but not focusing on anything particular before shaking her head and waving one hand to clear the air to possibly dispel some of her frustration. “I’m sorry, we haven’t met, I’m Deputy US Marshal Paige Kennedy.”

“With all due respect…”

“Okay, just hold up.” Paige held up one finger towards the man and then motioned it over towards one of the paintings. “Is that one of Siobhan Murphy’s paintings?”

Dr. Ali perked up some from his shocked trance. “Why, yes. Yes it is!” He said with some astonishment adjusting his glasses. “How did you know that?”

“She’s a friend.” Paige replied.

“I’m not surprised you have exquisite tastes, Marshal Kennedy.” Elvin added coyly. “You know, you are my favorite Federal Agent.”

“Ma’am…” The FBI agent attempted to interject.

“Elvin, you have a silver tongue.” Paige said with a slight smirk.

“Ma’am,” The Agent’s voice was firm breaking in, nearly forceful. “I’m gonna need you to step out of the way now.”

“Okay, hold on,” Paige rubbed one hand over her face, brushed her hair aside again and placed it firmly back on her hip. Her green irises met his firmly. “Maybe I’m just having one hell of a day... but did you just give me an order?”

Elvin’s sheepish grin quickly dropped into a look of horrid disbelief at the man standing behind him.

The voice was firm and clear. He spoke directly at her like an insolent child: “If you don’t move- I’m gonna shoot you.”

The roar of fire came raging through her eyes back at him. Her lips curled and she stood her ground defiantly. He went for his gun first, but to his shock, she had already drawn and fired twice before he barely cleared his holster. He fell away with the impact of the rounds firing wildly in the air. Elvin cursed ducking away and Dr. Ali screamed like a panicked schoolgirl at the rapid exchange and the loud snap of gunfire. Paige leveled her sights and put two more in him before he could hit the floor. The body collapsed like a ragdoll and she lowered her gun with clear shock on her face at what she had done. “Holy shit, I hope I got that right…” She said to herself, nearly whispering.

Walking over to the body, she holstered her pistol and kicked the man’s gun aside. Her phone vibrated in her back pocket as she looked down. There was a missed call from Xi and a text:

Call me asap

Her brief distraction was interrupted by a wail of pain from Dr. Ali. She glanced over with a sudden tightness in her stomach thinking he’d been shot, but instead finding him draped over one of Siobhan’s paintings that newly showcased two large bullet holes. “Look at what you've done!” He cried not seeming the least bit concerned with the body bleeding out on the floor. Paige sighed with some relief. There were two more holes in the wall from the errant shots. One appeared to have taken a chunk out of the ornate plaster and there were chunks of white dust falling to the floor. Elvin dusted himself off and looked at the body. “Christ almighty… was he really FBI?”

Paige dialed 911.

@PrinceAlexus@RoccanIronclad@Rodiak@Almalthia

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

@Tenma Tendo

Did we ever get you a discord invite?

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy

US Marshal Service Annex, City Hall - Morning

“Deputy Marshal Wen, did Deputy Kennedy tell you why she was looking into the Giancanas?” Special Agent Barrett of the FBI looked down his nose, over his heavy-framed glasses at Paige’s partner, Xi. The two of them, along with their direct superior, Chief Deputy, Art Sterling, had been playing host to the veteran FBI agent for about ten minutes after his unannounced arrival at City Hall.

“I imagine it’s because she’s working on a case.” Xi said with a slight shrug and a tone of feigned cluelessness.

“You ‘imagine’?” Barrett pushed his glasses back up and reached for a pen inside his crisply-pressed, black suit. He scribbled a few notes down on the small pad in his other hand. Xi rolled his eyes while Paige sighed and looked at her phone. Art looked on expressionless.

“Somewhere you need to be Deputy Kennedy?” He said turning his glance over to Paige. “I can assure you, I can keep you all in this room for a very long time if I feel like it.”

Paige crossed her arms indignantly, said nothing and looked away pivoting back and forth in her seat.

“You know what?” Barrett said, observing the blonde, ponytailed Marshal’s annoyance. Being from the Bureau for decades, he hated how relaxed the dress-code was at some of the Marshal’s offices. They seemed to believe anything was acceptable as long that silver star would clip to it. Her jeans and leather jacket were a thumb in the eye of the tight-ship he ran at his home office back in Detroit and the little Converse sneakers she wore were too much for him to bear. “Why don’t you tell me where you’re going after this? Since you seem so interested in what’s going on outside this room.”

“Are you kidding me?” Paige snapped with a raised eyebrow.

“Do I look like I’m kidding you?” Barrett shot back.

Paige recoiled slightly and glanced back at her Chief Deputy, She wasn’t sure whether or not she had to tell the FBI anything.

“Paige, just tell him where you’re going.” Art said unfolding his hands after a brief pause. He’d been in the game a long time, longer than Barrett, and he knew when to play chess instead of checkers. He also knew Paige wouldn’t like it, but for the time being, he could sacrifice a little bit of information to keep the Feds out of his office for a while longer. “Agent Barrett here has to get his asshole-fix in for the day and we just wanna make sure he gets his quota.” He thought better of it after the words came out, but sometimes he couldn’t help himself either.

“That’s real amusing, Chief Deputy.” Barrett said cutting his glance back at Art who smiled cordially in return. “It says a lot about the office you’re running here.”

“Old Sol Museum,” Paige said drawing the FBI’s attention back. She respected her Chief and picked up on the scheme he was playing. She knew Sio’s exhibit was being set up and she could use it as an excuse if she needed. “That’s where I’m going.” She said flatly.

“And what are you doing there?”

“Hey, I’ve got a question.” Art said, jumping back in. He could feel the turn coming in the conversation. “If your agents are following Sammy and Nikki in their travels here, then you must be building a case against them.”

“Or you’re trying to protect them.” Xi said. He knew the game too and as an ex-Marine sniper, subtlety was not his strong point. He loved striking the nail firmly on the head.

“If you got a case, Agent, why don’t you let us help you with it?” Art said. He put his hands behind his head and leaned back slightly in his chair. “Might be fun to be on the same side for a change.”

“You know, all I need from you, Chief, and your deputies here, is to back off.” Barrett growled. “Understood?”

“Why?” Paige asked. She could smell the blood in the water. “You afraid I’m gonna tip them off?” She cut her eyes darkly at him and her tone was sharp enough to cut a steel plate: “Or is it because you got a leaky ship, Agent Barrett?”

“I’ve made myself clear.” Barrett said folding up his briefcase. He found himself unable to look back at Paige’s piercing green eyes. He shut the case firmly and walked out.

“Must be some sort of dick test that all the FBI agents have to pass.” Art said watching him walk away through the conference room glass to the elevator.

“He’s just gonna try harder now.” Xi grumbled.

“Yes, he is.” Art said with some exasperation. He rubbed a hand over his face and looked over at Paige who was still watching the agent walk away. “I didn’t think this was gonna result in a visit from the Feebs, Paige.”

“You want me to back off, I’ll back off.” Paige said watching the elevator doors close.

Art sighed and shook his head. There was no way he was going to put her off the hunt, but the presence of the FBI in Sol City was going to significantly complicate his life and he was feeling too old for that kind of shit. “Just make sure whatever you’re doing is actually Marshal business.”

“You were going to see old Mr. Santos, right?” Xi said slyly. The word on the street was that Sol City’s own made-man was scared shitless of a bigmouthed, lady-Marshal.

“Yeah,” Paige said. Her mind was churning through the implications of the Special Agent’s visit, not just for her case against the gangsters, but for herself if they started digging against her and Milo. Her heart beat a little harder inside her chest thinking about him and the danger he could be in. She sighed and her bristled aura relaxed slightly. “I had an interesting conversation with someone who works at that club we pulled CT out of while we were snowed in.” She was still looking away even though the object of her ire was long gone. “I happen to know he’s at a private showing at the museum that I’m going to interrupt. Then I’m gonna bring him in and see what he has to say.”

------------

She didn’t tell the Chief or Xi, but as soon as she stepped out from City Hall towards the parking garage, she called Milo. The time she had hoped for during the winter storm hadn’t exactly panned out the way she wanted. Sure, they had fun. Aoki and Dusty were a riot, but it had only further delayed her want for his company. She’d never allowed herself to feel for anyone as she did for him and wondered if he really felt the same way. It felt like it, though in some of her thoughts she was jealous of Ana and how her and Milo so easily came together, like they were made for each other, a sword and its sheath, while she and Milo were more like gunpowder and lead. She waited for him to pick up as she walked, holding her jacket against the cold air and still squinting behind her sunglasses as the sunlight reflected against the mountains of piled snow. “Hey,” She said as he picked up. He already knew the plan. “I’m headed down to the museum to pick up Elvin if you wanna come up now.”

Interaction:
@RoccanIronclad

Mentioned:
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SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

@PrinceAlexus

He's only concerned about one.

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

@GarlandDaHero

Good to go. You can move her over to the CS tab.

I'll update the balance afterwards.

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Joel Nicolosi

Joel plowed along northbound up the 923 Loop passing tractor-trailers crawling along the roadside with their hazards flashing and a plethora of other vehicles making parking spots out of the snow drifts the plows had built up along the sides of the highway. The Jeep’s faithful heater roared happily on its highest setting and it was cozy inside even as the cold wind beat against the soft-top. A couple of gusts hit the denim fabric like a sail, shaking the lightweight body, but they soldiered on, man and machine against the elements. Joel grinned a little. He hated snow, but driving in it was good fun and he had left it in two-wheel drive since leaving the shop just for the challenge. The big tires aggressive tread bit in hard and he hardly felt the frame drift at all over patches of compacted ice. The CB radio crackled as a truck driver a few miles ahead confirmed the ramp to University Boulevard was still open.

The weather was worsening significantly as he made his way to the intersection outside the University parking lot, nearly at a total white-out. Flashing yellow traffic signals were being ignored and traffic in general was becoming a free-for-all of red brake lights, confusion and blankets of snowfall. Deciding to relent on his fun challenge rather than deal with the madness, Joel reluctantly reached down for the four-wheel drive shifter and dropped the front differential into action turning off the street and making his own path over the snow embankment then up the small knoll that separated the main university parking from the street. Since he knew there would be little chance of anyone attempting to stop him, he made a fairly direct path over the campus, crossing over sidewalks, turning the wrong way up one-way avenues and generally making a mess of the landscaping underneath the snow.

Having enjoyed his bit of trailblazing, he pulled up on the curb outside the library and sent Sio a text as he mused briefly about the years passed when he last darkened the door of Solaris Universatas. What an idiotic name. He thought as he typed away on his phone. Staffed by total idiots, it fits.

I’m sittin outside, bring yo ass
No free rides

#4x4play
@Almalthia

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Been rereading some posts to tonight looking at where all the groups are currently.

Expect a bit of a mini-update tomorrow on where we're going with this skip and plans for the next one.

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Joel Nicolosi

Eyes blinked open. Groggy, Joel for a moment stared straight up at the tile, drop-ceiling of his upstairs “living room”. Somewhere during the night his curiosity had pulled him from his bed to the couch where he wanted to get a look at just what level of panic was setting in on the local newscast. The TV displayed quietly where he’d left it with some mid-morning national talk show that danced shadows all over the room and a news ticker ran across the bottom of the screen with alerts about power outages and other chaos across the city that he squinted at briefly with some amusement. Joel’s upstairs could be near pitch-black any time of day which was how he liked it and made it easy to fall back asleep. The kerosene heater roared downstairs in the shop, but that wasn’t what woke him. The vibrating hum of a call sent his phone crawling across the table and he swatted at it to make it stop, grumbling to himself as did so. He wasn’t expecting any calls with the weather.

Sure enough, there was an unread message from Sio to go along with an incoming call from the University. He stared blankly for a bit as his drowsy mind considered who in the hell would be calling him. This better be good… He thought to himself contemplating just letting it ring out, but then remembering Sio saying something about going over there for some reason… He hadn’t really been paying that much attention. She was probably pissed about the message he sent about her car, which would in turn be hysterical. He shifted a little back under the warm blanket that he tossed over the couch as he grabbed the phone. WIth the kerosene heater running, he had the heat-pump turned down significantly to save on the power bill. Even with all his winnings from the race and other promotions, he still couldn’t bring himself not to be frugal. He yawned and stretched a bit as the call continued to vibrate in his hand, knowing it would soon cut to voicemail.

Swiping his thumb over the screen he switched it over to speaker phone. “Joe’s bar and grill.” He answered.

@Almalthia