11:30 AM
Levi's blue eyes suddenly snapped open at the sound of rattling dishes from the down the hall. He sat up in bed, hair a complete mess and wearing only boxers, listening quietly for more movement outside his bedroom door. Was it a dream that woke him? Another nightmare?
Clink "Mmm-mm... hmm....""Someone is in my kitchen!" His heart raced as he threw himself out of bed and reached for his handgun which was locked in a small safe under his bed. Carefully, trying to take deep and calming breaths, he punched in the pin number to unlock the safe.
"Those fuckers want to come back after all these years? They won't get away this time."Beretta 92 in one hand, Levi quietly opened up his bedroom door. Raising the handgun up to eye level, he slowly rounded the corner. His eyes darted back and forth, searching for any sort of movement. Lightly, he walked down the hall and listened to the stranger rummage through his kitchen drawers, humming a melodic tune to themselves. Odd, but this was no time to be questioning the antics of a criminal.
"HANDS UP!" He quickly came from around the corner and into the kitchen, gun raised and ready to fire if provoked.
"AHHHH!" "Oh Jesus Christ, MIMI!" Levi stopped aiming his gun at the
blonde woman in his kitchen, whom he had clearly scared half to death. When he had yelled, she had screamed in surprise and dropped a whisk onto the floor as she spun around to see the source of the sudden disturbance.
"Levi!" She exclaimed, a hand on her chest as if to calm her pounding heart.
"What is wrong with you?! You scared me! And here I am, being such a sweetheart and making you breakfast. That wasn't funny!" Mimi pouted as she bent down to pick up the whisk she had dropped, dressed in only a thin night gown and a cardigan sweater.
"I didn't-... what are you doing here?!""Making you breakfast, I just said!" With the whisk she gestured to the kitchen counter top. Pancake mix, eggs, milk, and various other items scattered all across his once clean kitchen. She eyed him up and down, glaring at him for a brief moment before her facial expression softened and she grinned at him in delight.
"Oh, baby... do you not remember last night?" She looked up, searching her mind for an image of the previous night.
"I guess you were pretty drunk." She giggled, setting down the whisk and moving closer to him.
"I can help you remember if y-""No, I remember. I-..." He watched her move closer, but he was in no mood for cuddling up.
"I expected you would be, uh... gone... by now. Ya know?" He gave her a sheepish smile, knowing this would rile her up but it was the truth. He hadn't intended for them to pretend like they were some normal couple in the morning. Mia Porter, or "Mimi", was his on-again-off-again girlfriend. Though they had been "off" for quite some time now. Nonetheless, when a man is weak and a panther sees her prey....
Mimi pouted again, puffing her cheeks as she glared at him once more.
"You said I could stay!" She turned away from him in a huff, going back to her cooking.
"Besides, it's almost done and... here." She grabbed the coffee pot and poured him a drink.
Levi watched her, setting his handgun down onto the kitchen table and taking a seat as he reflected on his actions.
"I said she could stay? Now I really don't remember that...." He looked over at his gun on the table, feeling a tinge of guilt. Ever since his mothers home invasion, he'd never been the same and was quick to jump to conclusions.
"Idiot...""Aren't I an angel?"She set down a cup of coffee in front of him before going back to making pancakes, clearly pleased with herself. He observed quietly, nearly laughing out loud at the thought of her being an angel. She appeared sweet on the outside, but she could be downright evil if she wanted to be. In truth, it was probably the thing that he liked about her. She was exciting. His mother use to joke that he was a magnet for crazy and Mimi would have proved her theory. He smiled to himself, taking his coffee cup and wondering where his ex-girlfriend had gotten the nightgown from. Did she bring an overnight bag? He hadn't noticed when she had first arrived...
"Mimi, I really can't. I have to go and... you... you have to go too." He cringed at his own wording, but he was never one to beat around the bush. She was use to that by now.
"Just eat and be happy that I made you this lovely breakfast!"Hearing his phone text notification go off from the bedroom, Levi took that as an exit from this argument and headed into the bedroom to put away his handgun and check his phone.
Fire at the Turners. Get here. - T.S.Yes! An actual excuse to give his ex that wasn't a lie! Pity about the fire, but...
"Mimi! Let's go, I have to work!"
After having dropped off Mimi at her own home, with her overnight bag, Levi pulled up to the Turner household to find it half engulfed in flames.
"Who the hell did this?" He thought, parking across the street where police had sectioned off an area of authorized personnel only. Exiting his car, he found Thomas Spade standing with the Turners who watched in helpless horror. Sad what had been happening to this family... He truly felt for them. He was on the case, and genuinely trying his best to find out what had happened to miss Lily Turner.
Aside from that group, he noticed a smaller group off to the side of the house simply watching the chaos go down.
"Innocent bystanders or the culprits hiding in plain sight?" He looked them over briefly from across the street. One female, drinking something and leaning against a motorcycle and one male, large in stature and sitting on a scooter. The woman looked familiar.
"Excuse me," He made his way across the street, approaching them for questioning.
"Hi. I'm detective Brooks. Can I ask you both some questions?" He smiled charmingly, looking to both the male and female. Upon closer inspection, he had recognized the female as Mirai Ito - an ex gang member who the mayor himself had made sure was on the police stations radar once he learned of her arrival.
"Just want to know if either of you saw anything be-""Back the fuck off! PEARL IS IN THERE." Levi looked up just in time to see a young man climb through an open window and into the burning house.
"Oh hell...." Without a second thought Levi turned and sprinted after the kid, throwing his peacoat off onto the lawn as he climbed through the window.
"Hey kid!" He called, eyes squinting as he tried to see through the smoke.
"You're going to get yourself killed in here!" The irony wasn't lost on Levi; he could get himself killed trying to save someone too. Perhaps him and this stranger weren't so different.
Levi covered his face with his shirt as he tried to find his way through this mansion of a house. On the way to the kitchen he spotted some footsteps in the soot and decided to follow them, even though the feeling of impending doom was beginning to settle in as he started to cough. The smoke was getting to him already. Maybe running in here hadn't been a great idea...
"Hey! Where are you?!"He frantically ran down a hallway looking in every room he could, trying to spot the kid through all the smoke. He didn't hear anything aside from the flames and the creaking of the house, which furthered the feeling of doom in the pit of his stomach.
"Kid! We gotta get-" Upon entering the living room he found the boy, passed out with a white cat in his arms who was also passed out.
"For a cat?!" He thought, running over to the kid and shaking his shoulders.
"Fuck." He cursed as he realized that the kid was completely out.
"Here we go..."Levi wasn't exactly the most athletic guy, but he did go to the gym to lift weights and for once it was going to come in handy. He scooped up the dark haired stranger and his furry friend, carrying them both bridal style and began to back track his way through the house. Once he reached the front door he was relieved to find that someone had already opened it, waiting for the two of them to return. Levi rushed outside, setting the kid and his cat down onto the lawn.
"Someone help this cat! It needs air." He pointed to the cat, looking around at the firefighters and EMT's standing by. Without waiting, Levi rolled up his sleeves and began chest compressions on the male. This wasn't exactly who he had envisioned giving CPR to when he took the certification class, but... it had to be done.