♢✗ Dear Policemen ✗♢ [Hideki & Z3N]

[Z3N]

♢✗ Dear Policemen ✗♢

 

[Z3N]

 

Name:

Enzo De Clercq

 

Age:

37.

 

Gender:

Male.

 

Occupation:

Policeman.

 

Family:

> Davina De Clerq (daughter | 14)

> Mieke Vancauter (ex-wife)

 

 

 

The job was tough, a lot of yelling, fighting and even gunshots could be heard throughout the alleyway. Gang members teaming up against the police officers, trying to outnumber so they could escape from their grasp. Blood was spilled, trickling down from hands and heads, legs and feet. Heavy breathing as if a hunter was watching its prey closely. Hearts beating fast, almost as if it could be heard by someone else. Sweat dripping from their foreheads like they had been running for a long time. Some laying down unconscious while others were still standing up. The nightmare which was a routine for policemen, not to be surprised by the scene in front of them. Standing with both feet on the ground as they eyed their opponents, watching their every move and breath they took while keeping their own in check.

 

It was nothing much for Enzo, being used to the danger of the work. Deserving him the scar on his eye, almost losing his sight. A knife slashed through his flesh, barely escaping from the attacker as he wasn’t prepared. He was still young back then. Receiving a reminder that would keep him save for years to come. Like it did now. Remembering what had happened in the past, he couldn’t let his guard down despite some criminals still being underage. It was their choice to join this gang and their downfall as they went through with it after this encounter.

 

Eventually sirens could be heard, coming from both sides of the alleyway. No escape for the gang. A glance of anxiousness could be seen in their eyes. Knowing that they wouldn’t be able to get out of this one. Letting themselves be caught by the armed police officers. Enzo let the others take over as he was called by a higher ranking officer. Being told that he was about to be transferred to another office. Out of the blue. Not being able to fully process the order as the man walked away after saying what he wanted. No reason was given, besides that they felt that he would fit in there more than here. Perhaps he was too brash in his actions. Yet, it was still not a good reason as to why he had to go.

 

It was already late but he didn’t want to go home just yet. His daughter had some friends sleeping over so he wasn’t needed there for now. Deciding to go drink something in town after changing back into his civilian clothes. Consisting of nothing more than a black shirt, jeans, black shoes and a watch on his wrist. Going into what seemed like a cosy bar where he took a place at the counter. Ordering an Old Fashioned. Having a couple more while he was at it, not noticing that he was drunk, he started talking (nagging) to the person next to him.

 

”You see. Life can be cruel. First you think you have everything you wanted, and by the next it’s all taken away. Just like that. Who do they even think they are?! Fucking mongrels, transferring me without consent! I don’t know anybody at the other station, the bastards. I knew they didn’t like my guts. All pussies if you ask me.” He rambled on, complaining about the people who he wouldn’t see anymore anyway.

His golden eyes lost their focus the more he drank. Laying down his head on the wooden counter as he looked at the stranger besides him. ”What about you? Never had a shitty experience? You can’t be completely innocent. Not even the pope is. Who knows what he even does there behind closed doors.” He muttered, not bothering to sit up again as he spoke.

[-Hideki-]

 

Charles [Charlie] Knox

 

Age: 26 years

Gender: male

Height: 1.84m

Eye colour: grey

Hair colour: white-blond

Sexual orientation: homosexual

Occupation: policeman

Biography:

Charlie grew up in a middle-class family and had a rather unspectacular but nice childhood.

He loved comic-books and superhero’s and when he was little he wanted to become a superhero as well to make the world more just and better and to put the bad people who broke the law in their place. It started off as a crazy idea of a little boy but when he grew a little older it developed into a realistic and stable career wish and he wanted to join the police force later in life.

 

The boy developed into a rather atypical teenager who valued rules and a civilised togetherness and saw the nation’s police as society’s actual heroes and protectors.

He was ambitious in school, got good grades and was a brutally honest as well as too serious fellow for his age who liked keeping order and became an outcast at his school for not fitting in with the others. Getting bullied only made him more eager on becoming a policeman though and he was certain that the day would come when he would arrest all those school-yard bullies because they couldn’t possibly turn into law abiding decent citizens.

 

His parents had intended that Charles should attend university after high-school but their son actually disobeyed them and signed up for police academy to get into the career he wanted to have. Ambitious as he was and certain that this was the best and most important job one could possibly have Charlie finished as the best in his semester excited to get out there and fight for the safety of the people and to keep law and order.

 

The early enthusiasm of his vanished rather quickly though when he faced the reality and everyday life of a policeman. He had to work his arse off, risk his life and all of it seemed to be a tilt at windmills. If one thug was arrested another scumbag arose somewhere else, if they finally got some predator he had to see him two days later running free again because they didn’t have enough evidence to keep him locked away any longer even though everyone knew that he had done it. And for his attempt of keeping the people safe the people weren’t thankful but ungrateful and all he ever heard on the media was smearing campaigns against the police, people making false accusations and then there were those insulting them and terrorist organisations who advocated for killing policemen because the policemen were doing their jobs and neutralised armed and dangerous criminals who not only threatened their life but the life of civilians as well.

 

All of that soon turned his euphoric ambition and his serious persona into a somewhat more cynic and sarcastic guy who started to loathe the thugs and criminals and despised those who constantly insulted the police and he wasn’t quite as nice and willing to help every citizen anymore and treated others rather brashly at timed. His partner who had been in the same semester as him in police academy had become his closest friend and he had been the only one with whom he had ever talked about personal stuff as well. Charlie didn’t hide that he was gay before his colleagues and some knew but he didn’t really talk about it either.

 

 

 

The light was dim and the air filled with smoke as everyday in the crowded gay bar that Charlie was a regular costumer of. He often went there after his work days and his good friend and former partner Carlos had often accompanied him even though he was a straight guy who had a fiancée at home. It hadn’t mattered to his friend though he actually found the place fun and it had had the advantage that his fiancée never had gotten suspicious and had been cool with him hanging out with Charlie at the bar the whole night because she could be certain that he wouldn’t flirt or cheat on her with other women this way. But Carlos had been severely injured a while ago and since then had not accompanied him. He was working in the office now and the white blond police officer had temporarily gotten another partner – fat John.

 

Fat John was in his fifties and the most apathetic and lazy officer in the whole station and his slogan was: “If you keep your nose out of the shit, the shit is not going to fire back at you.” Or in other words, if one avoided to do anything one couldn’t be blamed for supposedly having done the wrong thing. With John as his partner the past weeks had been incredibly unspectacular, they had given some people parking tickets, or had reconciled some neighbourhood fights concerning a tree that had reached onto the other neighbour’s property but most of the time they had eaten at different diners and locations, well, at least John had eaten.

 

It wasn’t like their station was in the most dangerous area of the city but it wasn’t the most safe one either and there usually was a lot more and a lot more dangerous and important stuff to do than the things he had done with John. And on this day they actually had had an emergency case. An armed thief had shot at a business owner and had run away with the money and they had had to deal with him. John had been completely useless and it had been like Charlie didn’t even have a partner to work with. He had chased and caught the guy alone and when he had returned with the criminal in handcuffs John had been drinking soda leaning on their patrol car.

 

He really hoped that fat John wouldn’t stay his partner forever and he also was afraid of ending up like him one day, tired, bored and gone apathetic due to the constant bashing of the police and the defamations thrown into their direction.

Now he was in his habitant though and he was standing there in his black button up shirt, the black trousers and the big belt next to a shorter guy about his age with a nice body and a hot arse who was blabbering to him. Charlie had started to hit on him a while ago and it had turned out that he was a sociology student or something just as useless and he apparently thought that he had a lot of important things to contribute and since he had figured out that the white blond was a policeman he kept spewing out bullshit like a water fountain spewed out water. None of that was statistically or empirically true and none of it had any basis in the actual reality and his opinions and talking was a major turn off for Charlie so he had stopped listening a while ago.

 

He actually would have liked that twink better with a gag in his mouth so that he didn’t have to hear him talk anymore and he thought that he should do that but then he remembered that he didn’t have stuff like that because he wasn’t into those kinky things even though the idea of spanking that spoiled clueless dudes arse who was trying to play social critic here was way too appealing.

 

Charlie took a look at his wristwatch and was staring around in the room. He just wanted to take this guy home and fuck his brain out already and then never talk to him again. If he had known just how annoying he was he would have never started flirting with him but now he had already wasted too much time on that idiot and he was horny as fuck. While he was looking around he saw a reminder of how this bar had become a cleaner and safer, drug free place since he had become a regular client there. The young policeman had gone there since he had started his job at the local station and when a dealer had wanted to sell him drugs Charlie had arrested him. He had done the same with a consumer who had hit on him and had wanted to take drugs together. That the police was always there undercover had made the round rather quickly and the owner of the place had thanked Charlie for arresting the junkies and had told him that since he was their costumer there had been much less half dead junkies found in the restroom.

 

It got harder for him to ignore the blabbering of the hot arse next to him who apparently thought he was holding a lecture for Charlie now so he looked at him with his cold grey eyes saying:”I’m gonna get myself another drink, I’ll be right back, wait here for me.” And the twink nodded when the white-blond disappeared shaking his head. What he didn’t do for a good fuck to release his stress? When he had been younger he had pictured his life a lot different. He had wanted to marry, a loving relationship and having a picture book life but it just hadn’t turned out to be his reality. He sucked at dating someone, he was too blunt, too tactless, too awkward and too honest for that and so he had ended up taking the easier way. He had one night stands with fluctuating sex partners that never were more than that. It wasn’t the dream come true and at times it felt empty and lonely but it was still better than having to have sex with his hand.

 

With a deep sigh he leaned himself onto the bar shouting over at the bartender:” Jo, Will, give me another beer please!” Will let him know that he had heard him but was busy elsewhere so he waited and when he finally had gotten his beer - it had already taken quite some time but the hot arse was still behaving and waiting for him where he had left him – that drunken guy who sat at the bar started rambling to him.

 

The white-blond didn’t know why but he listened to that guy while examining him. He had long dark hair, a beard, scars on his face and eyes that had a weird golden colour. The man was older than him and he looked as if he was having some sort of crisis. The guy was nagging about something without context and Charlie had his troubles in making sense out of it and was about to ignore the stranger he had never seen at the bar before in all those years and head back to where the annoying guy he would fuck later was waiting.

 

But since Charlie had looked at the older man and it had looked as if he was about to engage in a conversation with him the hot arse had disappeared when the policeman had turned around. “Shit!” he muffled and he was a little angered about that because he actually had wasted his night listening to that horseshit for nothing now. And this nagging guy who was severely drunk and whose head was now laying flat on the bar hadn’t been making the impression that he wanted to hook up with Charlie or had any interest of sexual nature at all, so it would be his horny self and his hand again tonight just like in the old days when he had been a teenager. Charlie had been an outcast, a nerd, unathletic and he had been overweight and had had an eccentric and strange way of viewing things and behaving on top of that, hence no guy had been really interested in him, not that he knew of at least.

And there he had thought that those days had been gone for good now since he was fitting the beauty standards and had a toned body due to the academy and then his work now.

 

The man who apparently had been transferred somewhere he didn’t want to go was now asking him whether he had never had bad experiences. Charlie had had a lot of bad experiences back at school and he was glad that he had to never take one foot into a high-school again. “Plenty! I’ve actually just had another one.” He snorted and exaggerated that he wouldn’t fuck someone that night despite him having patiently pretended to listen to that sociology guy for hours.

 

The white-blond drank some of the beer he had just ordered and he laughed dryly at the comment regarding the pope. “I’m certain it is nothing holy! It would probably be another scandal for their bloody church if one figured that out.” Charlie said looking at the long haired man again who was still hanging over the bar with his head on the counter. “Dude, if those guys at your original work place were all cunts in your eyes anyway, the new one probably won’t be any worse. That triviality alone isn’t the end of the world and not a reason to let yourself go like that.” He spoke his mind whether that was what the drunken man wanted to hear or not. There might be more behind it he then thought but the policeman couldn’t possibly know so his judgement was justified based on the information the other had given him alone.

[Z3N]

Enzo didn’t know what the other was talking about as he said that there was just now a bad experience. Not feeling like getting his right mind with it as he just wanted to relax for a bit. Luckily the spot where his head was laying down was clean, no alcohol being spilled on it which would made the smell pretty clear if he got home. His daughter giving him an earful for embarrassing her with her friends and everything. It didn’t happen often but when it did, it mostly ended up in her yelling at him and them saying sorry to each other in the morning. Wondering if he should take another drink but his stomach protested against it, turning around at the mere thought of it.

 

Laughing as the other agreed about the comment of the pope. Getting the energy to sit up straight again. Strands of hair caressing his face which got brushed out of the way just a moment later. Placing an arm on the counter so he wouldn’t fall over as his balance was shit right there. His head spun a little because of the sudden movement but it wasn’t bad enough to make him puke. Trying to focus on the blonde male in front of him, narrowing his eyes. ”Well, it would be quite the case to arrest the pope. It definitely would make it to the news.” He said, a grin to be seen as he thought about it. He was never much of a religious man, neither was his daughter. His ex-wife was though and she would freak out if she was to ever witness something that wasn’t “approved of” by the local priest. Luckily he barely had to see her so she couldn’t go tantrums at him again.

 

But then the reminder of his transfer came back, making his smile disappear. ”Anyway, I hope the new station would appreciate my guts. If it wasn’t for me, they wouldn’t have been able to solve some of the cases. They even called me Mad Dog.” He said, laughing as if he couldn’t believe what he had just said now. ”Even other offices know about it. Can you believe it? But well, I think it’s time for me to go home now.” Standing up, patting the stranger his shoulder. ”Thanks for listening to my rambling.” With that, he managed to walk towards the exit of the building.

[-Hideki-]

His grey eyes examined the drunken man as the guy supported himself by placing his arm on the counter. Charlie couldn’t remember when he had been nearly as drunk as that dude the last time. A smirk crossed his face when the older man was talking about arresting the pope. “I’d love to be the one to arrest him.” The white-blond said laughing while he was imagining that scenario. “I guess some religious freaks would lose their shit.” He added and his smirk turned a little smug.

The young policeman wasn’t a fan of religions or religious people and he never hid just how much he loathed institutionalised religions before anyone no matter whom he could offend with his comments.

 

When the dark haired fellow spoke about his transfer again he revealed to Charlie that he was a policeman himself and the man had just become a little more interesting to him. “So you’re in the police force as well. So am I!” he let the other know before the man declared that he should head home. The white-blond consulted his wristwatch again and it had really gotten quite late already and if this man wanted sleep it off before work the next day this seemed like a responsible decision. The younger man nodded into the other’s direction.

 

Involuntarily a laugh escaped him when the other thanked him for listening to his rambling. “No problem dude. Apparently I am really good for listening tonight.” The man said in a sarcastic tone thinking about that annoying guy from before. The stranger disappeared into the winter night and Charlie stayed at the bar drinking the beer he had ordered before that was emptied too soon.

 

Before he left himself he had looked for that sociology bastard again but he obviously had been gone, so he just grabbed his jacket from the cloakroom and went his way. He had to walk twenty minutes but it was better than driving his car when he had drunken alcohol. His hands buried in his pockets he looked around in the dark city.

 

As soon as he had arrived at home he made himself ready to go to sleep and getting his contacts out that he wore instead of his glasses when he was at the bar. His apartment had two rooms, a bathroom and a kitchen. It wasn’t exactly impressive and the facility was pragmatic and plain.

There was not a single piece of decoration except for a half dead potted plant he always forgot to water. The apartment was incredibly orderly and neat though. Everything had its place and he couldn’t bear it if anyone took something and put it onto another place and destroyed his order and system.

 

Tired and horny as he was he let himself fall onto the huge bed turning the TV on looking at an actor he found attractive and letting his mind handle the rest before he shoved his hand into his boxers pulling his cock out stroking it to get himself off so that he would be able to sleep. And it helped. Soon after he had cum his eyes fell shut and he snored like a chainsaw.

 

 

 

After he had opened the door in the morning, looking orderly and perfectly groomed in his uniform and with his glasses on, he just saw white! While he had slept it obviously had snowed and his car was buried under what seemed to be a ton of snow. “Fuck!” he yelled while a mother with a toddler was walking past him looking at the policeman in a scolding, judging way. “What kind of a role-model are you for our children. The police force in this country is going down the drain.” She hissed angrily and then spoke to her brat. “The F-word is a really bad word Tobias; you shall never say such a vulgar word!” Charlie rolled his eyes parroting the lady behind her back before he started freeing his car from the snow.

 

He looked somewhat frozen and his cheeks started to burn when he entered the warm station due to the difference in temperature. The smell of strong and cheap coffee was all around him when he walked into the office greeting his fellow policemen. “Hey Charlie, Carpenter wants to see you in his office!” fat John said eating a jelly donut. Knox looked at the grey haired man who was licking the sugar from his sausage fingers. “Why?” he wanted to know from him and fat John shrugged. “No clue. He seemed pissed that you weren’t there, might be urgent. I’d go right away if I were you.” The man in his fifties let him know and the white-blond sighed. “My car was snowed under!” he said and realised that it wasn’t John whom he had to tell this. “I have a garage. Much more convenient.” The man replied and it was quite fitting. “Jelly donut?” he offered and Charlie nodded and took one saying “Thanks!” before he walked past Carlos and hit his friend on the shoulder in a collegial way before he went up into Carpenter’s office taking a bite from the jelly donut.

 

 

Carpenter’s dark brown eyes looked displeased when Charlie entered his office because he was late and the man with the thick black moustache and the dark brown skin cut the white-blond off right away when he wanted to explain that his car had been snowed under. And the mood of his boss didn’t get any better when the jelly from the bitten into jelly donut dripped onto the floor of his office.

 

“Officer Knox!” he started to speak in an important and intimidating voice so that Charlie, who had now realised that there was another man in the room and that this man seemed really familiar to him, paid attention to him. “From today on you will have a new partner! This is Officer De Clercq he has been transfer....” The young man didn’t let his boss end his sentence. “A new partner? What about fat Jo.... I mean Officer Krueger? I thought he would stay my partner for the short period of time Carlos has to stay in the office!” Knox was confused and didn’t seem to be too thrilled about any change either, because he was bad in dealing with change in general. Charlie had his own ways of doing things and he sucked at adapting. He and Carlos had worked out how to work together, Carlos had mostly agreed to do everything Charlie’s way because he didn’t have a problem to adapt unlike him. It had already freaked him out that fat John hat left all his food packaging there and hadn’t put the stuff in the car away onto its place again right after using it. Beside that Carlos was his friend.

 

Carpenter took a deep breath to not right out yell at the white-blond who, once more, didn’t really adhere to the social rules of how a conversation worked. “Officer Krueger....” he spit the name out and it was obvious that Carpenter wasn’t fond of the man because of the lack of working morale he had. “Officer Diaz will not be able to return to his old task field. The damages done to his body are permanent; he will have to stay in the office. He knows that!” he explained and Charlie reacted as soon as that information had sunken in.

 

The white-blond turned to the new Officer and said:” I have rules and ways to do my job properly. First, I drive the car. Second, everything has its place and will stay at its place. Third, no chaos! Forth....” Charlie didn’t get any further than that. “KNOX!” Carpenter shouted no longer able to hold back his anger. The youngest in the room turned to his boss looking as if the black haired had just thrown his coffee mug at his head and his grey eyes stared into the dark ones in surprise.

 

“You are young, you are ambitious and you are by far the most promising Officer in this station. That’s why I have chosen you to become the partner of our new Officer and to not let you rot with Officer Krueger whom I will send back to traffic policing because that’s the only thing he does sufficiently. But you have to work on your god damn social skills and on your eccentric behaviour and habits because that might get into your way one day!” his boss explained.

 

Charlie looked a little taken aback and then nodded:” Yes Sir!” It wasn’t like he didn’t know that the way he was got in his way sometimes or rather often but he had never been able to change that. He still didn’t handle change well and some stuff just freaked him out and his social skills were shit.

Maybe this and being set in his own ways paired with the lack of talent for adapting and cooperating with people was one of the reasons why he was that bad at dating someone as well.

 

The young policeman took the jelly donut from his right hand into his left hand and cleaned his right hand from the sugar by rubbing it onto his uniform what got him another dismissive look from Carpenter. Then he turned to the new Officer offering him his right hand. “Hello, I am Charlie. Welcome to our station!” he said with a small smile on his face and when he was looking into the golden eyes of the other he finally got who that was and why he looked that familiar. It was the drunken guy from the gay bar. He was starting to feel a little weird. This had never happened to him and he had hoped that it wouldn’t ever happen to him. Meeting a drunken dude at the bar and then getting the same guy as his partner the other morning. At least they hadn’t hooked up with each other that would have been a rather embarrassing reencounter then.

[Z3N]

Enzo managed to make his way back home. Taking in the night view on the streets, the people walking past him. Some chuckling, some looking at him with disgust due to the alcoholic smell hanging around him. He didn’t care about the people as this was the only time he could be by himself without having to worry too much about anything. Especially since he knew his daughter was safe at home. Well, he hoped that she was.

 

Within a matter of time, he reached his house. Hearing his daughter and her friends upstairs in her room playing some games and gossiping about who knew what. He didn’t want to break his head and try to solve the riddle of a girl’s mind so he just went to the kitchen first to get a glass of water.

 

Eventually he went up to his own room which was across the only other bedroom. He didn’t have trouble with sleeping with noise around him, he had gotten used to it after all. Being a single father had his ups and downs. It also had some side-effects as he was supposed to be both genders to do the parenting good. It was tough at the beginning but he managed to survive it.

 

The night went over pretty well, not many problems rose up. Actually none of them did. At least he managed to get a good night rest for once despite the transfer first thing in the morning. Yawning tiredly as his alarm clock went off together with that of his daughter.

 

The family washed up, taking turns to use the bathroom before they ate breakfast together. It was a simple on, nothing too special. With that, they went off their own way. The kids took the bus to school while he took the car into the opposite direction. It was weird that they had to go different ways now but since this station was closer to home, he couldn’t exactly complain about it either.

 

The drive was silent besides the music playing from the radio. His hair slightly messy, yet it still seemed perfectly normal to look at. Wearing his white shirt loosely over his dark blue pants, making sure his tie was good for the eye. Making his way into the office and towards the policeman called Carpenter. Greeting his new boss while making sure the paperwork was all finished up nicely, no contact info to be forgotten. He had changed his cell phone number which he still had to write down for the other.

 

Just as he was finished with filling in the rest of the documents, he leaned back into his chair only to hear the door to the office opening up. Carpenter seemed to be thoroughly annoyed by the other male. It was easy to see and hear. Well, more hearing. As the two bickered with each other, Enzo decided to take a look around the office while staying seated. It was just like his previous one, only a slightly more modern.

 

When the younger male introduced himself, he nodded and waved lightly towards him. ”Ah the one from before.” He said as he recognized the blonde’s face. He still remembered the previous night clearly. ”I’m Enzo.”

[-Hideki-]

The older man expressed that he recognised Charlie as well, even though the blond hadn’t been sure about whether the man would be able to or not. He had been incredibly drunk and had had his head on the counter for the most part of their conversation after all. That and Charlie was now wearing his glasses he hadn’t worn in the bar. Apparently the other was good at recognising and memorising faces and that was definitely an advantage in their profession.

 

Enzo, that was the man’s name waved at him but didn’t take the hand offered to him what led Knox to shrug and then take the jelly-donut back into the right hand now cleaning his left hand off on his uniform as he had done it with the right before. While Charlie took another bite of the donut Carpenter's expression lit up a little as he seemed positively surprised. “You two know each other?” he asked then and the white-blond man spoke with his mouth full of donut. “Knowing is way too much said. I met him at my favourite gay bar last night and we had a little conversation. That’s all!” he answered his boss who was now running his hand over his face and looked a little embarrassed and as if he wanted to apologise for Charlie once again. But Charlie didn’t pay attention to Carpenter and his discomfort, swallowed the piece of donut and then added:”Apparently I am not the only gay Officer at this station anymore.” Now Carpenter really gave the new Officer an apologising look but the young man didn’t pay attention again he just took another bite of the donut and turned to Enzo then. “Follow me, I’m going to introduce you to the others.”

 

When they had gone downstairs Charlie introduced the new Officer to the others and it didn’t take long and the newbie was surrounded by many curious policemen who welcomed him and started to have small talk, except for fat John who offered Enzo one of his donuts and then talked about food. The white-blond left the crowded place, he didn’t like small talk and he saw that the new guy had enough people around him right now so he walked over to Carlos instead. He grabbed his friend with the light-brown hair and the dark-green eyes by then neck and leaned over to him. “Why haven’t you told me that you won’t be my partner anymore and that this will be permanent you bastard?” he asked half jokingly half serious. Carlos sighed and one could see a troubled expression on his face. “Because I didn’t want to freak you out.” He told his friend and Charlie laughed dryly. “I would never freak out. I am the calmest person always and ever.” He said with a good portion of self-irony not letting go of his friend’s neck. Carlos laughed. “Yeah, I forgot, sorry. I also didn’t talk about it because I didn’t want it to be true. Fucking office job.” He cursed and Knox patted the other’s shoulder in an uplifting way.

 

“Why don’t you accompany me to the bar again? It isn’t physically exhausting nor dangerous.” Charlie asked and he thought that would be a nice distraction for his friend but Carlos just laughed again in a snorting way. “Yeah, right! As if Maria would let me go into a bar again. She doesn’t even let me clean my car anymore. She even offered to do it! She worries about every little thing and risk for my health now. It’s tiresome.” The white-blond raised an eyebrow. “That’s a problem.” He admitted. “Why don’t you tell her that I am there to protect you.” The young man smirked and Carlos shook his head chuckling. “While you get your cock sucked in the backyard of the bar?” he asked and Charlie grinned. “Hey, that was quite some years ago, it was a onetime thing and it was in summer. I wouldn’t do that now I would just freeze my dick off outside in the backyard and I am kind of attached to it. You can tell Maria that too.” He responded and Carlos couldn’t stop laughing imagining Maria’s shocked and grossed out face when she would hear something like that.

 

With that he gave a squeeze to Carlos’s shoulder and then went over to grab two cups of coffee. Charlie was always drinking his black and he just assumed that the new guy would do the same. There wasn’t such a crowd around the man with the golden eyes anymore, just fat John and Olaf were left when the white-blond Officer pressed the other the coffee into his hand and leaned himself onto a table next to Enzo. “We can drink this coffee and then we’ll have to leave.” He said casually and then laid his arm around the newbie’s shoulders and smiled widely. “Now tell me a bit about yourself Enzo. I need to know something about the guy whom I will risk my life with together don’t you think.”

[Z3N]

The mentioning of the police officer not being the sole gay anymore, made it difficult to hide a grin from appearing. Yet he managed to keep his face straight with a hint of gentleness in his eyes as he looked at both men. He wasn’t too bothered by the fact that some people would eye him weirdly because of the fact that he was bisexual. Some thought he was a threat to their love life, others thought it was a pretty cool thing. It all depended on the other person, he was not going to change himself either way. He liked the way he was now. With a daughter living the single life for the time being. It was quite the change when he divorced his wife at first but it was better for the both of them. They got into too many arguments and both of them always got hurt in the end, be it by accident or not.

 

When he went downstairs with the man called Charlie, he nodded silently and followed behind him. The station was the normal size for a city like this. When suddenly a crowd formed around them, Enzo was a bit taken aback as he wasn’t used to this kind of welcoming, especially in his previous station where they rather stayed by themselves. Occasionally having some small talk with each other about work or something they had to get off their chest. But besides that, nothing much was said there. Probably because it wasn’t that big of an office to begin with. So there weren’t many people present either. Most were on patrol or doing something else.

 

The questions that were being asked were the normal standard. Why he was transferred, how the other station was, wondering if he had done something wrong in the past due to the scar on his face. Running from above his right eye to his cheek. Explaining that he had gotten it from a gang who closed in on him and attacked as they heard the police cars nearing the scene. One of them panicked and slashed his knife through his flesh, leaving the fresh scar which was nearly impossible to cover up. He was already glad however that he still had his full sight and didn’t need to walk half-blind through the streets. There was even the chance that he could lose his job as a field agent. They just stared at him as he told this, muttering some small words under their breaths, mainly going about the gang that did something like that.

 

Slowly, the crowd went back to their work as they received some complaints on the phone or just as they remembered they had still something to do for the day. When he was left alone with only two more people called John and Olaf, he felt a sense of relief as he didn’t need to keep up his fake smile as it started to hurt after a while.

 

Once he received the coffee from his new partner, he took a sip from it and thought about how to answer his question. ”I’m Enzo De Clerq. Originally from Belgium but moved to this place here years ago. I have a daughter…” He paused for a second before resuming: ”Had a bit of a conflict with my previous colleagues for my rash behaviour during criminal activities. Which probably led to my transfer to this station.” His eyes shifted back towards his coffee, taking a sip from it, letting the liquid warm his body up.

 

With another two gulps, the cup was empty, throwing it into the bin from a distance. ”So, what’re we going to do now? I’ll be a bit of a pain in the beginning but if you have some patience we could get along after some time. I can’t promise anything though.” He said. Pulling out a hair band, tying his hair into a ponytail so it wouldn’t get into his eyes which was truly annoying. Yet he never considered cutting it. Never. He liked his hair too much for that, plus he had been saving for it for years now. Even his daughter liked it. Sometimes too much as she would have too much fun when she would be bored.

[-Hideki-]

Charlie absorbed the information he got from the older man like a sponge and simultaneously he examined not only Enzo’s but also John’s and Olaf’s face.

When the man mentioned being originally from Belgium he could see how fat John was trying hard to remember what kind of country that was and where it was. Having spend quite some time with John and having listened to and talked about the news with him Charlie knew that for the grey haired man Europe consisted out of the UK, France, Germany, Italy and those weird Eastern people he all deemed Russian and Communist. The white-blond on the other hand had been quite good in geography and he had also had an interest in national flags from around the globe as a boy even though he had never left the country once.

 

“Is there a huge difference between the life in Belgium and here?” the man was curious and then added another question:”Do you miss it sometimes?” The grey eyes still on the other man he thought for a moment and then spoke again. “I was born in Texas. I came here with my family when I was ten. I hated it at first because it was different. Now that I am used to here I would hate having to live in Texas and get used to that again.” He let the other know. It had been a hard time for him moving North and he had hated the change and he would also hate changing back. Charlie had protested and he had even attempted to head back on his own since his parents had insisted on staying but that lady on the airport had stopped him and called his parents who had taken the ten year old back to their new home. And eventually the white-blond had gotten used to it and he had also had to come to know that he had been just as unpopular in school here as he had been back in Texas. While he was thinking about his past he heard Olaf talking to his new partner: “My father is Swiss. Have you ever been to Switzerland if you’re European?”

 

It surprised him more than it should have that the other man had a child and he scratched his chin. “Are you in the closet? Are you married with a child because you don’t want to be gay or had difficulties accepting yourself or is it some kind of token family to please others?” Charlie was interested and John and Olaf stared at the white-blond and then at Enzo for a moment. They knew that Charlie was gay but it surprised him that the other was too and even more so that the youngest of the four of them seemed to know. “How is it to sleep with a woman as a gay guy? I couldn’t do it. I mean do you even get it up? I don’t think I would be able to.” He bluntly asked because he was curious and Olaf and John found the topic quite entertaining would have never asked someone they didn’t know something as intrusive and deemed inappropriate though.

 

When he saw the newbie throwing his empty coffee cup into the bin he realised that he had forgotten about his own coffee and he emptied it all in one gulp and he then thought that this had not been too good of an idea. The white-blond put his empty cup on the table behind them and went to a card of the city that hung on the wall when he was asked what they would do now. There was a part of the city that was framed with a fat red line. “That’s the district our station is responsible for.” he said and then pointed at one of the separated felds within the red framed part of the card. “And that is our area. We patrol there. From what I have been able to overhear from your conversation with the other’s you might be either disappointed or relieved. While our part of the city isn’t the safest one it is also not quite as crime infested as others and there are no ghettos within it. Hence, gang activities aren’t really an everyday problem for us.” He explained. “Some of that scum sometimes creeps out of their ghettos and stray around here but we’re able to keep them in check and we immediately arrest them because we don’t want them here. If there isn’t an obvious reason we always find one or the other. That scum always hides something. Drugs are almost a certainty to find.”

 

Charlie laughed at the comment that the other could be a pain in the arse at first. “Oh, really? Maybe I’ll be soon seen as uncomplicated and pleasant to work with thanks to you then.” He said with a wink and grabbed the keys to the patrol car while he watched his new partner tying his long hair. This was the first time that Knox had seen a policeman with long hair and he got the notion that the other man was rather unconventional.

[Z3N]

As the questions kept coming from his new partner, he didn’t know how to respond on it at first. Taking a moment as he processed everything in his own pace before trying to give the best possible answer to the other. ”I have been to Swiss yes. It’s a beautiful country, you should got there once when you can. The food there is also pretty good so you won’t be starving.” He said jokingly. ”And Belgium is a nice country for my part. A lot of cultures mixed together which makes it pretty interesting for tourists. It has a bit of an older type of feel too.”

 

At the question of being a gay guy, he couldn’t help but to laugh in response. Well, he was in a gay bar so Charlie had all the right to be confused about this matter. ”Gender doesn’t matter to me as long as we get along. She just happened to be a female and had a kid with me. She always wanted a family, well that was in the beginning. I don’t know about now though. A lot changed during the years.” He explained, having a more serious tone of voice as this wasn’t a laughing matter. It was as if he was having a conversation with himself for a short time.

 

Once they got to the map that was hanging on the wall. Rather large too which made it easier to see the streets and alleyways they had to keep an eye on. Once he was told they were patrolling the red line, he started to feel more excited about this job as it wasn’t as boring as he thought it’d be. But the fact that Charlie seemed to be really disgusted with the ghetto peaked his interest. ”Why are you so against them? Some of them didn’t do anything wrong and are just trying to live day by day.” He commented. It wasn’t that they were all angles but he didn’t want to arrest them just because they walked around for a bit. Perhaps he was stepping out of line there, but he only took action when he was sure that there was something wrong.

 

He rubbed the back of his neck as he shook his head as if he was trying to put of that subject for now. ”I guess you’ll be driving.” Enzo said. It was only normal as it was his first day here in the station and that he was assigned to someone who had been here longer than him. Plus he didn’t know all the streets and directions he had to take either so it was better to let the expert go at it. For now that was.

 

((Sorry for the long wait. I was quite busy with work. u-u))

[-Hideki-]

Charlie saw Olaf’s eyes shine when his new partner only had good things to say about the home country of the man’s father and he heard the dark haired policeman telling Enzo that he had been to Switzerland with his parents all the years on vacation when he had still been at school but that he hadn’t made it ever since because it was too expensive.

Knox who hadn’t even known that Olaf’s father had been an immigrant to their nation found that rather interesting. There was a part of him that was curious about other places but he still didn’t really want to travel. Charlie liked what was familiar and known to him and places with different cultures and languages would be too different from what he was used to and it would probably stress him out more than it was worth it in the end because a vacation time wasn’t enough for him to get used to something. That was why he had never attempted on leaving the nation.

 

The white-blond listened to what his new partner told him about his home country and he nodded:”Sounds good. We have a mixture of many different cultures as well; we are a melting pot of different cultures so to speak. It gives us opportunities and possibilities but equally as many problems I suppose.” The man told the other.

 

Knox scratched his head when he heard that the other apparently wasn’t gay. He knew that there were bisexual people who liked both men and women but for some reason it was never what he took into consideration he was more prone to thinking in straight and gay categories it seemed maybe because he himself had always only been attracted to one gender.

“I see, so that’s how it is. That means I’m still the only gay policeman working here at that station.” He concluded and thought about the other things the man had added in such a serious matter. It sounded complicated and everyone else would probably have left it at that but Charlie just wasn’t everyone else. “That seems to be complicated! Is there any trouble in paradise? Are you divorced?” he further asked even though fat John had given him a subtle hint to not do that by shaking his head but the young man wasn’t all too good in getting subtle hints or cryptic subtexts for that matter.

 

The white-blonds eyes narrowed and his face went stern when the other gave him his opinion of the gang members that differed completely from his own. “I wouldn’t have a problem with them if they were trying to live their lives day by day obeying the law like every decent citizen does. And I wouldn't call drug dealing and ownership nothing wrong because it is doing wrong. Those thugs and gang members aren’t law-abiding citizens they are a danger and safety risk to society and to the good people and citizens of our great nation, they are a grot spot.” He explained and then continued his little speech. “We as policemen,” he deliberately chose ‘we’ and not ‘I’,” are here to protect the citizens and the country from the likes of them.”

 

When Charlie had ended to talk he saw Olaf, the man with the Swiss father, taking something out of his desk and walking over to Enzo to give it to him and Charlie really approved of that.

“Charlie is right you know. Even though he is that young he is really ambitious and knows what he’s talking about. He wrote that book for us about different gangs and how to identify their members easily. It contains all types of gangs and thugs and it had helped me a lot. And then he has written an interpretation of the crime statistics that is other than the other one more analytical than filled with practical suggestions but it is surely interesting as well. He has started with writing these for us when the media had wrongly accused and pissed on one of our units Charlie was a part of after a dangerous and complicated operation.” The man said pressing both self-printed books into the new guy’s hands when John joined the conversation with a snort.

 

“You can read those, I’ve read them but honestly, I would not do any of that. You’re just getting into trouble when you’re arresting or even speaking a word to those lowlifes. And I’d rather not want terrorist groups calling for my death while the media glorifies the terrorist for it while painting me as the freaking demon. Fuck them all, if they don’t appreciate our work, then it’s their fault if we won’t risk our arses for them any longer. Don’t dig into the shit if you don’t want to drown in it, I always say.” The grey haired said what soon led to him having a vigorous argument with Olaf.

 

Knox had become somewhat sceptical towards the new guy now and he was curious if Enzo would even consider reading his books or if that meant that he would have a partner who would sabotage his fierce crusade against gangs and ghetto thugs and drugs from now on. He hoped that this would not be the case. He examined the other when he said that he guessed that Charlie would be driving the car. The white-blond nodded. “Yes, I see you have listened to the rules I told you earlier in Carpenters office. I always drive. And I despise chaos as much as I love order and structure. So don’t change my ways and the things that were like this for years because that’s when I become a pain in the arse.” He honestly told him when he disappeared through the door and headed towards the car that was, surprise, also snowed in and had to be freed by him first before he placed himself onto the driver’s seat waiting for the other who had been held up by John who wanted to give him a good hint for working with the white-blond. “He is exhausting and extremely peculiar. Let him do his stuff like he always does and you won’t have any trouble with him though. Just don’t let stuff lying around. He always yelled at me for letting some of my food packaging in the car.” The older man told Enzo.

[Z3N]

”Sorry for the disappointment.” Enzo responded to Charlie, smiling lightly in return as he didn’t think that it was such a bad thing. It was quite unique and he felt like it was actually pretty sweet to be a little different from the others. Otherwise the world would be a boring place. Never something different to happen, something special, a surprise. Nothing. He wanted to avoid such a life at all cost.

 

The opinion about the gangs seemed to have triggered something in some police men who happened to listen to the conversation. Well, they had their valid points which he couldn’t argue about. But still, some were forced to live the way they did and couldn’t get out without any help. He hadn’t succeeded in ‘saving’ one of them but he felt like he might do so anytime soon like what happened to him before. It wasn’t an easy life for sure so he was still merciful to those he didn’t see as a threat. Even though most of the agents didn’t agree with that and just wanted to lock them up at once.

 

The book was maybe useful for later on, though he wouldn’t read everything in detail like John said. He had his own ways of spotting someone who didn’t belong in a certain place. As to avoid any upcoming heated discussions for now, he dropped the subject and just wanted to focus on patrolling the new neighbourhood he was situated in.

 

Humming as Charlie confirmed that he was going to be the driver. Though he wasn’t too sure about him being the driver all the time. After all, he also wanted to do so once in a while. It didn’t have to be often but he didn’t want to just follow the male and shut up for the rest of the ride. It’d get on his nerves sooner or later if it went like that despite his laid-back attitude when nothing serious was happening.

 

Getting in the passenger seat, he noticed the spotless interior of the car which was quite remarkable on its own. The warning of John kept lingering in his mind. The car started and they took off to the area they got assigned to. It was a calm ride, the music playing silently in the background. He could just fall asleep now if he would’ve been tired.

[-Hideki-]

Charlie was one of those people who took the road traffic regulations dead serious and always adhered to the rules in traffic. The man had never once crossed at red light if it hadn’t been an emergency that was. And now that the streets were covered in snow and there was more snow falling he was driving painfully accurate in regards to that weather.

 

The white blond turned the radio on and they were playing some Christmas songs. “Do you like Christmas?” he asked his new partner while he was turning right at the crossroads. “This is part of your culture isn’t it?” the man added because he remembered how sensitive some folks were when assumptions were made but Knox was always making assumptions leading to many oversensitive people in that day and age getting angry at him.

 

It was quiet and empty on the streets and there weren’t many people on the road to begin with.

After forty-fife minutes the white-blond had spotted two suspicious guys walking the streets, one guy in a black hoodie under his jacket on a bus stop whom he had suspected to pull a gun at an old lady and a bald man with tattoos he had suspected to be a skin-head. When he had looked at them closer though the first one had turned out to be a nerdy Star Wars fan who had not been pulling out a gun but a PSP and the supposed skin head had been just a dude with a shaved head who had waited for his Indian girlfriend infront of the post office and whose tattoos were actually Chinese signs and probably said the name of some food because he doubted that this guy actually knew Chinese.

 

“It seems like the thugs were snowed in and are late today too.” He commented while listening to the radio where they were talking about the president’s latest social media tweets, it wasn’t really interesting and he only listened half-heartedly.

When they were passing by a large supermarket Charlie heard two men screaming and when he looked out he could see two homeless guys getting into each other’s faces. The policeman knew one of them and it really surprised him that there seemed to be trouble because the man was usually not making any problems whatsoever.

 

“That’s Mick! Mick is usually a really harmless dude; he always helps the police and has good hints for us. He is Carlos’s and my favourite hobo of all times.” He let his new partner know when he parked the car and got out of it to stop the fighting of those two homeless men.

At the time the young policeman stood before them Mick’s little Jack Russell Terrier was ripping apart the other man’s dirty jeans and Mick was choking the other. “Oi, Mick! Let go of that man!” Charlie shouted and both homeless men turned their heads towards the policemen.

 

Mick who was wearing a fur cap, an old grey coat and had a white disorderly beard immediately let go of the other hobo’s throat who was screaming at the policemen that “This fucking bastard” should call his “retarded dog” away from him while trying to rid himself off the small animal.

“What’s the matter here?” the white-blond asked looking from Mick to the unknown guy he had never seen amongst the homeless of the district before.

 

It didn’t even take a second and Mick was starting to explain and he was completely outraged. “You know me officer, I’ve been here on the streets for over ten years and I always play the flute here to make some money in front of that supermarket at Christmas time. People are really generous here and they even give me food sometimes and in all those years there never was a single complaint about me. And then this arsehole appears, harasses the people, insults them when they don’t give him any money, goes on rants and then takes a piss on the door of the supermarket and now not only he but also I and every homeless person were banned from the area of the supermarket because of his behaviour. This son of a bitch is ruining my reputation and my Christmas workplace! He should go back to the district where he came from, I don’t want him here because he is ruining everything!”

 

The new homeless guy apparently had to say something to this while he was now pulling at the little dog that was still hanging on the fabric of his jeans. “Fuck you! And fuck you too! I can go wherever I want in this city and I can say whatever the fuck I want too and I don’t give a shit whether those spoiled rich greedy arseholes are feeling uncomfortable because I call them what they are. They can all suck me dick and you can suck me dick too!” he shouted and Charlie sighed deeply but then had to react because Mick was about to fling his fist right into the other’s face.

 

“Good Sir, you sure can say whatever you like but you do have to keep people’s personal boundaries in mind. You cannot walk up to them, follow them to their cars or touch them and you certainly aren’t allowed to behave like that and insult people on a supermarket’s private property. You also should keep in mind that public urination is a crime and if I will ever see you doing it I will arrest you for it.” The white-blond said in a calm tone to calm the homeless man down but it didn’t work. He spit on the ground, called Charlie a fascist and then accused Mick of having stolen something from him.

 

That led to Mick losing it again and saying that he was not a criminal and a man of honour and had never stolen anything once in his life. Mick also offered to testify that the guy had pissed at the supermarket door and he wanted to go and search for other people who had seen it as well so that Charlie could arrest the other. It wasn’t leading anywhere but he somehow had to keep the both of them from killing each other. But when he suggested to Mick that he could go and play the flute at the Wal-Mart down the road and the other that he might want to go to the homeless shelter he had both ranting at him at the same time. Mick was complaining that he wouldn’t get that much money down at the Wal-Mart and the other man was cursing homeless shelters and insulting the people who worked there.

[Z3N]

Texting his daughter, Enzo didn't notice that the car came to a stop. Humming lightly whenever he heard his new partner saying something. But it wasn't anything really interesting so he didn't bother actually remembering it. Instead he got to find out about the whereabouts of his daughter who said she was going to go shopping in the city later with some close friends. He had met almost all of them and they looked like decent people so he wasn't going to say anything about it. It wasn't that he was really strict, it was mostly because he was anxious whenever she wasn't around him. With just a simple text about where she was at that time was already enough for him. He had met others who were way more into it than him which took away most of their child's freedom.

 

Enzo however was caught by the noise outside of the car, seeing two homeless men about to fight each other while Charlie stood in between. He watched them for a bit longer before getting out of the car too, putting his cell phone back into the pocket of his pants. Guessing that he wouldn't be needing it anytime soon anyway. The one that was supposed to be called Mick indeed had a reason to be angry at the other as this was quite a good spot to earn some money. But fighting wasn't always the solution. Feeling that Charlie would be able to handle the situation for a little longer, he went inside the supermarket and started talking with the managed who was watching from behind the window. He talked about Mick and about how they didn't have any problems with him earlier on, only to hear the argument of the less human homeless man bothering the customers.

 

Their discussion went on a little until they came to an agreement. The manager followed Enzo outside and explained the situation that he was in. Being allowed on the domain of the supermarket on trial. If the man wouldn't do anything wrong for a certain period of time, he was safe to stay. Meanwhile Enzo swung his arm around the other man and smiled as he made his face go a little closer to the other. "You see, I really hate people who don't know how to deal with others. Especially if they're really rude and agressive to innocent bystanders. So if we look at the bigger picture here, I can put you in a cell for harrassment and inflicting injuries. That means in short that you'll be stuffed with all kinds of bad people who aren't as nice as I am right now. So why don't you use your brain and choose for the better option here." He said, his tone lower than usual, almost threatening the other.

 

The homeless man slowly nodded, shoving Enzo's arm away from his shoulders. Glaring at the policeman as he walked away from the domain. Enzo chuckled and turned back to Charlie. "Solved."

[-Hideki-]

When he finally saw his new partner getting out of the car walking into the direction of the supermarket he really hoped that he would go there to negotiate with the management and not to by himself a snack or something as the man had seemed quite disinterested and indifferent to what was going on. Hence he was relieved when the other man returned with good news for Mick who was able to stay at his “Christmas workplace” as he called it.

 

Then he saw how Enzo threatened the badly tempered and ill mannered homeless man into obedience or at least close enough to that. The man made a rude gesture, called them fascist fags another time and disappeared limping because apparently Mick’s dog had not only gotten the Jeans after all.

 

Mick smiled when he pulled out his flute again and patted his dog that he praised for having fought bravely for them. “Thank you officers!” the well known homeless man turned to Enzo. “I haven’t seen you around here. I know every patrolling officer in this district, you must be new here then? What’s your name boy? I’m Mick, if you need help you need only ask.” He introduced himself and showed off his yellow teeth when he smiled.

 

After he had talked to Enzo he turned around to Charlie. “Where is your friend Charlie?” he wanted to know and the white-blond male explained what had happened to Carlos and Mick delegated the young officer to deliver the injured cop his best wishes and that he should get better soon.

 

Saying goodbye to Mick they got back into the car and Charlie drove onto the road again saying nothing. It had been too obvious that the other didn’t want to talk to him as he hadn’t answered to his questioned and definitely hadn’t listened to what he had said. And when he was ignored anyway there was no need to waste his breath and to try to talk to his new partner.

 

It got boring pretty soon and the white-blond turned the radio louder and listened to the news.

He wasn’t used to that much silence in the car and he didn’t like it. Fat John had been a little annoying and hadn’t ever shut up but at least he had been quite funny even if unintentionally so. And with Carlos they had their inside jokes, their rituals and decent conversations as they had been friends outside of work also.

[Z3N]

Enzo chuckled towards the male and shrugged lightly. "I just got transferred to this neighbourhood. You'll be seeing me here a lot more from now on." He responded to the male, patting him on the back before Mick walked off again. Stretching himself out as he went to the police car, plopping down on the passenger seat again as he remembered the warning of the other wanting to drive. It made him feel like he was going to try to reason with a kid. He shook his head, laying it against the window as he waited for Charlie to get into the vehicle.

 

"So... Why did you choose to become an officer?" He eventually asked after a long period of silence. Getting his voice to be loud enough so it wouldn't drown within the music. He didn't really know how to strike a conversation with this person as he didn't know where the limits were. And the same went for Charlie. It had always been awkward at first for Enzo but he had gotten used to it due to his work.

 

Receiving a text message from his daughter which made him glance towards the screen, his fingers typing up a message in order to reply to her. She seemed to be enjoying herself with her friends which was a good thing. Otherwise it could've gotten a little complicated as he was indeed the overprotective dad when it came to his daughter being sad. Especially if it was caused by another human being.

[-Hideki-]

Charlie looked at the other surprised when he spoke and not only that asked him a question after the long silence and the younger male getting bored by the radio. “I have always wanted to make the country a safer and better place to live, to keep order and make sure that people play by the rules.” He started and wanted to continue as there was more since this had been his absolute dream job from childhood on but the other wasn’t paying him attention anymore again.

 

The grey eyes of the white blond looked at the older man for a second and he shook his head when he saw him playing with his phone. Charlie didn’t like smart-phone zombies as he called them and he found it disrespectful and rude when people were in a conversation or meeting someone and then pulled their phone out and texted or played some stupid games. He also didn’t know why Enzo asked him a question when he wasn’t actually interested in the answer and was more concerned about his phone and probably sending some stupid memes around or whatever. Either that or that guy had an incredibly short attention span.

 

With a deep sigh he paid attention to the radio again but just couldn’t stop himself from commenting on that phone thing. “I will never understand why some people deem their phone more important than having real life conversations with people who are actually there. But apparently texting, playing around or rating people on those stupid hook-up apps has become much more attractive to most people these days. That I call healthy priorities.” It wasn’t like Charlie didn’t have a phone, he had one he just only used it like a phone. He had once tried those hook-up apps as well and he had found them dumb. No one had been reading the little pragmatic and direct information on his stupid profile. They just had looked at his picture and had sent him a massive amount of “Hi” messages and dick pics. And they had continued messaging him and liking him when he had put a lot of rude and idiotic stuff on his profile to see if really no one read it, hence he couldn’t see why other people liked this type of interaction, he preferred the bar and interacting with people face to face.

 

Turning off the radio because they played a song that annoyed the shit out of him after his little rant they got a call and got informed that a security guy in a mall had stopped a shop lifter and that this lady was now throwing a tantrum there. Charlie let them know that they were on the way and they were but he could only drive as fast as the weather allowed them to and it wasn’t all too fast if they didn’t want to end up sliding against a tree or a lamppost.

[Z3N]

Despite being on his cell phone he still listened to what his partner was saying. However it seemed like the other didn’t like it when he was texting his daughter. Having caught the expression he made from the corner of his eye. It was indeed a little rude to start writing something while they were talking. It was a habit that he couldn’t easily get rid of. Stuffing the phone back into the pocket of his pants, looking forward to the street. The comment the other gave however made him look at the male. Nodding lightly.

 

“I’m sorry for doing so. It’s just whenever it comes to my daughter I just have to respond to her whenever I can. She taught me how to use this phone but I only use it to text or call. The other stuff doesn’t really interest me.” He explained to Charlie, smiling apologetically into his direction. “I’ll try to keep it to a minimum.” He commented before looking back out of the window. It looked pretty quiet at this time of the day.

 

“And for your reason to become a policeman is quite admirable. Some agents just joined the corps so they wouldn’t be supervised by the chief all the time and slack off. I’ve seen a lot of those so it’s nice to see someone different than them.” He said. Trying to have a small conversation even if it just went about work. It was better than to just sit there in silence, an awkward atmosphere hanging around them. It was one of the worst feelings that one could go through while being a policeman especially if the other was the ‘permanent’ partner.

 

But then they got a call from the police station, mentioning that there was a shoplifter in the nearby mall. Charlie already answered them and took course to the destination. They weren’t in a rush but still, they were going quite slow. “I wonder what she stole. A dress? Jewellery? A new phone?” He asked, not really expecting an answer but still. It made him curious as to what the object was. “I once caught a thief who stole a sex toy. Now that was pretty embarrassing for her.” He said with a soft chuckle as he remembered it clearly inside his head. The woman’s face was completely red out of shame.

[-Hideki-]

He raised his eyebrows in surprise as he hadn’t expected the other to actually apologise and understand what he was trying to say. Most people got upset when he criticised the continuous use of their phone in conversations. That guy apparently seemed to get it though which was positive to him. Charlie nodded. “Right, you have a daughter. Is she really young that you have to check on her?” he asked because he really had no clue about children or how it was to be a parent. Actually he found the behaviour of most parents rather odd and often not rational, especially his own parents. His mother still treated him like a child despite him being a grown man and his father bragged with every achievement his son had ever made to let other father’s know that his son was better than theirs. He had even bragged about the blond having lost quite an amount of weight while it was partly, if not fully, his parents fault as well that he had even gotten obese as a child and a teen because they had let the kid eat whatever.

 

Charlie grumbled at the mentioning of those type of officers, he didn’t like policemen who didn’t actually care about the job, that was one reason why he had had a massive problem with John’s attitude and opinions, however he knew for a fact that the older man had not always shown such a kind of working morale, it had a lot to do with how society had changed and the police force was seen and treated by the general public. “I think I always had a strong sense for justice and order. I probably was the only kid at my school who had actual read the school ordinance and who had never broken it. I confronted and fought bullies, my own as well as those of other’s – not actually successfully though – but I knew that one day I would arrest them.” He told the other laughing light-heartedly.

 

A snort escaped him at this question. “How about all of that!” he commented and it was clear that he looked down on those shop-lifters who stole shit they didn’t even actually needed. And in 99% of the cases it was some goods that were unnecessary.

When the other told him about having caught a woman steeling a sex toy the blond started to laugh loudly though, highly amused by the imagination of that scene as it really fit his kind of humour. “I don’t even wanna know where she tried to hide the sex toy to smuggle it out of the shop.” He said unable to stop laughing as he was developing the scenario further on his mind. “

[Z3N]

“Hmmm… So you’ve actually been a good kid from the start. I mean your sense of justice was pretty high, not many are like you and that’s something I admire even though we just met.” He responded with a chuckle. His words were honest, not even a mocking or joking tone could be heard. Enzo had a different past, one he would like to forget but the memories still lingered inside of his mind. But now they were locked up somewhere, in the darkest corners where he couldn’t reach out to so easily. It was a defence mechanism was what people had said. His memories were pretty vague but some he still remembered clearly. Perhaps one or two. He hated it as whenever he had such a nightmare, he would wake up abruptly while covered in sweat.

 

At the mentioning of the sex toy, Charlie had seemed to cheer up completely. Looking at the male with a playful spark in his eyes, Enzo couldn’t help but to go along with it. Leaning a little closer to his partner before talking lowly. “Believe it or not but it was way up in her, the female officer checked it. It was the most hilarious thing that happened in a long time. She just had to pay for the product since she already used it.” Enzo started laughing as he told Charlie about it. Tears started to form in his eyes as he was having way too much fun right now.

 

However the amusement had to come to a halt as they arrived at the mall. Having the feeling of wanting to talk more to this guy as the kid didn’t seem as bad as he thought. It was a pleasant surprise. He guessed it just took some time to open up to each other as they didn’t know how far they could before crossing the line.

 

Getting out of the car once parked. “So what was it again? An angry shoplifting woman, right?” He tried to remember it to the best he could before strolling inside the building. It wasn’t too difficult to spot the security man with the thief as one could hear her yelling from a long distance. “So… What’s the problem here?” Enzo asked, looking to the both of them in turn.

[-Hideki-]

Charlie smiled amused when the other said that he had been a good kid from the start. “Yes, I was a good kid and I also was fat and gay, I probably don’t even have to mention that I was incredibly unpopular in school, here and back in Texas too.” He let the other know with a laugh but even though the blond usually laughed about it his time in school had not been great at all. He had never had friends, Carlos was the first friend he had ever made, and he had spend his childhood and teenage years alone burying himself in comic and fantasy worlds dreaming of becoming a hero.

“And what about you? How was your time in school?” he asked interestedly wanting to learn more about the stranger who was his new partner and would probably stay it for a long period of time.

 

 

When Enzo told him that this woman actually had hid the sex toy inside of herself the blond male couldn’t stop laughing anymore. He had said it as a joke but some people actually were that crazy. “What wouldn’t I have given to see the faces of the female officers and that woman when they secured the sex toy that she had buried inside of herself.” Charlie said not even able to stop laughing to speak clearly.

 

 

Arriving at the mall he had to find a parking space and that wasn’t all too easy. The younger man disliked malls, he hated everything about them. They were full, loud, there was bad air inside the buildings and he found shopping to be torture. Hence he wasn’t pleased at having to be in the mall even though he had to go there once in a while when incidents like that one happened.

 

Heading towards the mentioned shop Charlie could already hear the woman scream at the poor security bloke who had to put up with that indecent person. Her make-up looked like she was Ronald McDonald on ecstasy and her dress was too tight making her look like a sausage in it and he could hear her shouting that the security guy should let her go.

 

Their arrival didn’t calm the lady down and apparently she didn’t even understand that she was now dealing with the police and that she was in a serious situation as she didn’t react differently to Charlie or Enzo. She yelled at them as well, told them they should let her go and she refused to let them search in her handbag which she held pressed against her body and she also refused to lift her dress where she was suspected to hide stuff from the designer shop that sold incredibly expensive clothing and jewellery under too. Charlie didn’t say much anymore, at one point he handcuffed her told her that she was under arrest and informed her of her rights in an annoyed tone of voice. While the policeman dragged her along she shouted that he was raping her and that he wasn’t allowed to touch her arm. The blond man rolled his eyes and he really wanted to stuff a gag into her dumb mouth and make her shut up while she claimed all policemen would be rapists and other such horrendous things before he pushed her into the car and locked the backdoors before he headed into the direction of the station again.

 

[Z3N]

Enzo couldn’t help but to chuckle at the constant screaming of the woman, not giving any motion to stop this anytime soon. Feeling a headache coming up already as he realized he had to bring her to the police station which was some distance away. Letting out a deep sigh as he looked at Charlie who also came into the ‘circle’. When Charlie told her her rights, Enzo shrugged towards the security guard and said that it was alright, taking it from there on. Patting the latter on his back before turning back to his partner and the screaming lady who was guided out of the mall. A small kid was staring at her as if she was some kind of monster, making Enzo walk towards him and squatted down. “There’s nothing to worry about. She just bumped her toe against the wall and it really hurts right now so we’re going to let her treated. No need to be scared, ok?” He said to the kid which made the small one feel a little better about it. His mother smiled thankfully towards Enzo before he made his way back out of the building.

 

The other two were already inside the car, making him jog towards them with a bit of haste before plopping down in the passenger seat again. The vehicle started driving, barely putting on his seatbelt in the process. The woman was still yelling with a passion, making him wonder how her throat still didn’t hurt after all of this. She was probably at it for more than ten minutes already. Making him rub the bridge of his nose, his ears already ringing because of the loud voice behind him.

 

“Say… If we just knock her out and tell the station that she passed out due to stress, wouldn’t it be a far more relaxed ride? I mean, nobody would believe her since she already stole something, right?” He suggested the other jokingly, a half-hearted smile however as he seriously started to get a headache at that instant. His head thumping due to the screaming. Laying his head against the window as if it could lessen the volume inside the car. Letting out a deep sigh as he looked out of the window in front of him. “It seems like there are less cars than just a moment ago so we shouldn’t take so long to arrive at the station.” He muttered to himself.

[-Hideki-]

Charlie was visibly annoyed and he didn’t even try to not let show how much he loathed people like this woman. He screwed his nose in disgust looking into the rear-view mirror seeing that unprofessionally brightly painted face of the woman and she reminded him of a classmate from high-school whom he had strongly disliked.

 

When Enzo spoke he nodded with a smirk. “Good idea. I don’t think that people will give much credibility to a hysteric and histrionic person looking like a fusion of Ronald McDonald on an LSD trip and a veal sausage anyway.” He joked with a short laugh on the end of the sentence but he sighed again when the lady was moving around and kicking her legs and feet that were stuck in ridiculously high caricatures of ‘shoes’ where the blond couldn’t understand why so many women would wear something like that. He really would have liked to shove a gag into her mouth or to knock her out but he of course would never and couldn’t do that. “Maybe she actually is on drugs.” He concluded dryly, driving on the snow covered roads.

 

He scratched himself on his throat underneath the chin and sighed. “Yes, but the traffic isn’t the largest problem here, the snow is what slows us down incredibly.” He let the other know trying to not scream at that obnoxious lunatic that was sitting, if one could call that sitting as she wasn’t holding still, behind them.

 

After he had made it half the way to the station his ears hurt, that awful voice was ringing in his head and his hands were clenching around the steering wheel as if he wanted to strangle it. “Have I told you that I hate high pitched sounds and noises because they hurt in my ears and that this is starting to make me a little aggressive?” he asked taking a deep breath before he turned around to the woman. “Shut up you brainless bitch!” he screamed, sounding like a roaring lion. And for two minutes she was actually quiet, just staring at him completely perplex because she had not seen this coming. He was relaxing again as the noises had stopped but then she started to scream and screech again and now her insults were solely directed at Charlie as she screamed that he had just abused her, that she would sue him and he was a monster and needed to be locked away, that he had just used violence against her and that he still supposedly was a rapist. “Words are not violence or rape you....!” he started to bark and then stopped himself. “No, I’m not arguing with insane people.” He muffled to himself to calm himself down unconsciously driving faster to get to the station sooner.

[Z3N]

When Charlie seemed to agree with his method of making the woman go silent, he barely managed to keep in his grin which would be seen as unprofessional but this guy was just too hilarious for his own good. It also made him realize that he could push the other his buttons with the right method and if the situation asked for it. However he didn’t want to ruin their partnership at once as he weirdly enough started to take a liking to the other. Rubbing the back of his neck as he positioned himself better in his seat, more comfortably as he tried to ignore the screaming/yelling of the woman behind him with the occasional kick in his chair. It was almost as if he was in some kind of amusement park but a bad one.

 

The threatening to the woman seemed to work but it didn’t last for a long time as it took only a minute or two before she restarted. This time swinging her insults towards Charlie’s head which ticked the guy off seriously. Enzo noticed as the car started to move faster all of a sudden. Hoping that they wouldn’t crash into something while they were at it, but he trusted the driving skills of his partner to a certain degree. He only wanted to get out of there alive without too many injuries.

 

After a while, they managed to get to the police station without slipping. Pulling the woman her arm as to indicate that she should get out, Enzo winked at Charlie. “You go first so you have some peace of mind, I’ll be right behind you.” He said to him and pulled the woman out just after he said that. She struggled but was surprised by the amount of strength that was in Enzo’s arm, lightly taken aback as she didn’t expect a man from his age to be like that. “You’re insulting me with that stare.” Enzo muttered as he caught the shocked glance in her eyes.

 

With that, he pushed the struggling woman into the building, making some people look up at her. They mainly thought that she was a lunatic who did something wrong. Well, they might be right about that as he thought the same thing.

[-Hideki-]

It probably was to the woman’s good that Enzo told Charlie that he should go ahead and that he would follow with the still screaming lady, because if she had tried to kick him with those ridiculous shoes of hers how she tried to do it to his older colleague he would not have been gentle in any way anymore. Even though he went ahead he didn’t have the opportunity to make a peace of mind because that chick just couldn’t quit shouting for a mere moment.

 

The quietness when he entered the building and there was a door separating them was a blessing and he went straight to the counter where he saw Brian’s face. Brian was always on an even keel, he was the calmest guy he had ever seen to the degree where his voice came close to having the effect of sedation. “We brought you Ronald McDonald on speed today!” Charlie said leaning on the counter.

“Really?” Brian said his eyes resting on Charlie a little curious. “I don’t think that McDonald’s will be happy of their mascot rioting on drugs. It’s also not a good example for the children.” The man said in a really chill tone and then the door opened and Enzo entered with the lunatic lady who was still struggling against the grip because she apparently was too dumb to realise that the policeman was stronger than her and who was loudly screeching something that was so high-pitched and loud that one couldn’t even understand the words anymore. The sequence of the noises hurt Charlie in his head and ears what made him angry again but Brian just blinked his eyes looking at the woman as if he wanted to hypnotise her. “That isn’t Ronald McDonald; this is just an insane lady, now I am disappointed.” His slow and quiet voice said what made Knox laugh even though he just wanted to cover his ears due to the sounds the woman still made.

 

When the lady and Enzo held before the counter Brian looked at her. “She’s a shoplifter right?” he guessed and Charlie nodded. “Ma’am I need your ID and that handbag of yours please!” the brunette cop said but when he was about to take the handbag from her she clung onto it and let herself fall down onto the ground sliding out of Enzo’s grip because no one had seen that coming. Charlie looked down and Brain leaned over the counter. “Is she retarded?” he asked Enzo and his younger partner and looked a little confused as the woman was rolling on the floor in handcuffs screaming ‘rape’ into Brian’s face. “Ma’am if you won’t cooperate I will get officer Cane to give me the handbag.” He informed her calmly but she didn’t seem to listen so Brian called over Officer Cane who was a buff, two meters tall man who didn’t say a word but pulled her onto her feet, ripped the handbag out of her handcuffed hands with ease, gave it to Brian and then led the woman into a cell where she would have to wait until one of the female officers was free to make a body control.

 

“We’re taking her from here! Just fill this out!” Brian said to Enzo and Charlie with a smile, handing them a form and when the both of them got back outside after they had filled it out Charlie stretched himself and let out a relieved sigh even though it would take the young man a while until his head would stop to hurt. He had a sensory hypersensitivity - what wasn’t good to be a policeman but he hadn’t told anyone because this had been his dream and he had wanted this regardless and had not wanted to only be able to apply for office jobs in the police force what probably had not been the most responsible thing to do but he had been eighteen back then and overall he had become a great Officer regardless in the end – and loud high-pitch sounds hurt him what was the reason for him getting aggressive towards that woman. Hence he was glad when they drove in the car and it was peaceful and quiet again.