Just Between Us Cops [Isaac/Stenson Closed]

[Sharei]

Isaac afforded Stenson a small smile which was more genuine than the ones that had come before them. He had pegged Stenson a simple man of simple taste, but it seemed that even he could appreciate the luxury of the wealthy. And few were more wealthy than Isaac Lonan, Director of the WDSA Law Enforcement department. Only Raine, a long time friend to whom Isaac shared his one and only real connection, had greater wealth. In his defense that wealth had been plundered from countless countries across the known world.

Isaac was not jealous. His money had been accumulated through various high paying jobs and positions that dated back to the very beginnings of commerce. Isaac had been one of the very first people to open a bank account when such things had become available and that account, though much changed, was still open. The gold he had used to fill it, gold seized from the mayans before their fall, had in part funded the beginning of his extensive education in the industrial era. It was still not empty and the interest that accumulated in it each year could have funded several schools for years to come.

And that was just one of his many, many accounts.

"I am unable to drive myself," Isaac said once the vehicle had started to move and eat up miles of road. "Being a vampire I am extremely susceptible to sunlight. Even the ambient light of day after the sun has gone down will blister my skin if I do not take the appropriate precautions, and since it is illegal to tint the windshield of a car my options are limited. I usually choose to drive my bike if I want to go anywhere, but that isn't conductive to transporting more than myself. This is the WDSA car that was assigned to me when I became Director, so I cannot take full credit for it." 

Isaac went to the compartment next to the bucket of ice where a bottle of Pinot Noir was chilling and popped the latch. A variety of glasses, all clean and glittering, were revealed. There was a drawer in the lower end of the compartment and Isaac opened it instead of fishing out a glass, pulling a first aid kit from inside.

"Take off your shirt and I will look at this wound of yours," he said and removed his gloves. "Do you know if the bullet is still inside? Until I have access to an operating theatre I do not believe it wise for me to remove it, but we can stop the bleeding."

[Pearl Dragon]

"Hm, yeah I know what you mean." Stenson said in reply to Isaac's explanation of his particular choice in travel arrangements. "I uh...have a little bit of the same problem. I mean, I don't really die from it, but it can be dangerous nonetheless. It wasn't really discussed back there, but I'm sure you've probably guessed by the photos that I'm...a gargoyle.  I can be out in the daytime, no problem there, but if strong direct sunlight is present...well, let's just say things get a little slow for me. Usually starts out as joint aches and pains, stiffness, dry skin, and after a while I start to lose mobility. The dangerous part is remaining out too long, which, well, have you ever seen those statues in front of churches and fancy buildings?...That's the result." Stenson didn't know why he was telling Isaac all of this. Perhaps it was the other man's openness about his own species, which Stenson was highly interested in hearing more about. He had many questions, but for now he would let Isaac tell him what he would on his own, and open up likewise.



Isaac had now opened up a compartment near the bucket of ice. Stenson spotted the bottle of Pinot Noir, the label of which suggested an expensive year and brand, before Isaac removed a first aid kit from one of the inner drawers that had contained some clean wine glasses. "Take off your shirt and I will look at this wound of yours," Isaac said, removing his gloves. Stenson knew where this was going, and his first instinct was to decline the help. It would do no good, he knew that, but knowing this man was not the usual nurse trying to apply a useless bandaid, Stenson did as he was told. "Do you know if the bullet is still inside? Until I have access to an operating theatre, I do not believe it wise for me to remove it, but we can stop the bleeding."



Stenson removed his shirt, a slow and laboriously painful challenge, before looking down at his shoulder. The bullet was in fact still lodged in the wound, but amazingly was still visible just beneath the flesh. The bad news, was that stopping the bleeding wouldn't be possible until the bullet was out. Even now, as the bandages hung, almost now completely blackened from blood, a line of inky blood oozed from the wound and down in a line along his underarm and side. "Ughhh," Stenson breathed in a groan, "...Won't do any good just bandaging it. I don't clot like normal humans. It's...complicated, I guess. But the bullet will need to come out before it can fixed." Pulling out the black case, Stenson now popped the latch on the front and opened it up next to Isaac's first aid kit. Its contents were much different, however. Inside was a series of vials, one containing a fine powder of granite, another with an adhesive liquid, and a larger empty vial for mixing. Stenson removed the two smaller vials and popped the stoppers off each one with his teeth, one at a time, before pouring their contents into the larger bottle. The task was difficult with one arm, and if Isaac offered help, he gladly welcomed it. Once the contents were well mixed, Stenson looked back at the bullet wound.



"I uh..I'll try to contain the mess..." With a deep breath, and holding his balled up shirt near to the wound to collect any spillage of blood, Stenson reached over to the wound and dug his finger and thumb in to get a hold of the metal pellet as fast as possible, pulling at it once he had a grip. His breath hissed harshly through clenched teeth as he did so, and fresh pain laced its way sharply through his limb and chest, but mercifully, the bullet slipped out of the flesh rather easily on his first try. "Th-there...the h-h-hard part's d-done..." He held the bullet in the palm of his hand, which was now shaking rather badly from the pain, and he leaned back against the seat for a moment to try and calm himself down. "I know, I know, probably not necessary. But, I've probably lost too much blood as it is...better just to get it over with than to wait. C-could you-..." Stenson leaned forward slightly to gesture at the granite-paste mixture before slumping back against the seat. "God that hurts...," He swallowed and tried to lean forward again, now holding the shirt pressed against the oozing bullethole, "It's made mostly from granite. It'll....sorry...it'll seal the wound, only way to stop the bleeding. Then bandages."



Stenson suddenly felt lightheaded, feeling as if his mixture of anxiety and excitment were now coming to its exhausted limit, replaced only by the pain. He tried his best to sit up straight, look tough, but it was hard especially when he was now beaded with sweat and still slightly trembling. The entire ordeal was embarassing, surely Isaac must think what he'd just did was completely barbaric and unnessecary, but Stenson would do his best to explain once he was feeling better.

[Sharei]

Apparently they were not in for a controlled and civilized operation to remove the bullet but an abrupt, bloody scavenger hunt conducted on his expensive leather seats. Isaac raised one fine black eyebrow as the procedure continued and lamented the specks of blood that fell on his upholstery. Stenson was shaking so badly that not everything could be caught, and while Isaac was not adverse to the sight and smell of blood, he rather thought the cleaners would be upset. Mrs Henderson would send him another one of her passive aggressive post-it notes, he just knew it.

Isaac produced a handkerchief to take the bullet with. When he'd folded the cloth over the bloody pellet he set it aside on the seat next to him. "You ought to lay down," he said calmly, as if he had a gargoyle bleeding out in his backseat every other day. To help facilitate that Isaac took the mixture in one hand and pushed Stenson down by the good shoulder with the other. When the gargoyle was laying Isaac poured the granite mixture directly on the wound.

"I assume this is some kind of patch kit," he said easily. Ever the artist and unconcerned for his own cleanliness he smoothed the mixture over the wound so that it was even and level with the other man's skin. His touch was light, gentle, almost tender.

'Did someone make him?' he thought, remembering what he'd read in the dossiers  that he'd been given as a young WDSA recruit. Constructs were not uncommon, but rarely were they so... alive. If so, Stenson was living art, the epitome of Isaac's craft.

He picked up the bandages and began to apply them. "Are you immune to morphine?"

[Pearl Dragon]

Feeling almost numb to everything but the pain, Stenson barely even noticed Isaac pushing him gently down by his good shoulder to rest in a reclined position on the seat. Stenson went with the pressure, leaning to the side and then onto his back along the seat, still holding the bundled shirt to his other shoulder. Stenson's eyes fluttered for a moment and he saw the vial in Isaac's hand. He lowered the shirt to allow Isaac to administer the substance, the only sign of his touch being ever so slight stings on the surface of the wound as he poured it into the wound and gently smoothed even with Stenson's skin.



Stenson watched Isaac work through barely opened eyes, noticing how Isaac almost seemed to have a distracted focus on what he was doing. Stenson felt that he almost recognized it, it reminded him of when he would sculpt with his father's old tools, completely lost and focused on the art of his sculpture. Perhaps Isaac was an artist...



Stenson let these thoughts wander to help distract him from the pain, along with trying to imagine the WDSA, being a supernatural police officer, and what it was going to be like. Soon, Isaac began to pull out bandages, applying them to the newly patched wound. Already, the bleeding had begun to cease as his body binded with the granite, successfully sealing his damaged flesh. Although the pain was still rushing up and down his shoulder and arm, some of it seemed to lessen now that the wound was shut.



"Are you immune to morphine?" Isaac asked as he applied the bandages.



"Hmm?" Stenson asked, only half hearing the question, "Oh...no, I'm not. Not in this form anyway. Although...I've never exactly tried it in the other-..." He paused, not wanting to ramble, before asking in an attempt to change the subject, "So...I wanted to apologize. For earlier. I didn't mean to be suspicious of you. And I'm sorry for this too," He now nodded at his shoulder. "S'my first time getting shot, actually. I've heard about it, never thought I'd ever feel something like it. But then," now a look of nervous anticipation crossed his expression, "I should probably get used to it, huh? I'm sure being a supernatural police wouldn't exactly involve easy stuff like giving out traffic tickets and answering to domestic complaints." It wasn't that he was chickening out, perhaps a little nervous maybe, but he was interested to know more details on this new line of work. The challenge, he was sure, would prove to be the biggest one of his life yet, bringing out mixed emotions of growing anticipation and determination to meet the challenge head on.

[Sharei]

"In the WDSA we try very hard to train our agents not to get shot on duty. What you do on your own time is no business of mine," Isaac said lightly and cast Stenson a reassuring smile. He removed a small vial and a syringe from the first aid kit. While it was not exactly morphine the demerol would suffice in the meantime. The only reason he'd started using the term morphine was because most laymen knew what that was and those who were immune to pain killers entirely could answer straight away. There was nothing so aggravating to their requisition staff as using up an expensive medication on someone who could get no benefit from it.

Isaac turned Stenson's arm over to find a vein. When he had he distracted the other man with discussion of his new job and stuck him with the needle. "Sometimes it will be domestic complaints. Supernaturals have their own lives, Mr Jones, and if a fae has squatted in your attic you are unlikely to call the regular police to come remove them. We do ticket individuals who open up extra planer locations in non-authorized zones, among other things, as well."

Isaac removed the syringe and began the process of taking it apart and disposing of it. Stenson would begin to feel better in a few bare moments. "When you have fully transferred and have settled in you will undergo a rigorous training process. It is a combination of learning to identify the different supers, their powers, traits and weaknesses and physical courses to ensure your body is prepared for the often exhausting process of apprehending a criminal. Domestic issues aside, the Wathais Department of Supernatural Affairs is there to prevent unruly supers from hurting the populace or committing crimes. When that person can bust through a wall of five inch thick stone like its nothing, well, you can see why we need people like you."

[Pearl Dragon]

Isaac explained some of the details of WDSA police, and Stenson almost found it humorous that yes, it was almost similar to regular police work, but once again with a Hollywood fantasy/sci-fi twist. A fae squatting in someone's attic. That was a pretty funny conc-



"Tsss..." He felt the needle pierce his skin, which he'd purposely been trying to avoid thinking about until it actually did so. There was a strange, cool sensation as the medicine was injected into his vein, and rather quickly over the next few moments the pain in his bad shoulder began to subside; first from the familiar stabbing pain, then to a muffled ache, until finally it had all but faded into a dull, numb throb that felt more like a pressure against his muscle than an actual wound.



Isaac had already removed the syringe and was disassembling it for disposal. "When you have fully transferred and have settled in, you will undergo a rigorous training process." Isaac explained, noting the different areas of focus that would be used in his regime such as identifying different supers and their powers, intense physical exercise, and overall learning the standards and duties of what it meant to work for the WDSA. Stenson remembered the school bus again. He remembered, through the mess of that incident's few chaotic moments, the entire reason he'd done it to begin with. The feeling of relief, knowing the children were safe. And most importantly, he remembered how comforting that feeling was, something he felt every day while on the force. To think that he'd be part of an organization that strove to ensure the safety and well-being of an entire populace that could, at any moment, be threatened by creatures and individuals who were capable of such dangerous power, made him feel determined. Despite his nerves, and now that the pain in his shoulder was completely forgotten, he felt all the more driven to become involved in this mission and in Isaac's organization.



"When I first became a police officer, I vowed to serve and protect, to keep law, order, and peace. That vow is the very reason why I live. My Father....when he made me...it was his final wish that I live a life that was free, one that I could do whatever made me happy. For years I never knew what that meant, he left me with very little after that. But all of that changed when I joined the police.  I realized that this was the purpose he'd intended for me." Stenson looked up at Isaac from where he lay, shifting some so that he was now pushed slightly up on one elbow, "I'll do whatever it takes. I want the best training your WDSA can offer. But, do me a favor, though, will you? Don't hold back."  Not that he expected as much from the WDSA, but Stenson had seen the training that some precincts offered their recruits, and over the years some of them had become soft.  This WDSA, he could tell, was probably not going to be that way.  But, he insisted that even so, he wanted to make sure that if he was going face the kinds of challenges that Isaac said he would, with the safety of supers, innocents and civilians alike at risk, he wanted to make absolutely sure he was ready.

[Sharei]

These were the sort of things that Isaac liked to hear from his prospective recruits. Anyone who expected to make it in the WDSA, and in particular in its law enforcement, could not be the kind of person who expected things to be easy. It was a line of work that walked the razor thin edge between living and dying on a constant basis. The strong survived. The weak died.

Isaac deposited the syringe in a safety disposal box on the inside of the first aid kit with a little plunk. "Oh, Mr Jones, I assure you," he said, and it was easy to see now how Isaac could be a vampire with the smirk that curled its way onto his lips, cold and mirthless and ruthless and utterly charming. "We do not do 'holding back' in my WDSA."

Isaac popped the first aid kit closed and put it back in its drawer. When he sat back up he was himself again. Perfectly poised.

"Police work is dangerous by nature," he explained. "This work, doubly so. When you may be facing the perils of a wendigo or one of my own kind, there is no room for the luxury of doubt. You will be pushed beyond your limits and then you will be pushed harder. By the time my trainers are finished with you, you may come to view me as your arch enemy."

[Pearl Dragon]

"Oh,m Mr Jones, I assure you," Isaad said, and now Stenson could truly see a glimpse the cold, predatory super that this man claimed to be, a charm savagery underlying the wicked way that his smirk curled his lips up over his teeth. "We do not do 'holding back' in my WDSA." Then, once the syringe was properly disposed of and things put way, Isaac was once again back to himself.



Stenson was glad to hear that not only would the journey ahead of him be hard, it was promising to be a rather grueling process, to which he felt no matter what, he would be up for the challenge.



"By the time my trainers are finished with you, you may come to view me as your arch enemy."



Stenson liked this. "Good. Trust me, that's exactly what I'm hoping for." Pushing himself back up to a seated position, Stenson leaned back once more, enjoying the newfound peace of his painless injury. "Thanks again." He said, giving his shoulder a testing roll, quickly finding the limits of the medication as pain threatened to blossom once more even in its dulled state. The motion was necessary though, as he wanted to gauge just how much movement the painkillers would afford him. Not much more, but it was better than it was. Plus, the patch should already have begun to heal, in a few days time, he'd be good as new.



Just then, the window to the front of the vehicle slid open slightly. "Not long now, maybe 20 minutes." Said the driver, before shutting the window once more.  Stenson glanced at Isaac, then out the window, feeling a bit awkward again.  He wasn't sure what else to ask or say, and so waited for either their trip to end or for any other questions from Isaac.

[Sharei]

Isaac waved off the thanks that Stenson offered and settled back into his seat. "No thanks are necessary," he said and folded his hands into his lap with another of his graceful movements. He crossed his legs at the knee. "You are one of us now, Mr Jones. I look out for my own."

The rest of the drive was completed in companionable silence. Isaac offered answers to any questions that Stenson had about his new role and position but by and large they were quiet. The vehicle's hum, so faint that it might have been their imagination, filled the air.

All too soon they were pulling into the WDSA's headquarter's underground parking lot. Isaac had pointed it out once they'd come within the city's limits. The building towered over most of the rest of the skyscrapers and was juxtaposed against their white and greys. In the low light of the post-sunset evening it looked like a great black shadow of a knife cutting the skyline. Its exterior of black glass reflected the heavy moon.


"To the normal public its a government building for splicing and splicer registration," Isaac had said as they'd gotten out of the car together and piled into the shiny steel elevators. "And to some extent we do have a department of public affairs that fulfills this role. Those take up the bottom two floors. Everything else, well..."

The elevator pinged and let them off onto the floor that housed what amounted to a supernatural precinct, but instead of the old and dated attire of worn down Wenfirth, black glass, steel and dark woods made up the interior. The light inside was bright, clearly illuminating hundreds of very clearly non-humans walking around talking and working. Some of the nearest officers noticed them and called out greetings. Isaac inclined his head and returned them.

[Pearl Dragon]

The rest of the ride was relatively silent, and very soon came to an end as the car pulled into the entrance of an underground garage located below the enormous black-glassed building of the WDSA.



Stenson had since been gazing out at the brightly lit city as they went, and once they reached their destination, his eyes now followed the length of the inky-black mirrored building up as far as his near-sighted vision would allow him.



"To the normal public, it's just a government building for splicing and splicer registration." Came Isaac's voice, once the outside world had disappeared above the garage entrance. The car came to a smooth, seamless stop, and the driver was quick to open the doors to allow the two men to exit the vehicle. Stenson was impressed by the extent to which this organization retained its secrecy, and followed after Isaac as they made their way to a set of steel elevator doors. ""And to some extent we do have a department of public affairs that fulfills this role. Those take up the bottom two floors. Everything else, well..."



Soon the elevator doors were open again and Stenson held his breath as he stepped out and into the interior of the building. It was...magnificient. Unlike the older decor of his old precinct in Wenfirth, Stenson found this building was much more modern, its interior matching the elegance and formality of its exterior. In the time that they'd met and talked, Stenson had formed somewhat of a list of expectations on the WDSA and the HQ, but now that he was actually here, his expectations had been far exceeded. And then, once Stenson had taken in the elegance of the black glass, steel, and darkly wooded interior, he began to realize that the people that were bustling all around were mostly, if not all, completely out of the normal.



Stenson stopped, mouth open in a half gawk, as he looked all around at the agents and officers milling about their work. Indeed, some did seem perfectly human, one man sat at a desk that was piled the highest with papers, eyes tired but determined in the work that he had before him. A red-headed woman dressed in a lab coat swept up to him with a styro-foam cup of coffee, greeting him cheerily before patting him on the back, handing him the coffee, and hurrying off to some other part of the building. She also seemed very human from what Stenson could tell.



The others, however, held Stenson's attention as he continued to look around. There were some with extra body parts, arms, tails, legs, etc. Some with scales, pointed ears like his, strangely colored eyes, or even skintones with odder hues than the bland grey that was his own. Another man, much like the tired looking fellow, seemed perfectly human, at least until he waved a hand over a pot of water he had filled at a water cooler machine, chuckling and talking loudly to coworkers. The water seemed to jump at the gesture, sloshing to life seemingly on its own and then into a sudden brisk boil, before it snaked its way up and out of the pot, pouring itself over a cup of Ramen.



"Woah...w-...was that magic?" Stenson stuttered, pointing at the man now walking back to his desk, obnoxiously shouting jokes to the others who had remained back by the water cooler. "Did he just boil and lift that water up with a wave of his hands?" Stenson was overwhelmed, staring at the man and nearly bumping into Isaac in his distracted state.

[Sharei]

"If you think that is impressive then I wait to see what your reaction is to our Occult Investigations floor," Isaac said with a small smile. He turned back to survey the floor of men and women with the glowing pride only a father could have for his young children. Care though he did not for the lives and upsets of the people who moved through these halls he could not help but feel that familial pride. He had watched each of them come into the flock one by one. One by one they had learned and grown. One by one they had found their feet, their voice, their passion.

They were his people and he was fiercely defensive of most of them.

"Magic. Hexes. Innate powers. Gifts. Telepaths. Psykers. Witches. Shifters. Constructs. Sirens. Vampires. Trolls. Fae Folk. Splicers. Humans," Isaac said regally. "Every day hundreds of supernaturals and parahumans come together to make the world a safer, better place. The first step of that journey starts here."

He stretched his arm out and spread it to the side, gesturing at the room with the grand sweeping gestures of a general speaking of his army.

"This is the WDSA. This is the heart of Wathais. Welcome."

[Pearl Dragon]

Stenson gazed in wonder as Isaac listed one supernatural after the next, filling his head with all that was to come. It was true, Stenson had thought himself alone in this world for well on 200+ years, and never had he thought he would ever meet someone with gifts such as his, let alone an entire undercover world of them.



As they continued their tour, Stenson's excitement growing with ever new person and division he was introduced to, the night steadily wore on into morning, and he eventually left with a heart and soul full of determination and wonder. Over the next few days, he remained at the HQ as his things were moved from his old home and precinct to his new house here in the city. It wasn't a mansion, but with his new, growing income and a home-owner's loan approved, he found he was, for once, able to afford a decent sized 3 bedroom home with a two car garage in a comfortable city neighborhood just outside the main density of the city.



Once his wound had completely healed, Stenson was quickly enrolled into Isaac's WDSA Police Academy and Training Program, where he hit the ground running with every challenge that the WDSA could throw his way. In the beginning, he struggled greatly, meeting with training instructors and exercises involving all manner of supernatural problems that he had absolutely no knowledge or know-how on. But, as the months progressed, and as the challenges escalated in difficulty, so did Stenson's physique and knowledge, all while pushing him to and beyond his absolute limits.


After a particularly hard day of training, Stenson settled for a moment at his desk, having just stored his gear and uniform in his work locker, when he noticed a lime green envelope on top of his keyboard. Carefully lifting it, he noticed a post-it note stuck to the top reading "Delivered at your old work in Wenfirth, then sent here." Removing the post-it, Stenson saw "Offiser Jones" scrawled across the front in what was unmistakably a child's handwriting. Stenson leaned forward from his seat and pulled the back of the envelop open, revealing a card within that was painted with a silly cartoon rabbit holding up a rather overlarge "THANK YOU" sign. Stenson let out an exhausted chuckle before opening it. Inside, under the cartoon-printed bubble letter message of "Thanks for the help!" was another short message hand written by the same child.



"Thaks Thanks for helping me mister offiser Jones! You ar e the best coolest poleese ever!"


Stenson held the card, reading the crayon lettering over and over. The tightness that had started to form in his chest very quickly rose to his throat, choking him mid-breath. The name at the bottom signed "Luv Jake" with a crudely drawn school bus and two smiling stick figures standing side by side holding hands. One smaller one and one taller one, with grey scribble-skin and a blue police hat on his head. Stenson's eyes burned and he wiped them briskly away with his sleeve, smiling down at the card.



Yes. This is why he did what he did. And so, eyes still threatening more tears, he set the card propped open next to his monitor. A constant reminder for all of the rest of his career in police work.