The tall blond's mouth quirked in humor while beside him, the boy with the red and green and purple hair crinkled his nose in empathy. “Bad mood. I'm Venti, this is my brother, Harper. Here, give him our card,” he jogged the taller, older man with his elbow. 

Harper drew out a card which he held across. It was plain white with black lettering. The first letter, a T, was in block with some filigree on it, but everything else was basic font. 

[center][b][i]Tres Protection Co.[/i][/b] 
Harper P. Daela
Computer Systems/Records Investigation
(xxx) 777-5348 xt. 10[/center]

“A Mrs. Parks has arranged for our services,” Harper stated in a bland manner as he looked the man over again. Their James Parks was a bit green around the gills and still standing. Amel would approve, naturally. 

“Something about you being shot at,” Venti lifted a brow. “I'm not on the card. That's Harper's card. I've got my own. We got three of us, so we've arranged with Mrs. P arks that you'll have twenty four hour care. That includes me. I get the mornings, because everyone hates a morning person and I don't mind pissing people off. Harper is our nights guy, since that's when he does most of his work, and Amel will cover you during the afternoon and evening. He's our third. Your mom seems like a really nice lady,” he added and stuffed his hands between his knees. 

“However, I find it interesting that you didn't file a police report,” Harper added. “You were shot at, correct?” 

~~

James didn't blink as rainbow teen smart mouthed. Was he in a bad mood? Possibly. He had been confined to his bed after being shot at. Stuck with nothing to take his mind off the case nor the past. At least he was getting names. Rainbow Teen was Venti, an odd name. Blondie was Harper, which was a girl's name in James' book. However he refrained from pointing that out as he took the business card that was offered to him. At this point he had loosened his hold on the gun, but didn't release it yet. 

Tres Protection Company. James had never heard of it. It would have to be a family thing. In his nearly a year of being a P.I. he had run across a few companies either as a hire or investigator. This wasn't one of them. 

James at first didn't register what the Blonde, no Harper said. He was moving forwards mentally on the assumption they were going to hire him for something. He placed the card down on the table and listened as Rainbow Teen rambled off. He stopped listening when the teen said his mother's name again. Parks. Mrs. Parks. There were only a few Parks in the area and somehow James knew that this one in question was his mother since his sister was now Mrs Brown. 

"My mom hired you?" James ignored Harper talking about the police report. He did in fact file one, it should have been on record along with the fact he had called the police. It should all be public record. "You work for Darien Parks?" 

He didn't wait for a confirmation. James shoved the gun away and pulled out his cell phone in anger. He yanked open another drawer and pulled out a small memo pad. "That meddling old hag." He muttered to himself as he jabbed in a number from the pad and lifted the phone to his ear before tossing the pad away into the trash. How dare she keep trying to run his life. He had gotten away from that eight years ago when he ran off to the Army, he wasn't going to let her start up again. 

~~

Venti sniffed and watched as the detective went all focused as realization of Mom and Mrs. Parks became synonymous. Rather than continue talking, Venti reached over and touched the back of Harper's hand and the two went very still. 

Harper pulled out a smart phone and withdrew a stylus from his front pocket. Using this, he began to work through some various problems which were Harper specific. Generally it was better to not ask about what exactly he was doing, either for legal purposes or simply because it could lead to a long, rambling, and rather boring explanation of something far beyond anyone else's ability to follow. 

Venti, on the other hand, leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees. He had large eyes for someone as old as he was and the result was that he looked a good three years younger than his age. Then again, being underestimated had gotten him places he wasn't sure he could have gotten otherwise. He wasn't sure he wanted this man to underestimate him, however. James Parks looked capable and strong and knowledgeable and stubborn. In fact, he looked very stubborn. It was lucky that there wasn't a single one of the Daela boys who wasn't as dumb as a rock when it came to giving up. 

Then again, there was a definite chance that James Parks could be even more bull headed. Venti wriggled slightly in his chair and swallowed a grin of glee. Oh. This was going to be fun. He couldn't wait for their work to begin. 

But then, Venti liked the stubborn ones. Harper would get quiet and refuse to talk and Amel? Venti made a silent note to himself to beef up the weight room, remove the mirrors. Amel was due for a rampage if this Parks fellow didn't let them do their job. It would only be a matter of time. 

~~

James' phone rang and rang in his ear. He was about to give up when a cool voice came over the speaker.

"James." The older woman's voice spake neutrally.

"You hired body guards? Guards. As in Plural. What were you thinking?" James snapped angrily into the phone. "Why did you even hire them? I can do my job myself thank you very much." Over the phone James could hear his mother take a deep breath and found it flamed his anger even more. She was going to use her 'rational' voice. Like he couldn't live his own life. He was twenty-seven, not an infant.

"Your sister told me what happened. Heavens knows you've been shot at enough while overseas. Do you really need to keep getting yourself shot at?"

"I can take care of myself." James gritted out. He had to concentrate on not throwing the phone across the room or smashing it. "Stay out of my life." James hung up before she could say anything else. He shoved his phone away and turned back to the two bodyguards. This situation was too unbelievable. 

"Are you going to go away if I tell you to?" James asked them, trying to ignore smirking rainbow head. His leg was beginning to throb a little, so he had to shift positions, but not yet. Not in front of these two. Even if they had been hired by his mother, didn't mean he trusted them. In fact, his mother's main goal may be to have them spy on him for her. It wouldn't be the first time. No, that was about a year after he left home, he discovered his mother contacted one of his squad mates and paid him to report to her. It still made him angry, even if he had made up with his friend. 

~~

Venti tilted his head. Beside him, Harper gave a mirthless smile. “No,” he stated as he stood. “And at that, I shall leave you to it.” He turned to stare at Venti but the boy was merely staring at James. 

With a slight shake of his head, Harper gave a shrug to the P.I., reached out and touched the boy's shoulder, and murmured, “Amel will be here at three.” 

“And you'll be at his place by midnight. Cool-io!” Venti smiled at James and did not turn to watch his brother leave. 

When Harper closed the door, Venti drew a foot up onto his chair and looped his arms around his knees. “So,” he said pleasantly, “I can just stand around and watch, or you can give me a job. I know enough Word Processing to be a menace and I can file if I need to. And I make a mean cup of coffee.” His mouth curved into a friendly grin and eyes dancing, he sat back comfortably and waited for how his new P.I. client was going to act. 

~~