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[b][center][color=e97451]A T H E N A[/color][/center][/b]
[/h1][/sup][/color][indent][sub][COLOR=coral][I]ATHENA'S APARTMENT → SEATTLE MAJOR CRIMES → CRIME SCENE[/I][/COLOR][/sub][/indent][indent][sup][right][COLOR=coral][b]Goddess of Wisdom and War[/b][/color][/right][/sup][/indent][hr]
[indent][indent][indent][color=#b7b7b7]Athena had a moment of weakness the instant she found herself staring at her bedroom ceiling, the hovering ceiling fan blowing dusty air all over her bedding. Thoughts of the Conclave plagued her mind and she wanted to say that Hephaestus’ passing took its toll on her. She wanted to say that the reason she had been lying awake ten minutes before her alarm was set to go off at 5:00 am. Athena was a lot of things, but lowering herself to the likes of Ares and Loki by lying was not something she nor Natalia Steele did.[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]The reason she couldn’t go back to sleep or even call in sick today was that despite it being a Saturday -- and, if last night’s news coverage was to be taken as the Oracle’s Prophecy -- it was going to be a beautiful day. But no, she couldn’t do anything because she didn’t have a day off for at least five days. And that was assuming her Captain didn’t chew her out for ditching work two days ago for that God-forsaken Conclave. The nightmares of Hera’s annoying rant still haunted her dreams that were usually just reruns of what she had done in the day previous[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]Sometimes when her dreams were interrupted or a train of thought had been reduced to growing annoyances of whatever forced its way into her mind, Athena liked to channel the part of her that was supposed to be wiser than her brother, Ares. She did sometimes, but not always. Athena was guilty of violent thoughts and just exactly who she might find themselves on the receiving end of her worst thoughts.[/color]

[color=#ea7e5d]“Hera is on the top of that list,”[/color][color=#b7b7b7] Athena muttered literally seconds before her alarm went off.[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]The Goddess of Sometimes Wisdom smacked her alarm clock so hard that it cracked the top but the ringing didn’t stop. At this moment, she didn’t care. Natalia Steele had to get ready for work. One hour later, she was cleaned, full of caffeine, and had a belly full of a day-old bagel with spicy butter that may or may not come back to haunt her later in the day. Either way, [/color][url=https://i.imgur.com/04lFemJ.gif]Athena[/url][color=#b7b7b7] was soon out the door and her black charger sped down her street and into the dawn of Seattle.[/color]

[hr]

[color=#b7b7b7]Detective Natalia Steele had a love/hate relationship with her job. [/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]There were many facets of being a detective that brought her a lot of satisfaction: keeping neighborhoods safe, getting to bust those who might be selling to kids, and being part of something bigger than her -- bigger than Athena.  She found a spiritual fulfillment when she did her part in those big busts that made nation-wide news. The Seattle Strangler? She helped with that. Back Alley Butcher? She pieced the complex puzzle that he left for her that led to a Florist by the name of Albert Travers, whose brother was the Back Alley Butcher. She has racked up over two-thousand arrests in her five years on the job. Of those two thousand and under DA Amanda Woodall’s strict principles, over seventy percent of those arrested were convicted.[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]Indeed there are many aspects of Natalia’s job that make her almost proud to wake up so early every day and get underpaid for her service.[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]But, on some days, the paperwork was enough to drive her mad without the assistance of Dionysus’ special wine. The same paperwork that was the same thing over and over again: misdemeanors about j-walking, false leads about what should have been major busts, false rape allegations that were meant to be followed through but due to “extenuating circumstances”, Natalia was forced to file these reports.[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]And she [b][i]hated[/i][/b] that. She hated that abusive husbands were allowed to dictate just what they could make their wives do. Sure, Natalia wasn’t Special Victims Unit. She wasn’t supercop Olivia Benson who bent the rules to make the right people suffer. She worked in Major Crimes, which meant she shouldn’t even be looking at another detective’s case log.[/color]

[color=#ea7e5d]“Three, seven…”[/color][color=#b7b7b7] Natalia’s voice was low as she went down the list of unsolved cases ranging from sexual assault, battery, false statements -- everything that shouldn’t be there was in minimal detail.[/color][color=#ea7e5d] “Who in the--”[/color]

[b][i][color=#b7b7b7]RING RING RING[/color][/i][/b]

[color=#b7b7b7]As her phone went off three times, Natalia answered in rather aggressively. [/color][color=#ea7e5d]“Yeah, this is Steele.” [/color][color=#b7b7b7]After waiting a minute, one of the B cops currently out patrolling said something that caught Athena’s attention. [/color][color=#ea7e5d]“Control the scene. Establish a perimeter. Don’t let any press within ten yards of the scene. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”[/color][color=#b7b7b7] Natalia quickly got up, grabbing her dark red leather jacket.[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]“What’s the rush, Steele? Got a hot date?” Colin Brady, her mortal partner, joked as he casually sat across from her. His arms were folded behind his head[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]She turned midstep, looking at his smug face, giving him a sly smirk. [/color][color=#ea7e5d]“Why don’t you come along and find out? Maybe you’ll learn something for a change.”[/color]

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[color=#b7b7b7]The sound of America-made muscle pulled onto the scene, the media held back at least twenty yards, which made the brunette smile. Everyone knew whenever she said a number -- any number, especially when it was about distance -- Athena [i]always[/i] meant double. And it was a good thing that B-Cop listened to her. [/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]The scene past the police tape, past the CSI roaming about, finishing up their preliminary findings, couldn’t have been given justice even if the mortal’s tried. The majority of the crime scene was in a back alley. There was blood splayed all over: along the walls, the dumpster, and trash cans were all tipped over. Pieces of teeth were spread throughout the ground, but it doesn’t look like there had been any body-sized blood prints -- which Athena was thankful for. At least she didn’t have to swallow any more darkness today.[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]“Detective Steele!” FBI Agent Dominic Evans called her over.[/color]

[color=#ea7e5d]“So why in god’s name is there an FBI agent on this crime scene? A back alley brawl seems a bit below your pay grade.”[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]“Perhaps,” Dominic partially confirmed with a slight nod. He stepped in front of Athena and crouched down so he could get a better view of the ground. “But the MO of this particular crime scene matches the same one of a mysterious figure I’ve been chasing for quite some time.”[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]“How long?” Brady asked, saying what Athena was about to. He got a glare for his interruption.[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]“Give or take, seven years. This is the first time in five I have been this close.”[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]Athena had to applaud his dedication but she couldn’t help but laugh and she made no effort to hide it from him. [/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]“I understand this might seem silly, but my record was spotless. Until this perp, at least. The only one who has escaped my justice and I don’t plan on letting it go.”[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]And that’s where he lost Athena’s praise -- hell, let’s just say her support was gone as well. If there was something that Athena hated more than anything in this mortal world, it was someone who didn’t know their place and who got in her way. These were her streets to govern, not his. And she wasn’t about to let some hotshot FBI agent seize control over a crime scene she was called to.[/color]

[color=#ea7e5d]“Agent Evans, I know you don’t expect me to believe that your superiors back at Quantico approve of you abusing your power. Actually, I know for a fact that you, Dominic Tiberius Evans, the twenty-year veteran of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, have been suspended for six months because you thought you could weasel your way into investigations that matched this mystery Hooded Man you have claimed to be following for nearly a decade.”[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]“You stupid bitch. Who do you think--”[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]She raised her finger, sliding it side to side.[/color][color=#ea7e5d] “Not so fast. I will save you the embarrassment of finding out which of the two of us is the better fighter and I would hate for your fragile male ego to get crushed in less than five seconds. So here’s what we’re going to do!” [/color][color=#b7b7b7]She stepped close to him and Dominic flinched, resulting in a genuine smile to appear on Athena’s face. [/color][color=#ea7e5d]“You are going to politely excuse yourself from [i]my[/i] crime scene. Fake a phone call, say you have all that you need -- I don’t really care. Just leave before your five-second window is closed.”[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]He grumbled something but then Athena started to countdown with her hand. Five, four, three, two, one--[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]“Excuse me, I have to take this call.”[/color]

[color=#ea7e5d]“Smart choice.”[/color][color=#b7b7b7] Athena watched proudly as Dominic Evans walked off the crime scene and, hopefully, if she was lucky, he would never be seen again in a very long time or she might have to channel her ire against Hera and direct it on that poor excuse for a human walking away.[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]“I forgot how scary you could be, Natalia.” [/color]

[color=#ea7e5d]“Don’t you go losing your balls on me, too, Colin.”[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]After an exchange of laughs, Athena glanced over at the press, spotting some familiar faces among the growing crowd. The scene was as controlled as it could be, but something about it stirred an uneasy storm within Athena’s core. There was something weirdly familiar about the brutality of the scene. She knew this corner, too. It was mafia territory, which made her worry. Not so much about those that were harmed. She was confident that they got what they deserved, but more so about the person responsible for sending them to the hospital. [/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]For the next twenty minutes, Athena and Colin spent their time isolated from each other, interviewing witnesses, gathering as much intel as they could before they had finally exited the scene. “So what are we going to do?” Colin asked, arms folded over the hood of Athena’s black charger.[/color]

[color=#ea7e5d]“You know for a seasoned detective, you can be awfully narrow-minded.”[/color][color=#b7b7b7] Athena shook her head and let out a sigh. [/color][color=#ea7e5d]“The drug dealers who were attacked are still alive and should be out of the ICU by the time we get there. So the most obvious choice is to question them and find out who did this.”[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]“And if they don’t know?”[/color]

[color=#b7b7b7]Athena didn’t say anything. She just got into the driver’s seat and sat there, pondering what Dominic Evans had said. She hated to give him any credit, but his obsession wasn’t wrong. This same MO matched the one from DC. But if that’s the case, Athena only feared this investigation would get a lot more complicated.[/color]

[color=#ea7e5d]“Then we might actually get to stretch our legs for once.”[/color][/indent][/indent][/indent]