Pilatus

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Joel Nicolosi

Joel wasn’t sure about whatever reference she was making. He figured it was anime related based on the title and what he knew about her interests, but he was only really familiar with the classics: Cowboy Bebop, Gundam, Dragonball and a few others here and there. What he did pick up on, however, was one word in particular: restrictions. He rolled his eyes a little as she talked on about boundaries and rules, but then came and sat down in the booth right next to him. “Yeah, I think we are gonna need some ground rules...” He said in agreeance. “...for you.” With the leggings she was wearing against the seat’s vinyl cloth, it was very easy for him to put his hand on her hip and very comically and deliberately, slide her slowly to the other end of the booth. He turned and put his back against the wall with a smirk of pretend-satisfaction and rested one leg between them in a mock defense as the server returned for their orders.

A few moments later the waitress returned with a small glass of very dark liquor. “Here, I’m gonna show you somethin’ I invented.” He said digging into his jacket pocket and pulling out one of the small, Rebellion, energy shots, the same ones he’d sent Marlin as a gag. The logo simply read, Within Treason in an old world font and the container itself was very cleverly designed to look like a musket cartridge with a distressed colonial flag. “Everybody’s heard of a Jaeger-bomb,” He said twisting the top off. “And I don’t even like Jaeger that much.” He poured the contents into the glass and the two drinks instantly reacted with one another turning solidly black with a dark red swirling wave that ebbed and flowed creating a spectacle within itself. “I’m gonna call it a Black Flag.” He said with some amusement looking down at the glass as the two drinks rolled against one another inside the glass almost as if they were fighting. “Seems to fit,” He shrugged. “Maybe it’ll catch on and be a thing.”

@Almalthia

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Joel Nicolosi

Joel snickered a little at her comment. “I mean, I can still turn around if that’s how you feel.” He said double-clutching the shifts to save on the Jeep’s old transmission as they moved along. Glancing over he couldn’t help but let himself laugh at the news of his little naming contest win with the Sol City Zoo. “Someone at the zoo apparently has a sense of humor.” He said with a chuckle. “I won some kind of private tour, but I think I’m gonna just donate it to the Y or something, let them take the kiddies.” He turned into a fairly low-key, chain restaurant that his parents liked to frequent and he knew would be clean and prompt. “Me and you will never have time to get over there anyway.” Joel glanced around as he got out. He liked Western Shore. It was peaceful and free of drama. The Jeep blended in well with the other common vehicles and he helped her jump down steadying her against a slick spot in the parking lot.

Joel tossed his black team jacket into the booth as they were seated. Thermal lined and with the neon-orange R, the Volkswagen logo and a few others, it was nicer than any of his other mix of branded apparel, but he had to admit to himself that he was a little proud to wear it. It felt good to be a part of something bigger for a change. He thought a few people recognized him as they walked in, but no one had said anything and he was thankful. Since the gossip column he’d reluctantly decided to indulge had put him back in the media again. Rally racing wasn’t that popular in the US, which was one of the things that made it appealing to him, but for the rest of the world, it was a major form of motorsport, which was also appealing. He pushed the menu aside already knowing what he wanted and glanced over at Sio in the dim evening ambient light. “So, the first race is gonna be in Jamaica.” He said speaking casually as if he were talking about the weather. He rested one arm up on his side of the booth. “You wanna come with, or are you gonna hang out here in the slush while I’m gone?”

@Almalthia

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Joel Nicolosi

Joel scratched at his unshaven face as the Jeep trundled over to the exit lane on the Matthews Bridge and into Western Shore. In the far distance to the north, the glowing skyscrapers of downtown could be seen and the gentle white-caps of the river speckled in the dim light of the evening. It was still cold as hell, but at least not snowing. The sides of the roads were lined by heavy piles of dirty, chemical and sand treated snow that had turned a mostly nasty gray as traffic resumed somewhat normally in the days following the epic blizzard. “What’re you in the mood for?” Joel asked over the steady hum of the heater. As soon as the words came out, he was pretty much anticipating some blatant innuendo from her in relation to the question.

The moment only an hour or so before felt more like a confirmation of the past few weeks and a release of the tension that had built up. Joel knew full well she liked him, but was curious just how long she could hold out before she’d admit it or walk away. Chasing after women was not his style. He tested them and cared little for how he was evaluated in their eyes. Sio was the first one that he could remember, in a long time, that understood the game and played it back usually as good as himself and he liked the challenge of it. For being nearly ten years younger, she had strong aura about her and a wild nature that he found alluring even when he knew she was talking above what she was capable.

A few other thoughts crossed his mind as they took the ramp towards one main drags inside Western Shore. He needed to finish writing a thank-you letter to Marlin’s granddad for the gift he’d sent and he wasn’t sure how Sio felt about it. In the course of the last few weeks, she’d become his de facto secretary in a sense and basically knew all of his business and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but it was done. There was nothing wrong with the letter or the gift, but he was not looking to stir up more drama and wouldn’t put it past Marlin or the rest of her nutty family to use as a hook. Joel shook his head slightly at the thought, he did want to keep the old man as a contact and sending a letter back felt like the classy thing to do.

Then there was the matter of the contract with the rally team. He’d never “worked” for anyone other than himself for somewhere around a decade. They’d certainly gone out of their way to court him and he knew it was the right choice. At thirty-three, he knew he only had, at best, ten to fifteen more decent years in him as a driver. He knew Sio would have kicked him for not taking the deal, but again, she was young he wasn’t sure she knew entirely what it meant from a career standpoint. Joining the team was going to take him away from Sol a lot more often. The next rally was in Jamaica. Maybe it was a little soon to ask her to come, not really knowing what commitments she had or if they could even tolerate each other for a solid week in another country, but he was going to tell her about it anyway and just let the chips fall.

He let those burdens pass as they sat at a stoplight when another memory hit him and he thumbed quickly through his phone as they waited for the light to change. “Oh, I meant to show you this before.” He said, suddenly snickering to himself as recalled the night they came up with their little contest entry for the Sol City Zoo. “Remember when we named that rhino at zoo? Yea, read that email.” He handed her the phone with the email from the Zoo’s director and tried his best to contain himself from laughing aloud before she had a chance to read it.

@PrinceAlexus@Almalthia

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SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy

US Marshal Service Annex - City Hall - Hours Later

“Paige, I just want you to know I was almost certain you weren't a cop killer.” Art, her Chief Deputy, said sarcastically as they took the elevator up to the Marshal Service office space.

“Almost.” Paige replied. Any other time she would have smirked slyly at the confirmation of her instincts.

Art laughed, “I wonder where he got that jacket.”

“Probably stole it from the dry-cleaners.” Paige said crossing her arms and looking ahead at the metal doors as they ascended. “Any idea who he was?”

“No I.D. yet, but I'll bet my next check he came from Detroit.” Art said.

“How hard was it getting him up here?” Paige asked, changing the subject.

“Oh, not hard at all,” Art replied. He glanced over at her from the corner of his eye, but she showed no emotion. In the course of his long career he'd mentored many young deputies with all manner of quirks and habits, though Paige was different and often hard to figure. She wanted trust, but gave little. She wanted friends, but often pissed people off. Still, she was a damn sight sharper than the rest of his staff and had a natural instinct that couldn't be taught. In the few weeks she worked in his office he only observed two real weaknesses that concerned him: her big mouth and the man presently occupying his conference room. “Xi was in the area and picked him up, got him some fresh clothes.”

The elevator doors parted and he looked for any reaction on her face as he spoke. He knew that she was aware he was looking and kept her emotions hidden. From the elevator the view across the office to the conference room was clear to where Milo stood, still handcuffed. Paige started away, but Art grabbed her firmly by the shoulder. For a second, he could see it, the caged emotions hidden behind her face and the glare in her eyes. He held the handcuff keys in front of her and dropped them into her open hand. “Take all the time you need. I’ll be in my office.”

Paige strode across the office. She could feel the eyes of the other deputies and the site staff on her as she walked unable to hide the increase in her pace as she got closer, almost to a jog as she reached for the door. Everyone knew the relationship she had with Milo. They had told her the story of what happened and what SCPD passed along. None of it mattered though. He was alive. ALIVE! A voice in her mind shouted it above all others. She closed the door behind her quietly and looked at him in the eyes, instantly biting on her lip in a pitiful attempt to keep control of the urge to breakdown in the knowledge that she had just nearly lost him. Everything she bottled up was bursting at the seams in her mind like a pressure cooker. Her eyes were welling up. She wanted to cry just because it felt like it would feel good to just let it all out and the urge was beginning to overcome her senses of pride and reason. She forgot about unlocking the cuffed hands in front of him and just fell into his chest gripping him tightly and turning her head, burying the side of her face into his shirt, too embarrassed to let him see her shed a tear, but unwilling to let go of him.

@RoccanIronclad

Most anticipated Games of 2018-2019

F1 2018

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SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy

Old Sol Museum - Midday

Paige checked her phone again for the time and sighed in irritation. Milo was late. She hated when people were late and their time frame was a little sensitive. Double-parked behind Elvin’s stylish Bentley coupe, she leaned against her car and looked around for him finding no one other than regular foot traffic and the slow but steady movement of vehicles in the post-storm, sloshy mess of Sol’s streets. She brushed a few windblown blonde strands of hair from her face. Perhaps a pushy customer had delayed him, or even better, one with plenty of cash, she reasoned knowing people would fork over big dollars for his creations. She called once, but got no answer and left it at that, aware of how much he hated when people blew up his phone. Giving the lot one more glance, she resigned herself to taking care of business and went inside.

With the free exhibition hours having ended the sparse visitors dwindled down to only a few and it didn’t take long for the museum’s Curator, whose name Paige couldn’t remember, something… something, the image of a boxer came to mind…. She couldn’t remember and then it hit her all at once as he babbled on walking beside her across the soft carpet of the main lobby. Ali. That was it. Dr. Ali. He was a tad snooty and liked to talk about how important his job was and that Elvin Santos was a regular and a very honored guest. He didn’t want a scene. Paige paid him little attention and caught the unnerved look on his face when she adjusted the gun hanging on her hip slightly. Her mind moving from a feeling of surprise at the visit from the FBI agent to all around irritation.

Irritation was the right word and as she bottled it up, it always seemed to come in waves, like she had just about reached capacity for the amount of shit she was going to take at any given time. She felt much like she did before she and Milo had gone out before. Tired of self-important assholes, tired of bureaucracy, tired of having her plans wrecked intentionally or not, tired of the cold, tired of people being late. He wasn’t around to diffuse her this time and the scene that met her as she rounded a corner through a long corridor lined with paintings was going to be the last fuckup she was willing to tolerate for the day.

Leading Elvin out with his hands bound behind his back was a black jacketed, crew-cut, FBI agent.

“Ah, Marshal Kennedy!” Elvin pronounced with some of his usual bravado. “If you were coming down here anyway, why send the FBI to interrupt my private gallery?”

Paige’s glance narrowed further, but one eyebrow arched slightly quizzically. She stopped in their path along with Dr. Ali who seemed to be at a loss for words. “What’s going on here?”

“What’s it look like?” The agent said sternly. He was tall and well built and spoke with a gruff monotone. His presence seemed more like a soldier than an officer of the law.

“Did Barrett send you?” Paige asked, unintimidated.

“Well, he’s the boss, isn’t he?” The man replied.

Paige put one hand on her hip and turned back a short glance at the way they had come in then back at the pair in front of her. In spite of her annoyance she was genuinely perplexed. “I just saw him not fifteen minutes ago and he didn’t mention anything.”

“Well, maybe he figured it wasn’t any of your concern.”

“Except I told him specifically that I was coming here.” She looked around the room briefly at the paintings, but not focusing on anything particular before shaking her head and waving one hand to clear the air to possibly dispel some of her frustration. “I’m sorry, we haven’t met, I’m Deputy US Marshal Paige Kennedy.”

“With all due respect…”

“Okay, just hold up.” Paige held up one finger towards the man and then motioned it over towards one of the paintings. “Is that one of Siobhan Murphy’s paintings?”

Dr. Ali perked up some from his shocked trance. “Why, yes. Yes it is!” He said with some astonishment adjusting his glasses. “How did you know that?”

“She’s a friend.” Paige replied.

“I’m not surprised you have exquisite tastes, Marshal Kennedy.” Elvin added coyly. “You know, you are my favorite Federal Agent.”

“Ma’am…” The FBI agent attempted to interject.

“Elvin, you have a silver tongue.” Paige said with a slight smirk.

“Ma’am,” The Agent’s voice was firm breaking in, nearly forceful. “I’m gonna need you to step out of the way now.”

“Okay, hold on,” Paige rubbed one hand over her face, brushed her hair aside again and placed it firmly back on her hip. Her green irises met his firmly. “Maybe I’m just having one hell of a day... but did you just give me an order?”

Elvin’s sheepish grin quickly dropped into a look of horrid disbelief at the man standing behind him.

The voice was firm and clear. He spoke directly at her like an insolent child: “If you don’t move- I’m gonna shoot you.”

The roar of fire came raging through her eyes back at him. Her lips curled and she stood her ground defiantly. He went for his gun first, but to his shock, she had already drawn and fired twice before he barely cleared his holster. He fell away with the impact of the rounds firing wildly in the air. Elvin cursed ducking away and Dr. Ali screamed like a panicked schoolgirl at the rapid exchange and the loud snap of gunfire. Paige leveled her sights and put two more in him before he could hit the floor. The body collapsed like a ragdoll and she lowered her gun with clear shock on her face at what she had done. “Holy shit, I hope I got that right…” She said to herself, nearly whispering.

Walking over to the body, she holstered her pistol and kicked the man’s gun aside. Her phone vibrated in her back pocket as she looked down. There was a missed call from Xi and a text:

Call me asap

Her brief distraction was interrupted by a wail of pain from Dr. Ali. She glanced over with a sudden tightness in her stomach thinking he’d been shot, but instead finding him draped over one of Siobhan’s paintings that newly showcased two large bullet holes. “Look at what you've done!” He cried not seeming the least bit concerned with the body bleeding out on the floor. Paige sighed with some relief. There were two more holes in the wall from the errant shots. One appeared to have taken a chunk out of the ornate plaster and there were chunks of white dust falling to the floor. Elvin dusted himself off and looked at the body. “Christ almighty… was he really FBI?”

Paige dialed 911.

@PrinceAlexus@RoccanIronclad@Rodiak@Almalthia

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

@Tenma Tendo

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SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy

US Marshal Service Annex, City Hall - Morning

“Deputy Marshal Wen, did Deputy Kennedy tell you why she was looking into the Giancanas?” Special Agent Barrett of the FBI looked down his nose, over his heavy-framed glasses at Paige’s partner, Xi. The two of them, along with their direct superior, Chief Deputy, Art Sterling, had been playing host to the veteran FBI agent for about ten minutes after his unannounced arrival at City Hall.

“I imagine it’s because she’s working on a case.” Xi said with a slight shrug and a tone of feigned cluelessness.

“You ‘imagine’?” Barrett pushed his glasses back up and reached for a pen inside his crisply-pressed, black suit. He scribbled a few notes down on the small pad in his other hand. Xi rolled his eyes while Paige sighed and looked at her phone. Art looked on expressionless.

“Somewhere you need to be Deputy Kennedy?” He said turning his glance over to Paige. “I can assure you, I can keep you all in this room for a very long time if I feel like it.”

Paige crossed her arms indignantly, said nothing and looked away pivoting back and forth in her seat.

“You know what?” Barrett said, observing the blonde, ponytailed Marshal’s annoyance. Being from the Bureau for decades, he hated how relaxed the dress-code was at some of the Marshal’s offices. They seemed to believe anything was acceptable as long that silver star would clip to it. Her jeans and leather jacket were a thumb in the eye of the tight-ship he ran at his home office back in Detroit and the little Converse sneakers she wore were too much for him to bear. “Why don’t you tell me where you’re going after this? Since you seem so interested in what’s going on outside this room.”

“Are you kidding me?” Paige snapped with a raised eyebrow.

“Do I look like I’m kidding you?” Barrett shot back.

Paige recoiled slightly and glanced back at her Chief Deputy, She wasn’t sure whether or not she had to tell the FBI anything.

“Paige, just tell him where you’re going.” Art said unfolding his hands after a brief pause. He’d been in the game a long time, longer than Barrett, and he knew when to play chess instead of checkers. He also knew Paige wouldn’t like it, but for the time being, he could sacrifice a little bit of information to keep the Feds out of his office for a while longer. “Agent Barrett here has to get his asshole-fix in for the day and we just wanna make sure he gets his quota.” He thought better of it after the words came out, but sometimes he couldn’t help himself either.

“That’s real amusing, Chief Deputy.” Barrett said cutting his glance back at Art who smiled cordially in return. “It says a lot about the office you’re running here.”

“Old Sol Museum,” Paige said drawing the FBI’s attention back. She respected her Chief and picked up on the scheme he was playing. She knew Sio’s exhibit was being set up and she could use it as an excuse if she needed. “That’s where I’m going.” She said flatly.

“And what are you doing there?”

“Hey, I’ve got a question.” Art said, jumping back in. He could feel the turn coming in the conversation. “If your agents are following Sammy and Nikki in their travels here, then you must be building a case against them.”

“Or you’re trying to protect them.” Xi said. He knew the game too and as an ex-Marine sniper, subtlety was not his strong point. He loved striking the nail firmly on the head.

“If you got a case, Agent, why don’t you let us help you with it?” Art said. He put his hands behind his head and leaned back slightly in his chair. “Might be fun to be on the same side for a change.”

“You know, all I need from you, Chief, and your deputies here, is to back off.” Barrett growled. “Understood?”

“Why?” Paige asked. She could smell the blood in the water. “You afraid I’m gonna tip them off?” She cut her eyes darkly at him and her tone was sharp enough to cut a steel plate: “Or is it because you got a leaky ship, Agent Barrett?”

“I’ve made myself clear.” Barrett said folding up his briefcase. He found himself unable to look back at Paige’s piercing green eyes. He shut the case firmly and walked out.

“Must be some sort of dick test that all the FBI agents have to pass.” Art said watching him walk away through the conference room glass to the elevator.

“He’s just gonna try harder now.” Xi grumbled.

“Yes, he is.” Art said with some exasperation. He rubbed a hand over his face and looked over at Paige who was still watching the agent walk away. “I didn’t think this was gonna result in a visit from the Feebs, Paige.”

“You want me to back off, I’ll back off.” Paige said watching the elevator doors close.

Art sighed and shook his head. There was no way he was going to put her off the hunt, but the presence of the FBI in Sol City was going to significantly complicate his life and he was feeling too old for that kind of shit. “Just make sure whatever you’re doing is actually Marshal business.”

“You were going to see old Mr. Santos, right?” Xi said slyly. The word on the street was that Sol City’s own made-man was scared shitless of a bigmouthed, lady-Marshal.

“Yeah,” Paige said. Her mind was churning through the implications of the Special Agent’s visit, not just for her case against the gangsters, but for herself if they started digging against her and Milo. Her heart beat a little harder inside her chest thinking about him and the danger he could be in. She sighed and her bristled aura relaxed slightly. “I had an interesting conversation with someone who works at that club we pulled CT out of while we were snowed in.” She was still looking away even though the object of her ire was long gone. “I happen to know he’s at a private showing at the museum that I’m going to interrupt. Then I’m gonna bring him in and see what he has to say.”

------------

She didn’t tell the Chief or Xi, but as soon as she stepped out from City Hall towards the parking garage, she called Milo. The time she had hoped for during the winter storm hadn’t exactly panned out the way she wanted. Sure, they had fun. Aoki and Dusty were a riot, but it had only further delayed her want for his company. She’d never allowed herself to feel for anyone as she did for him and wondered if he really felt the same way. It felt like it, though in some of her thoughts she was jealous of Ana and how her and Milo so easily came together, like they were made for each other, a sword and its sheath, while she and Milo were more like gunpowder and lead. She waited for him to pick up as she walked, holding her jacket against the cold air and still squinting behind her sunglasses as the sunlight reflected against the mountains of piled snow. “Hey,” She said as he picked up. He already knew the plan. “I’m headed down to the museum to pick up Elvin if you wanna come up now.”

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SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

@PrinceAlexus

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