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Noxumbra Files

Case 4: The Favor

Part 3

By XP Author

Detective Victor "Tag" Takdt leaned against the back door of the car, radio in hand as he shouted into it. "This is unit 4-8-1, shots fired! I repeat, shots fired! Requesting backup at our location! Over!"

He got a response almost immediately. "Confirmed, unit 4-8-1. Backup is on the way. Over."

The jerboa nodded. "Roger. No casualties yet, but send paramedics, too. Over."

"Roger, unit 4-8-1. Over."

He nodded again, then looked to his friend and partner, Jason Alistar. "Alright. We've got backup on the way. We just have to sit tight until they get here."

The ferret frowned at him. "You kidding, Tag? This guy's probably already climbing out the back. He'll be long gone by the time backup arrives!"

"It's that, or rush inside and probably get shot." He hated when these routine jobs turned into a mess. They had just arrived to question a potential suspect in a murder-rape case. The moment their car pulled up, the bear shouted something and started firing shots out through the window at them with a shotgun. He had taken another potshot after that, but had been quiet since.

Jason growled as he sat, his impatience growing. "Fuck this. We can't wait. I'm going in!" He was up and over the back of the car before Tag could say anything.

"Wait!" He cursed. "Fucking idiot." He grabbed his radio. "Unit 4-8-1, we're engaging with the target. Over." He didn't bother listening for the response, already knowing it would be to tell him to wait for backup. He knew that already, but he wasn't going to leave his partner to go in alone. He got up and started to move around the car. The ferret had already burst through the door and charged inside. He flinched when he heard another gunshot from inside. "Fuck. JASON!"

He bolted into the door, pistol at the ready. He stopped when he saw the scene in front of him. Jason stood in the middle of the living room, his gun pointed out, but his hands were shaking. The ferret had a look of horror on his face. It was clear why. Where he was pointing, there were two bodies. One was the suspect they had come to question, half of his head missing from a self-inflicted shotgun blast. The other was a bear cub, maybe 12 years old, with a fresh bullet hole in his chest. A clean kill shot.

He looked at his partner. "What... did you do!?"

Jason flinched at the voice beside him, his gun still aimed out in front of him, hands shaking even more. "H-He... had a... a gun..." Looking over, he did see a pistol laying beside the kid. It looked real.

He reached out slowly, gently putting his hand on his partner's hands. He felt the man flinch. "Easy... it's over." He reached out to take the gun. The moment he touched it, he got a flash in his head. The panicked grip, the shot, the shaking hands. He blinked several times as he came back to himself a moment later, pulling the gun away from his partner's hands. "Go back to the car."

"I-I..." Jason was clearly in shock, staring at the kid he just killed.

"Jason!" That got the man's attention, though he still looked a little out of it. "Go back to the car. Wait out there for the backup." Jason just nodded, moving away and outside in a daze. Tag sighed heavily, grabbing his radio. "Unit 4-8-1, suspects are down. Two dead. Over."

The inquiry that followed was a mess. There was enough bad press with cops these days, so one killing a kid, even in self-defense, was all over the place. Someone was going to have to be the scapegoat for this one. Tag decided it might as well be him, instead of the younger ferret. He convinced Jason to allow him to take the heat for it, telling internal affairs a story. The two had gone in at the same time, the kid had a gun pointed at them. He grabbed Jason's sidearm and fired the killing shot. It was ruled self-defense, so he would have no legal problems, but it was still enough to end a career.

He turned in his badge to his captain, Susan. She never bought the story, knowing Tag was too cool-headed to shoot a kid like that. However, his story was the official one on record, Jason backing him up, so her hands were tied. She had to accept it. He would never tell her the truth. Or anyone else. And Jason hated him for it. Tag lost more than just his career that day 6 years ago. He lost his friend.

* * *

Now he was telling his old friend and ex-partner a lie right to his face. "So, I found out what happened to Janice."

The ferret looked anxious. The two were meeting in a diner a few blocks from the precinct. Jason had changed into his normal clothes by now, since he had been off duty for a few hours now. "Is she okay?"

He shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Turns out she owed money to the Vatelli family. And old debt from her father's that she took on." He had looked into her father, finding he was a career criminal with ties to the crime family. He had died in prison when Jan was only 3 years old. Probably why she became a cop. "Far as I can tell, they were holding her father's old debt over her like some kind of blackmail."

Jason frowned. "Did they kill her?"

He shook his head. "I can't tell. All I know is that she got picked up after she got off duty. The witness I talked to said she went off with them willingly. She vanished after that and the trail went cold. And I'm not going to start poking my nose into mob territory." He pointed at his ex-partner. "And neither should you. You can report it as an anonymous tip and shoot it up the chain, but you know it'll die before anything comes from it without hard proof."

The cop just grunted. "Yeah..." He just stared at his half-eaten steak. A moment later, he pulled out his wallet and threw a few hundred dollars onto the table in cash. "Here. It'll pay for the meal and your time. I've lost my appetite." He slid out of the booth and stood up. "Thanks for trying, I guess."

Tag nodded slowly. "I'm sorry I couldn't find more..."

Jason grunted. "Save it. I don't want to hear it. No offense... no fuck that, all the offense, but I don't want to see you right now." Tag didn't stop him walking away.

He looked at the money left on the table. He was tempted to leave it there as a tip and make the waitress' night. He hadn't wanted any of the ferret's money in the first place. Not he felt even worse, having to lie to the man. He quietly spoke to himself. "Sorry, Jason..."

* * *

It was past midnight by the time he was coming back into the warehouse. Even if he had only been awake for less than twelve hours, he felt drained. What he had thought would be an easy day turned into something else entirely. He looked around the place, though it was too dark for him to make anything out. He heard some movement nearby and froze. He swiveled his head as he listened, his hand sliding into his pocket to grip his pistol.

"You heard me?" He nearly jumped a foot when Ginny's voice sounded above him. He moved further in and looked up. The rat was perched on the catwalk railing, like she was ready to pounce.

He nodded. "Yeah." He brushed one of his long ears with the back of his hand. "These things aren't just for display."

She hopped down, landing with almost no sound. "I'm impressed." She prided herself on how silently she could hunt when she wanted to.

Tag relaxed a little. "Yeah, well. We're also staking out the lair of a killer snake demon. I'm a little on edge, too."

The rat smirked at him. "Really? You look like you're about to fall over." He was about to protest, but he just nodded. The day really had fatigued him more than he thought. "Go lay down for a bit, take a nap. I'll keep watch and let you know if I see anything. Or go home and sleep. I can handle this."

He shook his head. "I don't leave my partners alone." He was not sure what kind of smile she gave him, but it seemed almost... sweet? It was unlike her, so he guessed it was just a trick of the light. Black fur in a dark room did make her hard to see, even if he did have pretty good night vision. "A nap sounds good, though." He moved to the other side of the warehouse from the door. Slipping his jacket off, he bundled it up to use as a pillow. The cold concrete was hardly the most comfortable, but it was still more comfortable than sleeping in a car tended to be.

Sleep took him quickly, showing just how tired he was. His dreams were strange, as they always were these days. Jason was the snake, banging Janice underwater. He finished, and the tiger was instantly pregnant. Within seconds, they gave birth to an infant version of him, though with his adult face and his normal clothes. They handed him to his mother, who dropped him in the middle of the road and walked away into a wall of flames. His adult-infant self lay in the road, crying, until a black hand reached down to pick him up. Ginny gave him a look that was both motherly and demonic at the same time, caressing his ears and hair. Then she started to poke him in the cheek over and over.

He realized it wasn't the dream. She really was poking him. "Hey." Her voice was a whisper. "Wake up."

He groaned, but managed to keep his voice down. "Ugh... that wasn't long." He looked at the door, just barely seeing the sky outside. It was just before dawn, the light of the sun rising only slightly painting the sky in a haze of reddish black. "Or it was. How long was-"

Ginny put a hand to her lips. "About 5 hours. We've got company."

Tag sat up quickly, the sudden adrenaline spike waking him more rapidly than any coffee. He picked up his coat, fishing for his pistol. "Is it the lamia?"

She shook her head. "No. Footsteps, and the smell of cigarette smoke and alcohol." He closed his eyes and listened hard. He couldn't pick up the scents, but after a moment, he heard the footfalls. Someone was pacing outside between this warehouse and the one beside, walking along the back.

He scowled when he heard a familiar annoyed grumble. "Ah, you've got to be kidding me."

Ginny looked at him in confusion. "What?"

He sighed. "It's Jason. He must have followed me last night."

"I thought you said you told him a story for his partner going missing."

He picked up his jacket and brushed it off. "Yeah, well, he clearly didn't buy it. Can't blame him. It was a shit story I came up with in about 10 minutes. Something about her being picked up by the mob." He pulled his jacket on, stuffing his pistol back into the pocket. "They don't like to make cops disappear. Too much potential heat. Should have come up with something better."

She gave an evil smile. "You want me to scare him off?"

"No." He sighed heavily. "No. I'll go tell him to shove off. We're on a different case, and he's going to fuck it up." He ran a hand through his hair, doing a poor job of straightening it. "Or get himself killed."

The rat nodded, but followed. "I'll stay close anyway. Just in case." He gave a thumbs up, then moved outside.

It was not hard to spot the ferret. He was barely trying to hide himself. Still in his street clothes from last night, the man was angrily pacing down the backside of the warehouses. He tossed a cigarette away, only to pull out a new one and light it. Just as he was passing by the space between two of the warehouses, Tag made himself known. "You know, those things will kill you." The ferret jumped, fumbling at his side to try and grab his gun. He didn't even get it out of its holster before he frowned at the jerboa smugly leaning against the side of the building.

"Fucking hell, Vic. I nearly shot you."

Tag shook his head. "I'd take that seriously if you'd managed to clear your gun from the holster first." He pushed off the wall, keeping his arms crossed, his tone serious. "What are you doing here?"

The ferret scoffed. "Following you, obviously. After that bullshit tall tale you told me about the Vatelli's picking up Jan? Yeah, that was a load of crock. I would have known."

"Because you were sleeping with her?"

Jason flinched. "Wha- How..." He tried to recover with anger. "How dare you!? You know-"

He interrupted. "I went to her apartment, remember? I would have figured it out even without visions."

The cop grunted. "Great, more of your psychic bullshit. Go ahead and tell Internal Affairs you saw in your crystal ball how I'm banging my partner. They'll toss you in a nice padded cell." He spat his cigarette out. "Hell, you probably deserve to be in one."

Ginny stepped around the corner. "Are you two done having your little manly lovers spat out here?"

Jason scowled at her. "Oh great, she's out here, too. The fuck are you two doing out in the abandoned buildings?"

Tag didn't shift his stance at all, though his tail did thrash a little. "We're on a case. One you're currently in the middle potentially fucking up. We're waiting for someone to come by. So go and run on home before you scare them off, if you're pacing around out here like a thug didn't do that already."

The ferret stepped in close, and Tag could smell the alcohol on his breath. "Oh no! I'm sticking around you this time! You're up to some shady shit out here, and I'm tired of the captain letting you get a pass all the time. I'm going to see just what the fuck you and this rat are up to out here, and I'm busting your ass if I don't like it!"

He shook his head. "It's none of your business, Jason. Go home, before-" He froze.

Ginny spoke up. "Tag..."

He nodded. "I heard." In the distance, he heard the sound of something big coming out of the water.

Jason growled. "Alright, what the fuck is up with you t-"

Tag interrupted him again, his tone deathly serious. "Shut the fuck up. We have company. Now either leave, or get inside with us." He turned and followed Ginny back into the warehouse.

Jason was left sputtering, but eventually followed inside. He kept his voice low as the trio moved to hide in the back. The two men did, anyway. Ginny got up to the catwalks in a single, impressive leap. "Damn, she's nimble." He looked at his ex-partner. "Okay, what the fuck is going on?"

Tag shook his head. "I'll explain later. For now, just stay quiet. And keep your fucking head down."

A few minutes later, Tag got his first real look at the lamia. Sea-green scales covered her body, smooth and slightly glistening as they were still wet. She was totally naked, slithering along on a tail longer than he was tall. From nose to tip, he guessed she had to be nearly twenty feet long. Jason just stared, eyes wide as dinner plates. He whispered, his voice barely a breath. "What... the... fuck is that...?"

"My new job, now stay quiet."

The lamia moved in a little more, only to stop in the middle of the warehouse, looking around. A cobra-like hood on her head suddenly flared wide, her tongue flickering out. "Someone is here, I can tell. Both from the door, and the smell." Tag winced, his head suddenly feeling like it was being filled with clouds. He clamped his hands over the base of his ears, signaling for Jason to do the same, which he did. "Come out now, little sneak. I want a look, give us a peak."

Tag winced again. His hands did little to help block out the song, his hearing too keen. He struggled against the command, managing to resist following it, but he still groaned from the strain. The snake turned in his direction, not seeing but hearing. "There you are, you little man. Trying to hide, was that your plan? Come out now, just stop this game. Or I'll come and get you, it's all the same."

He couldn't help himself, even knowing what was happening. He started to rise to his feet, compelled to obey her song. Before he even got one step, Jason was suddenly shoving him back down. The ferret stepped forward, his gun drawn and aimed right at the lamia. "Alright, freeze you... whatever the fuck you are. AFPD. You're under arrest for... I don't know what the fuck yet, but I'll figure that out later!"

The snake tilted her head, moving slowly. "A cop you say, how very fun. Please do me a favor, and drop your gun." Jason did as she sang, letting his gun go, the thing clattering at his feet. He looked down at it, confused about why he just did that. "Stay right there, now don't you move. How foolish you are, I will prove." The ferret found himself unable to move, his mind also feeling clouded.

Just as the lamia was moving closer, Ginny took her moment to strike. She jumped down, dragging her claws down the snake's back, scratching deep grooves into the scales. The monster let out a loud cry, spinning with more speed than even the rat had expected. She had barely landed when the tail smashed into her, sending her crashing to the side and into the wall. "Sneaky! Coward! Little bitch! I'll crush your bones, you stupid witch!"

Ginny stood up, brushing her mouth with a hand. "Bring it on, Medusa." She had one of her wicked smiles. For once, Tag was glad to see it. The rat launched herself forward with speed, slashing at the snake again. She only caught a part of her belly, the tail moved to trip her up again. She used the opportunity to step on the tail, digging the claws on her toes into it. The snake screamed again, thrashing, but Ginny was already gone, moving around to try and get behind her. She moved in close, wrapping her hands around the snake's middle. "What are you doing? Let go at once!"

"Stop these rhymes, you stupid dunce!" Ginny bodily lifted the snake up, tilting herself back to slam the creature's head against the pavement. It reminded Tag of some kind of wrestling move. It didn't seem to be very effective as the snake just moved to coil herself around the rat. Though this also didn't work as intended, as Ginny used her startling strength to hold back the thicker part of the coils. She shifted her grip and stabbed her fingers into the meat, making the snake scream in pain again.

The lamia did manage to get her tail coiled around Ginny's legs. She started to move, whipping herself around, then letting go to hurl the rat away. She went sailing upwards, crashing not just into, but completely through the ceiling and out of the building entirely. "Begone and flee, you a horrid thing. Don't come back, do as I sing!"

The snake had no time to celebrate as the sound of a gunshot echoed around the place. She screamed and flinched, grabbing at her shoulder. Jason had picked up his gun again, aiming it at the creature. It seems her spell on him had broken during the fight. "Stand down or I'll put you down!"

The snake hissed at him angrily. "So very brave you little welp. Unfortunately..." She moved quickly, suddenly whipping her tail out and smashing into the ferret. "You are no help!" Jason was sent flying to the side, crashing into one of the pillars so hard it cracked. It must have been load-bearing, as a moment later, a large section of the catwalk came crashing down around him, burying him in rubble and debris.

"JASON!" Tag cried out, pulling out his own gun, the shock of seeing both of his partners get taken out finally breaking the spell on him.

It did not last long. "Just you and me, one on one. Now stop and freeze, this fight is done!" He froze, as she commanded. He grit his teeth, trying to fight against it, but she continued, her voice invading him to the core. "Stay right there, stop all this here. I'll be sweet, if you're a dear. I'll make it quick, I need to heal. Just do not fight, as you're my meal." He tried to fight anyway, but his body would not listen to him. The snake moved up close to him, her tail starting to coil around him. "You are quite tall, but very thin." She started to squeeze around him, and he felt his bones protest. "But you will sate, once you're within." His ribs started to feel like they were ready to pop, his arms trembling against him. He barely managed to get out a weak scream of pain. He tried to struggle, to find the wounds Ginny had caused. If he could hit one, dig his finger in or something, he might get her to loosen her grip.

The side of the building suddenly burst inwards, metal panels clattering away and skidding on the ground as Ginny burst back inside. "LET HIM GO!" She shouted, her voice dark and gravelly. She had a wild, demonic look in her eyes as she almost flew at the lamia. The creature had no choice but to let him go, dropping him to the floor so she could try and move out of the way. He crumpled to the floor in a heap, gasping and wheezing, clutching at his aching chest.

The snake glared at the rat. "You again, you little beast!? How dare you come and stop my feast!" She lashed out, but Ginny just caught the tail this time, not even flinching. "I will crush you, make no mistake! This time wi-" Her song ended as Ginny's hand moved forward in a flash, digging her fingers deep into the creature's throat. Instead of more song, blood burst from her mouth.

"No more singing, snake!" She ripped her hand back, tearing the creature's throat clean open in an explosion of blood. The lamia gripped at her neck, doing nothing to stop the flow, her eyes wide with fear and pain. Ginny leaped up, slashing at the thing's eyes as she pounced, sending her crashing back onto the floor. She started to slash again and again at the writhing creature, tearing it open, and shouting the whole time. "YOU DO NOT HURT MY FRIENDS!" She slashed another gash into the lamia's chest, carving it open. " YOU DO NOT HURT HIM!" She tore another piece away, ripping at the creature's guts now. " YOU DO NOT LIVE ANYMORE!"

Tag coughed as he forced himself to sit up. He looked at the screaming, seeing Ginny ripping piece after piece of the snake apart. The tail was slashed in many places, the thing's intestines were strewn about the floor around it, its neck was ripped open so far that its spine was exposed, and yet she kept going. The thing had stopped twitching some time ago. It was very clearly dead. "Gi-" he coughed as he tried to speak, his ribs aching at the effort. He forced himself to try again. "Gi-nny..."

She jerked to look at him, teeth bared. Her whole body was covered in the lamia's blood, dripping off of her hands and mouth, having ripped pieces off with her teeth. He saw the look in those crimson eyes. Feral. Vicious. Murderous. Terrifying. Full of fury. She stepped off of the snake, her hands out, looking more like talons, her teeth still bared. "Ginny!" He shouted as loud as he could manage as she stepped closer, only to end up in another coughing fit.

That did seem to snap her out of her rage. She stopped with a jerk. "T-Tag?" She gasped, suddenly rushing to his side. "Hey! Are you alright!?" She was about to reach out, but stopped when she saw just how much of the lamia's blood coated her hands.

He nodded. "I'll live..." He groaned a little as he pushed himself up a little more. His arms still felt like jelly, but his chest was the worst. "I don't... think she broke anything. Bruised, definitely... should go see Sarah later..." He then motioned at the rubble. "Jason's... under there!" She looked at the rubble, then nodded. Dashing over, she grabbed the bigger pieces and flung them off, sending them crashing to the side. She tossed metal off and dug for the ferret, then stopped. "Is... Is he...?"

She reached down and took hold of the man by the shoulders, slowly and gently extricating him from the pile. She laid him down on the floor, then stepped to the side. Tag's heart sank. Jason's eyes were wide, staring ahead at nothing. Several pieces of jagged metal stuck out through him, his shirt coated in blood. Ginny wiped her hand off on her shirt, then reached out to close the ferret's eyes. "I'm sorry." Tag just closed his own eyes, hanging his head. Now he really had lost his old friend.

* * *

He lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling of the infirmary. He had fresh bandages wrapped around his chest, and a splint on his left arm. Nothing was completely broken, but the angel doctor had told him that there was a hairline crack in one of his forearm bones, and several of his ribs were pretty close to the same. She ordered him to stay the rest of the day and not do anything physical for the next few weeks. He could live with that.

"Hey, big-ears." He glanced over as Ginny moved over to his bed. "Heard you'll be laid up for a little while."

He nodded. "News travels fast around here, doesn't it?"

She giggled. "Especially when it's the director's son after helping take down a really powerful beastie! Fighting a naga, even a sub-species, is no small feat."

Tag scoffed, though it hurt to do so. "You did all the fighting. All I did was nearly get crushed to death and eaten."

The rat shrugged in her usual flippant way. "Yeah, well. I think you still helped in your own way. We wouldn't have known the thing was even around and preying on people if you hadn't stumbled across it."

He nodded slowly. "Which I only did thanks to Jason." He looked away as his mind again drifted to thoughts of the ferret.

Ginny winced. "Yeah... I'm still sorry about your friend. Even if you weren't on the best of terms..."

"We never will be now." He smirked. "Unless he comes back as a ghost or something. Guess it's not the most outlandish thing to happen to me in the last few months."

The rat smiled at him. "Then he can be your partner again."

He shook his head. "Nah. He'll probably come back just to haunt me and yell at me constantly."

She looked at him, weighing something in her mind. Finally, she spoke. "Alright, I've got to ask. Just what the hell DID happen between you two?"

He looked at her, seeing the insistent look in her eyes. With a sigh, he answered. "Alright. You earned the right to know. He was my junior partner. We were going to question a suspect, but the guy started shooting. Jason rushed in before backup got there. Turns out, he had handed his kid a gun, then blew his own brains out. Jason just saw 'GUN' and shot, not realizing it was a 12-year-old kid. Killed him on the spot."

"He shot a kid?"

Tag nodded. "Yeah. It was self-defense, but it would still end his career. He had only just made detective a few months prior, and he had good instincts, even with his hot head. I couldn't let a good cop get canned over something like that, so I took the blame. I took the heat and turned in my badge so he didn't have to. He never forgave me for covering for him. Resented owing me. I think he thought I might hold it over him or something. After 6 years, it turned into outright hatred."

Ginny looked down. "But he still died trying to save your life." He didn't say anything. "Hey, that's got to mean something, right?"

After a moment, he spoke quietly. "He was a cop. A good one. He was just doing his job."

She reached out to very gently place her hand on his shoulder. "I think he still cared. You have a way of making your partners care."

He turned to look at her. "Is that why you went totally feral back there?" She flinched. "Because you care?"

She cleared her throat, nodding. "Y-yeah." She frowned. "But don't go reading into that! Like you said, partners don't abandon each other!"

"True, but they don't tend to completely eviscerate someone for each other." He saw her look away again. "Is that... normal for you? The whole revenant thing? To go feral in a bloodlust?"

She stood up, turning away completely. "I should get going before Doc. Sarah throws me out."

He furrowed his brows. "Ginny..."

"Get some rest, Victor." She walked away, leaving him staring at her as she left the infirmary. Now he had even more questions than ever. None of them painted a very good picture, and all of them made him worry even more.

* * *