Persons of interest - (private)

'Person of interest is a phrase used by law enforcement when announcing the name of someone involved in a criminal investigation who has not yet been arrested or formally accused of a crime. This can sometimes result in a trial by media.'

Yuu read allowed from a recent article regarding the Babylon murder. The Nachton Times, courtesy of one Kyle Evans, had the good graces to list almost all the patrons seen there and Club Eternity towards midnight. The early morning had been pierced by the blue and red flashing lights, yellow 'crime scene' tape replaced the decorative streamers. In an unfortunate celebration to skin and sex - one Lucy Lane was found in the alleyway next to Babylon, her throat cut from ear to ear. Things had quieted down a little in the past couple of weeks, save for a few disruptions that led to whispers of self imposed diplomatic immunity from a Russian fellow flying in from South Africa with a well known Nachton CEO in tow and full of bullets. Yuu, however, was told to keep away from that case and her short stay in Nachton had caused her to learn that sometimes, taking advice is better for your health.

Throwing the newspaper on the square, metal interrogation table, she gave the Detective who had caught the murder, one Jacob Misewics, a curt nod. Detective Misewics opened the door and called out to another officer who brought in their first 'Person of Interest'.

'It's,' Yuu checked her folder, 'Aishe Nevrat, is it?'

Aishe was just glad they saw fit to make inquiries at night. How did one explain to the Nachton PD that one was physically unable to accompany them to the station in broad daylight?

She supposed she should be nervous, but curiosity was the emotion she felt most at the moment. She had had a little shiver of insecurity at being approached by anyone in uniform, but it had quickly faded when she realized what the investigation was about. Of course they would want to question everyone who was anywhere nearby. The only thing that did boggle the mind was that she could possibly be considered a 'person of interest.' It was hard not to be insulted... even just a little bit. Was she called that because of her obvious Middle Eastern heritage? She hoped not. She considered herself well above such things, but she did guess that with US security being what it was, perhaps anyone who wasn't born here and raised on beer, hot dogs, and apple pies was immediately suspect.

Aishe herself hadn't even realized what had happened until well after everything had ended. She'd left Club E on Kem's arm... well, literally attached to him. She expected he would get a similar visit... Pak too. She could see that one now. She hoped the terse Thai didn't get herself in trouble with her snappishness.

She nodded to the woman in the room with her. "Yes ma'am." Aishe certainly wasn't about to cause a fuss. She loved mysteries herself, and while she'd never been involved in anything on this scale, she was well aware that even the most casual observation could lead to important evidence. She was already running through the night in her head, over and over and over, trying to recall places, people, faces, names, anything that might prove useful.

Yuu watched the brown skinned woman as she walked into the interrogation room. The fluorescent lights were unflattering even to the most balanced skin, but she still managed to have an air about her that was regal. The detective singled for his partner to join him, a short black woman with piercing light brown eyes. They reminded Yuu of Tai's tawny colored eyes and for a moment, a fleeting moment, she wondered if this wasn't his handy work. Dismissing the thought, she gave Nevrat a small smile and offered her the chair opposite of her and the two detectives.

'Person of Interest is such a heavy term. I prefer, curious bystander with unknown information.' Sitting across from Miss Nevrat, Yuu tucked smoothed her long pencil cut skirt and leaned onto the table with her elbows.

'We're just interested in what you saw last evening. Who you may have seen...your whereabouts and specifically where you travelled within the crime scene.'

Yuu gave her a full smile just then, a warm, reassuring 'I won't eat you alive' smile that always seemed to help put witnesses at ease. At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

Aishe shook her head in the equivalent of a helpless shrug. "We didn't go very far," she said. "We walked along with the parade for a little while, and when we got cold we ducked into Club E for drinks. We were there for a while... I don't know, maybe an hour or so, and then we headed out. By then the rumors were already flying and the mood was a little tense. We didn't hang around."

She couldn't recall anyone or anything that had been notable really. "It was a little difficult to take in everything at once," she explained. "My mask was in the way a lot. Not much peripheral vision."

Aishe didn't envy this Detective her task; how did you pick out the one murderer in a crowd of people in disguise? She couldn't imagine for a second that it would be a simple task. She waited for the next question, but she didn't think she'd seen anything that might help find a killer.

'Hmm, yes...the masks.'

Another pain in the ass, the entire parade and event following had everyone in disguise. It must've just been heaven for the killer. So far all Miss Nevrat had told them was that she hadn't even gone into Babylon. Pretty, but not helpful at all.

'Well then, so you never went into Babylon correct?' She looked at the detectives her gave her a blank expression. Yuu stood up and held her hand out.

'Thank you so much for coming in short notice, Miss Nevrat - and for being so agreeable about meeting in the evening. I've noticed that Nachton seems to revolve around the night time.'

Yuu then smiled.

Well that was short and simple. She'd wondered at first why they wanted to question her in particular, but again... Aishe supposed everyone was a suspect when someone was murdered in cold blood in the middle of a costume parade.

She shook her head at the next question. "No, not once. Not really my kind of scene, regardless of how upperclass and extravagant." She gave a little shrug, half apologetic, almost wishing now that she had gone in. Maybe she'd have been able to observe something useful.

Relieved to be released so easily nonetheless (nothing says 'we had a fun time' like eight hours at a police station), Aishe shook the woman's hand in return and nodded. "I hope you find out who did it," she said earnestly.

Having the 'all clear' to leave, she did so happily. For the first time in quite a while, she really did have places to go and people to see.

((ooc: Aishe out))

As Miss Nevrat left, Yuu leaned against the table and crossed her arms. There were at least a half dozen more names to go through, but it wasn't as if Yuu had anywhere to go. She checked her watch and noted that it was now half past nine in the evening and there were people lined up outside. What is it about this town that insists on functioning past normal business hours?

With a huff, she pulled at the next file, checking the name and recognizing it immediately. 'Ahh, interesting.' It was the elusive Russian diplomat, Iov Hammerthynn.

He had to lower his head just a smidge as he entered the homicide division's bull pin, causing a momentary hush and then quick murmuring.

Humans.

Hammerthynn followed the two police officers back to the interrogation room and stood patiently for them to open it, taking a moment to survey his surroundings. The walls were glass or brushed metal, the detectives where dressed in five hundred dollar suits and state of the art computers on every desktop. Hammerthynn cracked his neck as he was finally let into the small room.

Two females and one male. Hammerthynn immediately dismissed the male who was short and over weight, opting to concentrate on the dark skinned female who put her hand on her gun, albeit casually. His height frightened people but it was probably the eye. It always was.

The little woman in black was Asian with black hair and dark red highlights. This was the assistant district attorney he had heard about. He looked down at her from his six foot five stature and put his hand on the chair opposite of her.

'May I?' He asked politely.

The woman had been leaning against the table, watching him with large round eyes. Her eyebrows had furrowed at the sight of him, but seemed to relax at his politeness. She reached out, offering the chair.

Hammerthynn sat down and put his hands on the able, lacing his fingers together. There were folders and pictures on the table, still images from what looked like the security cameras of both clubs. He looked back over at the Asian woman and noticed she was as tall as he was sitting. This would be fun.

Good god, Yuu thought. It wasn't so much that he was twice her height or that he barely fit into the door frame, but his missing eye and almost suffocating presence made the room feel very small and Yuu, even smaller. She noticed the female detective's nervous tell and from what she could surmise, so did Mr. Hammerthynn. Clearing her throat after he sat down, she introduced herself.

'Mr. Hammerthynn, my name is Shiroi Yuukaku. I'm the assistant D.A. and this is Detective Misewics and Woods. We just have a few questions regarding last evenings unfortunate death.' Mr. Hammerthynn sat stoically in his chair, his good eye narrowed in on her face and it made her almost a little uncomfortable. She had considered sitting down but preferred to stand since it kept her at eye level with him. Shrugging her shoulders to loosen the cloth that felt like it was tightening, Yuu tried to regain some of her composure.

'But first, are you the same Iov Hammerthynn who just recently returned to the country?'

Hammerthynn's lone grey eye looked over the ADA with little interest and as if dismissing her question, he looked down at the folders on the table. Reaching out he opened them, fanning out the pictures. Surveillance taken from the cameras in Babylon. Random faces, gyrating bodies, his long fingers pushing pictures out of the way till finally...

'She asked you a question.'

Hammer flicked his eye up. It was the fat one. With a long finger, Hammerthynn pulled one picture away from the stack and pushed it towards the ADA, not breaking his stare from the fat detective who noticeably shuddered.

Hammerthynn now turned his glare onto Shiroi Yuukaku. 'This one. Have you identified this one?'

It was a picture of a woman and a startled man. She was walking past him, her mask removed revealing two very angry green eyes.

Yuu's eyes narrowed at the large man as he ignored her question and started to peruse through the pictures. She opened her mouth to repeat her question when Detective Misewics cut her off. She mentally rolled her eyes as Mr. Hammerthynn pushed one picture in particular towards her. Yuu looked at it - a man and a woman.

'No,' she said, turning the picture around. Shaking her head, the man didn't seem worthy of any interest. Yuu tapped her finger on the picture. Random, uninteresting, anonymous man. 'Not yet.'

Useless.

Hammer pulled his hand back and laced his hands in front of him. His missing eye twitched with a random tic. The gaping hole winked at Yuu, appraising her. With a deep breath, Hammer spoke quietly.

'I was only in Babylon for a short time. I walked in, met a rather enchanting waitress, had a lovely conversation with said waitress and then I passed those two on my way out.' He shrugged, blinking his good eye at her.

Hammer waited a moment and then stood, causing everyone in the room to take a step back. He straightened his suit and gave the ADA a nod. He knew full well that he wasn't being held and was there by choice, so after answering the only question they could pose to him, he decided to take his leave. Putting his hand on the door, Hammer stopped a moment and then turned back to the ADA.

'And I'm sure, Miss Yuukaku, that you already know who I am.'

With that, Hammerthynn opened the door to the interrogation room and exited.

((ooc Hammer out))

Captain Hughes looked up and waved in the new ADA. He had just been reading over her file sent down from the DA himself along with a note to cooperate with the up and coming lawyer. The blond Captain ran his hand through his flat top and walked around desk, extending his hand.

'Miss Yuukaku?' He had gone to great pains to learn how to correctly pronounce her name. A cop though he was, he didn't need to be an asshole too. 'I'm Captain James Hughes. Major Case is under my supervision. Welcome to Nachton.'

He pulled out a chair and offered it to her. She was holding her files presumably about the killing that happened at the new exotic club Babylon on the strip. The higher ups in the new Mayor's office was escalating the murder to Major Case. It wasn't up to Hughes to figure out why, just that it was now being placed on his plate along with the Hillman inferno, the previous Mayor's mansion bombing and about fifty other high profile cases. So now he has to break in a new ADA and solve her pet case.

God he loved his job.

Yuu was pleasantly surprised at the Captain's ability to pronounce her name correctly and gave him a charming smile as she settled down into his offered chair. He was polite, handsome and was eager to speak to her about the elevation of her case to Major Case.

She wondered how long that would last.

'I'm here to discuss the Babylon murder case, as you know. Has this been assigned to your detectives yet?' The captain remarked that it had been and they were in fact out on a lead.

'Really? What lead?' The captain went on to explain that about a half hour before she arrived they were notified of another murder outside Babylon. Mentally Yuu sighed to herself; she had hoped that it wasn't going to turn into a serial killing but with violent crimes against women, that's just how some cases turned out.

Her ears perked as the Captain continued on stating that there were in fact two dead bodies and one witness. She was surprised to hear that this live witness wasn't the murderer and said so.

'How do you know that this witness didn't do it?'

OOF!

Kyle was unceremoniously slammed up against the door to Interrogation room #1.

'Fucking OPEN it first - YOU'LL HEAR FROM MY LAWYER!'

Handcuffed, covered in dirt, someone else's blood splatter on his two hundred dollar shirt and seriously needing a big drink, Kyle loudly complained as he was ushered into the room. It was one he was familiar with, considering they all looked the same. A 10 by 15 room, one table and usually two chairs. One cop almost always stands up and leans over the perpetrator while the other sits across the table, looking at either an opened manilla folder or a small baggie - presumably with your hair found on said dead person's body.

'You want to hit me now or wait till I sit down?' Kyle asked with an indignant snort.

'Oh you have got to be kidding me.'

Yuu stood just on the other side of the one way mirror watching the reporter Kyle Evans act like a ridiculous baby. There was no way he was the killer, Yuu figured he didn't have the balls for it. He was apparently a witness to the murder, but did he kill the killer?

Yuu answered her own question. 'No, he didn't kill anyone. He's too stupid.'

Captain Hughes laughed as his two detectives on the case joined them in the room. Yuu continued to watch Evans as the three detectives talked amongst themselves. She listened to them as she shook her head.

'What does he say?'

One of the detectives took out his notepad. 'He says he wants his lawyer.' The detective closed his notepad and gave her a bland look.

Yuu rolled her eyes. With Kyle lawyering up, she couldn't talk to him without violating 10 different laws. She wondered just who was his lawyer anyway, maybe she could get to him through the two bit flea bag that was undoubtedly his defense lawyer. Yuu narrowed her eyes.

'Fuck it. Let me talk to him.'

Captain Hughes opened his mouth to object but stopped as Yuu continued.

'I'll get him to waive his right, it's not like he's under arrest anyway.' She waved her hand and straightened her skirt as she walked next door to the interrogation room and pushed on the door. The second she poked her head in, Kyle began his regaling of his civil rights.

'Shut up, you idiot. You're not under arrest. We just want to know what happened. Waive your fucking right to a lawyer and tell me why you, of all people, were there?'

The Asian high queen bitch had spoken, Kyle thought to himself as he watched the small little package erupt like Pompeii. She had this way of making him use too many analogies and poorly, at that. Kyle's clear blue eyes narrowed at the ADA, looking her up and down. He finally leaned forward and spoke in a hushed voice.

'I have this way this...bad luck, as it were, with being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's uncanny. Seriously. I could tell you stories.'

Kyle leaned back and nodded, his handcuffs clinking against his metal chair which reminded him that he was currently in custody and bound...but also required to have the presence of counsel.

'I think both you and I know that anything I say now isn't admissible, but what the hell, I've seen enough Law and Order and CSI to know that you have dick against me. So sure, I'll wave my right to a lawyer. I'll answer all your pretty little questions...but you're not going to believe me.'

Kyle stood slowly and turned his back to the assistant district attorney, motioning to the cop present to remove his cuffs. The Asian woman didn't speak but instead looked at the cop who immediately moved to release him from his binds.

'God...damn-it.' He snapped at the cop as he purposely snagged a piece of his skin while taking the cuffs off. Kyle muttered under his breath a rather colorful expletive as he rubbed the raw skin on his wrists. He planted himself back in his chair and glared up at Miss Yuukaku who was sitting prettily on the edge of the desk. She had not spoken at all, instead she waited patiently for him to speak.

Indignant still, Kyle cocked his head toward the cop and bitched, 'Tell butterball here to split.' The ADA again looked at the cop who left without breaking Kyle's stare. 'And I'd like a diet cherry coke.'

Miss Yuukaku blinked slowly at Kyle who cleared his throat and rolled his eyes. 'I was walking out of Babylon, minding my own business, happy and full. I had had a rather pleasant hamburger that cost me sixteen dollars and fries that were just about worth it. I check for a cab. I gots nothing, so I decide to cut back behind the joint and look for a cab on a neighboring street. Little did I know that I'd interrupt Ike Turner smacking up on one of the talented Tina's. I then run like a girl...no, I am not proud...the next thing I know...'

Kyle stopped there, having still not been able to come up with a reason explaining the killer being stuck like a pig and disemboweled like Cannibal Sunday. Then it occurred to him - sometimes the truth just sounded worse than a lie.

'Next thing I know this vampire came out of nowhere and ate Mr. Serial Killer. The pretty boys in blue showed up and it disappeared.'

Kyle crossed his arms and looked at Miss Yuukaku, giving her his best shit eating grin ever. 'I told you you wouldn't believe me.'

'I am shocked. Just shocked.'

The smugness left Evan's face as Yuu looked at him from across the table. She took a step back and another police office came in, handing her the manila file that contained the pictures taken from Babylon. She laid it flat in front of Evans and opened it to the one picture Iov Hammerthynn had pointed out.

'Is this the mangled piece of flesh that we scraped off of the ground in the alley way where we found you?'

She watched Evans lean forward and take a look at the picture. He did a curious thing then; Evans stiffened in his chair, his mouth opening just a bit and she saw panic cross his face and then it was gone. Yuu thought a moment.

'Point him out, please.'

Yuu waited and after a few moments Evans reached out and pointed to the male figure in the picture. Nodding, Yuu gathered up the folder and slipped off the desk. Evans was quiet now, his pupils dilated and she noticed a thin sheet of sweat forming on his top lip. With a smile Yuu thanked him and excused herself.

'I'll be right back.'

Her heels clicked as they touched the ground again and she let herself out of the interrogation room. Tapping the folder against her lips she walked back into the viewing room next door. Captain Hughes stood with his hand on his hip, leaning against the one way mirror.

'Well?' He asked.

'Did you see it?'

Captain Hughes looked at her oddly and shrugged. 'See what?'

Yuu walked over and stood in front of the one way mirror, watching Evans sitting quietly at the table. No ruckus, no yelling - he was completely docile. Curious, she thought.

'When I asked him to point out the individual.'

Hughes waited, again shrugging.

'His hand was trembling.'

The Captain let out a long sigh. 'He is an alcoholic.'

Yuu shook her head, 'No, he hasn't had a drop. Look at him. He is an alcoholic so if he's drinking, we'd smell it. I didn't smell anything but the greasy hamburger he ate for dinner. No, something else is freaking him out.'

Crap.

Kyle put his elbows on the table and rested his face in his hands. He began to rub it furiously as she tried to get the picture of Ellis eating the killer out of his head. Not wanting the ADA or anyone else on the other side of that mirror seeing the fear on his face, he kept his hands on it while he tried to think up a decent lie.

In about 30 seconds she was going to walk back in and ask who the woman was in that picture because she's going to know that whoever it is scares the shit out of him. He didn't realize what the ADA was doing asking him to point out the killer in the picture until he saw his own hand trembling. Ellis was on the edge of that photo surrounded by a group of people but it was her face and the killer's you could see fairly well.

Fuck me, Kyle thought. How the hell was he suppose to know she had a picture of the fucking vampire IN QUESTION? Kyle lowered his hands and slumped in the chair. 1....2...

Shiroi Yuukaku walked back into the room and threw the picture down again on the table. Before she could open her mouth he spoke.

'I want my lawyer now.'

This place, Nova thought, was crawling with cops. She supposed this made sense, but by god, Evans owed her one. Sighing, she paid the cab driver (as her car was in the shop to fix a dent, courtesy of one Ernest, Private Dick) and headed inside. Behind her, a short, bespectacled man in his late thirties struggled to keep up. Jesus, cops and lawyers. And Evans was skeptical of the company she kept -before- all of this.

When she'd gotten the call she hadn't asked questions, because she understood that sometimes a body just needed some help without the bullshit, but now that she was here she wanted some damn answers. She especially wanted to know why Kyle was in an interrogation room instead of a cell. Kyle's lawyer harped on this point quite a bit at the front desk while Nova glared at passers by. Finally the little man was allowed through, but Nova was ordered to wait out front. Annoyed, she snatched the briefcase out of the lawyer's hand.

"My -assistant- will probably need me present,"Â? she said, looking down her nose at the officer on duty. Ew. Posing as a lawyer, she was -so- taking a shower when she got home. "And I think my client would like to see his attorney now, -if- you don't mind."Â?

The officer looked her up and down, from her banana yellow tee shirt to her neon green chucks, and rolled her eyes before buzzing them both in. She was at least in the vicinity now, though whether or not she could get any further remained to be seen.

/ooc Lemmie know if anything isn't copasetic. Hey, 'copasetic isn't in spell checker. I swear it's a word!

Yuu watched from Captain Hughes office as Evan's lawyers entered the bull pin on their way to his interrogation room. Pushing off the door frame, Yuu approached the two and raised her eyebrows. Wordlessly she slowed down long enough to get their attention and proceeded down the hallway to the rooms. Yuu opened the door without knocking and walked in, the male and female behind her.

She looked at Evans for a moment as he tapped his fingers on the metal table. Yuu reached out and scooped up the picture in question, making sure that his visitors saw the photo before tucking it underneath her arm and exiting. With a rather bland look at Evans, she put her hand on the door knob and closed the door slowly.

'Meh.'

Kyle gave the ADA an annoyed look as she purposely showed Nova, and who he assumed was, his lawyer. As the door closed softly, Kyle stood up, straightening his shirt.

With a slow blink, 'Can we go? I sorta want to wash this blood off me.'

Kyle looked a mess. That probably wasn’t the most tactful thing to fly through Nova’s head, but she’d never been much for delicacy and it wasn’t like she was wrong anyway. He looked like he had been through an ordeal, which he had.

Her eyes widened a little at the photo and both eyebrows went up. So Ellis was behind whatever mess Kyle had gotten himself into now. Why was that not surprising? Worried, she resisted the urge to climb up his tall frame and wrap her legs around him like a portable human shield and instead nodded in response to his question.

“I think so…er…” Wow, she sucked at being a lawyer. She looked to the real lawyer, who calmly told Kyle that since he wasn’t being charged with anything he was indeed free to go. Now if the DA’s office wished to ask Evans further questions they would have to go through him – he would arrange the details.

She blew out the breath she was holding, knowing it wouldn’t help Evans if she said a few choice words about police brutality and motherfucking powertripping prosecutors, and pushed open the door.

“Yeah. Let’s get you home.”

Kyle opened the door and ushered Nova out. Before closing the door, he pointed at the lawyer and grumbled. 'You...sue someone for me.'

Closing the door he took Nova by hand and started to walk quickly down the hallway, back through the bull pen, out of the Major Crimes division. On the way he shot the young ADA a dirty look and then whispered to Nova.

'I don't have to ask if you managed to see that picture on the table. Wanna explain just what in the hell is what's her name doing eating people and leaving me to take the blame? I thought your golden boy killed her? What the fuck, seriously?'

Kyle was beyond nervous, but he wasn't sure if it was because he could potentially be blamed for a double, if not triple murder or that the woman they called Ellis was alive. Thinking back to that Thanksgiving holiday raid on Hillman's warehouse was enough to unsettle him even further. He had watched her tear grown men with big guns apart and splatter him with enough blood to ruin a perfectly good outfit - well, except for the gunshot holes in his turtleneck. What the hell was going on?

He was not having a good day.

The lawyer seemed content to do as asked and find someone to sue, which was fine by Nova. Kyle’s civil rights had probably been violated one way or another, though she couldn’t have said how. The point was that the man was always keeping them down.

They made their way hastily through the hallways, though Nova was inclined to agree with Kyle’s hurry – she didn’t want to be here any more than he did. She frowned at his furious whispering, not sure how much she could reveal, but considering he’d seen Ellis with his own two eyes it wasn’t as though she could bullshit him otherwise.

“Don’t call him that,” she said, reflexively and without any real venom. She was fairly used to Evan’s attitude toward her creator but still felt the need to voice her disapproval. “And yeah, believe me I had a double-you tee eff moment there too…but she’s back. And I don’t know what she’s got against you, but…” She trailed off, considering. “…maybe it’s not a grudge at all. She could have easily killed you but she didn’t.”

Her cheek twitched a little at the thought of Evans getting killed and she turned her attention to calling for a cab rather than contemplating that possibility any more. Scrolling for the number as they walked, she wrapped her hand around Kyle’s arm in lieu of watching where she was going.

“I don’t think there’s any way you’re going to end up taking the blame for anything. That lawyer guy will get you free and clear and if that doesn’t work…we have some influence.”

That wouldn’t change the blood on his clothes or wipe away what he had seen. Feeling useless, she found the number and dialed, as she really didn’t know what to say.

'Does influence mean you'll eat someone because I really don't want to know about it if that's what it means. Really. Not a turn on at all.'

Kyle grimaced as he waited for Nova to make her call. He reached up and rubbed the stubble on his face and sighed just as his watch went off. Automatically, like Pavlov's dog, he reached into his breast pocket and dug out his bottle of happy pills.

'When can I stop taking these, by the way? It's been like a year, right?' It had been over a year and he took his pills diligently - at least Duibine Industries kept refilling the prescription so he kept taking them. He popped two pills and tucked them back into his pocket. He probably didn't need them anymore, but he was too afraid to stop taking them. If he was addicted, he was grossly disappointed by the nonexistent uber euphoria that most illegal drugs gave you. Kyle would almost rather be chewing on a chiclet to be honest.

None to patiently, Kyle tapped his foot as Nova made her call.

Nova frowned and answered Kyle’s question a bit shortly while the phone rang.

“Finish the bottle and you’re done.”

The receptionist answered the phone on ‘done’, and Nova went about getting a cab to come to the courthouse and get them. Once she hung up the phone and clipped it back onto her belt loop, she turned back to Evans, pulling out the elastic that held her hair back and retying it as she spoke.

“Er, hopefully, I should say. You’ve been tapered off pretty slowly – what you’re taking now is a very low dose – but if you have any kind of problems with cravings we can put you back on the starbursts. Just, you know…let someone know if you’re having problems.”

By this point they were outside, waiting. Nova explained, with a trace of annoyance, why they had to get a cab.

“Sorry. My car’s in the shop. It got…dented.” Deciding Evans probably didn’t want any more details, she concluded with a shrug. “So where’s yours? We can pick it up or just say fuck it and get you to a shower – up to you. Should only take about ten minutes for the cab to show up.”

She probably would want her car back before she got washed up, but he might have different priorities.

Kyle snorted at Nova's question. 'A car? I'm a recovering alcoholic, babe. I haven't driven a car in years. You should've told me you were calling a cab, I'd have called with my direct line.'

If anyone would be proud of being such a ridiculous drunk that he had a dedicated line to a taxi service, it would be Kyle Evans.

He flashed her a proud smile just as their chariot approached. 'I think I'd like to take a shower and I'd like to take it above ground, not half a friggin mile in the dirt.' Then without warning he grabbed Nova and heaved her over his shoulder like a proud caveman. He not so delicately deposited her into the back of the cab and then pounded his chest.

'Me 'Person of Interest', you 'girlfriend who bails me out'!' Jumping into the cab, Kyle shoved Nova over to make room for his legs and he shut the cab door thus concluding a very long and very eventful night of strippers, murder, vampires and dry cleaning bills.

(ooc Nova and Kyle out))