To Protect and To Serve

Chapter twenty-two is why this story is rated adult-plus-plus. I had no idea it would be so intense. This is chapter twenty-three (duh) and...a lot of stuff is going to happen as far as I know. My characters always misbehave, frequently take over my stories and sometimes change everything. It's part of what makes writing fun for me. Please DO NOT ATTEMPT OR EVEN THINK ABOUT beating up someone just because Soledad does it. Don't pull out anyone's fingernails just because Naruto did it. Don't do drugs just because Sasuke did them. I am not responsible for any stupid shit anyone might pull because they read this story! It's a lie that a police officer can use lethal force against a convicted felon or criminal if s/he has the approval of one FBI agent. Where I'm from, it's called police brutality and it's a very serious crime. If it is in self-defense, however, lethal force can be and is used, without anyone's approval. Soledad isn't defending herself; she's avenging Angel's death, so it's a crime. As far as the story goes, Soledad knows Naruto's lying. She's so angry. She never would have needed his approval in the first place. I just wanted all three of them to perform various illegal acts that each could justify based on their experiences and emotions...to show that no one person is completely good.

I DO NOT OWN, NOR HAVE I EVER BEEN TO/EXPERIENCED/ETC: The Wildrose Bar, Neighbors bar, R Place bar

-Sasuke-
I understand why Soledad’s face was a mask of shock and anger. I understand why Naruto’s was of deep sadness. We all hate informing people that their loved one is dead. It’s called ruining someone’s life. Apt. I shift slightly. The silence weighs Naruto down. Only moments ago, he launched into a long-ass monologue of what really happened. He’s loquacious. Soledad and I are both blunt—we say only what is needed. Soledad…I fish my phone out of my pocket and scroll to the screen that shows me my most recent calls. For nearly a year, it was always Soledad and also my dealer Shikamaru. In the past three months, that changed to Soledad and Naruto.
Tap.
Tap.
Beep.
She answers on the first ring. “Great. I’m fucking going to become an alcoholic cop. I’ve already got the melancholy and addictive personality.” I hesitate. I’m not impulsive, and I never hesitate. This call was impulsive.

“Do you want Naruto and I to meet you at a bar?”
“Na—oh, Francisco. Are you two together? Why did you punch him, anyway? Nearly knocked him flat on his ass!”
“Answer my questions and I’ll answer yours.”
“Agreed. How about the Wild Rose?”
“Any specific reason you want to go to a lesbian bar?”
“Neighbors, then.”
“Soledad—“
“R Place.”
“I’m not going into a gay bar!”
“Fine,” she sighs. Naruto is laughing his ass off. I grumble under my breath and exhale.
“Let’s just meet back at Elliot Bay, okay?”
“Okay,” she chirps. It’s unlike her to do this. What the hell is her problem?

Same uncomfortable atmosphere, smoky bar. I continue to abstain from ordering cheap, shitty beer so the bartenders can be happy. “You look more pissed off than usual, Sasuke,” Naruto remarks. He takes a sip of his beer and grimaces. Soledad and I laugh. “We warned you!” she crows. “Yeah, the beer here is shitty,” he frowns in defeat. “What a waste of money.”
“So let’s put out jobs on the line and inject some more drama into our lives,” Soledad suggests. Naruto and I stare at her. Weird… “Where are they keeping this gang member with the scar on his arm?” Oh. Naruto gives her the name of the prison without a second thought. She never asks questions like that. We’ve only been partners for ten months, but I’m pretty sure I know her. If I have any suspicion she’s going to do something….but she could just be making meaningless conversation…she doesn’t fixate on criminals, whether they’re suspects or already locked up, like this. She doesn’t need to. Her closure rate is a hundred percent. She closes every case. She’s a kickass detective, and I’m proud to be her partner but—“Hey Sasuke,” Naruto waves his hand at me to get my attention.

“What are you daydreaming about?”
“Uh…case closure rates. Soledad’s is higher than mine.”
“What’s yours?” Naruto’s interested.
“Ninety-five percent.”
“Damn,” he whistles. “Mine’s ninety-one, just barely. What’s yours, Soledad?”
“A hundred percent,” she explains. Calm. Cool. Not bragging, but explaining. She and I try to ask Naruto questions about his role in the FBI, but he gives vague answers or the oft-repeated, “That’s classified.” At one point, Soledad leans back and groans. “How do you talk to this guy over dinner, Sasuke? Or are both of you too busy with work to have dinner together?” Naruto grins hugely at that. I raise an eyebrow. “We eat dinner every night and he does most of the talking. It’s always about other stuff,” I supply. Soledad nods and closes her eyes, reopening them to watch a brawl that has begun on the other side of the bar. Naruto and I watch with her. “It’s nice to be off duty sometimes,” Soledad speaks under her breath and the remark nearly disappears into the crowd. I lean forward.

“I thought he kissed you, so I hit him.”
“No…” she responds slowly, shaking her head. “Wow, Sasuke. I was crying because he told me the gang member with the scar on his arm killed Angel.”
“I realize that now.”
She nods, eyes slightly glazed over. She drank something expensive before coming here. If she’s drunk, she can’t lie… “Why is the penitentiary where the gang member is staying any concern of yours?”
“Unfinished business,” she looks me in the eye, unblinking, voice strong and confident.

The next few days are ones in which snowstorms repeatedly hit Seattle. Naruto stands a ruler up outside one night. In the morning, the ‘eleven inch’ mark of the ruler is barely showing. By Wednesday night, two inches of the compacted snow have melted. One of the rookies asks me if, since it’s Christmas Eve, we get holiday pay. I tell him no, but tomorrow, yes. He nods and shuffles away with a steaming Styrofoam cup in his hands. “Have fun rescuing cars that are stuck,” a detective calls to him. He scowls and walks faster. It’s what beat cops have been doing for the past—week?—since the snowstorms have hit. The last time there was a foot of snow around Christmas time in Seattle was 1861. It’s a hundred and forty-seven years later, and nobody is prepared to deal with it. Naruto and I are both having a lot of trouble getting to work. The snow has to melt. Summer happens every year…

Soledad sits down with a thunk. She’s nervous. Not worried because she’s a little bit late from her lunch hour. Agitated. Not high. “What’s wrong?” someone asks her. “Nothing,” she snaps. I watch as she takes a few slow, deep breaths with her eyes closed. When she reopens them, she’s much more relaxed. “Do you celebrate Christmas?”
“No. You?”
“No. You going to be here tomorrow?”
“Yeah. You?”
“Yeah. The holiday pay is a plus—I can almost pretend I make a living wage.” We chuckle. “And then there’s New Years. Do I stay up till midnight? Skip work? Drink enough coffee to give myself a heart attack? I’m not sleeping enough anyway.” She sighs. “Am I making sense?”
“To me. I haven’t been sleeping well either.”
“But then New Years will be over, it’ll be January second and things’ll go back to normal…eight more days, Sasuke. We can make it,” her voice fades with tiredness. She’s railing against the system and so tired…I am, too. Tomorrow I get holiday pay and Naruto and I will have sex tonight. Her doesn’t celebrate Christmas either.

“Uchiha,” I answer my phone.
“The sex makes up for it again.”
I mumble something I hope sounds positive. “I’ll call you when I’m more awake, Gaara.”
“Okay.” He knows I can’t talk or listen when I’m tired.