[deathcurse]

Double post!

RadiantBeam + deathcurse + any story = ANGST!

Somehow, these Logs started developing plot...and seriousness...and angst, of course...! This begins a story arc in the Logs!

RB and dc proudly present: Case File: Runaways

Daily Activity Log of Officers F. Testarossa and N. Takamachi

Spoiler for Log #3: Runaways, part 1:

UCPD Log: 2-1-20XX
Officers: F. Testarossa and N. Takamachi
Case File: Runaways

“I said I was sorry!”

Fate continued to drive, ignoring her passenger.

“Come on, Fate-chan!”

Fate was still ignoring her.

Nanoha groaned. "Look, come on. At least I didn't set the whole building on fire, right?"

Silence greeted her.

"... You're cold, Fate-chan."

“ARGH!” Fate snarled, slamming on the brakes. A bunch of honking ensued behind them, but when Fate flipped the switch for the patrol car’s lights and siren all the honking stopped immediately as if they had been flipped off. Turning off the siren and lights, Fate glared at the traffic around them as they politely inched by while she pulled the parking brake.

At Nanoha, Fate jabbed a finger in Nanoha’s chest. “Because of YOU, we’re just one infraction away from being benched to deskwork and traffic duty for a week! Why did you have to throw that woman off the roof?”

“I didn’t throw her off the roof, I merely dangled her over the edge for just a moment—”

“You threatened to drop her!”

"Like I was actually going to do it!"

"Whether or not you were going to do it isn't the point!" Fate snapped. "Hayate, Yuuno, and I can only keep the Chief off your back for so long, Nanoha!"

Nanoha shrugged, scratching her nose. "It's not like I'm planning to kill anyone."

The blonde groaned. "I know you won't, but Chief doesn't. And with the way your father and brother died before you even came onto the force..."

Fate knew almost immediately that she'd said the wrong thing. At the mention of Shiro and Kyouya, the blood completely drained out of Nanoha's face, her eyes going wide and pained. Cursing herself, Fate dropped her forehead to the steering wheel.

"... Look, I... no. No, that was wrong. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

“No, you shouldn’t have.” Nanoha crossed her arms, looking out the side window. While she brooded, Fate started the car again, continuing to their punishment case. Nanoha cranked her seat back and put her feet up on the dashboard, commenting in her normal tone of voice again, “You owe me cake.”

“Yeah, I owe you cake,” Fate admitted. “I’ll pull over when we pass by a cake shop, okay? But can you please read the case file aloud while I drive?”

"Fine, but don't lose it if I mispronounce some stuff." Nanoha reached over to grab the file, then paused. "Say, Fate-chan..."

"Hmm?"

"We're still allowed to leave the car for patrol, right?"

Fate blinked, baffled. "Yes, why?"

"Good." Ignoring the second half of Fate's question, Nanoha undid the belt, opened the door, and streaked out in one fluid motion, disappearing into a nearby alley before her partner could even react.

“Shit!” Fate swore, hitting the brakes again. This time traffic had gotten wise, and no one had been tailgating the cop car. “I’m going to kill her! Nanoha!” As if mocking her, the passenger door slammed shut as the car screeched to a halt. Gritting her teeth, Fate wound down the side window, yelling across the seat, “Nanoha!”

The brunette was either too far gone to hear her partner, or was simply ignoring her if she could. Swearing again, Fate hastily undid her belt and scrambled out of the car. "Dead woman; you're a dead woman when I catch up to you, Nanoha!"

It didn't take her long; the alleyway her partner had disappeared into was straight and narrow, an easy path to follow. Fate appeared just in time to see Nanoha casually drop a teenage boy at her feet. "Fate-chan, we've got a charge of attempted rape here," she said cheerfully, giving the whimpering boy a soft nudge with her foot. Glancing to the side, she smirked. "And that is how you deal with attackers."

Seeming absolutely terrified, the tiny pink-haired girl slowly nodded, her blue eyes wide and just a little scared.

Fate sighed and nudged Nanoha over to the unconscious boy. “Get him back to the car. In one piece, mind!” She removed her jacket and draped it gently around the girl, crouching in front of her with her kindest smile. “Hi, I’m Officer Fate Testarossa. What’s your name?”

“Caro,” the girl mumbled.

Studying their foundling, Fate came to some quick conjectures. Normally, she would ask Caro where her house was, being gentle to keep her confidence as they were taught to do with runaways. But something about Caro’s mannerisms put Fate in mind of something familiar…Damn, Fate hoped that this poor girl wasn’t like another lost girl, ten years ago… “Caro, would you like to come have some cake with us?”

Caro looked confused and off guard at the unorthodox question. Fate mentally sighed, knowing that she had been right.

“Um…” Caro shifted, trying to reassemble her defences and come up with some new story. She chewed her lip, and her reddened eyes blinked tiredly. She was upset about something, Fate surmised, but she’s scared to admit it…Fate held out her hand.

“Would you like to come have some cake with Nanoha and me? I made Nanoha upset earlier, so I’m buying.”

Caro blinked, her tiny body slowly relaxing as she realized she wasn't about to be manhandled or cruelly questioned. "Nanoha?"

"My partner." Fate jerked her thumb back towards the brunette. "She was the one who saved you from that thug."

"Oh..." Caro blinked again. "I... I see. Thank you." She swallowed, her hands tightening around the jacket Fate had draped over her shoulders. "Cake... would be nice. I'll have to thank Nanoha-san, too."

Fate frowned. Something about Caro's mannerisms....

With a jolt, she suddenly remembered: she'd seen this girl in the deli, before the shooting, and Nanoha had mentioned how the thugs were after kids. She'd been with a boy, about her age, with spiky red hair...

So why was she alone now?

When they approached the car Nanoha straightened from where she had been sitting on the hood, stumbling slightly when she noted Fate’s discreet hand signal for cautious questioning. “Hi,” she smiled at Caro. “I’m Nanoha.”

“This is Caro,” Fate told her, then patted Caro’s shoulder. “Do you want to ride shotgun with Nanoha?”

“Um…” Caro hesitated.

“Please?” Nanoha made a begging face, looking like a forlorn puppy. “If you don’t want to ride with me, Fate will make me sit in the backseat.” Leaning in close, Nanoha whispered conspiratorially, “Fate-chan’s really nice to kids, but she’s so mean to her partner!”

Caro giggled, and Fate scowled at Nanoha but winked at her too. “If you keep grumbling, I’ll only buy Caro-chan cake, and let her eat it in front of you!”

Nanoha sniffed. "I can always ask my mother to make me cake," she shot back. "And if I ask her nicely, she won't give you any."

At that, Caro blinked. "Your mom can make cakes?"

"Only the best cakes in the whole city." Nanoha grinned, always pleased to brag about Momoko. "Onee-chan is getting better, but she still can't hold a candle to Mom."

“Just get in the car, you,” grumbled Fate, but she smiled at Caro. “Go ahead and sit on Nanoha’s lap. If she’s bad, you can smack her on the head for me.”

“You two don’t seem like partners,” Caro smiled. “You fight a lot.”

Fate started the car and smirked at Nanoha. “It’s how we first became partners. Trust me, we’re used to it.”

Thankfully, Midori-ya wasn’t too crowded. Bad for their business, Fate supposed, but good for her to try and pry answers out of the shy and nervous Caro.

Unfortunately, for the time being questions would have to wait as Nanoha separated herself from her partner and Caro and immediately rushed to the counter, meeting her mother halfway as her sister leaned casually against the counter.

Takamachi Momoko was a woman who didn't look her age; even now, she could easily pass for a woman in her twenties, still young and fresh as she faced the world. The only physical signs of her hardships were the lines around her eyes.

Fate had to admire Momoko. It wasn't easy to lose a husband and son to the force, and then be willing to let her daughter join when she was old enough. It had probably helped, in the long run, that Miyuki had chosen to teach at the dojo instead of also following in Shiro's footsteps and becoming a cop.

Once again, Fate was grateful that most of Nanoha’s—and unfortunately, by extension Fate’s—reckless exploits were contained within police records only. As many people that she and Fate managed to save, as many crooks that they managed to bring down, none of that would be worth bringing more stress to this remarkable woman.

“Nanoha!” Momoko embraced her youngest daughter closely, and gave Fate a hug as well. “Fate, it’s good to see you both. And who’s this?” She smiled down at Caro, who turned shy and hid behind Fate’s leg.

“This is Caro-chan,” Fate introduced. “Caro, this is Momoko-san, Nanoha’s mother.”

“Caro-chan, nice to meet you.” Momoko crouched down and tapped the display case full of cakes and pastries. “Do you see anything that you like? The chocolate mousse cake is really delicious—or do you like cheesecake?”

Trusting Momoko to win Caro over, Fate turned to greet Miyuki. “Good afternoon, Miyuki-san. How are you lately?”

Miyuki raised a brow, amused. "Nice greeting for a woman who's known you since childhood, Fate-chan."

"She's always like that during work hours, don't mind her." Nanoha all but glided to Fate's side, completely relaxed and at eased with what remained of her broken family. Leaning over the counter, she kissed the black-haired woman lightly on the cheek. "How have you been, Onee-chan? Any students in the dojo getting the better of you?"

Miyuki snorted. "They only wish. I can't wield a sword as well as Dad or Kyou-chan did, but I can defend our family title against kids who don't know the full weight of it." She smirked. "Pity you chose guns. You've got the body and personality for a sword, Nanoha."

Fate shuddered. "Don't give her ideas."

“I’ve got enough ideas already,” Nanoha grinned.

Momoko came over then. “That’s a troubled little girl. Be gentle.”

“I know,” Fate smiled crookedly, her own bad memories surfacing for a moment before fading again. She wandered to where Caro was eating her cheesecake, taking a seat beside the girl. “Delicious right?”

While Caro was considerably more relaxed than she'd been in the alleyway, the moment Fate had sat down and asked the question the girl’s body language changed. Her shoulders hunched and she eyed Fate with a mistrustful suspicion, her hands tightening around her food as if she expected Fate to seize it from her. And Fate was projecting her nicest personality too—this girl had encountered her fair share of cops before, Fate was willing to bet.

"It's all right," Caro allowed. "Momoko-san is a good baker."

Momoko smiled proudly.

“It’s funny, how Momoko-san is so good at cooking,” Fate said, giving Nanoha a taunting look, “and yet Nanoha keeps setting off the smoke alarm.” She watched Caro, thinking hard. She and Nanoha had cracked more than one tough-acting kid with good cop/bad cop routines (probably because Nanoha could be a scarily bad “bad cop”), but it didn’t feel right for this situation. And there was the trouble of the missing boy…

"Hey, I've gotten better," Nanoha huffed.

"You used to burn water." Miyuki gave her sister a flat look.

"I said I've gotten better! Want me to prove it?"

Momoko rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Now, now, you two. How old are you again?"

Watching them, Caro giggled softly.

“I don’t know about me, but Miyuki would be old, ne, Onee-chan?”

Ignoring Nanoha—Fate was well versed in this skill—Fate said to Caro, “Caro-chan, are you done your cake?”

Caro nodded, pushing the last forkful of cake into her mouth.

“Okay,” Fate said, leaning on her elbows. “Do you mind if we stop by the police station? You see, there’s a guy in our backseat who belongs in jail, so we’re going to drop him off. Is that okay with you?”

No matter how gentle, it was too fast, too soon.

Hastily, Caro pushed the plate away and got to her feet. "No, thank you. I promised I'd meet one of my friends, and I'll be late if I stay here long." She gave a hasty bow. "Thank you for the cake, Momoko-san. It was delicious."

With that, the pink-haired girl made her escape.

Shit. This was not how Fate wanted things to go, but from what she knew of the streets and street loyalty, if Caro was on her own then the red-haired boy was in serious danger. If she had to change her game, then she would.

Nanoha was on top of things already—gently but firmly, she caught Caro, gripping her in a hold that would prevent Caro from struggling or hurting anyone. “Whoa, there, don’t rush to go. See, Fate-chan didn’t want to scare you, but the truth is, sometimes guys like him get to walk unless we get proper statements from the victim—or would-be victim.” Caro was still struggling, but Nanoha continued patiently, “So we need your help to make sure that no one else would get hurt by this guy. Can you help us?”

Caro remained panicked, and Fate couldn’t stand it anymore. She got up and left, walking outside into the chill air. Shit—she slammed the side of her fist into the wall, gritting her teeth. God, Fate hated cases where there were kids involved. All cops were taught to be objective, to not let their feelings get in the way, but Fate had always sucked at that part of training.

Too many memories, too many times when she had to deal with dead or broken kids—and now if she couldn’t get Caro to trust her, there would be another dead child cast in the harbour.

How ironic—Nanoha being the rational, calm one while Fate itched to bust down all the addresses on the cop shit-list with her gun and get names the hard way.

Fate barely even stirred as Nanoha came outside, casually leaning against the car, resting a soothing hand on the blonde's back. The usually more reserved woman took a deep breath. "Where's Caro-chan?" she asked softly.

"With Mom and Onee-chan. Mom tempted her back with some hot chocolate." Nanoha started to quietly rub Fate's back. "I know how you feel, Fate-chan, but we won't get anything out of her tonight."

"But—"

"No buts." Nanoha's voice was soft, but sure. "She's scared, and she doesn't trust us enough. She's had a rough time of things." The brunette glanced at her partner. "I've seen those eyes before.”

Fate grunted, the note disgruntled and turning rueful at the end.

“The best we can do for her right now is give her a roof over her head and a warm place to sleep. I already volunteered to take her back to my apartment tonight, so you can come by and keep an eye on things if you want," Nanoha offered.

“It’s fine.” Fate brushed at her sleeve—it was cold, and Caro was still wearing her jacket. “Get Miyuki to drive you and Caro to your place, I’ll take the guy in and deal with that.” And also deal with Chief Grahem’s punishment for not finishing the case they were supposed to have been doing today…actually, if Fate hurried, she could finish the boring routine sweep case before dark. “See if you can get anything out of her, but fine, we’ll wait.”

“Fate—”

Fate shook her head, unlocking the driver door and getting in. “I antagonized her already, she won’t be happy with me there. You deal with Caro, I’ll take care of the other stuff.” She slammed the door shut.

Before Nanoha could say anything to stop her partner or at least soothe her, the door to the cake shop opened and Caro rushed out, still looking nervous about the change of events and seeming to take it in stride now that she wasn't being pressured. Seeing that Fate would wait, the pink-haired girl trotted to her side of the car and gently knocked on the glass.

Fate unlocked the door and opened it slightly; not big enough to grab Caro, but enough so they could talk. "What's up?"

The girl fidgeted a moment or two before she hastily shrugged off Fate's jacket and pushed it into her arms. "Momoko-san said it's going to be cold tonight. Your jacket's warm, so I thought you'd want it back. Thanks for letting me use it." Giving the officier a shy, if still unsure smile, the younger girl raced back to the safety of Momoko and Miyuki before Nanoha and Fate could even blink.

Fate slowly put her jacket on, then waved at the group by the door before starting the engine and pulling out of the parking lot. She found her vision blurring, and wiped at her eyes in frustration.

“Get a grip, Fate,” she muttered to herself. “Keep this up, and you’ll get benched.” Her shoulders shook, and she turned the radio on high, letting the music drown out any sniffling she might have made. “There’s a kid’s life on the line, and your career too.”

How Fate made it through her patrol and clocked in on time she would never know. All she knew was that it felt like an eternity when she pulled up to the apartment building where Nanoha lived, taking a minute to park before heading upstairs.

Nanoha had given her a key when they'd become partners, mostly because as luck would have it, the brunette's home was closer to the station than Fate's house, so it wasn't unusual for the blonde to spend nights there. Sighing to herself, Fate turned the key and opened it. "Nanoha?"

"Hey. Was wondering when you were going to show up." The brunette poked her head from the kitchen, clad in a huge pajama shirt and loose pants. Fate hadn’t thought that she was going to show up at all; last minute, she had turned left instead of right out of the station and headed to Nanoha’s instead of her own apartment. "I'm making some coffee now. There are PJs on my bed if you want to grab them and spend the night."

Fate left her coat over the couch arm. "Where's Caro-chan?"

"Asleep in the guest room. Poor kid passed out as soon as she took a bath and changed. I get the feeling she hasn't slept in a decent bed for awhile."

“If she’s in the guest room then I guess I’m on the couch?”

“Of course not,” Nanoha replied, looking vaguely insulted. “We can share the bed—it’s not like we haven’t done that before.”

Fate sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Not when we were sober.”

“Well, this can be the first time.” Nanoha came over, chivvying Fate towards the bedroom. “Go, get in bed. I’ll bring you something.”

"What about Caro-chan? Did she say anything?"

"And you give me flack for being persistent. In bed, Testarossa."

Fate started to say something. She was sure of it. Something important that they had to watch out for...but the last thing she remembered was Nanoha guiding her towards the bed and an impact of pillows before her memory ended.

END LOG 2-1-20XX

Please note the one month time jump! And don't worry everyone: the crack will be coming back soon . Of course, the angst will be here to stay too (what did you expect? )