Detective Leon McNichol entered the temporary headquarters of the Special Investigations division of the PPD and stopped just inside the door.
"You know," he remarked sourly, "this hero business is a lot rougher than it looks from the outside."
HE-AT, seated at one of three desks crammed into the former storage room, looked up from her paperwork. "Statement: you should consider operating in a
group." She regarded him steadily for a moment. "Your solo tactics are not achieving maximum effectiveness."
Leon gave her a half-hearted scowl through the bandages covering one side of his face. "Oh, ha hah." He limped towards the coffeepot balanced
precariously on boxes of old files in the corner, leaning on a crutch.
"Council again?" asked the other man in the room, without looking up from the bit of tech he was fiddling with.
"Outcasts this time, actually," Leon replied as he reached his destination. He fumbled a cup off of the mug tree, then looked between it and the
coffeepot, pondering his next move. Finally, he transferred the mug to his left hand -- the one in the sling -- and picked up the pot in his right, balancing
carefully on his good leg. The crutch slipped out from under his arm and crashed to the floor. He sighed.
"Should've called for backup," Ryan said -- again with the absent air of a man whose attention is focused elsewhere.
"I didn't think I -needed- it. It was only a couple lousy punks in bad clothes. I used to arrest a half-dozen of those before breakfast!"
"Statement: you are facing opponents with metahuman and supernatural powers, not regular humans. Your former tactics are useless against these
opponents."
Ryan snapped the cover back on to whatever he was working on and stood. "She's right, Leon. You need to use your head, bring your 'A' game
to this." He grinned. "Have to admit, though, you did manage to do something nobody else has yet."
Despite his mood, Leon was intrigued. "Oh yeah?"
Ryan nodded. "Yep. That cute little nurse from the hospital in Steel called. You've got a date Friday night, if -- her words here -- if you stop
bugging her about it." Ryan grinned even wider. "Seems she thinks twelve visits in one day is excessive."
"I was simply being persistent," Leon proclaimed innocently.
"Yeah, sure." Ryan shook his head. "Anyway. I'm off. Oh, and, those upgrades will be ready for your gun tomorrow."
Leon nodded and waved absently as he hopped around to the third desk, trying to avoid spilling his coffee in the process. He crashed down into the battered
office chair with a groan.
"I'm just going to sit here for a minute, drink my coffee, and pretend I didn't just get my butt handed to me by jumped-up punks with delusions of
grandeur," he stated firmly.
The chair creaked and groaned. Leon froze with his mug halfway to his lips. "Uh-oh..."
The chair collapsed, dumping him backwards and drenching his chest with spilled coffee. "OW!"
"Statement: you need to be more careful."
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
"You know," he remarked sourly, "this hero business is a lot rougher than it looks from the outside."
HE-AT, seated at one of three desks crammed into the former storage room, looked up from her paperwork. "Statement: you should consider operating in a
group." She regarded him steadily for a moment. "Your solo tactics are not achieving maximum effectiveness."
Leon gave her a half-hearted scowl through the bandages covering one side of his face. "Oh, ha hah." He limped towards the coffeepot balanced
precariously on boxes of old files in the corner, leaning on a crutch.
"Council again?" asked the other man in the room, without looking up from the bit of tech he was fiddling with.
"Outcasts this time, actually," Leon replied as he reached his destination. He fumbled a cup off of the mug tree, then looked between it and the
coffeepot, pondering his next move. Finally, he transferred the mug to his left hand -- the one in the sling -- and picked up the pot in his right, balancing
carefully on his good leg. The crutch slipped out from under his arm and crashed to the floor. He sighed.
"Should've called for backup," Ryan said -- again with the absent air of a man whose attention is focused elsewhere.
"I didn't think I -needed- it. It was only a couple lousy punks in bad clothes. I used to arrest a half-dozen of those before breakfast!"
"Statement: you are facing opponents with metahuman and supernatural powers, not regular humans. Your former tactics are useless against these
opponents."
Ryan snapped the cover back on to whatever he was working on and stood. "She's right, Leon. You need to use your head, bring your 'A' game
to this." He grinned. "Have to admit, though, you did manage to do something nobody else has yet."
Despite his mood, Leon was intrigued. "Oh yeah?"
Ryan nodded. "Yep. That cute little nurse from the hospital in Steel called. You've got a date Friday night, if -- her words here -- if you stop
bugging her about it." Ryan grinned even wider. "Seems she thinks twelve visits in one day is excessive."
"I was simply being persistent," Leon proclaimed innocently.
"Yeah, sure." Ryan shook his head. "Anyway. I'm off. Oh, and, those upgrades will be ready for your gun tomorrow."
Leon nodded and waved absently as he hopped around to the third desk, trying to avoid spilling his coffee in the process. He crashed down into the battered
office chair with a groan.
"I'm just going to sit here for a minute, drink my coffee, and pretend I didn't just get my butt handed to me by jumped-up punks with delusions of
grandeur," he stated firmly.
The chair creaked and groaned. Leon froze with his mug halfway to his lips. "Uh-oh..."
The chair collapsed, dumping him backwards and drenching his chest with spilled coffee. "OW!"
"Statement: you need to be more careful."
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs