A Dead Body

[demikara]

It was incredibly embarrassing that she had to be picked up and dropped off of work. And the fact that this was her foreseeable future was not helping either. Still, at least they had a way to call Molly in, and Xander was willing to take her with. Being stuck at his side the entire day was not exactly fun, but she probably deserved it. At least she was getting in plenty of 'helping' to balance out the karmic debt on her soul. Even if he was as embarrassing as possible at making certain she made up for her behavior.

Between that and having to take a departmental vehicle, her world was a horrible one for her social life. Not that she currently had one. There was work, and then there was with Xander training of helping people, or there was sleeping, worn out by a long day. The teen fae at least looked old enough to drive, even if she did had to flash an updated badge at every scene because no one believed she was old enough to be an officer, much less a sergeant.

She hadn't seen Xiaolian on the way, but then again, it wouldn't be the first case where they came from different places. About the only time they ode together was if they actually came in from work and not having gotten called in from home.

It was still embarrassing she had to be called in from the fae realm every time. 

[Circe]

Late nights and even earlier mornings were beginning to take a toll on Xiaolian. She found herself becoming increasingly short tempered with Molly, and falling asleep midday, halfway through lunch. It didn't help that for the most part their team was understaffed and underpaid, often asked to do the difficult immediately if not sooner.

She had gone to bed, by herself, as usual that night. Xiaolian wasn't much of one to keep a string of relationships like many of her colleages and her current work partner. Instead the officer mostly kept to herself and didn't do much else except work. But that morning was different. As she reached over to hit the alarm at 5:00am, giving her a little over an hour to be out the door and at work, she noticed something was wrong. Beside her in bed was the body of a man, clearly deceased. Screaming as this registered with Xiaolian, she scrambled to disentagle herself from the sheets, blankets and dead body.

So while waking up next to a dead body wasn't exactly normal, it wasn't exactly not normal either. Many of the specialists had made enemies in their time with MCU, and many of these foes often saw it fit to find new and creative ways to express their dislike of the officers.
"Fuck.. fuck.. fuck..." She muttered to herself hands shaking as she dialed the emergency line for their office. It didn't take long before her apartment was swarming with other officers and Xiaolian was going back over what had happened with the Warden.

[demikara]

Molly stepped into the scene and froze. That was Xiaolian, but in night clothes, and not work clothes. None of them failed to change when they were called, no matter the time of day. They had to look professional at all times. Even looking her age, she still looked very professional at all times. She glances around and it registered to her. "Boyuan?" She approached the other, clearly concerned. It had taken her longer than she'd like, but the message had first to be relayed to support, then to her mentor, who then relayed the message to her and then took her to the Dallas office and then she had to drive. It was a headache and a half, but one she deserved.

She had never been at the other's apartment. She had no doubt she was in one now. "The dispatcher just said there was a report of a dead body. What's going on?" Why was the other in her pajamas and looking shaken. Xiaolian never looked shaken, ever.

[Circe]

"...like I said.. I came home, I had dinner and went to bed. The last few weeks have been non-stop with calls and cases." Xiaolian explained to a very concerned looking Warden. What the other had learned about the lieutenant is that she often very willingly worked long hours and without complaint, she also had taken sole responsiblity for Molly when she had learned just how woefully behind they were on training. How Molly had even made it to Sargeant was beyond the scope of Catherine's understanding. "I understand that Xiaolian," The Warden said gently. "But I also understand that one of my officers has a dead body in their apartment."

Who exactly had Xiaolian made that so desperate for attention or angry enough to dump a dead body in bed with her. "I understand Warden.. but I can say this is a new one for me too." She sighed, pushing thick black hair out her face. It was becoming embarassing to be standing there talking to her boss in her pajamas. But they had asked she not contaminate the scene, and so she was forced to wait to shower and change until everything was photographed and catalogued.

Xiaolian looked at Molly and found herself lacking in any answer that didn't sound rediculous. This sort of thing didn't happen to her, it happened to other officers, not her. "Yeah.. about that..." She muttered her mind still reeling from everything. "I woke up next to one." Xiaolian sputtered, words tasting foul and acrid in her mouth.

[demikara]

There was a beat, a disconnect. "You what? But this sort thing never happens to you." Ever. Xiaolian handled the weird things that happened to other officers. Weird things did not happen to her at all. Hell, it had happened to Molly at least once, and now she had much better wards. "Did they get your apartment and mine confused?" Molly angered people openly and often, and she drew the target to herself mostly on purpose. It was better her than Xiaolian after all, or a junior officer. But it looked like the other had a Molly incident.

"This is ridiculous. There's no way you did anything, you're way too by the books for that." A dead body in her apartment? How? The woman twitched her fingers next to her eyes and began to look. "I'm checking the state of your wards, okay? Someone had to have...have done this to you." That was unthinkable, but her partner having anything to do with it was even more unthinkable.

[Circe]

"...I don't have any wards Molly." Xiaolian clarified. She could have sworn she had explained this to the other, that these sorts of things didn't tend to last long around her. The other instead did things the old fashioned way, and limited information out there about her. Who she worked for, where she lived, and her routine were not ever open for discussion. If pressed false answers were always given, and that had been drilled into her head for some time now. "And.. yes, this doesn't ever happen to me." She added emphasizing ever.

Xiaolian couldn't even begin to think who she'd come across or met that would put this big a target on her back.

[demikara]

"Yeah, I'm seeing that. I know you said they don't last long but I figured there had to be something..." New research project for her then: Find wards that won't dissipate from a null living in them. That sounded fun. Molly tugged on her hair and considered her next steps. "Do you have a mundane security system I can check?" The other should have one. She was a cop for crying out loud. Surely she didn't rely solely on a locked door.

Molly twitched her fingers next to her eyes again and the mage sigh spell faded. Almost nothing was magical here, which made sense. Magic didn't tend to last long around the other at all. Who could have done this to her partner? There was no way Xiaolian would be allowed to participate in the case, given she, well. Procedure put her as the number one suspect in the body's death.

[Circe]

"Yes, it's on the hall as you enter." Xiaolian replied drawing her robe closer about her shoulders. This was something that should have happened to Molly, not to her. She had always been obsessively careful when it came to her own safety; multiple alternating routes home, mail and packages delivered elsewhere other than work, and never had she ever told anyone where she lived. Security was something that she was extremely cognizant of, especially when it came to the tendency for Specialists to make everything but friends.

[demikara]

"Alright. And I still have an apartment, if you need a place to crash. It has a mundane system. You'll have to put up with my roommate, but he's a decent guard dog." It was best no one ask who her roommate was. Luckily, he team well knew that. Molly had the roommate exactly in case of this situation, even if she was currently being ferried to and from the fae realm given her indefinite probation status.

The specialist frowned and checked the alarm system herself. It hadn't been tripped. She set one of the beat cops into badgering the security company about records for this address and hesitated. Tyrus was much better at scrying, but it was past-sight and Molly could give it a try. She took off her glasses and cast the spell on them, then began to walk through the apartment. The closer she got to Xiaolian though, the more it faded and she frowned as she took them off again.

[Circe]

"As long as he doesn't have fleas." Xiaolian commented. She could and would get through this, she just had to figure out the next steps. Undoubtedly she'd be placed on desk duty or paid leave until this was resolved. That alone would be enough to drive her crazy; since she'd gotten to Dallas, she had hit the ground running without much of a break between cases. The Dallas branch was extremely behind and understaffed, it wasn't usual for a specialist to pull a shift as the supervisory officer on call.

Watching Molly's attempts at scrying, Xiaolian just sighed. "Scrying on me doesn't work.. we've been through this."

[demikara]

"It's standard practice." Molly defended. "Even if it never works on you." She had to at least try. "I've got an officer tracking down records from your security company. I'll set another on getting any security feeds nearby." She assured her friend. "And Mr. Mephistopheles doesn't have fleas. Just sass. So much sass." Her roommate was a pain in the ass on most days, but he was clean and paid the rent on time. She still hadn't figured out what exactly he did for a living, other than a vague 'worked from home' but she really didn't care.

It was probably a good thing he was there though. It would be a bit of extra security for Xiaolian, and hopefully nothing would get past his senses. Hopefully. "I'll introduce you. It's easier just to call him Mr. M, by the way." The name likely sounded familiar, though every indication before this had been that Molly was talking about her cat, not her roommate.

[Circe]

Xiaolian raised an eyebrow at Molly. "Standard practice? We both know that mage and time sight methods quickly deteriorate within the presence of a null; especially one like myself. To use them is a waste of energy, so if you're doing it to make yourself feel better.. don't."

At least Molly had been bright enough to put someone on the task of tracking down records from the security company. Xiaolian didn't know who had lived in the apartment before her, all she knew that the rent was good and the complex was quiet enough that she could sleep when it was her turn to take nights. "Mr. M? Molly... is that..." Xiaolian started question the other before she caught sight of the Warden and her boss, Catherine, approaching.

"Do you have someplace to stay Xiaolian?" Catherine asked the other gently. She knew first hand how violating it was to have your home, and for many of the unseen their sanctuary violated. They had mostly processed the scene, and found very little to help them figure out what and why.

"Molly offered me a spot to crash until this is sorted out." Xiaolian answered, shoving her hands deeper into the pockets of her robe. Having her partner offer was embarrassing enough, having to take advantage of it only heaped humility on top of the violation she felt. Xiaolian was used to caring for herself, and not needing to depend on others for assistance. That was the one good thing she could think of that the Lotus program had instilled in it's members; self sufficiency above all else. Because no one was going to always be able to rescue you or pull you out if something went wrong.

"Good." Catherine said with a nod as she turned her attention to Molly. "I somehow remember strongly suggesting that you find another home for Mephistopheles... such as the reserve." She said to Molly quietly. "You are borrowing trouble by keeping him."

[demikara]

"Technically, Mr. M keeps himself. He's sentient, and so long as he doesn't attract attention..." She was definitely borrowing trouble by keeping him Molly wrinkled her nose. "He's an old friend of my mentor. It's a compromise, though now that I live back home, I suppose I could stop that." Molly shrugged. Her life had always been Like That. The compromise of having a roommate who could guard her as she slept was one she had been willing to humor after her own apartment and dead body had happened. The fact that it had happened to both her and Xiaolian now just meant that there was trouble. Which was a good arguement for keeping the roommate.

She'd have to think it over. "He's in a glamour. No one knows." It was one of Molly's glamours too, and the team knew how hardy those were. She put a lot of work into designing them so that they would be hardy and they wouldn't have any of the hallmarks of a glamour at all.

She had been partially doing the spells to make herself feel better, to feel more useful. This was her partner who had been attacked. There had to be more to do to help than she had done. More to do to solve the situation.

[Circe]

Xiaolian sighed in annoyance, that was just what she wanted to trade her apartment for. Couch surfing at her partner Molly's place. A person who sometimes was a bit too chaotic for Xiaolian's life and tastes. She could almost swear that chaos followed the other around; and not the brand of Chaos that Tyrus, their magic expert, was known for either.

"Be careful Molly." Catherine said giving the other a suspect look. The last thing she wanted to hear was that the officer had been found out for harboring an unseen creature that really didn't need interaction with humans, period.

[demikara]

"I will." She agreed easily. "He's...he can't take the glamour off. It's keyed to me." Only Molly could activate it or remove it. That had been part of the downside and part of the deal. She was very careful with when she did though. Living full time in a glamour could result in serious dysphoria. Molly still felt she was in the wrong skin, given how many years she had been in her glamour.

Molly also had strong feelings about the Reserve and the people who were allowed off and the people who weren't. If you passed, even if you wore a glamour for it, you could leave. If there was no way to pass as human, you were stuck there, and all you'd ever know was the Reserve. Unless someone spirited you away to the fae realm where you'd be, at best, a second class citizen as well, and that was if a Seelie did so. Unseelie took slaves and pets and that was it. "Besides, this way it'll be save. And it's better than a hotel."