A/N: Vote & Comment, and yada yada yada. I'm on a roll with this story. First time ever to be exact. Would love some encouragement and feedback.
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POV HAL:

I can't decide if I should call Cassandra a crazy old fool or a lying hag who's still taking crack in her basement.

Riley and I reach her home quicker than we left, after he speeds a couple of times on the busy Upside streets. Driving is terrible in the city- pretty much in any city in this country. I fear my angel will succumb to an angrier stage of road rage and I don't wish to see one our own in bars for that. The car is parked next to other patrol cars. I lean against one while I watch Riley bark at a poor officer for not paying closer attention to the old woman. The guy looked like he was about to crumble under the pressure so I steer my partner away from him and towards the home.

The other policemen already search through the whole building for Cassandra. Her things were all over the place when they first arrived. I wonder what's the hurry? Riley glares at the junk scattered around her bedroom. Clothes, makeup and papers make the small room seem more cluttered. I grin at Riley, "Glaring at the scene isn't going to get you anywhere." Cue that cute eye roll of his. He heads over to a pile of clothes and pushes them over. He picks up a plastic bag of, what seems to be, cocaine. "Sober, my ass," he grumbles, handing over the bag to an officer.

I head towards her bathroom. First thing I do is open her medicine cabinet. I examine the dusty shelves. The lady doesn't take her pills from the looks of it. I spot an interesting detail; a circle with a ring of dust around it indicates something missing. I swipe my index finger at the circle then rub my two fingers together. Somethings been recently removed and I have a feeling what it is.

I head out into her bedroom again. A police officer rushes into the room, panting from whatever exercise he did up the stairs. He says through heavy breathes, "I... found a note." Riley is handed the message and I read it over his shoulder.

To Mrs. O'Dale,
We want to discuss your payment for holding onto the Daze. You will be rewarded greatly as well a taste test of the samples. Come to the usual spot.

"Request for an APB on Cassandra O'Dale. Age 47," Riley commands to the whole room. Policemen get moving in and out of the room. My angel turns his attention to me. He asks, "You want to drive?" I nod enthusiastically. I usually get to the station by light rail then walk for thirty minutes. They haven't issued me a car yet so I'm still on foot. He tosses me the keys as we head out. We'll patrolling like the rest of the guys.

Riley stares out of the window with a bored expression. His eye catches anything that moves. I continue to glance at him but now I know why he wants me to drive: I can't stare at him for a long period of time. I pout, coming to that conclusion and switch the radio on. The radio station I had on last time is already playing a Beyoncé song. Right when I am about to turn up the volume a bit, Riley hits the CD button, making it switch to playing his CD.

I look over to see him still gazing out the car window. Not enjoying Pink Floyd's trippy songs, I touch the radio button for the music to switch back to my station. I focus back on the road, keeping an eye on the aggressive car that switched lanes suddenly. I spy Riley's finger come into my view and hit the CD button once again. "Really? What are you? Five?" I ask him.

"My car, my rules. Get your own from the department," says Riley. It reminds me of the time I drove my sleepy angel back to his apartment; he didn't put up a fight. I look back and forth from the street to Riley. I can spot a glint of amusement. The curves of his mouth twitch up a bit. He must be really bored if he's giving me this teasing attitude.

"Money, it's a crime
Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today
But if you ask for a rise it's no surprise that they're giving none away"

The awfully slow lyrics make me ponder if Cassandra believes she's getting whatever cut she's promised. What I know from handling many cases involving organized crime, is it always comes down to drugs in the end. Even the small cases! Some unimportant asshole kills another for drugs. People get harmed from its distribution and use. They never learn.

The afternoon slowly moves into night as we drive what seemed liked for hours through Upsides towering structures. I let Riley's music play in the car. His slim fingers tap the car side to the guitar. The streetlights illuminate his face every few seconds. A content atmosphere lays between us despite the urgency to search for the old bag. I ask him, "What got you into your taste of music?"

I earn a short laugh before he responds, "My father. The guy brainwashed me when I was a kid. The songs stuck with me throughout my childhood. That's what I get when I have a dad who continuously complains that there is nothing good on the radio anymore." Riley shakes his head, "Those CDS are actually his. He told me he was conflicted when cassette tapes were disappearing and CDS were taking over. How else was he supposed to play his music in the car?"

"Don't people use Bluetooth now?"

Riley scoffs, "Does this car look like it can play Bluetooth?"

"True."

"I can't believe you asked such a self-answered question. Some investigator you are."

"Hah, you haven't witnessed me in action. My muscles aren't just for show."

"They will be if you take too long completing desk work."

"That's where you come in."

Cue the cute eye roll. I grin at our back and forth banter. My eyes focus on the streetlight, waiting for it to change green. A hand slaps my arm repeatedly and Riley says, "I see O'Dale!" I turn to where he's pointing and, there you have it, the old lady snooping out of a back alley and into a bar right behind us. I signal the car for a right turn and the light turns green.

I park the car on the side of the narrow street we turned into. Even though it's getting late, Upside still has a steady traffic flow of cars. I lock the car while we make our way towards the bar on the corner of the building. A low glow of neon lights read: Uptown Bar Corner. Riley comments, "This is a common spot for people to go to. Why didn't I think this was a definite place for drug dealing?" As if disappointed in himself, my angel shakes his head before entering the bar.

I follow behind, taking a whiff at the intoxicating smell of booze and cigarettes. Great, now I need to smoke. I've been trying to stop my habit by shortening the amount I take a week. I'm making progress and I don't want to let myself down when I can finally control my addiction. When we walk in, all eyes turn to us like if we had our own neon signs screaming, "police." Riley examines the main area, most likely locking eyes with a few.

A woman calls out to us, "Come here you two." Her finger bends as a gesture to hurry over. I stay close to Riley, keeping an eye on the customers around. Why do I feel that most of these guys had a terrible run in with the police? Either that or they didn't like men in suits. The lady glances between the two of us. Her curly black hair falls over her exposed tan shoulders. Her light brown eyes narrow at us and she asks, "What do you to want? Hate to break it to yah but tonight's not a good night for your kind to be snooping around." Jeez, I thought Upside was supposed to be eventful.

"Sorry that you can't keep your customers in line, Mabel. I don't take pleasure in cleaning up after your customers drunken brawls outside," retorted Riley. Oh boy, I can see the imaginary sparks flying between the two. Mabel suddenly breaks into laugher, hitting the top of her counter. She crosses her hands, "Alright, you got me. Now tell me what's your business here?" I have no idea if the lady likes my partner or not. The sudden 180 on her attitude threw me off.

"You've got a backdoor drug dealing problem."

"Huh?! In my place? Those sons of bitches- who? You know what, I have been having some shady people coming in and out of my door."

"Have you seen a middle aged woman- somewhere around her forties- come through here. We believe she's in possession of some and she's in danger."

"Yah, weird-looking old lady, right? She just came in here a few seconds ago. Didn't say nothin and wobbled up to the higher floors. I don't know if she entered in any of the rooms."

"Shit." My angel pulls my arm in the direction of the stair. Before we are out of shouting reach, Mabel says loudly," Riley Swanson, you better introduce me to your handsome partner or I'm not supplying my sister with the good stuff anymore." Riley shakes his head as he hustles up the steps. Sorry lady, but I have my eyes on the angel in front of me.

"Who was that?"

"Mabel Aquila. Detective Lucia's older sister. The woman tries to come off as a law enforcement hater to appeal to her not-so-innocent customers. She says they like the show," huffs Riley. We reach the second floor and we split up to knock on doors. If it's quiet, we break down the old shitty locks with just a kick on door.

"You think we should have our guns out?" pants Riley.

"It's just a drug-induced lady. What harm can she do?" I respond as I come out of another room I barged in.

"Man, Mabel is not going to be happy that I broke the locks on some her doors... oh well."

I snicker at his statement before following him up the next level. "How many floors are there?" I ask. As much as I like breaking doors down, I'm no fan of repeating the same action multiple times with no results. I swear to god if there are more than five levels, I'm going to begin shouting threats on every level if the hag doesn't reveal her face.

"Four," huffs Riley as he knocks on the door. A couple open his door with groggy faces. I continue my share of the floor. Goddamnit the lady hid in the fourth floor. My partner and I rush up the stairs once more. We both wheeze for air. If Cassandra's plan is to tire us out, she's doing a perfect job with it. Riley's face is red from either irritation or that workout we just had- or both. His scowl grows as we make our way through the forth floor.

A loud scream is heard from one of the rooms. Riley and I make a dash to its origins. We pull out our guns; whatever caused the scream can mean bad news. I bust down the door, having an energy boost from the adrenaline pumping. Riley barges in first with me following behind.

The lights in the room are off. The only light slipping in is coming from a window with a dark form by it. A black hooded man glances at us before escaping through the open window. Riley yells, "Freeze!" but the man has a head start outside. "Damnit! He's taking the fire escape!" my angel goes after the hooded man, exiting through the window.

"Riley, wait!" I yell but he doesn't listen to me as I hear his and the Hangman's footsteps clatter on the metal stairs. I curse, flicking the lights on. Cassandra is huddled, trembling in the corner of the room. A noose is around her neck. From her state, she didn't take enough Daze to OD or end up like the rest of the Hangman's guilt-ridden victims. "Stay there!" I command her and she nods frantically. Deciding she would be fine, I chase after my partner and the Hangman.

I see Riley and the Hangman hop off the fire escape to the ground floor. I won't reach them in time if I take the stairs. I look over to the drain pipe and reach over to grab it. I wrap my legs around it; god, this is going to leave a mark. I slide down the pipe to the ground floor.

Riley is sprinting a good distance away from me. I push my legs to the limit even though I feel it burn from its previous climbing workout.  "Riley!" I call out but he's doesn't stop running after the hooded man.

Shit, they're running out onto the busy street. My heart beats a mile a second as I run like my life- well Riley's life depends on it. I yell out through heavy breathing, "Riley, stop!" How can he not notice his surroundings? I see a car speeding down the street. The Hangman passes an incoming car. Riley's on his tail yelling, "Freeze, Hangman!"

Fuck! Can I make it? I shorten the distance between me and my partner in seconds. He's not paying attention to the car and the driver doesn't see him. I jump forward with my hands out. I brace myself, feeling my hands push Riley's back.

Screeeeeeech!!! Crash! Thud!

It was as if time stopped itself for me. My whole body burned in pain. It's difficult to breath- damn, my chest hurts like a bitch.

"Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Oh fuck!" I hear Riley panic. I open my eyes enough to see my angel scrambling to me. Thank god, he's safe. "Hal- goddamnit!"

I chuckle, wincing at the pain. I smile, "... I... feel embarrassed... for  bragging about my... field skills."  Hands gently lift my head and I feel something cushion it. "Hah- ow. I feel like... shit."

"Fucking hell, Hal. Why?!" 

"You... should take more care... of yourself."

Those chocolate brown eyes are wet. My angel's face is torn. Damn... don't look at me like that, love.