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Noxumbra Files

Case 5: Ancient Stalker

Part 3

By XP Author

Christa looked up from her computer as the door opened. "Come on in! Welcome to- Oh! Tag! I didn't think you'd be back so soon."

Tag smiled at the older panda as he walked in. "Hey, Chris. Yeah. Need to run a face through the databases. Any calls while I was out?"

She shook her head. "No. But Chuck stopped by a few hours ago. Said he was just swinging by to say hi, but I think he might have something for you." She quirked an eyebrow as Rachel walked in. "Oh. And I see you've brought someone with you."

He smiled. "Yes. This is Rachel, my new partner. She's the one I mentioned that's been helping me with my... special training." He then motioned to the panda. "Rachel, this is Christa. She's my assistant and partner when I'm NOT doing the magic cop thing."

The mouse blinked as he just blurted out about magic. "Uh..."

Christa chuckled. "Don't you worry yourself none, dearie. I'm well aware of your secret society or whatever it is. I don't go telling anyone none." She reached out to shake the girl's hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

Rachel relaxed, smiling a little more. "Thank you. Nice to meet you, too."

The panda looked at the two of them. "So. New partner? What happened to that lovely rat, Ms. Ginny?"

The mouse just blinked, muttering under her breath. "Lovely?"

"Oh, she's still my partner, too. The case we're working on now is a bigger one, so... the director... assigned Rachel to the team for some extra muscle." He motioned to his desk. "I'm going to go get the search started." With that, he moved over and started the thing up. "This will take a few minutes, but I want to have it start going."

Christa smiled, standing up. "Well. How about I fix something up, then? I'll start you a big pot of coffee." Tag gave her a thankful smile. "And what for the young lady? Would you like some coffee, too, or are you more of a tea person?"

She smiled, though still felt a bit awkward. "Uh. Tea sounds lovely."

The panda gave a nod then moved off to the back kitchen. "Would you like black or green? Oh, and we still have some strawberry tea, if you'd prefer that."

Rachel followed, but didn't enter the kitchen, just standing in the doorway so she didn't have to shout. "Yeah. Strawberry sounds great." She looked around the little place as the panda got herself to work. It was a pretty small kitchen, a couple of cabinets above a sink and small oven, a microwave, and a rather impressive coffee maker. Glancing to her side, she saw a small fridge and a smaller table with a big box of donuts sitting on it. She motioned. "Um, could I have one?"

Christa looked back, then to where the mouse pointed. "Oh! I totally forgot those were even there. Chuck brought them with him when he came by." She smiled. "Chuck is the owner of the building, by the way. Sweet man, but a bit rough around the edges." She motioned at the box. "Anyway, you go ahead and help yourself. No way I could eat all of those. And I shouldn't be eating those anyway. My doctor tells me off enough about my diet as it is."

Rachel could not help but smile as the woman just talked to her like they were old friends. It was quite refreshing. Her time at Noxumbra had been... awkward and uncomfortable at best. Not that she blamed them. After the first few days, she had not had any kind of open hostility, but other than Tag and Doctor Sarah, she wasn't exactly making many friends. Being a known murderer did tend to make people a little hesitant to get close.

As Rachel picked out a bear claw among the pastries, Christa came over, her voice low. "So. It is good to meet you. Good to finally put a face to the name. Tag talks about you a lot."

Her ears perked up. "He... does?"

Christa nodded. "Yes. I hear you were involved in some messy business a few weeks back."

Her mood fell a little as that was brought up. Though she was not sure why she also felt disappointed. "O-oh... yeah. It was one of the cases he was working on. I..." She felt her voice catch. "I probably shouldn't talk about it."

The panda shook her head, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You don't need to. He's told me enough. Said you had a very good reason, and that it all got cleared up." She smiled. "And now you're helping him train with actual magic!" She let out a soft chuckle. "It's hard to imagine him throwing fire or whatever it is you're doing."

The woman's cheeriness was infectious, and did actually lighten her mood. "Yeah. Neither can I, to be honest. He's not quite there yet. Won't be for a long time. Takes years to learn, and longer still to master. I'm not sure how good of a teacher I am, either. I'm hardly some master sorceress. I'm only really good at a handful of techniques."

Christa chuckled. "You sound like some martial artist from a movie."

Rachel thought about that. "Huh. That's not a bad way to put it. Similar theories on discipline."

"Oh, I think it's the same for any lifelong endeavor." She pat the girls shoulder again. "And I think you're well on your way already. Though I admit, I'm not one to judge these sorts of things. I'm just a... what was the term? Mundane?"

She smiled. "Yeah. A mundane is someone without magic or mystical ability, not connected to the supernatural. Just an everyday person like everyone else. Which... isn't a bad thing in the least, by the way. I'm almost envious at times."

Christa nodded. "Yes. I've seen what being in that world has done to Tag over the last few months. I can't imagine what it's like to have been in it for most of your life." Rachel nodded slowly. "Oh, but he does bright up quite a bit when talking about it. The things he tells me that rat partner can do..." She shook her head. Rachel felt a pang in her chest, doing her best to mask it, and not have to say anything, but stuffing the bear claw in her mouth. Unfortunately for her, the panda was incredibly perceptive. "He brightens up quite a bit talking about you, too." The mouse nearly started choking on the pastry. Thankfully, the kettle started to whistle, summoning the woman over. "Oh, I'll go get that." She then called out. "Tag! Coffee's done. You want me to bring a cup out to you?"

He called back. "Nah! Almost done here. I'll come get myself some then." After a moment, he called out. "Oh, and thanks again!"

She just chuckled, getting several mugs from the cabinets and starting to get everything ready, including a mug for the jerboa. "He says that, but sometimes if I don't get this done for him, he'll let it go cold. I swear, that man can forget to eat for days when he gets focused on something. It's an admirable trait, but he's skinny enough as it is!"

Rachel couldn't help but laugh. "It sounds like you two are quite close. Have you worked with him long?"

She nodded, setting the mug of tea down on the counter beside Rachel, a mug of coffee in her own hand. "Oh yes. Since he first started Touch Investigations. But I've known him for longer."

"Sounds like there's a story there."

The panda smiled wide. "Now you're sounding like him. But yes, there is. Not a long one. We first met back when he was still a police officer. My niece, bless her soul, fell in with a bad crowd. Drugs and gangs and that sort. The poor dear ended up getting herself killed by her dealer boyfriend."

Rachel winced. "I'm so sorry..."

Christa nodded. "Well, I can't say I'm surprised, but it was still a shame. But I met him when he and his partner at the time came to question us. See, my husband and I knew who this boyfriend was, and he came to get a statement. He was still there when the young man came smashing right through my front door, strung out on God knows what and waving a huge gun around like it was a sparkler at a party. Tag was able to put the man down, though did have to kill him, unfortunately. But he saved both Harold's and my life."

"Harold is... your husband?"

She nodded again. "Oh, yes. Been married 23 years now. I'll tell you more about him another time. Anyway, I kept in touch with Tag after that. I had to go to the station a few times to give statements about the incident. Police shooting someone, you understand, they want to make sure it was all necessary. Which it was! That young boy was out of his mind on whatever cocktail was running through his system. And even after all the statements, I still kept in touch. I do, quite literally, owe him my life. So after the..." She paused. "...After he retired as a police officer, he mentioned that he was going to go into PI work, and would need a secretary. I jumped at the chance. Been here ever since."

Rachel smiled. "Wow. That's quite the story!" She picked up the tea to sip at it, getting a very strong strawberry taste from it. "A happier one than mine, I guess."

The panda tilted her head. "Two people dead is a happier story than yours?"

She winced. "Ah... sorry. That wasn't very tactful of me." She sighed. "Sorry. I'm not trying to compare woes."

Christa shook her head. "I understand, but you look like you're ready to pop if you hold it in any longer. Don't worry. Tag has already told me you're a good sort. I promise I won't judge you too harshly."

She smiled thankfully. "God, you would make one hell of a therapist." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay. So... the reason I met Tag was... because he arrested me. For murder..."

The panda nodded slowly. "He mentioned something about that, but was light on the details. Said it was justified?"

"I guess. So, my sister... also fell in with a bad crowd. Not quite gangs, but she was... never very good with dealing with things. She had just lost her job, and called me. Totally drunk, of course. So I went to visit her. I saw a woman leaving her apartment... uh... my sister was gay, by the way. So I just figured it was some one night fling or something." She felt her hand shaking a little. "My sister was killed. By that woman. Used magic to... just blow her up from the inside like an over-filled water balloon."

"Oh my God!" Christa set her mug down and reached out to take Rachel's hand. "That sounds horrible! I'm so sorry you had to witness it!"

Rachel nodded slowly. She took a moment before continuing. "I tracked the woman down. Wasn't hard, she wasn't being subtle. And... I got revenge for my sister. I... killed her in the same way." She felt the hand on hers flinch. "It was not pretty. She deserved it, and I don't regret it, but..." She looked away. "Maybe I do. Not that I killed her. She was a monster. Just... how." She got quiet again. They both did. After a moment, the mug was taken out of her hand and set down. Then a pair of warm arms were around her, giving her an almost motherly embrace.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that." Rachel just nodded slowly. "And you turned yourself in?" She nodded again. "Then you're not a monster." Now she tensed up. The panda slid back, though still held her shoulders. "You don't want to go out and hunt and kill people for fun, right?"

She shook her head. "No. I want to... I dunno, atone? I was ready to spend the rest of my life in prison." She didn't mention the part where she also offered the option of her life ending. "Tag stepped in and offered me another option. Work for Nox to stop other people from doing the same."

Christa smiled softly. "He's good at reading people. And I don't just mean the touch thing. He's good at judging someone's true nature. You have to be to do this job." She pat the woman's arm gently. "And he saw you're worth sticking around."

She nodded. "Yeah, that's true..." A smile crept along her mouth. "I guess I owe him my life, too."

The panda scoffed. "He's collecting quite a few of those life debts." She nodded at her. "And he even asked you to train him. That's got to mean something."

"I think he just wanted someone that wasn't... officially Noxumbra? I think he's a little embarrassed to even be training in magic. Not sure why."

"Well, he can be a little stubborn. Most men are like that with certain things. Probably feels like he doesn't compare to all of the powerful wizards or whatever at the place." She took a sip of her coffee. "Or maybe he just wants to spend time around the cute mouse he knows." Rachel nearly choked on her tea.

"Okay, I'm going to step in now." Both women nearly jumped through the ceiling when he suddenly spoke up. They turned to see him standing at the door, his mug of coffee in hand, already half-drained.

"Victor!" He knew he was in trouble when Christa used his given name. "How long have you been standing there!?"

"Long enough to know you're both giving me way too much credit for just doing my job." He looked at Rachel. "And she's right. You're not a monster. You were maybe a bit blinded by grief, but you were not wrong. That woman needed to be put down before she killed someone else." Rachel smiled softly, nodding slowly, still not sure if she believed it or not.

Christa grunted as she stood up. "Well. Good to help cheer the girl up, but you shouldn't eavesdrop on your friends!"

He chuckled. "I know." He pointed to her. "You, though..." She gave him a stern look, almost leaning into the finger he pointed at her. "...You know me way too well."

She scoffed at him as she walked away back to her desk. "You can refill your own coffee!" It still left him with a smile.

He looked back to Rachel. "So, I take it you two were getting along?"

She nodded. "Yeah! She's very sweet. And... very..."

"Insightful?"

Rachel nodded quickly. "YEAH! Like, scarily so!"

He shrugged. "I'd say you get used to it, but you really don't. I swear she's got to have powers, too. Some kind of... I dunno, super empathy or personality sense or something."

They both heard her calling back from the front. "It's called experience!"

Tag called back "Now who's eavesdropping?" Rachel started to giggle. "C'mon, you've seen just about everything else. I'll show you the last bit of the place." He nodded to the door behind her that led to his bedroom... or what passed for it. "And we can talk without someone listening in."

Christa shouted again. "Hey, Mr. Pot, go check the kettle. You might have some things in common!"

Rachel could not help but start to laugh at the antics of the two old friends. "Alright. Sure. Let's finish the nickle tour."

"Oh, I'm worth a nickle now! I'm moving up in the world." He moved past her and opened the door, stepping inside and making sure he didn't have any underwear or anything on the floor before she got there. When he turned, he saw her taking a bite of another donut as she entered. "Ah. A donut thief, too."

"Chrishta shed ah could!" She spoke with her mouth still half-full of pastry. Another two bites and the thing was gone. "So... you have a spare bedroom in your office? I guess it makes sense for long nights... or days..."

He let out an awkward laugh. "Ah, no. This isn't a spare. This is my room." He pointed to another door. "Bathroom's over there, by the way. In case you need to use it."

She looked up at him, then back at the room. The bed was not very fancy. Almost more of a cot, maybe one step up from the thing she had slept on while she was in the holding cells. There was only one window, which had a lovely view of the side of the building next door. Nothing really stood out as decoration. Even the single lamp beside the bed was very plain. "You... live in your office?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Pretty much. It's cheaper than paying rent on two places." He shrugged. "Don't have much reason to go anywhere else. I'm not really a collector of things. Except case files, I guess, but any of the physical things go to a storage unit."

She nodded slowly. "Yeah, I can get that... when the people went to clear out my apartment and bring me my stuff to stay at Nox HQ... it was about two boxes of books and a suitcase of clothes. And a picture of my sister and I when we were kids." She realized there were no pictures of his family anywhere, either. He guessed that made a little sense, as his mother was his boss now. Still, it all felt so...

"A bit spartan, huh?" She nodded slowly as he said the exact word she was looking for. "Yeah. I know. A little pathetic, but..." he shrugged again. "Guess it just fits with the hardboiled PI lifestyle. All I need to do now is start drinking enough to put down an elephant, and smoke enough cigarettes to singlehandedly keep the tobacco industry running."

She shook her head. "Please don't. I don't like guys who drink a lot, and I hate the smell of cigarettes."

"Yeah, not a fan of them, either. And not much of a drinker." He did still glance at her. "Like, huh?"

She blinked. "What?"

"You said you don't like guys who drink a lot. So..."

She squeaked. "Ah-ah... so... yeah. I'd like if you... didn't?"

He took a step closer to her. "That's not the way you worded it..."

She felt her face growing flushed, though did stand up to his... challenge? She took a step closer to him, though she had to look up quite a bit now. "How... did I word it then?"

He closed the distance a little more, practically standing on top of her. To the point he had to lean down a little. "Like you were telling me what you look for in a partner."

"We are partners." His face was getting closer... partially because she was standing up on tip-toes to get closer.

His voice was softer. "I mean a romantic partner."

"Oh..." Her voice was also softer. She could feel her heart beating in her chest. "Maybe. Why, are you interested?"

He smiled. "I might be." His breath was against her mouth, his face so close. "We shouldn't."

"Yeah, we shouldn't. We're partners."

"Non-romantic partners."

"Yeah. Work partners."

"Exactly."

"They why are you still so close?"

"I don't know. You're close, too."

"You're the one leaning down."

"You're the one on your toes."

"What happens if you kiss someone? Do you get a vision?"

"I don't know. I haven't tested it."

"Should we?"

"No. We really shouldn't."

"You're still not backing away."

"Neither are you."

"Hey!" They both flinched as Christa called from the front, turning away and moving to other sides of the room from each other like children getting caught doing something they should. Christa called out again. "Tag! Hate to interrupt... whatever you're doing... but your computer did the ping!"

Tag crossed his arms and scrunched up his face as he just stared at the wall. "Thanks. I'll be... right out!" He tried to keep the annoyance from his voice.

Rachel let out a soft giggle. "Saved by the ping."

He sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping a little. "Yeah..." He took a deep breath to clear his head. "Let's go see what the computer found. That was a lot faster than normal."

Rachel hung back as he got to the door. When he turned, she was looking at his feet, not his face. Her cheeks were still flushed. "Should... we talk about what just happened? Almost happened."

He nodded. "Yes. Definitely. But... later." He turned away. "When we've both had time to think about it." She was quiet behind him. "...Definitely want to get back to this later." He heard the little giggle behind him as he walked out, a big grin on his own face as he made his way to the front.

Christa quirked an eyebrow. "Okay, I know you're out of practice, but even you can't be that fast."

He just gave her a confused look. "What?"

She shook her head. "Nothing." She pointed at his computer. "Your search thing made a ping. I think it got a hit or two."

He moved over and sat down at his desk. "Yeah, it got a hit or two alright."

Rachel came out of the kitchen, moving around behind Tag to look at the computer screen. "Whoa. Guy's got a record as long as my leg."

"Mostly minor stuff." Tag started to read the list. "Assault, petty theft, assault, assault, unlawful entry, harassment... more assault. Seems he gets into a lot of fights." He smirked. "And likes to play loud music. What is this... one, two... five... nine counts of disturbing the peace?"

The mouse grunted. "Okay, so we know he's a loud asshole who likes to fight. How does that help."

He scrolled back to the top. "Well, a few things. First, we have a name. Justin Thatch. Tiger, born right here in Alta Ferro." He glanced up. "In 1968."

"Okay. So? He's a little on the older side."

Tag nodded, then pulled up the still image from the security feed. He pointed at the tiger. "Does that look like the face of a 55-year-old?" Sure enough, the tiger in the picture didn't look like he was over 30.

"Huh. Yeah... that's... pretty good looking." She looked back at the record list. Then she noticed something else. "Wait, does this say it's from the FBI!?" She looked at the jerboa. "You have access to FBI criminal records?"

He just laughed awkwardly. "Ah... yeah, don't... tell anyone you saw that." She gave him a dubious look. "Hinumaru hooked me up with some programs to get backdoor access to way more records than I normally do. I can even search through interpol if I wanted."

"Okay, so... why is this guy wanted by the FBI?"

"He's not. But it looks like some of these earliest charges are from when he was 14. Charges against a minor are sealed, but the fed always keeps a record. A supreme court judge can unseal them if there's a need to look for behavioral patterns in..." He saw he was losing her. "Uh... sorry. Fed keeps copies is probably good enough." She nodded. "Anyway, not only do we have a name to go with this guy, but we have a last known location." He pulled open a map program and typed in the address. "And look where it's near."

"Huh. Only a few blocks from that coffee shop." She smirked. "Alright. I'm impressed."

He started typing away again. "I'm going to send a copy of all this to HQ, let them know what we've found so far. Then we can go search this guy's apartment."

"Don't we need a warrant?"

He scoffed. "Sure. We'll just call the local judge and ask for a warrant to look for evidence of vampires. I'm sure he'll be on board with that." That did get a chuckle out of her. He finished typing up the report and sent it off. With that, he closed the computer and stood up. "So. You up for a little B&E?"

The mouse shrugged. "I guess? We should probably call Ginny."

He nodded. "Oh yeah. She'll be ecstatic. She loves breaking things." He looked to Christa. "Don't wait up, Chris. This will probably be an all nighter."

"They always are." Her tone was even, almost sounding bored. "Don't get yourself killed out there."

"I don't plan to."

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