Don't Be a Hero

[Trey "Hawkins" Aaron]

"Please kill me."

Captain Trey Aaron was walking the claustrophobic stretch of hall alone, and so his exasperated whisper fell on no ears but his own. He was sickened by the yellowish florescent aura the lights shone, his tired eyes made the light bulbs fuzzy blips on the ceiling, and the sound of every step nearly made him cringe. He had an awful headache, the bastard child of far too little sleep and way too much to handle at once, and, as it always seemed in this damned city, there weren't enough leads to even feel as if anything had gotten done.

It was because of this that he should have felt elated in where he was headed, perhaps have a slight spring in his step or a brisk, authoritative walk as he continued toward the interrogation room. It was, after all, a rare occasion that you had a captured Runner; deceptive, wild little things. Trey should be celebrating; as it were, though, he couldn't even bring himself to do more than halfheartedly shake the hand of the messenger who brought him the news. Breaking the runner would be one thing, filtering the truth between the lies would be another. In stark contrast to the excitement the Runner's capture had been to every other officer, Trey simply saw more work.

At the end of the hall there was a simple, black door with no window and no label. An officer, looking rather pleased, was standing sentry outside; returning Trey's dismissing nod with a flourish of rather irritating gusto, he marched back down the hall, and the Captain leaned into the door as he admitted himself inside, already dreading what was to come.

A small, balding man with spectacles too large for his face and another officer looked up sharply as he entered; while the cop drew himself up respectively, the second man opened his mouth, and in a voice trembling from years of use, began to harass him.

Please kill me, Trey renewed his plea silently, raising a hand as if to ward off the balding man's abuse. He was late, the proceedings should have started a good ten minutes ago, didn't he realize what an important, delicate situation this was? the mayor was on the phone, Trey should thank him, really, for assuring him that all was well, everything was under control and, to top it all, Captain Aaron looked a real mess.

"Don't you ever sleep?" the man badgered lastly as Trey slipped into the holding room, closing the door behind him with a silencing and most satisfying snap. For a few moments he closed his eyes and treasured the silence, broken only by the electronic hum of the security camera and the slow, gentle breathing of the sleeping runner they had bound to the interrogation chair.

As the lock snapped automatically into place beneath his fingers, Trey released the doorknob and set to pacing around the table, so that he was facing directly into the runner's face. His fingers searched in his pocket a moment, and then he withdrew a small capsule he snapped, holding it beneath the runner's nose as he continued his rounds.

"Wake up," he commanded; gone was the weariness he had let show before. "Wake up, and tell me your name."

[Taylor "Wings" Jon]

Lieutenant Taylor Jon watched behind the one-way mirror at the Captain and the captured runner. Trey Aaron walked around the waking runner, asking him the interrogating questions that were protocol. There she sat, watching the runner respond in some sarcastic way, making Trey's eyes glare.

Taylor ran her fingers through her hair. It was difficult, interrogating Runners, they were more persistent and secretive then other criminals.

Taylor kept her eyes on Trey, though, he looked beat, but still managed to keep this all up. Watching him question the runner, and only seemed to get annoyed by the answers...

She had been up for over 24 hours, and while she was not used to that, she knew that she needed to get the job done, that is, watch for clues that the security camera from inside the room might not pick up. So even though her eyes burned, she kept on staring.

"Tell me your name!" Trey pressed. The runner, keeping silent, just smirked and hung his head down, avoiding the Captain's gaze.

The look in the Captains eyes was dreary. Taylor tapped her earpiece and spoke, "Captain, maybe we should try later. It's no use if you are too exhausted," Taylor advised, knowing he might not listen.

She tapped her pencil on her notepad, waiting rather impatiently for the Captain to listen to her. If wasn't until the runner really got on his nerves that he left the interrogation room. Taylor jumped up and out of the rooms, intertwining through the hallways until she met up with Trey.

"Captain, I suggest that you get some rest before you go back in, maybe something to eat too. You can't live off of break room food for long," Taylor suggested, catching up from behind him. His frame from behind was tall and ridged, and looked menacing from behind.

Taylor straightened her shoulders, "You can't treat your body like this, even the best cops need sleep too. Don't be a hero."

[Trey "Hawkins" Aaron]

Trey smirked, drawing his fingers through his hair in frustrated habit. "Can't sleep, believe it or not," he grunted. He felt aged, rubbed thin by the stress of his occupation. "Too much on my mind; once we get somewhere, Lieutenant, I may be able to close my eyes."

He lapsed into a recuperating silence as the pair walked down the hall, crossing his arms over his chest. Personally, Captain Aaron found Lieutenant Taylor Jon pleasant company; a quick girl, she often impressed him with both her resiliency under pressure and a quiet compassion that Trey found admirable. Even in his weariest of moods, he found himself faintly pleased that she was around.

At at random point down the hall, the Captain coasted to a stop, pausing to glance out the barred window to his left. The sun had set long ago and night had taken hold; city lights twinkled through the gloom and the water in the bay glistened off of the moon's pale glow. A few restless cars roamed the streets, but other than this the night was quite still. Despite his casual shrugging off of her suggestions, Trey found himself aching to be back in his apartment, perhaps cozying up in bed with a good book. This cliche even resounded nicely within the Captain's head, regardless of the fact that he didn't much like to read.

"You realize, don't you, that the younger generation is leaning to their side," Trey said in a flat tone. He was aiming somewhere for a conversational air, but he could not keep a bitter tinge out of his voice. "They see the Runners as the underdogs, the rebels. It's exciting, but the more that actually fall in line with all that bull, the bigger the headache it is for us."

He rubbed at his forehead. "Most of them are scared; they have to be. Just our luck to snag a runner that clearly knows the business, huh? Can't catch a break."

[Taylor "Wings" Jon]

"No kidding," Taylor smiled. "You know, my dad used to tel me stories when runners first started coming out, and they were no big deal, because they were just messing around, and they were easier to break," She continued. "Maybe that is what we need to do, find something personal to make them crack... most of them are just kids..." Taylor dragged off, looking off into the distance.

For a minute, she looked around her, watching the few officers still in the building, most had gone home, and she wondered if both her parents were off too. She snapped out of her daze as her stomach growled, rather loudly too.

"What time is it?" She asked quickly, "if it isn't too late, you wanna grab something at Pablo's," She offered to Trey, it had been a while since she just went out, without some job-related motive.

[Trey "Hawkins" Aaron]

(sorry, I've been reaally busy, I'll get on this ASAP.)