We've Killed for Justice (Sequel to We'll Kill For Justice)

Brandon

I looked at the sucky picture the base had given me of this Rebecca chick. She was kinda hot, if she looked anything like her picture, but a pain in the ass to find. Aparently, I was the new scout now because the other guy had 'quit'. Code phrase for gotten shot friendly-fire style.

I'd been looking for this girl all day, and wasn't happy. If she wanted to run off and not answer calls from the base, why the hell did they care? She wasn't even titled. She couldn't be that important. Unless one of the head officers wants to keep her around. Wouldn't surprise me.

I crossed another place off my list of places to check. If this was some damn wild goose chase some idiot was going to pay for it. The steering wheel suffered another blow. I was pissed now.

And, just my luck, the car sputtered to a stop in some narrow alleyway in the middle of nowhere. I slammed on the gas, and nothing happened. Damn base trasportation. I lifted up the hood, and smoke poured out like there was no tomorow.

I cursed again, and looked up at a nearby apartment. Maybe someone would let me sit down for a minute while my car cooled off. Coffee sounded real fine right now. I walked up the stairs and knocked on the door, which was opened by some boy with brown curls who looked like he hadn't been laid in a long time.

I talked to Faded, and she wanted me to add Brandon's rank. (Faded, tell me if anything is out of character for Brandon).

Rebecca Scout

Sean went over and opened the door, looking more pissed off than usual. Was he expecting someone?

I drew my gun and followed him, cautious in case the visitor wasn't friendly. Within a moment, though, I heard the casual conversation of a broken car.

Curious, I walked over to the door, and looked at the guy standing there. The first thing that struck me was his height. And a vauge familiarity about how he carried himself.

He looked at me, then glanced at a paper in his hand, "Are you Rebecca?"

"I thought you were having car problems," I said, finger hovering around the trigger, "and who's asking?"

"I'm Flight Lieutenant Brandon Monroe," He stood up a little straighter.

"You're from the base," I realized outloud, and my tone became harsh, "What do you want?" Sean stepped away from the door, and I leaned against the frame coldly, glaring at Lieutenant Monroe.

"The captain told me to bring you back." He was sizing me up, I could tell.

"Well I'm not coming," I said, still glaring.

"Whatever, we can discuss that later. Right now, I just figured out how much of a bitch you are to find and I could really use some coffee." I was pleased at the unintentional compliment, but wasn't about to go serving this guy coffee.

"It's all on the counter," I sighed, "you can make your own." As much as I hated to admit it, there was a subtle bond between us, if only because we shared a base and trainer.

Thats fine coco. Did everyone kind of forget about this?

Spoiler

Hope this is okay guys. xXmusicaXx: it looks like Andy and Sean need to go on a bit of a road trip

Sean Phoenix

Andy and I split the stack of files into two piles and started going through them all carefully, looking for any useful information we could use to help us get to the bottom of what was going on. Half an hour passed and we still weren’t any closer to our goal.

“This is getting hopeless,” sighed Andy, closing another file and throwing it to one side. “I feel like we’re wasting our time. We should be out catching those sneaky sons-of-bitches, not looking through papers …” she paused mid-sentence and looked up. I stopped looking through the file in my own hand and spotted the confused look on her face.

“What?” I asked her.

Her voice fell into a whisper. “Who is that exactly?”

I followed her gaze and realized she was talking about the new guy that had just walked into the house, the one that seemed to know Becky. He was making himself some coffee and every-so-often he’d look up and stare at one of us curiously. I turned to look back at Andy and responded, “I think he said his name was Brandon.”

Andy rolled her eyes. “I know that, I heard him …” she peered over her shoulder and carried on staring at the guy. “But what's he doing here?”

I shrugged and returned back to the file in my hand.

“Am I the only one that thinks he’s a li'l creepy? I mean … what does he want with Becky anyway-”

“Thomas Cortwell.”

Andy frowned in annoyance at my interruption. “What about him?”

I held up the new file I‘d just picked up to show her. “I think I’ve just found his file ...”

“What?! Holy crap, open it up! Let’s see what’s inside!” the excitement in her voice was mirrored in my own. Thomas Cortwell had been the person who first started the idea of the Justice Troupes. He was a legend, and an inspiration to Cort members like us who had taken on the responsibility to follow in his footsteps.

Inside the paper file were a couple of pictures, judging by the date they were taken on his first day as a cop. I stared at the picture and realized he’d been just as young as I’d been when he joined the Police force. He was fresh faced, strong and even through an old picture, you could see the look of solid determination in his eyes. I shook my head in dismay and sighed as I remembered everything we‘d just learnt about the department corruption. “He’s probably rolling in his grave right now…”

Andy nodded in agreement. “We’ll get his legacy back on track. I‘ll make damn sure of it.”

I put the photo aside and moved on to the next piece of paper.

“That’s his death certificate,” said Andy, running her finger across the last line of the page. “Cause of death: Shot in the line of duty,” she read out loud.

“Do you believe that?” I asked her before I could stop myself.

Her eyes widened a little. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know …” I sat back on my chair and ran a tired hand through my hair. “I just think after everything we’ve found out tonight, all the things we’ve been lied to about … maybe this could be another one …”

“But Thomas Cortwell was shot in the line of duty, Sean,” pressed Andy. She pulled out the picture of his body from the postmortem that was attached to the back of the certificate. “The proof is right here.”

“I’m not questioning whether he died in the line of duty,” I explained. “I’m questioning who shot him in the first place?”

Thought I'd take another angle with this to involve more people.

Rebecca Scout

I overheard Sean and Andy talking, and listened in slightly. After a moment I realized I was doing more musing over Sean's voice than I was hearing the words they were saying, and redirected myself.

“I’m not questioning whether he died in the line of duty, I’m questioning who shot him in the first place?” I heard Sean explain to Andy.

"Thomas Cortwell, you mean?" I spun around in the chair then stood up, walking over to where they were sitting. I looked at the file, amazed at what I was seeing.

"Is this a legitimate file?" I raised an eyebrow, looking at Sean. I wasn't doubting him in any sense, just wanted varification. I wanted to hear for myself I was looking at Thomas Cortwell's actual file.

"It is," Andy nodded, "it has all the right proof of documentation." I picked up the file suddenly, looking at the picture of Thomas after he had been found shot. I looked at the information on the file, then back at the picture. Something was up.

"Tyler, how long would you say this guy's been dead?" I said, holding up the picture but carefully covering the information. She studied the picture, then shrugged.

"Less than a few hours I'd say, why?" She raised a curious eyebrow.

"Because the file says he'd been dead for several days, and I think that blood pattern looks a little too even to be anywhere near authentic." I squinted at the small picture, "In fact, I don't think it is."

"You think his death was faked?" Andy ripped the picture out of my hand. She scruitinized it with Sean. A moment later, I felt a presence behind me. "What do you want, Brandon?"

"Just looking," he shrugged, and took a sip of his coffee.

"Let me talk to you." I said, walking out with him to the back patio. I realized suddenly that he knew too much. And there were only two ways to fix that. I didn't particularily like either option. But if he went back to base and reported my location, I wouldn't be left alone.

He'd have to join us, or God.

Brandon

I looked over the picture of this Cortwell guy. I wasn't any type of florensic-specialest deal, but that guy hadn't been dead a day. A moment later I was practically being shoved out the door by the Rebecca chick. She was a little hostile. That was a cute. I liked fiesty girls.

I grinned at myself, then looked at where she was puling out a gun. Well this just turned ugly. My smile faded, and I looked at her, distressed. Then, I had an idea, "What're you doing with that? Pretty girl like you shouldn't be handling a gun."

"Can it, Monroe." Very, very fiesty. She pressed the gun to my shoulder, and only then did I realize how serious she was. I had to think quick.

"I can help you guys," Kind of a lie, but whatever, "I still have acess to the base. I can get you information to go after this Thomas guy you're after." Good thinking, Pal. "Besides, you migh want to keep me around." I grinned at her.

She rolled her eyes in frustration, and seemed to be mulling over my fate. She glanced at me a few times, then down at her gun. "Fine, stay. But if I get one hint you're any kind of trouble consider yourself a dead man."

I leaned against the porch railing, "You seem like you'd be into guys who're trouble. Maybe I judged you wrong though." She practically slammed the door in my face as we went inside, and she huffed over to where the pretty blonde chick was sitting. Well maybe if Rebecca wasn't co-operating the blonde would.

Spoiler

Sorry for not posting sooner, I was having a hard time getting into Lucifer's mindset.

Lucifer

Who would have known that I would get stuck with the only guy I end up shooting from earlier, then again it wasn't fully meant to hurt him but I had to stop him from getting away somehow since he was obviously not hearing what we were saying. I tried to peaceful way, that didn't work, so might as well just shot him. And I barely hit him no less, so hopefully he won't hold it against me for it.

"And refrain from shooting me again, please, I'm definitely not worth the bullet." He says.

I look at him as I catch what he says, I nod as I do turning back to my laptop as I start pulling files and going into police records and history looking for anything that would be needed. I start with where I last left off, looking though military records for where Becky was being held at. Then I start by pulling files on all the captains, including the one Becky had to report to before, then a few others gathering as much info for I guessed for Oscar as possible to find his location.

Running though files until I came across Oscar's file, I grin devilishly as I got everything I need to find and kill this guy. Con hang's over my shoulder as he see's the file, I look up with my devilish grin to the rest of the people.

"Yo Rebecca, I got Oscar's location what do you say to me going hunting and allow me to do the honors of taking out Oscar for you." I asked.

Rebecca Scout

I was getting really pissed off at this Brandon guy. Though I wasn't sure whether I was more upset that he was flirting with me, or that he was reading me like an open book.

I walked inside. Lucifer announced she had found Oscar's location. She was good, very good. Definetly worth keeping around for a while.

But did I trust her enough to let her go solo? Not yet. I didn't trust Oscar's charm. He'd do anything to stay alive. And besides, a few of us had a score to settle with him.

My eyes flickered over to Sean, traced over his brown curls, down his face. He looked like he hadn't smiled in a long time. I would have to fix that-

Focus. I took a deep breath.

"Lucifer, as much as I admire your abilities, I think a few of us have to, ah, repay Oscar in a way. So we'll all go." I drummed my finger on the table, "then I'm going to go with one other person to a small bar that's a few hours from here. It's sort of an underground place, but if anyone in this state knows anything about this Cortwell deal, someone there will."

"What's the place?" Andy pipped up.

"It's basically a huge meeting hub for everything relating to the Cort gangs. I don't think the government knows about it though. It's a members-only deal. Actually, it might be good for everyone to go but arrive in sperate little groups. We can scope out and talk to more people that way-" My mind was racing ahead, to the days coming that I thought I'd never return to.

It felt good to be back.

What happened to this?

Sean Phoenix

"Lucifer, as much as I admire your abilities, I think a few of us have to, ah, repay Oscar in a way. So we'll all go."

I looked over at Becky. It was an understatement, but I was glad she spoke up when she did. This Lucifer chick might think she knew everything about Oscar, but no-one knew him like I did. If anyone was going to put a bullet in his skull it would be me. No arguments.

Becky carried on about what we should all do after we dealt with him but I didn’t let my mind wonder that far ahead. I was completely focused on the task at hand.

Oscar.

“So where’d you find him?” I asked.

Lucifer gave me a look like she was sizing me up before she answered, “At a very fancy hotel. You might’ve heard of it. It’s called ‘Paradi’.”

Tyler practically gaped at that. “Those rooms cost like $18,000 a night!”

“Son-of-a-bitch.” Con shook his head dismay. “I guess crime does pay after all ...”

I looked back at Lucifer. “You got a blueprint of the place?”

She nodded. “The blueprint and his suite number.”

Damn, she was good. I watched her unravel the blueprint paper and spread it out over the tabletop. “He’s on the eighth floor in suite no. 40.”

That was all I needed to hear. I grabbed an extra pack of bullets and was just about to walk straight out the door before Lucifer stopped me.

“Wait, there’s something else we need to take into consideration …”

I turned back to face her and raised a brow. “What’s that?”

“He’s not alone. According to the hotel data base he’s booked a room with a girl. Her name’s …” she paused mid-sentence to find the name on her laptop, “… Sasha Burrows,” she read, before looking up. “Does that name ring any bells?”

Shit. I sighed and swapped glances with Becky. Her expression immediately changed. I couldn’t read it, but I knew she recognised that name too.

For a while Tyler, Andy, and Con were looking at the two of us, waiting for one of us to answer.

“Come on then!” Tyler said, when the suspense was getting too much. “Who is she?”

I cleared my throat awkwardly. “An ex-girlfriend."

Rebecca Scout

My blood curled at the sound of her name.

Sasha Burrows.

I wasn't the jealous type, but this girl had everything. The looks, the talents, the brains. I remembered back to when her and Sean had dated. She hated my friendship with him, and almost caused us to loose it. The kniving bitch had set up little plots and tricks to convince Sean I was against him.

At least this would be an excuse to kill both her and Oscar.

*****

Lucifer and I walked up to the desk, looking all the part of the city's finest trash. I loathed the feeling of the short dress, but Lucifer seemed comftorable in it. That unnerved me. Maybe she had experience in this department.

The desk attendant was male. I saw this register on Lucifer's face, and she half smiled, leaning across the desk, "We were told to go to suite number forty at ten tonight. I know we're a little early, but would you mind letting us up?"

The boy cleared his throat, "I'm really not supposed to..."

I would have been more annoyed, but we were only serving as a distraction for the other's to sneak in. Sean was heading up to the room solo. He was going to lie to Oscar and...Sasha....claiming he had seen the light in their way of thinking. Get as much information as possible. The others were going to wait just outside the door, waiting, listening for the signal. Lucifer and I were just distractions.

Wait a minute.

Since when was I a distraction?

Anger flashed quickly across my mind.

I pulled a hundred dollar bill out of my pocket and tossed it on the desk. The boy snatched it up and put it in his pocket, gesturing to the elevator. We'd be long gone before he figured out it was fake.

A few silent moments later we were on the top floor, and I was marching down to the suite. I wanted to finish Oscar off just as badly as Sean does, if not more.

And, as much as I hated to admit it, I didn't want Sean alone in the same room as that bottle-blonde he used to date.

Spoiler

Apologies for the length, I just really had to get this all in

Sean Phoenix

With the girls busy distracting the staff on the ground floor, I easily managed to sneak past security and make my way up to the eighth floor. Every now and then someone would come or go out of their rooms, but luckily they were too busy with their own lives to notice a strange young man roaming around the halls. I decided my best shot at staying under the radar would be to take the stairs. According to Con, the cameras in the lift were untouchable and the stairwell was the only place in the entire hotel with no CCTV.

When I reached the eighth floor the game plan had been to confront Oscar and make him believe I’d had a change of heart. At least, that was Becky’s game plan. Mine, however, was a lot simpler.

I walked down the hall, scanning suite numbers while all the time keeping a lookout for Oscar or Sasha. I had no idea if they were in their room or not. For all I knew, they could be down in the lobby or even at one of the hotel restaurants. But, I didn’t have to wait long to find out. As if on cue, a familiar tall blonde female appeared on the left, coming out of suite no. 40. She had her hair tied in a loose bun leaving her thin neck bare and she was dressed in an expensive-looking skirt suite.

As much as I hated her right now, even I had to admit …

Sasha looked good.

She still hadn’t spotted me and before she could, her cell phone started to ring. When she answered, it was obvious Oscar was on the other end of the line. I quickly hid behind one of the nearby corridors and listened intently.

“… I just got off the phone to the bank in Zurich. They said they’re working on the money being transferred as we speak.”

So she was helping Oscar with his finances. That didn’t surprise me, after all, that had always been Sasha’s job. It was how I met her in the first place. She’d been hired by Mitch as 9-0’s personal accountant round about the time Oscar and I were initiated.

I carried on listening as Sasha told Oscar that she was on her way down to meet for their dinner reservations. I didn’t know if that meant they were dating now, but either way they were both dead so it really didn’t mater. I waited until Sasha put the phone down before confronting her.

“I never took Oscar down as a guy who likes to enjoy my sloppy seconds,” I said by way of a greeting.

The insult didn’t go wasted on her. Sasha frowned for a second at my insinuation before her perfectly shaped lips formed a cute little smirk. “Sean Phoenix. Is that any way to talk to your ex. I never took you down as the jealous type.”

“Funny.” I stepped away from the wall and approached her. “So what are you now, Oscar’s little pet?”

She shrugged playfully, “He needs my help with some stuff.”

I wasn’t surprised by her bluntness. Girls like Sasha had no concept of loyalty or morals. They just followed the money. If anything did surprise me it was the fact that I’d actually found someone like her attractive once upon a time. The hallway was empty, so, straight-faced, I drew out my gun and aimed it towards her head. “Why don‘t you call him again and tell him to come up to the suite. We have some unfinished business we need to take care of.”

Surprisingly, Sasha didn’t even flinch. She just raised a perfectly plucked brow in amusement. “Or what? Are you planning on killing me?” She laughed at the thought. “Come on Sean, you and I both know that’s not gonna happen. You loved me, remember?”

I had to hand it to her, she had some guts. The next thing I knew she was moving seductively close with the intention of distracting me. But, unfortunately for her it didn’t work. I wasn’t the same Sean she knew all those years back. The new Sean had nothing left inside him any more. The years of anger and guilt had drained me of any emotion, any feeling, any desire. The only thing left was an empty shell built on nothing but hate and a desire for revenge like no other.

Before she could wrap her long, tanned arms around my neck I grabbed both her hands, pushed her inside her suite, and pinned her back against the wall. “Loved,” I reiterated. “It’s been four years, Sasha. You seriously have no idea what I’m capable of now.”

A small whimper escaped her lips and I finally felt her confidence start to waver. “A-alright, look, I get it … O-Oscar screwed you over …”

“He ruined my fucking life!” I barked in her face.

“I know, I know …” she trembled. “And I’m sorry. But you have to believe me, I had nothing to do with it!” Her eyes desperately searching mine in the hope to find some form of mercy in them, but she wasn’t going to get any.

“Do I look like an idiot? You just told me you work for him, how the fuck do I know you two weren’t planning this shit from the beginning?”

“But I wasn’t, I swear!” she pleaded. “After you got arrested I left town. I didn’t want anything to do with 9-0 any more. I went legit … even managed to get a job ... but then Oscar found me! I don’t know how but he tracked me down! I had no fucking choice!”

I looked her up and down, at her expensive clothes and hairdo. “And all this, the hair and the clothes … are you telling me you had no fucking choice in those too?”

That shut her up. I just shook my head in dismay. None of her words made any difference to me and Sasha could sense it. “Please Sean,” she begged, this time more desperately than before. “This is just me playing along! You have to believe me! He did threaten me and not just me, he threatened my kid too …”

I looked up and stared at her hard. Confusion filled me and before I knew it I was lowering the gun in my hand. “Your kid? What k-”

A sudden firm knock on the door made me stop mid-sentence. A few seconds of silence passed and Sasha and I just stared at each other before a familiar voice came from the other side.

“Yo, Sasha! Open up, it‘s me!”

Oscar.

Lucifer

On rare occasions did I wear dresses, if I wanted to look good, my preferred taste was jeans that hugged the curves perfectly and a half jacket and tube top combo that showed off my body. Me wearing a short dress as this had me itching to get out of it, during the time on the ground floor I put on a fake smile and looked like I enjoyed the stares from the guys that saw me. Even tho I wanted to put a bullet though each and everyone of them, my experiences early on in my life had me hating guys. So more or less I was attracted to Rebecca who looked perfect in a short dress, then again she looked like she rather not be in it so I didn't press my luck.

"The sooner we find Oscar the sooner we can get out of these, slut outfits. I rather be back in my usual ones." I said.

"You looked like you were enjoying it." Rebecca said.

"Trust me, my experiences in my early childhood has me wanting to put a bullet though every single guy who looks at me like they wanted in between." I said.

The walk to the suite had gone quiet and not the good kind, it wasn't long before we found ourselves right around the corner where suite No. 40 was. Rebecca stops me in time from walking around the corner, thankfully cause I hadn't looked around it in time to see Oscar entering the room. I take a step back and look at her.

"Nice catch." I whisper.

I subconsciously reached for my short sword when I remembered I didn't have on me because of this stupid outfit. I curse mentally as I was starting to really wish I was out of the outfit by now, soon we saw the others coming around the corner. Wildcard, Con, and Brandon or whatever his name was, come to the door. Hopefully one of them remember to bring some weapons for me and Rebecca, we soon moved around the corner and met up with the others. Wildcard hands us a black dufflebag and it was filled with our preferred weapons, soon we were fully equipped and I felt slightly better. But really it wasn't helping.

"Now we wait." Rebecca said.