A Mercenary's Plan

"Ready?" Law asks as he fixes Hare's uniform. "I'm nervous," Hare said as he looks at himself in the mirror of the old house. It has been days ever since the infamous Black Rabbit settles inside the house. It has chaos inside the precinct ever since Orch's mysterious death.

The inmates of the Emir Prison have been talking about him. Some say that it is Primrose's judgment, for he knows that Orch might've to snitch him to the police, but for others, they said that his death is planned by the police to lure Primrose out of hiding since he is known as Primrose's lover.

Cantaloupe and Amorphous have been getting fed up by those rumors as they circle like wildfire. They know that negligence of duty is one of the reasons why Orch died but his death is not planned, and that's what they want to clear out.

Today is the day that Chief Moss calls out for a conference; he even invited the media to take part in the said conference. They were tasked to prevent others from crashing the conference. It was an easy task but with the bureau inside of the conference, anything could happen.

Amorphous sighs as he watches people passing through the hallways in hope of hearing what is going on inside. "Can't they just behave and stop gossiping already?" he murmurs as he watches them intently, but for Cantaloupe, he is glaring at them to stop.

Eventually, they did stop. But it is still distractive that such people who are working with police could exist. They were curious themselves, but for the sake of privacy and confidentiality, they stop prying Lilibush for information.

"Hey, stop glaring. Others are starting to get scared of you," Cantaloupe said as he tries to calm Amorphous down. The latter sighs and looks away from them. "It's just pissing me off," Amorphous said as he tries to relax from all the things that are happening right now.

"I know. But they can't help it. Orch's death took a big toll on our investigation. We might still have another witness but she can't even talk and has a panic attack," Cantaloupe said remembering what happened after they questioned Orch, the day he died.

A call from the other cell area where Mrs. Prime is, says that she is trembling and is having a panic attack. That is the first time they ever found out about it, and then minutes later, the alarm rings throughout the prison, indicating a prisoner is down, and that prisoner is Orch.

Cantaloupe sighs and taps Amorphous's shoulder and stands straight again. Hours of standing later, the conference door opens and the head of the bureau comes out. The two guards bowed down to him and he bowed back.

One by one, people were coming out of the room and lastly, Chief Moss and Lilibush came out with frown visible on their faces. That's when they knew that the meeting didn't end well. The two sigh and hope that they won't receive a long ass sermon from the chief later.

The car ride from the bureau's office to the precinct is too quiet for Amorphous' liking but he can't do anything to make the atmosphere feels lighter. He knows that if he talks, it will add more tension so he shuts his mouth until they reach the station.

Chief Moss gets out of the car first and was approached by someone. "Chief, you're back," the guy said politely. Chief Moss looks up and smiles at him then pat his head. "Officer Bellfard, you made it!" he exclaims, the new officer in front of them just gives them a charming smile, and as he nods excitedly to the chief.

"Are the others treating you well, while I am gone?" he asked, earning a sigh from him. "One police officer, forgot his name, has been asking me to bring coffee from the café far from here," he said then rubs the back of his head.

"How far are we talking about?" Lilibush asks suddenly, as he approaches the kid. "Like a kilometer away from the station. I just came back because he wants me to run from here to there so, I apologize if I look not presentable to you, Chief," the kid said as he sheepishly smiles and bows to us as an apology.

"I bet it's Pio who asked you to do that," Cantaloupe said out of nowhere, earning a punch from Amorphous, making him shuts his mouth. Chief Moss exhales a heavy sigh and smiles at the kid.

"Lilibush, bring him to your office. Since you have been asking me for a new partner after Major died, Bellfard over here will be under you," the chief said, Lilibush just nods and smiles at the kid.

"Welcome, partner," Lilibush said and the kid smiles. "I'll be under your care, Sir!" he exclaims and bows to him deeply, earning a few chuckles from the bunch. Lilibush, then, escorted the kid to his office while the other three guys enter the precinct.

They were greeted by other officers that are present at that time. Some of the officers' waves to them and some were talking to themselves. Pio walks up to Amorphous with a playful smile on his face. Amorphous curses under his breath, knowing that the guy would probably talk about the new kid, who he just bullied earlier.

"Hey Amor, how is the meeting?" Pio asks with a smile on his face, not really caring about the meeting at all. "Bad, Bureau is mad and the media is not happy about Orch's death," Amorphous answered, sitting down at his desk as he looks at the man in front of him.

"Anyways, there is this new guy in the precinct and I was hoping you could help talk to chief to make him my partner?" he said with confidence in his voice, Amorphous scoffs and rolls his eyes.

"He already has one, so shut up, before his partner strangles you," Amorphous said, as he looks at the guy who has a shocked face. "What?" Pio asks, giving Amorphous a very confused look. "But, he just got here. How come he had a partner already?" he asks, looking at Amorphous intently; trying to figure out if the older detective is telling him the truth.

Amorphous chuckles then look at Cantaloupe, who is snickering a laugh behind Pio. "Ask Chief, not me," Amorphous said and went to Cantaloupe to shut him up but Pio asks them again.

"You guys perhaps know who his partner is?" the guy asks, a bit pissed that the new kid has already a partner.

Cantaloupe looks at him seriously before answering, "It's Lilibush."

Pio curses under his breath when he hears Lilibush's name. He knows that whatever is he going to offer the guy, he won't budge and won't accept any bribery from him. He needs to find another way to talk to the kid or even court him.

He chuckles to himself and just bows to the older detectives and walks away. Leaving the two with confused expressions, asking each other if Pio is alright. As Pio walks through the hallway, he passes through Lilibush's office and peeks through his door.

There, he sees, the person he wants to corrupt and manipulate, laughing at something the older detective had said. His lips form a thin line and walk out of the precinct angrily. Cantaloupe saw what he did and exasperated a sigh.

He texted Lilibush what he saw and the younger detective replied, "Let him be angry. Not my fault for pissing the chief for what he did," earning a groan from Cantaloupe. He just hopes that Bellfard is someone who they can trust and not someone who will betray them again.

Cantaloupe knows that Lilibush is as stubborn as Major despite being a married man. He sighs as he looks at the looming Pio at the end of the hallway. Cantaloupe didn't actually know why Pio is even trying knowing that this time the chief won't allow what had happened to Harland Marshall, happen to Hare.

Cantaloupe heaves a heavy sigh and walks towards Lilibush's office and peeks inside, only to smile at the sight of the younger detective smiling and laughing after Major's death. It took a toll on all of them. But the heaviest was toward Lilibush since they've already bonded like father and son. Now, seeing him happy could make Cantaloupe cry in happiness. Maybe Hare is the answer to this longing that they feel.

He wipes the sudden tears that fell from his eyes and smiles to himself. Promising that they will take care of the younger one no matter what happens.

~0~0~0~

"So, what's the plan?" Law asks Primrose as he sits beside N who is looking at the precinct's blueprints from her computer. "Well, we are done with the easiest part, and that is infiltrating the police station. Now, the next one is a bit hard, so, I need your help," Primrose said as he looks at the blueprints intently.

"What are you planning, Alex?" Law asks, N looks at the guy who has a smirk plastered on his face. The two women beside him look at him with confusion but he just ignores them. Then, he answered,

"My greatest crime."