The woman standing at the end of the alley, for Nolan could tell quite clearly by her silhouette that she was female, made no move to approach them and remained silent after her initial statement. He had the impression that she was smiling at them, though he wasn't sure why since he couldn't see her face. Basil remained still, staring straight ahead, positively vibrating with tension.
Constance looked into Basil's eyes as he stared her down and what she saw there made her immediately question the wisdom of her current course of action. His face was impassive, except for a slight twitch in his jaw, most likely because he was grinding his teeth, but his irises vibrated in a continuous, liquid dance that reminded her of a wildly fluctuating oscilloscope wave. The last time she'd seen them do that had been the last time they'd seen each other. She had hoped enough time had passed that he might be at least slightly more tolerant of her presence. It was a hope that grew fainter by the second. Too late now, she thought. I'm here so I'll just have to give it my best shot.
Basil had never been one to enjoy tight or revealing clothing on women. It all seemed far too obvious and pathetic. For him it was much more attractive to see a woman dressed in clothes that hardly revealed anything, clothes that only hinted at what they might be covering. So it didn't surprise him at all to see that Constance had adopted exactly that sort of look. Well fitting jeans, not too tight, but tight enough to show off her legs and the curve of her hips, along with a simple gray t-shirt that fell loosely over the vaguely suggested swell of her breasts. She was trying to get to him, to put him off his guard, which could only mean that she wanted something. It wasn't hard to figure out what that something might be.
“Who's that?” asked Nolan.
“Trouble,” replied Basil.
Constance walked slowly down the alley and, as she drew closer, Nolan couldn't help noticing how pretty she was, beautiful even. Her eyes, a dark brown that was almost black, were especially difficult to ignore. “Hello Basil,” she said through smiling lips.
“Constance Theone.” Basil replied, his strange accent drawing out the vowels, making her name sound like “Coonstaance Theeoone”. Constance' smile faltered. She hated hearing her full name spoken aloud and he knew it. That name had been given to her by her masters. It bound her to them, replacing her given name, so much so that she could no longer remember it. Basil was one of the few people in the world who knew her full name and speaking it that way, particularly in front of someone else, a stranger no less, was about as a cruel a thing as he could have done. Her eyes darted to Nolan for a moment, noting that he didn't appear to understand what had just happened. New guy, she thought.
“That's not very nice.”
“Cry me a river.”
Nolan watched the two of them, trying to figure out the situation. Ex, he thought. Has to be. It was written all over their tones of voice, full of unspoken whatevers, and their postures, chock full of multiple kinds of tension. She was an “ex” and it was pretty clear that their parting had not been pleasant. If he'd had to guess Nolan would have said, based on Basil's obvious anger, that she had probably done the leaving.
Despite his anger at seeing her Basil felt oddly calm. True a small part of him wanted to send her flying back the way she'd come (not that he ever would have, angry or not) but it wasn't the sort of overwhelming agitation that he would have expected. He even sort of regretted using her name the way he had... a little.
“How'd you find me?” said Basil.
“Isaac said you were in charge of this case and I figured your next move would be information gathering. Wasn't hard to guess who you'd go calling on, given the circumstances. I was hoping to pick up your trail from here but I didn't figure I'd catch up with you so soon. I must have just missed you at the scene.”
A smile flitted briefly across Constance' lips like the trailing edge of an amusing thought. Nolan wasn't sure if Basil had noticed it but he certainly had. Mostly because he couldn't seem to stop watching her lips whenever she was speaking.
“And what do you know about the 'circumstances' of all this?”
“That it's bad. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't. The Masters don't get involved with things in this world unless it could potentially affect them. And given the energy that guy was giving off...”
“Wait a minute,” Basil interrupted. “What guy?”
Constance' smile returned. “That's right, I'm pretty sure I saw you're guy leaving that apartment building earlier today, just before Isaac and his boys arrived.”
Basil hands curled into painfully tight fists. “He was there the whole time.”
“He must have been hiding from you. Friend of yours?”
“It's Gang.”
Constance' smile vanished. “There's no way the person I saw was Gang. I was too far away to get a good look at him but I know what I felt. He never had that kind of power. Besides, I seem to recall hearing that he died.”
Nolan struggled to keep up with conversation. As usual no one was bothering to clue him in on any of the things he wouldn't have already known about. It was extremely frustrating. It was also, apparently, something he was going to have to get used to. The worst part was that he didn't have anything to contribute, or even do, except stand there trying not to stare at the beautiful woman in front of him who wouldn't stop being so beautiful.
“Trust me, it's him. We're still not sure exactly what he's planning but, like you said, it can't be good, and I think it's safe to say his usual end game hasn't changed.”
“Basil, you didn't see him. If that really was Gang then this is way beyond anything he's attempted before.”
“I know.”
The three of them stood in silence. Basil staring at the ground, waiting for what he knew was coming next. Constance eyeing Basil cautiously, preparing for the fight she was certainly about to get into with him. Nolan looking from one to the other, wondering if anyone was going to bother explaining anything to him any time soon.
“I can help,” Constance said quietly.
“No.”
“You know I can. You said it yourself, he was right there and you didn't even know it. If I'd been with you I could have...”
“No.”
Constance gave Basil her best bewildered look, complete with exaggerated eye roll. He'd hated it when they were together and he hated it even more now. “You are such a goddam baby.”
“Excuse me?”
“Your really going to let your personal feelings stop you from accepting my help?”
“No, I'm going to let the fact that I don't want you getting in my way while I'm trying to work stop me from accepting your help.”
“Go to hell. Don't you dare stand there and pretend like I'm not capable, because you know I am. You've got a job to do. I've got a job to do. And it's the same damn job. So stop acting like pouty teenager.”
“The only thing you're capable of is...!” pissing me off were the words Basil was going to say when he suddenly felt Nolan's hand on his shoulder.
“I know I don't have the slightest idea what's going on here but if things are as bad as you both seem to think they are then maybe we need all the help we can get. Can it really hurt to let her help?” Nolan wasn't sure why he was saying it, for all he knew Basil was right and she really would just get in the way, but she didn't strike him as a “get in the way” kind of woman. The look on Basil's face told him he was probably right. The idea that the motives behind his suggestion were anything less than professional genuinely never occurred to him.
“Looks like you finally found a partner with some brains in his head,” said Constance, giving Nolan a smile that made him feel several different kinds of uncomfortable.
Basil waved his hands at the both of them in exasperation. “Fuck it! Fine. Just get in the damn car.”
Constance turned with what Nolan suspected was a deliberately snotty flip of her hair and walked towards the car. As Nolan started to follow suit Basil turned quickly and jabbed his finger hard into Nolan's chest, making him wince. “Do yourself a favor, do not let her get to you.”
Nolan was about to ask what he meant exactly but Basil tromped off down the alley before he had a chance.
Constance was already in the car and Basil was standing in front of the driver's side, watching Nolan across the roof as he caught up. It was hard for him to tell for sure but Nolan had the distinct impression that Basil wasn't nearly as mad about his intervention as he should have been. He was still having trouble reading his partners expressions, such as they were, but he thought he could see the faintest hint of gratitude in Basil's eyes.
“Might as well head back,” said Basil. “Hopefully Bill's team has finished up by now and they'll have some more for us to go on. Besides, I'm going to have to convince Mr. Sound to let little-miss-pain-in-the-ass come on board. So, y'know, 'fun'.”
In the back Constance waved an enthusiastic middle finger at Basil through her window.
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