Setting the Record straight...(Tak/RPIT)

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Cord almost completely forgot about feeling the man out when Magic and Fae came up. The Arcadians were a dangerous group to play with. Damn D'arcangelo could have warned him about this. Him and his secrets. Some fine police consultant he was. Cords mind raced trying to connect the dots that Mykael had told him. It just made no sense as the man refused to name names. Him and his precious rules.

Cord cleared his throat so that the silence wouldn't become deafening.
"Yeah we have a consultant M.D'arcangelo that could give you the who's and what fors ...maybe. He has rules he follows. So you think your case dovetails into Takanashitas? Thats just great we've been handling these two as separate cases all this time and we probably could have made more progress if we'd all been working from a single angle. Shit. Mrs. Winters doesn't ring a bell but see if you can scope her out make sure shes not trying to muddy the waters and throw off the scent. Then get up to speed on Max from Takanashita. Wait what am I saying. How do you think we should go about this? How do we divy up the troops?"

War makes strange bedfellows. Cord had to say that this present incarnation of the team had to be the strangest he'd ever seen . He had to get ship shape with his inner circle before they would be able to make any real difference but with Takanashita and Mayhew leading the charge he was sure they could make some leeway. One was as unbending as titanium the other was so bent that you couldn't see which way he was coming.

They would work and they hopefully would keep each other and the rest of team honest...

[chance]

“Rules. What rules?” Suddenly, it was almost as if Chance was the one feeling out Cord. “Look, Captain, if you want me to run with this shit, you have to give me everything. I can’t work with secrets and innuendo. I need facts and concrete suppositions and some assurance that my partner and I can trust you to cover our asses while we work.”

He broke out his own telling question then. “Tell me what you know, or what you think, on Takanashita.” Chance had a bad feeling about the new man, and he hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that there was something very wrong about the guy. The word inhuman came to mind, but Tak was no monster that Chance had ever come across and maybe he was grasping at explanations that didn’t fit but, damn it, there was something.

He paused then, waiting. Cord had to know he gave all for his squad; he always had. The question was, did Cord have the guts to back his men like he needed to? Were Chance and Rayvan going to be thrown to the wolves of public opinion if the shit hit the fan?

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"Okay lets get somethings straight. Mayhew I can read the jackets information pretty damn well. You have incredible 'instincts' which we both know is standard shorthand. So as somebody with secrets don't ask me to suddenly ignore yours if you want me to show you the world. Every thing that goes bump has their own rules and secrets its one of the prices of doing business. Yeah I know that D'arcangelo is a mage I've never asked because as long as I don't know for sure I won't have to pigeon hole him or put anything on record. Don't leave me in the dark and I can give you the full latitude that you deserve. I'm a big picture sort of guy. Get the job done and we are square..."

Realizing how much he actually said Cord sat back in his chair looking at Mayhew under a different light. It was a favorable light though the fact that he was being played didn't sit well. He appreciated the mans talent. He ran the self diagnostic that D'arcangelo had given him to make sure that the mans talent was pure police experience and not a touch of something elses. The verdict was out but Cord was sure that it wasn't anything that couldn't be learned through time on the job.

[chance]

It was the classic game of give and take, feeling each other out, not so much for information shared as for whether or not the other could be truly trusted. “Let’s just say I’m very useful at crime scenes. Right in the middle of where things happened.” Enough admission for now. Give and take. He watched Cord’s face as he repeated his early inquiry.

Now, back to Takashita. I need to know what you know about him and what your gut is on him. The take on Tak, if you will.” Chance smiled then, but it wasn’t’ his usual almost boyish grin. He was playing for his and Rayvan’s future here, the impression that he gave here would go far to deciding what could be said and what couldn’t. Not that he’d out her; that was solely her decision, but he could at least advise her better as to the lay of the land.

Tak bothered Chance, he admitted that. The man didn’t track, somehow. And that was a problem if they had to work on the Max Logan thing together.

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"Takanashita is a sound cop...with his own way of staying this side of legal. So for now lets just put that off the table."Cord had his suspicions. He hadn't had time to put everything together but he had enough information to cipher out that Takanashita wasn't the run of the mill.

"If he tells you what aces he has up his sleeve thats his prerogative as its not my secret to give. I am no sweat on the trigger newbie either Chance. To get something I know you have to give something. I'm not ready to give us wholly over to the feds to get the dirt on every member of the staff.I'd say that Tak is a good man to have between you and any bullets that mightily. Just like I bet you would rather have Wolfbaen in your box after."

Cord knew how things should progress from here but Chance Mayhew was cautious. That could only be a help later but for now it might get in the way.

"Chance I'm not going to shit you. We need a good solid core here and I want to build that around you and a few other officers. We've been ridden pretty hard by the brass. So we need results and officers we can trust are you in or out?"

[chance]

Chance thought a moment, then nodded. “I’m in. I was in the moment I walked through that front door the day I arrived. You think I didn’t get a bit of intel on this squad and this city before I waltzed in here?” He settled into the chair then. “I admit I don’t like the Fed involvement. Not one bit. They don’t share, and they have their own agenda and that works against us as much as it helps. Keep them off my back, if you can.”

He rolled right into the next thing he needed to say. “The Fae thing is important. They don’t come to our neck of the woods without reason and they play by their own rules when they do. This Miss Winters is fae and, if I’m right, she’s royalty, too. And there might be other royalty wandering about here. I spent some time among the fae in my youth, and I can tell you that they don’t lie, but they can twist the truth so well that they might as well be lying. I don’t get the connection between the fae and the mages and Max, but it’s there, I’d bet my life on it.”

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"Leave those guys to me. I'll keep them jumping through there own hoops. Mrs. Winters huh okay what do you have on her I'll get some workups done." Cord slid a well used leather bound notepad out of pocket. He was all business now that the basics were covered.

Pausing he looked to Chance. " Look I thought as much I just had to be sure about you. now that I am there aren't any restraints except the law on you..."

[chance]

“Not much, I admit. She claims to be human and working for some group that is trying to get rights for the fae to live here, but that’s a scam, or at least she’s using it as a cover. And she throws glamour around like it’s candy at Christmas. Red haired, gorgeous and dresses like she could afford to buy the world with her pocket change.”

He sort of ignored the apologetic acknowledgement that he had passed muster with Cord. It was mutual, and Cord knew it.

[Deleted]

"Yeah I'm leery of getting tangled up with the Arcadians as they are worse than going blind with a head cold. Damn shame they are involved. Lets prove a connection and see what we can shake out of the tree. They can't lie to a direct question so lets figure out what questions we need to ask without tipping our hands."

Cord noticed Mayhews face when mentioning the Fae. That might be a small issue but he'd deal with Mayhews hangups later. "So Chance what do you think of Wolfbaen. I know you haven't worked with her long but I trust your assessment. No ones in the car but you two so..."

Cord was aware as to what he was asking and how that might conflict on the surface. He also needed to know. He wasn't directly counteracting the sanctity pf the car. He knew however that he was toeing a line that ran deep through boys in blue. It was a rule that you didn't violate the car no matter what. His request came perilously close to that but he was sure that Chance knew his driving goal...

[chance]

Chance shook his head. “They can’t lie, maybe, but they can twist the truth to the point where it might as well be a lie. Questioning a fae will give you a headache. Always.” He thought about his reaction to ‘Miss Winters’. He’d have to be careful with that one, even with Rayvan there. “Proving anything is going to be hard, even if I tip my hand and let them know about my little talent. The problem is in knowing what to ask, and then how to ask it so they can’t slither out from under it.”

Cord’s question about Rayvan brought Chance up short. He knew what Cord was asking, and why, but it still rubbed him wrong. And the fact that Cord had mentioned the car meant he knew exactly what he was asking. Chance leveled his gaze on his superior and gave what answer he could. “She’ll do fine. She’s new and green, but she’s got the instinct. And she’s working with me.” Which was a subtle warning that too much more pushing would break something important between Chance and his Captain.