You let yourself sink into your seat and lower your window letting cool near winter air flow in. It's refreshing in more ways than one, the future is undecided but you have your faith and it will sustain you. Through this and whatever else will come. Your faith and your friends. You settle into your seat and watch as the sun dips beneath the clouds and finally graces the city with a cover of golden light as it disappears beneath the horizon. You recline your seat and stare into the golden hues, this is nice...

=====

The lights of Blue Brass illuminate the night as a light shower of ice cold rain sprinkles down, the neon making each drop shine like a gem. They dance coldly over your skin like the pins and needles of a sleeping limb. You smooth your hair back as you step through the door and give a wave to Jimmy behind the bar as your other hand lifts the sports bag.

"Ay Jimmy, you got a safe place I can keep this while I'm here? Case sensitive so I don't wanna risk anything."

"Can put it in the back room for you. Poker table is set up for the weekend so the room is off limits, that work?"

"It's perfect, thanks Jim."

After securing the bag and watching Jimmy lock the door to the back parlor you grab a stool and a beer and wait for the crowd to trickle in. You don't have to wait long, within a half hour you see a familiar face grinning at you. A couple of them actually.

"Ah you got me a beer!" Kimble bellows with a wide smile nodding to your half drank bottle. "You're a cop, you wanna nurse something then work at a hospital. Jimmy, line of mugs?"

Jimmy nods and steps away to begin filling glasses as Hawthorne steps past Kimble and gives you a firm nod.

"Just so y'know that mug doesn't count towards your debt."

"Didn't think it would." You glance past him and smile. "And you even pulled Gray out of his files."

"Files you helped pad. Blame yourself." Gray says with a smile beneath tired eyes. "Lots of fruit on those trees, it's some good work. Wish you could lend a hand."

"Well... Might be able to do that sooner than you think."

"So I've heard." He says with equal vagueness. "I'll buy a round to celebrate early, cause I know you'll get it done."

"His doesn't count either." Hawthorne says leaning in before looking up to Gray. "I'll still drink it though."

"I'd be shocked if you didn't, you penny pinching bastard." Gray says with a smile.

"Where's uh, Banks at?" You ask Kimble.

"Coming but he's gonna be late." He answers over his shoulder as he starts to receive and dole out drinks to each of you. "Dipshit didn't bring a set of civvies so he had to run home, means he's gonna get caught up talking to the old ball and chain. The plight of the soon to be wedded."

"Hmm." Hawthorne rumbles before sipping his beer. "Mendez know you consider marriage a plight?"

"What? No. What's it matter?"

"Girls like her probably wanna get married, have a bunch of rugrats running around."

"I'm sure. She tell you that?" Kimble asks sarcastically.

"No, but of course she does. She's... y'know." He gestures vaguely with his mug.

"I know what?" Kimble asks.

"Here we go." Gray mumbles expectantly as he passes you a cold mug.

"Y'know... she's Mexican or uh, Latina. Whatever they go by now." Hawthorne says.

You groan and Gray shakes his head.

"What?" Hawthorne asks.

"Dude." Kimble says simply, shaking his own head.

"Hey now, I didn't mean it in a bad way. If anything I respect em for it. They work hard." He leans over and pokes a bony elbow into Kimble's side. "They play hard."

"You're gross, old man." Kimble says but he says it through a laugh. "Here I was thinking you saw her like a daughter after helping her come up back in the day."

"Oh I do, same way I see you. Isn't it an old man's right to want some grandkids." He chuckles dryly.

"Well maybe you can relay that message to your own kid and leave me out of it. Mendez and I are still early days y'know? Feeling it out."

"Aren't you meeting her parents?" You ask, wiping foam from your lip.

"Oh is that so?" Hawthorne says with exaggerated surprise.

"Thanks, Mark." Kimble groans. "Hawthorne, why aren’t you on his case? He's got a girlfriend too, say something weird about her. Even it up."

"I like her. She doesn't take shit." Hawthorne says simply, extending his glass for a toast with you.

"This is bullshit, man." Kimble pouts. "I'd say something about your marriage but I actually highly respect your husband."

He raises his mug to Gray and winks.

"You have jokes?" Gray asks with raised brows. "Mark, you ever hear about why Kimble keeps a shaved head? Cause it isn't nostalgia for the army."

"Oh?" You lean in.

"Okay, okay. I overstepped, let's relax a bit." Kimble pleads. "And also, stop teaming up on me. Ya bastards."

"Speaking of your girl, how is she?" Hawthorne asks.

"Good. We've both been pretty busy lately but I'm hoping to make up for it once I finally get things put to bed."

"A good plan." Gray chimes in. "Until you get the next big one. And one after that. And after that. They sneak up on you like that."

"Maybe, but honestly I'm just waiting for things to calm down a bit. Not even in true blues yet and I've already been put in a coma, shot a guy, and nearly got dropped off a blimp smack dab over Coventry. Could use some peace for a bit after all this."

"Picked the wrong city then." Kimble says.

"Hear hear." Hawthorne chants. "That's why we love her. Never a dull moment."

You all drink from your mugs in silence and set them down drained, foam clinging to the glass.

"Jimmy. Another round, pale ale. Kid's tab." Hawthorne says slapping you on the shoulder.

As Jimmy sweeps away your mugs and gets another round going the conversation lulls naturally...

========================================

>"So Gray, about that fruit? Hawthorne said you picked up the college kid who was robbing the GU Chem Lab?"
>"Kimble, I met a friend of yours not too long ago. Leo? He runs the surplus store over in Little Italy. Eccentric guy."
>"So Hawthorne and I met an urban legend today… The Rat King.”
>”I do actually wanna know why Kimble has his head shaved. I really did think it was nostalgia.”
>Write-In

===========================

Welcome back everyone! Apologies for the break line in the update above this one but thankfully that should be the last of my formatting errors for a while now that I think I solved my range ban issue. It also seemed some people had issues seeing the call for a roll along with their votes, if there's any way I can make that more noticeable for you guys in the future let me know. With that out of the way a quick thanks to everyone still following and thanks as well to those who are catching up or have caught up, I appreciate every reader and every vote.

Previous threads can be found here: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Gotham%20City%20Beat%20Cop%20Quest

Picrel is a shorthand list of your abilities.

If you have any questions just let me know. I hope you enjoy the bar segments as much as I enjoy writing them, until next time; see you soon.

>>6445158
>"So Gray, about that fruit? Hawthorne said you picked up the college kid who was robbing the GU Chem Lab?"
I am actually quite curious how that shook out. Anyways, if you want people with poor reading comprehension to see something, formatting it in bold bright red capital letters is one way to do it. Blunt, but it seems to work well enough.

>>6445158
>"So Gray, about that fruit? Hawthorne said you picked up the college kid who was robbing the GU Chem Lab?"

>>6445158
Glad to hear things have shaped up IT wise, QM.

>"Kimble, I met a friend of yours not too long ago. Leo? He runs the surplus store over in Little Italy. Eccentric guy."

Let's start light.

>>6445158
>"So Gray, about that fruit? Hawthorne said you picked up the college kid who was robbing the GU Chem Lab?"
Right, was looking forward to an update on this. Some of our better policework of late.

>>6445158
>"Kimble, I met a friend of yours not too long ago. Leo? He runs the surplus store over in Little Italy. Eccentric guy."
>"I just might go back sometime and see if he still has the dummy landmine for sale, stick it under my windowsill as a break-in deterrence."

>>6445198
+1

>>6445161
>>6445165
>>6445198
>>6445201

"So Gray, about that fruit?" You begin, catching a sliding mug and passing it along to him. "Hawthorne said you picked up the college kid who was robbing the GU Chem Lab?"

"Mhmm." He hums through dense suds. "It was some good work you all did, Hawthorne's friend in traffic got us in on the traffic cams and they got nice pretty pictures of everyone leaving the meet up."

"Boring as hell, by the way. Wish you were there." Kimble chimes in from the rim of his own glass.

"It was only boring for him because I didn't entertain his 'tradition' of listening to mindless bubblegum bullshit." Hawthorne growled.

"Two hours of pure silence, Mark. Just the sound of him slurping up coffee. Like a horse."

"And the suffering was worth it, wasn't it?" Grey asks him. "We got the other plates, ID'd his collaborators and it was simple from there. Record logs at the chem plant showed the receptionist was going into the admin offices after hours and dropping one or two barrels from the store logs."

"Add that in with the legwork I put in." Hawthorne interjects. "The missing inventory at the school was enough to let the Dean have us peek at the badge in logs. Janitor badge was used late in the AMs, only thing is this Janitor had already reported the badge missing and had gotten another that same day."

"And they didn't think to deactivate the other one?" You ask.

"I'm getting there. They didn't have time, it got turned in before the school day even ended. CCTV showed something bulky being held up to the door and... presto." Grey waggles his fingers. "RFID Cloner, the tech version of pressing a key in putty."

"So what'd you do from there?"

"Got a warrant for the university parking lot specifically, routine security check was the official reason and that's an easy ask. Then we got the Dean to call an all hands meeting and fill that parking lot right up for us." Gray smiles now, clearly proud of himself. "Then it was easy as finding his license plate and going through the car with a fine tooth comb. He had cut open the bottom of his driver seat and stuffed it up in there, amateurs never hide their 'tools' at home. Everyone is scared of the cops kicking in their door..."

"But most of em think their car is a safe haven." Hawthorne finishes. "Just drive the speed limit and don't carry drugs or explosives that K9 can find and it's hard to find a good reason to tear a car up like that. One that a judge will like anyways."

"Seriously? Just like that?"

"Just like that." Grey offers with an air of finality. "Most cases don't wrap up flashy, Mark. They just... stop being your problem and then they end. The kid you managed to nab in the tunnels under the lab? He stopped being my problem damn quick, feds swooped in on him hard, case wrapped up but whatever is gonna happen to him? I may never find out."

"What about the brother? Raul?"

"We brought in Raul, because of your vision we got the exact truck they used so it wasn't hard to paint a clear link. Chemical residue matching the missing barrels from the chem plant, his and his friend's fingerprints, traffic camera data from the nights we saw the badge reader being used. All of that together gave us enough pressure on the other ones we picked up. Talked em into giving us more droplets of information to work with and eventually we had enough to start figuring out who we actually needed to be making deals with. Only one holding out now is the older brother. Raul."

"Really? His brother is looking down the barrel of terror charges, we caught him fleeing the lab. I saw him load the truck in my vision."

"This Raul kid." Grey begins then takes a long sip before shaking his head. "He's a law student."

Dual groans from Hawthorne and Kimble as they match Grey's gesture. Shaking their heads as well.

"What's the big deal?" You ask.

"Big deal is law students are fucking ballbusters." Hawthorne says. "Took a class and feel like they're ready to be Matlock."

"The kid IS pretty sharp. I can't lie, I picked that up from my chat with him. But he's still stupid where it counts, which is probably what Anarky wanted him for."

"Stupid where it counts?"

"He's making himself a martyr. All the people we flipped point to him as the next step for answers and he's set on being a plug in the drain. Claims your visions violate the 4th Amendment."

"That's bullshit." You scoff, only to then sip nervously and follow up with; "Right?"

Grey offers you a shrug.

"Joys of being the first." He says simply. "Regardless, he's putting it all on himself. Trying to take full responsibility and lessen the sentences for everyone else."

"That's what makes law students the worst. They know the letter of the law but not how it actually plays out." Hawthorne says. "That whole clique? They're fucked. Nothing that kid says is gonna change things."

"So does that mean we did it? Scarecrow is shut down?" You ask.

"They picked up Scarecrow and Scream Queen-" Grey stops midsentence and puts up a palm. "Don't ask. That's what they called her when they picked her up, I didn't choose it."

"They meaning ARGUS?"

"Yup. They were real interested in that suit Crane was stuck in, he was still catatonic when they carted him out. Took all the vials with em too, fought tooth and nail and the best I could get them to agree to was loaning us a redacted lab report on the chemical breakdown from swabs we took. It was still enough to put the truck with the kid's prints AT the lab."

"You said loaning it? Are they taking over the case?"

"Hah. No. Same song and dance we've heard every time some meta-villain or whacko pops up. An ARGUS spook comes by to take away his toys." Hawthorne grunts. "A matter of 'national security' means we gotta hand em and their toys over."

"So... what? We just don't get to take a run at him anymore? Figure it all out?"

"Also don't forget, you're still a rookie. A beat cop." Hawthorne adds on. "Nobody is gonna give two squirts of piss about your need for closure unless you got friends who're willing to spill it over a beer."

"Damn." You say quietly. "I don't know why I never really thought about it but I just assumed... I don't know. That it would be cleaner, I guess."

"Yeah well. None of us fucking like it, but we gotta deal with it. What I wouldn't give to know what's going on in the Governor's office regarding that worm Quinn." Hawthorne utters. "State funding may have been misappropriated at Blackgate, makes it a federal crime. He's in Trenton right now getting railed out by the IRS if I had to guess."

"But what about everything else? He may as well have blood on his hands for all the people that died, they died because of him. A GUARD died because of him."

"Two different courts. Federal gets first dibs, then we get our turn with conspiracy, abuse of office, tampering with evidence. The list goes on."

"And I tried to make it clear to him that it's a good thing." Grey starts up again, pushing his half finished drink back. "He lacks leverage for the federal charges, for everything state based he can leverage working with Calc and Mandragora to get a better deal with us. But the financial crimes? He's gonna eat that time in full, age he is now he's dying inside."

"In club fuckin' fed." Hawthorne growls. "Too good for em."

"Hear hear." Kimble adds on. "Most recent one for me was Firebug. Mark, Banks, and I got him in cuffs and talking even then just... whoosh. Vanished. ARGUS-napped right from the station. They said they'd be in contact if they learned anything we could use but guess how much I've heard back from em?"

You touch your pointer finger to your thumb and hold up a big fat zero. Kimble nods and clicks his tongue with a wink.

"Bingo." He says. "Man... fuck ARGUS."

"I'll drink to that." You say and raise your own glass before you all drain your cups.

"End of the day." Grey says, placing his glass firmly on the counter, his voice picking up a bit. "We did our jobs. Scarecrow's lab is shut down, the last dregs of Anarky are sitting in holding, nobody who had anything to do with Suzy's death is gonna breathe free air again and Quincy Late's accounts are under enough surveillance to make Orwell cry. The good guys won."

"Not yet." Hawthorne says quietly. "Not quite yet."

All eyes shift to you.

>"We're supposed to be celebrating, let's not waste time on someone who's already arrested and just doesn't know it yet."
>"Was hoping we could talk about that actually... I wanted to run my plan by you guys and see if you had any thoughts."
>"Let's not jinx anything, what we SHOULD be talking about is what sights around Gotham Hawthorne is gonna show his son."
>"I know the Blue Brass is sacred and all but it's still in public and I don't exactly want Banks walking in while I'm talking about 'them' cause they're helping."
>Write-in

>>6446987
>"Was hoping we could talk about that actually... I wanted to run my plan by you guys and see if you had any thoughts."

>>6446987
>"Let's not jinx anything, what we SHOULD be talking about is what sights around Gotham Hawthorne is gonna show his son."
The plan is in motion. Let's not overthink it. Chillax a little!

>>6446987
>”…you guys think ARGUS is planning on doing something similar? And soon?”
>"Was hoping we could talk about that actually... I wanted to run my plan by you guys and see if you had any thoughts."

I guarantee Waller’s going to pull some bullshit to get a psychic mob assassin wrapped around her finger. Forewarned is forearmed.

>>6447040
+1

>>6447040
+1

But we have to ALSO bring up a warning regarding my theory with Dent.

>"Guys, I think Calc is planning something and using Dent. He already has his greasy hands on the whole ARGUS and Blackgate sale, but I have the feeling that he's using Dent's hat to hypnotize him with the help of Thatcher's tech. Do you remember, Hawthorne? He already got some guy to get into the Wayne Manor, how don't we know he's going to use that hat for tomorrow's event and do some wild stuff?"

>>6447040 here. Just remembered this from a bunch of threads back, but has Grey thought about trying to crack Raul more rhetorically by claiming that the chemicals he was transporting would go against the beliefs of anarchism? From what I remember, the anon who brought it up said that a fear toxin would fall more in line with what a fascist government would use, what with anarchism being more about everyone having an opinion, regardless of how dogshit the take, whereas fascism would be all for making a bunch of people scared so that they could push their aganda more.

>>6447071
Methinks Raul is a bit of an accelerationist.

>>6447071
>>6447101
I was that anon, and yeah my point was essentially that fear toxin as a means of mass social control/terrorism runs very contrary to the principles of anarchism and even anarcho-terrorism. Anarchist assassins and illegalists have historically only targeted specific individuals or buildings. A fascist politician may be shot or bombed, a building or factory may be sabotaged or destroyed, the property or figureheads. If we look at figures like Marius Jacob, Clement Duval, the Bonnot Gang, or a contemporary case like Vassilis Palaiokostas (still at large, his memoir is an insanely good read imo), these are all anarchists that felt crime was an acceptable tool for their politics, but they specifically narrow their violence, almost all of them explicitly wrote that they would only harm police, members of the wealthy elite, or oppressive political figures. None of them would even steal from working class people. Even when an anarchist is of a mind that the masses are brainwashed, the goal is to wake them up and the reason for their radicalism is always on the behalf of the 'sheep' that they want to 'save' from a corrupt system. Fascist terrorism on the other end has a tendency to see regular citizens as being traitors and enemies in a very different way, and devalues human life and FREEDOM. Sacrificing and corralling 'sheep' is productive and aligned with the larger totalitarian project, it's also a form of rescue but the collateral damage is much more aligned with the overall philosophy.

Pausing to be clear that I do NOT to derail this quest with /pol/slop!!!! I really don't feel strongly about this stuff or want to debate. I am just stating things that are more or less accepted facts, no value judgments here!

All that said, I think that if he is a True Believer in anarchy, even as a staunch radical, Mark can make some inroads by pointing out the very real contradictions in his ideology and actions. I think some other anons have already mentioned, and I certainly believe myself, that Anarky is a smokescreen Calculator is using to weaponize dumb, expendable kids for his larger scheme. The whole thing benefits his scheme. One more mask for GPD to chase. The crooks in question are college kids which encourages authorities to use a lighter touch. The kids are highly motivated because it's ideological for them. If we can make the kids believe they are being used (and MAYBE they aren't, but... Really seems like) it'll be easier to get what we need.

>>6446986
>Claims your visions violate the 4th Amendment
Ehhh. Kind of. Then again, Mark can't get a warrant for a vision, because he can't entirely control what the vision will show him. I think the search warrant has to be specific?
Smartphones violate the 4th Amendment constantly anyway. Mark will be fine.
>>6446987
>>"We're supposed to be celebrating, let's not waste time on someone who's already arrested and just doesn't know it yet."
A little overconfidence, just a bit.
Plus, how in the world would SIM(a normal guy with cool visions) escape Mark, Constantine, Question and Huntress? Huntress especially. This quest didn't go for enough in-quest time for her to go soft, so she's still batwoman material.

>>6447005
>>6447040
>>6447044
>>6447049

"Was actually hoping we could talk about that actually... I wanted to run my plan by you guys and see if you had any thoughts. Though..." You trail off again, an incessant thought prodding at you. "After listening to you guys talk, do you think ARGUS is planning on doing something similar? Maybe even soon?"

"Do something similar?" Kimble echoes. "What, like take Rogers from us when you bring him in?"

"It'd follow their pattern." Hawthorne says, his gravely voice contemplative. "Meta-Human means they'll wanna scoop him up, just like all the others since Dent started working with em."

"That too, Dent worries me. Well. Maybe not Dent himself but I feel like he's..." The word eludes you until an icy fingernail drags down your spine. Somewhere in Gotham a student's fingers linger over a piece of carved wood on a checkered board. "Like a pawn. Like the Anarkists and Mandragora."

"Hm." Grey hums quietly but you see the way his eyes dilate despite his sight being fixed on the deflating remnants of beer foam. "Keep talking."

"Well just... I had a dream where I think my Shivers seeped in. I saw that stupid hat he's always wearing in it. What if that hat had the same tech that Tetch makes? The same kind that got Mr. Pepeti to break into Wayne Manor?"

"We were there when the hat got handed over." Hawthorne says, leaning forward on his elbows now. "Sweeped and didn't find anything, all the other hats we've picked up have a mess of wires and... and uh..."

"Diodes." Kimble offer.

"Yeah, sure." Hawthorne says. "You thinking they saved the good stuff for the mayor?"

"I don't know. I just know I have a bad feeling about it. You notice anything off, Kimble? Grey? You guys have been working around the Hall recently, right?"

"He did come and visit the Honor Guard practice." Kimble says, his own face thoughtful now too. "Didn't seem weird to me, thanked me and Banks again for the alley and for doing Honor Guard in the first place. Promised us he was working with Gordon to make sure there wasn't a repeat of the last time we shared a stage."

"Funny way of keeping that promise, moving the event up and putting us in a fuckin tailspin." Hawthorne spits.

"Yeah but that isn't exactly out of character for Dent. Also, no cap."

"He wasn't wearing a hat?" You ask.

"Nope. Didn't see one."

"He DID wear that old campaign hat of his for a few days though." Grey says to nobody in particular. "Course we don't know what he does at home or in private but every TV spot or anytime he was outside he'd have that hat."

"Maybe he's just a self absorbed prick looking to relive an old classic. He pulls this 'Dent in Crime' schtick and then pushes Gordon to push cops like DeLucia here into wrapping up a big case so he can put it in the pile to point at." Hawthorne talks until his mouth grimaces with the taste of something sour. "Fucking hate politicians."

"Do we know anything about the Tetch tech, Grey?"

"Entire department is juggling, Mark. This is something we'd pass onto Barbara normally but she's on loan to the QRT. Best I've gotten from our own techs is that it's just what he was using the last time we got him but beefed up with a better delivery system due to those wires and patches sending the signals directly. Makes it harder to break em from the trance. He'd need the hat on consistently for it to affect him."

"Explains why it took getting shot to wake Papeti up then." You mumble. "Just... keep an eye out. Maybe put in a word with Gordon or Reiner?"

"I'll do my best." Grey says with a nod before giving his empty cup a pointed look.

You take the hint.

"Jimmy, get us another round? Thank you." You ask before leaning back on the bar again. "Sorry for getting distracted."

"Don't be. If you were anyone else I'd tell you to keep your bad feelings to your diary." Hawthorne says, gratefully accepting his third beer and raising it to you with a wink. "But anyone else isn't screwy in the head like you are. Now, tell us your plan to deal with Rogers."

"I'm gonna say words, well one word, that will make you want to ask me questions but you just gotta trust me on it, alright?"

They all lean in a bit closer.

"We're gonna meet outside the city, should be no powers for either of us.... and we're gonna meet a magician." Every eyebrow raises but you push forward. "He can connect Rogers with his mom's spirit, if she's willing, and this is important because Vic's Shakes speak to him with her voice. I think he's been led astray either from whatever it was that almost put me down on Halloween or just his shitty life traumatizing him into being a nutjob. He's weak, emotionally and psychologically, so I think if I shatter the illusion it might break him too. Perfect world he collapses into tears or goes catatonic for a bit, I cuff him up and bring him in."

"So the clowns are for when that doesn't work out." Hawthorne says.

"Clowns?" Grey asks.

"Faceless and Pokey." Hawthorne replies steadily, Grey rolls his eyes but otherwise keeps his distaste to himself.

"They're there for if he bolts early or... yeah, the mom thing not working. Grey, I see your face and I already told Huntress no puncturing at all. No leg shots. Nothing. She's gonna flatten the tire of whatever he drives in, then even if he bolts he won't get far."

"Mmm." Kimble grunts mid-sip. "Nah man, you can go pretty far on a single flat. You should use a strip, or I guess she should make one that works for her crossbow."

"Make one?" Grey asks him.

"Yeah, couldn't be that hard to just get a line on it. I gotta assume she has grapple cable, thread it with nails or needles or whatever like a caltrop then pow! Shoots out and sticks into a tree or something. I dunno. Then he pops all four of em pulling out and that's gonna make driving a real bitch."

"Huh. I guess I'll keep that in mind." You mutter.

"What about the ace defective?" Hawthorne asks. "What's he doing to help out?"

"Covering the backdoor in case he doesn't go for the car. That and sweeping the place tonight, putting that paranoia to good use."

"Yeah well... little fucker hits harder than he looks. If Rogers goes out the back he's gonna get his block taken off, BUT that's never gonna happen cause my trainee is gonna make sure if Rogers breaks for it that you put one right in his leg, right?" Hawthorne jokes.

"Trying to avoid any extra wounding if we can actually."

"Boy scout." Kimble ribs gently.

"I figured as much, you want the arrest." Suddenly Hawthorne's eyes spark. "You uh... You weren't gonna take a cruiser were you?"

"Would kinda defeat the purpose of an ambush, no?"

"Yeah but in your ideal scenario you mentioned you still gotta haul him back."

"Yeah?"

"What if he snaps out of it? Wakes up from that coma or whatever and decides he doesn't like the magic show you put on for him? Or maybe he fakes the little breakdown just to get the jump on YOU. No cruiser means no grate and the last place you want a suspect is your fucking backseat... believe me." He takes a deep swig and grits his teeth. "Learned that the hard way when he put a fucking knife on me."

"Which is exactly what makes me worried about you dealing with him with those masks." Grey tacks on.

"Yeah well, ‘those masks’ have been pretty helpful so far, so it’s gonna be that way."

"You said you were meeting outside of town right?" Hawthorne asks. "How long to get back to city limits?"

"Not long at all, it's literally JUST outside the limits. Maybe five minutes? Ten tops."

"Close enough we could be waiting to offer support." Kimble says, obviously picking up on what Hawthorne is thinking.

"Support?"

"Well, I guess it'd be more of a hot swap. You get into city limits and we meet you with a cruiser, nothing more official about his arrest than taking him through the sallyport in your shop." Kimble says. "Plus, and this is the part the old man isn't saying, it means we're close by if anything goes tits up. Also can't hurt to play extra safe and swap him over to something more secure."

"We wait until you're out of the city to even set it up." Hawthorne adds. "No risk of his Shakes or Shudders that way. Minimizes the time you gotta be in an enclosed space with someone not fully restrained."

>"Or... I put him in my trunk. Pretty sure Huntress and Q are experienced enough with that to lend me a hand."
>"I appreciate the concern but you guys have your jobs to do, which is being cops, I'll bring extra cuffs and give him the Gorchakov treatment if it makes you feel better."
>"Honestly, it would make me feel better knowing I'd have you guys waiting to help me down the home stretch. With my luck anything that goes wrong WOULD happen on the drive to the station. Set up on the exit to Brown Bridge, we can transfer him there."
>"We can do that if it makes you guys relax a bit, you seem more worried about this than I am. But only one of you needs to be there, don't need the entire gang for one guy." (Who?)
>Write-In

>>6447380
>>"Honestly, it would make me feel better knowing I'd have you guys waiting to help me down the home stretch. With my luck anything that goes wrong WOULD happen on the drive to the station. Set up on the exit to Brown Bridge, we can transfer him there."
Good thinking guys

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>>6447380
>"Honestly, it would make me feel better knowing I'd have you guys waiting to help me down the home stretch. With my luck anything that goes wrong WOULD happen on the drive to the station. Set up on the exit to Brown Bridge, we can transfer him there."
Would it be a violation of his rights if we just wrapped him up in an obscene amount of duct tape before the hand off?

>>6447394
Kek!

>>6447380
>"We can do that if it makes you guys relax a bit, you seem more worried about this than I am. But only one of you needs to be there, don't need the entire gang for one guy."
I think Kimble is best suited to wrestle a hitman if it comes down to it, no offense to the others.