#finally a semi-decent copper~ ...who also very much likes getting into people's faces

[jtownraindancer]

"That your handiwork is it? How- How is that funny?"

Burn Gorman as PC Renwick in Cemetery Junction, 2010.

[azure7539arts]

The International (Part 2)

Rating: General

Premise: Q, a private detective, has received a new case to look into.

► Other parts: (1)

The fact that they’re meeting in a nightclub really just amps the shady level up to a… five if this is supposed to be on a scale from 0 to 10.

Not too bad, Q supposes.

He’s eyeing the entrance to see how best to approach this when a tall, bulky man—most likely a bouncer—comes up to him, asks if he’s Q, then, upon receiving a confirmation, leads him inside, cutting through an entire long line of people queuing to enter the club.

Flashing LED colored lights plunge the place into a strange rhythm that’s off tune compared to the music in the background… not that the mass of people people currently writhing and grinding on the dance floor appear to mind, of course.

Just off to the side are the ‘private’ booths, separated from the outside by curtains (so one can decide on how private that actually depending on one’s own sensibility), and Q finds himself standing in front of the very last one in the row once the bouncer has walked away after apparently completing his mission of leading Q to where he needs to be.

With one inhaled breath and a mental what the hell, Q pushes the curtain out of the way and slips inside.

There are two men occupying the semi-circular plush couch that makes up most of enclosed space, both of whom are blond with remarkably piercing eyes.

It takes Q a bit to realize that he hasn’t moved or said anything for nearly four seconds.

“Good evening,” the one with blue eyes between these strangers begins, an easy smile slipping onto his lips as he leans forward in his seat. “You must be Q.”

Even though the other one—the man with green eyes, longer blond hair, and half a face full of what seem like burn scars—doesn’t say anything, hasn’t even quite reacted yet, Q can still feel an assertive sort of aura oozing from his every pore.

“I am.” Q nods, moving now to sit down at the edge of the sofa, keeping a respectable distance. “Which one of you is Richard Sterling?”

At this, both men seem marginally amused that Q is cutting right to the chase instead of wasting time.

“I am,” Blue Eyes replies, the smirk playing on his lips looking to have every potentials of taking on a cruel twist. “Would you like a drink, Q?”

Q thinks about it for moment and says, “Sure.”

Sterling presses a button at the side of the table which quickly prompts a server to enter and take Q’s order. To his credit, Q’s expression remains unchanged by the time he turns back to the other two men, whose silent presence alone seems already enough to make said poor server slightly nervous.

“You stated in the preliminary questions that you are looking for a missing person?” Q begins, and upon receiving a nod, continues with: “Any reason why you aren’t contacting the proper authority?”

Sterling quirks an eyebrow at him, but before he can say anything, Green Eyes cuts in: “We don’t want any copper here.” He leans forward now, too, and from the slightly exasperated look in Sterling’s face and his general lack of any real desire to rectify the situation, this isn’t the first time he’s done this—taking control of the conversation, that is. “Look, if you don’t want to—...”

“You don’t want the police snooping around because you’re the head of the Amber Gang, aren’t you.” It really isn’t a question, and from the way their eyes go frosty in barely a fraction of a second, despite their unchanging postures, Q can tell that he just hit home run… Or something. He’s never been very good at baseball anyway. “It’s really not that difficult to piece the clues together, you know.”

Amber has been one of the most active gangs in this city. They’re not the most brutal, but they’re smart, efficient, and ruthless if necessary. Of course, not everything attributed to Amber circulating on the news is true (not at any allegation sticks), but Q has heard enough (and has actively searched for it, out of curiosity, enough) to know that the leader of this gang has a description that almost exactly matches Sterling here. And the regularly spotted companion, who is Green Eyes over there, doesn’t really help with all this so-called secrecy, which is pretty lousy, to be honest.

And Q says as much because he knows that between not saying and consequently getting murdered for being mistaken as someone sent by a rival gang, and saying and only possibly getting murdered… he has the obvious choice.

Eve will so lock him up after this should she ever find out.

Once he finishes his analysis, Q sits still, tries to regulate his breathing and any other outward physical projections of his swelling nervousness (ha, you’re only nervous now?), and calculates the ways in which he can maneuver out of here more or less alive if worse comes to worst.

Green Eyes leans closer to ‘Sterling’ and whispers something, the cold gleam of his eyes piercing in the dim light of the booth. Whatever he said, it has ‘Sterling’ chuckling, the sound deep inside his throat, husky and warm, and Q quickly turns back to counting all the possible entry and exit points that he previously spotted when the bouncer was leading him in.

“Come on,” ‘Sterling’ says and stands suddenly, hands already automatically buttoning up his jacket. “We’ll tell you the job on the way.”

Q blinks then elects to show his cards and have his distrust on full display, refusing to stand up yet.

This just, not so surprisingly, makes their smirks grow that bit more shark like.

“Don’t worry,” ‘Sterling’ reassures with what he must think to be his most soothing voice. (Or is it the other way around?) “We won’t bite.”

Q sighs but eventually relents and straightens up as well, smoothing down his parka. “Look, don’t get me wrong,” he begins. “It’s not that I don’t like following clients who don’t even give me their real names to an unknown second location, it’s just that…” He shakes his head slowly, gently. “I don’t like it.”

He smiles wryly, and somehow, this seems to take them aback a little.

But really, if they expect for everyone in their lives to just mindlessly listen them, they have hired the wrong detective.

“For a person who calls himself Q, you sure have a lot of conditions,” Green Eyes finally drawls, exasperated, maybe, but probably not that irritated.

Q shrugs, “It’s just how I do business, I’m afraid. Aside from what you just pointed out, the information you have on me taken from our office, is transparent.” Mostly. They don’t need to know that.

Green Eyes can barely suppress his eye-roll.

‘Sterling’ just sucks in a breath as his eyes flicker to the side, amusement infusing in his smile now. “You can call me James,” he says in the end. “And this is Alec.”

Q concedes a nod. These actually feel like real names. “Nice to meet you James. Alec.”

-

They arrive at a flat block just twenty minutes away from the club, and it’s mostly quiet all around, except for the occasional dog barks and echoing police sirens in the far distance. The streets are wet from all the rain that poured down on them in the afternoon, but that’s pretty much typical London anyway.

“Her name is Nellie. She disappeared from her flat two days ago without a trace… nothing that we can find anyway,” James explains as they climbs the stairs up.

Q says nothing about using the lift because he figures it’s a gangster thing, and also probably because he shouldn’t be pushing it. There’s something they’re not telling him from the looks of things, but if it’s relevant enough to the case, it’ll emerge itself sooner or later.

In a way, Q knows that he’s being reckless, but this is also a trial. As he has explained in the email he sent them prior to their meeting, he always has a trial period of going through the evidences (considering that they refused to come to the office to meet him), and if it’s worth it, then he’ll take the case on. It’s always been how he operates, and he isn’t about to let two gangsters cow him into doing otherwise… even if he imagines that they can be quite convincing should they want to.  

“We’ve left her flat as untouched as possible,” James continues. “And CCTV pulled from the building and hall outside has been doctored, considering they don’t yield much of anything.”

Q hums. He’ll give them credit for being thorough, but then again, they won’t have survived here this long without some brains behind their conducts.

“No sign of forced entry,” Q mumbles as they stop at what must be the door to this missing Nellie, and reaches into his pocket to slip on his gloves.

They go in after Alec unlocks the door, and quickly, Q is already taking in the entire environment, absorbing the details and leaving them aside for later analysis.

“Is she any good at computers? Cybernetworking?”

The place is sparsely decorated with few pieces of clothing strewn around here and there and a few random objects scattered across open surfaces, per usual of any lived in spaces. Besides a seemingly undisturbed bookshelf, the closet appears to have been emptied out, a couple of hangers fallen haphazardly on the floor, and a number of drawers are open as well.

“She is.” James exchanges a glance with Alec. “We did find this.” He leans over to a dresser and pulls out a drawer to retrieve a tablet, and honestly, Q sort of feels like this is part of the reason why these two hire him, other than the fact that he’s a third party to this entire thing, of course.

Q takes the device into his hand and examines it critically. As expected, there’s a password lock, but if Nellie here really is decent at cybernetworking, then she probably has other safety precautions installed along the way beyond this initial locked door, too.

“I can have this analyzed for results,” Q says thoughtfully.

“Does that mean you’re taking the case?” James chimes in, sounding a little too amused, honestly.

“Who would find poor Nellie here if you two refuse to get the police involved anyway?” Q suppresses the urge to roll his eyes—not that he does anything stop the slightly annoyed sigh that tumbles out of his nostrils.

“We’ll pay you handsomely. Don’t worry.” The grin on James’s lips is wolfish, but it’s late, and Q is really a little too interested in finding out the content of this tablet to really make a jabbing remark about it.

“As long as I get to walk away and actually spend the money,” Q mutters under his breath.

“As long as you don’t cross us, then there’s really nothing to be concerned over,” Alec replies, and Q nearly snorts. Nearly.

Because, between the two of them, Alec actually looks like the one who will probably drag Q to a back alley and shoot him down, given half a reason.

Well, whatever it is, Q thinks to himself, taking another look around the small flat, she most probably left of her own accord. But if this is true, then it means that some unsavory figure has infiltrated Amber.

Q’s eyes flickers over to the other two men in the room. And James and Alec know it.

This is not just a simple search for a missing woman in the gang, it’s also them trying to have an internal sweep as well.

“I’ll be sending you a contract in the morning, then,” Q says, starting back toward the door.

“What contract?” James raises an eyebrow.

“Proof of confidence, you can call it.” Q shrugs. “Considering that you two are my clients, it’ll be foolish of me indeed not to have some form of personal insurance.”

Alec looks like he may say something, but James’s grasp stops him. “Fair enough.” He smiles, like a true businessman. “Your deadline for analyzing the tablet should be by 12 PM sharp tomorrow, then.”

Q smirks, knowing a game when he sees one. “Plenty of time.”

-

The call came in bright and chirpy the next morning at 7 AM. Sharp.

“It’s a diary,” was what Q said the second James picked up.

(tbc.)

-

[Prompts: London + Diary]

[kbaldwin0609]

‘The Bachelorette’ Episode 7 Recap: Swiss Dismiss

Rachel Lindsay (Photo: ABC)

Warning: This recap for episode 6 of The Bachelorette contains spoilers. 

Long time no see, rose lovers! In an amazing show of restraint, Team Bachelorette did not make us watch a new episode over the July 4th holiday, so it’s been two whole weeks since we last saw Rachel and her man-harem. And all of a sudden, we’re just ONE WEEK AWAY from hometown dates! Man, time flies when you’re watching people make out on TV.

This week, the “journey” moves to Geneva. Rachel, dressed head-to-toe in white, floats into the guys’ hotel room “like an angel,” gushes Adam. The guy who brought the doll really hopes he’ll get a one-on-one this week, and he’s actually got a semi-decent chance: Rachel announces there will be three one-on-one dates this week, a group date (presumably with some poor suckers going home), and no rose ceremony. Sounds perfectly awkward. Let’s get to it!

All of that said, Bryan gets yet another one-on-one date, because Rachel has clear favorites and she doesn’t care who knows it. “Curveball, dude!” grunts Adam, who obviously hasn’t been paying attention.

Not only is Bryan getting another date, he’s getting the reverse Pretty Woman date! “When I’m in a relationship, from time to time I like to treat my man,” notes Rachel, like a g-d boss. “But never have I treated a man like the way I’m going to treat a man today.” So get in the rented Alfa Romeo, Bryan, cuz mama’s gonna take you on a shopping spree!

Naturally, the first thing on Rachel’s list is an expensive Swiss watch, so she and Bryan head to (promotional consideration provided by) Breitling. The watches here are SO fancy, the sales dude has to wear black ninja gloves while placing the timepiece on Bryan’s wrist.

The Bachelorette picks out a black-and-silver watch for her man, and is delighted to hear that it suits his style. “I like black,” says Bryan, prompting a giddy “Do you?” from Rachel. (You walked right into that one, bro.) And rather than being intimidated when Rachel announces that she’s buying them both expensive matching watches, Bryan is so happy he tackles her.

“This is a forever gift,” he gushes. “I’m so happy right now, I can’t even describe it.” Matching watches are a pretty big commitment — looks like Bryan’s gonna make it to hometowns. Get ready for your free spinal adjustment, Papa Lindsay!

Knock knock knock! The Accent Table of Doom is at the door! Who will get the next one-on-one date?

Sorry Adam, but you and Adam Junior will have to spend another night crying into your chardonnay, because the second one-on-one date goes to Pretty Boy Dean! “Don’t punch me in the face,” he pleads sheepishly.

That long face, by the way, is because Dean’s a little nervous about the prospect of having Rachel meet his family. “The relationship that I have with my family is not the best,” he explains. Unfortunate for him, good for us (should he make it to hometowns, of course).

Hey, did I mention that Rachel and Bryan’s date is still going on? Now they’re at dinner, and the Bachelorette is grilling her date about his childhood. Fun fact: Bryan’s mom sent him to an all boys’ school because he wanted to get his ear pierced. Gross fact: When Bryan finds out Rachel wore a uniform at her private school, he asks her to describe it in a creepy, What are you wearing? kind of way. Save it for the Fantasy Suite, cowboy.

The conversation eventually veers into more serious territory, as Bryan relates the sad tale of his last relationship, a “passionate,” “hot-and-heavy” romance that burned bright — until the woman decided she didn’t like Bryan’s mom and dumped him because of it. I don’t know about you, but I can barely see the screen right now through all the red flags waving in my face. The woman told Bryan she dumped him because of his mom? Either his ex is a real jerk or his mom is… a handful. We have got to meet this mom. Come on, Rachel — give Bryan the date rose already!

Thank you. I could have done without the uncomfortably long scene of Bryan and Rachel making out while a string quartet averted their eyes and played from adjacent balconies, but I know Team Bachelorette has two hours to fill.

Dean’s date is up next, and he should feel honored because Rachel’s taking him somewhere she once took Nick on The Bachelor: Church! Unlike last time, though, it’s all in French and Dean is not the only white person there.

After the service, Rachel and Dean take a stroll through the quiet streets of Old Town, and though it’s peaceful and beautiful, Dean is struggling with a lot of “internal conflict.” Will Rachel still want to invite him on a hometown date once she learns of his “awkward family dynamic”? Peter doesn’t think so. And I’m only saying that in order to have an excuse to show you this picture of Peter looking FINE in his salt-and-pepper sweater.

Anyhow, back to Dean’s date. The Bachelorette wants to get down to business and learn more about her handsome young escort, but Dean keeps deflecting with giggles and goofiness. “Do you believe in the tooth fairy?” he asks Rachel, and then follows it up with “What’s your favorite dinosaur?” And she does NOT love it.

“I need Dean to not be so jokey and deepen our relationship,” says our exasperated Bachelorette, who’s beginning to worry that she’s going to have to “say a really, really hard goodbye tonight.” Come on, Dean — get it together! Do you really want to be sent home before this guy?

(Seriously, who is that guy and why is he still here?)

At dinner, Rachel wastes no time telling Dean that “something was off” about their date. “I need to see the other side of you,” she continues, and finally Dean starts to Open Up™ about his feelings. “My family is not gonna be the family that you want to see,” he says. After his mother died, Dean says his dad “wasn’t able to flip the switch and become that person that I needed him to be.” And then comes the true heartbreaker: “What I wish you could see is the family that I had in my most developmental years… and not the family that abandoned me at, like, the most vulnerable time in my life.”

Ooof. But good for Dean for finally spitting it out. Rachel assures him that she’s not going to judge him based on his less-than-conventional family situation. “You’re not here by accident,” she adds. “I feel like I have a much better understanding of you.” Dean gets the rose, and now I want fondue.

Two roses — and four men — left, folks! Peter gets the final one-on-one date of the week, which thankfully involves a helicopter. (Everybody drink!) They chopper over Lake Geneva to the Swiss Alps, and land atop Glacier 3000, which sounds more like a nightclub than a natural phenomenon, but that’s not important right now. As Rachel and Peter climb aboard the waiting dog sled, I couldn’t help but wonder: Where the hell is Copper?

Once the puppies get a break, Rachel and Peter sit in the snow and talk about their feelings. Peter admits to being “in his head” for a while, especially since his last one-on-one date was so long ago. “There’s definitely been some dark days throughout all this,” he admits. “And in those bad days it’s like, ‘I’m not sure if I want to stay.’ But I always figured that connection that we built on the very first date was enough to get me through.” Awww, that’s sweet. Also, how cute does Rachel look in this hat?

As night falls, Team Bachelorette gives us the same “Rachel still has questions about Peter” song-and-dance, because otherwise this date would have no suspense. Naturally, they chat about past relationships; though he’s never dated a black woman before, Peter has total confidence that his family won’t have an issue with meeting and welcoming Rachel into their home. The most interesting part of Rachel and Peter’s dinner conversation is his story about the last time he saw his ex-girlfriend — because that’s where the “she’s got tears streaming down her face, and I blame myself for that” quote used repeatedly by Team Bachelorette in the promos came from. So good news: Peter didn’t make Rachel cry. Bad news: Duped again!

More to the point: Peter is consistently honest about how he’s feeling, telling Rachel that he thinks he’s ready to love again, and promising her that if he makes it to the end but still has “reservations,” he’s not gonna propose just because that’s what producers want him to do. (I’m paraphrasing, but you get the idea.)

Weirdly, Rachel finds this honesty “scary,” because I guess she’d rather have a guy hell-bent on proposing after 8 weeks than one who wants to take a more reasonable approach? Sigh — as much as we love our Bachelorette, we must remember that anyone who agrees to be the Bachelorette has fundamentally flawed judgment.

Just give him the rose, girl.

Group date time! The date card warned Eric, Adam, and Matt that the outing “will be difficult,” so the guys are understandably a little anxious about the day. “I’m gonna bring my best self,” says Eric, “but it’s just not a very comfortable feeling going into a group date.” Especially a three-on-one group date that will end with two guys getting the boot.

But everyone on this date is a grown-up, and so they all go into it determined to make the best of it. Everyone climbs aboard a boat headed to France, where they alight on the grounds of the Château De Coudrée for champagne and a series of one-on-one talks. Eric’s up first: “You do something to my energy when I just get happy,” he tells Rachel. I feel like a sucker saying this, but Eric does seem like a happier guy now, and I teared up a little bit when he said, “Something inside of her is making me open up and just be. I’m changing.”

It’s Matt’s turn next, and though Rachel says she has a “soft spot” for the construction manager, I think we all know this guy — who does seem like a genuinely sweet dude — is not making it to hometowns. Rachel knows it, too, which is why she’s now crying.

“It’s meant so much for me for you to be here,” she tells him through her tears. “I hate to say goodbye to you like this.” They share a weirdly long goodbye kiss, and then it’s Reject Van time for Mr. Matt, who is gracious to the end. (“I still really want the best for her.”) Poor Rachel is grieved, but she knows her heartache is not over yet. She still has to get through Dinner For Three.

The Bachelorette insists she doesn’t know whether she’ll give today’s final rose to Adam or Eric, but… really? Does anyone actually doubt that producers kept Adam around this long because they didn’t want to stop playing Where’s Waldo with Adam Jr.? Bless his heart, Adam sure thinks he’s still got a shot. “I feel like there’s something there,” he tells Rachel. “It’s really special.” It’s clear Rachel is moved by Adam’s optimism and his genuine enthusiasm for her, but… she’s still kind of freaked out by the doll. When Adam recalls their visit to a park after the mud-wrestling date, when he and Rachel lay down on the grass and looked at the sky, the Bachelorette whispers under her breath, “And AJ was watching in the trees.”

As for Eric? Well, his one-on-one chat with Rachel is notable for a few reasons. First, it’s intense, as Eric does not sugar-coat his upbringing in Baltimore: Drugs and crime were “the norm”; his uncle went to prison for 50 years; he’s watched “family members get high”; some of his friends have been “killed in the streets.”

But even more powerful than Eric’s honesty is the fact that this notoriously homogenous network reality show is now spotlighting a young African-American man from a disadvantaged background who grew up to be a responsible, likable member of society. So, baby steps?

Back to the date. Having concluded her talk with both men, Rachel returns to the table to issue her verdict. “I have such strong connections and feelings for both of you,” she says. “The only thing that I can do is go with my gut.” And her gut says…

Sorry, Adam, but it looks like you and AJ are destined for a plane back to the states. The saddest part about this whole goodbye is that Adam Junior was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he’ll turn up in Paradise?

Welp, rose lovers, we’re down to four. Do you think Rachel sent the right guys home? Who do you think is the guy to beat? And why did any of us doubt Dean when he referred to his dad as “eccentric”?

Yeah, that “this season on” promo was jam-packed with crazy moments. But we’ll have plenty of time to discuss those in the coming weeks. Let me know what you thought about this week’s episode, and be sure to check out Chris Harrison’s behind-the-scenes blog right here.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go thank my husband for never, ever pooping with the door open.

The Bachelorette airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.

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