#tmeship

[singledarkshade]

Waverider Detective Agency

Part Four

Rip let out a long sigh of relief as he leaned back against the cool bathroom wall, his stomach finally empty. Drinking helped him forget for a little while, it made the long nights alone easier but the morning after was always hellish and it never seemed to get any better.

He hated everyone right now, up to and including himself. All he wanted was to go back to the home he’d made with Miranda and Jonas.

It hadn’t been a big house, but it was theirs and it had been his sanctuary after a long day with the two people he lived for. Until the night it had become the scene of his biggest nightmare.

By the time he’d been released from the hospital, his mother had the house cleaned out, sold and had moved him into an apartment in the centre of the city.

Rip loved his mother, she had become his family when he thought he’d never get one. Mary partly knew what he was going through, her husband and daughter had been killed in a car crash a few years before she’d taken him in. She knew how painful seeing reminders of those that had been taken from you could be but Rip knew the death of the people he loved had been his fault.

He knew that she’d given him the Agency to give him something to focus on but also it was a way to hide him in case Druce decided to come after him again. Rip didn’t expect him to because, there was nothing more the man could do to him but also Druce was so well known he’d want to get somewhere he could hide.

The alarm on his phone began to buzz and Rip sighed, this meant he had to get ready to go to his new job. His mother wanted him to feel better but right now getting up each morning was all he was able to do.

He needed a shower and coffee…a lot of coffee.

 Gideon twisted her hair up out of her face before she grabbed her jacket and bag heading out the door.

“Good morning,” a familiar voice made her jump when she reached the stairs, surprised to see Rip walking down from the floor above her.

“Good morning, Rip,” she greeted him softly, “How are you?”

She saw something flicker in his eyes but it was gone too quickly as the genial expression he had reappeared.

“Still getting my bearings,” he shrugged, “You?”

Gideon smiled, “Needing coffee. I’m hoping John will be open and selling it this morning but you never know.” His confused expression made her laugh and she started walking down the stairs, Rip at her side, “John is a little eccentric and what his café sells changes on an almost daily basis but for some reason he’s running a really successful business.”

To her amazement Rip gave a very slight smile and Gideon was surprised how handsome it made him. Just for that brief second, she got to see the man before he’d lost his family and Gideon wished she had known him then.

“Well, Kendra called me last night and we have a client first thing this morning,” Gideon told him, “Hopefully it will be something other than a cheating spouse.”

Rip nodded, “That would be nice.”

He opened the front door, holding it open making Gideon smile and they talked generally about the agency as they walked. Gideon told him about her first few months in charge and some of the cases she’d worked on. Finally reaching John’s which was, to her relief, selling coffee.

“Morning, love,” John greeted her the moment she walked in, “And I’m going to assume this is the new partner.”

“Rip Hunter meet John Constantine,” Gideon introduced them, “Don’t pay attention to him, Rip. John is very protective of me and Kendra since we’re his best customers.”

John nodded, “That and they found out one of my ex-employees was stealing from me. They’re my girls, more precious to me than my own sisters…”

“You don’t have any sisters,” Gideon interrupted him

 “So I like to make sure no one does anything that could hurt them,” John continued ignoring her.

Rip glanced over at Gideon, “I would never allow that either,” he gave another very slight smile adding, “My mother would kill me and she is much more terrifying than you.”

John laughed, “You’re damn right about that. What can I get you this morning?”

“My usual coffee order,” Gideon smiled.

“And I’ll just take a black coffee,” Rip added.

John nodded, “Coming right up.”

  Rip watched Gideon’s look of bliss as she took a long drink and frowned slightly, “That is a lot of sugar and caffeine.”

She gave a shrug, “It keeps me going.”

“I’m sure,” he noted, reaching the office he opened the door for her again.

They found Kendra already in, at her desk on the computer working, “Morning,” she greeted them, “Your appointment is in twenty minutes.”

“Thank you,” Rip gave Kendra quick nod heading into his office and closing the door. He sat and drank his coffee, relieved that his headache had disappeared.

He was beginning to truly like the two women he was now working with despite not wanting to. Getting attached to anyone was not something he could ever do again. It didn’t matter how sweet Kendra was or Gideon’s brilliance, optimistic nature and energy, something he was beginning to suspect had a lot to do with the amount of caffeine and sugar she ingested on what appeared to be a daily basis.

Rip knew he had to keep himself apart from them as much as possible. It was only a year and then he could go back to work properly.

Twenty minutes passed quickly and the sound of the door opening alerted him to the fact their client had arrived. Taking a deep breath, focussing himself Rip stepped out of his office finding Kendra talking to a woman who appeared to be in her late thirties, possibly early forties.

“Mrs Hillier,” Kendra said softly, “This is Rip Hunter and Gideon Ryder.”

Rip took the woman’s hand and shook it politely but allowed Gideon to take the lead as they guided the woman into her office.

“What can we do for you, Mrs Hillier?” Gideon asked.

                                  *********************************************

  “Where are we going?” Rip asked as he followed Gideon through the streets of Central City.

“Since we’ve been hired to find a missing person, I’m making sure that the person is truly missing,” Gideon told him before explaining, “I made the mistake in my early career of almost letting a man know where his abused ex-wife was hiding from him. Because I bought his sob-story.”

Rip nodded, “Okay. So where are we going?”

“I have made a few friends in the past year,” she smiled turning the corner and motioning to the police precinct before them.

Rip stalled, he took a quick breath to steel himself before continuing to walk with her. This wasn’t his own precinct, it was likely no one would know who he was. Walking in he felt a pang at the fact he’d been forced to leave effectively his second home, even though all the good memories of it had been tainted by the man who Rip had trusted so much.

“Miss Ryder,” a male voice brought Rip back to the present finding an older man walking towards them with an amused smile on his face, “I thought we agreed you’d warn us before you came visiting so we had time to protect ourselves after last time.”

Gideon frowned folding her arms across her chest, “That was not even remotely my fault, Detective West.”

“Tell that to Eddie,” West teased before motioning over to the other side of the room, “He’s back by the way. Leg is all healed.”

Gideon smiled, “That’s good. I will make sure to say hello before we leave.”

“We?”

“Detective Joe West this is my new partner, Rip Hunter,” Gideon introduced them.

Rip offered his hand, West gave him a quick puzzled look before shaking it.

“Nice to meet you, Detective,” Rip said.

“You too,” West replied, “So are you here to keep her out of trouble or help her get into more?”

Gideon let out an indignant snort making Rip smile slightly.

“Just following on at the moment,” he replied, “Learning the ropes.”

“Which is why we’re here,” Gideon said, “I’ve…We’ve been hired to find a young woman and I want to make sure she’s missing first.”

West smiled again and motioned her to follow him, “Has she told you the story of Halloween?”

“Detective,” Gideon said sweetly but steel in her voice, “Please do not try to scare off my new business partner.”

“I’m sure you’ll be able to do that yourself,” West patted her shoulder as he took his seat and accessed his computer, “Name?”

“Maria Hillier,” Rip stated.

West quickly typed and brought up a file, “Maria Hillier, seventeen. Last seen six weeks ago after a night out with her boyfriend in Keystone. Mother filed a missing person’s report but there have been no sightings of her since.”

“Mrs Hillier claims her daughter called two nights ago and all she said was Central City,” Gideon explained, “And Paradise before hanging up.”

“Yeah, the police tried to trace the call but got nothing,” West mused, “It looks genuine.”

Smiling Gideon gave the detective a small brown paper bag, “From John’s.”

“That’s my girl,” West winked at her, “Make sure you say hi to Eddie.”

  Rip followed Gideon through the bullpen to where a blond man sat going through several files. He stood back out of the way as Gideon headed over to speak with the man. When his mother had spoken of Gideon over the past year it was always with fondness, talking about her as someone who had a light in them. Someone who seemed to make friends with basically everyone she met. Watching her interact with the cops it was clear to see what Mary had been talking about. She was one of the most personable people he had ever met and he found he was looking forward to seeing her working properly on a case.

“Rip Hunter,” Gideon spoke up motioning him over, “This is Detective Eddie Thawne. He saved my life a few months ago.”

“That might be a bit overdramatic,” Eddie chuckled, “But I did get stabbed in the leg for her.”

Rip nodded, “It’s good to meet you.”

“We have to go,” Gideon said, “Eddie, we will catch up soon?”

Eddie gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek, “Definitely.”

Gideon gave the other man a smile before she started out with Rip following on behind her.

“So, Eddie seems like a nice guy,” Rip noted as they left the building.

Gideon nodded, “Oh, he is. One of the best. I introduced him to his girlfriend.”

“Was that something to do with a case?” Rip asked amused.

Rolling her eyes at him, Gideon replied, “Actually she’s a regular at John’s. Now we have work to do for your first proper case.”

Following on Rip sighed at thought of his first proper case reminding himself it was only one year.

  “Okay, I have a Paradise Hairdressers, Paradise Island Arcade,” Kendra noted continuing, “Paradise Gardens Tea Rooms then finally the Paradise Hotel and Spa.”

Rip frowned, at least it wasn’t too long a list, “Then we need to check all of them.”

“I can take the Hairdressers and Arcade,” Kendra told them, “They’re on my way home. The Tea Gardens are closed and have been for the past three months for refurbishment so that is a possibility.”

“What about the hotel and spa?” Gideon asked.

Kendra shrugged, “It’s only been opened a few months, but it has fantastic reviews. I hope it isn’t a front for anything because some of these treatments look fantastic.”

Gideon chuckled, “I will check out the spa then.

“Alone?” Rip demanded concerned.

She shrugged, “It’s nothing I’ve not done before. Besides I will be there for a treatment if I can find a booking soon.”

“You’ve got a facial in an hour,” Kendra spoke up from the computer with a smile.

“I don’t like it,” Rip told, “If this is the front for something then you snooping around could get you hurt.”

Giving him a slightly smug smile, she patted his arm, “You forget how long I have been doing this, Rip. I know what I’m getting myself into.”

“But…” he trailed off for a second trying to find an argument before noting, “What about teaching me the ropes.”

Gideon rolled her eyes at him, “You were a cop. Did you not do any undercover work?”

“Not really,” Rip shrugged, “I’m yours to teach.”

She stared at him for several moments before giving in, “Fine but you do exactly what I tell you.”

Rip nodded, “Of course.”

Grabbing her bag and jacket she motioned him to follow her, “Come on. We have work to do.”

Part Five