fighter.

name: emine avci

age: 30

gender: cis female ( she / her )

sexuality: bisexual

work: police officer 

relation: single

affiliation with:  not corrupted ... yet

Mira groans inwardly. This was going to be more work than she wanted to do. She closes her eyes and sighs. It was clear she wasn’t going to find what she wanted to.

“Thank you. When there is someone to watch them, please come back. I could use your help.” She moves quietly around the body looking down at it. Her hands reach for her gloves putting them on. “Couldn’t be an easy night.”

-

Peering towards a cop who entered the building, likely have been close enough once he heard it on the radio, she pointed towards the homeless man and told them to watch them. A few moments later, Emine returned with gloves on her hands. 

“What do you think happened?” She asked, kneeling down to see if there was a clear indication of the wound and whether it had been something that could have been accidental, forceful, or some type of petty war over belongings and drugs.

-

Auburn hues flicker over to the detective then back to the individual that looked like they might be living on the streets. Mira takes a deep breath before lowering her gun, placing it away, though her flashlight remains on the person. 

“You may have a point.” Disappointment laced in her words. Everything was tampered with now and she wouldn’t be able to get a proper investigation. 

“Think it’s time for you to leave.” Her voice held that same authority as earlier, watching man stand, her hand waving one of the other officers over on the other side of the tape. “Talk with him and get any information. We have it covered on this end.” He nods his head and leaves with the man. 

“Let’s see what we can find.” 

-

Emine wanted to say this was the first time that she’d encountered this problem but it was far from it. With the police and their department taking a little longer to get on the scene, it wasn’t shocking to know that homeless individuals had passed by and tried to find items from the dead. 

“This is going to take so much more work.” They’d likely have to grab the man’s prints and then ensure that they counted him out of the investigation and now everything was tainted. 

“Sounds good. I’ll hold him in the back of my car until the forensics team gets here. I’m sure they want to get his prints and make sure they can count him out of whatever they find.” She puts her gun down and then walks the man out, sitting him outside on the curb before she takes his information and any other he may have.

When: Dec 28, 2022 Where: Rundown building in Brooklynn Who: Open

Mira was annoyed. She specifically gave the orders that no one was to go onto the crime scene until she got there. Something felt off and she wanted to be there personally to take a look through before anyone could compromise the investigations. 

She steps under the tape, flashlight in hand and makes her way into the building, her eyes widened in horror when she spots a body kneeling down across the dead body on the ground. Instincts have her hand reaching for her gun.

“I would think carefully before you do something you might regret.” Her voice is stern and commanding. “I said no one was to come in until I got here. Who are you? Get up nice and slowly.” She wanted answers, the moon illuminating the room and the small light from her flashlight.

=

The brunette was a few steps behind her, immediately reaching for her own gun when she hears the chief speak to someone when there was clear indication that no one was meant to be in here until she saw the body first. 

Moving a few steps to her left to cover her, she rose her gun and narrowed her eyes towards the individual that looked like they may be living on the streets or going through something that involved mental health. 

“I don’t think they have a gun so maybe we can lower ours and try to all talk normally.” The brunette considered, hoping the chief would take the same approach because the flashlights and guns only seemed to intensify the situation and the crime scene had already been tainted at this point.

STARTER  FOR:  everyone SETTING: a florist in manhattan, anytime 

is someone taking a photo of him? it certainly feels like it. muscles relax, showing the face of someone content. “ five years into a marriage and this still confuses me, ” he says, to the person nearest to him. “ what do you think? these hydrangeas– ” he holds them in one hand, they’re light blue, “ with the coral roses, pink roses or both? ” he holds the roses in the other, twisting his wrist so they can observe the colour combinations.

-

“Something tells me this place will have a long line either way.” he mused at her suggestion. He would’ve gone to his usual place hadn’t it been for it not being open yet, but as of right now he just needed some sort of caffeine to get through the day. “I don’t gamble, but something tells me to follow you on this one.” he smirked and wondered where she might go. If she had already been here for a while and the line hadn’t moved, the best solution was a chain brand coffee. He sighs as he looks at the line before turning to her. “How about that other place, I’d take any type of caffeine at this point.” he said rather defeated.

=

“I’ve got a good feeling.” Emine said with a laugh as she looked back at him. “But if it’s a bust then I’m going to deny ever being the one who suggested we change locations.” She tells him and steps out of line before thinking too much about it at this point. All she needed was caffeine in her bloodstream and whether it would taste good going in wasn’t a top priority for her as long as it gave her the energy she needed. “Same. I’m half tempted to pay someone to give me their coffee and call it a day. But let’s go see the other one and hope for the best.”

open starter where: outside city hall when: early morning hours. the early hours always made the congressman crave a cup of coffee and even if he had assistants who could do his errand he’d like to grab the cup himself from time to time, give him aq few minutes of time alone and to get some fresh air. However, this early morning the little coffe shop next to town hall seemed to be more crowded than usual and the line went all the way out the door. The annoyance made the man clench his teeth but even then he headed towards the line. The person in front seemed just as impatient as him for their dose of caffeine and a small smirk placed itself upon his lips. “Excuse me, may I ask how long you’ve been in line? I’d like a cup but i’m afraid time isn’t on my side.” he chuckled kindly.

-

The brunette turned around to look at the male and then laughed because she had been there for too long and she didn’t know whether or not he would appreciate her for the truth. “I’ve been here for too long, especially for the taste of this coffee. It’s not the best one.” She admitted and gave him a grimace. Peering around, the brunette opened an app that let her know about different places. “There’s a smaller chain a few blocks away. Now are you a gambling man or not because we can leave here and then go there only to find that there’s more people at the other location.”

—

“Our positions aren’t so different,” Julian says. “We both go into it with… an unsheakable need to make things better. Odds are by default against anyone who wishes to. Many fail — most do.” Easy, his smile shows through once more. “But I have a feeling you and I will succeed.”

All of that to say that no, it isn’t a mentality one is ever born with. Through many challenges faced, it’s ultimately shaped into its final form.

The smile falters just as he starts to get lost in her stare, that spark of a believer engulfing him in its shine. He’s no messiah — too skeptical for that — but he is a true leader welcoming to all followers. The crowds have voices, and they have faces. Too used to it, he can tell the exact beat in which Emine decides to take the leap and believe in him. It’s all delivered through palpable gazes, and not a single word. Just as silent, his promise to live up to all that trust.

Then, a laugh. He hadn’t considered it before — never been asked it before. For a reason.

“…No,” he answers, honest. The Colgate smile version of himself on any New Yorker’s TV screen would conduct a more heart-felt answer. That man wants to stay a man, not shift into something larger than life like an entity, concept, or legacy. “Is that an unacceptable thing to say?” Breaking her gaze for a moment, he sinks further back into the couch, head relaxing back. “I’m ready, Em. I’ve always been ready. In fact, everything I have done so far feels just like a chapter leading up to the climax that will be Presidency.” Beat. “Everything I’ll have to give up, I was always prepared to.” Oh how much he had already let go of, ahead of it. “I’ll… still be Julian… to those… I can be Julian around.” 

Ice melts inside his glass, and it shifts with a low clink. He should have at least attempted to keep count. “…Are you with me?”

-

Emine had seen a lot of things she hadn’t been prepared for when she first entered the work force. She’d noticed many of her coworkers taking the power they had and abusing it, others who were tempted by the allures of quick money that only corruption could bring. Many times she had been silent and those instances haunted her. 

But this was a new place and an attempt for her to be better and to do better by those she’d sworn to protect. “I think we will succeed as well.” It was a lonely place to be when finding out that not many were unshakeably good and honorable but she hoped to have found companionship with Julian.

And she hopes, perhaps foolishly still, that amidst the opinions and beliefs of others when it comes to lawyers and politicians that he is different. She hopes that the office doesn’t sway that inner core and poison it. But time will tell and she will be looking closely to make sure she doesn’t catch the first signs of stench because she knows she has promised herself not to be quiet any longer. 

Though surprised by his answer, it makes perfect sense when it comes out of his mouth. Somehow, it would only make sense with him and she doesn’t entirely understand the concept of why and how but she just knows it to be true. Maybe this is why only a select few, outside of the 1% only being able to afford to go into office, that actually make it to presidency. It’s that small spark of certainty that could make you believe the sky is red without doubt. “It seems that way. Almost feels like you may have been born to become who you are becoming. Some type of destiny if you believe in that. Not to take away from the efforts because I’m sure there has been a lot of that but I can see that you’re ready.” She laughed. “Perhaps a little delusional at that because you don’t seem afraid.” 

And she would have been scared to shit. “I’m with you.” She says without missing a beat, a hand extending towards his. “I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t been all along.”

—

Julian laughs an honest laugh, head bowing slightly. Even powerful leaders of state have had their hearts broken before. “Yes, me too.” 

Her views are different from his, but valid and true all the same. Julian works from within white-marble halls, and Emine is facing every day out on the field. Perception is bound to bend; one can only hope it never breaks. 

“I see that. Let me correct it, then: crime would never be beneficial to me. I want to lead a country that’s safe. For everyone, regardless of race or origin. No great nation is ever built on innocent blood.”

There’s passion in her words as Emine approaches, and Julian makes a point not to move away. If she wants to look that deeply into his eyes, then she can. “I’m afraid that’s just it. Everyone thinks they’re doing good, but who will determine if they really are? History, a hundred years from now.” Beat. “You’re right to be skeptical, of course — you’re a detective. A brilliant one, at that.” Beat. “But I’m a politician. I have signed up to be judged not by you, not by family or my peers, not even by the American citizens — but by history. I wouldn’t confidently do anything that would land me on the wrong side of it.”

“Those promises were made to anyone who votes for me,” he says. “And, a little, to myself as well. I intend to stick by them.” 

-

Emine believes him. Perhaps naively because of the corruption she’s seen but she knows that shock wouldn’t be her first emotion if she were to find out that he’d be swayed whilst in a position of power. Things came to light eventually and there was no use speaking about ifs or buts this early on. Time would prove whether or not he’d keep his word. 

“I have to agree with you and I hope that more politicians are born with that mentality because they seem to be few and far in between.” 

At least it was her experience but it was something that came with most people who were given a level of power where most would turn a blind eye. She understood the desire and temptation that came with a life of abundance but greed brought nothing but trouble in the end and no one truly ended up living happily ever after, did they? 

She listens to his words and smiles softly because he speaks like a man that could send a thousand people to their deaths; swayed by the charm and determination in his voice. She could see him run a country with ease and she hopes that he’s right. That history will judge him and that the children born after their grandchildren will not be reading about his actions and ruins. “That’s a powerful concept and that would keep me on the right track.” She nods her head, bringing her glass to her lips. “Will you miss it, though?” She asked almost softly, wondering when everything was at his fingertips, if he’d miss being a mere man. Someone who could easily fade into the shadows or a crowded room. 

—

Some sort of paper would be the fool-proof way for Julian to protect himself; not only with Emine, but always. But some sort of paper is too closely linked to things that are secret because they’re wrong, and must be buried lest there are legal consequences. Requesting some sort of paper is an automatic declaration of guilt. A true politician doesn’t ask for this, but otherwise settles intimately enough into one’s hearts and beliefs that speaking out becomes a null option. Julian is a true politician.

“Legal would say yes,” he laughs, bright as stars on the American flag. “But you’re a friend. I would never have a friend give me her signature before becoming intimate with me. It defeats the purpose,” another laugh, “doesn’t it?”

In her thoughts, Emine is entirely right. Julian does appreciate her honesty, even if it strikes at places he would typically avoid being seen at all. 

It’s a paradox. Dirt and politics practically synonyms. Mental gymnastics needed, for what’s to come.

He shakes his head, “Crime will never be beneficial to anyone, and certainly not to me. No one wants to live in fear, and I don’t want the people I’ve sworn to protect to live in fear.” All true. “That’s from a human perspective. But if I were to give you a political perspective — crime would only drag my rates down, wouldn’t it? So why would I, the politician, want that?” Julian takes a long drink, and ponders it a while longer. “I see what you mean. And I agree — I shake hands with many people, and some of those people are bad. Sometimes by chance, sometimes by plan.” Even in movies, no one expects the hero to only interact with his own kind — what would Hollywood become, without the antagonists that come to stand in the way?

“In order to ensure a bright future, difficult conversations must be had — for a detective like yourself, I could compare it to striking deals so in the end no one gets hurt. Or so that fewer people do.” Leaning forward and therefore closer, Julian catches her eye. Entirely genuine, it’s a privilege that most only see through a pixelated screen. “…I don’t know what you consider to be dirty, but I can assure you, I would never do anything that I believe would betray the promises I’ve made.” 

.

She thinks about it for a moment. And then she finds herself smirking. “There’s some instances where I would have wished to get a signature from someone before I became intimate with them.” Though she was speaking in other circumstances where they had been a waste of her time or given her grief and it would have been nice to have a way to bind them to some sort of contract but perhaps Julian was a bit more of a romantic at heart, despite how horrible it would be to get a signature afterwards. 

Then again, she didn’t think her thoughts matched with what they were actually speaking of. 

At his mention of crime, she raises her brow and then shakes her head. “I have to disagree with that. Crime can be very beneficially to a lot of people who want to get rich. It’s not beneficial for the people who are living the consequences of crime but there’s a reason that it’s still around and there’s also a reason that blue collar crime is a thing or that a lot of cops become corrupt.” The crime organization had deep pockets and would pay a lot for a politician to look the other way or a politician could see a lot of benefit from siding with certain people, especially since becoming president wasn’t something that came easy financially. 

“Do you think that you’re in power because I’ve worked with many people who believed that they were doing good by taking a full crime organization down and we only figured out that another had been feeding us information through our informants so we could do the dirty work for them and they could take over once that crime organization was out. Sometimes it isn’t easy to know who is in your ear and if they have your best interest.” Em said as she walked towards him. “You’re my friend but I’d be stupid not to be a bit skeptical, wouldn’t I?” 

Peering back at him, she brings her glass to her lips and nods her head. “That is fair but who have those promises been made to? You’re not telling Officer Avci but a friend, I’m not here to judge. Just to peer beneath the surface a little bit.” Though, she would ultimately judge. Maybe she wanted to see if he’d be honest.

.

“I’m not supposed to be working,” and yet, he wanted to get there and take a look at it because what was he doing here other than stressing himself for not doing what he was meant to do. “But you’re correct to assume that the mere sight of it would suffice,” he’d studied for years and practiced just as much : at this point, he might have even been able to tell from touch alone.

“Of all the people that could have sat next to me, I had to end up in the company of New York’s most overzealous.” He deadpanned. The situation was not precisely humorous to him, and Jonah was still quick on his feet when she told him she happened to have a car. She could have been pretending to be someone else, but Jonah figured he’d be able to recognize a patrol car. “We better get going then.”

-

“But will someone turn you away if you go there? Of course not. They’re not any wiser to your schedule and worse comes to worse you can just tell them that you forgot you weren’t meant to be working and that since you’re there, you’ll take a look.” It wasn’t like they were doing anything better and if he was itching to get there, she would only play on that to appease her own desire to go.

“i think it’s a blessing but maybe it’ll take you a little longer to see that.” She teased before she got up and grabbed her jacket, heading towards the parking lot with him. “We better.” She chimed as she headed to a car that looked plain on the outside but was equipped on the inside. “Do you have the location or do you need me to pull it up?”

Open starter!

Location: The Halloween Bash, Rented Party Hall

Puck was very pleased with themselves as they stood on the slightly quieter mezzanine, surveying the many masked and costumed partygoers below. They may be a host but that didn’t mean they were greeting people at the door, they preferred to mingle, liquor bottle in hand, and engage with people. “So, what do you think, a party worth going to?”

-

Emine didn’t celebrate Halloween so naturally, she got dressed in her old police uniform and then went out on the town, deciding to join the festivities because she didn’t have anything better to do. Looking over at them, she shrugs her shoulder. “I don’t hate it as much as I thought I would but I also don’t love it. It’s been fun but it’s also a lot of work. The alcohol is a bonus. What about you?”

.

He pursed his lips. Was this some sort of appendage measuring contest he had not signed up for? If they were playing who worked the hardest, he’d most likely have more hours on the clock than she did, but perhaps he’d found someone with just as little social life as him. What were the odds that they both took a few hours off, at the same time, in the same place? Some would have call it fate, he just would appreciate the coincidence. . “Oh wow, someone willing to go there.” He scoffed and didn’t bother to reply to that. He didn’t have a thing to prove.

“Both. People keep dying. It’s kinda what they do,” he took a sip from his glass and sighed. “I do wonder if I shouldn’t go though. If they called for a humerus, then whoever found it knows their bones.” Easy to mistake it for a child’s tibia if you knew enough, and easy to mistake with any other long bone if you once opened a biology book in your life. “I’m not kidding. I’d rather be there,” he looked at her and scoffed. “Alright, I’m not saying a dusty old bone is nicer company. I’m just saying I’m curious about it and I wanna know.” He paused. “This being said, there’s nothing stopping me from checking it out, except for the fact that it’s not next door and I came here with my bicycle.” Not the cool sort, the one where you had to use your legs and do some amount of effort. He didn’t live far from his office, unsurprisingly.

-

The brunette didn’t like when people whined about their jobs. As someone who worked hard and spent most of her days in the office, she knew what exhaustion felt like and she wasn’t typically one to whine. Mainly because she chose to do it but also because she could change her work if she so chose that she wanted to be doing something else. So naturally, she wasn’t immediately receptive to hearing him refuse to go to work when asked. 

It could have easily been an animal bone but it could belong to a human and that was enough to have her itching. “Couldn’t you ask them to send you a picture? I’m guessing that you would know from sight alone.” While she’d seen enough dead bodies, she hadn’t seen a lot of animal carcasses because by the time that she was called in, people knew it was an actual human. But she imagined that they were different from eye alone. “Then you should go. Didn’t they call you? I’ll tag along.” She was off duty but no one would question her if she arrived on scene after saying she heard the call over the radio. “I’ve got a car.” She adds with a smile then. The plan had been to leave it here and take a uber home unless she got called in earlier in the night but since she’d barely touched her first drink, she could drive them to the crime scene.

—

Even if unlikely, and all unbeknownst to her, Emine’s thoughts are entirely right. His wife is all too confident, secure, and satisfied — that such endeavors are only taken as the future President’s captivating nature, and not a threat. There’s an edge that often times causes discomfort, but ultimately it lies buried and dismissed. She had married knowing that Julian is a man who belongs to the people — just as Jackie knew of John. A treasure of American history as well as her husband. 

“I can understand,” he says. “It’s not for everyone.” Even in his troublesome years, however, little had changed in that regard. “But it’s certainly for me. I’ve regrettably ended relationships, when it became clear that a family wasn’t in our future. It was hard to find, and it made me marry old.” Older in contrast to the accepted norm — already nto his forties. “But alas, I hope they’re happy.”

With the base of his thumb, Julian outlines the brim of his glass. It’s always different, to hear new perspectives: power, as it is, had become so normalized — and even fought for — in his circle, that he’d forgotten just how heavy the implications of it can be. “…You’re right, it is,” he says. “But someone has to have it — someone will always have it. It might as well be,” — me — “Someone who’s fit for it.” Me, me, me.

“And here I was, thinking I wore my heart out on my sleeve.” Julian laughs, and takes a fresh new sip. Catching Emine’s eyes across the narrow distance, he asks, “What is it you haven’t figured out yet?” Ever eloquent, though his words are still liquor-coated. “I say we settle that.” Meaning: Ask me anything. 

Back into the couch, he sinks and settles against the brown leather. “Food, friendships.” He names off: A great taste in… “What else?”

Julian nods, a free touch upon her wrist. “Teşekkürler, Emine.” Honest. “…Did I say that right?” Yes, he had — as a diplomat, Julian always possessed a skill with languages, and this very woman had taught him well. “It means more than you could imagine.” 

-

She always was an inquisitive person. Wanting to know how people worked and whether or not their lives had brought them to be the people that they were. Frankly, she doesn’t know what type of person can do what he does but its evident that they can because he’s standing right in front of him. As well as his wife, though maybe its a little brazen to imagine that she can and his married life is as person as they make it seem. 

There has to be some sort of make belief in all of that. Isn’t that the main story when it comes to relationships that are put on in the public. It’s selling an image to the fans and no one needs a nicer image than the man who wants to take the reigns on the country. What would people think if he couldn’t even keep his marriage intact. “I can see how it might not be for everyone. But it’s nice that you’ve found someone who’s vision matched your own.”

And it seemed to be working for him as he had a goal in mind and most shocking of all, she believed that he could do it. He had the magnetism and she already knew the town loves him by the heightened way she hears some talk in the office or whenever an election approaches. It’s evident in the way he speaks that he’s gearing up for the position and selfishly, emine can only appreciate her position with him. 

It’s nice knowing that you’ve made it on the good side of someone who has a lot of power and may some day have even more. She peers back at him and smile when he demands more. Her dirty secrets? How honest could he be? Politicians and lawyers have ways of speaking and letting people have bits and pieces of information that they want to hear. Certainly Julian is her friend but he’s a man in the public figure and she doubts she’ll come out of this knowing the inner workings for the man. 

“How honest do you want to get? Should I be signing some sort of paper?” She asks playfully as she takes a seat and folds her arms across her chest. “I guess I want to know what you think of the crime in the city and if you believe its beneficial for you or not. An odd question but I know how people in high power sometimes have their hands in places they shouldn’t.”

What she wanted to know was whether he had a clear plan to put an end to the crime organizations in town that were running too much. “Maybe I’ll just ask.” She stops and leans forward. “Are you a dirty politician?” Something told her he’d appreciate her being honest and blunt.

.

Jonah shook his head. “It’s either a human bone, or not. There isn’t a lot of suspense here.” And yet, there was a tingle, an urge to get off that stool and run to the street to get to the possible crime scene. He never really left his lab, never truly took off his lab coat, and frankly, he also often forget to head back home. How many times had he slept in his office because he was too eager to finish an autopsy or to get results from his samples. The circles under his eyes were enough proof of it, and Jonah didn’t believe the word he just said to her and he wouldn’t blame her for picking up on that.

“I am attempting to take a full 16 hours off.” Which wasn’t even a full day. Just a few hours and a proper night of sleep. If he could not even do that, then he’d be disappointed with himself. “It’s been two hours so far,” and it was going poorly, clearly. He took another sip from his glass. “But you’re right, I’d rather be there, looking at that bone.”

-

Emine nodded her head and took a sip of her drink. “Well, if it’s a human bone, I’ll likely know about it.” She was off and they would probably call her to work the case but with alcohol in her system, she’d tell them she would be in within the next few hours in the hope of sobering up some. Still, she was itching to go or contact someone who might have any idea. “They’ll just call someone else I suppose. A person who’s willing to go to the crime scene.” Her voice was accusatory because she was someone who adored her job and often worked herself to the bone, having to be forced to go home for the sake of her own health. 

“Sixteen hours. Did you have a lot of cases or an inability to pull yourself from them?” It sounded like her as she strung up pictures from cases in an attempt to have something jump out at her that would solve the case even though it never worked out that way. She laughed then, bringing the glass to her lips. “Ditto. I’d rather be there as well.” If he was going to say the dead was better company than her, she’d play that game all the same.

“Then considering I just hung up on a police officer, I suppose they should be able to find a medical examiner who is not having a Daiquiri.” He took a sip from his glass and sighed. It was out of the ordinary for him to tell people to go bugger someone else, and it wasn’t uncommon for him to sleep in his office because he could not not work, but he’d had a long week, rather than just a long day, and he needed a piece of fun to get him back on track.

Never mind that his shirt still smelled like formaldehyde and his fingertips of lemon from trying to scrub the smell off of his skin, Jonah had come here for a change of mind, and now he wanted to run off to get check out that damn humerus.

-

Emine placed her drink on the bar and found herself itching to leave and go see what they had found. A part of her loved the thrill of a new crime scene but she found herself trying to hold onto the human side of herself that had to be reminded that these were people and they were children of someone else. “Don’t you find yourself curious every time you’ve got to cancel one of those calls? You must love your job so don’t you want to go see what was found and try to help out or is your Daiquiri more important?”

She didn’t mean to sound judgemental but she was, in fact, judging him for his decision not to go and see what he could do to help. Especially after she eyed his choice of drink.