survival

This was turning out to be more fun than she’d expected. Playing lawyer with the human could be just what she needed to help her deal with her Grandson’s errant behaviour. She watched him shuck jacket and smirked, raising her glass more sedately to her lips and savouring a sip, “Quite the contrary, Detective, those of us who find joy in our work are the luckiest and happiest of all.” she told him with a smirk, stepping closer and entering his personal space, “Now, I have a serious question for you,” she paused a moment, raised a hand and rested it against his chest, “Would you like to play first, then work. Or work first,” she lent even closer, “And play… later.”  

Rusty knew exactly why he came over here and he was certainly looking to make a bad decision. Perhaps he should have known better, perhaps he should have tried to be better, but frankly, that was overrated and he was tired of trying to be someone else. People always told him to clean up his act but no matter how hard he tried, it never stuck. This was just who he was, and now, no one was close enough to judge him. He put his glass down on the counter, moving slightly closer to her in the action before he spoke. “I should probably stop drinking on the job,” he whispered. A light smirk played across his lips before he moved past her, pulling a file out of the briefcase he had discarded by the door. Just because he was willing to give in didn’t mean he would do it so easily.

“I’m not a kid,” Harper immediately snapped. She had absolutely no time for some condescending crap, whether it came from a GCPD transplant or not. For a second it looked like she meant to prove it by doing something stupid, but she had slightly more self preservation skills than that. So she folded her arms and waited until the other officers took his word and left. The very second their squad car started to roll, she pointed a finger at Rustin. “I didn’t need help.”

“So what are you gonna do when that case is closed?” Dick had assumed it was almost wrapped up. He hadn’t asked a lot of questions about it - he respected the fact that it belonged to Rusty and Tatum and he wasn’t going to get involved in something that he’d never been part of, even if Tatum was no longer with the SCPD. 

“I’m out,” he said, shrugging once. “That’s been clear for weeks now. Even if I don’t quit, I’m sure one of the narcs in there will get me pushed out.” Even if Rusty was anti-mutant, he was too paranoid to just go along with whatever his superiors said. He was asking questions, and people didn’t like that. “Might as well get ahead of it and make short work of this shit.” 

Rusty was stuck on file duty ever since he had fucked things up and gotten those complaints against him. He still lived through the monotony, making sure everything was in order both in paper and online, sitting outside of Jim’s office as if he was a kid outside the principal’s office. When he saw the shock of red hair, he recognized Barbara from the picture on Jim’s desk, but he hadn’t seen her since she was a little kid and he was a beat cop about to be promoted to Major Crimes back in Gotham. “Your dad’s not here,” he said. “Think he’s got a meetin’ down at the mayor’s office.”

@rustinmurphy

Jim was still playing catch up in a big way. He hadn’t even been able to stick around and meet all of his people yet. But he knew Rusty was there. If nothing else, Dick’s stack of requests for a new partner with his name on them would’ve tipped him off just a little.

That was partly what he’d called him in to discuss. Not like he could just ignore it. “Detective Murphy. All these familiar faces are starting to make me think I didn’t really leave Gotham at all.”

Rusty was Dick’s partner on paper, but he was still wrapped up in closing the last case he’d had with Tatum before she went back to Gotham—leaving the job unfinished at that. Rusty was still bristling about it. He wasn’t even considering committing to his work wth Dick. 

Goddess smirked at the reaction, it was a relief to her that if she did need to wander around in the body of a human at least it was one who was damn appealing. “Oh yes, I did didn’t I…” she said lightly, pushing the door open a little wider, “Why don’t you come inside and I’ll see it I can find it.” She beckoned him in and closed the door behind her before raising an eyebrow, “Come now Detective, where’s your sense of fun, not all work needs to be boring, besides, this way we have privacy to talk freely.” she wandered over to her island counter and opened a bottle of wine, pouring them both a glass, “Might as well enjoy it.”    

Rusty knew this was a bad idea but he went through with it anyway. He wasn’t known for good decisions, and the drinks he’d had to settle his nerves before he went over there certainly didn’t help him think through anything rationally. He followed her into the apartment, pausing at the door to shrug off the jacket of his suit, leaving him in his shirt—crumpled past the elbows from being folded up—and loosened tie around his neck. “I think that work, by design, is work. Not play.” He looked down at the wine and didn’t think twice about picking it up. He was a walking disaster, that was for sure. 

“Come on, kid, thought I saw the last of you in Gotham.” Rusty gestured for her to get up, grabbing her bag from one of the agents and handing it back to her. “Kid’s harmless. Let her go.” Of course, he hadn’t been nearly this nice when he was in Gotham, but he figured that this was time to turn over a new leaf. Or, at least—he didn’t like seeing a bunch of grown men picking on a kid from his block back home. They had to stick together in the face of a brave new world, even if Rusty wasn’t great at showing it. 

Rusty, already looking frazzled for far too early in the morning, stepped out of the precinct and loosened his tie. Was it early or was it late? He couldn’t remember if he had slept the night before, and it certainly showed on his features. He definitely went home—or, at least, he left the precinct—but nothing was making sense. Was this more of his hallucinations? Was this something worse? He hadn’t seen his neurologist for the better part of a year (he didn’t want to hear the bad news, for he knew there would be bad news). He doubled over, his hands on his knees, his tie dangling loosely from his neck as he gasped to take in breath. 

@rustinmurphy liked for a starter

Goddess dressed very differently in her own home than she did while ‘playing lawyer’ she rather enjoyed more revealing clothing even if it seemed to unnerve her grandson, honestly the boy could be so childish at times. All these humans had bodies, if they were pleasant why not show them off? It was getting late when she heard a knock on her door and she briefly checked the peep hole before smirking at the familiar figure, straightening her posture and opening the door wide to reveal herself. 

 “Detective,” she said lightly, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Rusty was standing outside in his usual clothes from work—a button-up shirt, the sleeves rolled up once he had gotten tired of wearing his jacket, a tie shoved into the pocket of said jacket, and one of 4 cheap suits that he owned. It was pretty much his wardrobe all the time, not just when he was at work. He tilted his head slightly, a hand coming up to rub at the thick beard that covered his jaw. “Uh—well, you had something helpful for me,” he said, his voice trailing off slightly as he took in her appearance. “Was all this really necessary?” 

Dick winced. He knew the news of his firing from NOVA patrol had made its way throughout the department. There were a lot of rumors, too, especially because he’d been relatively mum on the subject. “Yeah, well, I make a better cop than a glorified spy.” It was easier to reconcile being on the force when he knew that his fellow officers weren’t on board with what was happening with NOVA or with mutants. At least they could continue to fight against it in little ways. 

“Yeah, if you can call what we’re doing at the SCPD bein’ cops anymore,” he replied. “There’s a reason I ain’t been budgin’ to work on any other cases than the big one.” Rusty hadn’t wanted to get involved in any of SCPD’s more illicit activities in the slightest. He knew who he was and he knew who he wanted to be, and that wasn’t it. 

Goddess only chuckled in the face of his disinterest, knowing well enough by this point the man was likely hanging off her every word; seemed Charlotte had clashed with the good detective a few times in the past (according to her firm’s secretary anyway). She lent a little closer across the desk, reached over and took a notepad and pen, writing her apartment’s address on it, “Why don’t we discuss this a little further at my place?” she asked lightly, “Meet me tonight at eight, see if I can’t… satisfy your curiosity.” Goddess raised an eyebrow and slid the notebook back, “Or don’t and miss out on a multitude of chances…”

She smirked at him before pushing off the desk, turning and walking away, half-curious to see if the man would accept her offer. After all, if her Grandson was going to cause problems cavorting with Mortals, why couldn’t she?

Rusty pressed his lips together, glancing down at the notepad for just a split second before his gaze fixed on her face again, trying to gauge whether or not she could be trusted. He knew that, in all likelihood, she could not be trusted, but of course, Rusty wasn’t going to pretend like he wasn’t interested. He was. Rusty had always been drawn to challenges, mysteries waiting to be unwrapped and unfurled. He had the same taste in people. “How about your office?” he asked, his eyebrow raising just slightly as he leaned forward against the desk, standing behind the tall surface and resting his elbows against it. 

“Oh Detective, I am so much more than that.” Any little demon would be cowering before her on this plain. She tilted her head in amusement as Rusty worked to calm himself down and chuckled a little, “And why not? It could be a little fun to pretend,” that’s what she was doing right now, “And besides, you need my help. For all that you enforce the law you’re not great at getting around it. So perk up, you could be cute if you weren’t so miserable.” she added lightly.

Rusty looked at her with a a completely unamused gaze, feigning disinterest in what she said but knowing that he should remember every word, lest it come back to bite him in the ass. Rusty had been cross-examined by her too many times to take anything lightly. “Getting around it?” he asked, an eyebrow raising just a little as he waited for her to explain. If she was smart, she’d ask him to go somewhere else—and if he was smart, he’d want to stay right there. 

“Bad liar, Detective.” Charlotte smirked, “And indeed you can just like I can wait around.” And ensure they didn’t try anything funny in the closing hours of their bargaining time, “But I’m quite sure I can speak with my client, even if I can’t take him with me for a little bit.” she smirked at him, eyes glancing briefly at the screen, “I’ve been to hell, nothing there to scare me.” And if only he knew how much she meant that. “Also, it might be worth being a little more civil with me detective, since I’m generously agreeing to help you screw over NOVA.” she added lightly.

Rusty gave her a mocking smile. “Oh, yeah, I forgot that you’re a freakin’ demon already,” he replied before turning the screen back towards him. Rusty took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It’s not worth trying to pretend that we are on the same team, Richards,” he said, finally turning away from the counter and giving her his full attention. She had always been infuriating, but it had seemed to have compounded on itself in the past few months. “Let’s not fool ourselves here.” 

Peter turned to Rusty fully at his next words, brows dipped down as he looked over his expression. Honestly, he was a little peeved that the police wanted to look into him more. Him and his team, his friends, his family, risked their lives saving the galaxy for these people and he was going to be looked into. At least in space he was a hero. “Are you here to tell me when that’s gonna happen? Or are you all keeping it a surprise? ‘Cause I really don’t like surprises…”

“Careful Detective, or I’ll have you up on a slandering charge against my currently not-proven-guilty client faster than you can say warrant.” she smirked, it was fun to play with the mortals this way. “Mr Wilson, here’s the number,” she slid a file across the desk towards him before leaning on it, still smirking, “He used his one phone call wisely and it looks like I’ll be carting him off home with me until you get some better evidence.” Since there was no two ways about it, most of her clients were usually guilty.  

“Oh, I’m so scared,” Rusty replied in a deadpan, looking up at her with a dead stare before he sat down behind the desk and started looking up the number. “I can keep him here for 24 hours, counselor,” he said, checking his watch. “I still have time.” He looked back at the screen, squinting at it slightly through his glasses to read what was on there. “Yeah, you see, right here?” Rusty pointed at the screen. “It’s telling you to go to hell.”

Rusty was relentless and he was proving to be a real thorn in Peter’s side—he had far too many of those so he wasn’t really sure how many more he could take on. He was hoping that with his explanation about being abducted, Rusty would just accept it and leave him alone. Wrong. He was so wrong. Peter sighed when the detective rattled off his information. This wasn’t something he wanted to deal with, especially not now. This was just in bad taste. “I was seven or eight when she, uh… Passed. I was just… Scared. And angry.” He shrugged, “so I ran. And uh, yeah, that’s when they got me. Worst timing ever, in my opinion.”

Rusty couldn’t let things go. It was a major flaw of his, that he couldn’t even fathom letting something remain a mystery. It was part of what made him a good detective—and part of what made him a terrible person to be around. He nodded slowly as he considered Peter’s words. “You should know SCPD wants to look into you,” he said. “Something about the SRP, I’m sure.” Rusty had been a supporter of the ban, sure, but he had never considered that it might get to this terrible state. He still supported it, but he regretted supporting the people who passed it.