Written By: bikkothewriter
Pairings: Main 1x2, others may show up
Warnings: Yaoi, Language, blood, gore, lemon, lime, angst
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Splicing idea borrowed from Batman Beyond.
Rating: NC 17

Preventors' Case #84309: Splicers + Chapter One

Pepper Daniels lived in one of the more rundown apartment complexes on the east side of L1. The building was faux red brick and yellowing stucco, made to look like one of the many brownstones found on Earth. Police, Preventors and medical personnel littered the stairs leading to the main entrance, while curious neighbors from the other buildings stood along the sidewalk behind yellow caution tape. There were always too many people at crime scenes and one in particular that Heero could do without seeing.

"Glad to see you could make the party, Commander," Lieutenant Denvers sneered.

Heero sidestepped the cigarette butt flicked in his direction giving the lieutenant the glare she deserved. Heero wasn't prone to entertaining thoughts of homicide but as of late Patricia Denvers had starred in many a dark fantasy that involved his hands wrapped around her neck. While no police officer wanted to hand over their case to another government agency, Denvers seemed to take the instance personally. She made it a point to be at every scene to watch Heero and his team like a hawk. Unfortunately not a quiet hawk.

"Your people are upstairs mucking up my crime scene while you've been out drinking coffee, twiddling your thumbs."

Heero took offense; he did not twiddle. He also had not been out drinking coffee. Visiting terminal patients, assuring them that the man that had put them in their precarious position happened to be more productive.

"I drink tea, Lieutenant."

"I don't give a fuck what you drink," she snarled bearing down on Heero. Two inches taller than him, with hard brown eyes, she poked him in the chest hard enough that he was surprised that her finger didn't pierce his chest or snap in half... "You've got unsupervised people up there."

"Unsupervised, Lieutenant? With you watching over their shoulders?"

Heero thought the woman had both the drive and tenacity to one day become Chief of Police, but her temper and her hate of anyone having more power than her would always keep her back. She looked the part in a smart, dark blue pants suit her dark hair pulled back in a tidy bun, but up close where he could smell the nicotine on her breath, could see the barely concealed rage in her eyes he knew it would never happen. He would have felt pity for the woman if he didn't hate her and every word that came out of her mouth.

"All you Preventor jack-offs think you're hot shit. I could have solved this case weeks ago."

"Then solve it, Lieutenant. Tell us where we can find Dr M and you can be rid of us. Until then, get out of my way."

He walked wide around her, not sinking to her level by ramming his shoulder into hers to push her out of the way, although it would have been satisfying to knock her to the ground. He climbed the stairs ignoring the many glares from the local police force making his way to apartment 3A. Outside the door, one of the many extra personnel handed him a pair of blue booties to slip over his shoes before entering the room.

At first glance, Heero could tell that Pepper was what one would call eclectic. Baby blue armchairs, a green and blue paisley couch, metal end tables, and an antique wood coffee table decorated the small apartment. What looked like velvet drapes were opened wide to let the artificial sunlight filter into the room illuminating the dust motes in the air. This should have been the living room of a bright and quirky girl who sang off-key and danced around in her underwear. Instead, the room held the dead body of said girl along with several uniformed officers and the district's coroner.

She lay wrapped in a pink sheet on the floor as if she had rolled over in her sleep and fallen off the couch. Blood had seeped from her lips to congeal in a puddle on the floor underneath her head. The fingernails of her outstretched hand were dark and bloody. He knew, without pulling her lids back, that her eyes were swollen with busted blood vessels and, if he were able to see behind her from his position, that the sheet was soaked in blood.

The droopy dog-ears atop her head were last to be noticed.

"She matches the description given to us by both Lanie and Emmett," Trowa said to his left, "but we haven't found any evidence that connects her to Dr. M."

Heero pulled a pair of latex gloves from a dispenser conveniently left on one of the many end tables. Flexing his fingers inside the powdered latex, he crouched down by her body gently tilting her head up to expose her neck. The doctor's signature was all but branded into her neck, dark red and infected.

"Has anyone checked her phone records?"

"I sent Taylor to collect it. Hayers and Price are out canvassing the neighbors. Gemmell is looking through the bedroom and Weber's in the kitchen," Trowa answered efficiently. When Heero was promoted to the position of Commander and given his own handpicked team, Trowa's name was the first on his list. Calm and collected, the taller man was the perfect second.

"So, should I be calling you commander, Barton?"

Heero turned, carefully setting Pepper's head down as he did, to look at Denvers in the doorway. Again, the thought of choking her came to mind, but he contented himself with the thought that she looked foolish with booty-covered high heels. He decided to ignore her presence for the time being, turning back to Trowa.

"Time of death?"

"The coroner," he said, nodding to the older man in the corner, "puts the time around 2 a.m., less than eight hours ago."

It's too convenient that she died of natural causes the night before we were going to question her, Heero thought to himself. Two different prisoners had named Pepper as the go-between for Dr M. She conducted the initial meeting, telling the interested about the doctor and his discount splicing before giving them the address to his temporary lab.

He stood, turning to the coroner, "You can take her. Make sure to run a full tox screen and get the results to me as soon as possible."

"Of course, Commander."

He moved away giving the man and his assistant, who'd been waiting outside, room to work. He didn't need nor want to watch them put her inside the black body bag , so he turned and headed towards what he assumed was the bedroom with Trowa and Denvers following.

The bedroom echoed the mismatched theme of the living room with Lucy Gemmell as the new feature. Standing before the dresser, her pale face hidden by her long red hair, Heero noted that she again had forgone her Preventor's jacket choosing to wear just the army green button down with navy tie and slacks. She was looking intently at several envelopes and she looked up at Heero with a smile.

"I think I got something," she said. "I found these under the mattress with at least a thousand dollars an envelope."

"Let's see," Heero said, holding his hand out.

"This one looks like the most recent. It hasn't been opened," she said handing over said envelope first.

Heero looked at the long white envelope and tried not to let hope rise in his chest, but he was almost praying that there were instructions inside the envelope. Some sort of note from the doctor telling Pepper the next location. Hell, at this point, he just hoped the money was from Dr M and had his fingerprints on it to give them a solid ID on the man. He carefully peeled back the scotch tape that held the envelope closed. He could feel Trowa and Denvers anxiously peering over his shoulder. Lifting the flap, it was not the color of green money that caught his eye, but the yellow of a folded slip of paper.

[ prologue ] [ ch. 2 ] [ back to Singles a-k ]