10. Weeks, Months, Years.

One week later Loke headed to the station once more, only to be informed that Calvert had been permanently transferred to Lingate.

"Apparently, there's some sort of riot going on. It sounded pretty chaotic from what I was told. And since the Chief Inspector was already in the city, they decided to recruit him for extra help," explained Sergeant Dargan.

"Mm, okay. So you got someone to send his stuff back then?" Loke inquired nonchalantly.

There was an odd look from Dargan, followed by a pause before he replied, "...yes."

Loke raised his brow at the Sergeant, prompting the man to explain the hesitation.

"It's just that..." Dargan faltered once more, "well, I thought you would've been a little more bothered by this?"

"Why?" Loke asked, sounding genuinely puzzled.

"Why? Because you're friends!" Dargan exclaimed, with just a hint of exasperation. "I mean, I've known you since you came here but you haven't stuck around a person as much as you have with Calvert."

"So?"

"So you're not going to miss him? At all? This doesn't bother you one bit? He's moved overseas." Dargan asked, put off by Loke's uncaring attitude.

"Well, it's going to be weird not having him around." Loke admitted, "But I'll get used to it. Besides, I reckon I'm going to be pretty busy these next few weeks."

Or months, depending on how generous the Director is feeling.

Judging by the Sergeant's reaction, Loke wasn't going about this in the right way. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"A guy's gotta keep up a little bit of dignity, Sergeant. If you get my meaning. That's all." Loke said, hoping to pass on the hint clearly.1

By the look of Dargan's relaxing features, it was the right thing to say. Even if it was a completely blatant lie.

Not wanting to extend the conversation any further, lest it become more uncomfortable than it was already approaching, Loke bade goodbye to the Sergeant and headed out to the streets.

He wandered about the city, stepping into some of the remaining puddles from the previous night's rain.

It had also rained a lot the night Calvert had left.

It's almost like, with all the heavy rain pouring throughout the night, it washed out whatever remained of our relationship.

Pfft, how fucking poetic.

Loke chuckled mirthlessly at that thought. But it was essentially true. There was no more 'Inspector' and 'Loke'. It was just Calvert. And just Loke. Or Leon. It didn't matter. Their entire slate had been wiped clean.

Tch.

He stepped particularly harshly into one puddle, splashing water everywhere.

The more he thought about it, the more agitated he felt. He needn't have made such an effort. It was all because of that bastard Calvert.

Because the pig-headed man hadn't wanted to change his mind, Loke was forced to call in a favor. It had taken him a lot of work to get a connection in Lingate. A rather resourceful connection at that. And to think he wasted it on making some farcical riot. It was ridiculous. That favor had been gained after three years of solid planning and careful treading, and he ended up using it on what? A fucking acquaintance. True, it was an acquaintance he didn't particularly enjoy the thought of being dead, but an acquaintance nonetheless.

It irritated him. To have such little control over the matter. To think that he, Loke, would be subject to something like compassion. To be so...emotionally compromised. He almost gagged at the thought. It was a disgrace to his name. And he felt insulted by the fact that the Director was able to maintain such an unbiased attitude towards everyone but he couldn't. Why was that?

Because the Director is a selfish bastard.

And Loke wasn't?

He scowled and kicked a nearby rock.

It was very simple though. What he did, that is. All he had to do was call up Alan Rick, his contact in Lingate, cash in his favor, and get the man to arrange a little disturbance in a specific shopping district (one which Loke knew a certain someone's younger sister worked at). All you needed a group of indiscriminate, harmless but loud mouthed protestors making a racket in a public area, add a discreetly discharged smoke screen bomb and suddenly the whole place would be surrounded by police and put under lock-down.

Everyone would be detained and questioned, on the suspicion of a terrorism act, and a call would be sent out to family members explaining the situation.

Enter Calvert's 8:00 A.M. call.

Calvert would obviously rush over to Lingate and see if his sister was alright. In the meantime, Rick would arrange for a larger scale riot to make itself known. Calvert, being the idealistic, righteous fool he was, would involve himself and help with riot control. The situation would eventually blow out of proportion and extra police recruitment would be necessary. Seeing as Calvert would have already been there, ready, willing and experienced, there would have been no problem signing the transfer papers.

And there you had it. Done. Resolved. Rectified. All wrapped up with a nice little bow.

The Director needed Calvert out of the way because he was a threat to the COR establishment. Loke needed Calvert out of the way because he was compromising Loke's work ethics. Given time, those issues would resolve themselves. As long as Calvert kept his mouth shut and stayed out of Lichton, the Director wouldn't have an issue. And gradually, Loke would care less and less about Calvert until the man become one of many once more. Loke would revert back to his original self.

He was already thinking clearer in the past week. The improvement was both startling and, quite honestly, a relief.

He couldn't have thought of a better solution.

It was perfect.

So fucking perfect.

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Five months passed.

Everything had more or less settled down. The police headquarters had recovered over the loss of their Chief Inspector and fallen back into a normal routine. The riot over at Lingate passed over with minimal fuss. And the Director had already downgraded Calvert significantly on his priority list; to the extent that Calvert wasn't even worth batting an eye. Instead, he'd been pushing Loke a lot more; watching his every move like a hawk and scrutinizing every bit of his work. For that first couple of months Loke was pretty much swamped 24/7 with work. The Director had also confiscated Loke's personal laptops which annoyed Loke far more than any amount of added workload could have ever done.

But despite all that, Loke's quality of work had not dropped a single bit and the Director saw no need to continue with the rather pointless punishment.

Loke sat down at his desk looking over the stack of reports and documents written for the past month. He stared down at the sheets disdainfully. As per his 'training' regimen, he was taking over the Director for the day. It was incredibly dull. So very incredibly dull. And just as equally pointless.

I've been the Acting Director for the past year and I still have to go through this crap?

It was all for the sake of reputation and reassurance. A lot of people had been doubtful of Loke's abilities to carry on the Director's role, so it was understandable that Loke be put through a trial period just to set everyone at ease. But even though Loke completely understood the rationality behind it, he still couldn't help but find it...

So incredibly, ridiculously, excessively dull.

He stared disinterestedly at the sheet in front of him, and began tapping his pen against the desk incessantly. He missed the old days. The night time chases, the sneaking, the all-round entertaining suspicions. Days filled with no commitments, no burdens, no schedules, just whimsical impulses.

Loke abruptly stopped tapping, barely refraining from cringing at his own thoughts. He sounded like an old man.

Speaking of old men...

Loke hadn't heard a word from Calvert. Not one. Ever since the man left. It really was as if they were resetting their entire relationship. Or more like deleting. In the end, everything had worked out perfectly. So perfectly, in fact, that Loke found himself doubting its success. Calvert wasn't dead, Loke had become accustomed to his absence, the Director found no issues (or at least, he didn't voice any), and no one was going to hinder Loke from drawing out Lichton's inner criminal. Nope, there wasn't a single thing wrong. Just this very strong, lingering feeling of wrongness.2

"Leon, sir? There's someone here to see you."

Loke glanced down at the intercom on his desk and pressed the button, "Sophie, I thought I told you I wouldn't be seeing anyone today. I've got a busy schedule. If they want to talk to the Director have them arrange an appointment."

His secretary's (technically the Director's secretary) voice sounded from the receiver, "Yes, I know sir. However, they specifically requested a meeting with you. They've asked me to tell you that 'Calvert is here to see Loke'. They said you would understand."

Loke blinked. He wasn't even aware of his short pause until a questioning "Sir?" emitted from the intercom. He recollected himself and clicked the button once more.

"Let them in."

He rested his elbows on the desk, entwined his hands and set his head atop them, thinking hard.

Why? Why would Calvert return? Is he retarded? It's dangerous to be seen here. The Director might think he's a threat again...

At the sound of the door opening, Loke looked up about to address the man with his usual, pokerfaced, casual greeting.

"...you are not Calvert." he found himself saying instead.

A woman stood before him, dressed in rather high class clothing and heels. She looked similar to Loke's age, perhaps a little younger. Elegant, brown curls curved her face as she looked at Loke with cool eyes, slightly tilting her head. Sophisticated, Loke thought.

There was a small, almost unnoticeable smirk passing across her lips before she parted them and spoke, "On the contrary, I am. Victoria Calvert. Vincent's younger sister."

Loke experienced an idiotic split second moment of wondering who the hell 'Vincent' was before he realized. A sister. Yes, Loke knew Calvert had a sister but he'd never bothered to look up her picture. Smiling congenially, he waved a hand to offer her a seat.

"I see, and to what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked, maintaining his friendly expression.

Victoria sat down and placed her hands in her lap before replying, "I want to know what happened here. What did you two fight about?"

How blunt.

Nonetheless Loke answered her, "I'm sorry. But I wasn't aware there was a fight to begin with? Where did you get this–"

Victoria cut him off abruptly, "Vincent transferred in and out of here in less than a year. Something happened. And I know it had to have involved you."

Loke quirked an eyebrow, "And why would you say that? I was informed that he was transferred due to the riot." He chose to ignore her blatant interruption in favor of moving the conversation along. She appeared to share the same thoughts as she promptly shot off an answer.

"Only three months after he'd arrived here, he started talking about you. Vincent doesn't take to people that quickly, that easily. You were obviously his friend. Ever since he returned he has not spoken a word about you, nor of anything pertaining to Lichton. Regardless of the riot, I know he had some sort of falling out with you and I want to know what. Now spill it." she demanded.

Loke felt himself almost grinning. She had the same sort of stubbornness that Calvert portrayed. A brash sort of bluntness. He almost wanted to laugh. Judging by her expression, she seemed to have gathered that Loke wouldn't be giving any sort of explanation.

Perceptive.

"I don't know what happened." she stated, "But ever since he returned, he's been working non-stop, moving up the ranks, and flooding himself with work. It's not right."

"What he chooses to do has nothing to do with me. He is a free man. He can do whatever he wants." Loke said.

Victoria scowled, agitated. "Fine, don't tell me. I honestly don't see what he saw in you anyway." She stood up and turned away from Loke, heading towards the exit.

"Victoria?" Loke called out as she reached the door. She glanced back at him. "Your brother doesn't know you're here, does he?" He inquired.

From the way she pressed her lips in fine line, Loke knew he was right.

"I won't tell. But just make sure you don't use the name 'Calvert' while you're here. I'm sure you wouldn't want him finding out you were here without his knowledge." he advised.

Victoria simply gave him a condescending 'Do I look like I'm stupid?' look before closing the door.

Loke waited a calculated three minutes before he rose from his seat and walked out of his office towards Sophie's desk. His secretary looked up at him questioningly, about to ask what he needed but stopped when Loke looked like he was about to talk. He opened his mouth but shut it soon after. Then he tried once more, his voice coming out a little hesitant.

"Um, Sophie. I know I was supposed to be working and all...but that person who just left was a friend of mine. So, um..." Loke raised his hand and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Do you think you could not let the Director know I was slacking off and talking to a friend?" he asked, finishing with a small, sheepish grin.

Sophie simply smiled and laughed a little, "Sure, Leon. I can do that."

Loke gave a huge sigh of relief, "Thanks, Sophie. You're a lifesaver."

She merely waved him off and told him to go back to work before he got into trouble, so Loke headed back to his office and shut the door. He grinned.

Sophie. You had to love her. She was the secretary that the Director had taken with him during his one year break, so she had no idea who Calvert was. She was also older than Loke and while most people would have despised working for someone younger than them, Sophie had been exceptionally kind and helpful. If Loke asked to her keep quiet about Victoria, she would undoubtedly do so, thinking that Loke was young and needed a break every now and then.

Loke sat in his chair, grinning to himself. It was so easy to make sure the Director wouldn't find out about Calvert's sister arriving. Pulling his hands behind his head, Loke leaned back and contemplated the short meeting.

So it wasn't Calvert. Not like I cared. But should I be worried that he's moving up in ranks? No, he's probably trying to make up for keeping the COR system a secret. He's not a threat anymore so I can just forget about him. That's perfect. Things are proceeding well then. It sounds like things are going well for him as well too. Not that I care, of course...

For the remainder of that day, everyone at the COR building stayed a clear distance from Loke, having felt an inexplicable but distinct impression not to get on his bad side.

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Three years passed.

Director Robert Havelock had officially retired and handed down his position to his son. The transition between the two was smooth, hassle-free and met without any protests. Within the past few years, everyone had come to acknowledge Loke's capabilities. Within the past few years, everyone had come to recognize Loke as 'Leon'. He had decided to throw away his alias seeing as he no longer needed it and it was confusing to maintain two different names. Pointless too.

Loke took off his overcoat and long, dark blue scarf and hung them up, having just returned from lunch.

"Sophie, did anyone call while I was away?" he called out as he passed his secretary's desk.

"No, sir. But you have an appointment scheduled with the Mayor at 1:30." Sophie replied.

Loke nodded and headed back into his office. There was still a good fifteen minutes before Mayor Poulton would be arriving. He decided to send a few emails in the meantime.

Hm. This guy's not going to work. He's far too dependent on his friend's opinion. And this girl, she saw someone get caught for the same act. She won't be doing anything anytime soon. I'll retreat for now and reassess the situation in a couple of months.

It was getting harder to find people willing to commit crimes. Not the petty, little crimes, but the bigger ones. It seemed that almost everyone feared the repercussions of the COR system. But that was just it. They feared the consequences but still held those desires deep within their heart. They were still corrupt. Still corruptible. It wasn't acceptable, but it wasn't a problem either. Loke just had to work that little bit harder to draw them out. He had to be cleverer. It was a challenge. And Loke wouldn't ever back down. The thrill of the challenge was what made it all worth it.

A buzzing sound from his intercom interrupted his thoughts.

"Leon, sir. The Mayor has arrived to see you. Shall I send him in?"

He usually arrives on the dot. But I suppose it doesn't matter.

"Yes, Sophie. That will be fine." Loke said, while exiting out of his emails.

He stood up as the door opened and walked over to greet the Mayor, shaking hands.

"Good afternoon, Mayor. How are you this fine, winter's day?" he asked.

"Fine, fine. I hope you're the same." the Mayor replied.

Loke gave a wide smile, "Of course. And I'm sorry if I sound impatient, but if I may, can I inquire as to what it was you wanted to tell me that you couldn't possibly give me a hint?"

It had been intriguing Loke ever since the Mayor called to arrange the appointment. It was standard procedure to give at least a general briefing as to what was going to be discussed during a meeting but the Mayor had insisted that he wanted to tell Loke on the day.

The Mayor smiled brightly at Loke's interest. "I had been giving this a lot of thought and while I was a little doubtful at first, I've come to realize that this really is a splendid idea."

By now Loke's attention was completely captured. He gave a slightly puzzled and curious expression to urge the Mayor to elaborate.

"I can see I've gotten you hooked." Mayor Poulton laughed, "Very well. We shan't keep anyone waiting any longer."

Anyone? There's more than just me waiting?

The Mayor walked to the office door and partially opened it, calling out to someone on the other side, "You can come in now."

As the Mayor stood back, the door opened completely, allowing the guest to enter.

Loke stared in blank shock.

What? Why? Why is he here?

"Hello, Loke." greeted the one and only Vincent Calvert. He stood there with a smug look and an arrogance comparable to Loke's own.

Loke didn't even reply. He was too shocked, and confused, and completely and utterly out of the loop to think of a response. All that filled his mind were a series of increasingly larger question marks.

Mayor Poulton laughed heartily and thumped Loke on the back making him stumble a little, "You should see the look on your face, Leon. I knew it was a brilliant idea to keep it secret."

Loke, with great effort, drew his eyes from the unexplainable presence of the man in front of him and faced the Mayor.

"What's...what's going on?" he asked, unable to stop his confusion from leaking into every word he spoke.

That only made the Mayor laugh even harder before he gave a short, brief, completely inadequate explanation.

"You see, Vincent here came to me about half a year ago with an idea to incorporate the metropolitan police and the COR establishment. I was a little skeptical about it, seeing as things are working just fine the way they are, but he did give some very good points. You're very young afterall, to be head of the COR establishment, so it'll be a load off your back if you had someone to share the work with you. You could also improve communication between COR and the police so that things can run even more efficiently than before. And while there hasn't been any problems yet, the later generations may have issues with the COR system having so much authority in our city. From a purely objective standpoint, it does seem liable to corruption. So if we have two corporations working together, the risk of that happening will decrease considerably. If you think about, there's no downside at all to the idea so I gave it all clear. Of course, we still need your consent seeing as you are the head of the COR system. You'll be a huge part in this merger, afterall."

Loke, still unable to comprehend the situation with all the shock still running through his system, waited for any further details. Having received none, he sighed.

"So why's the Inspector here?" he asked.

"Commissioner, actually." Calvert had the gall to add.3 Loke hadn't even noticed his slip of using 'Inspector'. But before he was able to respond, the Mayor had interrupted him.

"I'll leave the details for Vincent to explain, so I'll be heading off now." he explained, "I've got a lot of things to do and I'm sure you two would love to catch up on each other."

Calvert thanked the Mayor for everything and beamed a smile that wasn't fooling anyone. Except the Mayor, of course, who beamed just as brightly back and left with a cheery air. The moment the door shut, Loke's expression dropped as he glared darkly at Calvert.

"My, my, Loke. You sure know how to change expressions pretty quick," Calvert quipped.

Loke ignored his taunt. "When were you made Commissioner?" he demanded instead.

"Oh, not too long ago." Calvert answered, shrugging carelessly and leaning back against Loke's desk, making himself comfortable. Loke glared at the action. But Calvert simply smirked, a silent challenging look set in his eyes.

Deciding not to rise up to the bait, Loke repeated his previous question, "So what are you doing here?"

"You heard the Mayor. We've come up with a proposition to combine the COR establishment with the local police."

"And you plan on being the representative for the police." The sound of derision was clear in Loke's tone.

"Bingo~" Calvert chimed.

Loke clenched his jaw before forcing himself to relax.

"And you just thought you could waltz right back here? Without fearing the consequences?" He didn't mention it specifically, but Loke was obviously referring to the issue of Calvert being a threat.

Calvert tilted his head slightly and seemed to be calculating something before he decided to ask, "Aren't you the Director now? Why don't you tell me if I have anything to fear?"

It took all of Loke's self-restraint to hold back from shouting at Calvert like he had their last encounter.

The bastard. He thinks that I can just fix his mess once more? Former Director or not, Robert Havelock would not accept this. Hell, even I wouldn't accept this.

During Loke's internal rant, Calvert had pushed himself off the desk and stepped up to Loke. He leaned towards Loke's ear and spoke lowly, "Would you see me dead, Loke?"

As Calvert stood back, he stared dead straight at Loke's eyes, as if daring him to say otherwise.

Loke broke eye contact, looking away and shrugged impassively. "That's got nothing to do with me, Calvert. Your problems are your own." he stated as he sidled his way around his desk and sat down.

Calvert followed Loke's movement and walked up to the desk, leaning down on it.

"Are you still making criminals?" he asked abruptly.

Loke almost jumped.

Too blunt. Way too blunt.

Fortunately, he hadn't displayed any outward reactions so he gave Calvert a wry smile and a blasé, "Of course."

The way Calvert's eyes had hardened but no protests were voiced suggested that he'd expected that answer but was displeased about it nonetheless.

"I've already talked to Robert Havelock," Calvert suddenly threw out.

This time, Loke couldn't repress his reactions. His eyes flickered up to Calvert's face. "What?"

"That's right. He said he's okay with it."

"Bullshit," Loke couldn't help but shoot out. The swear had just flowed from his mouth without him thinking.

"Ask him yourself. He's known about this for about...oh, three months, I reckon. I know I'm a threat, but I also know getting rid of me in any way is far too suspicious. You figured that out yourself. So I made him a deal. I signed a contract stating that the Director has informed me of all the procedures held at the COR establishment. All the procedures." he emphasized. "In exchange, he won't disapprove this proposition nor will he hinder my working at the COR establishment. It's a win-win situation for him, anyway. I signed a contract to take responsible so now I'm in on it too. If the COR system goes down, so will I. If everything gets exposed, I'll also be charged with keeping it all under wraps and not saying anything for the three years I've known about it."

Loke scoffed.

"And what makes you think you're in on it? I still haven't given my consent and I am the Director. In the end, you need my agreement to pull this off." Loke sniped.

Calvert simply smirked that shit-eating grin of his.

"But Loke, wasn't this what you wanted? Didn't you try so hard to get me to join in on this whole thing? If I recall, you asked me not to leave. Practically begged me not to."

Loke scowled furiously.

You're not in on it. You never were. You never will be. You just want to crush this organization from the inside-out. Don't even fuck with me.

"Even if I say yes, I'll still do it." he warned.

Calvert knew exactly what 'it' was. But he didn't seem fazed at all.

"You wouldn't be you if you just bowed down like a little puppy. That's okay with me. I'll just keep stopping you until you admit defeat and give it up." Calvert reasoned.

"Are you challenging me? Do you think so highly of yourself that you think you could even attempt to win against me?" Loke ridiculed disdainfully.

Calvert stared once more at Loke before leaning down against the desk. Loke pulled away, keeping the distance to avoid another confrontation like before. Calvert didn't seem bothered by his thwarted attempt. He simply gave that damn slow, sly smile and shot Loke with that same challenging stare.

"I'll make you concede," he assured with a confident, unerring determination. He then stood up and headed towards the door. As he reached it, he turned back once more.

"I'll give you some time to think about it. Your secretary has my number so call me whenever you want to talk." he said before walking out. He hadn't even shut the door behind him.

In the silence of the empty office, Loke only thought one thing.

Bastard.

The rest of the day proceeded as usual, apart from the fact that Loke was still running through his head the meeting that had occurred. After finally coming to the conclusion that he wasn't going to get any productive work done until he sorted out his thoughts, he packed up his things and walked out of his office.

"Sophie, I'll be heading home now. You can leave in half an hour if you like. Take an early night off." He didn't bother collecting the phone number of a certain bastard from her.

As he grabbed his overcoat and well-worn, navy scarf he noticed a slight weight pulling down the material. Curious, he pulled his scarf up and spotted a small pin attached to the bottom. It had the words 'Chief Inspector' engraved on it.

Damn him.

He rifled through his pockets noisily and pulled out his phone, dialling a number he'd never forgotten despite never having rung it. The phone rung exactly three times before it connected and Loke shot out a few short words without even waiting for the caller to speak.

"I accept your challenge."

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End.

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1. I feel I may not have been clear here. Loke was trying to hint that yes, he did miss Calvert, but his pride as a guy won't let him admit it so openly. Of course, he internally claims it's a lie.

2. That lingering feeling of wrongness is what most people would call 'missing someone'. But Loke is somewhat emotionally inept so he doesn't recognize it.

3. In case you're wondering why Calvert is now Commissioner, I feel a Chief Inspector wouldn't be able to proposition a merger and take charge as the police representative. It seems more likely to succeed and taken more seriously if someone with a high rank suggested such a thing.

Note: Yes, I'm stopping the story here because there isn't any plot so it's smarter to finish it off instead of botching it up for an extended number of chapters. I will now take my time to edit the chapters so throw all your corrections/opinions this way if you please and I'll try to rectify the issues. I hope you enjoyed reading this.