InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mukunda ❯ Repercussions ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: If you believe I own Inuyasha, you shouldn't be allowed to breed.

*sighs* 3 reviews and all of them from people I know. How sad. God thing I'm writing this purely for my own enjoyment and not accolades or else I'd be depressed. Of course, that means updates will come whenever I feel like it. Who knows though.

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She stared forward at Captain Simmons, her eyes obediently downcast. Next to the captain was a man with a hook-nosed face and narrowed eyes. He looked like he'd escaped from the IRS only to find his way into another job that would allow him the joy of ruining people's lives. In his crisp suit and thoroughly combed over hair, the man from Internal Affairs fairly glared at the young woman before him. She knew she was in deep trouble. First, she'd gone off without authorization and illegally entered a private facility. Second, she took her partner along as an accomplice who incidentally fell asleep and thus avoided reprimand. And third, she failed to arrest the band of vigilantes that not only nearly destroyed the building, but their leader also killed one of the criminals. Oh yeah. She was in trouble. She'd be lucky if they didn't press charges.

"Detective Higurashi," the IAD man began, his arms crossed in a superior manner, "we have found sufficient evidence of no less than twelve infractions on the legal code. If I had my way, you would be off the force and in a cell. Your blatant disregard for protocol has caused horrible publicity for our precinct." If possible, the man's nose went up even more as he paced behind the desk theatrically, his arms flailing about with his words. "The thugs are suing the department and will probably win and these Mukunda miscreants have gotten even more recognition and we look like incompetent fools! You should be fired and face formal charges, but you seem to have a guardian angel in the senate. He and others are putting a great deal of pressure on us on your behalf. I can't imagine why. The department has decided to take the following actions: You will be suspended for two weeks without pay and the reprimand will be noted on your record. Upon your return, you will be on disciplinary probation for 3 months." At seeing Kagome about to object, the man held up his hand, "Before you say a word, detective, remember this; you are under the magnifying glass. Step one toe out of line and you're gone."

Kagome's prepared outburst died on her lips and she simply nodded to the man who seemed entirely too happy about handing down the punishments. That didn't stop her from uttering a string of curses in her head that would make a sailor run for his mother. So colorful was her language that she caught herself making up new words just to insult this pompous prick before her. "May I go now?" she asked flatly, causing the IAD man to glare at her.

"I need to have a word with you in private, Kagome. Mr. Fisk, are you through?" Captain Simmons took the man's derisive snort and abrupt exit from the office as a yes and sighed, "Sweet Jesus, Kagome. If your little fiasco hadn't gotten back the senator's daughter, your ass really would be in a cell right now. Even with his backing, it took nearly two hours on my part to get them to lessen the suspension to two weeks." He stood from behind his desk and turned to the window, staring out at nothing with his hands clasped behind his back. "They would have been right to fire you, Kagome. You screwed up."

Kagome sighed and leaned against the captain's desk, "I know, but those girls…if you'd seen what was happening to them, you would have killed the scumbags that took them slowly. I've had nightmares every night since." She turned her head to look at her captain's back and spoke with determination, "I did what I thought was right, Cap'. I won't apologize for it."

Captain Simmons sighed loudly, "Off the record, Kagome, I would have done the same thing in your place. Those fucking bastards should be dead, not free to spout their lies to the god damned media. Thanks to our screwed up legal system, we couldn't hold them. If we'd tried, they would have sued us for even more money." Kagome could see his hands ball into fists behind his back as he spoke. The captain was a soft spoken man, but when he was pissed, he could scare even the most hardened detective on the force. "The entirety of the department that actually knows what it means to be on the streets is behind you in this, Kagome. I dare say your father would be proud except for the fact that you let the vigilantes get the credit. As for your so-called partner, he's going to be getting the cold shoulder for a while. If it weren't for rules and regulations, his ass would be gone. No one endangers their partner like that. When you come back, you'll be working solo and he'll be at a desk. It's the best I can do." The man turned to her with an apologetic look on his face, "Leave your shield and gun on my desk, detective. They'll be here waiting for you in two weeks."

She wanted to be able to throw a tantrum and storm out of the office but the captain was being too understanding. Besides, this was the man her father brought home for dinner countless times with his family. She'd even called him Uncle when she was younger, the name becoming Uncle Cappy when he was promoted. He was there to comfort her mother at her father's funeral, holding her while she cried and clutched the flag to her chest that was given to an officer's widow. No, she couldn't be mad at him. He hands were tied yet again and this time she did it.

"I'm sorry, Cap. I'll try to do better from now on." She groaned then and covered her face, "Shit. Two weeks without pay? I'm going to have to empty my savings to pay the bills now." Pulling her badge from her pocket and her gun from its holster, she laid them both on the captain's desk, "I expect them polished when I get back" she grinned at the Captain before waving, "See you in two weeks, Cap!"

The moment she left the office, her cheerful demeanor faded and she stalked towards her desk and the man now cowering behind it. Kouga was trying his damnedest to make himself as small as possible; a little difficult since he was 6'2" and had a tail. Kagome's face broke into a grin that could only be described as evil as she approached, pretending she had no idea where her partner was. She stood there, a finger resting on the corner of her lips as she pretended to ponder, "Now where could he be?" she wondered aloud before stomping on his tail with all of her strength and nearly sending her idiot partner through the roof with the sudden pain.

Kouga gave her a sheepish look and held his pained tail, "Uh, I'm sorry?"

"Not sorry enough you bastard! You nearly got me killed just because you couldn't stay awake!" Finally, she had someone to vent her anger on and this one deserved every bit of it. "You're lucky I don't castrate you with a grapefruit spoon! You should be the one suspended, not me! I-I…I can't even look at you right now!" She turned and stormed off while the entirety of her department cheered her outburst and threw angry glares Kouga's way.

<<*>>

Most people would enjoy two full weeks off from work but Kagome quickly became bored. Without the constant stress of her caseload to worry about, she didn't know what to do with herself. She'd already cleaned her apartment twice, gone to the gym for two hours every day and managed to catch up on all of her old paperwork. She spent some time in front of the T.V. watching some of those ridiculous cop dramas and yelling about the horrible inaccuracies most of them portrayed as realism. That got boring fast, though and left her sitting on the roof of her building, staring at the city below with a cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. She sat on a wobbly patio chair she'd left on the roof ages ago and opened the paper. Her eyes focused on the headline immediately and then on the story, he mouth open in shock.

Senator's Daughter Speaks About Tragedy

By Shippo Koten

Nearly a week after her rescue, the daughter of New York Senator, William Johnson spoke to reporters about her horrific ordeal. "They were monsters," cried young Melanie as she sat in the hospital, recovering from emotional and physical scars, "they used us for their own sick pleasures whenever the mood struck them." She went on to tell of her capture and finally her escape. "They [Mukunda] swept in like something out of an action movie. There were three of them and before I knew it, I caught sight of a silver haired demon. He looked like the leader of the group. I just wish I had the chance to thank him and his group. Unfortunately, they just gave me clothes and ushered me into a car that took me here."

This is the third time Mukunda has been given credit for finding missing persons with five other cases suspected of being brought to and end by their intervention. The police, however, seem less than thrilled with their help.

"These people are vigilantes and murderers. They have taken justice away from the courts and put is squarely into their own hands," said Chief of Police, Arnold Streeter in a press conference this afternoon. "We are working to catch them now and soon they will face justice in the very courts they thumb their noses at."

The city seems to hold a different view with more than half of the people polled stating their gratitude for a group that seemed to actually get the job done, unlike the police.

Kagome reread the article several times. So the Melanie Johnson they were after was the daughter of a senator. Why, then, did this senator take interest in a detective who failed in her attempt to save those poor girls? This was something she would have to get to the bottom of and a trip to the hospital seemed in order.

<<*>>

Hospitals always did give Kagome the creeps. The feeling of death clung to the air and forced her to relive painful memories of her father's death. She had to shake them though. She had to find out why the senator thought her worthy of notice even though she had failed. Hopefully the flowers and get well card she picked up on the way would keep her visit from looking slightly suspicious. She rounded the corner and found several police guards standing in the hallway, chatting amongst themselves. She thanked whoever it was that seemed to be watching out for her lately when she recognized two of them from her own days as a uniformed officer. When she approached, they waved and smiled, "Hey Kagome! Fancy seeing you here," said one, while the other one she knew just smiled.

"So they've got you guarding the senator's daughter eh? How'd you draw the short straw?" Kagome asked, making conversation to loosen the lips of her former colleagues.

"Are you kidding? Doing this puts us all on the good side of a senator who believes in cops. We fought for this duty. By the way, how do you know Senator Johnson?" the officer asked curiously.

Kagome gave him a confused look and glanced toward the door of the private hospital room. "What do you mean? I've never met him."

"Well," began the officer who had been silent up to now, "we're under orders from the senator to keep everyone out except family and friends. He made sure we knew that Detective Higurashi is a friend."

Opening her mouth to respond, Kagome found that she had no words to say. Instead, she just shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, "I honestly don't know. I've never met the senator or his daughter. I just came down to see how she was doing."

The two officers stepped aside and grinned, "Well, now's the perfect chance. She's awake and talking to her father right now."

Kagome paused for just a moment before steeling her resolve. She couldn't decide if this was good luck or not. She would certainly get her answer this way, but the amount of questions she'd had when she'd read the article just tripled. She stood before the door and knocked softly, questions running through her mind. The most important question remained the most clear though. She knew that was the one answer she really needed.

The door opened and there stood a man dressed in a very expensive suit and tie. His salt and pepper hair looked a bit disheveled and his face looked haggard as if he hadn't been sleeping well lately. She put on her best smile and extended her hand, "Good morning Mr. Senator. I am Detective Higurashi of the NYPD. I came to see how Melanie was doing."

The senator's face broke into a smile and he shook her hand vehemently, pulling her into the room. "I know who you are, Detective. You're the one who helped save my little girl and all those others from the monsters who took her," he stated simply. He smiled at Kagome and took the flowers and card from her, adding them to the multitude on the dresser sitting next to Melanie's bed. "Thank you for the gifts but they are hardly necessary. We owe you so much for what you did."

Kagome looked at him confused, "I sincerely appreciate your gratitude, sir, but I'm afraid it is misplaced. I only succeeded in getting myself captured. I did nothing that merits any thanks, really." From the bed, a small voice answered for her father, "That's not true!"

The young detective turned to see Melanie sitting up in her bed staring at her. The girl's eyes stared right into Kagome's as she spoke, "You came in just as they were finishing up with the girls they'd had. I was next in line to be raped and tortured. For some reason, they'd been avoiding me all that time, only…only touching me to beat me and forcing me to watch as they raped the others. That night, they said it was finally my turn. Then, they found you. When I saw the source of their distraction, my heart fell. I knew you would suffer as everyone else but when I saw you kick that son of a bitch right between his legs, it made me feel hope for the first time in weeks. I was an inch from giving up before you came along." Melanie reached her hand out and took Kagome's, "You saved my soul, Detective."

"And you did it, knowing full well that there would be repercussions, didn't you, Detective?" The senator smiled and sat down in a chair near the bed. "That is why you have my sincerest gratitude and that is why I talked to the commissioner on your behalf."

Kagome just stood there stunned. Had she made such a difference even without being the one to succeed in the rescue? These people seemed to think so and, in the end, that was good enough for her. After all, their opinion was what really mattered at the end of the day. She smiled at them both and bowed slightly, "I'm very glad I could help then. I do have one more question though. Why was Mukunda after Melanie? They said she was their target."

The senator stood then, his smile softened a bit but it was there nonetheless. "I hired them."