Chapter Text
Armin, Jean, and Reiner strolled confidently into the large building and immediately grabbed everyone's attention. They all stood up at the same time and greeted him in the usual collective monotone voice.
"Welcome back, Mr. Arlert."
Armin frowned. He wanted to be treated like a boss, but at the same time he hated the pressure. It was hard to put the contradictory situation into words, so he never told anyone. Except for Jean and Reiner, who had supposedly found out from the change in his demeanor. That's how well the three of them knew each other.
Armin nodded at the room full of men and they all sat down. The gang leader and his guards/friends crossed the foyer of the business and entered the backroom. They went around the desk in the center of the room and stopped in front of a three file cabinets set right next to each other and Jean walked ahead of him. He pulled on the lowest handle on the first cabinet, and it made a small click, but the drawer didn't open. As expected. For the second one, he pulled the topmost one and the middle. For the third, he did the same as he did for the first. Right after putting in the pattern, the floor right next to the row of cabinets made a whirring noise. It rose, revealing a staircase. Armin went first, of course, and the two followed closely behind him in silence.
The three of them knew before that when Armin became the boss, they wouldn't be talk so flippantly with each other in front of others unless they were alone. It would not only make the three teenagers look disrespectful and careless about the business, it would also give Armin a very bad reputation. Even though he was head honcho, one small slip up could discredit him. Some of the people who worked below him, he already knew, were ready to attack him and his position if such a thing were to happen. In a gang family, everyone is on their toes. Especially him. He did not like what he did but he did it anyway. There was no way he would let those oily bastards have his job. With the job also came paranoia. Which is why you have to be strong. For your friends, family, and yourself. That's what his dad told him before he died. As for his mother...he'd never known his mother.
Mike and Annie stared at the picture in her hands. This 'Arlert kid' was giving them so much trouble. Today they planned to get some answers out the people on the poorer side of town. They turned the corner when they heard some rummaging in an an alleyway. A boy was climbing on the side of the dumpster, getting ready to jump in when Mike yelled out, "Hey!" The boy cried out and fell onto his back. He immediately sprang up and with one look at the two adults, he knew they had something to do with the SPD. Mike lunged forward and grabbed the teenager.
"Agh! Let me go!" he yelled. Annie told Mike to let him go and they watched as the dirty boy glared at them with bright hazel eyes. Annie Leonhardt walked closer to him. Spit trailed onto his chin and she looked at him with the same calm expression, though in her mind she was disgusted.
"What d'you guys want? Aren't ya ta police?" he coughed out.
Annie rolled her eyes. "No, we are different from them. Though we both have a common goal. Uncovering the truth in this dirty city we all live in. Now," she said and took out a folded piece of paper from the pocket of her light blue jeans. She showed him the blurred photo of a blonde man in a black trench coat and grey hat with two taller men in similar outfits. "Do you know who this might be?"
"Why should I tell you?" he spat. "You lot prolly won't even believe me if I tell you."
Annie stood up and put her hand on her hips. "Hmm, that might be true. But that depends on your answer. Make it good and make it snappy," she responded. He glared at her before snatching the photograph out of her outstretched hand.
The more he looked at it, the more he recognized the people in the picture. His eyes widened and he gave it back to her rather quickly. "You guys dun know t'is guy?"
Annie and Mike decided to play dumb and told him no.
"Wow, you guys are really in the dark. T'is Armin Arlert n' his two goons. They're a scary bunch I'll tell ya that."
"Can you tell us anything else?" Mike spoke up and the street rat glanced at him.
"He's ta big shot 'round these parts. For all the wrong reasons, if you get in his way or make him mad, yer dead."
"Do you know where we can find him?" Mike asked again.
The boy opened his mouth to say something when a female voice stopped him. "Connie!" she yelled. All three of them turned to see a teenage girl in a raggedy dress and dark brown hair in a ponytail. "We gotta go!"
He nodded and before they could stop him, Connie ran away towards the girl.
"Who were ya talking to?" she asked him loudly.
"Nobody, just some weird guys. How much do we have?" Connie's voice trailed off as they got farther and farther away.
"Well, that's another failure for the books," Mike commented a few moments after the two teenagers disappeared around the corner. Annie glared at him and turned around.
"What?" Mike jogged to catch up with her and the two detectives began planning their next course of strategy.