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Angie and Shade are called to the scene of a residential break-and-enter in Parkdale. The caller, who spoke to Shade, supposedly swore him to secrecy so he wouldn’t tell Angie, which she thinks is stupid as shit. The guy went on to immediately hang up and call the police, obviously, since a squad car pulls onto the street right behind them. They could play dumb, but they are sitting in a parked car staring at the house in question, so it’s inadvisable.
The cops climb out of their vehicle and Angie and Matt do the same, winding up on the sidewalk and eyeing the cops warily.
The first to step out is a blonde girl a few years younger than Angie, saying, “...and you volunteered us! You’re a snake, Oliver. A snake in the grass."
Another door opens and an older guy, bald on top, gets out and starts to round the car. “Give me a break, Peck. It’s a Friday night.”
“You love me,” the blonde says back, making a fake kissy face at him, “and my on-point metaphors.”
Oliver seems to take notice of them, finally, but other than squinting in their direction he ignores them as he crosses his arms and says, “It can’t be on point ‘cause I am not a snake in any sense of the word, and I’m not in any metaphorical grass, I’m just standing here as your supervising officer telling you to work the shift.”
“Okay, okay.” Peck walks away a bit, looking pensive, then comes back and says, “You’re like the first ant into the poison who comes out with a chunk of poison all, ‘Look, guys, a feast!’ and you started the lineup and now your whole nest is going to die.”
“I’m really going to start tuning out your voice whenever you speak.” He looks over at them again, eyebrows going up, and finally says, “Can we help you?”
“Um, yeah,” Angie says, taking a step forward as this Oliver guy looks at Shade and does a double-take. “We live down the street and—“
“No way, Matt Shade?”
Angie sighs as loudly as she possibly can and Matt steps forward, reaching his hand out to shake.
“Hey, man, good to meet you.” He pounds his other hand on the guy’s bicep while they shake. “You want an autograph?”
Rolling her eyes to the sky, Angie shifts her jaw and then remembers the blonde cop and looks over at her to find her looking back. Angie’s eyebrows twitch, and then she schools her face and sidles over closer. “Please. This happens literally every day.”
“Perks of dating a celebrity, I guess.” Her tone is dry but her eyes are sharp, and Angie reacts with slightly less disgust than she normally would.
“We...” She gestures between herself and Matt. “...are not dating. Not even close. As for celebrity..." Just the idea makes her wince. "Do you know who he is?”
Peck—which is also what it says on her little name badge, so she must have a first name—squints at Matt, then shakes her head.
“Well, good. Keep it that way.” She shifts her weight, glancing over her shoulder to see Matt deep in conversation with the cop, then turning her back fully. “Don’t you guys have a call or something?”
“Non-emergency,” Peck says, nodding. “Which, they still called us, but I guess this is more important.” She looks at Angie for a second, blue eyes still sharp, then says, “Did you say you live down the street?”
“Oh.” Angie blinks, looking past Peck’s ear at the houses across the way. “No.”
Frowning, the girl opens her mouth to speak, so Angie meets her eyes again and sticks her hand out to shake.
“Angie Everett.”
“Gail. Peck."
“Nice to meet you, Gail Peck,” Angie says, shaking her hand forcefully. “And that guy?”
“Oliver Shaw. Did you—um, if you don’t live down the street, what are you... doing here?”
“On a walk,” Angie says, because improvise is always great advice until you actually have to do it yourself. “Should we be worried? Is the neighbourhood safe?”
Gail licks her lips, and it’s her turn to avoid Angie’s gaze, glancing past her at the other cop. “Nothing to worry about,” she says. “We’d call for backup if there was any danger.”
“Right, that’s... reassuring,” Angie says, shifting her weight again, and Gail looks back at her, licking her lips again and tilting her head.
“I’m not—um, if I seem nervous, it’s just that you’re really very... uh, very beautiful. Sorry.”
“Oh,” Angie says, surprised. She rocks back on her heels and then says, “Really?” and Gail looks slightly offended. “No, it’s just that I don’t get that from women much.”
“You’re kidding.” She smirks slightly, smugly, and Angie has to look away. “Can I get your number?”
“Wow. Okay. You’re on duty, right?”
Gail straightens up, her shoulders going back. “I have a business card I can give you, if you want to keep this professional. That doesn’t bother me at all.”
She’s lying, and Angie can’t help but smile, shaking her head and flicking her eyes to the side. “Give me your phone.” Typing in her number, she mutters, mostly to herself, “I really don’t know why more women don’t hit on me. Actually, wait, yes I do.” When she hands the phone back, she has to force herself to look up into Gail’s eyes again, and they’re both sheepish, like something has just happened.
It hasn’t, though.
Angie turns around, does a full one-eighty without really meaning to, and suddenly she’s interrupting Oliver and Shade, not that they needed any more bro-time. She kind of drags him back to the car, her face heating up, and they really didn’t accomplish what they came here for, but that happens a lot.
“Well, that was a bust,” Matt says, and Angie stares hard out the window. Silence reigns, and then a little while later he says, “Did I see you give her your number?”
She stares harder.
“I just..."
Pause.
“You wouldn’t really..."
Long, drawn out pause.
“Date a cop..."
Slightly shorter pause, but she's still gonna kill him for drawing this out.
“Would you?”
She smiles, finally looking back at him. “I might make a real P.I. of you yet.”