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Janis sipped at the espresso in front of her, at ease as much as a Detective could visibly be while sharing a cup of coffee with the head of the Snatch Games out in the visible public. She knew why he had planned it that way of course. It kept her from possibly ever being able to go after him if they were seen on camera sharing a cup of coffee. Suspicions would be raised in the bureau and Janis would more than likely get demoted if not simply lose her job. Then again, it was Ein, so maybe this was just a friendly catch up to review her status since the escape and nothing more. She was, after all, one of the group that was most likely to slip up out of all of them.
"So how are you doing Janis?" he asked as he sipped at his own coffee. His eyes were alert, and while friendly, were studying her closely.
She smiled and put down the espresso almost daintily. “I’m doing fine. Quite a few more arrests have been made in the Cleveland Corporation. I’m drawing in on Emma Lee herself and within a month I should have enough evidence to indefinitely hold the freeze on their accounts until all of the trials are completed. The Doctor’s been very helpful through all of this. The DA even cut a deal with him to work public service as an on-call surgeon for free clinics in his ward instead of jail time.” Her eyes softened a little and she fidgetted with the handle of her cup, “We thought that would be the best thing. Of course he’s supposed to be watched by a different ‘intern’ to make sure that he doesn’t purposefully do anything to harm patients but when I suggested to the DA that he had changed they were willing to cut in half his required public service. At this rate he may continue the work after it’s no longer required. It’s… good for him. Shows him he can heal with those big hands of his.”
Ein smiled playfully as he gave her a hard time, “Big hands huh?”
"Really?" she scoffed. "One life and death situation does not create some lifetime romantic bond between people Ein. How many times do I have to tell you that the Doctor and I aren’t dating?"
"You can say it all you want," he grinned over his cup, "but I still think it’s happening."
She rolled her eyes and shook her head quietly, unsure if there was a faint blush creeping up her cheeks or not. “Speaking of romantic bonds-” she grinned slyly while Ein sputtered and choked on his coffee.
"N-not-" he coughed and cleared his throat, "Not fair."
A smirk curled around the lip of the espresso cup, “You started it…” her voice had a bit of a sing-song lilt to it, and even seemed almost… happy.
A flush creeped up his cheeks and he fidgeted with the holo-screen on his datapad, “Th-things are good between me and Lily.”
"Good," she purred, "that’s good…"
Ein coughed nervously and shifted in his seat, “So…” his tone deepened and deadpanned, “you’ve managed to keep false information away from the players, and haven’t used the Cleveland Corp for baiting since you got out.”
Janis scoffed, “Why should I? There’s more in it for me to take them down. I told you that in the facility.”
"And," he continued over her, "after review you have been deemed no longer a threat." He smiled up at Janis, "Keep it up and I might take you off the watch list."
She couldn’t help but smile a little slyly. “You do realize that once I’m done with this I will be going after Duo.” Ein’s gaze hardened as she kept going, her own voice taking on a bit of an edge. “It’s my job, and he tried to kill all of us.”
"You tried to kill Arachne," he retorted with the same amount of an edge.
"Yeah, well," she shrugged and leaned back in her chair, her crossed over legs brushing the underside of the metal grated coffee table, "she started it."
Ein pressed the issue, “I told you to let me handle him.”
"Normally I’m good at letting people do my work for me. But this is personal." She uncrossed her legs, slammed her hands down on the table, and leaned over it towards him in anger. "I won’t touch him with any of the information in the facility. I won’t and can’t do that to any of you. It will all be what I find, on my own time, with my own resources."
He rubbed the bridge of his nose directly where the scar crossed it, a pinched look overtaking his face. He knew that if Janis caught any of them on her own information that he couldn’t stop her. After all, she was a cop, and the Star players were thieves. “We’re taking care of him,” he insisted with a growl, “now sit down. You’re going to scare the other people in the coffee shop.”
After a few moments Janis uncurled her fingers from the grate material and leaned back in her chair; forcing herself into a comfortable position while ignoring the red pressure marks on her hands. Ein sipped at his coffee angrily while Janis fumed. There was a long silence before Janis could uncurl her muscles before she could speak again.
"How’s Holly?" this time her voice was soft, concerned.
The coffee cup clinked as he returned it to its dish. “Good,” he sighed, “She’ll be making A-rank soon. …Her parents are proud of her,” he paused, “and proud that she has her own place.”
Janis’s ears perked up at the last bit. “She moved out?” she looked him in the eyes, a desperateness there that hadn’t been there before.
He nodded, “Yeah, she’s got her own little apartment. She’s taken the semester off of school, but she’ll be going back in the Fall with a new major that she chose. She and Emily are considering moving in with each other to split the rent.”
She smiled sadly and nodded. There were the beginning of tears in her eyes, but she kept them well in hand.
A hand touched Janis’s forearm and she took a second to force down her instinctual training to respond with force before she could place a hand on top of his. He leaned down to look her in the eyes and coaxed, “You should go see her.”
Her mouth opened and closed a few times as she shook her head, “She doesn’t want to see me. She doesn’t need me around. She’s go to live her own life and be off on her own and-“
"She asks about you," he interjected, "all the time. She wants to know how you’re doing, and all I can tell her is that you’re doing good." A small broken bit of Janis rose to the surface, letting a tear down her cheek as she bit the inside bottom of her lip to keep it from trembling.
"You should go see her," Ein slipped a piece of paper into her hand and closed her fingers around it. "It’ll be good for the both of you."
After a small moment of awkwardness he squeezed her hand gently, “Lily says hello.” When he got up and started to leave Janis held the paper towards her chest, unable to look at it just yet. “Just go see her. She’s expecting you.” Almost as an afterthought he turned back to the table and added, “And leave Arachne alone. She’s doing good too. …She trusts people now.” With that he was gone back into the hustle and bustle of the day crowd and lost from her sight.
It took her some time to uncurl her hand and look at the address. After memorizing it she finished her espresso with a shaky hand and took the shot of club soda to cleanse her pallet With a small beep she paid for the coffees by using the data pad on the table and left.
———————————————-
It was two weeks before Janis actually got around to seeing her. She stood outside the door for a long time, not knocking, or pacing, merely standing. Janis thought about leaving several time. After all, Holly was doing good, she didn’t need a dirty cop she met while being locked in a life-or-death game back in her life. Eventually it was Holly leaving the apartment that had them meet. The door swung open and Holly’s happy smile faded from her face into one of surprise.
Janis fidgeted and went to leave, “I’m sorry, this was a mista-” Holly hugged her tightly, crying into her jacket with full sobs.
"I thought I’d never see you again!" she wailed, clinging to Janis ever-tighter than before. "Please don’t leave!"
As the reality of Holly’s feelings dawned on Janis she also began to cry. She held the younger girl tight to her frame and promised over and over again, almost like a chant, “I won’t leave. I promise I’m not leaving. I promise I’m not.”
It took a long time, but finally both girls were calm enough for Holly to invite her inside. “D-do you want some tea?” she asked with a sniffle, fidgeting with her scarf all the while.
Janis laughed around another sob and smiled, “Just so long as it doesn’t smell like almonds.” It took Holly a moment but then she returned the smile and ushered her friend inside.