2019-09-16 - A Bad Idea All Around

The sun hasn't set quite yet, but you wouldn't know that from how dark it's getting. The clouds overhead threaten rain while a warm ocean breeze blows across the beach. It kicks up what bits of sand there are, but for the most part the beach is all rocks and shale. But the coming storm means one thing... bigger waves.

And Sarah Stevens is eye-humping every single one that looks even close to head-height at the break like she just found her first love.

The Detective's Mercedes is parked close to the dock, with the top up because despite what certain OTHER detective's believe, she's not a total moron. She stands by one of the picnic tables with her partner, Tess Chen. Unlike Tess Chen, she does not at ALL look ready for business. In the slightest.

The blonde wears a pair of tight, wrinkled jeans, the denim old and faded, held up by her belt. Yes, her gun and badge are on her belt. A pair of solid white sneakers clad her feet. But from the waist up she's showing off a white, one-piece swimsuit that covers the front and leaves her back mostly bare, a long-sleeved shirt tied off around her waist. Necklace of some sort vanishes down inside of her swimsuit.

Resting nearby, against the table, is a large, ten-foot surfboard. Give ya a guess what she plans to do in the immediate aftermath of this little tete-a-tete. Nearby on the table her half-eaten PB&J sits on a paper plate. There's also a small backpack nearby with a towel and a change of clothes in it. Directly underneath the backpack, so it doesn't blow away, is a plain, nondescript manila folder.

"He'll be here Chen. A guy like that, he'd wet himself before he missed getting a peep at the goods." Of course she's talking about Alexander, and placating the grumpy brunette. After Alexander had contacted her, she'd sent him a simple message to meet her here. And God help him if he was jerking her around!

Well, Detective Stevens isn't WRONG.

Alexander is here, walking towards the beach. Maybe he took Sarah's advice about the whole fashion police thing; in the time since he ran into the detectives last, he's gotten a fairly stylish sort of haircut - it's still a little long on top, swept back by the wind coming off the sea, but it's short and neat on the sides and the back. It makes him look fifteen percent less like a hobo. Only fifteen, because he's still in old, old jeans, a worn-out t-shirt, and a too big army jacket over it, and he still walks with a combination of slouch and paranoid gaze that looks like he expects someone to jump him and try to kill him at any time.

Still, he's here. He pauses, scans the beach, and goes towards the surfboard and its coppish retinue. Sarah is given a curt sort of nod, but Tessa gets a raised eyebrow. Like he didn't expect the cop who came off as super rules-loving to be here.

Ah, the ocean! Captivating in its beauty, infinite in its possibilities, its sirens call draws out the dreamers and the disfranchised, those who know how to admire a sunset more than they care to lead lives in stuffy cubicles and office spaces. It is really easy to see why so many people love it.

Tessa Chen doesn't trust it. Like a life pursuing arts, it is a dangerous lie that consumes many young every year!

So, understanbly, Tessa Chen, usually the chipper gal of the precinct, finds herself with her arms firmly folded over her chest, easily striking her 'just give me a reason, punk' pose #21251. Then again, she always looks angry, maybe her mood is better today.

"I reckon to know the sort, Stevens, the sort that thinks they are too intelligent and right-minded to follow the road like the rest of the lemmings. I don't trust those of his persuasion." No news there. "He is playing you like a mongoose plays a snake, he will let him think you have him dead to rights and toy with you until the bite comes. DO not let him look at anything before he gives us something, Stevens." Nah, same mood as always, which is pretty foul. Still frowning, she looks at the other woman's back, "And you should put on some clothes. Your back is showing."

The Chinese-American's eyes the man who is in the very least 85 percent hobo now, her eyes zooming in on him, as she grips her oversized belt buckle. "He is evolving into something even less reputable than he was before." Milenials. She means milenials. Eyes narrow, she groans. She eyes Alexander's GUILTY eyebrows. "Is there a problem, mister?"

Truth be told, Sarah did not expect Tess to be here, either. But after their last heart-to-heart, such as it was, the pair were going to try and set aside their differences enough to work together on this one. It was the best way to ensure that a killer, or killers, were brought to justice. Stevens spent too many damned cases watching victims cases go unsolved and no one batting an eyelash about it.

Her eyes are pretty much completely glued to all of the waves she's not catching, the set of her jaw and thousand yard stare all the indication of the woman's raging surf-boner she gives as she stands there, arms crossed under her chest, leaning her rear against the table, one ankle folded over the other. She doesn't notice the male's approach until he's almost to them.

"Did... you just throw a 'reckon' at me, Chen?" Sarah turns her head to flash a bright grin at her partner. Who needs the sun when she can put so much wattage behind them teeth!? Blinding! Her eyes kind of glaze over and her smile fades as the woman goes into her terrible Riki Tiki Tavi analogy, but what can she do? This is the life she chose, full of angry killjoys. "Yeah, maybe. Look, we don't really lose anything by showing him the files and the photos. If he's able to help, maybe we'll share more."

As Alexander walks up, he gets to hear the last bit of what Sarah shares with her partner. "Well, it's better than my tits showing, ain't it? Because that's what'll happen if I turn it around."

"Chen," Sarah steps around the angry Asian, laying a hand on the woman's bicep with a reassuring squeeze as she steps towards Alexander. "Relax, yeah?"

"Okay, Mister Clayton." Million dollar smile as she heads him off just shy of reaching the picnic table. "Here's the deal. If you're lying to me, if this is bullshit, I'm going to cut your nuts off. Then I'm going to make earrings out of them, and I'll make damned sure I wear them every time I see you. So don't fuck me without buying me dinner. We good?"

Sarah returns to her Good Cop routine, stepping out of the man's way with a hand on his back and her other held out magnanimously towards the table.

Alexander stops just inside conversational range from the detectives, his shoulders rounded defensively, his expression wary, his eyes dark and focused. His attention flicks first to Tessa. "A problem? Many. You've probably read my file." Maybe they have! Maybe they haven't! Alexander is well known to the GHPD as a pest of the highest order, always sticking his nose in where it doesn't belong, ever since he was a kid. He's been arrested and had psychiatric holds at least a half dozen times through the years, although no convictions or jailtime, mostly because it's a small town and there's no political advantage in beating up the local crazy people.

Then his attention turns towards Sarah. He blinks a couple of times. "I rarely lie, Detective," he says, voice soft. "I have enough trouble with reality without adding noise to the signal. Also, the earrings, even preserved, would only last a couple of weeks in Gray Harbor's weather before starting to rot and decay. Unpleasant to have near piercings. And think of the smell." There's not even the hint of a smile on his face; he's just helpfully informing her of some of the issues with her life choices. He does sidle forward (how does a man sidle FORWARD? don't ask, just accept) to look at whatever's spread out on the table. Because he's too damned curious not to.

Tessa frowns at Sarah. It is written all over her face: YES, SHE RECKONS SHE DID! As the blonde moves over to talk to Clayton, Tessa adds almost immediately, "Better yet, do not fuck her at all. If you can help, help. If you can't, the Lord is my witness, I do not take kindly to people who waste my time, or the precinct's."

She takes her job veeeeery seriously. Then again, Tessa takes everything very seriously, stepping besides Sarah and folding her arms by the blonde who is basically NAKED, dealing with a dangerous multiple time felon-crazy person. In Chenworld, he would be locked in a padded cell being watched by clones of her.

But the world isn't perfect like that yet, and Tessa is perturbed from her daydreaming of justice by a conversation on decaying balls, "How in the heck is the ratio of decay of human testicular tissue going to help us find any clues about the whereabouts of our missing people? Can you to stick to a point and follow it? Lord Almighty, I swear." She points at the file, before eyeing Sarah again.

Without talking, she conveys, with a series of changing expressions, that the blonde needs to be harder, or more incisive, or whatever else Tessa thinks Sarah should be doing. Basically, there is a silent bickering going on as Alexander looks at the files, and while that goes on, and Tessa very much wins the non-verbal altercation (in her mind) she takes off her jacket and places over Sarah's shoulder, the wind not letting up.

"Find anything?" So impatient!

Sarah looks at Tess as Alexander sidles past her, 'WTF' written all over her face. But with the warning out of the way, and either unheeded or failing to have the correct effect, the blonde just kind of saunters to the table herself. She takes a seat on the opposite side of the man who is fifteen percent less hobo than the last time she met him. With one hand she grabs the edge of the folder, with the other she pushes the backpack off of it and settles it flat on the table in front of her. She does not open it yet.

"You can't take any pictures, and if you tell anyone about this, I'll deny it and we'll be back to Plan: Testicle Earrings. The only reason I'm doing this is because I'm tired of cases getting closed in this town when there's more to them than what's being allowed to investigate. This might not have anything to do with that. This might be a run-of-the-mill murder. It kind of seems that way. But if you can help with this, I'll let you help with more."

Sarah tries not to notice Tess making faces at her, but goddamn it's hard. So instead, she opens up the case file. Almost immediately there are the crime scene photos, two victims, one man, one woman. Shot in the back of the head, execution-style.

"Pam and Karl Kruger, owners of the Sea View Motel. No eyewitnesses yet, but a few people who were staying there we still have to question. The security tapes are still being gone over. We know they owed money to Felix Monaghan. No signs of a robbery, either. Both killed around 9AM. They have a daughter. She's been notified, not questioned yet. She has a boyfriend with a record for violence."

Sarah glances at Tess, trying to silently communicate, or ask, something, before looking back at Detective Hobo. "We know there's something weird going on in this town. Something that makes murders get classified as animal attacks, or accidents. Something that keeps people from noticing the staggering number of deaths and disappearances that happen here. So I'll talk all the fucking hints I can get."

Alexander takes a seat gingerly. It clearly bothers him to sit down when Tessa's still standing, but he doesn't protest. There are crime scene photos, so this is automatically the Best Day Ever. "You might be surprised, Detective Chen. It's why forensic entomology is a thing, isn't it? Even the smallest, most disgusting detail can be useful in solving a mystery." His eyes don't move from the photos. He also doesn't show any...human reaction to the gory death, there. No flinching, no need to take a deep breath to brace himself; he even leans in closer to look at the blood spatter patterns with a detached sort of interest. He looks through the paperwork, too, frowning.

"Interesting." When he's done, he puts it neatly back into its folder and closes it, and turns so that he can keep both detectives in view. "There is always something weird going on in Gray Harbor, I'm afraid. This...though, I'm tempted to dismiss it as simply organized crime, and simply warn you that it will never be satisfactorily closed. Sorry. But," he takes a breath, lets it out. "There is an oddity here. Your notes say that the Kruegers owed Monaghan money - not the oddity. But they were paying him back. Unusual that they'd be killed if they were doing that. You don't usually murder debt-holders, you break them so that they're willing to do anything to pay you back. It suggests that - if Monaghan was responsible - either they really screwed up, or," he shrugs, "he thinks the hotel will be in more controllable hands." He doesn't say 'the daughter', but well.

"On the other hand, it could be an encroachment, or revenge by some other party. A few months ago, towards the beginning of the year, there was at triple homicide at the docks. Although never officially solved, I'm reasonably certain it was a motorcycle club trying to start some sort of business in Monaghan's territory without paying the proper respect, and they paid for that. Taking out two associates and putting a spotlight on the motel could be revenge for that." His lips thin. "Could I see the murder scene?"

As to Sarah's last words, he looks over at Tessa, for a long moment before saying, to Sarah, "Your partner is unlikely to believe me. I don't mind telling you, but you're going to think I'm, ah, bullshitting you, and then you're going to get angry and walk away." It's more resigned than anything.

Tessa observes as Alexander works, eyeing his every move. She doesn't answer him back, and instead focuses on how he focuses on the pictures, how he is so unflinching about them. Arms cross and she keeps her eyes on him. No reaction. Stone cold.

"You have a distinct lack of reaction to those pictures, mister. You barely link let alone feel any burden at the state of your fellow men. That is hard to ignore. Were you in the force at some point? Med school?"

Alexander follows up dropping some knowledge, and Tessa tries to follow up by frowning hard and paying atention. Most of it is information she more or less knew, but second, third hand from files. Never spoken about so casually.

"You are saying this will not be closed satisfactorily, and I do hope you don't expect me or detective Stevens to simply leave it at that. So do indulge us, why do you think that is? It might be more worth pursuing than the case itself." She holds her own belt, eyeing Alexander intensely.

She wants answers, damn it! And when told she won't believe whatever Alexander says, Tessa just straight up eyes Sarah.

"Whatever you got to say to detective Stevens, I will be there to hear it. I am not here to be benched or let you fool her." Poor, poor detective Stevens, so easily fooled, needs Tess to look after her.

The lack of surprise, shock, disgust, or even... excitement (shudder) from Alexander at the sight of two local corpses surprises Sarah, causing her to once again look at Tess. Then at the jacket that has been draped over her shoulders. She shoots the woman a look that says 'really?', as she draws it close about her to fend off the... warm, pleasant breeze of Summer's last days. Still, she was expecting the man to act more like a civilian and less... like a cop.

"That's a fair intuition there. There's no profit in killing people who are keeping up on their payments. Let's assume that clears Monaghan for a moment, that still leaves us with the fact that someone wanted them dead enough to hire a professional to do it. Not just someone to look like a professional, but someone who probably knew enough of what they were doing to not leave the neat little breadcrumb trail we like so much."

Which makes everything exponentially harder. Motives are usually what lead a Detective's search. An outside contractor with no motive compounds factors. Sarah leans back, keeping one elbow on the table so she can nibble on her thumb and scrunch up her brow in a Thinking Face.

"That's such a low-level target. It makes sense in a kind of way, I suppose, but why go after a simple loan?" The blonde once more looks at Tess, her lips tight, before back at Alexander. "Lay it on me. It can't be any weirder than what I've tried to sell her on recently."

"Look." Eyes flash to Tess, and then back to the male as the Californian reaches across the table to lay her hand on Alexander's wrist gently, but assuredly. It's what they teach at Good Cop school. Make a human connection. Touch is a powerful way to establish it. "If I wasn't already half-crazy, we wouldn't be here. All we want to do is protect the people in this town. To stop these things from happening. So if you know why this won't be solved, or you about any of the... weird shit. We'd like to know. I would like to know."

Alexander stares at Tessa for a moment. "Incorrect," he says, bluntly. "I feel a great burden at the state of my fellow man. But those aren't people anymore. It's just meat. Meat that's useful to figure out who ended my fellow men. Flinching would be the disservice. I might miss something."

When Sarah reaches out, his stare is broken and he visibly tenses. He moves his hand, quickly, from her attempt to reach out. "Don't." It's harsh. Probably harsher than he intends. He grimaces an apology in the next moment. "Sorry. I just. Don't touch me, please. I don't like to be touched."

And then he moves on, scrubbing a hand through his hair, his shoulders hunching a little as he anticipates a response to that eccentricity. "Look. If it is Monaghan, the case won't go anywhere, and when you're told to drop it," when, not if, "I advise you do so. If you want to continue to protect people. Cases against him never go far, and whatever evidence we find, it'll disappear." He doesn't sound happy about it, but he does sound like it's the facts as he knows them. "If it is an outsider...well. That could be good, that could be bad. Because Monaghan's people will be looking for them, too. But you make a good point," he gestures towards Sarah. "About the low-level target. The only immediate idea that comes to mind is an opening volley. Feeling out the organization - what will they do to protect their revenue stream? If that's so, you'll probably have another couple of bodies drop. Soft targets like these. Nibbling at the edges, seeing what defenses he can muster."

He stands up, then, and walks a little way from the table, pacing as he thinks. It's not graceful, what with the sand and his slouch. A half-way little smile at Sarah and Tessa's reassurances. "Well. All right. Gray Harbor is at a...thin place between what we like to think of the real and another dimension. Things leak through. Some of them, what I call dolorphages, feed on human suffering, anger, and negative emotions. That's responsible for the town's unusually high violent crime and suicide rates. People are influenced towards the darkness. Some are driven mad. Some strike out, inflicting pain on others in their own confusion and pain. The disappearances are - those that aren't organized crime - because it's possible to get abducted into that other place, where you are tortured and tested until you survive or," a shrug, "don't. It's called animal attacks, because no one wants to hear 'I was almost killed by the zombified remains of the Gilligan's Island crew throwing exploding movie stars at me'." His voice is rapid and precise, and there's no indication that he doesn't believe every single crazy thing he just said.

Tessa is all too ready to put a hand on Sarah's shoulder and pull her back when Alexander flinches, so willing to respect his wishes not to be touched. A real human being. Her eyes remain on Alexander, thinking of his answer for a moment.

"Where does the drive to skulk in the shadows and fight for strangers comes from? What sort of traumatic event led you down this autruistic road?"

It is more curiosity than a question that needs to be answered, as Tessa steels herself for the man's explanation. When Sarah asks for him to 'lay it on her' the Chinese-American just frowns and pays attention. Here comes the motherlode and one detective Chen is suspicious AF of all of this.

She is about to go on a tirade against Monaghan when Alexander starts, and oh boy, when he starts, the man doesn't stop. It starts with other dimensions, which is really a great opener, but it goes into human-feeding-things, darkness, madness and exploding movie stars. When Alexander is finally done, Tessa eyes Sarah.

And she laughs out loud. Oh fuck, she laughs and she cannot stop. All that talk about hearing Alexander out, that he might know something, and the man went straight off the reservation and off the planet with his theories. Oh, it is too good! Tessa hugs her stomach and keeps laughing.

Poor muggle doesn't even know.

But oh fuck, she can't believe a word said, and her laughter is cathartic for all the shit Sarah throws her way for being 'narrow-minded'. Tessa takes a seat besides Sarah, puts both her arms on the table, and rests her forehead on them, laughing and laughing.

"That's really weird." Sarah states bluntly as she pulls her hand back, her eyebrows tossed up somewhere near her hairline, a smirk pulling at her lips. "Guys usually like it when I touch them. Am I getting old? Do I have lines?" She looks at Tess Chen as if for confirmation on whether she has age lines on her face or not.

As Alexander brings up Monaghan, the blonde sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose with one hand, grimacing into her palm while the other rests in her lap. That's gonna be an endless stream of 'I told you so.' from Chen on the ride back. Aaaaall about the corruption she said was probably pulling the strings in this town. Eugh. Nothing worse than dirty cops. Of course there were rumors about their Chief. But she really wished she didn't have to believe them.

"Right. I've dealt with turf wars before. They find one of the lower members, get them somewhere alone... But something like this... It's no gangland killing. It doesn't make sense unless Ma and Pa Kruger were into some way more serious shit. Two scumbags show up dead? Won't even make the news. But two local business owners? That brings a spotlight. My money's still on the girl's boyfriend."

Then comes the crazy. Must to her credit, Detective Stevens manages to keep most of a straight face throughout it. "Okay, that's... new... information." With her head tilted to the side, she blinks rapidly, looking at nothing in particular as if trying to parse just what the Hell she'd heard. She closes the file in front of her with a frown on a set of lips far more accustomed to smiling.

"Okay, let's say this... is all true. We have goblins and gremlins taking people to Dimension X. Why isn't that shit investigated? This many disappearances, this many killings, we should have CASKU, fuck, the entire FBI crawling up every one of our asses and assigning a permanent branch division here. Why does it go unnoticed? Why is what was clearly not a mountain lion attack declared to be so and the case shut? Is it the... The... Dolores Phases?"

Of course, she has to say all of this over the laughing of her colleague, giving the Asian woman the stink eye as she sits down and puts her head down. Chen's lucky she's hot when smiling. Sarah just holds up a hand in between her and Tess. THE HAND. The one you talk to. The one what says 'Whatever, shut your face.'

"Just... ignore her. Tell me why no one looks into this."

Alexander says, "Stop laughing at me." Alexander was expecting it. He'd braced himself for it. He'd warned them. But the laughter, all of it, hits him like a terrible slap in the face, especially since he'd gotten used to people believing him. The open and complete mockery knocks him off the precarious balance of his stability, and he says, again, "Stop laughing at me." Power gathers around him for those who can sense it, with the sharp smell of ozone and the faintest flicker of a static electric shock jumping from his wrist to his jacket.

But he doesn't attack. At least, not in any way most can see. His eyes fix on Tessa, though, and suddenly she can feel things. Skittery things running up her legs from the sand, some sort of insectile horribleness like she's been standing in an antpile and they're just now making their way over her shoes and to skin. And climbing. If she looks down, she'll see them, too - a horde of nasty critters that aren't quite ants or centipedes with oversized jaws and oversized red eyes. They are definitely going to eat her. Just as soon as they get high enough on her body.

For Sarah, of course, she sees nothing. Except a thin thread of power tracing from Alexander's furious body to reach out to the other Detective, feeding her an illusion of worrisome strength.

Tessa, in all fairness, had been laughing at Sarah, but these things have a way of coming back to bite people in the ass anyways. So there goes the cop, first stopping her laughter as her senses warn her of something else up. She takes a while to guess, but soon enough she looks down, and there is nothing there.

But in her mind, there is. Tessa jumps up and kicks some, trying to shaking things off of her, but they are more of them, and they all manage to cling to her. She doesn't scream for help, because she can handle this, but at the same time, apparently she can't. Slapping the things only makes more of them show up, and soon enough the anger gives way to desperation.

Tessa sounds more worried, and she looks more desperate too. They are going to fucking eat her. She hisses, and fights harder, but less coordinated. She moves back, she moves away from the table, but she really can't shake them off. FUCK. She is not gonna die here! Not like this!

Sprinting, Tessa just zooms towards the dock. She runs towards the water in a respectable pace, fueled by fear, as she can feel them crawling up her neck. They are going to eat her! They are going to fucking eat her!

And SPLASH goes the cop, removing her clothes along the way, to get rid of the god damned monsters crawling all over her!

Sarah Stevens rolls her eyes at Chen, elbows her a little, trying to smile politely at Alexander, the guy they brought to consult on this case. Clearly lunacy is giggle porn for her fellow cop. "Tess, c'mon..." She tries to say, shaking the other woman's shoulder a little as the male becomes increasingly irate.

She can sense it more than see it, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. It feels like lightning is about to strike, and, in a way, it kind of does. Some intangible energy is transferred between the two, and soon Tess Chen is freaking the fuck out. At nothing. The weird line connecting them is crazy enough, that electrical surge even more so.

What is Detective Point Break to do?

The brunette is slapping at things, but not the tether that joins them. She draws her sidearm, aiming it at Alexander, but kind of down. "Stop! Stop it! Stop doing what you're doing, NOW!" The friendly, Hi, How Are Ya Cali cop bit is gone, and she uses Commanding Cop Voice now. The kind they train you at the academy to use to diffuse a dangerous situation.

"She has a FUCKING gun, she'll hurt someone, STOP IT NOW."

Detective Hollywood has no idea what's going on, what is happening to her partner, but she does know the cause of it. She tries to grab Tess as she runs past, but god damn the woman is running so fast! Sarah thinks about shooting the man. She really does. But instead she goes running after the other Detective.

The blonde is sprinting after the brunette, but she doesn't catch her before the water, but DOES get her before she can make it past knee-deep, dive-tackling Chen to the ground and wrestling with her, both of them getting wet in the process. It's like trying to wrestle a damned eel. In the end, she manages to prevent too many clothes from coming off and haul her back shorewards, even if it's not made easy on her.

"Fucking STOP, Chen! There's nothing there! There's fucking nothing!"

Alexander...stops. Pretty much as soon as Sarah yells at him, and the laughter has stopped. He flinches back from her, his hands coming up in the universal 'I'm unarmed and harmless and compliant' pose.

Even though he just proved to at least one of them that he is definitely only one of those three, and even that is doubtful. Still, he lifts the illusion in that second. But, of course, the human mind tends to run with an illusion once it's been bought into, and his quiet, "Sorry. Sorry. I didn't mean...I just wanted her to stop to laughing..." is probably lost in the need to catch the detective before she dives off into the water. He winces when she does, and sort of shuffles in place. He eyes the retreats. He could run for it. He should run for it.

Really, he should.

Instead, he sighs, and waits, all hunched over and regretful, for Sarah to manage to get Tessa out of the water. His fingers tap out rapid rhythms on his thighs and he watches with wide, dark eyes.

Tessa hits the water and she is still worried about the things crawling on her. Off goes her shirt, and in comes Sarah, to the rescue. There is a worried look on Chen, now, as the blonde approaches her: dumbass Hollywood is going to get these monsters on her too! FUCK!

"GET AWAY!"

But Sarah, of course, doesn't, and at first, Tessa gets her wrist gripped. That is quickly countered, and she forces Sarah away by gripping the woman's hand and shoving it into her own forearm in a self-defense maneuver.

Sarah, however, just wants to die and needs evil bugs all over her, so she comes back.

"STEVENS WHAT THE FUCK!" Desperate, the two tussle in the water, and Chinese-American growls, putting all her effort in trying to subdue the insane blonde without touching her too much, while fighting monsters.

She would have earned every penny of her salary, if these weren't, you know, all imagined threats.

In the end Tessa just stares at herself, realizing that no, there are no bugs on her, and that she is just some stupid semi-naked bitch on bath salts in the middle of the ocean. Which is basically her worst nightmare.

Very specific.

And that is when Sarah finally gets her tackle, sending them both into the sea. Fucking Hollywood!

The tussle goes on for seeming longer than it should as Tessa unleashes her full Bruce Lee potential on the unprepared Stevens. Yes, that might be a bit of stereotyping, but... damn, don't it fit? That lean, wiry Asian frame unhooking her hands and twisting her wrist here and there. It makes Sarah grunt and she tries to get a hold of the damned woman and continue pulling her out. She can't.

Fighting a damned eel.

It doesn't end until Tessa is looking down at the nothing that had crawled over her. "WHAT THE FUCK, CHEN!?" The blonde screams angrily at the partner that just manhandled the Hell out of her, fighting her off while screaming and swatting at imaginary things. The blonde gestures with the gun she's still holding, barrel pointed downwards, lips parted to say something. Nothing comes out. Instead, she just shakes her head, swiping wet hair away from her face, stalking back towards the picnic table.

Good, he didn't run. Not that it'd help much when the cops know your name, address, and phone number.

Sarah's lost all of her smiles now, as well as the shirt that used to be tied around her waist. She looks kind of pissed, and is still holding her pistol. She isn't pointing it at Alexander, at least, but keeping it down. Still, she doesn't put it away. At least she's wearing her bathing suit, but now her jeans feel heavy and gross. Like wet denim.

She glances at the case file still on the table, then back towards the water where Chen is still trying to compose herself. She gestures angrily at the formerly-hallucinating officer while boring holes with her blue eyes into Alexander. "What the fuck WAS that, Clayton?"

Alexander doesn't run, so maybe point in his favor? But he does pull out his phone. NOT to take pictures, so yay, but because he got a text, and he actually goddamned answers it while the detectives tussle, eyes darting from them to his phone and back again. He looks worried, not like he was enjoying this, so maybe he's arranging bail for what the likely result of THIS idiotic action is. He doesn't even seem to be enjoying the beautiful women taking off clothing and rolling around in the water.

Is he actually human?

When Sarah gestures angrily at him, he sort of cringes in place like he's trying to hide in plain sight. "I'm sorry. That was wrong. I didn't...sometimes I don't..." he grimaces. "She was laughing at me, and it hurt, and I lost my temper. I'm sorry. I've been better, but I..." he holds the phone to him and hangs his head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for her...I just thought she'd scream and stop laughing."

Sarah shakes her head, minutely, her eyes closing in that mean-girl kind of roll up into her skull that says she's losing her patience with someone who's annoying her. The blonde takes a step closer, still keeping her weapon pointed down, holding up a hand and patting the air with it. It either means 'shut up' or 'calm down'. It probably means both.

With another quick glance over her shoulder to see if Chen is puking or something, Stevens has her eyes back on the man in front of her.

He's babbling excuses or apologies. But not the actual information she wants.

"I don't care." She cuts him off abruptly, saying the words with crisp harshness. Cop Rule #1, take command of the situation and the conversation. Use authoritative tone. In freaky ass situations like this, all she can really do is fall back on the training that's been beaten into her instincts.

"I don't care what you meant, or that you're sorry. I don't care why you did it." She kind of does, but that's the less pressing issue. She leans forward a bit, purposefully punctuating every single word that comes next. "What. Was. That? That is what you are going to tell me."

"Oh." Alexander blinks at her. His hands remain up. Her gun is out, his hands are up, and he's watching her very, very carefully. "Oh. Um. It was an illusion. I just made her think that insects were crawling on her." And were going to eat her. He leaves out that part, because gun. "It's...just a thing I can do. Some people here can. You have the potential, Detective. You stand out."

"I'm sorry," he says, again, looking past her at Tessa. "I didn't mean to cause her harm."

Sarah looks over her shoulder again at Tess. Suddenly crazy ass ideas about Dobermans from Dimension X don't seem so damned crazy. But this is a lot of information for her brain to handle in the short amount of time she's been given.

Even Californians have things that will un-chill them.

Sarah grunts, and puts her weapon away, tucking it back into the holster at her belt. It's wet. Might misfire anyway. Shouldn't. But the government doesn't exactly spring for the expensive bullets. Cheap bastards.

"You and I," She gestures between the two of them as she walks towards the table, not taking her eyes off him. "We're not done about this. We're going to have a nice, long chat. One of those real, heart-to-heart, get-to-know-ya types. Understand?"

The folder is scooped up. She takes a step forward and pushes it into his chest so he'll take it, aversion to touching be damned. "Take this. It's a copy. Don't fuck me with it." Her frown lessons a bit, turning her gaze to the sea, then down, then back up to Alexander.

"You should really get the fuck out of here before she gets back."

Alexander takes a step back as she stalks towards him and the table, like he totally expects to be punched at the least. The guilt on his features suggests that he believes that he'd deserve it, too. At least it means that when she makes that demand, his chin jerks down in a hasty nod. "Yeah. Okay. I...understand."

His eyes widen with surprise when the folder is slapped into his chest. He hastily shoves away his phone to grab at it. "I won't. Um. Thank you. Detective. I'll...let you know if I find anything." Another glance towards Tessa. "I'll...find a way to make it up to her. Somehow. Just. Thank you." And then he tucks the folder against his chest and flees. There's no dignity or grace to it. Just getting the fuck out of there before he ends up in a holding cell or shot.