Moy Mell, 10: Furensics

"Moy Mell, 10: Furensics*"
*(sic; pun intended, sorry)

orig. 12/13/2017

Zoro, Elly, Sanji, Jackson Jekyll - PG-13

Original Concept, mixed fandoms

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It was a fairly warm afternoon and Elly was resting in the mansion after some morning work. She had decided to relax in the living room and Sanji had followed after he'd finished his prep work for lunch. They were lounging in the sunlight streaming in from the huge window on the far side of the room, not really talking about anything. Elly was half-dozing as cats will when she suddenly flinched. She touched her forehead briefly and growled deep in her throat, an angry sound that caused Sanji to glance down at her.

"Are you going to be mad at that big ass forever, love?" Sanji brushed her hair back from her cheek, speaking softly in a soothing voice. "I mean, I personally don't care, but..."

Elly frowned and pulled away a little. "Maybe a while longer. And he can do his job without being with me all day and night."

"Hush, angel." He hugged her lightly, urging her to come back and cuddle. Reluctantly, she let him completely wrap her in his wiry arms, enveloping her in his smoky scent. She rested her head on his chest, curling up on her side with her striped tail flicking slowly back and forth across the end of the couch. "I know that's some serious stuff he did. But he protects you, and the more people we have doing that, the better. That's why I care."

"Serious stuff," she sniffed.

"Yes."

"I couldn't move for half a day and all night! And... and it hurts." She knew she was behaving badly, but it stung deeply that the big man had used the prayer slip. She'd been bound before in her early days and it hadn't felt so terrible. She clutched at his arm and sniffled a little. "He could have just held me down. He didn't need to do that."

"Eh." Sanji squirmed a little. On one hand, he had witnessed what happened and knew Zoro had been forced to use the blessed paper. On the other, if he told her, she would know that she'd left his side for the other man as soon as she'd seen him. Not only that, but she'd attacked him fiercely, suggesting to Sanji that she had wanted Zoro more. He swallowed hard past the sudden lump in his throat. He hoped when she gave him this chance he could make her see how much he cared for her. He'd been lucky, and he was going to make her happy so they could be together. Why ruin things the second day of the relationship? As he was struggling with these thoughts she suddenly sighed, and he realized she had fallen asleep. He blew out air softly from between his teeth in a low whistle. "That's right, it's okay." He stroked her hair gently with his free arm, staring out the windows where James was trimming some of the rose bushes outside. He wondered how the investigation was going, and if they'd have news soon.

- -

Zoro had been busy assigning guards for the entire week since she didn't want him around. His team were on edge since the big man's mood was horrible, but they were happy enough to get a chance to be placed on duty more often. He'd also spent the morning coordinating events with the public relations manager, Neuro. He hated that smarmy demon sometimes, especially since the bird bastard was the only one who actually knew how he felt about Elly. He only kept silent because it meant more opportunities for chaos. Zoro's mood was even bleaker after their exchange, but he pressed on anyway and headed into a special room to check on the investigation of her stalker.

There was a building in the security offices that no one really knew about. It was deep down in the basement, built well enough so it wasn't damp or anything like basements usually were but quite dark and cool on its own, even in the summer. Zoro opened the door after knocking perfunctorily, not bothering to wait for an answer before heading inside. The faint smell of chemicals accosted him at once and he wrinkled his nose but said nothing as he approached a lean figure bending over a table filled with beakers and tubes. Something under a microscope completely held the person's attention, so much that he walked directly up and tapped him on the shoulder before he got a reaction.

"Yeek!"

"Jackson!" Zoro snapped. "It's me. Relax."

"Uh. Yeah." The young man seated in the simple desk chair gasped as he fought to regain his breath. He was wearing a button-down laboratory coat and black slacks with loafers on his feet. His hair was brown but fell across the side of his face in a shock of yellow. The dyed part was not enough to obscure his thick black glasses or the huge brown eyes behind them, however. He stared at the head of security, startled but instantly understanding why he was here. "Wait a minute, okay." He leaned forward and accidentally bumped into the lens of the microscope.

"Damn it, kid..."

"Oops." Jackson laughed sheepishly while Zoro palmed a hand over his face. "Ah... ha ha, sorry." He cleared his throat and went on, "So I've got two sets of partials from the cup Knuckles sent over and the original letter. I should be able to eventually match enough to create a print we can go on. It's delicate work, though, and will take awhile."

"Great." Zoro scratched his chest inside the big green coat he wore, one hand disappearing momentarily. "No bad news, then?"

"Nope." The thin man pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Except that my - ah, other half comes out at night and he's not adept at anything scientific. So we'll be slowed down a bit."

Zoro shrugged this off. "You need breaks."

"Technically, it's not a break..." Jackson groaned when he turned around and saw he was talking to thin air. "Darn it! He always does that." A chameleon suddenly whisked into view on his lab table, blushing a bright yellow shade when he saw his friend was alone again. "He's not that scary, Crossfade." The lizard slowly licked an eyeball, his gaze unwavering. "Okay, okay," he hedged, "You're right. He's terrifying. And I went to school with monsters, for goodness' sake."

Outside the lab door, Zoro stood very still. His gaze was far away, lost in thoughts that were making him frown deeply. The skinny kid said he was more terrifying than a monster. He winced, a hand coming up to rub at his cheek. His past rushed at him before he could suppress it like he usually did: a female voice shrilly screaming that damned word, a slap, and the feeling of being alone for the last time before coming here. The door closed behind him and he jumped, jerking his hand away as he was brought violently back to the present. He didn't have time for that now. He had to do his job, whether his boss - he deliberately did not use the word "mistress" like the other men did, even though she was a demon -- wanted him around or not. Zoro's expression firmed and he strode out of the small building, heading to the bullet car that would take him back to the mansion.

Sanji had almost fallen asleep along with Elly when he heard the front door slam shut. He nearly fell off the couch when he heard the telltale clomp of the bodyguard's boots on the marble tiles. "Oh, shit."

The door to the living room opened. "Cat?"

"Shhh!" Sanji waved frantically about, trying to keep his voice low enough so she didn't wake. "She's sleeping, you moron." Zoro surveyed the scene in front of him as he came forward. The cook's long legs were stretched the full length of the couch with his back resting on the armrest on one side. A generous amount of pillows were plumping him partially upright. On his chest and part of his lap lay the demon lady, pale and worried-looking with her hand clinging to his right arm as she slept. Sanji raised a curly eyebrow at him. "Well?"

"Ugh," Zoro grunted shortly. He went and sat in the chair on the far side, closer to Elly.

"Honestly," the bond man sighed, closing his eyes momentarily in disgust. When he opened them he was calmer and didn't taunt the big guy like usual. "Anything new?"

"The nerdy kid -"

"Jackson?" He asked sourly.

"Yeah. Nerdy kid."

"He's not a kid, you know," he pointed out shortly. "He's what, 23 or something..."

"Whatever. He's got prints. Might be able to find out who they are."

"Good," he sighed in relief, absently snuggling Elly closer to him. "They should check the restaurant first. Someone in there obviously had the access to drug her cup." His expression hardened fiercely. "I want to know who out of my own staff would do something like that. And I want them gone."

"Could have been anyone, even a customer." Zoro shrugged, trying not to look directly at the couple and wishing he hadn't decided to sit down.

"I guess."

"I better go." He stood up slowly, obviously trying not to make a lot of noise. "Gym," he announced somewhat cryptically and left for the elevator.

Sanji breathed a lot easier after their exchange. At least they were on the right track to finding the person who had started all this drama. He might even end up wanting to thank them for how it turned out.