No Shelter

[Ivan Sarkozy]

Takehiko was not oblivious to the disgust roiling for the long-haired man. Kinda sucked but went with the job. Guys like him never did understand how hard people like him worked to keep people safe. How they put their life on the line. Always quick to judge. Never understanding the sheer randomness of it all. A simple traffic stop could turn deadly in moments. You truly never knew what you were going to deal with. Or were coming from. No one suspected that you just might be coming from having to tell a parent that their child was killed, or from dealing with the aftermath of a gory accident. They weren't robots. They weren't machines. Every call, every visit was informed by the one before. And every call and visit could and would be any and everything. Things you couldn't even imagine. Especially now, with Domovoi.

Didn't really matter though. As long as he stayed out of the way. The city really was on edge. And Domovoi was at the forefront, given that this was the reason they existed.

Truthfully, he was glad he was looking for Volodin. It was personal. Ivan was a good guy, though they had only known each other briefly. While the terrorist attacks had more casualties, he had was falling victim to what his training had called the "Mass Casualty Paradox". An incident with few or even one victim, especially someone you knew, had a much more powerful impact on you. He could have been Ivan really easily. And it could have been worse.

One of the men at the table asked for credentials. Now that he attention was drawn, Takehiko could see that the man's age seemed indeterminate. He was youthful looking, but there was pain and maturity that belied that. Course he could admit that when it came to age, it was hard to tell with Caucasians. Asian age markers were what he had grown up with intimately. Unless a guy had silver or white hair and tons of wrinkles, it was really hard for him to tell.

Whatever the case, the man seemed non-plussed about what his asking about. Not anger, like pony tail. Nor the arrogance, guilt or adversarial quality of others in this club. Just curiosity and expectation.

Takehiko's eyes studied the man as he produced is CCDPD ID. His attention was drawn now. "And you are?"