Lucifendi Don't Die! SEQUEL!: I'll Protect You...

It was quite some time when Scotland Yard's break room was burnt down in winter, the little area made a little closer with a better fireplace. Although now, the refreshments were replaced with cheese sandwiches and carbonated apple juice. Yes, it was no longer winter, but spring took its place as the flowers exploded into bloom in the popular continent of Europe. Of course, crime still plagued the popular town of London and someone had to put a stop to it at every disgusting turn.

As the late morning sun beat down on the asphalt, a hurried pair of shoes padded down it and towards the Yard. "Eh, don't tell me I'm late again!" The familiar owner of the two-toned shoes leapt up the concrete stairs two at a time, her Detective Constable badge clinking against her thigh. "Three weeks off an' I wanna go back t' the Mystery Room... Fancy that..."

She speed-walked past DC Chan who was barking at Sniffer in mistranslation. Brushing a bit of the Asian's spit off one of her military jacket's many gold buttons, she cast her mind to the man she knew was eagerly waiting for her. Adjusting her orange cap slightly, the woman stepped in the door of the Mystery Room and shut it softly.

Inhaling a sharp breath of the air-conditioned room's musty smell she smiled before she decided to greet her mentor. "Dead sorry I'm late! I were–" she stopped. A familiar man dressed in his typical blue and red shirt was sleeping soundly with the day's newspaper draped over his head, his hands folded on his striped chest slowly rising and falling.

The woman clasped her own hands to her mouth to catch her escaping laugh; he fell asleep in the office again, fairly recently judging by the paper. "Damn it, Prof..." She softly giggled as she walked cautiously towards the sleeping body. Hearing the silent creaks, the man woke up, folded his paper, rolled it up, stuck it in with his small collection in his lab coat pocket and sat up on the couch.

"Well well well... Look who's back after three weeks..." The man held his slightly throbbing head, placid maroon locks of hair intertwining with his fingers. "Wonderful to see you again, Lucy." He said with a lopsided smile.

"Ee, thanks Prof. You know, you're t' only one who welcomed me back today! I were expecting someone else to be the first, but were you!" She smiled. "Fancy that..."

"I suppose everyone has been a bit... Preoccupied, shall I say?" Alfendi chuckled and slowly stood up with a groan.

"Are you feelin' top notch yourself, Prof? You don't sound too good." Lucy asked her mentor, feeling his forehead a little.

"I'm fine, Lucy..." Alfendi's voice sounded a little muffled as he buried his face in his hand. "Just feel like I won't be able to keep myself 'Placid' all day, so to speak." He dragged his hand roughly down his face then looked at the innocent woman in front of him. "Do you think you can handle 'Potty' almost all day on your first day back? It's no easy feat, I can tell you."

"No proflem... Er, problem prof!" She giggled as she realised her little slip up.

"Thank you, Lucy. For some reason I can't seem to hold him back like I used to..." Alfendi staggered sleepily to his desk and looked at the pile of papers. He felt his old self burn up inside him at the sight. "We have... Paperwork... To attend to..." The man seemed to choke out. "More... Useless... Paperwork... The damn commissioner... Can't do... Himself..." Alfendi felt his 'potty' words gag up his mouth with no way to stop them.

"Hey! There's case files at t' bottom!" Lucy pointed. As the inspector followed her gesture to a familiar goldenrod bundle of papers, his hands started to twitch eagerly. "Let's make it our goal: finish all the paperwork, then we'll do a case to debrief! How's that for an idea, prof?" She smiled as she saw her mentor react to the papers like a dog anxiously waiting for his owner to let him have a treat, red slowly seeping thickly into the strands of his hair. Knowing full well that 'Potty Prof' was slowly letting himself be known, Lucy split the pile evenly in two separate ones. "I'll leave you to it, prof." She said with a smile, taking her small pile to the comfortable couch and coffee table before he blew a fuse.

Alfendi looked up and saw that she had moved away from him, looking at his hair realising why. "Damn... It happened too fast..." He slammed his fist on the desk forcefully in frustration of himself. Worried that his small outburst might have scared Lucy, the inspector took a couple calming breaths. "Okay Alfendi... Control yourself... Paperwork, then a couple cases... It has to be done anyway..." He consoled himself through clenched teeth. The inspector took the first sheet off the top and skimmed the page. "Bah, who thought that this job would be all fun? Clearly not the author of this document..."

He clicked his pen and wrote all that was necessary on the page and signed the bottom with a flourish. "That's one..." Alfendi muttered, setting it to one side. He looked up to see his assistant flying through the pages, sometimes stopping to think with her tongue out a little in concentration as her polka-dot pen scratched across the paper. The inspector chuckled softly as her eyes lit up with sudden determination and continued writing.

His eyes glazed to scorn at his area in which he was working: it was quite lonely without her next to him. The faint smell of her perfume as she worked beside him was his secret drug; he would fake an annoyed sigh to inhale the crisp scent of her. It was childish to him, but he couldn't help but want her.

The three weeks without her was torture for the inspector: every person who walked through the door was a disappointment in his eyes and watching the break room being rebuilt was like a bullet to the heart. The smell of ash slowly disappeared as did the season. He had wanted to go to the young woman's home and warm her with his hospitality and cuddle near the fireplace but he was terrified that the break-room fire was the only time she wanted to be close to him. Distance and time nearly killed him, but he assured himself she'd return and once she had he vowed to slowly show her how he felt. Although he wasn't quite sure himself, he knew he had to follow his heart. Rushing too quickly, he decided that the 'Potty Prof' test would be his first attempt. He had his doubts, but the inspector had to tame the real him a little for her sake.

Taking his seemingly large pile of paperwork, Alfendi sighed and walked to the couch. He plunked the pile on the coffee table and sat a little distance away from oblivious Lucy, picking up his pen and started on his second paper. After finishing, he edged a tiny bit closer to his assistant, continuing his work. Paper after paper, Alfendi kept sliding a tiny bit closer with every document done. When the two were halfway done, Alfendi sat his halfway mark document down and edged closer a tiny bit more felt a bump beside him.

The inspector looked to his side and with a faint blush on his cheeks he saw that he had done it: he was literally right next to Lucy, hip to hip. Alfendi cleared his throat. "I think we deserve a break, don't you Miss Baker?" He said, his placid self cringing a little on the inside.

Realising how close they were, Lucy burnt up a little. "Uh, sure prof... Do you wanna do a case now or summat?" The Detective Constable put on a sweet smile even though she knew she wanted to squeal on the inside because her mentor was right next to her. "I've got one here if you wanna do that." She said, starting to grab the goldenrod file.

A hand smacked itself on top of it, obviously the inspector's delayed reflexes had his hand on top of hers most likely to get to the file first but failed. Lucy's pale pink blush turned a slightly darker shade as Alfendi's hand was piled on hers. "Oh right.... You usually read it out, eh prof?" She nervously laughed, feeling as though she should just disappear and not embarrass herself further.

"Sorry." The inspector's gruff apology came as a surprise to Lucy; usually she would have to apologise for herself in the odd inspector's 'potty' sight, but today was unusually different. She hadn't done anything wrong, had she? "I guess I'll read out the file..." He said, slipping out the papers. Looking at the documents, the inspector started to read to his intrigued assistant.

"The victim was a woman by the name of Yuu Chiitar, an avid gambler who had recently been given a large sum of money after a wild game of poker won in the hotel that she and her boyfriend were staying in. She was aiming to divide the winnings evenly with her fellow players so she received the money and split it in her hotel room with her boyfriend. All of the players arrived at the same time and knocked on the door to which the boyfriend opened the door and allowed them in. When they entered the living room they were shocked with their discovery: Yuu was dead near the glass table with the money sprawled on the top."

"Ee, that sounds terrible..." Lucy shook her head sadly.

"The witnesses are as follows:

- Cad-An Adastard was the victim's boyfriend, he has a history of being a playboy before meeting Yuu and has claimed he has changed his ways. Was in the same room as her when she was counting the money and claims to be the last one to see her alive.

- Bigg Munny was the leader of the gamer's club that all except the victim's boyfriend attended. Believes in playing fair and had always liked that the victim shared her money with the group.

- Quuba Leebray, the second-hand-man to Bigg, had enough money left over to buy the victim her last drink of Rum and Coke before her unexpected death.

- Shay Dee was one of the two girl members of the gambling group. Coming with her own boyfriend, Bing Iiton, she had always flirted with the male members of the group to get an advantage in her game. It worked with other groups in tournaments, but not with her team's members.

- Bing Iiton was a new member of the group and hadn't said much to any of the members except literally barking at Shay Dee. According to her, he wants the money to satisfy his obsession in becoming a dog in real life, explaining his canine appearance and behaviour.

That seems to sum up the case..." Alfendi slid the documents back in the file. "So, who do you think it was on instinct?" He turned to face Lucy, who was fascinated with a distracting lock of hair on her head, blowing so it shifted in a less annoying spot. Although it was cute, Alfendi wanted to work beside her without any distractions. "Baker. Are you listening?"

"Eh?" Lucy stopped fidgeting with her hair. "Ohh, right. T' murderer..." She looked over the profiles and hummed in thought. Alfendi couldn't help but smile as she puzzled over the case; she was undoubtedly adorable as her deep crimson eyes looked up to the ceiling, crossing her slender arms across her lower chest. Her eyes glanced to the inspector, to the ceiling, to finally look back at Alfendi.

Was he... Smiling?

"Pot- I mean Prof, are you okay?"

The inspector simply nodded and pretended to be interested in his shoes.

"Hmm... I think it were... T' boyfriend who did it!" She said triumphantly.

"I see. And what's your reasoning?" Alfendi kept his routine up nicely without any bite or sting to his voice, which surprised himself as well as Lucy.

"Er, well he were the last one to see her alive and his motive seems pretty clear so... It were him: Cad-An Adasterd!" Lucy pointed outward like a famous defence attorney but with her own twist that Alfendi had to resist his urges to scoop her up and kiss her.

"It's quite logical, isn't it?" The potty inspector was staying placid as he gave a smirk. "It's a 86.5% chance he's the culprit. But those two mysterious members make up the 13.5% of suspicion." He chuckled. "I assume you know who I'm talking about, don't you Lucy?"

"Do you mean Bing Iiton and Shay Dee?" The detective constable asked. "Aye, now that you mention it, they are more than a bit sus... Like we've seen 'm before now..."

"Glad we agree. Because I have a feeling they want us to let them in." He said before a light rap on the door signalled he was right. The detective constable walked to the door to the office.

"I'll g-" Lucy winced loudly as she was flattened by the door swinging open on her as the witnesses walked into the room. The Detective Constable held her body in pain as she shut the door.

"HEY!!" Lucy was about to start apologising, but realised that the inspector was angry at the people who literally slammed the door in her face. "HAVE YOU GOT ANY RESPECT FOR ANYONE ELSE BUT YOURSELF, YOU HEARTLESS DASTARDS?!?!"

"Mah, I do declare! You should treat a lady with more respect, inspector! Mah, mah, mah... There was no one there to open the door so I let mahself in! And you're ranting about manners yourself!"

Lucy instantly recognised the woman's voice, but didn't make an immediate connection. The man, who had two furry dog ears on top of his head, started growling at the inspector.

Alfendi, however, growled darker as his yellow eyes narrowed. "You two are excruciatingly bad at disguising yourselves." His growl slunk up to a sinister smirk. "You are obviously..." He pointed accusingly at the two before yelling. "Goldie Potsby-Mahn and Bingo Potsby!"

"Ehh?!" Lucy jumped a little back in surprise, eyes as round as saucers. She couldn't believe she didn't see it before, yet all the clues fit. "How did you get outta prison?!" She asked in disbelief.

"Mah, I do declare!" The pompous woman turned around to sneer at the detective constable. "Even if you locked lil' innocent ol' me in a cell, I'd be released one day, Miss Spring-chicken. Or did you forget? Mah, mah, mah...."

"SHUT UP!!" Alfendi stepped protectively in front of his assistant, teeth bared. "REMOVE YOUR RIDICULOUS DISGUISE AND REVEAL YOUR MOTIVE FOR HAVING SUCH A CRAPPY ONE IN THE FIRST PLACE!!"

Lucy stared up at the inspector curiously; he was being so protective of her but his hair was still the 'Potty' red. He had been acting differently since she returned from her three week rest, or was it simply that she had forgotten what he was like?

"Maybe Placid Prof dyed his hair or summat..." Lucy murmured to herself.

Lucy was reevaluating the situation as the other woman removed her and Bing's disguise. "Show's over, boy." She whispered as he took off the dog-man's overcoat and sunglasses. When the two witnesses removed their disguises, Goldie crossed her arms with a scowl. "Well ah suppose you heard about the murder then. We already gave our statements and although mah history is a dark one, ah didn't do it."

"Although it's a hard to believe statement, I think you might be right." Alfendi admitted. "But you have to assist us in our investigation."

"As long as this ain't a trick like last time, inspector." Goldie chided him. "Otherwise, I'll set Bing on you." She said with a smirk.

"Heh, your little poodle is scared of me, Miss Potsby-Mahn, and I can prove it." Alfendi returned with a challenging smirk himself. He turned to the man who was baring his teeth at him. With an evil glint in his eye, the inspector barked loudly and angrily at the pooch-man. Bingo's eyes widened and ran behind Goldie whimpering like a puppy. Alfendi chuckled evilly, his whole body shaking, especially his arms. "Run you fool!! RUN IN FEAR FROM ALFENDI LAYTON!!"

"P-Prof! C-Control yourself!" Lucy put a gentle hand on her mentor's shoulder. She felt his muscles slowly relax as soon as she had made contact; usually it would have taken her longer to calm him down, him threatening he was going to slice out her tongue. But he took no time at all to return to a placid-but-not-quite state, his raspy breathing slowly calming to gentle rises and falls. "A-A-Are you okay now, prof?" Lucy asked.

"Fine... Just fine..." Alfendi's gaze softened. "Thank you, Lucy..." He smiled softly at the wonderful woman who just calmed him down. He turned to the other irritating woman. "Why did you need to hide your identities?"

"Why, if I let the casinos where we play know that I'm a killer for money, they'd kick me out of their cheesy little poker places... I don't expect you to understand, inspector." Goldie said with a matter-of-fact smile.

"You little..." Alfendi started but stopped when he saw his assistant's face preparing for the worst. "We should continue the investigation." Lucy unclenched her eyes and smiled in relief, glad the inspector was at least calm now. "We'll start with the cause of death: According to the autopsy report, it was a poison that can only be transferred through food or beverages. We'll investigate with the Crime Scene Reconstruction Machine for more clues." Alfendi turned on the machine. The crime scene was displayed in the next room. "Shall we?" He opened the door for Lucy as she entered.

"T-Ta very much, Prof." Lucy was sure something was up with the inspector; he was acting very chivalrous to her, even in his Placid form he wasn't this kind to her. "Let's have a look..." She muttered to herself as she walked into the room.

It was a typical hotel room: the kitchen was there as soon as she walked in with nothing out of place, a door leading into a bedroom shut, what stood out was the body next to the glass coffee table with money sprawled out and a Rum and Cola on it in the living room; upon closer inspection, the body's only sign of injury was bleeding from the mouth, a small but sure sign she had been poisoned. Checking the glass of alcohol and the body, Lucy and Alfendi came to the same conclusion.

"She had definitely been poisoned by the drink." Lucy spoke her correct deduction. "But the drug has been removed from the room." Alfendi was going to add something but Lucy beat him to it. "The fingerprints on the glass are only Yuu's and Quuba's... And the poison is the only thing that killed her."

"Am I not needed here any more? Ah do declare, if you make us stay here longer than necessary ah'll have to inform my lawyer, inspector." Goldie said coolly.

"Keep your yap shut until necessary, Miss Potsby-Mahn; we don't want any unfortunate accidents, now do we?" The inspector gave a devilish smile. "I have questions for you Madam and Sir. Slobber: Did you see Miss Chiitar drink from the glass before heading into the room? And also: Did anyone go near the body the instant before she died?"

Goldie stayed quiet, her arms crossed over her chest. "You want the truth, inspector?"

"If you told anything else we have the right to put you in stricter questioning, Miss Potsby-Mahn and you know it." Alfendi challenged.

After a long uncomfortable silence, Goldie sighed. "Fine. Question me if you will."

"I'll repeat myself, since you have the memory of a goldfish." The inspector smirked. "Did you see the victim, Miss Yuu Chiitar, drink from her glass of Rum and Coke?"

"Why I'll gladly tell you all about that." Goldie uncrossed her arms. "Quuba, the Vice President of the Gamble Group, always had a crush on Yuu. He always bought drinks for us, but Yuu's were always exotic; a different coloured cocktail each night. That fateful night, he decided to give her one of his personal preferences. I saw him make it mahself and didn't see him slip any pills or powder in the drink. She took a sip as she walked to her hotel room and was fine afterwards. I met up with everyone else when they told me to and we all walked into the room together."

"Who let you in?" Lucy asked.

"Why her boyfriend, of course! We were let in to see poor Yuu dead with a pill bottle clenched in her hand and pills scattered everywhere. I'm surprised you inspectors didn't see it when you were investigating." Goldie continued.

"Firstly, it's common decency to stay out of another person's room. Secondly, he told us his room is messy ergo meaning any evidence would be buried in clothes and toiletries." Alfendi informed Goldie bluntly.

"Hold on a tick, prof! A pill bottle? Did she say she had an illness?" Lucy asked eagerly, thinking she had a lead.

"Probably headache medicine, she did say she wasn't feeling well after the game." Goldie crossed her arms. "I don't see how it's relevant..."

"Shut up and answer the next question." Alfendi shot. "Did anyone go near the body before her death?"

"Mah, mah, mah; I do declare! The only one with her was Cad-An, but said he was tidying up his bedroom at the time and was the last one to find her dead. He did go near the body to take the pill bottle out of her hand before the police came and put it in that room there." She said, pointing to the bedroom.

"Aha! So it must be in there!" Lucy said triumphantly.

"Hmph. Seems like you two have got this under control. May I go back to mah own home now, inspector? I am clearly innocent and I haven't lied to you one itty bit." Goldie asked.

"We are expecting another guest. I was actually going to toss you out like the trash you are if you were going to not come quietly." Alfendi smirked. "Hurry before I change my mind."

"Hmph. With pleasure! Come here Bingo, mommy's getting out of here before the awful inspector throws her." Goldie grabbed the chain that was attached to her boyfriend's collar and walked towards the door with the dog-man trailing behind. She stopped at Lucy and scorned. "Don't think I have changed mah mind about you, Miss Spring-chicken..." She sneered and unexpectedly struck Lucy's face with the back of her hand making the orange cap fall to the ground. The young woman yelped in pain and held her red cheek, nearly in tears as she collapsed under the strength of Goldie's strike. With a huff, the posh woman walked out the door dragging her boyfriend behind her.

As the pair of misfits left the building, Alfendi's gaze softened and walked towards his assistant, gently helping her up. "Lucy..." He breathed as she straightened herself. The inspector's hand gently brushed her cheek, cupping it lightly. Eyes full of tears, Lucy choked out a sob and launched herself into a hug with the unsuspecting inspector, who took a little step back to steady himself. It was going to be a short hug because he hesitated for a little while but as he felt the young woman pull away slightly he slunk one of his arms underneath hers and to her back and the other held her head close to his body.

"Go ahead..." He murmured softly in her ear. "Let it all out on me..."

Taking the invitation, Lucy turned her head and cried into his shoulder, body shuddering violently as she sobbed and held him tighter. She felt a soft buzz as he pressed her closer to his body, stroking her auburn hair at the back of her head. Glancing at his hair colour, she was surprised to see it was still blood red. She blushed a little: out of all the things she thought she'd be doing today she didn't think she'd be hugging, out of all the people in the world, POTTY PROF!!

But he had a familiar scent, it was like an antique store with the definite sweet smell of musk that reminded her of all the times that her mentor shared with her. She didn't want to admit it to his face, because she might give him a reason to kill her, but Potty Prof had one of the most amazing hugs and smells ever. In his embrace, she could vaguely remember the break-room fire: her memory was hazy since she was knocked out for most of it but she remembered coming to when she felt someone lift her up and a pair of warm soft lips capture her own, his yellow eyes being the first thing she was welcomed back to.

Lucy sighed wistfully: it might have just been that one time that Alfendi wanted to be close, they both inhaled a lot of gas fumes and weren't thinking straight. The inspector gently broke the embrace, emotionally feeling similar to a bandaid being taken off slowly. "Are you feeling a little better now, Miss Baker?" He smiled softly, holding onto Lucy's upper arms gently and looking into her beautiful crimson eyes. She was in a small trance but broke a little to nod a couple times. "Good.... Good to hear, I mean..."

Alfendi let go of her arms and quickly grabbed her cap and held it a little while in his hands, reminiscing about the fire. He chuckled a little: what will the girl think of next to put them in a situation like that? Maybe in summer this year, she'll turn the air conditioning up so high that it would break the machine and start to snow? Alfendi smiled to himself: if she did, she'd want him to keep him warm. Many visions came to mind for the inspector as he held her cap, some to even make other men blush a ridiculous deep red upon even just thinking it.

He broke out of his thoughts and put the hat back on Lucy's head; it was a little lopsided that made Lucy giggle. To his surprise, she got out a camera and took a quick picture of herself showing the lopsided hat. On accident, she had taken a couple pictures of the Prof as well: they were good ones, but if he found out it would be the end for her. Lucy quickly put her camera away and straightened her cap: although she would have kept it like that, she'd prefer the next guest to not get the wrong idea.

A knock at the door interrupted the two. "Are you sure you're alright?" Alfendi asked as he walked to get the door. Lucy nodded and smiled, a faint pink dusted on her cheeks. The inspector smiled back and opened the door.

At the door was a man that looked like a man who played poker for a living, but he had the energy of a game-show host. "This is the Mystery Room, right?" He said in an excited tone, looking around the little nook. "Name's Cad-An Adastard, don't forget it, buddy!" He smiled as he shook Alfendi's hand if he won a million dollars. "Can I come in now, sir? I've been waiting aaaaages!!" He asked like a little kid begging his mother for a new toy.

"How long did you say you were out there for?" Alfendi asked. Already this man was getting on his nerves.

"Two, maybe five seconds..." Cad-An admitted. "But c'mon! If you had coffee like I did this morning, you'd be hyped and ready to go too!"

"That must be some coffee to last this long. Tell me, did you also remember your crazy pills this morning?" Alfendi smirked at his joke.

"C'mon prof! That's nowt how you treat a witness!" Lucy scolded the inspector and smiled at Cad-An. "Right this way, sir!" She said, gesturing into the room.

The man gave a smitten grin and ploughed past the inspector. "What an interesting little office you have here, miss! Are you the inspector here?" He asked excitedly.

Alfendi groaned at the man's cheesiness while Lucy giggled modestly. "Oh, I'm nowt the inspector! I'm nowt that good yet!" She blushed a tiny bit. "I'm Detective Constable Lucy Baker! Call me Lucy!" She smiled and held a hand out for the man to shake to which he took the offer that swung into a seductive dance pose.

"My name, among lovers of mine, is Chad Dastardly, because I am known as a dangerous lover." He said, pulling her into a passionate kiss only he could break away from.

Alfendi felt his hands twitch and his face become twisted. "Let. Go. Of my. Assistant." He said through clenched teeth, resisting the urge to say 'girlfriend'.

"Hmm?" Cad-An looked up to see the inspector's murderous glare. He smirked and looked down at Lucy who was in a daze from the recent events. "I'm sorry babe, but you need me for a duty of a different kind." He spun her out of the pose back to her mentor. "Now, what do you need me for?"

"We are investigating your girlfriend's death." Alfendi said bluntly, catching his assistant before she spiralled away from him.

"Oh, Yuu's death?" Can-An's energetic smile saddened. "Poor soul... I loved her, you know..."

"Yeah, as much as you love my assistant, Adastard..." Alfendi muttered under his breath.

"May we continue t' investigation in your hotel room, sir?" Lucy asked.

"Please darling girl," Cad-An smiled seductively, "call me Cad-An."

"Oh, sure!" Lucy smiled as she entered the Reconstruction Room. Seeing that smile was like a bullet to Alfendi's heart: why was this dastard manipulating her? Following close by, the inspector made sure to be right by his assistant to protect her from the cad. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to search your bedroom for a certain piece of evidence." Lucy asked Cad-An.

"Of course, love." Adastard gave a manipulative smile. "Search all you like! Mind you, it's a little messy." He looked down in embarrassment.

"He was cleaning it when the other witnesses arrived... Why would it still be messy?" Alfendi wondered as he quickly pressed the buttons on the machine so Lucy could search the room.

"Ta very much, prof!" Lucy smiled and entered the room.

She reeled in shock. It was a pigsty: clothes were strewn everywhere, the bed sheets were in knots and toiletries were piled on the clothes.

"Eh! What a mess! What did he clean when he knew t' other guests were coming?" Lucy wondered aloud. She noticed a pill bottle with the label peeled off slightly and picked it up. "Huh? What's this?" She read the label on the outside first. "Head-Soother's Dissolving Headache Medicine: One Small Pill When Pain Strikes: Prescribed Use Only. Chad Dastardly..."

She peeled off the external layer and read the internal one. "Devolving Soporific: WARNING POISON: One Large Pill In Drink Equals Death Almost Instantaneously. Cad-An Adastard..."

Placing the label as it was before, Lucy then opened the bottle and put a couple pills in her hand: they were quite large and could be mistaken for Mentos if it was just the pill sitting on the counter. Putting the pill back and closing the lid, she walked out of the room. "Gonna have to remember those..." She murmured before coming out to meet the two boys. "I'm done!" She said with a smile.

"How interesting that you found what you were looking for... I thought I might have lost it myself..." Cad-An said, raising the inspector's suspicions. "May I see my poor Yuu again? I never got a proper look at her when the police were investigating..."

"Why would you? You seemed to have had a perfect opportunity before they did." Alfendi shot.

A brainwave streaked in Lucy's mind: Goldie mentioned a pill bottle originally being in the victim's hand, even when it was removed her other hand was shut.

"Prof! I'll be back in a tick!" The young woman raced towards the body and checked the clenched hand. She opened the hand and inside her fist was a large pill, similar to the pills she found in the bottle in the bedroom. "I knew it..." She murmured. A little '100%' flashed in her mind: it was clear as day, and now to prove it.

She ran at top speed back to the two. "Are you alright, Lucy?" Alfendi asked. "You look out of breath."

"I... >huff< Know... >huff huff< Who the... >huff< Killer is... >huff huff<" Lucy replied, catching her breath.

"Well, kitten." Cad-An smiled, a twinkle back in his eye. "Enlighten us! Is it perhaps that awful man Quuba Leebray? I knew his drinks were bad for her!"

"As some evidence may say yes, my evidence says no: It was you, Cad-An Adastard!" Lucy pointed at the guilty man.

".... Oh, baby-doll. Talking like that won't get you a boyfriend... But you're lucky I like feisty girls." Cad-An toyed.

"I can prove it!" Lucy smiled. "True only Quuba and Yuu's fingerprints were found on t' glass, but what about on the pill bottle?"

"What pill bottle?" Cad-An asked. "Do you see a pill bottle near my sweet Yuu?"

"No." Lucy said with a crafty smile. "Because you were the one to take it from the crime scene!!"

Cad-An stepped back in shock. "I-I-I admit she had a pill bottle, even had the label peeling off it, but it has no relevance to her death. I was just making the officer's lives easier! You should thank me!"

"Aye, but finding it in your room was lots of fun." Lucy smirked.

"Guh?!" Cad-An muttered unintelligently.

"It said it was headache medicine on the front, but behind t' peel it said soporific; both were very similar but one was swapped for another. And it was quite easy to tell which one was in t' bottle because of the one detail on t' labels t' tell them apart. True, if you were in pain you'd never know t' difference and when you put in the drink, it'd already dissolve. But t' size tells all!" Lucy smiled, enjoying ratting this creep out. "Putting a pill int' drink, Miss Chiitar was aiming to get rid of a headache she had been having recently. It was when she read t' other side of t' bottle she started to panic. T' pill bottle was her dying message!"

"How is a pill bottle a dying message?" Cad-An asked crossly, he was getting pissed off at this girl.

"It's t' names on them: Chad Dastardly and Cad-An Adastard." Lucy said with a smirk. "You probably purchased t' headache pills for your girlfriend before t' game, switching the two contents and making sure t' name was your persona, sticking t' label on t' soporific.

“Unsuspecting Miss Yuu took one of t' soporific and saw t' label you put on lopsidedly. With t' last ounce of strength, she messed up her counting, clutched the pill bottle in one hand and one of t' pills she took in t' other.

“You were about to clean up t' mess when an expected knock on t' door came. Holding ont' t' label-less bottle, you answered t' door as if you were just cleaning your room, not mentioning and blocking the view of the dead body.

“What you were doin' were t' complete opposite: you were messing it up, so whoever rooted through your stuff, it'd be close to impossible t' find any of the evidence t' prove you guilty, explaining why you were late in discovering t' very noticeable body."

"B-But I was in my room when Yuu was counting the money!! How could I have known she was dead?" Cad-An's face became crazed.

"You knew because you gave her t' pills." Lucy said matter-of-factly. "Your room clean was cover for her to never find out and to hide your guilty face from her. When everyone discovered the body, you took t' pill bottle out of her hand claiming to not inconvenience the authorities.

“What you were really doing were not letting t' authorities know about t' bottle at all and make t' other witnesses look like they were hallucinating; hiding the bottle in your room amongst t' mess, you told the police so yourself! They gave up, ensuring that t' bottle was still hidden. Today, you were trying t' get the pill out of her hand."

"Why would I want to do that?!" Cad-An thundered.

"Because it says clearly ont' labels that there is a size difference. T' headache ones are small compared to t' breath mint-sized soporific, as per usual shown on t' bottle. She was holding tightly ont' a larger one and you knew it.

“You only had time for t' very noticeable bottle t' be disposed in your room but t' pill remained, if t' police saw t' bottle and t' pill, it'd be like adding two plus two. She must have also known you would have taken t' bottle first, that's why she hid t' pill carefully..."

"Yes... I believe I'll take it from here, Miss Baker..." Potty Prof's sneaky smile slunk up his lips as if he was a thief stealing the most expensive treasure to exist. "I bet Miss Chiitar had this headache for a while, didn't she? You must have been a lovely boyfriend to get her dissolvable medication for her to enjoy her drinks without worrying about a big pill. She also had her money sprawled out on the table: who sprawls out money when they are counting it?"

"Grrrr..." Cad-An growled darkly, taking out what looked like a mint from his pocket and shoved it in his mouth angrily.

"You put down the name Chad Dastardly while you and your girlfriend went shopping. In fact, she knew you only as Chad Dastardly, did she not? You said it yourself: 'My name, among lovers of mine, is Chad Dastardly, because I am known as a dangerous lover'. And you are indeed dangerous."

"Uuuugh..." Cad-An's eyes narrowed. "Why you..."

"In fact, your full name, Cad-An Adastard, is quite a fitting name for yourself... Isn't it, Mr Playboy?" Alfendi smirked. "But the obvious motive for this whole charade was the money, wasn't it?"

Cad-An was silent for a while. He looked down to the floor for a while, his body shaking. Lucy walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, thinking he was crying.

Wrong.

He grasped onto the hand with his own, pulled her onto his side and revealed he was laughing evilly.

"She was a fool for trusting me: all women who have loved me were and will be!" Cad-An chuckled darkly as his lilac eyes put Lucy's crimson ones under his spell. "But I have fallen in love with one now... She will never leave me... And this shall prove it!!" He yelled before forcing Lucy into a passionate kiss, a bottle falling from a hole in his pants pocket.

Quickly picking the bottle up, the inspector read the label: ‘Soporific: WARNING POISON: Instant Death Once Swallowed’.

Alfendi's eyes widened. He knew what this man was doing: the mint was really a soporific from the bottle, and the passionate kiss was the soporific being exchanged from his mouth into hers. Not only that, but infuriating the inspector by kissing the one he loves most. Cad-An obviously did not know what would happen if he got Alfendi cranky: Potty Prof took full control.

He. Was. Pissed.

“GET AWAY FROM HER YOU DASTARD!!!" He growled and pounced roughly onto the other man, knocking him to the ground. Turning to Lucy, the inspector yelled. "SPIT THAT OUT RIGHT NOW!!"

Out of fright, Lucy did what she was told, the white pill coated with her saliva clattered almost soundlessly to the ground.

"NOW AS FOR YOU: YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!! EVERYTHING YOU SAY WILL UNDOUBTEDLY BE USED AGAINST YOU!! DON'T TRY ANYTHING FU-" Alfendi was interrupted by Cad-An sharply kicking him off.

When he was out of the inspector's lock-hold, Cad-An lifted him up by the holds of his white coat and slammed him into the wall. Groaning in pain, Alfendi pushed himself off the wall and flew at the other man sideways, his elbow delving hard into the man's chest.

"That was a cheap move and you know it, Adastard." A sinister smile crept up his lips as the scenery changed to the blank room it was before: Lucy must have shut off the machine so the crime scene wasn't going to be used against him. "Good girl, Lucy... Now I have to make sure he doesn't think about kissing you again..."

Alfendi's irritated look changed to a twisted-determined one. "FOR THE YARD!!!" He yelled like a war cry. Whatever fighting moves Cad-An tried, Alfendi dodged effortlessly: a punch was simply caught and twisted into a wicked Chinese-burn that he learnt from DC Chan, a kick was caught and pulled upwards until the other man fell. Getting back up again, he didn't expect Alfendi's final blow the other members of the Yard called the Altava Aerial Attack: a powerful kick that attacked the victim's head with the physical kick in a perfect circular motion.

It was executed so well that Cad-An was knocked out cold, seemingly lifeless on the floor. "And don't try to do that again." Alfendi smirked as he handcuffed him, put him in the next room and locked the door. He looked back to Lucy who was standing at the door speechless and motionless, looking as though she was about to say something but was frozen. Alfendi smiled and exited with her, shutting the door behind them.

"P-P-Prof..." Lucy stuttered. "I-I-I..."

"Sh, you don't have to say anything Lucy, I think I know what you want to say." Alfendi smiled softly. "I am very proud of you, Lucy: you solved the case with barely any help from me. You might even be promoted for your valiant efforts. And I understand that Cad-An may have scared you with his methods and you might have changed your mind about having a relationship with a man that crazy..." Lucy looked up to see Potty Prof right in front of her. "But I have a confession..." He gave a sly lusty smile, leaned into Lucy's ear and whispered.

"... I'm crazier..."

With that, Alfendi slid quickly into a passionate kiss with Lucy, pressing her to his body. Her eyes widened in surprise as the inspector dug his tongue into her mouth and started exploring it instantly after he kissed her, a helpless moan escaping her lips. One of his hands was grabbing and lightly tugging at her hair at the back of her head, the other pressing her against him at the small of her back. Lucy's hands were loosely on his back, her crimson eyes drooping shut as she openly accepted his kisses.

With a devilish look in his eyes, Alfendi's left hand trailed from her back to the inside of her hip, unclipped the bulky Detective Constable badge and tossed it on the timber coffee table. His other hand then grabbed onto her orange cap by the brim and flung it onto the table alongside the badge. The potty inspector then slid both hands to the belt attached to her jacket, he nimbly undid the buckle.

Before Lucy could register what was going on, her dainty white camisole was being revealed as Alfendi undid the gold buttons from the bottom: button number one was undone, button number two exposed more, button number three and he achieved his goal. Lucy's cheeks turned a deep red as Alfendi slid the jacket off her arms and onto the floor, the gold buttons and buckles clattering against the floorboards.

He chuckled as he saw her red face. Throwing her fear out of her mind, Lucy slid the inspector's lab coat off his body by the holds of the outer. He hummed in interest as he felt her slender hands against his thin sweater. Lust blinded him as delve and kissed her deeply along the base of her neck, nipping at it then soothing the ache with his tongue; Lucy's moans of pleasure hummed through him, making her feel as if he was being encouraged to do more than what he was doing now.

His lips trailed kisses upwards to her jaw and then captured her lips with his own once more, pressing her delicate body against his, feeling almost skin-to-skin. Peaking one yellow eye open, Alfendi wondered if it was just him who felt this way, and she was simply helpless; he was proven wrong when he saw his beautiful assistant melting into every movement he made.

Smiling slightly, Alfendi gave her one last passionate kiss and gently pulled away. With a small chuckle, Alfendi breathed, "... You have no idea how long I wanted to do something like that to you, Lucy..." He smiled. Exhaustion overwhelmed Lucy, and before she knew it, she laid her head onto her mentor's chest with a sleepy smile; his heart raced deeply compared to her heart racing softly and hearing it was like a soothing lullaby.

Alfendi saw Lucy's drooping crimson eyes and carried her over to one of his lounge chairs, setting her gently in it, wrapping her up in his lab coat. To his surprise, he yawned and felt sleepy too; being Potty Prof almost all day and boosting his courage for Lucy had made him quite exhausted. He lied down on the couch he had slept on that morning and smiled to himself. "Well isn't this ironic?" He chuckled to himself. "Even with the girl I love is in the same room as me, I feel alone in the same spot."

As if she had heard him, Lucy walked over to the large couch Alfendi was laying on and lied beside him, snuggling back into his warm body. Alfendi rolled over and noticed she was there, a faint smile on both of their lips. He pulled her body closer to his, snaking an arm around her waist and chest. Her little hum of happiness as she nuzzled closer made Alfendi melt inside.

Everything he thought was important completely left his mind; paperwork, cases, autopsy reports, staff meetings were nothing on what this young woman was doing to his brain. In that split moment, he realised she probably would want to go home. Overhearing a conversation Lucy and Florence had, the Yorkshire lass had a long way to go to get to her apartment.

Conveniently, Alfendi's apartment was closer and waiting for him. With a sigh he stood up, not to disturb the sleeping beauty and looked out at the sky: it was nearing late afternoon and the sun had already begun to set. "Hm? Are you okay, prof?" He flinched at the soft voice that interrupted his thoughts, thinking that he woke her. Lucy jumped up and ran to the window. "Oh! Woooow!" She marvelled at the view. "It's nearly sunset!"  She sighed, her head and arms leaning on the ledge of the window in child-like wonder.

Alfendi smiled at her childish nature, oh how he wanted to be her boyfriend; he would treat her better than anyone ever was to her. Throwing caution out of the window, he cleared his throat and put his hands gently on her shoulders.

"How about you stay over at my place since it's so late. It may be spring, but the nights are still cold." She turned around to look into his eyes. "I-I'm heading that way too and it would be ungentlemanly if I let you freeze alone as you go back home on that bus you take in the afternoons." Alfendi gulped; did he just stutter and use the word 'ungentlemanly' in the same sentence? But he loosened when he realised his detective reasoning on Lucy's afternoon was spot-on, her eyes growing wide with surprise he knew so much about her.

"B-B-But Prof! I-I don't wanna inconvenience you! And how did you know that I take t' bus home?" Lucy stuttered out. She looked at him curiously. "What other things do you know about me?"

"W-Well..." He started, damning the girl under his breath for putting him on the spot as he picked up his lab coat and slid it back on. "Y-You have to go first, since you started the conversation!" Alfendi pointed at her like an attorney.

"What?! That's not fai--" Lucy began to say before realising what she was going to do to the potty inspector. "... Well I suppose it is a bit fair..." She sighed audibly. "Fine, but don't go tellin' anyone!" She pointed an accusing finger at him.

"I promise as long as you do the same." Alfendi pledged, helping her into her jacket and pinning her badge back on her thigh.

Lucy nodded slowly. "I-I..." She stammered. "I know you're picky when it comes to sweets, but all t' ones you hate, I love. Well, I like all t' lollies to be honest..." She smiled. "Lemmie see, what else... You like all kinds of weather, but complain when it interferes with your work... But you like winter best of all."

Lucy smiled. "You complain about paperwork, but only get any done if I'm sitting next t' you... Every year on Hallowe'en you wanna dress up but you don't want your ego bruised... You like cartoons an' anime but you pretend you don't 'cause you think people wouldn't take you seriously if you do… You have a habit of readin' over my shoulder when I bring a book in an' I can tell you want me t' read it out loud... You like it when I sing, especially 'Macho Man (In A White Gown)'... You hate your 'Placid' side but you feel like everyone's safer if it's him, especially me... You--"

"STOP!!" Out of fright, Lucy obeyed. Alfendi was covering his face with his hands and looked like his biggest secrets revealed out of him. Feeling horrible, Lucy put a gentle hand on his shoulder, similar to how she did earlier in the day.

Ripping his hand from his face, Alfendi gave his assistant a smirk similar to one he would give a criminal. "You know too much for a small-town Yorkie terrier. If you have finished yapping, let this wolf show how much he knows." He grinned darkly, faint scratches on his face where his nails scratched in.

"You live so far out of town that you regret moving there! You rip unimportant pages out of my notebook and take them home with you to do God knows what with them! Don't think I don't notice you! When a Scotland Yard Improvement Poll annually comes, you always suggest an ice-cream dispenser for the break room! You are the only one who properly pays attention to the commissioner's meetings! When you are scared or worried things won't turn out right you hold your clenched fists loosely underneath your chin, buckle your knees together and, along with your innocent wide-eyed stare, you stick your butt out!" Alfendi smirked as he saw Lucy's red faced reaction.

"Do you wish for me to continue, dear Lucy?" He asked as his assistant dug her head in her palms, quite embarrassed.

"No Prof, I would nowt..." She said, muffled by her hands over her mouth. "You're just gonna embarrass me further..."

"Too bad, I was looking forward to revealing your cup size..." Alfendi smirked.

Lucy's face blushed beetroot red. "Wh-Wh-What?! B-B-But how would you...?"

"Ah ah ah!" Alfendi chided. "I'm not going to until my suspicions are confirmed. Maybe with a little... Investigation of sorts." He smirked as his assistant pressed her arms against her chest.

"Nowt now, Prof!! We could get fired!!" Lucy backed away quickly.

Alfendi shook his head in agreement. "No, of course not now. It is going to be a long weekend at my place: maybe we can discuss the details of the investigation as we walk to our destination?" Alfendi gave a lusty wink. Lucy was speechless at the inspector's coyness; it was as if he had liked her from the moment she had walked through the office doors on her first day.

Mingling his fingers with hers, Alfendi slipped her into a firm grip. "Let's get out of this blasted office." He smirked and before she could register what the inspector said, Lucy was whisked away; down the halls and into the late afternoon sun. As he burst out of the office, he realised his mistake. But he smiled when he saw his assistant's childlike awe of the romantic afternoon. The inspector then remembered, there was an ice-cream stall at the park where he lived near. The inspector held out his hand for her to take.

"Madame?" He smiled, as if his earlier actions did not exist. Lucy looked at him with wide curious eyes at his sudden mood change, but slid her slender hand in his. "Do you feel like getting some ice-cream, Lucy?" Alfendi asked. His assistant hummed and nodded. He smiled and walked with her to the little kiosk, laughing and talking to her all the way. As they stopped at the stand, Alfendi smiled at Lucy pondering on which ice cream she should purchase.

"Uhh... Can I get—"

"One French Vanilla and one Carrot Cake." Alfendi cut her off. Lucy looked up at him in surprise: how did he know?

The vendor looked just as surprised at the inspector. "Uh sir, we don't make Carrot Cake ice-cream anymo—"

Alfendi grabbed the holds of the vendor's uniform and threw a glare at him that could freeze fire. "Don't lie to me. You've had it ever since I was little." Although she didn't particularly like the inspector being so abrasive, she giggled a little at the thought of a little Alfendi with his father getting a Carrot Cake ice-cream.

"O-O-Okay sir! I-I admit it! I'll get your ice-creams! Just don't kill me!" The vendor was let down gently before he worked on the desserts. He shakily handed the pair their ice-cream cones while Lucy scrounged around in her purse to pay for them. "P-P-Please, madame. I-I-It's on the house." The vendor forced a smile. "E-E-Enjoy your evening." He said shakily before shutting up his little shop and ran like the wind.

"Y'know prof, you could have been a little nicer." Lucy said, taking a lick of her vanilla ice-cream as they walked towards the inspector's house.

"Thanks to me, I have my ice-cream and both were free of charge." Alfendi murmured, licking his own carrot cake ice-cream.

Thinking about what the vendor said before about the interesting ice-cream flavour, Lucy looked longingly at the sweet. Alfendi was about to take another bite when he noticed his assistant looking at the dessert.

"Could I try a bit, prof? Please~? I wanna know what it tastes like!" She pleaded, puppy-dog eyes and tiny whimper attempting to convince him. He groaned and reluctantly handed her the dessert. Cheering a little, she took a big lick and savoured the flavour. Alfendi looked at his assistant in anticipation: would she like it? After what seemed like an eternity, Lucy hummed in approval. "Cor, this is good!" She licked her lips happily. Alfendi exhaled a sigh of relief and took his ice-cream out of her hands for him to enjoy. They reached the small spot that looked all too familiar to Lucy and the Prof.

"Hey, isn't this the place where I first met you?"

They stared in disbelief at the sentence they said at the same time. Then they laughed. "It was when we were younger, right?" Alfendi recalled.

"Yeah... I— No, I shouldn't admit it..." Lucy blushed.

"Go on." The inspector encouraged.

Letting go of a large sigh, Lucy blurted out. "I had a huge crush on you when Hilda left me wit' you. Happy?"

Alfendi sighed a sound of realisation. "Well I may have kinda had a crush on you too, Miss Baker..." He murmured. To his surprise, Lucy had heard him.

"Eh?! You did?! Why didn't you say summat earlier?!" She spun around in surprise.

"Well it may have escaped your notice, but we were both kids!!" Alfendi spat.

"So?!"

"What kind of kid would have had a crush and tell that person?! Answer me that, Baker!!"

"If I were you back then, I woulda confessed..." Lucy mumbled, delving back into her ice-cream. Alfendi burnt up, hands shaking. That was it. He was mad. No, pissed. He just wanted to... To.... .... "...Hey!!" Lucy whined, carrot cake ice-cream splattered on her coat. Alfendi smirked before returning to his bliss. Revenge had been served. Until he felt something cold and neither solid nor liquid on his sweater that smelled like vanilla. He glared at his assistant, who was giggling at him.

"So... That's how you want to play it, Miss Baker? .... Then let me show you what I'm capable of..." Alfendi smirked devilishly. He attacked her face with the melting dessert, making it smear all over her. She giggled and countered with her own ice-cream battle, all over her mentor's face. They continued until the ice-creams simultaneously dropped into the other's lap. "Well... Fun's over..." Alfendi smirked. "Let's get you cleaned up." He said, walking with her into his house. Smiling to himself, he had bliss of the thought he was no longer alone.