Who: Valentine Alonso and Lottie Berdini

When: Early morning of 1st November

Where: Outside The Apothecary

Notes: Lottie takes a late/ early morning walk and ends up spending the night in a cell.

@commanderalonso

Lottie couldn’t sleep.  Everytime she closed her eyes she could see the flames and the smell of smoke seemed to surround her so she got up and went for a walk hoping the night air might settle her nerves a bit.  She had left the club shortly after the fire crew had arrived, slipping out before the Watch officer got to her to take her details but now she found herself drawn back to the scene, curious to see what was left of the bar.

Turning the corner the scene was very different to the one she had left.  Just one fire truck remained and it looked as if they were about to leave.  The charred remains of the building were in stark contrast to the party atmosphere of earlier but at least there didn’t seem to have been any fatalities, a fact which relieved her greatly.   Somehow calmed by having seen the after effects the petite submissive turned to walk back the way she had come only to run slap bang into probably the one person she would rather avoid.  Hoping he wouldn’t remember her, especially with all that was going on Lottie mumbled an apology for bumping into him and stepped to the side, quickly moving past him.

____________________________________________________

For the first time tonight Valentine had five minutes of quiet. Five minutes to stare at what was left from the Apothecary. The burnt carcass of the building was now quiet – gone were the reporters, the onlookers and even the last firetruck was turning the corner after Valentine had gone over jurisdiction with the Marshall.

No one had died. The Apothecary could be renovated and injuries would heal. A tragedy was avoided tonight. And though somewhere in the back of his mind the Commander knew he ought to climb into his car and drive back to the Watchtower to deal with the paperwork that waited on him, he couldn’t stop staring.

In the end he didn’t have to when someone collided with him and Valentine turned his thoughtful look to a glare that only soured further when he saw who it had been.

“Not so fast.” Valentine’s hand snapped to grab at her elbow, twisting into the girl’s jacket to keep the girl from fleeing. “Looking for something, Miss Berdini?”

Lottie jerked back as her arm was pulled and her heart sank.  Not only did he grab her but remembered her name and she knew that wasn’t a good sign.  “Not at all Commander, I was just out for a walk,” she replied curtly.  “I was just about to head home so if you’ll excuse me I will be on my way.”  Far more polite than she usually bothered Lottie was trying her best to  control her tongue and not give him any reason to speak with her any longer.

______________________________________________

“Do all of your late night walks lead to a crime scene?” Valentine shot back, brows raised his grip on the girl didn’t ease. He was pissed off and the sight of her served only to fuel the feeling of anger that stormed in his chest. Valentine knew from her file that stood on his desk that she was still in university, barely in her twenties and yet – didn’t fail to make fools of the Watch.

“Last time I checked you were fleeing the city at a rather convenient moment.” The Commander ducked his chin at her. “If I send the Watch to your apartment now, what do you think they’ll find?”

“It was university vacation time, I went travelling” she snapped back quickly though panic was starting to rise within her.  “Go ahead, all they’ll find is piles of chemistry books.  I haven’t fully unpacked from my summer travelling.”  Suddenly she was eternally thankful to Oz and his refusal to give her back her equipment until she had been back in class for a month.  Despite her words his fingers dug into her arm and she had to fight the desire to run with every bone in her body even though she hadn’t done anything to run from.

_________________________________________________________

“Bullshit.” Valentine retorted, a smile – slow one, lifted the Commander’s lips. “You sure?” He used her elbow as leverage to pull her close as the watchman stared her down. She was scared and Val knew that look well. “Not even your car, your phone. I guess we’ll see about that.” He reached back to the handcuffs that hung to his belt. “You have the right to remain silent…” Val went through the motions of an arrest, if anything, he knew tomorrow morning the Montague would be lawyering her up and angry. With any luck, they’d get angry enough to make a mistake.

_________________________________________________________

“What the fuck!” Lottie exclaimed as he suddenly moved to arrest her.  Too wound up to remember anything Spencer or Oz had warned her about she began to wriggle and squirm, all in vain as she was no match for the officer.  “On what grounds?  When did it become illegal to take a walk?  This is total bull,” she shouted though inside she was beginning to panic – Oz was going to kill her for this.

____________________________________________________

“Let’s see.” Valentine opened the car door, one handed as he held the girl’s bound wrist with the other. “I was walking by the crime scene, when I saw Miss Berdini converse with a young man, she handed him a package – they exchanged money. I called for their attention, the young man startled and ran away. Given her history with the Watch, I decided to put Miss Berdini under a twenty – four hours arrest for questioning. How does that sound, hm?” He shrugged, and placed a hand on her shoulder to push her into the back of his car. “I think it has a nice tune to it.”

____________________________________________________

Lottie’s jaw dropped in horror as the commander immediately invented a story to explain her arrest before pushing her into the back of the car.  Twisting her earlier brush with the law into the story, an event which could clearly be proven just added weight to the tale and with a level of resignation she knew there was little to do but wait and see what he was going to do next.  As he moved to close her door though she couldn’t resist a final remark before she shut her mouth for a bit. “You won’t get away with this,” she mumbled before staring ahead, lips closed tight.

________________________________________________________

The smile on Valentine’s face was a tight lipped sharp thing as he settled behind the wheel, his gaze caught Lottie’s in the mirror and the watchman snorted. “Why not? You’ve been getting away with it for years.”

The engine growled to life and as the last car drove away the seared remains from the Apothecary were left to the night’s peace.

The inside of the Watchtower even in this hour were a hive of activity. Because of the fire even those off duty had reported willing to offer any kind of assistance, even if it was just picking up the phone and filing away paperwork. With Lottie in tow, Valentine walked to the nearest available watchman:

“Take her fingerprints and put in her in a holding cell for questioning.” The Commander didn’t glance back as he walked off. He had his own bullshit to take care of and for the next hours Valentine didn’t think of Lottie. Not before the last of the phone calls Val had to make was over with did he finally made his ways towards the holding cells.

The officer on duty was zoning out on his desk when he entered, and jerked awake when he saw Valentine.  “Leave us.” The Commander jerked his head towards the door he’d just entered through and waited for the other man to exit before he looked at Lottie.

“Having a nice night so far?” He glanced around, appraising the small cell and the bare walls that just made the space look colder. “You should probably get used to places like this.”

________________________________________________________

Lottie huffed at his words, pushing herself back into the rear seat of the car and trying desperately to avoid the image in front of her face of Oz when she finally had to face him.  That thought was far more terrifying than the thought of the Watchtower since she knew he had no evidence against her.

Lottie trailed after the commander as he led the way through the office and did her best to avoid any eye contact with anyone.  All too soon her finger prints had been taken and she was abandoned in a cell, her request for her lawyer seemingly falling on deaf ears as the door shut and nobody looked near her for hours.

With the cuffs at least removed it wasn’t as uncomfortable as it might have been, the idea that she usually enjoyed cuffs and rough treatment giving her a small amount of amusement before the severity of the occasion came back to her.  Curling up on the small, narrow bed she closed her eyes and wished that Spencer would be standing there when she opened them and telling her just to keep her mouth shut and let him handle it but every time she did open them there was just the damp, cold space.  

Sitting up quickly when she heard the sharp voice she braced herself as the commander came towards her.  The cutting remark about getting used to it winding her up again.  “The decor could use some work and I don’t think much of the company,” she replied sharply while mentally cursing herself for not controlling her tongue.  “Where’s my lawyer?” she asked quickly.

_____________________________________________________

“Lines are busy right now.” Val lied putting little effort to make it sound even remotely genuine. Instead, he pulled the chair the watchman had occupied just a moment ago, legs dragging over the floor to sit across Lottie’s cell. One leg braced against the bar Valentine tipped it back. Reaching in the inside pocket of his jacket he unfolded a freshly printed copy of Lottie’s file, reading aloud: “Charlotte Berdini, aged twenty – two,” He looked up to assess the girl as if to check if what was written matched with the small girl in front of him. “University student.” He paused, pursed his lips, then slapped the file over his knee.

“Where are your parents, Charlotte?”

_____________________________________________________

Huffing at his words Lottie sat herself back down on the narrow mattress and watched him closely as he positioned himself opposite her.  It was unnerving to have him read out loud about her but hardly anything startling.  His question made her draw breath but she had learned her story off by heart, “They live in Sicily now.  Much warmer you see, they like the warm weather.”  She smiled sweetly at him, innocently as she waited to see what would come next.

_________________________________________________________

Valentine flipped through pages silently, looking up only to give Charlotte a brief smile. It’s not an unfamiliar setting for the watchman – questioning. Sometimes it seemed that nine times out of ten it was Montagues sitting in front of him.

“I bet they are.” The Commander muttered under his breath, and for all he knew – they could’ve been. The father had a file of his own that he’d phoned in for earlier.

“I wonder if your University is informed on your run in’s with the Watch,” Valentine talked in that distracted manner reading through words he knew. “I imagine they won’t be impressed with you.”

_________________________________________________________

Letting out a small breath as he seemed to perhaps not believe the answer but at least didn’t push it.  She knew she needed to keep her father out of this as far as possible, it wouldn’t do any good to draw attention to him.  Her eyes widened in panic as he began to talk about the university.  Her stomach twisted uncomfortably as she said a silent thanks for Spencer and his skills again before she addressed the Commander.  “I was never charged with anything, I’m sure that little file in front of you tells you that.  There’s nothing for the university to get upset about.”  Pursing her lips a moment she tipped her head and looked at him squarely, “Tell me something, long night like this, huge investigation, lots of tired watchmen and you choose to spend your time chatting with me.  Surely if you needed a distraction to keep you awake a cup of coffee would be more effective.”

____________________________________________________

“Yeah, sure.” The Commander agreed, chin ducked down a few times in slow nods. “But you can bet that’s not how I’m going to tell them story.”  His legs crossed, one ankle pushed up to rest on his knee. Glad to have finally found a subject that terrified her in genuine, Val smiled. “The Commander of the Watch coming to drop by for a visit? I might not even need to talk to leave them the impression you’re in deep shit.”

Her words amused him. “I don’t need a distraction.” The list of things Valentine needed was long and he’d be lucky to get even half of it. “What I need is someone on the inside, Charlotte.”

____________________________________________________

“On the inside of the Watch?  Do you not trust yourself?  Shame,” she scoffed with more conviction than she felt.  Her confidence was rapidly waning as she had a horrible feeling she knew where this was going and she was literally going to end up trapped between a rock and a hard place.  Lottie pushed herself back on the hard little bed, the wall the most solid thing in her life at that moment.

_______________________________________________________

“Being a smartass isn’t going to get you anywhere.” Valentine commented unperturbed by her antics. The file was folded back and he tapped it in a steady beat over his thigh as he spoke: “You are a smart girl, Charlotte. You know I can dedicate myself to making sure your life is that much harder once you walk out of here.”

“So you can do the smart thing and play along my rules. It’ll be easier for everyone involved”

_______________________________________________________

Lottie rolled her eyes as she looked down to the floor at the chastisement though she knew what he was saying was absolutely true and if he chose to talk to the university she had no doubt they would indeed find a reason to kick her out.  

After a moment she looked up, “What is it you want?”

_______________________________________________________

“Information.” He said. “I don’t want to keep arresting kids for bullshit reasons.” With the Mayors new rules making the Watch a hammer against any petty crime in Verona Valentine was getting sick and tired of arresting teenagers for carrying pot. “I want you to find out who makes the drugs for the Montagues.”

_______________________________________________________

“But you have no hesitation arresting me,” she muttered as he began to speak.  She pulled her knees up as her arms wrapped around her stomach, making herself appear even smaller and more vulnerable in the large room.  “I don’t have anything to do with drugs, never touch them,” she replied sincerely before the enormity of what would happen if she snitched on anyone in the family.  “I wouldn’t even think it was the Montague family involved.  Have you tried that new lot that moved in though?  Farming apparently but why would you come to a city eh?”

________________________________________________________

You’re not a kid, Valentine thought to himself, and she was far from innocent even if she looked it.  Even more so now as she curled into herself, looking every bit the kid Valentine refused her to be, he felt like an asshole. And yet – not nearly enough that he’d stop using the leverage he’d found.

“Then it’ll be in your interest to start.” The Commander offered. “I’m sure that with your chemistry degree a sudden new interest in cooking drugs won’t be much of a surprise to the Montague.” Valentine leaned forward. “All I need is a name. That’s it.”

The mention of the Romanos made his head throb with the promise of a headache Valentine wasn’t going to like. “What do you know about them? Is your Lord keen on the Romanos?” He wondered if there was going to be a repeat of the feud with new characters added.

________________________________________________________

Lottie almost laughed out loud.  Her interest in chemistry was far from innocent but it wasn’t going down the drugs path and it wasn’t something she ever wanted to get involved in.  Biting her lower lip she looked up, “If I can get you a name that’s it, you don’t come back for more and there’s no record of it anywhere.”  Whether she could or not she didn’t know but he clearly wasn’t going to cave easily and it was the early hours of the morning, she was tired and hungry and needed out of the cell before morning and people found out.

His sudden interest in the Romanos made her sigh and she shrugged, “I’m hardly in the Montague inner circle am I?  I’ve met a few of them but I have no idea of Lord Oz’s opinion on them – I’ll be sure to ask when he invites me to dinner next time though.”  Her sharp tongue returned and she glanced at him, almost regretting her words.

_______________________________________________________

“No records.” Valentine assured her. It won’t be too hard to glance over the documentation, not when he was the one expected to keep up with what belonged where. “As long as you provide the information, your name won’t be put down on paper anywhere. I’m the only person that’ll know.”

His brows raised coming to a slow arch, Valentine pushed himself off the chair with a wordless chuckle. He tossed the file on the chair and left the small room. This time there were no watchmen to take over for him, and it was hours before walked through the door for a second time.

It was almost dawn outside, cold and rainy autumn morning with the sun groggily peaking past the horizon.

“I don’t really have the time to deal with sarcasm, Charlotte.” He held two paper cups of coffee, one of which Valentine let rest on the ground. “You keep wasting my time, I’ll be pressed to find something better to do with it. Shall we start over?”

_______________________________________________________

Her stomach churned with the thought of what she might do but as she suspected she was between a rock and a hard place.  One name, could she really betray the family and keep it quiet?  She would need time to plan and think it over.  

She pursed her lips at he got annoyed again.  The question of starting again made her heart sink and she suddenly jumped up off the bed, her petite frame barely filling any of the space but intimidating wasn’t her aim.  “I don’t know anything,” she shouted.  “I’ve been away.  I only got back a few weeks ago, even your little file tells you that.  You can’t charge me for lack of knowledge and Lord Oz won’t even…..” her voice tailed off.  Admitting that Oz had all her equipment still hidden and was refusing to give it back until she proved she could stay out of trouble hardly seemed appropriate.  “I don’t know how the Montague family feel about the Romano family,” she said quietly.

_____________________________________________________

Val sipped his coffee, the same disgusting brew that the machine in the lunchroom carried, undeterred by the yelling. Only when Charlotte’s sentence trailed into nothing did the Commander raise one brow.

“Won’t even?” He prompted expecting silent stubbornness to answer him, but the knowledge that she’d slipped was more than enough. “Find out.” Valentine advised her unsympathetic to the task he was giving. The danger behind undertaking it wasn’t lost on him. “You’re a smart girl, you’ll be fine.” If she managed to shine even a little bit of light on what shit storm was heading Verona’s way it’d be worth it.

_____________________________________________________

Lottie felt the nausea rise in her throat at the blatant warning.  She needed time to think and this guy wasn’t giving her a second.  Lottie thought she was clever and on top of everything but stuck in this cell and trying to watch her every word she had let her emotions get the better of her and she had screwed up.  Her eyes flickered over to the dominant at the slight suggestion of praise before her gaze dropped to the ground again.  She had to keep her mouth shut, word would get out and Spencer would come and do whatever it was he did to stop this.  She just had to stay quiet.

____________________________________________________

Valentine rose from his chair, a sigh ratcheting up his chest, he swiped at his pants before walking the few steps that put him closer to her cell bars.

“Look at me,” Two fingers gestured the girl’s attention towards him, a different timber to his voice. “You can think it over and over again, but you’re backed against a wall.” Valentine nodded. “In five minutes I can go and make sure you get your phone call and you’ll be out in,” He glanced at his watch. “Two hours. But before that, I need to hear that you’ll do what I asked. We have a deal, Charlotte?”

____________________________________________________

The order compelled  her to look up and as he spoke she knew he was right, there were no options.  Her gaze fell again with a sigh.  Pursing her lips she couldn’t think at all, his voice was just ringing in her ears.  Contemplating for a few minutes she raised her head reluctantly, she could figure it out once she was home and not suffocating in a cell. “Deal,” she whispered, her voice small and cracking.

____________________________________________________

Nodding quietly Val cleared his throat. He’d pushed enough for one night, too much had happened and she still had the day to get through. Leaving the room, Valentine arranged for her to get her phone call in an hour, without even a bail to be paid he didn’t doubt that by noon Charlotte would be out and about. He could only sit in his office and wait for the girl to deliver on her side of the deal.