Ami Mizuno frowned as she hurried to the command center she had built beneath the Silky Doll, the blue haired woman's normally stylish look ruffled by interrupted sleep. Despite the early hour she still wore a stylish set of dress pants and a white, button up shirt, the only concession to the time being her slippers. She picked up a set of headphones on the console as she took a seat in front of the monitor and asked, "Mina, are you ready?" Perched on the roof of one of Tokyo's many skycrapers Minako Aino's armored form knelt, concealed from view but still with a line of sight to a certain suite. "I'm in position," the brassy blonde said, "deploying directional scanners now." The relayed data was static distorted at first, but soon Mina was relaying crystal clear images of the inside of the suite, including the officers and others. "Usagi Tsukino," Ami noted the blonde's presence, "it's a boomer crime, then." "They're leaving the living room," Minako said, "and the blinds are drawn on the bedroom, but I'll try using infrared." Heat patterns resolved on the screen, indicating people moving about, as well as a cooling presence on the bed. 'A body?' Ami wondered. "Any chance of tapping the crime scene techs data streams?" "From here?" Mina said a bit disbelievingly. She paused for a moment then smiled as she murmured, "Well, I always like a challenge." The screen was still long moments as Mina worked away, and Ami bit her lip to stop herself from jumping in. Finally a split screen appeared as a video link came up, a bit wobbly but clear. The inside of the bedroom was a bloody mess, and a infinity symbol had been painted on the wall in blood. "I tapped into a video feed back to AD Police," Mina murmured as the camera panned around, "don't know how long they'll broadcast, tho." Having set her computer to record all of the data Ami studied the images, frowning in thought. 'Not your typical boomer killing,' she silently noted, 'other than the blood spilled there's been almost no damage done to the corpse. A boomer would tear it apart, especially if it had gone rouge.' "The woman on the bed," Mina said as she continued to scan and relay data, "she looks kind of familiar to me." "That's because she's a former member of Infinity's research and development branch ," Ami noted coolly, "Natsumi Ginga." "Not a nice woman," Mina agreed, recalling some of the less pleasant rumors that had circulated about her. She paused as another heat source entered, "New arrival." "Hotaru," Ami nodded in recognition as the woman entered the room and calmly began grilling Usagi on the case. "Wish we were getting sound, too," Mina said, sounding disappointed. 'Wonder if I should tell her I can read lips?' Ami mused as she recorded the conversation for later analysis. "Do I need to armor up?" Makoto Kino asked as she strode into the room, dressed in the form fitting under suit their armor required. She had driven Minako here from her apartment, but Mina had asked her not to go with her on this mission. On one hand Makoto could see that Mina's stealth abilities would be better on her own, but on the other she hated leaving Mina out there without backup. "Not yet," Ami said calmly as she turned towards the other woman, "this is just a surveilance job, so far." "Do we need to call Rei?" Makoto added. "I don't expect so," Ami smiled faintly, "I'm sure you and I can handle any emergency that might come up. Besides, with her broken arm in the way...." Silently, Makoto wondered how Rei was doing staying here with Ami. The two women seemed to strike sparks off each other very often, yet there was also a underlying attraction. 'Those two need to get laid,' she thought wryly, 'or one of them is going to kill the other.' "And there goes Hotaru with Kaori Knight," Ami noted as the two women left the crime scene. "Think she'll call you?" Minako asked as they watched the crime scene team carefully take the samples from all over both rooms, not to mention recording massive amounts of data. Before Ami could answer her personal line rang, the noise loud in the monitoring room. Gesturing the others to silence Ami picked up the lab's phone as she answered calmly, "Mizuno residence, Ami speaking." "Hotaru Tomoe," the young woman answered grimly, "we've got a problem." "Are you on a secure line?" Ami asked quietly. Hotaru paused, "This line runs through a Infinity satellite hub rather than the regular telecom network. It's about as secure as it gets." "Fair enough," Ami answered her calmly, "then I should let you know I'm aware of Natsumi Ginga's death." "How...?" Hotaru sounded surprised. "I have my ways," Ami answered simply. Hotaru sighed softly, but loud enough to be heard over the phone. "I wanted to suggest you be careful," she said, "if this is a vendetta connected to Infinity, you might be a target because of your mother." 'I hadn't considered that possibility,' Ami frowned in thought. "Thank you," she said aloud, "I'll take extra precautions." "As will I," Hotaru agreed. A beeping tone indicated someone else wanted on the line and she sighed, "Duty calls, it seems. I'll be in touch if I learn more." "I'll keep you informed," Ami agreed as she turned to the screen, watching the crime scene experts finish up. "Thank you," and Hotaru hung up. "Mina," Ami said, "I think you can move out. Anything more I can get by raiding the AD Police servers." "I'll help with that," Mina agreed as she stood up, moving into the shadow of the building as she stretched. "I'll be back at base in a few minutes," she said, taking a running start then bounding off the side of the building. "I'll be down in the armor bays when she arrives," Makoto said as she walked towards the elevator, already thinking of how she would help Mina out of her suit.... Ami turned slightly, "Remember I have video cameras down there this time! It's really embarrassing having to erase what you two get to doing." "Sorry," Makoto chuckled, smiling as the elevator door slid shut. "Geeze," Ami sighed as she got up, only pausing to make sure all the data was saved. "Standard security protocols, Miss Mizuno?" the Mercury computer asked as Ami was waiting for the elevator to come back. "Level two security," Ami said after a moment's thought, "including full bio-scans for enterance and exit." "Understood," Mercury answered as the elevator arrived and Ami rode it up to the residential wing of her building. The suite was as clean as when Ami left it this morning, except for the woman sprawled on the couch. Rei hino lay on top of the sheet with her black hair fanning around her, her right arm immobilized in a cast. She slept in a baggy t-shirt and panties, revealing a body that made Ami's mouth suddenly go dry. "Such a slob," Ami murmured to herself as she took the sheet and reluctantly covered up her houseguest. "Hmm," Rei stirred, shifting as her eyes opened and she blinked drowsily up at Ami. "Sorry," Ami apologized, "I was just trying to cover you up." Rei sat up, rubbing at her eyes one handed. "S'all right," she said, "something come up?" Ami gulped, trying not to notice as the torn shirt shifted, revealing that Rei was not wearing a bra to bed. "Someone killed a former Infinity executive," Ami kept her voice level as she sat down on the end of the couch as far away from Rei as possible, "I sent Minako out to monitor the crime scene." Rei frowned, "You think it's connected to Mistress Nine?" Ami sighed, "I'm tempted to assume it is, but there are a lot of people with reasons to have a vendetta against Infinity and the Tomoe family." "You got that right," Rei grimaced, sitting sideways on the couch, her slim, athletic body mostly exposed to Ami's view. Ami got up suddenly, deciding retreat might be the better paet of valor right then. "I'd better try to get back to bed," she said gruffly, "it's going to be a long day tomorrow." Rei reached out quickly with her good arm, catching Ami's hand, "Wait, damn it." As Ami looked back at her Rei let go, meeting her eyes as she asked, "Is my being here that much of a problem? I wouldn't have agreed to stay if...." Ami felt a burst of shame as she met those pained eyes. "It...," Ami trailed off, then made herself say, "It's not that I don't want you here, it's that I want you too much." "Huh?" Rei blinked, stunned by Ami putting into words the tension that had shimmered between them so long. "I'm sorry," and with that Ami pulled free and fled the room.
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