The Girl With Metal Claws

Deductions

ELLIOTT

"This went out of hand," George sighed. It was 5 in the morning. He, Elliott and the others stood outside the hospital room Isis was admitted in. The door of that room swung open and Jack exited, joining them. He had a worried look on his face.

"How is she?" Meraki asked, anxiously chewing on her nail.

"She's sleeping," Jack let out a cloud of heavy breath as he ran a hand through his hair.

"We've been marked," Garry said, his restless and sleep-deprived eyes struggling to stay open. But his mind was very much surfaced. He knew they were marked. Their existence was outed and it wouldn't be hard for Phoenix to trace and wipe all of them out.

"Then why did it leave Isis? If we are marked, why didn't the Phoenix kill her?" Jack pointed out. He looked more frustrated than he was before he talked to Isis.

"She has something in her mind," Gabrielle said thoughtfully, "I cannot bear to look at what she did to Isis. I-"

George put a hand on her shoulder, comforting her. Elliott had stayed quiet throughout. He was afraid he'd say the wrong things. He was afraid that Gabrielle would ask him about the stolen music box. But nothing happened that he had no answer to.

Isis would be getting discharged by afternoon. Luckily, her pupils weren't hurt and her sight was intact but a white scar ran from her forehead and down her eyelid. She wasn't hurt anywhere else.

"How long is it going to take?" Fred asked Gabrielle.

"For what?" She asked back.

"For you to figure this out and come up with a plan. We've wasted a lot of time. It's time for us to get in action and take Phoenix down," Fred said. He looked anxious as well which was a rare sight. Elliott felt a hollow feeling in his stomach.

"Give me a day," Gabrielle's eyes were cold.

~

"I'll pick you up again at 8. Be ready," Jack said as he dropped Elliott back at his apartment. The same day Jack and Elliott were supposed to go to Eighth Avenue to find out what Vincent Turner was after. They had to know what a Security General was doing with a pile of tied up and passed out people.

"Okay," Elliott said with a frown painted on his forehead as he started walking away. He heard Jack drive away as he climbed up the stairs to his apartment. He unlocked his room and entered, tossing his bag on the couch. He let out a deep breath and shook his head. But that's when he noticed something on his bedside table.

It was early in the morning and one of the rare days where sunlight entered his room. The golden music box sat on the table. The same music box that Elliott had given away to Asami as a deal to try and get to know her past.

He didn't understand much about her past but he withdrew wanting to visit her memories again. He didn't want to feel that way again.

Suddenly, a knock on the door sounded, dragging Elliott out of his head. He walked up to the door and pulled it open. He looked up in front of him, motionless in disbelief. The police stood at his doorstep, staring back at Elliott with conviction in their eyes.

"Elliott Walters?" The leading policeman said.

"...yes," he answered.

"You need to come with us."

Elliott didn't complain or even tried asking for a reason. It was something Fred had always told him to do whenever he was met with any such situation. His silence would give the police less to work with. He could even get away with that act.

As he followed the 3 policemen back to their jeep, he had one thing in mind. He didn't know the offence for which he was being taken away. He had no help. Whatever he would say, would be the truth.

~

"Do you know why you're here, Mr Walters?" The inspector said. His voice was deep and his hand was continuously tapping the table.

"I don't, sir," Elliott replied with a straight face.

"Then why do you look nervous?" He c****d an eyebrow at Elliott.

"I've never thought my presence in a police station would be needed, sir," he returned. He watched a smirk slip on the inspector's face and he realised the possibility that Elliott had been called because of his involvement at the Westwood incident. He clasped both of his hands together, trying to calm his throbbing pulses.

"Is that so?" He asked. Elliott nodded. The inspector shook his head down and stood up. Then he banged his fists hard on the table making Elliott flinch.

"I hate vague people like you, kid. If you thought so, then you'd have stayed away from things that'd drag you here by your neck. But you asked for this," the inspector raged as he spoke the words. He was certain about Elliott's involvement but he was clueless.

"I haven't done any such thing, sir. This is a misunderstanding-"

"We'll see that very soon, Elliott," a different voice sounded from behind him. He turned to look at Mr Morgan, Elliott's principal, who stood at the doorway watching him. He entered the interrogation room and took a seat beside Elliott.

Even if he knew he was in trouble, Elliott sighed with relief. The issue wasn't something related to his career as an underground researcher which made him sink further down his seat as if getting back his ability to breathe.

"Won't you ask why you're here?" Mr Morgan asked, glancing at Elliott with victory written on his face. He was proud of himself because of catching the potential culprit of the school invasion.

"I won't bother. I've been called here based on some evidence against me. I'd like to see that first," Elliott said. He was determined to not speak on the topic before them. He knew they'd try to trick him into confessing.

"You cocky little bas-", the inspector didn't complete the sentence. He sat back down, sipping on his glass of water. "Yes, we do have something to show you."

The inspector turned away from them and signalled at one of his men. In a minute, the man came back with a laptop that was placed in front of Elliott. Under the watchful eyes of both Mr Morgan and the principal, a video was turned on. It took a minute for him to realise that it was CCTV footage. The quality was very poor making it hard for him to spot himself in the footage.

"Look close, Mr Walters. You've been seen entering further into the school building while everyone else was running off. That's quite standoff-ish, what do you say?" The inspector spoke in his passive-aggressive tone. Elliott shrugged.

"Is that all?" He raised an eyebrow. The inspector clutched his fists in rage, trying to calm himself down.

"No. There's more," Mr Morgan said. He started fast-forwarding the footage. "You've been seen at the cafeteria where the students were being kept hostage. You've been seen at the Library where the destruction happened. Strangely, you've also been seen at the infirmary where the fire started. Such accurate coincidences back to back don't seem much normal, Elliott," Mr Morgan said. Elliott did feel uneasy under his presumptuous gaze.

"There's also a girl accomplice with you," the inspector said, pointing at the girl beside Elliott in the footage. It was Isis. Nish was also with him but she was invisible the whole time.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, I don't know who she is," Elliott said with a straight face.

"Don't play dumb," the inspector warned, glaring at him.

"You are trying to frame me. The guy in the footage, his face cannot even be seen clearly. There's no proof that this is me," Elliott leaned in, a confident expression on his face. "Now, don't tell me you're going to convince the court that I'm the culprit based on such weak evidence. You'll be just wasting your time."

Elliott got up, ignoring the two speechless faces in front of him. Before they could retaliate, he sighed.

"The next time I'm called here, make sure to have a strong foundation behind your accusing tricks to fool people. I'll be leaving then," Elliott said, leaving. No one objected till he reached the threshold of the room.

"You allowed to leave but you know we'll meet again soon," the inspector said. His eyes were gleaming with a sense of superiority. "If you were innocent, you'd have behaved like any other accused. But you're quite amusing. Just wait. I won't let things slip away."

"Don't make me wait too long," Elliott was quick to respond, watching the inspector's malicious grin fade away. That's when he walked out of the room and out of the police station.

~

Isis sat on the couch in the basement. She hasn't spoken a word since the hour she was discharged. Her left eye was patched and she was wincing often. But she was traumatised more than she was hurt. Nish tried her best to interact or comfort her but she wasn't getting anywhere. Isis had stiffened completely.

"Elliott, it's time," Jack said. Elliott was supposed to be picked up by him at 8 but after exiting the police station, he couldn't get himself to return home. He knew what was waiting for him, rather who was waiting for him on the terrace of his apartment building.

"I'll go with you," Fred said, putting his shoes on.

"No," Jack hissed.

"I'm way older than you. I can't watch you two get beat up like last time," Fred said. His voice reflected command which no one was willing to oppose. Elliott knew what came out of getting on Fred's bad side.

"Fine you old geezer, suit yourself," Jack rolled his eyes. Before leaving, he glanced at Isis's face for a few seconds. Then he strode out of the basement in a hurry.

The three of them got into Jack's car, their only transport, and started the hour-long drive. Elliott hadn't seen Asami all day. The last day he met her, she pushed him off of the roof and then she attacked Isis the same day. Elliott didn't understand her, no matter how hard he tried.

The ride there was completely silent, except for the howling wind and the movement of the rusty car. Jack parked the car against the tall barricaded walls of a house in the corner most area. They got out of the car as Jack tossed them handguns from his car trunk.

"Refrain yourself from fighting as much as you can," Fred's voice alerted them. Jack and Elliott scoffed at how dad-like he sounded. They were already walking through the streets.

"You're saying that because you're out of practice," Elliott snickered, teasing Fred.

"Don't say things like that, Elliott. You know it hurts his ex-detective pride," Jack joined in. Fred just smiled and brushed it off.

Suddenly, loud footsteps sounded from behind them followed by a voice saying, "who are you?" A tall man showed up with an annoyed look on his face and a gun pointed at them. Elliott immediately knew it was one of Turner's guy. They were spotted even before the mission started.

Before Jack could do something, Fred leapt towards him and twisted the man's hand behind his back and the gun fell off of his hand. In another move, Fred's leg went up and hit the side of the man's face. Fred pinned the man down with a kick and made him lie down flat on the floor. His foot rested on the back of the man's head.

"Let's get this started," Fred said with an evil grin.