The distinct buzzing of the cellphone ringing awoke Keith from his slumber. Slowly trying to answer the phone proved to be a difficult task, but he managed to do it before it fell on voicemail. Silence. Nothing came out of the receiver. He double checked to make sure that, yes indeed, he picked up the call. The number didn't seem familiar at all.

"Hello? Is anyone on the line or am I just going crazy?" He asked. Hanging up, he sighed and rolled back to look at the clock. "Almost time for the date... I should get prepared." He muttered to himself.

Putting both of his legs on the ground, he sat still for a few minutes gathering his thoughts. He's been on the force for a while now, and yet this is the first time he's been left truly dumbfounded by what happened. If this truly was some sort of set-up, the question is, why and who would want something out of him. He slowly got up and walked to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat and something to drink before hopping in the shower. The rain hitting the windows of his apartment usually helped him gather his thoughts, but truth be told, he was surprisingly too excited to keep his mind clear.

"Alright, let's just get cleaned and pick a decent enough outfit!" He exclaimed, hyping himself up.

A nice and hot shower helped him properly wake up from his middle-of-the-day nap. He stood in front of the mirror, pondering whether or not to clean up his facial hair a bit. It wouldn't hurt for this one time, and he would look a bit more presentable to Catherine. Deciding to trim most of it, to not be clean-shaven, he winked at himself and stepped out to pick an outfit. A nice dark suit that hasn't seen enough use has been chosen.

"Man, I remember wearing this like, twice at most. Let's squeeze some more money's worth out of you buddy." He said to himself. His phone rings once again. Slightly irked, he answers the call. "Hello?"

"Hey! I hope you haven't forgotten about our little thing you called a date, right?" Asked a female voice.

"Of course not Kate, I've just finished preparing everything, how long until you come pick me up?" He inquired.

"I'd say about 10 minutes tops. Don't make me wait." She says as she hung up.

"Yes ma'am." Keith said as he tossed his phone on his bed. Not knowing what could happen, he decided to carry his weapon on the inside of his suit. "This may be a date, but there's also going to be dealings with shady individuals, so who knows." He thought to himself.

Standing in the lobby of his apartment complex, twiddling his thumbs, he received a text message. Pulling out his phone, he doesn't recognize the sender, and the contents of the message are what you could call, a bit worrying.

I'm sorry I left you in the middle of our little dance, but maybe this way you'll chase after me, my prince.

"This only could be about what happened last night," he thought. He had some many questions, and none of them feel like they're going to be answered. He quickly typed out "Who is this?" and pressed send. A few minutes passed and no reply. He looked up and saw Catherine's car pulling up in front of his building. He stood up, put his phone in his pocket and ran out under the rain to quickly hop in the car.

"Wow, you almost look like a prince in that outfit, looking all clean and neat. You could almost sweep me off my feet and I wouldn't object." said Kate, laughing lightly.

"I... uh... yeah?" He said in a daze.

"Is something wrong? Did you forget to go the toilet before getting in or do I just not look good enough to be a princess?" She said, feigning being hurt.

"No, I'm sorry. This is gonna sound weird but, did you just text me?" He asked regaining his composure.

"I didn't. Why?" She asked, curious.

"Oh... Nevermind, don't worry about it, maybe I was just lost in thought and got confused for a second."

"Oooookaaayyy." She replied as she started driving. A few minutes passed of driving in the eerily empty streets. Usually you'd see at least a few people scattered about, but they're probably hiding from the rain. Kate cleared her throat and started speaking, "The guy we're meeting goes by the name Vince. Don't know if it's actually his real name, or a just a nickname. I tend to not ask questions that would get me looked into while dealing with these kind of fellas."

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"Vince. Got it. Anything else worth knowing? What do you have on this guy?" He asked.

"Well, for starters I know he does some shady black market kinda deals, I probably know enough to get him arrested honestly, but he's a good guy and doesn't actually like violence." She informed him. "I don't think he's gonna have any problems with us as long as you don't try to rough him up for whatever reason. The guy we're after is basically hiding behind him, poor Vince has done nothing wrong."

"Yeah, except for illegal trades." Keith retorted.

"Look, I know it's not exactly the most savory of individuals, but it is what it is, and that's the only lead I have that COULD lead to something, so give both of us a break, will ya?" She said, mildly irritated.

"You're right, I'm sorry. Thanks for hooking me up." He apologized.

More time passed as he looked outside of the passenger's window. Neon signs above the late night stores, restaurants, bars and the like. Some of them not lit up properly, or just straight up busted. This neighborhood didn't seem like the cleanest, probably part of the poor side of town.

"Are we there yet?" He teased.

"If you want to walk, be my guest. We'll be there shortly."

The car finally turns into a parking lot in front of a bar called Duke's. Except the k and the apostrophe aren't lit up. Getting out of the car, Keith looked over to Catherine and lets out with a smile, "I wonder if, when the landlord comes, he wants to collect his dues."

"What are you on abo-" Kate asked confused, as she turned around to face the building and notice that yes, indeed, the neon sign does spell out "Du e s"

Without saying anything to amuse Keith, she took the lead and scurried over to the building, trying to avoid as much rain as possible. He followed before ruining his outfit and the both of them entered the building. The smell inside was peculiar, to say the least. It didn't smell bad, but it didn't smell good either. Still following her, he looked around the place to familiarize. It seemed to be a regular place that serves drinks. The actual bar was in the middle of the room, tended by a few bartenders. It was square shaped, having a few seats along the sides of it. The walls were lined up with booths. The far wall had a staircase leading up with a sign labelled "VIP" glowing near the first step.

"I hope you ate before we left, because we're not going to have anything in here." said Kate. "The company's fine and all, but I don't trust the chef anymore."

"Did something happen?" asked Keith. He kept following her to a corner booth, waiting for an answer.

"We arrived a bit early, but he should be here in only a few minutes." She said, ignoring his question.

"Alright, sounds good to me." acknowledged Keith. "Although I have to say, you look quite good tonight. I didn't have the occasion to see you properly in the car. I'm flattered you'd go this far for me." He said, cheekily.

"What makes you think I dressed this way for you, and not just because I wanted to look good in this fine establishment?" She replied, tapping her nails on the table.

Keith noticed that she even did her nails, which was a rare occurrence for her. Kate was by no means bad-looking, but her clothes held back her appearance. In front of him was someone completely different. Her long hair was tied up in a Dutch-style braid. She was wearing a crimson dress, which was even more out of character for her, as she is almost always dressed in comfy, loose clothing. His eyes slowly glanced over to her cleavage without even thinking and quickly looked away once he realized. That dress really made her curves easy to see compared to her usual apparel.

"If you're wondering why I don't dress nicer in general, it's just because I don't like the attention it generates. Especially at work." She said, answering his question before he could even ask it. "But I will admit that once in a while, it can be flattering. Just don't try to drill a hole through me with all your staring, please."

"You're right, sorry. You can't blame me though." He replied, laughing it off.

Keith took his phone out to see if any reply came, and to his surprise, there was.

Who I am isn't important right now. We'll meet again. Until then, make sure you enjoy your date.

As soon as he finished reading that, he slowly looked around to see if anyone in the room could've sent it. Realizing that there's too many patrons and that even if someone looked at him, it probably would've been a coincidence. He put his phone back in his pocket, and noticed a man was walking up to their seats. The man extended his hand out to Keith.

"Hello, I'm Vince. Miss Catherine told me that you had some questions regarding some cybernetics. I'm the man for the job!" He said while smiling.

Keith shook his hand and motioned to him to take a seat. Vince shook his head.

"I'm afraid we can't talk here, too many ears. Wouldn't want a cop to overhear us now would we?" He winked. "I can get us a nice and quiet corner in the VIP area, just give me a few minutes. Why don't you order a drink in the meantime?" said Vince as he turned away.

"How about it, Kate? Drinks aren't food. Do you have anything against it?"

"Not right now, maybe after." She said, flatly.

Vince walked back towards the table, still smiling. "Let us go upstairs, shall we?"

A few of the customers were outright staring at them. At first, Keith thought they were just looking at Catherine, but after paying attention, he realized they were actually looking straight at him.

"Yeah, let's go. Lead the way Vince." Keith said, keeping his cool, even though those looks could kill.

His phone beeped. Looking at the text message, he raised an eyebrow.

Don't worry, no one is going to do anything. I'll make sure of it.