"He's laying his head in the Marriott downtown," Dan said, handing Abby a cup of coffee. "The man's a mess. Clothes and empty food containers everywhere. I feel bad for whoever cleans the room. But!" Dan held up his finger. "He has a laptop."

"You're not stealing a fed's laptop," Abby chided, as he sat down beside her. "They've got all kinds of security measures in place for that."

Fiddlesticks. Dan racked his brain for ideas from old crime thrillers. The two of them were in their living room, lounging in front of the muted television. It was the perfect place to pontificate. He threw out the first idea that popped into his brain.

"I could... have Ito raid him, and drop a big bag of cocaine in his closet!" Dan proclaimed.

Abby looked at him strangely. "A big bag of cocaine?"

Dan opened his mouth, then shut it. He rubbed at his chin. "Right. No drug war." He waved his hand dismissively. "It was a thing, don't worry about it. Besides, coke is illegal, yeah?"

"Barely," Abby replied. "Slippery as he seems to be? That wouldn't do much more than embarrass him. You'd have to stick, like, an entire cosmic generator in that closet for him to catch the kind of charge you're thinking of."

Dan clicked his tongue in disappointment.

"You don't even know where to get a big bag of cocaine," Abby said.

That was also true, but Dan elected to ignore it. He was mostly fooling around, anyway. Dan didn't really want to set up Dunkirk, any more than he wanted to murder the man. It would make Dan no better than the fed. What he really wanted was to expose Dunkirk as the giant piece of shit that he was. Maybe get him fired in disgrace, just for good measure. That would take some doing, and Dan still had no idea how to get started.

"Suggestions?" he queried.

"You've got like, ten different cop friends and somebody just tried to blackmail you." Abby shrugged. "I say do the obvious thing."

"Tell them?" Dan asked, leaning back with a gusty sigh. "I guess I should."

"At the very least, Gregoir needs to be warned that he's a target," Abby pointed out.

Dan hummed, thinking over his options. A light switched on in his brain; a memory from the first time he'd ever met Thomas Dunkirk.

"He accepted a package from Connor's dad," Dan recalled. "Dunkirk seems like the kind of man always searching for a new ass to kiss."

"You think Congressman Graham can pressure him somehow?" Abby asked.

Dan shrugged helplessly. In this, he was truly lost. He had no proof of blackmail, and from his limited understanding, it was a pretty hard thing to make stick. Dan couldn't just make the accusation; nothing would come of it. That said, Dunkirk couldn't do much to Dan so long as the fed was on leave. He had no real authority, only baseless threats.

"I think I should bring Connor into the loop as well," Dan decided. "Maybe he can talk to his dad. Politicians probably have contingencies for this sort of thing, right?"

"Probably," Abby echoed. She drained her mug and set it aside, then threw her feet across Dan's lap. She leaned back across the couch, looking up at the ceiling. "I'm working with Cornelius tomorrow, so I'll loop him in, too."

Dan squeezed her toned calves. "That's a good idea. Cornelius has probably dealt with something like this before. I'm sure he'll know what to do."

----------------------------------------

"I'll have Ito raid him, and plant a big bag of cocaine in his room!" Cornelius suggested excitedly.

Abby swore.

Dan snickered and shared a wink with the man. Text messages were a wonderful way to coordinate a prank.

Gregoir gave his fellow officer a severe look. "I'd prefer if we act within the bounds of the law, Cornelius."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Ah, you're no fun," Cornelius griped. "What's a little evidence tampering among friends?"

"Uncle!" Connor cried out, offended.

"You shouldn't say things like that out in public," Freya suggested mildly, as she sipped at her margarita.

The five of them had secured a corner booth at the Emerald Anchor, an Irish pub frequented by the police. Dinner service was a raucous affair, and Dan's friends were unlikely to be overheard. It was the perfect place to get together and discuss devious dealings.

"So Dunkirk wants to smear my reputation," Gregoir mused in his rumbling bass. "I don't believe I've ever even interacted with the man."

"This is really between him and Captain Gable," Cornelius explained. "You're just collateral damage, I'm afraid."

"Do you know why Gable isn't giving up the Genius-tech?" Dan asked. "Not sure what the APD is gonna do with a gun that shoots pain."

Cornelius shrugged. "It's a good weapon to keep in our back pocket, just in case. Everything we're doing is to prepare for a worst-case scenario. We won't get caught with our pants down ever again."

"We should have been public about the seizure," Gregoir lamented, draining his pint of beer. He sat the enormous cup down with a sigh. "Open and honest is always best."

Freya disagreed immediately.

"It would be a slap in the face to the National Guard," she countered. "They did come here to help, even if they made an absolute hash of it. You can't go and embarrass them like that, right after they've suffered an enormous loss. Austin citizens might support it, but it would destroy the city's relationship with the federal government. And that's not even considering how things might play out across the rest of the country."

Connor frowned at her summary. "If that's the case, we should have just helped them retrieve their gear to begin with."

"Oh, dear-heart." She patted him on the shoulder. "But the department wants those weapons and armor. This is how these things work. The NG higher-ups have to suspect we could retrieve that gear, but they aren't going to press the issue. They can't call us out publicly, because they don't want the headline. Just like we don't want to brag that we've retrieved it, because we don't want to damage our relationship with the feds. Everyone involved knows what the other party is up to, but so long as the public is kept in the dark, we can all pretend otherwise. Nobody goes public, nobody looks the fool, everybody wins."

"The National Guard already look like fools," Dan pointed out.

"More the fool, then," Freya replied, rolling her eyes. "The point is: moving that equipment quietly was the best option. Keep the public, and our enemies, in the dark about our capabilities, and preserve our political capital for more important matters."

Cornelius reached across the table and mussed her hair. "Somebody's been talking to Papa Valentine."

She scowled at him, knocking away his hand. "Grandpa is very insightful!"

"Ah, well." Cornelius heaved a great sigh. "Fun as this is, let's get down to brass tacks. Dunkirk is a problem."

"I don't like that he's trying to blackmail Daniel," Gregoir stated with his usual candor.

Cornelius chuckled. "I doubt Dan is the first to face that particular problem from Agent Dunkirk. The question is what are going to do about it?"

"We were kind of hoping you could take it to your brother," Dan said.

Cornelius hummed to himself. "Pressure from a Congressman? That might work, but it can't be anything direct. We'd need to find who exactly he has suction with at the FBI. We poke one of his bosses, and word ought to trickle down."

"Ok," Dan said. "That sounds like it might take a while. He wanted an answer by tomorrow."

Cornelius drummed his fingers, considering.

Gregoir visibly perked up as an idea crossed his mind.

"He doesn't know where we keep the gun!" he exclaimed.

"Um." Cornelius looked at him, confused. "And?"

"Well, he'll have to find out." Gregoir beamed. "Daniel can't do it; it would look too suspicious. He has no reason to be interested in that device. Dunkirk needs to get you the location before you can do anything. That should buy a few days, especially once I bring Captain Gable into the loop."

"What if Dunkirk tells me to figure it out?" Dan asked.

Gregoir shook his head. "Dunkirk will likely assume he can get it himself. It's not unreasonable for him to request information on where the weapon is stored, if only to ensure that it is secure. As an agent of the FBI, he has that much leeway in regards to a local police department. But it's just as reasonable for Captain Gable to stonewall him for a few days, given their poor relationship. It shouldn't arouse any suspicions."

"So, just say I'll do it, and hope he doesn't already know the location?" Dan asked.

"If he knows the location already..." Cornelius considered it. "Pretend to steal the gun, but tell him it wasn't there. As soon as we leave here, I'll backdate some paperwork saying we moved it this morning, just in case he can somehow check."

Cornelius' phone chimed, and he paused to check it. His brow furrowed.

"Uh oh."

"What?" Connor asked. "What is it?"

"This might complicate things." Cornelius stowed his phone, shaking his head and chuckling mirthlessly. "Galeforce just announced that he's coming to Austin on all his social media accounts."

"The vigilante?" Dan asked. Then it occurred to him what he'd just seen. "You follow Galeforce on social media?"

Cornelius shrugged, scratching at his chin. "What can I say? I admire his chutzpah. But this is a worrying move from him. Who knows what will happen if he shows his face in the city."

"He's an idiot," Dan said. "A young, reckless idiot. He'll probably try and stop a crime somewhere, and you guys will have to try and arrest him. Hell, maybe that's what he wants. Can you imagine him filming an escape from the cops?"

"Whatever his plan, it'll send the department into a tizzy," Cornelius said. He looked seriously at Dan. "Dunkirk will take advantage of this, somehow. Keep us informed, yeah?"

"Yeah," Dan acknowledged. "I will."