Radioactive: Chapter Thirteen

Radioactive

Chapter Thirteen

~Duke of Edinburgh~

Riu walked through the streets. She guided Duke to one of her usual hang outs. Duke followed her without saying a word. She talked to him like one would talk to a close relative. He listened as she talked about uncles and aunts that didn’t really exist and younger nieces and nephews that were full of fantasy fun.

The two were followed subtly by the others. Ing rode on Fang’s shoulders as he walked in his wolf form in the dark alleys. Riu lent him a hoodie to wear in order to hide the discoloration of his arms. The doctor walked along side Fang in the shadows of the alleys. Kaiba and Kiri decided to stay and man the computers while the others did the leg work. Ing hummed a happy tune as he rode on Fang’s back. Fang didn’t seem to mind much, other than the annoyed look on his face.

“Do you know anything about this Duke character?” Jekyll asked.

Fang looked up at the doctor, “Never met him before today.”

“I think that Duke is a nice person,” Ing said.

“No one’s asking you,” Fang looked over his shoulder.

Jekyll smiled, “I think this might be interesting.”

“How so?” Fang asked.

Jekyll looked at Fang, “I’d just like to see how he handles himself in this type of situation.”

Riu stopped by a car garage and walked in. She motioned to Duke to follow her inside, “Grayson! Hey, Grayson! I got someone I want you to meet!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming!” a voice came from under the hood of one of the cars.

A man stepped out and closed the hood. The man had short grey hair and a scar over his left eye. He wore worker clothes covered in smudges and grease marks. Grayson wiped his hands on a dirty washcloth and looked up at Riu.

“What do you want, girl? Can’t you see I’m busy?” Grayson glared at her.

Riu didn’t seem to notice. She turned to Duke and motioned him closer, “Come on, Grayson! I just wanted you to meet my cousin, Duke. He’s in town for a little bit and I thought I’d show him the sites.” Duke this is Grayson. Grayson, Duke.”

Grayson took a long look at Duke, “What are you in town for?”

Duke looked around a bit, “I don’t see how that is any of your business.”

“You don’t, do you?” Grayson leaned back on one leg.

“Yeah,” Duke nodded, “Just like it isn’t my business that you sell drugs along with fixing cars. Pretty nifty trick you’ve got going on. Someone wanting their fix drives in to get a headlight ‘tightened’. Sure you fix the problem but you add a little extra under the hood. No ones the wiser.”

Grayson shook his head, “You think you’re so smart don’t ya, kid? An attitude like that will get you killed out here.”

Duke shrugged, “It hasn’t so far.”

Grayson smiled, “You’re cousins.”

“Twice removed,” Duke crossed his arms.

“I know a lot of things, kid, and I know that you two are not cousins,” Grayson said, “But it’s none of my business as long as you stay out of mine.”

Duke glanced at Riu. She smiled innocently and scratched the back of his head. Duke put his hands in his pocket and sighed.

“I guess you got us,” he admitted.

“What?” Riu turned to him.

“Hope you’ll keep that on the down low,” Duke said, “We really could care less about you’re little side business here or anything else that could be going on in this city. We’re just here to look for a few people that have been missing in the last few days. Can we count on you to keep things quiet?”

Grayson shrugged, “It isn’t any of my business as long as you stay out of mine.”

Duke smiled, “Sounds fair.”

Grayson turned around, “I don’t know anything about the disappearances?”

“How about the murders?” Duke asked.

“Nothing about that either,” Grayson answered.

“Thanks,” Duke took a few steps back, “Will you let us know if you hear anything?”

Grayson looked over his shoulder, “If I find it interesting.”

“Great,” Riu pushed Duke backwards, “Thanks for talking to us Grayson!” When they were a safe distance from anyone, Riu stepped in front of Duke to confront him, “You just ruined my cover that I’ve built up in a matter of minutes. What the heck is wrong with you!?”

Duke shrugged, “He already knew you weren’t who you said you were. I guess he thought you were nice enough to be trusted so he didn’t say anything.”

“And how would he know that?” Riu had her hands on her hips.

“He didn’t seem shocked that I wasn’t really your cousin. Most other people in these types of neighborhoods would shoot us…at best…or torture us, either way,” Duke said.

“Well, we’ll just have to ask him later then wont we!” Riu turned and stomped off.

Duke followed, “I wasn’t your fault. No one else seemed to know that you aren’t who you say you are and no one overheard us. He’s kept your secret this long there isn’t any reason why he wouldn’t still keep your secret now.”

Observing in the shadows, Fang sat on his haunches effectively throwing Ing off his back, he nodded approvingly. Jekyll smiled approvingly.

“I told you this would be interesting,” Jekyll said.

“He is fast on his feet, that’s for sure,” Fang nodded.

Ing looked at Riu and Duke as they walked away from the garage then back at the two spectators, then back at the couple. He took some mental notes on how to react fast to changing situations. Being out in the field was giving him good experience.

“Is it time to go look for leads?” Ing asked.

“I guess so,” Fang got back onto his paws, “Look cute, kid.”

Ing jumped onto Fang’s back. Fang walked passed Jekyll who was headed on his own way. The wolf and the child walked through the alleys. Fang frequently sniffed the ground and the air around them. They were generally unnoticed other than a couple of side glances. Ing kept quiet as they walked around aimlessly. He would record any conversations that they would overhear or take pictures when Fang said to but other than that, it was rather uneventful.

Fang had his nose to the ground when he caught scent of something interesting. He brought his head up and stood still. There was an apartment complex ahead of then and on the steps was a black man talking to a girl. From the looks of things, the guy liked the girl and was awkwardly trying to lengthen the conversation in order to be around her longer. Fang tilted his head and walked closer with his nose to the ground.

“You’re kidding? People can really do that?” the girl said.

“Yeah, it’s actually pretty cool,” the guy nervously rubbed the back of his head.

Fang sniffed at the guy’s leg.

The guy jumped a little, “Whoa! Hey there!”

“Awe,” the girl bent down to pet Fang on the head, “what a cute dog. What bread is he?” The girl looked up at Ing.

Ing quickly compared Fang’s wolf image with a wide range of wolf like dog breads, “A Northern Inuit.”

“He’s gorgeous,” the girl scratched behind Fang’s ear.

Fang didn’t want to be rude so he let her hand find that spot that was always so hard to scratch on one’s own. His tail waged happily as his ears were being scratched.

“What’s his name” the girl asked.

“Fang,” Ing smiled, “he looks threatening but really he’s a big puppy.”

Fang looked over his shoulder slightly and growled. The girl laughed, “Looks like he resents that remark.”

“You knew in town,” the man asked.

Ing nodded, “Yeah, we’re just passing through thought. Sorry if we interrupted you.”

“No, it’s okay!” the girl smiled.

“Let’s go Fang,” Ing kicked his sides like one would to get a horse moving.

Slowly, Fang walked off. He listened to the couple talk a little more until they were out of earshot. Fang looked back and growled at Ing.

“Really? I’m just a big puppy?” Fang growled, “I’ll show you how much of a puppy I am when I rip your little robot head off your shoulders.”

Ing crossed his arms, “We’ll its true isn’t it. The big bad wolf turns puppy when his ear gets scratched. Let’s hope the bad guy isn’t a good ear scratcher.”

Fang looked ahead, “Don’t you dare tell anyone! Or I will tear you limb from limb!”

“Hmph!” Ing stuck out his tongue, “Why did you even go over to them in the first place?”

Fang stopped a moment before answering, “I don’t know.”

Ing leaned down so that he was by Fang’s eye, “You don’t know?”

“I don’t know, something was just different that’s all!” Fang snapped, “Now will you shut up and leave me alone!”

“Fine!” Ing snapped, “Mr. Bossy…”

“That’s it!” Fang sat down causing Ing to tumble backwards, “You’re walking the rest of the way, Mr. Smarty-pants!”

Fang got up and started walking away. Ing got to his feet and ran after him asking for forgiveness and a second chance. Fang ignored the cries for a while but eventually allowed the android to sit on his back again.