Done with the day of work, Sincan was walking home with Cervo right behind him. The time was 4 PM. They usually split off near the Solik Management Branch (SMB) of Sonh.

Sincan: "Don't you ever get bored of this?"

Cervo: "It's a living. Shuk says I have to attend to the needs of the client until the job's done."

Sincan: "Sure he does."

Cervo flicked his fingers in Sincan's ears.

Sincan: "Why you little..."

Sincan used his wind bracelet to blow over Cervo's hair to the other side before flicking his nose.

Cervo: "Nose is off limits, man!"

Sincan: "Doesn't say that in the rules, hehe."

Sincan and Cervo shared a chuckle as they continued walking. As they turned the corner, they saw a small girl crying on the sidewalk outside of a house.

Cervo ran over to the little girl with Sincan in tow.

Cervo: "Hey hey, come on. No need to cry."

He pulled out his Solik badge and showed it to the little girl.

Cervo: "See? I'm a good guy. Now, can you tell me what happened so I can catch the big bad guys?"

Sincan crouched down next to the girl with a smile on his face.

Sincan: "He's telling the truth, trust me."

She stopped crying and examined Sincan up and down. She turned to Cervo and whispered something.

Cervo whispered back and the little girl calmed down.

Sincan: "O....kay? What do we do now?"

Cervo: "Seems like this little lady has just hired me for a job. Let me make a call first."

Cervo scurried off while Sincan's gaze shifted to the inside of the house. From what he could see, There were broken dishes, ripped sheets and pieces of glass everywhere.

Sincan*: "Oh no..."

Sincan: "Stay here, okay? I'm just going to go search inside..."

Sincan walked through the door of the house to find it in shambles. He searched around, expecting the worst. He went into the parents' room to find it as dirty as the rest.

Sincan*: "No blood, thankfully...She won't have to go through the same thing."

Sincan walked out of the house to find Cervo and the girl waiting for him.

Cervo: "Protocol states that we hand her over to the police for safe keeping for now. Go home, Sincan, this is Solik business."

Sincan: "No, not this time. Her parents are missing."

Cervo: "You went in there? What if you messed up the crime scene."

Cervo rubbed his eyebrows before taking a deep breath.

Cervo: "Fine, let's just take her."

----

Cervo and Sincan arrived at the station with ease. The little girl had calmed down significantly but was quiet.

A police officer greeted them inside where they talked.

Officer: "That's the whole truth?"

Cervo: "Swear on Hath it is."

Sincan: "Me too."

Officer: "Well, we'll be taking over the investigation from now on."

Cervo: "Actually, this little lady here has hired me to figure out this mystery."

The officer kneeled down next to the little girl and spoke to her.

Officer: "Is that true?"

The little girl nodded in response. The officer groaned and looked back at Cervo.

Officer: "It'll be a joint operation, then. We're sending one of our guys with you."

Cervo: "Sweet, a joint operation then."

A man walked up to Sincan and Cervo and introduced himself.

Victor: "I'm the officer whose going to be accompanying you. My name's Victor."

Sincan could only look on at the mess that he had gotten himself into.

Officer: "And who's that person behind you?"

Cervo: "My partner, obviously."

Sincan*: "Partner, really?"

Sincan: "Sure am."

Cervo gave his goodbyes and took Sincan and Victor with him to the crime scene.

----

They arrived back at the house. Victor eyed it up and down from the outside. Victor spread tape around the perimeter of the crime scene while Sincan and Cervo watched on.

Victor: "Now then, let's make our way inside."

Cervo walked ahead of Victor and entered the building. He encountered all the same things that Sincan did.

Cervo*: "I'll make sure that little girl doesn't go through that."

Cervo rendezvoused back with Sincan while Victor was still observing the crime scene near them.

Cervo: "Let's check the parents' room, Sincan. Might find some clues there."

Sincan: "Yeah, you're right."

They opened up the door to find a destroyed room with jewelry missing, money scattered on the floor and bloodstains on the walls.

Sincan flinched before returning to his usual composure.

Cervo: "Nothing, huh. Though I did find something weird. There's no pictures of the kid anywhere."

Sincan: "Yeah, that is weird."

Victor: "The suspect must have taken those to hunt the child down. Complete his job."

Sincan: "He's right, Cervo. That has to be why."

Cervo agreed with them and they finished up their investigation.

Cervo: "Must have been a robbery, why else would the jewelry be missing."

Victor: "One that turned violent, clearly."

Cervo: "Shouldn't...Shouldn't there be bodies, though?"

Victor: "Maybe a kidnapping then."

Sincan: "Or an organ harvesting gig on the side."

Cervo: "There weren't any credit cards that I could find. Let's go to the bank to make sure."

Victor: "Let's go then, Solik Cervo."

Sincan had a tense expression on his face as he followed them to the bank.

----

When they arrived at the bank, they found it full of people. Victor used his authority to make his way to the front of the line.

Victor: "I'd like to check the bank account of one Carter Dilm."

The worker took a deep breath to clear his nose.

Worker: "W-what specifically, officer?"

Victor: "When was the most recent withdrawal?"

The Worker said with a nasally voice : "A-around 4:50..."

Victor: "Thank you for the information."

Victor began walking away but stopped in his tracks.

Victor: "And keep your nose clean."

Victor delivered the news which surprised both Sincan and Cervo.

Sincan: "We saw the little girl around 4:07, that means..."

Cervo: "The criminal's still here!"

Cervo's voice startled the rest of the people in the bank before Victor calmed them down. They took their business outside and continued speaking.

Victor: "Exactly, we need to act fast in order to catch them. For now le-"

Victor's phone began ringing and he took it out.

Victor: "I'll be back in a minute. Important call."

As Victor started attending the call away from Cervo, Sincan got closer to him.

Sincan: "Cervo, don't overreact but there was something I noticed."

Cervo: "What? Why are you telling me now, then?"

Sincan whispered: "I said don't! Look, remember when I checked the house before we reported it?"

Cervo: "Yeah?"

Sincan: "There wasn't any blood in the parents' room. Somebody put it there to throw us off the trail."

Cervo: "Sincan, are you sure?"

Sincan: "Yes I am. Now, don't tell the officer this just yet, there's a chance he put it there."

Cervo: "Just this once, but if we don't come up with anything soon, I'm telling him."

Sincan: "Deal."

Victor ran back to Cervo and Sincan with worry on his face.

Victor: "The station just got a tip about the location of the criminal! We need to go through the west exit of Sonh."

Sincan: "Yeah, let's go."

They entered Victor's police car and made their way to the exit. Once outside, Victor hid their vehicle.

Cervo: "So we just wait for anyone suspicious to come along?"

Victor: "That is a part of investigation, yes."

Cervo: "Why the west exit though?

Victor: "Easy way out for criminals. We use it to catch any criminals that come out."

They stayed there for a bit. Waiting for signs of anything suspicious that might come along. After a while a rented vehicle drove by.

Victor: "Got you."

Victor turned on the engine and took off. They were speeding down the road as the car kept going faster.

Cervo: "You have anything to stop that?!"

Victor: "Might!"

Victor tried throwing a fire ball at the wheels of the car but the flames couldn't reach it.

Sincan: "I can help! Cervo, make something!"

Cervo conjured some water out of the air that froze because of the weather. Victor held it while Sincan shot it with wind. The ice spear pierced one of the wheels and the car started to spin out of control, eventually coming to a stop in the middle of the road.

Out of the car stepped two figues with masks on. One of them had long hair and was shorter than the other.

Victor parked his car. He walked out with a gun in his hand.

Victor: "I am arresting you on suspicion of kidnapping, theft and breaking and entering. Come quietly or I will be obligated to use force."

Victor was pointing a gun at the criminals. The two figures looked at each other before one pulled out a gun and started shooting. The projectile caught on Victor's arm and pushed him backwards.

Cervo: "Find cover!"

Sincan pushed Victor behind a tree using wind. Before he could make his way to cover, he got shot in the legs.

Sincan hobbled over to the trees before stopping to catch his breath.

Cervo: "How's your leg?"

Sincan: "Not good. I'll need to stay here. You got this?"

Cervo: "I'm a Solik. Of course I got this."

Cervo put his hands to the ground and made water move through it. The stream slowly moved towards the criminals, using the grass on the side of the road as cover. Sincan was taking pot shots at them to distract them from the trap Cervo had laid.

Cervo: "Do it, Victor!"

Victor aimed for their hands and disarmed them while they slipped on the ice and fell. Cervo ran over to them to freeze their hands and legs in place.

Cervo: "You guys okay back there? Nothing too bad?"

Sincan raised his thumb up at Cervo. Sincan stood up and Victor helped him walk to the criminals.

Sincan: "I think I'll need a quick trip to the hospital. Apart from that, I'm fine."

Victor: "Now that they're apprehended, let's take them back to the station."

Cervo: "Shouldn't we unmask them, to see who they are?"

Victor said in a weird tone: "No. We'll do it at the station and inform you of their identities later."

Sincan: "Wait why no-"

Victor: "Consult with the chief about that, now let's go."

Sincan was weirded out but agreed. They started walking towards Victors car with the criminals who were confusingly quiet.

Victor: "Now let-"

Cervo knocked him on the head with the blunt side of his blades. Sincan stood there in bewilderment as did Cervo.

Sincan: "Why did you do that, Cervo!?"

Cervo: "I...I think I figured it out. This is gonna get me in a world of trouble..."

Sincan: "What do you mean?"

Cervo unmasked the criminals. They were a couple that looked shockingly like the little girl they encountered.

Man: "Please, let us go. We can't go back there, who knows what they'll do to us or Jodie."

Woman: "Her life will be much easier without us. She won't be used against us anymore."

Sincan: "What do you mean? You willingly abandoned your kid. Why would you do that?"

Cervo: "Think about it Sincan. Maybe it wasn't a kidnapping but was meant to look like one. They must have faked it to run away from someone."

Sincan was getting angrier by the second.

Sincan: "Who's so scary you would abandon your own kid?!"

He held the man against the hood of the car, fighting against the pain his foot were feeling.

Man: "Luster Vons, he's got the entire city under his foot. You have to understand, if we stayed, who knows what would have become of her. She'd be used again and again to blackmail us."

Woman: "We made a horrible decision and now it's caught up to us. This is the best we can do to pay for that."

Cervo: "But they still care about her, Sincan. Why else would they take the pictures with them?"

Sincan finally let go of the man and stepped back.

Sincan*: "Luster, huh? He works under Oxe..."

Sincan: "You don't know how much it hurts to lose your family. That's why I helped the kid in the first place. I'm going to bring her back to you."

Woman: "How are you going to do that?"

Sincan: "Trust me, I know a way. Cervo, hide them in the forest and make sure that Victor doesn't wake up. Do not come out until I call you."

Sincan fixed one of the wheels of the rented vehicle before proceeding to drive over to the police station. He walked in and an officer greeted him.

The officer said with a smile: "What business do you have, Sir?"

Sincan replied coldly: "Oxe sent me. Now let me see the girl."

The officer answered with a shaky voice: "R-Right away."

They brought out the little girl. Sincan changed his disposition in order to convince her.

Sincan: "Little lady, I've found your parents. Would you like to go see them?"

Jodie: "yes...please."

Sincan took her by the hand and started walking out. Before he exited, he looked back at the police officers and slid a finger across his neck.

Sincan*: "That'll throw them off for a while."

They took off in the car towards the west exit of the city.

----

They stopped in the middle of the road before stepping out. The man and woman ran out of the forest to cradle their child.

Man: "Thank you..."

Sincan: "I can't guarantee your safety, but you should probably find a nice big city to settle down in. You can get jobs easily and nobody will bat an eye at new arrivals."

Cervo: "We're sorry we can't do anything more."

Woman: "You've done plenty already, young man. We won't forget this. Thank you so much."

The little girl hugged both Sincan and Cervo before returning to her parents.

Sincan: "Not used to that happening."

Cervo: "I'll make sure to clean the city of Luster's corruption. Then, I hope you can return."

Man: "We will."

They took the rented car and drove off with their child. Sincan and Cervo stood there for a bit before speaking.

Cervo: "She could have turned out like you and me, you know?"

Sincan: "You stopped that though."

Cervo: "We did. You'd make a pretty good Solik."

Sincan: "Yeah, maybe I would have."

Sincan*: "If only."

Sincan: "Now let's make this look more realistic, shall we."

They began setting up the scene to make it look like a surprise attack.