Washed-up//open//OxO

(I apologize for how long it took me to write this response! If it ever seems like I forgot, Just bump it and I'll respond!)

Pierce could tell that Auraelous was interested in his book. He hid his smile and leaned back, the seed was planted and all he needed to do now was let the glorious plant come to fruition. "Well, some in the underworld like to call me the Mad Hatter of Amsterdam. Why Amsterdam I don't know, I've never even been there. Or have I?" He winked and sat up straight, his lunch had arrived and he needed to leave a good impression on the waitress if he intended to leave here with more than a satisfied stomach.

Seeing the other man's reactions to his playful name-calling excited Pierce like a child who got exactly what they wanted on Christmas day. He made a mental note of this and set a goal to irk the man with as many names as he could in the future. It wasn't his reaction to the name that caught his attention, however, it was how panicked he became after hearing that simple sentence. Pierce frowned slightly and laced his fingers together. "A brother?" he said quietly. He watched as Auraeleous sped out of his seat and ran out. Did he miss something?

A quick perusal of his book gave him all the information he needed. Matteo had mentioned things spicing up at the Agency a few months back. He had said something about a small fry on his way to becoming a bigger fish in the water. The name was slipping him but within a few more skimmed pages, the name was there. Pierce felt gratitude for his obsessive note-taking because, without them, he wouldn't have this much information to look back at. Nor would he have the rage he felt currently.

Matteo had always been a calculating person but the person he apparently trusted the most, was Pierce. This was laughable considering what Pierce had been planning for him. There was a reason he was not solely affiliated with his business, why he preferred to be a contract killer. Yes, he mainly signed with Matteo but that didn't mean he didn't have business elsewhere. It was why Pierce felt so angry at his cowardly use of a scared lost soul who was only trying to protect his loved ones. It totally wasn't because Conan reminded Pierce of his past life. Matteo had irked the Panther and its claws were coming out.

(Hello! I'm so sorry for not responding, it has been a rough few weeks but i will get a response up soon!)

Auraleous couldn't care about the book. Frankly, he couldn't care about much as he stumbled through the doors of the agency, only managing to remain upright through sheer luck and determination. Determination to find the newbie, hopefully in a way that was more pleasant than what he was imagining.
Don't! Don't think like that. He wouldn't. He's fine!
Auraleous swiped into the private office space of the agency, scanning the desks they had been sitting and working at not even half an hour ago. He had promised to bring back lunch, hoping it would take the edge off the night and the better part of the morning. They could have talked more as colleagues or even friends. Maybe Auraleous could have learned about Kaz. But as Auraleous turned a corner and made it towards the front receiving offices, the stench of medical sterilization equipment stung his nose, followed immediately by the sound of paramedics and heroes trying to figure out what was happening.
What happened? He was fine an hour ago He hasn't left the office since he go here
Auraleous numbly stepped onto the scene, eyes wild and wide as he gazed upon possibly his worst nightmare. Instead of a desk, it had been shoved aside so a gurney could be wheeled in. The shape of a body was outlined under the swath of stark white blanket. Auraleous stood in front of the gurney, breath shallow as some coworker or another, he never really learned their names for this exact reason, tugged him away and slowly started telling him what had happened after he had left for lunch, all of which Auraleous caught in bits and pieces through the fog in his mind.
"Conan had gone back to work after you left….sat there for a long while…suddenly wanted coffee…kid has never drank coffee before….stress….added creamer from his drawer….medics think it was poisoned…don't know who…" Auraleous slowly stood as a detective came over to the pair. By now, he knew the drill, and being the only other person Conan had had any contact with before, he… Auraleous let himself be cuffed and taken into questioning.
__

Auraleous had thought this day was long this morning after getting to work, if only he knew. It had been nearly three hours of questioning, investigating, and then further questioning before Auraleous was finally cleared. He scrubbed his face and took a deep breath as he went back to sitting down. By then, the gurney had been wheeled away along with Conan. The scene had been cleaned and cleared as if everything had been erased from time. Auraleous looked at the desk from this morning and saw that, too, had been wiped clean as if he hadn't worked there at all. He let out a shakey breath, whipping around when he felt a hand on his shoulder for a moment.
"I know it's been a long day, but do you mind answering one more question?" The detective asked. Auraleous nodded after he gained his composure.
"Do you happen to know about Conan's family? We're aware of a younger brother but no family as far as his records show."
Auraleous grabbed for the chair again, sitting back down as Conan's seemingly harmless request that morning came rushing back. "n-no…none that I know of.." He managed out.
The detective nodded in realization. "If there's no one else, the kid will have to go into Child Protective Ser-"
"Me." Auraleous piped up. "I. I promised Conan I would take care of Kaz. I just hadn't realized how soon…"
Another nod from the detective. "We will need to dig further into the family history in case any kin are suitable to take care of the kid. If not, we'll contact you in a few days for a search into your history and make arrangements. Until then, the kid will stay with us." Auraleous wanted to protest, but he knew not much could be done without any written proof from Conan, and well, that couldn't happen now.
After another hour or so of making sure the detectives had all his information and being a ghost in his job, Rae made his way back home in the late hours of the night.
Before he went back to his home, possibly out of paranoia, Auraleous went up to the parking garage to search for anyone, mostly Pierce, staking out his apartment. When he found no one, Auraleous taped a small piece of paper to where he had last seen Pierce.
"Happy now?"