Scarlett @ don't wish, don't start

[Scarlett Anne Owens]

Scarlett walked into his apartment as though it was home. It was somewhat like a second home, sometimes. She took off her shoes and tossed her backpack into a corner. "Nah." Scarlett said. She had a strong suspicion that she could sleep anywhere in this apartment comfortably (though she hadn't tested sleeping on random places like the floor or kitchen table.) Anything was more comfortable than a hospital bed. "It wouldn't be fair - I always win at rock paper scissors." Which wasn't necessarily true, but she had won their last few bouts of the game (for the TV remote, for the fish they won at the last street fair, and for the military style canvas bag they both liked at Fossil.)

She marched straight into Todd's bedroom and into his drawers. A few minutes later, she was holding her own clothes, neatly folded, and looked like ... a little sister wearing her big brother's cotton drawstring pants and t-shirt, if the sister was 18 years old. They were very large, because Todd was buff and Scarlett was petite. The light grey pants and white t-shirt made her look particularly tan - which she always developed very quickly. She was just a generally darker person than Todd.

[Todd Stephen Owens]

Todd chuckled, watching her in his clothes, it was rather amusing. She looked so small that way. He chuckled and unfolded the futon for her before going into his own room and putting on flannel pajama pants. he didn't sleep in shirts, and Scarlett wouldn't care. He put a hand on his stomach and called from the other room. "I'm jealous of your ability to tan." At least his step dad felt his pain. Mom and Scarlett however bronzed in the summertime.

He walked out and flipped on the tv to the weather channel so he could be prepared. As a cop, he always had clothes by his bed with his things in case he got called out in the middle of the night. With the tv going, he went to got his toothbrush, he came back brushing asking awkwardly: "Sho wad its shay about de moning? (so what's it say about the morning?)" He asked.

[Scarlett Anne Owens]

"What can I say? It's a gift." Scarlett was too distracted spreading the quilt over the futon to come up with a more clever comeback. It wasn't so much as a gift than genetics, which was the same thing in a certain perspective. The quilt was made by grandma some years ago. She nabbed one of Todd's pillows.

Scarlett sat crossed legged on the futon and turned when Todd reappeared asking about the weather. "It says people who brush too vigorously are at a greater risk for eroding gums." She smiled innocently then decided Todd might not be in the mood for smartass comments. "And that tomorrow the day will start off with drizzles that will develop into sporadic thunderstorms in the afternoon."

Which sounded great to Scarlett. She loved thunderstorms, and since she was already skipping out on school, she had plans to occupy the living room armchair and read the Harry Potter books, again.

[Todd Stephen Owens]

Todd gave her a look before going into the bathroom to spit and rinse. Wet. Gross. Was it going to be hot or cold? He walked back and sat beside her. "Kinda a bummer for senior cut day. Not great beach weather." He said. It was gonna be in the mid 50s, low humidity. Blech... Oh well, maybe he'd get to spend it in the office instead of running down leads, but really, he'd like to spend it in bed.

"I wish I had a cop cut day," he said with a laugh, laying back on the open futon. He was exhausted. Not to mention he'd had a run in with Bailey the other day and he was tired of running into her. Maybe if he could be home alone all day he'd be okay...

"How about you go to the office and I lay in bed tomorrow?" he teased, prodding her lightly in the thigh.

[Scarlett Anne Owens]

"I honestly don't mind." Scarlett said, deciding to lay back down using Todd's chest as pillow, even though she just stole a pillow from his room. From a certain perspective, it may seem that she went out of her way to bother him, but really, she just liked being close to him. He was literally her favorite (real) person in the world.

"I would happily go into the office for you." Scarlett said, "Although I don't think I'd do any good in a high speed chase - both on foot and in a car." She poked him back, but in his side, hoping she'd either hit a pressure point that would make him jump or a nerve that would tickle him.

An idea was brewing in her mind, and she chewed the inside of her cheek like she normally did when digesting a particularly compelling thought. Maybe there was a way he wouldn't have to go into work tomorrow at all.

[Todd Stephen Owens]

Todd laughed. She always was a little strange. She probably planned to be in bed reading all day. Plus, the idea of her in a high speed chase was truly comical, but they didn't happen too often, well not ones in cars... and he didn't even want to begin to think about her running on foot. Not in her condition.

He yawned and shoved her off his stomach playfully. "I really should get some sleep. Gotta catch a creep tomorrow." He chuckled, running his hand through his hair, his eyes closing for a moment. He realized he should set up the coffee maker now so he didn't have to fight with it later or anything.

Scarlett had that look on her face that she got when she was thinking very hard and Todd furrowed his eyebrows. What was on that little mind of hers?

[Scarlett Anne Owens]

"You go get some sleep." Scarlett nodded. "You're going to need all your strength to be a hero tomorrow." She lifted her head off his chest in order for him to be able to get up and get to sleep. Before she could watch him go, she needed to ask him one more question.

"Could I used your laptop?" She asked casually.

[Todd Stephen Owens]

Todd just nodded and yawned again, getting up and going towards his room. Then she asked for his laptop. She couldn't do any harm right? "Yeah okay." He said nodding again. He went into his room and took it off his dresser and brought it to Scarlett. Hopefully she wasn't gonna look through his internet history... he'd been single just a bit too long. He did not want to consider that. She wasn't dumb and was probably just checking facebook or whatever.

"There you go. Shouldn't need the charger, you know the wireless password." He said, and with that he went back into his room and shut the door. God he was tired.

[Scarlett Anne Owens]

Scarlett made sure she heard the sound of Todd collapsing onto his bed before opening her preferred web browser. While she knew the wireless password, Todd's computer automatically connected to the internet, and the connection was actually pretty good.

The website she opened would look awfully suspicious and confusing to the untrained eye, but Scarlett knew that clicking into a certain area opened a log-in window. Sure enough it popped up, along with a darkness that was threatening to turn the whole screen black, but Scarlett punched in her username and password within the ten-second limit. And then the internet page opened to a chat room.

Her hacker friends greeted her immediately.
“Hey! Underappreciated03 is back =)” exclaimed Snapfire.
“how're the kidneys doing?” 1107therising asked.

Scarlett smiled. Of course of some of her fellow hackers would be up – she knew they were conveniently placed all over the world, and some of them (Scarlett suspected) never actually slept. She had a friendly chat before asking them “Want to have some fun?”

“where to?” 1107therising asked.

“Belleville, RI police station. I need the latest police report on a local break-in.”

“on it”

The greatest part was that no one asked why. Projects like these never needed an explanation. Somehow everyone trusted everyone else, which might seem strange to outsiders, because they had never met each other in person. And Scarlett had no doubt 1107therising would hack-in undetected – he was one of the hackers that messed up the Pentagon's system last year. The thing about hacking into a system like the one at the police station, was that you couldn't just get into it from the outside without inside information. What hackers normally did was use the information of someone who had access to the network. Scarlett was able to guess Todd's password.

Within half an hour she had the report. With many thanks to her friends, Scarlett said goodbye and promised to be back soon and take care of her internal organs. Now the real work began.

Scarlett scanned the police report, trying to figure out how to go about finding the perpetrators. She was limited in her means because she only had the laptop, but then she was also limitless because there was nothing entirely closed off to her. But how to start? And then Scarlett remembered something Todd had told her: the people responsible took jewelry. And what to do with stolen jewelry either than to sell it? There was a list of the missing articles in question.

She figured the perpetrators wouldn't use ebay to sell of their stolen goods, so on a hunch she searched to see if their was a local pawn shop, because she wouldn't really know first hand. There was. Managing to get into the shop's database was laughably simple – it was such a crude system, and predictably connected through a bank program in order to handle credit card transactions. Were there any recent transactions that matched the stolen jewelry. Scarlett's eyes skimmed the list and her heart skipped a beat – yes there was. But it was only one gold ring and the sapphire necklace linked to a credit card that Scarlett knew even the police could track within a few minutes.

She was wondering why the person only sold some of the jewelry when another transaction popped up. It was more of the stolen jewelry (Scarlett confirmed checking the police report) but linked to another credit card. Scarlett's heart raced when she realized what was going on – the thief was selling the jewelry in batches and putting the money onto different credit cards, probably all under different names.

But that also meant that he was still at the shop.

Scarlett hastily sent an anonymous (and untraceable) email to a bunch of the police officers she thought were still working at the station. Hopefully checked their email regularly, or had those annoying voices that told them when they had mail. SOUTH STREET PAWN SHOP. BREAK IN THIEF SELLING STOLEN JEWELRY.

Then she hastily cleared her recent browser history, pausing for a second because she saw the sort of sites Todd had recently been visiting. But there was no time to dwell on that fact. She logged into Facebook and closed it as soon as it opened, just so it would show up in the internet history. Closing the laptop, she gently placed in onto the coffee table, trying not to make any noise. Making herself comfortable under the quilt, she tried to look as though she had been asleep for a while. In reality though, her heart was still racing. South Street wasn't too far from the station – if they took her tip and rushed over there, they should have gotten the guy (maybe girl?) and Todd should be getting a call any time now ...

[Todd Stephen Owens]

Todd groaned as his cell phone rang beside him. "Hello?" He said into the phone. It was Clara on the other line.

"We just got an anonymous email that the guy who robbed the house was selling his jewelry. Already have a unit on route, it may be just a decoy, but we'll see."

Todd just sort of grumbled into the phone as a response. Then, "So are you going down there too? Need me?" Clara said she was going in a follow up car and that time was of the essence so she'd call him as soon as she knew more. And with that, they hung up. His brain was far too tired to think about Scarlett on his laptop in the other room. How long ago had that been? How did someone know who they were even looking for? What they were looking for? It was bizarre to be sure.

[Scarlett Anne Owens]

The ringing of Todd's cellphone in the next room made Scarlett smile and giggle - a result from her recent excitement. Trying to hush the sound, she covered her mouth with the quilt. A call meant something was happening, and it'd be remarkable if something else was occurring at the same exact time. They were either on there way, or maybe they already had him (or her.) Scarlett tried not to be biased in her own head.

Excitement was fizzling away into calm. Underappreciated indeed, she smiled to herself at the little joke. As much fun as it was to be sneaky and have a sort of power over others, Scarlett thought that most of the buzz came from knowing she made a difference. She had a lasting impact - which was almost the same as confirming that she mattered.

But she couldn't quite stay calm - there was a part of her dying to know if it had worked. She thought there must be a way of inconspiciously checking. Getting up, she gently tapped on Todd's door and then walked in anyway.

"Did you get a call to go back to work?" she asked, in little more than a whisper, hoping her voice was colored with sadness and concern (and not the overwhelming curiosity bubbling inside her.) Sitting on the corner of his bed, she looked at the dark figure that was his reclining body.

[Todd Stephen Owens]

"Yeah, well... Clara is on it with a few other officers. they're gonna tell me how it goes, since they are all dressed and conscious and still at work and I'm the boss." he said quietly, his voice low and groggy with sleep. He wasn't the head honcho, but he was leader of his team and he had no trouble sharing the glory, he'd done his part.

"Sorry if the phone woke you up," Todd said with a yawn.

[Scarlett Anne Owens]

"No worries, boss." Scarlett said with a smile that Todd probably didn't see because she was almost sure he was talking to her with his eyes closed. He'd likely fall straight back to sleep if he were given the chance, but Scarlett didn't want to just leave. Sure it was a bit awkward for her to be sitting and just watching him sleep, but Todd probably wasn't attentive enough to notice her strange behavior anyway. And she really, really wanted to hear his phone ring again and for him to tell her that "wow, the case was solved" or something of the like.

So she continued sitting on the edge of his bed, watching him sleep, as if it was a casual thing to do, waiting for the phone to ring.

[Todd Stephen Owens]

Eventually, the phone did ring and he stirred, grumbled and picked up the phone, feeling a weight on his bed and remembering that Scarlett was here. Why was she still in his room? It was Clara on the phone, they had caught the guy selling the stuff and he had confessed in exchange for a shorter sentence, which was good. That meant no one had to work him over tomorrow... or was it today by now?

"They did it." Todd said. "Now get off my bed and let me sleep." He chuckled softly and nudged her with his foot.

[Scarlett Anne Owens]

It took every bit of self-restraint Scarlett had in order not to jump up and screamed, "Yippee!" She didn't even respond to Todd with an overly-enthusiastic "Okay!" that was itching to escape her lips. However, she did pop up from the bed rather excitedly and practically skipped back into the living room.

Now it was joy that coursed through her veins, but like excitement, it was keeping her awake. Unsure what to do with herself and her energy, Scarlett went on Todd's laptop again. Back on the hacker site, she announced that she had almost single-handedly located a criminal, just because she was bursting to tell someone. It was nice to have someone appreciate her efforts - she could never tell Todd that she regularly broke the law, even if it was with good intentions.

1107therising: "power is a powerful thing, 03"
Snapfire: "aw, using your powers for good? lame =P"

She said her goodbyes once more and after clearing the history again, closed the laptop. Figuring she ought to read in order to calm and tire herself out, Scarlett picked up Todd's issue of Gentleman's Quarterly.

In the morning, Todd would find her curled up on her side at the far end of the futon (because she never stretched out over all her available space.) On the other end of the futon, GQ would be opened to an article on Hugh Jackman, who had been named the year's Sexiest Man Alive.