The L-Series – Living In Entropy – L.I.E. – 02.01

            Tina shook as Alice hugged her hard not asking again what was wrong.  She simply held her as she cried and sobbed her soul away.  Tina felt as if her body had been pounded by a heavy weight boxer, beaten and broken by the woman she loved.  Bette you have ripped me to tatters, like the dress it’s all shred and you are the one that did it.  How could you disregard out love, our life, and our dreams to cheat with someone else.  Never mind that it was Candace Jewel, her complete and totally polar opposite.

            Tina could feel Alice staring at the board the CA that stood there like a lighthouse beckoning her attention from time to time.  Tina wiped away some of the tears, unable to cry any longer.  Her pain was too deep for tears; she wanted her heart back her soul.  Where were they Bette?  Did you still have my soul, or have you sold it?  You ripped me apart, piece by piece and now here I am a shadow of my former self, thank you so much Bette Porter. 

            The phone was ringing it was 4am and the phone was ringing and Alice made no move to get it, and she let the machine picked it up.  For some reason, the volume was down and they didn’t hear the message that was being recorded. 

*****

Earlier CAC

            Shane walked away from Cherie as she swallowed the tears back she didn’t cry.  She didn’t do relationships Shane looked around the room, for someone she could simply do.  This is why you keep yourself closed off Shane, you get hurt.  You’ve been down that road before, and now here you are again.  Heart in pieces and still no woman on your arm and a cold bed to sleep in when you get home.  Are you ever going to learn?  Shane stood and looked around again, clearing her throat.  There were still plenty of *****-able women here; well that was just what she was going to do, ***** Cherie Jaffe.

            She saw a tall woman she had shorter dark blonde hair and was a total tom-boi as she turned Shane saw her face.  Shane smiled she was beautiful, and she seemed to be singing to herself as she walked around the exhibits.  A smile played on her full lips, and Shane tried to memorized the face, the hair that was gelled and spiked in a mohawk, making her look feral and totally cute at the same time.  Shane sauntered up to her and she overheard what the woman was saying.

            “Pez here.”  She said and Shane leaned against the wall listening into the one sided conversation this woman was obviously having with herself.  Great, leave it to me to pick out the only nut case in the building. 

            The mystery mohawk woman turned and she was leaning on the opposite corner as Shane was, and Shane could smell the sweet scent of a perfume that she couldn’t put her finger on.  Lord that smelled good, Shane closed her eyes as the woman said to the ghost in her head.

            “Jaffe’s clean at least for tonight.  I do, do I?  Go to ***** Ray I’m going in and washing the gel out of my hair, see you tomorrow or rather later today.”  The woman began to walk away and Shane saw her pulling something from her ear and sliding it into the pocket of her pants.  What the?  Shane thought as the woman went to the bar and ordered a drink.  She was leaning sexily against the bar overlooking what was left of the crowd.  Shane quickly went over to where she was standing and suddenly Clea was there to her right.

            “You ***** *****!”  She yelled at Shane and Shane backed away, right into the ‘talking to ghost woman’ Pez.  Clea made a fist and swung at Shane, who moved to quickly and slammed again into Pez.

            “Clea…  You’re dad sees you next to me and I’m in deep *****.”  Pez caught the back peddling Shane, their eyes met for just an instant and she walked away.  Pez knew who the little blonde vamp was, and she was most certainly not blowing her cover tonight.  Shane scoffed, and turned and tucked tail and ran for her life.

*****

            Bette sat on the sat on the floor her back to the bed.  Bette was holding the torn blue dress that Tina’d been wearing.  She held it against her chest, it having lost the warmth of Tina’s body long ago, but she was not able to let it go. 

            She hadn’t been able to stop crying since Tina’s left, she was gone.  She had to make this up to her; she had to know that she loved her?  She just had to know that, no matter what; Tina had to know, didn’t she?

*****

            Dana slipped under the covers and Tonya opened an eye and asked in her always to perfect tone of voice.

            “Who was that my love?”  Dana didn’t answer for a long time she to deep in thought about who the ***** had just knocked on her door and planted the most amazing kiss on her lips in her life.  That couldn’t have been Alice because Alice wouldn’t want to kiss her.  Now way, never.  It had happened she wasn’t having a Dana Day Dreaming session that had been real.  When had Alice suddenly wanted to kiss her?  This was insane Alice had a twin out there, or this was some ***** elaborate joke that Alice was playing on her.

            “It was just Alice she forgot her cell phone in my car…  She needed it and I got it for her…  Go back to sleep ok?”  Dana said in a blank voice Tonya kissed her tenderly, and Dana listened as her breath slowed down and she fell back asleep.

            Alice!  You are going to have some ***** explaining to do tomorrow morning.  On the other hand, you could kiss me again, and I’m going to convince myself that this wasn’t or isn’t some dream!


*****

            Tina got up and went towards the bathroom Alice followed her like a puppy dog, and Tina got to the door and turned to look at Alice.  Their eyes met and Alice’s was wide eyed as Tina said in a flat toned voice.

            “I still know how to go to the bathroom on my own Al ok?”  Alice snapped back to the reality that the ***** gods had dealt them unfairly.  She turned and listened to Tina going to the bathroom she was throwing up.  She was crying again, and then the toilet flushed but Tina didn’t come out. 

            What the ***** had Bette done?  What the ***** had she done to send Tina into a spiral like this?  Alice went over to the phone remembering the unheard message and she disregarded it for the moment and picked up the phone intent on giving Bette Porter apiece of what was left of her mind.

            “Pick the ***** up Porter, come on!”  Alice said into the phone as it rang, and rang.  Alice thought to herself that if Bette wasn’t answering, where was she.  ***** you Porter; you need to answer your ***** phone.

*****

            She could hear the phone, but she just couldn’t make her feet move from out of in front of her, it could be Tina?  She thought but then threw that idea out of her head.  She’d done the unthinkable and made it a reality.  She tried to make her legs move, but they still were under some spell and were no longer at her beck and call.

            Beck and call, that’s how she’d treated Tina over the last year.  The woman who had to pick up her cleaning cook for her clean her house.  Their house, no Bette had always thought of it as her house.  She’d treated Tina unfairly then Tina’s found something that she loved, the Center and Bette had no longer been the center of Tina’s world.  Had she ever really wanted a baby to contend with? 

            Tina wasn’t ever going to talk to her again, if she did, all the words would be blurred with anger.  She sighed listening to the repeated rings of her phone as Bette stared at her feet, waiting for them to finally move, and they didn’t.

*****

            “Well ***** YOU BETTE!”  Alice screamed into the phone feeling her frustrations bubbling to the surface.  Tina opened the door at the deep yell that Alice had just let loose.  “You know, I don’t know what she did, but knowing selfish Bette, it was just that, down ***** right selfish.  She was always a ***** ***** when she wanted to be.  Oh who the ***** am I to talk, I just went over to Dana’s house and kissed her!”  Alice blurted out her hands in the air as she made the impromptu confession of the day.

            “You what?”  Tina asked her face stunned forgetting her angst for just a moment and focusing on Alice. 

*****

            “PEZ!”  Tyler yelled into the women’s room, and Alexandria Pezinni yelled back to her Captain.

            “Coast is clear man come the ***** on in.”  Tyler walked to where Pez was sitting on the bench, she was lacing up her boots and she looked up.  Her eyes caught him off guard they were hazel green eyes that always seemed to have a backlight in them making them rather luminous even in the dim light of the dingy room.

            “I’m off I am not going back into no dress-me-uper tonight.”  Alexandria said with a smile on her face and he thought if he told her too she would do just that.  She was one of the best undercover agent’s he’d ever had and she’d only been with him for a year.  She could have been an actress if she’d wanted too she was pretty enough and she sure as ***** was ***** enough and could act.

            “I know I came to tell you that as of Monday morning, you are done.”  Her gruff voice made her bulk, what was Cap talking about?

            “Ex-*****-scuse me?”  Pez stood up her hands on her hips as she stared openly at the tall dark man in front of her.  He then broke into a grin and she almost relaxed, the other shoe was about to drop.

            “You got it.  You passed you are now detective grade Alexandria Pezinni, in CS squad Alpha 4.”  Pez’s eyes went wide as she silently yelled in her head.  It was about ***** time!

            “After 8 months, I finally got it.  I’m on whose detail?”  Pez asked quickly and Tyler smiled, he hated losing the multi talented officer but she did want this badly.  It was the work she’d been doing in New York a few years ago until she’d been hurt in the line of duty during the 9/11 attacks.  Broken back but she’d managed to get herself walking again, and now she had passed all the physical requirements to be right back where she’d always wanted to be, behind a badge.

            “That would be Diaz’s team, the high profile stuff girl you are in the big time.  I’m willing to bet that they read that thing of yours and thought you’d be the glowing star they needed too light up their lives.”  Tyler turned and walked away, Pez sat back on the bench, cursing her luck.  *****.

*****

            “Wow, so you think if you distract Dana from Tonya that she’ll break up with her.  This is your plan.  You are going to make Dana fall for you then break her heart by telling her that you really aren’t in love with her, but it was a ruse to make her leave Tonya?  How dumb are you Al?”  Alice narrowed her eyes thinking about how Tina had just stated that and she nodded.

            “In a nutshell.  Look it sounded way better in my head.  She cannot marry Tonya!”

            “This is stupid.  I know you think Tonya is a flake…”  Tina stated and Alice was about to say something but Tina put her hand up to stop her.  “But you know what Tonya makes her happy, have you seen how happy she is?”  Tina went to the phone and was about to dial Dana’s number when she saw the light on the answering machine blinking she pushed the button and listened.

            Shane’s voice, higher pitched than normal, frazzled, and pained.

            “Al, Al ***** pick up.  Alice?  *****, you’re not there are you?  *****!  Al, I was arrested for violating some bullshit restraining order.  I’m at Precinct 221, Alice?  Damn it Al, where are you?”  The line when dead and Alice was standing opened mouthed at the message.

            “OH *****!”

*****

            Shane was being processed and she was scared like she’d never been before in her life.  She rubbed her face as they had her stand in front of the board, her name in those block letters and they took her picture, ***** that it was a mug shot. 

            “Turn to the right.”  Shane did as she was told and she took a deep breath.  ***** Clea had run to her father and said that Shane had gone after her.  In a heartbeat, he’d had LAPD there to arrest her *****, *****!  How could she have been so dumb as to think that she was worthy of someone like Cherie?  Was it to much to ask for a break a good one, in her life?  Shane always down and out.

            “Come with me.”  The woman officer said and Shane did as she was told.  Her head hung down low as Clea was yelling at her mother and father in the squad room.  Shane could hear her, and now she saw her.  Her face red as her mother turned and walked away go ahead Cherie, walk away because you never could have learned the meaning of real love.  You have a nice thing going with a man you hate, keep doing what you are doing, that will eventually eat you away in time.

            “You are so fucked now, aren’t you Shane?  Huh?”  Clea yelled and Pez wheeled around, catching her as she launched herself towards Shane.  She recognized the fake blonde from the CAC party, and she tossed a look over her shoulder and saw just whom she’d expected to see.

            “Hold up there.”  Pez held her at arms length and turned to see the same androgynous woman that had slammed into her earlier.  Steven Jaffe’s kid well she wasn’t under cover any more, ***** protocol.

            “Hey, Powers what is up?”  Pez asked in her New York accented voice and Powers quickly explained that Shane McCutcheon was being booked on violation of a restraint order.  Pez’s hazel-green eyes narrowed, she was in the mood to knock Mr. Jaffe down a peg, or three.

            “Then why is she being booked it’s the little blonde that was following her around all night.  I was there at that CAC thing earlier.  I saw the whole thing.”  Pez said, a small smile started to play on her lips, and Shane didn’t know whom the woman was or what she was talking about.  She’d never seen her before in her life.  Pez was now dressed in old jeans, a dark blue tee shirt and a leather jacket.  She was also wearing glasses and a New York Yankee’s baseball hat.

            “Now listen here Officer.”  Steven Jaffe began and Alex turned around with a cool glare and silenced him instantly Pez eyed Clea for a long moment, walking around her and sizing her up.

            “Ok kid let me tell you how this is going to go down if she is booked.  I am booking your for falsifying a police report, I don’t know what she did to you I don’t care.  I know that you are lying, I don’t care who daddy dearest is…”  Pez looked up at Steven, the man that she’d been tailing earlier and nodded.  “I just think that if she is lying Sir, she needs to say something quickly, and we can release Ms. McCutcheon without any further expense or the court fees and time, and of course the publicity…”  Steven’s face grew pale as Alex looked over at Shane, who was stunned and at awe at the sudden going on’s.  Who was this woman that said she’d seen the whole thing?  There was the tom-boi, who was talking to herself, a nutcase to be sure.  That wasn’t the same woman, the hair color was the same and she wore no makeup and that dress she’d been wearing wasn’t anything like what this cop was wearing.  The hair was straight and very cop like, can’t have been the same woman.  She’d walked with a limp, and this woman most certainly wasn’t limping.  What the?

            “Publicity….”  Steven said eyeing Clea for a moment, he didn’t like being in the spotlight.  It cast too many shadows about his business and his life.

            “Oh I am sure.”  Alex nodded motioning for the booking officer to continue processing Shane, and Shane bulked.  She didn’t want to be finger printed; she most certainly didn’t want to go to jail.

            “Wait, you stay away from my girls, my wife and my daughter or next time Shane I will make sure that this goes my way.  Come on Clea!  Drop the charges, do whatever just make sure she stays away.”  Clea was stammering as her father pulled her away from the scene.

            “Let her go Powers, if there is any paper work leave it on my desk.  Up in CS, night.”  Pez said, not looking back once leaving Shane to wonder who she was.