The Universe's Mixer

Enigma stepped into Caritas, memories suddenly hitting her of being here with Christian, a small, sad smile on her lips as she ran her fingers over a table, wishing she could go into the kitchen and further drown in the memories of the sweet, tender man who took her places she hadn't been in a long time, before shaking her head, trying to banish the thoughts of her could have friend, taking a seat and ordering a gin and tonic, listening to some of the patrons sing.

She sipped from her glass slowly, savoring the taste, the numbing effects of the alcohol. So much had been going on lately that she needed the break, the escape...and it was either this or get end up sitting on a stool next to her father...and worrying over him, rather then forgetting her own problems.

She had no idea what she was doing anymore...all of her plans, her plots and her games upset and now she had to pick up the pieces, and figure out the path she was going to take.

Good or Evil, Bruce of her father...salvation or damnation...

So many branching paths, so many roads to get tripped up on.

She moved over to the machine that provided songs, draining her glass as she flipped through the choices before selecting one. She hadn't sang since her last meeting with Erik, all the joy sucked out of the act, memories clouding around her brain any time she opened her mouth, her voice freezing.

I wish that this night would never be over
There’s plenty of time to sleep when we die
So let’s just stay awake until we grow older
If I had my way we’d never close our eyes, our eyes, never!

She closed her eyes as she started to sing, her voice cracking for a moment, emotion and neglect coating it, before it strengthened, returning to what it had been when she stood on the Opera House stage as Carmen, filling the room clearly.

It's so hard to think this could fade away
But what goes up must come down
Why can't we just live life with no consequence
And always live in the now

She clenched her fists, tears flowing down her cheeks, and she was rather glad that no one cared what happened in the life of an operatic diva or CEO of a major corporation, as she was sure the pictures of her running mascara would not look pretty anywhere. She drew a shaky hand across her cheeks as she sung, pouring herself into the song, wiping the smear of black on her skirt, trying to get it off her hand.

If I had my way we’d never close our eyes, our eyes, never!

She finished, and eagerly fled the stage, returning to her table and getting two shots of whiskey delivered, downing them one after the other, eager to escape herself.

Jack still didn't have any clue as to who had tried to kill Fred. That concerned him and it was getting to the point where he knew she wanted to get out of the hospital. He couldn't blame her, and he was sure that while he'd kept the news reporters out of it, it was no longer a secret that she was alive. He'd known that was a possibility upon telling Dinah, but he couldn't in good faith allow her friends to think she was dead.

Jack knew that he needed to try a different tactic to see if he could keep her safe. So he picked up the phone and dialed one of the few detectives in the City whom he had spoken to personally and who he trusted.

Charlie Crews. He found the number easily and hit the send key. Jack didn't like asking for favors, particularly in his position. But for Fred, he would.

Charlie: Crews. Yes?
Jack: Detective Crews, it’s Jack Heart. I have a favor to ask of you.
Charlie: Mayor Heart. What can I do for you?
Jack: I have something that I’d like you to look into. Someone’s tried to kill a friend of mine. Do you have the time to take on another case?
Charlie: I will see what I can do. I’m working on something, but I can definitely give it a look.
Jack: I’ll fax over the information. Anything you could do would be appreciated.
Charlie: Send it to my phone. Phones do that. Phones can do anything, you can even talk on them. Not talk talk, but talk text talk. Send the info, Mayor.
Jack: Thanks, I’ll do that. She’s important to me, so I appreciate the help.
Charlie: Protect and serve, Mayor Heart. I’ll check on your friend, and see what I can do to help.
Jack: Thanks again.

Jack hung up the phone and used his own phone to pull up the information he had on the case so far and sent it over. He just hoped that Charlie would be able to help.

----

Charlie read over the info; his jaw tightened a little. Someone shot some poor woman and burned her place down? He would look into it while he looked into other things. Someone had just made an enemy. He would find the person, and he would make sure they were punished. Of course, he had a long list of people to punish. A very long list.