M-4: Solo

"Mari. I want you to take this request by yourself."

Cenic gasped upon hearing his father's words, his legs giving out slightly. Marion was envious of his optimism. Knowing the detective, there was a catch. The chances of him letting her have a case to herself and prove that she could be better than him was close to zero.

"The request is... a little difficult. Despite that, I believe you can overcome this task."

Despite her low expectations, Marion couldn't help but feel her heart skip a few beats. Was it a murder? A robbery? Or...

"It's a missing persons case. Or more accurately, the client wants you to find someone that they met when they were a child. It's a case that suits you, does it not?"

As the detective finished speaking, Marion felt her heart drop to the bottom of her stomach. Desperately, she searched for some sort of crack in his façade, but combing through the tone of his voice and scanning his chair for any tiny movements brought her no results. There wasn't an ulterior motive to mock her or to assert his dominance. The only thing there was cold, robotic logic, the only thing she was afraid of. As her fleeting hopes of recognition faded, she slowly sank into her pit of despair yet again, the unrelenting darkness within embracing her with the warm welcome of self-pity.

"Are you listening?"

She snapped out of her pessimistic spiral almost instantly, her shaking her head around and slapping herself twice on the cheeks to shift her focus to what was important. Forcing herself to smile, she responded in the most energetic way possible to try and shake off her thoughts.

"Yes sir. I'll begin preparations to leave immediately."

She immediately turned around and paced out of the room, her footsteps drowning out the conversation between the detective and his son. Whatever Cenic was tasked to do, whether it be more or less important that her, wouldn't make her feel any better.

+++

"I'm… sorry."

"What are you apologising for?"

Marion stood at the edge of the front door, the morning light streaming through the stained glass window on the pale marble. Behind her, huffing and puffing with his hands on his knees was Cenic. He had barely woken up in time to catch her and was wearing a colourful bathrobe with slippers, but the look in his eyes was enough for her to take him seriously despite his appearance.

"For my father. You're already so accomplished but he still refuses to let you take a case on your own. Well, not a good case anyway."

Marion looked at him for a few moments before picking up her bags which she on the floor and turning around, starting her short walk to the carriage.

"I'm used to it. Plus, you shouldn't be apologising like that. It's not your decision to make."

"But I put the idea in your head that maybe this time would be different. I say that every time, getting your hopes up only for him to just…"

"Hammer them in the kneecaps."

"Yeah. That."

Marion opened the large oak doors, heading out into the small brick road. Cenic followed closely behind, seemingly unbothered by his overly relaxed appearance and improper footwear.

"But I'm sure you'll do bet… I should probably stop."

"Apologies are for when you've reflected, Cenic. Not that you've hurt me at all. I would have probably gotten my own hopes up each time if I was by myself."

"But I…"

Marion quickened her pace as she turned to corner, forcing Cenic to lightly jog to keep up in his fuzzy slippers.

"But nothing. The truth is, I'm not ready for it. That's the most frustrating thing of all. That no matter how I try, it won't be enough. Your father isn't excluding me out of fear or jealousy, it's just because without this power I'm nothing. So, why not send the amateur to do what they do best; follow a colourful string until they reach their subject.

"Wh… tha…"

Her pace rose once more, Cenic barely keeping pace with her walk as she weaved her way around the smaller roads, until eventually coming to a carriage. Although her partner tried to retort, the combination of his clothing and his stamina held him back, leaving him to stammer the beginning of sentences before losing too much ground until she reached her destination. Without waiting for his response, she entered the carriage, closing the door behind her and giving her instructions to the coachman.

Cenic watched silently as the carriage was pulled away.