New Partner (Simon)

[Abigail Fairweather]

It was the start of the evening, and it was already extremely cold and dark due to the winter. A little snow had found the chance to fall, and a thin layer of white now laid over the landscape. Nothing of which would be a problem for either planes or cars. That thought came very comforting to Abigail, for she knew that she had to drive home with her new partner. One she had only just today learned about that had been assigned to her. She didn’t know the person, but only knew that his name was Simon Sinclair and he was a fully trained police officer. That meant that he would be the one taking care of the last part of her training. Well of course she was happy, but she didn’t feel very safe about it, due to her lack of trust in men. But she would have to bare with it and take it with a smile.
So now she was standing at the airport, with a little paper board with his name ‘Simon Sinclair’ written on it, half readable, standing in front of the arriving gate. And so she had been for the last half an hour, because his plane had been delayed. But she was patient, and waited until he would arrive. She didn’t have any real plans for the night anyway, for she had been ordered not to work this night, and spend her time to get to know her new partner. If it was up to her, she would prefer it the other way around. But oh well… If he wasn’t the type who would try to harass her, it would probably be okay.
As boring as always she was dressed in her loose jeans, and a way to big sweater in dark grey, with a scarf in a boring brown color. Her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail making her brown curly hair loose all its charm. Abigail had the potential of being a very attractive lady if she tried to, but it looked more like she tried her best to look her worse. The only thing she hadn’t corrupted was her beautiful pale skin, and her lovely moss green eyes.

[Animal]

Earlier

The light from the interior of the plane didn’t provide with much light. It made it a bit hard for Simon to read his new book he had bought at the airport. It was about a coldblooded killer who reigned over the Gotham Park. It was written by a local writer in Gotham. Simon thought it could be a good idea to read something from his new town to see if he had to order new books online. Fortunately the book is quite good. The coldblooded killer has never been caught and is rumoured to still be haunting the park. However, the book seemed more as a fiction than a true story, so it seemed hard to believe this should be a true story.

Simon was sitting at the window row on the right side. He had placed the teddy with the picture in the window so he knew where it was. An old lady who sat next to Simon, noticed the teddy bear and asked. ''aren't you a little too old to be carrying a teddy bear around with you?'' the old lady said with a little smile on her face. Surprised as he was of this sudden question, he had to think for a short second, where he replied with a smile on his face. ''yeah... yeah I am too old.'' The old lady looked into the yellow eyes of Simon. ''Then why do you carry it around?'' ''it's a long story'' ''well we got an entire flight from London to Gotham, shouldn't that be enough time to tell me?, besides I should be sleeping but I have never been able to sleep on these bloody planes so I might as well have a little chat with you, because you don't seem to want to sleep on this flight with that book you are reading.'' Simon Smiled ''Okay then'' he said. The old lady and he had a nice conversation during the entire flight.

Now

Simon followed the old lady out from the airplane and out to the arrivals section in the airport. ''oh I'm sure you will do great here in Gotham City, you already have a job and an apartment waiting for you. I will even bet that this city might save you'' the old lady said while walking along with Simon. ''We might never know'' Simon replied smiling. ''oh I think you will Simon, you are smart and also good looking'' The old lady winked at Simon with a cheesy smile upon her face. Simon laughed. He was used to get compliments, but not from people at that age. Simon was carrying his coat on his left arm holding the teddy and the picture in his left hand, while he was holding the old lady’s hand with his right arm, as a true British gentleman would do it. ''oh there she is'' the old lady pointed at a very good looking young girl. ''Bridget I'm over here, come help me with my luggage'' the old lady said very loudly, almost yelling at the girl. The girl rushed over to the luggage cart to get the luggage for the old lady. But Simon, as the kind and gentle man he is, took the luggage and placed it on the ground so Bridget wouldn’t have that much trouble with it. ''I must say you have a terrific grandma Bridget, she's such a lovely woman'' Simon said with a friendly gesture towards Bridget. ''Thanks for a pleasant flight Simon, but I think it's best if me and Bridget gets going, we can't have the food gets cold'' ''It was a pleasure to meet you Sylvia... and you too Bridget'' Simon said with a smile upon his face. The two started walking out of the arrivals area and out towards the cars, when the old lady suddenly turned around and said. ''oh and Simon... remember to stop by my house one day if you gets some time for it.'' ''I will Sylvia, take care''

Simon stood a little while and watched the two of them walk out to the cabs waiting outside. After seeing them departure, he noticed a very dull looking young woman standing with a sign saying ''Simon Sinclair'' and seemed to be looking eagerly at the exit after him. She must be his new partner. He grabbed his luggage from the luggage cart, and started walking towards the young girl. ''I guess you're looking for me'' Simon said while walking towards the girl ''Hi, I'm Simon Sinclair'' he said to the girl and stretched his right hand out to say properly hello to her.

[Abigail Fairweather]

Everything seem like it was taking an eternity, since the plain still really hadn’t gain on the time they were delayed. It almost seemed like it would never show, though logic said that it would. She just couldn’t help but to feel that she was wasting time on this, when she would be in the middle of improving her skills. She hadn’t even brought anything she could do with her, due to her superior forcing her out of the door, preventing her from taking her work with her. This felt like a nightmare, and a moment of complete standstill. Why was it that no one understood how she felt about these things? It was not like rocket science, or some greater reason for life.

The plane finally arrived, – to her joy – and her eyes started to scout the exit for anyone looking like the person she waited for. Not that she had any idea what he looked like, she hadn’t even gotten a description on him. But she imagined him to look like her colleagues, which would be not that good looking, with a rather bad taste in choice of beard, and trying to look all badass. Which none of them actually look like, but more making them look like criminals, especially the rapist kind of criminals.
When she thought about it, it was kind of unreasonable trying to look for someone, from a description they just made up. If not childish to expect that they looked anything like she imagined, (Which was not a charming one) standing scouting for something that resembled. It would come as a surprise to her, if he did in fact look like what she pictured him to be. But it could serve as an entertainment in the wait time, trying to find someone fitting the image, or just looking for something that resembled. At least divert her from the thought of being very annoyed, from being separated for her little darling.

When the person she was actually looking for turned up, and spoke to her, she nearly jumped six feet. Not really from the shock of someone talking to her, but more the fact that he was the type she would imagine being a model. Not really that she was attracted to him, for she has already stamped him as a bad person, until anything else had been proved. But she still gave him a warm smile, then giving him her hand, shaking it cautiously. “I guess you are right… I am Abigail Fairweather” she withdrew her hand quickly after that. She then turned and started to walked towards the entence so that they could get to the car.
“I don’t hope you have too many planes for tonight, because I was ordered to spend time with you getting to know you…” She looked back at him, to make sure he was following.
“Since we are going to be partners… Which you of course have been informed?”
She didn’t really seem like she liked being around him, actually she tried not to meet his eyes. And seemed like she was running away from him, waking fast away, under the excuse that she wanted to get to the car.

[Animal]

She seemed unusually nervous and cautious. Most likely as if she was afraid of that he would rape her. Simon smiled, so she was Abigail Fairweather, his new trainee. He tried to get eye contact with her, but she did everything in her power to avoid it would happen. As she turned around, Simon took a closer look at her. She seemed awfully nervous and scared about the whole situation, she tried to keep the ''mask'' in her hopes that Simon wouldn’t notice. She was already on her way out of the door while talking. Simon chose to just stand still where he had shaken hands with her.

''Well Ms. Fairweather... if your job for today is just to entertain me. Then why are you in such a hurry?'' Simon took a quick look at his wristwatch. It said 19:46. ''We still have 4 hours and 14 minutes for you to drive me home before your day is off and I don't believe it will take such a long time for you to drive me home.'' Simon smiled once again, trying to gain some eye contact with her. He was still standing in the same spot, still holding his coat, but the luggage was just standing on the ground. The teddy bear almost seemed like it was listening along, its head was just showing out from the coat.

[Abigail Fairweather]

When she realized that he was not going to follow, she stopped almost immediately, feeling rather stupid. She had practically been running away from him, and that couldn’t really be called a proper greeting. She just really wanted to get this over with, no matter how much she wanted to make friends with him. Well you could say it was kind of required that she did, because it would be a pain if she couldn’t even talk properly with her new (and only) partner. So she slowly walked back to him, with a smile on her face that told how embarrassed she was from her behavior.
“I am very sorry, it’s an old habit…” She excused herself reaching her hand out to her again.
“Welcome to Gotham, I am your new partner Miss Abigail Fairweather, I look forward to be working with you…” she said in a clam voice, trying to soften a little.

With little effort she managed to get her barriers fully up, and giving a far warmer smile than before. The only thing that didn’t really match her eyes that still had a faint touch of fright and insecurity, but that was not on purpose. She truly did try to push that part of her back, but it seemed like it took more skill that she had. But as long as it didn’t prevent her from doing a good job, and no one asked questions, she didn’t see any reason to be bothered with it. Though knowing that she showed sadness still made her less happy to meet his eyes, but she still forced herself to meet his eyes.

“Can I help you with your luggage?” she asked in a pleasantly tone, still smiling as friendly as she could manage (Which was a lot). The smile did give a whole other kind of light to her face, making her seem for alive, and less dull. Stating that, she had potential to be a lovely young lady, if she didn’t hide behind that very unattractive look. Though she would deny that without even considering it, but it would be a surprise if you knew her.
Her eyes caught hold of his teddy bear, and she smiled a little more for herself. It was rather cute to see a grown man carrying around a toy like that. Well he was probably married, so that would explain why he was holding it. He did have that kind of look most women would be attracted to, and that charming smile of his had surly got hold to someone.

[Animal]

Simon stood a while, a little surprised how she was acting, she tried to be nice but he could see she still was scared. He looked down at the luggage and noticed how much he actually had. 3 big suitcases, he realized it would be looking all clumsy and stupid if he tried to carry them all alone, besides he had a bad knee. ''Yes thank you, Ms Fairweather, that would be lovely'' he smiled. He was surprised he actually managed to get eye contact with her. Her dark green eyes made a beautiful contrast to her actually very beautiful face she had. She was actually very beautiful if she wanted to be, but because of the dull clothing she was wearing, no makeup, her hair and her low self esteem it ruined it. Simon noticed her smiling when she was looking down at him like she had spotted something. He noticed that the teddy bear had its head out as if it was also listening to this conversation. He smiled, he wasn't embarrassed that he was carrying it around, but he did agree on it might seem a little odd that a man on his age was still having a teddy bear.

Simon grabbed one of the suitcases, and lifted it a bit. This was the heavy one of them. Even thou it would maybe make the pain in his knee worse. He chose to show himself as a gentleman and take it for her. After all she didn't look as the big muscular type and this suitcase was rather heavy. He was glad it was his right hand that was free, since it was his left knee that was damaged. Hitting the knee might make him collapse and he didn’t want to make any scene out of his arrival. ''if you would, you can take the two others, my hands are quite full'' he pointed with the teddy bear towards the two suitcases. The other two suitcases luckily had wheels on them so she wouldn't have that much trouble taking them.

[Abigail Fairweather]

Her smile brightened a little when he replied.
“Very well then… The car is this way, so just follow me…” She pointed in the direction she has been walking before. She then took the other two suitcases, lifting one of them from the ground, like it weighted nothing, and then grabbing the other by the handle. It didn’t seem like the weight bothered her, clearly her looks were deceiving in more than just one way. It tended to be an advantage, so she was quite happy for it. Without further notice she started to walk towards the exit, now not looking like she was trying to running away, but walking in a clam pace.
“So why did you decide to come to Gotham?” As she asked she look at him again, deliberately trying to catch his eyes, just to make sure she didn’t seem suspicious. Although she still didn’t like looking into his eyes, because she had this feeling, that he saw more, than she wanted him to see. Of course this was only a hunch, but this feeling was really scaring, as if he saw though everything. It made her shiver thinking of it, as her boy tried to get rid of the feeling, though it didn’t really help.

Without further delay she walked out and found her car, which was nothing more than an old very used car, stating that money probably what she had most of. But it worked, and that was the point of it. She put the luggage in front the trunk, so she would be able to fight with it, to get it opened. It required a lot of pulling, pushing and a final hit to make it open. She didn’t really seem to mind, and was actually quit used to that little fight. When that was done, she put the luggage in, only barely making it fit in the small cars trunk, but managed and closed rather violently to make sure it stayed closed. Then she opened the door at the driver’s seat, and leaned over to the other side to open the passenger door.

[Animal]

Simon kept the smile upon his face. He followed her out to the car, holding the door for her on the way out. She still seemed in a bad hurry to get out of there, but if it was him or the place she was afraid of he didn’t know. He had to test her but he didn’t want to rush it, he had to take time to figure out who she was. On the way out he was studying her. Her clothes, the way she walked, her attitude, all the exterior things that could explain anything about the interior. Suddenly she turned her head and asked a question. It was a rather normal question to get to know the other person, but he had to think of what he answered before answering. After a short second, he started

''Well… I was fired a few years ago due to an accident, but because of my good skills they wanted me back after i had recovered. But because of the low fundings, the state couldn’t pay me. So I was transferred here to Gotham, so i had a job and i could use my skills.''

When they got around to the car Simon was surprised. His expensive way of living gave him quite a shock when he saw the car. It was so old, that he was afraid it would fall apart any second. And it didn’t help that she had to use violence to open and close the trunk. He handed the suitcase to her so she could pack it in the small trunk. ''are you sure this car can drive?'' he said nervously, a bit afraid of stepping into the car. He kicked a little bit to the tire to see if the car could hold itself up if it was to drive. It seemed safe enough, but due the age and the bad condition of the car he was a bit insecure about the whole situation. He still stood with his coat on his arm, along with his handheld items, such as the picture and the teddy.

[Abigail Fairweather]

The way Abigail walked was actually very feminine, though the cloth was busy hiding it. Well beside that she was a little pulled together, as if she was trying to protect herself, and it looked like she was ready to let go of the suitcases any moment to defend herself. Her cloth was still very dull, no matter which angle you saw it from, making her blend into the surroundings, and as before said, making her look very unattractive. Her attitude was also not very noticeable, again making her blend in, and therefore making it easy to oversee her. It was as if she was trying not to be noticed, which was the truth, but people rarely noticed it.

She smiled a little at his reply, with a sorry shade over it.

“Well I hope that Gotham will hold you interest, though I will warn you that it is often tend to be some of a bore. But we a famous for , when chaos do emerge, doing it with style and not in small scales.”

She got out of the car again, looking at him, over the top nodding a little.

“She is old but she will hold, so don’t worry… There are not real problems with her, and she have had a check-up recently, and the mechanic said go, so don’t be scared of…” She gave a short grin, and then placing herself in the driver’s seat again, buckling up and waiting for him to get in. “Oh and, if you don’t have to worry about my driving skills. I have been driving this car since always, so just jump in…” She sounded a lot happier when talking about her car, and had a little spark in her eyes when she did so. This was one of her little joys in life, because her car had only failed her once, and that was caused by lack of gas, so she knew it was study and there for her.

[Animal]

Simon looked at the car. He wasn't quite sure whether or not he should get in. even thou she said it was safe enough, he still hesitated. He was used to drive something... newer and less damaged than this car seemed to be. He grabbed the handle to the passenger seat when a well known flashback appeared in his head. After the accident he would never sit on the passenger seat because it was there his wife died. He looked down at his hand which was holding the handle. He looked at the ring on his finger, reminding him of her. He stood there for about 5 seconds and just looked at the ring. Thinking of his long lost wife. When he realized he had dozed off, he quickly shook his head and let go off the handle. He walked to the backseat and entered the car. He put the coat and his stuff on the seat next to him, and fastened his seatbelt.

''So Ms Fairweather, do you know any good places to eat in this town, I'm quite hungry.'' Simon grabbed the book from his coat and opened on the page he reached, and started reading slowly. He couldn’t read as fast as wanted due to he also needed to keep a conversation going with Abigail so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable about the whole thing. He knew that awkward silence would probably mean that she would be start thinking if it was her fault. So he had to keep a conversation going so she wouldn’t start doing that. It had been a long flight and the last thing he wanted to see was someone crying or in a bad mood.

[Abigail Fairweather]

Patiently she sad and waited for him to get into the car, though she couldn’t help but to wonder if something was wrong. He seemed to be frozen to the door, and it shouldn’t be that cold. Maybe it was all because her car didn’t look that sturdy, but she knew it would hold up. Well maybe he was just used to thing being fancy. She must admit that he did look like that rich kind of type. Maybe it was all because her car wasn’t covered in gold. Oh well… If he didn’t want to ride her car, he could find another way to get home, that was not her problem.
Luckily for him he got in before her imagination ran way of with her. She was a little surprised of where he chose to sit, but if she was in the car, she didn’t really care that much.

She started the car, and slowly backed out, before they finally were able to leave the airport completely. And sure enough her car didn’t break by it moving, and it didn’t have any weird stops or sound, it just drove smoothly.

“Hmm… Define good places…” she replied. Clearly saying that she doubted that he would find the kind of places she went, when she ate out, in his taste. Well she didn’t have money to waste, so she was more of the fast-food kind of type, and that wasn’t the type of place she could imagine him sitting in. Though the thought made her giggle a little to herself, since he were way to welled dressed, and had the look of something that wouldn’t come near slum like places. He would look like a white kitten, in the middle of an angry flock of hungry dogs. That picture almost made her break into laugh, but she choked it,

[Animal]

Surprised by the car didn’t even make any sounds when leaving the parking spot, Simon actually felt a little at ease now that he knew that the car actually was able to drive and didn’t make any weird noises. He looked quickly up from the book and replied to her very doubting answer to his question. ''Well, Ms. Fairweather, if you just find the place you’d like to eat I will pay. I bet you must be hungry too'' Simon looked up at the rear mirror and when he got eye contact with her, he winked and smiled at her. He did this in a sign of trust and to cheer her up a little. She didn’t seem to be used to get compliments so Simon had decided to give her some.

Simon looked at her shirt quickly. And then looked back down into his book and started reading. After having read for a few seconds he suddenly asked. ''By the way, did you remember to feed your cat before you left your apartment?'' he asked without looking up from the book. He was too busy reading the next few lines, because the part in book he had reached where were this murderer was about to strike down some teens graphitizing the statues in the park.

[Abigail Fairweather]

It was good to see, that he wasn’t going to jump out of the window anymore, after he had seen that she car wasn’t going to kill him. Well she had said that it wasn’t, but he hadn’t trusted her words. Well you couldn’t really blame him, she had the same reaction when she first saw it, but it was something you quickly got used to. Well at least she did. Then you could only hope that he was not going to drive with her often, for her car wouldn’t get any better, since it was fine and again lack of money.

“The places I go?” she repeated, and looked up at him, through the rear mirror, catching his eyes, but the moment he winked at her, her eyes quickly found the road again. She had blushed, and tried to keep her head down, hoping that there wasn’t enough light for him to see it. Frankly people really weren’t very friendly with her, and defiantly didn’t flirt with her. Beside was he not supposed to me married?
“Well I guess we could do so” she muttered after a while.

If she hadn’t been an responsible driver, she would have hit the break after his question, so she could chase him out, for she were very sure he was not supposed to know she had a cat. His question had made her feel very uncomfortable, and sent her heart racing. She tightened the grip of the stirring wheel, looking up from the road, staring at him, before looking down on the road again. She did the last part a couple of times, before she answered slowly and hesitatingly. “Yes… I did…” She starred intensely at him with a little of a glare, or more a frightened look. She would have asked how he knew, but that would sound a little to mistrusting.Right?

[Animal]

Simon smiled. He could clearly hear the mistrust in her answer. He knew what was going through her head right now. How did he know she had a cat? Had he been spying on her? Who was he? All those questions were most likely filling her head right now. ''Don’t worry Ms. Fairweather. That’s my specialty, I thought you already knew?'' he looked up at the rear mirror with a small smile on his face. He tried to be as gentle at her as possible, but because of his old and bad habit with being the all knowing fraught. His specialty was to ''trick'' people or to know them better than they would know themselves. He knows that this is a frightening ability to have, but he loves it. it makes him the boss of so to speak, and it makes him feel superior.

He kept reading the book, it was quite fascinating. The way this murderer was striking fear into his targets hearts before killing them. ''I was right about my assumption, weren’t I? About you living in an apartment.'' He couldn’t help it, this superiority made him smile. However, he felt kind of bad, because he could feel the mistrust and uncomfortable mood spreading. Well if he had to save it, she had to be cleared out with it all. Just so she could start trusting her partner instead of not trusting him. After all they were going to become partners for the next long time.

[Abigail Fairweather]

“I know very little… I know you name Mr. Sinclair, and that you are assigned to be my new partner…” She was still very suspicious, and did not like the fact, that he could tell things about her, that he was not supposed to know. This also made her very uncomfortable with him sitting behind her. But she desperately tried to hide that fact, though it probably would be very clear to Simon that she was not approving with what he was doing to her. But she did have that thing about her, that told shat she was not happy around people, so of course this would only freak her out. And if he knew the reason he would probably understand why she felt that way.

The book he was reading did not in any way help her with comfort. Couldn’t he at least be reading about ponies instead of serial killers? She was so ready at this moment, so just stop the car, and case him out. Her hear skipped a beat again, when he asked her another question, and she almost ripped the stirring wheel off.
“Well… Yes… Why?” she looked up again to look at him, still not feeling very comfortable.
This probably had the opposite effect of what he wanted, because the more he guessed right, the more she wanted to close herself, to protect herself and her past. She was not ready to tell anyone about it, well she would never be ready to tell anyone about it, so it probably was good for her to have someone digging in her head. She just couldn’t see that part, only the part that a complete stranger was in the middle of guessing right on some things.