"My apologies Officer York."

Niké’s face stayed stone-cold, he’d never liked cops like the one in front of him, in fact he had a hard time liking cops at all, despite being one. From a young age he had realized that you couldn't trust the cops, they didn't want what was best for you, they wanted what the rich folk and the politicians asked them to. Yet despite that, when shit really hit the fan and Niké had been given the choice between prison or turning his life around, there hadn't been much hesitation, he had believed that he could be better than all those other cops but that was proving to be harder than ever.

He had thought that his background and knowledge of the criminal world would help him, make him a better police officer than most, help him to one day maybe become a detective, but now he was realizing that it wasn't a strength but rather a weakness, he sympathized too much with people like Theo and Alleya, he understood their reasonings in a way that the three other officers in front of them never could.

Worst of all, it made the young man realize where he actually belonged, he would never be able to work alongside people like these. Unfortunately he had no choice for the next 2 years, he had to or he'd end up in prison, that had been the deal after all, turn your life around, go to the police academy and then once done, work as an officer for at least as long as your sentence. It was a chance he should be grateful for, he knew that, most people just got shipped of to prison for the smallest mistakes and it does nothing to help them go straight, in fact they often end up deeper in the mix. Niké was one of the lucky few yet he wanted nothing but out.

"We are taking this criminal in for questioning regarding the death of Thompson Yeager."

Pushing his personal thoughts away, Niké put his focus back on the officer, he needed to get Theo out of this, it was the least he could do after a betrayal like this. He wanted to tell Theo everything, every little thought running through his head, just everything, nothing but the truth.

“And when is it estimated that the victim died?” The grey-haired man asked, arms crossed over his chest now. If it was recently then he could easily deny their suspicions as he had been with Theo the entire time, well… Except for those days away with Taurus and Alleya… But he still couldn't see Theo killing someone, if so then only in self defense and with good reason.

“I would also like to see any evidence that potentially ties the suspect to our victim before an arrest is made,” he demanded. When he noticed the looks of slight suspicion in the eyes of the cops around him, he couldn't really blame them, they had just seen him kiss the suspect… So to try and calm their minds he added, “I’m just trying to make sure everything’s proper and in order, you all know how it is nowadays, one teeny tiny mistake from our side and the bad guy gets to walk away even when everyone knows they're guilty, hell, sometimes we even gotta pay them, it's ridiculous. Just trying to make sure that won't be the case here,” he added with a soft chuckle, one he had to force out.

Niké’s eyes narrowed slightly at the leading officer's reply. Not what he wanted. He didn't want to drag Theo to the station, he wanted for him to be let go and be able to get the gang out of here. If he couldn't be with Theo then he at least wanted to make sure that the man would be fine, as fine as you could be after a betrayal like this…

"A suspect has the right to know what crimes they are being accused of, Officer Higgins."

Turning his head with a grateful look towards the female officer, happy that there was someone with half a sense here at least. However as she was stood right next to Theo, Niké was quick to look away, guilty washing over him, nearly drowning him.

The young man heard the voice of the gang leader but his gaze only dropped to the ground rather than look at the man while he spoke. He couldn't bring himself to face him or even look in his direction. His betrayal was unforgivable, he knew that.

"I'll go with you, do whatever you ask. I am not guilty and I will happily cooperate to prove my innocence."

“N- '' quickly Niké cut himself off, not even finishing the first word of his protest, praying that no one had taken note of it. His head was now raised and looking at Theo, his eyes almost pleading. What for was hard to tell, it wasn't like the leader had any choice in whether he had to go or not.

Why wouldn't Theo at least give him the chance to try and get him out of this? Did he hate him that much? He wished he could tell him everything, regretting that he hadn't already. This was the worst possible way the other could have found out the truth and he didn't even want to think about how much he had hurt him or how much he must hate him now.

“You heard him, let's get this over with,” Officer Higgins said, a please look on his face as he threw Niké a pair of handcuffs which the young man caught easily, however he didn't go for the arrest immediately, he couldn't bring himself to. Instead he just stared down at the metal cuffs, filled with guilt from head to toes.

“We ain't got all day, get a move on kiddo,” spoke the voice again, sounding more irritated this time. Rasing his head, Niké took a deep breath and forced himself to put on a face, one which gave no hint of what he was feeling on the inside as he stepped closer to Theo.

“Hands behind your back please,” he asked, his voice now matching the emotionless expression on his face. The grey-haired man hated the world for doing this to him, it was cruel, could he not just be allowed happiness for once in his life?

With a slight tremble, Niké put the cuffs around Theo’s wrists. Oh how he wished he had a chance to apologize and explain but with the female cop right next to them, he couldn't even manage to force out an “I’m sorry.”

Once the cuffs were on, the young man grabbed ahold of Theo’s arm and nudge him forward a bit, “Come on, let's go,” he told the other as they followed after the police officers who were leading the way back to their cars.

The grip around Theo’s arm seemed to tighten with every single one of Niké’s steps, the young man having to force himself to loosen it every now and then. Every time he did loosen his grip though, his trembling would come back, or, it would become noticeable again. He felt as if he would break down any second now but he wasn't allowed to, he wasn't the one who'd just been betrayed and arrested, yet he was the one on the verge of a breakdown. It wasn't fair, he knew that, it wasn't fair for him to feel bad after what he’d done to Theo

Hearing Theo curse at him as he had nudged the man forward had nearly been enough to bring him to tears, the man's words hurting more than a stab with a knife. Niké had no right to feel hurt, he knew that, yet despite that, he couldn't help it. He had fallen hard for Theo and to have hurt him like he knew he had, it felt awful. He didn't want things to turn out this way but he had been foolish to think that it wouldn't.

"Officer York? Let me take the suspect."

At the words of the female officer, Niké had stopped but his grip hadn't loosened, clinging onto Theo like he would die if he let go. Clinging onto the man just like he had clung onto hope that they could one day have a happy ending.

He wanted to talk to the man, explain that he hadn't ever lied about his feelings for him. He wanted to tell him everything, things he'd long since buried and tried to forget, things that no one else knew about him, everything that he could possibly tell him, no more lies.

The officer had to practically pry his hands off Theo, forcing the young man to let go of the other. The moment he no longer had hold of the leader, it felt as if he was going to break down, his hands trembling as he pushed them down into his pockets to hide it. With glassy eyes he followed Theo and the officer the rest of the way back to the two cars.

"You can hitch a ride in the back or with Officer Higgins or Officer Hill."

Niké’s gaze flickered between the female officer and the other two officers for a brief moment, he wanted to go with neither of them, he wanted to disappear, melt into the ground and never be seen again.

Both choices seemed terrible, he didn't want to catch a ride with the two male officers, it was already clear Officer Higgins disliked him, even if he had grown slightly more polite once he realized that Niké was an officer himself. Riding in the car with him would be unbearable. But if he went with the woman then that meant riding with Theo and he could only assume that Theo wanted nothing to do with him, most likely he wanted to be as far away from him as possible and that was only fair, even if Niké wanted nothing but to be as close to him as possible.

Selfishly enough, the grey-haired man chose to ride with Theo, swallowing back the lump in his throat that had formed before forcing out an answer, “I reckon I'll survive riding with you,” he told the officer, even forcing a brief smile before quickly getting into the car.

Once in the car, it felt like an eternity before the officer walked around the car and got into the driver's seat, an eternity of silence. Niké didn't dare to speak a word to Theo, knowing that his voice would fail him and he would break down. It had been long since he felt this weak and helpless but he was completely at a loss for how to deal with this situation, he had fucked up in so many ways possible and yet he was the one feeling sorry for himself, it was just stupid, he had no right. Theo was the one who had been lied to and betrayed, not him.

And now here he sat, in the back of a police car, almost like a criminal, in a way you could probably say he was one too. If you asked Theo the man would probably say he was something along those lines, maybe something worse even, it wouldn't surprise him, it would hurt him however.

As the car started rolling, the young man turned his gaze to look outside, trying his best to get ahold of himself, he was being pathetic right now, if anyone should be hurting it was Theo, not him.

It was made clear from the female officer that she hadn't wanted him to catch a ride with her either. It didn't seem like a single soul wanted to be near him and he didn't blame them.

His hands trembled terribly as he took them back out of his pockets. He traced the healing scar in the palm of his hand, the scar after he'd accidentally cut himself the first time he met Theo.

The grey-haired man leaned his head and looked up at the roof of the car, blinking a few times to push back the tears, trying to focus on deep breaths while staying as quiet as possible, he didn't want to remind anyone that he was here.

"I know you didn't kill anyone, you don't have killer vibes. However, we're just following orders and we need more proof than a hippie cop saying you didn't do it."

The other two in the car seemed to be preoccupied with conversation to notice anything he was doing though. Any other day Niké would probably have taken offense at the comment made by Officer Shazen but he didn't have the energy to care, she could say whatever she wanted.

Doing his best to tune out the sounds of their conversation, Niké stared out the window again, shutting out the rest of the world to the best of his abilities.

When they arrived at the police station, it took a second before he realized it, having buried himself deep in thought, trying to forget that the real world existed for a moment.

"I will be present during the investigation but I am not allowed to interfere with you. The same rules apply to you, Officer York. Disobey them and you'll be escorted out."

Niké looked over at the woman and gave a short nod, although she probably couldn't see it anyway. He did want to be present but he wasn't sure that was what Theo wanted, actually, he was sure that it wasn't what the other man wanted but once again, Niké acted selfishly and didn't say that he wanted as little part of the investigation as possible. He wanted to be there and do his best to help get Theo out of this, it was the only thing he could do for the man he loved right now.

Getting out of the car, the young man took a deep breath and tried to stay calm and focus, straightening his posture slightly as he looked around at the station. There was so much life going on around them, cops coming in and out, laughing and joking around with their partners or pushing criminals in front of them, a few civilians coming and going too. The streets behind them were full of cars passing by and just a bunch of other background noise from the city making itself heard.

On the stairs leading up to the entry stood an older man, tall with dark greying hair slicked back to cover a bald spot, dressed in plain clothing and smoking a cigarette while staring right at Niké, it was one of his supervisors and the leader of the team that was investigating against Theo and his involvement in any of the cases he was a suspect in. His face was kept stone cold yet Niké could see through it, see the disappointment in his cold gaze.

The other two officers had for sure notified him about the fact that Niké was coming and he knew the man wasn't happy with him, he had blown his own cover when he should have just kept quiet and let them take in Theo and possibly himself. Now there was no way he could go back undercover with the gang. It had been a stupid move but Niké hadn't been thinking.

As he followed after Theo and Officer Shazen, the young man kept his eyes on the ground, clenching his fists to keep them from trembling when he felt a rough hand grab his arm and bring him to a halt.

“I expect to see you in my office as soon as the suspect is done being questioned York,” the older man told Niké, his eyes glaring down at him.

“Yes sir, I will be there as soon as possible,” he managed to reply quietly, his voice slightly shaky as he spoke. Everything was happening all at once and he couldn't help but feel so incredibly overwhelmed with it all.

“Good,” the older one replied as the grip on Niké’s arm loosened and he gave him a pat on the shoulder, signaling to the male that he was free to go, which he did. Quickly he hurried after Officer Shazen, keeping his head down as he walked.

"Your boss didn't look so happy with you. Perhaps you shouldn't have blown your cover over him."

Niké glanced up at the woman as she taunted him. He already couldn't stand her despite just having met her. He wanted to reply, tell her to shut up or something along those lines but he had no energy to, all his energy was put on not breaking down, he needed to keep it together if he wanted to be able to help Theo out of here, and also for his own sake, he wanted to try and keep whatever dignity he had left, breaking down in front of the other officer and Theo would not help.

As the grey-haired man took place near the wall, leaning his back against it, he watched Theo get his handcuffs taken off and stretch his arms out before taking a seat.

"I'm glad he's not happy with you. You're a freaking asshole, cop or not. If I ever see your face again, it'll be too soon and trust me, I will not leave it in the condition it is now."

Niké flinched a little at the words of the other man, his gaze dropping to the ground. The man who had tended to his wounds with gentle hands, who had held him closely, who he had shared kisses with and who he loved saying such harsh words made it harder and harder for Niké to keep it together, a clump forming in his throat as he took it in.

“Theo I never meant for-” he started, his voice weak and anyone listening could hear his struggle to keep the tears back.

However the young man was cut off by the sound of the door opening, giving a short nod when the investigator greeted him and Shazen but continued to keep his gaze on the ground, not wanting anyone to see that they had begun watering. Theo’s words had hurt worse than if the man had actually beaten him up. All he wanted was an opportunity to explain himself to the man but he wasn't sure if he would ever get that, for all he knew this could be the last time he saw the man.

"We received an anonymous tip that you were responsible for the murder that took place around 6:45 last night."

Despite barely listening as he tried to keep himself under control, Niké heard that. He had already been sure that Theo was innocent before but even more so now, the leader had barely left the gang house since the attack from the Rebels as far as he was aware and last night they had been together form the most part, it was impossible that Theo had done anything and it was surely just someone trying to frame Theo and get him out of the picture, for sure the Rebels.