New recruits, fresh beginnings

What should he have for lunch? That was one hell of a question.

By the time he left the Chief's office, it was already lunchtime. With over ten thousand dollars in his pocket, surely he could treat himself to something decent...

Decent, my ass! After taxes, ten thousand would turn straight into six thousand. I still need to watch my spending. Lamenting America's culinary wasteland, Li Jie decided to buy a frozen pizza from the station cafeteria.

The moment he entered the lobby, an unusual silence seized him. Dozens of eyes turned toward him in unison. Then someone began to clap.

A second person joined in, then a third... Gradually, the scattered applause trickled together into a less-than-enthusiastic stream. Police Lieutenant Albert stood and extended his hand to Li Jie. "Thank you. I think every officer in Gotham City will thank you for this fund."

"Huh?" Li Jie startled. "You... already know?"

"Gossip travels faster than radio." Albert smiled. "It's not about the amount. It shows you're truly one of us."

One of you? Sure. So we can run the table and take our cut together?

He glanced around. Most of those clapping were older officers. As expected, self-interest mattered most. Still, Li Jie had no intention of commenting. He merely smiled along and walked past. Just then, the dispatcher's lifeless voice rang out.

"Jay, remember you've got a domestic violence follow-up. Domestic Violence Rapid Response Unit, huh?"

"Me?" Li Jie thought for a moment. "I already went to Fifteenth Avenue. That's been taken care of."

"Not that one. The household you responded to on Narrow Island. Pinnick Street. The little girl called here looking for you a few days ago, but you were still in the hospital."

"Oh, got it." Li Jie flipped through his notebook. This must have been a case handled by the body's previous owner. There were only a few sparse lines about a domestic abuser named Marcus, with almost nothing about the victims. Irritated, he shoved the notebook away. "I'll check on them this afternoon."

After forcing down his awful lunch, he slipped out to his patrol car for a nap. Less than half an hour later, Bob's phone call woke him.

"Your partner's here. I think you... had better come to my office and see for yourself."

He sounded distinctly reluctant. Li Jie's heart tightened. Don't tell me they've sent me a troublemaker. Instantly wide awake, he hurried into the Chief's office. Bob was still behind his broad desk, with two young officers in uniform seated opposite him.

Uh...

He began to understand what Bob had meant. One was a bespectacled male officer sitting stiffly upright. Pale and scholarly, he looked like the model student who always aced every exam. He might thrive in a library, but he hardly looked fit for the front lines.

The other was a tall young woman. Apart from a few faint freckles, her face held nothing but innocence and clear-eyed stupidity. She looked like one of those ditzy girls fresh out of school, clutching a coffee and a stack of files as she stumbled along in high heels behind some domineering CEO. Put her on the streets, and the thugs would be popping champagne.

"Look at this!"

"Look at this!" Bob snatched two printouts from beside the ashtray and flicked them at Li Jie like darts. "Both... top students."

"Alan... Wiggins?"

The male officer hurriedly raised his hand and sprang to his feet. Sure enough, he had earned A+ grades in every theoretical subject at the academy, but his marks in practical courses-hand-to-hand combat, vehicle pursuit, live-fire shooting-were mostly middle of the pack.

"He's a desk officer..." Li Jie muttered, picking up the other transcript. "Anna Ramirez?"

"Yes, sir!" Anna eagerly raised her hand, even giving her wrist a little flourish in the air. Her grades were more balanced, mostly B+ or A-. Li Jie turned to Bob. "How many am I keeping?"

"Your call. One or both. We're short on people anyway, and these are good students." After holding out for ages, Bob finally gave in and lit a cigarette. Through the smoke, he tipped his chin toward the two recruits. "This is Police Officer II Li Jie. He'll be handling your training."

"Tsk... I was a rookie myself a few months ago." Li Jie clicked his tongue and looked them in the eyes. "I have just one question. Have either of you ever fired at a suspect? It counts even if you didn't kill them-or missed."

He watched their reactions. Alan's face visibly paled, his Adam's apple bobbing. Eventually, he straightened his back and answered clearly, though his voice trembled. "No, sir!" Anna involuntarily showed a flicker of fear and raised her hand too. "No, sir!"

Fuck. Now I really am leading a scout troop. Still, he had learned through experience himself. Maybe they could manage too.

"All right. I'll take them out on a call first and see how they do." Li Jie sighed. Fuck. Domestic Violence Rapid Response Unit, huh?

The three squeezed into the Crown Victoria Li Jie had previously used on patrol. He sent Alan to the driver's seat and put Anna in the back.

"You can shoot, at least, right? Your shooting scores looked pretty good."

"N-no problem."

As Alan answered, he turned the key, pressed the clutch, and shifted into gear. The patrol car shuddered and stalled without moving.

"Relax. I'll turn around so I'm not watching you." Looking at the sweat pouring down Alan's forehead, Li Jie turned to Anna. "How long have you been at the station?"

"Three days, sir! We've heard about your heroics, and we heard your speech this morning too, sir!" Anna exclaimed excitedly, gripping her seat belt. "Alan and I both think you belong in the Major Crimes Unit, not out here on patrol... Of course, you'd be the best at patrolling too! Sir!"

Uh... so this is what being showered with flattery feels like? Li Jie scratched his head and gave an awkward smile.

"I just happened to take out a few terrorists. I'm not the president of the United States." He stole a glance at Alan. The car had smoothly turned onto an avenue with light traffic.

"I don't see much difference between the two, really." Anna played with the ends of her hair. "I thought police work would be exciting every day!"

"As you wish." A chill ran through Li Jie. How did I not notice this girl was a chatterbox? "Where we're going today isn't much less troublesome than Afghanistan."

That was no exaggeration. Narrow Island was an unusual part of Gotham, surrounded by water on several sides, with terrain unlike anywhere else. Even its slums were different. If cunning hyenas lurked in the shadows of other slums, Narrow Island's were crawling with honey badgers, perhaps because Arkham Asylum and the old prison were located there. Maniacs with a talent for abstract art kept cropping up everywhere.

"Fuck. Can't these bastards find somewhere to off themselves?"

He was already gripping his M870. This place was not only dirtier than other neighborhoods, but colder too. Whole blocks seemed to be breaking apart in the icy wind, yet people out of their minds on drugs still lay everywhere-against walls, at intersections, in corners. Any of them might suddenly lunge at him. They might not mean to attack, but he wasn't taking that gamble.

Li Jie surveyed the apartment building before him. It was even more dilapidated than Whelan's. Constantly steeped in gloom and industrial acid rain, the building was covered in alarming cracks and multicolored patches of mold, as though it might fall apart at any moment. He sighed, motioned for the two rookies to follow, and stepped inside.

The stairwell reeked of urine and some indescribably sweet, rotten stench. The wooden stairs had long since warped and decayed, producing teeth-grating creaks underfoot. The three carefully climbed to the third floor, their footsteps piercing the dead silence.

"Wahahaha!"

Without warning, a shrill, twisted cackle erupted from a dark corner of the hallway. An emaciated figure launched himself at Alan, who was closest.

"Aah!!"

"GCPD! Drop your weapon immediately! Otherwise, I will use..."

Crack!

Li Jie viciously slammed his gunstock into the side of the man's neck. The man dropped straight to sleep, his laughter cutting off like a snapped tape.

"Nicely done!"

He bent down to look. The man was around fifty and still clutching two syringes. Looking back up at the officers, he saw Anna standing pale-faced and trembling, apparently still in shock. Besides screaming, she had managed to draw her Taser, and a faint spark still flickered at its muzzle, but its probes had lodged crookedly in the battered doorframe beside her. Alan still had his pistol raised in an aiming stance. His 1911's safety was still on, and his eyes were full of lingering fear and confusion.

"Wonderful, both of you. If I hadn't stepped in-Anna, under your covering fire, your teammate would have been stabbed, most likely with needles carrying a deadly infectious disease. Alan, as a model officer of the Gotham Police Department, you followed procedure to the letter and issued the suspect a formal warning. Oh, you might have died of an infection afterward, but you upheld the dignity of the law."

"S-sorry, sir!"

"Thank you... sir."

"Don't apologize to me. You haven't wronged me. You've wronged your colleague who nearly died-and yourselves."

Li Jie stopped looking at them and strode deeper into the dark hallway. But Alan called after him.

"S-sir... he..." When Li Jie looked back, Alan pointed at the attacker on the floor, whose condition was unknown. "According to regulations, we... we... we should..."

"Yes, you're right." Li Jie stopped and nodded. That strike with the gunstock had certainly been dangerous and against regulations. Had Wilson been there, the two of them would have tacitly ignored whether the syringe-wielding man lived or died, as though nothing had happened.

"So, are you coming in with me, or standing here to follow procedure and report me to our superiors?"

With that, he turned down the hallway and stopped at apartment 307. He tossed the Remington back to Alan, kept one hand on his pistol, and knocked.

Knock, knock.

He had only knocked twice, and they had not even had time to announce themselves, when the battered wooden door creaked open inward.

"Hi, Officer Li."

A clear child's voice came from below. Startled, he lowered his head. A little girl stood in the doorway, not even reaching his waist. She wore an old T-shirt washed almost white, and her brown hair was messily tied back. Her small face tilted upward, she watched him calmly.

"Uh..." Li Jie scratched his head and asked somewhat guiltily, "What was your name again?"

Although the body's previous owner had handled the domestic violence case, he had only recorded their father's details as the offender and had barely paid attention to the little girl's name.

"Sigh..."

The girl pressed her lips together, looking disappointed, and waved a hand. "Never mind. You're just like my brother. Men never remember anything."

"Uh, well..."

Li Jie and the two officers who had caught up exchanged looks, unsure how to respond. After a few seconds of silence, he crouched in front of the girl and tried his best to look serious.

"...Uh, I think you're right. How about telling me one more time? I promise I won't forget this time."

"Sigh. A man's promise." The girl sighed with world-weary maturity, then nodded. "All right, Officer. I hope you remember this time. My name is Harper Row. I'm six. This is my brother..."

She beckoned a boy about her age out of the room. "...Cullen Row. If you can't even remember our names, how can you really protect us?"

"Okay. I'll definitely remember this time." Li Jie beckoned to Karen, but the boy shyly hid his face behind the doorframe, leaving only one eye peeking out. He turned back to Harper. "I heard you called?"

Even crouching, his huge frame towered over the little girl. Harper tilted her head back and nodded solemnly.

"Yes, Officer. I still need to report domestic abuse by my father, Marcus."

Li Jie frowned. "He's still hitting you? We warned him!"

"Yes." Harper nodded hard, her messy brown hair bouncing. "You warned him last time, but it only worked for a few days. He doesn't just hit us. He locks Karen and me in the apartment and goes out drinking."

She gestured toward the door handle with her chin. "I can figure out how to open the door, but I don't dare go out to get food. It seems... pretty dangerous outside... I heard you shouting GCPD just now..."

Li Jie glanced back at Alan, stood, and stepped around Harper. Signaling the recruits to stay alert, he slowly entered with his right hand resting on his pistol grip. Like almost every apartment in the slums, it was filthy, chaotic, shabby, and damp. A foul mixture of cheap liquor and rotting vomit hit him. Empty bottles, cigarette butts, and bags of leftover takeout littered the apartment, but the bags were empty. Not even a scrap of food remained.

Marcus wasn't there either, of course.

As he led the other two through the apartment, Harper followed with her brother. Seeming to notice Li Jie's unspoken question, she said, "He went out drinking the night before last. He might come back in a day or two, or maybe three to five days."

"You..." Li Jie's gaze swept over the garbage bags. "...How long has it been since you ate?"

"This morning." Harper pointed to a grease-covered pizza box in the corner. "We split the last few pizza crusts and some broken crackers." She looked up, her large eyes far too calm as they met Li Jie's. "If you hadn't come today, we would've gone hungry."

Li Jie exhaled heavily through his nose, strode out of the apartment, and gently pulled the door shut behind him, temporarily leaving the two bewildered children inside.

"If this keeps up, those two will die in there."

"That's right." Alan nodded. "But even if we petition to strip their father of custody, it'll take at least four or five days before the Child Welfare Agency takes over. But..."

"But they can't last four or five days." Li Jie finished for him. "We need to take them away. Right now."

"The procedure should be manageable. Even if their father objects, surely we can handle one drunk." Anna seemed to be catching on, though she still looked conflicted. "But where can we take them now? Should I contact CPS?"

"Let's get them out of here first. We'll get them something to eat in the car." Gotham's CPS was often practically indistinguishable from an official human-trafficking operation. These two rookies probably had no idea how many children disappeared into its system every year. He went back inside and asked Harper, "Would you like to come with us? Leave here and go somewhere else?"

He had expected to spend some time persuading her. Instead, Harper readily ran back into the room and pulled two little schoolbags from under the bed. She put one on Karen and carried the other herself.

"Everything we own is in here. Let's go, Officer."

Li Jie was taken aback. He opened his mouth, hesitated, then asked, "Aren't you going to ask where I'm taking you?"

"Anywhere is fine." Harper sighed, worry appearing on her face for the first time. "It can't be worse than here, right?"

Li Jie said nothing. He took off his uniform jacket and wrapped it around her. The black outer layer trailed all the way to the floor. He clicked his tongue and chuckled softly. "Good afternoon, Pingu."

A muffled reply came from inside the collar. "Good afternoon, Officer."

Li Jie smiled, bent down, and scooped both children into his arms. He called outside:

"Alan, go get a couple of warmer clothes from the car. Hurry up. We're leaving!"