"You want to do what?!"
"You heard me." Karlie was in the commissioner's office, where she had been for the past ten minutes as she explained her idea. To no one's surprise, he reacted quite negatively.
"Just consider it for a moment, Sir," Lily cut in. She had joined Karlie for moral support. "Taylor's shown considerable improvement just in the last few weeks interacting with us. I mean, apart from her stint in solitary confinement. But it's not like we can blame her for that."
"I'm not sure what you mean by 'improvement.'" The commissioner folded his arms, disbelief still written across his features. "Just because she told you her name doesn't mean she's all of a sudden trustworthy. She attacked you this morning, didn't she?" he asked, looking to Karlie.
"How did you -" The man pointed to his computer. "-Oh. I forgot about the cameras," she said. Imagine if she'd actually kissed me. That would not have been good. "Look, that was just a simple misunderstanding," Karlie started again. "She was a bit upset that I brought something up that she said when she was high on morphine, that's all."
"If that's all it takes for her to get violent, I can imagine the horrors that would await with the two of you living together," the man said. "What happens if she doesn't want to go everywhere you go? What if she decides she'd rather go back to her gang? What if she doesn't like your cooking?!"
Karlie and Lily exchanged glances and rolled their eyes. "With all due respect, Sir," Lily said, "I think you're being a little dramatic."
"Need I remind you of her record? The girl's a killer. Always has been, always will be. She should be guarded at all times -" He paused and looked at them, his eyebrows furrowed. "Wait a second. You're here," he pointed to Karlie, "and so are you," he motioned to Lily. "Did you seriously leave her unguarded?"
"No, of course not. Martha's with her," Karlie huffed.
"And you think that the nurse is going to be able to stop her from escaping, I suppose."
"She won't try to escape. I swear, she's practically harmless," Karlie pleaded. "She's still weak from the infection, and besides that, she loves Martha. They're pals."
"That's what she wants you to think," the commissioner said. "Perhaps you've been too trusting. This is the perfect chance for her to make her move."
"Oh, for goodness' sake," Lily said, tugging at her hair with frustration. "Why don't you check your fancy cameras." Nodding, the man began to fiddle with his computer, pulling up the program. Karlie felt herself begin to sweat a little. He wasn't right, was he? Taylor was smart, and even in her weakened state, it wouldn't be too difficult to neutralize Martha...
The commissioner sighed. Curious, Karlie walked around the desk to look at the screen, and saw...Martha and Taylor sitting on the bed, playing Go Fish.
"You see that?!" Karlie said triumphantly. "She'll be fine, I swear. Just let her move in with me, and you'll never have to worry about her again. No more wasting resources and guards watching her, no more fighting with the chief over how best to drag information out of her, and no more nasty comments from her whenever you walk by."
"I must admit, that is tempting."
"Look, just give her a chance. She's trying to turn herself around, I'm sure there won't be any trouble." Karlie suddenly felt Lily tugging at her sleeve. "What?"
"Trouble," Lily said, her face pale. She was pointing at the screen.
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Taylor was enjoying playing the game with Martha. The nurse had told her that it was a game that most children knew, but Taylor had never heard of it, so Martha had decided to teach her. After a grueling ten minutes, she slammed her cards and yelled, "HA! I win!"
Just then, the door burst open. Taylor turned to greet Karlie, wanting to impress her with the fact that she had won on her first try, but the excited words died in her throat. "What are you doing here?" she growled.
The chief shot her a look of pure hatred. He ignored her and turned to Martha. "I believe I told you that your services were no longer required," he said dangerously.
"And I believe I told you that Taylor almost died because of you, and that I'd be sticking around."
"The decision isn't yours to make." The man towered over her threateningly. "I want you to leave, and I want this criminal back in solitary."
"You can't do that!" Martha protested.
"I can do whatever I want!" he yelled, swinging back his hand as if to slap her. Martha cowered back but the blow never landed, despite the ringing sound of a hand meeting flesh. The nurse opened her eyes and saw that Taylor had leaped between them.
The blonde's wide eyes burned with fury. "You hit me," she said in disbelief. She looked behind her, and Martha's scared gaze met hers. "You tried to hit her."
"And what are you gonna do about it, Kitty?" the chief taunted. "I have it on good authority that you're too weak to -" A swift punch to his face interrupted him and sent him reeling backward. Eyes watering automatically from the pain, he felt his nose and was relieved to see that it wasn't broken. "Is that the best you can do?" he said with a laugh.
"Far from it," Taylor sneered, eyes wild. "Try to hit us again and find out." The man lurched toward her, but the blonde was too quick on her feet for him and danced out of the way easily. He threw a punch toward her but she ducked and swept him off balance with a leg. As soon as he was down, she pinned him and started to hit him as hard as she could, over and over.
Just then, Karlie and Lily rushed into the room. They quickly took in the scene: Martha cowering in the corner, the chief on the floor with a bloody and bruised face, and Taylor, eyes glazed with hatred, kneeling on his chest and continuing to punch. "Taylor!" Karlie shouted, feeling sick as fear rolled in her stomach.
Hearing Karlie's yell, the girl hesitated with her arm drawn back for another hit and turned to face the detective. "Taylor, what did you do?" Karlie whispered now, slowly approaching her. Taylor dropped her arm and looked down at the man beneath her. She stared blankly for a moment before her eyes seemed to come back into focus and she shook her head violently.
She scrambled off and scooted backward on the cold floor, staring in horror at the scene before her. Karlie slowly approached her, leaving Lily to guard the door and Martha to examine the chief. She slowly reached for the smaller girl, trying not to startle her into attacking, but Taylor flinched away from her hand.
"I...I didn't mean to," she whispered, looking up at Karlie with watery eyes. "I swear, it was just instinct, he hit me first - he wanted to hit Martha, Karlie - I didn't mean to!"
Karlie shushed her and gently wrapped her arms around the blonde, thankful that she didn't try to struggle away from her hold. "I know you didn't, Taylor. He should have known better."
"I could have killed him, Karlie. Oh, god. I'm a monster."
"You aren't." Her words didn't manage to comfort the girl, though, because Taylor started crying seconds after.
"There will be some people from the hospital coming over to take him over there," Martha said to Karlie, resting a hand on her shoulder. "But we have the tapes. He did try to hit me, and she was protecting me. She retaliated and gave him a chance to walk away, but he attacked again. She might have gotten a bit out of control, but it was self defense. If either of them deserves to be in a cell after this incident, it's him."
Karlie sighed, rocking the sobbing blonde in her arms gently as she thought. "I doubt the commissioner will see it that way," she murmured. "I mean, obviously the chief will face consequences. But the odds of Taylor being allowed to move in with me must be practically nonexistent now."
"You would be wrong there," a voice from the doorway spoke. The girls looked up to see the commissioner. "I was watching the cameras the whole time. Despite her lack of control, Taylor behaved admirably, especially considering her record. She showed loyalty to Martha and regret for the overly violent nature of her defense," he said, motioning to the blonde.
Karlie looked down at her; the sobbing had quieted, and it looked like Taylor was either asleep or close to it. She must be exhausted. How she managed to take him down when she's still so weak, I'll never know.
"Additionally," the commissioner said, "Karlie, you showed that you are able to subdue her when she loses control. She obviously trusts you. And, considering what has been happening over the last few weeks, this is clearly a hostile environment for her," he said, scowling down at the chief's body.
"Therefore, I am approving your request, effective immediately. You can both go home tonight."