Jackson felt better rested the following morning. He hadn't slept more than usual but he definitely felt better. He had been awakened by a phone call from the station. The female officer on the other end informed him that more criminals had been apprehended by vigilantes. There were two young men locked in the jail and awaiting his arrival. He had wasted no time in getting showered and out the door. He was curious to find out the details. Now he sat at his desk sipping his coffee and reading over the report while he waited for Macy to arrive.

The two guys that had been apprehended were caught in mid-attempt to commit grand theft auto outside of a club downtown. They had been strung upside-down, Spider-man-style right outside the station and had been left there to be discovered by whatever cop came upon them first. Instead of using webs, the vigilante had used bungee cords. The frightened young men had hung there that way calling out for help for about an hour before they were discovered by an officer stepping outside for a smoke at around 3AM.

The report said that they had been inside the vehicle, a 2001 Camaro, and were attempting to disarm the alarm when a figure in a mask and costume had dropped from somewhere above, landing on the roof of the car. They had both tried to escape but were easily apprehended. They had been knocked unconscious before waking up bound and dangling upside-down.

Jackson read over the brief report twice before Macy finally arrived. He cringed visibly when she stopped just inside the entrance, flung her arms out, and sang out his name. "Jackson Wolfe, my lover! I have arrived! Come and kiss me, darling!"

Every cop in the place once again looked up at her in surprise and then looked at Jackson. They began laughing and shaking their heads at his obvious discomfort.

"Macy, quit being obscene and get over here! We have work to do," he growled at her menacingly.

"Hello, my pet!" Jackson heard the Chief call out from behind him. He had also just arrived and was making his way toward his office. 

"Good morning, Chief darling!" Macy sang out in an even higher pitch. "I would come kiss you, but Jackson was just about to ravish me thoroughly, so I must wait!"

"I was about to do no such thing, Chief! She's all yours," Jackson called over his shoulder as he made his way toward his partner, hoping to silence her.

Detective Grey trotted across the room and flung her things on top of her desk with a sigh. "You are just the meanest man I've ever met, Jackson! You break my heart, you do! Every day, you shatter me with your mean-ness!"

She plopped down in her chair and folded her arms across her chest. She stuck her bottom lip out with a "Humph!" before popping back up like a Jack-in-the-Box. She appeared to have forgotten about her woes. "Did you say we have work to do? What's happened, darling? Something new? Tell me! Tell me!"

Jackson eyed her as he picked up the reports he'd been studying. He was anxious to talk to the guys who had been brought in. He wanted first-hand information. He didn't like forging ahead without Macy, though. Not when it came to direct witness accounts and hands-on investigating.

First of all she was sharp. She often noticed things. Off-the-wall details no one but her would pick up on. It was the unique way in which her mind worked, he supposed. Secondly he didn't like having to converse with her a whole lot and if he forged ahead without her he would just be opening himself up to an entire conversation in which he would have to explain to her every detail and then listen to her ask question after question. She would continuously become sidetracked and go off on little tirades about insignificant, off-subject topics, so that a conversation that would normally take 15 minutes would last a couple of hours by the end of which he would be pulling his hair out and suffering a migraine.

No. It was much easier to just wait for her to get there and the two of them do the investigating together.

Her little heels clicked along-side him as she read over the report on their way to the interrogation rooms. Jackson had called down to have the perps brought one at a time to one of the stark white, windowless cubicles. Each interrogation room contained a table, 2 or 3 chairs, and a light. They each had a camera bolted to the ceiling in one corner.

The detectives entered the first room where a young man sat waiting for them in a chair at the table. He looked tired and scared. No surprise there. He was in a lot of trouble. He was only 18 and had never even been arrested, much less tried as an adult. Grand theft auto was a serious felony. The judicial system didn't take it lightly.

Jackson didn't know or care how the judge would deal with the kid. He just wanted to get the information he needed from him and from his accomplice and then be on his way. How they were punished for what they had been caught doing was not his concern.

He set a cup of hot coffee down in front of the kid and pulled a chair out for Macy. She plopped down and squeaked as he gave the chair a little shove, scooting her closer to the table. He took his own seat. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Macy interrupted him and started in on the startled kid.

"Are you trying to get put in prison, young man?" she chirped at him with her brows furrowed, indignantly. "Or worse! You could get yourself killed, do you realize that? Your poor momma's probably worried sick about you! What could possess a boy of your age and upbringing to become involved with people like the ones you were working for? Honestly! You are lucky I don't turn your butt over my knee and paddle you this instant!"

Jackson gaped at her with open mouth. She never failed to shock the snot out of him. Upon what outrageous angle of perception she drew the basis for her actions he had no idea. He highly doubted he ever would.

To his surprise the kid dropped his head down into his arms and sobbed.

"I'm so sorry!" he wailed. "I should never have started hanging out with Chad! He said we'd make a lot of money! Never have to worry about anything. Told me girls would be all over us! I thought we would do it a few times and quit, honest! This was my first time!"

Jackson just stared at the kid. This was so far from how he'd imagined this meeting would go that he found himself struggling to figure out how to regain control. That is if he'd ever had control in the first place.

Macy hopped up and went around to the crying boy. She glared down at him for a moment before putting her cool little hand on the back of his neck. He was sweating and shaking. He lifted his head. His hands were clasped together and pressed against his mouth and his face was pale.

As Macy pressed her cool hand to the back of his neck and then to his forehead and face he visibly calmed and the shaking disappeared. Tension was released from his body at her touch and she cooed down at him gently. "It'll be alright. Don't be frightened." she soothed. Jackson just stared at her, completely confused and at a loss for words.

"I think you've probably learned your lesson. What do you think, Jackson darling?"

Jackson opened his mouth and then closed it again blinking at her. He just wanted to ask the kid some questions and move on but she'd turned the whole thing into something else completely. Now he was having to view the young man as a person. A scared kid in way over his head. What the hell was she trying to do? He didn't need to be concerned about what happened to the little thief!

He had no desire whatsoever to consider whether the little bastard had learned his lesson. He had no desire to be concerned about the kid's mother, either. Or how she must be feeling. Grrrragghhh! Macy was so ANNOYING! He stood to his feet and turned his back to them trying to regain composure. When he turned back around Macy was looking at him. She seemed to be expectantly awaiting his answer to her question.

"Well, Detective Grey", he purred at her with eyes narrowed, "Macy... my completely off-the-wall little side-kick... I really don't see how his having learned his lesson is in any way relevant to either of us or our purpose here! We came down here to get what information we could about the vigilante who apprehended these little criminals, not..."

He got no further because Macy shrieked and placed both of her hands over the kid's ears protectively. Her mouth was in a horrified 'O', and her blue eyes gaped at him. She looked completely shocked which threw Jackson into a further state of confusion. "Jackson Wolfe don't you DARE call this sweet boy a criminal! If you treat him that way he may become one! He made a mistake. Don't you see that? He's sorry! He isn't going to get into trouble again. I can feel it!"

Jackson looked at her. Once again he wondered if she were real or just a figment of someone's weird imagination. The strange feeling of being locked in some cheesy superhero/ detective movie washed over him again with a sensation similar to vertigo.

"Alright Macy." He held his hands up in surrender. "I won't call him that anymore and I won't treat him like it either. Promise. Do you think maybe there might be a chance we could proceed with our investigation here? You don't mind if we ask the little prince some questions do you, Nurse Nightingale? Do you think his traumatized little soul would be up to giving a description and his view of what happened last night?"

Macy removed her hands from the kid's ears eyeing Jackson as though she didn't trust him to keep his word. She gave the boy a tender pat on the head and smiled at him reassuringly before rejoining Jackson on the other side of the table.

"Daniel?" she began in her sing-song voice. "Detective Wolfe is going to ask you some questions, okay love? You be honest and tell him everything you remember. Nothing will happen to you, I promise. You can't get yourself into any trouble by telling him what happened. You already confessed everything to the officers last night. You denied the presence of an attorney then. Are you still denying one now, sweetheart?"

The boy, Daniel, shrugged and nodded his head. "I don't think I told them anything they didn't already know about from the message left by the person who nabbed us. I guess there's evidence that we did what we did. I'll accept whatever consequences I get. I deserve it.

"Can we get on with it, already?" Jackson barked.

Both Macy and Daniel jumped in their seats and looked at him. Daniel looked scared. Macy looked annoyed.

"Daniel, can you describe the person who apprehended you please?" Jackson began while ignoring both of their looks and withdrawing a pen. "Was there just one?"

Daniel nodded. "Yeah, just one and ummm..." He looked down and fidgeted. He seemed embarrassed.

"And?"

"Well, it... it was a woman." He looked completely ashamed. "We got caught and strung up by... well, it looked like to me anyways, a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader with a mask on."

Jackson's left eyebrow shot straight up to his hair line. An amused, lopsided grin slowly broke over his face. Daniel looked up at him seeming to notice his amusement. His own lips started to twitch as he looked back down and then off to the side.

"It... it's not funny Detective Wolfe, sir..." he began. "She had these ropes and stuff and... I think she lassoed us..." His face turned red and he covered his mouth trying not to laugh.

Macy just sat in her chair with her legs crossed filing her pristine nails and not really appearing to be paying attention. Jackson's shoulders shook as he tried to remain serious. "She... lassoed... you?" he repeated while struggling to keep his face straight.

"Well, she landed from god knows where on top of the car we were gonna make off with. We were both inside and the alarm was going off. I was panicking and Chad was yelling at me to get under the hood and disarm it while he was trying to, you know, hot wire it. I knew what he was talking about and I even knew how to do it, but with the alarm so loud... I panicked and froze. Before I knew it there was a thud on top of the car. After that it was kinda confusing. I bolted out of the car somehow aware that Chad was already caught. I figured it was my chance cuz the person wouldn't be able to get both of us, right? Well next thing I knew I was face down on the pavement with my legs pulled out from under me. There was a rope lassoed around them and pulled tight. She'd shot that rope out quicker'n lightening and last thing I saw as she flipped me over was this hot Dallas Cowboys cheerleader reelin us in. When she pulled me in close I think she pistol-whipped me cuz I woke up later upside down next to Chad and she was gone."

He stopped talking and looked up at Jackson with his face red with embarrassment. It probably wasn't easy for any man to accept that a cute female had beaten him and his buddy without breaking a sweat.

Jackson shook his head and drew a deep breath. It was funny but he did remember hearing something about one of the vigilantes using ropes in miraculous ways. He wondered...

"Knottalia Ripcord!" Macy chirped without looking up.

"Wha..?" Jackson started, turning to her.

"That's her name." She went on, "She is said to have some sort of power over ropes, cords, even string. She's been rumored to be able to use them to swing from place to place without even having them attached to anything. If you give her a rope she can make it grow as long as she wants it to be and she can twist it and knot it to form all kinds of things in just seconds flat. Imagine the possibilities!"

Jackson found himself staring at her in shock once again. "Macy, would you mind, if it isn't too much trouble, telling me how you know all of this stuff and why it is that I don't?"

Macy stared up at him with wide innocent-looking eyes. "Why honey, I know because I pry and snoop. You don't because... well, because you aren't always the easiest person to talk to and... Well, frankly my love, no one ever wants to tell you anything. People like telling me stuff. Guess I'm just fun to talk to!"

"My ass!" Jackson mumbled under his breath.

"What was that, darling?"

"Oh, nothing... I said, 'We're outta gas'."

She just stared at him looking confused before standing up and stretching. "Well, I think we should go ahead and let Daniel go on back and rest. I think he's told us what he knows!"

Jackson rose to his feet and shook Daniel's hand. He nodded at him. "I wish you luck young man. Thanks for helping us out. Hope they go easy on ya."

"Thanks Detective Wolfe." Daniel replied before turning to Macy, "And Detective Grey?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Think... umm... think you might stop by n, you know, check on me sometime? Sure would be nice to see you again ma'am." He was blushing and wouldn't look her directly in the eyes.

Macy squeaked and bounced over to him smiling. "Oh Daniel, honey, you won't be here long enough to even need a visit but I'll check to be sure of that tomorrow and if you are still around, I'll pop in and say hello sweetheart, you bet!"

She hugged him as though he were her nephew or her own son and then released him to the officer who had just appeared to take him back to his room. Jackson just watched completely flabbergasted. He noticed how the cop who was cuffing the kid seemed totally unaffected by the ridiculous behavior. I am in the Twilight Zone, he thought to himself.

Then he sat back down to await the other kid. He was trying to predict how this conversation would go and knew it was not going to proceed in any way he could even imagine. Things never did around Macy Grey.

(Author's note: Knottalia Ripcord. Boy did I pull THAT character out of the far reaches!

  IS IT BORING??? PLEASE TELL ME!!)