NDPD (January 16th)

[everyone_takes]

The snow was gone and with it all the crazy, puffy dresses in Kate's closet had disappeared as well, which wasn't something she was particularly sad about. The apartment that she and Marshall had been living in was pretty sweet, but if living in a hut was what she had to deal with to be able to wear a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, then Kate was totally okay with that. The hut wasn't so bad, after all, and she'd actually gotten used to the heat after all this time. (Although she'd been told about some German dude who made air conditioners and she was definitely going to track him down as soon as possible.)

Plus, with January came presents. Some people had already gotten theirs -- Kate had seen Jeff's puppy plenty of times now -- and she woke up nearly every morning and checked the hut for something that might be new and all hers. So far there had been nothing, not even that morning when she'd woken up, so, as usual, she'd walked to the Compound for a shower and breakfast.

What she hadn't expected at all was to find a brightly wrapped box waiting for her when she returned home. Just sitting there on their front step, a big bow on top and her name written on a tag. With a grin, Kate dropped down onto the step and began to rip into the box. There was a book, which she barely glanced at before dropping it on the step beside her, a weird leather looking thing and then a sleek, black box. A box with a gun inside.

"Uh..." Kate looked up and glanced around, half expecting someone to pop out of the jungle and tell her it was all just a joke. She didn't get guns as gifts. No one in their right mind would give Kate a firearm.

But there it was, lying in its box. The weird leather thing was a holster, she realized, and there was a box of ammunition. The book looked like it was mostly safety guidelines, but Kate couldn't quite get her brain to make sense of that yet. She was still too stunned by the fact that she was holding a gun in her lap. A real gun.

A real gun.

Comments

[everyone_takes]

"Trust me, anything you can say to Danny about improving the IPD or working more on it or whatever will be something he basically wants to do like, right away," Kate said dryly, but she was smiling as she said it. She knew he wasn't in charge of the whole thing, that was someone else's job, but he still took it seriously, which she appreciated. It would have sucked to have to learn how to be a cop from someone who didn't really give a crap one way or the other.

Picking Danny just proved how responsible she was. Sometimes.

"There aren't really any classes," she continued. "I mean, there's a law class that I took and the self-defense class, but nothing really about being an island cop. I've mostly been reading stuff on my own and asking Danny questions. He's given me like, eight million things to read before he lets me do anything else."

[cleverness]

"If you ask me, we could stand to have more of that type of motivation and initiative around here," admitted Hermione, nose wrinkling as she nodded, mostly in gratitude to Danny's work. "I know that we're not exactly a very typical society, and that the risks we face aren't those that you would find in a big city, or even a small town, but it does occasionally leave me quite surprised to see how little infrastructure we have. There are almost three hundred people on this island, yet we don't have anything in the way of laws. It strikes me as quite... strange."

She shrugged, shaking her head. "And just when you think that the appearance of an entire city might call people more to action, it doesn't. Everything is still an ad hoc process. I think that compiling a reading list and structured curriculum could truly be helpful." Her smile widened. "And if he's being so strict, I'm sure you'll end up being the most disciplined officer on the force some day."

[everyone_takes]

At that, Kate couldn't help but give a snort of laughter, then looked at Hermione with a grin. "Come on," she said. "I might be a lot of things, I might even be a good cop one day, but I'm not exactly disciplined." And that wasn't really a bad thing, as far as Kate was concerned. That just wasn't the area that she was best at. There were other things she could do, other talents she had.

She'd leave disciplined to the people who were good at it.

"Did you ever go down there?" she asked. "To that city? I never went." There were plenty of things she'd never done on the island, things that Kate was beginning to think she'd missed out on.

[cleverness]

"I didn't say right away, mind," Hermione pointed out, raising her chin lightly, and with an amused grin. It was true that Kate didn't exactly follow all of the rules, nor adhered to all of the assumed guidelines of good and proper behavior, but after years of having been with Harry and Ron, being surrounded by reckless personalities didn't feel at all new to Hermione. Provided that they listened when times truly called for it, that was as much as she felt she could ever ask for. "But in time, perhaps. When rule-breaking stops being as much fun as it can be right now."

The words came out with a bit of difficulty. Hermione didn't often have fun breaking the rules. And even when she did, it was usually while in pursuit of greater learning of some sort.

(Polyjuice Potion had been rather fun in second year.)

"But yes," she continued, smile fading. "I did go down to Rapture, actually. A few times in sum, although only once before the place was more or less secured. It's not... an experience that I especially care for. If anything, it was frightening."

[everyone_takes]

Kate had seen frightening in her life. She also knew that the shit she and Marshall had gone through was a very different kind of scary than what the island gave to them a lot of the time. It was even different from what a lot of her friends had been through, Hermione included. Whatever was down there, she wasn't sure she wanted to see it, even in the name of adventure. There were plenty of adventures to be had that probably wouldn't end with anyone being emotionally scarred.

Besides, it wasn't danger that appealed to her so much as the experience of something new.

"Well, I'll take your word for it and stay up here," she said, then paused thoughtfully. "Unless I get on the IPD and have to go down there. They send people down there sometimes, right?" Maybe that was the Task Force, though, and she had the two of them mixed up.

[cleverness]

"It's changed now," admitted Hermione, although her tone was still laced with reluctance, her words coming slowly at best. "I think that most of the threats are gone, although from what I've heard, there's still one native living down there and no one's really quite got the heart to chase after him. But really, it's much better than it was at the beginning, just a place that's fallen into disrepair. And one that serves as an ongoing reminder, I suppose, of the fact that there are certain technologies that ought never be exploited, even in the name of science and research."

Brushing a hand by the side of her neck, Hermione tilted her head, pressing on. "As for who patrols down there, the main task fell to the Task Force. The IPD isn't really the group meant to explore and scope new places so much as they serve as officers to keep the peace among citizens. The two groups are different that way. We may not have laws, exactly, but the IPD reports to the Council, while the ITF is more or less an independent body."

[everyone_takes]

The idea that there was still someone down there was kind of freaky and Kate made a face, thinking of someone wandering around down there. Just living there, in the dark, while the rest of the people lived up above him, most of them probably totally oblivious to the fact that he was still there. Kate hadn't known, which didn't necessarily mean a whole lot, because she tended to be pretty self-absorbed, but she was also sure she wasn't the only one. There were probably lots of people on the island who didn't really know.

"Do people still patrol down there?" she asked. "The Task Force? I mean, does anyone look for that guy or others?" Because if there was one down there, maybe there would be other people or... whatever was down there. "That's creepy."

And sort of neat, but in a very creepy, weird way.

[cleverness]

There was a slightly unnerved tone, if Hermione was hearing correctly, in Kate's voice. The type that almost tempted her to explain the reasoning towards letting Sander Cohen do as he pleased underground, where no one was living, where it was completely possible for him to wander about without triggering too much harm. Not to mention that without any true proof that the man would necessarily make the final blow, it seemed difficult to punish him for any crimes that he'd yet to commit. (Although, Hermione noted darkly to herself, the way that Sander had responded to Teddy's arrival certainly seemed to make a case to her towards finding him and locking him up, but it wasn't simply her call to make.)

"I think that the Task Force does periodically patrol, although I don't know that it's one of their main tasks anymore," Hermione considered, shaking her head lightly. "There's only one entrance into the city, and there's plenty of food below, and I don't know that we've had any success in trying to bring Mr. Cohen up calmly. So it's mostly a matter of how much engagement is necessary. Perhaps he prefers living on his own, but... indeed, very creepy."

[everyone_takes]

"Weird," Kate said, although it wasn't that much more weird than a lot of shit she'd seen in her life. Or maybe it was way more weird simply by virtue of the fact that it was a giant city that had appeared underground with all sorts of things. Weird things happened in Kansas, but nothing like that. Only on the island could something like that happen and Kate wasn't sure if it was more or less creepy than the stuff people did to each other back home.

"So even if I'm on the IPD, I probably won't have to go down there," she said. "Which is... good." There was still a part of her that was curious, but she wasn't sure if it was stronger than the part of her that liked having all her limbs attached. Danger was fun, so long as she knew there was an easy way out of it at the end, which probably wasn't the case with the city down there. Only one entrance meant there was only one way out.

[cleverness]

"I don't think that the IPD's in the habit of forcing anyone down there if they don't feel ready. Or the ITF, really, although I'm sure that membership is a bit more strict in that respect for them," replied Hermione with a shake of her head. At least, she thought to herself, if either group tried to coax people down into a place like that, she'd have words. The ITF, being an independent group, wasn't likely to be swayed or persuaded by what she had to say, but the IPD certainly was. "Regardless, there are different groups of officers for different missions. They wouldn't demand that someone so new head down there."

She sat then, curling her legs underneath her. "This is all assuming that your desire to join the group persists, of course. One of the good things about the island is that people can truly change their course on a whim and not be somehow punished for it."

[everyone_takes]

Kate knew she had a tendency to be a bit flighty. Just because she liked something one day didn't mean she was going to like it the next and no matter how dedicated she might be to something, that could all be gone within weeks. She wasn't good at focusing on things or dedicating herself to anything. Not the way Marshall was and not the way Hermione was. It was actually sort of strange, now that she thought about it, that she was as close to Hermione as she was instead of Marshall. They were so alike in so many ways.

But she wanted this. She wanted to be useful, to have a purpose, even if she didn't know how to put that into words. It wasn't the type of thing anyone would have expected her to say. She was sure both her parents would be shocked -- Tara would probably fight it -- if they showed up here and found out what she was doing, but she was sure. Not for the first time on the island, she was sure of something.

"I want to," she said, smiling at Hermione. "I do."

[cleverness]

It was more surety than either of the boys had ever managed, Hermione thought, and the two of them had wanted to be Aurors since the option first presented itself. In fact, she was pretty sure that alone had been enough to make both of them study in earnest, pushing themselves, for the first time in their entire Hogwarts career. Having exams etch such a tangible effect on their records and on the expectations they presented to any possible employers was more immediate than marks which remained on the parchment.

And if Kate could be more certain than the enthusiasm of a couple of boys, well, Hermione had no right to get in the way of that. Especially when, all things considered, Hermione still wasn't even sure of her own path.

"Then I will be... cautiously supportive," she concluded with a smile. "Cautious only because a part of me will always prefer the idea of you or any of the others taking on the safest job available. Spares me the worry, at least."

[everyone_takes]

"I guess I can give you that," Kate said with a grin of her own, making it pretty clear that she didn't mind the caution. Sometimes she still wasn't sure if what she was doing was the best course of action. She thought it was and it felt right, but sometimes that didn't mean anything and it would be good to have someone be cautious about the whole thing, especially since she seemed to be throwing it all to the wind.

"Just as long as you don't say I told you so if the whole thing blows up in my face," she added with a laugh. "I mean, I'll probably deserve it, but I don't like hearing it. Marshall will probably say it enough for everyone." Although, really, he might not. Her brother could be really good about saying the right thing sometimes.

[cleverness]

"I... admittedly have a tendency to say that at times," Hermione replied with a slight cringe, a few occasions already rising immediately to mind. When advice was so carefully given and not heeded, Hermione thought it was only natural to want to impress upon the others how wrong they'd been, and to try and listen more the next time such a challenge arose. But she could also see how doing so would aggravate people from time to time.

"But," she clarified, hoping not to scare Kate off so suddenly, "only when it's the boys rushing on ahead without acknowledging the dangers and setbacks. We can always forgive ourselves for making mistakes, but the greater tragedy is when people make them and then don't bother to reflect."

[everyone_takes]

Kate couldn't help her grin, mostly because she could hear Marshall saying something similar. Or Shoshana. "But sometimes reflecting only makes you feel worse," she pointed out, still grinning. There was a lot of stuff she chose to not reflect on, some relationships in particular, with Ben and Gene. Thinking about those just made her feel really stupid and really young.

"I mean, not when it comes to dangerous stuff," she added, because she could see Harry rushing into something totally dangerous even while Hermione told him not to. "But I never had to worry about stuff like that."

[cleverness]

"I'm a strong believer in learning through... humility, essentially," Hermione grinned, pressing the heel of her palm to her eye with a slight groan. "It sounds awful, but I just think that there's a lot to be learned when people look back on past mistakes and remember what it feels like to be in the wrong, and then to move forward having learned their lesson in full. But, anyway."

Her eyes narrowed momentarily, trying to imagine where she'd have Kate Housed, were the decision up to her. She certainly seemed enough like a Gryffindor, Hermione thought.

"Hopefully, you won't start needing to worry about that anytime soon."