Bright colors and pristine floors covered every inch of Lunaria… except for the cell Leon stood in. Rusty bars gave it a little color. So did the weird stains everywhere. Combined with all the white and grey, the place looked somehow sterile and grungy at the same time. Being here for what had to have been an hour forced Leon to find it interesting in its own way.

One guy slept on the floor. Another huddled on the bench, scratching himself. In an effort to be a good cellmate, Leon gave him a smile and a wave, which ended up going completely unnoticed since he was too busy looking at someone else.

The cops took Emil’s sunglasses, his shoulder pads, and even his spring toy, but they could never take his ability to stand out. In his sleek jumpsuit, red as a sore thumb, he gripped the bars, leg bouncing. His eyes were locked on the desks down the hall.

Leon saw goosebumps dotting his arms. “Are you cold? You can have my jacket.”

“Wh-Huh? No. I’m good. I could use the cold air.” Emil wiped his forehead with a chuckle. “The heat bill in here’s gotta be somethin’ else’.”

“It feels fine to me. Normally, I’m the one who gets hot, but I haven’t even had to take this off yet.” Leon tugged at his jacket as Emil began to pace, holding his arms in a way that reminded him of when Angelo got upset. “Are you worried about the captain?”

Emil went from pacing back and forth to going in circles, popping and locking idly along the way. “Worried? Ha! I’ll be happy to see him.” He took another look at the desks. “Any minute now.”

“Yeah, he shouldn’t be too mad. We were just doing our jobs.” Thinking about the worry on Hook’s face made Leon’s smile turn upside down. “About the mission, do you think looking for Hook was a good idea?”

Emil huffed, leaning against the bars. “I don’t know. I don’t care. If she wanted to chill in the city, then more power to her; no need for us to be in her business.”

“Is she still being paid by the IF?”

“Not a chance.” His leg bounced. “You don’t show up, you don’t get paid.”

“Hm. So basically it’s like she quit.” Leon wracked his brain. “I don’t know what else they’d want with her.”

“At this point?” Emil’s leg stopped bouncing, and his eyes wandered around the cell. “She’d probably end up somewhere like this, just to set an example.”

“In jail??” Grunts from the man on the floor made Leon cover his mouth. He lowered his voice after the guy laid back down. “For how long?”

Emil paced in slow circles. “I don’t think I’ve heard of sentences shorter than a month.”

“A month?” Leon’s heart sank. “That feels kind of extreme, even for quitting on short notice. I know I said I’d feel bad lying about looking for her, but I’d feel awful if we ruined her month like that.” The realization made him feel like the stain by his foot. “I should’ve listened to you…”

“Aw, don’t sweat it. I didn’t think about the jail thing until just now. Besides, being here is bad enough.” Emil must’ve had something in his eye, because it twitched a little when he winked. “There’s no use in feeling worse.”

“It’s better us than her. At least we’ll get out soon.”

“Soon.” Emil’s circles tightened until he was basically spinning. “You know, for someone who talks so much about punctuality, Lorie sure is takin’ his time.” He heaved a sigh. “There’s so many places we could’ve gone. You’re not too upset, are you?”

Sure, they weren’t allowed to leave, and the cell reeked of stale bodily fluids, but waiting for the captain wasn’t the worst thing Leon could think of. “I’m okay, really. Not many people get to see this place when they’re touring Lunaria, so at least it’s unique.”

Emil cracked a smile. It grew even wider at the sound of footsteps approaching their cell. He practically glued himself to the bars, and Leon joined him for a peek, but the cop who arrested them–Officer Peshko, going off of his name tag–didn’t arrive with Captain Galhardo in tow. Instead, he brought them a new cellmate: Aaron.

As he touched a finger to a pad beside the cell, Officer Peshko looked from Leon and Emil back to Aaron. “Get better role models.” Leon was so busy marvelling at how the bars slammed shut on their own, he didn’t notice when Peshko moved in front of him. In his hand, he held a familiar ID card above a familiar lightly-torn wallet. “Leonardo Summers?”

“That’s me!” Leon answered.

He handed Leon his wallet back. “This is yours.”

“Thanks, officer, but you don’t have to arrest him over it.” Leon thumbed to Aaron. “It was a misunderstanding. I let him take my wallet, remember?”

“Did you let him use your ID to get a tattoo while he was at it?”

Leon slowly turned toward him. “You did what?”

“It’s not like I was gonna use your money!” Aaron defended himself.

“You guys don’t even look alike!” Emil pointed between them.

“Hey, people change! I coulda dyed my hair, lost a buncha weight, grown a few inches.”

Leon looked at his Interstellar Forces ID issue date. “In three months?”

Aaron didn’t even try to answer this time. He was too busy trudging to the back of the cell, far away from anyone else. Though Leon hadn’t known him for long, his sudden turn to crime threw him for a loop. Was this a new trend among high-schoolers?

“I don’t understand. If you were gonna steal my ID to get a tattoo, why go through the trouble of pretending it was for a video?”

“I wasn’t pretending.” Aaron shot back. “And if you hadn’t been so busy, you would’ve gotten it sooner.”

“Well, I’m sorry we got arrested.” Emil sounded more frustrated than apologetic.

“Of course I didn’t know about that, duh! I’m talkin’ about when you tried to sneak away after coming back across the street.” Aaron squinted. “Don’t think I didn’t see you.”

“Wait, you think we were trying to leave? Is that why you’re mad?” Things started to make more sense for Leon, if only a little. “We just took a break to talk in private. We would’ve been right over if we hadn’t gotten,” his eyes wandered over to the cop, “interrupted.”

“I’d hate to interrupt again, but we tried contacting your captain.” Officer Peshko wasn’t interrupting much of anything, since Aaron seemed to find staring at a wall more worthwhile than listening to Leon. “He hasn’t picked up.”

“What do you mean he hasn’t picked up?” Emil’s voice cracked.

“Based on the names you gave us, we tracked down your commanding officer, called his contact number,” Peshko held his hands up, “no answer.”

“Does he not have his tablet?” Leon asked Emil.

“Psh, like he would give that number away. Knowing him, the only contact number he’d give is,” Emil’s words slowed, “the one for the ship, which is under maintenance right now. Great.”

“And it won’t be done until tomorrow.” he completed Emil’s train of thought. “But you have his other number, right?”

“On my phone, yeah. It’s not like I remember it.” Emil’s eyes darted over to Officer Peshko. “Are we really gonna have to stay here ‘til tomorrow?”

“No.” Peshko’s answer hit Leon like a wave of relief. Emil sighed, leaning his head against the bars. “You’ll be transferred to holding cells before then.”

“Cells, like separate?” A nod confirmed Leon’s question. One of the few things making the stay bearable was having a friend around. At best, he could hope for a cellmate to talk to, but getting out of jail sounded a little more appealing than making new friends.

“There’s gotta be someone who can get us outta here sooner.” Emil’s smile wobbled. He looked to the officer. “Don’t we get a free phone call?”

“No.” Peshko left Emil’s jaw hanging open. “It depends on what you’re calling for. You can call a lawyer. Your friend can call whoever he wants as long as he has the money.” His stony gaze turned to Leon. “I suggest making up your mind on who to contact. Who knows when’s the next time someone checks back here?”

Leon’s wallet sat in his hands, heavy with all the power to set them free. The time crunch should’ve brought some phone numbers to mind, and though it did, the problem was that all the ones he remembered belonged to people back on Earth.

In Lunaria, he was a stranger. He had no idea what happened to strangers in jail. Aaron had family here and probably some money if he was planning on buying a tattoo, but did the scratching man have anyone? What about the sleeping man? Had Ranger Hook been caught, she could’ve disappeared as easily as any of them.

“Leon?” Emil’s leg bounced rapidly. “You got any idea who to call?”

Leon blanked out. “Not at all, but,” looking at Emil filled him with hope, “you know people here, right? And you set up the group chat!” He handed over his wallet. “Take as much as you need to call around.”

“Thanks, but I was banking on you.” Emil looked away. “Sorry, heh, I should really have it more together than this.”

“It’s okay, you’re not alone. The only cell phone number I remember is mine.” There was nothing to apologize for when neither of them had a way out. Then Leon realized this meant neither of them had a way out. “That sounded more reassuring in my head.”

Emil’s eyes snapped back to him. “Real quick, who has your phone right now?”

“Hm?” A lightbulb went off. “Ángie! You’re a genius!” Leon’s smile fell. “He doesn’t usually pick up random numbers, though.”

“We’ll just have to hope he does. You go on and call him.” Emil shooed him over to Officer Peshko. “In the meantime, I’ll try to think of somethin’, okay?”

With a wave of the officer’s hand, the cell opened, and Leon gave a thumbs up to Emil on his way out. Peshko towered behind, herding him down the hall until they reached a line of payphones. Leon tried to make some small talk about how funny it was to see these relics in Lunaria of all places, but Peshko might as well have been a brick wall.

Beside a law directory, a sign let him know that a quarter would give him five minutes–all the time he needed to talk to his brother. He dialed his number, and to his surprise, a click sounded on the other line.

“Who’s this?” whispered… Angelo? He sounded a little different.

“Ángie, it’s me. We need your help–”

A distant voice on the other end begged for the phone before Leon could finish talking. After some frantic shuffling, a new, more familiar voice whispered into the receiver. “Big Brother, is th-that you? I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m s-sorry, I’m sorry, I-I–”

“Hey, hey, shhhh, it’s okay.” Leon would rather Angelo not hyperventilate before he could send help. “Who was that? Why are we whispering?”

“S-Sorry, it’s not a good time right now. Did you get my text?”

“No, me and Emil are in jail.”

Angelo’s voice deepened. “Who did this to you?”

“Well, the police. That’s usually how this works. Anyway, can you tell the group chat we need Captain Galhardo to bail us out?”

“Yeah,” shaky breaths followed, “I-I can do that.”

Unease prickled Leon’s skin. “Hey Ángie, are you alright? Where’s Aiden?”

He heard a few thumps from Angelo’s end. The other voice whisper-screamed, “Shoot! It’s the police!”

“Shhh, not so loud!” scolded Angelo. More thumps followed. “No, no, no, no, please, no.”

Leon’s concern skyrocketed. “What’s going on? What about the police? Are you still there?”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“What do you mean you’re sorry? Ángie? Angelo!” A click cut him off from his brother.