The case was going well. In fact, the case was going fantastically well. Quin could hardly believe how much intelligence she'd been able to gather simply by going through the records the NYPD already possessed. Wong had said that there were several different syndicates working together on this particular human trafficking ring, and as soon as she'd had that lead, the redhead had made her way back to evidence and started to dig through recent activity in the organized scene.

There were a lot of incidents that appeared unrelated, but when Quin had taken everything home and put it up on her makeshift evidence wall, everything had fallen into place. It had taken a couple weeks of work, almost an entire ball of yarn, several sleepless nights, and more tea than the Detective wanted to admit...but she had something. It was circumstantial at best, but if nothing else, it was a starting point.

Quin had made a promise to her contact at the Chinese restaurant. It was partially on the table, but the bit that she was preparing for? That was under the table. The redhead had said so when she'd made the offer, but if her superiors found out she was feeding evidence to an outside party about an active investigation there would be hell to pay. For once, Quin didn't care. This was kids...these bastards were taking kids, drugging them to try and force mutations, and then selling them. Scum. Quin didn't even care what Wong was going to do with the info once he had it.

From here it was all pretty easy. Gathering up the folder she'd put together, Quin stuffed it into a slightly larger purse than she'd usually carry and pulled out her phone to shoot a text to a certain chef at a certain delicious Chinese restaurant.

From here, she'd wait for further instructions. A slight chuckle escaped the redhead as she thought about it all...this would be the first time they'd be trying out the cover story. It had been an impulsive cover to accept, feigning relationships with CI's posed all sorts of issues. What Wong had said had made sense though, plus he'd dangled a discount at the restaurant in from of Quin...a weakness she'd had no idea she was exposing.

Soon enough, the redhead had a time and place and made her way to Sum Ting Wong...it was a date! A data date.

Hades had to admit that playing as Mr Wong was one of the less if not one of the least stressful undercover operations that he had undertaken in his long career. He did not mind the simple life of a chief, it was a pleasant change from being hunted out in the wilderness for 8 months straight with no gear. Add to that he hand managed to counter recruit a rather fiery and rather attractive female police officer. He would wait to see what she was made of before making a judgement about her, but so far Hades had seen nothing much to disapprove of or to cause him pause. His phone buzzed in his pocket, speak of the devil, she had data to show him, would this evening be a good time? Hades answered in the affirmative, and that she should meet him at the restaurant just before his shift ended.

His own investigations were somewhat slow of late. He knew two of the suspected four players in the game but was struggling to find any small fry that could point him to the next level up. The triad and Yakuza were playing things very close to the vest and understandably so. If the mutant population at large caught wind of this, well there would literally be hell to pay.

Fa Ping greeted the next customer to enter Sum Ting Wong, and who should it be but Mr Wong's girlfriend. Well potential girlfriend. Gossip was that they had recently gotten together. What a western girl like her saw in a balding man like Mr Wong she did not know, but she could ask, she suddenly thought to herself gleefully. Aloud she said "Welcom to Wong's Lestaulant." She beconed Wong's girlfriend towards a nice and slightly more private table. As they headed there she turned and spoke "So how did you two meet? Tew me aw abou it."

The table was somewhat near the door to the kitchen. Fa Ping had just seated Miss "Acha" at the table and was standing over her hoping to squeeze every last juicy tit bit of information about Mr Wong from her when there was a clearing of the throat behind her. Fa Ping spun in surprise to meet the narrowed eye glare from Mr Wong who stood with a Wok Chan held menacingly in his hand. Fa Ping turned hastily and poured the tea and bustled off, frustratedly to tend to other customers.

Mr Wong smiled ruefully at her retreating back. "Solly abou dat." He paused. "You ar looking lice today. You have dinner and when I filish my shift we can go somewaya and tak, Oh an you get staff discount, I tel Fa Ping, but you look ou for her. She losy" He vanished back into the kitchen.

Half an hour later Mr Wong reappeared, he was dressed smart casual and looked none too shabby if he did say so himself. "So, ar you leady?" He said extended an arm towards his "girlfriend". It made him happy to have a girlfriend, albeit a pretend one.

The woman who led Quin to a seat in the restaurant was familiar, maybe even the same lady from the last time Quin had graced this establishment with her patronage. They were apparently old friends though, and Wong had wasted little time setting up the cover story that he and Quin had briefly discussed the last time they'd met.

Quin smiled at the woman's question, "That isn't just my story to tell." she had time to demure before the man of the hour arrived behind the other woman and scared her away with a rather large kitchen implement.

Wong was as expected, and Quin grinned at his compliment. It was sweet of him to say so when she honestly hadn't put any thought into what she was putting on. This was, after all, a business arrangement.

Quin received her instructions, nodding to acknowledge that she understood everything Wong said. They would meet again in half an hour when his shift was over, and the information exchange would go from there. Peachy keen.

It was a pleasant half an hour, the nosey woman having been quelled into irritated silence by the previous encounter. Still, Quin decided, it was probably going to be necessary to come up with some sort of back story to support the cover that she and Wong had developed. It wouldn't do to have too many holes in the story or inconsistencies because they'd never discussed the situation properly.

The food was once again delicious, and Quin probably ate more than she should have as she waited for Wong to finish his shift. Finishing up didn't take long though, and the man reappeared ready to go. Grinning again, Quin rose and took the offered arm, it seemed for all intents and purposes, that the date had begun.

"Lead the way. This is your show for the moment." she said. Anywhere private would work, she couldn't be seen handing large'ish folders of information over to informants in the middle of the street.

>"Lead the way. This is your show for the moment."

"Welly well madam, lets go have dessert"

They set off arm in arm for a local desert place with booths. Booths were most important, they garenteed privacy from snooping eyes, and the popularity of the shop and it's acoustics meant that it would be loud enough so conversation would not carry far. If Mr Wong was going to, and he was going to, get grilled by his kitchen staff, he should get to know Quincy. Even his imposing glare would not keep them at bay for long. 

As they were walking towards the shop, Mr Wong turned to Quincy and asked. "I low that I have been calling you Missy Acha flom da beginning, but I lever askded you what you lik to be callded."

It was something a real date/boyfriend would ahve sorted out a while ago but, hey better late than never.

Wait, was Quincy ...bouncing, that was a slight spring in her step. She was apparently in a very good mood, Mr Wong assumed it was to do with the case. He was picking up an air of excitement from his attractive female companion. Soon enough they arrived at a shop that proudly proclaimed to all nationalities and all langues that it was called  許留山. 

It was authentic in that most of the menu was in Chinese (traditional script) and the translations were interesting to say the least. Mr Wong ordered 楊枝甘露 which was actually a mango pomelo sago soup, but its direction translation as read from the menu was... Mana dropping from a willow branch. Suffice to say Mr Wong spent a little time explaining the menu. Eventually they ordered, the waiter took their order and left them in peace.

Mr Wong turned to face Miss Acha, the light illuminated her hair, making it seem more fiery than usual. Mr Wong mentally brushed it aside, now was not the time to get distracted. "Firstly, I calot howd off my staff foreva, de want to low aww, and I mean awww about it, and dey are perrrsestant. So I guess we shud figa owt hopw we met and low at least a lito bit abu each ada, or it will seem weirded. Secondly from they spring in yow step I am guessing you have found sofing useful, maybe many useful fings. So I suppose da question is waht do you want to tak abou first?"

Quin went with the flow. To be completely honest, she hadn't expected to actually go somewhere public to complete the exchange, but Wong was right. Being in public, being seen, would definitely firm up the cover story that they were starting to develop. Keeping a CI safe was always a top priority, and if this was what was necessary then Quin was fine with the spot. Plus, dessert. Yummy.

They made their way to the spot of Mr. Wong's choice and found a booth. This would work quite nicely, they could be discussing anything while they sat and had their food. Wong asked a question and Quin nodded her head, it would have been awkward if this particular subject had come up in the restaurant, "Quin. Everyone calls me Quin." she said. That had been easy enough, "And you?" Quin knew that naming conventions were a bit different in China, but it didn't hurt to ask a question. People everywhere had nicknames, just because their coworkers didn't use them, didn't mean that they didn't exist. Or, in Quin's case, just because a coworker had given one a nickname didn't mean that they would ever go by it by choice.

Ordering was...an adventure to say the least. The entire menu was in Chinese and the three years of French that Quin had taken back in high school did absolutely nothing to help her decide what to order. Luckily her companion was willing to help with some descriptions and translations and eventually Quin settled on a sort of rice flour cake. Wong had told her the name, but Quin had already forgotten by the time they ordered. Oh well, if it was tasty she would ask again after they had eaten.

Eager to get down to business once the orders were taken, Quin reached for the folder in her bag, but was forestalled by another question about their cover. Okay, that made sense too. Coworkers were nosy pieces of work, another fact that Quin had to acknowledge. They should get these details out of the way though. The problem was...Quin was absolutely terrible at these things. Of the two relationships she'd had in her life, one had started when they'd literally ran into each other on a jog and the other...well the other one sucked and didn't bear mentioning, even in an internal monologue.

"Uh..." she contributed helpfully, wracking her brain for a scenario that was plausible enough to present to Wong's inquisitive staff.

Something occurred to Quin that seemed a bit of a stretch, but could potentially work.

[color=buttercup}"Do you train anywhere?"[/color] she asked, hoping he would glean that she meant in martial arts. From their last encounter it seemed obvious that he worked out somewhere it was a simple explanation too. People paired off at these places all the time. It was an option, and the redhead was open to better ideas.

Finally, they were on to the real reason they were here. Quin patted the rather large purse she'd brought along for the "date". "Using the info you gave me the last time we met, I went into the NYPD records and started to look for patterns. It took me a while, but I was able to figure out several different incidents that looked like run of the mill business on the surface, but could easily be connected. It looks like the Europeans have been in bed together for while now, and some of their smaller operations could be a cover for this...smuggling ring." Using that term left a bad taste in Quin's mouth. They weren't talking about goods. They were talking about people. Kids.

"There's more. There's actually quite a bit more, and for being supposed criminal masterminds, some of these guys have gotten pretty complacent and predictable in their patterns...if you know what to look for." she finished, an admittedly self-satisfied smirk crossing her features. "I've got it all in a folder in my bag...it would probably be inappropriate to pull that out here though, so you can pour over the details later." Quin paused for a moment, then asked, "What about you? I know I made contact, but have you found out anything new since the last time we spoke?"

>"Quin. Everyone calls me Quin."

"Dat is good to lo, Queen." In a Chinglish accent the word Quin came out sounding more like Queen.

>"And you?"

"Oh, everyone calls me Mr Wong in Chilese or simply Wong if dey are speaking Engalishu."

"Do I tlain anlywaya?" Mr Wong looked slightly puzzled then caught on as the mild look of puzzlement turned to one of understanding.

"Oh... I have been to the Plactical Wing Chun Kong Fu Dojho on East 61st Street. But dat is mainly for Wing Chun, how abou you? Where do you trang?"

Mr Wong listened to the torrent of excited information.

"Eulopeans? Do you low which Eulopeans?" 

Mr Wong was planning a trip to Virginia soon to check out some leads and it would be good to go armed with as much information as possible.

>"....later." 

Mr Wong nodded. "I look forward to doing so lata. Me? I have learnded dat Lew York is a sorting and distribution hub. 

From what I ahve heard dara are a few hubs like dis is Amelica. Often in the big cities wif intonation airports. So it would be good to look for iregularities

in shipping and tlansportation companies. They will plobably own a few warehouses and lotate dem. Den there will plobably be legular shipping and flight booked,

along with the odd unscheduled flight for "special owdas." He paused. Quin was rather happy with herself. Wong Looked forward to reviewing the data.. later.

"But I have foung out dat Dere is a lest stop in Virginia, so lata I go dere to see what I can find. If I can dislupt dem dere, you should see some sudden changes

or pannic over here and it sould be easier to spot." Easier to spot meant easier to take down.

They were sitting in a Asian dessert place, a cheesy Asian dessert place. Complete with mirror ball and a bare patch of wooden floor in the middle. 

Their conversation was interrupted when the loudspeakers started playing music from Backstreet boys and a crowd of people took to the dance floor. 

The lights dimmed and a few colored lights began shining on the mirror ball which started rotating. Mr Wong shrugged his shoulders in a "What can you do" sort of gesture. 

He looked over at Quin, who seemed equally amused but also as if she was enjoying herself. 

"You like Back Stweet Boys?" Mr Wong half shouted and received an affirmative not. 

Mr Wong shrugged his shoulders, what they hell, why not enjoy themselves. So he held out his hand to Quin and led her onto the dance floor. 

Of course by this time the music hand changed and it was now Westlife and every one else seemed to be slow dancing/ trying to slow dance/ waltzing/ trying to waltz.

So Mr Wong pulled Quin into a slow waltz. He had to admit, it felt... nice. Mr Wong was just slightly taller than Quin, but her shoes made up the difference. And so they danced.

Well. At least they were on a formal first name basis now.

Quin smiled and nodded as Wong confirmed that he did indeed prefer to be called Wong in informal settings. That worked for Quin, less to remember. The simpler things were, the easier it would be to field questions if they came on the fly. One of the biggest things about being under cover was to keep the cover story simple, the more complex things got, the easier it was to get wires crossed and paint yourself into a proverbial corner. On an operation this big, that was the last thing they wanted to do.

As for training, Quin nodded her head. She thought she'd heard of the place Wong mentioned, but she'd never been there to train. "Most of my life I've trained in aikido, and there's a local dojo I frequent to keep my skills up. Recently though a friend pointed out that it might be wise for me to diversify a bit, learn some more offensive skills, so I've been hitting a few new places here and there. It wouldn't be a bad set up to say that we met at your place. In fact, I could check it out. I haven't exactly found a place I've wanted to spend a lot of time yet."

As for the Europeans, Quin organized her thoughts on the matter and then leaned a bit closer so she could speak quietly, "Most of the larger operations with the Europeans heavily involve the Italians. They're much quieter now than they've been in the past, but they still run some serious business. There are a few cases in the folder though that definitely involve the Russians and some smaller groups from other satellite countries. Like I said, the ties are all pretty loose, but they're there if you look for them."

Wong explained what he knew right now, and even though he had said it wasn't much, the information he passed on was new to Quin. There were collection and distribution hubs. New York was a distribution hub because of its easy access to transportation and shipping. It made sense, that's how it worked with regular merchandise...people wouldn't really be that different.

Quin nodded her head as Wong explained that he was going to Virginia soon to chase a lead. The redhead pursed her lips slightly, she had a potential contact in Virginia, but wasn't sure that she was really interested in pursuing that avenue.

The music started and Quin's brows rose up her forehead in mild surprise. Apparently this wasn't just a dessert join. Did she like Backstreet Boys? "They were a little before my time, but I definitely know a lot of their music." she admitted, surprised as she was offered a hand and pulled from the table. Apparently the business part of this meeting was over?

It would have been awkward and drawn a lot of attention to refuse the dance, so Quin did her best to go with the flow. Out onto the dance floor they went, and she did her best to blend in to the rest of the people on the floor. It wasn't really too bad...Backstreet Boys were generally pretty easy.

Then the song changed.

It was a slow dance.

Quin nearly panicked, she'd never been good at this sort of thing. In fact, it brought back memories of police balls and things she just really didn't want to dwell on. So she didn't.

Wong was a good dancer, it turned out, and while Quin had less than no formal training, years of various athletics had left her good on her feet. They danced. This was fine, maybe some of Wong's coworkers were even here. Besides...all work and no play and all that.

They danced. Hades was enjoying himself. It had been a while since he had, well had fun on the job. Rare excursions with Noel not withstanding. It had been a while since his work had required him to infiltrate some high society or other and give him an excuse to enjoy things like dancing while gathering intelligence. But all good things and all that.

"Queen, it is getting late, lets go to more plivate place to talk." Mr Wong said as he led her off the dance floor. As they collected their tings from their seats and exited the restaurant. There were nods of the head and the occasional "黃生" (Mr Wong) as people waved or nodded their head in greeting. There were glances at his red haired companion. Some lingered, others did not, some were curious, others envious.

It was raining when they got outside so he procured an umbrella and off they went. There were not going far. 

Their destination was a squat 5 story old block of flats. Mr Wong lived on the third floor. The elevator was out of service, so they took the stairs. The stairs led to a landing. Each floor had a number of sizeable flats. In front of each flat was an iron gate that either swung out or slid along rollers. The one they stopped infront of slid aside with a muted rumble on well lubricated ball bearings. Behind the black Iron gate was a wooden door. 

"Wewcome to my home." Said Mr Wong waiving Quin inside. "Please leave yora shoes at da dowa." 

He said indicated a rack placed by tyhe door just for that purpose next to an assortment of flip flops and slippers for indor use. The flat was a good size as charastic of older high rises. The walls were painted a sort of off white, giving the house a brighter lighter feel, light wodden skirting boards complemented the effect. The floor was tiled in a light marbeled grey. On the walls hung a number of Ink Wash Paintings. 

One corner of the living room was demarkated by a line of black tiles. It was obviousely a training area. On the wall hung a 4 meter long Dragon Pole of bamboo, worn smoothe with use. Below that hung two Butterfly Swords. In the square there were a number of wooden dummies, one which slid horizontally on wooden rails, one that spun and one that was just static. There were a pair of black cloth shoes neatly laid out just outside the training square. The rest of the flat was furnished simply, yet each item of furnature was well made, elegant and made to last.

"Would you like a drink? Chilese tea or beer or wata?" He fetched the requested beverage, poured himself a steaming cup of Chinese tea and sat down to look through the wealth of information that Quin had brought him.

After a while he looked up. "You lo you ar amazing light? So much in so few time! Amazing!" 

He read everything through twice then placed it down and started pacing. An observent person might notice that even pacing, Mr Wong was doing footwork exercises. Before each step, weight was transferred to the other foot. Next the foot that was to move incrived a half circle inwards before moving forward, landing with the heel first, finally weight was transferred to it and the process was repeated with the other foot. 

"Hmmm, dere is alot to fing abou. This make me all the mroe certain dat I leed to to to Viginyia to see if I can dislupt somfing dere to see what and who lesponds here. Mmmm" He nodded then brought his head up.

"But... first, let me ask you , how adventchaous are you Missy Queen?" He looked at her with a glint in his eye.

"If you are up for a " His lips twitched "littow advencha, den meet me on Wednesday light at dis address. Wear somefing dark but casual dat you can move in. Oh and bring camela, video lecorda and miclofone."

He gave her the address of the parking lot by a convenience store that was near a car junkyard.

"I fink you might like to lecord what we find dere. What say you ah? Oh and come along, if we are noticed we will need to runn run quick. You up for it?"

Well. She didn't make an ass out of herself...there was that. Quin smiled and danced and generally had a really good time. Why not? Fostering a good relationship with an informant that one would be working with was important. Maybe this was a bit unorthodox, but what Wong had said about making sure the cover was solid made sense.

Soon enough though, the suggestion was made that they go somewhere more private to talk. Quin couldn't help but chuckle a bit. She knew they were simply going to talk about the research she'd brought along, but to the casual observer many implications could be made. Cover intact. C'est la vie.

Somehow the flat that Wong led Quin to made sense as well. It would have been strange to picture him living in a luxury high rise, but at the same time a tiny hole in the wall didn't make sense either. This was eclectic and elegant enough to suit the complicated nature that was becoming evident in the CI the more Detective Archer got to know him. The grate slide open easily and once inside Quin did as requested, removing her shoes and placing them in the proper place.

The apartment was much larger than a lot of what was found in the city these days...which is to say it wasn't huge but it wasn't tiny either. There was space to move, the effect was nice. There was also a training corner complete with dummies and weapons. The redhead was jealous.

"Water please." Quin said, since she was technically on duty if she was meeting with a CI and drinking would probably bend the rules more than was necessary.

As Wong read through the research she had brought, Quin continued to look around the apartment, noting details in the way that a Detective notices things. It was second nature by this point, but still something to do to occupy the time while she waited.

Amazing, was she? Quin wasn't the type to preen, but she could graciously accept a compliment when one was offered. "It was all there, just waiting for someone to connect the dots." she said simply, pleased that the information was going to be helpful.

Wong spoke, and the redhead listened, brows drawing together slightly at the offer of an adventure a few nights in the future. This was an opportunity, one that she should really take through channels...especially considering what had happened the last time she'd gone a bit off book with an informant. Opportunity was opportunity though and Wong had said that she'd need to come alone. The recording devices actually made her feel better...if everything was being recorded this couldn't be too shady...could it?

"You're on." she said, mentally running through the little checklist of requirements he had given her and storing the address in her phone for later. All of those things were easily obtainable, most of them were in her apartment, in fact. "None of that should be a problem

If nothing else, she'd get to see more of what she was dealing with here. So far, her new informant really seemed to be paying off.

"Ok, see you dea." It would be fun, he hoped, if it did not get them killed.

"Just please please mak suwa you lot late!"

Continued in Evel Dlopping