..:ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE AND CRIME:..

Inspector Zenigata barged through the hidden door, stumbling briefly before stopping completely. Didi was fine, with the woman already exploring the unusual area, with Barnes participating in a similar course of action.

Barnes approached her after he was finished with his once-over of the room. "Hey, are you alright?" he whispered.

Letting out a loud, "Huh?" She turned and saw him, waving her hand dismissively as she answered. "Oh, I'm fine. I'm feeling charged up, actually! Take a look at this place!"

Zenigata did not know what to expect from the other side of the door, but the contents inside took him back. It appeared to be some kind of storage room for performance art as backdrops, props, clothes and relevant items were scattered across the area, looking as if they hadn't been touched in decades. Eerily grinning masks and posters adorned nearly every wall, with ghoulish, vaudeville faces peering from the shadows as the man began to investigate. In the back corner of the room, a particular piece of furniture stood out: a pair of large lockers, which appeared to be more modern when compared to the rest. He could not explain why, but the objects were calling him, regardless of the fact they were the least suspicious-looking items there. One of the doors was slightly cracked open, in which the inspector approached to get a better look. His eyes grew big with shock after seeing what was inside.

"Barnes," he called out. "What were the Bear's top crimes again?"

The fellow cop approached him curiously as he answered. "He's known for being an organized hitman. Why?"

The inspector covered his hand with the sleeve of his trenchcoat, then fully opened the door of the locker. Inside were automatic firearms, weapons no man of his career should have. He then looked at his partner. "Either he's getting into weapons dealing, or he knows someone that does."

Barnes got closer to the locker to get a better look. He then examined the rest of them, which he quickly found were sealed shut. It appeared that the one that had its contents exposed was opened with force, as the door was battered where the lock rested. The rust of the aged metal stained the tips of his fingers. "Why the hell would he choose a place like this to store guns?" He protested. "Sheesh, this place is disgusting."

With her hands in the pockets of her well-used overalls, Didi looked up at the ceiling with great interest as she ambled towards the police. "Speaking as the only business owner here, sometimes you need to take what you can get," she replied. "No joke, but the Purple Car used to be a salon before my dad bought the building."

Both Zenigata and Barnes stared at her, but their expressions couldn't be more different: the former was mildly perplexed by her statement, while the latter couldn't help but to be amused. The inspector, redirecting the conversation back to its original topic, grumbled in response. "Maybe so, but if our kidnapper isn't the Bear, we've still stumbled upon something big."

Suddenly, faint yelling echoed throughout the back end of the building. Unfortunately, the group was faraway enough from the sound where they could not hear specifics, or whether it was a cry of anger or pain. Their minds quickly went to dark thoughts, fearing that the plans of the kidnappers were possibly more malicious than they initially figured. The knob of the storage area's door began to jiggle, making Didi jump in surprise, with Zenigata and Barnes promptly bringing out their guns in anticipation. A young man busted the door down, looking just as shocked to encounter them as they were.

He threw up his hands. "Don't shoot!" He desperately cried out.

The two cops warily lowered their guns as they eyed the stranger. Didi immediately recognized who this individual was, and without any hesitation or thought, she rushed towards him and grabbed him by the collar. "Nicky, you no good crook!" She screamed as she shook him. "I'm not surprised at all that you use your free time for something like this!"

Zenigata and Barnes both tried to grab onto the woman's shoulders in an attempt to separate the two, but quickly found themselves being shaked along with their frightened guest. "What are you doing?" She continued aggressively, "Torturing people?!"

He eventually managed to spit out a response. "Stop it and I'll explain everything!"

With great reluctance, Didi stopped the aggressive jostling, with the ICPO agents pulling her away from the man. He gained back his breath, though his heart continued to pound madly. "My name's not Nicky," he began, "My actual name's Sean. The voice you just heard was my boss, Narciso Gaspar." He then explained their 'business' and how it led to the situation the two presently found themselves in. He peppered the narrative with feelings of regret, and how he found this room trying to look for help for both him and Gaspar. He finished by saying, "I want to live a clean life after all of this is over. Didi, I am truly sorry for any heartbreak I caused."

The room was dead silent after Sean told his story. Anger still burned deep within Didi as she intensely stared at him. "Why should me and my friends trust you?"

"Look at this place!" exclaimed Sean. "Some angry mob boss wants me -- I mean, us -- dead! Quick cash isn't worth losing your life over."

The mechanic's face softened after his pleas, but the distrust was alive and well within. She was torn about whether it was a desire for revenge that kick-started this crazy adventure. However, she knew that she didn't want to see this man afraid to lose his life. She felt unusual, as she began to pity someone she thought was an enemy. Sean's gaze was exclusively on her as he tried to assess what was going on in her head. He woke from his thoughts as he felt cool metal around his left wrist, in which he turned and saw Inspector Zenigata staring him down.

"Regardless of your change of character," he spoke sternly, "You still have committed those crimes."

Sean frowned, with the shadows of the room obscuring his look of dejection. His attention turned towards Barnes as he heard the other cop speak. "Alright, two questions. Where's Gaspar, and do you know anything about your kidnappers?"

His reluctance only grew as he began to answer the question slowly. "I can't answer the second question, but I do know where Gaspar is." And with that, his body tensed in anxiety, worried that his great escape was now ruined.

"Kitty?" said the Bear, with his face registering a pleasant shock as he watched his sister come into the room.

The mob boss' third goon, the former driver and now security guard with a nervous disposition, followed the woman like a frightened dog. His large eyes then met his employer, to which he pleaded, "Sir, I'm so sorry, I tried to stop--" But, Pauside made a swift movement with his hand which promptly sealed his stammering mouth.

"Kitty, how did you find this place?" Pauside asked, seemingly oblivious to the disappointed glare Kitty was providing. The large man then noticed the rest of his team pointing guns at her, yelling, "Knock it off, we have a guest here!"

He drew closer, with the violent criminal transforming into a gentle lamb as he took his sister's hand and kindly led her to the table. As she sat down, she observed her surroundings, taking in the suspicious eyes that were glued on her. "Can they leave?" She asked, matching their intensity.

Pauside sat adjacent to her. He screamed at his men, "Get out of here!" before directing his attention back onto her, becoming completely quiet in the process. Bowman promptly followed the orders, with Berry following shortly behind him, though the latter looked at his partner with a subtle, but sharp, glare about the situation. "Sorry about that," the Bear said. "Is something wrong?"

Kitty sighed as she experienced a fleeting reluctance, with her unsure how to begin the conversation. She met his gaze, and then asked bluntly, "Did you scare off Sean?"

Her brother fell silent, with him looking at her with surprise once more, though this time there was a hint of hurt in his dark brown eyes. He rose from his seat suddenly and yelled, "That kid's a crook! You're only prey to someone like him and his boss!"

Kitty remained cool, with the outburst failing to make her even flinch. "I find it pretty interesting that a criminal would judge another so harshly." She stated as a suspicious eyebrow rose.

The Bear clenched his massive fists as the anger surged through his veins. "Don't act like you're better than me," he responded sharply as he pointed at her. "I didn't choose the direction my life went. You're forgetting your history, Kitty."

She matched his sharpness, replying swiftly, "I didn't forget, and you don't have to stay this way!"

"Hey, I managed to get a roof over our heads, and we ate three meals a day thanks to my career." He then gestured to the space behind him. "I know loverboy hasn't experienced the poverty we lived in back when we were kids."

Kitty stood to her full height, with her brother casting a shadow over her. Regardless, she was just as intimidating as he was despite the massive height difference. "You thought I was dating Sean?" She asked, angered. Pauside began to confirm this, but she stopped him quickly by adding, "I was trying to help Sean!"

"What?!" He screamed in response. "I already know his story, Pauside," she explained. "I was trying to help him get out of that environment. That last lunch we had, I was about to introduce him to a small theater that was looking for new talent."

Pauside turned away from her in an act of quiet defeat. Sensing that the man was upset, Kitty's tone softened, and she placed her hand on one of his broad shoulders. "The world isn't as bad of a place as you might think."

He moved away from her, scratching the back of his balding head madly before exploding once more. "I trust you, Kitty, but not Sean," he then faced her and continued, "He's working with Narciso Gaspar, one of the biggest sleazeballs in this city. Do you really think someone who would associate with someone like him could really change?"

Kitty crossed her arms, yet again unmoved by her brother's intensity. "He made me think of you," she finally confessed. "A troubled kid who fell into bad habits in an attempt to improve his life."

Pauside then looked at his sister with a soft curiosity. But, before he had the chance to respond, Bowman and Berry swarmed into the room with urgency plastered on their faces. "Boss, boss!" cried out the former, in which he was met with sharp glares from both Capasso siblings. "What is it?" asked the brother sharply, with him transforming back into his Bear persona in a blink of the eye.

"The blonde escaped," Berry said as he regained his breath. "Gaspar's still there. We don't know what happened."

Shock engulfed the faces of the Capasso siblings, with Kitty in disbelief that Sean managed to make his great escape, whereas Pauside was overwhelmed with anxious anger. He paused as he tried to process everything that had happened in the past hour, and eventually roared. "Don't just stand there! Bowman, you go look for Sean, and Berry, keep an eye on Gaspar!"

A state of alarm rang in the woman's mind following the Bear's words. She approached him, "You're not actually thinking about killing him, are you?" She asked cryingly.

The Bear faced her with a fire burning in his eyes that she had never seen before. For once, it scared her, with Kitty taking a reluctant step back from her older brother. "You're not a part of this," he growled, then smacked the woman hard enough to make her lose her balance. "If you know what's good for you, sis, you'll stay out of my way."