[Sam260]

Solaris PD Robbery Division - it wasn't a large division but it was one of the busiest divisions; especially since there seemed to be a spike in criminal activity surrounding robberies.  From home break-in's to heists at super markets, jewelers and pretty much every store on the strip.

This also happened to be the division that Martin Trudeaux had been outfitted into just a year and a half ago.  He used to be a homicide detective but the gruesome nature of the division weighed heavily on him, as it did most detectives.  He found Robbery to be much more 'simple' and easier to handle.  Dead bodies were not a thing he wanted to ever get comfortable with.

"Trudeaux, want you to go over these suspects and question all of them.  Get their alibi's for the robbery two nights ago at Webber's Jewelry shop." The captain, Sullivan O'Reilly, stated, dropping a stack of five unmarked folders onto Martin's desk.

Martin sighed and lifted the first folder up.  He flipped through the pages slowly until he happened upon the mug shot - it had to have been taken at least four years ago, but he would know that face anywhere.  His eyes flicked up to the picture of his eight year old daughter and a tear actually came to his eye - eight years separated and he had finally found him... And he was in his current suspects list.

Martin grabbed his keys, badge and his wallet and quickly left the station, bringing the five folders with him - he was sure he'd need them later.  He drove to the address listed, ran up the steps as quickly as possible and then started pounding on the metal door, hoping beyond hope that the man inside was currently home and now out making more mistakes with his life.

[Lovebite]

This city was insanely large, so large that it was broken up into districts and yet still over looked by the SPD which had to be the biggest police department in the country. But Solaris was still a pit of crime and corruption, despite the police's best efforts. Ezra had long realized he make a name for himself in the web of crime that covered Solaris and he was doing a good job of it. For now at least.

He had no idea that the police had already tied him to a few of the robberies, or at least had him as a suspect. So when his door was knocked on he took his time crawling out of bed and pulling on some low slung jeans. Running a hand through his thick hair, half asleep as he did so even when it was well past noon, he yawned. Unlocking the door and pulling it open,"Yeah?" He squinted, the sunlight filtering into his apartment, the door opened just enough for his face and bare chest to be seen.

[Sam260]

Martin was nervous and afraid, he hadn't seen Ezra since graduation at Solaris High - they had lost touch and Martin was already two months pregnant, afraid to tell Ezra that they were going to be parents; so, at just 17, he made the decision not to tell the man. He raised their daughter alone for the past eight years, and now here they were, staring one another face-to-face, and neither one of them looked any different than they did when they were seventeen. Martin's voice was even the same.

"Ezra, It's Martin Trudeaux... We uh... We used to date in high school? I don't know if you remember me or not... I mean..." He shrugged a single broad shoulder and sniffled a little "Look, I know its probably a bad time right now, but could we talk? It's pretty important..."

[Lovebite]

He was out of it, even if it was Wednesday, he was a little too hung over to process who the man was standing before him. Not at least until he spoke, his brows furrowed and he looked at him confused, scratching the back of his head. "Martin..." He tried to place his face, but it was his last name that ended up helping him remember,"Oh shit..."

Ezra smiled just a bit,"You were something." His brows furrowed though and he soon asked,"What are you doing here?" He stepped back slightly and leaned against the door as he looked the other man over. He didn't change one bit. "Uh, yeah. Sure. Come in." He opened up the door more and stepped back.

[Sam260]

Martin nodded his head and inhaled shakily before he stepped into the apartment; he still had the folders tucked against his side underneath his arm, and half of his badge was sticking out of his shirt - he had hastily just shoved it in there in his rush to get out of the department.

Martin turned to face Ezra, not at all caring about the state of the other man's apartment "I want to arrest you, so badly, Ezra... but I can't..." Martin said quietly; he pulled Ezra's file and slapped it against the man's chest "I can't because there are things you need to be aware of...but first, I need a logical alibi and someone I can shove this shit on... so you're in the clear!"

[Lovebite]

Ezra blinked and looked the other man over, he noticed the badge and he understood what he was there for instantly as he checked outside the door. At least he didn't come with back up, why wouldn't he come with back up? His brows knit together as he turned to Martin and closed the door behind him, he cleared his throat a little. "So you're a cop now?" He asked him,"What are you-" He was starting to ask before he slapped his chest with the folder, catching it before it could fall. His apartment was enough of a mess as it was, clothes strewn about, at least the trash was picked up.

A snort escaped him,"Arrest me? On what grounds?" He asked in reply and looked at the other as he stood before him, confused by what he said,"You need me to be aware? God..." It was way too early for this shit, he blinked again and sighed, taking the folder and opening it up, though it didn't say anything he didn't already know. Before he dropped it onto his coffee table with a few of the empty beer bottles, he sighed and moved over to the couch to sink down onto it. Rubbing his face, shaking sleep out of his limbs,"An alibi for what day?"

[Sam260]

Martin wanted to sit down but he couldn't; his nerves were too far gone for that "An alibi for Friday night between Eleven O'clock at night and Two O'clock in the morning - an actual alibi, too... Not "I was sleeping" you know that shit never works." Martin said, tossing the other folders down onto the coffee table, hands on his hips "And I'm not a cop, I'm a detective for SPD... Robbery Division."

[Lovebite]

Ezra groaned as he tried thinking about that night and realized the exact robbery he meant though he didn't say anything as he shook his head,"I don't know what you mean." He replied and he sighed as he leaned back on the couch, looking up at Martin,"I wasn't anywhere near that place. I was here." He said and he looked down to the folders he threw down and then back up at him, he looked him over and took it all in. Slowly remembering more and more about him,"What's that got to do with me?"

[Sam260]

"You've popped up on our radar a few times, apparently... I just now put all the puzzle pieces together of just who you were exactly, when my captain dropped your mugshot on my desk..." Martin said quietly, moving to finally sit down beside Ezra, hands tucked between his knees and his head bowed a little "If you committed the crimes, I don't care, Ez... It's none of my concern, where you're concerned, what you do... Criminal or otherwise..." Martin whispered, rubbing the back of his hand with his thumb slightly "I need you... not in prison."

[Lovebite]

Ezra would have cursed but he knew that would have given himself away so he stayed silent and looked down again to the files. His own file laying wide open, he sighed and glanced to the other man briefly,"You don't care?" He rose a brow and didn't quite believe Martin no matter how sincere he was, he was a cop so he must've been out to get him. "Okay, then why are you here?" Ezra kept watching him fully awake now as he turned to him,"What are you talking about?"

[Sam260]

Martin sighed and sat up a little bit, he pulled his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans and flipped a couple of the plastic folds over. With another sigh, he dropped the wallet into Ezra's lap and looked away "That's the real reason why I'm here - The not-so-real reason why I'm here is 'official police business'" Martin said quietly, looking anywhere but at Ezra. In the picture displayed; there would be an eight year old girl with long wavy black hair and a smile that could light up any room.

[Lovebite]

Ezra looked down at the wallet and he took it in his hands, brows knit together as he stared at the photo. Not putting two and two together for a few moments until he finally realized it, looking to Martin though he wasn't still looking at him. "What?" He couldn't believe it, he wasn't even sure if what he thought was true as he looked down again,"You're screwing with me, aren't you?"

[Sam260]

Martin shook his head slowly and looked up at Ezra finally "No. I may do a lot of terrible fuckin' things, Ezra Basara, but fuck with my daughter's livelihood? Not in a million fuckin' years!" Martin stated passionately, his nostrils flaring and his hand clenching tightly.

[Lovebite]

Ezra looked at Martin as their eyes met fully and he felt uneasy as he stood up then and gave Martin his wallet back. "You.?. You can't be saying what I think you're saying." He shook his head, pushing a hand through his hair, looking at him as he was obviously angry with him,"It's been..." He counted, lips moving as he did,"...eight years... Jesus." He shook his head and looked at him,"How... How old is she?"

[Sam260]

Martin nodded slowly and looked down at the picture of his daughter - their daughter - and sighed quietly, thumb chasing over their light-skinned child's happy smiling face "She's eight... Or will be in four and a half days." Martin said quietly, tears clouding his eyes as he closed his wallet and tapped it against his knuckles "I found out I was pregnant two months before graduation... I kept it a secret because I had no idea what to do about it... We weren't really even in a relationship together... we just had sex on occasion..."

[Lovebite]

"Fuck." He covered his face for a few moments and sighed, pushing his hands through his hair,"Martin, for fucksake. We have a kid? An entire kid?" An eight year old... The man folded his arms, looking at Martin as he explained what had happened,"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked him and pressed his lips into a thin line,"And so you kept her from me?" He felt hurt then as he looked at him,"Martin, this isn't something you just...come to my place and bring up."

[Sam260]

"Yes, we have an entire kid. Living, breathing, talking and walking kid..." Martin said, glaring up at Ezra. He couldn't take this sitting down, being talked down to like a child who stole from the cookie jar. He stood up to face his ex "How could I have told you?! I was heading off to college and you were... Well, I don't know what the hell you did with your life after graduation!" Martin shouted, flinging his arms out "I was scared! Okay?! I was damned afraid of what would happen if I told you - I had plans Ez, and they didn't include you, nor our daughter - but one of those two things happened, especially after you severed all contact with me!"

[Lovebite]

Ezra was in shock, as he looked back at Martin and stepped back slightly when he stood, though still taller than him. "I dunno, how about texting me? Or calling? You can't just come over here and expect me to make room for you two." He sighed and grit his teeth, shaking his head and turning around as he muttered,"I didn't sever all contact. I just..." He had no excuse,"I was a kid, Martin, we both were. I didn't think we had any chance of being something so...serious."

[Sam260]

Martin sighed loudly as he started pacing a small length of the couch, hands on his hips "Your number was disconnected, Ez... Or do you not remember doing that? I couldn't text you, call you, hell I didn't even know where you lived!" Martin stated, turning to glare at the other man "I had no choice, once I figured it all out - who you were, what you were to our daughter..." Martin shook his head, running a hand over his stubbled jaw "I never wanted anything serious back in high school... And then I was saddled up with a baby and I had to have something serious - I had to have a serious life... I couldn't breeze through anymore." Martin shook his head and bit his lip lightly "I wanted so badly to tell you about her, when I found out... I was just so afraid... And I still am, eight years later."

[Lovebite]

Ezra lifted a hand,"Don't. No one has called me Ez since senior year." He said and he rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh,"I was kicked out of the house the year after graduation,"I had to start all over, find a way to support myself with what little I had saved up." He looked at Martin when he said the words again, their daughter,"I'm sorry. I am, but you were better off without me. You both were, you seemed to be taking care of her and yourself perfectly well. While, look at me." He scoffed and gestured to the apartment around them.