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.

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"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.

By the time Peshko walked him back to his cell, he still hadn't closed his mouth. He trudged inside without a word.

Emil spun around to face him. "How'd it go with Ange?"

Leon ran a hand through his visor-less bangs, trying to find the words. "There's good news and there's bad news."

"The good news is that he's gonna get us outta here, yeah?"

"Psst."

To Leon's left, the man on the bench huddled up, staring at the ground. To his right, the other one snored by the far-too-public toilet. He finally turned around to see Aaron waving them over. Both he and Emil stepped away from the bars to join him.

"Not you." he motioned for Emil to stand back. "You."

Leon continued forward while Emil raised his hands, stepping away. Not wanting a repeat robbery, he hovered a hand over his pocketed wallet. As far as he could tell, Aaron didn't seem angry at him. Maybe he'd listen this time. "I promise we were on our way back."

"This isn't about that." Aaron frowned. "It's about your friend. I don't know if he can handle bad news right now. Dude's been spiralling all while you were gone."

"I can hear you, you know." Emil stopped midway through dancing in circles.

"Hey man, I'm just sayin', you've been twitchy the entire time I've been here. It's not looking good."

"Of course it's not. Look at where we are!" He swirled a finger in the air. "In jail! And maybe, just maybe, if someone hadn't walked off with his ID, none of us would be here."

"I was trying to give it back! You're the one that left."

"That doesn't explain the tattoo thing!"

Caught between Emil and Aaron, Leon had to do something. "Being here is bad enough," Leon repeated Emil's words to him, "there's no need for us to feel any worse. We can talk about this after we get out."

"How are you so calm right now?"

"I dunno. Is there a reason not to be?" Admittedly, Angelo's situation worried him, but telling Emil didn't sound like a good idea.

"'Is there a–?'" Emil went through several hand poses before gesturing at him. "My guy, you got arrested for getting robbed!"

"Aaron didn't mean to rob me. It was a misunderstanding–mostly–just like our arrest. Once your brother comes to get us, he'll clear the whole thing up, and the cops will know we're innocent. At worst, we'll be here until tomorrow."

"Tomorrow." That made Emil smile, just as Leon hoped. "Hahaa, yeah, tomorrow… I don't even know why I was buggin'. My bad."

Just like that, Emil pivoted back to the bars. Something about the blank wall beyond them stopped him dead in his tracks. He raced from one end of the bars to the other, nearly tripping over the sleeping man's legs trying to find whatever he was looking for.

"When did the cop leave?"

"About a minute ago." Leon vaguely remembered Peshko walking away.

Emil turned to Aaron, eyes wide with fear. "Did you need to call somebody?"

"It can wait." Aaron shoved his hands into his pockets. "I don't know why you're so worried."

"I don't know why you aren't!" Emil's eyebrows scrunched in confusion. Though his mouth smiled, it lacked its normal carefree charm. "Yeah, I'm mad at you but not mad enough to wanna trap you in here for 24 hours."

"I never said we'd be in here for that long." Leon cut in. "The captain'll find us before then, I'm sure. Besides, you're from around here. There's probably someone you can call, like Daphne or one of your other friends from school."

"Me and Lorie weren't allowed to take selfies. You think we could call friends?"

A pang of pity got interrupted by another idea. "Ooh! What about the hotel?"

"That depends. They got a phonebook somewhere?"

Leon searched his memory. "I think I saw one by the payphones!" Just as soon as he lifted Emil's spirits, his own died. "It was just for lawyers, though. Sorry for getting your hopes up."

With a shrug and a smile, Emil sighed as if to say 'Oh well,' before pivoting to face the bars. He stayed quiet, except for his breathing. It sounded more ragged the more Leon listened.

"Emil? Are you feeling okay?"

"It isn't hot in here to you guys…?"

Leon stepped closer. "Maybe you should sit down. You have been moving around a lot."

Emil slid his back against the bars until he sunk to the floor. His knees wobbled against his forehead, and when Leon took a seat next to him, he noticed that Emil's eyes were wide open, his mouth formed a tight line, and his chest threatened to touch his legs with each breath. Sweat dripped down his nose.

So Leon fanned him.

"Wha?" Emil lifted his head up, blinking sluggishly. Up close, Leon noticed that some of his curls had fallen out of place, his forehead glistened, and so did his eyes. He looked a lot worse for wear than Leon realized. "I didn't–Sorry, didn't see ya there."

"Does this feel any better? I know my hand can only do so much."

"Aw, Rookie, I was just bein'–" his eyelids drooped, "You don't need to…" Finally, he looked up at Leon. "Thanks. That helps a lot."

Leon pulled out the pack of tissues he'd gotten earlier. "Here. I won't be able to use this gym pass anyway. We might as well put these to use." While Emil took them, he continued fanning, partially to help him dry off, partially to give Emil a moment before bringing up the next thing on his mind. "I know you probably don't want to do this, but what about calling your dad?"

Emil shook his head. "Can't. Dunno which phone he's usin' today."

"What do you mean which phone?"

"He's got like seven burner phones. Cycles through 'em." His finger swirled lazily.

Many questions flooded Leon's mind, too many for Emil to answer at once, so he stuck with one. "How do you know which one to call?"

"He texts us." Emil took a breath, straightening up. "Guess I could call and hope he took the one with the number I memorized, but one outta seven ain't great odds."

"D-Do you have a home phone?"

Emil looked away. "We don't have a home."

"What??" Surely Leon misheard, but Aaron's concerned "Dude…" made him more certain he didn't. "Did you say you don't have a home?"

"We don't keep apartments for long. Just moved out of this one today. Right now, the ship is our home."

Footsteps distracted Leon from his next question. They came from Aaron. "Hey, man." He looked to and from Emil. "I thought I knew what it was like to not have stuff. I didn't realize how bad things could get."

Emil's head jerked up. "Oh no, no, it's not like that. My family's doin' more than okay. We're just between places."

"Riiight." Aaron winked. "Say no more. I get it." Leon didn't, and from the look on his face, neither did Emil. "Your mom's a journalist, right? Mine did some interviews, so maybe I can get her in touch with yours. Networking." He clicked his teeth.

"Mine's all the way back on Earth." Emil's eyes widened. "But she has a home phone I can call." His smile came back in full force as he turned to Leon. "You know what else she has? My dad's number. She might even have Lorie's!"

"That's great! Wait, why wouldn't she have–?"

Emil laughed, too busy celebrating to hear Leon. "Geez, I musta been really in my head not to think of that sooner." He looked up at Aaron with warm eyes. "Thanks. You really helped me out."

Aaron stuck his hands in his pockets. "Us small channels gotta stick together if we wanna make it big. Then we won't have to worry about homes or bills."

"Hey." Emil tapped Leon's arm. "Our search went out the window. It's too late for us to set up that date. If we get out early enough, what do you say we help him with that video?"

"Woah, I didn't know you guys were–I mean, I'm cool with it. I'm cool with it." Aaron nodded. "Love is love, and I love all my subscribers-slash-collaborators. Happy Pride Month."

Leon cocked his head. "It's almost September."

"We're not–I was trying to set him up with a girl." Emil leaned his against the bars with a sigh. "Nice save, though. Your audience is gonna appreciate the inclusivity. So, are you still up for the magic trick video or what?"

"Mom's probably gonna want me home after this." Aaron frowned. "But maybe tomorrow? I can sneak out if I'm grounded!"

"Sorry, but we'll be gone tomorrow." explained Leon.

Aaron's head drooped, Emil tugged at one of his curls, looking a little frustrated, and Leon couldn't say he was too happy either.

"We still have your card. Once I get my phone back, I'll subscribe to your channel!"

"And I'll make a whole new account just to sub." Emil offered with a wink.

"I'll even get my little brother to subscribe!" assuming Angelo didn't get arrested.

Joy spread from Aaron to the others, and for a moment, the cell felt a little brighter, a little more inviting, not a great place to be but a little better. To Leon's surprise, Emil hooked an arm around his shoulder, pulling them close enough to accidentally bump foreheads. Leon followed his lead, minus the pull. The cell felt a little warmer.

"Can you believe it? We're all gonna make it outta here!" Emil looked at him with bright, wide eyes. His chipped-toothed smile was wide open.

"Of course we are."

Something over Leon's shoulder dampened Emil's smile. "Uh, sorry." He apologized to the scratching man, who'd been staring straight at them. "Didn't mean to gloat."

He didn't say anything, so Leon decided to. "Do you have enough to make a call?"

The man shook his head ever so slightly.

Leon took out his wallet, and flipped through to find a few five dollar bills left. He took one out and walked over to his cellmate. "Here you go. This should be good for a few calls."

Dry hands reached out and accepted it, followed by a creaky, "Thanks."

"No problem." Leon left him with a smile. A few steps past Emil, and he found himself standing over the sleeping man. His voice lowered to a whisper. "Uhhh, I don't want to wake this guy up, so," he placed another bill between the man's face and the crook of his elbow, "There." He sat back down by Emil, looking between him and Aaron. "Now we can all make it out."

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