Across the station, a lightbulb flairs up

No Mom, I won't go into the family business and clean after some snobby rich people!

A few years back Ainhoa used to say this repeatedly to her mother. The woman had meant well and it was honest money for honest work, but Ainhoa just couldn't imagine herself becoming a cleaning lady. She wanted to help the people in a very practical and palpable way, using quick wit and physical fitness in equal measure to have an impact on the everyday lives of the fine folk of her city. For that reason, becoming an officer of the law had been her main aspiration for the longest time. A dream, that Ainhoa managed to fulfill recently, by becoming a rookie in her local police precinct.

Ironically enough, being the new girl, or one of the new girls, played out rather closely to what Ainhoas mother had envisioned her daughter doing anyway. A fact that was lost on the current Ainhoa.

"Cleeean up is fun ~, when we clean and sing this song ~, so come on and clean together ~, and sing alooong ~", Ainhoa was on her knees scrubing the floors next to her partner Maria.

"La la la la la~, la la la la la~, so come on and clean together ~, and sing alooong ~", Maria joined the chorus of their song, more fit for toddlers learning to put their toys away than for police officers on cleaning duty.

The two officers had both fought hard to get into this specific police station, for the same reason, that has led them to their current predicament. Which is not to say that they are currently aware of that. The specialty of this precinct are twofold. Their chief, an impressive woman called Catherine Meadows, has managed to institute a pilot project that is both exclusivly staffed by proud and powerful women, she has also struck deals with the highest level of city government to grant the station a high degree of autarky, meaning that her and her fellows manage nearly all functions concerning the station by themselves without outside interference. Chief Meddows apparently meant to demonstrate beyond a doubt her leadership skills and her trust in her handpicked lady officers, without any outside meddling tainting her successes. An endevaour, that Rookie Officer Ainhoa Perez was more than thrilled to contribute to.

A thrill, that got a major dampener, once her application process succeeded and she entered the actual service here. Ainhoa liked her colleagues and adored her supervisor, but the actual work she got ordered to do... Cleaning the station windows daily, polishing all medals and trophies to reflect perfectly, tidying up the baracks and scrubbing all the station floors... Ainhoa was willing to do grunt work, she really was, but this was not the hands-on approach that she was originally dreaming of. Instead it was eerily close to following in her mothers footsteps.

Such meta-thoughts were very much absend from Ainhoa right now though. A little while back, the cleaning duties had lost their dread, instead she got a lot more compliable. Her colleagues suggestions become a lot more convincing and Ainhoa found herself going along with them quite effortlessly. She even stopped disliking the fumes from the cleaning detergents, since they changed to these brandless ones. Working here was getting more pleasurable by the day actually, as the cleaning was getting her in the mood for dirty things.

Ainhoa continued scrubbing the floor like usual, only midly hindered by her uniform sliding back and forth in synch with her. And she would have continued to do so, if the siren light above the baracks entrance wouldn't have flared up. The notification lights above the doors were a very functional communication tool in the station. Without alerting the rest of the building, the chief could contact certain teams and signal them to come up to her. Potentially she could also use the stations intercom to speak to the inhabitants of certain rooms, but whenver it was just the light itself, it simply communicated to come over. And considering the kind of duties that Ainhoa and Maria had been tasked with, the two rookies knew that this meant another cleaning job in the chiefs office. Both jumped up, jiggly as they were, and ran to the supply closet to stock up on cleaning supplies and equipment. With the speed and elegance befitting skilled athletes, they ran through the station to not let the chief waiting longer than absolutely necessary. The chief always got cranky when her office hasn't been cleaned for a while.

How to deal with the whole marriage thing? "Catherine Meadows & Alex Simmons", dated three years ago, officiated by city officials. Nothing spectacular, still another stick and stone to break his bone. Dealing with an angry husband hitting his face in for gaslighting his amnesiac wife was the last thing that Lloyd needed. Maybe-

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

Without waiting for permission to enter, two women rushed into the room, clad in their parody uniforms and armed with buckets, brooms and mops. The one running ahead, a latina with her tanned melons almost bursting from their fabric concealment, ran up to Cat and saluted with so much momentum, that some of the cleaning water from her bucket splashed upward into Cats face.

"Officers Perez and Michaels, reporting for duty Ma'am", the spunky young officer blurted out before realizing her mistake. "Oh Chief, I'm so sorry!"

Cat had not reacted with any uproar, instead she dazedly brushed the wetness from her face. The second member of the cleaning police, who was merely a step behind, ran forward and fumbled with her supplies, looking for a rag to help dry her superior. Somehow in a burst of clumsiness, Officer Maria Michaels, lacking her usual daftness, lost her grip on her broom. And while shooting her hand forward to catch it, she instead punched it, thus propelling it forward.... And what did the makeshift projectile hit? It's pommel found its way right in the center of the framed marriage certificate, crushing the glass and sending the shattered pieces flying to the ground.

"Here Chief, take this", Maria pressed the cleaning rag she fumbled for into Cats face...

"MMHMGMM"

...and unknowingly stopped her recovery from the splash-induced confusion.

"Maria you ditz! Look what you did! You made the chief wetter than before", Ainhoa couldn't help but let out a little giggle at her double-meaning, "You should have used a dry rag, duh."

"Hmm?", Maria pulled back, when the chiefs hand took over the rag and the face-cleaning. She had a look at the piece of fabric up close and noticed her mistake. "Damnit! Sorry chief. Are you alright? Should I go get you a towel?"

"A-a-alright", a mild smile creeps on Cats lips out of nowhere, "no towel, all fine."

"Good to hear Ma'am", Ainhoa recipocated the blissful smile, "Did you call us to clean something specific or just the usual once-over?"

"What did I call you for?", Cats pronounciation was right on the verge of sounding rethoric to the positively vapid young officers, but clear to the so far unresponsive Lloyd.

"Yeah, what, oh what, did Chief Meadows call you in to clean?", Lloyd turned the sarcasm up to eleven, to underline for the rookies, that of course the chief actually knows why she has called them. "There's broken glass and scrap paper on the ground. Maaaaybe that's the reason. And throwing the mop at it won't solve the problem, you'll actually have to use it. Right, Chief Meadows?"

"Yes, absolutely", the befuddled chief of police agreed out of foggy convenience, "Pan up the rubble and mop the floor, hop, hop."

Cat unknowingly used her natural authority and got the fresh sparkly young police women to obliviously dispose of Catherine Meadows anchor of love and commitment. That worked out rather perfectly, except of course for one thing. A round thing, that often has a gem on top of it. A wedding ring of course, one look at which would let this whole thing blow up in Lloyds face. Could he talk her into believing it's just a fashion statement? A promise ring? A family heirloom of sorts? Anything other than a sign that she has a husband waiting back home? Or maybe he could get rid of the ring alltogether. Thinking that over, he looked at her hands and didn't see any ring.

The chief put the rag on the table between her and Lloyd, emiting a muffed and barely audible cling-sound.

"Agent Golson?", a little frown of his later, "Agent Alabaster Anaconda? If you have some more time, maybe we could do a tour around precinct."

Cat threw a sideway glance at the two rookies cleaning the side of her room.

"So that I can get you aquainted with our station of course."