The evening air was crisp, but the firemen milling around the fire engine had their jackets off. The mood was relaxed, a couple of them joking around. The nightclub they were parked outside of was lit up, but not for a party. The inside was free of neon strobe lights and loud music, the dark floors and walls exposed by the bright lights of the overheards as the partiers had been evacuated a while ago.
Some adrenaline of the moment lingered, but it found its outlet through loud laughter as they joked and waited for the police to arrive. Their LT was in the basement, doing the prelim investigation of the source of the fire. A few would-be partiers mingled around the edges, waiting for their rides, while the nightclub employees were inside doing the clean up they needed to do at the end of each night anyway.
Max was leaned against the front grille of the truck, eyes looking down the side alley and the basement steps. He knew they'd called it in, some kind of police or detective would be joining them, but right now it was still their scene. He was listening to the LT cursing to himself, muttering angry nonsense, right before he came out of the open basement doors. His expression was annoyed, but a little confused too.
“Boss?” Max called out, checking in, as a car came to a stop nearby. The murmuring words from the new arrivals identified them as the cops they were waiting for. And one was familiar, but Max didn't turn to look as he waited for his LT's answer.
"Christ, Kuryakin. Cool it," the man muttered, annoyed, but his brows furrowed into something that looked more confused rather than angry. He turned to watch the cops get out of their car. "Shit, they're here."
Max was reminded of how they'd all been working more than a little overtime in their shifts, the spring bringing with it eager idiots who wanted to fire up the grill but didn't exercise proper fire safety. He pushed up from his lean, stepping closer to the LT and lowering his voice. “Want me to deal with them?”
"What?" The man huffed out, like he was zoning out, and Max felt a worrisome little shiver of magic from the man as he seemed to gather himself, the irritation fading into concerned confusion. Yeah, yeah. Deal with it, you know how to identify the signs?"
“Yeah, boss, I got it squared away. I'll deal with it. Go sit down, dunk your head, man.” Max slapped the LT on the shoulder, pushing him back towards the end of the fire engine where the others were standing, and turned to the approaching cops. One of them more familiar than the other.
“Detectives,” Max greeted them, lifting a hand in an easy salute, accompanied by a charming smile. His eyes lingered on Emily, but he didn't eyeball her for too long.