The detectives pulled into the alleyway beside Saint Paul's church, a modest building able to seat around one hundred people. It was unremarkable, cookie cutter as far as churches go. Aside from the beautiful stained glass windows depicting angles fighting off evil spirits with flaming spears and swords. Although some had more common designs, acts of kindness by different saints stuff like that.
Conners eyes always lingered on the one depicting the fierce holy warriors, he pointed at a particular window,one depicting an army of angels descending onto hapless tiny demons. "If these guys are so against the innocent being tormented by the damned and damnable, why are we pulling overtime three times a week." Tod who always politely declined an answer when someone questioned him about his beliefs, just glanced at the window and shrugged before responding. "We've fought a lot of weird and evil things man, maybe they only fight the weirdest and evilest out there." Conner rolled his eyes and couldn't help thinking his partners attitude mirrored the local priest's. The resident holy man Father Flavio was also their DWD official lore master, and he had tried to convince conner many times that the heavens while not understood were not ignorant of the little people. He swears that if there is evil to be found in the world a rare bit of good will always come through for us. Conner surprisingly wasn't very religious, but he'd seen the tools of various religious practices actually effect the supernatural creatures he arrested or shipped back home, make of that what you will.
Most assumed the small alleyway they were driving down was for the sad occasion of a hearse which yea sometimes it was, a real downer when you saw it. If you drove all the way down the alley you'd come to a dark blue wooden shed with a side entrance and garage door. The side room was actually a super reinforced box with two hidden operatives inside at all times, and they controlled the steel plated garage door that opened up to a specially designed hydraulic lift.
The whole building was two feet of concrete and steel reinforcements underneath the weathered garden shed disguise. All of it coated with silver and inscribed with holy and shamanic runes, because why the hell not.
Conner got out of the car and walked up to the side door,it was lime green at one point but now the paint was chipping to nothing. He pulled his badge from under his shirt and held it up to the scanner disguised as an eyehole. He got the affirmative from the faceless agent in the form of a long buzz over the intercom and the garage door began to open. Ducking under the creaking metal door, sighing as old rainwater dripped down his back, he quickly made his way back to the car. "You know I love this place, but why does the south have to be so damn humid and rainy." He flicked the water off the back of his neck, getting his seat wet. Tod just sighed and drove onto the lift before answering. "It was either good food or good weather and we chose correctly, Ill take crawfish etouffee in a hurricane over dry bbq in the sun."
The door agents voice came over a hidden speaker before Conner could agree. "Were reading about 200 extra pounds in your vehicle, please explain." Tod looked back at the sleeping shifter in the backseat and spoke aloud "We picked up a possibly cursed shifter, male, mid twenties, Caucasian, went crazy and trashed three city blocks." Conner jumped in right as he finished explaining. "And chucked an officer out of a two story building." The intercom clicked and hummed for a moment. The two detectives shared annoyed looks as a camera came down on extending metal arm to examine their vehicle. Conner struck a fonzy style pose finger guns, Tod gave a sarcastic grin and pointed at the hunched over former frog man. Confirming their passenger the arm retracted and a buzzer signaled their descent. Conner feigned a hurt expression "You know he didn't even ask if I was ok, it's like they don't care." A tiny buzz came on immediately with a snappy response. "Next time don't get thrown."
The car jiggled slightly as the lift started to shake and lower them to the underground complex below the streets of New Orleans. Underneath the church was an interconnecting hive of offices, armored vaults and specialized holding cells that had once been a bomb shelter. Now it was restored and expanded into a clandestine hideout reaching deep underground. What they were currently being lowered into was the garage above the bull pen floor one of six, the hive of the DWD.
Tod slowly pulled out of the lift and into the parking garage and the steel doors slid shut behind them with a hiss. As he drove down the small path he glanced at Conner and asked "So how long before you realize mr gatekeeper just doesn't like you." Conner smiles and leaned his chair back, "They'll all love me one day, just you wait, my charm slowly grates away their hate." Similar cars were parked along the wall beside them with a few personal vehicles sticking out now and then. They parked next to Seamus's weathered red Volkswagen, safest spot in the garage, no ones messes with the main dwarfs ride.
Conner and Tod stepped out of the car in similar moods. Although Conner was still pissed about the never ending garbage smell. Tod was explaining how he had been chatting up a cute blonde uniformed officer on a his cover up for the frog man rampage. Tod continued for the entire walk to the garage check in, "I swear I can't wait for the next weirdo to cut loose, I'm trying to see if she likes homemade coffee." Conner in his sour state, had to admit a little jealousy. "Am I saying I'd get chucked out a window again for a date, yes." Tod nodded at comicaly fast speeds to emphasize his partners point, as Conner continued. "Am I also saying fat chance since I'm definitely pulling an all nighter with all that transfer paperwork."
They both stepped up to a large concrete reinforced and plexiglass windowed booth containing two distracted long bearded gnomes. The two almost identical creatures were in a heated argument, apparently one had misplaced the keys to a decommissioned squad car and neither wanted to accept blame. The slightly paler gnome on the right yelled loud enough to echo through the the garage. "WHY. WOULD. I. LIE. We gain jack diddly shit from sitting here arguing?! If I knew where they were I'dve grabbed em by now!" The tiny man had a pair of lungs on him, and a much deeper voice than you'd expect. The smaller dwarf was sweating just a little and shifting around nervously, neither Conner or Tod needed training to figure out who was to blame. Tod merely looked over at his partner and slowly shook his head side to side as if to say "Not our business." As Conner silently nodded back, Tod preceded to loudly drop his keys and Glock 22 onto the counter and cough. The paler of the two who also seemed to be the one in charge turned toward the detectives with a nasty look on his wrinkled face. He silently placed both hands on the weapon making them look comically large bye comparison, and slid them behind the counter without breaking eye contact. He spoke with a strained politeness. "Will that be all weapons on your person sir." Tod pulled a small extremely worn leather book from his back pocket, Conner remembered him saying it was his tool of trade, whatever that meant.
The gnome looked at the book for a moment skeptically. Most fae and even some magic users could sense a curse or enchantment places on an item, made them realy useful as security. The older gnome nodded and Tod walked on into the main building, Conner dropped his side arm and pulled out his badge revealing a small silver charm on the other side. The gnome studied it and muttered something about wasted silver before letting him through. Apparently gnomes had a real thing for "storing" precious metals in their homes, Conner called it hoarding. The detective placed his badge back on and felt a small tingle from the enchantment, a gift from an old teacher. Supposedly it warded of demonic possession and curses but Conner wasn't testing that anytime soon, for now it was a treasured keep sake. He started jogging as he came up to the steel double doors, Tod held one open and they entered the most crowded and important room in the comolex, the DWD bull pen.