<span style="font-family:Cairo">Tony had not been entirely responsive to Amadan’s attempts to interact but that honestly seemed quite reasonable given the circumstances that had led to his choice to flee the room; however, his lack of response did not mean he had been unaware of Amadan’s attempts to talk with him and even before he opened the door to inform the suspect of his fate, those words were tugging at the edges of his mind. They didn’t settle like the words of someone who had just attacked another person and neither did the emotional state buried behind them reflect what had just happened at all. The detective knew that his logical mind wanted him to believe that Amadan hadn’t even been aware of what had happened, but Tony wasn’t ready to accept that just yet because some of the adrenaline from the incident still lined his vessels.<br/>
<br/>
It had been those remnants of fear that led him to approach the room again with caution and that led him to hold the door wide open as he delivered the news that there was no reason for them to hold him anymore. Before he even finished his sentence, though, Tony realized that the emotions his logical mind wanted him to accept were still there and it created even more internal conflict for the detective. That very same conflict started to creep onto the empath’s expression because his internal conflict was stronger than his own emotions at the time and that made it hard to conceal the frustration he was feeling. Even then, it wasn’t too extreme… too easy to notice. It was just there on the edges of his eyes, curled inward as he tried to overcome it and meet Amadan’s eyes. <br/>
<br/>
Meeting Amadan’s gaze wasn’t something Tony could <i>actually</i> accomplish, though. It surprised Tony a bit because he really wouldn’t have expected Amadan to look away in a situation that was bound to be exciting, yet that was what he did. There wasn’t anything he could do about it and he also considered that it was quite possible that he didn’t actually want to do anything about it. Tony wasn’t sure he would actually be able to handle meeting the suspect’s gaze so he was glad that he didn’t have to try too hard. <br/>
<br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:thistle">“I will make sure that your violin gets returned to you,”</span> Tony assured Amadan because that much he felt was fairly safe to do. Considering that they had no evidence tying Amadan to any crime, he was quite positive that there wouldn’t be any evidence connecting the violin to the crime either and that would’ve been the only thing that had warranted keeping it. <span class="fixed-color" style="color:thistle">“I will do what I can to make sure it is returned to you promptly. In the meantime, I can lead you to a less… imposing… place to wait.”</span> Currently, Amadan was in an interrogation room and even though he wouldn’t be sticking around more than a few more minutes, Tony didn’t imagine waiting in the interrogation room would seem like a pleasant idea. <br/>
<br/>
Although it wasn’t his first thought, Tony definitely wasn’t opposed to the fact that leading im to a more comfortable location would give him time to figure out how to respond to Amadan’s offer. His instinct answer was no. No he did not want to listen to someone who had brutally - ok, maybe not brutally - attacked him. It was natural to avoid such things. Being as bound to emotions as he was, though, that wasn’t an offer Tony could just say no to. Saying no could hurt and then Tony would’ve effectively been hurting himself in the process. That wasn’t the goal. <br/>
<br/>
Leading the way to the main office area of the building, Tony finally managed to simply comment, <span class="fixed-color" style="color:thistle">“If I’m ever in the area, I’ll see what I can do.”</span> He didn’t quite sound sincere about it; in fact, he seemed highly skeptical of the idea, but it was better than an outright refusal, he hoped. <br/>
<br/>
Arriving in the office area, one of Tony’s coworkers was already there with the violin in tow. Tony hadn’t even needed to ask and that was easily explained by how well they knew him and how frequently they had worked together in the past. They didn’t exactly get along on the best of terms, but that didn’t make them unaware of the others’ routines. They knew how to follow them well enough as well. <span class="fixed-color" style="color:skyblue">“I figured you would send someone to come looking for this so I took the liberty of bringing it up,”</span> he mentioned briefly. <br/>
<br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:thistle">“Thank you,”</span> Tony replied with a slight smile. In this particular situation, he actually would have went to get it himself, but that didn’t need to be mentioned. His gaze drifted to Amadan and the smile stayed as he added, <span class="fixed-color" style="color:thistle">“It seems that your violin has been brought up for you.”</span> Walking over, Tony grabbed the instrument in its case and handed it to the former suspect. Though it was clear that he was still hesitant, Tony was trying to be friendly to some degree. That was something that was part of being in a position of public good and it wasn’t something he would ever be able to avoid no matter what types of situations had arisen between him and anyone else. <br/>
<br/>
Beyond that, Amadan was free to leave. Tony didn’t quite feel the need to actually say it, either. He just showed him to the front door and let him out. <br/>
<br/>
Making his way back inside, Tony knew that he would have paperwork to fill out and he was almost glad for it because he knew it would be a major distraction for him and he knew that it would help him get his mind off of the things that had happened earlier that afternoon. The more he allowed that to dwell in his thoughts, the more aware he became of the continuing arousal between his legs and that wasn’t exactly something he was ok with having on his mind while at work. It was just entirely misplaced. <br/>
<br/>
Before he could make it back to his desk, though, Tony found himself running into his boss who was still looking in the direction that Amdan had been led out. <span class="fixed-color" style="color:goldenrod">“I feel like we’re letting something major escape and I also feel like you know something, Tony,”</span> his boss mentioned. It wasn’t hard for anyone to notice that Tony’s entire demeanor had changed; the difficult part was actually being confident enough in the situation to point it out. That much his boss had no difficulty with. <br/>
<br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:thistle">“I am confident that he wasn’t treated fairly at all before I arrived and that much is enough to destroy any case you might have had against him in the first place,”</span> Tony replied because that much he was certain of. <br/>
<br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:goldenrod">“Is that a good enough reason to allow someone dangerous back out there, though?”</span> <br/>
<br/>
Tony sighed and rolled his eyes at his boss because he could tell his boss was just fishing for information now and it wasn’t something he wanted to sit through. More than that, Tony could sense that there was something his boss wanted from him, but it was something he wasn’t going to outright say. That was enough of a reason to be annoyed. <span class="fixed-color" style="color:thistle">“What would you like me to do about it, then?”</span> was the only reasonable way to follow such a statement. <br/>
<br/>
A smile crept onto the police chief’s expression as he simply replied, <span class="fixed-color" style="color:goldenrod">“Well, he certainly doesn't seem opposed to you at all. You could keep an eye on him for a while. Then if he is a danger, we should be able to find out about it in a way that’s more fair than what happened this morning.”</span> <br/>
<br/>
Was going undercover and spying on a man technically fair? With Tony’s abilities, he was inclined to think not, but that was more than he could say to his boss considering how much leeway he’d already received. With another hefty and dramatic sigh, he made one final statement. <span class="fixed-color" style="color:thistle">“You can deal with all the paperwork, then.”</span> <br/>
<br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:goldenrod">“Done.”</span> <br/>
<br/>
As Tony started to walk away, intending to follow Amadan who probably hadn’t been able to get too far away by that point, his boss added one final call. <span class="fixed-color" style="color:goldenrod">“Detective Deschenes, don’t screw this one up.”</span> <br/>
<br/>
And Tony knew there would be very little leeway there. Walking out of the station, he had two pieces to a plan. The first would be to see if he could actually catch Amadan and manage to follow him that way. The second involved a back-up plan in case that first option failed. He could go to Casa Marienella to see if he could find him there. He had been invited to a violin show, after all, so him showing up there wouldn’t be entirely unexpected.</span>