bettyxinez

[bettyxinez]

Nothing Left To Give

chapter four • smile

Kat didn't mention her DID until two weeks after that, and Malcolm found himself thinking about her more then he probably should have.

And Kat knew it too. They had been getting closer and closer and she could tell how curious he was. Over the span of the 7 weeks they had become friends, and Kat was confident in saying he was one of the closest friends she ever had, so much so that even some of the Others wanted to meet him.

Driving each other to and from the precinct was becoming a regular occurrence, and he slowly revealed more and more about his past, opening up to her much quicker then she was to him.

"So thats what you're trying to figure out? If the girl in the box is real and who she is?"

"Yeah. Funnily enough, trying to solve a murder where the only evidence is unreliable memories is kind of...hard."

"I understand that. Not the murder part, but everything else."

His curiosity had been temporarily put on the back burner while he told her his story, but now it was at the forefront of his mind.

She noticed almost immediately. She kind of felt bad about it, and was planning on telling him when the time was right.

The time never seemed right.

And when it did, she couldn't bring herself to talk about it. So she eventually just waited for him to bring it up.

He was in her apartment again, looking at some of the pictures on her wall and laughing as she told stories of the people in them.

He noticed quickly that none of them were members of her family.

"What about your family?" He asked, before he even realized the can of worms he might have opened by doing so.

She tensed immediately, turning to look at him.

"We don't... talk."

Malcolm looks up at her, noticing for the first time that she was taller then him.

"Do you mind if I ask why?"

She sits down on her couch, tucking her feet underneath her. Malcolm sat next to her.

"They didn't believe me when I told them what was... happening... to me."

His breath hitched. His mind reeling from the possibilities of what that meant. He supposed that he could ask. They had gotten a lot closer, and if she didn't want to talk about it, he could wait longer. No problem.

"And... what was happening to you?"

She looked away from him, eyes widening for a split second, and then she slowly took a deep breath.

This was it. He had asked, and she didn't know if she was ready.

She could dive head first into telling him and risk freezing in the fridgid water, or stay safe and dry, but risk putting a wall between her and Malcolm.

She decided to just take the plunge.

"...bad things." She whispered. And even just thinking about it, her brain was assaulted with memories, and she already felt herself slipping.

"Bad, bad things...hurt... it hurt."

She screwed her eyes shut, fists clenching. Her nails dig into her palms and she sucks in a breath.

Malcolm watched, letting her set the pace, but his brows were furrowed in concern. He knelt down in front of her and offered his hands. She took them with a crushing grip.

"...hold on... someone..." her breath hitched.

"Someone's here. Sorry." Malcolm watched in both worry and fascination.

"Its... okay. Take your time." He responded.

He knew what was happening. She was doing what she had told him was "switching". One of her alters was coming. He was very curious, but he was also fearful as to what would happen next.

Would he ruin everything? He hoped not.

Kats eyes unfocused for a second, and then she stopped.

She looked up, eyes blinking.

She continued staring for a second and looks around.

When he heard her voice, he didn't know what to think.

"...I was told to not like... pretend to be Kat."

Malcolms eyes widen, and hes taken aback. Her voice sounds so different. A touch lower, and with a strong Essex accent, her words somehow a mix of dramatic and lazy sounding.

"Uh... yeah. Who is this?"

"Has she told ya any of our names?"

"...No. But I've never asked. Wanted to go at her own pace."

Kat-whoever- nods at that, looking down at their clothes.

"What the fuck is this? Kat I told ya not to dress us in a skirt!"

He looks at the person in front of him.

"You don't like skirts?"

"Nah. Its not my style. I'm Haven. Primary protector and ex-prosecutor. Basically means I didn't used to be a great person. I'll explain more later if I feel like it. Its my job to protect us, and my job to judge whether someone is safe. You seem to be okay for now."

He was at a loss for words. He was given almost zero warning, however he assumed that she wasn't either.

"So what 'ave you said to set 'er off then?" She said, glaring. It was so weird, he thought, how her entire demeanor has changed. Man or woman. Or whatever. He didn't even know.

The glare on her face looked so unnatural, like it didn't belong there.

"We sort of got onto the topic of her past. And then... you came out." He said.

"Sorry, who exactly are you? You specifically. Not just your role." He said, confused and cautious as to where to go from here.

"Are you askin' what I look like?" She responded, the way she holds herself that of a completely different person.

"Maybe. Or just who you are. What you like and dislike, your interests."

She stares at him, tilting her head.

"Well for one thing, my skin is a bit darker then this, Kat is atrociously pale. I've got short, curly black hair and freckles."

He tries to imagine it, but its hard. He's looking at what he knew as Kat, but now, she's someone different.

Haven continued talking.

"I've got sort of big eyes. Small nose. Thick eyebrows. Big-ish lips. I look like I'm mixed race, but I don't like to think of myself as that because I will never relate to the struggles of being black and I will never be fully emersed in the culture. The body is Korean, and I don't think it's appropriate to be say that I'm mixed race because my actual real life body is not."

Malcolm nods. He could understand that.

So Haven, he noted, was a rambler.

"Im an integrated alter. I used to be three people. I have the memories of three different people and I remember them all separately. I have access to all the memories and trauma, so don't fuck with me." She says the last bit with a bit of sadness and anger.

Haven was really closed off, he thought. She looked at him with a fierceness he couldn't describe, and soon, he found himself noticing all the differences between them. The more she talked, the more she became her own person to him.

"I have just a few things to say to you before I go back inside-"

"Inside where?" Malcolm asked, cutting her off, suddenly very confused. More then he already was.

"Back to inner world. We have a whole world inside our head. We all live in an apartment building. Well not all. We have a cave, a pool, a forest, other stuff. When we're fronting, we're sitting in the lobby. I sound insane when I say that, but its true."

She shrugged.

Shes right, he thought.

It did sound insane.

And if he didn't already know a bit about the disorder, he would have called her out.

And some would say the same about his mental health problems.

So he believed her.

"So... you protect Kat?"

"Yes. And everyone else. Its my job. I was the first one made, the first one to take it instead of her."

His brows furrowed at that.

"What does that mean?"

She looks up at him.

"It means that when fucked up shit was happening to us I took her place so she didn't have to deal with it."

He thought about that. Fucked up shit? Like what? Did it have to do with his father? He shuddered at that thought.

It had taken him almost every ounce of willpower to not ask Kat about it, but he figured could ask Haven. So he did.

"Does the name Martin Whitly ring a bell?"

She stood up then, and dragged him up by the collar of his shirt, eyes intense and angry.

"How do you know that name?" She asked through gritted teeth, voice low.

Struck a nerve, then.

"He-He's my father." He said. Her eyes widened and she threw him onto the couch.

"Have you seen him recently? Don't lie to me I swear to God I will know."

He was taken aback. Things had taken a 180 faster then he could even process what was happening.

Struck a big nerve, then.

He could tell the truth, but what if it ruined their friendship?

Or he could lie, but she said she will know. That would probably ruin their friendship even more...

Before he can even stop himself:

"Yes."

She sits down then, eyes clenching.

"You have to take me to him."

He stands up, fists clenching.

"No. Absolutely not." He couldn't let his father ruin their friendship. He wouldn't let him.

"Either you take me to him or I go myself."

"You can't."

"I'll find a way." Her eyes glinting in determination. He suddenly got the feeling that she wasn't joking.

He took in a shuddery breath, hands shaking.

"Fine."

_______________________________________

Haha no proofreading here we die like Eve.

Like and comment yall. These chapters take a while to write and always have between 1,400-1,900 words and I would really appreciate it if this story spread a bit.

Thx yall.

[bettyxinez]

Nothing Left To Give

Chapter three • beginnings

A few weeks pass, and soon Kat is having easy conversations and actually engaging people. Her smiles no longer forced and polite, but relaxed and natural.

She seemed happy.

She became sort of friends with Malcolm and Dani. Malcolm still looked at her with questioning eyes, noticing her twitches and the moments where she seemed to leave reality entirely. Her eyes staring at nothing for sometimes up to minutes. She knew he was curious. She knew they all were, but she felt his stares more then the others, boring into the back of her head. Kat couldn't deny that he was attractive, but the staring was getting a little excessive.

He still wondered, and she still didn't explain.

But still, they were friends, and slowly they were getting closer.

It all came crashing down when a bunch of drugs exploded in Malcolms face and she was tasked with getting him home.

He bounded around his apartment, jumping on furniture, laughing and yelling, his eyes just as wide as his smile.

"I can... make you dinner if you want?"

Malcolm nodded sporadically.

"Really?"

"Sure. What are friends for?"

He turned, then. His eyes were wide, the smile dropped from his face.

"Wait... we're friends?"

She turned back to him.

"I mean... I thought that we we-"

"Yeah! Yeah we can be..."

Kat smiles at that.

"Cool."

But then things went wrong, and Malcolm was screaming. In the bathroom.

She heard his anguished cries from down the hall and when she realized that the door was locked, she pulled a bobby pin out of her hair and picked the lock with eerily fast ease.

When she opened the door, she saw him, hunched into the corner of his bathroom and screaming at nothing.

"Bright! Bright its not real! Malcolm! Hey!"

Her words fell on deaf ears. He swiped at her, thrashing around and clawing at her face and arms. She grabbed his wrists and held them to his chest, putting her leg on top of his, completely immobilizing him.

"Malcolm. I need you to listen to me." She put his palms on top of one another and held them to his chest with one hand, bringing her other hand up to the side of his face, knowing that sometimes warmth is good for grounding. He stopped flailing as much, his screams turned to whining and whimpering. She let go of his hands then, and grabbed both of them.

His eyes were still screwed shut, but when she applied gentle pressure to her hold on his hands, he finally started to calm down.

"Hey. Its just a hallucination. Its not real."

And then his eyes opened, and he looked confused.

"Kat? Kat what are you doing?" His voice was still wavering a bit, but he was seemed to be getting better by the second.

He looked down at their hands, confusion written all over his face.

"You were having a hallucination. I just helped bring you out of it."

He looked up at her. She released his hands.

"How did you know what to do?"

She was silent for a minute.

"I've had my fair share of flashbacks and hallucinations. I know what it's like."

He looked at her, eyes squinting.

"What?" He asked, mind still reeling from the drugs.

"I have anxiety. And PTSD. I know what its like."

He nods.

"Is that why you dissociate all the time?"

She looks up at him.

"You could say that."

She stands up and offers her hand. He takes it and she pulls him up.

"So what was it?"

His brows furrowed.

"What do you mean?"

"The hallucinations."

Oh, he thought.

"My father."

"What about him?"

"He's The Surgeon."

Silence.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Her breath hitches.

"Like The Surgeon? M-Martin Whi-Whitly?"

He was taken aback at that. She knew his name?

"How do you know his name?"

She was quiet.

"Uh- I just, I just remember? Isn't it public information?"

"Yeah but not many people know it."

He says.

"But seriously, you know that I know your lying."

"I recognize his name from some time in my past. I can't really remember exactly how."

"How? How do you know his name but can't remember it?"

She seems to space out again, her eyes unfocusing. She puts her head in her hands for a second, and looks up again.

"He worked with s-someone I knew." She says, voice wavering.

"Im not going into anymore d-detail. Not yet."

His eyes were wide and his heart was racing. Someone she knew? He had to know more. He had to. He debated it in his head. He could press her for more. Maybe she could provide info about the Girl In The Box, or at least point him in the right direction. But one look at her shaking form and that idea was out the window.

He told her of the Girl In The Box, and his choppy memories, and she said that she knew how he felt.

Later, he noticed her staring at the restraints on his bed.

"Yeah, those look weirder then they are."

Silence, she still stared at them.

"Well I mean I guess they are sort of weird, but not how you're thinking."

More silence.

"Those are for the night terrors."

She looked at him then, turning her head, sapphire eyes dark.

"I know. I had the same thing for a little while."

She turned back then.

"You and I are a lot alike."

He wasn't sure if he wanted to know what that meant.

_______________________________________

Another day, another murder.

"Her name was Andrea Berlin. Transgender female. Her death most likely related to that. She owned a local makeup store and was well known in the more queer parts of New York. She was found dead in her apartment this morning." Dani said, examining the body on the table before them. Kat had her arms crossed in front of her.

"Black trans women of color are the most likely to be killed then any other person in society. We can't let her be just another statistic."

Malcolm looked at her.

"We won't. I promise."

She smiled.

_______________________________________

Eventually they came to the conclusion that her murderer was an ex-boyfriend, Amir Trivin, who wasn't very happy to know that she was trans.

They knocked on his door.

"NYPD open up!" Dani yelled. Kat banged on the door.

Eventually, a man cracked his door open.

"What do yall want? I haven't done nothing." The man spoke in slurred and choppy English.

"You are wanted for the murder of Andrea Berlin. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

The man's eyes widen.

"I didn't kill that motherfucker! Don't say her-his name around here!"

"His?" Kat asked.

"Yeah. That man lied to me! Never told me he was a dude."

Kat was already fuming.

"And how did that make you feel, Amir?"

"Well it pissed me the fuck off! That bitch thought he could lie to me and get away with it? Fuck no!"

Kats eyes widened. When he realized what he had said, he pulled out a gun.

JT immediately pulled out his, Dani following suit. Kat put a hand on hers, but didn't take it out of its holster.

"Amir, you can make this easier or harder, either way you're getting into that car." She said, gesturing to the car behind her.

Amir wavered for a second, but kept his gun up.

"Put the gun down. Please."

And then he just, did. Dani handcuffed him with little fight and JT led him to the police car.

He confessed after some pressing, and Kat didn't think of him again. In fact, she hadn't of anything other then Malcolm, and Martin Whitly.

Malcolm drove her home. Her car was getting repaired and he had offered. How could she say no?

Her apartment was sleek, pastel yellow and white walls with black accents. She had a few plants scattered as well.

He offered to make her dinner, to repay her for when she did for him.

Thats how she ended up falling asleep to him making dinner.

She had a nightmare that night. Images of her childhood and early teenage years flooding into her mind and plaguing her from the inside out.

Her hair pulled, painful grips on her hips, torturous chains that she grew up in. Knives and cuts, all blended together into a fuzzy montage of pain in her head.

She was screaming then, and felt hands shaking her awake. She shot up in her bed, and quickly wrapped her arms around her knees, bringing them up to her chest.

"I'm sorry. It was just a nightmare. I'm sorry."

Malcolm knew that, obviously, and remembered the conversation they had had in his bathroom.

"About what?" He asked

"You don't have to tell me. I just know sometimes it helps to talk about it."

She laughs, a sad and bitter laugh.

"Thats the thing. I can't remember. I have amnesia. All I get are flashes."

"Amnesia?"

"Its a symptom of dis- what I have."

She deliberated for a moment.

"Can I tell you something that you can promise not to tell the others?"

He nodded. Was she going to tell him the secret he had been wondering about for weeks?

"Of course."

She closes her eyes.

"I suppose I owe you an explanation." She sighs.

"I have people in my head."

He cocks his head at that, brows furrowing.

"Schizophrenia?"

"No. Dissociative Identity Disorder."

He mouths an 'oh'.

"Actual people who come out sometimes. They all look different and they all have different roles. The common one is to help me cope with stuff that happened to me."

She clenches her eyes shut.

"Usually when I dissociate its someone else coming out. You just can't tell because they are made to be able to act like me. But they all sound slightly different if we're alone."

She looks at him.

"It manifests in children. When there's repeated trauma before the age of nine at the latest. You couldn't get it even id you wanted to."

He nods at her, not believing he didn't come to that conclusion sooner.

"By nine years old at the latest, a persons personality is fully integrated. Thats why kids can go from happy to sad in a matter of seconds. Their minds and personalities are broken into separate parts. DID happens when something disrupts that process and the brain can't handle what's happening to it. In my case, and a lot of others, it was-"

She digs her nails into her palms.

"I was taken by some guy. I never knew his name or saw his face. I had no one to go to, so my brain created people, called alters, to help me handle it."

She looked at him then, noticing his silence.

"You think I'm crazy."

He blinked.

"What? No. No way." He grabbed her hand.

"I don't think you're crazy."

"I wouldn't blame you if you di-"

"Will I ever get to meet one?"

Her eyes widen at that question.

"Of my alters?"

He nods.

"Eventually. Proabably. Not right now." She says, voice quiet.

"We don't like showing everyone."

He nods, brows furrowed.

"Of course."

And when she smiled a real, genuine smile at him, and he was sure he had a heart palpation.

_______________________________________

Hey. So I'm probably not going to have a post schedule. The chapters will just come when they can. I'm also hoping that with more chapters, more people will read.

Peace.

[bettyxinez]

Nothing Left To Give

chapter two - alarm

Malcolm was bewildered as to how he got into this situation. He was hunched around a corner, footsteps sounding a scarily short distance away from him. Kat was not too far away, her hand clenched around her gun. It was still holstered to her side, however. She gestured behind her, where an alarm could be seen on the wall. She pulled out her HT and whispered into it. "Gil? I need you to tell the fire department that a fire alarm will go off at our location, but that its not real" Gil replies with an equally quiet whisper. "What? Wh,-" "Just do it. Please." A beat of silence. "Fine. Give me one minute." "Thanks." Kat looks at Malcolm then. And he's confused. "What are you planning?" "You'll see. When I pull the alarm, follow me." And then, about 48 seconds later, she dashes to the fire alarm, takes out a lighter and a note card, lights the corner on fire, and holds it directly to the fire alarm.

_______________________________________

"We don't have enough information on our killer, Kat" Gil had responded, looking at her. "I think we do. Hold on one second." She kneeled down then, replacing her gloves. She slowly removed the sheet shielding the womans lower region, and looked for only approximately five seconds. She then put it back.

"She was sexually assaulted. And tortured before hand, and probably during. The latter is obvious. Our killer didn't like doing too much damage. He didn't like torturing his victims to death as much as he liked torturing them, and then killing them."

Malcolm spoke up, then. "His victims are predominantly female. Based on the nature of the crime. Hes most likely white as well."

But Kat wasn't listening. She walked to the bathroom and looked through the cabinet.

There, were various bottles of anti-depressants and anxiety medication.

She went to the kitchen. Various cheap meals could be seen in her freezer, and Ramen filled her cabinets. Keys laid on the counter, a pack of cigarettes nearby. Hanging on the walls were a few pictures of various things, each of them having a girl with long dark hair. She looked just like the body in the living room, except her eyes shined bright and her smile radiated in every picture.

Down the hall, Malcolm was staring at her.

Kat turned away from the pictures. "Look for a phone. If there's a password give it to me."

Malcolm nodded. He walked to a bedroom that he only assumed was hers, and on the floor near her bed laid a phone, plugged in and long stuck at 100 percent. He grabbed it, and it came to life in his hand. He swiped up- no password.

The background of her phone was a man with a rather expensive camera. He scrolled through her apps, first sifting through her messages. The last one had been sent

An hour ago?

Cole (delivered at 4:16 pm): Dammit Lucas! What are you doing?

Lucas (recieved at 4:17 pm): Chill babe. I'm finishing up a shoot.

Cole (delivered at 4:19pm): Hurry up. I got home from Chases almost an hour ago. Your supposed to be here.

Lucas (received at 4:19pm): I'm omw.

"Cole" he assumed, was Colette. He went to a different chat. This time with "Sam".

Sam (recieved at 2:24pm): Are you going to break up with him today?

Cole (delivered at 2:26pm): Yeah. When I get home.

Sam (recieved at 2:26pm): Be careful

Cole (delivered at 2:26pm): I know.

Malcolm read the rest. The conversation picked up almost an hour later.

Cole (delivered at 3:12pm) Hes not here

Sam (recieved at 3:14): Wdym

Cole (delivered 3:15pm): He isn't here. He said he would be here when I get home.

Sam (recieved at 3:15pm): Maybe a shoot ran late?

Cole (delivered at 3:15pm): Yeah. I'll wait a bit before texting.

Those were the only people she had texted. In her call history, he saw that she had called Sam at 5:03. He connected the dots in his head.

Meanwhile, Kat had found a check, from "Lucas Schroeder" She started walking towards Malcolm.

"Malcolm. I think the manager of the strip club is named Lucas. There's a check here from him." Malcolm looked up at her. Her voice was back to normal, soft and gentle.

"Yeah. I think this was a revenge kill. She broke up with him approximately 2 hours a go, its all in text."

"That would make sense. She was also depressed. And had some form of anxiety disorder. There are pills in the medicine cabinet." Malcolm nods, taking note of her words. "Think we have enough info to go to that address?"

_______________________________________

Thats how they ended up here. Well almost. Gil had said yes and they found themselves at 2735 Pierre Avenue. The house looked very run down, boarded up windows and a door that swung off its hinges. It looked abandoned.

Kat had insisted on going alone, her voice lower again. Malcolm looked at her, confused. "I need to be as silent as possible, and unless you can promise me that you can make absolutely zero sounds, you shouldn't come."

He was taken aback, to say the least. He was pretty sure that that was the most she had talked since he met her. He just nodded. "I promise. You shouldn't be going in there alone."

He was kind of beginning to regret that decision.

She had sighed at him, relenting.

They slowly walked forward, and he went to reach for his flashlight, but she grabbed his wrist and shook her head. She slipped through the swinging door, making sure not to touch it. Malcolm eyed her, and struggled through it himself. Kat immediately walked up the stairs straight in front of the door, her footsteps silent. He looked at her wonderously, trying to copy her moves. He walked exactly where her feet landed, staying just as silent as she did, much to his astonishment.

Kat slowly peeked around the corner, and stopped dead in her tracks. She turned her head to look at him, held a finger to her lips, and then pointed around the corner. Telling him that theres a person. She slowly crouched to the floor.

Then there was a voice.

"Dumb bitch thinking she can leave me. She's mine. She's not allowed to live without me." It was a masculine voice, with a hysterical edge to it. Malcolm and Kat looked at each other, and then Kat stood up and took two large steps forward, toward another hallway. The killer was just behind the wall she was standing next to. She looked around and then pointed behind her, at a fire alarm.

_______________________________________

Running. The fire alarm sounds loud in his ears, reverberating through his entire being. Kat ran in front of him, down the stairs and around a corner. She finds a back door and waits, pulling Malcolm out with her. "Why are we at the back door?" He asks. "In case he uses this one." And as if on cue, a man bursts out of the door and Kats whole body twitches for a second. She holds up her gun.

"NYPD! you are under arrest!" The man shoots her a look, before he makes a beeline for the forest, running through the large expanse of grass surrounding them.

And Kat takes off in a dead sprint. She runs much faster then the man. Malcolm is kind of surprised as he tries to keep up with her. She's very skinny, and she looks borderline malnourished, but still, she runs faster then he had seen anyone run before.

Kat jumps up at the man, tackling him to the ground. "Get off me bitch!" She brings out handcuffs, and the man is cuffed in a matter of seconds. She pulls him up by his arms, and pulls his hood down.

The man has greasy, sandy blonde hair and dark, bloodshot eyes. She pushes him into Malcolm, and together they bring the still-fighting man to Gil. "She deserved it! She's a slut and she deserved it!" Dani pushes him into the police car and slams the door shut.

"I see your fire alarm plan worked."

"Yeah well. I was kind of just going with the flow. I figured it would work, and it did."

Malcolm eyes her through his tousled bangs.

_______________________________________

This chapter is ab 400 words shorter, but what I plan for next needs its own chapter. Let me know what you think yall.

[bettyxinez]

Nothing Left To Give

chapter 1 • obligations

Malcolm Bright x DID!Original Female Reader

_________________________________________

Malcolm Bright knew something was off about her the moment Gil introduced her.

He had watched Gil show her around, her platinum hair cascading in gentle waves, falling to her mid-back. She was Asian, clearly, and she wore a leather jacket, a red shirt and skinny jeans. Her combat boots fell heavy to the ground. She smiled politely, and didn't seem to talk much. He saw her occasionally nod, her eyes following everything that Gil gestured to.

He watched her intently and came to the conclusion that her and Dani would get along well.

As if on cue, the woman in question opened the glass door seperating them, and joined him at his side.

"Kaitlyn Sun-Mae" Dani said, noticing his eyes on her.

"Shes a new detective. Gil wouldn't tell me anything other then that she was 'over qualified' for the job."

Malcolm glanced at her.

"So we should expect a lot then." He says, returning his stare to the new woman.

Dani nodded and sat on a desk behind him, watching as Gil brought the woman, Kaitlyn, towards them. Malcolm opened the door and smiled warmly, nodding at her.

Gil had clapped him on the back and gestured to the woman as she walked in from behind him

"Malcolm, this is Kat. Kat, Malcolm."

Kat, he thought, was much better then Kaitlyn.

"Nice to see a new face around here. The others were getting kind of boring." He heard Dani scoff after he said it, but when she got up to shake the womans hand, she shoulder-checked him, smiling playfully. Kat took her hand gently, but shook it firmly.

"I'm Dani. Ignore pretty much every word that comes out of his mouth."

Kat let's out a breathy laugh at that, but doesn't react any further.

"Its nice to meet you all. I'm the new detective."

Her voice was lower then he expected, but also a tiny bit more nasally, a weird combination, but not unpleasant.

"I work mainly with sex-crimes, but I dip my toes into a little bit of everything." She put her hair behind her hair. It looked soft, despite the harsh bleaching process her hair had to have gone through, Malcolm noted.

"We can always use more people in that division. I'm a profiler, I primarily work to catch serial killers."

She blinks hard at that, he notices.

"I could say the same about yours." She smiles warmly at him, but he catches how her eyes linger a bit on his face. Her eyes are gray, dark gray, with a bit of dark blue as well. She has long eyelashes too.

She turned away first.

JT walked in and introduced himself to her as well, and he watched as she laughed at something he said.

He couldn't figure out what it was though. His preoccupied with trying to figure out what was so off about her. She seemed well enough, but she also had a certain air around her. Tense and secretive, he was sure she was hiding something. He wasn't one to question Gils judgement, however, it had never failed him before, but still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was different.

"Okay. Greetings are out of the way, let me show you to your desk." Gil gestured for Kat to follow him, and she nodded and gave a small wave.

He turned to Dani.

"So what do you think?"

"Of what? Kat?"

"Yes. Obviously."

Dani rolled her eyes.

"I think shes fine, nothing to be weary of, at least." She looks down at him, knowing he's about to refute her.

After a few seconds of silence, she starts to doubt whether or not he actually will.

"Shes hiding something."

There we go.

"Yeah? And so are you. So am I. We all are. I noticed it too. I think it will be okay." She wants to shut him down before he can even start to spiral.

"Gil wouldn't hire her otherwise."

He nods at that. She was right, he supposed.

Malcolm watched as Gil showed her her station, and pointed to different things. Probably giving her the WiFi password and telling her the right way to use her computer. He could tell by looking at the way she nodded that she already knew how, and that she was just humoring him. He watched as Gil gave her a thumbs up and walked back to his desk, closing the door behind him.

He could get up and go talk to him about his suspicions, and risk getting lectured. Or he could go directly to her, and risk giving her the wrong impression. He contemplates his options. He did feel a slight obligation to say something about it, but somehow he was able to reason with himself and simply sit down, thinking of everything he knew about her so far.

Bleached hair. Asian. Tense. Polite. Quiet. Skinny.

He looks over at her.

Really skinny, actually. Dark gray-blue eyes.

The more he looked at her, the more confused he got. Nothing really seemed out of the ordinary, so why did he feel like things were?

He pushed his chair back and stood up, noting how she jumped at the sound of metal against linoleum. He watches as Dani says something to her, causing her to let out a laugh. He watches as they both fall into an easy conversation.

So he was right, then.

He walks over to Gils office, but before his hand touched the handle, the man himself yanked open the door.

"Body on 35th. Female." He walks in Dani's direction, opening up the glass door.

"Dani?"

Dani stands up, wiping her hands on her thighs.

"On it."

Gil looked at Kat, and as if she felt his stare, she looked up at him.

He gestured for her to come over, and she did almost immediately.

She walked over with a grace Malcolm didn't expect.

"Yes?" The woman responded, voice soft.

Gil looked at her.

"I know its your first day, but somebody called in a murder. You down?"

Kat, without skipping a beat, nodded.

"Of course. Its my job, isn't it?"

"Well you aren't obligated, it is your first day."

"Well if not today, when? There's a first for everything."

That, Malcolm thought, was true. Gil nodded, on the same page as him.

And then a voice played through Gils HT, panicked and shaking.

"Sir, we've gotten word of a man running past the scene, carrying what looks to be a camera."

Gil stared for a second, contemplating.

"Is there anything else you know about him?"

"Hes wearing a black hoodie, and uh- wait there he is agai- wait he's walking towards u- he's- sir this is a crime scene." The person on the line then went on to ask the man to leave, saying things along the lines of "put the camera down" and "stop taking pictures."

Then there was a gun shot.

Kat reacted first, she jumped up and horror crossed her face. Her brows furrowed, and she looked up at Gil, waiting for direction. A second of silence passed.

"Move out!" He yelled, and Dani ran out, Kat and Malcolm not far behind. JT started running too, catching up to Dani. They got into a car together, and before either of them could have gotten their seat belts on, Dani gassed it, hard.

Kat got into a car, and Malcolm got in the passenger side. She floored it almost immediately, before the door was even closed.

"Malcolm was your name, right?"

Malcolm nodded.

"Yep. The profiler."

She nods, locking it in her head, turning on the sirens. She follows Dani and in approximately three minutes, they arrive.

An ambulance can be seen, a person being led onto it in a stretcher. The officer, presumably. Kat gets out, and while everyone has hands on their guns, she doesn't even touch hers.

Its confusing, he thinks.

They walk into an apartment, the space between them heavy with silence. When they open the door Dani looks at them

"Her name is Colette Britchman. 23. She worked for a local strip club."

The body of a woman can be seen, eyes open, her head shaved, and fully nude. A sheet had been placed on her private areas, but otherwise, everything was visible.

Kat stared, putting on gloves and stalking forward. She kneeled down and looked at the dead womans milky eyes. She had scars all over her body, as well as fresh cuts. She carefully lifted up the sheet covering the womans breasts and gasps.

By this time, Malcolm had joined her, and saw the source of her gasp just as she did. He sucked in a breath, and had to look away.

There, carved gorily into both of the womans breasts, was the word "mine."

Kat squeezed her eyes shut before covering her back up. Malcolm examined her body, and the more he stared, the more strategic the cuts on her body seemed.

Kat had left, however. She went to the kitchen and looked at the fridge, and a piece of paper hanging on a magnet could be seen.

Next shoot- 3756 Pierre Ave.

"Dani?" The man called. The woman looked up at him.

"On it."

With that, she pulled out a computer and started typing away.

"Its about 7 miles away from here. Just a regular house."

She tells Gil about her discovery.

"I would imagine he went back there, or in the very least there's more evidence." Malcolm says, giving Kat a nod.

Kats eyes widen for an infinitesimal second. Gil offers a hand. She takes it and squeezes his two fingers until her a knuckles turn white, before letting go. Malcolm guesses that he's the only one who noticed. Gil looks at all of them.

"We should wait, find more info on our vic."

JT says something, but Malcolm doesn't listen, instead he looks to Kat, who's entire form is shaking.

"We don't know whats there. We need to be more prepared."

A twitch of her fingers. Her eyes dart to the left, right, and left again. Unnatural given the current situation. She looks up, and confusion crosses her face for half a millisecond, but he doesn't miss it.

"I say we go out. Try and find him." Its strange, he thinks, how her voice is just a tiny touch lower. Anyone else wouldn't notice it.

But he's Malcolm Bright, and he notices everything.

_______________________________________

Hey yall. I saw an Anthony Padilla video a while ago about people dissociative identity disorder, and I immediately threw myself into research. I watched various youtubers with the disorder and read many essays on it, and i quickly learned how stigmatized this disorder was and made it a goal of mine to educate the people around me, because all information people get are from unrealistic movies and TV shows.

For example, the term "multiple personality disorder" is 35 years outdated. It's actually called dissociative identity disorder.

I also really like Prodigal Son and the shows take on different mental health disorders, and I often found myself wondering how Malcolm Bright would react to a person with DID, so I decided to write about it. I plan on this story being at least 20 chapters, if not more.

DID is going to be portrayed realistically and accurately, hope you enjoy!!!