#and then kept wondering why some ligatures were missing | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

whereforarthur · 4 years ago

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Two Heads are Better than One

Requested by @amofbebbanburg: Hello! I know something to write 😝😝😝 if you haven’t written this already, how about a Spencer Reid x reader where they both are geniusses and both can get extremely involved in discussions and the team is always flabbergasted as they don’t understand a thing about them, except.. That Spencer and her have a crush on eachother and they make Spencer fonally act on it? Maybe some NSFW to it ❤

A/N: Takes place during season 5 and mentions Spencer being shot in the knee. Introduction takes place in season 5, episode 5 “Cradle to Grave” Sorry I went a little off of the request I had an idea and I ran with it, I still hope you enjoy!

Taglist: @amofbebbanburg @thatsonezesty13 @slutforthegubes @hazel-howell @rachelssafespace @lindaze

Requests are Closed!

Category: FLUFF and SMUT! (NSFW)

Couple: Spencer Reid x BAU! reader

Warnings: Oral sex (male receiving), penetrative sex, chocking, Dom!Spencer, degradation

Word Count: 2,889

******

"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits."

-Albert Einstein

You were sat at the corner of Spencer's desk as he rambled on about a blog he had just found, you wouldn’t have stayed and listened cause the subject was boring to you, but you stayed because you loved to watch the first genius in the BAU ramble. Especially since he was shot you couldn’t spend a moment away from him, afraid that something like that would happen again.

You were happy to see Derek walk in to the office finally someone else that Reid could talk to besides you. But, before you could give Reid to Derek, he was questioning Reid.

“Reid, what did I miss?”

“Oh, man, you're not gonna believe this. Some moron just posted a blog called "what would Carl Sagan do?" Spencer completely oblivious to what Derek was asking him about.

“No, Reid, the case.” Derek asked him again annoyance clear in his voice. “What's the case?”

“What are you talking about? I don’t know about a case, do you know about a case y/n/n” Spencer now directed his attention to you. You shook your head no “Nope I didn’t hear about any new cases coming in.” You told the boys.

“These emails from Hotch.” "take a look at this, " "new case to review."

“Emails from Hotch? I didn't get any emails from Hotch,” Spencer replied back to Derek while he typed on his computer. “did i? Nothing.” Both you and Spencer were clueless about what Derek was taking about.

The whole time he talked you and Spencer shared questioning gazes between the two of you as you played with his crutches, him stealing them away from you before you hurt yourself or broke them.

Derek had walked to Hotch’s office before you could ask him what was going on you and Spencer just went back to talking about the blog, you both assumed that Hotch had asked Derek to consul on a case before it was brought up in front of the entire team.

*****

“Kristie Taylor, runaway, drug addict, Reported missing from Farmington, New Mexico 3 years ago. Yesterday, she turned up off a freeway Outside of Rio Rancho.” JJ had begin debriefing the team about their new case.

“Sexual assault combined with ligature marks on her wrists and ankles.” Spencer stated reading off of the case file.

“She was asphyxiated.” You shuddered as you stated that as you hand was brought up to your neck, you hated whenever victims died from this, thinking that one day it could be you. In the bedroom you were know as the kinky submissive type, completely different from the dominant personality you used at work. And one of the things that could always get you off was a little bit of breath play, choking, you just loved it when a man took complete control of you, when your life was in his hands.

Those hands, god you had to get over this crush on Spencer ever since he was shot you realized your feelings were more of the “I want you to absolutely destroy me”, then the overprotective family type that they other members of the team had for him.

Spencer shook you out of your thoughts as he mouthed to you “are you okay” you simply nodded your head “yes” and went back to listening to JJ talk about the case.

When you had tuned back in Rossi was talking about how “There are a lot of guys out there who like chains.” You giggled to yourself and girls too, you thought to yourself. Spencer was confused as to way the mention of chains made you giggle, but figured out the answer when he saw the way your pupils were dilated, the rising blush on your checks, and the way you bit you lip with desire.

He blushed to himself, trying to get the imagine of you tied up in chains for him and only him out of his head. He cleared his throat and tried to get rid of the growing bulge in his tight pants.

Rossi asked JJ “ Are we sure this is the same unsub?”

“Kristie Taylor's autopsy report also indicates a second connection between these victims.” JJ replied back to him

Spencer informing the team of the connection, “she was pregnant.” Flipping the case file closed as JJ said that she had just given birth, she was killed within minutes of giving birth.

You had a theory, “This unsub isn't your typical sexual sadist. Captivity and assault we've seen before. What we haven't seen is this signature-- The role he forces these women to fulfill before he kills them. Motherhood.” you told the team all of them looking shocked and terrified.

“Journalist William D. Tammeus wrote, "you don't really understand human nature "unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round "will wave at his parents every time around And why his parents will always wave back."

“So why would a sexual sadist make women carry his children?” Emily asked the team with absolute confusion as to the unsubs motive.

“Gary Heidnik kept a harem in a dungeon. His goal was to create a large family As a replacement for his own broken home.” Spencer answered then turned to look at you, you continued his explanation.

“Josef Fritzl kept his daughter in a cell in his own house, And they had several kids together.”

You and Spencer were always like this, you guys were known to finish each others thoughts almost as if you too shared the same brain. It was absolutely sickening how adorable you two were with each other when you would get into your genius debates, rattling factoids about anything to prove which one was smarter. They were always wondering when you two would finally get together.

And to be honest you had finally had enough of the back and forth of the will they won’t they and you had decided (much to Penelope's constant nagging) that after this case you would finally tell Spencer how you felt, and fingers crossed, jump his bones.

***** The case had finally rapped up after what had felt like forever and you were glad to step foot back into the bullpen, determination coursing through your veins as you eyes landed on Spencer.

“Hey Spencie want to get takeout and do a movie night?, I’ll even let you pick out the first movie” You asked him hoping that he said yes, but he usually always did Spencer could never say no to the puppy dog eyes you were know to give him.

“That sounds amazing,” He replied as he laced your arms together walking you towards the elevator “your place or mine?”

“Yours” If this plan was going to end in the way you hoped it did you wanted it to be done at his place. You wanted him to take you on every surface of his apartment. You felt yourself getting wetter at the idea and before you even realized it Spencer was opening the car door for you to get in, you blushed as you thanked him for being such a gentlemen and got in the car.

*****

You had made your way to Spencer’s apartment without exciting yourself to much, in case he didn’t return the same feeling of attraction.

You sat on the couch as Spencer placed your usual order at your favorite Chinese restaurant. “It’ll be here in 20 minutes” he told you as he joined you on the couch and he set his crutches down on the ground you gathered up some courage to place your hand on his knee.

“Does it still hurt Spencer?” You began to bring your hand up and down his leg in a teasing manner making sure not to put too much pressure on it.

“Umm no-o not that much only when I-i try to put too much pressure on it.” Spencer didn’t know what you were trying to do but, he was hoping that you were finally going to tell him how you felt.

“OK that’s good just tell me if this hurts”

“If what hur...” Before he could finish his sentence you straddled yourself on his lap combing some hair that had falling in his face behind his ears. You smiled deviously as you felt his growing bulge resting at your core, you moaned at the sensation.

And in that moment, Spencer had lost all control, the years of him holding in his feelings were finally able to be set free. He grabbed your chin bringing your face inches away from him. You felt his hot breath fan over your face, another moan escaping your mouth.

His pupils were extremely dilated, they were filled with lust and desire. “Is this why you wanted to do a movie night y/n, huhh?” He left one hand on your check as the other wandered down to your throat giving just enough pressure to make you a whimpering mess in his lap.

“Yes, Doctor” That’s all you needed to say to him before he captured your lips in a breathtaking kiss both of you moaning at the sensation of finally being together.

“That’s what I fucking thought.” Spencer manged to get out in between kisses.

Both of you exploring each others bodies like you both had dreamed about.

His hands now harshly gripping your hips and grinding you against him. You ran your fingers through his lengthy curls, tugging at the ends eliciting several moans from him. He begin to work his kisses from your lips down to your neck leaving love bites in his wake, marking you as his.

With every kiss and bite you were a whimpering mess for him, grinding your hips against his, your core was pulsating and you needed him so badly at this point it hurt.

You finally began to undress each other, the want of him being inside of you taking over your body. You stood up to help remove his clothes making sure that you didn’t hurt his leg.

“Are you able to hold yourself up against a wall” You asked him with a smirk.

“Yes”

You grabbed his hand and shoved him against the wall before getting down on your knees, you stripped yourself down to your bra and underwear. Spencer had to stop himself from practically cumming at the sight.

“You are so fucking gorgeous” He manged to get out in between moans as you began to palm his erection through his underwear.

Finally having enough of teasing him you grabbed his underwear and dragged it down to his ankles, him kicking them off. You were shocked at the sight of him.

His tip was pulsating red with pre-cum as it rest against his stomach, you had never felt more aroused then you were in that exact moment you couldn’t wait any longer, you had to feel him.

You wrapped your hand around his erection, staring to stroke him gently. You stuck your tongue out as you drug it up and down his shaft, bringing it up from the base to the tip. You looked at Spencer, having a feeling that eye contact was a turn on for him, he moaned at the sight of you, which only egged you on even more.

You finally wrapped your lips around the tip, giving it a kiss before you began to to take him in your mouth. You wanted Spencer to fuck your mouth and that is exactly what he did. You felt his grip on the back of your head tighten as he began to thrust rapidly into your mouth, you made sure to relax your jaw to allow him more room inside of you.

He guided your mouth up and down his length, him loving the control that you gave him.

“You fucking love letting me you use that pretty mouth of yours. Fuck, it feels so good baby, you are taking it so well, like the good, slut that you are.” Between the praising and the degradation you were soaking wet and just dying to feel Spencer inside of you.

You loved that you were the only one to see him like this, the complete opposite of how he acted in work. He never cursed, he barely had the courage to take control. But, in this moment he was in full control and both of you were high off the feeling.

Spencer was so close to the edge as much as the idea of cumming down your throat excited him he needed to know hat it felt like to be inside of you first.

You pouted as Spencer yanked you off of him, dragging you up by the hair. You know stood practically dripping from how wet you were on shaky legs as he had to hold you up as he wiped the spit from your chin and the tears that fell from your eyes.

“As much as I wanted to cum into the pretty mouth of yours I think we would both enjoy it much more if I come in your fucking cunt.” Each word made you wetter by the second, he pushed your ruined panties to the side.

He started with two of those perfect and long fingers, that slipped with such ease inside of me, he roughly finger fucked me. He had to hold me up with one hand as we made out like horny teenagers.

As he pumped his fingers inside of me he began to rub my clit with his thumb, he could feel how close your were, the way you were clenching around his fingers, you had stopped kissing him to preoccupied with the feeling of his fingers deep inside of you.

“Are you going to come for me, as I finger that tight pussy up against my apartment wall, for all my neighbors to hear. I want you to fucking scream my name as you moan. I want everyone to know who you belong to.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, you came hard and quick a sting of curses and the doctors name falling from your lips. He never stopped his assault on your pussy, he kept pumping his fingers in and out of you as you came down from your high.

“Good girl, so fucking responsive to me and the real fun hasn’t even begun.”

He lead you to his bedroom him climbing up on the bed first carefully as to not hurt his leg, as soon as he was situated he told you to take off your bra and underwear as he patted his lap.

As soon as you straddled him he gripped your throat making your eyes roll to the back of your head, as his other hand guided his length into you.

Your moans were echoing through the bedroom as he entered you, filling you to the brim completely stretching you out. “Fuck, you take my cock so good baby, so fucking tight.” He stated as he began to pound into you from below you ground your hips against him trying to keep up with his pace.

His hand still tighten wrapped around your throat he pulled you towards him capturing your lips in a kiss that seemed a lot softer compared to the situation that the two of you were in now.

“Fuck, Spencer you fill me up so good.” He moaned at your words only pulling you closer to him and thrusting deeper inside of you. You felt yourself coming closer to release as he groaned against your ear.

The hand from your throat was removed only to move to your bundle of nerves circling it, “I want you to come all over my cock baby, before I fill you up with my load. Understood?”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“Come for me baby,” he pleads as he feels his release is close. A hot panting mess, you still managed to scream his name as you came.

Spencer wasn’t far behind you still thrusting into with such force, your pussy tightening around him added to his orgasm as he came deep inside of you.

“Oh, god, fuck that feels so good baby.”

You two just sat there for awhile in pure bliss, both of you hot sweaty messes but neither of you cared. After a couple of minutes he pulled out of you you whimpered at the soreness that you felt, but knew that Spencer would take care of it for you.

He gave you a quick kiss on the forehead before he hobbled (since he left his crutches in the living room) his way to the bathroom to grab a washcloth to clean you up, you flopped over onto your stomach feeling completely drained.

You couldn’t stop the giddy feeling that coursed throughout your entire body you had never thought this moment was going to happen, especially with a co-worker that you fantasized about on a daily basis. You had finally realized you were also madly in love with this man.

Unbeknownst to you Spencer had felt the same giddy feeling as he stood just there in the bathroom staring at his reflection in the mirror with a smile that spread across his entire face. He had to realized the love he had for you and couldn’t be happy then to tell you.

*****

“Some love stories aren't epic novels. Some are short stories. But that doesn't make them any less filled with love.”

- Carrie Bradshaw

#spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid smut #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid #criminal minds smut #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds #bau team

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baeklination · 4 years ago

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구름 도시 (Cloud City) pt.2

Warnings/Contains: Some cursing, general talks about the crime, specific mentions of injuries (post autopsy)

au: members of the justice system

Characters: Baekhyun + 8 (who could it be..?)

WC: 8900

Date:200625

Masterpost Part 1

¤¤¤

The rain had started to fall on Baek-hyun’s way down to the river. It was only soft droplets as of now, but the skies were looking ominously dark, so he was hoping the pathologist wasn’t too far behind. To his surprise, he found Jong-in standing outside the white tarpaulin they’d put up to protect the body and immediate surrounding from contamination. An officer lifted the police tape for Baek-hyun to go under, and he gave him a nod. When he got closer to Jong-in he could see he was quite shaken, and hoped it wasn’t because they’d confirmed the identity of the woman as Min-young. But then again, if it isn’t her it will still be someone’s daughter, Baek-hyun thought to himself.

“You’re gonna make me look bad, coming in before me, Jong-in”, he said, trying to ease Jong-in out of his shock.

Jong-in seemed to only have realized Baek-hyun was there when he spoke to him. He stuttered for a few moments, collecting his thoughts.

“It’s okay”, Baek-hyun assured him, while putting on his gear; jumpsuit, facemask and gloves. “Do we have an ID yet?”

“No, not yet. But the CSI are up by the road, checking the dumpsters there for a purse or a phone.”

Baek-hyun breathed a sigh of relief “So it’s not Min-young then? You’ve been inside, seen her?” he said nodding towards the tent.

“Yes, I went in there, but I...I couldn’t tell. The forpat just went in” Jong-in exhaled sharply and blinked away the burn in his eyes, hoping Baek-hyun wouldn’t notice. He did of course, but let it pass, and made his way to the tent. When he opened the flap he saw Doh Kyung-soo kneeling next to the body, and his assistant Chunhua was taking pictures.

“Hey Docdo, what have we got?”

Doh turned around and greeted Baek-hyun with a frown “Doctor or Doh, Byun. One or the other” he said, referring to the nickname Baek-hyun had given him. “Female, in her twenties or thirties I’d say. Liver temperature and bruising suggests she’s been dead between twenty and twenty-six hours, but I’ll know more when I get her on my table.”

As Chunhua moved Baek-hyun saw the body and grimaced.

“Yeah, someone really did a number on her”, Kyung-soo sighed “These ones remind me why I do what I do.”

The woman's face was bloody and had swollen so badly that Baek-hyun would barely be able to tell her gender were it not for her unclothed body. She had bruising on her whole body, and what seemed to be ligature marks on her wrists and ankles.

“For fucks sake”, Baek-hyun swore under his breath. “No wonder Jong-in couldn’t tell if it’s our missing girl... When are you leaving?”

“I’m waiting for one of the trace guys to bag her hands and see if there’s anything to collect from the body before we go...thirty minutes, maybe.”

“Sounds good. I’m gonna go talk to the guy that found her. See you in your crypt, Docdo.”

Baek-hyun stepped out and let the cold air fill his lungs. If that wasn’t Min-young, then who was she?

“Baek-hyun”, Jong-in called and gestured towards a man stepping in under the tape. Baek-hyun could smell a cop from a mile away, so he took his gloves off and went to introduce himself - or rather, find out who he was. No detective - including Baek-hyun - wanted another cop to barge in on his crime scene. Especially not a cop that wore a maroon leather jacket, but he swallowed his pride and held out his hand:

“Hi, I’m detective Byun. You are..?”

“Byun,” the man echoed with a firm handshake. “I’m from the special victims unit - Kim Jong-dae.”

“Special victims? How do you know she is one?”, Baek-hyun asked, letting his ego get the best of him for a second.

“Well, isn’t she?”, Jong-dae countered.

Jong-in walked up to see what the reason for the new guy was, and Jong-dae smiled widely and grabbed his hand. Even though he was shaking Jong-in’s hand he spoke to Baek-hyun:

“Who is this - your son, Byun?” Jong-dae turned to Jong-in and chuckled “Hey, did you follow daddy to work today, kiddo?”

Jong-in was so taken aback by the man’s demeanour that he just looked at him. Baek-hyun’s shock wasn’t far from that either, but he managed to compose himself and chastise Jong-dae:

“This is detective Kim Jong-in, and considering he got here before we did he knows more about the scene than both of us. If you ever speak to him, or any of my men, like that again I’ll send you packing - no matter who sent you here,” Baek-hyun said matter of factly with a cold look. Jong-dae realized he’d stepped in it and apologized to them both with a quick bow. Baek-hyun looked at Jong-in, who gave a quick nod of approval; the disagreement was over and done with.

“So, how did you found out about our girl?”, Baek-hyun asked, his voice back to normal.

“Your boss and mine go way back, so he called in a favour.”

Jun-myeon really likes his favours, Baek-hyun thought.

“He said you didn’t have a partner. Not one as ancient as me, I mean”, he added when he saw the eyebrow from Jong-in. “So, is it a sex crime?”

“From the bruising on her thighs I’d say yes”, Baek-hyun conceded. “The forpat hasn’t moved her yet, you can go in”, he gestured towards the tent.

“Is it Doh?” he asked while putting on his gear. “He’s the best one in town on cases like these.”

Baek-hyun was just about to answer when he saw one of the CSI guys approach with something in his hand, a bag.

“I found this behind the dumpster in the alley.” He opened it and took out an ID card “Cho Min-young, twenty-six. Matches your vic.”

Jong-dae being the only one with gloves on took the license and looked at it:

“Hammer Hill. That’s not far from here”, he said.

“I know”, Baek-hyun answered, deflated.

“We met her parents yesterday, they reported her missing”, Jong-in explained.

“Bloody hell. I’m sorry, guys.”

“Yeah...”, Baek-hyun looked down and shook his head “Bloody hell.”

¤¤¤

Talking to the man who found Min-young’s body didn’t yield much information, but that was standard; he had after all only found the body, not witnessed any part of the crime. After a bit of finagling they managed to get an officer to drive Jong-in’s car back to the precinct and they all went in Baek-hyun’s to notify Min-young’s parents. This part of the job was the toughest, but also the most important, save from solving the murder, so Baek-hyun was always on edge, and today even more so since Jong-in had never done a notification. It was a delicate balancing act; being professional but empathic; honest but not divulging too many gruesome details; confident but never promising to “catch the guy who did it”, as they always did in the movies. Jong-in didn’t do much talking, but kept his composure, which counts as passing. What really surprised Baek-hyun was Jong-dae’s demeanour. When Mrs. Cho heard the news she collapsed where she stood, only to be caught by him, both sinking down to the floor. He held her through her wailing that had quickly turned to still crying - shock - until she all but fell asleep in his embrace. With Sehun's help he managed to get her into bed and stayed with her until she was truly sleeping. Normally, this would be what Baek-hyun considered “too involved”, but when he saw how naturally Jong-dae did it he couldn’t help but to admire him. After explaining a bit about the circumstances around Min-young being found and seeing that her parents had all contact information they might need they rounded up the meeting with taking DNA swabs from them, needed in the process of elimination.

When they left Baek-hyun noticed Jong-dae had something on his mind, but he didn’t have to ask. As soon as they got in the car he turned to them and exclaimed:

“Did you feel how sweaty his hands were? It’s him!”

“If you mean Oh Sehun-”, Baek-hyun started.

“Heck yeah I mean Oh Sehun - he almost pissed his pants when he heard I was from Special Victims..!”

“Well, that might’ve been because you’re from Special Victims. That’s his best friend dead, killed, Jong-dae.”

“But we did talk about him yesterday, looked him up”, Jong-in chimed in. “You did think it was strange that he was there you said…”

“Wait, he was here yesterday as well? Come on, Byun, you know I’m right!” Jong-dae seemed to think he’d solved the case, and Jong-in seemed to nudge in the same hazardous direction, so Baek-hyun turned to Jong-in:

“Hey, I said it was unusual, but that’s hardly proof he’s done anything. You need to be careful not to jump to conclusions, it might cloud your judgement. And you...”, he looked at Jong-dae “don’t muddle the mind of my rookie here. You may be right, but we’re doing this by the book, alright?”

“Okay, boss. By the b - speak of the devil and he shall appear”, Jong-dae said with a light in his eyes. Baek-hyun and Jong-in followed his gaze and saw Sehun turning right into the alley just next to Min-young’s building. Wasn’t he leaving the grieving parents a bit quicker than custom dictated?

“Hm...Now where are you going, Sehun?” Baek-hyun said, thinking out loud.

Jong-dae put his hand on the door handle and shot Baek-hyun a mischievous lift of his eyebrows:

“Only one way to find out”, he said, and was out of the car before Baek-hyun could stop him.

“Jong- NO!”, he hissed, but Jong-dae was already jogging in the rain to follow Sehun. Jong-in leaned forward between the seats:

“Wow... daebak..!”

Jong-dae caught up with Sehun in the middle of the alley, about to unlock his car door:

“Oh Sehun!”, he shouted. Sehun turned around with a perplexed look on his face.

“Where are you sneaking off to?”

“I’m not sneaking anywhere. I’m going to work”, Sehun retorted. “I missed my shift yesterday, so I can’t be late.”

“You must have a dragon boss if he won’t let you take the day off.” Jong-dae was pushing Sehun’s buttons to see what reaction he’d get.

“I’m a nurse, so I can’t be off for too long” he said and began to open the car door. Jong-dae moved forward to lean on it:

“I was hoping we could talk some more. You might have some valuable insight, even if you don’t know it.”

“Well, not today. Can you please move, so I can get into my car?” Sehun was clearly agitated.

“Tomorrow?”

“Okay, tomorrow!”

“You’ll come to the station?” Jong-dae pressed.

“Yes! I’ll come to the station.”

With that Jong-dae moved away for Sehun to leave, and shouted an exaggerated “have a great day at work” as he drove off.

Baek-hyun was not pleased when Jong-dae finally got back:

“What the hell are you doing - this is my case.”

“Sorry, boss. But sometimes you have to go with your instinct.”

“Be reckless, you mean”, Baek-hyun shot back and scowled at him.

“To be fair, you didn’t specify what book we’re going by. You can’t tell me you’re not itching to talk to this guy.”

“Of course I am, but I can’t just haul him in without good reason.”

“You won’t have to...” Jongdae smiled widely to appease Baek-hyun “he’s coming in tomorrow.” He turned to look at Jong-in “Here’s a tip, kiddo: if you apply the right kind of pressure people will do a lot of things voluntarily.”

“I’m starting to figure out why you don’t have a partner”, Baek-hyun sighed. “Your methods-”

“...bring results”, Jong-dae filled in.

He couldn’t deny it; he’d wanted Sehun down at the station since yesterday, and now he would. He turned the key in the ignition:

“Just be careful. Alright, let’s go, Docdo called while you were gone; the autopsy’s done.”

¤¤¤

“Have you been down here, Jong-in?”, Baek-hyun asked.

Jong-in shook his head “No. But I’ve seen her already. Is it different?”

“Some people think so, some don’t. Just try to keep calm, and listen to what Docdo says. And ask him anything you’re wondering about, okay?” He put a facemask on but halted Jong-in from doing the same “Here, put this under your nose first” he said, holding out a jar of cream. Jong-in didn’t want to appear more squeamish than his superior so he waved his hand no.

Jong-dae reached inside his jacket pocket and took out a small jar:

“Trust me, kiddo. This is the strongest stuff on or off the market, my wife makes it. Use it.” Jong-dae said emphatically. Seeing as they both insisted, Jong-in thought it wisest to comply, an scooped up a dab from Jong-dae’s jar to spread under his nose. It had a familiar smell...

“Cilantro..?” Jong-in asked, not really believing it.

“That’s right! If I had something nice, say ginger, I’d think of dead people every time I had dinner or tea”, Jong-dae said, managing to mix the crude with fun and logic.

When Jong-in heard Baek-hyun refer to the morgue as “the crypt” he thought it was going to be a dark room, lit with a few fluorescent greenish lights, but this wasn’t the case. It was a spacious, well lit room . A few tables were rolled up alongside a wall, and three ones were standing in the middle of the room. Two of them had sheets over what was the unmistakable silhouettes of bodies. The end of the room was set up like an office, a long desk, filing cabinets and some shelves. Kyung-soo sat with his back against them, doing some paperwork while having a cup coffee, but turned around momentarily:

“Ah, Byun...Breaking down the door for a report, as always.”

“Your message said you were finished with the autopsy. But if you’re not done...” Baek-hyun said, fully aware of the pride Kyung-soo took in his work.

Kyung-soo didn’t bother to answer, fully aware of the pride Baek-hyun took in poking him. “Are you working this together?” He put a pair of glasses on and followed up with gloves. “I see Byun and Kim down here all the time, but you’re a first-timer, right?” he looked at Jong-in “You’ll have to forgive me, I was all work when you introduced yourself this morning…”

“Jong-in. Kim Jong-in.”

“Ah, yes, of course, Kim Jong-in. Well, let’s hope the “in” will save you from becoming as crazy as this one” Kyung-soo said with a nod towards Jong-dae.

“Ah wae..!” Jong-dae whined dramatically “I’m always nice to you, why do say that..!”

Baek-hyun and Jong-in hid their smiles, already understanding what Kyung-soo meant. They gathered around the farthest table, and Kyung-soo carefully removed the sheet that had been covering the body. Working homicide Baek-hyun had seen his fair share of bodies, and even attended some autopsies, but there was a difference between a Jane Doe and someone you knew, or at least knew about. Barely a day ago he’d been with her parents; they were so worried, but he was so sure she was all right. The smiling woman in the videos had been replaced by a cold, battered corpse.

“So, this is Cho Min-young, the dental records confirmed it. I sent for them as soon as I got the name, figured you would advise her parents to wait before seeing her”, Kyung-soo said and when he saw Baek-hyun agreeing, continued:

“Manner of death: homicide, cause of death: asphyxiation-”

“But”, Jong-in interjected cautiously, making everyone look at him. “I can’t see any hand- or ligature marks on her neck.”

Kyung-soo, always patient with new detectives, beckoned Jong-in come closer and stretched out the skin on the neck:

“See here, it’s faint” he traced a reddish purple line with his finger for Jong-in to see. “She wasn’t strangled, she was suffocated. By a plastic bag or something like it, I’d say”. He continued explaining his findings to the whole group:

“And other usual signs. Petechiae..” he opened one eyelid “...even though the other eye is too bloodshot from the beating to actually see it. And as you can see, the nostrils are filled with coagulated blood” he said, angling the head slightly upward.

“Have you been able to narrow her time of death?” Baek-hyun asked.

“I thought the stomach contents would help me, but it looks like she didn’t have dinner prior to death, and she had a smoothie for lunch. When the foods aren’t solid to begin with it’s hard to track the digestion, so I’m gonna stick with my original t.o.d.”

Baek-hyun wasn’t surprised, it would’ve only been a matter of a few hours anyway. The injuries were their safest bet to finding the perpetrator.

“Can you start with the injuries inflicted before she died, Doc?”

“Certainly.” Kyung-soo unfolded the arm of a lamp that was fixed at the head of the table and positioned it directly above the head of the body. “As I mentioned, she has been struck in the face.” He gently turned her head so they could see her right side properly “It was a severe blow - her cheekbone is broken in three places.”

“With one hit, you’re sure?” Jong-dae asked in a cold voice.

“One. I’m sure. That’s also the cause for the blood pooling in her eyelid and eye”, Kyung-soo continued. “This big bruise on her lower abdomen goes all the way round to her back, where there is additional bruising, perhaps from pressure. Chunhua is coming down soon, she’ll help me turn her so you can see for yourself.”

“This”, Baek-hyun said, pointing to a bruise on Min-young’s upper arm “he grabbed her, right?”

“I know you wanna get the guy, Byun, but will you let me finish?” Kyung-soo answered, clearly annoyed with all the interruptions. Baek-hyun put his hands up:

“Sorry, Docdo.”

“Yes, Byun, that is indicative of grabbing. Ligature marks on either wrists as well as ankles, and severe bruising on both inner thighs, consistent with sexual assault. Other than that, minor scrapes and bruises attributed to general manhandling, if I may be so crude”, Kyung-soo excused himself.”And Park was here during the autopsy and collected a few things and took some samples, so you’ll hear from him too, of course.”

The fact that Jong-dae exclusively worked these types of cases didn't mean he was jaded. On the contrary, it made him more angry and determined to put the perpetrator behind bars. And that meant knowing every detail, no matter how gruesome:

“And the assault itself? What’d he do?”

“Well, that-” Kyung-soo began, but he was interrupted by the doors opening. “Good, Chunhua. Help me turn the body around. I’ll do the back first, Kim”.

¤¤¤

After Kyung-soo had finished up the briefing none of them felt like going out for lunch; they wanted to keep working, so they sat down in one of the offices at the precinct with sandwiches and lots of coffee to discuss the case. Jun-myeon hadn’t gotten a report from Baek-hyun yet, so he paid them a visit.

“Here you are - the three musketeers”, he said.

Here he goes again, with his dad jokes, Baek-hyun sighed inwardly. Jong-dae, not having been formally introduced took Jun-myeon’s hand:

“That must make you D’artagnan” he said and put his hand on Jun-myeon’s shoulder. “Come, sit down, have a sandwich.”

Jun-myeon, delighted with Jong-dae’s response smiled widely, turning his eyes to small crescents. Baek-hyun rolled his eyes - who is this guy..!

“Ah, no I can’t, I have a call coming in. I just came in to see where we are, since Byun here”, he stopped to give him a meaning look “never checks in with me.”

“That’s an unfair characterization..! I just don’t have a lot to update you on. We might get some meat on the case when Park comes back with the lab work...Mr. Boss-nim”, Baek-hyun added, with a exaggeratedly slow bow.

“This guy...” Jun-myeon pretended to not be affected, but everyone could see how he fought to kill a smile. “Oh, that reminds me”, he said, turning to Jong-in “Doh said you did well in the Crypt”. It made Jong-in flush:

“Oh... Thank you, boss-nim” he said.

“You asked good questions, and kept your head cool during the whole thing, he said. Good, Jong-in. Byun, Jong-dae”, he nodded, and left the detectives to continue.

“He’s right, you did good. Not all first-timers manages to get through a whole briefing”, Baek-hyun commended.

“And a tough one like that”, Jong-dae agreed. He got a twinkle in his eye and asked Baek-hyun “What about putting him on Sehun tomorrow?”

Jong-in was surprised to say the least:

“Me? But if he’s our best suspect…” his voice faded - then he got the same twinkle as Jong-dae “He’s already scared of you, but he’ll think it’s just a routine hearing if I do it. He’ll be relaxed.”

“Exactly..!”, Jong-dae said banging the table. “What d’you think, boss?”

“Stealth on Sehun..? I like it. You up for it, Jong-in?”, Baek-hyun asked.

Whether he was or not, he wasn’t about to rebuff this show of trust from both Baek-hyun and Jong-dae, so there was only one correct answer:

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

“Great, then it’s decided”, Baek-hyun clapped his hands together and got up. “And Jong-dae: I am not the boss.”

¤¤¤

“Go by the Traffic office first, see if you can get them to shake a leg. With any luck we’ll get the CCTV by the end of the day. But call the security chief at the Gigamex on your way, so he has the video footage ready when you get there”, Baek-hyun instructed Jong-in and Jong-dae. After they left he sat down with the phone list from Min-young’s cell provider to see if there was anything that stood out, as well as taking a look at her debit card statement, to look for any suspicious activity. The only thing he could find was an unknown number, but there was no answer when he tried it. He gave it to one of the officers and asked him to keep trying.

Being eager for information to work with, he went across the yard of the precinct, to the the forensics lab - not forgetting to stop by their cafe before going in. Chan-yeol was hunched over a microscope when Baek-hyun got there.

“Hey, dorkatron!” he called out, giving Chan-yeol a jolt. He turned around laughing:

“And if it wasn’t for me, hmm?” He eyed the paper mug in Baek-hyun’s hand. “I can smell the hazelnut. That means you didn’t come here because you missed me-”

“I always miss you, Park..!” Baek-hyun exclaimed.

“-but because you want to hassle me about results. I’ll take the coffee, but I don’t have a lot to give you yet, Byun. Come on, give it here ”, Chan-yeol finished.

Baek-hyun sat down on a swivel chair next to him:

“Is this my case” he said pointing to the microscope.

“No, it’s Won-sik’s.”

“Won-sik’s? But he’s a jerk..! Come on, Park, do mine first. At least the DNA comparison on the hair”, Baek-hyun pleaded.

Chan-yeol crossed his arms and got a serious look on his face:

“Here’s the thing, Byun. You have a case, Won-sik has a case, everybody at the station has a case. And these...” he slammed his palm on a big stack of files “...become my cases.” Baek-hyun knew Chan-yeol was right; he wasn’t the only one with a murder to solve, so he softened his tune:

“I know, I’m sorry. I just...You should’ve seen her, Park... But do you have anything?”

“I did, in the Crypt. That’s why I put an ASAP- marker on the DNA as soon as I got it. And also…” he opened a folder and handed Baek-hyun a paper “...there was asbestos and vermillion in her hair. Both have been banned for at least thirty years.”

“Yeah, but there’s gotta be hundreds, if not thousands of buildings left with asbestos in the city.”

“No, Byun. Asbestos and vermillion. On this side of town there are only four neighbourhoods left - and even they have largely been torn down or condemned. So if you know what you’re looking for…”, Chan-yeol said, and saw the fire light up in Baek-hyun’s eyes:

“...I’ll find it.” He grabbed Chan-yeol’s head and planted a victorious kiss on his forehead:

“Park Chan-yeol: you’re a fucking rockstar” he exclaimed and hurried off.

¤¤¤

Baek-hyun walked in to Jun-myeon’s office without bothering to knock:

“You wanted something - I have something. Asbestos,” he said triumphantly.

Jun-myeon looked at Baek-hyun with pursed lips.

“Park found trace in her hair. Apparently it can only have come from four different areas on our side. You have to get some officers to check them out.”

“I don’t have any officers to give you, Byun. Not if this is all you have - or have you gotten a hit on the DNA?” Jun-myeon asked.

“No, but we’re wasting time-”

“You have no DNA, no actual suspect; you don’t know how many building there are; or if it’s even from our part of town, correct?” Jun-myeon didn’t wait for a reply “I’m not sending my officers out to look for something” he said, gesturing bunny ears on the last word. Baek-hyun glared at Jun-myeon.

“Then I’ll go myself. You can’t stop me” he said defiantly.

“Yes I can, I’m your boss.” Jun-myeon rarely pulled rank, but times like these - when Baek-hyun was up to his antics - he would. He walked up and put his arm around his shoulder, and steered him towards the door:

“Byun...You have to give me something more, or at least wait until tomorrow. Look, the Jong’s are back. Go see what they’ve got, alright?”

Baek-hyun clenched his his jaw, not pleased with Jun-myeon’s decision, but did as he was told.

“Wow - who took the last cookie?” Jong-dae exclaimed, referring to the look on Baek-hyun’s face. Baek-hyun quickly went over what had happened, in part hoping they would back him up.

“Your boss is right, Byun. He can’t send out officers on a goose chase like that”, Jong-dae agreed.

“Hey, you’re supposed to back me up here” Baek-hyun retorted.

“Maybe it’s better to wait for the results” Jong-in said tentatively. “We have a lot of video to go through anyway. And what about the phone list?”

Baek-hyun eased-up a bit, there wasn’t anything to do about it anyway.

“I guess you’re right... “ he sighed. “There wasn’t anything noteworthy. Not on the debit card either. Come on, let’s see if there’s anything interesting on the footage.”

There hadn’t been much to see on the footage except for Min-young leaving her apartment around 17.30, which definitely placed her death after that. But they did note that she turned the corner down the alley, just as Sehun had done earlier in the day. Could it have been that he was waiting for her? Jong-dae had almost been in ecstasy by the prospect, and tried to get in on the first interview with him, but Baek-hyun wouldn’t hear it. And rightly so; they still had as little on him as before. They had called it a day at eight thirty, and Jong-in had offered Jong-dae a ride home.

“Hey, I’m sorry for trying to take Sehun from you. I got a bit overheated”, Jong-dae apologized in the car. Jong-in waved his hand:

“Don’t even think about it.”

“It wasn’t fair on my part - you need the experience. But think about it: we don’t know what was said during that call. He could’ve told her he was waiting. Right?”

“I know. But I kinda hope it’s not him. Left turn after the crossing..?”

“Yeah, house at the far end. Why don’t you want it to be him?”

“Because…I don’t want her to have had a friend like that, you know. A friend that would kill her”, Jong-in explained.

“Don’t I know it” Jong-dae sighed “I’m about to give my son the third degree about what he did at daycare today” he laughed.

“You have a son?”

“Yeah, Min-jun. He’s three. You?”

“Daughter, eight months. Yong-sun” Jong-in replied, shining proudly.

“Wow, rookie detective and rookie dad..!” Jong-dae said getting out of the car, but turned around and hunched down to look at Jong-in:

“You don’t mind me calling you kiddo, right?”

Jong-in let out a chuckle, happy that he asked

“No, it’s fine. Too many Kim’s and Jong’s anyway.”

“Okay, kiddo. Great work today, see ya tomorrow.”

After their shaky start things had really taken a turn for the better, which put Jong-in in a very good mood, considering the circumstances. So much so, in fact, that he made a quick stop to pick up a bouquet of flowers for his girlfriend - a gesture highly appreciated, if seldom occurring.

“What are these for?” Hye-jin asked surprised when he handed over the flowers.

Jong-in put his blazer over the couch and sat down:

“Love”, he said. “Come here, sit with me awhile, Jin.”

Hye-jin sat down next to him and brushed his hair from his face:

“Good day or bad day?” she asked and leaned into his embrace.

“Bad day and good day.” He kissed her on the forehead “I’m glad to be home.”

They stayed like that for a while, Jong-in finding some comfort in the mundane. But the days events still played in his mind:

“ I want to look in on Yong-sun”, he said and got up.

“Okay, but if you wake it…”

“...you buy it”, he finished. They’d started saying that the moment Yong-sun came home from the hospital, as they both kept going in to the nursery to watch her sleep. “I’ll just be a minute, promise.” He opened the door to her room, tiptoed to her crib and sat down in a lotus position. The night light they had fixed in a socket by the floor gave off just enough light for Jong-in to discern the little girl’s face. He gently held her hand with his index finger and thumb:

“Don’t grow up too fast”, he whispered.

APRIL 19th

Baek-hyun had been too fidgety to have a relaxed morning, so he’d decided to go in early and write down a few notes for Jong-in’s interview with Sehun, just in case. He would’ve liked to visit Chan-yeol in the lab, hoping for a hail Mary, but he knew his routine: in late - out late. As he approached his desk he saw a file lying there with a note “I am a fucking rockstar PS. Second swab pending”. He couldn’t skim through the text fast enough to find what he was looking for; his eyes darted left to right as his mouth moved almost inaudibly:

“Hair sample, donor, degree of certainty... Oh Sehun.” His eyes widened. There it was. Sehun’s DNA was a match for the hair that was found on Min-young’s body. He rushed to Jun-myeon’s office, but was met by a locked door.

“Damn it!” Baek-hyun looked at his watch; Jun-myeon wouldn’t be in for at least another forty-five minutes. He hauled up his phone and called Jong-in.

“Hey, where are you? You picking up Jong-dae?”

“I just did, we’re on our way.”

“Okay, good. Hurry up.”

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Something big. I’ll tell you when you get here.”

While waiting for Jong-in and Jong-dae Baek-hyun scrolled through his phone list to figure out which judge would be up at this hour, and who was the better option to grant a warrant. He decided on judge Chang. He had a soft spot for Baek-hyun and a cold heart for these types of murders. After roughly explaining the case Chang agreed to sign the warrant when he got to the office two hours later. As he wrapped up the call his partners came in and he signed for them to sit down.

“That was judge Chang. He’s gonna sign a warrant for us in a couple of hours.”

Jong-in and Jong-dae looked puzzled.

“A warrant for what?”, Jong-dae asked.

Baek-hyun put the paper on the desk in front of them:

“Your golden boy, Jong-dae. We’re searching his apartment and his car.”

Jong-dae got up so suddenly that his chair fell over with a loud bang:

“What! What did we mi-”

“His DNA is a match!”, Jong-in burst out, answering Jong-dae’s question.

Jong-dae snagged the paper from Jong-in’s hands and speedily read through it.

“See, I knew it..!”

Seeing Jong-dae so excited reminded Baek-hyun to not get ahead of himself, there was still a lot of investigating to do.

“But now we really need to do this by the book. The police book”, he emphasized. “There are a lot of pieces we need to fit together to make a case.”

To his relief Jong-dae was on the same page:

“Trust me, Baek-hyun, I’m not doing anything to jeopardize it. I always make sure my findings hold up in court.”

“Am I still doing the interview with him?” Jong-in asked, afraid of being pushed aside, but also afraid of being put in such a crucial situation. “‘Cus it’s not an interview anymore - it’s an interrogation.”

“I think you should”, Jong-dae answered and looked to Baek-hyun.

“Me too. The question is how you do it, now that the playing field has changed...”

“Why don’t I do it like we said? Sure, we’re gonna have to tell him about the warrant when it comes in, but up until then...And maybe I make it seem like Jong-dae was the driving force..?”

Jong-dae let out a laugh and agreed:

“Yes, this is how he should do it. And when results for the second swab comes in we’ll nail him to the wall.”

“That could work. Let me mull it over in my head a bit, decide when he gets here. In the meantime, the two of you outline a few routes. I’m gonna see if I can get a hold of geo mapping for Sehun’s phone for these past days.”

Even though time seemed to go exceedingly slow the clock eventually struck nine, and an officer told Baek-hyun that Sehun was waiting in the foyer. He asked her to escort him to one of the interrogation rooms, hoping to gauge his state of mind as he passed by, but it was he who was in for a surprise. Walking beside him, with him, was another man.

“He brought a lawyer?” Jong-in was clearly also surprised.

“And not just any lawyer”, Baek-hyun sighed.

“That’s Kim Min-seok”, Jong-dae filled in. “Where the hell does a nurse get that kind of money?”

“Kim Min-seok - isn’t he the mob lawyer?” Jong-in asked with big eyes.

“Alleged”, Jong-dae scoffed, quoting one of Min-seok’s famous taglines. “Alleged mob lawyer.”

“Someone must’ve leaked the warrant.” Baek-hyun ran his fingers through his hair and sat on the desk.”Fuck… I’m sorry Jong-in, but I’m gonna have to do this one. And I want Dae on second chair. I hate to push you out, but Min-seok doesn’t mess around.”

Jong-in was disappointed, but knew he wasn’t ready to go up against one of Seoul’s most infamous defence lawyers, and focused on what else he could do to help.

“I think it’s better if you guys do it, if even half of what I’ve heard about him is true. What can I do in the meantime?”

“I want you to dig up everything you can on Sehun. His friends, his family, co-workers. Everything. I wanna know how such a “nice guy” knows Kim Min-seok. If you find anything, come tell us.” He turned to Jong-dae “Alright, let’s get ready to rumble.”

Baek-hyun and Jong-dae had barely entered the room before Min-seok started:

“Wow, detective Byun and detective Kim..! Double the hot shots, double the holes in your case?”, he smacked his lips and smirked.

Jong-dae let out a fake laugh and shot back:

“I didn’t expect to see the Tissue Fairy today. I guess we’ve put all your usual clients behind bars.”

The Tissue Fairy was a name he’d earned with the police and district attorneys office for his over-the-top portrayal of his defendants. He would take a stone cold killer and make believe that they were falsely accused, innocent, normal hard working guys; and he was always ready to lend them a tissue when they started tearing up.

Min-seok didn’t acknowledge the comment and proceeded:

“Let’s get started, so we can wrap this up, give Mr. Oh the chance to get home before the mongrels destroy his apartment.”

“Out of curiosity...”, Baek-hyun said, leaning back with folded arms “...how do you know Min-seok?”

“Some of his friends know some of my friends”, Min-seok replied with a smug smile.

“Yeah? Who are your friends, Sehun?”, he asked cooly, trying not to grind his teeth.

“Don’t answer that.”

“Come on, Sehun, it’s a simple question”, Jong-dae chimed in.

“Isn’t everything simple with you, detective Kim? Everyone is a criminal.”

“Criminals are criminals.”

Baek-hyun had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before Jong-dae flew across the table to put Min-seok in a chokehold, so he shifted the focus.

“We wanted you to come down here to tell us what happened the last time you spoke with Min-young.”

“I already told you what happened, that’s what happened, I swear..!” Sehun’s outburst caught him off-guard, but this wasn’t the first time he’d seen a heartfelt performance in this room.

“Mm-hmm, I know. But tell us again, and this time include this part”, he said, sliding a copy of the DNA result over the table.

Min-seok only had to glance at it to see what it was, and where to read the result. He waved the paper in the air, while a bewildered Sehun craned his neck trying to read it.

“A hair? Oh, please, my great grandmother could have this deemed inadmissible from her grave...”

“I didn’t know the Devil’s spawn had great grandmothers.” Jong-dae couldn’t help himself saying.

“You might wanna explain to your client what’s going on”, Baek-hyun nodded in Sehun’s direction.

Min-seok lazily turned his head to Sehun:

“They’ve found your DNA, a hair, on her body.”

Sehun’s brows almost hit the roof as he exclaimed:

“Mine..!?”

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” Min-seok had a strange way of making it seem like it really was nothing. “You were best friends, of course your hair was around her. Her hair is probably all over your apartment too, right?”

Sehun nodded, a bit calmer, but Baek-hyun could tell his mind was still racing. He would never admit to it in front of Min-seok, but the thought had crossed his mind as well - transfer evidence was a tricky thing.

“We’ll know soon enough, won’t we?”, Baek-hyun said, referring to the search warrant. “But in the meantime...tell us the story.”

¤¤¤

Jong-in thought he might have found something interesting: Sehun’s older brother had studied law, but never finished. Could it be that he and Min-seok had gone to school together? Jong-in wasn’t sure if he was reaching, and didn’t get the chance to find out. He heard a man loudly complain:

“Why is Byun always on my case about his case, but when I try to say something he pretends I don’t exist?”

Jong-in figured this must be Park Chan-yeol, so he put his hand up:

“He’s in the interrogation room with Jong-dae, but I’m on the case too. Did you... are those the results from the fingernails?” he said hurriedly, pointing to a file in Chan-yeol’s hand.

“Yeah, we got a match...”, Chan-yeol handed the file over “but it’s not Oh Sehun.”

“What? Who, then?”

“I don’t know. The DNA matches an unsolved sexual assault case from five years ago, in the Blue Meadow area.”

“Blue Meadow, Blue Meadow...why do I recognize that..?” he said to himself.

“Byun told you yesterday, no? It’s one of the areas they still have asbestos.”

Jong-in practically threw Chan-yeol on the floor to get to a computer, and started typing and clicking as if possessed. Chan-yeol looked over Jong-in’s shoulder to follow along.

“Here! It’s gotta be, right?” He turned to Chan-yeol.

“He’s definitely worth checking out,” Chan-yeol agreed. “I’d bet on him before Oh Sehun.”

Jong-in tore the paper out of the printer and darted down the hallway towards the interrogation room.

¤¤¤

“You’re a good looking guy, Sehun. Maybe you thought you’d try your luck, maybe things didn’t go your way, got out of hand, may-”

Jong-dae was interrupted by the door being pushed open to reveal a wild-eyed Jong-in urging them to come outside. There was no question about the urgency of his matter, so Baek-hyun halted the interview and they went out to confer in the corridor.

“What’d you find?”

“It’s not him!”

Baek-hyun thought Jong-in would help the case, not turn it on it’s end.

“What do you mean it’s not him, what’d you find..?”

Jong-in had to catch his breath and continued to explain:

“Park came by. The DNA under Min-young’s fingernails matched an old case from Blue Meadow.”

“The Meadow? That’s-”

“The transfer evidence, yeah”, Jong-in cut him off. “A woman reported a man trying to rape her.”

“Did Park run the second test directly against Sehun’s DNA? Couldn’t it be him as well, the old case?”, Jong-dae had to make sure, since he had been so sure.

“He ran it”, Baek-hyun answered. “Park doesn’t miss anything.”

“Maybe there’s two of them, working together..?”

“Can’t be...I’ve done a cursory background check on him, he was enlisted. That’s the one thing we can be sure of: that he has nothing to do with that case. Maybe not this one either.”

“Damn it!”, Jong-dae shouted and kicked the wall.

“Exactly. More than exactly”, Jong-in said, getting curious greedy looks from both Baek-hyun and Jong-dae.

“Well, since a lot of perpetrators commit their crimes close to home I checked out the residents of the old houses; there are only nine of them. Most of them belong to older couples, some are vacant, but one is registered to a elderly couple named Lee -”

“You said that already, old houses and old people”, Baek-hyun interjected.

“- who died seven years ago and was survived by their son.”

Jong-dae perked up immediately when he heard this, like a bloodhound.

“I couldn’t find any other address, nothing online, nothing of anything except for a high-school photo.”

“A ghost”, Baek-hyun said under his breath.“Did you get his full name at least?”

“Yes”, Jong-in nodded. “It’s Soo-man. Lee Soo-man.”

¤¤¤

“Jong-dae, wrap up the interview with Sehun - ask him about Lee - then cut him loose, I need to talk to Jun-myeon and call Chang again. Actually, Jong-in, you can go in as well, see what it’s like.”

Jong-in felt a twang of excitement; he’d get to see the infamous lawyer up-close, yet at a safe distance.

“But we’re still searching his apartment, right?”

“Yeah. Like Jong-dae said, we can’t rule out a pair working together. Give me the print-out, I’ve gotta run now.”

On his was to Jun-myeon’s office Baek-hyun managed to get a hold of Chang.

“You want me to sign another warrant, for another prime suspect in the same case? I know I’m regarded as one of the easy judges, but I can’t give out warrants like it’s free candy, Byun.”

“I know, judge. But aren’t you always going on about the importance of a strong case, substantial evidence? This is it. I need that warrant, I’m begging you.” Baek-hyun waited and said a little prayer to whatever gods might be listening in.

“Okay, Byun, I’ll sign it right away. But I don’t want to see your name on my display again.”

“Yes! Thank you, judge. Thank you.”

By the time he hung up he was in Jun-myeon’s office.

“You wanted something more, it’s not Sehun, it’s Lee Soo-man, he lives there, now give me my guys”, he blurted out to a confused Jun-myeon.

“Slow down, Byun.”

“Park got a hit on the second test, it’s an unknown, but strongly suggests Lee Soo-man. Jong-in found him while going through the areas I wanted to search yesterday” he said and showed Jun-myeon Jong-in’s print-out. “If you don’t give me the guns I’ll go myself. The Jong’s too.”

He scanned through it:

“Solid?”

“We’ve gone in over less, boss.”

“Okay, I’ll call them right away.”

“Tell them to shake a leg, we’re heading over as soon as the Jong’s are done with Sehun.” He headed for the door but stopped and turned around. “And I think I’ll keep Jong-in as my partner. After this, I mean.”

Baek-hyun hadn’t had a real partner since his first one retired eighteen months ago. At first Jun-myeon had tried to match him with other guys, but it had never worked out due to Baek-hyun’s insistence on finding “the one true partner”. So when he now hinted he may have, Jun-myeon didn’t say anything, just pursed his lips in acknowledgement.

As Jong-in and Jong-dae hadn’t finished yet, Baek-hyun read through the reports of Chan-yeol and Doh, taking note of things that might correlate with the house of Soo-man, if that was where he had kept and killed Min-young.

“...yeah, he’s a real prick.”

Baek-hyun looked up to see Jong-dae make a face of disgust while speaking with Jong-in. He couldn’t help but smile, knowing that post-Min-seok feeling all to well. He got up and clapped his hands together:

“Is Sehun done and dusted? Anything about Lee?”

Jong-dae shrugged his shoulders:

“Says he doesn’t know him, and for once I believe the guy.”

“ ‘Key. We’ll see if the search proves otherwise”, Baek-hyun clapped his hands together and continued “Time to BP, Tactical is meeting us in Blue Meadow.”

“BP?”, Jong-in looked bewildered.

��Bulletproof. Put on your vest.”

The energy in the room changed when they brought out the vests, as it always did. It was a solemn sense of seriousness - and it was added on by Jun-myeon who always came out to see his men off.

“Ah, the musketeers” he sighed, trying to keep it light. “Jong-in. This is probably the only time I will say this: do exactly what Byun tells you to do.”

Neither of them could contain their laughter, not even Baek-hyun through his feigned indignation.

“Alright, alright, guys. Just look out for each other so we all get to have dinner tonight.”

“I know. We’ll have dinner, boss”, Baek-hyun replied as usual.

¤¤¤

Driving up to the neighbourhood they saw the police had cordoned off the whole street, and curious neighbours standing just outside or on their balconies trying to see what was going on. On their drive there Baek-hyun thought he’d noticed a shift in Jong-dae’s mood. One more palpable than the usual silence that often came before live action.

“Hey, Jong-dae, you okay?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, sure, I’m fine. Pre bust-down-the-door- jitters is all” he assured Baek-hyun with a smile.

“Jong-in?”

“Honestly, I’m a little nervous.”

“Nervous is good. It means you know it’s a big deal. Just remember what Jun-myeon said; do what I tell you to do.”

They got out of the car and walked to one of the busses parked about thirty meters from the house. The activity in and around it made it clear that this was the makeshift command center, where the man in charge was, as well as the eyes and ears on the Lee house. Baek-hyun caught the attention of one of the men who greeted them with half a smile:

“Long time no see, Byun.”

“If it would only stay that way, ey? Jong-in, this is the group leader, Zhang Yixing. Yixing, my new partner, detective Kim Jong-in.”

Yixing shook Jong-in’s hand with one firm press

“You new decs get younger each time around.”

“Don’t say anything about his age.”

Yixing chuckled:

“Oh, I see. You did, Jong-dae.”

“Shh. Let’s focus on our job, shall we?”

“Let’s”, Baek-hyun agreed. “Any activity? It’s the green one up there, right?”

“Exactly. Here’s the floor plan” Yixing said and zoomed in on a picture on the tablet he was holding. “We haven’t seen or heard anything yet, but we’ve only been here fifteen minutes. Thermal imaging showed up nothing, so I’m pretty certain your guy isn’t there. We’re ready to go in on your cue, Byun.”

“Alright, let’s do it.”

With that Yixing wolf-whistled and made a couple of hand signs, letting his men know it was time to approach the door of Soo-man’s house. Baek-hyun, Jong-in and Jong-dae stood closely behind them with guns drawn, hearts beating fast. Yixing counted down from three with his fingers. When he reached zero one of the men put a hydraulic door ram on the lock and blew it out. The door flew open and Yixing’s nine man crew entered the house, going through all the rooms as they yelled Soo-man’s name. Baek-hyun had stayed back for a couple of seconds but now turned to Jong-in and Jong-dae:

“Okay, let’s go.”

The inside of the house was dark with curtains drawn shut, and flashlights only did so much, but having seen the layout of the house beforehand abled Baek-hyun to move through it with relative speed. As he heard the last “clear” being called out from upstairs he lowered his gun and looked around more closely; the rooms were made up of heavy wooden furniture, chintz and porcelain figurines.

“I doubt Soo-man’s the interior designer.”, Jong-dae smirked “It’s like a time capsule in here..!”

“I wonder if he even lives here…”

“I think so”, they heard Jong-in say from the kitchen. “There are plates in the sink, no more than two days old.” He opened the fridge. “And food in here.”

Baek-hyun joined him in the kitchen to look around, but something else immediately caught his eye: the kitchen window faced the backyard and in it stood a shed.

“Hey, Zhang!” he yelled out, without taking his eyes off the shed. “Yixing!”

Yixing entered with one of his men.

“The shed”, Baek-hyun said and pointed out the window.

Yixing peered out then turned to his man:

“Take Archer and Chow.”

The man nodded and before long Baek-hyun watched from the kitchen as they entered the shed. One of them came out with his thumb up - it was empty. They all breathed a sigh of relief and Baek-hyun was quick to lighten the mood:

“Now, if there aren’t any dog houses you’ve missed-”

“My apologies,” Yixing interrupted him “but you can’t see the back yard from the street, and there wasn’t any structure on the floor plan. You saw-”

“How old is that?” Baek-hyun asked, suddenly on high alert.

“It was updated three years ago.”

“Jong-in, when did his parents die?”

“I don’t remember the exact date, but long before that. More than three years ago.”

“So his parents die and he decides to build a shed?” Baek-hyun mused.

“I’ll tell the handler to bring the cad. dog round back”, Jong-dae said, following Baek-hyun’s train of thought, and went outside.

“Not that I don’t appreciate your team’s work, but...could you maybe get your guys out of here? They’re not exactly delicate when it comes to crime scene preservation…”

Yixing laughed and wolf-whistled again:

“What do you think the real scene investigators say about you?”

“Ya..! Get outta here!”

They said their goodbyes and Yixing followed his men out.

Waiting on the terrace in the backyard Baek-hyun took note of the surroundings; the dilapidated lawn, which matched the house, was surrounded by high trees on two sides and a wooden fence on his left-hand side. Soo-man would’ve had almost complete privacy out here, he thought to himself.

“It’s really dark out here. Especially with these gray clouds.”

“Mhmm, I was thinking that too, Jong-in. Let’s step back, give Toben room to work”, Baek-hyun said gesturing to the dog and his handler coming out with Jong-dae in tow. Jong-dae had already explained the situation with the shed, so Toben’s handler carefully suggested the direction to Toben, and Jong-dae joined Baek-hyun and Jong-in.

“I talked to Park, he’s coming down.”

Not a minute later the handler popped his head out of the door and nodded to Baek-hyun who immediately went over. Toben was sitting in the middle of the room with a bright expression, meaning he’d found something. Or rather, smelled something. Baek-hyun couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary from where he was standing, but he didn’t want to get too close at the risk of contamination:

“What do you think?”, he asked.

“Well, usually when Toben hits on places like these it means someone’s cleaned up good - but not perfect. The floor’s concrete, so it’s porous…”

“Blood might’ve permeated it. So Forensics has to cut out a chunk of it to test it?”

“Yeah, that’s usually what they do.”

“Good odds?”

“Toben hits on blood etcetera. Period. He doesn’t tell me if it’s a drop or a drizzle.”

Baek-hyun chuckled. He knew it’d be the lab’s job to figure that out.

“Okay. But thanks, good job.”

Still not going any closer he looked around after Toben and his handler went outside. For all intents and purposes it was just an ordinary shed; a table, some tools hanging on the wall, a couple of tires in the corner.

“A car…”, Baek-hyun mumbled to himself.

“BYUN..!” It was Jong-dae. “You better come out here!”

Baek-hyun was jolted from his pondering and went out to see both Jong-dae and Jong-in staring at him.

“What?”

They didn’t have to say anything. Scanning the backyard told him precisely what; there in the corner, right up by the trees sat Toben with that bright expression.

#exo fanfic #baekhyun crime story #jongin crime story #jongdae crime story

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blessed-but-distressed · 6 years ago

Text

Cross My Heart (3/31)

All Sheriff Emma Swan wanted was a bit of the quiet life. Why else would she take a job in Storybrooke, Maine, where deer outnumber people? But when a local woman turns up murdered, Emma quickly realizes she might be out of her depth. Enter Killian Jones, 17th century buccaneer turned vampire, who might just have the kind of unique perspective on the crime she is looking for. It’s a shaky alliance, but when Emma’s past comes back to bite her, she might just discover how handy having a vampire around can be.

A Captain Swan Supernatural Summer AU.

also on ff.net and ao3

Rated M for Mature Readers. Trigger warnings for blood, gore, violence, sexual references, blood sharing, mental manipulation and major character deaths.

This here is a murder mystery with vampires in it, and it plays out accordingly. You get what you pay for.

This is my contribution to the Captain Swan Supernatural Summer event. Many thanks to my pseudo-attorney @distant-rose for her art, her positivity, and her commitment to getting the gross details just about right. A big thank you also to @kmomof4 for putting the @cssns together, and for asking me to take part. And thanks to Eric Northman, for some inspiration.

Chapter Three

On the whole, Emma tried to avoid spending too much time in morgues.

It wasn’t just the cloying smell of formaldehyde, which clung to her clothes for the rest of the day. Or the thermostat set at a chilly 40 degrees. It wasn’t even the idea of being trapped in a windowless basement with a whole bunch of dead people. Though, gross.

For your garden variety deaths, your heart attacks and car accidents, the body was usually farmed out to the funeral parlor the next town over, who would handle everything. For the more interesting cases though, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner would get involved, transferring the body down South for an autopsy.

Kathryn Nolan’s was an interesting case.

Which meant if Emma didn’t want to wait a month for the official autopsy report, she would have to get in good with the Medical Examiner. The Medical Examiner who was currently dodging her calls.

“I’ll flip you for it?” she pleaded, as Graham rummaged in the break room cabinet in search of more coffee filters.

“You already owe me for the press conference,” he pointed out, emerging from the cabinet empty handed and scowling. “Do we still have that paper towel in the storage closet?”

“They have a Dunks in Augusta…” Emma cajoled.

She sensed a flicker of interest from him, but only a flicker. In the end, his principles won out, and he shook his head defiantly. “I’ve been pulling doubles for you all week. I’m not driving to Augusta and back just because you want to avoid seeing one of your old hook ups.”

She really needed to stop telling him things.

She held his gaze for a long moment, but his resolve didn’t break. Son of a bitch.

“Fine!” Emma relented, reaching over to grab the keys for the patrol car off their hook. “I’ll go. But don’t think I’m bringing you back any Boston Kremes. You’ve shown where your loyalties really lie.”

Graham seemed to realize his grave error then, face contorting in pain at the very mention of his favorite treat.

“Nuh, uh,” Emma warned, waggling a finger in front of his face. “You had your chance. I hope you like jelly, you traitor.”

To call Dr Victor Whale an old hook up was pushing it. It was a one time thing, ages ago. A darkened bar, two counties from home. He was just a charming smile after a long line of shots. It wasn’t her fault he worked at the State Police Crime Lab. It wasn’t like he’d volunteered that information at the time. There hadn’t been a whole lot of talking, from what she remembered. Though if she was being honest, that wasn’t a lot.

He must’ve remembered at least a little, though, because a definite look of panic crossed his face when he saw her standing by the door to the laboratory, file in hand.

“Relax, Doctor,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “I’m not here for a paternity suit.”

He chuckled, but the way his shoulders relaxed underneath his lab coat convinced Emma she’d been right on the money with that one.

“Emma Swan,” she said, reaching over to shake his hand, saving him the trouble of having to remember her name. “I’m actually here about a dead woman.”

“No shortage of those here,” Whale said, breaking contact to stretch his arms wide. “We’ve got every make and model. Cheerleaders. Housewives. Grandmas. Society queens. Or if you’re looking for something a touch more exotic, our night time receptionist is of the walking, talking, bloodsucking variety. So, what can I do you for, Sheriff?”

He’d clocked her badge at her hip, then. Always a good sign to have a medical examiner who noticed the little details.

“You’ll remember mine. Kathryn Nolan? She had her heart missing. I heard you were the one who did the autopsy?”

It was almost comical, how fast his devil-may-care grin slid into a grimace.

“Kathryn,” he nodded solemnly. “Of course.”

“Great. Feel like answering some of my questions?”

He hesitated, running a hand through his short platinum hair. “I feel like I should warn you my full report won’t be ready for a couple weeks. The labs are still backed up from Christmas, and…”

“And I’ve got someone in my town who likes to carve out women's hearts,” Emma interrupted. “I’ll take your work-in-progress.”

He blinked. Just once.

“Alright then. She’s down in the freezer. Follow me.”

The building was labyrinthine, and Emma quickly lost her bearings amidst the institutional grey speckled walls, and rows of identical white doors. But as they descended the stairs down into the sub-basement, she came to understand why they called it “the freezer.” She hugged her arms more tightly around herself as the good doctor led her into a pristine white examination room that had never known the joys of central heating.

Probably for the best, all things considered.

“Kathryn Nolan,” Whale repeated to himself, picking up a clipboard and running his finger down the page. “Seems to be behind door number 3. You want a look at her?”

In Emma’s mind, want didn’t really come into it. Fighting her better instincts, she nodded, then stood back as Whale tucked the clipboard under his arm and pulled open the nearest cold storage locker. With a small grunt of effort he slid the steel drawer free until the figure under the white sheet lay between them.

Dragging her eyes from the shape beneath the sheet, Emma looked up to see Whale watching her. Waiting for some sign of distress, maybe. She figured this was probably the juncture where most people would start with the hyperventilating and the vomiting. Fortunately, Emma was not most people. This wasn’t her first rodeo. And even it is had been, she would never give him the satisfaction.

She held his gaze firmly as he pulled back the sheet.

“This your girl?”

Kathryn looked better than the last time Emma had seen her. Not that that was all that hard. But someone had definitely cleaned her up, removed all the river debris and brushed her hair out.

“I’m guessing you’ve established cause of death, Doctor?”

His grin was wry. “Well, I might’ve gone to a State School, but even I couldn’t miss the gaping hole in her chest where her heart used to be.”

Emma blanched. “They took out the heart while she was still alive?”

“That’s my working theory. Massive chest trauma. She was definitely dead before she hit the water, anyway. The condition she arrived in made it a little hard to determine whether her other injuries were sustained before or after her swim in the river, but I didn’t spot anything else that looked particularly lethal.”

Seeing the look on Emma’s face, Whale hurriedly continued.

“Of course, there’s every chance she wasn’t conscious at the time. We’re still waiting on the toxicology to come back, but she might’ve been drugged. There weren’t any ligature marks on her wrists or ankles, and that’s rather telling. I doubt your girl would’ve just kept still while someone hacked into her.”

Emma remembered the woman who outpaced her on the treadmill, week after week. No, that didn’t seem like Kathryn’s MO.

“So they used a knife? Like a hunting knife?”

“That’s probably a good bet. I’ve taken some moulds of the grooves left in the ribs. I might be able to narrow that down for you. But my best guess at the moment is you’re looking at a substantial blade. 10 inches maybe. They weren’t fucking around.”

Emma wondered if that was the medically appropriate term.

“Good news is,” Whale pointed out, “whoever your killer is, they probably aren’t too smart, and they’re definitely not medically trained. I did some reading about this. It isn’t easy to rip out a human heart directly from the chest. There’s the sternum and the ribs to contend with. It takes a lot of strength to cut or break through them, and a lot of time. It’s messy. The victim doesn’t die right away. Compare that with, say, the Aztecs, who practised heart-extraction as part of some rituals. They’d slice below the ribs with a sharp rock, and rip the heart out from below. It’s fast, efficient, and relatively easy to accomplish with little more than a scalpel and your hand.”

He indicated the angry wound marring Kathryn’s chest. “That’s not the route your killer chose to take. Ergo, not too bright.”

Or maybe they just appreciated the spectacle of it.

“You get anything I could use to find this guy?”

Whale shrugged, lifting the sheet back over Kathryn’s face. “After a couple of days in that river, you’d be lucky to find any useful trace evidence. We sent everything we had off for analysis, but I don’t like your odds. ”

Emma frowned. “You think she was in the water the whole time, then? She was killed the day she disappeared?”

“That’s my opinion. It’s hard to say for sure. The decaying process is delayed when the body is submerged in water, especially when it’s this cold. But the body was already showing signs of putrefaction, so she’d probably been out there the full five days. That’s not forgetting the lack of ligature marks, which suggest she wasn’t held for any length of time. If you’re thinking this was a kidnapping, then I’d say they used some kind of drug to incapacitate her, in the short term. Unfortunately, the condition of the body makes it hard to determine how it might’ve entered her system. You’d have to wait for the tox screen to know what you’re dealing with.”

“So you’re saying it could be anyone?” Emma sighed, rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hand.

“Well,” Whale considered. “Anyone with a hunting knife and a certain amount of patience. They didn’t do this by accident. They meant to rip her heart out. If you consider how much strength it would take to saw through the sternum, you’re probably looking at a male, or especially strong woman. Hard to gauge height by the angle of grooves in the ribs, because she was probably on her back at the time, but the marks definitely skew left. So he was probably right-handed.”

“So he’s strong, right-handed man, then?” Emma summed up.

It didn’t really narrow down the field much, and the apologetic look Whale shot her way said he knew it.

“And he probably knew her,” Whale added. “Or surprised her. I didn’t spot a lot of obvious defensive wounds. So whoever they are, they must’ve gotten pretty close before they incapacitated her.”

A strong, right-handed man, who was familiar to her, then.

As if that didn’t describe nearly the entire male population of Storybrooke to a T.

Swallowing back her disappointment, Emma extended her hand again. “Thanks for your time, Doc. I look forward to your full report.”

He looked at her hand, but he didn’t accept it. Instead he let his lips curve into what could only be described a salacious grin. “I get off in an hour. I don’t suppose you-”

“I think that would be a spectacularly bad idea,” Emma said firmly, snatching her hand back and cutting him off before he could dig himself any further. And then, because she couldn’t help herself, “Do you normally try to seduce the police officers investigating the deaths of your patients?”

“Only the hot ones,” he replied, maybe a little too honestly. “And I seem to remember we had fun together.”

Emma doubted he remembered that much. She certainly didn’t.

“Yeah, I’m not really interested in jeopardizing my murder investigation with a repeat performance.”

Whale held a finger to his lips, letting loose what she was sure someone had once told him was a panty dropping smile. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

The next time Emma got it into her head to take a man to bed, she was going to make sure she was across state lines first. Hell, maybe even across the border. Anything to ensure she never, ever found herself in this situation again.

“As tempting as that sounds,” she said, with forced sincerity, “I think I’m gonna pass. No,” she said, holding up a hand as he moved closer. “It’s okay. I can see myself out.”

Twenty minutes and a few wrong turns later, Emma was back in the patrol car again, heater blasting, scrolling through her contacts with numb fingers.

“Graham, hey. Bad time?”

“Is there any other time?” he drawled.

Emma stifled her eye roll. “You’re funny, you know that? I knew I kept you around for a reason.”

“That and my charming personality,” he pointed out.

“Of course,” she agreed. “Can’t forget that. Any chance you put those charms to work and got Michael Tillman to open the garage for you?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know what I’m looking for. Didn’t we already dust and bag everything in Kathryn’s car?”

“We thought so, but back then this was just a disappearance. Now it’s a murder. Check again. Especially the backseat.”

“The backseat?” Graham repeated.

“Kathryn was driving from home to the office when she disappeared. It’s a straight line, and she had no reason to deviate. So either she stopped for someone, or they were already in the car when she got in. Check the backseat.”

“If I find anything, do I earn myself a Boston Kreme?” he asked hopefully.

“You find anything, I’ll buy you a whole box.”

#cssns #cs ff #cs au #cross my heart #cs au ff

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pamphletstoinspire · 6 years ago

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THE BOOK OF TOBIAS Or Tobit* - From The Douay-Rheims Bible - Latin Vulgate

Chapter 10

INTRODUCTION.

This Book takes its name from the holy man Tobias, whose wonderful virtues are herein recorded. It contains most excellent documents of great piety, extraordinary patience, and of perfect resignation to the will of God. His humble prayer was heard, and the angel Raphael was sent to relieve him: he is thankful, and praises the Lord, calling on the children of Israel to do the same. Having lived to the age of one hundred and two years, he exhorts his son and grandsons to piety, foretells the destruction of Ninive, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem: he dies happily. Ch. --- The Jews themselves have a great regard for the book of Tobias; (Grot. Sixtus Senens. viii.) which Origen (ad Afric.) says they "read in Hebrew," meaning probably the Chaldee, (C.) out of which language S. Jerom translated it, preferring to displease the Pharisaical Jews, rather than not to satisfy the desires of the holy bishops Chromatius and Heliodorus. Ep. t. iii. W. --- The Greek version seems to have been taken from another copy, or it has been executed with greater liberty by the Hellenist Jews, between the times of the Sept. and of Theodotion. C. --- Huet and Prideaux esteem it more original; and Houbigant has translated it in his Bible, as the Council of Trent only spoke of the Latin editions then extant; and S. Jerom followed in his version the Hebrew one of a Jew, as he did not understand the Chaldee. H. --- The Syriac and the modern Hebrew edition of Fagius, agree mostly with the Greek, as that of Munster and another Heb. copy of Huet, and the Arabic version, both unpublished, are more conformable to the Vulgate. The most ancient Latin version used before S. Jerom, was taken from the Greek; and the Fathers who lived in those ages, speak of it when they call the book of Tobias canonical. S. Aug. leaves it, however, to adopt S. Jerom's version, in his Mirrour. The copies of all these versions vary greatly, (C.) though the substance of the history is still the same; and in all we discover the virtues of a good parent, of a dutiful son, and virtuous husband, beautifully described. H. --- "The servant of God, holy Tobias, is given to us after the law for an example, that we might know how to practise what we read; and that if temptations assail us, we may not depart from the fear of God, nor expect help from any other." S. Aug. q. 119. ex utroque Test. --- The four first chapters exhibit the holy life of old Tobias, and the eight following, the journey and affairs of his son, directed by Raphael. In the two last chapters they praise God, and the elder Tobias foretells the better state of the commonwealth. W. --- It is probable that both left records, from which this work has been compiled, with a few additional observations. It was written during (C.) or after the captivity of Babylon. E. --- The Jews had then little communication with each other, in different kingdoms. Tobias was not allowed to go into Media, under Sennacherib; and it is probable that the captives at Babylon would be under similar restrictions; so that we do not need to wonder that they were unacquainted with this history of a private family, the records of which seem to have been kept at Ecbatana. The original Chaldee is entirely lost, so that it is impossible to ascertain whether the Greek or the Vulg. be more conformable to it. The chronology of the latter seems however more accurate, as the elder Tobias foretold the destruction of Ninive, twenty-three years before the event, which his son just beheld verified, dying in the 18th year of king Josias. The accounts which appear to sectaries to be fabulous, may easily be explained. Houbigant. --- Josephus and Philo omit this history. C.

* One of the seven Deutero-Canonical books, missing from most non-Catholic Bibles.

The additional Notes in this Edition of the New Testament will be marked with the letter A. Such as are taken from various Interpreters and Commentators, will be marked as in the Old Testament. B. Bristow, C. Calmet, Ch. Challoner, D. Du Hamel, E. Estius, J. Jansenius, M. Menochius, Po. Polus, P. Pastorini, T. Tirinus, V. Bible de Vence, W. Worthington, Wi. Witham. — The names of other authors, who may be occasionally consulted, will be given at full length.

Verses are in English and Latin. HAYDOCK CATHOLIC BIBLE COMMENTARY

This Catholic commentary on the Old Testament, following the Douay-Rheims Bible text, was originally compiled by Catholic priest and biblical scholar Rev. George Leo Haydock (1774-1849). This transcription is based on Haydock's notes as they appear in the 1859 edition of Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary printed by Edward Dunigan and Brother, New York, New York.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

Changes made to the original text for this transcription include the following:

Greek letters. The original text sometimes includes Greek expressions spelled out in Greek letters. In this transcription, those expressions have been transliterated from Greek letters to English letters, put in italics, and underlined. The following substitution scheme has been used: A for Alpha; B for Beta; G for Gamma; D for Delta; E for Epsilon; Z for Zeta; E for Eta; Th for Theta; I for Iota; K for Kappa; L for Lamda; M for Mu; N for Nu; X for Xi; O for Omicron; P for Pi; R for Rho; S for Sigma; T for Tau; U for Upsilon; Ph for Phi; Ch for Chi; Ps for Psi; O for Omega. For example, where the name, Jesus, is spelled out in the original text in Greek letters, Iota-eta-sigma-omicron-upsilon-sigma, it is transliterated in this transcription as, Iesous. Greek diacritical marks have not been represented in this transcription.

Footnotes. The original text indicates footnotes with special characters, including the astrisk (*) and printers' marks, such as the dagger mark, the double dagger mark, the section mark, the parallels mark, and the paragraph mark. In this transcription all these special characters have been replaced by numbers in square brackets, such as [1], [2], [3], etc.

Accent marks. The original text contains some English letters represented with accent marks. In this transcription, those letters have been rendered in this transcription without their accent marks.

Other special characters.

Solid horizontal lines of various lengths that appear in the original text have been represented as a series of consecutive hyphens of approximately the same length, such as ---.

Ligatures, single characters containing two letters united, in the original text in some Latin expressions have been represented in this transcription as separate letters. The ligature formed by uniting A and E is represented as Ae, that of a and e as ae, that of O and E as Oe, and that of o and e as oe.

Monetary sums in the original text represented with a preceding British pound sterling symbol (a stylized L, transected by a short horizontal line) are represented in this transcription with a following pound symbol, l.

The half symbol (1/2) and three-quarters symbol (3/4) in the original text have been represented in this transcription with their decimal equivalent, (.5) and (.75) respectively.

Unreadable text. Places where the transcriber's copy of the original text is unreadable have been indicated in this transcription by an empty set of square brackets, [].

Chapter 10

The parents lament the long absence of their son Tobias. He sets out to return.

[1] But as Tobias made longer stay upon occasion of the marriage, Tobias his father was solicitous, saying: Why thinkest thou doth my son tarry, or why is he detained there?

Cum vero moras faceret Tobias, causa nuptiarum, sollicitus erat pater ejus Tobias, dicens : Putas quare moratur filius meus, aut quare detentus est ibi?

[2] Is Gabelus dead, thinkest thou, and no man will pay him the money?

Putasne Gabelus mortuus est, et nemo reddet illi pecuniam?

[3] And he began to be exceeding sad, both he and Anna his wife with him: and they began both to weep together: because their son did not return to them on the day appointed.

Coepit autem contristari nimis ipse et Anna uxor ejus cum eo : et coeperunt ambo simul flere : eo quod die statuto minime reverteretur filius eorum ad eos.

[4] But his mother wept and was quite disconsolate, and said: Woe, woe is me, my son; why did we send thee to go to a strange country, the light of our eyes, the staff of our old age, the comfort of our life, the hope of our posterity?

Flebat igitur mater ejus irremediabilibus lacrimis, atque dicebat : Heu, heu me, fili mi! ut quid te misimus peregrinari, lumen oculorum nostrorum, baculum senectutis nostrae, solatium vitae nostrae, spem posteritatis nostrae?

[5] We having all things together in thee alone, ought not to have let thee go from us.

omnia simul in te uno habentes, te non debuimus dimittere a nobis.

[6] And Tobias said to her: Hold thy peace, and be not troubled, our son is safe: that man with whom we sent him is very trusty.

Cui dicebat Tobias : Tace, et noli turbari : sanus est filius noster : satis fidelis est vir ille, cum quo misimus eum.

[7] But she could by no means be comforted, but daily running out looked round about, and went into all the ways by which there seemed any hope he might return, that she might if possible see him coming afar off.

Illa autem nullo modo consolari poterat, sed quotidie exiliens circumspiciebat, et circuibat vias omnes, per quas spes remeandi videbatur, ut procul videret eum, si fieri posset, venientem.

[8] But Raguel said to his son in law: Stay here, and I will send a messenger to Tobias thy father, that thou art in health.

At vero Raguel dicebat ad generum suum : Mane hic, et ego mittam nuntium salutis de te ad Tobiam patrem tuum.

[9] And Tobias said to him: I know that my father and mother now count the days, and their spirit is grievously afflicted within them.

Cui Tobias ait : Ego novi quia pater meus et mater mea modo dies computant, et cruciatur spiritus eorum in ipsis.

[10] And when Raguel had pressed Tobias with many words, and he by no means would hearken to him, he delivered Sara unto him, and half of all his substance in menservants, and womenservants, in cattle, in camels, and in kine, and in much money, and sent him away safe and joyful from him.

Cumque verbis multis rogaret Raguel Tobiam, et ille eum nulla ratione vellet audire, tradidit ei Saram, et dimidiam partem omnis substantiae suae in pueris, in puellis, in pecudibus, in camelis, et in vaccis, et in pecunia multa : et salvum atque gaudentem dimisit eum a se,

[11] Saying: The holy angel of the Lord be with you in your journey, and bring you through safe, and that you may find all things well about your parents, and my eyes see your children before I die.

dicens : Angelus Domini sanctus sit in itinere vestro, perducatque vos incolumes, et inveniatis omnia recte circa parentes vestros, et videant oculi mei filios vestros priusquam moriar.

[12] And the parents taking their daughter kissed her, and let her go:

Et apprehendentes parentes filiam suam, osculati sunt eam : et dimiserunt ire,

[13] Admonishing her to honour her father and mother in law, to love her husband, to take care of the family, to govern the house, and to behave herself irreprehensibly.

monentes eam honorare soceros, diligere maritum, regere familiam, gubernare domum, et seipsam irreprehensibilem exhibere.

Commentary:

Ver. 1. But. Gr. "And Tobit, his father, counted each day; and as the days of the journey were ended, and they did not come, Tobit said, Is he not put to shame?" (H.) and refused payment? C. --- Old Vulg. and Prot. "detained."

Ver. 3. He. Gr. "He was much troubled. But his wife said to him, the boy is come to an untimely end, since he tarries; and she began to mourn for him, and said, I am not, or am I not full of solicitude, my son, that I have let thee go, the light of my eyes and Tobit ?", v. 6. Without this interrogation, (H.) the Gr. seems to be corrupt; (C.) and wV, "how," or oi, "woe," should be put instead of ou, "not." Drus. Grot. &c. "Now I care for nothing, my son, since I have let thee go, the light," &c. Prot.

Ver. 6. That. Gr. "and she said to him, Be silent, deceive me not. My son is lost: and she went out daily into the road without, by which they departed. In the day time she eat no bread, and the night she spent in bewailing her son, Tobias, till the 14 days of the wedding were finished, which Raguel had adjured him to tarry there. And," v. 9. H. --- Thus the converted Jews lament that Christ should so long abandon their nation, while some hope like Tobias, and others are in more suspense, like his wife. V. Bede. --- So Catholics, in countries fallen into heresy, are in great distress for their brethren; (Rom. ix.) While some more confidently hope that God will enlighten our nation again, as sight was restored to old Tobias. W.

Ver. 8. Raguel. Gr. "Tobias," as v. 9, which is transposed.

Ver. 9. Days. It would require 42, (T.) or 38, (Torniel) or 34 days, (Salien. M.) to perform what is here recorded. H. --- But it would be difficult to ascertain the precise time. To go from Ninive to Ecbatana would occupy eight or ten days. C. ---If, therefore, the parents of Tobias expected that he would return in about 20 days, they might well wonder at the 14 days’ delay occasioned by the marriage. The distance might prevent him from giving notice of this event. Gr. "Dismiss me, because my, &c....no longer hope to see me again. But his father-in-law replied, Stop with me," &c. v. 8. H.

Ver. 10. When. Gr. "And Tobias said, No; but dismiss me to my father and mother. Then Raguel rising up, gave him Sarra, his wife, and half his goods, bodies, beasts, and silver." This expression, bodies, (H). or men generally denotes slaves; but it may also be put for others, (C.) who were in the train of Sara. Grot. --- Safe. Gr. "with blessing, saying, May God prosper you, children, the God of heaven, before I die; and he said to his daughter, Honour thy father and mother-in-law, they are now thy parents. May I hear a good report of thee, and he kissed her; and Edna said to Tobias, dear brother, May the Lord of heaven re-establish thee and grant me to behold thy children by my daughter, Sarra, that I may rejoice before the Lord; and behold, I place my daughter with thee as a deposit, and thou must not grieve her. Afterwards she departed, and Toby also blessing God, and he made his journey prosperous and blessed. Raguel, and Edna, and his wife." H. --- The Jews still adopt many customs similar to those which we here behold, as this is a most excellent description of a holy marriage. Serarius. C. - Some also prevail in the Christian Church, though marriage is now become more holy, and a sacrament. Cat. Rom. q. 22. - The proper intent of the contract, and many rites accompanying it, may be seen in the preceding chapters. W.

#book of tobias

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elephantsneedwater · 8 years ago

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Yellow Ribbons Chapter 2. Derek X OC

Chapter 2: First Field Case

I’ve been apart of the Gideon’s team for exactly 21 hours and I was already late. Quickly, I hurried through the bull pen. I couldn’t believe amidst my excitement the night before I hadn’t set my alarm. I woke up twenty minutes late.

Ahead of me the door was closed and I cursed under my breath, readied myself for all the stares I was going to get and turned the knob. Just as I thought, everyone looked at me, but only for a split second as I averted my gaze and sat next to Garcia.

“Everyone, this Agent Elise Flynn she’ll be joining us,” Gideon introduced me and I shared a tight lipped smile with the voices who said their hellos. I shouldn’t have been late. I can’t believe I was late. We’ve all worked in the bullpen together for a few years now so I shouldn’t be this nervous, but I was. These people weren’t new to me at all, well except Elle.

Garcia, next to me nudge my knee and smiled at me mouthing hello. I smiled back and turned my attention to the case. Agent Morgan glanced at me twice now-and I tried not to look at him again, but then he did it again. This time I held his gaze until Gideon spoke out.

“Flynn, what do you see?“

Now not only was the man who kept looking at me now actually looking at me, but so was everyone else. In the quick seconds I had before I had to answer Gideon, I noticed Agent Greenaway raise her eyebrow, Agent Reid just simply looked at me. J.J who I’ve spoken to a few times smiled what I believe to be a genuine smile, and Agent Hotchner just stared.

My eyes immediately went to the board. Scanning over the photos of the case. “What is it you want to me to tell you?” I asked, hearing a scoff come from Agent Morgan’s direction. I forced myself not to avert my eyes and just kept eye contact with Gideon.

“Do you want me to tell you that on the first victim he lost control, you can see that by the way the ligature marks on her neck are not consistent. He was more aggressive with the second and third victims. He keeps getting more and more aggressive with each victim. He also has either a limp or is carrying a second fire arm,” In this moment I looked around to see faces that weren’t judging me, but faces that seemed amazed.

“You got all that from looking at those photos for just a few seconds?” Agent Morgan asked me leaning forward,“Hot damn, Reid you may have competition,” Agent Morgan winked at me before slapping Agent Reid’s arm who looked a bit uncomfortable.

“I’m not here to be of competition,” I shot back eyeing Agent Morgan who just looked away, his lips taunt.

“Wheels up in twenty, we’ll finish this on the way to Jacksonville,” Agent Hotchner said.

I stood up with everybody else and watched Garcia walk towards her area before Gideon pulled me aside.

“Did I do alright?” I asked.

“Yeah, just fine. I need you to go with Garcia. Help her back here,” Gideon told me.

“Wait, why am I not going with? I did well enough with my answers, right? Did I say something wrong-,” my mind began to shoot off all the different ways I could have worded things.

“No, you did everything right, but I need you back here with Garcia, I need your mind back here, Flynn,” He assured me.

I nodded and watched Agent Morgan glance at me from the bull pen. I averted my gaze and headed the other way while my new team headed another.

For the next two weeks I was sent to stay with Garcia while everyone else flew off. At first it really bothered me, but after the first case I began to understand why I was sent there. Between helping here and the training classes I had to finish there wasn’t a point for me to be flying out with them as well.

The way she communicates with everyone is downright comical and I’m left wondering what will be said to me once I’m in the field. Reid never has a satisfied tone when she calls him honey or throws out a sexual joke. Amazingly, she keeps it pretty professional with Hotch and Gideon, minus the few times she speaks before knowing who is on the other end.

Garcia’s and Morgan’s relationship however, is as plain as day. The way they banter back and forth is quite a treat to watch. I’m sure a few people find it uncomfortable, but I’m just amazed at how quickly some of these words fly from her lips.

“Hey yo, Garcia! One tofu stir fry for you and one pepper steak for me,” I excitedly declared carrying in our Chinese food. The meals were hot against my skin and for a brief second I wondered if I could get burned through styrofoam.

“You are a sweet, sweet angel!"

"I try to be on occasion,” I smirked when she laughed.

“Naughty, naughty,"

"Anything popping up?” I smiled at her as she dug into her food trying to concentrate on the screen at the same time.

“You know you can look away for a second to eat, Garcia,"

"Not when there’s an undercover cop missing,” Her voice was stern and angry before I noticed her shoulders slump and she turned to me,“I’m sorry sweetie, I’m just not used to them being-,”

“Alive?” I answered.

She nodded, her smile not reaching her eyes.

“We’ll find him Garcia."

TWO WEEKS LATER "The Popular Kids”

Every week I keep a bag of clothes and things I’d need if I was able to go with them, under my desk. Every week it’s been a “No”, a “Not just yet”. And every week I bring fresh clothes. I twirled in my chair drinking my coffee as I watched the clock.

9:46.

New cases were discussed at 10 and I noticed to the right of me Morgan and Reid talking in the kitchen. Elle was busy scrolling through something on her computer screen so I turned my attention to the two men before me.

Reid and I hit it off after a few days. He was a bit stand offish at first. I genuinely like hanging out with him. The way our minds work so similar, but at the same time so differently piqued my interest. His IQ is exceptionally higher than mine, but he’s not one to try to one up another person. I watched him pour a copious amount of sugar into his coffee and wondered if he was sleeping alright.

The only other person I had yet to gel with-per say- was Morgan. We kind of just flit around each other like hummingbirds do with a flower. I’ve tried to interject myself into conversations with him in a way I think might stop him from side eyeing me. Nothing has worked as of yet.

“Flynn!” Morgans deep and slightly annoyed voice shakes me from my thought process. He seems to be waiting for me.

“Let’s go."

I perked up at this and quickly stood up smoothing my top, and it’s in this moment that I realize he and I are wearing the same color scheme. My eyes roll and I open my mouth to have say on the thought, but shut it when we catch up to everyone else. The moment we all round the corner into the room JJ begins to speak.

"McAllister. Western slope of Massanutten Mountain in Virginia. Two bodies discovered in the woods, both with apparent blunt trauma to the head,” The moment she placed the photos and file on the table we all converge onto it like moths to a flame.

“Skeletons?"

"One of them. The second victim was just killed this morning.” I glance at JJ before looking at the photo.

“How do we know there’s a connection?” Elle wondered looking up at Gideon from her seat.

I’m glad she asked because I was starting to wonder the same thing. “Found about seventy-five feet apart with nearly identical head wounds.” Hotch explained as if that part was all that was needed for us to get involved.

Next to me I felt Morgan shift,“Where’s the rest of the case file?"

"There isn’t one. The sheriffs are on the scene waiting for us."

"There location is only half hour by plane,” JJ told us.

I picked up the photo of the skeleton,“This body has been there for weeks if not months, and that’s a fresh kill. What else is there besides these two deaths connecting the cases?"

"I’m with Flynn on this, what’s the rush?” Morgan looked at me in agreement. “Well, there was evidence on the scene that could cause a bit of public uproar,"

"Satanic cult,” Gideon dropped the photo he was holding onto the table before us and all of our eyes took in the engraved tree.

“Wheels up in twenty everybody. Flynn, you can finally make good use of that bag under your desk,"

My breath caught in my throat and I looked up at Gideon wide eyed, the biggest smile spreading across my face.

En Route-

"JJ, we obviously need to keep this out of the press as long as possible,” Hotch told her as he walked past. I sat in front of JJ who was going through a few files. I looked up from my book when Elle spoke up behind me.

“There was a nationwide scare in the 1980’s involving satanic ritual killings and abuse. The satanic panic, it was called,” Reid explained.

I didn’t have time to change before we left and now we had less than 15 minutes until we landed and Derek was taking his sweet old time.

“Didn’t they find all that to be false, though?” I asked turning in my chair to look at the group,“I mean even in the Memphis Three case, they claimed killing those boys were because of a satanic ritual, but nothing could be found to back that up,"

Morgan tapped my arm as he passed me. I nodded, taking in his changed clothes. As I changed in the back room I listened to them talk. I began to wonder if this could actually be a satanic cult.

Quickly, I unbuttoned my light blue blouse and folded it into my bag. I pulled a dark red sweatshirt over my head and pulled down my black dress pants tucking them into the duffel. After I pulled up my dark jeans and slipped on my black tennis shoes I made my way out, and in good timing too because we were beginning to land.

The crime scene was deep into the woods and we split up. JJ, Gideon and Reid went to look at the tree and the old body while everyone else went to the new one.

The body was already removed and I was standing near Hotch and one of the sheriffs, looking out at the vastness of the woods.

”…I know he used to run out here on the mountain all the time.“ "Was he out here running today?"

"He was wearing sweats,"

"Was this a crime of opportunity or was the unsub laying in wait for this kid specifically?"

"You think he targeted the kid?” I asked Morgan.

“It’s a possibility,"

We discussed the case for a moment coming to the conclusion that the victim was killed by a weapon of opportunity. Hotch thought maybe a rock, but Elle brought up a good point: why was he killed on such a well traveled path.

"What if someone was with him? Someone he wasn’t expecting? That’s why he was killed here?” I wondered aloud, just as a woman came rushing down to the crime scene, livid, screaming that her daughter was missing and that she was here.

I exchanged a worried look with Morgan who had looked at me the moment I opened my mouth. This case just got a bit more cutthroat.

#derek morgan #derek morgan x oc #derek morgan x reader #derek morgan fanfiction #OC:Elise Flynn #criminal minds #shemar moore #My work #my writing #Elise Flynn #Yellow Ribbons

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heebiejbies · 8 years ago

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Affliction - Chapter V

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

Warnings: This series contains mentions of violence, abuse, and vulgar language.

Characters: Tao, Suho, Chanyeol, and Sehun

Word Count: 3.8k

“It is riskier to risk nothing when the life we live is always at risk.”

“Yes, I remember him. He was missing up until a few months before his death. It’s a shame, someone so young to have died so quickly. I will admit, I was puzzled when they brought him in. He had scars all over his body that looked like he kept shooting up something over and over again. They were really bad on his neck as well, that really made no sense,” The medical examiner said, leading me back into her office. I had gone straight there after I left from visiting Tao. I was lucky enough that the medical examiner actually allowed me to view the reports she had made on Luhan. She laid the file down in front of me, letting me flip through the pages.

“There were so many things that I found that I classified as odd. He had ligature marks on his wrists and ankles, but they never found anything that led them to believe that he was restrained,” She continued.

“What was his official cause of death?” I asked.

“That’s where it gets weird. I found massive amounts of three different drugs in his bloodstream. Sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride.” She pointed out the section of her report where she noted the drugs and how high of a dosage each was.

“Wait, so you are telling me that he died as if he was lethally injected in prison? Why wasn’t this treated as a homicide, then?” I had studied those drugs in medical school, and we learned that they were each used in executions. I wasn’t sure if they still used them and could have access to them in prisons, but I knew who could have gained access to get all three of those.

“The detectives found multiple syringes around his house, and traces of all three drugs and more. The marks that he came in with are the same that you see from addicts. He injected them all by himself and he killed himself. With all of the drugs that were found in his apartment, it’s a wonder how he didn’t overdose earlier,” She said, but she didn’t sound like she believed it herself.

“Can I make copies of these?”

It was a little past dusk when I finally got back to my apartment building. I don’t know if it was because of the all day running around I did, or the stress from this whole situation that made me exhausted. Regardless of what the reason was, I knew I wouldn’t be getting much sleep until this whole ordeal was over and done with.

I was so tired, I didn’t notice someone waiting on the elevator when I stepped out of it. We collided into one another, the copies of the file spilling on the floor. “I’m so sorry!” The stranger exclaimed, hurrying to help me pick up my papers.

“Thank you, I really should watch where I am going. I’m just so tired that I,” I paused when I saw that I had bumped into the new neighbor that I bumped into a few days ago, “We keep meeting like this,” I joked.

“It appears so. I guess we both need to be watching where we are going,” He chuckled.

“What did you say your name was again?” I asked.

“Yifan. Wu Yifan.”

“Well, what did you say after that?” Tao questioned.

“Nothing. I didn’t know what to say! I felt as if I was looking at a ghost,” I sighed, sitting down on his bed. The next day, I brought him the files from the reports on Luhan’s death. I also told him about meeting whom I now learned to be Yifan, also known as Kris. When he told me his name, I almost panicked. If he still didn’t remember his past, I didn’t want to say anything to bring those memories back up. I had told Tao about it, and he seemed so relieved to hear that he was alive and well.

“Are you going to say something to him?” He replied.

“If he doesn’t remember, I don’t want to bring trouble to him by reminding him. Especially if that means his life will be in danger if he remembers,” I explained.

“He’s going to have to find out sometime!”

“You don’t think I know that? I’m just trying to figure out what to do!”

I wasn’t even sure what my next move was going to be. When I went to work the next day, I knew the first chance I got I had to go see Suho and tell him about Tao. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to tell him about Luhan or Kris, especially with how many things were probably weighing down on him.

“This would be so much easier if they trusted me. Suho and Chanyeol seem to be the only ones that don’t think I’m an enemy. Kai especially seems to have very little trust in me, he treats me like an animal whenever I’m around him. Baekhyun, well, I know he doesn’t trust me. He knows that I’m not fully on Lilly’s side, but that’s it.” I laid back on the bed, Tao moving so I could have more room.

“What about the others? Sehun and Yixing don’t know what is going on, right?”

“Sehun, Yixing, Jongdae, Kyungsoo, and Minseok. I know I can’t convince them to believe me, and Lilly threatened to kill Suho if he told any of them. Knowing that, I wouldn’t even think of asking him or Chanyeol to convince them…” I sighed again and propped myself up on my elbows, “If I’m going to expose them, I’m going to have to find solid evidence that Lilly is drugging them. To do that, though, I’m going to need all of them on my side. That will be the hard part.” How I would do that I had no idea, but I had to. The only way any of them would ever be safe again is if all of those involved go down. I looked over to Tao who sat with his knees against his chest and arms resting on top of his knees. A plan started forming in my head, and I knew just who could help me with this.

“Tao, I need you to do me a favor.”

The next night I got off work and was ready to set my plan in motion. I waited around until around two in the morning before I headed back to the hospital. I parked my car a few streets away and walked through the woods, entering through one of the stairwell doors in the basement. The entire downstairs area just so happened to be no longer in use, leaving it as the perfect way for me to slip in and out easily. The boys were on the second floor, and this stairwell was located across from Suho’s room.

“Are you sure this is safe?”

“Positive. Lilly used to complain about how the nurse that is on the night shift nearly never leaves the nurse’s station. She’s on her phone the entire night and never really pays attention to anything but that, and the only doctor I’ve ever seen on this floor was the one that sedated Chanyeol. I haven’t seen him around since that day,” I pointed towards the security camera in the top corner of the stairwell, “For some reason the security guard that usually watches the cameras wasn’t here today. Yeni didn’t work today, and Lilly disappeared like she usually does. I took that as an opportunity to come look around on the main level and basement. It took me a few minutes but I finally found the security office. I cut the live feed from the cameras and I set the previous day’s tapes to play so it looks as if they are still working properly.”

I opened the door to the floor, peering out to see if anyone was around to see. “The coast is clear, let’s go,” I said, motioning for Tao to follow me. Usually, the patient's doors were locked after midnight, but I managed to sneak a set of keys from the nurse’s station earlier that day. I unlocked the door and let Tao go in first, I then looked back around to check for someone again. When I saw that no one was around, I followed behind Tao.

“I can’t believe it’s you!” I looked to see that Suho had Tao in a bone crushing embrace, tears were streaming down his face. Suho was the only one that I had told about seeing Tao and having him as a part of my plan.

“You’re not restrained?” I asked.

“No, that idiot nurse forgot to put my restraints back on. She does that so often.”

I knew that I took my job more seriously than Lilly and Yeni, seeing as they were hard to find most of the time, but I never imagined even the night staff was so irresponsible. I knew that Suho wasn’t dangerous, but the nurse probably didn’t know that. I mentally thanked her for her lack of responsibility and laziness, though.

“Alright, listen. If anyone sees us, I want you to get the hell out of here. I’ll distract them long enough for you to get away,” I informed Tao. “The rooms are in this order. Baekhyun’s room is next door, but I want to go to Chanyeol’s first. His room is next to Baekhyun’s, and then Kai’s is the one next to that. After that, instead of crossing into the right wing by passing by the nurse’s station, we will take the stairwell again. The stairwell on the other side opens up right beside Sehun’s room. Then following that is Kyungsoo, Jongdae, Yixing, and lastly Minseok.” I had drawn a miniature map for reference, including the nearest exits if the stairwells we were using were not accessible in case of emergency.

“Did you talk to the others in this wing today?” Earlier in the day, I had told Suho to speak to them to let them know what I was doing. They knew about what was being done, so Lilly’s threat didn’t apply to them. Regardless if they believed what he told them was true, I hoped Tao being with me would help convince them.

“All but Chanyeol, he wasn’t out today.” He replied.

“Suho, I am going to tell you this right now. If I am caught-”

“You will not be caught,” He cuts me off.

“But if I am, what do you think will happen to all of you? I don’t want them to hurt you even more, especially because of me,” I sighed, an apparent trademark of mine ever since I started working here. My mind and heart had been racing since the moment we stepped into the building. When I told Suho earlier about what I planned to do, I first asked him if he was absolutely okay with it.

“Even if something does happen, at least we will know you risked it all to help us. That will provide some hope for us,” He smiled at me. I hadn’t even been working there for two months, yet what he said brought tears to my eyes. I found myself hugging him, telling myself not to cry.

“Alright, are you ready to go, Tao?” Tao looked over at me and nodded his head.

I opened the door slightly, peeking out in the hallway again to see if the coast was clear. I slowly walked out, going halfway to Chanyeol’s room before I motioned for Tao to follow me. When we reached the door, Tao moved to unlock the door. Once it was unlocked, I pushed him in and followed behind him.

“What’s going on?” I heard Chanyeol speak, “Tao?” He added. I turned around to see Chanyeol looking white as a sheet, Tao standing by his bedside. Tao nodded his head and leaned down to hug Chanyeol.

“I thought you were dead… How? Why?” Chanyeol was struggling to find the proper questions to ask in this situation.

“I found him. With the names you gave me, I found him. I asked him to come with me tonight as a part of my plan,” I answered.

“What plan?”

“I’m going to try and get you guys out of here. Not tonight of course, but tonight will set that in motion. I asked Tao to come with me to try and convince the others that didn’t know what was going on. I knew I couldn’t put yours or Suho’s lives at risk by asking you to convince them, so this seemed to be the only way. I’m also hoping this will convince the rest of you in this wing that I’m your ally. If I have the trust of all of you, I know that it will help me get you guys out of this. This seems like the only way to gain your trust.”

Tao began to tell Chanyeol everything he remembered after they were taken from here. He even included why he was a voluntary inmate in a psych ward, and about my visits before tonight.

“I’m so happy you’re alive. What about Kris and Luhan?” Chanyeol asked the question that I hadn’t even revealed to Suho.

“Kris, he’s fine and alive. He just doesn’t remember what happened here,” I explained, I moved closer to his bed, “And Luhan… He’s gone. I am so sorry,” I trailed off. I knew that Chanyeol was relieved to hear that Kris was also alive, but I could tell that the news of Luhan broke his heart. Tao handed him the reports from the medical examiner and explained to him that he knew that someone here was responsible for his death.

“That fucking bitch Lilly killed him! When I get out of here I am going to rip her fucking-” I jumped on the bed and slapped my hand over Chanyeol’s mouth, “Be quiet! Someone will hear you and come see what’s going on and then we all will be screwed, we can’t completely rely on the incompetent nurse here tonight. Suho doesn’t know about this, and I know it wasn’t right to not tell him about it but… I don’t believe that he can handle hearing that right now. He doesn’t even know about Kris,” I said as I removed my hand from Chanyeol’s mouth.

We stayed in his room for another five minutes before I decided it was time to move onto the other’s rooms, knowing it could take a long time to explain to them and get them to understand what was going on. I told Chanyeol that if we didn’t return tonight, I would let him know how it went first thing in the morning.

“Listen, please be safe. I cannot imagine what they would do to you if they found out you were trying to help us,” Chanyeol admitted, grabbing my hand and holding it tightly, “Thank you for doing this. It means the world to me, and I know the others will feel the same. When I first met you I never imagined you would be taking such a risk to help all of us.”

We bid our goodbyes to Chanyeol and then headed out into the hallway.

Telling Kai and Baekhyun wasn’t as complicated as I feared. Kai seemed more iffy about me than Baekhyun did, but I knew having Tao with me helped convince him more. I just hoped that whatever good spirits were with us, stayed with us as we went to tell the other five.

“Listen, maybe I should go in Sehun’s room alone first. I don’t want to overwhelm him with bringing you in there, it’ll only make it harder to understand,” I said, Tao and I stood by the door that leads into the hallway. For some reason, I had grown rather fond of Sehun in particular. It’s unclear as to why I had grown attached to him, but I had this extremely strong protective instinct over him. Not saying I didn’t with the other eight, I just felt it more with Sehun.

“No, what are you talking about? Why would I overwhelm him?” He raised his voice slightly.

“He thinks you’re dead, Tao. He doesn’t even know that he was drugged. He’s so helpless and I’m the only one that can help him. If only you could have seen him then. He was so weak, I had a hard time containing my emotions when I first saw the state he was in. He looked so helpless, so broken. One night he had me stay with him until he fell asleep. It is as if he thought that he would only be able to sleep if I stayed with him. Please, just let me go in to see him first. I’ll let him down gently, and when I know he’s ready to see you I will come get you. I promise, please,” I pleaded.

He nodded his head in an understanding manner. I went through the process of making sure no one was around, unlocking the door, and going in like the previous rooms. His room was dark, indicating that he must have been sleeping. I went over to the nearest lamp and turned it on. I was surprised when I turned around to see him laying on his back with his eyes open.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, his voice had a soft tone to it.

“I have something very important I have to tell you. Something you might not even believe, but please just believe me when I tell you this. Believe that this is the God’s honest truth, that’s all I ask for,” I said. I sat down on his bed beside him and took his hand in mine, a manner I had picked up while taking care of him that I did whenever I spoke to him.

“When Yixing turned up sick after you had been sick, I took care of him like I did for you. I was in his room and I noticed that the disposable bin in his room was nearly full. When I cleaned it out, I found medication that is used to treat Leukemia and Tuberculosis. Lilly drugged you, Sehun. She gave those medicines to both of you and that is what made you as sick as it did. I have the side effects and signs of overdose if you want to see them. Are you following me?” I checked to make sure before I went more into detail.

“Is that… Is that why she has given me so many different injections? She was drugging me?” I nodded in response. “I… I guess… I knew that something was going on like that. I just didn’t want to believe it. She told me how sick I was and always diagnosed me with all these different things. When you came along, I started to question everything she had done and said to me, but I never wanted it to be the truth,” He continued. I noticed that his expression started growing upset, so I moved onto the bed more to let him rest his head on my lap. I started petting his head to try and calm him down, knowing what I had to say next could really shake him up.

“That’s not all. Do you think you can handle more?” When he nodded his head I continued, “Everyone in the left wing, I was told that they were there because they were more violent. I don’t know what you were told, but that’s not why. They all had figured out what was going on, and they split you all up to avoid them telling you about what was going on. Are you still following me?” He gave another nod. “This is the big one… What you were told about Kris, Luhan, and Tao was a lie. Kris found out, and he told Tao and Luhan. So they tried to suppress their memories and stuck them back out in the world.”

“How do you know this?” He questioned. He seemed to be believing me so far, but I could still sense the hint of doubt he had when I mentioned those three names.

“I found Tao. He told me what had happened, and said that he was the only one that didn’t have his memory suppressed. He’s here… He’s with me. If you’re ready, I can bring him in. Are you ready?” Sehun whispered a faint ‘yes’. I looked to see if anyone was outside before I went to the stairwell door and told Tao to follow me, letting him come into Sehun’s room.

The moment Sehun saw Tao, he abruptly stood up to hug him. I heard him sniffle, letting me know that he had started crying. “I can’t believe it’s really you,” He whispered. He clung to Tao as if his life depended on it—like Tao was simply an illusion that he didn’t want to fade away. While they were hugging, I sat down at the foot of Sehun’s bed. I knew that Tao would want to explain everything, even if that meant confirming everything I had told Sehun and breaking his heart with the truth.

Tao told Sehun everything that he had told the others before, minus the information about the whereabouts of Kris and Luhan. I had asked him to not tell them, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to handle that information on top of what’s being said.

“I promise you this, you’ll get out of here. No matter what it takes, I will help as much as I can to get all of you out of here.” Tao promised this, looking at me to agree with him. “Even if I get hurt along the way, I’ll do everything I can,” I said.

When it was time to move onto Kyungsoo’s room, I noticed that Sehun seemed to have more energy in him than before. It was as if seeing Tao had spiked some unknown emotion in him that made him seem more lively. Before I left, he pulled me into a hug just like he had done with Tao earlier.

“Thank you. Thank you so much. You must be risking your life to do this. You have to be an angel sent from Heaven to help us,” He stated. “I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I replied. I went to pull away, but he kept his grip on me, “Please… Please come back safe to us. To me. You’ve become so precious to me I just couldn’t imagine something happening to you,” He whispered. I promised him I would, even giving him a bracelet I always wore to reassure him that I would be back.

We said our goodbyes to Sehun, and onto the next room we went.

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the-angelsong · 8 years ago

Text

Valentine Blue

Sorry in advance this one is quite long, it got away from me.... hope you like it!

14/2/2015

Molly put the file she had been reading down on the desk and pinched the bridge of her nose, it had been a long day of hiding in her office trying to avoid the festivities of the day. She didn't begrudge anyone's happiness, but her breakup with Tom six months prior had planted her squarely in the realms of spinsterhood. She couldn't really enjoy the day feeling like an old maid. Not that at 34 she was old, but her biological clock just kept on ticking and with no real prospect on the horizon.... well nothing that would ever happen, she felt somewhat melancholy.

Life wasn't lonely for Molly necessarily, not at all. John and Mary had just had little baby Rosie, and they were always keen for a visit. Her mother had been phoning her more often lately and she was enjoying the renewed relationship there.... Sherlock is back.... said a little voice in the back of her head. She ignored it.

Sherlock didn't matter to her like that anymore, there was no point dreaming about something that would never eventuate. Besides, she barely even saw him since he had been absolved of the Magnussen thing. He just jumped right back into solving cases. in fact, he was quite overzealous about it, working on three or more at any given moment in time. She was still speaking to him daily.... via text, he would send her samples to analyze, data to collate. Like she didn't have enough to do already, she thought rolling her eyes. He still knew how to push her buttons, how to get her to prioritize his work over her own.... you still let him, reminded the little voice.

She glanced up at the clock to distract her thoughts, crap! it was half five already. She promised John and Mary that she would babysit tonight so they could have a valentine's date. She jumped up from her desk grabbing her purse and headed for the door. She quickly calculated how long it would take her to get to their place. She was only about ten minutes behind, if she got a good cabbie she could make that up on the way.

******

"Bye! Have a good time!" She called to John and Mary as they got into the car. She turned back into the house and looked down at the precious little angel she held in her arms. She was so sweet, her little lips pursed together in her sleep.

Molly had just put her down in the cot when she heard a knocking on the door. She grabbed the baby monitor and went to see who it was.

Looking through the spy hole she saw a familiar mop of dark curly hair. She sighed and opened the door. "Hi Sherlock."

"John, don't ignore my texts." Replied Sherlock walking inside straight past her to the kitchen.

She shut the door behind him and started a mental countdown.... three... two...

His head popped out from around the corner. "Molly? Where's John?"

"They went out." She replied walking into the kitchen to put the kettle on.

"Really.... why?" He asked blinking rapidly.

"Because they can? Because it's Valentine's Day and they love each other." She explained grabbing out the mugs and tea.

"Is it?" He pondered. "Oh well, you'll have to do. I have a case I would like an opinion on."

Molly let out a small sarcastic laugh. "Thanks Sherlock but I'd rather not, I'm not a John substitute."

If she had blinked she would have missed the look of shock that crossed his face, it was gone so quickly. "No of course not, I value your opinion." He argued.

She raised her eyebrow, Sherlock didn't value anyone's opinion other than his own. "Right, well then, we can have a catch up first, I feel like I haven't seen you in ages."

"We saw each other two weeks ago.... right here if I'm not mistaken when John and Mary brought the baby home." He argued.

"Yes, and you were on your phone the whole time... you can't keep burning the candle at both ends, the case will wait ten minutes." She retorted.

Two minutes later they were sat awkwardly in John's dining room, nursing a cup of hot tea each. "So.... you’re doing well then? Still not back with what's his name then." Asked Sherlock, avoiding all eye contact.

"No, still not back with Tom. That's over now thank you." She replied rolling her eyes. What was she thinking trying to make small talk with Sherlock... out of all things he was bad at, this had to be the worst.

"Right, well then.... sorry?" He asked.

"It's fine, thanks.”Sher replied awkwardly. “How are you? You always seem to be on a case these days."

"Fine, I'm fine, thank you.... just, you know, keeping busy." He said.

She nodded. "Moriarty."

"Moriarty is dead." He said sharply.

An awkward silence filled the space between them. "alright fine, tell me about this case." She said trying to release the tension.

His eyes lit up. "Well, I have two brothers who are both suspected of committing a murder. Both have motive, both were at the scene of the crime, but only one of them pulled the trigger."

"Alright, which one?" She asked.

"That's the tricky bit, there was no definitive proof on either brother and both are saying the other one did it. I have a theory but I want a second opinion on the medical data to be sure." He replied.

"Alright what have you got?"

Sherlock reached into his coat to pull out a file, she quickly scanned through it, it was the medical history on both brothers. "What type of gun was it?" She asked.

"A large caliber hand gun." He replied.

She pointed at the name of one of the brothers. "This one did it."

"And how did you come to that conclusion?" Asked Sherlock, catching her eyes and holding his stare.

"The other brother was in a boating accident years back and he tore a ligament in his hand, he would have never been able to apply enough pressure to squeeze the trigger with that hand."

"What about the other hand?" He queried.

She shook her head. "No, if he had shot the victim with the other hand he would have ligature damage from the kick back. It must be this one, look at the hairline fractures on the metacarpal and trapezium." She explained, pointing at the X-ray. It gave her a chance to break the eye contact, she wished he wouldn't look at her like that. It made her feel like she was a slide under a microscope.

"Very good Molly, that is what I thought too." He replied, pulling out his phone. "I'll let Lestrade know."

"Sherlock." Said Molly in a quiet voice.

"Yes." He replied not looking up from his phone.

"You didn't need a second opinion on that, it was obvious who the killer was."

Sherlock looked up. "I do occasionally miss things you know." He said with a smirk.

She didn't know why he bothered, she could always tell when he was lying. "Why did you come here?" She asked. "You were there when John asked me to babysit tonight, it was two weeks ago, when we were all here."

"Really, I mustn't have been listening. Were people nattering? I always tune out the nattering, it's distracting." He replied going back to his phone.

"Are you here to keep me company? Did John ask you to? Or Mary?" She asked, color pinking her cheeks. It had been six months! She was fine, she didn't need a babysitter.

"What? no, Molly, I didn't even know you were here, I just had some free time is all." He replied.

Molly was unconvinced. She was just about to question him further when the baby monitor sprung to life and little Baby Watson began to cry. She gave Sherlock a look as she got up from the table and headed into the nursery to soothe the child. "Shh it's alright little one." She said as she picked her up and started patting her gently on the back, she must have some wind Molly thought, remembering her little puckered lips.

She was bouncing her gently as she swayed back and forth, it didn't take long for Baby Watson to release the offending wind and fall back to sleep. Quietly she placed her back in the cot. As she turned around she saw Sherlock standing in the darkened doorway. "Fancy some chips?" He whispered.

She shooed him out of the room and followed him down the hall. "What?" She asked when they were safely away from the baby.

"Chips? Are you hungry? We could grab something else if you like." He replied.

"So, you’re staying then?" She asked putting her hands on her hips.

"Lestrade got my text. I am currently in between cases now." He replied nonchalantly.

Molly sighed in defeat. "Chips sounds fine."

"Excellent." Said Sherlock heading for the door. "There's a chippy van two blocks up that is arguably the third best in London, I'll head down and grab them."

He strode out the door without waiting for a reply, leaving Molly standing in the hall wondering what on earth had gotten into him.

****

When Sherlock was far enough away that he wouldn't be seen if Molly happened to venture out the door he stopped, closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.

So much had happened in the last six months, John and Mary getting married, the terrifying arrival of their offspring.... if he never saw childbirth again he would be happy. Then Magnussen, and the drugs... he was in control the whole time, but the look of disappointment on Molly's face when he tested positive still haunts him.

He lifted a hand to his cheek to trace the long-gone handprint she had left on his face. She had been so angry with him, for so much more than the drugs. She had seen him high before, she didn't like it, but the slap.... sorry... multiple slaps had been about so much more than that. It was his fault that she wasn't happy... couldn't be happy. If he could just let her go...

He had tried...

"No, you didn't." Said Mycroft, from the depths of his mind palace. "What did you hope to accomplish taking her out on cases with you?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to say thank you." Sherlock replied.

Mycroft smirked. "You wanted to remind her how much fun you are. You wanted to flirt, brother mine."

Sherlock whirled around to stare at his brother. "I don't flirt." He spat.

"You do, you flirt with Ms Hooper. You always have." The older Holmes brother replied.

Sherlock thought back to all the times he had shown Molly attention. "That was always for a case." He retorted.

"Exactly." Said Mycroft. "Manipulation dear, always, now tell me... why did you take her out on cases?"

"BECAUSE I WANTED TOM GONE!" He shouted. “He was an idiot, she deserves better than that.“

"And now? Brother mine, what do you want from her now?"

"Nothing! Her time... her company." Said Sherlock in defeat.

"As I thought, and why today of all days? Could you feel something special for the little mouse?" Ask Mycroft coldly.

In a flash, Sherlock had his brother pinned against the fence. "Don't call her that! Molly Hooper is the bravest, smartest, most caring, person I have ever had the opportunity to meet!"

Mycroft smiled. "There now, if you can't admit your feelings here, to me, how will you ever admit them to yourself."

Sherlock released his brother. "It doesn't matter what I feel, or what I am capable of feeling. She doesn't care for me that way.... it's infatuation... not love."

"We shall see brother dearest, we shall see."

Sherlock opened his eyes and took in the street, he was more shaken up by the encounter in his mind palace than he would care to admit. He was fortunate to have time to relax his nerves before he made his way back to her.

He should just keep walking, head back to Baker Street. Go back to avoiding Molly Hooper. But there was a loose thread in his mind, and today.... he was going to pull it.

#molly appreciation week #day 3 #valentines day #february 14 #i kinda got lost in this story and now i want to write a really long version #stoopid characters who don't realize they love each other #arguments in my mind palace #Let me know what you think

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