#detective lex crawford

[detective-grey]

pumpkin patches and broken things

part 3 of "Wayhaven Frights - Connections" prompt "Harvest"

pairing: detective alexis "lex" crawford and adam du mortain

rating: t

summary: Lex has a thing for pumpkin patches and Adam has a thing for broken things.

read on ao3

The cool autumn wind brushed against her cheeks, lifting a few strands of mousy brown hair away from her face and dancing them through the breeze. The air smelled faintly of burnt wood and decay, that cold familiar scent that usually reminded one of late night bonfires, jewel colored leaves falling to the ground, hot ciders and mulled wines. A reminder of the end of a cycle, the buds of spring and the blooms of summer giving way to the harvests of fall and eventually the barren fields of winter.

The sky was that particular shade of icy blue that somehow only made an appearance in October and suddenly vanished once the grey tones of December spread through the atmosphere. Every now and then thin white clouds stretched their boney fingers across the sky, blocking out the false Sun that shone but offered no heat, and the shadows of late birds migrating south for the year dotted the ground.

Detective Alexis Crawford shoved her hands further into the pockets of her dark leather jacket and took a deep breath, enjoying the sting of the cool air in her throat. She closed her eyes and allowed herself this moment, this one singular moment of peace and quiet and-

“There you are!”

She flinched at the sudden noise, then kicked herself for her weakness.

She turned to find Unit Bravo walking towards her at varying strides. Farah led the pack in excitement, her golden eyes so at home in the late afternoon sun. She waved at Lex who made no effort to move in their direction but nodded at the motion. Nate trailed after Farah, his easy smile in place and his dark green jacket zipped up for the first time since Lex had known him. Morgan meandered behind everyone, somehow finding shadows to hide in even on the mostly vacant path, smoke from her lit cigarette twisting around her face.

Lex’s attention of course went straight to the actual leader of the group walking in the middle with an expression reminiscent of a frozen lake, calm ice on the surface with something deeper and more intense beneath. Adam had donned a black peacoat that accentuated his broad frame and squared shoulders, the dark fabric in stark contrast to his pale green eyes and blond hair. She told herself she noticed these things because it was her job to pay attention to details.

That she noticed the way his muscles rippled under the sleeves of his coat, however…

“See something ya like?”

Lex shifted her gaze to where Farah now stood next to her, watching with that annoyingly knowing smile. She rolled her eyes, causing Farah to burst into laughter as the others caught up.

“You guys are late,” she said, only somewhat trying to keep the annoyance she felt from lacing itself through her words. “How that’s possible given the fact that you literally have super speed, I’ll never know.”

“Blame that one,” Morgan accused, nodding her head in Farah’s direction.

“What? I just wanted to make sure I put on the proper clothes! I’ve never been to a pumpkin patch before, there were literally hundreds of options for me to sort through,” Farah explained, twirling around to show off her plaid skirt she had paired with wool leggings, boots, and a cardigan. She had a scarf wrapped around her neck as usual, though this one was a deep crimson red that matched the pattern of her skirt.

“It’s not really that big a deal, they’re just pumpkins,” Lex mumbled, turning to walk towards the entrance to the field where a few other Wayhaven residents stood waiting to gain access.

She hadn’t meant to mention her plan for the weekend to them, and she certainly hadn’t been prepared for everyone to come along. She didn’t consider herself to exactly be a “traditions” type of person, but for some damn reason she found herself back at this pumpkin patch at the beginning of October every year to find a stupidly large pumpkin to take home and carve. She made a whole day of it, usually spending an hour or two scouring the field for the perfect specimen before taking it home, cracking open a few beers (or whiskey, depending on the week), and taking a knife to the thing. She never claimed the title of “Artist” or “Supreme Pumpkin Carver”, indeed her designs and faces would never win any contests, but she found catharsis in the way she cleaned out the seeds, traced her patterns, cut into them with repetitive motions.

There was something to be said about the comfort she found in repeatedly stabbing something over and over, but she never lingered too longly on the thought.

Farah babbled excitedly as they walked towards the vendor. Lex fell into step beside Adam without even realizing it until his voice broke her concentration.

“Detective.”

She looked over at him, having to tilt her chin slightly up to meet his eyes.

“Agent,” she replied, matching his neutral tone.

After giving her a once over and seeming to be satisfied, Adam turned to face forward again and didn’t say another word. Lex knew better than to hold her breath expecting more from him, but for some reason the lack of so much as a “how are you?” stung. Annoyingly so.

She never quite knew where she stood with Adam. Most of the time she couldn’t stand the man, they fought each other tooth and nail on almost every single mission they went on, neither wanting to relinquish control over any situation. She loathed his arrogance, hated the way others automatically deferred to him for command like it was owed to him, meanwhile she’d had to fight her whole life for the scrap of command she held. Once, on a night that they’d spared one another more wounds to their respective prides, he had told her of his station in his previous life as the son of a noble. He had been born into power and he carried it well.

She envied and admired him for it. Both things she hated but couldn’t bury deep enough to forget.

There were other things, though. Things she genuinely appreciated about him. She understood his innate need to protect those he cared about, but the intensity with which he upheld that responsibility continued to surprise her. Never had she known someone with such ferocious loyalty paired with a cynical realism that rivaled her own. She even respected his physical prowess and intimidating presence, things that didn’t particularly phase her but that she could appreciate. Especially as she watched him move, a soldier groomed and transformed into the perfect predator. She should be afraid of him, terrified. And she was.

The feelings that had been stirring and building like kindling that would set fire and consume her terrified her more than anything she’d ever known.

“Detective Crawford! Always a pleasure to see you,” Terry, the owner of the pumpkin patch, called out as they made their way to the front of the line. He had to have been in his late sixties, and he’d been running this business every year for as long as Lex could remember. He’d always been kind to her, as a kid he’d let her get her pick of the field and never charged her anything.

“Hey,” Lex responded, nodding in his direction. She pulled her wallet out of her jacket pocket to pay the entrance fees for everyone as the owner continued.

“I see you brought them fancy agents with you this year, so glad to have you,” he continued, smiling genuinely at Unit Bravo, his eyes twinkling behind his large rimmed glasses. He caught sight of Lex pulling money out of her wallet and shook his head. “Absolutely not, Detective, I won’t see you pay another cent. Not after you’ve solved all those big cases recently.”

Had she more grace she might have blushed. Instead, she straightened her back and jutted her chin forward in what she could only hope would be seen as respectful defiance. “I can’t accept that, Terry. I will pay like everyone else, I’m no different nor more special than anyone.”

Morgan’s eye roll and Nate’s appreciative smile both irritated her, but she tried her best to ignore them. She laid a couple of bills on the table in front of Terry and thanked him before he could say anything else. He shook his head with an exasperated smile but waved them on through the entrance to the field.

Farah immediately began asking a million questions. “Which ones are the best ones?” “Do you think I should get a big one or a small one?” “What kind do you usually get?” “I didn’t know there were different colors, which ones carve better?”

Lex never counted patience as one of her greatest virtues and as much as she genuinely liked Farah and found at least some small appreciation for her...perkiness, she found herself just barely clinging on to whatever patience she actually did have.

Nate must have been a saint in another life because as if he could sense the calmness withering away in Lex, he pulled Farah down a far off lane in search of her very own pumpkin.

“Did you have any questions,” Lex asked Morgan probably more roughly than she should have, but Morgan could take it. She simply blew a puff of smoke towards Lex then turned and followed the other two.

Without bothering to look and see if he’d follow, Lex walked off in the opposite direction of the others and away from Adam.

“Are you angry at us for coming?”

He kept pace beside her as she carefully stepped over vines and divots in the hard dirt beneath their feet. There were a few other families out and about in the field, children running and laughing, parents bent over to pull pumpkins up, couples holding hands. She subconsciously looked over to watch Adam’s hands, casually swaying by his sides, before looking up to meet his eyes.

“Why do you ask?”

A somewhat bemused smile played at his lips. “Not that you ever give the warmest of greetings, but you haven’t exactly expressed much joy in seeing us today.”

“Oh.”

She tried to focus her attention on finding a goddamn pumpkin but how could she be expected to think about anything other than the fact that they were walking through a field on a nice day? Together? Or at least next to each other in a not-completely-hostile way?

“Detective, I-”

She rounded on him. “Look, far be it from me to prevent you all from picking a stupid pumpkin to take back to the warehouse and decorate or cook or what the fuck ever. I’m not mad that you guys came, in fact I think it’s smart for the people of Wayhaven to see you all out doing normal people things but please, just don’t bother me while I’m doing this.”

His eyes hardened. “If you didn’t want us here, you could have simply told us.”

She huffed and wanted to stomp her feet in frustration. Another thing she hated about him: he constantly made her feel everything so much more intensely.

“It’s not,” she took a breath and clenched her fingers into fists for a moment before breathing out and releasing some tension. “It’s not that I don’t want you here, I do. Want all of you, I mean. I mean I want you guys all here, with me.” Another breath. “Can we just find a pumpkin please?”

Lex turned away before he could reply and kept her eyes downcast. She could feel the moment he had caught up with her, matching her strides yet keeping enough distance to allow her the illusion of her own space. They continued on like that for several minutes, every now and then stopping to inspect one pumpkin or another.

“Rebecca and I used to come here every year.”

If she’d startled him with the willingness to give information, he hid it well. She for sure startled herself, even more so as she kept going.

“It’s no surprise she wasn’t exactly Mother of the Year, but one thing I could always rely on her for was taking me to pick a fucking pumpkin and then taking it home to carve. She stopped when I was about fourteen, too old for pumpkin picking I guess, but...I don’t know, I’d gotten so used to doing it every year that I just kept coming.”

Whether he felt her admission didn’t dignify a response or he just didn’t know what to say, Lex couldn’t be sure. All she knew was that he stayed silent for a while, maybe processing the information, maybe figuring out how best to respond. Maybe even just giving her the space to talk and say more if she so chose. She definitely wouldn’t, that she had already told him as much as she had mortified her. No, instead she again attempted to turn her attention to the field hoping to find anything at this point.

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to keep traditions to yourself, especially ones as,” he paused, “intimate as this one.”

She scoffed. “Digging in the dirt is your idea of intimacy, Agent?”

He folded his arms across his chest. “Hardly.”

They watched each other for a moment and then his eyes flicked up to the sky. “We might want to hurry this along.”

“Why,” she asked before following his gaze and finding massive dark grey clouds rolling in. They began swallowing the blue sky and in the distance she could hear the faint low rumble of thunder. “I don’t remember hearing anything about rain.”

“I doubt the weather would discuss its plans with you before changing, Detective.”

She rolled her eyes but followed him with renewed energy knowing that their time ran short now with the threat of a storm looming overhead. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Farah hoisting what must have been the largest pumpkin in the field into her arms and running back to the entrance with glee. Nate had found himself a medium-sized, perfectly round and spotless one that he kept in the crook of his elbow as he followed behind her. As far as Lex could tell, Morgan seemed content to simply smoke and make a snide remark here and there.

“What about this one?”

She swiveled back to him and when she saw his chosen specimen, she crossed her arms and looked at him incredulously.

"Seriously? There are literally hundreds of others in this field, why the fuck is that the one you pick," she asked dryly.

He shrugged. "I like this one."

Adam had pointed to a small, unassuming pumpkin that had almost been completely camouflaged by the leaves and vines of its neighbors. There wasn’t anything particularly special about it, in fact as far as Lex could tell it was one of the ugliest ones in the whole patch, discolored with spots of damage dotting its surface and roughing its edges.

But Adam had seen some sort of value in it, he had chosen it, so maybe it was worth something…

“Fine, sure, grab it so we can get out of here.”

She turned on her heels to leave, but felt a hand on her shoulder. She fought her initial instinct to break the hand and instead looked back at him. The look he gave her threatened to pull her in as the Moon pulled the tides.

“Alexis, I-”

He shook his head as if waking from a dream then removed his hand.

“I wanted to thank you for sharing this with us. I know the others have enjoyed the day so far and are looking forward to the other activities we have planned.”

She stared at him, taking in every detail, every line of his face and every stitch of his coat. For some reason she wanted to remember this moment, the moment where she realized that Adam had a thing for choosing broken things. After saving the mental picture and framing it in the back of her mind, she simply said, “just harvest the pumpkin, Adam.”

[frequentlykit]

Supernatural actors who were on Criminal Minds *incomplete*

George Darrow DJ Qualls -  SPN: Garth CM: Richard Slessman (season 1 episode 1)

Timothy Omundson - SPN: Cain CM: Phillip Dowd (season 1 episode 6)

Dameon Clarke - SPN: Jack Montgomery (Rugaru) CM: Christopher Crawford (season 1 episode 7)

Jeff Kober - SPN: Randall CM: Leo (season 1 episode 9)

Mark Rolston - SPN: Alastair CM: Sheriff Hall (season 1 episode 11)

Michael Massee - SPN: Kubrick (Bad Day at Black Rock) CM: Jacob Dawes (season 1 episode 14)

Michael B. Silver - SPN: Martin Flagg (Movie Writer “Hollywood Babylon“) CM: Sam Shapiro (season 1 episode 14)

Roger Aaron Brown - SPN: Joshua (Angel) CM: Warden Charles Diehl  (season 1 episode 14)

Robert Curtis Brown - SPN: Father Gil (”Sin City”) CM: Peter Greisen (season 1 episode 16)

Eric Johnson - SPN: Brady (Sam’s college friend/demon) CM: Sean Hotchner (season 1 episode 16)

Jack Conley - SPN: Sheriff Al Britton (”Yellow Fever”) CM: Agent John Summers (season 1 episode 21)

Mary Page Keller SPN: Joyce Bicklebee (Leviathan Real Estate Agent) CM: Katie Cole (season 2 episode 2)

Nicki Aycox - SPN: Meg Masters (season 1) CM: Amber Canardo (season 2 episode 3)

Kayla Mae Maloney -  SPN: Leah Gideon (season 5 The Whore) CM: Polly Homefeldt (season 2 episode 7)

Andrew Rothenberg - SPN: Lukcy (Skinwalker “All Dogs Go to Heaven”) CM: Motel Manager (season 2 episode 7)

Samantha Smith - SPN: Mary Winchetsers CM: Helen Douglas (season 2 episode 14)

Jim Parrack - SPN: Agent Nick Munroe (Siren) CM: Paul Mulford (season 2 episode 21)

Steven Williams - SPN: Rufus Turner CM: Captain Al Wright (season 2 episode 22)

Alexander Gould - SPN: Cole Griffith (”Death Takes a Holiday“) CM: Jeremy (season 3 episode 5)

Jim Beaver - SPN: Bobby Singer CM: Sheriff Williams (season 3 episode 7)

John Lafayette - SPN: George Darrow (Crossroad Blues) CM: Dr. Lorenz (season 3 episode 8)

James Otis - SPN: Famine (My Bloody Valentine) CM: Dr. Nash (season 3 episode 8)

Fredric Lehne - SPN: Yellow Eyes/Azazel CM: Jack Vaughan (season 3 episode 12)

Scott Michael Campbell - SPN: Tim Janklow (hunter season 5) CM: Peter Redding (season 3 episode 15)

Dee Wallace - SPN: Mildred Baker (Banshee Episode) CM: Dr. Jan Mohikian (season 4 episode 7)

Courtney Ford - SPN: Kelly Kline (Jack’s mother) CM: Austin (season 4 episode 9)

Mark Pellegrino - SPN: Lucifer/Nick CM: Lieutenant Evans (season 4 episode 10)

Mitch Pileggi - SPN: Samuel Campbell CM: Norman Hill (season 4 episode 11)

Sierra McCormick - SPN: Lilith (Blonde Little Girl) CM: Lynn Robillard (season 4 episode 13)

Mercedes McNab - SPN: Lucy (Vampire "Fresh Blood") CM: Brooke Lombardini (season 4 episode 14)

Spencer Garrett - SPN: Edward Carrigan (God ”A Very Supernatural Christmas” CM: (season 4 episode 21)

Christopher Cousins - SPN: Dr. Garrison ("Bedtime Stories") CM: Tom Barton (season 5 episode 1)

Travis Aaron Wade - SPN: Cole Trenton CM: J. Turner (season 5 episode 4)

Gattlin Griffith - SPN: Jesse Turner (Cambion)   CM: Robert Brooks (season 6 episode 9)

Adrianne Palicki - SPN: Jessica Moore CM: Sydney Manning (season 6 episode 13)

Rachel Miner - SPN: Meg Masters (Last vessel) CM: Jane Gould (season 6 episode 15)

Sebastian Roché - SPN: Balthazar CM: Clyde Easter (seasons 6 & 7)

Chad Lindberg - SPN: Ash CM: Tony (season 6 episode 19)

Tricia Helfer - SPN: Molly McNamara (”Roadkill”) CM: Izzy Rogers (season 7)

Robert Englund - SPN: Dr. Robert (season 6 episode 11) CM: Detective Gassner (season 7 episode 19)

Jamie Luner - SPN: Annie Hawkins (hunter season 7) CM: Madison Riley (season 8 episode 13)

Jack Plotnick - SPN: Ian ("It's A Terrible Life") CM: Tanner Johnson (season 9 episode 7)

Jon Gries - SPN: Martin Creaser (crazy hunter) CM: Clifford Walsh (season 9 episode 13)

Tahmoh Penikett - SPN: Gadreel CM: Michael Hastings (season 9 episode 14)

Ashton Holmes - SPN: Ephraim (Rit Zien Angel) CM: Finn Bailey (season 9 episode 17)

Matt Cohen - SPN: Young John Winchester/Michael CM: John Franklin (season 10 episode 6)

Lex Medlin - SPN: Cupid ("My Bloody Valentine") CM: Allen Archer (season 10 episode 14)

Sterling K. Brown - SPN: Gordon Walker CM: Fitz (season 10 episode 19)

[dalekofchaos]

DCEU Recast

For fun I’ve decided to do a recast of the DCEU and ps in my version everyone gets their movie before Justice League and it’s Martian Manhunter who brings everyone together

My other DC Fancasts

Batman

Batman Beyond

Superman

Wonder Woman

The Flash

Aquaman

Green Lantern

Green Arrow

Justice League

Teen Titans

Justice League Dark

The Dark Knight Returns

Telltale’s Batman

Injustice

Legion Of Doom

Birds Of Prey

Phase 1

Man Of Steel

Josh Hartnett as Superman/Clark Kent

Emily Blunt as Lois Lane

Harrison Ford as Jonathan Kent

Meryl Streep as Martha Kent

Kate Mara as Lana Lang

Tobey Maguire as Pete Ross

Sean Bean as Jor-El

Kate Winslett as Lara Lor-Van

Rupert Grint as Jimmy Olsen

William Shatner as Perry White

Rachel McAdams as Cat Grant

Patrick Warburton as Steve Lombard

Sterling K Brown as Ron Troupe

Billie Piper as Maggie Sawyer

Christopher Meloni as Dan Turpin

Danny Glover as William Henderson

Richard Schiff as Dr Emil Hamilton

Clancy Brown as  General Sam Lane

Terry O’Quinn as Lex Luthor

Tao Okamoto as Mercy Graves

Viggo Mortensen as General Zod

Lena Headley as Faora

Robert Maillet as Non

The Batman(in my version, The Batman comes after Man Of Steel, this will be about how The Joker and Harley Quinn kills Jason Todd, yes both Joker and Harley kill Jason. It’s important that everyone realizes Harley is a villain and not a anti-hero)

Karl Urban as Batman/Bruce Wayne

Peter Capaldi as Alfred Pennyworth

Michael Keaton as Thomas Wayne

Kim Basinger as Martha Wayne

Courtney B Vance as Lucius Fox

Kate Mulgrew as Dr Leslie Thompkins

Diane Kruger as Vicki Vale

Mark Pellegrino  as Jack Ryder/The Creeper

Jesús Castro as Nightwing/Dick Grayson

Jane Levy as Barbara Gordon/Oracle

Matthew Daddario as Jason Todd/Robin

Morena Baccarin as Catwoman/Selina Kyle

or Odette Annable as Catwoman/Selina Kyle

or Eiza González as Catwoman/Selina Kyle

Bryan Cranston as James Gordon

Michael Madsen as Harvey Bullock

Stephanie Beatriz as Renee Montoya

Jodie Foster as Sarah Essen

Ben Mendelsohn as Dr Jeremiah Arkham

Rockmond Dunbar as Aaron Cash

Joe Giligun as The Joker

Amanda Seyfried as Harley Quinn

And on the Batcomputer we’d see cameos from the other Batman villains

Alfred Molina as The Penguin/Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot

Liev Schreiber as Two-Face/Harvey Dent

David Tennant as The Riddler

Tobin Bell as Mr Freeze/Victor Fries

Jessica Chastain as Poison Ivy/Pamela Isley

Michael Wincott as Black Mask/Roman Sionis

Adam Driver as Scarecrow/Jonathan Crane

Ben Kingsley as Hugo Strange

Toby Jones as Mad Hatter/Jervis Tetch

Majid Al Masri as Ra’s Al Ghul

Shanina Shaik as Talia Al Ghul

Yasmine Al Massri as Nyssa Raatko

Zhang Ziyi as Lady Shiva

John Lithgow as Arnold Wesker/The Ventriloquist

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc/Waylon Jones

Pedro Pascal as Deadshot/Floyd Lawton

Kevin Durand as Solomon Grundy

Jackie Earle Haley as Victor Zsasz

Leonardo DiCaprio as Clayface/Basil Karlo

Woody Harrelson as Firefly/Garfield Lynns

Doug Jones as Man-Bat /Dr. Kirk Langstrom

Daniel Radcliffe as Anarky

Conleth Hill as Calandar Man/Julian Day

Tom Berenger as Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb

Michael Weatherly as Detective Arnold Flass

Will Arnett as Lt. Howard Branden

Robert DeNiro as Carmine Falcone

Al Pacino as Salvatore Maroni

Charlie Heaton as Alberto Falcone

Gwendoline Christie as Sofia Falcone

Vincent Karthieser as Mario Falcone

Nick Nolte as Rupert Thorne

Brad Dourif as Joe Chill

World’s Finest(This is not BVS this is World’s Finest. This is not a dumbed down fight scene just to kiss Frank Miller’s ass to adapt the most overrated comic. I care more about Batman and Superman having strong differences and overcoming them and working together in the end to stop a common threat. They are called the World’s Finest for a reason.)

Karl Urban as Batman/Bruce Wayne

Josh Hartnett as Superman/Clark Kent

Emily Blunt as Lois Lane

Peter Capaldi as Alfred Pennyworth

Bryan Cranston as James Gordon

Michael Madsen as Harvey Bullock

Stephanie Beatriz as Renee Montoya

Rupert Grint as Jimmy Olsen

William Shatner as Perry White

Billie Piper as Maggie Sawyer

Christopher Meloni as Dan Turpin

Joe Gilgun as The Joker

Amanda Seyfried as Harley Quinn

Terry O’Quinn as Lex Luther

Tao Okamoto as Mercy Graves

Wonder Woman

Gemma Arterton as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince

Ryan Gosling as Steve Trevor

Lucy Davis as Etta Candy

Lynda Carter as Hippolyta

Alexandra Daddario as Artemis

Lisa Berry as General Philippus

Robin Wright as General Antiope

Gerard Butler as Ares

Anne Hathaway as Athena

Lucy Lawless as Hera

Liam Neeson as Zeus

Peter Stormare as Hades

Green Lantern(Basically what the animated movie First Flight was. But  Buddy Cop adventures of Hal and Sinestro. Hal Jordan mentoring under Sinestro (who does NOT turn evil at the end of the first, but instead the end of the second movie and in the third movie is when we get Sinestro Corps, however my big change to Sinestro’s character is Sinestro isn't a tyrant of his own people. Have it be that Sinestro used the ring to better his own world and his people love him, but the Guardians saw that as interference and marked Sinestro as a threat)

Chris Pine as Green Lantern/Hal Jordan

Lauren Cohan as Carol Ferris

Luke Evans as Sinestro

Zachary Quinto as  Tomar-Re

Ken Watanabe as Abin Sur

Scott Bakula as Alan Scott

Ron Pearlman as Kilowog

Michael Sheen as Hector Hammond

With cameos from future Green Lanterns

Trevante Rhodes as John Stewart/Green Lantern

Diego Luna as Kyle Rayner

Aaron Paul as Guy Gardner

Saad Siddiqui as Simon Baz

Dianne Guerrero as Jessica Cruz

The Flash

Garrett Hedlund as The Flash/Barry Allen

Anna Kendrick as Iris West

David Duchovny as Henry Allen

Gillian Anderson as Nora Allen

Sendhil Ramamurthy as David Singh

Lennie James as James Forrest

Peter Weller as Darryl Frye

Juno Temple as Patty Spivot

Tiffany Espensen as Linda Park

Bruce Greenwood as Jay Garrick

Peyton Meyer  as Wally West/Kid Flash

Michael C Hall as Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash

Aquaman

Alexander Skarsgard as Aquaman/Arthur Curry

Christina Hendricks as Mera

Stellan Skarsgård as Tom Curry

Kelsey Grammer as Nuidis Vulko

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Dr. Stephen Shin

Nicole Kidman as Atlanna

Michael K Williams as Black Manta

Gustaf Skarsgard as Ocean Master

Teen Titans(I think it’s better to have Teen Titans instead of Suicide Squad in phase 1)

Jesús Castro as Nightwing/Dick Grayson

Ray Fisher as Cyborg/Victor Stone

Sharon Belle as Starfire/ Koriand'r

Natasha Negovanlis as Raven/Rachel Roth

Dylan O'Brien as Beast Boy/Garfield Logan

Peyton List as Terra

Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke/Slade Wilson

Justice League(White Martians will be the villains and J’onn is the one who unites the Justice League)

Karl Urban as Batman/Bruce Wayne

Josh Hartnett as Superman/Clark Kent

Gemma Areton as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince

Garrett Hedlund as The Flash/Barry Allen

Alexander Skarsgard as Aquaman/Arthur Curry

Chris Pine as Green Lantern/Hal Jordan

Giancarlo Esposito as J’onn J’onzz/Martian Manhunter

Phase 2

Man Of Steel 2

Josh Hartnett as Superman/Clark Kent

Emily Blunt as Lois Lane

Elle Fanning as Supergirl/Kara Zor-El

Meryl Streep as Martha Kent

Rupert Grint as Jimmy Olsen

William Shatner as Perry White

Rachel McAdams as Cat Grant

Patrick Warburton as Steve Lombard

Warner Miller as Ron Troupe

Billie Piper as Maggie Sawyer

Robert De Niro as Dan Turpin

Mark Harmon as William Henderson

Richard Schiff as Dr Emil Hamilton  

Clancy Brown as  General Sam Lane

Terry O’Quinn as Lex Luthor

Ralph Fiennes as Brainiac

Shazam(In title name and Billy shouting only, the choice to call Billy’s hero persona Shazam is a confusing mess)

Channing Tatum as Captain Marvel

Noah Schnapp as Billy Batson

Finn Wolfhard as Freddy Freeman

Rowan Blanchard as Mary Batson

Jim Beaver as Uncle Dudley

Ernie Hudson as Jebidiah of Canaan/The Wizard of Shazam

Jeffrey Wright as Tawky Tawny

Hugh Laurie as Dr. Thaddeus Sivana

Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam

Suicide Squad

Mo´Nique as Amanda Waller

Daniel Craig as Colonel Rick Flag

Pedro Pascal as Deadshot/Floyd Lawton

Jonny Lee Miller as Captain Boomerang

Kristen Bell as Killer Frost

Derek Mears as King Shark

Michael Jai White as Bronze Tiger

Karen Fukuhara as Katana

Holland Roden as Plastique 

Wonder Woman 2

Gemma Areton as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince

Ryan Gosling as Steve Trevor

Lynda Carter as Hippolyta

Alexandra Daddario as Artemis

Lisa Berry as General Philippus

Angelina Jolie as Circe

Charlize Theron as Cheetah

Green Arrow

Charlie Hunam as Green Arrow/Oliver Queen  

Katheryn Winnick as Black Canary/Dinah Lance  

Taron Egerton as Arsenal/Roy Harper

Alona Tal as Speedy/Mia Dearden

Common as John Diggle

Josh Gad as Henry Fyff

Donnie Yen as Yao Fei

Devon Aoki as Shado

Keanu Reeves as Merlyn

Bird Of Prey

Jane Levy as Barbara Gordon/Oracle

Teresa Ting as Batgirl/Cassandra Cain

Katheryn Winnick as Black Canary/Dinah Lance

Eliza Dushku as Helena Bertinelli/The Huntress

Tatiana Maslany as Lady Blackhawk/Zinda Blake

Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Vixen/Mari Jiwe McCabe 

Lily Collins as Starling/Evelyn Crawford

Zhang Ziyi as Lady Shiva

Batman Under The Red Hood

Karl Urban as Batman/Bruce Wayne

Peter Capaldi as Alfred Pennyworth

Matthew Daddario as Red Hood/Jason Todd

Bryan Cranston as James Gordon

Michael Madsen as Harvey Bullock

Stephanie Beatriz as Renee Montoya

Michael Wincott as Black Mask/Roman Sionis

Joe Giligun as The Joker

Amanda Seyfried as Harley Quinn

Shanina Shaik as Talia Al Ghul 

Justice League:Legion Of Doom

Karl Urban as Batman/Bruce Wayne

Josh Hartnett as Superman/Clark Kent

Gemma Areton as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince

Garrett Hedlund as The Flash/Barry Allen

Alexander Skarsgard as Aquaman/Arthur Curry

Chris Pine as Green Lantern/Hal Jordan

Giancarlo Esposito as J’onn J’onzz/Martian Manhunter

Terry O’Quinn as Lex Luthor

Joe Gilgun as The Joker

Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke

Michael K Williams as Black Manta

Charlize Theron as Cheetah

Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam

Luke Evans as Sinestro

Michael C Hall as Reverse Flash/ Eobard Thawne

[detective-grey]

time leaves scars

part 5 of "Wayhaven Frights - Connections" bonus prompt "Killer"

pairing: detective alexis "lex" crawford x adam du mortain

rating: M (please check the tags for tw)

summary: Detective Alexis Crawford knows how to handle missions. She knows the protocol and everything it entails. But what if this mission isn't exactly what it appears to be? What happens when time doesn't heal all wounds, it just leaves scars?

read on ao3

A simple mission. Easy. Normal. The kind they barely needed to train for because of its routine nature: get in, get out, file the paperwork, move on.

Simple. Easy. Normal.

Clean.

And yet, Agent Adam du Mortain found Detective Alexis Crawford lying in a halo of her own blood and watched as she closed her eyes and slipped away…

12 hours earlier

Her car pitched and groaned as she made her way down the wooded path towards the abandoned building recently requisitioned by the Agency as the permanent residence of Unit Bravo. The sun peeked through the clouds and set the surrounding forest alight as its beams reflected and glowed against the crimson and golden leaves. Lex had the windows rolled down and listened to the sounds of her surroundings as she drove, never one to care for music or podcasts. All the things that could distract her.

She pulled up to the gate and parked, getting out to find Morgan waiting for her. The vampire leaned in the shadows against the brick building, a leg kicked up against the wall with one arm crossed over her chest and the other flicking a lit cigarette to her side. She blew a puff of smoke towards Lex as she approached, her eyes partially obscured by her messy dark brown hair.

“Are you not joining us for the briefing,” Lex asked as she reached for the door.

“What, and miss the opportunity to greet you, Detective?”

Lex shot her a pointed look and they stared at each other for a moment before Morgan looked back towards the trees. “I’ll be there in a minute, you don’t need me to guide you the whole way.”

If Lex had friends, she supposed Morgan would be her closest. They coexisted peacefully most of the time and understood one another well enough. Lex knew that if she ever needed to tell anyone anything she could at least depend on Morgan to not spread it around because honestly, who would she tell?

She took a breath then walked inside and made her way towards the lift that would carry her down to the warehouse. As she walked through the halls, continuously newly ornamented with whatever Nate found fanciful, she caught sight of a display table against a wall off to the side. A thin red table runner with gold filigree decorated it, and on top sat three pumpkins of varying sizes and shapes. One, entirely too large and wrapped in a strand of battery operated flashing lights had the image of a unicorn carved into its side. Next to it, a brilliantly orange pumpkin had the quintessential jack-o-lantern face cut out and an LED candle flickered neatly inside. At the very end sat a miserable little pumpkin, small and misshapen with some sort of hideous attempt at a face carved out. No lights, no candles, nothing to pretty it up or make it something it wasn’t.

The ghost of a smile brushed over her lips.

“Detective?”

Her spine straightened at the sound of his voice and she turned to find Adam standing at the end of the hall in the doorway to the common living space. She shoved her hands into her pockets and gave him a nod before continuing her walk towards the room. He stepped back to allow her the space to enter.

“Hey Lex, how have ya been,” came Farah’s cheerful voice from one of the side chairs.

A fire crackled pleasantly in the fireplace filling the room with comforting warmth and sound. Lex immediately made way for her usual seat in one of the armchairs to prepare for the briefing, nodding at Nate who smiled warmly at her and making some noncommittal noise towards Farah as she passed.

The others gathered around and a few moments later Morgan breezed in and plopped down in a chair, leaning back and kicking her feet up.

“Agent Crawford got a lead on some mischief happening in one of the abandoned warehouses on the other side of town,” Adam began, standing just to the left of Lex in front of the coffee table as he threw some files down on it. He spoke with command in his voice, his hands clasped behind his back as if giving a military presentation to generals instead of simple mission details to his friends.

Lex’s nostrils flared at the opening statement, however. “Agent Crawford” may have received a tip that there had been a few reports made about the area in question, however, who did they think those reports came from? Alexis had been the one to bring the crimes to Rebecca’s attention, Adam could at least give her the damn credit.

“Since when have we been called in to stop mischief,” Farah asked, winking at Morgan and causing her to bark out a laugh.

Adam glared at them and continued. “It appears to be some sort of low-level fae, possibly young ones that either aren’t aware of the Treaties or are just ignoring them in exchange for causing problems.”

“What sort of ‘problems’ have they been causing,” Nate asked, leaning forward in his seat, his brows furrowed in concentration.

“Multiple noise complaints have been made over the past few nights,” Lex chimed in ahead of Adam. His head whipped towards her but she pointedly ignored him and continued. “Loud bangs, voices, sometimes what sounds like bottle rockets going off, the locals have expressed extreme frustration.”

“So what makes it our problem?”

Lex opened her mouth to answer Morgan but Adam beat her to it. “There have also been strange lights, all the animals in the area have disappeared, and apparently the humans don’t want to walk near it because it ‘feels like negative energy surrounds it’.”

Lex sat back in her chair and fought the acute instinct to cross her arms and pout. Would they always be like this, fighting inch by inch for control? She understood his position as leader of the team or whatever, but she held an important role and position as well. The lines became so easily blurred when she acted as both Detective of Wayhaven and  Liaison to the team, did that give her power over him or him power over her?

Farah caught her eye and smiled, but not with joy. Sympathy danced over her features and understanding shone in her eyes, like she could see the inner conflict Lex felt but understood it better than she did.

Lex looked away.

“What does the station have to say about all of this,” Nate asked, turning his full attention towards Lex. She appreciated that he always seemed to respect her position with the team.

“Well, so far the only one even interested in the case is Douglas,” Lex groaned. The kid had become even more of a nuisance of late, constantly following her around the station and sometimes even around town like a lost puppy. Even after she had made it abundantly clear multiple times that nothing would ever happen.

Farah giggled. “Aw, poor boy, maybe we should let him take a look so he can get a gold star for effort.”

Adam grimaced. “It’s best to keep the boy ,” he emphasized that word like a punch, “out of our affairs.”

“Oh, and which affairs might those be,” Farah purred, her eyes darting between Adam and Lex.

“I think a few of us should scope the location out now, get a feel for the layout, then return in full force tonight,” Lex cut in before Adam could respond. “I’ll call the station and let everyone know that I’m looking into the situation so no one goes poking around and leaves us alone.”

Silence. Then, “good idea, Detective.” The words looked like they pained him to say and she took just a small amount of pleasure in that. “Morgan, you should go with her; she’ll know the area better but with your senses you might be able to gather more intelligence on what we could be dealing with.”

The lack of an eye roll or snarky comment from Morgan shocked Lex, but she didn’t want to acknowledge it. Best not to question when a vampire doesn’t show immediate distaste at spending time alone with you. And besides, the sting of Adam not wanting to be the one to check out the target with her hurt enough on its own, Lex didn’t know if she could handle rejection from both of them.

3 hours Later

“We’ve been here for an hour already, can we get the fuck out now?”

Lex sighed at Morgan’s grumpy tone of voice and looked up at the ceiling to try to calm her frustration.

“We need to make sure there aren’t going to be any sort of surprises whenever we come back,” she muttered through clenched teeth.

Morgan kicked at the ground. “Look, whatever was here isn’t here anymore and won’t be back until tonight. And this place is empty , there’s literally nothing here. Let’s go.”

Detective Crawford’s jaw twitched under the pressure of restraining herself from snapping at the vampire. When they had arrived at the warehouse, they weren’t really surprised to find the place empty, however upon entering the building they found it completely barren. Not only missing signs of life, but completely devoid of anything other than grey walls and cement floors.

Odd. Very odd.

Normally the old buildings held remnants of the industrial period Wayhaven had undergone in previous decades: old machines, posters encouraging positive work environments and warning against unions, or sometimes desks for the foremen and other higher ups. Sometimes clothes from unhoused people that camped there during the colder months or empty bottles from the local teens or college kids that found partying in abandoned warehouses fashionable. Whatever you found, you found something. Not this.

Not nothing.

Except, they hadn’t really found “nothing.” When Lex pulled into the parking lot of the warehouse, she’d noticed the way Morgan fidgetted, immediately reaching for her silver lighter and flicking it on and off a few times. She didn’t even look at the flame, her eyes stayed trained on the building. For all her ignorance when it came to the supernatural world, Lex understood enough to know that Morgan could sense something she couldn’t.

“Whatever it is, it’s not low-level shit.”

Lex had waited for some sort of elaboration, but Morgan didn’t seem keen on giving any so she got out of the car and withdrew her Volt from her holster, holding it with confidence. As she opened the door to the building, stale air rushed out to meet her, cold and smelling of mildew and something...herbal. Like mint or parsley, maybe basil. She did a sweep of the building and all its rooms, Morgan eventually following after her, but the building held nothing within. Even the windows didn’t have glass anymore, just paneless spaces looking out over Wayhaven.

A hand fell on Lex’s shoulder as they made their way back to the entrance and she whipped around to find Morgan looking at her with a finger to her lips. She turned her head towards the door and Lex followed her gaze with a nod of understanding, raising her Volt and moving quickly to the wall. She heard footsteps outside, and within moments a figure came barreling through the door.

Lex jumped out quickly behind them with her Volt up. “Freeze! Wayhaven Police!”

“Detective!”

The force with which Lex rolled her eyes had to have been picked up by the Richter scale.

Douglas stood in front of her, both hands raised above his head and his face reddened in embarrassment and possibly something else.

Lex lowered her Volt and slapped a hand to her forehead, trying to block out the sound of Morgan’s laughter.

“What are you doing here, Officer,” Lex asked with a growl.

He quickly lowered his hands and dusted them off on his pants. She noted, with relief, that he had at least worn a normal uniform of jeans and a simple t-shirt, no longer trying to emulate Adam’s wardrobe.

“Well, I knew you were looking into the reports about this area and also you’ve been so busy with the stuff that you and Unit Bravo do so I wanted to help! I came out here and was gonna try to find clues but then I saw your car and,” he paused, taking a breath then looked at Lex with an uncomfortable amount of admiration. “And of course you were already here trying to figure everything out. You’re so amazing, you’re always one step ahead of everyone!”

Lex held her hand up to stop him before he went on, and she believed he would have gone on for a very long time.

“Listen to me very carefully.” The poor fool actually leaned towards her as she spoke. “Go. Home.”

Shock and confusion began clouding his eyes. “But-”

“Douglas! Unit Bravo and I are handling this case, go home and don’t come back here.”

He flinched, and for a moment he looked so unsure, like a young school boy that just got benched during recess. Had she any more patience to give, she might have taken the edge out of her voice, however spending the last hour with Morgan and her moody ass had snuffed out any sort of grace or mercy she might have been willing to give.

As Douglas wordlessly made to leave, Morgan called out to him, “and next time make sure you’re armed, kid. You don’t know what the world will throw at you and your scrawny ass ain’t exactly in the best shape to fight back.”

He rubbed his arms and then basically ran away from the building as Morgan’s sneers chased him out.

“Damn it, let’s go,” Lex said, moving to leave without bothering to see if Morgan followed.

“Oh give it up, will ya? You know that shit was funny.”

Lex rounded on her once at the car. “Look, the kid annoys the everloving fuck out of me, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to tell him to make sure he’s strapped whenever he leaves his damn house.”

Morgan crossed her arms. “I didn’t tell him to get a gun, just to make sure he’s got some form of protection because like it or not Lex, this town isn’t the quaint little safe haven you thought it was. You know this shit’s intense and dangerous, I’m supposed to sit there and pretend like that kid’s life isn’t in danger every goddamn minute? You were milliseconds away from shooting him.”

“With a Volt! It wouldn’t have killed him!”

“Right, so since you were about to shoot him with the Agency’s tool it would have been okay. Noted.” She pulled a cigarette out and lit it, taking a deep drag before spinning around and getting in the car.

Lex groaned and ran her fingers through her hair, taking a deep breath before stomping her foot and then getting in the car.

5 hours later

With the scoping mission completed and their limited findings discussed, Lex prepared for the mission in her room at the warehouse. She had changed into some darker clothes to blend into the night: a long-sleeved black turtleneck with dark jeans and combat boots. She pinned her shoulder length mousy brown hair back out of her face and made sure to clip both her gun and her Volt to her belt.

A knock on her door shocked her to attention and she had just a moment to collect herself before Adam walked in.

“I didn’t say come in,” she mumbled, turning away from the mirror on her dresser to face him.

He made the room seem smaller, either from his large frame and height or the way seeing him sucked all the air out of her lungs and made his aura that much more imposing, she couldn’t say.

Or wouldn’t.

His eyes met hers then flicked away. “I apologize, I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

The apology felt sincere so she nodded her head. “What do you want?”

“I wanted to thank you for offering to go on the scouting mission today and gathering that intel. It was good work.” He cleared his throat then looked at her expectantly. When she didn’t reply, he tried again. “I’m saying that you did your job well today, you went and discovered necessary information.”

Her eyebrows shot up as she began piecing together what he said. “Was that...are you...complimenting me?”

A rueful smile blessed his lips and he clasped his hands behind his back. “Even an intimidating and stoic woman such as yourself must be more understanding of the concept?”

She crossed her arms and took a few steps towards him. “The concept , I’m familiar with. The execution, unfortunately, left a little to be desired.”

He rolled his eyes. “You did a good job today, why can’t I just tell you that you were a good agent?”

“Because I just did my job. It wasn’t like I did anything groundbreaking, I literally just did my job and you commenting on it by telling me I was ‘a good little agent that went and found nothing’ feels kind of condescending.”

Adam pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. “That wasn’t my intention, I just-”

“Of course it wasn’t, Adam,” Lex exploded, cutting him off and stepping even closer. “Because we all know that you never actually say what your intention is, right? We’re all just supposed to read between the lines and just inherently know what you���re actually trying to tell me. Us,” she quickly corrected.

“Are you actually accusing me of not being forward with my thoughts,” he questioned, his voice low and even.

She looked away, losing some of the fight that had been building inside of her. “I don’t know, yes.”

“Look at me.”

“No.”

“Alexis, please.”

At the sound of her name on his lips she turned back and found his face inches from hers. When had they gotten that close? Everything about him felt more intense, his eyes, his smell, his very presence pushed up against her walls and threatened to tear them down brick by painstaking brick. He raised a hand and she turned frozen as ice as he ghosted it over her cheek then settled it on her arm.

“You know no matter my thoughts or my,” he paused, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them and finding hers,” my emotions, I will never risk you. Anything about you. My intentions are solely for you to succeed in whatever life challenges you with and for me to make sure you are never in harm’s way. There cannot be room for anything else, I won’t allow it.”

She flinched out of his grip as though he had struck her. “And what about what I allow? Don’t I get a say in this?”

It wasn’t about his comment on her work, it never had been. Everything had led up to this point, all the fighting and the nitpicking and the glances and the lost breaths. They couldn’t dance around it anymore or sit in denial and pretend they weren’t painfully aware of each other’s existence. That they weren’t begging for some kind of relief from the excruciating knowledge that their individual well beings relied solely on how the other fared. That his arrogance and her pride were the only sources of palpable tension between them and nothing else.

And she hoped. God fucking damn her, she actually hoped that the vampire-the man -before her would acknowledge it. That he would be the one to snap and fling them both over the waterfall of emotions that threatened to drown them. Not even because she was afraid, though she definitely felt fear, but because she wanted him to validate everything she felt. She didn’t want to feel stupid, like everything she might have been feeling for the past few months were entirely one-sided and in her head. At least then she wouldn’t have to see them as weaknesses in her walls, but signs that her walls were ready to come down. That there was someone in the world worth bringing them down for.

He took a breath.

She couldn’t breathe.

Adam looked down. “We’ll be leaving soon, make sure you have everything you need.”

With that, Agent Adam du Mortain walked out of her room and Detective Alexis Crawford slipped further inside herself and vowed never to come out again.

2 hours before present

When they had arrived at the warehouse, Lex could feel a difference in the atmosphere. An uneasiness settled in the pit of her stomach and she had to blame her surroundings and not the fact that Adam stood just a few feet away.

Farah shivered. “No wonder the humans stay away, this place is giving me the creeps.”

“Are we supposed to be shocked by that,” Morgan quipped.

“Enough.” Adam’s voice cut through the night with more severity than usual. Everyone but Lex stared at him in varying ranges of confusion and concern, but he ignored them all. “We don’t know what we’re up against. Our primary mission is to make contact with whatever is in there and try to negotiate their peaceful vacancy. If we need to set up a Treaty, then we will contact the Agency for further instruction. Is everyone clear?”

They all nodded their heads and split up, Farah and Lex going one way while the others went in the opposite direction. It hadn’t been Lex’s plan to partner with the perkiest member of the group, not believing she had the wherewithal to handle so much energy in her current state, but Adam had split the group without anyone able to comment.

“So, do you want to talk about the weird energy between you and our illustrious leader,” Farah asked in a completely innocent tone.

“No.”

They walked on in silence.

1 hour before present

“It’s so weird, there’s definitely something strong here but I can’t figure out the source.”

They had been moving in and out of the rooms for a while now but they hadn’t found anything. Again, the entire building seemed completely void of life save for the team members themselves. The air felt prickly and again the smell of herbs filtered through their senses but they hadn’t found anything in their search that would have been to blame.

Lex huffed out a breath and tugged the pin out of her hair, letting her strands fall in her face. “This is ridiculous, what the fuck is going on?”

“I have no idea. There’s magic here, incredibly strong magic, but it’s just like... everywhere. And I feel like it’s gotten bigger since we got here.”

That caught Lex’s attention and she peered through her bangs at her partner. “What do you mean it’s gotten ‘bigger?’ Like, we’ve gotten closer?”

Farah shook her head. “No, it’s...it’s like the warehouse is a balloon and someone is filling the balloon up with air, but in this case the air is magic. It just keeps growing and growing with more and more power.”

Lex looked around cautiously, taking in the dark shadows that crossed the walls and the silvery blue moonlight that bled through the windows. “So what happens when it fills completely up?”

The vampire shrugged her shoulders and went back to wandering into the next room as if balloons with too much air didn’t pop.

10 minutes before present

“We should head back to the entrance,” Lex said, her shoulders slumped as they stood in the center of yet another empty room.

None of it made sense, there had to have been something going on. Not only had there been multiple reports about the area in the last few days, but even Lex’s senses could pick up something supernatural going on. If she could feel the way the air tingled and brushed her skin, she couldn’t even imagine what the vampires must have felt.

“Stop…”

Both Lex and Farah froze in place.

“Did you-”

“Yes, I heard that,” Lex cut off Farah’s question with a quick, hushed tone.

A voice floated over their heads and they couldn’t pinpoint exactly where it came from, it sounded like it surrounded them.

“Once I...you won’t…stop...”

A female voice, light and ethereal, almost hypnotizing in its quality. But where was it coming from?

Lex and Farah stared at each other in a mixture of confusion and bewilderment until they heard another voice.

“Alexis...”

Lex’s breath hitched. “Adam.”

Even in the weird pitch and high tone of it, she would recognize Adam’s voice anywhere. She bolted out the door and down the hall, Farah quick on her heels.

All around them they began hearing more snippets of some weird conversation, the voices getting louder but sounding like they were being spoken through a filter or underwater.

“...penalty and the price...this deed…”

“...pay whatever I have to...her back…”

Doors and empty windows flew by in blurs as Lex and Farah raced down the hall. Slowly they noticed a sort of silvery purple fog start to filter up through the ground, carrying the strong herbal scent and enhancing it. Lex covered her nose and mouth with her arm as she kept running. The fog started to make things difficult to see and she stumbled as she almost missed a turn around a corner. She took a second to lean back against the wall, using the solid structure to ground herself for a moment.

“Call the others on the radio,” she sputtered to Farah, breathing becoming more and more difficult as the strong smell started to overpower every other sense. Tears formed in her eyes as the astringent fog met them and burned.

“The radio signal is jammed,” Farah coughed. “Lex, I don’t know what this is, but we need to leave now!”

Lex nodded and forced herself up off the wall, her feet and legs starting to feel heavy beneath her. They managed a few more steps before they heard several loud pops coming from all around them like the voices. Lex ducked her head on instinct and turned to throw her free arm over Farah’s head. They weren’t the sounds of bottle rockets like the reports had led her to believe. No, it sounded like they were at the indoor range at the station where she had trained before they gave her authorization to carry during her missions.

Gunfire.

“We need to keep moving, keep your head down!” Lex had to yell to be heard over the noise.

Every step they took seemed to bring them closer and closer to the epicenter of chaos: the smell grew stronger, the fog formed thicker, the cacophony of sounds and voices roared in their ears. They finally broke out of one of the side hallways into the main room where they knew the exit stood about twenty yards away. They ran in the direction of the door, the action made difficult due to the fact that they could barely see their hands in front of their faces.

“... not always...be prepared…”

The female voice on the wind started speaking some sort of strange language, one Lex had never even heard anything like. Not that she made a habit of studying languages, but whatever it was, it sounded ancient. Words not spoken for centuries, maybe even a millenia.

Or maybe not of this world at all.

“...Alexis...bring her back…”

“Adam,” Lex screamed, trying desperately to see through the fog. They had to have been close to the door but the fog and the voices and the smell and the-

BANG!

Everything stopped.

The fog dissipated.

The voices quieted.

The final gunshot rang.

The smell still lingered but just barely noticeable as the smell of something else, something more enticing and tempting overwhelmed the scent of herbs: the smell of Alexis Crawford’s blood spilling out of the gunshot wound in her stomach.

Present

“Lex,” Farah screamed as she felt the detective’s weight give out around her. Her ears still rang with the sound of the shot and coupled with everything else, all of her senses were completely overwhelmed and too much to handle.

She tripped as Lex’s feet stopped moving abruptly and they both toppled to the ground.

“Oh no, oh my god, what happened? What did I do? Oh no, no, no, no, no, Detective?!”

Farah’s eyes flashed towards the entrance to the warehouse, just five feet away, and saw a shadow in the doorway. She immediately recognized everything about it, the size, shape, smell, and heartbeat of Officer Douglas were all incredibly familiar. She had loved teasing the kid whenever they walked into the station, he was so easy to rile up. So easy to fluster.

And there he stood. Gun in hand, smoke still trailing from the end.

Another sensation tugged at Farah’s senses and she looked down at her hands to find them covered in a sticky fluid.

Blood. Of course she understood what she saw, but for some reason it wasn’t connecting in her brain. It wasn’t just blood, it was Lex’s blood.

Farah dared to look to her side and nothing, no amount of long years lived, could have prepared her for the sight she saw.

Alexis Crawford stared at the hole in her abdomen with true fear in her eyes, an emotion so foreign on the detective’s face that it alone sent chills up the vampire’s spine. The front of her sweater glistened in the moonlight, completely saturated and sticking to her skin around the wound. Her hands were shaking, the parts not covered in blood so pale they appeared translucent, and they hovered just over her body as though she couldn’t understand where the blood came from.

Or how to make it stop.

“Detective!”

Adam’s voice boomed and then there he was, kneeling beside her with one hand on her back and the other supporting her shoulder.

“What happened?”

Farah registered Nate’s voice as he appeared beside her to lift her up, but she still couldn’t look away from Lex. Her blood had begun to pool around her, the crimson tides of her life slowly ebbing away from her body.

“What the fuck did you do?!”

Their heads snapped towards the door as they heard Morgan yelling and Nate and Adam realized that Douglas stood there, still frozen and shaking as he stared at Lex. Adam’s eyes zeroed in on the gun and pure unadulterated fury pulsed through his body.

Morgan lifted Douglas off the ground by his neck and yelled again. “You idiot, what the fuck did you do?!”

“Morgan!” Nate rushed to her side and placed a hand on her arm, forcing her to drop Douglas. The poor kid fell to the ground, clutching his throat and gasping for breath. Tears streamed down his face and he tried to speak but his voice sounded hollow.

“I wanted,” he coughed, “trying to help.”

“Get him out of here,” Adam yelled to no one in particular as he turned his attention back to the Detective.

Nate grabbed Douglas by the shoulders and lifted him to his feet. He kept a hold of the officer as he reached into his pocket for his phone and started jogging outside. “I’m calling the Agency!”

“A-Adam,” Lex gasped out, her words shaky and breathless.

“Stop talking, Detective, we need you to save your energy,” Adam chided, though there was no force behind his words. He looked up at Morgan and Farah, both of whom stared at Lex with fear and concern and-

Hunger.

Perhaps the adrenaline rushing through his blood prevented him from smelling hers, or maybe the herbal breeze that seemed to flow through the building covered up the scent, but Adam wasn’t drawn to it the way the other vampires were. He could see the internal battles they were waging, and while he trusted them not to do anything, he didn’t want to tempt them further. The skies were clear, rain like when they had fought Murphy wouldn’t save them this time.

“Go wait for the Agency with Nate,” Adam growled, ever aware of the woman dying in his arms.

They both started to protest but he yelled over them. “That is an order! Now!”

Neither Farah nor Morgan wanted to leave her, but they knew better than to test Adam. The look in his eyes could shatter marble and his voice had a jagged edge like a knife ready to kill anyone that dared cross him. Before they left, Farah untied her scarf and handed it to Adam.

“To stem the bleeding,” she murmured before turning away.

Adam immediately bunched the scarf up and pressed it against Lex’s side. She yelled in pain and the sound pierced whatever was left of Adam’s heart.

“Alright Detective, the Agency will be here soon, you know the drill.”

Something like a laugh shook her body. “It’s funny isn’t it?”

His brows furrowed. He could hardly find anything humorous about this situation and she continued.

“All this time...we were worried about supernaturals getting me...and it was still just a human with a gun.”

She coughed and splatters of red flew out of her mouth and dotted her chin. She began to lean into Adam’s hold a little more and her eyes started to flutter shut. Panic overtook him and he shook her.

“None of that, come on now. You need to keep your eyes open, Detective, that’s an order.”

Another laugh. How could she be laughing?

“Even now you want to fight me.” She took a shaky breath that seemed to cause her pain. “Figures you wouldn’t let me die in peace.”

“Stop talking like that.” His voice was harsh but when she looked up at his face she found the smallest of smiles gracing his features. “It’s not fair, how am I supposed to win against a dead girl?”

“You have the advantage...you died before me…”

She could see the instant the thought crossed his mind and she shook her head. “No.”

“The Agency might not get here in time, I could just-”

“Adam.” He hated the way his name on her lips affected him, hated that there were no limits to what he would do to make sure he could hear her say his name forever.

He simply nodded his head. “Of course. It won’t be necessary anyways, the Agency will be here soon.”

“Such faith,” she whispered in as much of a mocking tone as she could muster. Then her eyes turned serious. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for.”

But she did. She was trying to leave him, leave all of them, and he didn’t want to even begin to contemplate how much that would hurt. Eternity had given him the time to grieve his family and immortality had dulled the ache of loneliness they’d left him with, but Alexis Crawford had stormed into his life and fought her way into his heart. She infuriated him every damn day and fought him every chance she could and he respected and admired her more than anyone he had ever known. He felt more for her, damn him, the intensity of his feelings threatened to swallow him whole every second he spent in her sphere of existence, but he’d never wanted to compromise her safety or the safety of the team so he tried to ignore them. Bury them down.

Now he might have to bury her.

“I’m cold,” she gasped.

He looked into her eyes, green as emeralds and shiny with tears, and he broke. He pulled her up against him and moved his hand to her cheek, carefully wiping away the blood around her mouth. The scarf fell away from her side and into the pool beneath her.

“It wasn’t...his fault,” she whispered. “Douglas...he was scared...it wasn’t-”

“Shh, I know.”

“Adam.” Tears flowed freely from her eyes and her voice sounded small and far away. “I think...I think I’m really dying…”

He didn’t trust his voice and he didn’t know what to say. His thumb stroked over her cheek and he wished with every fiber of his being that the Agency would hurry the fuck up. He could feel her heartbeat slow down, could hear the air in her lungs weaken. Vampires were well acquainted with Death and he could feel It’s presence in the warehouse.

“I am the Commanding Agent of this team, Detective, and I order you to stay alive.”

She smiled. An actual smile, the most genuine and heartbreaking thing he’d ever seen. She stared at him like she was trying to memorize every inch of his face so that might recall it wherever she ended up.

“I might...have to disobey…”

“Alexis, please. I can’t lose you,” he whispered as he leaned closer to her.

“Adam.”

Her eyes closed...

Her breathing slowed...

Her heart stopped…

And Detective Alexis Crawford died in the arms of Agent Adam du Mortain.

Three days later

The Agency had wiped Douglas’ mind after debriefing him to figure out how everything had gone so wrong. Apparently he had ignored the Detective’s direct order to stay away in favor of wanting to be an asset and show her that he wasn’t just some kid following her around, but an officer of the force. When he had gotten to the warehouse he saw the fog and heard the noises and he’d been spooked. He recognized the sounds as gunfire and when he saw figures running towards him he shot.

A mistake made from panic, fear, and a woeful lack of training due to the fact that his position with the police had been bought and paid for by his father the mayor.

No one could miss the way Morgan tore into herself. Adam found out later that she had been the one that taunted Douglas into getting some protection. No one blamed her, of course, no one really blamed anyone, but she hated herself and no one could stop her from doing so.

A small part of all of them hated themselves in all honesty, including Rebecca. Everyone felt partial ownership for the loss, everyone thought back on things they could have done differently, things they should have said. Things they wished they hadn’t said. Inconsolable grief gripped each member of Unit Bravo and threatened to never let go. Sure time healed all wounds, but it also left scars and this wound felt jagged and raw and incomparable to anything they’d ever felt. The scar it would leave promised to be impossible to cover-up or miss.

They were all sitting in the living room of their warehouse in silence. Every now and then a pair of eyes would flicker over to the empty armchair by the coffee table as if they expected a stoic, intimidating woman with deep green eyes to be looking back at them or making some sort of sarcastic comment.

Adam’s phone rang and they all looked over to him as he took it out of his pocket and stared at the screen.

“They’re supposed to be giving us time to grieve,” Nate said quietly, watching his friend from his spot on the sofa.

Adam’s voice sounded gravelly and low as he responded, “it’s not them.”

He stepped out of the room and quickly made his way to his quarters and out of earshot of everyone else. Once he’d closed his door behind him he accepted the call.

“I told you to lose my number,” he growled into the receiver.

A female voice laughed on the other line, high and clear as a bell. “You told me to never contact you again unless I found a solution to your little problem.”

The room spun and he had to catch himself on his bed to keep him from falling over. The room seemed colder, everything around him froze. It seemed time itself had stopped.

“You...you can do it?”

“For a price.”

He didn’t even hesitate.

“What do you need?”