#i would have already called the cops telling them a murder was going down

[sparklingcid3r]

i’m still thinking abt the rumble. darry and steve really had that shit locked down, there was no need to bring the squad😭🙏

[loveandmurders]

The Sun of Ambrose V (lost Sinclair!daughter reader AU)

Hi everyone, this is the final part of my Sinclair!daughter AU in which the reader is Bo's daughter and she has been taken away and adopted by a new family.

You can find part I here.

Hope you'll enjoy! <3

Warnings: no proof reading, killer!reader, mentions of guilt, violence, murders, blood, some sort of dark angst/comfort

You quite enjoyed your summer break in Ambrose. You loved to sculpt with Vincent, you loved to watch your dad work on a car and to have him show you things, you loved to wander around with Lester. You loved to play with Jonesy as well. Everything felt good. You never slept so well in years, because you were finally feeling safe enough to fully relax.

You hadn’t asked about the tourists anymore because you didn’t have enough strength for more drama for the moment. And whenever people were coming around, the brothers made sure you were busy somewhere else in the town or with Lester. You pretended you didn’t notice anything. You just wanted to be happy. 

And for the moment, your own desire to kill has quieted down. You were still feeling sick from the murder of your mother.

The brothers didn’t notice anything amiss; apart from the fact they still hadn’t heard the sound of your voice, you were once again their ray of sunshine. You were making them so full of joy. The twins were talking, late in the night, about the legacy once again. They hadn’t thought they could resume their plans on this matter. They were so relieved.

However they were a little bit concerned about your adoptive father. They were certain that even if the man wasn’t doing too well for the moment, at some point he would want to get “his daughter” back. The twins had no idea how to cut him out of your life without killing him. Bo would love to murder him - out of jealousy - but he knew that you would know it one day, and he didn’t want to upset you that way. Both your mothers already died after all…

You were having a snack in Bo’s garage while he was taking care of a new car. You were sucking on the chocolate that dripped on your fingers, as you were listening to the music your father put on. You were both enjoying each other's presence even if you weren’t interacting directly. Bo was always a lot more at ease when you were in the same room than him or at least in his line of vision. He was still traumatised; he lost you once, and he promised himself it would never happen again.

You slightly jumped when you felt your phone buzzing next to you. You grabbed it and frowned when you saw it was your adoptive father. Bo noticed the look on your face.

“What’s up, baby?” he asked you as he came closer to you. You put your phone on your lap so you could sign

“He is wondering where I am.” you replied, knowing Bo would understand who was the “he”. You father rolled his eyes and groaned

“Oh so he remembered he's supposed to look after ya?” he ironized and your crossed your arms on your chest “Don’t pout” he hummed and kissed the top of your head

“I’ll have to tell him I’m here. I can’t lie to him about that. Just be nice to him, okay? Things are difficult and… And he won’t be happy about the situation because…” you trailed off

“Because what?”

“Well before mom got sick, she discovered I was chatting with you and Vince and Les, and she was worried about me. She wanted to call the cops on you” you explained. Bo didn’t show any emotion but you read in his eyes that he was quite concerned about such news

“Luckily she got sick then” he commented out loud before realising it “Sorry, love, I didn’t mean it like that” he quickly added as you looked away. Luck had really nothing to do with it, you thought.

“Anyway, I will tell him I’m here. And he’ll probably come get me. I’m just gonna make sure he doesn’t call the police or anyone” you promised as you got up and left the garage

You needed to be alone to write to your adoptive father: “Hey dad, are you feeling better? I didn’t really have anywhere to go so I went back to Ambrose. Everyone is very nice to me and Bo is inviting you over (so please don’t call the police, they really didn’t do anything wrong!). Will you bring me back home?”

The answer was almost instantaneous: “Yes, I will. I won’t call the police because I shouldn’t have asked you to go away in the first place. Love you, I’m sorry for everything”

You were relieved, knowing he wouldn’t be lying to you, not after what happened, not when he had failed his mission of taking care of you.

You came back home and settled at the kitchen table, thinking about what to do next. You didn’t want to leave Ambrose but you wouldn’t be allowed to stay here. You tried to busy yourself on some silly games on your phone but soon enough you grew bored. You were feeling quite upset as well. For the first time in weeks, you wanted to kill someone. You needed to express yourself in another way than sculpting or drawing. You needed to take out your frustration on someone, but there was no one to kill here.

Vincent opened the basement door, in need of some water when he saw you. He quickly saw you weren’t your usual happy self. He put an hand on your shoulder for you to look up at him before signing:

“What’s wrong?”

“My adoptive father will come get me. I think he should be here tonight” you replied

“Do you want to go?” Vincent tilted his head to the head, you quickly shook your head

“No, but I can’t really do anything about it”

You could tell that Vincent wanted to say something but didn’t dare and he simply sadly nodded his head at you.

“How about we make something together? Would it cheer you up?” he offered, which made you smile

“I’d love to”

As you focused on the art you were making with Vincent, you forgot about your adoptive father and you forgot about the time. Your need to kill quietened down, but was still there, waiting for you to be on your own to eat you up alive once again.

You were about to finish a sculpture of Jonesy you intended to offer to Lester, when you heard two vehicles coming into Ambrose. You looked at the window, but didn’t recognise your adoptive father’s car. There were lost “tourists” who were following behind Lester’s truck. Vincent tensed and looked at the clock before asking you:

“When do you think your adoptive father will come here?”

“I’m not sure, soon I guess” you shrugged but you saw the panic rising into Vincent’s eye

“Alright. I let you finish the sculpture without me. We have work to do. Stay here, please.” Vincent replied

“What work?” you frowned

“Promise me you will stay here” Vincent asked, firmly signing each work. You understood he was pretty serious about it

“Of course, I promise you, uncle” you finally replied as you sat back down and watched Vincent leave the room and go back into the basement.

You were about to go back to your sculpture when you heard people violently arguing. The “tourists” didn’t seem to be too happy with Bo. Lester was quick to intervene as well. You watched the scene of a man pushing Lester to the ground, and Bo hitting the said man. Your eyes widened at such a display of violence. You nibbled on your bottom lip. Were your family killers, or was it just bad people disrupting the peace of Ambrose?

You saw that things were getting pretty rough between the three tourists and your father and uncle. You wondered where Vincent was, and almost got into the basement to look for him… Until you saw your adoptive father’s car coming into view. He really couldn’t have arrived at the worst moment. He stopped in front of the garage and tried to put himself between Bo and the man, and to appease the situation. Bo asked him to go away, you guessed, according to his gestures. And your adoptive father refused.

You were too far away to see everything, and even more when they seemed to come more into Bo’s garage. You just knew that at some point someone screamed. Two tourists ran away, Lester ran after them with what seemed like a knife, and Bo was covered in blood. You had to stop yourself from leaving the house. You wanted to help, and you wanted to be the one covered in blood. However, you never broke a promise you made to your family before, so you had to be better, you had to stay inside. You didn’t know where your adoptive father was anymore and you grew worried. How could things go so badly after such happy weeks in Ambrose?

Bo grabbed a rifle and was about to go after the tourists when he received a massive hit on the head from behind and fell on the ground. You saw your adoptive father with some mechanic tool in his hands.

You couldn’t stop yourself this time. You took the gun Bo was hiding under his armchair and ran to the garage. You had to stop them, you had to do something about it. You couldn’t scream or you would have. Your legs brought you in front of the two men with such speed, as the adrenaline was pumping into your veins. Before you knew it, you aimed at them.

Your adoptive father who was ready to hit Bo stopped his movement as he noticed you and he brought his hands in front of him. Bo was still on the ground, pretty disoriented by the hit he received on the head. He looked up and saw you. You had never looked so much like a Sinclair before. He knew you were his daughter then; he wouldn’t even be disappointed if you decided to kill him.

You were perfect.

“What are you doing? Shoot him, shoot him! He killed the guy, and he wants to kill us all. Your mother was right, they are murderers!” you adoptive father yelled as you eyes moved between him and Bo

“I won’t hurt ya, baby” Bo whispered to you “Everythin’s alright” he continued, trying to sooth you. And one thing was certain, you wouldn’t stand to never hear him talking to you like that anymore.

You looked back at your adoptive father, tears in your eyes. You wanted to tell him how sorry you were about what you were going to do, about what you did to his wife, but with the gun in your hands, you couldn’t.

You shooted and closed your eyes. His body loudly fell to the ground and you shivered. You looked down at Bo and helped him to get up.

He quickly hugged you before gently rocking you, so you could calm down. You didn’t cry in his embrace, you felt at peace. You felt like everything was as it always should have been.

“Ya alright?” Bo whispered to you as he cupped your face into his bloody hands. You nodded and sniffed.

Screams resonated from the House of Wax and you moved from Bo. You were ready to help, you were ready to kill some more but Bo grabbed your wrist. He softly took the gun from you and kissed the palm of your hand.

“Don’t worry, baby. Les and Vince are taking care of the two others. Ya can rest now. Ya did amazin’. Ya saved me, ya saved the family” he hummed, pride shining into his eyes. “Told ya everythin’ was gonna be alright,” he added as he brought you back against him once again.

You couldn’t fully relax, not knowing if your uncles were doing alright. You kept your face towards the House of Wax, waiting for them. Soon enough, you saw them pulling two bodies out of the museum and you felt the adrenaline leaving you.

“I need to sit down” you signed to your dad who quickly nodded. He opened Lester’s truck and sat you down at the passenger seat, as it was the most comfy place he could offer for the moment. He didn’t want you to see the body of your adoptive father either.

“Stay here, I’ll be back soon” he murmured. He needed to let his brothers know about what happened. 

Soon enough, they were all around you. You quickly scanned them, to make sure they were unharmed. They didn’t really know what to tell you. They were happy, of course, but they weren’t too sure how you were feeling. You killed the man who raised you for years, after all.

Truth to be told, you used to feel guilty because of the death of his wife that was driving him crazy, but now they were back together. You felt free. You felt ready to kill again, to kill for the family business.

“Bo told us ya did the right thin’” Lester told you and you gave him a soft smile “Feelin’ all good?” he asked and you nodded.

“You don’t have to feel bad for having… killed him, you know. You protected your real father, you protected us. You did what you had to do” Vincent signed to you, even if Bo and Lester weren’t too sure that reminding you you killed him was a good idea. To their surprise, you relaxed into the seat and nodded again.

“I am a Sinclair” you said in a rough voice you hadn’t used in years.

--

Taglist : @murder-hobo - @lacychick ; @magical-sass ; @limehaspassed ; @loveinglymessedup ; @bloodmoon-bites ; @iwantsleepplz ; @kawaistrawberry21 ; @12gaugefalls ; @kriston1210 ; @slushi-chan

[augustvandyne]

Reader finds out that Lucy needs a fake girl/boyfriend to take to her family bbq, reader steps up and offers to go with her. After a great night, Reader walks Lucy to her apartment door, where Lucy finally admits to herself that she likes reader and invites her inside. (R, is a cop also.)

Lucy Chen x Reader.

family barbecue

“Please!”

A begging Lucy grabs your attention.

It isn’t really anything new, because she begs for a lot of things, but you couldn’t help but listen when you heard the words family barbeque come out of her mouth.

You turn your head to see who she was begging, and you see Tim Bradford, her T.O.

It didn’t make sense to you about how or why she would ask Mr. Grumpy Officer Cupcake, but to each their own, right?

Wrong. Because he shoots her down – for the fourth time this week, you learn after Tim shoots her a glare – and a pout comes onto her face.

You see her look at Nolan, who immediately shakes his head no.

You’d known how her parents were, as the two of you frequently hung out together, but you’ve never met them. And maybe that was for the best, because you might be in jail for 25 to life for murder.

Lucy turns her head the slightest bit to see you, and she just shrugs, officially giving up.

You step forward a few feet, coming to her side.

“What’s this I hear about a family barbecue?” You lift your brows curiously.

She huffs and looks at you from the side, seemingly tired of talking about it already, because family talk stressed her out, and presence there is mandatory.

“My cousin is having a barbecue,” She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “It’s so stupid. Just— forget it.”

She turns to leave — most likely the break room so she can sit in misery for her lunch break — but you grab her by the arm to stop her.

“Hey, hey,” You look down at her. “Tell me about it. Please.”

You see her eyes shift to your lips from the close proximity, but think nothing of it.

She was just looking somewhere other than your eyes, and they just happened to land on your lips.. right?

“It’s a stupid family get together and a night or two ago my mom called me about it and so I said yeah I’ll come and for some reason I said I’d bring someone and I don’t have a— a someone,” She balls her fists up at her sides. “So now here I am, begging for someone to go with me and act as my boyfriend because I don’t want to look like a liar at this stupid barbecue that I don’t want to go to now because I’m single and I’ll be bullied and ridiculed the whole time if I show up without someone with me.”

“Lucy, Lucy, Lucy,” You put your hand on her shoulder at an attempt to calm her down. “Take a breath,” You breathe in and out with her.

“And Tim and John said no, so I’m out of options.”

“I’ll go with you.”

It was a simple statement. Four words. A promise.

And yet Lucy didn’t believe her ears.

“What?”

“I said I’ll go with you. I’ll act as your girlfriend.”

“No, I heard you. I just don’t understand why.”

“Because I know you, Luce,” You give a soft smile. “I know that you’ll end up going and hating yourself for it and I’ll end up running into you crying on Monday and I don’t think I’ll be able to handle it.”

Lucy wants to ask what you mean, but she doesn’t because you aren’t finished speaking.

“So I will go with you. I can’t let you go alone and be abused with questions from your parents. Especially since they already hate on you for your choice of job.”

“This means a lot to me,” She grabs your hand and squeezes softly, your heart skipping a beat. “You have no idea.”

“Just let me know what time. I’ll pick you up,” You smiled back at her and stepped a few feet back, going to find your TO.

She asked you to be there around twelve, and you were right on time. You even showed up with a bouquet of her favorite flowers.

You came to the door, which she insisted you didn’t need to do, but you did anyway, and proceeded to open the car door for her as well.

She attempts to hide her blush, and luckily you’re too busy trying to start the car that you don’t notice.

Lucy doesn’t really speak on the way to her cousins house, and you’re sure it’s due to nerves.

She only speaks once you get there, and it’s to warn you, once again, but you shut her down because you already know. You’re more than capable and more than willing to step in today and be whatever she needs to you to be.

You walk around your car and let Lucy out, already turning heads of her family members who were out front.

Once she was out of the car, her mother was on the two of you in an instant.

She must be a mind reader or something, because how did she know the two of you were there? Nobody had said anything.

“Hello. You must be Lucy’s..”

“Girlfriend,” The two of you say at the same time.

“Girlfriend,” She nods, her face unsure. “And how did you meet this.. girlfriend of yours?”

Her eyes are trained on your face, but her words are pointed at Lucy, and you can feel her shift beside you.

You move your hand to her back, giving her the confidence she needed.

She turns her head and sees you smiling at her with encouragement, and all of the sudden she’s able to tell her.

“We met at the station,” Lucy smiles giddily. “We’re in the same rookie group snd I liked her as soon as I met her. Really. Her eyes are gorgeous.. I could lost in them all day. And I know you hate when I talk about my work, but you asked, so.. when she was injured I rushed to the hospital and I just had to be there for her because I was in love with her and she needed me. I asked her out after that. And so.. here we are.”

You feel your breath leave your lungs because that was a true story. It’d happened only a few months ago, and although she didn’t ask you out, it still felt real because only now were you realizing the way she looked at you wasn’t in a friendship kind of way.

“That’s nice,” Vanessa cleared her throat, obviously uncomfortable with the fact that her daughter was not only a cop but was now dating a woman.

“Mom—“

“Come on, your father and Alexandra are waiting. She invited you and it’s not nice to be late,” She grabbed Lucy’s arm and you walked behind her.

She looked uncomfortable but there was nothing you could do now.

You made a mental note to take her for slushies later to make her feel better.

Her mother takes the lead and you walk up to stand beside Lucy.

“I wish I could say I’ll get you out of here in an hour, but I don’t think that’s possible.”

“Yeah, definitely not,” She looks down sadly, and all you want to do is hold her because you never want to see her upset.

“Hey,” You grab her hand. “We’re gonna have fun, okay?”

“Okay,” A small smile comes onto her lips, and you pull her in for a hug.

“Come on,” Vanessa snapped at both of you and you have to keep yourself from getting heated with her.

“Come on,” Lucy mocked once Vanessa was out of earshot.

You snort and Lucy looks at you with those eyes, and that’s when you knew you were done for.

“Walk me to the door,” She requested, and your eyes are drawn to her blue raspberry stained lips.

“I was already planning on it,” You shrug nonchalantly, but you can’t help but notice the blush on her cheeks.

You open the door for her once again and let her lead the way to the apartment door.

Once stopped in front of her door, she unlocks it slowly, dreading the moment she had to say goodbye.

Because although she hated family events, being there with you made it more bearable, and she didn’t want to say goodbye just yet.

She opens the door and turns to you, “Do you want to come in?”

You think for a second about what would happen if you said yes, because you’re realizing that maybe you do like her more than a friend, but then you’re accepting the invitation and you’re shutting the door behind you, not a care in the world.

[forthegothicheroine]

How Other Great Detectives Would Solve the Riddler Murders

A series I do sometimes. This is based on The Batman (2022). I will be assuming that none of these universes have already established superheroes and supervillains unless it's also in that canon.

Sam Vimes: The Watch as a whole might solve the case, but Vimes is going to be in the wrong headspace. Carcer was bad enough as playful serial killers go, but a serial killer who liked Sam Vimes and wanted to be his best buddy? I think that would make Vimes need his own stay in Arkham.

Sam and Peter: This one is my favorite, it works so horribly well! The Riddler, having been a huge fan of American Vandal, addresses his messages to these two teenage goobers (and it is in fact in the form of vandalism.) Selina ends up saving their lives due to secondhand embarassment when she sees them trying to interview Carmine Falcone about whether he was on any Gothamite subreddits. (Oswald Cobblepot was happy to talk to them about it!) It all comes down to whether the pressure of stopping a serial killer causes the boys to bloom or break, and I'd like to hope it would be the former.

Phryne Fisher: I totally get why the Riddler would fixate on and write letters to Phryne, she's a very good person to fixate on and write letters to! (I've often said she's like if Catwoman were Batman.) Phryne sleeps with Selina and gets surprisingly flirtatious with Oswald. Having already taken down a cocaine ring, she knows enough to honeypot her way into the lower floor of the Iceberg, and very narrowly avoids death at the hands of Falcone. She can solve riddles easily enough, though I don't know if she'd put them together in time to stop the flooding of the city. I'll call this success with a similar casualty rate to Batman's.

Sammy Keyes: This one is a real dick move on the Riddler's part. Addressing your serial killer messages to a tween girl who'd been involved in catching other criminals, thus revealing she's living in an apartment illegally and potentially getting her taken away by social services? It's absolutely something he would do to make a broader social point, but still it's a serious dick move. I think Sammy is way out of her depth here but I want her to succeed because I love the idea of subsequent Sammy Keys books having recurring characters that include the one cop slightly sympathetic to her, the junior high mean girl, and the serial killer who sends her cryptic letters from incarceration.

L: I just know that somehow this is going to involve Edward Nasthon, Forensic CPA, being on the team to catch the Riddler and him and L having a vaguely but unconsumatedly homoerotic dance between friend and enemy. I don't think he'd want to kill L, though, since he'd rather have him alive to acknowledge him as the smartest coolest guy ever, so I'll give L the edge here.

Jane Marple: No matter how I twist it, I just can't see a scenario in which the Riddler would send serial killer messages to Miss Marple. Instead, I think Edward Nashton would just meet her at a tea shop, they'd have a friendly conversation about the novel she's reading, and then she'd call up the police and tell them she's found the Riddler.

Columbo: This isn't a great setup for Columbo, since his method of detection is all about catching people in their lies, which is hard to do with a killer who is a nobody and who keeps to the shadows. He would definitely put Falcone away in the course of the investigation, but I don't know if that's enough to stop the grander scheme in play. If he does catch him, though, he would stop the flood because Edward Nashton would be SO vulnerable to casual conversations about hypothetical approaches to crime.

Philip Marlowe: I think Marlowe would kind of work his way backwards here. He'd get deep into the grime of Gotham, end up stopping a plot to flood the city, follow that up by an investigation into the mob and unconsummated sexual tension with Selina, just barely escape getting murdered by Falcone, get hit on the head by Cobblepot and have hallucinations involving penguins with umbrellas, then finally catch Edward Nashton, the petty little nobody who killed people to make himself feel like somebody.

Dale Cooper: This is a good case for Cooper, lots of subplots that lead into other subplots, nothing overtly supernatural but a vague general feeling of curses and doom. He would find deeper meaning in all the coded riddles that pointed to dark truths about the universe, topped off with dreams of cats and penguins doing his taxes. I sure hope the Riddler is willing to wait for all that before flooding the city, because Coop works at his own damn pace.

Hercule Poirot: I can see Poirot fitting in to the art deco Gotham of the animated series, but the modernist urban grime of the 2021 film is viscerally unpleasant to imagine him in. He could solve the riddles and aid the police, certainly, but more than any of the other detectives, my mind is rebelling against my attempts to imagine these people in the same room at the same time.

Sam Spade: Selina Kyle hires him to help get her friend out of a jam at the same time as Cobblepot hires him to get a few murders discreetly solved before the cops get too nosy, and then Falcone tries to have him whacked when he gets too close on both accounts. The Riddler would take him completely by surprise, but I'm having so much fun imagining Edward Nashton looking up at him with big Peter Lorre eyes and babbling about what crime really means that I'll allow him to at least stick around for that. I think he can get out of this still alive, but it would be a close call.

Kinsey Milhone: Why her, she wonders? Sure, she's a detective, but she's hardly a household name. She goes through all her files to see if this could be connected to anything she's ever worked on, and lo and behold, back when she was an insurance fraud investigator, they always worked with a forensic CPA named Edward Nashton. Now, what could have ever become of that guy...

Sherlock Holmes: Sherlock Holmes either immediately solves this or fails utterly, and it all comes down to how quickly you think he could decode things using a computer.

[boldlyvoid]

I Know Places: Mayhem

18+ Aaron Hotchner x Fem Reader | Masterlist | AO3 link

Summary: After Aaron is hurt during a terrorism case in New York City, reader is faced with the undeniable truth that she is falling in love with her boss. While ensuring that he doesn't lose his hearing, she nurses him back to health despite her coworkers' knowing looks and comments. Navigating through her crush, knowing he's still in love with his ex-wife is going to be rough.

Warnings: Canon Typical Violence (mentions of rape and murder), hurt/comfort, Drug use tw as well as drug addiction mentions, unrequited love (so she thinks), There's only one bed

Word count: 15,088

From the moment Aaron was served divorce papers in the office, something about him changed. He was angry, which was to be expected. He was unpredictable as if he was ever predictable before… He was hot-headed, willing to jump down someone's throat at the drop of a hat, but he was also quiet. Withdrawn. He looked lonely. 

She watched on from the sidelines, she brought him coffee on days where it seemed worse and sometimes even a baked good just to get him to smile. She offered to partner with him at the precincts, share hotel rooms, and drive with him just for the chance to get him to talk. 

Keeping it inside wasn’t helping. 

And at first, he didn’t say anything. Little by little, as he realized she wasn’t going to share his feelings with everyone on the team, he began to tell her things. 

She stayed back to help him with paperwork, he picked her up in the mornings so they could get coffee and treats together, and he even called her on days off just because he wanted to. They’d stay up for hours, in their own beds, sharing little stories about growing up and failed relationships and sometimes they would say absolutely nothing… it was nice just to know the other was there. Her favourite moments, however, were when he’d put on the same show she had on in the background just so they could talk about it. 

She went from wishing he had someone to talk to, to being his friend and keeping all his secrets. It was nice… 

And then they went to New York. 

Kate Joyner, the lead agent on this case, was a spitting image of his ex-wife, Haley. It was almost scary how much they looked alike, and of course, Aaron has known her for years. He met her at Scotland Yard and they “Liaised” whatever the fuck that meant. Everyone was skeptical of her at first, even the beat cops on the task force… for them, it was the way she acted more important than she was, her posh accent and the overall misogyny of hating successful women. 

For Y/N, it was the way Aaron looked at her. The way he doted on her and agreed with her every move. The way he’s sticking to her side like a lost puppy and how he doesn’t see anything wrong with his new behaviour. 

It was at this moment that she realized her boss wasn’t just her friend. Not even her best friend. She had a crush on him and the mere idea of him liking someone else was sending her into a tizzy. 

She found herself agreeing with Derek Morgan more than ever before on this case, not because she knew he was right (he was) but because it meant she could go against Agent Joyner. She was argumentative for a very petty reason, but at the end of the day, Derek was right. Kate was on her high horse, she wanted to stay in the good graces of the FBI and keep her job. And that cost her another life. 

This case is unlike anything she’s seen yet. Unlike the others, she hasn’t been on the team long enough to have seen one of everything. Morgan, however, has been. From being a Chicago cop, on the bomb squad and 3rd in command at the BAU, he’s seen almost everything. 

When they touched down in NYC, there had been 5 victims already, the local FBI was on the scene as it was protocol, but the BAU was a last-ditch effort to crack this case. Each victim had been shot, point blank in the head and the unsub was able to flee each time without being seen. Those who did get a glimpse only saw a black hoodie. Nothing more. There was nothing to tie the victims together, each killed in a different neighbourhood, no common victimology, no sexual component, no robbery and no geographical connection. It was as if they were random. Like the unsub didn’t care who he killed, he just wanted the thrill of killing. 

He’s killing roughly every two days which doesn’t give the investigation team much time to come up with theories or ways to catch him in the act, between kills. The press is having a field day, the civilians of New York are terrified and the police are stumped. It hasn’t been this bad since the Son of Sam in ’76.

When they arrived, Agent Reid was quick to get a geographical profile up and running to asses the unsub's comfort zone. Hells Kitchen, Murray Hill, Lower East Side, Chinatown and East Harlem were all marked on the board. Using anti-geographical profiling, they note that the unsub is organized, he strikes at the same time of day he knows where the cameras are placed and that all means he’s doing his own surveillance. These spots aren’t random. They mean something to him.  And because of how calculated he is, they know he’s a need-based killer. He’s killing outside of his comfort zone… meaning every other neighbourhood in the city has a reason to be terrified. 

The 6th victim is killed while holding a pretzel, hailing a cab. By the time the public registers that there has been a gunshot and taken cover for themselves, the unsub has faded into the crowd once again. Not before leaving a tarot card, this time. 

Death. 

It’s the same card the D.C sniper left at the scene of one of his scenes. Either this unsub has no idea its spiritual meaning of rebirth and transformation… or he has a deep understanding of Behavioural Profiling and he’s toying with them. They’re going with the latter theory. 

They also brought along their technical analyst this time. Penelope Garcia. She’s been looking over all of the surveillance footage from each crime scene, including the most recent. With her physically there with them, she’s able to run her own software and programming through the old-ass NYPD tech and she’s figured out something huge. There isn’t just 1 unsub. There are two. 

They’re not killing together, which is weird. From previous killing teams, they know it’s highly unusual for them to do things apart from one another, which leads them to suspect they might be dealing with a gang. There could be more than 2 unsubs and until they know more, Derek wants them out on the streets so they can be even more hyper-vigilant. 

Kate, however, didn’t like that suggestion. 

“These guys hit at midday,” he reminded her and ranted until Hotch cut him off. “We could target ingress and egress to particular neighbourhoods, position us near express stops. 14th, 42nd, 59th—

“Morgan, Morgan stop. It’s not your call.” 

Instead of taking Morgan's great advice. They went back to their hotels for the night. 

Aaron had noticed that Y/N was being strange. He could sense her distaste for Kate and thus, he distanced himself from her for the case. He had his own hotel room, so did their other leader, David Rossi, and almost everyone else shared. Reid went with Morgan and she was supposed to room with JJ, only JJ’s boyfriend showed up… she’s pregnant and he couldn’t stand the thought of not being with her during a case like this. 

It just drove home to her even more just how alone she was. 

In the morning, Aaron stayed with Kate at the precinct and Y/N huffed about it. Instead, she stuck herself to Spencer’s side as they gave their profile that morning, to the news, the police and the rest of the FBI agents at 26 Federal Plaza. 

Just as they finish their talks, the unsub hits their 7th target. At 59th and Lex. Right where Morgan predicted they’d hit next. Thus causing the two men to shout at each other in front of everyone in the building. 

“I said to put us at express stops, 14th, 42nd, 59th,” his voice gets louder with each number. “And that’s exactly where they hit!” 

“It’s not your place to have this discussion!” Hotch shouts back. 

“My place?” 

“You need to back off,” Hotch warns. 

“We’ve got seven bodies, man!” 

“Which is exactly why we need to stay focused.” 

“Focused?” Derek all but laughs in his face. He drops his voice, steps in closer to Aaron and looks past him to Kate before continuing. “‘Cause from where I’m standing, all you seem to be focused on is her.” 

“Take a walk. Now,” Aaron matches his tone and then turns away from him. 

The whole office is quiet. Not a single sound is heard. It was true. Aaron’s been uncharacteristically following this woman’s lead since the moment they got there… even before when he talked her up on the jet over. 

Y/N catches his eye, silently relaying that she agrees with Derek… he’s not wrong. Even Hotch knows it. 

This 7th kill brings forth the knowledge that there is a 3rd shooter. You see, one of the programs Penelope has takes the height of the unsubs on the camera, across the 7 videos there are 3 different heights. They’re definitely working with a team but not a gang. They haven’t reached out to the police, the media or given any clue as to what their mission is yet, either. 

—

The next morning, Y/N is sent out onto the streets, partnered up with one of NYPD’s finest. Detective Cooper. He’s respectful, loyal and kind. They get along like a house on fire. He’s one hell of a flirt, but he doesn’t mean anything he says because he’s happily married. He’s funny, too, making her laugh as they walk through the streets, patrolling 14th Street, downtown and Brooklyn, baby. 

There’s a gunshot which makes their heads turn in the direction from which they heard it. It takes seconds for them to start moving towards it, and even quicker for Y/N to press the button inside her jacket sleeve to talk with Penelope in the surveillance booth. “Garcia?” 

“I’m on it, I’m on it,” she rushes through the speaker in Y/N’s ear. Searching hundreds of cameras for the unsub. “16th and Broadway! He’s running east on 16th!” 

“He’s headed our way,” she says, tapping Cooper's arm and taking off with him down the block. 

The unsub sees them and starts running the other way, they both draw their weapons and sprint even faster after him. Cooper is quick on his feet, he must’ve been a runner in his high school days as he’s leaps and bounds in front of her. 

The unsub darts down an ally, runs halfway and waits for Cooper to turn the corner and bang. He shoots Cooper in the chest. Having seen it happen, Y/N rounds the corner with her finger on the trigger and pulls it, twice, as soon as her sights are on the unsub. He goes down before he can even get a second shot out. 

She takes his weapon from him, makes sure he’s going to stay down and rushes back to Cooper. “Cooper!! Garcia, we’ve got an officer down on 16th west of union square!” She shouts into her mic. 

“let me see,” she instructs Cooper to lay back and let her look at the wound. It’s on his left shoulder, bleeding like a son of a bitch. “Okay. You’re okay it’s going to be okay.” 

“Garcia, can you see us?” She shouts into the mic again. “We have an officer down!” 

She presses down on his wound, “Cooper stays with me, It’s going to be okay.” She assures him. Keeping her eyes on his until they hear sirens approaching. “See, it’s all good, you’re going to be fine.” 

The ambulance arrives first, one paramedic attends Cooper, and the other attends the unsub. Not long after, Morgan, Rossi, Reid and JJ are arriving on the scene together. Cooper lost a lot of blood but they think he’ll make it. He’s loaded up and taken to the hospital as a second ambulance arrives purely for the unsub. He’s not going to make it. All the answers to the questions they had, died with him. 

“I should’ve had to shoot him,” she says to herself mostly. Trying to rationalize what just happened. 

“he shot a cop, Y/N you did what you had to do,” Derek reminds her. 

“I know… I just mean, he was ahead of us. He could’ve gotten away but he stopped. He waited for Cooper to round that corner. He shot him on purpose.” 

“Tell me about his behaviour, was he panicked? Was he winded?” 

“His hands were steady,” she recounts. “His eyes were dead calm. I mean, these guys have been hyper-vigilant. Organized! They do pre-surveillance. I mean, what are the odds they would shoot someone only two blocks from where me and Cooper are standing?” 

“You mean he deliberately caught someone where he could be caught?” JJ asks. 

“What if he did? What if he chose this spot because we were here?” 

“What are you thinking?” Derek asks, wanting to know where she could possibly take this. 

“He had no ID on him. He waited until we caught up to him, he was strangely calm, I-I-I, it, it was like suicide by cop!” She sums it all up with a stutter. 

“Why? Why would he do that?” Derek asks. 

“I don’t know? Maybe to make us think everything was finished?” She hypothesizes. “What if they don’t know we know there are 3 of them and this was their way of getting us to think we did it. We got the bad guy. We can go home now. What if they want us to back down so they can do something worse?” 

“We need to go back through the profile and figure out what we missed,” Derek announces, agreeing with her that something is off. 

Hotch and Kate show up mere seconds later, dipping under the crime scene tape and rushing over to their little group. Rossi and Reid, who were standing over the body of the unsub, make their way over too. It's a team huddle. 

“We think we might have a serious problem,” Rossi announces. 

“What is it?” Hotch asks. 

“We have multiple unsubs, they’re disciplined, they’re using counter-surveillance. They know the FBI movements, there’s a hierarchy. What does that usually equal?” He poses it back to Hotch. 

“Terrorism,” he answers.

They get off the streets then, regrouping back at Federal Plaza to go over the newest findings and re-profile the unsubs. Reid explains that these murders simulate a bombing. They station someone to watch the scene and gauge police response time, at which point they know when to bring in a second bomb. Their ideal situation is to take out a first round of civilians and a second round of first responders. they’ve seen this before, just never like this. 

Something bigger is coming. How soon? They don’t know. 

“I think they’re targeting points of entry,” reid points out, referring to his map. “Each murder has taken place at a bridge or tunnel.” 

Y/N steps up closer to the board. “Holland tunnel, midtown tunnel, Manhattan bridge.” 

“If a bomb went off, the emergency response would shut down any ability in or out of the city,” JJ reminds them. “It’s like people would be trapped on the island.” 

“Keep in mind it’s still a theory, like any profile,” Aaron says, calming their nerves before they all panic. 

Just then, Garcia calls Morgan's phone. “We’ve got a problem. I went ahead and checked all 4,468 cameras and they’ve hacked into the surveillance system. They’ve got footage of every crime scene. They’ve been watching since the beginning.” 

“How could we not have caught this?” Hotch asks. 

“They were smart. They hacked in one camera at a time, it wasn’t system-wide, I had to check each camera one at a time.” 

“And this is from every crime scene?” Y/N asks, making sure she has it right in her mind. 

“I’m afraid so… they hacked into 1 camera at every scene. The one with the best angle, we only caught it because Lisa here, my number 2, was checking the days after each murder and noticed the shots were different. The angles changed so minutely that you wouldn’t notice a difference unless you were zoned in on that camera 24/7.” 

“Thanks, Garcia,” Derek says. “Call us if you find anything else.” 

“So much for theory,” Dave retorts. 

“We need to hit the ground running,” Kate stands, visibly anxious about what this means to her job. 

She’s so close to being fired and replaced, she’s been warned they want to replace her with Derek Morgan. It’s why the two of them have been butting heads. She wants to get ahead of his before all of New York City is up in flames and her head is on the chopping block. 

“Reid,” Hotch calls his attention as they enter the room. “Take Y/N go brief Port Authority police.” 

“Yes sir,” they both agree at the same time. 

“JJ I want you on the phone running point with the Governor, Dave will you go talk to the commissioner? And Morgan, I want you to brief Homeland Security. Kate and I will meet with the Mayor.” 

Everyone starts to get up and get going, “We’ll meet back here as soon as possible. Stay alert, stay vigilant. With them knowing were here, we could become a target.” 

She lets Reid drive, throwing him the keys as they walk to the elevators. They’re the first to leave. They make it 6 blocks from the plaza when they hear the news over the radio. 10-80. That’s cop talk for an explosion. They slow down, reid pulls them to the side of the road and they listen closely. “Please note that 10-80 was a car bomb.” 

Reid flips on the sirens, all the traffic on the road comes to a halt and he u-turns out of there faster than she’s ever seen him move a vehicle. With their lights and sirens going, they run every red light, they make it back to Federal Plaza and rush up to see the rest of the team. The whole time, she’s on the phone, trying to get at least 1 member of the team but there’s no service. “New York of all places should have service!” She shouts, slamming her flip phone shut again. 

“we’re here,” Reid announces, throwing the car in park. 

They rush back upstairs, it’s just Rossi that’s left in the building. “A car bomb?” Y/N says as she makes it to Rossi’s side. “Did they say where?” 

He shakes his head. “No, and the cell towers are down. This is what we’ve been waiting for. We’re looking at 8 suicide bombers that are about to hit each and every location of the murders. Reid, I need you to make a list and get it to homeland security and quick. Tell them to pour troops into all those sites. This isn’t a false alarm. This is terrorism.” 

“Actually, if we’re correct, it’ll be 16 suicide bombers,” he reminds Rossi. “One for the civilians. One for the first responders.” 

“Fuck,” Rossi mumbles under his breath. Referring to the TV for a moment as the first news reporters have arrived on the scene. 

The woman on screen holds her hand to her ear, listening to what information she has. “I’m hearing that the explosion was a car bomb. The car in question was a black SUV just outside 26 Federal Plaza.” 

They all know what that means. Hotch was right. 

Rossi presses the quick dial button for the CCTV command post, getting in touch with Penelope as she returns to the computers. “Can you see anything?” 

“I literally just sat down sir, give me one moment,” she says as they hear furious typing. “Where am I looking?” 

“they said the explosion was a Black SUV just outside Federal Plaza—

“Oh no, you don’t think—

“I need you to look, Penelope,” he pushes her back to the main focus. “Can you see anything yet?” 

“Hold on I have 300 camera angles and— have you heard from anyone?” 

“I’m here with Reid and Y/L/N, but we haven’t heard from anyone else.” 

“Oh no, oh no no no,” she chants to herself as she keeps looking. “Sir, I’ll call you when I know more I cannot multi task like this.” 

“Thank you, Garcia.” 

Until then they just have to sit and wait… just not in this building. 

A Critical incident command centre is set up at 700 Hudson, they’re rushed out of 26 fed, down the back stairwell and out the door. A shuttle bus comes to pick them all up in waves, and a bomb sniffer dog is there too, checking the shuttle busses before they leave, they even check Reid and Y/N’s SUV before they head out themselves. They stare out the windows, trying to get any look they can at the scene but they don’t pass it. They’re completely in the dark as to what is going on. 

When they make it to the command centre, JJ is pulling up right behind them. 

“oh my god, JJ,” Y/N wraps her up in a hug. “Have you heard from the others?” 

“My phone isn’t working,” she complains. “Come on, let's head inside. I’m sure there’s a news helicopter out by now and live footage from the scene.” 

Upstairs, the phone is ringing like crazy, Dave rushes to it and hits the speaker. “Hello?” 

“Rossi, open the computer I have live footage from the blast!” 

At the same moment, Y/N turns on the TV then to see helicopter live footage of the scene. It shows Aaron and Kates SUV in flames, Kate on the ground and Aaron covered in blood hovering over him. 

She almost loses her mind thinking he’s hurt. She starts to leave, grabbing her things and searching for the keys in Reid's bag but it’s not there. “What are you doing?” He stops her. 

“Aar—Hotch, he—he needs us? Shouldn’t we go to him?” 

“We profiled that the first attack was to garner a response from the police, if the police and ambulance show up there will be a second bomb taking out all the first responders, we can’t go,” he reminds her. 

“But he’s hurt and bleeding? Shouldn’t someone go to him? Let me go to him!” 

“Y/N… we can’t,” Spencer looks her dead in the eyes, all the compassion in his soul seeping out through his own, he knows why she wants to run to him. But he can’t let her. 

“Hey, hey look,” JJ calls their attention back to the TV to show Derek running up to him. “Look, Dereks there, he’s going to help him until we know it’s safe to bring in the emergency services.” 

She quickly makes her way back to the TV, watching with a hand over her mouth, she’s beyond worried. Anxious doesn’t even begin to cover the sinking feeling in her chest. Kate’s dying. He has to watch a second woman who looks like his wife leave him in just a few short months. This is going to kill him if another bomb doesn’t. 

Penelope has eyes on the crime scene, she calls both JJ and Derek, allowing the team to have some form of communication altogether. She goes back on the security footage, and she notices the bomber place the bomb and sit around and watch it go off… and then he returns to the scene. 

He was the same kid currently “helping” Hotch. 

He even called 911 for him… the next thing they see on the TV is Derek take off after the unsub and a single ambulance pulls onto the scene. 

“Can I go now?” Y/N asks the rest of them. 

“Yeah, you can” Rossi agrees. “Penelope you find out what hospital they’re going to through the dispatch system and Y/L/N’ll meet them there.” 

“Got it, sir… but I’m not seeing anyone dispatched to Hotch’s location?” She explains. “There’s a strict order not to go… they must’ve gone of their own volition.” 

“Okay… can you follow the ambulance on the cameras?” JJ suggests, “Find out what way they’re going and cross that with the nearest hospital.” 

“I can do that,” she says, furiously typing away. “Yeah, I can do that…. Okay, they’re headed uptown…” 

She wants to run. She feels like she could chase down the ambulance and meet Aaron there in a matter of seconds, that’s how much adrenaline is rushing through her veins. 

“Saint Barclays!” Penelope shouts once she has it. “Go, go now!” 

“Spence, keys!” Y/N shouts to him and he throws the keys her way. She catches them and then she’s off. She doesn’t even take the elevator, she runs down 6 flights of stairs, pushes open the fire exit doors and books it for their SUV. 

Once inside she has the car on, her seatbelt fastened and her lights and sirens on. She speeds down the street, whipping the SUV around corners, she haphazardly comes to a halt in the emergency parking lot and throws the car in park. She leaves her door open and runs inside the emergency room. 

She stops the first nurse she sees, “Hi, hi, I’m looking for agent Hotchner? He just came in he— oh my god,” she notices him. “Is he okay?” 

“So far we’ve diagnosed him with acute acoustic trauma in his right ear and the doctor is working on pulling shrapnel from his left leg. But he’s going to be okay. He passed out shortly after arriving, my guess is that the adrenaline didn’t allow him to realize how hurt he was and so the blood loss and the equilibrium challenges from his ear injury all caught up to him all at once.” 

“Okay,” she calms down a bit. “And the agent he brought in?” 

“She’s in surgery,” the nurse explains. A solum look on her face. This won’t end well. 

“Can I sit in there with him?” She asks, pointing to Aaron’s little corner of the ER. 

She shakes her head, “Not until the doctor is done. When he wakes up he might be a little scared and confused, I wouldn’t want you getting hurt as well.” 

“Okay…” she understands, so she waits there, resting against the nurses station and watching over him from afar. 

Morgan comes rushing in not long after. She’s too busy listening to him talk to the nurses to notice that Aaron is up, he’s confused and yelling from his ear injury. He rips off his vital cords, and there’s an elongated beep ringing through the ER as the nurses try to get him to sit down. 

“Agent Hotchner—

“Aaron,” she cuts the doctor off and rushes in front of him. Places her hands on his chest and looks up into his eyes, “Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay. Calm down… you’re at the hospital. Kate is in surgery, Derek is here too.” 

“I need my clothes,” he says in a softer tone. “Where are my clothes?” 

“We’ll get you your go bag, just calm down a second,” she ushers him back to his bed and makes him sit down. 

“Has anything happened since the bomb went off?” He asks, looking past her to Derek. 

He shakes his head. “No.” 

“And Sam?” He asks. 

“He’s dead.” 

That must be the kid who detonated the bomb and stayed back to pretend to help… he just wanted to see the results of his destruction. 

“The team needs to be here, we need to discuss this together… I don’t understand why they’d just set off one bomb and in a place none of the other attacks happened?” He says, trying his best to rationalize it but he can’t figure it out. 

“I’ll call the others… Y/N?” 

“I’ve got him,” she smiles over to Derek. “Go.” 

She turns back to Aaron with a small smile, she looks to his ear which is packed with cotton and the dried blood that dripped down his neck. “Excuse me?” She grabs the attention of one of the nurses. “Can I have some antibacterial wipes, I just want to clean the blood off him?” 

“Sure,” the nurse says before disappearing for a moment. “Here,” she hands her a few things to get him all cleaned up. 

“Thank you,” she smiles. 

“Thanks,” Aaron adds. Feeling sorry for reacting the way he did moments ago. “You don’t have—

“Well, I’m going to,” she cuts him off. She peels open one of the little packets and unfolds the wet wipe inside of it. “I’m sorry if this stings at all.” 

She wipes the blood off his ear and neck, she tilts his head back a bit and she starts on the marks on his forehead and cheeks, her heart aches for him. He reaches out and holds her around her hips, letting his shoulders drop as he relaxes a bit… and then he rests his head against her chest and hugs her. 

She rubs his back, “You’re okay…” She rests her cheek on the top of his head for a moment. Resisting the urge to kiss his head, instead, she waits for him to pull back and then she smiles at him. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I don’t know who I’d talk to anymore if I lose you.” 

“You’d need something a lot stronger than a bomb to get rid of me,” he teases, finding his humour again. 

She manages to laugh. “Okay, big guy, I’m glad to see your humour is still intact… how’s your leg?” 

He looks down at it, his hospital gown rests at his thigh, and he can see the bandages on his calf. “Okay, I didn’t realize I hurt it?” 

“Shrapnel,” she explains. “They got it all.”

“That’s good.” 

Derek comes back around the corner then. “The teams on the… way? You two wanna tell me something?” He teases. 

“Oh hush,” Y/N waves him off. “I’d worry if it was you or Reid or JJ too.” 

“Not Rossi?”

“He barely ever steps into the way of danger,” she reminds them. “He’s too old for this shit.” 

She takes a step back from Aaron, his hands fall back to rest on his own legs, and he sighs. “Any news?” 

Derek shakes his head. “None. Homeland security is about to call everyone off, they think this was all a false alarm.” 

“They’d be stupid to do that,” Aaron remarks. 

“I know… it doesn’t make any sense?” 

“Who did that Sam kid keep calling? Garcia said that there weren’t any ambulances dispatched to his area, how’d they know to get there?” Y/N asks. 

“I don’t know… let me call Garcia,” Derek suggested, stepping out of the room again. 

“The hospital's on a bypass,” Aaron looks up at her with horrified eyes. “The secret service is here, they didn’t want to let us in but… oh, god, I drove the bomb right in here.” 

“We don’t know that,” she tries to push his worries away. 

“We do. We do know that. They knew we’d catch on to them, they knew we’d stop all first responders from actually responding or run the risk of having the first wave taken out as well. This was their way to get to a presidential target.” 

The team comes rushing in then, JJ has his go bag in her hands, “are you okay?” 

“I’m fine, I’ll change, Y/N tell them what I told you,” he orders, ushering her out of the room and closing the curtain on himself so he can change. 

She repeats Aaron's thoughts, and Derek supports his theory by explaining that Sam never called 911. He called the same number 9 times, a disposable phone, that was destroyed around the same time Sam died. They planned this. This is their end game. They had to get moving. 

Derek, JJ and Rossi head down to the garage while Y/N Hotch and Reid head up to the operating floor to warn the secret service. The hospital begins evacuations, Derek finds a bomb in the ambulance and Penelope puts a jammer on the cell phone signal so it can’t go off while they think of the next steps… then Derek gets the brave idea to drive the ambulance out of there, towards a clearing, all by himself. 

It’s stupid, it’s reckless… but it works. 

They find the unsub, the paramedic that Hotch drove in with, sitting down in the ambulance bay, knife to his throat and phone detonator in his hand. He’s waiting for a reconnection. One that will come in 10 seconds. But they’re already onto him… he has no choice but to end his life or go to prison. So he picks up a blade and slits his own throat. 

The case ends with 8 dead civilians, an injured cop, 3 dead suspects and the death of Kate Joyner. 

Aaron leaves with a broken heart and ringing in his ear that doesn’t seem to be stopping any time soon. 

The majority of the team heads home. JJ leaves as soon as she can, newly pregnant and with the love of her life. Derek, Reid and Rossi all head back in the bureaus jet… Y/N offers to drive Aaron home. The pressure in the air would hurt him in her flight and taking the train home alone would be sad, so she drives him. 

They drive in silence most of the way. He has a few naps, waking up only to drink some water and take more medicine. She expected to be bored, but keeping him safe, making sure he gets home okay, that’s more than worth it. 

—

Back at Quantico, Aaron’s placed on a medical leave of absence while he recovers from his ear injury. He’s not happy about it. Not at all. He isn’t allowed to join them on cases, and he’s not even supposed to come into the office until he has a doctor sign off that he’s good to go back into the field… but that doesn’t stop him. 

He needs something to do. He’s so bored in his bland little apartment that he comes into the office just to hang out with Anderson and help with paperwork. 

He has a couple MRI’s lined up in a week to check the damage to his ear, it still hasn’t stopped ringing which he doesn’t quite mind… it’s the pain that bothers him. He’s been given a prescription for T3s, which worry Y/N just a little. They worry Reid a lot. 

Everyone in the office stays up to date with Hotch’s condition, they all talk about it like he’s their father in a nursing home, prescribed something new. It’s sweet how much they care, but Aaron hates being doted on. He hates that people see him as weak even if it’s just for a little while. It sucks not being the leader they’ve come to know and love. But the thing about love is that it doesn’t stop once you get hurt, it just gets bigger. 

They’re talking on the phone again too, he holds the receiver to his good ear and he turns on subtitles for their shows so he can still follow along. Every now and then he has her repeat something, and he scolds himself, saying he feels like he’s 85 and senile but she loves it. 

“Hey, it just means you actually care about what I have to say.” 

“I do care,” he reminds her. “And I appreciate how much you care about me too… I almost forgot what it’s like to have someone care about me so much.” 

“Has she reached out at all since the accident?” She pries. 

“She brought Jack over the other day for a few hours, he just wanted to cuddle and show me his toys which was nice… Haley sat in the corner and read a magazine the whole time. She didn’t even ask about it.” 

“I’m sorry, Aaron,” her heart breaks for him. She knew that the divorce wasn’t his idea, not even the slightest… he still loved her. He probably always would. 

He brushes it off, asking her about their latest case instead. She told him everything, from the time they gathered in the briefing room until the flight back home, she recounted it all. He just hummed along, letting her know he was following, he didn’t ask many questions, seemingly because he knew if he just listened longer they’d be answered. 

It becomes a habit after that. He calls at the end of a case just to ask her how it went. He knew he could read about it in the paperwork later, but it was more rewarding this way. 

He has 1 week left until his ear is healed completely, he’s convinced the doctor to let him go back to work if he takes it easy, which means once they get back from their current case, he’ll be back out there. 

He calls her at 11pm Virginia time, knowing she’s just an hour behind him in Illinois. They’re done with the case but staying 1 more night just to sleep it off. He expects her to be in her own hotel room, away from the others, able to take his call… she isn’t. She’s sharing with JJ. 

She sees his name on her caller ID and takes her phone with her to the door, “I’m just going to take this I’ll be right back,” she assures JJ. 

“Do you have your room key cause I don’t want to get up and let you back in, I’m exhausted,” JJ asks. 

“Yeah, yeah I do,” she rushes out as she leaves the room. “Hello?” 

“Hey, sorry were you asleep?” 

“No, I’m sharing with JJ tonight, we were talking,” she shares. 

“Oh, I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be sorry, how are you? How’s the ear?” 

“Good… I can go back to work tomorrow.” 

“Tomorrow?” She repeats, concerned as all hell. “Aaron, you still have a tear in your ear, if you’re not careful you’ll lose hearing forever. It’s not a joke. Don’t you want to be able to hear? We can catch a few more bad guys without you. It’s okay?” 

“I need to come back to work before I lose my mind,” he responds with a bit of an attitude. “If I have to sit in my tiny ass apartment and stare at these white walls any longer, I will go crazy.” 

“I rather you mad than deaf,” she explains, trying to keep herself together. “If you come back to work you’re taking it easy. I’m going to stick to your side like glue, you hear me? I’m not letting this get worse.” 

“Fine, mom,” he teases her. “Whatever you wish.” 

“I thought you liked that I cared?” She teases back. “You’re my best friend, who else am I going to talk to if you can’t hear me?” 

“You can’t get rid of me that easy,” he assures her. “It’ll be fine.”

—

The Angel Maker case is one she studied at the academy. Victims were beaten with the assailants' bare hands until they were dead. Post-mortem stab wounds were found in each victim's torso, made by a screwdriver, each victim's wounds in a different pattern. Some with more holes than the others, as if he was experiencing different amounts of rage with each woman. There were also signs of sexual assault. He completely abused these poor women after death. It was a good thing they caught him. 

He died a year ago yesterday, by lethal injection at the prison in Lower Cannon, Ohio. They thought they were done with him as soon as he was lowered into the ground…

Their newest victim, Delilah Grennan, was bludgeoned to death with what is assumed to be a hammer. She too, was stabbed in the chest with a screwdriver. She was also raped. Only the weird part was the semen left at the crime belonged to Cortland Bryce Ryan. The Angel Maker himself.

“So this unsub is a weaker guy?” Derek proposes. “Or at least someone who perceives themself as weak?” 

“He brought along the hammer to make sure the job was done,” Y/N adds, staring across the table at Aaron, watching him blink slowly. He’s in pain as if someone smacked him upside the head with a hammer and he’s keeping it to himself. 

She almost misses Rossi’s hilarious joke about the elephant in the room… the dead man's seamen at the crime scene, that elephant, all because she’s staring at Hotch. “It’s obvious someone planted the DNA at the scene,” Aaron adds, his voice small yet powerful at the same time. 

“In the victim…” Derek reminds him. 

“That’s one theory,” Spencer mumbles. 

“There's another theory?” JJ asks, leaning over the back of his seat, wondering what’s going on inside that genius head of his. 

“Think about who shares the exact DNA profile as another person,” he hypothesizes. 

“Reid, you’re not seriously floating around the idea of an evil twin?” Morgan groans, knowing Reid all too well. 

“No, I’m not. I’m floating around the idea of an Eviler Twin,” he raises his brows, proud of himself for that one. No one else finds it funny. “Traditionally the concept is a good twin and an evil twin. But in this case, it’s evil twin, Eviler twin.” He says it with more suspense this time. 

No one says anything. Y/N just shakes her head, trying not to smile cause it was funny… and then Aaron grips his forehead and hunches forward, something is making his head hurt. 

“JJ get him some water,” Y/N suggests right away, keeping her voice down. “Hey, where are your pills?” 

He points to his bag over on the other side of the aisle and she’s quick to pull his bag over and start looking for them. She takes two from the little orange medication bottle and slides them across the table just as JJ brings him a glass of water. 

“Were you actually cleared to fly?” Morgan asks in a similarly low tone. 

Aaron swallows down his medicine and nods, he doesn’t say anything, he just rests his head back against the headrest and keeps his eyes closed. Everyone turns to Y/N instead, asking questions with their eyes. She shrugs, she doesn’t know what to say. Other than she knew this would happen. 

—

It happens again when they’re digging up the original unsubs grave. The sound of the metal grinding as the front-end loader hauls the coffin out of the dirt, it’s way too loud for Aaron. He covers both of his ears and starts walking away, cowering from it all. She pats Reid's shoulder so he stays there and watches everything go down with the Sheriff and then she follows Hotch through the cemetery towards a tree that he’s leaned himself against. 

She carefully runs her hand over his side, inside his suit jacket, “hey,” she whispers, getting him to look at her. He’s almost crying with how bad it hurts. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” he whispers back. 

“How am I supposed to look at you?” She argues, raising her voice a little. “You said you were cleared for duty. This isn’t what being cleared looks like. You’re going to go deaf if you don’t take it easy.” 

“I’m going to go deaf if you keep yelling at me like I’m 4,” he spits back. Reaching into his pocket for more pills, she takes the bottle from him. 

“Uh-uh, no. You had two 3 hours ago. It’s not time for more. Stop putting yourself in harm's way and relying on these,” she scolds him. She steps in even closer to him so it’s just them to hear. “I care about you. I’m not letting you ruin your life because you can’t find the patience to actually heal properly.” 

She has her finger pressed into his chest as she stares him down, asserting her own dominance over him. “I’ll be administering these to you from here on out, got it?” 

He nods. “Yes ma’am.” 

“Good, now the noise has stopped over there, go look in the casket and then I’m driving us back to the precinct,” she says as she steps away from him and marches away. 

Reid and the sheriff were the first to see that the casket was empty. Someone stole his body and god knows how long ago. Aaron takes once glance at the empty box and heads back towards the SUV, getting in the passenger side with a huff. 

“What’s going on with him?” 

“He’s not better. He wasn’t cleared because he’s healed. He was cleared because he’s a sweet talker and the doctor believed his bullshit,” she rants. “He’s taking his meds like candy, he’s not taking care of himself… so I let him have it. I’m going to drive us back, I’m administering his meds from now on. He’s going to actually heal whether he likes it or not.” 

Reid follows her to the car, and as soon as they’re out of earshot of the local cops, he asks it. The question she’s been dreading hearing. 

“You love him, don’t you?” 

“What?” She turns to him with a faux look of confusion. “I mean, yeah? We all do. He’s our boss?” 

“No. If this was just you protecting a co-worker, you would’ve done the same thing for me after Tobias Hankel…” 

“Spencer,” her heart breaks for him. “I wanted to help you, we all did, but we didn’t know how.” 

“You just did to him what you should’ve done for me,” he almost cries. “You should’ve reached into my bag and taken the drugs away from me… but you didn’t. Because I’m just a co-worker to you. Admit it. You love him.” 

“I can’t,” she gives in. “He still loves Haley. I’ll never be her.” 

“No, you can’t… but maybe he doesn’t want you to be,” Reid simplifies it. “maybe he needs you to be everything she wasn’t.” 

“I don’t know,” she sighs, “but we’ve gotta go… I’m sorry, by the way.” 

“It’s okay,” he places his hand on her arm and they keep walking. “I’m not jealous or anything, I just sometimes get mad that it happened to me at all.” 

“You can talk to me about it whenever,” she makes sure he knows that. “I’m always here for you.” 

“Thanks,” he smiles at her, knowing she means it. 

—

Turns out, they had difficulties putting Ryan to death. The whole town had a conspiracy that he never actually died… so finding his empty casket rocked the whole police station. Even in his last words, he said he’d come back to life to finish what he started. Putting the town at ease was their number one priority, aside from catching the new killer. Because a town in panic causes more crime, and more death than a single killer could even imagine. 

Hotch proposes that the person who took Ryan's body is the same person doing these copycat killings. They had to’ve had help from inside the prison… probably the same person who was getting all his memorabilia and… fluids, out of the prison. 

Yesterday, before they found the empty grave, Derek interviewed a guard at the prison, Guard Rutledge. Weird guy. Sketchy, Derek called him. 

So, what are the odds that when Garcia— the ever-incredible computer genius who leaves no stone unturned— searches the web for Angel Maker memorabilia, the most common seller is a man by the name of Sid Rutledge? Slim pickings, but of course, our girl Garcia figured him out. 

Morgan is tasked with repaying Rutledge another visit, this time, at his house. He takes Y/N along with him for backup and the two of them make it to his house just after nightfall. 

They knock on his door, making their presence known, “Sid!! FBI Open up… come on, man, I just want to talk.” 

She peers through his windows, there’s no movement in the main room and all his lights are still on. “I’m not seeing anything?” 

Derek twists the doorknob, testing if he can get in before he breaks a door down (he’s good at that) and the door pushes wide open. 

“That’s weird,” Y/N remarks. “Guys got two deadbolts and doesn’t bother to lock either?” 

“Sid?” Derek calls out once more, unholstering his weapon and raising it. “Sid, we’re coming in.” 

Y/N follows his lead, holding her weapon, her finger on the safety, she doubts she’ll have to use it but just in case… they search around his main living room, clear the kitchen and then head off towards the bedroom, down the hall. From the doorway Derek can see the man’s feet, he’s laying in bed. 

“Wakey-wakey, my man,” he shouts as he pops into the room and finds something they didn’t expect. 

Rutledge, laying in his bed with his pants off, in just his shirt and boxers, dead. Shot in the head and in the groin. 

“That’s personal,” Derek says under his breath. 

They put their guns away, Y/N pulls rubber gloves out of her back pocket and starts to put them on. In her other back pocket, a wad of evidence bags. 

“Well yeah, he was selling the unsub memorabilia… Rutledge knew his face.” 

“Now the unsub’s covering his tracks,” Derek says with a sigh. Putting his own gloves on before taking out his cell phone. “Hey, Hotch… we’re gonna need crime scene and the coroner at Rutledge's place… yeah. Shot twice, I’d say he’s been dead for at least an hour, maybe two. Yeah. See you back at the precinct soon. Bye.” 

“You think he contacted the unsub after you visited him at the prison? Maybe he wanted them to get their stories straight?” 

“That or he threatened him… he might’ve wanted the glory of catching a killer?” Derek proposes.

She looks around his room for a moment, nothing sticks out, so she heads to the bathroom. “God, it stinks in here… muggy and thick, too much old spice.” 

“Really? He strikes me as an aqua velva kinda guy,” Derek teases. 

In the bathroom, what does she find on the first shelf? That exact cologne. “you're good!” 

“I’ve been at this longer than you, kid,” he teases. “Anything good in there?” 

On the counter, there’s a bottle of pills. She suspects antidepressants or even allergy meds, nope. She reads the bottle and laughs, “No shit… Viagra.” 

She makes her way back out into the room and holds the bottle up, “I think we’ve got this unsub all wrong.” 

“Why?” 

“He was taking Viagra. You only leave the door open and take this when you’re expecting someone. There doesn’t look to be a struggle in here either, his pants came off willingly… either Sid’s gay or our unsub is a woman.” 

They bring their findings back to the police station, most of the crew has gone home for the night and the minimal, small-town, night shift has clocked on. Y/N and Derek walk in on JJ and Reid sitting together at the table, Hotch pouring himself more coffee and Dave on the phone in the back room. 

“we’ve got news,” Derek announces. 

“He was taking Viagra,” Y/N places the evidence bag on the table. “I sent the crime scene photos we took to the computer, you’ll see on there that there wasn’t a struggle. He was shot in the head and in the junk… he was expecting the unsub for sex.” 

“I knew it!” Reid lets out a cheer, almost too loud for their little bubble. “When you were gone I was suggesting that. There’s an abnormally high amount of female fans of serial killers, the way they love these killers is fascinating, there are endless lengths that these women will go to, to feel closer to the killers. Buying his sperm, continuing his killings… to a psychopath, in her mind, doing those things would bring her closer to him. A woman in love, no matter how her brain works, would do anything for the man she loves.”

Y/N just looks at reid with wide eyes, feeling called out in a sense. Of course, he’d come to that conclusion after their talk and what he’s seen. She just hopes Aaron doesn’t realize it too. She’s not ready to lose a friend because of her stupid crush on him. 

—

On their 3rd day in Ohio, they finally give the profile. They fill the cops in on their theory and in doing so, they calm the nerves of the town thinking a ghost is on the loose, killing these women. It takes up an hour of their morning, they answer every question available and then start narrowing down suspects. 

JJ gets a list of women who visited Ryan in prison before he was put to death and Reid goes back through his fan mail to ascertain a pattern that would lead them to the unsub. Alongside that list of women who visited Ryan, they also found out that Sid Rutledge worked at a woman’s prison. He had a history of smuggling things in and out for sexual favours. Ie. they found the reason why he was shot in the dick. 

They have two main suspect pools, insane fans and wronged women. Finding the cross over… that would be where the unsub is. 

Y/N and Rossi are sent out on the road, their job is to interview the woman who visited Rutledge and wrote him. Most of them were crazy, basically harmless and not worth the time. Their last interview of the day, however, she— she was different. 

Shara Carlino, she visited the angel maker 70 times and even bought herself a home overlooking the prison. She’s quite beautiful, you’d never know she’s fucked in the head… within those 70 visits, she was subject to their rigorous strip searches and 3-hour wait times just to see him for 10 minutes. 

“That’s Two hundred and 10 hours of waiting and just 11 hours of face-to-face time with the love of her life?” Y/N does the quick math in her head and then shakes it. 

“Would you endure that for a man?” Rossi teases. 

“No… I’m more into catching the killers than fucking them.” 

“Amen, sister,” Rossi jokes, knocking on Shara’s door. 

“Hello?” She answers, just as pretty as her photo. Red hair, pleasant smile. She’s dressed up like she’s ready to go out… “can I help you?” 

They hold their badges up, “Hi, yes, we’re with the FBI we’re looking into the recent copycat murders and we’d like to speak to you about Cortland Ryan.” 

She invites them in, and offers them tea or coffee but neither of them takes a cup. They sit down at her kitchen table and Y/N opens a file. “According to the logs, you were the angel maker's number one fan?” 

“His name was Cortland and I wasn’t a fan,” she spits back. Sensitive as ever. 

“How would you categorize your relationship?” Y/N asks. 

“We were lovers.” 

“Last time I checked, they didn’t allow conjugal visits on death row?” Rossi makes a joke out of her comment. 

“It wasn’t about physical interaction. When you take away the flesh, all that’s left is the soul,” she says with a mystical expression. Truly believing the words that leave her mouth. “Everything was understood between us. We had no secrets. Cortland made me feel alive in a way no free man ever could.” 

Gross, she thinks… but pushes it away to ask her most pressing question: “Where were you on the 16th of this month?” 

“Why?” 

“We have reason to believe that this copycat killing was done by one of his female fans,” Rossi explains. “Someone who knew Cortland very well.” 

“I was out of town with the company I work for, ask anyone there,” she states her alibi and stands by it, visibly hurt by the fact anyone else could be close to Ryan. 

“Do you know another woman—

“there were no others,” she cuts Rossi off. Sure of herself. 

“I can show you logs and fan mail,” Y/N starts sifting through her evidence folder. “I have photocopies of the letters, women who sent Cortland their photos and even their panties…” 

“They didn’t mean anything to him.” 

“But… whatever connection you had with Cortland died with him,” Y/N looks at her through her lashes, faking sympathy and driving the wedge in deeper. “Not the copycats. She believes that every time she kills for him, every time she repeats his ritual, their connection gets stronger and will keep getting stronger until she completes his mission.” 

“That is of course, unless you help us stop her,” Rossi adds. 

That breaks her. she’s visibly distraught by the thought that someone is closer to him than she was. They see it in her eyes that the psychopathic logic makes sense to her… “there was something… he sent me a letter a few months before his— his passing. I knew it wasn’t meant for me. It was addressed to “my dove.” He never called me that.” 

“Do you have the letter?” Y/N asks, so close to the finish line she could taste it. 

“No. I burned it.”

“Did the text reveal anything about the woman?” Rossi asks. 

“The text was a joke,” she spits back. “Usually his prose was beautiful, seamless.. as if he didn’t even have to try. But this— this letter was pedestrian. Crude.” 

“You never asked him who this Dove was?” Y/N pries further. 

She shakes her head, staying quiet in her hurt. 

“I thought there were no secrets between you?” 

She laughs, looking Y/N up and down, “You’ve never been in love, have you.” 

Y/N smirks, wanting to laugh at the assumption because oh, if she only knew… 

Back in the car, she scribbles down some thoughts as Rossi drives. It’s quiet, the radio is on volume 4 and they barely hear it over the sound of their tires bumping down the old, crumbling paved road of this small town. She shakes her head, thinking to herself, how was it that Reid, someone who’s never had a deeply romantic love in his life could guess her feelings so fast and this woman, this deeply troubled yet deeply in love woman couldn’t see it. 

She would go to the ends of the earth for Aaron. She’d kill for him if she had to. She wanted to cradle his head and kiss his hair, she wanted to make him lunches for work and dinner when they got home. She would have his babies for crying out—

“oh my god,” she speaks into the silence of their car. “Why else would she buy the sperm if not to just plant it at the scenes?” 

“Cause she’s insane?” Rossi laughs. 

“She wants his babies!” She makes herself more clear. “She wanted to make a mini Cortland… holy shit.” 

She picks up her phone and calls Garcia, “Hey, weird question but are you able to access all obstetrics and gynecology records in this country, by any chance?”

“I can, why?” She asks. 

“I think the unsub might’ve tried to get pregnant with the unsubs sperm… she might’ve had checkups, gone to the hospital because of a loss or even had the baby and it died, can you run all the records and cross it with women who visited Cortland and or went to the prison that Rutledge worked at?” 

“I sure can try,” Penelope assures. “I’ll call you when I know more.” 

—

On the morning of their 4th day, they have another victim. Same bludgeoned skull, same rape, same torso wounds. The house is just like the others too. No sign of forced entry and every single window in the joint was opened too. 

Y/N, Hotch and Derek head to the crime scene, Reid, Rossi and JJ stay behind to look through the fan mail a 3rd time with their eyes open for “dove.” 

Once the coroner is done with the body, they head back to see her for themselves. With her gloves on, Y/N moves the woman's shirt up to see her torso marks. She was the only one to see the first victim when they arrived, she knew of the findings and how there was paper in the wounds… she takes out her notepad and starts to draw out the marks, ripping off the page to then hold it over her. 

“Aaron,” she calls him back over. “Look, Ryan knew what he was doing, he had it all memorized when he made his marks, this unsub needs a stencil, that’s why they found paper in the wounds of the first vic… and I think I know what they’re trying to make out.” 

She takes out her phone again, calls Reid and puts him on speaker, “hey, whatcha got?” He answers. 

“I think the unsubs were marking out constellations on the victim's stomach… but I don’t think it’s the zodiac?” 

“I just found a secret code inside all the letters to Dove that I’m trying to crack… you know, there is a dove constellation, it’s part of the heavenly waters?”

“Reid,” Hotch makes his presence known. “Can you have JJ pull the images of every single victim, this case and the original, and match them to the constellations in that family?” 

“I sure can… you know, it also makes sense why all the windows are open at the crime scenes now, he wanted their souls to escape back to heaven, he was quite literally making angels,” Reid explains. 

“Sick… well, we’ll be back at the precinct in 30, nice work,” Y/N smiles as she hangs up. 

—

When they arrive, JJ has all the torso pictures on the board with printed-off photos of the constellations. “There are 9 main constellations,” she explains once they’re close enough. “Ryan did 6 and our unsub has done two more, the only one she hasn’t done is the dove… either we’ll have a new body tonight or she’s going to do it to herself.” 

“So she knew about the real meaning of the stomach marks but we didn’t?” Derek can’t believe it. 

“They were a lot closer than we realized,” Rossi adds. 

“More than that,” Reid pipes up, scribbling on his own whiteboard. “They were in love.” 

“You cracked it already?” Y/N can’t believe it. It’s been not even an hour since their phone call. 

He nods, “I profiled the author, Cortland Ryan. He was on death row with several high-ranking members of the Aryan brotherhood… either they taught it to him or he read a lot of 16th-century literature. The Aryans like to use a cypher based on a 400-year-old code written by Sir Francis Bacon…” 

“So it’s a binary code,” Derek says with a sigh, always amazed at how Spencer’s mind works. 

“Bacon used a 21-letter alphabet, this one is 24. Each letter is assigned a string of 5 binary digits. This combination yields 32 possible encodings. Normally, you’d use a computer to run all these combinations but it was quicker just to do it long-hand until I found the right one.” 

Y/N wraps her arms around him and holds him close, “Oh, I love your brain, you beautiful genius, you!”

He blushes, and wiggles out of her grip, making his way to the table with all the letters. “Thanks… now, we don’t have a complete record of their correspondence, but I was able to make a chronology. The woman he calls “Dove” established contact right after the trial. 

They all read through the letters, disgusted by what these two people called love. “Ew, okay here she said ‘Take heart, my love. I will bring a part of you back into this world… you will watch over us from the stars.’ Us. she was definitely pregnant when she wrote that.” 

“Agent Hotchner!” The sheriff comes running to the room. “We just got reports of a woman attacked in her home by a female assailant.” 

“Y/N, we’ll head to the scene, you 4, call Penelope, and tell her to make it her priority to cross-reference birth records with the women on our lists!” He calls as they all head towards the door. “I don’t care if you have to physically head to the local hospital and read through records and interview staff, I want a name!”

She follows Aaron out of the station and he searches his pockets for his keys, “you can drive, right?” She asks. 

He nods, “I haven’t had any medicine at all today. I’m feeling better…” 

“Okay, good,” she gets into the passenger seat beside him. 

They buckle up their seatbelts and Aaron places his hand on her headrest, looking behind them, “Hold on.” He backs up and spins the SUV around, following the sheriff to the scene in his police cruiser. 

Reckless driving shouldn’t be so hot… but she swoons anyway. 

When they get to the scene of the crime, it’s so totally different from what they’ve seen 2 times before. The assailant pretended to break down and walked up to the victim in her driveway, asked to call a towing service and they tried to attack the victim. She screamed for help so loud the rest of the neighbourhood heard it, left their homes and beat the assailant into submission, subduing her until police could come make an arrest. 

“Are you kidding me?” Y/N can’t believe who she sees in the back seat of the police cruiser… “That’s Shara. Shara Carlino. Rossi and I interviewed her the other day. Her alibi is solid.” She walks over to the cruiser and opens the door, Hotch in tow behind her. “What the hell, Shara?” 

“It worked for her, why couldn’t it work for me!” She cries, bloody and bruised. 

Y/N just shakes her head, “Because he’s dead. He’s a psychopath who never fucking loved you, he never could. You ruined your life for him, and for what? You don’t even look that good in orange.” She slams the door closed and scoffs. “And she accused me of never having been in love before.” 

“Have you?” Aaron asks. 

She wasn’t expecting that, she stands a little taller and shrugs, “I mean… yeah? Once or twice.” 

“Third times the charm,” he teases, patting her shoulder and then walking back towards the SUV. They weren’t needed here. 

—

They’re all sitting at the table when Penelope calls again. 

“So there were 463 children born in Lower Cannon between 2006 and 2008,” Garcia recounts over the phone. “If you want me to find baby angel maker, I’m gonna have to narrow this down.” 

“I have a letter here, there’s a quote from Cortland that says, ‘I knew even before you told me that the future had taken root,’” Y/N reads. “That must mean she did get pregnant… that letter was written January 7th, 2007.” 

“Cool so fast forward 9 months—

“Ten, actually,” JJ corrects her. “There are 40 weeks of pregnancy, so it’s actually closer to 10 months.” 

“Seriously?” Penelope had no idea. 

“it was news to me too,” JJ rolls her eyes. “I’m going to be pregnant almost all year.” 

“Damn, well, with that new math… I’m looking at August to September 2007… single mothers only, cause you know, you don’t want to brag— oh your baby daddies a 3rd-grade teacher? Mine likes to poke people in the tummy with tools… I have 9 names.” 

They all laugh at Penelope's strange sense of humour. “Cross-reference them with women from the female Prison Rutledge was at,” Derek suggests. 

“Chloe Kelcher,” Penelope announces. 

“Wait,” Reid stands up and starts looking through his papers. He pulls a file from a box and places a piece of paper on the table. “She was on the jury…” 

“She was exposed to the case evidence,” Derek adds. “That’s how she knew about the stomach wounds.” 

“She fell in love with him sitting across from him in the courtroom,” Hotch says with a shake of his head. “She heard everything, she saw what he was capable of, and she wanted him anyway.” 

“What happened to the baby, Garcia?” Y/N asks. 

“He died at the hospital—

“Microvesicular Steatosis,” Reid finishes. “Microvesicular steatosis is characterized by small intracytoplasmic fat vacuoles— liposomes— which accumulate within hepatocytes. Most common causes are tetracyclines- or acute fatty liver of pregnancy, Reye's syndrome, and hepatitis C.”

“Okay… so the only way to stay close to him after the death of both him and her baby, was to keep killing. Two questions, how did she pick her victims and how do we figure out the last one before it’s too late?” Hotch asks. 

“Look at the type of women she was killing, as opposed to Ryan going after women who sexually excited him, she needed a way to get close to them. Delilah made jewelry and sold it from her home, Maxine ran a daycare out of her house. This would give Chloe an opportunity to make an appointment with them and gain access to their homes… and then she could go to the bathroom, crack a window and hope it was still open when she returned in the middle of the night,” Y/N proposes. 

“Okay, let’s get suited up, Garcia, send us her address and search her internet history, see if she’s booked a time to meet with anyone today,” Hotch orders and then hangs up the phone. 

At her house, she’s nowhere to be found. What they do find, however, is a kid's bedroom covered in glow-in-the-dark stars and the decomposing body of Cortland Ryan in a treasure box near what would’ve been her baby crib. It’s disgusting… they call the coroner to pick him up and keep searching the house.  

The Sheriff finds her Filofax filled with dates off appointments and people she knows… she had visits with both Delilah and Maxine the day before their murders, but no tools. No Rape kit, either. 

“She had an appointment this morning,” Dave announces, reading the book back. “Faye Landreaux, 126 North Red—

“Red River Drive,” The Sheriff finishes the address off. “She’s a CPA, she does my taxes.” 

“Does she work out of her house?” Aaron asks. 

“Yep.” 

“Let’s go.” 

—

At the scene, they find Chloe’s car parked on the road. The windows are closed, that’s a good sign that nothing has happened yet… but they need a plan. They need a way to make sure this ends without another death. 

It was Y/N’s job to draw the suspect's attention away from her next victim, speaking to her through a bullhorn while Derek snuck into the house and got the victim to safety. She makes Aaron stand away from the bullhorn, his good ear closest to her so that she doesn’t ruin his hearing further as she talks the suspect away from the bedroom. 

She taunts her, reading letters Cortland wrote to other women, making her question the love they had for one another. “He wasn’t capable of loving you. He was a narcissist, Chloe. He was lying to you. He wrote countless women the same words.” 

Reid quickly recalls the letters from memory, rushing the words down on paper and holding them up to her. 

“Possessions matter not to a condemned man but I cannot leave this world without seeing your face one last time,” Y/N reads over the bullhorn. “It isn’t your fault that he made you feel these things, trust me. It isn’t your fault your baby died. 

Just then, Derek returns with the victim. While what Y/N was saying made her upset, losing a victim just made her furious. 

It was her last chance to complete the love of her life mission and be joined together forever in the afterlife… another crazy conclusion made in the mind of a psychopath. 

“It’s over Chloe, we have Faye,” she says through the bullhorn. They hear her destroying things inside, so she adds. “You have nowhere to go.” 

“I think we have some teargas ready to go,” the sheriff adds. 

“We’re not going to need it, she doesn’t have any place to go,” Aaron assures him. 

“Maybe she’ll do us all a favour and put herself down?” He suggests. 

“No, she won’t do that either. She’s not done,” Aaron knows her too well. 

After a few moments of silence, Chloe starts to come out of the house. Everyone draws their weapons and points them at her as she wields a small revolver. Rossi asks her to put it down but she doesn’t back away. 

“Go stand back there,” Y/N suggests to Aaron, motioning behind the car with her head while she keeps her gun locked on Chloe. “If we shoot you’re going to be in pain again, go. Now, Aaron.” 

Surprisingly, he listens. He makes his way away from them just in time for Chloe to raise her weapon and the sheriff pulls the trigger, knocking her to the ground. He and Y/N rush to Chloe, taking her weapon from her before they check on her… she’s gone. This is what she wanted. It’s then that Y/N notices what she’s done. Made herself the last victim, completing what the angel maker set out to do a decade ago. 

She really was his dove. 

When she looks back, Aaron is holding his head and leaning forward, even at a distance it still made his ear ring. She walks over to him and holsters her gun, “you okay?” 

“I’m good, I’m good… thank you for making me move,” he says in a hushed tone. 

“You’re welcome,” she says but she doesn’t feel good about it. He’s still hurting. He was going to keep hurting until he was fully healed. 

—

They spend the night in a hotel, partnered off to save money when they know the price of keeping the jet in a hangar for another night is already ridiculous. 

Rossi pays for his own room on nights like this, leaving 1 person lucky enough to also have their own room… so they give it to JJ. Now that she’s pregnant she deserves something nice. 

Derek is with Reid, leaving Y/N with Hotch. The way she wanted it. 

They change separately in the bathroom, he goes first and then they switch. By the time she’s done and coming back out, Aaron is sitting in his bed, reading through a case file. 

She puts her bag down by her bed and takes a chance. She sits on the edge of Aaron's bed and he looks at her softly, smiles even, “Thank you for being hard on me this week.” 

“I was just about to apologize,” she admits. “I don’t like raising my voice at you, but someone has to take care of you.” 

“You were right, though… I wasn’t fully cleared, I lied and said I’d stick to light duty but I threw myself into this case thinking it would be fine.” 

“I know,” she sympathizes with him. “You’re going through a lot. Your job is really all you have left and when you can’t go to work, what else are you going to do?” 

“Go crazy,” he laughs. “I’m not going to fly home tomorrow. I’m going to drive back.” 

“That’s a long drive, like 7 hours back to Quantico?” She worries. “Do you want me to come with you?” 

“No, no… not unless you want to?” He looks at her with puppy dog eyes. He’d never ask, but he’d let her if it was her idea. 

“We can make it a whole thing, I mean tomorrow is Friday, we have the weekend off, we don’t need to be back in Virginia till Monday,” she suggests. “We could have some fun?” 

“That sounds nice,” he agrees. “Would it… would it be weird to hug you?” 

“Not at all,” she doesn’t mind in the slightest, she simply moves in closer and opens her arms. 

She holds him there, resting her chin on his shoulder, she closes her eyes and makes it last. He’s so warm, his strong arms feel so comforting and he smells good, too. It’s perfect. She didn’t realize how badly she craved his touch until he was pulling away and it felt like it was over too soon. 

“Any time you need a hug, let me know,” she offers. Leaving it at that. 

—

They take the long way home. 

It only takes an hour for them to get out of Ohio, they make it to West Virginia around lunchtime and pick a random small town to go get some food. The diner they pick is so cute, old-time-y and pink, the waitresses are on rollerblades, it feels like they’ve been sent back in time. 

They go further back in time, however, when they decide to stop at the little antique shop just down the road. 

Most of the stuff is junk… that’s to be expected. But there’s a box near the counter, “photos ¢25 each” and they’re almost all in black and white, some sepia and faded, but all old. That’s for sure. 

She digs through the pile while Aaron looks around at a few things and she finds a few that just break her heart. A 30’s bride, smiling wide with the biggest bouquet of flowers she’s ever seen, just excited to marry the love of her life… and a couple sitting on the porch of their first house, he has his arm around her and she’s got her hands on her pregnant belly. they’re starting a life together. There are school photos and family pictures, all worn with time and left to collect dust in someone else’s shop. 

The saying is “A picture is worth a thousand words” but each photo here is worth a thousand years. Most of the people in these photos are dead now, their love only exists here, in this shop, in her hands. These people who fell in love and lived to the best of their abilities and died surrounded by family, they had no idea where these photos would end up… so she buys a bunch of them, to keep their memories alive longer. 

One of them she buys not just for that reason… but because the couple in the photo looks a little bit like her and Aaron. Part of her thinks that she was always meant to find these, Aaron was meant to get hurt, they were meant to go on this drive and her photos were supposed to come back to her. Her whole heart is so sure that she’s loved Aaron before, that she’ll love him again too, she’ll love him in every lifetime until the world dies too. 

She keeps the photos that she wants to buy in her hands as she makes her way around the store. Aaron’s in the back, looking through stacks of old newspapers and letters. He looks up at her and smiles, “look at this,” he hands her a handful of letters. “These are from 1944, a couple sent them back and forth to each other during the war… look how in love they were.” 

She reads through the letter with tears in her eyes. Stories of this couple's missed anniversary, their oldest child was starting to learn how to play baseball, their youngest had just started to walk… she ends every letter the same. “I pray to god every night you make it home to me, I know he’s working on it for us.” 

She holds her hand over her heart and tries so hard not to let out the sob, “Oh my god?” 

“I know,” he smiles, glossy-eyed and blushing. “What did you find?” 

“Photos,” she hands them to him. “Doesn’t this guy look like you?” 

“Oh, wow…” he honestly can’t believe it. He runs his pointer finger over the woman who looks like her and his shoulders drop. “I guess we’ve been here before.”

“I think we have,” she agrees. “How weird is it that out of all the places we could’ve gone, out of everything that could’ve ever happened, you got hurt just in time for us to have to drive through West Virginia?” 

He shrugs, “I don’t know… you know my mother's family used to live here in 1745, they were coal miners.”

“So you might actually be related to this guy?” She holds the picture up again. 

He nods, “that or I’m a vampire,” he jokes. “I’ve been living here for hundreds of years.” 

She shoves him, “You’re so funny.” 

They wander around some more, Aaron finds a painting he likes and she picks up a cute set of dishware and when they go up to pay, the owner smiles at them. “Together or separate?” 

“Together,” Aaron answers over Y/N saying “separate.” 

“You don’t have to,” she worries but he takes the plates and her photos from her hands and puts them on the counter. 

“I want to,” he assures her with a smug smile. 

“First date?” The lady asks, so sure she’s got it right. 

They shake their heads, “Co-workers, we had some business to attend in Ohio and thought we’d take the long way home…” 

“Oh,” she smiles to herself, knowing there’s something else there… she can feel it. “Well, I’m glad you stopped here, these things were in need of a nice home to go back to.” 

“Aaron here has a new apartment that is very boring,” Y/N teases. “This painting will be perfect for the wall in his kitchen.” 

“That’s what I was thinking,” Aaron muses. 

She gives them a total, Aaron pays in cash and she wishes them well on their journey home. “I hope to see you back here one day.” 

“Us too,” Y/N answers, giving her a smile and a wave.

—

They keep driving east, thinking they could probably make it back to D.C. around 3 in the morning if they didn’t stop. Instead, they pick out a cute little bed & breakfast with the hopes of staying there for the night. 

The little bell on the door rings as Aaron holds it open for her, there’s a little old lady sitting behind the counter crocheting,  she looks up when she hears the noise. “Oh, hold on, my daughter just ran to the back to get more receipt paper, she’ll check you in in a moment.” She has a posh English accent and a sweet smile. 

“Thank you,” Aaron gives her a smile back. 

They don’t have to wait long, a middle-aged woman comes out from the back room and stops dead in her tracks when she sees there are people. “Oh, I’m sorry to keep you waiting, did you have a reservation?” 

“No, we’re just driving though and wondered if you have a couple rooms we could book?” Aaron asks.

She clicks her tongue off the roof of her mouth, “Uh… oh, no, we only have 1 room left—

“Does it happen to have two beds?” Y/N cuts her off, scared to have to share.

“No, I’m sorry, we have just the one queen left,” she explains. “I can call the inn 30 miles down the way and see if they have two rooms left?” 

“No, no it’s okay,” Y/N brushes it off, “I don’t mind sharing…” 

“As long as you’re okay with it,” Aaron agrees. 

“We’ll take it,” Y/N decides, giving the lady a soft smile. 

As the woman starts to write up their receipt and mark her books that the room is taken, Y/N asks about breakfast. “What time is breakfast tomorrow?” 

“We can bring it to your room between 7 and 11,” the elderly lady explains, going into detail about the meal options they have. 

“You’re in room 6,” she explains, “it’s going to be $173 for the one night and the breakfast in the morning…” 

Y/N beats him to the punch this time, taking her credit card out and setting it on the table, “you bought everything earlier, it’s my turn.” 

“Fine,” Aaron lets her do it. “But I’m getting lunch or dinner tomorrow.” 

“You can try,” she teases, punching in her information and running her card through the machine. 

“And I just need you to both sign the guest book,” the keeper explains, pushing the book toward them. “You know, in case you go missing and the police need to recount your steps,” she says with a laugh. Thinking it could never happen. 

“We are the police,” Y/N teases. 

“FBI actually,” Aaron adds. “It’s a good thing you keep these, I can’t tell you how many times we’ve reached a dead end because people don’t update their books.” 

“Oh, well, thank you,” the woman stands a bit taller, feeling proud of her little business. 

They get their key after that, they head back to the car to get their bags and head to their room… they’re quiet at first. She heads into the bathroom to change and hype herself up for what’s about to happen. She has to share a bed with the love of her life knowing he doesn’t feel the same about her. She doesn’t know if he’s going to make a pillow wall between them or sleep with his own blanket so they don’t have to touch. She’s so nervous she doesn’t know what to do. 

She slips into her work pyjamas, just a simple pair of shorts and an old college t-shirt, she brushes her teeth and adds a bit more deodorant because the last thing she wants is for him to not like her AND think she smells. 

She’s honestly just a ball of anxiety. 

When she comes out, he’s already changed. In his boxers and a white shirt, sitting on top of the covers with his phone pressed to his good ear. It’s barely 8pm, she can tell by the smile on his face that he called Jack. 

“I love you too, buddy, have a good sleep,” he says with a whispered tone. “Bye.” 

She puts her bag down by the night table on what will be her side of the bed tonight. “How is he?” 

“He’s good… He’s starting school next week. I can’t believe how big he’s getting,” he explains, shaking his head. He hates that he’s missing it too. 

She takes a seat on the bed, facing him, her one leg curled under the other, “are you going to drop him off?” 

He nods, “I’m going to try my best to be there that first morning, I want to get some pictures of him walking in and wearing his big backpack.” 

“That’s going to be so cute,” she swoons. “Oh, I wish I could see it.” 

“Come with me?” He asks, “I can pick you up on the way to work, you’re close to his new school anyway.” 

“That wouldn’t be weird?” 

He shakes his head, “No… I mean, Haley might even have her new boyfriend there.” 

“You’re kidding?” 

He shrugs, “At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised.” 

Her heart breaks for him. “I’m sorry…” 

“Don’t be, I mean, it happens. Not many kids who meet in high school stay married for life,” he rationalizes it. “And the ones who do aren’t happy about it.” 

“Still, I hate knowing she hurt you,” Y/N sympathizes. “You’re a good man. You shouldn’t have to choose between your job and your family. She knew this was your job when she got pregnant. I don’t know what she was expecting.” 

“Me either,” he sighs, he puts his phone on the night table and leans back against the pillows. “Can I have some more medicine now?” 

She laughs, he sounds like a kid when he asks. “Yeah, let me get it.” 

She grabs a complimentary bottle of water off the dresser and gets his pills from her purse, she hands him two and watches him take them. “You know why I stepped in, right?” 

He nods, taking both his pills before he speaks again. “I appreciate it, too. I wasn’t using them as instructed, it could’ve gotten bad.” 

“We almost lost Spencer and no one stepped in,” she whispers, ashamed that they all knew and did nothing. “I couldn’t let that happen to you.” 

He puts the bottle of water back down on his night table he takes her hand and pulls her closer and wraps her up in a hug, resting his chin on her shoulder. “I appreciate you more than you know.” 

She hugs him back, her second hug in 2 days. She closes her eyes and bathes in his strength, “you’re my best friend.” 

“You’re mine,” he assures her. “Come get in bed?” He asks as she pulls back. 

“Okay,” she nods, walking around to her side, he scoots under the covers and she pulls the covers down to get in herself. The lights are still on, but they lay on their sides and face each other, “this isn’t weird?” 

He shakes his head, “I don’t think so… do you?” 

“If I cuddle you in the middle of the night I’m sorry,” she says, feeling a bashful wave fills her cheeks with heat. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve had someone to cuddle into… If anything, I just do it due to muscle memory,” he admits. “I’ll move away if—

“No, no you don’t have to,” she cuts him off. “Honestly, I might be nice?” 

“Yeah,” he agrees, smiling softly. 

He’s smiled so much today that it makes her heart so happy. 

She nervously moves in closer to him, he lays back against the pillow and she cuddles into his side. He rests his arm on her back, she keeps her hand on his stomach and he holds it with his free hand. “I’ve had a lot of fun today.” 

“Me too,” she swoons. She settles against him, she expected him to be hard… he looks so big and strong she didn’t expect him to be so soft and cuddly. 

She could get used to this. However, this is not her life. Playing pretend is fun for a while but sooner or later she’s going to have to wake up and face the consequences. He doesn’t love her back, he simply misses having a wife. 

She can play that role. She’s just not ready for the director to yell cut. 

General Taglist 

@ncsls0515 @stevesmunsons @reidsbookclub @sweetyyhippyy @manuosorioh @mrs-dr-reid @k-k0129 @squishyturtle @katsukis1wife @babybisexual @marsmunson86 @buckleyhans 

IKP taglist

@southernraven @alluringshawn @lambsheepsheeping @lmg-stilinski24 @louderfortheback @deludedfruitcake 

[elliespassagerprincess]

Scream for me - finale (ellie willams x reader)

This is the final part of the series:)

Part 1

Part 2

Pairing: ellie williams x fem!reader

requests are always open! feel free to send one:)

Warnings: HUGE warning for this one: detailed descriptions of torture, death, murder, blood, knives, body mutilation

Summary: maybe she should've killed you

(If you want to be added to my future works, just leave a comment and ill add you to the tag list)

Abby Anderson. Ghostface’s most brutal kill yet. Everybody knew Ghostface was a violent killer, but fuck this was on a whole other level.

Abby Anderson, aged 21. Eyes missing, fingernails pulled off. Almost every fucking bone in her body was crushed. The girl was beaten beyond recognition. 13 teeth pulled out, and her fingertips burned to a crisp. Instead of having the classic 20 stab wounds, Abby had over 100 wounds. It took them weeks to identify her body, and that’s exactly what Ellie wanted. She didn’t want people to know who Abby was. Abby didn’t deserve it in her eyes, and Ellie hoped she was burning in hell for trying to get close to her girl.

The night of Abby’s death, you had walked in on Ellie torturing the innocent girl, when you fainted Ellie had to think of a plan.

 You walked in on her. This was bad. What would happen when you wake up?  Will you call the cops?. You looked scared. Where you scared of her?

She picked up your unconscious body and gently placed you onto your bed. Ellie ran her fingers across your cheek, and slowly placed a kiss onto your cheek

“I’m sorry you had to see that baby” she whispered “I have to kill her to keep you safe”

And just like that she got up and left your room closing the door behind her. As soon as she stood outside she was filled with rage.

This was all Abby’s fault. Abby woke you up. Abby scared you.

Ellie walked back to where Abby sat and smiled at the sight: Blood dripping onto the floor, Abby’s entire body swollen and bruised, her wounds looked infected already.

 She slapped Abby across her face and she let out a muffled cry.

“You woke her up” Ellie practically screamed “you-you fucking made her hate me” Ellie said as she slapped Abby on the other side of her face.

Ellie sat on the cold floor breathing heavily. If she didn’t stop herself, she would kill Abby. That was the plan, but not yet, not now. To Ellie’s irritation Abby wouldn’t shut up. She just kept crying and begging.

“Jesus fucking Christ can you shut the fuck up” Ellie yelled.

She needed to think. She needed something that would hurt her. And her eyes landed on her favorite knife. A smile grew on Ellie’s face as she got up and picked it up.

 “She’s a pretty girl” Ellie started as she brought the knife up to her face “she’s my pretty girl and I don’t like it when dirty sluts like you look at her”

 And without a second thought Ellie brought the knife into Abby’s right eye. The pure shock in Abby’s remaining eye made Ellie chuckle. She slowly wiggled the knife out of Abby’s eye socket and she pulled out the entire eye ball, blood seeped from the empty eye socket, and Abby was screaming. Ellie removed the eyeball and took it between her two fingers.

“I thought it would be squishier” she said as she examined the eye, she threw it behind her “lets see if the other one is softer”

Tonight was going to be a long night

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

“That’s not true” you whispered in disbelief.

“It is” Ellie said trying to convince you.

When Ellie was eventually done with Abby, she wrapped Abby’s body plastic wrap and she cleaned your floors.

“can’t let my girl wake up to a dirty house” Ellie thought.

 Ellie didn’t mind being all bloody, because this was a part of her plan. She would tell you she came over to thank you for the other night, and Abby attacked her.

Ellie was the victim. She killed Abby in self-defense.

 She hoped you believed her

“No” you shouted “Abby would never do that” you cried tears running down your cheeks.

Why the fuck were you crying for someone who was only going to hurt you?

“I’m sorry baby” Ellie whispered, “but she brought it upon herself”

Ellie moved closer to you, bringing you in for tight embrace, she felt how tense you were but she still continued hugging you, taking in your scent.

This is everything she’s always wanted.

“Ellie” you whispered

With a content smile she pulled away “yeah baby”

“I’m going to fucking kill you”

“What?”

And everything went black for Ellie.

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

Ellie had a pounding headache when she woke up. She couldn’t move. She was tied up?

“You know” she heard your voice say “it’s not nice killing people”

Ellie watched your movements in silence. In shock.

 How could someone so pretty be so evil?

 “You killed my best friend” you continued as you held the knife Ellie used to gauge Abby’s eyes out. The blade still wet with her blood. You brought the knife to your lips, and licked the blood off. If Ellie wasn’t tied up right now she would be turned on.  

You were doing this for Abby. You weren’t going to let her die without justice.

You walked over to her, dragging the knife down her left thigh.

“it’s time to give you a taste of your own medicine” And with that you brought the blade down stabbing Ellie in the thigh, Ellie let out an ear piercing scream.

“That’s it baby” you whispered with a wicked grin “scream for me”

Ellie let out another painful scream at the feeling.

She should’ve fucking killed you.

Ellie Williams. Aged 23. Her body was found brutilized, with over 43 stab wounds.

This was a new era of Ghostface. People thought Ghostface just became more violent, more sadistic. But little do they know, the pretty girl the real Ghsotface fell in love with took her place.

And she’s worse than Ellie.

Authors note: Thank you so much for the support on this series! Remember you are loved, and to always be kind:)

Yours truly,

Zia <3

My pookies <3 (the tag list): @macaroni676 @mqddieas @uraesthete @igoferalforelliewilliams @ellieseyesonly

[whumpshaped]

Is there no special forces, vampire hunters, some kind of a vampire intervention team that beck could call when he first realized Helle was still after him after that first alleyway bite? Not that I want Vampire Killing Cops to get Helle, but I think they would be angy in a neat way if beck did such a mean thing to them ☺️ or was beck simply not thinking rationally (and actually part of him wants to become helle's favourite chewtoy) and forgot to do that and then it got too late?

:) this takes place before he invites helle into his home. enjoy

masterlist

tw vampire whumper, implied murder, manipulation, kidnapping mention

It was stupid. Beck knew it was stupid as he made his way to the bar, he knew it was stupid when he first laid eyes on the guy demanding free drinks from an exasperated bartender. He had stakes and crosses hanging from his belt, not even trying to seem anything other than what could potentially get him some special treatment.

A vampire hunter. The first one in the city since the incident that took place a few years ago. They had been avoiding the place like the plague, all except this one brave man who swore to liberate all humans in the area to avenge his missing brother. He hadn't gotten to work yet, as far as Beck could tell.

He walked over and took the seat next to him, nervous as ever. "Excuse me, are you the vampire hunter they've been talking about?"

The hunter turned to face him with an already annoyed look, like Beck had ruined his entire day. "Why else do you think I carry a goddamn stake, boy? What do you want?"

"I– I would like to ask for help, sir. Please. It's, it's pretty urgent."

He scoffed. "Nothing can be that urgent during the day."

That was fine. He was prepared for this. He knew hunters were an arrogant bunch. "I'll buy you a drink. Or two. As many as you want."

The stranger looked him over once again, top to bottom, trying to gauge how much money he might've had. It was a lot. He had asked for an advance at work just so he could come bribe this hunter, eager to seize the opportunity before he fled or died. "My name's Gael."

Beck looked at the bartender who had been not so subtly listening in on the conversation the whole time. "One drink for Gael, please? Whatever he wants." As soon as she nodded, he turned back to his newest friend and possible saviour. "My name's Beckett. And I know exactly where the vampire is going to be this evening. And the next. And the one after." He tugged down the collar of his sweater to reveal his mangled neck, littered with bite marks and fresh bruises. "And I don't know who else to ask for help with that."

"Oh, I'm not listening to a thrall," Gael said instantly, but Beck grabbed onto his sleeve to keep him from leaving.

"No, it's not like that! It's, it's so much worse, they're not using magic, they– they don't... they don't want me to want this," he choked out. "They specifically– they specifically want me to struggle. They're not using anything on me, and it hurts, and it's so fucking scary. Please. Please, just hear me out, at least let me give you the address–"

"Alright, alright, jeez." He yanked his arm out of Beck's grip, settling back into his chair. "That's fucked up, if you're telling the truth. I've never heard of a vampire doing that."

"Me neither. And I didn't want to." He looked at the hunter with pleading eyes, desperate for any sort of solution. "Will you help me? Please? You said– they, I've heard them say you're here to liberate us, and I don't feel very free right now. In an hour I have to get back home so they can rip my neck open again. I live in fucking fear. They, they threatened to turn me."

Gael nodded, finally looking somewhat serious. Determined, even. He pushed the glass towards Beck, much to his confusion. "You can buy me a thousand more once I killed the leech, but if we really want to do this tonight, I'm gonna have to be more focused than that. Give me the address and drink up. You need it more than I do."

-

Beck was extra jittery as he stood by the front door, hands buried deep in his pockets so he wouldn't be so cold as he waited. More than anything, he would've liked Gael to show up and tell him that all had been taken care of — but if he could only attack while Helle was distracted with drinking, well, that was fine by him too. He could endure one more bite.

He sucked in a breath when he spotted the vampire, bracing himself for the inevitable pain. One bite. Just one more. This was the last time he had to do this, because Gael was about to take care of it, and he was going to be okay. His biggest worry would be paying the bill at the end of the night in the bar.

"You look a bit anxious," they said casually as they got closer, and Beck shrugged, admittedly anxiously.

"It's, it's the whole 'having my blood sucked against my will' thing, I think," he muttered, and Helle chuckled. "And it's really cold. I'd like t-to get back inside, please."

"Yes, of course. I would not dream of keeping you longer than absolutely necessary. Oh, before I forget..." They reached into their pocket, pulling out some mystery object and handing it to them. "I think this might be yours. You must have dropped it on your way home."

"I didn't–" All the colour drained from his face when he realised what it was, a wave of nausea washing over him. It felt like his entire world had come crumbling down around him within a single moment, any hopes and dreams of freedom shattered and stomped on.

No. No, that couldn't– that was the hunter's crucifix, wasn't it? And that was... that was blood. That was definitely blood.

"No?" Helle glanced at it curiosly, then back up at him. "Who else could have possibly dropped it so close to your home at this hour?" They cocked their head to the side, eyes cold and devoid of any trace of humanity Beck had come to expect. "Did you invite anyone else?"

He thought he might collapse. He reached out with a trembling hand, slowly closing his fingers around the stolen item. "N-no," he breathed. "It's– it's mine. S-sorry."

Helle didn't let go of it right away. He allowed Beck ample time to think about all the implications, all the unspoken threats, and all the ways this could've gone down differently. Allowed him time to regret it properly. Honestly. Allowed the guilt and terror to completely devour him from the inside out, leaving nothing but an empty husk of apologies and fear.

He did regret it, now. He regretted it immensely. He regretted ever being born.

It won't ever happen again, they tried to say without words, begging Helle to continue playing along, to drop it; he understood now, he wasn't going to pull another stunt like this. Or any at all. Please.

"Good," they said eventually, letting Beck take the crucifix and put it in his pocket. He swore he could feel Gael's blood burning a hole into the fabric. "You ought to be more careful in the future. Losing something so precious can be quite the tragedy."

~

taglist: @whumpsday @the-scrapegoat @hidden-dreamland @dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night @delicateprincepaper @whumppmuhw @florissimps @nicolepascaline @oliversrarebooks @the-cyrulik @pirefyrelight

[coolbeanzeaglbones]

Who starts more fanfics when she knows she's in over her head? Me! Who is writing a murder mystery fanfic about the Aquabats? Me! Me! Me!

The cops are a bit useless. In a world of heroes, they always call upon them to do their job. That's how the Aquabats got stuck looking around for evidence for a mass murder case.

Ricky would usually stay in the battletram, as would Crash while the others would look around the bloody crime scenes for evidence.

This murder happened in the alleyway, the woman’s guts were strewn about her body, cops taking down random things, waiting for the heroes.

Right on cue, the other three, Jimmy, the commander and Eaglebones walked into the alleyway.

The commander turned away, this was the most grizzly one yet. Eaglebones tried to wear an okay face, but Jimmy could tell he was internally screaming.

The police chief crossed over to the, “Aquabats, thank goodness you're here.” The commander sounded tired, “Yeah, yeah, Jimmy scan the area.”

Jimmy obliged and began to do what they had done every time they were called to one of these scenes. The commander would look for clues, sometimes just staring at stuff. Eaglebones would actually be trying to figure out what happened, as he hated doing this because it “felt evil” to be there.

But this time was a bit different. The commander was talking with the chief, normally what Eaglebones would do, “So there's no cameras?”

“No, we don't even know who the victim is, she didn't have any identification on her. We're going to do DNA testing.”

“Uh-huh uh Bones, what are you doing?”

Eaglebones looked like he was having a conversation with the wall, “Her name is was, sorry, Leslie Templar and she was walking home when he attacked.” Jimmy looked concerned, “There's no one there, kid.”

“Not a kid,” he went up to the commander, “okay, so, can you go out into the sidewalk?”

The commander did so and went to walk past the alley, “Okay, so, she was grabbed,” he grabbed the commander by the back of his shirt and dragged him into the alleyway, keeping a hand over his mouth, “up to the wall,” he kept glancing back at the opposite wall as if he was looking at someone, “and before she could scream,” he did a slashing down motion, “neck slash,” let go of the commander and mimed throwing him to the ground, “and you know what happens next.”

The cops were staring at him, “Did you see his face?”

Silence.

“He was wearing a Purge mask, okay, and are you sure it was a linoleum ripper?”

Jimmy looked concerned, but the cop wrote down what he was saying.

As the cops were busy, they slowly inched out of the alley and ran down the street back to the battletram. Jimmy was starting to be concerned for his two friends.

They hadn't been sleeping that well because of nightmares of the killer and the corpses and anxiety of ‘what if the killer comes to the battletram and murders us?’

Yeah, wasn't fun. Luckily, Crash and Ricky were blissfully oblivious to the severity of the situation.

It was the middle of the night when they were called, so the other two were asleep. They quietly slipped into the battletram, the warmth of the heating system washing over them and the cold being replaced with overwhelming tiredness, “How much sleep have you two gotten over the last week?”

Eaglebones laughed a bit, “Sleep? Oh, that friend is wandering over the hills in the distance. Just out of reach.”

“What?”

“I'm fucking tired, Jimmy.” Jimmy recoiled at the tenseness of Eaglebones’ voice. The commander giggled. He got very giggly when he was really exhausted, “Wandering over the hill.” He got out through fits of laughter.

Jimmy gazed at the two, who were now both giggling like school girls, “You guys okay.”

The both of them stopped for a second before just saying, “No.” Unanimously and starting to laugh once more.

Jimmy already had a plan in his mind.

“You guys want some water?”

He didn't wait for an answer, he just grabbed both of them but the arm and led them to the kitchen. He was going to drug them into sleep.

I know I know, that's totally a garbage move, but Jimmy didn't know what to do. So he just gave them some water that had sedatives in it and waited for them to get sleepy and just let them go to sleep on the couch.

Jimmy knew it was taking a large mental toll on them, but what else could they do? They were getting paid for this, it wasn't like they could stop.

Jimmy could only hope that the killer was caught soon, or else there would be a lot of nights like this.

Jimmy hates the cops.

It's from Jimmy's point of view.

[ejzah]

You Had Me at Jack, Part 7

***

After a fairly long phone call, Kensi Blye returned to the bedroom with a pinched expression.

“Apparently you and my team are going to LAPD for a meeting with your boss,” she informed him.

“You got reamed out, huh?” he guessed. She rolled her eyes.

“No. My boss isn’t happy we didn’t realize there was an open and ongoing investigation, but I think she’s more annoyed with your supervisor.”

“Ah, Roger Bates. Yeah, he kind of hates you guys, so I’d be careful what you say.”

“Fantastic.” She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, inadvertently revealing a healthy amount of cleavage. Deeks cleared his throat, raising an eyebrow, and she hastily dropped her arms, cheeks turning an amazingly dusky shade of red.

“I need pants,” she declared, turning abruptly. “And a bucket of coffee.”

“I’ll take a vanilla latte,” he called after her. “Hold the whip cream.”

***

A few hours later, Deeks waited outside Roger Bates’ office, slouched against the wall. He’d already received his own call from Bates, who had some very choice and not child friendly words to say about NCIS and Kensi Blye’s team. After assuring that the case hadn’t been compromised, calmed down slightly.

“Right through here, Agents,” Bates’ secretary said, ushering Kensi, now dressed in jeans and a coral colored t-shirt, and two men into the outer room. He caught her eyes and winked.

“Agent Blye.”

“Detective Deeks,” she responded, her pitch dropping just a touch. Now that was interesting. “These are my colleagues, Agents Sam Hanna and G. Callen.”

“Nice to meet you. Can I interest you in a cup of coffee? It’s terrible, but it helps to fill any awkward silences,” Deeks said. Agent Callen gave him an odd look, shaking his head.

“I think we’re good.”

“Alrighty.”

“You’re telling me you’re really a cop?” Agent Hanna asked, looking Deeks up and down with a perplexed expression.

“Yep,” Deeks confirmed with a knowing grin. “He tipped his chin up at him. “Detective Martin A. Deeks, undercover division at your service.”

“They don’t have a dress code?”

“Not really. The department understands that undercover work requires a certain amount of leeway, even eccentricity if you will.”

“I guess it would take a special sort to dress up in a Jack Dawson costume every night for weeks at a time,” Agent Callen commented. “Kensi said you played the roll very convincingly.”

“Oh my god, don’t listen to a word they say,” she groaned, glaring at them. “They’re a couple of idiots.”

Before Deeks could same something in return, Roger Bates barreled into the office, greeting the three agents with the barest of nods when they introduced themselves.

“Alright, let’s get this over with,” he said, impatiently inviting them into the office. “So, why don’t you tell me what brought you in to nearly blow my detective’s cover?”

“We had information that linked him to a murder we’re investigating,” Callen shared, pausing expectantly. When Bates didn’t take the hint, he added, “Just to give you a forewarning, our boss, Hetty Lange, will likely be recommending NCIS take lead on this case.”

“And she can take that suggestion and shove it,” Bates said, unmoved.

Deeks saw Kensi’s brows raise in surprise. He’d guess that Bates was a revelation for the whole team.

“Our team is specially trained for this kind of situation. Can you say the same?” Sam asked, his smile ever so slightly condescending.

“Deeks is the bane of my existence, but he’s also damn good at undercover work,” Roger Bates declared, looking supremely annoyed at having to make such a statement. “Which of you fellas think you could fit in at a dance club like that?”

Kensi snorted, immediately covering her mouth, muttering an apology under her breath. Deeks concealed a grin at her slip.

“That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said about me,” Deeks joked. “Anyway, I’ve been investigating a possible money laundering scheme. It’s important, but probably not enough to get a federal agency involved.”

“We take financial crimes very seriously,” Agent Hanna said.

“Well, in that case, I suggest you buy some tear-away pants and find a good waxer,” Deeks said brightly, settling back for what would likely be a very entertaining meeting.

***

“Well, that was interesting,” Deeks commented, strolling out Bates’ office with Kensi by his side. “Your boss is an extremely reasonable woman.”

“Gloating is a very unattractive quality,” she grumbled.

“Oh, don’t be bitter, Agent Blye. Just because your Miss Lang agreed to give LAPD lead on the case doesn’t mean we can’t be civil.”

“Right. You’re already causing trouble.”

“How? I have done nothing but be an absolute delight,” Deeks objected with feigned shock.

“Like you don’t know. I’m talking about the winking, and suggestive comments, the looks,” she rattled off, leaning towards him.

“So, what you’re saying is that you were watching me.”

“Oh no, don’t try to turn this around on me.”

He turned so he faced her, placing a hand on his hip as she stared at him with a furious expression. It was kind of cute.

“Do you want to talk about what happened last night? You know, with the whole making out on my couch thing,” he clarified. “I mean, since we will be working together, it seems like we should be completely honest and open with each other.”

“That was just to keep my cover and don’t you dare think of opening anything in front of me,” she said.

“What if I offered to give you a private show?”

To his surprise, she stilled, eyes flickering with interest before she caught herself, and huffed out a forced laugh.

“Right. In that case you’d be paying me.”

“Uh-huh, you keep telling yourself that, Agent Blye.” He dropped his head towards her ear, whispering, but if you change your mind, I’ll be your Jack any day.” He was rewarded with her inhaling sharply, and he grinned to himself, sauntering away.

[fractualized]

Today in TMWSL #10, we get half our answer and also Joker in a skirt again! Look how happy he is.

Spoilers and violence, yadda yadda…

We open with Black Mask interrogating a police officer about what the Commissioner did with his men, but it quickly becomes clear something is wrong!

Joker (our favorite Sewer Rat one) comes over the speaker in Roman's office (?) in the fashion of a flight crew, as Roman manages to get a gas mask.

And our boy makes his entrance as grandly as always.

With the henchmen dispatched, Joker starts to tell Roman about his complaints.

And here's where I bring up Gotham War, and how I guess this is happening at the beginning of Bruce's 2-month unconsciousness after Knight Terrors, right as Selina is starting to steal all the henchmen and train them to be Good Nonviolent Thieves. Because here it's alleged that all the Gotham bosses are still doing fine getting their underlings and it's just Joker who isn't. I have to assume that because otherwise the inconsistency would be another reason to dunk on Gotham War and who would do that!

Anyway, we cut to Wesker who is collecting clues from the men Joker did manage to round up about where the other Joker came from.

C'mon, Scarface! They're probably doing their best! Besides, you've got other things to worry about. 

Jason, noooooooooo! He's just a lil murderous conniving puppet! He can reform! He can do a YouTube series about mob history!

As for Joker, we know where he is. I mean, one of them.

It looks like, for some reason, Joker is giving this cop Lazarus resin, assuming @clownprince's theory about where Joker #2 came from is where all this is going. Though it doesn't explain why Joker is reviving this cop. Not yet….

Also lookit them heels!

Anyway, Joker is looking for clues about his doppelganger with Roman personally, which implies he has a strong feeling Roman of all people has key info?

Oh right, Joker doesn't know the other guy is back in town. But unfortunately Joker #2 knows his twin has wrangled up some friends and is having his own friends, er, de-wrangle them.

In a way, they're just making room for Mr. Waffles' defection!

At least Joker gets to feel himself in this outfit before he figures out his scrappy crew is already being dispatched.

Look, I don't know what Wesker is alleged to be up to but I don't think Joker has a leg to stand on calling him a pervert.

Anyway, Jason brings down Joker's mood. 🙁

Ooh, I love when Di Giandomenico gets him all dark like that.

Joker does manage to get in touch with Shocky back at the warehouse and tells him to get everyone back there.

SHOCKY ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW. … Also who are you and how did you of all people manage to find out??

Sadly AND PREDICTABLY, we cut to the warehouse and Shocky has also been attacked by persons unknown. Jason, Steph, and Ravager are already on the scene. And then Manhunter shows up and nobody has any chill so they all get into a fight. Steph manages to calm everything down.

They compare notes and realize they're tracking the activities of two different Jokers. More importantly, they realize Shocky is alive! And we see Joker watching from the rafters.

At first I wondered if Joker didn't like what Shocky told him and tried to kill him, but nah, it looks like the warehouse got hit by Joker #2's crew. And I think they took Fake Jackanapes because he's nowhere to be seen, but per #12's cover he does appear to be back with Joker. Hmmm...

All four heroes are conspicuously absent when Shocky gets taken to the hospital, but Joker hitches a ride on the roof of the ambulance. From flight attendant mode to gremlin mode!

In a completely impractical way of figuring out what Shocky knows, Joker decides to interrupt his surgery in a new costume. I'm not sure if he had time to change into the cops' clothes outside or if he was wearing the first cop's uniform under his Sewer Rat outfit. I am sure that Mimi does not care!

Joker shoots the doctor because he has not learned any lessons about why he has no friends, and gets to the big question.

GODDAMMIT, SHOCKY– but actually I think the trope here is clear. Shocky did answer Joker's question in one word. DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN but that's confirmed shortly, after this hilarious page:

It's Albert, the Knight Terrors son! Reading a Wonder Woman comic. It doesn't look like he took Joker's suggestion to ask for better toys to heart. 

Inexplicably, Joker stops in the middle of everything to steal the kid's drugs.

The implication may be that Shocky's words have jogged something in Joker's memory, and he's trying to ease the rest of it out. And that certainly seems to be happening, because we abruptly jump into the surreal "backer," which has a stronger tie to the main story than the others.

Joker is poisoning civilians when it turns out something's wrong with a henchman's mask.

Joker takes this opportunity to create his twin himself (dun dun DUNNNN) with the assistance of Professor Pyg.

Pyg successfully transforms the henchman into a Joker look-alike, and the fun begins, with Joker using his double to seem like he can be in two places at once, and to explain sudden changes of heart or ability. And all that goes fine until:

Original Joker does not appreciate anyone killing his men but him! (For once.) He confronts his creation when he's sitting on a park bench feeding critters. (A Joker enjoying himself at night on a bench? If only a bat doppelganger was there to join him.)

And we end on panels very reminiscent of what happened back in TMWSL #1.

Is this dunking on Three Jokers? I'm choosing to take it that way (even though TMWSL itself could still go the same direction).

Unlike other issues, we return to the main story for a page.

I had to include both these panels because 1) I enjoy the clown balloon exploding perfectly positioned in the cop's face and 2) like the last time Joker was in the hospital, he's reading a comic and replacing the story that's in there with something in his head.

But here it is! Half the mystery solved: Joker himself made his doppelganger! Which raises questions like "why?" and "how?" and "when?" but look there's only another couple issues to go.

And we can keep speculating in the meantime. Again I point to clownprince's theory linked above that some clone or plastic-surgeried reanimated corpse was mindwiped into thinking he's Joker. If that holds true, which it seems like it will because the Lazarus resin came up again, now we have Joker saying that he is the person who did it. Of course, if we go by how it went in the backer, then it's Sewer Rat Joker who is the fake, but since the backers are surreal and strange, the story Joker "read" in the comic may just be inspired by the actual goings-on and he really is the original as he says. It's also possible that we'll find both Joker's are so mixed up that they simply can't agree on who the original is, and we never get confirmation.

Regardless, we can further extrapolate that after seeing the clones at the end of Joker 2021, even though Joker was pissed about that, he may have been inspired too. It wouldn't be the first time that he thought a joke was only funny if he was the one who told it. So after he left Texas, he came across the mindwipe tech Bloom used in Task Force Z, and decided to give it a try? Except the person he brainwashed would be as vain as him and want to be the one-and-only Clown Prince of Crime, and it would never occur to him that he's the copy.

I'm hoping that's what it is, and not that the double was created earlier and it really is like Three Jokers where there's been more than one Joker tHe WhOle TiMe. I mean, Joker's last line could be taken to mean, "I was the one behind our best shenanigans and am responsible for our fearsome reputation." At least it's definitely not some multiverse shit as implied by that Batman #135 page.

We've got a couple issues left to get more answers. My understanding is that TMWSL stops at #12, which is a bummer. I've had a great time reading it, which only makes me grumble more about what's going on in Batman and Gotham War. "I Am A Gun" was delightful, but ever since Batman's storyline hit the alternate universe, the writing has gone… not great, IMO. So I'm not sure what Zdarsky is gonna do with Joker for the reunion. :|

[cairavende]

Worm Arc 16 first part thoughts (through defeating Dragon and Defiant interlude) cause it seemed likely there is going to be something major happening in the rest of the arc and I might as well split it here:

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

MY BABIES ARE FIGHTING!!!!!

I might not have made the best choice in adopting both Taylor and Dragon

Ok so it's not technically my babies fighting. It's Taylor fighting simple AI Dragon created. But close enough.

Drone robot fucked up a perfectly good barbecue. That's just criminal.

I love that the robot sent after Bitch was basically designed to get fucked up over and over. Work with what you have.

Also Bitch was so willing to listen to Skitter! Not just listen but "come up with a plan like you usually do, we’ll make it happen"! She fucking trusts her so much! GAAAAAAAYYYY!

You put Skitter in charge and she is just instantly "Ok we're going to attack the Wards, the Protectorate, the PRT, and some of Dragon's robots. All at the same time. Cause I always gotta go BIGGER!"

I will give her this though - solo teleporting into the middle of the Protectorate and Wards (except for Clockblocker) and having Trickster swap her around while she just FUCKED SHIT UP? That was badass.

And throwing herself out the fucking window? TWICE? I'm very glad Trickster was on point there cause I would have fucking murdered him if he dropped my daughter.

Piggot trying to be all high and mighty and superior. Fuck off lady. You just a cop. You're like, the worst cop. I already called you out for having a full blown villain internal monologue in your first interlude. Some of the PRT might be trying to do right. Maybe. But you are just evil.

I will give Piggot one thing. She is good at what she does. It's just that what she does is not "leading the Brockton Bay PRT and Wards to better take care of the people of the city", but instead "be a terrible and manipulative person who would absolutely set of a nuke if she thought it would kill enough capes".

Also Trickster don't be an asshole. Being disgusted when Piggot admits she's fat and doesn't sound ashamed about it. Fuck off with that. She's a terrible person, there are so many better things to attack than her appearance.

Like the fact that she upset Tattletale! She made Tattletale sad! FUCK PIGGOT I HATE HER FOR THAT ALONE NOW!

Sticking a bunch of glass in some doors and riding around town on them oh my god. These are like, the scariest super villains in town. And they are door surfing. I love it.

Azazel is fucking fancy! I'm sad it got melted down in the end.

Dragon just needed a guy badly cosplaying as a DS9 starship for a few minutes and then she builds infinitely better shit than he ever could. Cause she is awesome.

Ok so I know it was technically being run by an AI that Dragon built but I'm counting it as Dragon. For one reason.

Skitter asking Azazel stupid questions until it broke was just a little sister annoying their older sister with really stupid questions! She starts off with some somewhat reasonable ones and just gets wild with it. It was perfect. That is the type of fighting I can tolerate from my daughters.

I'm a little worried about Imp clearly crushing on Regent. He hasn't had the best moral character in the past.

Wasn't expecting them to just *have* the city after beating Dragon. Definitely wasn't expecting that to happen mid arc.

“She’s out of it. Tattletale broke Skitter when she said we won” - GAY. Look sure there's lots of reasons Skitter would be distracted after hearing that the city was theirs and they had won. But Tattletale said it and there's something about a girl you like telling you "we won" that can just stop brain from working. Besides I wasn't getting enough Chatterbug content this arc so I'll find it wherever I need it.

So coming into this arc I had been making lots of jokes about Monarch referencing Skitter vs Dragon (both were controlling lots of minions, want to control the city, they're siblings cause I adopted both of them so they fight for the crown, etc) but Dragon is out of the city for now. So I really should have been focusing on Coil vs Skitter. Which is what I expect the rest of the arc to be.

It'll be fine.

I'm sure there won't be any issues at city hall with her dad. Nope.

PRT squad interlude (Piggot interlude round 2) thoughts:

Nilbog is terrifying but god his power is wild.

I had Left 4 Dead in my head the entire time. First thing they killed was a boomer. There was a spitter later as well. And they got the swarm once they shot the flare up for the evac.

PRT is endlessly badly managed. Given the unknowns they could have been more careful and used a better strategy. If they have the resources to wall off the town they have the resources to have done things better.

There is no way Thomas Calvert isn't Coil (more specifically becomes Coil). There is NO way. It has to be him. I don't technically have any proof but I know. It's him. (The way he is described, the way he talks, just everything about him. I could write up an entire post just on why I'm 100% positive he is Coil.)

I already knew Piggot was a horrible person to be running the Brockton Bay PRT and the Wards so this interlude didn't really give new information there. But it does just lock that down on an extra level.

Frank Miller's Armsmaster interlude thoughts:

I'm very sad I had to have this interlude from his perspective instead of Dragon's perspective. But I'll live.

Sucks to be this small town.

PRT failure again. It was made clear that the police of this town in no way expected the SH9. But the PRT knew when SH9 left BB and had a loose idea of their potential travel speed. And they knew SH9's M.O. in this situation of staying to back roads and hitting small towns. So every police department in every small town within a certain distance of BB should have known to be on alert. Like ya they aren't going to be able to stop the Nine, but they might be able to reduce losses a little. PRT is just bad at it's job. (Almost like Alexandria doesn't have the right priorities.)

I KNEW DRAGON WAS A TRUE TINKER! I HAD ALREADY MADE IT MY HEADCANON THAT SHE TRIGGERED WHEN LEVIATHAN ATTACKED NEWFOUNDLAND AND I'M SO HAPPY IT'S REAL!

Plugging my ears when I Was Insecure So I Made My Stick Even Longer Man talks about playing "ten by ten" with my robot daughter. Look she can do what she wants, no shame, but I do not want to hear about it from him if I can avoid it.

Of course Dragon knows about Cauldron. I should have expected that she did. My daughter is brilliant (and also maybe doesn't have a concept of privacy so gets all the information she can without explicitly doing something illegal and goes has a little bit of a "Big Sister is watching you" vibe).

[savemefromanepicoftimewasted]

It's Your Burden To Carry

Detective Joel Miller X F!Reader

Joel wished he had the answers, to figure out exactly why someone was attacking innocent women for their own sick pleasure. It wouldn’t be the first time this had happened, and it definitely wasn’t going to be the last. A/N:this fic deals with VERY heavy topics, please read with caution! there is also an alternate ending so if you would like to read it let me know and i will post that seperately! warnings:mentions of murder, descriptions of murder, violence, gore, blood, death, crime scenes

Joel was tired, he’d been staring at the crime scene photos for nearly two hours at this point. Not to mention his phone had been going off since he took off at four in the morning, sending a text to the two teens that they’d be cooking breakfast for themselves. It was the usual for them, Joel would get called into the office when the world was still asleep, and the girls would wake up to another text from him. It was a painful reminder that he’d started to neglect them, that he’d chosen this life when Sarah was just four years old.

It paid the bills though, and right now that was the only thing that mattered to Joel, he could deal with everything else in due time. Tommy was often the one telling him to go home, that he could pick up the slack and call if there was a break in the case. When was the last time he’d had a full day off with no interruptions? Shit, maybe he did need to take some time off and come back to everything with a clear head.

“Been another murder, already got the area taped off,” Well, there went Joel’s hopes of going home for a few hours.

“Let’s go,” Joel threw his coat on, following behind Tommy and Bill as they made their way out to their cars.

The drive wasn’t long which unnerved Joel to no end, the killer was getting even closer to home, and there was no way in hell they would get close enough to Sarah or Ellie. Tommy had given him the quick rundown of what the cops had found during the drive. She was the youngest victim yet, at barely twenty years old. What kind of sick person chose people that were barely even adults themselves to murder?

“They’re trying to keep this one from the press, said she was mutilated when they found her,” Goddamnit, it really was too early for this.

“How bad?” Joel had seen some horrific scenes in his day, but this would land at the very top.

Tommy didn’t say anything as he pulled up beside Bill’s car, shutting off the engine with a quiet sigh. The air was thick with humidity as Joel slipped outside of the car, hopefully the girls were staying cool at home. As he followed Tommy and Bill down to the area, the scent of rotting flesh hit him full force. It was something he’d never been able to get over, the way it lingered on his clothes and skin hours after he left for the day.

They were photographing everything that looked like it could be evidence, from the body, to the small blood trail that led down to the body. It was draining him slowly, day by day Joel could only handle so much before he would break.

“We got a name?” Joel slipped on his glasses, making sure there weren’t any smudges so he could take a look around for himself.

“Found her purse nearby, her license says Lily Evans,” Bill held out the thin plastic card, waiting until Joel slipped on a pair of gloves to safely take the card.

She really was just a kid, or what Joel would consider a kid at least, just a few years older than Sarah and Ellie. No, don’t start thinking like that, focus on finding the goddamn killer and stopping them from hurting anyone else. The media were having a field day with the fact that no one had been able to catch the killer, comparing them to people like Bundy, and Dennis Rader. It wasn’t for lack of trying, they would spend hours scouring the crime scenes for any signs of a clue that would lead them in any positive direction.

“Jesus, girl didn’t even hit twenty-one,” Joel sighed, handing the license back over to one of the agents that was collecting evidence.

“You know that’s their schtick, they go after the girls that can’t defend themselves,” Tommy had made his way down to the body, eyes taking everything in.

The sight was nearly enough to make Joel sick, mutilated was too kind of a word to describe the horrors that lay in front of him. The other bodies had at least been intact, this one was clearly a personal vendetta.

“She’s got bruising around her neck, can’t tell if it’s from their hands or something else,” Bill knelt down further, carefully turning her head.

Joel recognized that type of bruising, it wasn’t something that was done to cause any true harm to the poor girl.

“That’s not from the killer, the marks are too far down,” Joel’s face heated up, what a way to announce that he’d been on both ends of those types of marks.

“That solves at least one of the many questions we have, but why cut her body apart?” Bill had always been the first at every crime scene, nothing prepared him anymore.

Joel wished he had the answers, to figure out exactly why someone was attacking innocent women for their own sick pleasure. It wouldn’t be the first time this had happened, and it definitely wasn’t going to be the last. Maybe he could get transferred somewhere else that wasn’t so intense. Sarah and Ellie deserved someone that could be home for longer than an hour a day.

“Found something guys,” Bill waved Tommy and Joel over, keeping enough distance to not disturb the evidence he’d found.

It was a white card, Joel’s name written in calligraphy across the very middle of it. Joel nervously reached out, gingerly picking up the card and turning it over. A photo of him and his two girls was pinned to the back. Whoever this was had gotten too close and now his family was in danger.

“Get this to evidence, I’m going home and getting the girls down to mom’s” Joel handed the card to Bill before all but sprinting to his car.

The drive over was nerve wracking, Joel’s heart was racing as he swerved between lanes to cut off a few more minutes of driving. What if he was too late and the girls were gone by the time he reached the house? Fuck! He parked haphazardly, yanking the keys out of the ignition before running to the front door. As he turned the door handle his heart dropped, it was unlocked. He’d definitely locked it this morning, right? He pushed the door open harshly, barely wincing as it slammed against the wall.

“Sarah?! Ellie!” Joel could barely hear anything over the heartbeat in his ears.

“Dad?” Sarah’s head popped out from the kitchen, brow raised as she stared over at her father.

“Grab your suitcase and pack a bag, you and Ellie are going to grandma Miller’s for a little bit,” Joel didn’t want to worry either of the girls, but right now his biggest concern was keeping them safe.

Sarah looked flabbergasted, the last time she’d seen her dad this scared was back when Ellie came into their lives and Joel was now outnumbered. This was completely different, this was a fear she’d never truly seen.

“Whoa, what’s going on?” She ran over to him, placing her hands on his arms to stop his frantic pacing.

“I just need you guys to pack a bag for me, please,” Joel wasn’t above begging, he’d done it many times before.

“Okay, I’ll tell Ellie,” Sarah headed up to her bedroom, stopping by Ellie’s and letting her know the situation with the very little information she had.

Today couldn’t get any worse, it seriously couldn’t get any fucking worse. What would he do if something had happened to them while he was out checking another crime scene? No, they were both fine and he’d make sure nothing bad happened to them. He’d be able to spend more time at the office without worrying if the girls were in danger at least.

“Alright let’s go old man,” Ellie plopped down her bags with Sarah following close behind.

“Go get in the car, I’m gonna lock up,” Joel waited until both the girls had left before following close behind.

A Uhaul truck caught his attention, was he finally getting a new neighbor after nearly a year since the Adlers had moved out? The house had been renovated from what Joel had heard from when he would get his mail. Okay maybe it was Sarah who actually found out but that wasn’t important right now.

“Looks like we got a new neighbor,” Sarah threw her bags into the trunk, helping Ellie with hers.

“We’ll make our presence known later today, for now let’s get in the car so we can go,” Joel ushered the two girls into the car, sending a friendly wave to the pretty…very pretty neighbor.

She waved back excitedly before rushing back onto the truck. Joel’s luck truly was running out, he finally gets a new neighbor but he’s too worried about work to think of anything else. Maybe he’d introduce himself when he got back home. Ellie and Sarah kept up a constant conversation as Joel drove down to his mom’s place. There was no way the killer would know where she lived, considering she lived more in the countryside. Shit this was not how he’d wanted his day to go, or his entire week to be honest.

“Now I’m gonna need you two to behave, you hear me?” Joel glanced over at Sarah, knowing that Ellie was also listening in.

“Yes dad, we’ll behave for grandma,” She’d never had anything bad to say about either of the girls, even when Ellie had shown up for the first time.

“Thank you,” Joel needed to keep his blood pressure from rising. The last thing he needed was to have a heart attack in the middle of solving this damn case.

The scenery on the drive was gorgeous, enough to help ease his mind for the time that he would be out of the office. Tommy could hold down the fort and get everything organized until Joel finally got back.

“I’m not gonna be able to stay, so if she’s not home use the key that she gave you okay?” Joel needed to get back as soon as possible, and right now he was still nervous.

“You know she’s gonna end up calling you to ask for answers,” Sarah was too smart for her own good sometimes, but that's besides the point

“Yeah I know, and I’ll tell her as much as I can later,” Joel pulled up to the house, waiting until the girls got out before bidding them a quick goodbye.

Everything would be perfectly fine, he just needed to get back and discuss everything with Bill and Tommy and see where they needed to go from here. Maybe he should stop by the house and grab something to eat, he was practically running on fumes.

Now if you had asked Joel how he managed to make the drive back without crashing, well he wouldn’t be able to properly answer as he wasn’t sure how he’d done that. The Uhaul next door was gone when he parked, was he really gone that long? Shaking his head Joel slipped out of the car, stumbling up to the front door. The new neighbor was standing outside looking through a couple of boxes.

“Hello! You must be Joel,” How the hell did she already know his name?

“Umm yeah, you our new neighbor?” Joel walked over to the edge of his yard, unsure of how she would feel with him in her space.

“I am, pardon my manners, my name’s Y/N,” Your face flushed as you realized you were staring at this man who looked like a walking zombie at the moment.

Joel liked your name, the way it sounded slipping through your lips so easily.

“Nice to meet you, and welcome to the neighborhood. If you ever need something don’t hesitate to stop by, just make sure the lights are on before you do,” Joel nodded and turned to head back to his house before you called out his name.

“Well if there isn’t a Mrs, do you think a date could be in order?” You’d never been so bold before, but something about Joel drew you to him.

“Well I might have to make an exception for someone as cute as you,” Joel smirked as you became flustered, maybe the new neighbor wouldn’t be so bad?

~~~

It had been nearly a week since Joel had dropped off the girls, and besides trying to keep himself sane during work, the moment he left and was reunited with you? Everything was finally alright. The two of you were practically inseparable after that very first date, even if Joel couldn’t tell you much about what he did for work. You understood of course, he was working with some very serious topics and didn’t want to upset you. You’d told him your boring job of being an accountant at one of the local law firms. While the job was boring the pay was wonderful and you were able to afford a house on a single income.

You had gone out to nice places, and had even gotten a midnight dinner at a local diner Joel took the girls to from time to time. You knew it was too early to really decide what the two of you were, but god you were infatuated with him. Joel on the other hand was ready to admit that he really liked you and wanted to move things along. 

Neither of you said anything though, not wanting to rush the relationship and scare off one another. So here you were, driving home after yet another amazing dinner date. Joel was going to head into the office and see if there was anything new found at the most recent crime scene. He wasn’t holding his breath, but there was always that small sliver of hope that things would finally look up for him. 

As much as Joel liked to call himself a gentleman, he didn’t hesitate to walk you to your front door after each date. Tonight was no different, even if you could feel his hand grazing your lower back gently.

“Thank you again, tonight was absolutely amazing,” You turned to face him, a bright smile on your face.

“Thank you for letting me take you out,” Joel leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to your lips.

You sighed softly into the kiss, wrapping your arms around his neck. The two of you stood there for what felt like hours, getting lost in the feeling of one another. Of course you didn’t want to pull away from the embrace, but your lungs were burning for air.

“Get inside before I get us in trouble,” Joel patted your ass, chuckling when you playfully slapped his chest.

“I’ll hold you to that, next time,” You pressed one final kiss to his lips before rushing inside.

Joel was on cloud nine, listening to the crickets sing their own songs as he made his way into the house. There wasn’t anything else that could bring down his mood, maybe they’d finally make a break in the case and he could bring the girls back home. He kept the lights off, heading towards the kitchen to grab a glass of water. As he reached for the glass he’d left on the counter earlier that day, a sudden pain spread through his neck. Reaching up he felt a syringe sticking out of his neck.

“Oh fuck,” Joel’s eyes rolled back as he hit the ground.

~~~

Joel’s head was pounding, vision blurry as he struggled to take in his surroundings. The last thing he could remember was going on a date with you. He’d dropped you off at your house before heading back to his own, Sarah wanted her teddy bear. Shit, did they know he was going to visit Sarah and Ellie? No, he’d been keeping their communication to a minimum because of what had happened.

His head whipped around as the sound of creaking floorboards caught his attention, so he was in someone’s basement. Glancing around the dim and musty basement Joel tried to take everything in that he could actually see. A washer and dryer sat in the far corner, a drying rack directly next to the two machines. Shit, there wasn’t enough to give him any idea of who this could be.

There was one thing that suddenly caught his eye, a coat he’d seen more times than not in the last few years. He’d given them shit for not fixing the rip in the shoulder, saying it would be ruined by the end of the year. Oh shit.

“I wondered how long it was going to take you to find out, but clearly you’re not as smart as you claimed,” Her voice sent chills down his spine, this couldn’t be happening.

“Lovely to see you as well,” Joel kept his gaze straight, refusing to acknowledge she was even in the room.

She snickered lowly, footsteps echoing as she came to a stop in front of Joel. A knife held loosely in her right hand should’ve made him more nervous than he was. This was how it was all going to end, he wouldn’t be able to tell Sarah or Ellie the truth.

“Why kill so many young women? What did they ever do to you?” Joel swallowed thickly, palms sweating profusely.

“It should’ve been obvious after you found the first body, why do you think Tommy was so unnerved around her?” Maria leaned down slowly, her presence was enough to make Joel feel sick.

“Anyone that’s sane is going to be unnerved around a dead body, don’t act surprised,” Maybe he shouldn’t be so snarky, but right now he was terrified.

Maria sighed, leaning away from Joel and the only light source she’d turned on. Joel was bathed in the light, giving him enough vision to see himself and a few feet in front of him. However once Maria had gotten far enough away he had no idea where she had gone, what was she planning on doing?

“He had been sleeping with her, each and every girl was a fucking bootycall for him because I was too busy with work,” Maria’s tone was venomous, she was murdering innocent women because Tommy was unfaithful.

“They did nothing wrong, if you’re going to be angry with anyone be mad at him!” Joel would defend Tommy with his last breath, but knowing he was the reason Maria had snapped? It sickened him.

Maria sighed to herself, setting down the hunting knife and slipping on a pair of thick black gloves. Shit, this was starting to get too real for Joel.

“I did confront him when I found out he’d slept with three different women, he got down on his knees and begged me not to divorce him. If he only knew what was going to happen,” Maria ran a finger along the edge of the blade, humming softly.

Joel grunted as he pulled against the restraints, blood pooling against the coarse rope binding his wrists together. The hold was loosening ever so slightly but he couldn’t do anything to let Maria know he was trying to free himself.

“He’s always been too proud to admit his faults, but Jesus, Maria, divorce would’ve been the more logical fucking answer,” Joel damn near screamed as his right hand was freed, grabbing the rope to prevent it from hitting the floor.

“And let him go after girls even younger? He’s a sick man, Joel, and the sooner you see that the better,” Maria turned back towards him, her eyes looked so lifeless.

“Then let me do my own investigation on him, get him off the street so he can’t hurt anyone else,” Joel would do whatever it took to get back to his two girls, begging be damned.

Maria’s smirk was enough to send the fear of God through Joel, how had he been so blind to see that she was behind all the gruesome murders. The knife suddenly caught his attention, a small flicker of light glinting off the blade before it was embedded into the soft plush of his stomach. Joel coughed violently, dropping the rope and struggling to free his left wrist. Maria had clearly not realized Joel’s wrists were free until he swung a fist towards the side of her head. He managed to hit her temple, knocking her to the ground.

Joel groaned, grabbing the handle of the blood and pushing up and off the chair he’d just been bound to. Maria didn’t move as Joel limped towards the stairs that lead up to the kitchen, maybe he’d gotten lucky enough to knock her out. Each stair brought on a pain that Joel never knew he could imagine. Just get out of the house and get to the station.

There was a set of keys sitting on the kitchen table, without thinking Joel grabbed them and ran out to where Maria’s car sat. All but throwing himself into the passenger seat, Joel locked the doors immediately. The last thing he needed was Maria managing to wake up and coming after him before he could actually escape. His vision was beginning to get spotty, darkening on the sides as he managed to get the car started and pulled out of the driveway. 

If his calculations were correct he was only about a ten minute drive from the station, all he needed to do was survive until then and warn everyone about Maria. Joel wished he was in one of the cruisers, able to get through the traffic with ease. His shirt was nearly covered in blood, even though he’d left the knife in his stomach blood was pumping out steadily.

Joel could have cried the moment the station came into view, parking haphazardly as he threw the door open quickly. Getting out of the car was much worse than getting in, his body was growing weaker and he could hardly keep himself upright anymore. His face paled even more as he saw Sarah and Ellie inside talking with Tommy. Why the fuck were they were and not at his mom’s?!

“Tommy!” Joel’s voice was hoarse, hands pressed against the wound to help prevent anymore blood from seeping out.

Tommy’s brow furrowed as he stared out the double doors, eyes suddenly widening in fear as he noticed the state his brother was in.

Joel could barely remember the events that followed, his body slumped against the car as he waited for the end to finally come. Tommy had gathered as many officers as he could, running out to get Joel help and make sure he’d be alright. Sarah and Ellie were terrified, each of them crying as they watched Joel get taken away by ambulance. What the hell had happened to him, and what were they going to do until he was alright?

~~~

The sound of beeping is what caught Joel’s attention first followed by the absolute agony that was his right side. Was he finally in hell? Cause nothing could be worse than what he was currently experiencing.

“Gave everyone quite a scare there,” Tommy was sitting beside him, a cup of coffee held loosely in his hands.

“Yeah, well that’s what happens when your sister-in-law ends up stabbing you,” Joel said it so nonchalantly that even he was shocked.

Wait! He hadn’t gotten the chance to tell anyone that Maria was behind all of the murders!

“We already know, Joel, ended up figuring it out after you pulled up in her car. All the evidence was in the fucking basement,” Tommy was sickened by himself, he was the reason so many women were dead.

“She been taken into custody? I want to make sure that my girls are safe,” It was more than that, but Joel wasn’t going to spill any more information than needed.

“Yeah, they’re still scouring the house for anything else they might find. I’m a fucking suspect by the way,” Shit, that meant Joel and the girls were going to be questioned as well.

“Make sure they don’t go after Sarah or Ellie without me present, they’re still kids,” Tommy flinched at the word kids, why did that bother Joel so much?

Tommy didn’t stay long after Joel finally woke up, mentioning how he needed to be interviewed since the murderer happened to be his own wife. He was sure they’d come to interview him while he was stuck in a hospital bed, that way they’d get all the answers they needed. The stab wound wouldn’t be enough to prove he was innocent, people had done crazier shit before. As long as the girls were safe Joel could sleep a little easier.

“Hello?” You popped your head in the door, right hand resting against the doorknob.

“Hey, didn’t expect to see you,” Joel pressed the button on the side of his bed to help lift it more.

“Sarah told me what happened, I came over as soon as I got the chance,” You frowned as you walked closer to him.

The damage was hidden under the gown he had on, leaving everything to imagination except for the man who’d been dealt the wound.

“I promise it sounds much worse than it actually is,” Joel knew everyone was going to worry over him, especially Sarah and Ellie when they got to visit.

“You don’t need to act strong for me,” You grabbed onto one of his hands, lacing your fingers together before plopping down in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs.

“Just being honest darling, I know better than to hide anything from you,” Joel was happy that you had come to visit, it was a nice break from all the pain and anguish.

Two FBI agents showed up, and as much as Joel tried to hide his shock, he could only keep it together for so long. The woman standing before him was someone he’d lost contact with after he went into the academy. Though he couldn’t be surprised she’d managed to work her way up to the FBI.

“Nice to see you too Miller,” Tess smiled at him, her hair was so much shorter than the last time they’d seen one another. “Could say the same to you, but I doubt this is what you’d call good circumstances,” Joel gestured to his side that was covered.

You were still holding onto his hand except now you were nervous on who this new person was, from the way they spoke to one another it was obvious there was a deep past. She didn’t keep up pretenses though, diving right in to asking Joel any and every question she could. He kept it straightforward, giving any kind of detail that would help in the case against Maria. It sent chills down your spin listening to the harrowing tale that was Joel’s near death experience. He of course acted like this was a normal tuesday for him.

“If we need any more information we’ll be in contact, stay safe,” Tess and her partner left with a quick goodbye, leaving you and Joel to settle back into silence.

Joel didn’t want to worry anyone, let alone you or the girls, and right now his biggest worry was making sure Maria was behind bars. There were other fish to fry, but that was the main one.

~~~

Joel was downright exhausted. From dealing with the murder trials, to having to go to physical therapy to help get more mobility in his right side. Everything was becoming too much and Joel was over it. Sarah and Ellie had come back from his moms when he’d been home for nearly a week, each of them taking turns yelling at him. He just reminded them that sometimes his job was deadly. They were still gathering evidence to charge her properly, most people were demanding the death penalty since she’d murdered as many as twenty different women.

Joel was thankful his name was kept out of the limelight, that no one had known he was related to the murderer's husband. It was more to keep Sarah and Ellie’s names out of the press and prevent anyone from coming after them as revenge. The families had poured into the courtroom, crying silently as each name was listed amongst the victims.

It wasn’t until the fifth day of trial that Joel was finally called up onto the stand to give his testimony. He told them everything that happened, images of his wounds being pulled up to show the jurors. It was a harsh reminder that Joel was even still healing as he sat in front of everyone, pressing a hand against his side as though the wound would reopen.

“Mr. Miller, is it true that you and your brother both work for the detective agency?” Maria’s lawyer was a scummy bastard, he’d given off bad vibes from day one. “Yes,” Joel wasn’t sure where they were going with their questions, as the defense was doing everything they could to make sure she didn’t go to prison.

“And is it true that you were always the first one on scene?” What the hell?

“Not always, sometimes it would be my brother Tommy, or other times it would be Bill,” Joel slid his hands down to his lap.

The courtroom was nearly silent as David, Maria’s lawyer, turned to face the jury. He had to have had evidence to disprove something Joel was saying.

“Now Joel, it’s no secret that you or your brother had an interest in younger women before,” Joel was taken aback, he hadn’t so much as dated since Sarah was a child.

“Objection!” Marc, one of the DA's, shouted loud enough to cut off David’s weird tirade.

“Stay on track Mr. Winters,” The judge even seemed annoyed with wherever David was taking his bullshit.

“Apologies, now if I may reiterate my statement, your brother had been sleeping with the victims prior to them being murdered, correct?” David turned to face Joel suddenly, a sickening smile on his face.

“Yes, Maria strictly went after those women because he had been sleeping with them during their marriage,” There was clearly some kind of bullshit statement he needed to make.

Everyone became tense as they waited for David to drop the bomb that was sitting on the tip of his tongue.

“And is it true you knew one of the victims personally?” Joel’s brow furrowed, he’d only known one of them from the diner he frequented with the girls.

“She was a waitress at a diner I take my two daughters to, we didn’t know each other outside of her employer,” David clearly had not liked his answer if the way he suddenly scowled was any answer.

Did he think that Joel was sleeping with all these random young women after his brother had? What kind of sick fuck did he take him for?

“No further questions your honor,” David quickly went and took his seat, Maria angrily whispering into his ear.

Joel stepped down from the stand, heading back to sit in his original seat while the jurors headed off for deliberation. With all of the families now knowing who Joel was, keeping Ellie and Sarah safe was going to be his top priority. What if they tried confronting him after the trial?

“The jury reached their verdict,” Marc leaned back to where Joel was sitting, whispering softly enough so no one else heard him.

Shit, that was quick.

Each juror took their original spots, standing up and waiting until the judge had been given the slip of paper that held their answers. Joel waited with bated breath, hoping the news would give him some peace of mind.

“In the charge of first degree murder of Lily Evans, we the jury find the defendant guilty,” The rush that fell over Joel was euphoric.

Each name spoken was followed by a guilty, all the victims that had suffered were getting the justice they so rightfully deserved. The families were crying louder, thanking the heavens their children’s deaths were not in vain. Joel couldn’t look at Tommy, to see the reaction he had after hearing the woman he’d loved was being charged.

The first thing Joel was going to do would be take a damn vacation and get the girls out of the town for at least a week. It was a good thing it was summer which meant they didn’t have to worry about school, but right now he wasn’t thinking about that. The clawing notion that there was something his brother was hiding still bothered him. He wouldn’t ask Maria what that meant, the last thing he would do is associate himself with a murderer.

“I’m gonna head home and see how the girls are doing,” Joel slipped his overcoat back on, fixing his tie so it looked more presentable once more.

“Alright, tell ‘em I said hello,” Tommy’s voice was void of emotion, nearly lifeless.

Joel didn’t waste another second before rushing out of the courtroom, narrowly missing the reporters that were waiting outside to get any information. He’d probably spill the beans to you after he saw the two girls and got a decent meal in him. Sarah had been worried about him since the incident, and now she could rest a little easier knowing he’d be home more. Maybe he could order in and they’d sit and watch a movie together. As soon as he pulled up to the house his entire plan was washed away.

You were standing outside with Sarah and Ellie, laughing at something one of the girls had said. Normally Joel wouldn’t be upset if his girls were talking to someone, as long as he knew about them or of them, but your relationship was too new. Had they heard about you through one of the neighbors? No, Joel had been careful not to kiss you while the two of you were outside at all.

“Dad!” Sarah ran over the moment Joel had parked the car, throwing her arms around his middle carefully.

“Hey sweetpea, you behaving like I told you to?” Joel hugged her a little tighter, letting her know he was here to stay.

“Yeah, Y/N’s been keeping us company for a couple hours since it got late,” That made sense, the girls were probably worried he wouldn’t be home again.

“Why don’t we go inside and order something for dinner, it’s been a long few weeks,” Even though he was beyond exhausted, Joel was going to make sure his girls were happy.

Sarah ran inside with Ellie, leaving you and Joel outside to talk. Well, Joel assumed that’s what it was at least.

“Hey there handsome,” You smiled up at him, pressing a hand against his chest. “Hey, they cause any trouble for you?” Joel needed to make sure everything was alright, parental instincts always on high gear.

“No they were perfectly fine, I wanted to keep them away from the news during the trial,” Well that was a relief.

“Thank you, it means a lot,” He would tell them eventually, but right now he wanted to put this all behind him.

Joel offered to let you eat with them, but you politely declined, saying that you had plans with a couple friends and would see him for your next date. Joel watched you until you were safely inside your house, pulling out his phone to order in some food. He might have gone overboard and ordered both pizza and chinese, but the girls deserved a little treat.

“Food should be here in a half hour, why don’t you guys get a movie set up,” Joel headed up to his bedroom, leaving the girls to their own devices.

He stripped down quickly, throwing on his comfiest pairs of sweats and a threadbare t-shirt that had definitely seen better days. Just because it had paint from before Sarah was born didn’t mean it had to be thrown out. He had talked with Frank about taking a couple weeks off once the trial was over, and now he was going to cash in on that.

“Food’s here!” Ellie’s voice was loud enough to carry up into Joel’s room.

Joel grabbed his wallet and headed back down to pay for the food so the girls could start eating and relax. He was surprised to see both delivery drivers already but it meant not having to get up multiple times to pay. Joel quickly paid for both meals, along with a hefty tip and handed the girls the food to separate. Ellie was screeching about how excited she was for the chinese, whereas Sarah was more excited for the pizza.

Joel let the girls make their own plates before getting any food for himself, they had gotten a movie ready to go while he was getting changed. He chuckled when he realized it was one of the new Star Wars movies that had come out recently. It was better to just let the girls choose instead of arguing for something else.

“Sarah keeps picking this movie cause she thinks Poe’s cute,” Ellie giggled when Sarah threw an eggroll at her.

“Shut up!” Sarah was nearly mortified, immediately shoving another bite of pizza into her mouth.

“Huh, he kind of looks like the ADA I met with today,” Joel was shocked at how similar they looked, the man was a real doppelganger.

Sarah’s head whipped around, he just opened a whole can of worms hadn’t he? 

“No I’m not introducing you to someone I probably won’t see again for a while,” Joel scooped a forkful of rice into his mouth.

“Please? You won’t take me to meet Oscar Isaac so I have to make do!” Sarah wasn’t above begging to get what she wanted.

“I’ll take you to meet whoever this actor is as long as you don’t misbehave, got it?” Joel wouldn’t admit he’d bought tickets for the three of them to attend the con they had been talking about for ages.

“Thank you!” Sarah was all but vibrating in her seat.

Joel knew that he was doing the right thing, the girls would be much happier with the surprise that they were going. And once they got back home he would be starting his own investigation on the last person he wanted to do this to.

Tommy.

[ficreadergirl]

Dangerous Inquiries (2.ch.6)

After a long girls night with Kory and a couple of drinks both of you fell asleep on your couch. You woke up early in the morning with a terrible hangover and a vague memory of what happened last night. As you tried to piece together your memories from yesterday, you realized that Kory had managed to drag some information out of you about Jason and yourself.

You groaned in pain as you sat up on the couch, your head throbbing from the alcohol. You rubbed your eyes and looked around for your phone to check the time but couldn't find it anywhere. While you were searching for it Kory's phone started to ring. She groaned and reached for her phone which was lying on the coffee table.

"Hello?" she answered sleepily. There was a brief pause before she continued, "Oh hi Dick. Yeah, I'm with Y/n. We were just... chatting." she paused again listening to whatever Dick was saying on the other end. "Yeah, I'll tell you about it later. Okay?" she said before ending the call.

"What did he want?" you asked curiously as Kory put her phone back on the table.

"He was asking if you're good. And some stuff about work." she replied with a yawn. "Oh and he also wanted to know if you're interested in going out for lunch today since it's your day off."

"Oh my! I forgot about the work!" you said realizing that it was already late morning. You stood up from the couch and stretched your tired muscles trying to shake off some of the remaining dizziness caused by alcohol.

"I thought it was your day off when you drunk that much honey. He blew your mind that much huh?" Kory teased with a smirk. Your cheeks flushed red at her comment but you ignored it. She laughed at your reaction before standing up herself.

"You should take a day off girl. We need a good breakfast to literally wake up." she said walking to the kitchen. You followed her into the kitchen where she began preparing breakfast.

"Actually I need to work for a case. I remembered now. Jason said this guy attacked the courthouse was killed." you explained as you helped Kory prepare breakfast.

"So you two were not just making out last night." she commented without looking up from the stove. You blushed even deeper but decided not to respond. Instead you focused on helping her cook breakfast hoping that the heat in your cheeks would fade soon enough. Once breakfast was ready you and Kory sat down at the dining table to eat. The food tasted amazing despite your still aching headache and you found yourself enjoying every bite.

"How can you be so good at that? This is delicious." you complimented her as you took another bite of your omelette.

"Practice, love." she shrugged nonchalantly. "And I love cooking. It's one of my favourite things to do when I need to unwind or relax."

You smiled at her. "Well you're really good at it then."

"Thank you. When will you call them by the way?" she asked between bites.

"I don't think they care honestly. Even when cops bring a murder suspect, they don't care. They just want to get rid of him no matter if he's really guilty or not. They don't like me in there because of how I deal with all that I guess." you sighed remembering how you always fought for your clients and made sure they got a fair trial.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I know you always try your best." Kory said softly reaching across the table to hold your hand. You smiled gratefully at her feeling comforted by her touch. "But if it makes any difference, Dick and me are proud of what you do."

"Thanks Kory. That means a lot." you replied sincerely. After breakfast you helped Kory clean up the kitchen and called work. You explained that you wouldn't be coming in today due to a headache and would work from home instead since you didn't have a trial to attend.

"So... what do we do now?" she asked once everything was cleaned up.

"I have some research to do on this case." you answered. "Maybe we can watch a movie or something after that."

"Sounds good to me." Kory agreed. You grabbed your laptop and started working on the case in your study while Kory went to the living room with a book she chose and started to read it. You were deep in thought about the case when you heard a knock at your door. You heard Kory got up to open it but you didn't pay much attention until she called out your name.

"Y/n! There's someone here to see you." she called out. You stood up and walked towards the door still lost in thought about the case. When you came to the door you saw Jason standing there looking nervous.

"What happened?" you asked him immediately concerned. He looked at you for a moment before speaking.

"Can I come in?" he asked softly. You stepped aside and let him in, closing the door behind him.

"What happened boy?" Kory asked following behind you. Jason glanced at her before looking back at you.

"I might be in trouble." he said simply. "I need your help."

You and Kory exchanged worried glances before turning back to him. "What happened?" you asked gently.

"I..." he hesitated. "They think I murdered that man." he finally admitted.

"What?" you exclaimed in shock.

"Did you do it?" Kory asked bluntly. You could see the concern in her eyes but she wasn't about to let him get away with it if he had done it.

"No Kory." he replied shaking his head. "I didn't do it."

Kory studied his expression for a moment before seeming to relax slightly. "Alright, then what happened?"

"I might be... at the scene of the crime that night." Jason confessed. "But I didn't kill him."

"You were talking about beating him... was it that night?" you asked him your eyes wide with shock. He then looked away embarrassed by his actions. Kory sighed and shook her head.

"Seriously Jay?" she asked him. "You couldn't have just left it at that? You had to go and beat him!"

"I was angry!" he snapped. "He deserved it! But I didn't kill him."

Kory and you exchanged glances again before turning back to him. "Alright." you said slowly. "We believe you. What do you need us to do?"

"Just know that there's a murderer out there. It wasn't me." he said softly.

Kory looked at him for a moment before nodding. "So... you may want to take a week of maybe Y/n. Until we get him. Since you were about to be his lawyer... he might come after you."

"Shit..." you muttered under your breath. "I'll have to cancel my appointments for the week then." you said. Kory nodded in agreement as she glanced at Jason. He looked worried and you could tell he was regretting his actions.

"I'm sorry I got you involved in this." he muttered.

Read more

[turtlesocksv2]

Liveblogging Dead Friend Forever Ep 7

I am SO SO SO excited for this and for PhiNon I am READY let's GO!

LMAO Phi and Non met on Thai Grindr I don't know why that's so funny to me. But they're so fucking cute oh my god. The way Non smiles when they meet face to face the first time! They're both immediately smitten. The date montage is killing me. Non feeding Phi! Pinkies Locked while walking down the street!!! I love them so much! Phi is absolutely 100% justified in murdering everyone over this little love story.

Phi's dad is kinda hot in the one second we saw of him, not gonna lie.

Them pulling a Lady Ant The Tramp on an apple is objectively hilarious but they're so cute that I'll let it pass.

Phi is so fucking in love. The matching bracelets are so cute. Something something Red String Of Fate something something. what a lovely bit of joy this opening bit has been.

Aaaaand we return to your regularly scheduled awfulness. That music really immediately brought the tone back. Remember that everything is terrible? Remember that Non might get arrested? Remember that Non eventually goes missing at best and is murdered at worst?

Ooooh! Phi's dad is a fucking cop! Real high up, too! well that makes things interesting. but lol at Phi being soooo Ride or Die that he's straight up lying to his dad that he's involved in The Crimes too just to save his boyfriend.

"But don't worry, there are no problems that I can't fix." PHI. PHI my murderous revenge seeking king. I love you. but perhaps calm your tits a little, you'll freak Non out even more than he's already freaked out. boy has Anxiety! Phi is so right to tell Non that he needs to change schools and that those aren't real friends but Non isn't ready to admit it yet.

See, Jin tries to help Non but it doesn't actually do anything. Because Jin has no spine or he wouldn't still be friends with people who bully the boy he likes. Phi actually helps Non. Get you a boyfriend like Phi, not like Jin.

Also it's so funny to see Non just not responding to Jin's heart eyes. Jin's got his hand on Non's shoulder like 😍 and Non is just blanking him. 🧍‍♂️😐 Hilarious.

Ah, i Knew that this was going to be the PhiNon Conflict: Phi is (rightfully!) upset about Non not sticking up for himself and leaving those assholes to do the movie themselves and keeping secrets, Non wants to handle his problems on his own and not have Phi sweep in every time to fix things and judge him. I'm sorry, Non, but you dicked down a latent obsessive crazy person (affectionate) and this comes with the territory. It's the Theerapanyakul coming out.

Pinky Promise! that i am 100% sure is going to be broken in like 30 seconds. I'm calling it now, i have the episode paused to write this but i am betting that the next scene transition is going to be to Hot Teacher manipulating Non.

Damn, I was wrong about that being the next scene but I FEEL IT. It's going to happen! Damn, they didn't even bring Non with them? he had to ask the villagers for help getting to the mansion? WOW.

Now Por, if this kid literally got you involved with the police for money laundering why the FUCK would you give him your credit card to go buy food for everyone? i get that you just don't want him around and want to punish him but that's just dumb.

Jin wants Fluke to also stand up for Non but that is not going to happen ever.

God Por and Top are so mean.

"It's my money, if I want something, it'll happen." "it's in my hands it must be mine, tell your dad to come sue me." fucking rich people.

Oh is this going to be the betrayal that means Jin has to die? That Jin convinced Non to stay and then Non ends up missing/dead? Jin must feel so guilty about that.

here we go, a scene with Hot Teacher. I know something's about to happen with this I can feel it. The music is making me so tense and now they're sitting on the couch together! and like, Non absolutely should be telling a teacher/adult about all this! but just not THIS teacher/adult. I do not trust him! "I see you as a brother" my ass.

AND THERE IT IS. I CALLED IT. lmao at Phi calling Non when he's leaving Hot Teacher's office. Phi's spidey sense was tingling.

aaskjfhj Phi fucking showing up to see Non and mr keng talking and he immediately clocks that it's Not Right and that mr keng wants to bone Non.

"you don't seem to trust me at all" because you're not being trustworthy! you're making bad choices! Phi is right and has never been wrong! just because he's a bit intense and overbearing with it doesn't mean he's wrong! god, Non being able to say that to Phi with a straight face when not even a half hour ago he was making out with mr keng. incredible.

I just want Phi and Non to be cute and happy and a little insane about each other and nothing bad happens ok. :(

Uh oh. Jin caught them!

Non no! don't give Tee 300k in cash to give to the boss! He's going to steal it! and then fucking Tee sets Top on Non to stalk him to figure out who gave the money.

OH huh. Hot Teacher is working with an investigative journalist to take down the mafia scammers? Oooooh, i bet that this is how Tee's uncle gets arrested. hmm. well maybe Hot Teacher Mr Keng isn't entirely terrible but he's on the thinnest fucking ice.

oh L M A F O is Jin gonna walk in on Non and Hot Teacher going at it. He already caught Non with Phi!

but OOOOOOOHHHHHH HERE WE GO. HERE is Jin's betrayal! Taking video of Non and Mr Keng getting it on and then getting drunk and POSTING IT ON TWITTER OH MY GOD. JIN NO.

and eeeeeeeveryone has seen it. oh god. Phi's seen it too oh no. i'm dying. i'm levitating in outer space.

the bracelet broke! something something red string of fate something something!!!!

oh fuuuuck. This is why Phi goes psycho revenge scheme on them. "you want me to forgive you? get lost and die." those are going to be Phi's last words to Non aren't they? aren't they? i hate it and i love it.

and next week shit is going to continue to hit the fan. i am vibrating. i need more! this is amazing!

[starkstruck27]

And finally, my last fill for @metalsandwichbingo !! My card is not stamped from the last one because I only finished the last two tonight and posted them separately, so yeah. Anyway, this was an awesome event and I'm so glad I took part, and I hope everyone enjoys this last story and the thrilling conclusion to the cop drama series.

Title: Lights and Sirens, pt. 4

Chapter Title: Lions Will Roar

Square + Prompt: B1, Badass Rescue

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 2415 Words

Major Tags: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Additional Tags: Pre-relationship, Alternate universe, Cop Steve Harrington, Murder, Cop drama, Mafia, Interrogations, Plot twists, Neil Hargrove being an asshole

Summary: During trial prep, Eddie and Steve realize that Billy is missing, and they have to go find him.

Also on: Ao3

Two days before the trial of Neil Hargrove, and everyone was panicking as they prepared for it, except, of course, Nancy. She was as cool as a cucumber while she walked each witness through their testimonies, and she made sure she had all her bases covered so there would be no surprises once they were in front of the jury. She had already prepped Robin, Steve, and about a dozen different lab techs, medical experts and criminal psychologists to make sure that their case was as sound as could be, but she was still missing two key players who would really set the record straight. Eddie and Billy were going to be her two key witnesses, and without them, it didn’t matter how many experts she put on the stand, none of it would matter. So she set their prep time closest to the trial date to make sure it would all be fresh in their minds, and she was expecting them any minute now. 

“Where are they? You told them to be here twenty minutes early just in case, right?” Nancy asked Steve, checking her watch again. 

“Yeah, but maybe they just hit some traffic or something. I can try and call them, but-”

Before Steve could finish his sentence, the door to the room burst open and Eddie came in, panting as he rushed over in a panic. He looked disheveled, like he hadn’t slept or had been running around for hours.

“You’re late, y’know,” Nancy remarked, “And where is Billy?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m late, I can’t find him anywhere. He’s not answering his phone and I haven’t seen him a few days, but I thought he was just trying to lay low like you told us to, so I didn’t think much about it, but he didn’t answer my call last night to see what time to be here, so I started to panic. I called like eight times, but he hasn’t said a word. I even went to try and find him somewhere, but I called around to hotels and stuff, and nobody knows where he is, not even Susan and Max, and he always tells at least one of us if he’s going anywhere because he doesn’t want us to worry if he’s AWOL for a couple days,” Eddie rushed out, waving his hands around like a maniac as he spoke. “I know something’s wrong, so I came to get you right away.”

“Okay, well, you checked places he frequents and he wasn’t at any of them, right? So that leaves us three options. One, he left town and went off the grid. Two, he’s back at home for some reason, or three, something bad has happened, most likely because of his dad. Unfortunately, I think we all know that number three is the most likely, so, Eddie, is there anywhere that you can think of where Billy might be stashed away?” Steve asked, pacing around a bit as he thought. He really hoped he was wrong about his theory, but he knew the odds of that were slim, and he also knew that if they didn’t find him fast, their case would be bolstered, but by his body rather than his testimony. 

“There’s a couple of old warehouses the company owns out in the styx that some of the guys said were used as quiet places to take care of business for Hargrove, but I thought they’d been torn down last year,” Eddie said, still slightly panicky.

“Oh, yeah, I remember reading about that,” Robin chimed in, already looking for her keys. “They tore down most of them, but the demolition crew went on strike, so there’s still a couple left. They’re about twenty miles out of town, who wants to drive?”

“I’m on it, let’s go,” Steve said, grabbing the keys and rushing out to the car. Robin slid into the passenger's seat and Eddie took the back, Nancy opting to stay behind and alert the precinct and her bosses of what was going on. The three in the car drove quickly, switching on the lights and sirens so that they could get through the crowded streets faster. For fifteen minutes they drove in tense silence, all of them fearing what they might find at these warehouses, and preparing themselves, just in case. All of them were fearing the worst, and they were trying to put on brave faces for each other as they got closer and closer to their destination. They turned off the lights and siren once the roads became less populated, but Steve still drove as fast as he could so they could get there before it was too late.

Finally, they pulled up to a plot of land surrounded by an old chain link fence with a broken gate. There were two buildings about another half mile inside, but Steve drove them just inside the gate, then turned off the car.

“Okay, so, there’s two buildings, so I’ll take one, Robin, you take the other. Eddie, you stay here in case anything happens, I don’t want you to get hurt. Plus, we’ll need somebody to call for backup if things go south, so you stay here.” Steve instructed, getting his gun and making sure it was loaded.

“To Hell with that, I’m coming with you. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, and it happens to be my friend in there, too. Plus, I’ve got experience with these guys, if they see me, they won’t be as alarmed as if they see you, so I’m going in, too,” Eddie replied, taking out his own gun and trying not to be amused when he saw their faces. 

“How did you get that into the courthouse?” Robin asked, then quickly amended it. “No, actually, don’t answer that. Anyway, Steve, we don’t have time to argue, and no matter what we say, he’s gonna do what he wants, so let’s just go.”

“Fine, but I want you to stick to me like glue and don’t do anything unless I say so. I don’t need anyone getting killed or a firefight to break out. Robin, make sure to keep your radio on, and if you clear the building, let me know. I’ll do the same, and if we see something, we wait for each other before we do anything, unless it comes down to life or death. Are we all in agreement?” Steve asked, and the other two nodded, and so they got out of the car. They walked carefully up to the two buildings, and Robin went left while Steve and Eddie went right, and they each crept silently into the old open buildings to hopefully find Billy. 

As soon as Steve and Eddie cleared the doorway, they heard something, some kind of muffled half scream, half grunt, half gurgle kind of thing, and they knew someone was there. They slipped in a little further and heard more distinct sounds, mostly slaps, kicks, grunts and cries, and they realized the gravity of the situation. Whether or not the person making those sounds was Billy, they needed to get that person out of there. 

Steve turned around and headed for the door once again, getting just far away that he was sure nobody would hear while he whispered into the radio for Robin. He told her not to respond, but that they’d found something, and that she’d better come quick, because they were going in. 

Once Steve was sure she’d gotten the message, he rejoined Eddie and they went in further, slowly going around doorways and down halls, following the sounds they’d heard. Finally they got to an open door to a big room, and from their angle they could see a man standing before another man who was tied to a chair, covered in blood, and barely breathing. 

“Izzat… all ya… got?” The tied up man asked, and if they’d had any doubts before, now they knew it was Billy. “Didn’t even knock out… any teeth.”

“Shut up!” The other man said, kicking hard at Billy’s shin and making him let out a strangled cry. Even at this distance, they could see tears coming from his eyes, but Billy refused to give up.

“We gotta go Steve, now. They could kill him!” Eddie hissed, motioning at the two men. 

“We have to wait for backup,” Steve said, earning an incredulous look. 

“Screw that! It’s one guy, I’m going in,” Eddie said, and before Steve could get ahold of him, Eddie was already out of reach.

“Alright, dickbag, get away from him,” Eddie said, holding up his gun as he approached. The guy didn’t budge, so Eddie moved closer, his finger on the trigger. “Are you hard of hearing or what? I said step away. Now.”

“Listen, Munson, I got no trouble with you, I’m just following the boss’s orders, that’s all,” the guy said, finally stepping back and turning to face Eddie, casually holding his hands up. 

“Jason? C’mon, man, how did you end up doing this shit for him? Even if you are just following orders, you’re about to kill him! You really want that on your conscience?” Eddie asked. Apparently, he knew this guy.

“Listen, man, my orders are to rough him up as much as I want, but not to kill him. I’d never take him the full way, and you of all people should know I’d never actually kill anyone. I’m a sinner, but I’m not that bad.”

“Yeah, but look at him, dude,” Eddie said, starting to panic again as Billy’s breathing got shallow, until it was barely there at all. “He’s hardly breathing, he needs a doctor, and I don’t care if I have to kill you, I’m gonna get him to one. So you can either walk away and let me help him, or you can stay there and get a bullet in your face, it’s your choice.”

“You know if I don’t do my job he’ll kill me,” Jason said, seeming to be just as nervous as Eddie was.

“But you have done your job, and if you want proof, take a picture right now and show it to him. He’s about to be knocking on Heaven’s door, so you did as you were told. But if you don’t let me get him some help right now, he might die, and then you’ll have goofed up and he’ll kill you anyway. I don’t like your odds, buddy, do you?” Eddie asked, then held his breath. Hopefully the mention of Heaven would appeal to Jason’s not-quite-dead-yet sense of faith. 

And just like every time he’d tried it before, the tactic worked. Jason finally relented, taking a picture of Billy’s barely breathing self before letting him go, and letting Eddie get him out of there. He met Robin and Steve at the door, and the three of them once again tore down the road towards town, getting Billy to the closest emergency room and letting the doctors take over. 

After the judge granted Nancy’s motion for a continuance based on the star witness being in the hospital, the trial continued, and after a week of giving evidence and another two days of jury deliberation, Neil Hargrove was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He was going to die in prison, and the empire that he’d spent his whole life building was now crumbling down around him. 

When the verdict was given, Billy actually cried, he was so happy. Eddie, Steve, Robin and Max had all made sure to be there for every second of the trial, and they were all overjoyed at the fact that none of them would ever have to see or hear from Neil ever again. It was like every birthday and Christmas present ever rolled into one huge moment, and they were all ready to celebrate like it was New Year's Eve. In a way, it kind of felt like it was, because now they were all able to move on from this part of their lives and start fresh on a new part. 

“So, what do we do now?” Eddie asked as they left the courthouse.

“Now we go on with our lives. I move onto a new case, you guys get new jobs, new apartments, and we start over. I finally know who my Jane Doe is, and it's a huge weight off my shoulders that we were able to get justice for her. I get to move on, and you guys do, too, once you figure out what you wanna do with all the time and freedom you now have. And may I suggest something of the non-criminal variety. I like you guys, I don't wanna have to arrest you anytime soon,” Steve joked, his smile big and bright as the sun.

“I make no promises. It usually doesn't, but in this instance, crime did pay, at least for my apartment. Now I need some fast money if I wanna find a place to live anytime soon,” Eddie sighed.

“Yeah, and I don't know how long Susan and Max can have me staying with them and Max's Granny. They already have their hands full with her, and their place isn't very big. I gotta find somewhere before we all end up killing each other.” Billy said, shrugging. 

“Well, I mean, it's not much, but I've got a nice enough place if you guys need somewhere to stay while you're getting on your feet. It's big enough at least for three people, as long as somebody doesn't mind sleeping on the couch,” Steve offered, his face feeling a bit hotter than normal. These were his friends, why was he blushing?

“Are you sure? We wouldn't want to impose,” Billy said, his face going a bit pink, too. 

“Speak for yourself, pal!” Eddie said, grinning as he shook Steve's hand enthusiastically. “It'll be a pleasure to be your roommate, Mr. Harrington! I'll even be the one to sleep on the couch!”

“Well, what about you Billy? Are you in, too?” Steve asked, holding out a hand.

“I, uh, I'd like that. Thanks, Steve,” Billy said, shaking his hand and smiling. He had never imagined this would be the way he would start off rebuilding his life, but he wasn't complaining about it. There was nowhere to go from here but up, and with all of them working together, they were sure to figure out how to get there.

[occasionaloneshots]

   His hands make a messy pattern of taps against his thighs as he sits in the police station, staring at the two officers who look at him as if he’s lying. Glenda would tell him his beat was off tune, as if that was ever his focus. “And you have no idea where your partners could be? At all? No phone calls, texts, you don’t have their locations?” He shakes his head again, eyes still locked on the cops. “I already told you, they’re missing.” “They’re on the run, Paul.” 

   His brows furrow, reaching back for his pocket, “No, they’re missing. Glenda told me that their mom was crazy. And now suddenly she’s wanted for murder and they’re missing. Location turned off, not answering calls or texts. This isn’t like them.” “Maybe they left you. I believe your generation calls that ‘ghosting’?” He puts air quotes around the word as he speaks, raising a brow at the boy before him. Paul sighs, reaching into his wallet and pulling out the polaroid. His eyes flicker over the page, Glenda’s wink and Glen’s doe eyes staring back at him. Stuck in a moment in time. He slides it onto the table, pushing it towards the cops. 

   “Look at it, this isn’t something someone planning on leaving would do.” One of the guards leans down, timidly lifting the photo to look it over. She frowns at him, “Is there a chance that only one of them wanted out? Glen said they loved you for both of them.” “They always do, Glenda isn’t great with words,” he shakes his head as he speaks, “I promise you, something is wrong. Their mother did something or they’re somewhere in that house and you didn’t find them. Something, I know my partners. Did you check the basement? Glen always talks about the basement behind the bookshelf.” 

     Officer Groves leans across the table, this soft, nearly maternal look across her features that seems to smooth the hair on the back of Paul’s neck back down. “And you’re positive there is no way that Glen or Glenda helped their mother hurt anybody?” “Glenda would never do anything that would put Glen at risk, and Glen can’t kill bugs without crying. My partners are victims here, I’m sure of that.” She nods, sliding Paul his polaroid back with a pursed lip smile that barely turns up at the corners. “I believe you, Paul. Stay in town, we might have to call you again for questioning. And if you hear from either of your partners, you are required to let us know. Not informing us would make you an accessory.” He nods, sliding the picture back in his wallet as he rises to his feet. “I have class, I wouldn’t be headed anywhere anyway.”     He heads to the door, lip tucked between his teeth. And with his palm barely resting on the door, he bites his lip, turning back towards the table. “Officer Groves?” She hums, eyes resting on the boy, “Yes, Paul?” “If you do hear anything about them, can you tell me? I feel like I’m going crazy here.” Officer Groves nods, popping her knuckles as she does, “We can make that deal. Take care, Paul.” 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

     He’s had his phone’s ringer on since Monday when he got home from class and they weren’t there. He couldn’t bear the idea of missing their calls. This ring wasn’t them though, a California number he had no way of recognizing scanning across his phone. Paul let himself have the false hope that maybe they’d bought burners, or called from Jennifer’s phone. Anything to try and calm that nausea that bubbled in his throat as he pressed the green button waiting on his screen. 

    “Hello?” “Paul? This is Officer Groves, from the Los Angeles Police Department. We have some information on Glen and Glenda Tilly.” His heart drops, weakened knees making him drop back to his seat on the couch, “Are they okay? Where are they?” A sigh comes through the receiving end of his phone. “Paul, I am so sorry for your loss.” His hands start to shake, grip loosening on his cell to the point that he almost dropped it. “No, that’s not. Where are they, who,” he lets out a sound that falls somewhere between a whimper and a sob, “Who died? Why didn’t their sibling call?” 

    Officer Grover’s voice cracks a touch as she begins to speak again, “Glen and Glenda were both found dead in Glen’s hospital bed in Hackensack Memorial Hospital. They were in New Jersey, Paul. We’re not quite sure what they were doing there.” A hand comes up to wipe his eyes, letting out a shaky breath, “Can I ask how they,” he stops, taking another breath, “How did they die? Do you know?” “It says that Glen died due to complications of a gunshot wound and Glenda is still awaiting autopsy. They said their best guess is sudden heart failure but they’re unsure.” He nods, choking on a sob as he mutters out a thank you to the woman. “I am so sorry for your loss, Paul.”

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