#you haven't even had the time to tape off the crime scene

[silvershewolf247]

It's kind of insane to me that a cop saw a disabled women sobbing and covered in blood deliriously crying that a doll killed her family. And he immediately thinks, yes, she definitely did it, there is no other potential explanation, now I'm going to mock her with facts about ancient Egypt.

[reiderwriter]

She's a Silver Lining

Chapter Nine of I Can't Help Myself

Summary: Spencer comes to terms with your abduction.

Warnings: ANGST, Suicidal ideation, kidnapping, mentions of fetal abduction and murder of pregnant women, descriptions of abuse, descriptions of prenatal care, typical case details. Spencer is depressed.

A/N: I'm sorry this chapter is a day late, I literally saw God this weekend (I saw Taemin perform live), and really, all that's been on my mind is how God is Good (Taemin is hot), and so I haven't been able to write anything as depressing as this chapter. I hope you enjoy (?) it anyway~♡

Masterlist || tags are currently broken, I'm sorry ♡

Eight days. It had been eight days since Spencer had last seen you. Eight days since he'd screwed up his one job so massively that he'd lost you. 

He'd lost people before. He'd lost people on cases. Victims, unsubs, bystanders, and family members who didn't stand a chance at recovering from their own loss. He'd lost Maeve, which was a little too similar to his current circumstances to think about too hard. He'd been losing his mother since he was born, and he'd really lost her again a few months ago. He'd lost Gideon. He'd lost Elle, too, before that. He'd lost Emily, and though she'd come back too, it wasn't the same. He'd lost Morgan, and then Hotch. He'd lost Alex Blake.

He'd lost nearly everyone in his life. Some of them had come back, most of them hadn't. 

He'd thought himself immune to the pain of losing someone at last. 

He'd certainly lost enough of himself in prison. 

It may have only been 84 days, but whatever was left in him of hope before was gone. He'd emerged completely empty. 

He supposed that's why he'd accepted the role at the university. There was nothing left for him to give to the BAU, but he couldn't be the one to leave. 

As it was, he'd already been unsettled enough by leaving you behind when he'd finished up his time there. 

It felt weird to him, saying goodbye. Not that he'd actually said goodbye. He'd kissed your forehead as he slipped out of your bed, sure, but you'd been neither conscious, nor fond of him in anyway. It was a parting gesture just for him  and he hadn't been quite sure why he'd done it. 

It was just a gesture and one he'd repeated multiple times after getting you back. You didn't know, of course. How could you? 

He'd either woken up before you and kissed your forehead, or climbed into bed beside you late at night and greeted you then. 

You'd lain side by side, drifting to sleep slowly, when he realized it had become a daily habit. 

He hadn't any idea of what he'd do when you left. 

And now you had. And it was his fault. 

In the eight days since you'd been kidnapped, Spencer had come to terms with a few facts.

He knew 64,956 women were currently declared missing in the United States. He knew that 77% of adults reported missing were found in 24 hours. You weren't. He knew 4% were found in 48 hours. You weren't. Only 3% were usually missing still after a week. 

You were somehow in that small minority, even though there was an entire team of FBI agents working around the clock to find you. 

He'd had faith in his coworkers before. Before, he'd begged for their help, and they'd succeeded in 24 hours, even if the outcome wasn't preferable. 

This time, he didn't beg. He had no faith. He just hoped to be present with a gun, loaded with two bullets, if this time went the way of the last. 

On the eighth day after your abduction, Spencer finally returned home.

The damage from your abduction was still apparent. 

Not that your captor had left many clues. In fact, they'd left none. Not even a fingerprint or a good angle on the CCTV. But he hadn't taken returning to an empty apartment well.

He slashed through the crime scene tape quickly, letting in hang in the doorway as he entered. The bookshelves he'd attacked were limping, leaning on each other for support after he'd ripped books off so violently he'd set them askew. 

He'd kicked and ripped and punched the wall so hard he'd needed stitches that he'd absolutely refused to get. 

He'd cried and sobbed into his bloodied and bruised hands until Emily had arrived, and then he'd cried some more, leaning on his friend, his sister, for her support. 

Returning now, there wasn't a single tear left.

In the hospital, they'd addressed his flesh wounds, but the emotional ones would never hear. 

You were gone. And now there was only a 3% chance he'd ever see you again. 

Emily hadn't allowed him to stick around to make their jobs harder. She's placed him on house arrest - funnily enough, her house, where you should've been if he wasn't such a selfish ass - and assigned a watch. 

She’d said it was for protection, but what she'd meant was it was to protect him from himself.

The rest of the team had avoided the topic entirely. They didn't know how to deal with whatever stage of grief he was going through. Many of them had comforted him the first time. They didn't know how to do it a second. They didn't know if they could. 

After eight days, Spencer had left Emily’s apartment. He'd dodged the Agent she'd stationed alongside him, got into a taxi, and gone home. 

Surveying the damage, he was surprised how deep the hurt had already cut to not feel much anymore. 

He looked at the books splayed on the floor. It was a title that you'd been reading that week. One he remembered you using at the office, one that had been on both of your courses reading lists. He picked each of them up and put them back on the shelf. He righted each shelf and organised them neatly, how he thought you'd like them. 

He picked pillows up and rearranged them. He vacuumed the debris from the floor, the thin layer of dust that had gathered since he'd left, the splinters pf bookcase that had crumbled off, the shards of wall that were speckled with his blood. 

He wept the entire time, though silent, until there were no tears left to cry. 

Then he'd come across a tiny package underneath his coffee table, a single corner of plastic peaking out, begging for attention. 

He'd picked it up and wept again as he found depths of sadness to reach further down than what he'd assumed to be rock bottom. 

Aa he lay in a pool of his own despair, a new, haunting fact crashed from his brain to his heart. Since 1987, there had been 21 foetal abductions in the USA. 19 of them had ended in homicide, with the mother dying. 

You made 22. 

In the two months since you'd been abducted, you'd learned three things. 

The first was that you absolutely loved Spencer Reid. You'd spent enough time sitting introspectively about everything in your life to realize you had to stop being so stubborn and admit just that. You'd been about there before all of this, but now you knew for sure. 

You should be cursing the man that inspired your horror show of a life, after all. But instead, you thought about him and held back tears. 

She gave you updates these days, testing your reactions to his name, waiting to see you crack, to see you cry, and sob and break down completely. 

Today, Spencer had been to see his mother, she said. He'd broken down in her arms and caused her to have an episode. She'd hit him so hard, his face had already been bruised by the time she saw him. 

The second thing you knew was that your baby was going to be born healthy. You had no plans of having a home birth, but now, at seven months pregnant, and large enough that you almost thought about doing your conception math again, you knew you were on track for giving birth in the room you'd been in for the last 58 days. 

You hadn't counted. 

She’d been good enough to tell you the date, the day, and her plans every morning when she visited you. She checked your vitals, your blood pressure, the position of the baby, your temperature, your heart rate, and recorded everything in her chart. She asked you how the pregnancy was going, almost as if she was the nurse she'd been training to be. 

Her bedside manner was so good some days. You forgot entirely that you were tied down to the bed, ankle clamped down. 

She let you walk for an hour a day, but recommended bedrest after that for health reasons. You didn't complain or talk back because she didn't like that. 

She let you read, and she was even curious about your reading, asking you questions and taking notes as if this were just part of her regular college schedule, an office hour that had taken over her life. 

You shuddered sometimes as she stared up at you with those big eyes, so wide, and young, and naive, and full of hatred, and evil, and you wanted to claw them out and scream for help, and stab her with the pencil she wrote notes with, and stab, and stab, and stab, and-

The third thing you knew was that you'd never hold your baby in your arms because you'd be dead moments after they breathed their first breath.

You knew, because she had told you as much everyday since you'd woken up. 

In two months, Spencer had become more manic and self-destructive than he'd ever been in his entire life. 

His world centred around you, and finding you, even as his 3% slipped to 1%, slipped to 0.1%, and he knew deep inside that he'd never see you again. 

He hadn't returned to the BAU but had instead turned his home into an investigation room, emptying the walls so he could pin up information, evidence, pictures of you, everything he could find. It wasn't that he'd regained hope, but he'd grown so desperate that he suddenly gripped hard onto the only slither of it that he had left and refused to drop it. He was a dog that didn't know the game of fetch only conti he'd if he dropped the ball. His life would not go on without you.

So he searched. He knew how far along you were. He knew how far along a woman had to be for a c section, professionally performed or not. 

He barricaded himself into his house and paced for days as his friends pounded down his door. He let none in. He didn't go out. He wasn't sure what he ate, or drank, or if he slept, but he knew he paced, and he thought, and he came up with theories. 

After two months, Emily was tired of knocking. 

“Spencer Reid, I am coming in,” she shouted from behind the door. 

He usually ignored her. She couldn't pass the bookshelves he'd moved in front of the door anyway, even if his superintendent had given her a key. 

This time though, he heard a banging, a creak and a crash as the bookshelves went down and Emily, who had left him and returned, made her way inside his apartment. 

“You barricaded the door?” she said, looking at him. 

He took a shaky breath and tried to answer as she surveyed his apartment, the mess of papers, books, string on the wall. He saw her stare down at the pile of sheets on the floor where he'd been sleeping, the bag of your things he had dragged to be closer to him. 

He saw her look at the baby shoes, and baby grows he'd laid out neatly on the floor, and he saw the pitying look she turned on him. 

“She's pregnant,” he finally said out loud, though you must've been 7 months along by then. “I'm going to be a father.”

“Spencer,” Emily said, grasping his hand, voice cracking from the strain of emotion that coated her tongue, making her voice thick. “You would've been an amazing father.” 

“No. No-” he said, breaking away and moving back to his wall. “No past tense, I won't let you… I won't let you give up on them.” 

“It's been two months.” 

“So she's only seven months pregnant. I have two more months to find her, Emily. Two more. At least allow me that.” 

The tears in his eyes streamed freely now as she nodded. 

“We will…. you know we'll help you. We'll do everything we can, so come to the office.” 

He didn't want to give up his space. His reminders of you, the baby grows, the information he'd gathered.

Equally, he didn't like Emily being in this space. She thought you were already dead, and he couldn't even look her in the eye. 

Reluctantly, he nodded, lifting himself up on legs weakened by insurmountable grief, and he followed her to Quantico. 

By the end of your third trimester, you wondered how you could ever have gotten so big. When you gave birth, the child inside of you would only be the size of a small pumpkin. You felt like you'd swallowed five regular size pumpkins whole, and you felt you were still expanding. 

The point worried her. She'd broken two glasses in tantrums this last week alone, measuring you every day. 

The closer you got to birth, the more agitated she grew. 

“This demon inside of you is going to kill you. I won't even have to do it myself,” she'd whispered to herself, or to you, as she took your vitals that morning. 

“Please don't say that.” 

“Why not? You're a whore, and you're going to give birth to a devil. You have seduced my soul mate, because you are a jezebel and the Lord is punishing you.” 

You'd needed all the strength you could get for these conversations. Even one tear, and she'd erupt and put a knife at your neck. With only a few weeks left, there was no saying whether she'd speed her plan along. 

“I did not seduce your soul mate,” you said as calmly as you could muster, taking deep breaths, hoping that she would mirror them and calm down. 

“Do we have to watch the fucking video again?” she spat at you, stomping around to the side of your bed and pulling out her phone. She queued up the video quickly and you averted your eyes. 

She turned them back quickly, holding your head in place as she forced you to watch your own office space. She showed you the videos of you and Spencer talking, teasing each other. She showed you the video of you insisting you were not attractive to him. She showed you the video of Spencer fucking you on the sofa, though she screamed and cut her fingernails into her skin the entire way through. 

She even showed you the video of her attempting to seduce Spencer during their office hour. It was the first video in her collection, the first time she'd set up the camera. She used your entrance as proof that you were breaking her apart from her soul mate. From Spencer. 

You were a whore who had thrown herself at him in anyway you could, and you had trapped him with a baby. 

She was going to free him from all responsibility so he could be with her. 

“My baby will be your devil,” she said as the video ended, and you forced your heart to settle. 

“It is not your baby.”

“Spencer won't know that. He doesn't know it's your baby either, and who are the authorities going to believe when I show up with his child. One paternity test later, and I'll have him, and we can be a happy family together, and we can live happily. I'll take in your devil  and raise it as my own, and we'll forget about the whore who almost ruined it all.”

The psychosis was so clearly written on her face, you were surprised no one had caught onto her state yet. She was devolving. She'd been calm, and contemplative the first week. She'd laid out her plans still, her insane plans, and seemed somewhat coherent. 

Then she'd began rambling about the devil and soul mates, and you'd pitied her, even in your fear. 

Now you were just glad she counted your office tryst as your conception date, and you'd never corrected her. 

She still believed there was a month left until your death. You knew it was days. 

You just prayed your baby could buy you some time.

“Professor?” she said as she carried away the tray of items she'd checked your vitals with

“Yes.” 

“You are not in love with Spencer Reid,” she said, as if trying to convince you. 

“No,” you said, trying to convince yourself  though it was hopeless. “I am not in love with Spencer Reid.”

The first lead in the case came on your due date. Patient confidentiality was, happily, overlooked by a few doctors when he pressed the issue, needing to know until when he was counting down. 

He'd done the rough math himself, but he needed a professional opinion. 

The lead came in the form of an email. The university was cleaning out your office to make way for a new professor, despite his insistence that you'd return, and they needed him to collect things. 

And though he knew you'd be giving birth that day, and he had run out of time, something compelled him to go and do this menial task on today of all days. 

Luke had joined him, and then so had JJ and Emily, and Penelope and Tara. Rossi had even arrived to watch you pile books into boxes that were supposed to have lived on these shelves for a long career. Everyone in the room was so busy watching him, waiting for him to crack, that it had to be him to find it. 

At first, he thought it was a hole in the couch. It was so dark and black, its curved corners giving the illusion of introversion. Then he'd touched it and felt the rough bump. 

“Penelope, here, now,” he breathed out, gasping for air as he finally pulled the tiny spy camera free and thrust it into his friends hands. 

He had a lead. He had you now. 

The first hour of labour was inconvenient only because you weren't alone. She'd been tending to you all morning, fussing over your food, trying to maintain the right amount of prenatal vitamins as she usually did, but she'd ran out of two bottles, and the pharmacy wasn't open. 

You sat still and uncomfortable, trying to not even flinch as your water broke, too afraid of death to be thinking about the life you were bringing into this world. 

The second hour ticked by much the same until she left. 

The third came, and you ceased your screams of pain, even as your hands bore holes into your sheets. She returned, and you knew there wasn't much longer until she knew. 

By hour four, she had your legs spread and was watching you deliver your baby, and you knew the same blade that would sever your umbilical cord would also end your life. 

By hour five, you were so delirious with pain that you thought you saw Spencer. You heard his voice cooing to you as you pushed. You felt his hands wipe away your sweat, smooth the hair from your eyes. You heard his voice announce your daughters birth, and you felt his lips against your skin as you finally gave up fighting and drifted into oblivion. 

[kokoa-la]

Paper Clips Make Good Lock Picks- part two

Part 1

"Still going to ignore me?"

...

"Okay okay you got me. Let's get out of here first. We have an hour and a half before another teacher comes in and watches us for the last 15 minutes."

"What's your name?"

Oh, Danny forgot to introduce himself huh? 

"Danny."

"No last name?" 

"You haven't made it far on the friends list"

"Wow friends already? We just met"

"You're breaking out of detention with me. You picked a lock for me, that's called being friends."

"Do you make all your friends by committing crimes together?"

"Only the best ones"

Danny smiled before walking out and checking the hallway side to side. All clear. 

He waved Tim over and out of the classroom. 

"You know this whole hallway is under watch right? There's cameras here." 

"They don't work."

"What?" 

Danny laughed a little before signaling Tim to follow after him against the wall. 

"You didn't know? After school hours certain cameras shut down. In fact, a lot of them are broken and they never paid to get them repaired. That's why they accept bribes. They lie about having proof of crimes, works every time."

"What are you talking about?"

Danny groaned. Of course Tim didn't know about this, he was one of the rich kids they'd exploit. Danny as well as the other kids who were here off of scholarships or special deals knew about the tactic and had ways to avoid it, but rich kids like Tim didn't need to avoid it. The halfa cursed at the unfairness of life. 

"Of course you don't know. The teachers here scam the rich kids. They accuse them of crimes they didn't commit and because their parents never care for proof, only reputation, they bribe them right away without even asking for the evidence. It's happened so many times and it's why when actual problems happen it's swept up under the rug."

"Are you serious?"

"Uh yeah dude. Usually kids like me try their best to avoid it. Meaning don't fight back, don't stay after school, don't go to the bathroom for anything other than an emergency, and don't talk back to any teachers at all. Those are the basics when you're not as rich as everyone else."

"So that's why you're so adamant on being framed, but couldn't you just ask them for proof it was you?"

"Not that easy. I don't have a guardian, I'm a 'charity case' as they say it."

He practically spit out that last part. Utter disgust in his tone. 

"No parents, no money, no dice. If I don't find proof myself and publicize it or threaten em with it, I'm stuck for a year. I have things to do you know"

"Like blowing up chemistry labs?"

Tim teased. Danny gave him a look over his shoulder and rolled his eyes.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. You're so funny Tim! I wonder if Andys laughing in the hospital."

"He deserved it."

"And I'm innocent."

The two just stared at each other before Danny laughed and turned back around, continuing his walk. Tim chalked up the whole conversation as something to investigate later at home. His new "friend" was turning out to be a lot more interesting than he let on. 

"So this is you searching for clues? Have you gotten anything since you started"

"Well as I was saying earlier all the cameras in the hallway leading to the lab don't work at certain times, and the ones that were IN the lab are completely unsalvageable. And at the time of the explosion the usual delinquent students - Anderson included - were out of class."

"So they're the prime suspect, no chance of it being anyone else?" 

"Not many motives. If someone was using it for an outside project they didn't have permission, and other than that it's just the love of destroying and messing around."

Danny had led them through the school, taking twists and turns Tim couldn't recognize, eventually they had stopped at a roadblock. The hallway ended where a giant white tarp lay hanging from the ceiling. Caution tape was draped from each side to the other. 

"Where are we?" 

"The scene of the crime." 

Danny smiled before walking towards the plastic covering and picking it up from the ground and waving Tim over. Tim sighed before looking around and following after him, shaking his head on the way over. 

"Don't act all disappointed in me, you're literally following me"

"I may have just met you today but I'm convinced that it I left you alone you'd somehow either die or blow something up"

Oh how Tim didn't know the truth to that statement. Danny gasped and placed his hand over his chest all dramatically, taking false offense. 

"I'll have you know death cannot take me! It has tried and failed. Plus, we've been over this, I'm innocent!"

Tim didn't even want to unpack the first part of that. Logically it could be an exaggeration, but something about it felt a little too real to his senses. 

"Whatever, you felon."

"Delinquent."

"Fair, now let's get going" 

The roles had reversed as Tim took the lead instead. Danny let him despite having been here multiple times over the last few weeks. Maybe Tim would see something he couldn't. 

“So what are you hoping to find?”

“Proof of my innocence, or proof of their crimes.”

“Isn’t finding their crimes easier? Considering a lot of people already know about it.”

“Well yeah, but that’d turn back on me.”

“How so?”

God, Danny wanted to punch him. 

“Because they’d flip it on me and say how did I get the information? They’d accuse me of stealing and breaking and entering. They’d say that a delinquent child like me who hasn’t got good influences in my life would resort to just about anything to get out of punishment-”

“That’s a bit specific, don't cha think?”

“Well I’ve had similar things happen to me before”

Creepy boy with creepy powers rang in his head, he ignored it. 

“Anyways, how am I even going to get that stuff? The principal's office has all of that information and the cameras there are fully functioning and top quality. Plus, how am I supposed to get into their computer? I don’t know the password and I can’t hack shit for the life of me. Programming I can do, but that? Whole new haunt.” 

“Haunt- you know what? I’m not going to question that.”

“Good. We’re running out of time anyways. Choosing all the hallways that don’t have cameras or ones that work took a while. We need to wrap this up in 20 and then go back the way we came.”

Tim nodded and walked a bit faster towards what used to be the chem lab. There was more plastic screening in the way, but it was easily bypassed by the two. 

“There’s no one here.”

“They only do construction on this place during school hours two times a week.”

“Why? That’ll take forever.”

“Exactly.”

Tim’s questions were getting to Danny at this point. While the halfa acted all knowing in the beginning, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s actually clueless beyond what he discovered on his own. He doesn’t know why they’re prolonging the construction, it’s probably another scheme of theirs- or if they’re lucky, an extensive cover up. Danny, in all honesty, just wants to be able to go home to his little trash heap of a living space in Crime Alley and sleep. 

Tim moved forward, being way too careful. Danny knew he was oddly silent, but he could still hear the other, so he didn't question it. Superhuman hearing for the win! 

“Why is the construction flowing this way? The back of the room is close to being done, but the front is still in complete disarray. They shouldn’t be doing parts of the room, but the whole room in steps.”

Yeah, Danny couldn’t answer that one. At this point, he was just assuming that Tim had to verbalize his questions when answering them himself. He didn’t reply, and with the way the other didn’t ask again or even look at him, Danny was right. He was content to just let his detention mate do his thing, lord knows Tim’s smarter than Danny anyways.

Tim stepped forward cautiously. The ground was still slightly unsteady considering only like 15% of the room had the floors replaced. Now that Danny thought about it, that was weird. He may be clueless about anything other than ghosts and space, but even he knew that foundations were placed first. This is a dangerous and even unsafe way to do construction. Why repair one part of the room first and then bleed out? Was something hidden in that area? Plus, there was still debris from the explosion- 

“What do you think they’re hiding?”

“We’re about to find out.”

Wow, Tim was really invested now. Danny would have just gone back by now and visited tomorrow, but Tim is full on interested. 

All that was left to do was follow the rich kid further in the room. 

“Careful some of the paint is wet.”

Danny didn’t even want to ask how the other knew that from this distance. Danny could tell, but again, super human senses, Tim? Fully human. It didn’t really matter that much though, so he just followed him further and stepped around certain tiles. 

Tim started inspecting just about everything. Nothing was safe. Every piece of wood, every corner, every point in which two colors met- the guy even pulled out a leveler. Where did he get that? You know what? Didn’t matter. Danny was giving his best in minding his business. If it got him set free? He’d ask zero questions- consider his curiosity swallowed. 

“Tim, we have to go. We’re almost out of time.”

“Is it just me or is this cement not level, and doesn’t the drywall seem incorrect to you?”

Tim finally turned back to Danny, breaking out of his investigator mode. The halfa sighed before stepping over to where his new friend was, taking a closer look at what Tim was pointing out. He was right. The cement was uneven against the wall. It was strange considering Chemistry labs required tile flooring. The tiles wouldn’t go well if it wasn’t steady. Plus, the walls were supposed to be in levels: cement, then insulation, then final layer (could be anything really). The drywall set up wasn’t screwed in correctly, and Danny was pretty sure he could see the insulation in some parts. Considering special tiles or substances had to be used over the drywall to make the chemistry lab safe and usable, it wasn’t a good base. 

Okay, Danny will admit, maybe he did do a little bit of research into chemistry labs. It was a rabbit hole he couldn’t escape when listening to Mr.Lanch drag on and on about the 5 page essay due in a month. He was bored, sue him. He was used to being attacked by ghosts everyday, this place was tame. Sure, it was exhausting, but it was still interesting. 

“This isn’t right. The concrete has cracks in it.”

“So?”

“The school is supposed to use epoxy for the flooring, but for that to work the cement underneath it has to be perfect. This is far from that.”

“But they’re doing tiles, not resin.”

Tim gave Danny a look, and it honestly made him feel poor. Epoxy flooring was expensive- like really expensive- Danny has never seen it before that’s for sure. 

“Danny, the school has enough funding to make 20 of these labs with the highest grade. Tuition alone is insane amounts, even for the rich. The facilities the place offers should be of the highest quality. Even if the floors have to get replaced every few years, it states on the website that it’s supposed to be epoxy.”

Tim took what seemed to be a thousand photos of the area, getting every little detail. 

“Hmm, sounds like they’re cutting corners to cut costs. Leave it to the corrupt.”

“Alright, I got what we needed, let's head back.”

“Thank the Ancients. We’re gonna need to hurry, you know. We took too much time.”

Danny was quick to retrace the steps he took entering, ensuring no more tracks were left. Tim followed suit, and soon enough they were back into the maze of Hallways. This time with Tim leading the way. How the other knew it already when he’d only been through it once was beyond Danny, but again, he wasn’t gonna question it. 

Questioning others gave them a way to ask you questions in return, and Danny wasn’t too keen on answering anything personal.

.

.

.

“Made it!” 

Danny laughed as he slumped in the first seat, dead tired from the way they ran after seeing the clock. They were 10 minutes away when the clock showed they had 5 minutes until a check in. To say they ran would be an understatement. The way the two of them jumped down those stairs would surely raise many questions if Danny was keen to ask, but hey, maybe Tim was one of those ‘do every hobby known to mankind’ rich kids. 

Well his new friend was fit, at the least. Tim hadn’t even broken a sweat, only slightly breathing a little heavier. Danny wished. As a ghost he didn’t have such things as stamina, there was no out of breath when you don’t breathe. As a human, however, he was stuck with meager capabilities he gathered up from running away from bullies and fighting off ghosts with watchful eyes. Seriously, he needed to do whatever Tim was doing (just cheaper). 

Funnily enough, the second Tim sat down a seat away from him, Mr.Lanch entered the room. 

“I see you two have moved. I hope you didn’t cause any disturbances.”

He said while looking directly at Danny. Danny was sure to keep a tight smile on his face, hiding his clenched fist under the desk next to his thigh. 

“No way, sir. I just needed some help on that essay we have. You know I’m a little-”

“Behind, yes, I’m aware. Don’t distract Mr.Drake, he has well enough to do on his own. Am I clear?”

“Yes, yes. Sorry, won’t happen again.”

“Now apologize to Mr.Wayne for bothering him.”

“He wasn’t a bother.”

Tim interrupted, and Danny swore Tim looked annoyed. How come?

“Excuse me?”

“Danny wasn’t bothering me, Mr.Lanch, I was happy to help.”

There was an attitude in his tone, a bit of sharpness that Danny could pick up. He couldn’t for the life of him understand why.

“Yes, well, an esteemed individual such as yourself mustn't get too involved with the likes of him.”

Was this guy for real? Not even bothering to hide the blatant discrimination. Danny refrained from rolling his eyes, his fist clenching ever so tighter, making indents in his skin. 

“What may that mean, Mr.Lanch.”

“Mr.Drake, I’m sure you are well aware that people like… him are not the best influence on those such as yourself.”

Danny could feel the rage bubbling under Tim’s skin- being a sort of empath had its perks. 

“People like him? I am unaware as to what exactly you mean by that.”

Yeah, this was going to continue escalating. Danny cleared his throat, making both of them look over at him.

“I’m sorry Tim for bothering you earlier. It won’t happen again, don’t worry.”

“That’s better like it, now, I will return when time is up. Good day.”

And with that, Mr.Lanch left the room, making Danny sigh in relief. He sunk into his seat and rubbed his fingers over the crescents in his palm. 

“Why did you do that?”

“What?”

Tim gave him an annoyed look.

“Apologize.”

“It’s not that important, Tim. It’s easier on me if I just do what he asks. As long as I don’t get punished too badly it’s fine.”

“Didn’t we just return from trying to prove your innocence?”

“That was different from this. A year of detention and being banned from any labs for the rest of highschool is way too drastic to just take it. I have a thing called a job, Tim, I can’t be here when I could be working. Not all of us have people making food for them anytime they want.”

This was ridiculous. Seriously, Danny may care about justice and all that jazz, but he made a promise to- well- Jazz that he’d finish highschool and do it right. He couldn’t start problems when he already barely got in from this alone. Tim would be fine anywhere he went, Danny wouldn’t, and that’s just the truth. He couldn’t punch his way out of this one, and he accepted that the first month in. It really was Casper high part two, but instead of the treatment being because he was the weird kid, it was because he was the poor orphan. Not much better, now, was it.

Tim finally shut his mouth. Danny allowed himself to roll his eyes before putting his head down on the desk. 10 minutes until freedom. 

Day one was finally over. 

_______________________

Imma be real honest I actually hated part 2 which is why I never posted it, but i've been convinced bcs someone asked for the link to it so i avoided tumblr for a week because i thought itd be mean to show activity and ignore them- so i went back edited it and now theres a part 3 and im worried this will become a short story

anyways enjoy!

Koa out <3

[iamatrashbag]

In defense of Levi Fontana (SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 2!!)

A very popular theory going around is that Levi is the chapter 2 killer. This is mainly because he is one of the few who hasn't had a secret revealed yet, and he's had relevance with Ace in this chapter.

The only secrets that haven't been revealed thus far are Levis, Veronikas, and Hus (I'm pretty sure but I could be wrong). Due to Hu having recent relevance and Veronika not having lived her full potential yet, Levi is the prime suspect. But I stand here today in defense of him.

I don't think Levi Fontana is the killer, I don't think he was even involved in the case besides a minor interaction with the true killer. Here I will discuss why it wasn't Levi, and who I think the culprit is

How do we know Levi is innocent

Its hard to know for sure if Levi is 100% innocent, but if he's the culprit, he got god damn lucky. Let me run through my thought process.

Arei was hung with her own weapon, the rope that referenced her whole birthday trauma (for those who forgot, Arei was given ropes on her birthday, people told her to hang herself)

This was only ever discussed that one time in the dining hall, and let me provide a screenshot on who all was in there

4 people were not present in the dining hall at this time, the 4 were...

David

Hu

Rose

Levi

Meaning, these 4 would have no idea about the significance of Areis rope. But I'll admit this reasoning is shaky. There's no proof that the culprit even knew, and even if they did, Arei could've admitted it at some other point off screen to them.

So that means Levi is still a suspect, right? Wrong.

I have more proof that proves Levi innocent

We all know at this point that the murder method was hanging. Due to Areis broken neck, it's hard to imagine anything else being the cause of death (I'm not gonna get too far into the murder method here)

However, this method would be highly unnecessary for Levi. The creator confirmed that Levi is the strongest person among the cast in the chapter 2 part 1 ask box

He could've easily gone for something simpler, like blunt force trauma. The more steps you put into a plan, the more chances it has to mess up afterall. But he didnt.

The culprit instead chose an intricate way of killing Arei, a way that could be easily avoidable if your as strong as Levi.

Anyone else would need this method because Arei is imaginably quite athletic, due to being a bowler. It isn't immediately clear if Arei is stronger then anyone else except Levi.

He could've just invited her to the playground and whacked her over the head with a dumbell, but instead, there was a much more thought out plan done, why?

Simple, because Levi is not the culprit.

Still not convinced? I have one more piece of proof

The grippy tape

Incase you aren't aware, I'll go over what was found during this scene.

While Teruko is investigating, you can clearly see the tape at the scene

Its in the middle of the box, but you can see it through the text box too

But as soon as Ace wakes up, the tape disappears

But you might be asking, how does this relate to Levi? He wasn't even in the room and we don't know if this was the tape the culprit used

Except we do know that this is the tape the culprit used. The proof is in the scene between Teruko, Arei, and MonoTV

MonoTV didn't want Arei throwing the rope out, because it'd be "such a waste"

So if the tape wasn't taken by someone intending murder, MonoTV would've likely brought it back or even replaced it being as careful with inventory as be is (due to budget)

But he didnt

If it wasn't being used for a murder, MonoTV wouldn't have wanted it to go to waste, therefore it would've still been there.

But it isn't, which means the tape that was at Aces murder scene was the one used in Areis murder.

And that in turn proves Levis innocence, because he was in his room at the time of Nicos attempted murder against Ace. He couldn't have taken the tape.

...so who did?

The true culprit

The tape was taken at Aces crime scene, which means the 4 people there are our prime suspects

Teruko

Eden

Nico

Ace

One of those 4 had to have been the one to take the tape and kill Arei, but which one? We can figure it out by process of elimination

First off, we can rule out Nico pretty easily. They left almost immediately after Teruko and Eden walked in, and the roll of tape was still there after they left

That leaves 3 suspects, and I think I know how to prove 2 of the 3 innocent

Rule 10 states the BDA will not play until 3 people who didn't witness the murder find the body.

Now, without knowing the murder method, it's pretty clear the killer could've just looked away and not looked at the murder by technicality.

But, Eden was already framed by the note, and showed that it wasn't in her handwriting, why would she change her handwriting just to frame herself?

So that leaves 2, and this wasn't Teruko since she's the god damn protagonist, but if you need proof, she doesn't even know what her secret is, and wasn't paranoid enough to kill for it by any means.

So that leaves one suspicious individual

Ace Markey.

Why the culprit is Ace

I have multiple reasons for suspecting Ace, even beyond process of elimination.

Starting off, the tape disappeared right after he woke up, it's a weird detail to include, especially seeing as Eden got knocked over, and (once again) Teruko is the protagonist and wouldn't have taken it. So it only could've been Ace.

But is there proof of Ace taking the tape? We didn't see him take it, so it could've easily been Teruko despite her being the protagonist.

Yes, yes there is, and it comes right after they leave the gym

Ace refuses help to heal his wound from Levi, Eden, and Teruko.

One would think this could just be Ace being his Ace self, but I disagree.

I think Ace didn't accept help because he didn't want them to find the tape on his person. Granted, there'd be no reason for them to search his pockets, but Ace has always been a paranoid person, I doubt he'd want to take that risk.

If he didn't have tape, I bet he would accept help from atleast Eden. He may be obnoxious but he's not an idiot (when it comes to self preservation)

So if Ace had the grippy tape, and the culprit had the grippy tape. That means Ace is the culprit.

But I still have more pointing to Ace

Recall back to episode 2 of chapter 2

Ace took the band used for physical therapy, look at the width of that band

It sort of matches the width of the marks on Areis wrists, almost as if that's what she was restrained with.

And even besides both of those points

Ace offered to protect the body first, he could've very easily manipulated something with it

These could both be seen as coincidences (especially the guard duty one), but when you add the grippy tape point to it, the coincidences start to put together a scary picture

I have one more piece of evidence pointing towards Ace as the culprit, the motive.

I don't mean this in a bad way for anything, but an eating disorder isn't a secret to kill for.

Dont get me wrong, eating disorders are serious issues and deserve to be taken extremely seriously, but I don't think it's worth risking your own life and attempting to kill everyone else in your proximity over (I really hope this doesn't sound insensitive!)

But a big point of this motive is that; the cast didn't know what their secrets are

Ace was a paranoid person to begin with, and with secrets being revealed, he likely thought the worst out of the situation, thinking his life would be ruined if his secret was revealed

But why? If his darkest secret is his eating disorder, how could that ruin his life?

2 points help me explain that thought process

First off, once again, Ace had no idea what his secret was

And second off, he didnt even know if he remembered his own secret.

It's already a fact that the cast lost alot of memories, that was confirmed way in the beginning. But it was confirmed that the cast doesn't need to remember their secrets

Ace likely thought he could've forgotten something horrible about himself, and killed to prevent it from getting out

Conclusion

In conclusion, Levi Fontana is not the killer, there were aspects of this crime unnecessary and unavailable to him. However completely avaliable to Ace, and with everything stacking up, it's safe to assume he's the culprit

This is my first time writing a big thing like this, so if you have any questions or critiques, I'd be happy to answer!!

[fanfic-wonderland]

NOTHING CHANGES ANYTHING {TEEN WOLF}

Synopsis: Penny Brooke is an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl; with an ordinary family, ordinary friends, and a plain old ordinary life. Nothing unusual seems to happen until her all-time crush and best friend, Scott McCall, gets bitten by a werewolf. From that moment on, Penny and her friends find themselves living through dangerous events happening at Beacon Hills, and all of their lives turn upside down...

**This is a rewriting of my old Teen Wolf fanfic of the same name.**

Word count: 2.2k

Ch.1 | Ch.2

=============================

CHAPTER TWO: THE NEW GIRL

The next morning, when I arrived at school, I spotted Stiles sitting down on a bench outside, his eyes glued to his phone screen. "Hey." Setting my backpack aside, I sat down next to him.

"Hello, Penny," he said without looking up. "How are you on this fine morning?"

"Oh, I'm great. The morning air really hits the spot, you know?" I said sarcastically. "How did your little 'investigation' go last night?"

He gave a small shrug. "Oh, well, you know, it could've gone better, I guess. We didn't find anything too interesting."

"So, no body, then?”

“No body, unfor—” Stiles looked up this time with wide eyes. "Wait, how do you—”

“Scott told me.”

“Goddammit,” He groaned. "No wonder he was being so lame last night. 'Stiles, this is dangerous, maybe we should go back’, 'Stiles, I need a good night’s sleep for tomorrow's lacrosse practice’, 'Stiles, I'm severely asthmatic—”

“Well, maybe you should learn a thing or two from him,” I cut him off, punching him in the arm. He winced in pain. "Who in their right mind thinks 'I'm going to find a dead body today’ and then actually drives up to the crime scene? Do you know how risky that is?”

“Okay, jeez!” Stiles was still rubbing the spot where I had hit him. "It’s not like any of us died, anyway. All Scott did was get bit by something.”

My mouth fell open at his words. "What? Wha- what do you mean he got bitten by something, what could've possibly bitten him?"

He shrugged. "Beats me. He told me this morning. Didn't he tell you?"

“No.” I ran a hand through my hair. That little shit didn't tell me anything.

But, before any of us could say anything else, Scott suddenly appeared by my side. "Hey, guys."

"Hey," I said while standing up, Stiles doing the same. "Glad to see you’re alive and fully well.”

He rolled his eyes once he noticed the sarcasm in my words. "Stiles told you, didn't he?”

“Yup.”

"Well, I thought you had told her already.” Stiles said defensively.

Scott looked at me directly. "I didn't want to worry you.”

"Oh, please," I scoffed, ignoring the mess of butterflies fluttering in my stomach. "You just didn't want to admit that I was right about this entire thing.”

"That as well." He admitted with a nod.

“So,” Stiles said, prolonging the vowel while burying his hands in his jacket pockets. "Let’s see it.”

Scott didn't say anything else. He looked around, and when he made sure that no one was paying attention to us, he slowly lifted his shirt up, revealing a piece of gauze taped on the right side of his abdomen, just above his waistline. The gauze was white but you barely noticed with the blood that had seeped through it.

"Whoa,”

“Oh my God,”

My eyes widened as I looked back up at Scott. ''How did that even happen?''

''Well, Stiles left me behind at one point—" I glared at Stiles and he stared at me before smiling innocently. “—And while I was looking for him, well, something appeared out of nowhere and... I got this,'' He finished his explanation. "It looked like some sort of wolf, and then after it fled, I heard it howling."

Stiles huffed. "Doubt it. There haven't been wolves around Beacon Hills for like sixty years, why would they be back now?”

“Regardless, of what bit you, it looks pretty bad,” I said, still staring at the wound and not at all staring at the exposed part of his abs. "And besides, it was all in vain, so I hope you’re happy.”

Scott suddenly smirked. "Actually it wasn't,” When Stiles and I stared confusedly at each other, he said, "Before that thing attacked me, I found the body.”

Stiles and I gasped in synchronization, while also taking a step forward at the same time. "How?”

"When I was looking for my inhaler,” Scott answered. "It was… terrifying finding it, to say the least.”

"Dude, this is great!" Stiles exclaimed. I gave him a puzzled look. "You found it before anyone, now we can go and tell my dad about— Oh my God.”

Scott and I followed Stiles’ gaze, only to find a redheaded girl wearing red lipstick and a very expensive-looking dress as she walked gracefully in the school’s direction. "Hey, Lydia, you look—” Stiles greeted her but Lydia walked past him without even acknowledging his presence. "—like you’re about to ignore me… as always.”

Scott patted his shoulder. "You’ll get over her.”

“Sure, It’s not like I’ve been in love with her since third grade.” Stiles said sarcastically. "You know what? I blame the both of you for her ignoring me. Scott’s dragging me down to his nerd depths and Penny can be a pain in the ass with her know-it-all attitude.”

"Okay, and what are you, then?” I asked him, raising an eyebrow and folding my arms over my chest.

“I'm obviously awesome.”

***

''As you all know," Our English teacher began while writing something on the chalkboard. "there indeed was a body found in the woods last night.”

I caught sight of Scott and Stiles exchanging proud looks with each other and rolled my eyes, turning back to the incomplete doodle in my notebook.

"And I am sure your eager little minds are coming up with various macabre scenarios as to what happened.” He finished writing. 'KAFKA’S METAMORPHOSIS’ read on the board. "But I am here to tell you that the police have a suspect in custody, which means you can give your undivided attention to the syllabus—” everyone in the classroom groaned. "—which is on your desk outlining this semester.”

As I glanced through the papers on my desk, I began to wonder if Scott and Stiles were dumb enough to go and talk to the suspect, and laughed quietly at the ridiculous thought. Quickly after that, I glanced up at Scott but my smile vanished as soon as I saw him. He looked alarmed, looking around as if something was happening, something that no one else was noticing. When he caught my eye, I mouthed, 'You okay?’

It took him a few seconds to react but eventually he nodded. Unconvinced, I decided to just ask him about it later.

The class went on like normal, with our teacher talking about things that most of the students didn't even care about. Some had already fallen asleep, others were doing retouches on their makeup, and a few were actually paying attention and taking notes. The back of Stiles’ head was slightly swaying back and forth, which let me know that he was about to fall asleep at any moment. But he jumped wide awake when the classroom door suddenly opened and a girl that I had never seen before walked in.

“Ah, you must be our new student.” the teacher stopped his lecture once he saw her. "Okay, everyone, this is Allison Argent and she will be joining us from now on, so please make her feel welcome. Allison, you may take a seat.”

With an awkward smile, Allison walked toward the only empty seat, which happened to be right behind Scott. As the teacher resumed with his class, I watched her getting some stuff out of her bag through the corner of my eye. As she kept searching inside it, Scott turned around and handed her a pen, to which she smiled and muttered a small, ''Thanks''.

Confusion and jealousy flowed through me, and I felt like someone had punched me in the gut once I took a better look at how his facial expressions changed drastically. His smile was so enormous that the corners of his lips almost met his ears and there was an unusual glint in his eyes that I didn't think I had seen before.

Oh my God, I thought, trying to turn my attention back to the chalkboard but failing miserably. He likes her…

***

I entered the girls’ bathroom to wash my hands before heading to lunch. While I was checking myself in the mirror and making sure that I looked close to decent, I heard a toilet flush behind me, and Allison came out of one of the bathroom stalls. I couldn’t help but observe her through the mirror as she walked towards the sink next to mine and turned the faucet on, lowering my gaze before she could think that I was being creepy. We stood there in silence, the sound of the running water being the only sound filling it.

I could see the appeal. She was beautiful, with long wavy hair and skin that resembled that of Snow White’s. It didn't help that her outfit was cute as well. "How are you liking the school so far?” I blurted out before I could stop myself. I hadn't meant to start a conversation with her.

Allison turned to me and smiled. Her smile was pretty, too, and her teeth were basically perfect. "It’s good so far. People have been nice. I honestly thought it was going to be horrible.''

I nodded. "Well, It's understandable. Switching to a new school is a tough change."

"It’s the worst," she agreed. "But I’ve switched schools so many times already that I guess I’m used to it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Seconds later, she asked, "You take English with me, right? I remember you because you were talking to that weird kid sitting in front of you."

I smiled. "I do. And yes, he’s very weird but I honestly love him for that. Don’t tell him I said that, though."

She suddenly seemed worried. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know he was your boyfriend…"

I burst out laughing, maybe louder than I should have. Allison looked puzzled. "Boyfriend? No, he's not my boyfriend. God, no!"

"Oh," She let out a sigh of relief and chuckled. "Oh, okay. Sorry again, I didn't mean to assume."

"No, you’re good!” I assured her as we both exited the bathroom. "Stiles is one of my closest friends, nothing else. The day that Stiles and I date, well, I probably lost all my marbles.”

"Stiles?," she furrowed his eyebrows. "That's his name?"

"Well, that's his nickname," I clarified. "Not really sure where it came from, now that I think about it..."

"What's his real name, then?"

"Oh, well It's-" I couldn't finish the sentence because just then Scott appeared out of nowhere. ''Hey!''

''Hi.'' Allison and I said at the same time.

Both of them locked eyes instantly, probably even forgetting that I was there, too. He was almost drooling as she beamed at him, and it honestly made me want to punch both of them in the face. I cleared my throat and made my presence known, instead. ''Oh, um,'' Scott spoke up first, the two of them breaking eye contact. He turned to me with hopeful eyes. "So, I was just wondering if you minded me giving Allison a tour of the school? I mean, if she wants me to.”

Biting the inside of my cheek, I forced myself to smile at him. "Of course not! Go ahead.”

I was hoping that Allison would decline his offer, but she looked way too happy to do that. "I’d like that,” She nodded then looked back at me. "I’ll see you later... uh..."

"Penny." I finished for her, still trying to keep a smile on my face.

She smiled back and then turned to Scott before joining his side. The two of them walked away, and Scott didn't even say goodbye to me.

I walked into the cafeteria feeling nauseous. Stiles was sitting by himself, carelessly devouring his food and not looking up even when I sat down in front of him. "Do you think Allison is pretty?”

He finally looked up, cheeks puffed out with food. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Who?”

“The new girl,” I reminded him and he let out an "Oh” sound. "Do you think she’s pretty?”

Stiles began to ponder before shrugging and continuing to chew. "Yeah, sure, she’s okay.”

“Scott seems to think she is —like, really pretty.”

"What do you mean?"

“Have you not noticed the way he’s been acting ever since she arrived?” I asked him. "It’s like there’s nobody else around him but her.”

Stiles let out a sarcastic laugh while taking another bite of his sandwich. "Bold of him to assume that a girl like her would ever like him back.”

"Oh,  she does,” I pointed out in a flat tone. "Believe me.”

He sighed, letting what was left of his sandwich fall back onto his tray. "Okay, so maybe he’s a little bit attracted to her—”

“Oh, I don’t think It’s just a little bit,” I shook my head. "I’m talking 'Stiles-has-a-crush-on-Lydia’ level, probably.”

He gaped at me. "Already?”

I nodded slowly, the mere thought of Scott and Allison together sending a horrible shiver down my spine.

“Jesus,” He muttered. I stared down at my lap, not even feeling like talking anymore. Stiles didn't either, for a few moments, and when he spoke his tone was a bit more serious. "Look, I know it sucks to see the person you like liking someone else, but I promise you, there comes a time when you barely feel anything anymore.”

I frowned. "... Thanks? Was that your way of comforting me?”

"Well, I tried,” He said. I let out a soft laugh. It was nice of him to try; I appreciated his effort. "But hey, I'm sure your nails look prettier than hers.”

I smiled genuinely. "Thank you!”

[tremendously-exhilarated]

Regarding this post, I decided to hell with it. Why not write an email to the Criterion Collection and ask for a release of Rope? I don't know how many people in the fandom here are DVD/Blu-Ray collectors, but for me it would be amazing news to finally have a high quality release by a great label. I copy-pasted the mail in case anyone wants to read it.

Dear Criterion Collection Team,

I believe that the 1948 crime thriller 'Rope'. directed by Alfred Hitchcock, would make a fantastic addition to the collection. 

I'm not saying this just because it's my personal favourite movie of all time, but for a great variety of reasons. First off, it's an incredibly influential and fascinating movie that has the ability to amaze audiences with its inventive filming techniques to this day. Yet, it has never had a proper release by a boutique label, unlike many other of his movies, some of which released by yourself (e.g. Classic Hitchcock box set). I think it deserves a proper restauration even better than the ones currently on the market, maybe even in 4k. 

I'm not sure how much material exists that could be included as special/bonus features, but I'm sure there's at least some things that haven't been released to the public yet. A 30-minute documentary called 'Rope Unleashed' that has been featured on DVD sets since the 00s exists already, which could be upscaled in case that's possible. More special features (inspired by other Criterion Hitchcock releases such as 39 Steps, The Lodger, and several more) could be interviews, video essays, or an audio commentary with film scholars or people who studied/were involved in the making of the film, as well as behind the scenes footage (I know there's a considerable amount of pictures, I sadly don't know anything of video footage), short informative videos about the lives and work of Farley Granger and John Dall (who were both incredibly underrated actors and mistreated by the industry, especially John Dall), a look into the history of Rope the stage play and possible recordings of performances, and lastly the BBC Radio 4 adaption from 1983 featuring Alan Rickman. Another option would be the 1947 version of the film starring Dirk Bogarde, although I couldn't find any information whether those tapes have been preserved. I don't know how realistic some of these are, but it's every possible idea I could think of. 

Thank you for taking your time and reading my suggestions. If you considered giving this masterpiece the astonishing release it deserves, you would make a large number of film fans very happy.

Sincerely, 

-X-

[nancypullen]

September Eve

Ahh, September. She's on her way and there's so much promise in the month. I love it because it's my birthday month, but more than that, this will be the month that tips us into autumn. Our forecast is anything but autumnal, there's a heatwave heading our way, but I refuse to budge from my place of September joy. The sweetest grandgirl in the word has started kindergarten. School won't start in earnest until Tuesday (after Labor Day) but she had her phase-in day this week and she loved it. Her parents prepared her beautifully, covered every base they could think of, and I think they were far more nervous than she was. On the morning that they took her to school she hopped out of the car, chirped "Good morning!" to the police officer directing drop-off, and proceeded inside to run the show. She is a force. She may look like a fragile fairy princess, but she is confident and brave. What a girl! Upon graduating from preschool she was given the superlative "Most Likely to be Famous". When I asked her yesterday what the best part of the day was, she replied, "Dramatic play." I hope she remembers her Grancy in her Oscar speech someday. As for Grancy, I've been busy, busy, busy getting things ready for Artisans on the Choptank.

I need to get a pair from that last batch on the ears of a local cheerleader. That's free advertising. I should make a few pairs and send them to the high school. Today's mail brought my banner, all the way from China.

I'll steam those creases out and it will go on the front of my table. I've got an orange tablecloth so it will look like this.

I'm not sure that my wares will go over well in this area. I haven't seen a single woman in big earrings or any sort of statement jewelry. In fact, I don't think I've even seen a woman with lipstick on. I'm hoping that people from other counties will visit the event because these Denton gals are not a foo-foo bunch. I am definitely a fish out of water. Did I mention that I finally got my hair cut last week? Is anyone at all surprised that I felt like putting crime scene tape across the door of the salon afterwards? What that woman did to me should be illegal. You know that I've never been bashful about posting photos of my hair disasters here. This is so ugly that I will not put a picture on the internet. My hair had gotten very long. I knew that as a woman of a certain age that I should probably lop off a few inches. These are the photos I took as a reference.

I was looking for layers, a length that just brushed my shoulders, nothing too crazy. I also chose cuts that I knew would work with my mass of hair.

This is what I came out with. Not kidding.

The first layer on the photos I gave is sweeping, soft, and about cheek bone length - at the very least eye-level. She cut the top so short that I am walking around with a cloud of hair on top. It's awful. Thankfully my hair grows pretty fast, so by our October vacation I should be able to calm that top poof. I still can't believe what she did. I had even taken a photo of my hair before blow-drying to show her how curly it is. I should have asked to see her license because I think she might be a dog groomer. I may have received her signature cut.

And while we're on the topic of my hair, I'm just not in love with the white. I've tried it. I've tried it for a long time. I just don't love it. It still doesn't feel like me. I'm really leaning toward coloring again. I couldn't go dark, that ship has sailed for me. It would be as unflattering as the white. A medium or dark blonde would work. I have so many friends who have gone beautifully white or gray, and they've raved about the freedom of it. Honestly, I haven't felt that - I mean, not keeping up with roots, etc is nice, but it's not like I devoted massive amounts of time to it. I don't know, I'm on the fence. If I do color I'll certainly do it myself. Most salons here charge $100 for color! I can ruin my own hair for much less, thankyouverymuch. We'll see, there's no rush. It's not like anyone sees me, thank goodness. I'll stew on it awhile. I think at the heart of the issue is that I just don't feel vibrant with white hair. I look tired. I've started noticing women my age and older that are not gray and they look kind of fabulous. Then I look at my friends who have gone white or gray and they look fabulous too (I'm looking at YOU, Dina!). I suppose it's different for everyone, like red lipstick or a pixie cut. There are certainly more pressing problems in the world, so I'll think about that tomorrow. Fiddle-dee-dee.

My dinner timer just went off so it's time to take out the taco pie and spread a little sour cream on top and sprinkle it with shredded lettuce. Mickey is going to be a happy boy. I'll be back tomorrow, maybe with better hair. Doubt it. Sending out tons of love. Take what you need and pass it on. Stay safe, stay well. XOXO, Nancy

[may-bonne]

-I haven't watched Bloodrayne yet but it seems right up my alley tbh. Mrod can make almost any movie enjoyable no matter what kind of performance she gives

-I don't care how amazing of a surgeon Doc Jane supposedly is, the tape is so crazy. How did Frank not peel that off the first time and think "Jesus Christ that hurts I've gotta try something else." He seems like the type to shout loud enough for the whole waxing place to hear if he was forced to wax that hairy Wolverine chest lol

-Plus he wraps the tape over one shoulder like?? Alright fella now it won't fall down I guess. Those nips are obviously fake because he already ripped off the old ones thanks to that adhesive

-The movie would have been infinitely better if Joe (couldn't remember his name) said fuck it after the first meeting and gave up. With the way Doc Jane left the feminine clothes for Frank, and the purse, and how she talks you would have thought she'd try to turn him into an anime girl. Why make it easier for him to try and pass as a man again? Binding is more difficult with larger breasts and he clearly doesn't know what he's doing

-A part of me thinks there's a charm to Frank when he's awkward, but the line about Johnnie taking her clothes off was pretty bad lol. Maybe the awkwardness around her was because Frank actually liked her but that doesn't explain when it vanishes. No Friends Frankie would have been better if they laid in on the fact that he's a loner with no GENUINE close connections and doesn't know how to talk or act around people. I refuse to believe he was a womanizer because of his lack of game. It must have been the big brown doe eyes that reeled Johnnie in. Then she probably liked that he agreed to get coffee instead of ditching her first thing in the morning idk

-I figured the flip phones were a crime thing but Johnnie has one. She is connected with criminals and I get didn't have a lot of money, but you would think girlie would at least have a slide phone. It must be late 2000s but it also feels like a strange limbo

-Your brain is so huge for that plot rewrite and now I'm mad I can't watch that version. Adding any one of those elements would improve the plot vastly

oh god please watch bloodrayne so we can talk about that too!! i feel certain it's available for free somewhere because there's no way i paid money for it. honestly mrod gives by far the second-best performance out of the whole cast. full warning there is a sex scene between rayne and some dude that's so out of the blue i thought the website had tricked me and i was watching a porn parody. and obvi the viewing experience is enhanced by the knowledge that mrod and kristanna loken were fucking during filming (in the woods of romania presumably)

caitlin gerard is mrod's type for sure so i hope at least she had some fun making this movie

okay, back to frank: why did he agree to get coffee with johnnie? you're so right that he's clearly supposed to have nothing and no one because he's an orphan and the authorities can't find any trace of him! he can't have, like, ex-girlfriends. it doesn't even make sense for him to promise that without intending to follow through because then she would still be thinking about and looking for him. he should have made it clear that johnnie needed to forget about him and then as a bonus he would have had to do some additional groveling post-op when he needed a place to stay

i guess maybe he was captivated by her at first fuck or something but frankly it did not come across that way. i also like when johnnie comes home and delivers that whole monologue about her shift while he does not say one word. great job mr. charisma. she doesn't even wait for a response when she asks if he had a good day, lol. she knows he won't say shit

off topic but i love how you can't see his right hand while they're kissing and he doesn't move to touch her or anything because it makes me think he's still petting the fucking dog the whole time lol

johnnie needs a much more substantial backstory in general. i think i'm going to write the next one from her perspective but it's gonna be tricky. i'm sticking with the former prostitute/trafficking victim thing because i think that way it would make sense for her to have a general aversion to both men and penetration (which would also make that first encounter much more painful for her 'cause she would have to hide that) and then to slowly realize that she feels safe around him because he's pretty cowed and at the very least he's not going to rape her. maybe she thinks she needs to keep offering him sex and affection so he'll stay with her and she can keep reporting to the doctor. but then when he won't really let her touch him and still wants to fuck she starts to think he does care. basically i think she needs a reason to have kind of low standards. they can fall in love for real after the movie ends when they're road-tripping or whatever

(i feel like that would also be a better explanation for why she looks super tense and wary in his bed right before they fuck the first time. i know she's not there by choice but you'd think with her life on the line she would pretend a little harder)

ALSO she should have come onto HIM at the bar!! aggressively! i mean maybe she did but that should have been shown. that would have made so much more fucking sense. he should have been caught wildly off guard by this woman treating him like he's the most handsome man alive and that could have explained why he wanted to see her again. there's no way he fucks even with that monster cock. maybe he's only ever fucked prostitutes before

barely related but i imagine the only thing frank likes about being a chick is that it's socially acceptable to wear heels and he doesn't have to be five foot four anymore

they had like forty fucking years to rewrite the original script you'd think they would have noticed some of the issues. although honestly just based on the premise i imagine every draft was written one-handed

[karmas-chameleon]

I've written a bit of Manfred and Damon interacting, but I think this is the first time I've really had just him and my S/I talk

Despite the amount of time that Police Chief Gant and my boyfriend spent together, it wasn't often that I was left alone with the former. Manfred was reluctant to let me. Not out of concern for my safety, or even my comfort; it was an entirely selfish reason. He had warned me that Gant was highly experienced with obtaining information from people, and would use all his tricks to try and probe me for sensitive details.

Embarrassing me wouldn't likely be his intention - on the contrary, I was merely a weak link that enabled him to get more ammo to use on Manfred. I wasn't about to protest that. All Gant had to do was say the right word (or the wrong one), and my face would blush a bright red. If that wasn't enough, my body language would give me away just as well. I was an open book full of top secret information.

But when the two of them were at work on the same crime scene and Manfred walked off in a huff to chastise some poor detective, I was left vulnerable. It was just as well, I had some questions of my own I wanted to ask.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Gant said with an amiable smile as he sidled up to me. “I don't often see you when there's still a body on the ground. What's the occasion?”

“Oh, well, um…” I glanced out the window past the police tape to the other side of the street. We stood in a restaurant I'd never eaten at before (and couldn't anytime soon), but right by the crime scene sat a confectionery. “I haven't really been to this part of town, and Manfred told me we could go buy some candy after he was done. Which…sounds like a pretty morbid date, now that I say it out loud.”

Gant chuckled. “Oh, it sounds quite pleasant to me. Aside from the company, perhaps.”

“What do you mean?”

“It's just that I could never imagine Manny as the type to take someone out for sweets after work. I suppose I still can't.”

“He's nicer than you think, y'know. I mean- to me, anyway. Maybe he'd be nice to you too if you weren't trying to bug him all the time.”

Gant placed a hand on his chest and gasped in mock horror. “Me? Whatever did I do?”

“You keep calling him ‘Manny’, for one thing, and I'm sure he's told you to stop.”

“Ah, that. I give everyone I like a little nickname, you know. Helps build a friendly working relationship.”

“Yeah, I've heard-” I paused, and frowned. “Wait, why don't you have a nickname for me, then?”

Gant shook his head. “Now that's a line I don't dare cross. Annoying Manny is one thing, but his girlfriend? I don't want to know the consequences of that.”

“So you admit you're doing it just to annoy him!”

“Hmm? Guilty as charged, I suppose.”

The conversation seemed to die down after that, and it didn't feel like I'd given away anything particularly valuable about my boyfriend. Maybe the chief of police was just interested in an ordinary chat that day.

“I was wondering something,” I began. “Do you…do you actually like spending time with Manfred? Or do you just like bothering him? Um, sorry if that sounds rude.”

“Oh, you're fine. It's true that he's rather fun to mess around with, but that's not the only reason I like to talk to him. I don't think he'd give me the time of day if that was all I intended.” His jovial expression became a bit more solemn as he twirled a bit of his hair between his fingers. “When I met Manny, he was much the same as he is today. Fewer wrinkles, maybe, and with less of a reputation behind him. But he still did his best to strike fear into anyone who would stand against him, and innocent bystanders as well.”

He looked in the direction Manfred had gone in when he left to give his reprimanding, and I followed his gaze. His description of my boyfriend sounded accurate to me. Everyone was afraid of him, even the ones that stood on his side. Nearly everyone, at least.

“He didn't seem like the type to make friends easily,” Gant went on. “Seemed like a lonely way to live, if you ask me. So I tried to be friendly with him. I don't think he's quite warmed to me yet, but he tolerates my presence like nobody else. Present company excluded, of course."

“Yeah,” I said quietly. “He could use some more friends, I think. And I know Manny wouldn't spend so much time with you if he really hated you. Do you think there's anyone else he could-”

“Hmm? What was that you said?”

“I was just asking if-”

“No, no. You used a certain name.” Gant grinned wide, and I felt my heart sink. “It sounded so natural, too. Has my little nickname caught on?”

“I-I, um-” 

The police chief clapped his hands together excitedly. “Ohoho, I knew it! I've made a pet name for the great Prosecutor von Karma!”

“You did not!” I could feel my face heating up in betrayal of me. “I was just using that because you kept saying it over and over. That's all.”

“A little advice: don't go into professional poker. You just don't have the aptitude for it. I'd tell you not to go into crime either - you wouldn't last a minute under questioning - but I don't think your boyfriend would let that happen in the first place.”

I blinked at him. “...Huh?”

“Well, Manfred, or Manny to you, he's got quite a bit of influence. You'd think being in a relationship with a defense attorney would be more helpful in a tight spot like that, but you'd be wrong.” He chuckled to himself. “They could only keep you out of prison if you're actually innocent. And I'd say Manny's salary is another point in his favor over those attorneys.”

I frowned. “I'm not interested in committing any crimes. Or in his salary.”

“Is that so? Those sweets of yours have to come from somewhere.”

“They don't cost that much! I could buy a few candies with my own money.”

“What is it about him, then? Don't tell me it's his personality.”

“That's part of it, actually. He's very nice to me.” I stared defiantly into Gant's eyes, for at least a solid two seconds before his icy gaze made me look down. “...And he looks good. I think. Very, um, stylish.”

I was only met with more silence. I glanced up to see the police chief still staring me down and quickly averted my eyes.

“I know you probably won't believe me, but I think he's cute. Even with the wrinkles.” I paused for another uncomfortable moment, able to feel the eyes boring into me without even seeing them. “...What more do you want from me?”

“Oh, that's plenty. I was just wondering how much you'd say if I stayed quiet.”

I managed to look back up at him and saw a wide, infuriating grin. Maybe Manfred really had no other friends if he chose to spend time with this man.

“So, I suppose you've already told him all of that?” Gant asked, fiddling with his hair again.

“Sort of. I mean, maybe not in those exact words. I don't know if I have the courage to call Manfred cute to his face.”

“Don't worry about that! I can pass it on for you.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but a loud reprimand came from behind me.

“Damon! Cease bothering my assistant and get back to work this instant!”

I turned around to see my savior stomping over, cane in hand. “Manfred! Are you done yet?”

“I am.” My boyfriend reached my side and glared at Gant, making me grin for the first time in a while. “You, on the other hand, still have business to take care of, and I'm not staying around to watch. When I come into the office tomorrow, I expect to have all I need for a prompt trial.”

The police chief nodded, looking rather unperturbed. “Of course. Have fun on your date, Manny.”

“Hmph.” Manfred beckoned for me to follow him, and led the way outside and past the police tape blocking off the crime scene. We walked a short distance toward the candy shop, but he stopped and turned to me before crossing the street, just out of view of the restaurant’s windows. “...What did he do?”

“Well, he showed me what you have to deal with whenever you work together,” I replied with an awkward laugh, and cut it short when I saw that my boyfriend wasn't laughing with me. “He didn't make me say anything too embarrassing about you. I think.”

It was embarrassing for me, if anything. But maybe I could get ahead of it by saying the words myself rather than leaving them for Gant to share. 

That wasn't entirely true. The fact that I was using the nickname Gant made up was much more information than I wanted to share, though I wasn't sure if he'd use that against Manfred. And telling the chief of police how cute I thought my boyfriend was wouldn't exactly be a loss for him. Surely every girlfriend thought their partner was cute; the only difference was that mine happened to be a sixty-five year old man.

“Uh, c'mon, let's just go get some candy,” I said instead, taking Manfred's hand and hoping the courage would come to me before we got to the store.

“Very well. Just know that all you have to do is say the word, and I can bring up my own dirt on Damon. He's not the only one who can weaponize information.”

“You've got something on him?”

“Plenty. There are a host of incidents that he'd rather be forgotten, some that would simply cause a minor stir in the police department and some that would have him fired. Just mention any of that, and he'll quiet down for you.”

“That does sound pretty convenient. But, um-” I slowed my pace as we neared the confectionery, pausing just before the doors. “...There's something I wanted to say, real quick.”

Manfred looked at me with renewed concern. “What is it?”

“Uh…I just, erm, wanted to say that you look-” I swallowed a lump in my throat and tried my hardest to raise my voice above a whisper, “...cute. Like, um, you look n-nice, I mean.”

My boyfriend stared at me for a second before a smile slowly spread across his face. “Thank you. You're quite cute as well, especially when you turn that particular shade of pink.”

I giggled, all of my nervousness bubbling up and fading away. “I've wanted to tell you that for a while. It just kinda sounded weird to use that word, I guess.”

“Not at all. I always appreciate compliments, and they mean much more coming from you.”

“Maybe I'll tell you how cute you are more often, huh?” I leaned against him and wrapped my arms around one of his, nuzzling him playfully. “My cutie pie. Putting the cute in prosecute. My…prosecutie?”

I fell into a fit of giggles and the occasional snort, somehow overwhelmed by my own terrible pet name.

“Y'know, I think I'll stick with ‘Manny’,” I said when I'd managed to recover. “Mr. Gant did make a good nickname, I'll give him that much.”

Manfred pressed a kiss to my forehead and grinned at me. “Indeed. Just don't tell him that, hmm?”

“Uh…about that. I might have called you Manny in front of him.”

“...Ah. A little blackmail may be in order, then. But first, let's get some sweets."

[bleachanimefan1]

The Midnight Masquerade Part 9

His Butler, Freeloader,

With that, the Jack the Ripper case came to a close. A funeral was given to Madame Red. The first snow began to fall as winter was coming. London returned to its peaceful state, but only for a short time. Recently, there was a strange case involving British men returning home from India being continuously attacked. They were stripped of their belongings and hanged upside down in the middle of the street in front of a coffee shop in Portman Square. Even noble men and soldiers were meeting the same fate. They all had papers stuck to them as a warning that had a drawing of a tongue sticking out. Several of Scotland Yard officers were already at the scene investigating. Police commissioner, Lord Randall and Officer, Fred Aberline.

"Blast it! This is the 20th one now!" Randall growled crumpling up the warning note in frustration. "You haven't caught the culprit yet, Aberline?"

"I'm sorry, sir!"

"Feh, and the glory of the Jack the Ripper case was stolen from us also by that little brat."

"Sorry to be such a brat." 

The two men jumped and saw Ciel and Sebastian and Cassandra standing behind them.

"Earl Phantomhive!" Randall sputtered.

"Oi, you! How in the hell did you get here!?" Aberline questioned Ciel but the commissioner stopped him.

"Lord Phantomhive, why are you here?"

"Why else, I'm here to clean up the mess made by a pathetic hunting dog. A crime targeted only by people who returned from India. The victims are not dead as well."

"You can't just!-" The police commissioner growled before Ciel showed him the letter stamped with the queen's seal on it. 

"If it was just a highway man, I wouldn't be involved. However, I won't sit by and watch the royal family be insulted." Ciel smirked. The police commissioner glared at Ciel as he started to look at the warning letters taped to the victims.

"The criminals are described as chosen children of sloth and depravity, which is quite accurate. I agree that England would be better off without India's wealthy upstarts."

"They are cowards who are too busy with extravagance and indulged in worthless past times."

"And what's with this mark?" Ciel wondered, sticking out his tongue.

"He's making a fool of us British and the Queen! Targeting only those who return from India means that the criminal can't be anyone else but an Indian barbarian!" the police commission 

"Or someone who's trying to pin the blame on them." Cassandra pointed out.

"A woman like you shouldn't even be involved."

"Wow, I didn't know Scotland yard were such sexists." Cassandra smirked, causing Ciel to make a small smile and Sebastian to laugh a little. Aberline's eyes widen a little in shock while the police commissioner gritted his teeth, narrowing his eyes at Cassandra.

"You watch your tongue, woman-"

"Maybe, you should watch yours. What would the people think if their only protectors are spouting out accusations?" She smiled. 

"A majority of smuggling Indians have a stronghold in the east end. I can see that even city yards don't know what to do with a dark street like east end. It's hard to identify the route or the number of smugglers, right?" Ciel added. "Sebastian, let's go." and the three left.

As they continued walking, Cassandra noticed Sebastian staring at her quietly, shifting his gaze to her every now and then. It was starting to annoy her.

"Is there something that you want to say?" she asked him.

"Tell me, what do you remember the other week during the Jack the Ripper case?" Sebastian asked.

"I'm still trying to forget that it ever happened to begin with. However, I can recall some moments. Grell's not human..." She told him. "And the fact that you're not human as well."

"Anything else?" Sebastian asked her.

"That you have some ties with Ciel." Cassandra spoke and she saw Ciel tense up a little. "Not that I care. Whatever you two have, I don't want to get involved."

"Oh, and I thought you cared deeply for my young master." Sebastian teased. "Even for his safety."

"You do know I can hear everything that you two are talking about, right?" Ciel murmured.

"And do you?" Cassandra asked Sebastian, who blinked at her in surprise. "Will you protect Ciel from every danger that should befall him?"

"What kind of butler would I be, if I didn't." Sebastian smirked. "I am bound to my master until the end."

They stopped in front a dark alley that had some stairs leading down to secret club. They stepped inside and the strong smell of incense filled the air. Cassandra nearly gagged, covering her nose while Ciel did the same.

"That smells awful."

"So, you finally found this place, Earl." Lau spoke. Ran Mao was sitting in his lap. "It feels kind of weird to see me this way, however I always knew that day would come." There were multiple women surrounding Lau, cuddling around him.

"And what kind of day is that!?" Ciel exclaimed.

"So, how have you been? Wasn't your birthday recent? Congrats."

"I don't really celebrate such things." Ciel replied. "I have something to ask you."

"The earl has come all the way to anagura, to ask me about that incident, am I right?" Lau smirked.

"Word spread around fast. I have been investigating that incident. If it's about Orientals, the fastest way to find anything out is to ask who has the strong influence around here. The president of the British branch of the Chinese trading company, KunLun. No, the Shanghai mafia, Qingbang executive, Lau." Ciel spoke.

"I don't like to be addressed that way. It's too formal." Lau sighed.

"Then I'll leave the east end in your care. The number of people who move in and out of this street are under your control, right?" Ciel asked.

"Of course, I have done what you've asked. It's the bribe that allows me to do business in the underworld of this country. So, firstly, I want to ask you one thing. What exactly is that incident?"

Ciel blinked at him in disbelief. "You..."

"It's about the British men that were attacked when they were returning back from their trips from India." Cassandra reminded Lau.

"Ah! That's it! So, you want to arrest that mischievous kid. Since there are no casualties, it must because he's targeting the upper class. Setting an example of the people must be tiring for you, Earl."

"Nonsense." Ciel scoffed. 

"Nevertheless, we've walked a long way to get here. So where is this stronghold of Indian people?" Sebastian asked. Lau began to take them to the east street to the stronghold. 

"So, when are you going to drop this investigation business and come work for me? I could use a woman such as you." Lau asked Cassandra. "Not really my type of thing. Besides, do you even know where we're going?" Cassandra narrowed her eyes at Lau. Lau blinked, looking around and smiled sheepishly. He had gotten them lost.

"You!" Ciel growled in irrigation. Then an Indian man dressed in rags began to walk over to them and bumped into Ciel.

"It hurts! My ribs are cracked!" He cried out. Ciel stared at him in disbelief while Cassandra narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

"From a small bump like that, very unlikely. Even from such a small child." She remarked. Ciel glared at her.

The man continued to cry out in pain causing more people to come out and they began to surround the group, giving them dirty looks. The man grabbed Ciel by his cape, pulling him up to his face.

"Showing up to a place like this, you're asking for it. That's quite a nice dress you have there, young man! A noble, eh?" He sneered. Ciel smacked his hand off of him.

"Pay me consolation money! Strip off everything you have it give it to me!" the man shouted.

"It seems we are caught amongst irritating punks, yet again, master." Sebastian sighed. "Shall I?"

"Dispose of them." Ciel ordered.

"As you wish." Sebastian smirked.

"All of you noblemen are alike! They brought us all the way from India and dumped us off like trash! All you British are selfish!"

The man pulled out a knife and several people began to pull out weapons from their clothes, cheering along with the raged man.

"Because of you guys we've ended up like miserable gutter rats! Our country was walked all over by your shoes! We'll give you a taste of how it feels to be plundered and humiliated!"

"First of all, I have something to ask all of you! If the answer is truthful, I will treat you all to delicious food as a reward!" a voice shouted.

The group blinked in confusion and looked to see who it was. So did Ciel, Cassandra, Lau and Sebastian. There was a young Indian man with dark skin, purple hair up in a ponytail, dressed in rich, exotic robes. There was another man standing behind him with short white hair, wearing robes and a turban and his arm was wrapped in bandages.

"I am looking for a woman. Have you seen anyone who looks like this?" He asked and pulled out a really bad drawing that looked like a child had drawn. The man with the knife, stormed over to him and threatened the Indian noble with it.

"You're in the way you bastard! Get lost!"

"How rude, calling me such impolite names." the noble frowned then glanced over at the group. "Are you guys joining in the fight as well?"

"Hey, don't ignore me!"

The noble's eyes widen a little as he saw Cassandra, staring at her for a long time, lost in a trance. "Such a rare beauty." He murmured then he noticed Sebastian. "A butler? You are British noblemen?"

"So, what if we are?" Ciel asked.

"Then I shall side with the people of my country. Agni, defeat them." the noble ordered. Agni began to unwrap his bandaged hand.

"You're wish is my command. I shall swing this fist blessed by the gods for my master's sake." He lunged at them. Sebastian pushed back Cassandra and grabbed Ciel, pushing him behind him as well, blocking Agni's punches. The demon was surprised as he was pushed back by the man's fierce strength. Then one of the Indian stragglers charged at them as well.

"Don't forget we are here also!" 

Sebastian ducked, causing Agni to accidentally punch the man in the face, knocking him down. Sebastian quickly grabbed Ciel, trying to gain some distance. Cassandra backed away from the crowd as they moved closer. She didn't want to hurt them, but they weren't leaving her any choice! One of them swung a bat at her and Cassandra quickly grabbed it and tore it away out of the man's grip. She kicked him back, knocking him into a few others and blocked a knife with the bat as another tried to attack her. Agni chased after Sebastian and began to jab his finger striking Sebastian's arm. Sebastian quickly landed on the ground a few feet away from him, unfazed by the attack.

"I've hit your pressure points many times. Your arm should be paralyzed. How is it that you can still fight?" Agni questioned.

"Why are you helping these guys!? We were just looking for answers and they were the ones who attacked us first!" Cassandra shouted. The Indian noble blinked at her in surprise then turned to the man that Agni had punched, who was starting to wake up, and the rest of the group.

"Hey, is that true? Did you really attack them for no reason?"

"Uh? No reason?" 

"That's not right! Picking fights for no reason is childish!" he scolded them. "Our brothers are in the wrong here. We shall help them out!"

Everyone stared at him in disbelief. Agni smiled as he knocked out every single bandit within a couple of seconds, standing on the pile of bodies. "It is done, Prince Soma!"

Soma picked up Ciel's hat and started to walk over to them. "You are not hurt, yes?"

"Er, no." Sebastian spoke. Soma placed Ciel's hat back on his head.

"Kid, this place isn't the kind of place for a kid like yourself to be wondering around in." He spoke then he looked over to Cassandra. "And a beautiful woman such as you, as well."

Cassandra frowned at him. "Who are you?" He smiled.

"My name is Prince Soma. I would like to talk some more but I'm in a middle of a search. Maybe, next time. Goodbye." He and his butler walked away, leaving the three of them confused as they watched them leave.

"Hey, where's Lau?" Cassandra asked. Ciel and Sebastian noticed that he was gone as well until they spotted him on a roof of one of the buildings.

"What exactly are you doing!?" Ciel shouted.

"Just waiting for the right moment to jump in." Lau smiled.

"Well, thanks for nothing!" Cassandra shouted. Lau jumped down, landing beside them.

"Who are those two? They're definitely not from the east end and they wear pretty clothing. And they're English is pretty good too." Lau asked.

"Let's just get these guys to Scotland Yard and call it a day." Cassandra said. 

Grell was sulking going through the piles of paperwork that Will had handed over to her. During the week after the Jack the Ripper case was over. The higher ups deemed "human form" as punishment and wasn't able to use any grim reaper powers to help assist with her work. Grell hated feeling like this. She wasn't pretty. She was weak. Grell sulked in her chair as she was going through the piles of paperwork that Will had handed over to her as well as writing a long-written apology.

"Will! How much longer do I have to do this!? I said that I was sorry!" She whined. "I want to see Bassy!"

"Until the board deems you as forgiven. And you shouldn't be associating with demons.  Sitting here, slacking off, isn't going to help and don't even think about asking the other reapers to do your work." Will told her, sternly.

"You're so mean, Will! That icy stare turns me on even more!" Grell grinned, wrapping her arms around Will's.

'Honestly, you have no standards, do you." Will rolled his eyes, pushing Grell off of him. Grell fell back roughly into the chair, causing it to fall backwards. Grell ended up smacking the back of her head.

Then Will saw a file with Cassandra's picture that was tucked out slightly on the edge of Grell's desk. Will gave Grell a suspicious look, wondering why he was looking at her file. "What are you doing with this? It's surprising to see you fascinated in something else for once."

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Grell asked, rubbing the back of her head, still feeling it throb, painfully. Grell saw Will point to Cassandra's picture. "Oh, her, she's just some silly human woman. Although, she does have something strange going on with her. No ordinary human can see cinematic records. And she even fought against me, a grim reaper, barely lasted a minute though."

"To think that girl is his daughter. I was surprised to see her for the first time myself when I came to retrieve you. The resemblance is uncanny." Will murmured.

"Eh?" Grell blinked at him confused. Will walked away, leaving Grell still confused. 

"Maybe you should catch up on your historic records." the reaper remarked and left. Grell blinked, still confused as she watched him leave. Maybe she can get quickly glance at the records before he noticed that she left. Grell quickly left the room and sneaked past some of the other reapers in the hallway, making it to the record hall. She quickly rummaged through the collections until a name met her gaze. "Gravesfield." 

Grell quickly took it and quickly ran back to the room. Good. Will wasn't back yet. She sat down and opened the file, going through it. 

 Johnathan Gravesfield. Date of Birth: unknown born in Surrey, England. Suicide by-the lettering and pages had faded over time by age, making it harder to read. Grell's eyes widen as she continued going through the file. Grim Reaper Dispatch, Afterlife citizen, #135546. Grell frowned in confusion. Afterlife citizen? What that? And what's with the number? She continued reading. A part of the Technological Advance Research Team. MIA in 1865, whereabouts unknown. Died 1878 in a tragic accident. 

Her eyes widen a little seeing a picture of a handsome young man that she couldn't take her eyes off of him. He had short platinum grey hair, wearing a white lab coat over his reaper suit. He had the same green, fluorescent glow that all reapers had. His facial features were completely identical to Cassandra's. Grell looked over Cassandra's file, looking at the date with Jonathan's, comparing them.

Gravesfield...Johnathan. He was Cassandra's father. He went missing before Cassandra was born four years later. Meaning, Cassandra was half human and half grim reaper. Grell slammed her hands on the desk, completely in shock. "Cassandra!?"

Grell yelped as she was whacked on the back of her head by Will's spear.

"What did I tell you about slacking off?"

[slasherhaven]

Hello! i hope your day is going alright! i wanted to ask if you could make headcanons for Jesse Chromeskull with a detective s/o? (male) i love this man with my soul

It's giving...Hannibal and Will vibes.

Warnings: talk about Jesse's victims. Also this turned out pretty gender neutral for the reader.

Jesse Cromeans (Chromeskull) with a Detective future S/O:

The Chromeskull case felt like one big dead end. Not for the lack of activity, bodies kept showing up that you could connect to the case but then everything would go quiet.

There was never new evidence, nothing that actually meant anything anyway.

So, when you said that you wanted to be lead detective on the case, people thought you were crazy. Not only did they think the case would never be closed, but the case was a gruesome one. It didn't feel worth putting yourself through witnessing these things when it felt pointless.

However, that was the reason you wanted the case. Everyone else thought it was a dead end, that it would just become a cold case to be spoke about in decades to come. You wanted to find whoever was running around the states committing these atrocities. It shouldn't be surprising that spending your career following the crimes of some masked sadist had some effects on your wellbeing.

It almost became an obsession, wondering how he could get away with it all for so long, wondering how many victims there are that haven't been found or connected to this case.

And the closest you had gotten to discovering the identity of this man? A blurry photo from some cheep security camera, a tall man in a full black suit and a chrome mask in the shape of a skull.

And so, the case was deemed the Chromeskull Case.

And it was all yours now.

What surprised everyone the most, including you, was that you were beginning to make progress. You had to take leads to their furthest extent, even if it seemed unrealistic.

And that was how you got on Chromeskull's trail.

It didn't take long for you to come to the conclusion that he wasn't working alone, to pull off the things he does, doing it alone would be nearly impossible.

You visited dozens of crime scenes, getting closer than anyone else had.

And that got Jesse's attention.

The Organisation keeps an eye on law enforcement and the FBI, just to make sure they were still five steps ahead. So, it was only a matter of time before they became aware of you and informed Jesse.

Of course, they asked if they should just get rid of you before you become a problem, but Jesse was a little thrilled at the thought of somebody getting close to him.

You were seeing everything he did, you analysed it until you understood it the best you could, you had to become as intimately knowledgable about each crime as he was. That thrilled him.

So, he didn't order your death. He simply told them to monitor you.

Jesse continued with his sadistic murders, this time leaving little things behind for you.

Subtle things, things that only people with intimate understanding of the case would notice. And, oh, you noticed.

You soon realised that he was taunting you. Well, at first you thought he was just taunting general law enforcement. Until he left your name behind at a crime scene, that one was definitely for you.

It only motivated you further, he was making it personal.

-

You were following the murders, trying to figure out which state Chromeskull would attack next, to try to get just a few steps closer to him.

Another death, in the middle of nowhere, in the exact opposite direction you were tracking Chromskull, came with the most blatant taunt.

A video tape, addressed to you.

It was a snuff film, showing you the murder and every graphic detail. It would have been sickening if you hadn't seen it all before.

The tape make you conclude that Chromeskull had likely been recording all of his crimes. Still, you couldn't decide whether they were for personal records like trophies, or if they were being sold.

Despite the obvious clue being dropped right into your lap, it was the audiotape that filled you with a newfound determination.

A robotic voice, it didn't sound like a voice modulator, giving you a location, a date, and a time. Followed by a "Don't be late, Detective."

Of course the message included to go alone, to not involve your colleagues. In your early days on the job, you would never dare do something so stupid. Maybe spending so much time buried in this case had really messed with you, because now you weren't just considering it, you were planning your trip.

-

By the time you were standing outside of some sad little mortuary positioned along some nearly deserted road, you knew that there was no turning back.

Morally, legally, you were way out of line and there was no way to get back.

So...why fight it now?

Head to the strange barn-like structure. Why was that owned by a little mortuary? You weren't sure.

You found the backdoor open and let yourself inside.

The barn was dimly lit and dusty, littered with coffins. Maybe this was were the mortuary stored coffins?...

You continued to explore, coming across a box of tapes. They all looked like the one that was sent to you, but they were labelled with places and dates. A lot of them you recognised as victims you had already looked into.

You could guess that they contained a similar material that was on the tape you saw.

Looking around at the various coffins, you took a breath before approaching one of them.

You muttered some words of encouragement to yourself before lifting the lid, both shocked and not shocked at all by the body laying inside.

Tearing your gaze away from the poor victim, you gently closed the coffin again.

The sound of a door opening and closing caught your attention.

You swiftly spun around, readying your gun and pointing it towards the location of the sound.

There he was. Chromeskull, in his black suit and skull shaped mask.

You were more surprised that he had actually shown up than the other things you have found.

"You showing off, huh?" you asked, a certain amount of your confidence being fake, "send me on a wild goose chase just to bring me here, show me all the fucked up shit you've done?"

You tensed when he reached into his pocket, furrowing your brow when he pulled out a phone. You kept your aim locked on him as he typed into the device.

'You've already seen it, Detective. What else do I have to show?' the robotic voice of his text to speech asked.

"What...you don't talk?" you asked and he gave one simple nod. "That voice is annoying, you know sign language?" he nodded, smirking under his mask, you just kept getting his attention. "Use that then, I understand it."

Surprisingly, he obeyed. Tucking the phone back into his pocket before signing, 'I don't need to ask if you came alone, if you followed my orders, I knew you would. I've been watching you.'

"I gathered. You've been taunting me, watching me for months, always keeping me blind to something" you glared at him.

You should just shoot him, claim he attacked you, you had no choice.

Nobody would question it, he would deserve it.

'You've been following me too. So, what have you learnt?'

That was the problem, you hadn't learnt anything.

"Nothing" you gritted out, mad about it, "but you already know that."

'Do you want to know everything? Why I do what I do, who works for me, how I get around so fast, why everything is cleaned up so well?'

"...why else would I be here?"

'Don't ask questions you don't want to answer too, Detective. Your little obsession brought you here, nothing else' you hated that he was right, 'put down the gun, on the table by the tapes, and I'll show you everything.'

Cursing under your breath, you walked over to the table and placed the gun down, looking up when you heard a car pulling up outside.

"Who's that?" you asked, turning to the masked man, wondering if this had been some set up all along. Of course it was.

'Preston. Very timely, but arrogant'

"Oh, and you're so humble?"

If he weren't wearing the mask, you would have seen his amused expression.

'Join me for a drive?'

"Are there more bodies in here?"

'Take a look for yourself.'

"Not everyone gets off of this like you."

'You have to admit it's an appropriate storage system, though.'

Your skin crawled as you looked around at the coffins in the room. You assumed that was a 'yes'.

"Very clever, you must have thought it was brilliant" you praised sarcastically.

'More practical than brilliant, but I see the poetic side to it' he was enjoying himself, that much was obvious. 'Now, that ride?'

With one last glance around the morbid barn, you nodded.

Chromeskull led you out of the barn confidently, letting you follow behind him like he just knew that you wouldn't do anything stupid.

And like the idiot you were, you followed him to the black car with tinted windows.

In gentlemanly gesture, Chromeskull opened the back door and let you in. You glanced up at the man suspiciously before climbing into the car, the driver glaring at you through the rear-view mirror.

Chromeskull slammed your door shut before rounding the car and climbing into the seat beside you.

That was when you realised that you knew the name of the driver but still not the name of Chromeskull.

He nodded to the driver and the next thing you knew, you were driving away from the little mortuary, leaving your own car behind.

You couldn't help but wonder if you just signed your death certificate.

And yet...something told you that you weren't going to die any time soon.

[apocalypseornaw]

Always be Yours- 2

Word Count 5,437 *not my gif*

Story Summary: Inspired by the 2 part I did of the same title. Follows Dean and Reader through season 9 into season 10

Chapter Summary: Adaddon is back and using two hunters to draw the boys into a trap so of course you're right there with them

Warnings: cursing, fights, minor character death

Dean could hear your laughter drifting down the hall the moment he stepped out of his room. You'd only been at the bunker a week or so but you'd always had a habit of making any place feel your presence. Hell even Crowley asked if he could see you when he found out you were there. Kevin was acting more normal than he'd ever seen the kid and it was a bit of a relief to know he wasn't the only one keeping a close eye on Sam should Ezekial decide to not hold up his end of the bargain.

He headed towards the kitchen and could hear music. The closer he got he made out the tune of "You give love a bad name" when he stepped around the corner he was met with the sight of Sam spinning you around while you sang along word for word. Kevin was sitting at the table working on a large stack of pancakes and laughing at the show of you and Sam dancing around the kitchen in your pajamas. The two of you had formed a close friendship back when you were both the youngest kids being pawned off on Bobby during hunts and Dean would be lying if he said he didn't wish you were as comfortable around him as you were Sam.

He could still remember the first case him and Sam worked solo with you. It was the Croatoan virus. You hadn't blinked an eye when you refused to leave Sam's side when he was exposed telling them both that if they were giving in so were you. Over the years you'd been in and out of their lives and the day he'd been dragged out of hell you showed up at Bobby's and had a blade to his neck before him or Bobby could explain. When they proved it was really him that was the first time you'd ever hugged him. You'd pratically squealed when you jumped into his arms "Dean! You're back!"

You always had a habit that no matter how long you went without seeing him or Sam you always treated them as if you'd just seen them the day before. When Sam was soulless you helped him to track down Death to get Sam's soul back. He'd never seen you back down from a fight especially if someone you cared about was fighting.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when you slid to a stop in front of him and held a hand out to him. "C'mon Dean" you pleaded and he shook his head "I haven't even had my coffee yet Y/N" you being the ever persistent woman you were rolled your eyes then looked over your shoulder at Sam "Be a good little brother and fix the man some coffee" Sam grinned as he moved to grab Dean's mug and you turned back around to Dean with a smile "So now what's your excuse?" the song switched to "Have you ever seen the rain" and your eyes lit up when he hummed the first couple bars before hesitantly taking your hand.

You slid your arms up around his neck and he put his hands at your waist careful not to catch the bare skin when your shirt rode up slightly. Normally he'd feel stupid as hell dancing in the kitchen? Especially with an audience but the smile on your face was worth it, most of the time you tried to keep up the front of a fearless hunter but since Bobby's death you'd started to let your guard fall more often and around more people than just Sam. When the song ended you winked at him and said "Who knew Dean Winchester can dance?" then moved to turn the player down. Sam cleared his throat and looked from you to Dean before holding the coffee out "Want your coffee Dean?" when you turned your back Sam raised his eyebrows and Dean shot him a glare "Thanks Sammy" you thankfully didn't see the look passed between them when you turned around to ask Kevin if he wanted orange juice.

-------

The ease of the morning was interrupted by a phone call coming in about a busload of bodies found on a naval base. That mixed with the freaky storms and dead cattle circling that area screamed demon. You grabbed your duffel bag and the bag with your fed suit then stepped out of your room and met up with Kevin in the hallway. He glanced down towards the armory so you shot him a smile "Just stay away from him Kev. He'll try to get into your head and it's not worth it" he gave you a small smile in return "I'll stay away from him Y/N" he turned to head to the library so you headed for the map room where Sam and Dean stood waiting. Dean's eyes skimmed over you and your crossed your arms "Is there a problem Dean?" he met your eyes and smirked slightly "Naw, just you're gonna be a lot more fun to look at all day than Sammy here" you rolled your eyes and chunked your duffel bag to him considering they both already kept go bags in baby's trunk "Easy tiger, we got work to do"

You walked next to Sam up the stairs talking about the case and what could possibly be waiting.

------

When Dean rolled to a stop right outside the area that had been tapped off you slid your ID into your pocket then climbed out the backseat. You had stopped off about ten miles back for all of you to change into your suits. "This place reeks of sulphur" Sam muttered and you nodded "Between the stink and the storms.." "Mixed with the dead cattle I'll take demons for a thousand Alex" Dean finished holding the police tape up for you to walk underneath.

The MP noticed the three of you and headed your way so you pulled your badges out while Dean did the introduction "Agents Stark, Banner and Barnes. FBI. Just need to have a look around" She didn't hesitate to ask "Why? This is a military case, not a federal one" "Well that's not what our supervisor said" you interjected and if anything you speaking seemed to make her attitude that much worse "That so? Then maybe him and I ought to have a chat" Sam cut his eyes at you and Dean said "Ok" then pulled his phone out. You wondered what he was doing and leaned up slightly to see him hit Kevin's number.

"Hey boss, we got a little problem" poor Kevin you just hoped he knew to play along. After a beat Dean continued "Yeah just a local badge needs a little confirmation we're supposed to be here. How the word came down from FBI headquarters in D.C." you were glad you were used to situations like this because if not you probably would've laughed imagining how confused Kevin must be but nonetheless Dean said "Yeah" then held the phone out to the MP.

She looked between the three of you before saying "This is sergeant Miranda Bates. Who am I talking to?" She looked back at Dean who you knew by far wouldn't break before asking Kevin "How old are you?" you were started to get annoyed with her attitude when she said "Listen kid, I don't have to do anything and I don't take orders from the feebs so unless you can give me one good reason you got a couple of pretty boy agents and their handler poking around my crime scene" "Handler?" you scoffed and Sam reached a hand out to pull you back next to him as she kept ranting "I'm gonna put them in cuffs and spank your ass raw"

Her face fell at something Kevin said "What?..How did you find that?" You looked between the boys to see if they had any idea what Kevin was telling her but they both shrugged. She finally said "Yes sir" then handed Dean's phone back and walked away.

Dean was barely holding back a smile when he said "Kevin, what the hell did you just do?" Sam motioned to the bus so Dean waved the two of you ahead.

You stepped on the bus behind Sam and went to the first body while Sam started looking over a different one. "Sam look" you pushed back the guy's shirt with a pen to show the bullet hole in his chest. All the bodies had fatal wounds but they were all also long dead.

Dean then stepped up on the bus and asked "Got anything?" Sam nodded to the body nearest you "This guy was shot in the heart" "That what killed him?" he asked and Sam looked at you so you shrugged "Maybe? but like ten or twenty years ago" Dean glanced at Sam who added "All these bodies have fatal wounds but they're all old" "So meatsuits?" Dean guessed so you nodded "Bodies took a licking but demons kept them ticking"

"And now they're riding the soldiers" Sam added. Dean looked behind Sam "Hey" you looked up to see sergeant Bates walking up onto the bus with a tablet in her hands "Excuse me agents. We pulled this off the security camera. You might want to take a look" Sam reached out for it so you moved to the side so Dean could see the screen as well. It clearly showed the soldiers walking away but Sam froze on one woman in particular. You knew they couldn't tell you why in front of Bates but the moment the three of you stepped off the bus Dean said "Abaddon? Seriously?" and you knew why Sam had frozen the screen. That was the demon that had attacked the men of letters and who killed their grandfather Henry after him and her jumped through a magical portal to recent time.

"I thought you kentucky fried that meatsuit?" Dean asked Sam who shrugged "I did Dean" "Then how did she get it back?" you asked and nodded to the cop that held the tape up for you to pass. "And why's she playing G.I. Joe?" Dean said and Sam responded "No clue. Why don't you ask her when we find her?"

You slid into the backseat and pulled your suit jacket off while Dean pulled out onto the road and said "Oh I will and then I'm gonna chop her freaking head off..again"

------

After stopping off long enough for all of you to change back into normal clothes you got back on the road to the bunker. It was already dark out and you were laid across the backseat when Sam's phone rang and you heard him say "Hold on Kevin..Wait..slow down" Sam cut his eyes back when you sat up then put the phone on speaker while Kevin repeated the coordinates he'd been given then said "And she gave me two names. Irv Franklin and Tracy Bell" "Irv's a friend, don't know Tracy" Dean cut in before Kevin continued "All right, the lady said they were hunters and that if you didn't go save them that she would kill them" "Yeah heard that song before" Dean grumbled but you were looking up the coordinates to see where you were all headed.

"Dean, who was she?" Kevin asked so you answered without looking up "The bad guy" Dean asked Kevin to dig up everything the men of letters had on the knights of hell. Abaddon was one although you didn't know exactly what that entailed. After Sam hung up with Kevin you leaned up between him and Dean "The numbers point to a spot on the outskirts of Eugene, Oregon" then glanced between the two of them "Are we gonna adknowledge this is a trap right?"

"Yup" Dean said matter of factly. You turned your head to look at Sam when he asked "And we're just gonna walk right into it?" "Guns blazing" you answered and saw Dean glance your way in the mirror. "Well Y/N's with me, Sam?" Sam of course said "You know it"

------

You drove through the night and stopped a few miles shy of where Abaddon wanted to meet so all of you could be as well prepared as possible. The place was completely abandoned. Dean gave voice to your thoughts when he asked "What the hell happened here?" "A local chemical plant sprang a leak years ago. They evacuated three square blocks. Guess it's still contaminated"

"Wait? So this whole place is poison?" you asked, a little worried. "Yeah" Sam replied and you laughed when you saw Dean's hand move to cover his crotch "That's not gonna help" Sam told him with a sigh. Dean realized you'd seen him and shrugged "It doesn't hurt"

One thing you'd gotten used to was that when you hunted with them both they had a habit of keeping you between them when they could. You weren't sure if it was on purpose or not. The three of you walked further into the town then heard a slam coming from an old diner that caused you and Sam to pull your guns. Dean nodded so you covered Sam while he kicked the door in.

"Clear" you and Dean went in behind him so you kept an eye on the kitchen to make sure there was no surprises while Dean untied Irv and who had to be Tracy. You glanced back when he said Abaddon had been torturing hunters to get information on Sam and Dean. If you hadn't been with them she might have gotten her claws on you.

Dean gave Irv a shot of holy water while Sam gave one to Tracy who rolled her eyes "Happy?" she was slinging more aggression towards Sam than you would've liked but now wasn't the time. Irv nodded to you when Dean untied him "Y/N, good to see ya" "Yeah" you said then once again Tracy got mouthy with Sam when he introduced himself. You knew the look you had when Irv quickly explained "She's new. We worked a shifter job in Sacramento together. Smart but got a mouth on her" She scoffed so you clicked your tongue "Honey we ain't got time for whatever you got going on. We need to gear up and clear out" Dean tilted his head towards you "What she said"

------

You were helping Dean lay out every weapon you'd grabbed. "We got jesus juice, devil's trap bullets shoot a demon with them and put em on lockdown" He explained and you spun an angel blade in your hand "Angel blades work"

Irv took a gun loaded with Devil's trap bullets about the time Sam said "They're coming" "Good" Dean said handing you a vial of holy water. "They've got assault rifles" Sam added and you cursed under your breath "Ok, less good"

Irv looked at Dean "So, what's the play?" Dean looked at you "Give me your phone" you handed it over without question and watched him record a voice memo of himself saying "COME AND GET IT YOU DICKS" and knew his plan. You grabbed one of the cake trays and drug it over in front of him "Prop it up here" he did as you said then looked between everyone else. "Let's go"

------

All of you made it out behind the cafe so Dean looked around "We got to flank seal team douche in there so uh Irv, you and me will go left. Sam, you Y/N and Tracy go right" "Ok let's move" Sam said and reached for Tracy's arm but she shoved him back "Don't touch me" "What is your problem?" you asked feeling Dean grab you around the waist with one arm to hold you in place while he repeated the question.

Tracy's eyes never moved off of Sam "My family's dead because of him" "What?" Sam asked and in that moment you could've knocked Tracy flat just for the guilt in his eyes. She looked back at you then at Dean before saying "I watched a demon slaughter my parents and the whole time it talked about how it was celebrating how some dumb kid let Lucifer out of his cage" you looked over your shoulder at Dean and he slid his arm from around you. "Ok we got to move. Y/N you go with Sam and Irv, Tracy with me" you didn't really want to leave her with Dean in case it became a your brother did this to my people so I'm gonna do this to you type of thing but it wasn't like you were in a position to start an argument. You simply nodded and tapped Sam's shoulder "Let's go"

------

You were walking close to Sam gripping your gun and trying to keep an eye out, He had the demon blade in his hand and Irv was behind you. "Sam you copacetic?" Irv asked and Sam nodded "I'm good" Irv glanced at you then said "Good. Give me that toothpick, grab Y/N then you two get Dean and Tracy and get the hell out of here" "What?" you asked in shock and Irv explained "I'm going in there alone. I'll buy you as much time as I can"

"Irv, that's death" Sam glanced at you for help but you didn't know what to say at a friend basically asking for the two of you to be ok with him killing himself. Irv looked ashamed when he finally spoke "Yeah, well it's what I got coming..It's my fault. I was in some dive and I was sloppy and lonely" Sam glanced at you as Irv continued "And I met some girl and the next thing you know, I'm strapped to some bed and she's twisting things that ain't supposed to be twisted" "She who?" Sam questioned but you had a feeling you already knew the answer Irv saying "Abaddon" just confirmed you were right.

Irv's voice broke when he said "I gave em up. Pete,Tracy,even you Y/N. I gave em all up. So Sam you hand me that blade and you let me do what I got to do or so help me" but he had moved to the point his back wasn't blocked by any building and a shot rang out a second before Irv fell. Sam instinctively pushed you back and pulled his gun. You nodded that you were ok then you both leaned out to return fire then make a break for the diner that was across the street.

You fell in behind Sam and looked up to see one of the demon's holding you at gunpoint "Boo"

He snatched you to your feet and Sam dove for him with the demon blade but another demon popped up and knocked Sam sideways then both of you were thrown over the counter. You scrambled to your feet again about the time the third demon walked around the corner and smiled "Cool. I didn't miss the best part"

------

Safe to say you and Sam were getting your asses handed to you. He had his head slammed into a wall and you thought he was unconscious then suddenly his eyes glowed blue and he looked at "GET DOWN" "Bout time you pop up" you muttered diving back behind the counter and tucking yourself into the smallest ball possible as Ezekiel's wings shown on the wall of the diner.

You stayed in that position until the door of the diner opened and Dean called your name. He let out a visible breath when you popped up. "Fuck don't hide again!" "He told me to!" you argued pointing at Ezekiel who was stabbing the last demon in the head with the demon blade. "They were going to kill him and her Dean" "Ezekiel?" Dean asked and you nodded. "What the hell did you do?" Dean pushed and Ezekiel turned to face him "I was protecting your brother and Y/N. I thought that was what you wanted" "Yeah of course, Thank you we're just still getting used to all this" you cut in and Ezekiel looked around "As am I" "Sam's ok?' you asked and Ezekiel explained that he had been knocked unconscious and in a way still was and wouldn't remember what happened. "So what the hell am I supposed to tell him when he comes to?" Dean asked and Ezekiel held the demon blade out "Which was why I used the knife"

"Right, smart" Dean took the blade then looked at you when Ezekiel spoke "You are troubled still" Dean turned back towards him "Yeah it's just that uh. Yeah this is on me. I was the one who talked Sam out of boarding up hell so every demon deal, every person they kill you're looking at the person who let it happen" "Dean" you tried but he wouldn't even look at you. "You were protecting your brother" Ezekiel offered then continued "I am in Sam's head. Everything he knows I know. and I know that what you did you did out of love"

Dean scoffed "Look Zeke, I'm gonna call you Zeke. I'm not really with the whole uh love and well love" you were standing there looking between the two of them when Ezekiel said "but it is why I said yes" "Yeah and if that goes sideways that's on me too" you finally snapped at Dean "PLEASE STOP HATING YOURSELF FOR FIVE SECONDS"

They both looked a little startled so you took a breath and said "We're trusting you Ezekiel" Dean finally shook himself out the shock of you hollering at him to say "and I just hope you're one of the good guys" "I am" Ezekiel said then added "But I suppose that's what a bad guy would say...Dean Winchester you are going the right thing" you took a deep breath and look at Ezekiel "How about letting Sam take back control? me and Dean will clean up before he wakes up" Ezekiel nodded then walked over to where Sam had been knocked out and sat back.

------

Once his head drooped over you moved to help Dean load the weapons back into the bag. Neither of you spoke until Sam started to stir.

When he groaned you made it to his side first "Sam?" "Sammy?" Dean asked helping Sam to his feet. Sam looked at you "What the hell happened?" you shrugged "You took a shot to the head, I was about to be the pinata for these asshats before Dean decided to slide in and save our asses"

Sam looked at Dean "You killed three demons, alone?" Dean shrugged "Took them by surprise. Got a little messy, I got a little lucky oh and I'm awesome so there's that" Sam looked around and you smirked when he said "You are pretty damn awesome"

You heard an engine roll up and looked out the window to see Tracy roll up in baby and looked back at Dean "She gets to drive baby and I don't?" Dean tried to explain but you simply grabbed the weapons as the three of you headed outside.

------

Tracy looked at Sam "You good?" "Yeah, more or less" and you smiled when her reply was "Good." She chunked the keys to Dean "I got everything but guess I'm late to the party" "Lucky you" you muttered and walked around to get in behind Sam as Dean said "Let's blow this toxic dump. Burgers and silkwood showers on me"

------

After you dropped Tracy off at one of her friend's houses you and the boys got back on the road. You hadn't really said much to either of them. You were thinking about Ezekiel and if he truly was a good guy. Sam was used to the way you'd get quiet sometimes but Dean had looked in the mirror about a dozen times before you finally said "Speak Dean" he shrugged "You pissed at me?"

You knew you had to look as confused as you felt so he clarified "Tracy driving baby?" you laughed "Naw if you wanted to let me drive her you would" and shrugged he looked a bit hurt so you winked at him to let him know you weren't upset about that. 

------

Twenty miles from Lebanon Dean decided to stop to get Kevin some food. You were sitting in the backseat with your head leaned back while Sam checked his emails.

You glanced up when the door closest to you opened and was surprised to see Dean holding the car keys out to you "I really don't want you killing me in my sleep" you grinned and snatched them from him not risking him changing his mind.

-------

When you pulled up to the bunker and killed the engine you looked back at Dean who was watching you and smiled "Thank you" he took the keys that you were holding out and nodded "Wait, you're still staying around right?" you didn't stop to think Sam hadn't heard that conversation between you and Dean before he said "What?" you shook your head and climbed out the car "Don't worry about it Sam I'm not going anywhere any time soon."

-------

Kevin was nowhere to be found and considering Crowley killed his mom the three of you ran to the armory.

Crowley was beat up but at least not dead and neither was Kevin. "Who worked you over?" Sam asked. Crowley looked at you then said "Martin Hayward and Brandon Favors" "They did this?" you asked but he shook his head "No they're demons. Your boys wanted names, I'm giving names. They're underperformers. Spike them, You're doing me a favor"

Dean smirked "Wow, you break easy" Crowley rolled his eyes "Please,your little plan to have me stir in my own delicious juices? Pathetic. You want intel, I want things too. Maybe we can come to some kind of arrangement. Quid pro quo gentlemen" "So these names are freebies?" you asked and Crowley smiled at you "Not at all sweets.You can consider them fair trade for the enjoyment Kevin gave me" "What the hell's that supposed to mean?" You and Dean asked in unison and Crowley quirked an eyebrow at that before saying "He's my new favorite toy. Wind him up and watch him go" You glared at him "You red eyed bastard" then spun around to walk out the armory and find Kevin. You heard Dean tell Sam "Check the names, I'll help Y/N find the kid"

------

You found him packed up and trying to leave "Where are you going?" Dean asked but Kevin kept walking so you stepped in his path. "Y/N you can't keep me locked up here. I'm leaving" "Like hell" Dean said and you cut your eyes at him "Kev we told you not to talk to Crowley he messes with your head" "He said my mom was alive, that if I let him go he'd give her back"

"And you believed him?" Dean asked with a scoff. "He's still in there isn't he?" you moved to put yourself between Dean and Kevin before saying "Kev, Crowley's lying" "And if he's not?" he asked and you were glad for once that Dean answered "Than she's dead, in every way that matters anyways. We're sorry Kevin"

"I know you're dying to bolt. I get it but out that door it's angels and demons and they'd all love to get their hands on a prophet so even with Crowley here..It's still the safest place for you" you took a breath hoping you'd gotten through to the kid. "and we need you" Dean added.

It hurt your heart when Kevin assumed "Because I'm useful?" but you couldn't help but smile when Dean answered "No,because you're family. Same as Y/N. If you don't think after all we've been through together we all wouldn't die for each other man I don't know what to tell you. We're all we got but hey if none of that matters to you then I won't stop you and I won't let Y/N"

Kevin looked at you then slowly nodded "Ok" you cut your eyes at Dean "I'm gonna get him to his room then I'll come find you and Sam" 

-------

You walked into the library and heard Dean telling Sam "You have helped a lot more people than you've hurt" and guessed it was due to what Tracy said so you stepped further in and Dean waved you over and sat a glass of whiskey in front of you. 

You took it then sat down next to Sam. Dean looked back at him then said "All of that was then" he held up his glass so you did the same and bumped Sam's shoulder so he'd join in when Dean said "Here's to now"

You clicked your glasses against theirs then took a sip. "You both ready for it?" Sam asked so you looked at Dean who questioned "Ready for what?" "Fallens angels, Abaddon. Cas losing his halo, Crowley living in our basement"

You half laughed "Dean you invited me to move into a freakin sitcom" Dean shrugged "At least you have company?" Then turned his attention to Sam "What about you? How's the engine running?" 

Sam looked between the two of you before saying "Honestly? I feel better than I have in a long time. I know it's crazy out there but I look around here and I see friends and family. I'm happier than I've been in forever. It's just things are good" Dean met your eyes and nodded "Never better" 

------

Sam had already headed to bed and Dean went to check in on Kevin. You knew you wouldn't wind down for a while so you collected the books Kevin had pulled about the knights of hell and laid them out across one of the tables in the library. 

You poured yourself another glass of whiskey then sat down. You were halfway through the first book when Dean cleared his throat and you glanced up to see him leaning against the doorway "I figured you went to bed" you said and held the bottle out. He took it then sat across from you "I figured you did too"

He poured a glass then reached for one of the books so you slid it across to him. The two of you read in silence for a few minutes before he called your name. You glanced up "Yeah?" "What was that about?" You weren't exactly sure what he meant so you asked "What was what about?"

He closed the book and for once there was no humor in his face when he asked "You yelling at me about not hating myself for five minutes?" Oh that was what he meant. You finally answered "You're very self deprecating Dean even worse than Sam. I can't stand it" he nodded but still pushed "Why?"

You sighed and laid the book down pulling your bottom lip between your teeth and trying to get the words right before you spoke them "You're a good man Dean. You damn near raised Sam, you have saved so many people. You have a good heart and even when you fuck up it's due to good intentions and don't start about the road to hell being paved with good intentions you know what I mean. When it comes down to it there's no one else I'd rather have to back me in a fight or as a friend" the corner of his lips ticked up in a small smirk "um thanks?" You shrugged "It's the truth. Now let's finish with these books we're currently on then I think we should head to bed" "Yours or mine?" He teased with a smirk but you knew the best way to handle Dean was to give his own medicine right back to him so you quickly fired back "Oh honey I just don't think you could handle me"  and laughed at the look on his face "Yeah I can definitely see why Sam likes having you around" "oh and you don't like having me around not even in the least?" You asked and and he rolled his eyes then pushed the book you'd been reading back at you "Read your book Y/N" 

You turned your attention back to the book but noticed the way he kept glancing your way for the next half hour. When you finally closed your book to head to bed you stood and stretched "See you in the morning?" He nodded "I'll be the best looking one" you shook your head with a smile then headed to your room.

Tags: @akshi8278 @facadeformyrealblog

[lancetuckershairgel]

Warnings: angst, sadness, the usual

Words: 1K+

Taglist: @southernbell91 @book-dragon-13 @marvelgirl7 @brat-in-a-teacup @mycupoffanfiction @buckysforeverprincess @jhangelface0523 @bonkybarnes107 @godofplumsandthunder @jamesbarnesappreciationclub @jobean12-blog @blackasnight23xxxx @msruchita @anxiousamandapanda

Lucy had survived her first week being at the detention center. She was miserable and lonely but she had managed to make a friend with one of the guards, Julie, who would check up on her during her shift. Just like in high school, there were cliques. The more popular girls were the ones who were the baddest, meanest ones who didnt take shit from anyone. The next group were the well behaved ones, they stuck together and did that they were told, mostly. The last group were the outcasts that the other girls didn't like. Girls you would be surprised were locked up for a serious crime. Lucy would belong in the second group, if she had an interest in belonging anywhere, but she didn't. She spent her time studying in the classes and reading the books provided in the day room. She avoided communicating with any of the girls unless she just had to even when they tried to irritate her and make her fight. Some of the girls considered the outcasts tried to talk to her or get her to play some card games but she didn't want friends, she wanted to do her time and get out. 

She laid down on her bunk and pulled out a notebook and pencil and began to write a letter to Lily. When she finished she sat up and made a black X on the paper calendar taped to her wpaper counting down the days until her release. 

"You ok honey?" Julie asked, peering up at Lucy

"Yeah." Lucy grumbled, as she ripped the notebook paper out and handed it to the officer "Can you make sure this gets sent out? It's for my sister, her address should be on the list in the office." 

"I'll put it in the box when I leave In a few minutes." Julie smiled "You need anything?" 

"Out of here."

"Can't help you there. We noticed that you haven't used many of your allotted phone calls."

"Don't have anyone to call." Lucy shrugged

"What about that guy who comes to see you? Who is he anyway? Uncle?"

"No. He's just...some guy trying to fulfill his quota of good deeds." 

Julie tilted her head slightly but didn't say anything. She, like Chris, had learned quickly that Lucy didn't talk much. 

---

"Officer Haven, can you go to Miss Hopewell's room please? There's an...issue." 

"On it." Chris said to the intercom then rose from his chair.

On the way to the kindergarten hallway he had hoped with everything he had that the issue wasn't with Lily, but when he entered the classroom his heart sank. 

"NO NO NO!" Lily shrieked "GET AWAY FROM ME!" 

The classroom was in disarray. Papers were slung everywhere, a bucket of crayons were dumped onto the floor, and the teachers were attempting to subdue Lily's tantrum. The other students were trying to remain quiet and continue their worksheet but most of them were staring at the scene. 

"Lily, this behavior is unacceptable and you won't get anything you want if you are yelling like this." Miss Hopewell sternly said

"LEAVE ME ALONE" Lily shrieked as she grabbed the globe off of a shelf and threw it onto the ground, bending the axis. 

"Hey, hey sweetheart, what's going on?" Chris knelt down in front of the girl and gently grabbed her tiny hands, holding onto them when she tried pulling away "Shhh, it's okay.".

Lily sniffled and looked up at Chris with her wide brown eyes. Her bottom lip trembled and tears streaked her face. 

"She's never done this before." Miss Hopewell said "It came out of nowhere." 

"Lily, what happened?" Chris said quietly, a calm in his voice 

Lily was quiet for a few seconds then shot a look up at one of the boys sitting at a green table. 

"Him said my sister's dead." Lily pointed 

"Sammy!" Miss Hopewell gasped as she looked at the boy in question. 

"Okay...let's go for a walk and cool down." 

Chris took Lily's hand and they left the classroom while Miss Hopewell continued to scold the bully. They made their way around the building, slowly walking the hallways. 

"Is it true?" Lily sniffed again

"No, honey, Lucy's fine."

"Then why can't I see her or talk to her? She's my sister!" Lily sobbed 

Chris stopped and knelt down to look at Lily. 

"Where she's at right now she can't make a lot of phone calls."

"Is her in jail?" 

"Yes." Chris said with an apologetic look

Lily began to cry harder. Chris pulled her in for a hug, looking up at the vice principal who had stopped when she saw them. They both gave each other sympathetic looks. 

"I'm sorry, Lily." Chris rubbed her back gently "But Lucy's okay. She'll call you soon, I'm sure."

Soon Lily was calmed down and taken back to class. She apologized to the teacher and went back to finish her work. 

"Poor girl." Miss Hopewell whispered to Chris as they stood away from the students 

"Yeah, it's gotta be rough but that outburst isnt like her."

"Maybe talk to the counselor and see what she thinks and if there's anything we can do to help?" 

"I'll do that."

---

Chris stood in front of the counselor's desk, arms crossed over his chest, as he discussed Lily's tantrum. 

"Well, she is going through a lot of changes. I would think it's safe to say this may not be the last one we see. What helped calm her down?" The woman pushed her glasses up her nose and looked up at Chris 

"Removing her from the situation. We went for a walk and talked about her sister." 

"Good, good." She hummed  "Alright, what about the boy?".

"Miss Hopewell dealt with him."

"I'll speak with him too, tomorrow. I think we should inform the foster parents of this, they can talk with Lily and do some things to help at home."

Chris agreed and waited while the counselor made the call. She hung up after the conversation and wrinkled her nose. 

"What is it?"

"Well, we both know the Michaels' are good people but…" she paused "I'm not sure if they're making the best choice regarding Lily's sister."

"What do you mean?" Chris' head tilted to the side slightly 

"Amber said that Lucy has called several times asking to speak to Lily but they feel it's best to, after what happened and given where Lucy is right now, keep a distance between the girls."

The counselor noticed the shift in Chris' stance and his expression. She held up her hand. 

"Officer, I know you care about these girls but it's the foster family's decision."

"Yeah, I know." Chris grumbled 

"The best thing you can do is get the custody agreement approved. I truly feel that you would do a wonderful job with both of the girls but it needs to be done fast, the Michaels' are looking to adopt Lily."

[judgement-free-sideblog]

Blood, tears and sea breeze.

Warnings: ANGST, mental health issues, graphic depictions of violence, blood, cursing, mentions of sexual assault, mentions of sex, substance abuse.

Summary: The not so peaceful town of Broadchurch face dead again, while Alec Hardy continues his journey to redemption will this school teacher be the key to solve the mystery or just another victim of the ever watching evilness that seems to reside in the town.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 8: I knew

The morning of the third day since Jonathan Norbury's body had been found had started roughly for DS Miller, she hadn't have the chance to talk to Brian, neither as the SOCO nor her boyfriend, since the work in the cottage had turn into an all night venture, and with the time pressure on them finding any evidence was the most important thing at the moment, even more than date night with her and Freddie

And on the other hand she was grateful he didn't showed up, because that would imply she had to respond to his proposal to move together, and she would say yes, of course since Tom and Freddie like him and she was actually having strong feelings for him, and then she would have to tell it to Alec, and she couldn't do that to him, no yet at least.

They haven't been together that long and yet she could remember every afternoon working late in his house, with Daze pretending to not knowing anything but still making a nice dinner for the two of them, their silent walks on the beach where their silences said more than any loud scream.

But that was the problem with them, even when she hate to remember Joe, at least they fight there was more to their relationship than the silent understanding of loving each other, the biggest proof was that when she asked him to stop he simply said yes, and they move on, and they just resume their neverending friendship just like that.

That's why she couldn't move on with Brian, because that would hurt him and made him more emotionally reclusive, she just hope that Brian would be patient enough to wait for her.

A knock on the door make her stand up in a jump, she took her coffee mug and kiss Freddie and a reluctant Tom goodbye and wave at his father, before meeting his friend at the door.

"Morning" She said with a smile that was received with a dead stare like every time. "You look well rested" she joke and he only rolled his eyes at her before taking the coffee mug from her hands and taking a sip.

"The victims mother is at the station, apparently she saw the news and came all the way from London to claim his son's body" Alec said once he was inside the car.

"Yeah, well she is probably going to be difficult to deal with, Paul says they are wealthy people who own a major franchise of electronics shops" Miller said putting on the seat belt and starting the car.

Clementine Norbury was already waiting for them in the office, she was dressed in a tailored black pantsuit, and had short blond hair just like Jonathan, and the sad look of a broken heart in her blue eyes.

"Mrs. Norbury I assume?" Miller Said entering the office.

"Clementine is fine" She said extending her hand to her and then Hardy.

"I'm sorry for your loss madame, your husband call this morning announcing that you would come and asking about the case, and I'm sorry but we can't discuss anything about the case with you" Alec said trying to be polite.

"That won't be necessary detective, Hardy was it? I'm here on behalf of my son more than my husband" She said calmly.

"Excuse me?" Miller said confused since she was ready to have to calm down a posh entitled lady and this was completely different.

"I knew" She started and she took out her cellphone from her purse and put it on the desk "I knew my son was being unfaithful to Y/N, and I'm concerned that person could be responsible for what happened to him"

"Did you know this person? Clementine?" Alec ask coming out from behin the desk and sitting next to her.

"No, my husband and I, we were not thrill when he start dating a woman from Broadchurch, no offense" She said and Miller fight the urge to roll her eyes at her "But then we met Y/N and the positive impact she had on him, and I truly believed he was finally on the right path" Her voice crack for a moment.

"The right path? Instead of what exactly?" Hardy asked.

"He was a rich and handsome young man in London, what would you expect?" She said and Ellie knew her first instinct had been right "My husband send him here as punishment but a mere year later he was a changed man all because of her friendship"

Ellie walked out for a moment to make tea for the woman, remembering how Y/N had said she was only marrying him in London to make Clementine happy.

"And you didn't like Miss Y/L/N?" Alec ask the woman, remembering something he had read in Y/N's diary.

"She is a lovely woman, but if I'm honest I don't understand why my son was with her, but he was and in the end I just want him to come back home, and if that little town teacher would make it happen I was not opposing to their wedding" She said honestly, something Hardy respected but she was still an awful person.

"Mrs. Norbury when was the last time you saw your son?" He asked after a pause. "From the train station surveillance tape we know he never take the train last Tuesday, weren't you suspicious that he didn't showed up at home?" He said and start looking trough the folders on his desk.

"We are not going to look good on your provincial fearful of God eyes detective, I know" She started "But no, I was not worried because we knew he had been seeing another woman for the last six months and she had convinced him to finish his relationship with the teacher is simple, that's how life works, he ask us to cancel the venue like a month ago, and I was under the impression he would break up with her"

"But he didn't, did he change his mind again?" He finally found the picture he was looking for and look at it waiting for her to respond.

"He called me Monday morning, he said he regretted cheating on her and that the wedding was still on, and that this woman, whoever she was might take things badly, but that he was sure it was over"

"You didn't know? Not even her name? I mean she must have been important since she convince him to call off the wedding" He asked and make a sign to Miller to don't interrupt them since she was coming in with the cup of tea.

"She was a fling, I never thought he will cancel the wedding to marry the other woman, she only remind him he was not made to be a husband, and he wanted to be free, he always said she was not important, so I didn't ask"

"Clementine, do you recognize this?" He said showing her the picture of the crushed ring and the engagement picture they took from Y/N's cottage "Is this the same ring as this one?"

"Where did you find that? Jonathan said some stole it when that girl had one of his attacks two weeks ago, is my wedding ring" She said visibly shocked.

"It must have been hard to listen it was lost, were you mad at your son Clementine?" Hardy said pointing at his face.

"Of course I was mad, but not with him, I call her and I might have told her that well that she was not the woman for Jonathan... but at the time I thought they will be breaking up"

"And what happened next? Why didn't they break up?" He asked now looking straight in her eyes.

"I don't know, after that night he was acting weird. He got mad at me for calling her, he started to second guess his choice, he felt guilty about something, at the time I thought he felt guilty for cheating but now I don't know" She said now fully crying.

"Thanks Mrs. Norbury, that will be all, we will be in touch if something new comes out" Hardy said and Miller gave her the tea, she took two sips and composed herself before she could speak again.

"My son was not always a good man detective, but he didn't deserve to be killed, please find who did this" She stood up and walk away.

"Did you knew?" Ellie asked once she was away "Thay they have fight about the ring?"

"It was a hunch" He lied, remembering his promise to Dr. Florence about the diaries. "But it seems that something else happened that nigh"

"I know, otherwise he wouldn't have send the girl to her psychiatrist right after, do you think the side woman might be guilty?" She said taking the picture with the crushed ring.

"Maybe, first we need to found out who that was" He said and then he add more to himself "Why do they always have to be cheating?"

"Well I assume not all men in Broadchurch think like you" She said with a sad smile.

"This one is freaky!!" Brian said entering the room with unannounced and showing them a folder.

"What do you mean?" Hardy said a little surprised by the term he used to describe a murderer

"The blood remember?" He said showing him a picture of the living room after they remove the body. "I believe that was too much blood for a guy that was strangled, and it was"

"Brian, please go to the point before Hardy's head explodes" Ellie said looking at her friend loosing his patience.

"Al right, the blood on the floor had been frozen, it was the victim's blood but who ever did this collect about two pints of his blood and save it to set the crime scene"

"That's..." Alec was trying to find a word to describe the new information.

"Told you, freaky" Brian explained that the prints coming from the beach were in fact Norbury's but nothing much coming from the Cottage. "His house is something else, those guys were into weird stuff" He said and showed them the other folder and, the provocative underwear and sex toys that they recovered from the laundry basket in the victim's bathroom that Miller had overlooked.

Hardy felt uncomfortable looking at those pictures, not sure why, and he suddenly remembered.

"I need you to check those for DNA" He said. And both of them look disconcerted at him. "They might belong to the other woman" He add and Miller immediately understand.

"Other woman, what do you mean, you think these are not his fiance's?" Brian asked confused.

"We have evidence that he was cheating on her, and this woman might know something about his murder" Ellie explained.

"Well in that case, he might had it coming, he was already engaged, this lad must had been crazy to cheat on her" He said and Ellie smile thinking that maybe not all Broadchurch men were idiots.

Brian left with Miller to have lunch and Hardy hurried to lock the door and take out Y/N's diary, he scan the pages until he found what he was looking for.

Monday, April 15, 2019

11:00 pm. I feel like a child telling you this, but after dinner I tried to... oh my god this is stupid. I tried to have sex with Jonathan and once again he rejected me, is not like is super important but it has been like two months now, you are right doc, after he comes back we will have counseling together

He was disgusted to know that Norbury had been cheating on Y/N, so shamelessly on his house, but this might lead them to find whoever killed him. And he was starting to feel wrong about not telling Miller the truth about the diaries, then his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door and he put the papers away quickly before opening the door.

"I'm sorry to interrupt Sir, but we found the victims car on an abandoned parking lot, with his suitcase in it" Harford said with excitement.

"Ok, let's go check it out" Alec took his jacket. "You can drive" He add to Katie disbelief.

"You want me to go? Shouldn't I call detective Miller?" She said unsure about what was happening.

"If you don't want to go, sure call her" Hardy said stopping for a moment.

"No, I want to go, sure let's go" She said and walked next to him to the cold morning.

.

Tag list:

@allonsymexgirl @laciesaito @tf18unipups

[writerssdraws]

GUESSING GAME:

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

Ps. This is part 2

He stares at his reflection in the mirror which was circled with small flickering lights, he was dressed as an olden day gentleman. He had a black suit on with golden

accents as well as a golden tie and cane to top it off. The look personally didn't suit him, but it had to be done. After all he was the main character, along with the female main lead. He shows his teeth in the form of a smile, practicing it for the audience, but it comes out flat and fake. Fidgeting his fingers unconsciously, his nerves start eating him up like a piece of oversweet cake.

"Admiring yourself, Leo? To think you can't get more narcissistic," a girl with jet black hair and dark brown eyes step into the room with her head held high in pride. Her confidence oozes of her like overflowing water in a dam and Leo can't help but feel jealousy towards her unnerving state. He lets out an exaggerated huff, not wanting to deal with her teasing personality before the show starts.

"Oh shush Natalie, you can't say much, you're so full of yourself it's humorous."

"I disagree, lover boy. You see, on the weekends I help elders cross the street and save kitties from trees," she places one hand on her hip as she says it and waves her hand in unorganized swirls.

"One; what does that have to do with your self-love being far from normal and two; only on weekends?"

"Don't judge! My schedule is significantly packed... unlike someone's."

Giving her a glare through the mirror, he starts packing up all his small equipment and placing it into different bags. She returns his glare with a cocky smirk, a playful glint in her eyes.

"So my partner in crime, what do you say we go on a little adventure? We haven't had a good adventure in such a long time," her cocky smirk turns into one of mischievous as the words leave her plump lips. Leo shakes his head in disbelieve, only Natalie would be adventures enough to pull a prank on the most important night of high school.

"Wait, don't tell me..." She widens her eyes and mouth in an attempt to look shocked, "...you're going soft on me?"

There's a long silence that follows before he lets out a humorous laugh. "Natalie, I swear, if this blows up in my face or ruins the night..." Leo's lips form a thin line as his eyebrows questionably raise, showing her that she should not forget the consequences of her actions. If she misbehaves and gets caught, she will be punished and will regret her decisions. How will she be punished depends on the deed that was done...

In a small town like West Armsride that was situated in such a closed off environment, they often lost communication with the rest of the world. No planes, buses or even roads that took them anywhere near cities that were located on maps and no modern electronics to even know wat customs they were missing out on. It was questioning and suspicions to think about the fact that leaving the town was nearly impossible, not that that elders would ever let anyone leave, even if it was possible.

It might seem silly, but the concert is the biggest event in the town due to their odd beliefs. They were obligated to honor the people before them in the form of a concert, dressing up as olden day characters and preform scenes that shaped their little messed up town. The fact that they were honoring the dead wasn't unusual, but the scenes themselves were. Disturbing were they...

All the students would come with centuries-old suits and dresses that were well taken care of and preform like the life of a beloved was at risk. It's quite a site to see. The school would be decorated the same every year. Antiques, jewels, flowers and stunning materials draping from the ceiling, created a masterpiece from history. A well-rehearsed tune would be played by the town's art department and exotic dancers would occupy the stage till the actors steal the spotlight. Waiters and waitresses would serve small amounts of food, mounted on silver platters and carried around the whole night long. The town's residents would also be glammed up for the special night, but no matter what, the students always out shined the rest.

"What do you have in mind?" A flower blooms on her face, searing through the mountains of doubts. She lets out a squeal of joy before grabbing Leo's shirt and dragging him out the room. Yelping in surprise at the sudden movement, Leo goes along with the irregular enthusiasm and long strides of the girl. He doesn't even want to know wat sinful antics was brewing in her head and wat tortures adventures where going to land them a spot

The halls that they walked trough were deserted, no living being in sight, but the loud cheers and squeals informed them of the presence of others. The lights of the halls shone brightly on the ornaments that unapologetically and dirt-free sat upon wooden tables that were pressed against the off-white walls. The beautifully carved wooden desks had about a six meter distance between each other and jumped from the left to the right side in no particular order. Some had vases mounted on top and others had candles with golden candleholders that would swirl and shape different types of patters and animals. Some held plastic fruits inside wooden bowls, jewels that certainly cost a fortune inside glass cases, different cases with colourful advertisement pasted on and paintings that stopped you in your tracks just to memorize the outstanding perfection of brushstrokes. But of course, Leo couldn't stop for one moment to appreciate the pristine and well-thought-out placement of objects on the tables, which seemed to fly by.

As multiple sharp turns are took, Leo lost track of where they exactly were located and where they were heading. "Natalie..." She doesn't answer, instead she increases her speed with a focused expression not leaving her face.

"Natalie..." She ignores Leo again and takes a right turn into an even narrower hall. The further they walked, the darker it got and although it didn't rattle Natalie, it sure rattled Leo like the anxious awaiting of bad news. The amount of tables decorated decreased drastically, now there were none and to Leo it wasn't a good sign at all.

"Weird..."

At the end of the slim hallway stood a broken-down door, the wood was a close to decaying and several large holes could be seen. A thick horizontal wooden plank covered the midsection of the door, acting as a barricade. Leo looked at the overprotected door in wary curiosity and then back at Natalie, she was as cool as a cucumber which eased his worries in the slightest of bits.

Stopping in front of the door with Leo not far behind, Natalie bends down just enough to peek through the nearest hole with inquisitiveness. "Um, Natalie..." He pokes her back with the tip of his finger, waiting for a response. A struggling grunt rolls of her slippery tongue as she straightens her back and says, "Can't see a bloody thing. Well, nothing to do now but simply open the door." I give her a strange look before taping the solid wood. "Hello, how are you going to barge through this thing?" Leo's question was answered as Natalie effortlessly picks up the wooden barrier off the rusted metal hooks and placed it on the floor.

"That could work."

The door is gradually opened by Natalie, a gust of dust falls over them as the door starts to move. They unconsciously dust themselves off before peeking inside with interest. In front of them stood a dark room with no source of light, you could faintly see the outline of a few pillars and loose planks.

"Natalie... Where are we?"

Natalie huffs in annoyance, "It's obviously the place where THE GIRL was hidden... Ya know, the story"

Leo's eyebrows lift, "The false story?"

"For your information, there is quite a lot of facts that confirm the truth of the story. Just because you don't think it's true, doesn't mean it is."

"How inspirational."

Natalie's face twist in one of anger before she turns around stiffly and stomps into the broken-down room. Leo could practically see the steam coming out of her ears. With a amused laugh, he follows her inside the room...

Inside a room that might just end their lives because of curiosity.

After all, curiosity murdered the cats.