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I Know, You Know -CHAP.10--DN-

Deviation Actions

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  I sincerely hoped that L wouldn’t mention our little break-in stint to Gibson or the others. Seeing as it hadn’t benefitted us in any way – not to mention caused a fair bit of trouble – I didn’t see a reason for any of them to know about it. Telling L ‘not to tattle’ seemed a little juvenile though, so I didn’t. Who knew if he’d even do as I asked anyway? I just had to hope that he had the sense to keep his mouth shut.

  Unfortunately, that didn’t seem the case, because as soon as I got to the hotel the following day, I found Gibson in a particularly tetchy mood. And something told me it was most likely my fault.

  Sure enough, as soon as he spotted me, he got to his feet and beckoned towards one of the doors. “Gee. A word?”

  Uh oh. I gazed imploringly in Kenichi and Chad’s direction, but they both pointedly turned away. Cowards. They knew I was in trouble and they weren’t going to get involved. L, on the other hand, continued to type away at his laptop with his weird habit of only using his index fingers. Why wasn’t he in trouble too? Had he ratted me out and somehow managed to get himself off the hook?

  I didn’t have chance to feel annoyed about that possibility. I was more concerned about Gibson’s wrath right now. I meekly followed him through the door, which he promptly closed behind me. I would have preferred to have stayed where there were witnesses, but I guess it wasn’t really my choice.

  He turned to face me, arms folded across his chest. “You have some explaining to do.”

  I knew it wouldn’t work, but I figured I’d still give my innocent approach a shot first. “Explaining about what? I don’t know what you...”

  “Don’t treat me like I’m stupid!” Gibson cut me off angrily. “I know you tried to get into Jin Tanaka’s office yesterday.”

  Damn, he was really was in a bad mood. I muttered something about a tattle tale, which Gibson seized immediately.

  “You think someone told on you? Gee, we’ve been keeping tabs on that building ourselves. What do you think we thought when we heard that the fire services were called out yesterday?”

  I stared at him in surprise. “You were monitoring the building? But you said you had to follow protocol and wait for a search warrant.”

  “That’s what we were doing! But it’s not against protocol to keep surveillance on the building from outside as well,” Gibson pointed out.

  I gaped. “Why didn’t you tell me? If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have felt the need to rush in myself!”

  “Did you really think I’d be happy to just wait for a search warrant without doing anything else? I thought you’d trust me to know what I was doing,” said Gibson in an uncharacteristically cool voice.

  “Well, you should have trusted me and told me what you were doing!” I protested.

  “How can I when you go behind my back and ruin our operation by getting the building caught on fire?” Gibson shouted.

  I was flabbergasted. “You think that was my fault? You think I intended that to happen? You of all people should know I avoid fire like the plague! They locked us in and tried to burn us alive!”

  Surprise flitted across Gibson’s face, though it was quickly replaced by suspicion as he registered my slip-up before I did. “Who do you mean by ‘us’?”

  Crap. Now I’d accidentally gotten L into trouble too. “I meant me,” I said unconvincingly, trying to cover up my mistake. “Just me, myself and Gee.”

  “Gee...” said Gibson warningly. “Who else was with you?”

  I sighed. I couldn’t think of any possible lie to give him. “L.”

  Surprise washed over Gibson’s face again. “Ryuzaki?” I forgot that I was the only one who kept calling him L. Gibson suddenly looked thunderous. “I’d have thought he’d have more sense! I’m beginning to think we’d be better off without any detectives on this case!”

  I’d begun to protest at the dig against my sense, but the last part made the words die in my mouth. What was he saying? Had I just gotten both L and myself kicked off the case? “You can’t be serious...”

  “I’m sorry, Gee, but you have to see where I’m coming from. And it’s starting to come across that neither of you realise how dangerous this case is,” said Gibson in what sounded like a final tone.

  No... He couldn’t do this. I hadn’t had any other clients visit my office during the whole time I’d been working this case. I was still in the middle of a dry spell. If I got kicked off this now, then I’d still be left without work. Without anything to occupy my time.

  And how could I possibly tell people that I’d had the opportunity to work alongside the famous L and had then blown it by getting sacked? And that I’d then gotten him kicked out along with me? No. That wasn’t fair.

  “I made L go with me,” I lied, making a quick decision. I didn’t have any chance of saving myself here, but I could at least try and help get L out of this. Dammit, why did I always end up sticking up for him?

  “You... what?” Gibson stared at me in disbelief. I couldn’t blame him – it didn’t exactly sound like something I’d do. I’d never intentionally put a civilian at risk without good reason. I may have not been a cop anymore, but I still had that sense drilled into me.

  “I knew it would be dangerous alone and I could hardly ask any of you guys to go with me. I asked L because he’s not a cop,” I rambled. “He didn’t want to go, but he agreed that it was too dangerous for me to go on my own. I... threatened him and made him promise not to tell you.”

  I could see straightaway that Gibson wasn’t buying it. My poor explanation was sounding less and less like me as I went along with it. “And that’s the truth, is it?” questioned Gibson suspiciously.

  Of course, he didn’t believe me. But I was determined to at least get L out of trouble – the break-in had still been my idea after all. And I had no doubt that I wouldn’t even be alive if it wasn’t for him.

  “He saved my life,” I blurted out. Of all people, cops understood the meaning of being indebted to somebody.

  That took Gibson aback. “Ryuzaki did?”

  I nodded. “You know what I’m like with fire. I had a total panic attack, but L got me out and took me back to my place. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him.” I hesitated, hating what I was about to say. “I’ll understand if you wanna drop me from the case after what I did. I mean, I’ll be upset, but I’ll still get it. Just... Don’t get rid of L. None of this was his fault. And he’s the best chance you have of solving this thing.”

  I realised I was starting to ramble again, so I shut up quickly, feeling awkward. Gibson was staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face. I honestly couldn’t tell if I’d just made things better or worse.

  After what felt like the longest silence of my life, he finally sighed. “You women really know how to guilt trip, don’t you?”

  “Huh? That’s not what I...”

  “I know it’s not,” Gibson cut me off again, though not as harshly this time. “You’re just trying to work things out in your own weird little way. But right now, I think you should just go home.”

  I blanched. This was it – I was off the case. So now I was likely to be out of work for a while. And I probably wouldn’t see L again. It took me a moment to realise that that thought actually hurt. Damn... When had I actually started caring?

  I’m not sure what my expression looked like, but it was obviously showing some level of dismay because Gibson then added, “You’re not off the case. But I’m not saying you’re safe either. Christ, Gee, you nearly got yourself killed? I know you always mean well, but I have to think about what’s best for solving this case. And it’ll be hard to concentrate on that if you’re constantly putting yourself in danger.”

  I nodded, feeling kind of mute. My future with this was still hanging by a thread. “What about L?” I mumbled.

  “I’m going to be speaking to him too,” said Gibson. “But I know that you’re the one who’s the troublemaker here and he no doubt got caught up in your crazy plan somehow.”

  I swear he almost smiled. Maybe there was still hope for me yet... And at least it sounded like L’s job was safe. I felt I’d done the best I could for now.

  “So you want me to go home?” I repeated reluctantly.

  “Just for today. Come back tomorrow as usual and we’ll have another chat,” said Gibson. I could see that he was struggling to be both fair and professional and even though it was me that it was going to affect, I still admired him for it. “I’m not in the best of moods today, so I need some time and space to think things over. Consider this an impromptu day off.”

  I nodded, sensing that the conversation was over. Gibson knew that days off were generally a punishment of sorts for me anyway. “Thanks, Gibs. I’ll see you tomorrow then...”

  I turned round and pushed back through the door into the main room that everyone had been working from. Chad had been eyeing the door, but he turned away quickly when he saw me. Kenichi was still pointedly not looking in my direction.

  L watched uninterestedly as I passed and I felt the colour rise in my cheeks. I felt so on display right now. I headed straight through the room and left. Nobody tried to stop me, which I was grateful for. I didn’t really want to tell any of them that I’d been sent home like a disgraced child.

  I drove straight home. At any other time, I probably would have been annoyed over the fact that I’d only just gotten to the hotel and was already driving back home. But right now, I was just worried. I’d really done it this time. If Gibson did decide to drop me from the case, then it would be entirely my fault. I’d have no one else to blame.

  When I got back home, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I wanted some company to keep me distracted, but it was Monday morning – all of my friends were at work right now. But luckily for me, animals tend to have a sixth sense for when people are upset and Kyo was in my office waiting for me. As soon as I sank into my desk chair, he leapt straight up onto my lap, purring like a helicopter.

  I couldn’t help smiling. “Hey, little monster. Are you here to cheer me up?”

  By way of response, he meowed and rubbed his face against my hand. Aww,,, He sure knew how to melt my heart at times. But I knew that I still needed something to keep my mind occupied, besides Kyo’s attention.

  I picked him up and held him to my shoulder as I got back to my feet. “Right, cat... Just this once I’m going to let you come upstairs with me. And if you try and maim anymore of my wolves, then no kitty treats for a month,” I told him sternly.

  He gave me a bored ‘oh please’ kind of look, which I took to be an understanding, so I carried him upstairs to my apartment. I didn’t really feel like watching anything so I decided to sit and read for a while. I hadn’t done much reading lately and the idea suddenly sounded appealing.

  I set Kyo down on the couch whilst I grabbed an energy drink and then went to consult my bookcase. I wanted something unfamiliar to read, so I turned my attention to the stack of books on the bottom shelf – my rather untidy collection of new, unread books.

  I went for one that Kay had bought me a while ago that I hadn’t gotten round to yet. The blurb told me it was about a sexy succubus called Georgina, which was obviously pretty damn close to my own name. I appreciated the sentiment. I settled down on the couch with the book in one hand and my energy drink in the other. Kyo crept back onto my lap and promptly fell asleep.

  The book entertained me for a while. I liked Georgina – she liked books, she had a cat called Aubrey and she had a white chocolate mocha addiction, which made me think of my own addiction to energy drinks. But soon, the reading only succeeded in irritating me. The more I read, the more I decided that the primary love interest character reminded me too much of L... Just a little more human. I didn’t really want to think about L right now. He’d been confusing me too much since yesterday.

  Sighing, I eventually ended up watching DVDs anyway. After watching several episodes of Psych, my mood had only improved slightly. Urgh. It was going to be a long day.

                                                    *

  I woke up far too early the following morning, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get back to sleep. I was far too nervous. After all, I was going to find out today whether I still had a job or not.

  I was too keyed up to wait around, so I quickly showered, got ready and drove straight up to the hotel. It was too early for anyone to be up yet, but I knew I’d feel better just for being there, rather than hanging around at home. Maybe I could even coax my brain into getting some work done.

  We’d each been given keys to the main room we’d been using for our meetings, so I was able to let myself in. Sure enough, the room was empty when I got there. Oh well. It was definitely a sign that I should try and do something productive. I switched on one of the laptops and loaded up a disc with some of the older interviews on it, including Shou Tanaka’s. It was a bit of a routine I’d fallen into – watching the videos again and again, hoping that I’d miraculously spot something new. A lot of detective work came down to constant repetition.

  I connected my earphones from my iPhone. I didn’t know how well the sound would carry from here to the bedrooms, but I didn’t really want to risk waking anyone up. It was barely five o’clock yet.

  Working eased my mind a little and I quickly fell back into my routine way of thinking. I wasn’t sure how long I was there for – time stopped seeming relevant – but after a while, I felt a light tap on the top of my head and almost jumped a mile in the air, nearly sending the laptop clattering to the floor.

  I twisted round, jerking the earphones out of my ears, to find L standing directly beside me, wearing his trademark deadpan expression. “Don’t do that!” I protested.

  Why did he feel the need to constantly creep up on me? He was so strange – he clearly didn’t like physical contact, but he didn’t seem to have a problem with getting all up in other people’s personal space. He was definitely standing far too close for comfort right now.

  I frowned suddenly, realising what had actually made me jump. “Did you just pat me on the head?”

  “I was trying not to startle you,” said L.

  “Well, you’re not going the right way about it,” I grumbled, leaning away from him. I closed the laptop and set it down on the seat next to me. “What are you doing up so early anyway?”

  “I don’t sleep much,” said L simply, climbing into the chair opposite – the proximity was still too close for my liking. I realised then that there were small sweets scattered across the coffee table next to him. No wonder that had been his seat of choice.

  His comment about sleep didn’t really surprise me either. The dark shadows beneath his eyes confirmed it. “Guess it gives you more time to work on cases,” I said lightly. I wasn’t sure how to sympathise with an insomniac and I didn’t think he’d particularly want me to. He didn’t seem like the type who’d embrace sympathy.

  “Yes, it does. And from the looks of it, the same goes for you too,” commented L.

  “Trust me; it’s not from lack of trying,” I confessed. “I’m more worried about what Gibson’s going to say to me today. The work’s just to keep my mind busy for now.”

  “You’re in the doghouse, aren’t you?” L observed.

  “Oh, I think I’m way past the doghouse after our little breaking and entering scheme,” I said, still trying to keep my tone light. I didn’t want to let on exactly how worried I was.

  “Worse than the doghouse?”

  “Yup. I must be in the pound.”

  L was the last person I’d have expected to be quoting Psych to, but like everyone else, he didn’t seem to get it either. He probably just thought I was being weird, as usual.

  “I think Mr. Gibson’s just upset because he cares about you,” he pointed out.

  Wow, so he could actually distinguish human emotions. “I guess,” I agreed. “He’s kinda making me feel like a child again though.”

  “I should imagine you were an interesting child,” commented L, still completely straight-faced. I couldn’t tell if that was supposed to be a compliment or an insult. I decided to casually disregard both ideas.

  “No kidding,” I snorted. “I blame my family. I never bothered with dolls or girly things as a kid. Instead, I had crystal growing kits, boxes of magic tricks and an ant farm.”

  “Magic tricks,” repeated L slowly. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought he was making fun of me.

  “Hey, magic tricks are cool,” I protested. “Well... They would have been cooler if I could actually pull them off. I was never any good at them.”

  “Hmm. Magic’s very simple really. It’s all just about illusions and slight of hand,” said L, picking up one of the sweets from the table. He spun it deftly between his fingers, then twisted his hand round theatrically and the sweet promptly vanished from sight.

  “For you maybe,” I said sarcastically. I was pretty sure that was an insult if he was telling me that I couldn’t do something which he found simple.

  L ignored my sarcasm and leant towards me on his chair. I froze, unable to move away. When had he suddenly gotten so comfortable around me? He reached out and in one quick movement he’d pretended to pull the sweet out from behind my ear. I had to admit he was good at it – I hadn’t even heard the rustle from the wrapper.

  I smiled. “Show-off.”

  Unexpectedly, L actually smiled back. “I think you may be jealous.”

  I stared at him in amazement. Was he teasing me? I’d gotten so used to him being completely monotonous all the time that these ghosts of emotions I kept catching from him were throwing me completely off guard. Not to mention his smile was actually pretty damn cute. It was a shame I didn’t see it more often.

  “You should smile more. It’s nice.” The words were out of my mouth before I’d even realised I was saying them aloud. I don’t know which of us was more surprised by it.

  L hesitated before answering. “I smile when I have reason to.”

  “Like when?” I asked curiously.

  “Like when a case is going my way. Or when I hear of criminals being put to the justice they deserve...” L paused again, then a hint of amusement permeated his voice. “I have to admit, irritating you sometimes has its perks.”

  “Oh, thanks,” I said, my tone laced with sarcasm again. I didn’t want to admit that I was actually a little pleased that I could bring out a good emotion in him – even if it was at my expense.

  I don’t know if becoming aware of his confession made him uncomfortable, but either way, L suddenly backtracked the conversation. “Are you really in a lot of trouble with Mr. Gibson?”

  I wasn’t sure whether to tell him or not, but I decided he’d probably find out anyway, especially if my next talk with Gibson didn’t work out in my favour. “I might be taken off the case.”

  L’s face reverted back to his usual deadpan expression, but I saw a flicker of confusion in his eyes. “Mr. Gibson spoke to me also yesterday, but I didn’t get the impression that I was in much trouble.”

  “Yeah, but you don’t have as many black marks on your record as I do,” I said, still trying to keep the mood light. I didn’t want it to be so obvious why I was in trouble and he wasn’t. “Gibs knows I’m probably likely to pull crap like this again.”

  I don’t know if L believed my answer, but he fell silent again, thoughtfully turning the sweet over between his fingers. Then, without saying anything, he held it out to me.

  “Err, thanks,” I said, hesitantly taking it. I wasn’t a big fan of hard boiled sweets, but I wasn’t going to knock the importance of sharing.

  L didn’t say anything else and I started to fear another uncomfortable silence. Fortunately – or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at the situation – I was saved by the appearance of Gibson in the doorway.

  “Oh, hey,” I greeted, feeling my heart leap into my throat. He looked harried. This was it... I was going to get sacked.

  “I’m sorry, Gee, I’m gonna have to postpone our talk,” Gibson replied quickly, grabbing his coat from the back of one of the chairs. “I just got a call from Shirley – I’ve gotta run back to the office for a bit.”

  “Is everything okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah, but the whole catalogue system’s gone down.” Gibson sighed. “It’s happened before. And if it’s anything like last time, I’ll be there all day trying to sort it.” He half pulled his coat on. “Call me if you need me or if you find anything new. We may have to have our talk tomorrow if I don’t finish early.”

  “Sure thing,” I said, though I felt agonised. I didn’t think I could stand another day of not knowing which way my job was going to fall.

  Gibson left straight away, leaving me with L, whose attention was now on the sweets again. Sighing, I pulled the laptop onto my lap and put my earphones back in. I needed work to keep my mind occupied for now, otherwise I’d go crazy.

  The day really dragged. L didn’t say much more to me and Kenichi and Chad weren’t very chatty either. I guessed they knew my situation was a little on the edge. I wanted some better company. Even Kyo would give me more comfort right now. Plus I was craving energy drinks. I was going to have to start bringing some with me.

  It had barely gotten to two o’clock when I eventually got to my feet. My brain felt far too messed up. I needed a drink and I needed to get out. “I’m gonna go and work from home,” I told the others abruptly. “I might come back up if Gibson finishes early.”

  I drove back with worry still heavy in my stomach. I’d never been very good at waiting around. Having to wait another day to find out if I was still on the case or not really wasn’t going to be good for my mental state.

  But when I got close to my office, I could see immediately that something had happened. The glass in the door had been completely smashed in. Somebody had broken into my office!

  I pulled over and parked quite untidily, clumsily locking the car behind me before rushing over to the broken door. As soon as I reached the office, I knew it was more than somebody just breaking in... Dread hit me all at once. The whole room had been ripped apart. And the walls... The walls...

  Trembling, I slipped in through the hole in the door to get a closer look. The walls were covered in messy smears of what looked horribly like blood. Where had so much blood come from and why was it all over my walls?

  As I got closer, I could see clumps of fibres in the blood. Ginger fur.

  It was one of those moments where your eyes are drawn to something you know will be horrible, like the scene of a road accident. I felt my gaze slide towards the corner, towards the makeshift bed made out of my old jeans...

  Beside it lay the mangled, bloody body of my poor cat.

  I stumbled back out through the broken door pane, half crashing into it and cutting my arm on the remaining fragments of glass sticking out of the frame. I didn’t even feel it. I dropped to my knees at the roadside and threw up the contents of my stomach into the gutter.

  I shivered uncontrollably, tears streaming down my face. Somebody had targeted me. Burglars wouldn’t have left such a horrific scene behind. Burglars wouldn’t have been so brutal. They wouldn’t have mauled my poor defenceless cat.

  I choked on a sob. He wasn’t even my cat. I didn’t know who he really belonged to. But whoever it was would wonder why he’d never come back home. They’d probably think he’d been hit by a car. They’d never imagine that he could have been murdered by some psychopath...

  I don’t know how long I stayed kneeling on the cold floor before somebody came along, but suddenly I could hear voices and then there was a hand on my shoulder. I couldn’t make out any of their words – it was like listening to somebody from the end of a tunnel. Everything sounded distorted.

  The hand disappeared and then something else was being held in front of my face. It took me a while to realise that it was a cell phone. I stared at it before numbly taking it from the unknown hand. I held it to my ear, but I didn’t know what to say – all I could do was listen.

  So, my god, was I glad to hear a familiar voice.

  “Gee? Gee, is that you? Can you hear me?”

  “Gibs...” My voice cracked on that one word.

  Gibson’s voice came through sharper, more urgent. “Gee, what happened? Tell me where you are.”

  “My office... Blood... They know...” I stuttered, unable to string a coherent sentence together through my tears.

  “Gee, listen to me,” ordered Gibson. “Stay right there and don’t move – I’m coming to get you. Stay with those people. You must not be left on your own.”

  He hung up and I was left still stuttering at the phone. Somebody gently took it from me and then crouched down in front of me. It was a stocky, middle-aged man who I didn’t recognise.

  “Do you need a hand up?” he asked kindly.

  I managed a nod and the man proceeded to taking my arms and pulling me to my feet. I staggered, almost drunkenly, and somebody helped to steady me on my other side. I turned to find a tall, formally-dressed woman of indeterminate age with very prominent cheekbones. I didn’t know her either, but she was watching me with what seemed to be genuine concern.

  “You called Gibs,” I managed to say. Everything was starting to come into clearer focus.

  “We found you by the road,” the woman told me. Her words didn’t sound like they were echoing now. “We rang the police and told them where we found you. The receptionist seemed to recognise your address and she put us through to the superintendent. He asked to talk to you.”

  I nodded again, feeling numb. “He said he’s coming here.”

  “That’s good. We’ll wait with you until he gets here. You shouldn’t be left alone,” said the man firmly.

  The woman said something else, but I zoned out again, staring straight ahead but not really seeing anything. A small part of my brain wondered if I’d gone into shock. I didn’t know. It was hard to think, hard to concentrate...

  “Gee!”

  I had no idea how much time had passed, but it had obviously been more than I’d thought because Gibson was suddenly there, hurrying towards me. I broke away from the nice couple and threw myself at him, burying my face in his shirt as I felt the tears start to fall again. Or maybe they hadn’t really stopped.

  “God, Gee, what on earth happened?” he exclaimed, gingerly putting his arms around me. He then fell silent, obviously seeing into my office. I shut my eyes tight, trying to block all the thoughts from my head.

  Time seemed to pass in another irregular burst as I clung to Gibson and then Kenichi was inexplicably here with us too. Gibson was talking to him, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying. My hearing seemed to be working on and off. I tried to clumsily dry my eyes. It was silly, but I didn’t want to cry in front of Kenichi. I always tried so hard to fit in with the big boys... I could let it slide with Gibson – we’d already had to be there for each other before.

  Kenichi managed to pull me away from Gibson. “It’s okay, Gee, you’re coming with me,” I heard him say.

  I still turned back to Gibson. What about him? Was he going to try and fix Kyo? “You need to go with Kenichi, Gee. He’s taking you back to the hotel,” said Gibson gently. “I’ll sort things out here; don’t worry.”

  I nodded – that seemed to be all I could really manage – and let Kenichi lead me over to his car. Once we were on the move, my head really started to clear. I suddenly became aware of everything and the pain of it squeezed my heart tight. I still couldn’t believe it. How could anyone be so cruel? So inhuman?

  The drive back to the hotel seemed agonisingly slow. I had nothing to say throughout the whole ride and Kenichi didn’t say anything either. I was grateful – he knew me well enough to know that being kind to me while I was upset would only result in making me want to cry even more.

  When we eventually got to the hotel, I mutely followed him inside. Instead of taking me through to the main room we’d all been working in, he led me through to a smaller room and sat me down in the kitchen area. It smelt quite strongly of coffee, which made me suspect it was Gibson’s room.

  There was a small television on the breakfast bar. Kenichi turned it on for me. “Do you want me to stay with you or do you want me to go?”

  I think he was fighting to keep his tone neutral, but I could hear the hint of concern in it. That alone made the tears prick at my eyelids again. I shook my head furiously and managed to mumble something about being on my own.

  Thankfully, he understood. He gave my shoulder a brief squeeze before leaving the room. Once I was on my own, I tried to focus on the television screen, not wanting my thoughts to overwhelm me. But I couldn’t tell what I was supposedly watching. It could have been a soap or it could have been a documentary for all I knew.

  I felt like I was staring at the screen for hours, even though it never really came into focus, and when the door opened, it made me jump. To my surprise, it was L. But when I noted the empty cup in his hand, I realised that this was probably his room. It looked like Gibson wasn’t the only coffee fiend here.

  He looked even more awkward than usual. “Sorry. I can come back.”

  “No, it’s okay,” I said quietly. I didn’t want to stop him from getting his sugar fix.

  He looked unsure, but he left the door open and headed over to the breakfast bar regardless. I watched him as he cleaned out his cup and prepared the coffee. He was a lot easier to watch than whatever was on the television right now. But I turned away as soon as he looked up. It would probably make him even more uncomfortable if he knew I was watching him.

  “What happened to your arm?”

  I looked round at L to see that he was now studying me. I then looked down at my arm and was surprised to see the blood. It took me a while to remember how it had even happened. “Oh... It was glass.”

  “You should get it cleaned up,” said L, his voice monotonous as ever.

  I shook my head. “It’s fine.” The glass had drawn several thin scratches across my arm, but they weren’t deep and the blood had already dried into a crusty layer. I couldn’t have cared less, but the blood reminded me of the scene I’d stumbled onto at my office and it made my heart ache. I felt tears threaten my eyes again.

  “Are you sure? Here...” L stepped over towards me, holding out a damp cloth.

  I quickly jumped up out of my seat, ready to back away from him. “No, I’m okay,” I insisted, my voice wavering. I turned away, not wanting him to see my eyes welling up. Why didn’t he understand the rule of not being nice to me when I was upset?

  L hesitated, then put the cloth back on the breakfast bar behind him. “Okay. Would you like some coffee?”

  I shook my head more furiously, still not looking at him. I blinked frantically in an attempt to fight back the tears. “I don’t drink coffee.” My voice sounded unnaturally high, even to me.

  Of course, L didn’t understand and remained idiotically persistent. “How about some hot chocolate?”

  For some reason, his stupid question was the last straw. “No, thank you!” I wailed, the tears finally winning. I buried my face in my hands, trying as hard as I could not to sob.

  After a few seconds, I heard the door close as L made his quick escape. I didn’t care. I hated people seeing me cry. I’d already filled my quota for that today. But it meant that, once again, I was alone with my thoughts, and now that I was already crying, I couldn’t seem to stop.

  But then I felt something very light against my shoulder. Even though I knew I looked a mess, I lowered my hands. L was stood beside me. He hadn’t left the room at all – he’d simply closed the door to give me more privacy. His usual poker face was in place, but he patted my shoulder again. To my astonishment, I realised that he was actually trying to comfort me.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  But of course, his attempts to be nice only made it worse and, against my better judgement, I flung my arms around him and sobbed even harder. He stiffened, but his hand remained lightly on my shoulder and he very gingerly patted my back with his other hand.

  “I take it you don’t want tea either?”
Summary: Gee Shidou, private eye, is working on her biggest case yet. Is she happy to be working alongside the world's greatest detective when it's really getting her competitive streak going? Or can she learn how to bend and embrace his deceptions? L/OC

Chapter 10: In The Doghouse

Quickest I've ever updated, woohoooo! But amg please don't kill me for this chapter T__T I felt soooo mean! I know I was definitely crossing a line here but it just had to be done :(

Oh and I'm sorry if you come across any mistakes. I wanted to upload this tonight because I wasn't sure when I'd next get the chance to because I'm super busy the next few days, but my beta reader hasn't had chance to go through this chapter yet. If we find any they're be corrected asap :)

And amg, the Georgina Kincaid books? ffffff I started reading the first one last week and I'm hooked!! Georgina genuinely reminds me of a crazy mix between Gee and my other OC Ritchie. Oh and I totally want to marry Seth :heart:

Thanks again for all your continued support on this! :love: You actually make me feel like a real writer! x3

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I Know, You Know -CHAP.9--DN-
  You’d have thought that finding our prime suspect dead would have put us at another dead end. Slowed us down. Totally de-motivated us. But in fact, it was the exact opposite. I couldn’t remember us ever being so active.
  L’s paranoia had obviously gotten the best of him and our new headquarters was now at the hotel he’d been staying at while he was in Kyoto. Since he’d now been present at two crime scenes, he’d begun to worry about the possibility of people recognising him in public. Apparently, my office was now in a ‘too urban’ area and he couldn’t risk raising any suspicions. Of course, I’d just rolled my eyes at every word. My office hadn’t moved anywhere. It wasn’t my fault he’d suddenly become so uptight.
  So our meetings now took place at this high-class hotel that was right on the other side of town. It was a pain in the ass. Since it was so far to keep trekking back and forth, Gibs
            I Know, You Know -CHAP.11--DN-
  After the incident at my office, we all knew it was no longer safe there. Nobody was in any doubt that it had something to do with the case, so I’d had to move into one of the rooms at the hotel. With Chad as my escort, I’d gone back to my apartment a few days later to pick up everything I’d need.
  The forensics team had already cleaned up the office, which I was grateful for. I didn’t need any lingering reminders of what had happened – the horrific images still in my head already had that job covered.
  Luckily, whoever had broken into my office hadn’t been able to get into my apartment upstairs. The damage had been limited to the ground floor. They hadn’t even gotten into my desk, so my laptop that I kept locked inside was still intact.
  I hadn’t really known how long I’d have to stay at the hotel for – and how much stuff I’d need – so I’d just grabbed the suitcase that I always used



12.

Gee Shidou and all other respective characters © punkette180
L. Lawliet © Takeshi Obata & Tsugumi Ohba
Cover Image © nicetsukichi
© 2012 - 2024 punkette180
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samcatthorne's avatar
WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU KILL OFF KYO?!?!? WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!? TTOTT *bawling into fictional L plushie*