#in the very smallest most unobtrusive of whispers...... would love to know if any scenes in particular sparked anything

[nooomagnus]

oh hi! my kinks are your fault!!

(no I can't think of anything better to say, yes I only recently saw your Tumblr handle in one of your AO3 notes and it turns out you're one of the first people I followed on Tumblr 😅 Great work! Keep smuttin' it up!!)

HGDKSJLAFJD;DVJKGJKF

this is so funny genuinely thank you so much for telling me. i'm sorry and you're welcome 😈

[warlock-enthusiast]

Waking up slow

The Wayhaven Chronicles

Adam du Mortain x female Detective (in the future)

Detective Kat Kingston faces a murder, Unit Bravo and her mother.

Chapter 2: a second murder makes Kat doubt her abilities as a Detective

AO3 link

Chapter 1 

-----

I was unaware You were lighting flares Now I'm runing scared How did it come to this?

Kat rested her head against the steering wheel.

Another victim.

Another one, she didn’t protect. Garret Hayes lay dead and cold beneath the harsh lights of Verda’s lab, neck mauled and eyes milky. The sight alone made her stomach turn, though having to deliver the news to his mother took her number one spot of upsetting experiences of this day. Kate had started to cry immediately and she’d got down on her knees to pull her close and comfort her.

Even with the help of Adam’s erie, professional abilities, nothing much had come out of questioning the grieving woman afterward. Kat didn’t blame her, but she couldn’t help but wish for even the smallest trace of their killer.

Garret’s death seemed more personal somehow, closer to home than Janet’s, and Kat hated herself for lacking objectivism.

She tried to breathe and to ignore the memory of Tina’s face when suspicion had become reality. How her warm eyes filled with tears, how she firmly pressed her lips together to suppress a sob.

Kat felt exhaustion grip her whole body.

Where to go with this investigation? A vicious murder ran rampage in her town and left almost no evidence but some blood and saliva and more questions than answers. Motives? Profile? A link between the victims?

Her hands shook, as she fumbled for her keys.

Maybe she wasn’t meant to be a Detective. Maybe all of this had been a pipe dream from the beginning or an attempt to impress her mother. She’d started this career to help and to protect and frankly, Kat currently sucked at both. Good grades and tests held no value, if you couldn’t handle a real situation and failed at solving two murders. Especially, if your body crumbled beneath the first symptoms of stress.

“Detective Kingston?” Adam crouched down to look through her window. “It’s late. You need to go home.”

“Eh.” Kat sat up straight, feeling herself blush with shame. “Yes, of course. I was … I.” She stumbled over her own words and saw his green eyes squint against the streetlights.

“You need someone to take you?” Adam’s face remained passive and unreadable and she heard a note of impatience . Somehow his presence only sparked another bout of self-pity and anger towards her lacking abilities concerning this investigation. Frustration bubbled in her throat, ready to erupt.  

Oh look at you, Mister super Agent, always so sure of everything, always so strict, always lacking empathy, always so handsome. Kat bit the inside of her cheeks. “No, of course not. I can handle this.” Adam raised a brow, which clearly stated that he didn’t believe her statement. Not one bit.

“You must focus, Detective Kingston.”

“I know, Agent du Mortain. Good night!” She started her car and drove home.

Home meant her small and messy apartment, with heaps of books stacking up everywhere, and a whole collection of dirty coffee mugs, adorned with clothing and hastily written scribbles. She should really clean up her place (maybe on the weekend), but Kat’s body just longed for a hot shower and sleep.

She indulged it.

Her dreams seemed to be inconsistent and dark and awoke a feeling of dread in her stomach. Kat’s subconscious replayed her failing at her job, pictures of the murder scenes, and threw in some traumatic experiences of her teenage years.

Morning arrived to soon and yet not soon enough.

Kat hit the snooze button and crawled beneath her blankets. Just five minutes of peace, before everything came crashing down around her. Pure bliss. Hidden in her bed, she felt reminded of her childhood and how she’d waited for her mother to come home night after night, wrapped tightly in a blanket, which still smelled of father.

“Ugh.” With five minutes to go, Kat decided on just picking up clothing from the floor and putting her hair in a small bun at the nape of her neck. No makeup today, just bare exhaustion and pure professionalism.

Kat adjusted her driving mirror and caught a glimpse of her pale reflexion. “This is a new day! Be better, be smarter, Kat.”

She needed to solve this and to grant the families and the victims closure.

Douglas seemed to be missing from the frontdesk, probably late or taking a break, and she sighed in relief, because one less person she had to face today.

“Detective Kingston! Good morning, it’s good to see you.” Nate watched her entering the room, but his smile suddenly froze.

The attention of the whole team focussed on her, gazes drifting from her neck to her midsection.

“Eh, your buttons.” Felix, obviously the most helpful agent, pointed at her blouse.

“Oh, shit.” Some buttons had come undone, or probably hadn’t been closed earlier this morning, and offered a view of her sports-bra and too much skin. Kat quickly closed them, making the mistake of meeting Adam’s eyes, who didn’t meet hers, because he stared at said failed buttons.

Her heartbeat sped up and pressed against her rips. The moment stretched and stretched and Adam’s shoulders looked tense.

No no no. Close your stupid buttons!

Neither time nor place to act like this.

You haven’t dated in a while and are probably hormonal and vulnerable.

With her head as red as a ripe tomato, Kat sat down behind her desk. “We have a murder to solve, not witness my wardrobe malfunctions.”

She reached for a pen, just to hold something in her fingers. “But I’m sorry for… that.”

Felix handed her an Agency folder and patted her shoulder.  “No offense taken, Detective Kingston.”

With that, the tension seemed to leave the room. Nate got up to offer her a bit more space, while Mason excused himself for a cigarette break (finally not vanishing in a cloud of smoke any more). Douglas had rolled the whiteboard into her office earlier and she clipped Janet’s and Garret’s pictures at the top. “Lets visualize our evidence.”

Kat carefully wrote down the basic informations beneath their pictures. Names, ages, occupations, social groups, families, a blank space for the lab report.

“So, what do we have?” With her hands on her hips, she knew that it wasn’t much. The nagging feeling that somehow Unit Bravo withhold information got stronger with the passings minutes. Nate and Adam exchanged glances too often, Felix tried to charm away her questions, and Mason did was he was told without any sign of interest.

Maybe she’d call Rebbeca later today, if she got a hold of her.

They discussed for a few hours, slowly going over the evidence again, moving in circles until early afternoon. Kat dialed up Verda three times, but the hospital still hadn’t examined the blood samples. Cutting funding to a necessity would do this.

Another wasted day. More lives on the line.

Kat rubbed her temples, as she began to feel a headache build between her eyes. Her phone vibrated on her desk and she gladly excused herself.

“Bobby. Not the best time.” She’d hoped for a call from Tina or Verda, but no, it had to be him, a whole nother cause of headache. Kat brought some distance between her office and herself, but still managed to watch Unit Bravo at work. Everytime, Kat left there seemed to be some kind of argument? To be a mice in that room now.  

“Is it ever, angel?”

When Kat didn’t reply, he continued talking. “It’s your last chance to give me a statement.” Kat needed a moment to process his words and shook her head in disbelief. “Are you actually threatening me?” “No, of course not. Just gathering information to form a better picture. The people of Wayhaven deserve that.” “I know, but we follow strict guidelines.”

“You sure?” She heard his smile and her suddenly her body turned cold. Kat rubbed her hand against her hip. “Yes, but we can set up an interview in a week.” “Nah, too late.” Bobby chuckled. “Bye, Kat.” “Bye, Bo..:” But he’d already hung up.

Combat training had always been the hardest discipline for her, but she surely would’ve kicked some punching back this very moment. How did he manage to get under her skin so easily? After all those years, Kat still fumbled for words when talking to him.

“Grow up.” Kat whispered beneath her breath. She held her back a bit straighter and returned to her office.

“I’ll head to Verda now. You guys are better equipped than us. Is there a chance that your forensic experts may take a look at their clothing? Look for traces of DNA, hair?” Mason shook his head. “We’re not CSI.”

“Sadly, I don’t really know what you guys are, because no one ever told me exactly. And for all your expertise, nothing is going forward.” Kat’s cheek reddened again. This time, because anger made her irritable.

“Detective Kingston.” Nate crossed the room to stand at her sight. He smelled clean and fresh and rather unobtrusive. “We’ll take the SUV and look at that warehouse again, if it fits with your plan.” “Of course. Call me, if you find anything.” And Kat left the office and Unit Bravo to their own devices.

She shivered from the cold room and put her jacket tighter around her, while sitting at Verda's side. They examined the blood anomalies again and  the traces of saliva, which they'd found on Garret. Nothing new there, but a welcome distraction from being locked in a small office with Unit Bravo and clashing with their personalities. They'd probably thought her a total failure. Overly emotional and not able to get herself dressed in the morning.

In comparison the pathologist was kind and soft and far more bearable.

Verda and she'd quickly become friends, because both of them loved a good book and shared a knack for the science side of police work. Not to mention that he'd made her feel welcome at the station from day one.

"We'll call the hospital tomorrow. All of this takes too long." Standing up, she corrected her reading glasses.

Verda followed suit and switched his pc off. "We'll do that."

"Don't stay up too late, though. We all need our sleep."

"Back to you. I can see your dark circles."

Kat laughed and waved his concern away with a quick eyeroll.

"Bed, here I come."

Her office was blissfully empty as she returned and the sun had already set, so Kat closed her eyes, enjoyed a deep sigh, and collected her things.

She took her phone and opened a chat with Tina.

you free this evening?

- I might be? depends on what you offer

walk, talk, coffee and muffin?

- shit day?

yes.

- mine too. can’t fathom what happened to Garret

- ... - pick me up at 7.

will do.

Something to look forward to then.