#why not get them started with some incriminating shit with a skeleton crew… also with the writers strike implications this could also add up

[chirpsythismorning]

Clown makeup fully applied, if hypothetically byler was endgame and there are a few really incriminating scenes of Mike and Will alone in s5 to be had, leading up to that revelation… the skeleton crew filming with Noah and Finn alone for the first couple weeks of filming does sound like something they could do… Otherwise, if they filmed those scenes sporadically all throughout s5 production, random PA’s leaking it would be likely (end of s4 cabin scene leak teas). However, doing a few of their most incriminating scenes alone before most of the casual production are even there: no leaks…

[detectivedreameater]

Caught With Your Hands In The Cookie Jar||Jane and Marley

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @jane-the-zombie and detectivedreameater SUMMARY: Marley goes to dispose of the last of the evidence keeping Erin in jail. Only problem is that Jane wanted to see the evidence, too.

The only thing that mattered now was making sure there was nothing the police could use against Erin. Marley had already cleared out the funeral home, with some effort, and now all she needed to do was get rid of whatever evidence had been brought in in the first place. It was a skeleton crew for the night, but it didn’t matter who was here, anyway-- Marley was invisible to anyone there. She hurried quickly to the back, to the evidence room, slipping inside easily, flitting around the boxes. The organization simple was easy, but before she turned herself visible again, she glanced up at the video camera in the corner. It would be troublesome if someone saw her on that, but she already had that covered. Turning invisible had its perks, after all, and once the camera panned to the right, it would give her enough room to grab what she needed before turning invisible again. She waited, poised-- and as soon as it did, she turned herself visible and tangible again and dug into the box labeled as the new evidence. A journal, and the incriminating photographs, as well as the anonymous letter. Marley stuffed it all quickly into her jacket, turned to leave-- and found herself staring straight at Jane. Shit.

The journal, while written in code, had given Jane useful information not only on Nichols herself but on other potential problem locations. Or, well, what looked like problem locations. Jane was honestly exhausted. The human organ trafficker coupled with the werewolf organ trafficking, and trying to dance around the new Fed in town to cover up the Special Agent turned demon Squid’s murder was taking it’s toll on her. Daniel had sent her a text message - asking to ‘talk’ again. He felt bad after their argument. So did Jane, but she didn’t want to speak to him right now or possibly ever again Right now, she was ready to put in more overtime to pull things from Nichols’ journal, and just maybe, she would head up to the deserted roads in the Outskirts and speed up and down them on her bike as the sun rose. Mmm, sounded good to her. Except then she caught Marley stealing evidence. Clearly stealing evidence. Jane stopped and stared at Marley, her mouth opening. Her brain went static for just a second, and she realized that she was supposed to be upset. Jane folded her arms over her chest, eyeing her. “Is this where you tell me this isn’t what it looks like?” Jane asked warily. “What the Hell, Marley?”

It would’ve been so easy for Marley to simply disappear in that moment. Or even just turn intangible and walk straight through Jane and not even give her the chance to chase after her or ask her questions. But that wouldn’t be fair to Jane. After everything Marley had asked of her, doing that felt like a betrayal. Something she couldn’t do. And now, it was a decision between two people who had somehow grown important to Marley-- Jane or Erin. But..maybe it didn’t have to be. Wasn’t this why she’d pulled Jane into her world? Their world? Surely she would understand. Marley at least had to try. “You don’t understand,” was what she said, hating how bad it sounded, how accusatory, “this whole thing was staged. Erin isn’t the bad guy here. She’s being framed.” Although framed wasn’t quite the word, considering they were setting her up for crimes she had committed. It was just that things ran deeper than that. One evil defeating another, how did you explain that?

You don’t understand. How many times had criminals told her that before she slapped cuffs on their wrists as they cried frame job? Jane knew there were too many to count. But Jane also knew that things weren’t as they seemed, they never were. Not anymore. A scar wasn’t just a scar, and things beyond anything she could imagine existed. Jane hesitated, glancing up at the camera she knew was in the corner. Marley would have a plan for that, no doubt. Jane tiredly looked at Marley. “Alright,” Jane says. “Help me understand, then?” She glanced over her shoulder then, just to make sure no one was around to surprise them. “We should move.”

Marley could see the weariness on Jane’s face, in her eyes, and she felt another pang of guilt. A lot of that had been happening lately and she hated it. She’d never even thought herself capable of guilt until recently. Following her gaze, Marley nodded. “Meet me in the breakroom,” she said, before turning invisible again and slipping through the door without opening it. She couldn’t leave any evidence behind that she was ever there, including fingerprints. It was late enough tonight that the station was a skeleton crew and the breakroom was empty when Marley rematerialized. She waited in the corner for Jane. “Shut the door,” she said when Jane came in. “You can’t tell anyone about this. Fuck, just...telling you puts you in danger, too. But you have to trust me, okay?” She gave her a stern look. “Do you trust me?”

And there she went, turning invisible. Jane hesitated, if only because for a moment she was worried Marley would just bolt. Shaking her head, she headed out of the evidence lock up herself, striding confidently to the break room as if nothing was wrong. If anyone could remain cool as a cucumber under pressure, it was her. Tiredly, she raised a hand in greeting to Marley before shutting the door completely. “I assumed that this wasn’t something to let Sarge in on,” Jane replied, a frown on her face. With a slight sigh, Jane walked over and started to make a cup of coffee, before starting to hunt for food. This was going to be a something and Jane wasn’t certain she wanted to hear any of it under an empty stomach. She paused as she grabbed one of those prepackaged muffins, meeting Marley’s stern look with her own. “I wouldn’t be here searching for the chocolate chip muffins I hid from Keen if I didn’t, Marley. You know that.” 

Marley wondered if Jane was going to hate her after this, but the more important part of the thought was that Marley was worried Jane was going to hate her after this. Jane was digging around for food and making coffee and Marley felt a zip of annoyance before pushing it down. “Erin was set up,” she said simply, even though there was much more to it than that. “By someone much worse than anything else we’ve seen. It’s more complicated than just one bad person, Jane. But she’s the only one that can help take this guy down, and her being in jail is just going to make things worse.” She wasn’t sure her explanation made sense yet, or if she would be able to share the whole thing before Jane decided to turn her in, too. “This guy we’re going after-- he’s big and bad and responsible for a lot of the death in this town.” 

“Set up as in she’s not selling organs on the black market or set up as in the person she’s working for screwed her over?” Jane asked, though she supposed it didn’t make much of a difference. Finding the muffin she was looking for, she leaned against the counter considering. It wasn’t all that different than things she’d dealt with back in Portland. “Yes yes, using the little fish to nab the bigger fish, I am familiar with the concept.” She remembered all too well. Jane pressed her lips together. Partners were supposed to trust each other and have each other’s back, she certainly was doing a bang up job. Got one shot, and now… Well, Jane supposed there was a choice to be made. She pulled a piece off her muffin and ate it contemplating. There were channels they were supposed to go through for something like this, immunity or otherwise deals made with the District Attorney's Office in exchange for talking (which Erin had absolutely refused to do, not that Jane could blame her), it certainly didn’t include tampering and destroying evidence. … Unless it did, she reminded herself. Jane eyed Marley carefully just as the coffee maker dinged. “This big fish isn’t normal, I’m assuming.” 

“Boss screwed her over. She’s trying to get out of the business and when he found out, well--” Marley shrugged, gesturing between the two of them. She watched Jane’s face close for a moment, wishing she could read her as easily as she could everyone else. There was clearly something else on her mind, something bothering her, but Marley didn’t have the capacity to pry in on it right now. There was a short pang of guilt at the thought-- they were partners, after all. Marley was supposed to be invested in Jane’s well-being. They had a synergy that Marley hadn’t felt with someone else in a long time, and here she was, stealing evidence behind her back and working through a case without her. “Not even close. We don’t know what he is yet, but he’s something powerful and dangerous. Even to people like me.” And there wasn’t much that could touch a mara if they didn’t know enough. “You know I’d do this right if I could, but there’s too much of our world involved in this. I’m not going to be responsible for normal officers getting caught up in this. And Erin--” she paused, stopped, bit her lip, “Erin’s my friend. Of the two, she’s the lesser evil. And she doesn’t deserve to go to jail for a mistake her dad made.”

Well, Marley wasn’t the only one with a criminal friend. Jane grimaced as her mind wandered again to Felix. Something she would never, ever admit to him was that she couldn’t picture actually ever arresting him or getting real charges to stick to the slippery, shadowy bastard. All those times she dragged his sorry ass to the precinct in Portland, the tackling, the dress burning, the everything… The whole thing was a game. A game of cat, mouse, and handcuffs. She would be a hypocrite if she were to judge Marley for who she had as friends. And Jane trusted Marley, and if Erin was truly the lesser evil here in this supernatural world… Daniel had been right, there was something wrong with this town. People like whoever the hell Roy Chambers was, black market organ dealers, exploding mimes...  “Alright,” Jane conceded, pulling another piece off her muffin. “Do what you need to do. I’ll run interference with Sarge - I doubt he’ll be pleased.” He had been so… Hurt by Erin’s actions, it was hard to watch. “... You’re dealing with the fall back from Kavanagh, though,” Jane warned. 

The moments while Jane contemplated Marley’s words felt like they dragged on forever. Since when had Marley cared about someone liking her? Or having hurt someone’s trust? She could feel it creeping into her bones, up her fingers, into her arms. There was a buzzing building inside of her as she looked at Jane and wondered if this was going to be the end. She had to believe that Jane would trust her, but she couldn’t see any reason for why she would or should. But the answer came, and Marley let out a long breath. “Thank you,” she said, letting her shoulders droop. She didn’t quite move yet, but she shifted in her spot, leaned back against the desk, “yeah, that-- that’s fair. I can deal with Kavanagh. And Sarge will be--” be what? God, if he knew what they were doing, he’d fire them in an instant. He could never understand. But after what had happened at that house, Marley could never put him in that position again. She looked at Jane evenly. “He’ll get over it. Once this is all over, though, I owe you big time, okay?” 

Just like that it was over. The deal was sorted out, they had plans of action… Jane couldn’t stop thinking about what was in that journal though. She supposed her notes would have to be destroyed, the locations of warehouses and other illicit activity… Anything that could connect back to Nichols and keep her detained. She finished off her muffin and went to pour herself a cup of coffee. “I hope you're right about Sarge,” Jane said, finally glancing at Marley. “The only thing you owe me is to just tell me the next time something like this happens. Don’t wait to tell me until I catch you, red handed, in the evidence room.”