Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII. Square Enix owns it. I do not own anything. Do not sue me.
Author's Note: :O What's this! A surprise! XD Figured you guys wanted a sequel. With more Fang/Light than ever. More Serah/Lightning! And more Drake/Lightning/Family. And with a special twist that MIGHT keep you hooked. I'm hoping so. So here we go!
A very special thanks to my lovely girlfriend. Love you, Sweetheart.
As Long As You're There
Prologue
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Unknown Place
Present Time
0145
'It felt like months - years even, since I last saw them. All of that was about to be taken away from me, just as it almost had before. I can't stop thinking that I'm never gonna see them again. I can't... I just can't. There was no hope. Nobody would find me here. Even I didn't know where I was. All I saw was darkness. All I felt was pain. Was I dying? I started to become lightheaded - the lack of food and water. I needed... to get out... now...'
It was dark. Her head was covered and her eyes were weak. She could hear someone moving behind her. A knife went to her arm; whoever it was pushed harder and made a deep cut on her arm. She groaned in pain. She was numb, but she felt it. She couldn't feel anything else.
It was the only thing she could feel since…
Why was he doing this…? 'Please help me…'
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18 Days Earlier
Alleyway by the Markets
1130 Hours
A little over a year passed since Fang left, and everything seemed normal. Fang had been too busy to come back to Bodhum, working on her new store and getting the store to what it should be. Vanille, Snow, and Serah hung out a lot at Lightning's home. Vanille and Lightning repaired their friendship, knowing the relationship between the ex lovers was now officially neutral.
The only thing that really changed within the year, most notably, was Lightning's overwhelming cases. She and Drake had been working together for over a year and the two have a… 'friendship'. They bantered at crime scenes, especially when there was a dead body (as gross as it may seem) and Drake ended up running to the nearest trash can to unload his stomach.
It was something Lightning had seen multiple times before, and she found it amusing. Doing the job for almost his whole career, and he still vomited during crime scenes. "Push through it, Drake," Lightning called out as she walked towards the dead body and the medical examiner. "Oh, Serah's making spaghetti later, wanna come by for dinner?"
"F-uuuuuuuck yoo-ah, Farron," Drake said as he heaved once again. Lightning chuckled softly and stopped next to the medical examiner. The ME was someone she trusted, and actually talked in 'non-medical' terms. She was simple and to the point.
"What's the C.O.D.?"
"Blunt force trauma to the head. He died approximately three hours ago. Rigor has set in. I'll have to take him to the station to know exactly how the victim died and match possible weapons."
"Alright. We'll check out around the area and look for clues," Lightning started walking towards a dumpster.
"Okay, Farron. I officially hate your…" As Drake looked at the body, he gagged.
"Guts? Yeah we see a lot of that."
"You're an asshole."
"You love it."
Drake and Lightning's relationship had grown over the last year. The ex-SWAT captain actually warmed up to him after Fang's departure. He and his family was part of HER family now. "Sometimes, I wonder."
"Let's just check out the scene and go home. I promised Serah I'd be back by five tonight."
"Roger that, Farron."
"And eat a box of tic-tacs. I can smell you from over here," Lightning said, walking away.
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Medical Examiner's Office
1600 Hours
They went to the Medical Examiner's office, just below the station in the basement. Drake hated that place. It reeked of death and decay. He swore the basement was haunted as well with all the dead bodies that pass through.
"Get over it, Drake. We've had a lot of deaths lately. You're going to be down here quite a bit…" Lightning casually said as she reached the ME's door. The door opened when she slid her keycard in and the two stepped in. "Found anything useful yet?"
"Actually, I have. I'm not going to put a guarantee on this but I think the weapon used was a wooden bat. Either way, he has splinters in his scalp. The shape of the wound on his head is consistent of a bat. His death was not quick though. He died slowly," The ME said as she took her gloves and apron off. She went over to Lightning and handed her the file.
Lightning looked over the file. "I'm going to go on a whim and just say it's a bat. It all kind of makes sense. Drake, did anyone find a bat at the scene?"
"No…" He was staring out the window, trying to concentrate on anything but the dead body or the smell. "Whoever it was probably took it with them…"
"That's a possibility. We figure out who this is yet?" Lightning asked, referring to the body on the table.
"Donovan Donohue. He's 32 years old. He has a wife and child in Palumpolum. He was transferred to Bodhum temporarily. He was supposed to work the mailroom in the precinct…"
"Great. So a cop killer?"
The case sounded too familiar. And she knew why. She worked it for months. Javier Begum. It was too consistent. Too familiar.
"I'm an idiot…" Lightning muttered, handing the ME the files.
"What do you mean?" Drake asked, turning to face Lightning.
"These are Begum's methods. He always killed his victims like this. Both men and women. Same causes of death, too. For men, it's either a bat to the back of the head; for women it's torture then dropped off at the docks," Lightning rubbed her temples. How could she have missed this?
"You don't honestly think it's him, do you? He's in jail, Detective…" The ME said slowly.
"Let's hope it's not him… It's late… I promised my sister dinner. You got it from here, Fisher?"
"Does that mean we can leave?" He asked, hopeful.
"Yes," Lightning rolled her eyes.
"Then yeah, I got it," He hurried out of the room. Lightning turned towards the ME.
"Thank you, Miranda. You really helped out."
"It's my job, Lightning. Stay safe, and take care. Go spend time with your sister… Etro knows you need it."
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Serah and Snow's Apartment
1630 Hours
Lightning stepped in through her sister's apartment and took in a deep breath, thankful to be out of the hot summer air. She kicked her shoes off. She heard her sisters voice coming from the kitchen. "Lightning, is that you?" She walked into the kitchen, and she placed the French bread on the table. She saw her sister cooking with Snow.
"Hey, sis!" Snow chirped, continuing to chop the vegetables.
"I'm not your sister," she grumbled in annoyance.
"Okay, fine. Fair enough…" a slight pause, "hey, Sister in Law!" Snow retorted.
Lightning chuckled, rolling her eyes before washed her hands. "Do you need any help?" She asked. Serah could hear how tired she was.
"Um… no, I think I'm okay, actually. It's almost done. Thirty more minutes, maybe? Vanille will be here soon," Serah answered soon followed by a question. "Why don't you go rest?"
Lightning nodded and yawned. "I think I'll do that… Thank you."
Snow looked behind him. "Go ahead. I'll wake you when dinner is ready, sis."
Lightning sauntered off into the living room and sat down in the recliner. She put the feet up and laid back. She was exhausted. She closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep; however, she couldn't take her mind off of the murder spree that had been plaguing Bodhum as of late. Normally, she'd stay at the station until late with Drake to work on the cases that had been piling up.
The murders were all the same. Blunt force trauma. Murder weapon was a bat, and no evidence of who did it. There were also the cases of torture, then being dropped off at the docks; multiple cuts all over the body, then a sliced throat with a jagged blade. It was always the women who were tortured, with the men attacked in a dark alley, with a bat to the back of the head.
She hadn't thought of it before, but it was Begum's style. It was either a bat to the head or a bullet to the head, execution style.
She needed to spend the night with her family. She wanted to shield them from the pain, and hurt. And that's what she would do.
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An Unknown Place
0030 Hours
"Don't be afraid…" He told the woman. She was dirty. Filthy. Tears ran down her face. "You filthy whore… You think you can cheat on your husband and be forgiven for that? That will never happen."
"Please… let me go…" He slid the knife against the back of her neck, and watched the blood flow slowly. "Please… I'm begging you."
"Don't be afraid. Death is your friend… not your enemy. It's a sweet thing, isn't it?"
"Please!" The woman yelled.
"SHUT UP!" He yelled. 'I'm going to take my time with this one…'
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So there you have it. A sequel. This is going to have a little bit of 'investigative work', If you get what I mean. I was just played FFXIII again and I got some major inspiration. Who do you guys think the man is?
I'm sorry for the year delay, guys. I wasn't in a good way. Suffering from major depression sucks. Thankfully… I found someone who takes all that away. Well, that and a hardcore anti-depressant.
Also, I'm not too happy with this Prologue. They're also the hardest, in my humble opinion. Prologue's are a bitch… Next chapter out next week. Gonna try to do one chapter every other day, so I'm ahead of schedule.
Alright, guys. You know the rules. Review. It'll make me update faster. XD Just kidding. I'm really excited for this sequel. It's more actiony with romance. Same amount of each.
