This will be a 2 or 3 shot filled with drama, fluff and suspense!
Legal: I own nothing but the idea.
All the many important things to know before reading:
*This is a partially A/U future fic
*Clare is 24, Owen and Fitz are 25, Spinner and Lucas are 29 and Emma is 27
*Spinner and Emma are married with a four year old son
*Spinner, Lucas, Fitz and Owen are all cops with the Ontario Provincial Police
*Clare's parents no longer live in Toronto
*Clare did date Eli on and off throughout high school but never had sex with Drew and was never pregnant
*Clare did have cancer and has been in remission and was dating Eli at the time
*Clare did not have a co-op in high school and never interned with Asher
*Adam did not die he lives in Ottawa
I think that does it the rest is explained in the story
Ch. 1 I'm Left with Only Tears
(SPINNER)
"That was a great dinner I love that restaurant," Emma smiles linking her arm with mine as we leave the restaurant.
"Yeah we should eat there more often although it will probably be another three months before we get another date night," I laugh as we begin walking back to the car.
"Maybe we can convince my parents to watch Nikolas again next week," she says.
It's our first date night in months between our four year old and the crazy hours with our jobs. It's also very busy downtown and the only parking I could find is across from a strip club. I unlock the car and Emma gets in but something catches my eye. A woman under the streetlights in the alley behind the club, she seems familiar somehow but I can't place her. I squint my eyes and look at her, trying to place her, searching my memory for her face. Emma beeps the horn so I'll get in the car and the woman looks right at me.
"Clare?" I whisper when I see her face in the light.
"Spin stop looking at the pictures of strippers on the building and get in the car," Emma tells me as the woman goes back inside.
I get in and start driving us to Emma's parents I don't tell her about Clare because I'm honestly not sure that it was Clare. We get to Spike and Snake's house and Nik is still awake and playing with Jack. We thank them for babysitting and get Nik in the car and he falls asleep on the drive home. I put Nik to bed when we get home and then join Emma in bed. She has to take Nik to daycare before she goes to work at nine and my shift starts at eight. I fall asleep without much trouble but I dream about Clare all night. I get up and get my uniform on, grabbing all my stuff.
"Have a good day Buddy," I say to Nik tousling his hair as he eats his cereal.
"Bye Daddy."
"I'll see you tonight," I tell Emma stealing her lips for a kiss before I go.
"Aren't you going to eat breakfast?"
"No time I need to get to work," I reply grabbing my coat and leaving the house.
I drive to the station and go to my desk, I'm early for my shift but I want to know if that was Clare. I run a background check on her but I don't find all that much. She was living in London and about three months ago she moved back to Toronto. I don't see any employment or a current driver's license but I find an address it's in a really bad part of town though. Knowing that she's recently back in town and knowing that clubs like the one I'm sure I saw her at last night don't keep employment records I decide to go there tonight.
"You're here early," Lucas comments coming in and sitting at his desk across from mine.
"Had something to do; are the junior partners here yet?" I question nodding to the empty desks on the other side of his and the other side of mine.
"In the locker room they'll be out soon," he replies.
Owen and Fitz come out and sit at their desks a moment later. I know that they would know Clare since they went to DeGrassi at the same time she did but I don't want to say anything until I know it's Clare. After some paperwork from other cases Owen and I go on patrol. As soon as my shift is over I call Emma and tell her I need to finish some paperwork, I hate lying to her but if I tell her I think I saw Clare at a strip club and I'm going to find out she'll want to come.
I'm out of uniform now so the bouncer at the door lets me in as soon as I pay the fee. I find a table near the stage but not too close and order a beer when the waitress comes. I watch one stripper after another come on stage but don't see Clare and I'm starting to think I was imaging things. I set down my beer and get up to leave as another dancer is announced under the name of Bubbles. I look over my shoulder and stop dead in my tracks, it's Clare! I haven't seen her in years but I know it's her; she looks just the same just a little older than when I last saw her. I watch her dance a little but I'm watching the men in here drooling over her more than I'm watching Clare. When she gets off stage I go to the door marked Dancers Only.
"Whoa Buddy you can't go in there can't you read dancers only," the bouncer says tapping the sign on the door.
Just then another dancer comes out of the door and I hear Clare saying she's going out for some air. I nod to the bouncer and quickly exiting the club. Walking quickly around the corner I see Clare standing with her back to the street and wearing a coat over her costume.
"What the hell are you doing working in a place like this?!"
Clare jumps and spins around, she looks surprised to see me and then guilty.
"I needed a job," is all she says.
"You sure as hell didn't need a job here," I reply.
"I needed a job and this was all I could find."
"This i…" I begin when the door opens and a bouncer peeks out.
"You have a private dance," he tells Clare.
"I'll be right in," she tells him.
"Like hell you are," I growl and the bouncer opens the door a little more to look at me.
"Who the fuck are you?"
"I'm the cop who's quitting for her," I inform him.
"She can't just quit."
"I can have a hundred cops down here in five minutes looking over every inch of this club unless you go in and tell your boss that she's done."
The bouncer just sort of looks at me before he closes the door to go back inside, when the door closes I take Clare's hand and start walking back to my car.
"Spinner what are you doing? I need a job and where are we going?"
"I have to get home and I'm taking you somewhere I know you'll be safe and won't run until we can talk. If you needed a job so bad that you were working in a strip club something bad must have happened," I comment opening the passenger door of my car for her.
"My apartment is just a couple blocks away," she says as I begin driving.
"Yeah I know where your apartment is and I don't think it's safe."
"How do you know where I live?"
"After I thought I saw you last night I did a background check."
She huffs a little but doesn't say anything and we spend the rest of the short drive in silence. When I park outside of the row house she looks at me. I get out of the car and open her door taking her by the arm and up to the front door ringing the bell.
"Hey Spin what's…" Owen begins and then notices who I'm with, "Clare!"
"What?" Fitz asks and then comes to the door opening it and looking at her.
"Hey she needs a place to stay tonight can she stay here? I'd take her to my place but we don't really have any room for her and I need to get home and tell Emma everything," I inform them quickly.
"Yeah of course she can stay the night here," Fitz says and Owen nods opening the door so she can come in.
"Bring her to the station tomorrow," I tell them and look at Clare. "If you left anything at the club write it down I'll send an officer for it tomorrow."
She nods and walks into the house; I wave to them and drive home. Nik is asleep when I get home but Emma is awake and reading in bed.
"That must have been a lot of paperwork," Emma comments.
"You remember Darcy's little sister?"
"Yeah a little," she nods.
"I found her working at a strip club, something's wrong Em I feel it in my gut."
(FITZ)
Owen and I stand there staring at Clare for a moment. Not sure what's on Owen's mind but I'm shocked that she's in our house and I'm seeing her after all these years. She looks just the same as I remember, same perfect heart lips and captivating baby blue eyes, same cherub face and voluptuous curves all of which gives her an ethereal beauty beyond any other woman I've ever seen. And yet there's a sadness and fear in her that I've never seen before. My instinct is to hold her, to shield her from anyone and anything trying to cause her harm and keep her safe. However as I haven't seen her in about seven years I don't think I should just pull her into my arms.
"Umm can I borrow some clothes? Spinner kind of took me from work without letting me grab my stuff and wouldn't take me to my apartment," she tells us.
"I can't believe you were working in a strip club," Owen comments and Clare bites her lip.
"I'll get you something to wear," I tell her smacking his arm the abrupt remark.
"Thanks," she replies softly.
"Uh I'll go make up the den for you," Owen says following me upstairs so he can get sheets.
"How could she work at a strip club? Last I heard she graduated Columbia 3rd in her class and with honors and all kinds of other things."
"I don't know but she wouldn't be working at a strip club if something really bad hadn't have happened. It had to be more than just needing money," Owen remarks.
I go into my room to get something for Clare to wear and Owen goes to the linen closet. After some debate I get her one of my t-shirts, which hopefully fits over her breasts, and I grab a pair of sweat shorts with a draw string. I pass Owen when I come down the stairs as he sets the bedding in the den.
"Here I think these will fit," I tell Clare handing her the clothes. She smiles and takes her coat off revealing a flimsy silk robe. I can see that she's not wearing a bra just the robe and I really hope something else.
"There's a washroom behind the kitchen you can change in there," I tell her.
"Thanks," she nods walking back there.
Owen and I sit down in the living room and Clare comes out of the washroom a moment later putting her robe over a chair.
"Okay so what the hell?" Owen asks and Clare looks at us.
"What do you mean?" She asks.
"When did you get back? Why are you working in a strip club?" I question and Owen nods.
"I moved from London almost three months ago," she responds sitting on the sofa.
"To work at a strip club?" Owen asks.
"I needed a job."
"And you couldn't find a better job than a stripper?" I query.
Clare huffs a little and looks down at her hands, "I needed something that wouldn't ask a lot of questions and could pay cash."
"You make it sound like you're running from something," I remark.
"I'm tired where's the den?" She inquires totally completely avoiding my comment.
"It's this way," I reply standing up and motioning in the direction of the den. I start walking to the den and Clare follows me. Owen made up the daybed for her already so she can go right to bed. "My room is the second door on the right upstairs, if you need anything at all come get me," I tell her.
"Thanks Fitz," she says softly.
I give her a smile and leave the room closing the door behind me. When I get back to the living room Owen is still sitting there but he has his phone out to call someone, when he sees me he puts it on speaker.
"Hey Owen what's up?" Drew's voice asks from the other end of the line.
"Did you know Clare was moving back to Toronto?" Owen asks him.
"Uh yeah Adam mentioned something about it a couple of months ago I think. Why?"
"Did he also tell you she's on the run from something and currently working at a strip club?"
"No way Clare would not work at strip club," Drew argues.
"She is Spinner found her there and brought her here because he didn't want her to go back to her apartment. We tried to ask her what was going on but she evaded the question."
"That sounds like Clare," Drew replies.
"Yeah well maybe you ought to talk to Adam because I doubt she told him what's really going on."
"Yeah I'll call him tomorrow," Drew says and hanging up.
"We should get to bed," Owen says.
I nod but I'm not very tired I really just want to know what's going on with Clare. I go to bed anyway but toss and turn for a long time before falling asleep. When my alarm goes off the next morning I feel like I barely slept because I didn't. I get up and the first thing I do is go downstairs to check on Clare. I knock on the door softly and open it a crack, her eyes open when I peek in.
"Spinner wanted us to bring you to work and we have to be there at eight," I inform her.
"We need to go by my apartment so I can get clothes," she says.
"I'll go tell Owen to hurry so we have time to swing by your place," I reply and close the door again.
I go upstairs and remind Owen that we need to go to her place so he has to hurry. We get dressed and ready as quickly as we can and then we all take Owen's car and she gives us directions to her apartment.
"What a crap-hole," Owen exclaims when we pull up to the building.
"I didn't have much of a choice," Clare says quietly as she gets out of the car.
"We'll go in with you," I tell her and Owen nods.
We follow her to her apartment and she unlocks the door. It's a small one bedroom apartment with hardly anything in it.
"You've been here three months and you don't have any furniture?" Owen questions.
"I haven't had money to buy any," she says quietly and walks into the bedroom.
Owen and I look around the apartment, there's nothing in it, no TV, no table. There's not even dishes and when I look in the cupboards and fridge there's barely food. Clare comes out of the washroom a moment later, dressed in jeans and t-shirt. We get back in Owen's car and drive to the station.
"When did you two become cops?" Clare asks when we pull up to the station.
"I took my GED and then went to the academy almost five years ago," I tell her.
"I did two years of JC before going to the academy," Owen answers.
"Making up for past sins?" Clare comments with a slight sarcastic voice.
"Yeah sort of," I smile.
We walk into the station and Spinner is already here. We leave Clare with him and Owen and I go to the locker room to change.
"You don't look like you slept much, either of you? Late party at your house last night? Why wasn't I invited?" Lucas jokes.
"Spinner showing up with Clare at our place last night was not a party," Owen replies.
"Who's Clare?"
"Clare Edwards, she went to DeGrassi," I inform him.
"The name sounds kind of familiar, why'd he bring her to you?"
"She needed somewhere safe to sleep. He found her working at a strip club, she's running from something we just don't know what," Owen says closing his locker and the three of us go out to the bullpen.
(CLARE)
"So what do you think?" Emma asks.
"It's great but I can't afford it," I reply after looking through the apartment.
"Spinner and I will pay the deposit and the first month," Emma tells me.
"Are you sure?"
"We've already talked about it; we don't want you living in that apartment anymore. This one isn't very big but it's a lot safer and it's furnished so you don't need to buy furniture."
"Thank you that's incredibly kind, I'll be happy to babysit whenever you need one," I say hugging her tightly.
Spinner had an officer go to the club to get all my stuff this morning while I was still at the police station. It was a little awkward hanging out at a police station all day but Spinner, Owen and Fitz wouldn't let me leave. I talked to Lucas for a while after Spin and Owen went on patrol. I found out he sees Izzy several times a year and Izzy and Mia live in New York now. I talked to Fitz for the most part, heard how he thought he could do some good as a cop. He and Owen joined the academy at the same time and when they graduated they rented the row house together to save money.
When Lucas and Fitz had to respond to a call they had another officer watch me at Spinner's desk until he and Owen returned. A couple of hours ago Emma came to the station, she took me to dinner and told me she'd spoken to Peter and there was a job for me at The Dot if I wanted it. Just a waitressing job nothing glamorous but the hours were flexible and the pay was decent plus I also get tips.
"Fitz and Lucas will take you to your apartment so you can get all your stuff. You won't be able to move in here right away but the manager is a friend of mine, you should be able to move in here in a couple of days and until then Owen and Fitz say you can stay with them," Emma tells me.
"Everybody's going through so much trouble. I appreciate it all but it's an awful lot of fuss to get me out of a bad apartment."
"It's not just to get you out of the apartment we want you to be safe Clare," Emma smiles. "Let's go downstairs and you can fill out a rental application," Emma comments putting her hand at my back and we walk down to the manager's office. "She likes the apartment," Emma tells the manager.
"Great you'll need to fill one of these out," the manager says handing me an application. I begin filling it out and then look up at her when I get to the question asking if I've ever broken a lease.
"I broke the lease on my flat in London. I went for a job and it didn't work out I had to come home when my work visa ran out," I tell her.
"That's no problem, have you broken any other leases?"
"No never," I reply and fill out the rest of the application handing it to her when I'm finished.
"Good it will take a couple days to process but there shouldn't be any problems getting it through," she tells me and I shake her hand before Emma and I leave.
Emma takes me back to the station and we tell them about the apartment. Fitz and Lucas take me to my apartment and I pack up what little I have there. The lease at this place is month to month so I'm not really breaking it. When we have my stuff we go to Fitz and Owen's place and they bring my stuff in.
"We have to go back to the station for a short time, stay here," Fitz says.
"I will, thanks for getting my stuff," I smile hugging them both before they leave.
I don't have much to do so I sit in the living room and watch TV. After watching for a little while I go to the kitchen to get something to eat. I start making myself a snack when my cell rings, I look at the display and when I see that it's Adam I answer.
"Hi Adam."
"You're working at a strip club?"
"I was Spinner made me quit I'll be working at The Dot now."
"I thought you left London to take a journalism job in Toronto?"
"London Just wasn't working out any more," I reply.
"You always told me you loved London. Does this have to do with the guy you were dating?" Adam questions.
"I just wanted to come home what is so wrong with that?"
"Nothing but you left a job you like, in a city you love to come home and work in a strip club. So what happened?"
"It was a bad breakup and I wanted to come home. I hear Owen and Fitz coming in I have to go," I tell Adam.
"Okay I'll talk to you later and I'm coming down this weekend," Adam says before hanging up.
Owen and Fitz come in with dinner and we sit down in the living room to eat since they don't have a dining room table.
"So you start work at The Dot tomorrow," Owen comments as we begin eating and I nod.
"It's not so bad," Fitz says and he is speaking from experience.
"Yeah I'm sure the biggest problem you'll have is being hit on by the teenage guys," Owen remarks and Fitz smacks him. "What it's true," Owen replies and I laugh.
We eat and watch TV and the guys clean up. After dinner Fitz gets me a towel so I can take a shower. Wanting to avoid questions I go to the den and get in bed watching TV on my phone until I fall asleep.
…I walk through the dark house, turning on the light in the room when I'm grabbed from behind! I'm slammed against the wall and a hand around my throat squeezing tightly. I struggle to breathe, grasping at his hand, clawing at it with my nails but he's still squeezing and I feel the life slowly being drained from me. I'm going to die! My heart pounds with terror but I can't scream as he's squeezing all the air from me. "I told you if you left me I'd kill you Clare!"…
"Clare. Clare wake up," Fitz's voice urges shaking me and my eyes shoot open. I'm breathing hard, crying and shaking slightly. "It's okay it was just a nightmare," Fitz says brushing a curl from my face.
"Must have been a bad one you were screaming in your sleep we heard you all the way upstairs," Owen comments.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you," I apologize.
"It's fine don't worry about it. Your voice sounds a little scratchy, probably from all the screaming. I'll get you some water," Owen tells me turning to walk to the kitchen.
"Are you okay can you get back to sleep?" Fitz asks.
"Yeah I'll be alright, I'm sorry I woke you both."
"It's okay do you want to tell me what the ream was about?" Fitz prods but I shake my head.
I don't want to talk about the dream or who it was about, I don't want to think about him at all.
Update is tomorrow and we find out who Clare is running from.