Hey there, home fries. This is my first Stitchers fic but I have totally fallen for the series so I'm really excited about this. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Stitchers ain't my thing. As in I don't own it. Trust me, its TOTALLY ma thang.
Warning: Mentions of murder, kidnapping, and rape.
"Jackson Royce," Maggie says distributing a file to everyone at the table, "Parents divorced when he was eleven. They shared custody until his mother died of alcohol poisoning a year and a half later."
Cameron glances briefly at Linus for a reason he isn't sure of. Linus averts his eyes quickly from the file and settles his gave into his folded hands.
"When he turned fourteen," she continues void of expression," Royce ran away from his father's home in Palo Alto. He'd taken $1,400 out of the family safe and smashed every single window in the two story house. His infant half-sister was left there alone for two days until Royce's father and step-mother returned home from a trip."
"Sounds like he didn't care for his family much." Camille says tightly, her jaw locked in an aggressive line.
"He didn't." Maggie says flatly before pulling a document out of the file.
It was a photo of what looked like some high school sport team. Cameron counts twelve girls in white and blue jerseys. They were so young. He doesn't like where this was going.
"Two months ago," Maggie goes on, "the Rockley Area High School's girls' lacrosse team was on a bus ride to their regional match. The bus driver pulled over to help a man lying next to a totaled car."
"Bus driver gets out," Kirsten interjects robotically, "checks to see if the guy's unconscious. Turns out he's very conscious and wielding a gun. He steals the bus along with the girls."
"Close," Maggie meets her eyes, venom in her stare, "He shoots the driver before climbing into the bus and shooting the team's coach and assistant coach."
Cameron turns and looks at Kirsten with a sullen expression. To his surprise, there's a similar look in her eyes. They aren't striking or - he dare say - captivating like usual. Their dull and hurt.
"How do we know he's our man?" Camille asks.
Maggie shifts her cat eyes from Kirsten and says, "There were cameras in the front and back of the bus. Police got the footage when the tracked the bus down to a vacant parking lot outside of L.A. Royce and the girls weren't there. The trail's been weak ever since."
"Until now," Kirsten says quietly.
"Yes, until now." Maggie looks uncomfortable, "Royce was found in an alley early this morning. Alcohol poisoning."
Cameron grimaces at the sick irony. Kirsten leans forward in her chair.
"You want me to go into his memories and find where he's keeping the girls."
Maggie nods. Cameron meets Kirsten's eyes again, his brows knitted with anxiety. This stitch will be different than any other. Kirst has only ever seen memories through the eyes of a victim. She'd felt pain, grief, rage even, but there was an underlying innocence to all of it. This stitch wouldn't have that. They'd be putting her in the mind of a killer. He'd be putting her in the mind of a killer.
He wishes he could see some reserve in her copper eyes, but there is none. She's fierce, ready for work as always. She doesn't even respond, practically launching herself out of her chair to change and prepare for the stitch.
He's tense as a spring the entire time he's prepping. He has to focus, Kirsten needs him to focus, but he can't keep his mind from wondering what kinds of things she'll see. What will she feel inside the memories of a murder, of a kidnapper? He doesn't want to know. He doesn't want her to know.
"Hey," her voice pulls him to the present, "are you ready from this?"
His throat is so tight he can only nod.
As Kirsten descends into the tank, Cameron takes the last second to come up beside her and say, "I don't want you in there a moment longer than you need to be. The second you feel something-"
"Hey, genius," she says putting up her hand, "no perception of time, remember?"
He stares at her blankly, "Alright, Tinman."
As he turns to walk away she says, "Hey, Dorothy-"
He rolls his eyes but can't fight a smirk.
"It'll be fine. I'm in good hands."
Her trust mad him want to punch something. Cameron gives her a stiff smile before returning to his station. He hooks the com-link around his ear and is annoyed to notice that his hand is shaking a little bit.
"Alright people are we 'go' for stitching?"
Each scientist sounds off and Cameron's stomach slowly begins to drop.
"We are 'go' in three… two… one."
Give 'em hell, Wonder Woman.
0o0o0o0o0o0
"Talk to me, Ruby. What do you see?" Cameron says pacing the lab.
Kirsten shakes her head, "It's a basement. I see the girls. I see- they're all here. They're so-"
Her body jerks violently.
"Kirsten, what are you seeing?" his hands ball into fists, knuckles white.
"He's getting out of his car. It's red. Macklin Avenue." her words are coming out in quick breaths.
"Camille," Maggie begins.
"On it." she says throwing herself onto her keyboard.
"Oh God," Kirsten whimpers, squirming in the tank, "oh God."
"Heart rate is sky rocketing!" Ayo exclaims.
"Kirsten!" Cameron says approaching the tank, "Do you need to bounce? Kirsten?"
"He's-," her voice sounds choked, "I can't. He's- oh God."
"Cerebral temp's 105!"
"Kirsten we have the address! You can bounce! Make the bounce!" Cameron's voice filled with panic.
"No, no, no!" she's cries, "Oh God- Lexi!"
She's trashing and gasping in the chair.
"I'm pulling her out." Cameron growls, storming over to his monitor.
"You can't," Linus cautions, "we passed the two minute mark seven seconds ago."
"Damn it," he hisses, "Kirsten bounce out of there, now!"
"Lexi, she's-"her lip is quivers as she types feverishly into the keypad.
The motor in front of Linus glows with a bright red ERROR.
"What?" Linus stares at the screen, "No, not Lexi, Kirsten. You need your name. Kirsten?"
Cameron's ears are ringing as he runs at the tank. He grips the edges of the glass right beside her head.
"Kirsten, please," he's begging, "Kirsten just type your name, c'mon."
Up close, he can see the tears streaming down her face. He can hear how labored her breathing is.
"Lexi," she whispers in a cry.
"No, Kirsten." he says, forcing his voice to stay even, "I need you to type your name, Kirsten. K-"
Her finger trembles over the key.
"I-R-S," he says, willing her hands over the keypad.
"T-E-N," she says with him.
"And who do you heart, Kirsten?" he sucks in a breath.
"Linus," she sighs.
He sprints over to his desk and detaches everything from the stitch. It feels like a bomb's been dropped in the center of the room, silent shock waves pulsing out over the lab. Cameron can't think of a clear thought, his feet are just moving, trying to get to her.
Kirsten screams as she opens her eyes. They're red and wild. Her fingers dig into the top of her scalp and she buries her face in her knees.
"No, no, no, no," she drivels.
She's shaking so hard. Cameron flings himself at the tank. Ayo is reaching for her, but as soon as she touches her, Kirsten explodes. Before anyone can react, she grabs the rim of the tub and heaves herself out. Her feet slide on the tile floor and she's flailing to keep her balance.
"Kirsten," several people say in unison.
Cameron takes a step toward her, hands only wanting to feel her. When her eyes finally stop racing across the room and meet his they grow even wider. There is so much pain in them it make Cameron's chest ache.
"No, please," Kirsten says backing away from him, "please don't!"
He feels the wind leaves his lungs like he's been punched. The way she was looking at him, the terror in her face was enough to make him hate himself without reason.
Without another word, Kirsten races around the mob of lab techs, ignoring Maggie's blunt commands to stop. She vanishes behind the warped glass of the door. It slams shut and Cameron feels it reverberate through his entire skeleton.
"Kirsten!" Maggie calls, making a move toward the stairs, "Kirsten!"
"No!" Cameron blocks her path, slightly shocked by the force of his own voice.
He surveys the room and sees that Camille, Linus, Ayo, and a few other techs have begun to move after her. Now they stand perfectly still, like statues under his stone gaze.
"Leave her alone." he says clearly, "I've got this."
He moves around the computer monitor, ignoring the stunned, silent stares that follow him. He hesitates before he takes the first step. The fear in her eyes, the raw anguish was unlike anything he'd ever seen Kirsten feel. And she was looking at him. What was his plan once he met up with her? What could he say or do that would help her?
He didn't know, but he knew he couldn't let her go. He wouldn't wait and do nothing while she suffered. She was not Marta and he would not fail her as he had before.
0o0o0o0o0o0
He follows the trail of water to the employee bathroom in the far back of the facility. His footsteps are slow and careful, trying to make as little noise as humanly possible. It was like approaching a wounded animal. When he comes face-to-face with the door, he holds his breath, listening only for Kirsten.
Heavy sobbing seeps out from under the door. Though it sounds choked, as if she was trying to keep anyone from hearing it.
Cameron debates whether or not he should knock, or more over whether or not he should even be here. He decides to suck it up and do what Cat Woman would do. Rip the Band-Aid off fast.
The door handle is cold and his fingers trembles slightly at the contact. Relief spreads over his muscles when he finds that it isn't locked. He doesn't force the door open. He lets its own momentum carry it with an annoying creek.
Kirsten stands hunched over the countertop, eyes boring into her reflection in the mirror. Her chest is still heaving and her arms shake as she holds herself up. She doesn't acknowledge him at all so Cameron simply stands in the doorway watching her.
After a few moments, she finally says, "Lexi, she looked like she was the youngest. She was so small."
Cameron tenses at the name, Kirsten's screaming replays in his head.
"She had green eyes and light brown hair." she says still staring into her own face, "Her jersey was torn and her arms were bruised. They were all bruised. He hurt all of them!"
Her voice crescendos and rises up over the bathroom walls. Cameron takes a few ginger steps onto the linoleum, arms tense at his sides.
"You saved them, Kirsten." he tries to say calmly, "Fisher's going to find them and it will all be because of you."
She shakes her head forcefully, bringing her nails up to claw at her blonde scalp. Cameron's chest tightens with concern and he reaches for her but she jumps back.
"I felt," she gasps, "I saw their fear but I felt what he felt. I felt the pleasure and the satisfaction, Cameron. He was proud. They were screaming and he was smiling. It's morbid! It's so wrong, wrong, wrong!"
That was all she could take before she collapsed to the floor, face buried in her hands. Cameron's arms are around her in an instant, locking in place like fasteners on armor. Kirsten struggles weakly but he only holds her closer. Soon she stops fighting, the only movement in her body is the quaking of her shoulders as she sobs into his chest. Her fists clutch helplessly at the fabric of his shirt as it quickly becomes damp; she's still soaking wet.
Cameron closes his eyes and murmurs into her hair, rocking slowly. He doesn't know why he's doing it, but it feels right.
They remain like that for a long time before Kirsten speaks again.
"I can't go back in there." she says keeping her face in the crook of his neck, "Please don't make me go back in there."
"Never," Cameron breaths without hesitation, "You are never going back in there, Kirsten. I promise."
She whispers what may be a "thank you", but it's too weak to make out. Her arms unfold and weave around his body, pulling herself even further into him. She listens for his heart, feeling it beat against her cheek. Using it as her anchor. Kirsten tries to harmonize her breathing with it.
Inhale, bah bum, bah bum. Exhale. Bah bum, bah bum.
When her shoulder finally stopped shaking Cameron felt himself unwind a little. He didn't dare disrupt the silence. He wasn't sure when it would ever be like this again, but for some reason he was hopeful that day would come. An image can unannounced into his mind.
It was Kirsten. She wasn't dripping wet in her stitchers gear or sobbing into his shoulder – not to mention mentally scarred for life. She was warm and smiling, sunlight running cross her face and shining through her hair. She was still enveloped in his arms but she was lying beneath him, golden tendrils spread out across light blue bed sheets.
Cameron curses himself internally for being so insensitive and forces the thought out of his mind. His focus is on the here and now; on Kirsten, and stitching her back together, if need be.
Fluff you! Go fluff yourself! Fifty Shades of Fluff! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you liked it. Please be sure to fav and comment if you did! Or didn't! Whatever works.
