Part One
For the first time in her entire life, Lucy Baker thought she was going to die. The threat of danger and death came with the job of being the force, she knew that. Regardless she had always charged straight ahead fearlessly and determined, earning more than one chastising session from her superiors, even the Prof. The constable had stood up to several murderers by now, weathered many threats, and had come out little worse for the wear and her pluck never shaken. Right at the moment, however, with his long fingers squeezing tighter around her neck, Lucy could honestly say she never experienced anything half as scary as the situation she found herself in.
How did this even happen? She couldn't even remember. Last thing she could recall at this point was having a cuppa with the Prof, gabbing away with him, when suddenly he just snapped. Throwing her against the wall, Alfendi, hair in face, held up his assistant up with one hand by her throat. Had it been something she said? It became too hard to think. Lucy struggled against the hold, grabbing desperately at his hands, a swinging her legs to try and kick the inspector off. Angry bitter words spilled out of his mouth, but they flew over her head as her vision started to tunnel.
"P-Prof! Stop it! … You're g-gunna kill-!" she croaked, no pleaded. Strength was being sapped from her flailing limbs. The fight in her slowly died. "Prof! Al-alfendi! P-please!" Abruptly, the grip disappeared and Lucy found herself on her feet again, strike that, knees as she gasped for air. Looking upward at her previous assailant, her gaze met with his horrified shocked face. Obviously Potty Prof was gone - for now-, leaving his placid side to deal with the aftermath. His mouth hung open in shock; his hands clutching at his hair and head as if that would prevent another transformation.
"L-Lucy.. I'm … I'm so sorry I-" The inspector was at a loss for words, wincing visibly as his assistant flinched at his offered hand to help her up. The pain and distrust in her eyes felt like a stab to the stomach. She offered a shaky smile, though Alfendi knew that she was miles away from okay. A wave of sickness crashed over him; he had betrayed her in the worst way possible. And so he made no excuses or attempts to stop the girl as she hastily made a reason to leave early for the day and slipped out of them room.
"I-I'll see ya soon okay, Prof? Just gotta regather my bearings and all. I'm sure I'll be right as rain in no time." She was being too kind. Honestly, he didn't expect her to come back.
And she didn't.
Days passed after the incident, and the Detective Constable never darkened the doorway of the office once. A gloom settled over the room, items and papers in more disarray than normal. Everyone noted the absence of the normally bold and springy Baker with slight confusion. Nobody knew why the assistant was not busily working hard beside her mentor as she normally did. The inspector wasn't talking either. In fact the man barely uttered more than simple phrases at a time these days, and frankly the gross bout of apathy the man had fallen into had gotten underneath a certain friend of his's skin.
"Hey Al I got -sniff- that full case file you requested." Casually Florence rolled over to the desk where, somehow through all that mess, the inspector was halfheartedly working through some forms.
"Ah, Thank you Florence, just leave it on the top of that stack," Layton murmured, not looking up, "I'll get to it in a minute…" Unimpressed, the scientist merely stared at him for several minutes until Alfendi finally looked up quizzically at her. "Do you need something-"
"So where's Lucy ventured off to these days?" Immediately Al froze, a silent plea of 'please don't ask' flashing across his face. Sich ignored it. "That Baker is as industrious as a bee-cough- and loves this gig to boot. It's not like her to miss so many days of work." A loud sigh came from her cornered friend. "So, Al, do you have any insight on the matter?"
"Is this really necessary-"
"If you don't want me to start calling you 'Prof' in her stead, yes." Sich threatened, holding back another sneeze. Part of her hated to use it on him, but the exploitation was required. She smirked, and fun. With another deep sigh and breath, he began spilling most of what had happened. Not all of it, Alfendi left out the attempted strangling bit for 'seriously hurting' instead as he couldn't really bring himself to really say it out loud. His friend got the gist anyway, whistling and promptly sneezing.
"So he just suddenly lunged out did he? Well there wasn't much you could do about that Al. You said yourself, he's been more unpredictable and- achoo!- active lately."
"Exactly, I should've been more alert and cautious. I knew what he was capable of; it's nobody's fault but my own."
"Hm, still doesn't add up to me. Lucy isn't the type to just slink away after receiving a fright. She'd have at least given a notice of absence by now," Florence sniffed, "I think you should at least go check up on her, Al. Something's not right. Lucy would've at least stuck her head in to see you, granted maybe not alone, but still."
"I don't think that's a wise decision. Causing her more alarm would-"
"Oh Al, just go. We all know you're worried to death about her, take Justin if you're worried about safety. Achoo! I'm sure he'd be willing to meet you there. He hasn't popped out since right?"
"No but-"
"It'll be fine. –cough- If you wimp outta this, I swear by my entire IV drip collection I will not let you live it down Alfendi."
Faced with such a threat he finally acquiesced. Eventually he found himself on the street in front of her house, debating on whether to go up with or without Justin who hadn't yet arrived. His curiosity got the best of him. Moments later, a hesitant knock resounded at Lucy's door. No response.
"Lucy? Are you there?" the inspector called out, knocking once more, "I-I won't do anything. Justin's on his way and-" With every word coming out of his mouth, he hated himself more. He was at a loss for why he even agreed to come. Knocking one final time, he slumped against the door sliding into a sitting position and rubbing his face with his hands.
"Al." Justin had arrived. Wearily Alfendi looked up at him, only to see the other rubbing the back of his neck. An accurate tell of when he was reluctant to give bad news, Justin sighed before crossing his arms. "She's not here. I found out before coming to meet you… She's –she's in the hospital, Al."
On the way his friend filled him in on what details he knew, but in truth the whole ride was a blur for him. A hit and run took place on the afternoon when Lucy left in a scrambled hurry. Apparently the driver drove straight through a crosswalk, giving Lucy enough time and the presence of mind to push someone else out of the way toward safety. Her gumption knew no bounds, even after staring down death not an hour before. Now she really was in limbo; the constable had not woken up once since the accident, with no real sign of when or if she would. The knot in Al's stomach grew tighter when they went in to see her. Lucy looked almost lifeless, despite the peaceful expression her face had settled into. Tiredly, he settled in the seat next to her, blearily starting at and through his seemingly sleeping assistant. Justin cleared his throat.
"They say they found strange bruising around her neck that wasn't consistent with the rest of her injuries." Alfendi clenched his fists. "So what exactly did happen that day Al?"
"Oh, what do you think happened?" the inspector hissed, his demeanor changing instantly. "You can put two and two together Justin; don't act more simpleminded than you already are."
"I think I'm going have to detain and escort you out of here if you keep it up." Justin fired back his response, not even batting an eye at the sudden transformation. "Especially now that you've actually done something. Don't you think you've done enough damage for a while, Al?"
"Unfortunately for you I have, yes. But I'm staying awhile anyway. The imposter's too tired and weighed down to deal with any of this, the weakling."
"I'd say he has as strong a will as you do from where I'm standing. Plus his remorse for your actions seems a bit more genuine than your impatient insults. Come on Al, fess up already." The red head simply glowered at him growling lowly.
"Fine. Yes, I attempted to strangle her alright? I don't even remember why exactly. All I recall is being so furious that everything blurred red." Alfendi hunched over, gazing at his hands barely hiding his disgust. "And despite what you might think, I'm not proud of it… It was a mistake." The admission left a bitter taste in his mouth. "You know me, knew me. I'm not the type."
"You're right; I knew you. But not anymore. I haven't understood you since the day you woke up. You're almost a perfect stranger to me now, Al." And so he was. That didn't stop the man from visiting every day, however, and he did. Under the simple condition that Justin or someone else qualified stayed nearby, Alfendi often spent his afternoons there in the hospital room. Sitting in the chair next to her bed, he completed paperwork, read up on cases new and old, and helplessly watched her chest rise and fall, the only sign that prevented him from viewing her as a corpse, his corpse. He went home every night nauseated. Sometimes he caught himself talking to her, about cases, about the weather, about Hollerday's newest hits, but mostly they were just mumbled apologizes and pleas. Surprisingly even his bad tempered side gave one or two, while chastising her for sleeping too long and 'losing her fighting spirit'. It seemed that on some level his other personality actually cared about what became of the upbeat constable, and even regretted his actions. As weeks began to pass, however, the bitter reality of it being too little too late started setting in.
One day, just after the three week mark had passed, he entered the hospital only to be immediately stopped by Justin. "Before you go in, Al, you need to know something," the officer started, putting his hands in air out in front of him. "You see, there's been a change in her condition-"
"She's awake?"
"Well yeah, but there's something you need to know firs- Al, Come back! I wasn't finished yet!" The warning fell on deaf ears. In a flash, the inspector had bolted off towards Lucy's room. Hesitantly, he stuck his head in the room scarcely allowing himself to believe it. It was true. Sitting up in the bed, she absentmindedly stretched while looking about the dull looking room.
"…Lucy?" Immediately red eyes met his, and a smile spread across her face.
"Aye, that's me!", Bake confirmed cheerily, "Thank Goodness you're here. I were growing bored out of m'mind!" Relief flowed through him, as it felt like the weight of the world was being lifted off his shoulders after the longest time. "Now, you'll have to excuse me- I can't even remembering passing my constable test can you believe it?- but eh, who're you again?"
The dream shattered. Covered in a cold sweat, Alfendi launched upwards from his position on his couch. Threateningly thunder crackled outside. He tried to recollect himself. The nightmare was over.
Based on the prompt: Make potty prof scare Lucy really bad, and another one that is basically this whole thing condensed welp.