Hey readers: The characters are the same ones we all know and love, just an AU for something different. It's going to be a long journey, so buckle up and let's do this!
Beca Mitchell is a detective with the Barden Police Department. She joined the Department as a police officer 5 years ago and became a Detective just 2 years ago, She has a reputation of being tough, tenacious, and a general pain in the ass to most. Her record of success is unmatched by anyone in the Department. And, she is still haunted by one case. One case she hasn't been able to solve. The case of missing Barden University student Chloe Beale was her first case, and two years later, she still hasn't solved it. She was reading the case file for the thousandth or so time, hoping she'd finally find something she missed.
"Mitchell, Swanson. My office," Captain Mayhew calls out.
"What's up, Cap?," Jesse Swanson asks walking into the Captain's office.
Jesse Swanson has been Beca Mitchell's partner for about 18 months now. They work well together and have become best friends off the job.
"We have a call about finding some girls who were being held captive in a house over on Chester," Captain Mayhew tells them. "I need you two to get over there and take charge of the investigation."
"How many girls are we talking about?," Beca asked.
"Three," Mayhew tells them. "Get moving."
"Yes, sir," Beca says. She and Jesse leave.
Beca makes her way to get as close to the house as possible. News crews and neighbors clog the street and sidewalk. She and Jesse exit the car and tell the officers standing around to start clearing the area.
Beca and Jesse see three women wrapped in blankets standing with Stacie and Jessica, EMTs that Beca is familiar with.
"Go check and see what you can find in the house," Beca tells Jesse. "I'm going to see if I can talk to the women."
"Excuse me," Beca said approaching the women. "I'm Detective Mitchell and I'd like to ask you some questions."
"Beca, we are going to transport them to the hospital," Jessica tells her. "They all need to be checked out."
"Okay," Beca says. "I'll ride with you. Let me tell my partner first."
Stacie and Jessica nod and start helping the girls into the ambulance.
"Jesse?," Beca calls on the radio.
"Yeah, Becs," Jesse responds.
"I'm going to the hospital with the girls to talk to them," Beca tells him. "I want a full report. Meet me there when you're done here."
"Roger that," Jesse said. "Leave the keys in the car."
"You got it," Beca said.
Beca ran to their car and left the keys for Jesse. She ran back to the ambulance and jumped into the passenger seat. Jessica flipped on the lights and siren, and pulled off.
Beca looked in the back and noticed that Stacie was working on a small child that looked to be about a year old. She glanced at the three women. Her eyes landed on a redhead. Realization dawned on her and she couldn't believe her eyes.
"Holy shit," Beca says quietly.
"What was that?," Jessica asked her from the driver's seat.
"That redhead is Chloe Beale," Beca tells her quietly. "She's been missing for 2 years. I've been working on the case for the entire 2 years. Never got a clue as to what happened to her. Now, she's suddenly just dropped in my lap."
Beca just stared at the woman. This is the woman who had been haunting her for 2 years. The one case she hadn't yet solved.
Beca shook her head and looked at the other two women. They seemed familiar and she realized that they were also Barden University students who had been reported missing sometime in the last 18 months or so. She had always thought the cases were tied together but there was no evidence to support it. The other detectives assigned to handle the cases just thought it was coincidence that all three women attended Barden University. Beca tried to get the other cases assigned to her, but couldn't get her Captain to budge.
"The blonde is Ashley Michaels," Beca thought and searched her brain for the other girl's name. "Denise Hart."
Ashley had been missing about 6 months, and Denise about a year. Beca looked at the two women. They both just stared straight ahead.
"Shock," Stacie mouths to her.
Beca pulls out her note pad and makes a few notes. She looks again at Chloe and sees that she is watching closely as Stacie works on the child. It suddenly dawns her on that Chloe might be the mother. Chloe has been missing for almost 2 years and the child looks to be about a year old.
The child starts getting fussy and Chloe reaches out for her. Stacie gives the child to Chloe and she starts comforting her.
The ambulance pulls up to the emergency entrance at Barden General. Beca and Jessica jump out and head to the back. Jessica opens the doors and gets in to help Denise.
"Come on, sweetie," Jessica says. "You're safe now. We're just going to get you checked out. Okay?"
Denise gets up but doesn't say anything. Jessica helps her out of the ambulance and gets her onto a gurney.
Meanwhile, Stacie has managed to get Ashley up and out of the ambulance. She too is placed on a gurney.
Chloe has stood on her own, still holding onto the child. Beca holds out her arms as Chloe reaches the back. Chloe pulls the child closer to her and takes a step or two back.
"Whoa, it's okay," Beca said pulling her hands back. "I'm not taking the child. I was just going to help you down."
"Sorry," Chloe mumbles and allows Beca to help her out of the ambulance.
Chloe and the child are placed on a gurney and rushed inside the hospital. Beca follows close behind.
Doctors rush to each of the three women and start cursory exams. A nurse tries to take the child from Chloe, but Chloe holds the child closely with one hand while trying to fight the nurse off with the other.
"Miss," the nurse says. "I just need to take the baby while you are examined."
Beca rushes over and takes Chloe's arm. She holds it to her.
"It's okay, Miss Beale," Beca says. Chloe calms down and lays back still clutching the now crying child.
"Let me take her," Beca says calmly. "I'll stand right here with her while the doctor checks you over. I promise you, no one is taking her anywhere. Okay?"
Everyone in the examining room is quiet and had stopped moving when Beca approached Chloe.
"Okay," Chloe says weakly.
Beca reaches slowly for the child and gently takes her from Chloe. She holds the child to her chest and steps back one step. She remains where Chloe can see her.
"Go ahead, doctor," Beca tells her.
The doctors and nurses start up again. Chloe is hooked up to a heart monitor and an IV is placed in her arm. The whole time this is going on she hasn't taken her eyes off of the child Beca was holding in her arms.
"Miss?," the doctor calls to her. "Miss? Are you having any pains?"
Chloe shakes her head no but doesn't give a verbal response. The doctors and nurses continue with the exam.
"Miss?," the doctor calls to Chloe, trying to pull her attention from Beca to her.
"Beale," Beca says.
"Pardon?," the doctor says.
"Her name is Miss Chloe Beale," Beca says looking at the doctor.
"Right, sorry," the doctor says. "Miss Beale?"
Chloe finally looks at her.
"I'm Dr. Kepner," the doctor says. "Our exam shows that you are slightly dehydrated and malnourished. The IV will help with the hydration. Can you tell me the last time you ate anything?"
"Um," Chloe says, looking back at Beca. "I think it might have been two days ago."
"Okay," Dr. Kepner says. "We're going to get you into a room and get you something to eat."
Chloe looks back at Beca. Beca smiles softly at her.
"What's your baby's name?," Beca asks her.
"Emily," Chloe says.
"If it's alright with you," Beca tells her. "I'll carry Emily for you."
"Okay," Chloe says nodding her head.
Another doctor walks in just then. A nurse helps her put on a gown and gloves.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Robbins," the doctor says looking at Chloe. "I just need to check out the tiny little human to see that everything is okay."
"No!," Chloe screams and tries to get up.
She reaches for Emily. Beca holds Emily in one arm and grabs Chloe's hand.
"It's okay," Beca tells her. "I won't let her take Emily out of your sight. The doctor can examine her right here. Calm down. I promised you that no one would take her away and I will NOT break that promise. Understand?"
Chloe struggles just a bit more but finally relaxes. She wipes tears from her eyes.
"Okay," Chloe says.
Dr. Robbins pokes her head out of the room and asks an intern to bring in a bassinet. She walks over to Beca.
"Hey, Becs," Dr. Robbins says. "Has she been checked at all by anyone yet?"
"Stacie checked her out in the ambulance," Beca said. "I'm sure she's still out there somewhere if you want to ask her about it."
"Thanks," Dr. Robbins says. She walks out of the exam room taking off her gloves.
Stacie and Jessica are finishing up their paperwork when Dr. Robbins walks over.
"Hey, Arizona," Stacie says.
"Hey, Stacie, Jessica," Dr. Robbins says. "What did you find in your initial exam of the child that you just brought in?"
"Everything looked pretty good," Stacie tells her. "Her lungs sounded good. She seems to be healthy and well fed. Nothing like I'd thought she'd be compared to those three girls that were found with her."
"Thanks, Stacie," Dr. Robbins says and returns to the exam room and gets new gloves.
The intern brings the bassinet and pushes it over to Beca. Beca gently lays Emily in the bassinet and steps back. Chloe has not taken her eyes off of Emily. Beca gently takes Chloe's hand and gives it a light squeeze. Chloe gives her a smile small and looks back at Dr. Robbins examining Emily.
"Everything looks good," Dr. Robbins says after a few minutes of examining Emily. "What is she about 12, 13 months old?"
"She's 14 months," Chloe tells her.
"She's beautiful," Arizona says. "I'll be back to check on her once you're in your room. Okay?"
"Okay," Chloe tells her.
"We have a room ready," Dr. Wilson says. "Let's move her."
Dr. Wilson unlocks the brakes on the gurney and starts moving. Beca quickly takes the bassinet and pushes it alongside Chloe so she can see Emily.
Beca notices that the room Chloe is brought to has three beds setup. She assumes that they are going to place all three women in the room together.
Chloe is moved onto one of the beds. Once she is settled, Beca places Emily's bassinet right next to her bed. Emily starts crying.
"Could you give me Emily, please?," Chloe asks Beca.
"Sure," Beca says and picks Emily up to hand Chloe.
Just then another gurney is brought into the room. Denise is transferred to the bed.
A redheaded man gets Beca's attention and waves her outside. Chloe looks a little panicked when she sees Beca start to leave.
"I'm just going to be right outside the door," Beca said. "You and Emily are safe. All of you are safe now. I promise."
Beca walks over and steps just outside the door.
"I'm Dr. Hunt," the doctor says to Beca. "I understand you're the detective assigned to their case?"
"Detective Mitchell," Beca tells him shaking his hand.
"What can you tell us about their circumstances?," Dr. Hunt asks.
"Right now," Beca says, "I don't know much. We got a 911 call about finding some women who were locked in a house. From what we've gathered from neighbors, Miss Beale managed to get the door partially opened and started screaming for help. A couple of neighbors came and broke the door down completely. They found Miss Beale with a child and escorted them to a home across the street and called 911. She told them there were two more girls inside so they went in found them locked in two separate rooms. They had to have some ladies help get them out. They cowered away from the men. I can only imagine what they've been through."
"That explains a lot," Dr. Hunt said. "We had to get a couple of our female doctors to examine Ms. Hart and Ms. Matthews. They both had got upset whenever a male came near them. That's why I stayed out here."
"Thank you for being so understanding," Beca told him. "What did their exams tell you?"
"It appears they've all been sexually assaulted, multiple times," Dr. Hunt says. "All three are dehydrated and malnourished. We have IVs going on all of them to help with the dehydration. I've having some meal trays brought up. Medically speaking, they are better than they probably should be. Psychologically? That remains to be seen."
"Thank you Dr. Hunt," Beca says. "I'm going to see if Miss Beale is up to some questions. The other two seem to still be in shock."
"Please have the nurse page me if anything happens," Dr. Hunt says.
Beca holds the door for the last gurney bringing Ashley Matthews into the room. She watched as Ashley was transferred to the bed and the gurney removed from the room. The nurse checks Ashley's IV and heart monitor. Beca makes her way over to Chloe.
Miss Beale," Beca said. "Are you up to answering some questions for me?"
Chloe continued to comfort Emily. She looked at Beca.
"What do you want to know?," Chloe asked.
"Do you know who kidnapped the three of you?," Beca asked.
"Four," Chloe said.
"I'm sorry?," Beca said.
"There were four of us," Chloe said. "The fourth girl's name was Megan Holloway. She came into the house about 18 months ago. She died a little over 8 months ago."
"I'm sorry," Beca said making a note. "Do you know who did this to the four of you?"
"Tom Hawkins and Luke Stroma," Chloe said. "They both attended Barden University with us."
"Can you give me a description?," Beca asked.
"Tom is about 6 feet tall," Chloe said. "He's a Senior now and has an athletic build. He's on the baseball team. He has short brown hair and brown eyes. Luke is also a Senior and has short blond hair and green eyes. He is more muscular and about 5 foot 10. He manages the Barden radio station."
Beca walks a few feet away from Chloe.
"Jesse," Beca called on the radio. "I have two names and we need to put out an APB immediately on Tom Hawkins and Luke Stroma."
Beca gives Jesse the description Chloe gave her of the two men and tells Jesse, "Hawkins is on the school's baseball team. Stroma manages the school radio station. Send every patrol car available to the University and find them. I also want you to head over there and coordinate the search."
"Copy that," Jesse responded. "I'll report back if we find anything."
"Good," Beca said. "Find those bastards, Jesse."
"You got it," Jesse says.
"Miss Beale," Beca says going back to Chloe. "I know this is hard, but since you were the first girl kidnapped, can you tell me what happened to you and the circumstances surrounding the arrival of the other girls?"
Beca notices Chloe freeze up and follows her gaze. Denise and Ashley suddenly start screaming and thrashing about. The nurse rushes over and another nurse comes in the door practically knocking over an orderly carrying a food tray. Beca starts to go over when she feels Chloe grab her arm.
"He looks like Tom," Chloe says quietly with fear in her eyes.
Beca looks at the man who is standing in the middle of the room not knowing what to do. Beca looks at Chloe.
"I'll make him leave, okay?," Beca said.
Chloe releases her grip on Beca. Beca hurries over to the man and shows him her badge. She then gently, but forcibly escorts him from the room.
"Would you page Dr. Hunt immediately," Beca asks a nurse.
She looks back and after a few minute she see that two girls have started to settle down. She looks over at Chloe and still sees a bit of fear on her face but she seems to be okay.
"What happened?," the orderly finally asked. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No," Beca told him.
Before she could continue Dr. Hunt comes flying around the corner. Beca calls out to him and he hurries over to her.
"What happened?," Dr. Hunt asks. "Is everything okay?"
"I'm going to have to ask that no men be allowed in this room for now," Beca says.
"If it can't be avoided, then make sure they don't have brown hair and eyes, like him," she said pointing to the orderly. "They freaked out because he looks like one of the kidnappers."
Dr. Hunt nods his head in understanding.
"Sorry, Jerry," Dr. Hunt told the orderly. "You didn't do anything wrong. We just need to try and keep these girls calm. They've been through a hell of a lot."
"I understand, Dr. Hunt," Jerry said. "I'll let the kitchen know to only send women up with their food."
"Thank you," Beca said. "I'd appreciate that. I'll take the trays in for the girls now."
Jerry hands the tray he was still holding to Beca.
"The beds, starting from the closest to the door are marked A, B, and C," Jerry said. "The trays are marked specifically for each bed."
"Thank you, Jerry," Beca said. "I'm sorry about all this."
"No problem, officer," Jerry said. "Just catch the fuckers."
With that Jerry turned and walked away.
"I'm going to have Dr. Kepner come check on the girls," Dr. Hunt said. "I want to make sure they're okay."
"Thanks, doc," Beca said.
Beca got the girls their food trays and sat in the chair near Emily's bassinet. She noticed Emily was raising her head trying to look around. She started giggling and saying 'mama' when she spotted Chloe. Chloe pushed her food away and went to reach for Emily.
"No, no, no," Beca said. "You need to eat. I'll take care of Emily. Can she walk yet?"
"Not really," Chloe said pulling her food back to her. "There wasn't much room for her to."
Beca picked Emily up and held her for a moment. She kissed the top of the girl's head and then put her down so she was standing with her back to Beca. Beca held her hands and the little girl bounced up and down. Beca laughed softly and smiled watching her.
"Do you have any children?," Chloe asked.
"What?," Beca said looking up. "Oh, no. I just haven't found the right woman for me who wants kids and can deal with the fact that I'm a cop."
"Well, you're very good with Emily," Chloe tells her. "She hasn't been around very many people but she's taken to you rather quickly."
Beca just smiles and looks back down at Emily.
"You want to walk, baby girl?," Beca asked. "Go ahead. I've got you."
Chloe finished her food and laid back on the bed watching the detective help Emily "walk" around the room. Emily was actually moving her legs and feet fairly well. She couldn't help but smile a genuine smile.
"Maybe Emily and I are going to be okay," Chloe thinks.
Beca checks on Denise and Ashley as she walks around the room with Emily. They seemed to be much calmer and have eaten a little as well.