A "Navery Version" of the 01x13 episode. It will be two chapters, and can be considered a "sequel" de "Just Realize."
I hope you like it!
Sorry for possible gramatical erros. I'm brazilian, and I'm just learning english still :)
The clock read 00:34.
Technically, Avery was already asleep twenty minutes ago, and although her sleep was heavy, Nelson preferred to wait a while longer to be sure. The silence was absolute, and if she woke up, he would have some explaining to do.
Part of him felt bad for doing this in secret, but another part knew that there was no other way. As much as his intentions were good, he was sure that she would not understand. At least not at first.
As slowly as possible, he untangled her arms from his body and settled her on the pillows. Avery took a deep breath, but did not move.
Getting out of bed was a little easier, although it required some care. Moving in the dark was risky, and turn on the light was out of the question. Luckily, the object he needed was right there on the nightstand. Nelson took Avery's laptop and left the bedroom, closing the door slowly and noiselessly.
Outside, in the hallway, he turned on the computer and began his search. What he sought was not the easiest kind of thing to find, but he expected - for the good of his relationship - to find it in the minimum possible time.
Then, as if some deity was listening his prayers, what he was searching was found in less than ten minutes.
The key to everything was a video file.
He did not dare to watch it - Nelson would never violate Avery's privacy that way - just copied the malicious code contained in it and sent it to the right person.
Still, he could not help analyze the frozen image.
It was an Avery maybe ten years younger, but as beautiful as now. Her hair was shorter, and she was blowing soap bubbles. Her face was serene and cheerful, clean of all the melancholy that she had seen carrying since he had met her. It was somewhat like the look she usually had now, after both had assumed a relationship. Nelson was happy with the prospect of having returned to the woman he loved a part of the happiness that apparently had been lost in her dark and so far unknown past.
Once the file has been sent, he took his phone and started typing the message:
"Raven, it's me, Nelson. I just sent you a file. Do not open it under any circumstances! Just store and I explain to you tomorrow. When you receive this message, do not need to come back."
Quickly, he turned off the laptop and returned to the bedroom. To his relief, Avery was in the same position he had left her, backwards and with her head resting on two pillows. He left the computer exactly where it was before and, as quietly as he had gone out, he went back to bed and laid beside her.
This time, Avery seemed to sense the motion and moved, reaching out and groping his side of the bed.
- Nelson? - she said in a sleepy voice, without opening her eyes.
- I'm here. - he whispered in her ear - I'm right here by your side.
She murmured something meaningless and sighed, returning to her state of undisturbed sleep. Nelson wrapped an arm around her waist and closed his eyes, concentrating on her soft breathing.
He knew he had just irritate the person who was spying on Avery, and only hoped to be able to do something in time.
- Listen, we have a new case. - Avery's voice sounds high and alarmed, and every face in the room turns to look at her - Each of these people woke up this morning victims of a hacker. Recordings of private conversations they had were leaked online.
On the screen, images are displayed with the names and photos of each of the victims. They pass so quickly that it is impossible to memorize.
- We have a political, an executive, an accountant, a market official. - says Elijah - There is no apparent connection between the victims.
- This is a specific and unusual type of hacking. - says Krummitz - No emails, no personal photos, only audio files.
- And none of the devices collected from the victims revealed any evidence of intrusion. - Raven says, casting a discreet but sharp look to Nelson. He looks away and starts to look at Avery.
One of the good things that Nelson saw in having his girlfriend as boss - though he find this very strange most of the time - was that he did not need a specific reason to look at her. At times - times when most people thought he was only watchful to Avery's instructions - he was just admiring her face.
- Krumitz, I want you to run an analysis in the form of waves in these files. Where, when, and how they were recorded. Nelson, analyze each of the victims devices. Search any point in common between them. Our target has an agenda, we need to know what it is so we can find him.
Avery looks at him quietly for a second and he maintains the look. That was the silent way they had found to say. "I love you, see you soon."
Then, she leaves accompanied by Elijah.
Once they are out of sight, Raven looks around, and when she is sure that Krummitz is properly busy, she approaches Nelson.
- What is going on? - she asks in a low but alarmed voice - What is that file you sent me last night?
- Are you with it? - Nelson whispers.
- Yeah. - she takes a small red flash drive of her pocket - I have it right here.
- Great.
Nelson reaches out to catch it, but Raven moves away from his reach.
- I will not give it to you before knowing what is it and what you are doing.
- I promise I'll explain later.
- Nelson. - she says, trying to keep her voice down - You know we have an FBI protocol that must be followed, and they take these things very seriously. If this is not a case, you can go to jail and me too, because you made me an accomplice. So I'll ask again: What is going on?
- I can not tell you now. - he whispers insistently - First, I need to talk to Avery.
Nelson reaches out again. Raven hesitates for three seconds and then sighs, defeated. She puts the pen drive on his hand almost aggressively, and glares at him.
- You're unbelievable!
At that moment, Krummitz and some other people look at them frowning.
Quickly, they move away and return to work.
"It's easy to me steal them. I started stealing a few dollars of the cashier at every shift."
" Sometimes I imagine killing him. I'm afraid, really, of to do this one day."
"I feel so guilty every time I look in my wife's eyes and say that I was working late when in fact I was with other woman."
"He was fifteen, and I was the math teacher. I never had the intention of having sex with him. It just happened."
One by one, the recordings fill the silence in the room. Avery is stopped listening intently, with one hand resting on her face. On her left are Elijah and Nelson, and on the right, Raven and Krummitz.
- It sounds like a confession. - Suggests Krummitz.
- Lower the volume on the main track and turn up the sound environment. - Elijah asks with a puzzled expression.
Raven makes what is requested, and a sound in common is heard on all tracks.
- It's sound of water? - Elijah asks frowning.
- Yes. - responds Krummitz - is the only one sound that is repeated in all the files.
From this information, the pieces will falling into place one by one in Avery's mind. For a moment she considers the possibility of being wrong, but she knows that moment of hesitation is just a defense mechanism of her brain. She had heard voices and confessions like those hundreds of times in her life.
- They were all recorded in the same place. - she concludes - There are hesitations, moments of defense, and finally, relief. These are not confessions, are sessions. There are therapy sessions. The confidential files of the victims were hacked.
Since the day she had joined the FBI with the mission to hunt down cybercriminals, Avery never imagined one day stand before a case exactly like the one she herself had lived. This brought a bitter taste in her mouth. It was as if she were indirectly living all the nightmare again.
- And all the same therapist. - Elijah says finally.
She feels Nelson tense beside her. He do not looks in her eyes, but she realizes his fists clenched and his lips tight in a rigid line. He's her boyfriend, after all. He knows exactly what she is feeling.
- I'll make a call, get an address. Elijah, Krummitz, come with me. Let's go.
Avery moves away her feelings to the back of her mind and focuses. Even though the situation affected her intimately, that was just a coincidence - a sad and cruel coincidence - and the case was in her hands.
Standing in front of the glass wall of the office, Avery feels that her head will explode.
Face her ghosts indirectly through a case wasn't the biggest surprise of the day, because now she was sure that the unfortunate coincidence was not just a coincidence.
When entering the office and finding the body, for a moment, Avery saw herself on the floor of her office ten years ago, dead. The similarity between what happened to her and the case that now she was investigating made it impossible do not make the comparison.
Her career was ruined, but she was alive and well. Richard Chan had not had the same luck.
In the office was the source of water heard in the recordings, and also there was that object. Once Avery saw it, she knew it was not a coincidence, it was a message.
- We have a suspect. - Elijah's voice sounds from the door - The printing extracted from the hourglass we collect from Dr. Chan's office.
- Did you get a name in AFIS?
- Yes. In fact, it was in the FBI database. A reference printing.
- It was mine. - says Avery, mechanically.
- You do not seem surprised. - answers Simon.
- That hourglass caught my attention. I had one like that on my desk when I was a psychologist ... until one day it disappeared.
- That was a long time ago. - Elijah takes a step ahead - Do you think it is the same one?
- You can not argue with the evidence. - she insists - My print was in the glass, and I did not touch anything in the crime scene. So, or it is the same one or someone created a lot of trouble to plant my print.
- I get the feeling that you know more than you're telling us.
Avery sighs and shakes her hands, feeling helpless.
- I do not know what I know, Simon.
- Avery, four more recordings were released. Someone also leaked details of Dr. Chan's murder investigation. More importantly: your personal involvement could to compromise this investigation. So, at least tell me what you think you know.
At that moment, Nelson comes through the door almost running. His face is scared.
- Avery, I need to talk to you.
She has the urge to run up to him and touch him, but she holds in the way, remembering that they are not alone.
From the beginning, the two had agreed to have the maximum possible care with their relationship in front of other people. Of course, everyone knew that they were a couple, but Avery and Nelson struggled to maintain their relationship purely professional in the work, and they avoided any public display of affection in front of the team.
Of course, sometimes it was more difficult than others.
- Nelson? What happened?
- It's very important. We can talk? - he looks at Simon and Elijah - Alone?
- Excuse? - Avery asks to Simon and Elijah, somewhat disconcerted
- It's ok. - simon says.
The two leave the room with suspicious looks, and so they go, Nelson runs to Avery.
- What is going on? - she whispers, now using the affectionate tone that identified her as his girlfriend.
- I need your cell phone.
- Why?
- Trust me. It's very important.
Reluctantly, she delivers him her phone, and he puts it in the package.
- Is your personal laptop here?
- No. You know I leave it at home. Why?
- I did not want to tell you this now, not here, but after what happened today, I do not see another way out. - he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath - Avery, someone is spying on you.
Avery's eyes widen, and a cold shiver runs down her spine.
- How do you know that?
He contracts his lips and looks down, in a clear demonstration of guilt.
- Because I was spying on you.
Strangely, Avery is not surprised by what he says. Because somehow, she knows what Nelson is saying is just a detail of something much bigger.
She tilts her head, signaling for him to continue.
- On my first day here, you told me your psychology practice has been hacked, and you had not caught the guy. Well... that stuck in me.
Avery feel a mixture of pride and fear while understanding what he is saying.
- You tried to find my hacker?
Nelson nods.
- At first, I saw it as a challenge, but as my feelings for you have changed, it became something personal. So I searched in the Deep Web ...
- Nelson ... - she speaks softly, afraid that someone listen - You violated the FBI protocol.
He shakes his head.
- Look, I know. But I thought ... that whoever hacked you had to keep the files somewhere. Not in a personal device, but in a safe place.
Avery's breathing gets stuck in her throat, and her heart starts to beat faster.
- You're telling me ... you found my files?
- Yes. But now the hacker have new information about you. Current documents, photos, recordings of your phone conversations.
- No. - she says defensively - That's impossible. The FBI tests vulnerability every three months. My devices were scanned last month, and they were clean.
- I know. That's why I did not tell it to you immediately. I needed to be sure, and I did. - he sighs - Last night.
Avery frowns, replaying in her mind the night before.
They took a drink together after work, then watched a movie, talked about trivial things for fifteen minutes and finally slept. Together.
Nelson had not left her side at any moment during that time. What could he have done?
- After you slept, - he explains - I took your laptop and searched for the RAT. I found it with a personal video file, and downloaded the malicious code. - Nelson shows her a red flash drive. - I'm with it right here. Come with me.
Without seeming to mind the discretion protocol that the two had imposed themselves, he takes her hand and they run to the lab next door.
Krumitz is staring at a computer screen, so focused that not even blinks.
- Perfect timing. - he says when sees them - I just identified the trojan in Dr. Chan's computer. It gave to the hacker complete control of the device.
Nelson runs to the nearest computer and connects the USB drive. Avery watches everything with fear and anticipation.
- ... he accessed the doctor's files and could, remotely, turn on and off the microphone ...
When the file appears on the screen, Avery freezes.
That file.
- I could not identify the trojan in the scene because it was an unknown exploit. - Krumitz continues speaking, but his voice sounds like something very distant in Avery's mind - I think it was created by an old school hacker. Even today, an impressive work.
So, Nelson accesses the malicious code, and a blue window appears on the screen.
- This is it.
Krummitz frowns and approaches the computer.
- What's going on? - he looks at the blue window and gasps - And where the hell did you found that code? That is it! That is the code I found in Dr. Chan's computer! That's how the target was able to open the microphone on Dr. Chan's computer and listen everything. Then, he recorded the sessions in his own device.
- Nelson discovered it in my laptop.
- Wait ... what?
- Yes. - Nelson replies without looking up from the computer - It took me a long time.
- It means, - Avery concludes, feeling ice in her heart - that whoever hacked Dr. Chan is the same black hat who hacked me. - she swallows - He's back.