A/N: Sooo... this started as a little project after the show was canceled and morphed into a story. Please read and review. I'd love requests, (no matter how seemingly small or stupid they are!) Also, I'm sorry about the weird formatting but every time I fix it the app just messes it up again. Until the glitch gets fixed there's nothing I can do.

P.S: This starts as the first case the cyber division gets after the finale. Also, since the show somewhat neglected to really develop Raven's character, she'll be one of my main focuses.


The nighttime began as it always did, first with a nightmare, then with a blood pool. This time however, it wasn't his own. He stood, shaking and shivering, cloaked in moonlight, adorned by stars, and incriminated by the ever present passing of time.
A wave of panic brushed over him, creating an imbalance in the sides of his mental war. A rift between immaculate control and utter chaos. In a final act of desperation and guilt, he took the knife that lay by his side and drew it down his arm. The blood
dripped down and painted a pattern on the wooden floorboards. He turned and ran away, the heels of his boots leaving streaks in their wake. Almost as an afterthought he tossed the knife into the bushes and sprinted down the street, with a cape made of
shadows flowing behind.


Elijah poured his morning coffee, barely awake and struggling to keep his eyes open. His father was just getting sicker and sicker, still refusing treatment of any kind. He had been up all night by his bedside, getting him water and making sure
he was comfortable. Pain medication was prescribed, but even then his father was still in serious pain. It was taking its toll, and the last time Elijah had a full night's sleep was a three days ago.

CTOC was having a relatively quiet day, no new cases so far and just routine paperwork to fill out. As Elijah walked out of the break room he was nearly run over by a new intern. She apologized quickly, gathering up her spilled papers and half-walking,
half-jogging down the hallway. Startled, Elijah walked over to his desk, set his coffee down and turned on his computer. He took a deep sip and sighed, "And so the day begins."

Raven and Nelson walked in together, talking quietly to each other. "You know they already know, Raven." Nelson murmured as they neared their desks, "C'mon, don't be shy about it, we don't have to hide now that neither of us are in the "Hacker for
Hire" program anymore."

"Only because it no longer exists." Raven retorted, sitting down in her seat.

"You're avoiding the question."

"You never asked one."

"You know what I mean. I just don't want to be so secretive about it anymore. It made sense when Avery finding out could mean jail, but she found out anyway and it's okay. Not to mention that that's not even a risk anymore."

"What do you want me to do, then? Stand on the desktop and shout "I'm dating Nelson"?!"

Nelson opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Avery as she descended the staircase into CTOC. "New case. A murder victim was just discovered in Georgetown, Delaware. He was a former army ranger, and all his devices were stolen except for his
phone. But it was wiped, then left with one photo on it. Local police have asked for our cooperation. Wheels up in thirty." Nelson and Raven shared a glance, then moved quickly to get their things together in preparation for the trip. Avery walked
over to Elijah, staring at him worryingly. "Elijah?" His head shot up from where it had been resting on the desk.

"Yes?" There were bags under his eyes. His fatigue was obvious, as was the stress he was under.

"Stay here for this case. You can help us from CTOC, but you need to be close with family right now." She placed a hand on his shoulder, waiting for Elijah to respond.

"Avery, I appreciate your concern, but that's not necessary."

"Listen to me Elijah, I respect your commitment to work and this team, but it's obvious you are not at your best right now."

Elijah sighed, frowning at Avery. "And what's that supposed to mean? I was trained as a field agent, that's where I belong."

"I'm sorry, but you can either help us from CTOC, or go home." She reached for her bag from under the desk, and turned to leave. Elijah scowled, pacing back and forth between the now empty desks. What was he supposed to do? Just sit back and wait
for whenever Avery decided call? He couldn't imagine a worse waste of his skills.


The plane could hold double the normal number of the cyber team, but today it was filled to less than half capacity. DB, of course, was in Paris, and Elijah had stayed behind. Raven though, had spent her years at the cyber division actively avoiding
field work. There was just something about the rough nature of it that reminded her of all the times kids at school used to hit her. Or kick her. Trip her, and laugh. Reminded her of the reason she ran away. She shook her head suddenly, startled
by her own thoughts. She also hated flying. The loss of control over her own safety, she supposed, refusing to acknowledge any other reasons. Either way, her nerves were getting the best of her, so she leaned back against the seat, putting her
earbuds in and hoping music would help calm her down. She drummed her fingers over the rim of the drink holder and focused on taking deep breaths. A tap on the shoulder startled her and she looked up. Nelson stood next to her, holding out a glass
of water. "You okay?" He questioned, sliding into the seat next to her.

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine." She smiled weakly. He didn't look convinced, but let it slide. To avoid further conversation, Raven opened up her computer and began to read through the briefing on what they knew about the case so far.

The murder took place at around 2:30-3:30 AM, and the victim was 42 year old Jonathan Singer. His cause of death was multiple stab wounds to the chest and torso. The murder weapon was a sharp knife that had been found tangled in the bushes. The blade
was described as being "...so stained by blood that it looked like it was painted red." A witness, Maria Zepeda, stated that she saw a man running down the street wearing blood-stained clothes. This took place at about 3:10. There were no other
witnesses, and the street camera video had yet to be processed. There was no more information in the digital file. Raven closed the laptop, powering it off and leaning back in her seat as the plane took off. Beside her, Nelson was still reading.


Local law enforcement met them at the airport. The officer's name was Julia Dupree. Her face was set in a permanently stern expression, and she did not seem impressed by the cyber entourage. She greeted them briefly, shaking only Avery's hand and
nodding to acknowledge the others. "The Georgetown police department is glad to assist the cyber division in any way possible, however we want it known that Jonathon Singer's death will not have a normal investigation. He served not only his country,
but this city for his whole life. His murder is a matter of utmost importance and priority right now." They walked out of the building and into the police van. Avery turned to speak to Julia.

"We understand." Avery swallowed hard, thinking of DB's shooting. Then she turned to the rest of the team, "Krumitz, pull up the crime scene photos. Raven, find out everything you can from his social media. And Nelson, pull up Mr. Singer's military
history."

Julia looked startled. "The department is just a few minutes away, we can get all that information there."

"We understand, but we want to get up to speed as quickly as possible. Multiple stab wounds suggest that the killer had a personal connection to the victim, and the aggressive nature of the crime makes it seem likely that the killer thinks Mr. Singer
wronged him in the past, or did something to deserve his death, like a type of retribution. This target is probably panicking, and his unstable emotions and thought process could prompt him to kill again. We need to hit the ground running." Julia
nodded, appeased for the moment.

The Georgetown police department building was a dome shaped building, looming over its front yard, which appeared meager and small in comparison. The two front doors were white with the emboldened name "Georgetown" engraved in blue ink. It was surrounded
by a variety of symbols and signs, many that didn't seem to stand for anything related to law enforcement. Krumitz stared at the building in disdain, to him the structure and engravings seemed rather overzealous. Was all this decoration really
necessary?

Julia ushered them into a conference room, and began with the investigation with a quick briefing. "The reason Cyber was called in was due to the fact that a single photo was left on his phone, after being wiped. All of his other devices were stolen.
This is the photo." She turned on the projector and pulled up a slide. The photo was strange, it looked like a flower, but the petals looked like feathers, and they all varied slightly in color and shape.

"What does it mean?" Krumitz asked.

"That's what we're trying to figure out." Julia responded. Then she handed each of them a copy of the case file.

Raven opened it up and stared at the picture. She squinted, something wasn't right. Holding the picture up to the light, she pointed to one of the feathers. "Avery, can you zoom in?"

"Sure, what do you see?"

Raven walked up to the projector and traced the feather's tips until they came to an end at a point. "They look like feathers overall, but if you look closer, they're needles, that explains the metallic color." After she pointed them out, Nelson
and Krumitz discovered something else.

"These are arrows." Nelson said, pointing to another feather.

"This one is blood." Krumitz added, writing it on the board.

"The last one is bone." Raven finished, laying the file down on the table. Avery looked at the photo, with each of the feathers labeled with its material.

"Well, what does this mean?" Julia asked.

"It could be a symbol of some sort." Avery said. "But what does a flower with petals of feathers made up of bone, blood, needles, and arrows symbolize?"

Just then, Julia's phone rang, and she moved to pick it up. "Dupree." As she listened, her expression turned to one of confusion. "Thanks for the update Michael." She finished, hanging up. She turned to the rest of the team. "That was our M.E.,
the lab results just came in. He says there were two different people's blood at the crime scene."

Nelson raised his eyebrows, "Well what are we talking here, blood spatter or blood pool?"

"Blood pool," Julia said, "And the second person's blood was mixed in with the the second's, as though it had been dripped or poured in directly."

"Could it be a second victim?" Raven asked.

Julia sighed, "Maybe, but there wasn't enough blood for it to be fatal, so if there is a second victim, they would have to be held hostage or have been killed somewhere else."

Avery shook her head, looking at the crime scene photos on Nelson's tablet. "It's unlikely, there were hesitation marks all over the body, it shows the killer is most likely either inexperienced or remorseful. Most killers who fit that profile
don't take hostages or kill two people at the same time."

Raven broke in, zooming in on her tablet. "Guys, you've got to to see this." She pulled up a website. "I did an image search of the symbol through standard search engines, nothing came out. Then, I ran it through various part of the dark web,
I still only got one hit, but this is it." The website's home page showed a white background, with the photo plastered full screen across it. "No context, no explanation. Just the picture."

Avery paused, "Is there any way for you to get the location of the server?"

Raven shook her head, "Everything is encrypted. I could break the code, but it would take time."

"How much time?" "Maybe a couple hours. I have to run it through multiple programs, and selectively change the filtering mechanisms of all of them." She paused, her expression turning into one of confusion. "Wait, this is odd. The code changed.
It looks like somebody just updated the it, and now there is one decrypted segment. An IP address." She read it off to the rest of the team.

Krumitz looked up from his tablet, "It isn't routed through any proxies, and the location is..." He leaned forward. "A warehouse on the corner of Checker and Marks."

Avery hesitated, "It doesn't make sense that the target would release his own, real IP address. Also, since our killer seems to have either been inexperienced or remorseful, this doesn't sound like him. Whoever this is, their actions point
to them being assertive and confident. We may be looking at a partnership. Since our killer is remorseful or inexperienced, he is the submissive partner. This one," She said, pointed to the screen, "Is the dominant one. The timing is suspicious
though, right when Raven opened up the site, the IP address was decrypted. It is entirely possible this is a trap. We need to proceed with extreme caution." She nodded at Julia, "Let's go."