Ghosts
Disclaimer: I don't own Valentine or Backstrom.
"The people you love become ghosts inside of you, and like this you keep them alive." – Rob Montgomery
There is a ghost that sits on the edge of Peter Niedermeyer's desk. This is not surprising. Everyone has ghosts. Paquet accepts this as a fact of life. Most of the time, the ghosts are harmless. Shades of people long dead standing in silent vigil, until at last the person who called them is able to let go. Once that happens the ghosts simply disappear, fading into nothingness. Paquet has seen it happens, dozens, maybe even hundreds of times.
Paquet cannot even remember when she first started to see the ghosts. As long as she can remember they've been there, ever standing their silent vigil. Most people can't see them. She's known that ever since she was seven and she asked her mother who the old man who followed her around was. Her mother had been so shocked by the question that she dropped the glass pan she had been holding and it shattered all over the floor. When she got older Paquet researched the phenomena and discovered that many people could see ghosts when they were children, but the ability faded as they got older. For Paquet it never did.
Some people have a lot of ghosts. Backstrom has so many that it can be difficult for Paquet to look at him for any length of time. His ghosts were why Paquet knows that he's lying when he claims not to care. She had no way of checking, but she's willing to bet that she there's one ghost for every victim he's ever had to investigate the death of. None of them show any signs of ever fading.
Niedermeyer only has the one. But she is the strongest, most concrete, ghost Paquet has ever seen.
AN: This was originally intended to be a oneshot. Then I started writing it. It's a lot longer than I expected, and it just didn't flow as a oneshot. So multi chaptered story here I come.