You are now Krista Summers.
"Please, let me go home." You whimper, your body aching from exhaustion and pain.
"Not until you agree to do me a little favor." The woman that has been keeping you hostage says, pressing the blade to your neck once again, just like she had done for what felt like forever.
"I can't do it unless y-you tell me what it is." You cry, a sharp tearing feeling passing through your body and sending you into a daze.
"Just say you'll do it." She say harshly, the knife digging deeper into your skin.
"Yes, I will, just please, please don't hurt me anymore." You scream, the pain bubbling in your feet, shooting all the way up to your brain, and filling in all the gaps in between.
"Good, now when I let you out of here, let's practice what you're going to say."
You are now Special Agent Natara Williams.
The sun streams into your apartment room two weeks later, lighting the bed where Oscar is sleeping, his face salt-stained and his eyes bloodshot. You quickly go to the bathroom and get ready, thinking about the day that you are going to have, between arguing your case to Captain, getting Mal back in your corner, and taking care of a devastated boyfriend.
Once finished in the bathroom, you slip back into the room and see that Oscar is sitting up, his eyes on a fixed point on the wall.
"Hey." You say tenderly, going over and sitting down next to him, taking one of his hands in your own.
"Hi." He mumbles back, still staring at the wall. Your gut tells you that you should try and get his attention, but the profiler in you tells you that you should let him grieve however he needs to.
"So, I was going to go into the precinct in a couple of minutes, but I can stay with you if you want." You offer, rubbing you hand along his forearm.
"No, no it's okay. I don't want to keep you from work." Oscar says, finally looking at you. You can see how haunted he looks, how much he is hurting, and you want to stay, you want to be there for him, but that isn't your decision to make.
"Okay." You say, leaning over to kiss his check, your lips brushing against his smooth, tanned skin. You stand and walk towards the door, picking up your jacket on the way. You are about to leave when you hear him start to speak again.
"I was eighteen when I got my girlfriend pregnant." Oscar begins. You sit back down and listen. "I hated it and I hated her for no good reason except that it could ruin my life. I told her that she could do whatever she wanted with the baby, but I wanted nothing to do with it, or with her. I hoped that she would just…get rid of it." His voice cracks and his eyes fall. "She had the baby though, and every year she would send me pictures, pictures of this beautiful little girl that blossomed into a young woman right in front of my eyes. Her eighteenth birthday just passed, and it made me realize how much time I was missing. I went over to her house, and I begged her to let me know her. She wanted nothing to do with me, but her mother, a woman who owed me absolutely nothing, convinced her to see me once a week for coffee. I realized that she was smart, and pretty and funny and the perfect daughter. And now two months later she's dead."
"I can stay Oscar, I swear." You say, feeling your heart break slightly over that story.
"No Natara, I need you to find who did this." He grabs your arm and holds on tight. "You need to find this sick bastard and make sure they pay." You pry your arm from his grasp and stand up.
"Okay Oscar, but if you need me, call me." You say, feeling silly for quoting an old Bob Marley song.
"Yeah, yeah." He says absent-mindedly, his eyes going back to the wall.
You are now Detective Mal Fallon.
You sit at your desk and look through the details of Melanie Santos's murder, going through anything that could help bring Melanie her justice.
"Mal." You look up and see Ken standing in front of you, arms folded.
"What?" You answer, returning back to your reading.
"Captain Yeong said I'm gonna help you with the Santos case. "
"Thank God, I'm not seeing why this girl was killed." You run your hands through your hair and hand Ken the sheets on Melanie Santos. "I stayed up all night trying to do that thing Natara does, you know, see connections and everything, but I'm drawing a blank."
"Do you think that that has something to do with what happened with Natara yesterday?" Ken asked. You look at him and blow at a stream of air.
"If she wants Oscar, she can have him, I have a murder to solve." Your stomach twists in a knot at the thought of Natara and Oscar together.
"Well, what do we know about her?" Ken sits at the edge of your desk.
"She was a half latino, half caucasian female, late teens, just graduated high school. Everyone apparently loved her, she was popular and good at every sport, club and activity in the world. Why would somebody want to kill her?" You want to yank out your hair you're so frustrated.
"Two months before her death, her father reached out and became apart of her life. He's the assistant distract attorney, this can't be a coincidence." Natara steps up behind you and sits down on the edge of your chair, her thigh brushing against your forearm. She nods to Ken before continuing. "Maybe, someone who wanted to get back at her dad figured that the best way to hurt him was to go for her."
"You're not on this case Natara." You say, glancing at the Captain's door.
"Mal, do you think you can stop me?" She tries to joke, but you look away, remembering how she has turned away from you, chosen Oscar instead.
"Natara, go home. Be with your boyfriend or something." You say gruffly, standing up and walking away.
"Mal." She calls after you, making you stop. "You aren't still mad at me about what I said yesterday, are you?" She asks, her expression worried. "I wasn't thinking straight, I'm sorry."
"I'm over it Natara, I swear." You lie. "But if Captain sees you anywhere near this case, you're toast."
"Mal, I need to solve this for him. Please." She looks at you with those big brown eyes, and you want so badly to grab her arms, to feel those perfect pink lips underneath your own, and say the words that have been swiveling around in your head; I love you. "Please, Mal." She pleads with you again and you can feel your resolve weakening. Finally, you sigh.
"Fine."You whisper, turning around and striding to Maria's office, Natara following quickly on your heels. You throw the doors open and walk straight up to her desk, preparing yourself to fight. "Captain, I think that Natara should be in the case with me and Ken, so reinstate her." Maria turns to you and her eyebrow raises.
"And why should I do that?" She asks, folding her arms over her chest.
"Because if you don't, I'm off this case, Ken is off this case, and I will make sure that no detective goes anywhere near it." You ready yourself for the hell about to rain down on you. Maria's face darkens but she takes a deep breath and smiles.
"Why, Detective, very good negotiation skills." She sits and contemplates what you have just said. "Fine Natara, you can work on the Santos case."
"What?" You both cry, turning to each other and than back to Maria.
"I saw you out there Detective Fallon, you had no idea what you wee doing, and then Natara strolls in and we have a theory." Maria shrugs. " But let me make something perfectly clear. If this isn't solved quickly and quietly, I will have both of your badges as fast as you can say fired." She looks down and begins shuffling through paper work. "And another thing, if either of you step out of line again, you do not want to know what I will do." Finally she dismisses you.
You walk out of the office, your brain trying to comprehend what has just happened, while Natara grins at you.
"Wow Mal, that was really great." She says finally.
"Yeah, I guess." You say, "Just make sure that I didn't do that and almost get myself fired for no reason okay?"
"Okay." She reaches up wraps her arms around your neck, pressing her body against yours and spreading a comfortable warmth all over your skin. She lets go, but your arms are still around her waist, holding her close. You reach up and brush a strand of hair from her face, your palm cupping her soft cheek. She bites her lower lip and looks down.
"Sorry." You say, not letting go, not even knowing what your apologizing for. She looks back up at you, leaning in closer, her heart beating faster underneath her blouse.
"Mal, I-" She begins, but then you hear a cough from behind you.
You are Detective Ken Greene.
You scan through the papers about the Santos case while Mal and Natara go head to head with Captain.
"Why did somebody kill you?" You ask the picture of the beautiful teenage girl, smiling back at you. You look through again and suddenly, something catches your eye. You read about an investigation into a call girl ring centered in Middleton Ridge High School. Melanie had been in the heart of the investigation, along with her friends Krista Summers, Lauren Grangers and Ginny Lorain. The case had been dropped and the girls had been cooperative. It had happened so quickly, and didn't seem significant enough to even get into, which was probably why Mal overlooked it, that and sleep deprivation. Maybe this has something to do with why she died, you think to yourself. You go looking for Mal and Natara, hoping that you really are onto something. As you round the corner though, you see something that you never expected. Mal is holding Natara close, and they are looking into each others eyes in a way that you can only associate with one thing, love. You clear your throat and walk up to them, ruining the silent moment passing between them. You love Mal and Natara, but Oscar just lost his daughter and he needs someone who cares about him right now.
"Hey guys, what's going on?" You ask. Mal and Natara jump apart, a blush creeping up both their necks. Mal glares at you and shoot him back the same look.
"Umm, Ken, this isn't what it looks like." Natara says, flustered. She takes several steps away from Mal and looks down.
"Not what I wanted to talk to you guys about." You say. "Check out what I found." You hand Mal the papers, which he takes grudgingly. "Melanie was involved in an investigation at her school, along with three of her friends. The investigating officers believed that they were part of a call girl ring, but the case was dropped after about a week or two of questioning." As you talk, Natara takes the papers from Mal's hands and begins reading.
"So you don't think that Melanie's murder had anything to do with her father?" Mal asks. Suddenly Natara looks up, her face stricken.
"No, Ken thinks that Melanie was a prostitute."
You are now Krista Summers.
You limp into your bedroom where your best friends Lauren Grangers and Ginny Lorain are waiting for you. They jump up and gather you in their arms, sending a sharp pain through your body.
"Krista, we were so worried." Lauren yelps, tears leaking from her eyes.
"Get off." You bark. You had endured the questions and tears from your parents and little brother, but you couldn't do it with these girls. They let go of you and help you to your bed.
"Sorry for being worried about the girl that was M.I.A for two weeks." Ginny said, folding her arms.
"This isn't the time for tearful hellos." You growl. "Somebody knows about what we've been doing. They killed Melanie, and their coming for us."
