A/N: It is very frustrating when people put my stories in their alerts, or even their favorites, but don't bother to review. I would like to know why you want to know when the next chapter's up. I would love to know why the story is one of your favorites. Even a few kind words, no matter who they come from, can fill my heart with joy and brighten my day. And a lot of people check the reviews a story has gotten before reading it. Please, do the right thing and review. It is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Oh, and in case no one has noticed yet, let me point out a few details of this story. Mitch "Monkey" McClurg in chpater one was in the AcceleRacers series; I put him in my continuity as a nod to what came before the BF5. And Deputy Cash was first mentioned in "Missing Mom," a story I wrote about Vert's mother being in an insane asylum.


There was definitely something wrong with Spinner. He had been acting weird since breakfast, and Zoom had heard it whispered that he had even dissed his brother the night before. It was weird to think of the spindly geek as aggressive and mean. Most would chalk it up to nervousness, what with Spinner being a suspect in such a serious crime, but Zoom could not shake the feeling that something more sinister was behind the gamer's misery.

Which was why, about an hour or so after the team had returned from the Flytrap Zone and Zoom spotted the elder Cortez, the Muy Thai warrior followed along. Spinner was walking out of the garage in his civilian clothes when he felt Zoom's hand on his shoulder, and he jumped and squealed like a stuck pig.

"Hey, hey, you're all right," Zoom soothed. "Where you off to, Spin?"

Spinner sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed by how easily startled he was. "I gotta relax, man. I was headed off to Dragon's Wing Gaming."

"Need a ride?"

"No, I'll be fine!"

"You sure? It's already dark out, and whoever hurt Lloyd Carter is still out there."

The gamer broke out in goose bumps and a cold sweat, and an image of the deputy's grandfatherly smile flashed in his mind. "Well…since you offered…"

It was an awkward ride. Spinner really hated not having his own vehicle sometimes. Yes, he and Sherman were nigh inseparable, but it made him feel so dependent. He was not, by far, the youngest member of the team. He was older than Sherman by three hours and older than Zoom by two years. Everyone felt like he needed to be protected, and the worst part was, they were right. He felt like a defenseless child, pathetic and wretched. He just wanted to get away.

At the intersection of Totem Avenue and Center Road, Spinner hastily climbed off the bike and mumbled his thanks. But Zoom stopped him, grabbing his arm before he could disappear into the shop.

"Hey, could I just say something?" When Spinner did not answer, he continued. "Don't listen to Tezz. He's been on a moon for ten years. He has no idea how people act."

"But what he said—"

"What he said doesn't matter, Spin. I know—hell, the whole team knows you would never hurt a human being."

"Tell that to Sherman," the gamer said, rolling his eyes. "You know what he asked me earlier? If it was me. Can you believe that shit? He actually thinks I'm guilty."

"And I know you're not. I also know you would never lie about something this big." Zoom frowned, gently taking Spinner's wrist and tracing the bruises. "Dude, if you come forward, you'll have the whole team backing you up. The BF5 looks out for its own."

"I don't need you to protect me!" Spinner snapped, snatching his hand away and storming into the shop. Zoom rode away, confused and dismayed, but Spinner did not care.

The colors, the smells, and the general ambiance of the shop cooled Spinner's anger. These were his people. Here he could be anybody and do anything. He could live another life in a game of D&D or Call of Cthulhu, or he could practice strategy with something soothingly tedious like Magic the Gathering or even Yu-Gi-Oh! As soon as Spinner—no, as soon as TijuanaGenius crossed the threshold, the outside world and all its problems ceased to be, and the elder Cortez felt like he just might possibly be happy again. Someday. Maybe.

"Spinner! Hey, Spinner, right?"

The gamer looked around in confusion until he spotted the girl from Sunday's game session, a petite brunette in a pink vest. "Oh, hey, Kitty."

Though they barely knew each other, she gave him a giant smile and a quick hug—members of the geek community were typically starved for affection and a tad overly friendly as a result—and lead him to a quiet corner. "Are you okay?" she asked, whispering her question. "I heard about the investigation."

"You and everybody else," he replied, facepalming.

"News travels fast in a small town. Would you drop that scowl? It makes you look mean and suspicious."

"Is this better?" he asked sarcastically, crossing his eyes and sticking out his tongue.

"Be serious, Spinner. You being innocent won't keep Sheriff Johnson from railroading you. Justice and the law aren't mutually exclusive, if you know what I mean."

Spinner regarded her carefully. "Even my brother's ready to throw the book at me. How'd you know I was innocent?"

"You don't have it in you to commit serious violence," she said, dismissively waving her hand.

"But I never said I was innocent."

"You don't have to. I know it wasn't you. But you still need all the help you can get." There was a steely glint in her blue eyes that made Spinner wonder as she placed a card in his hands. "Call this number first thing tomorrow. Tell them Kitty says it's priority."

Spinner examined the business card. "'Miriam Guildenstern, Attorney at Law.' Relative of yours?"

"My mother. She can talk her way out of anything. Your case will be in good hands."

"Kitty—"

She raised her hands in protest. "Hey I know you're innocent, and you know you're innocent, but this whole mess reeks of a frame job. Sheriff Johnson's wife is the prosecutor, his mother is the local judge, and elections are coming up. People are gonna want a quick conviction, and you're the only guy they're looking at. I hate to break it to you, Spin, but those are lousy odds."

Spinner stared into space for a while, contemplating her statement. This whole time he had been trying to come up with a way to forget about what Deputy Cash had done to him, and still he had completely forgotten the possibility he would be imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. Come to think of it, Sheriff Johnson was pretty hardcore when it came to upholding the law and was not an ostensibly reasonable man. He was overzealous, and if no other suspects arose, the trial could be rushed through and Spinner falsely convicted. And a cute little guy like him would be ripped apart in prison.

"Hey, maybe you should sit down. You look really pale." Spinner obediently followed the deeply concerned gamer girl to a semi-occupied table. "There we go, nice and easy. Why don't we join in on this nice, relaxing game of Munchkin?"


Vert turned his wrench, wanting to get some work done. But his heart just was not in it. He was tired, he missed his parents, and the war had no end in sight. There were days when his sense of duty were all that kept him from throwing in the towel. At least, in the beginning that had been it.

When he visited his mother in Brush Hollow for the first time in two years, she had asked him about a girlfriend. His first thought had been Agura, and for a few minutes the shock had turned him into a blushing schoolboy. He knew he had…those kinds of feelings for Agura for quite a while. She was strong and confident, and always looking out for her friends. And that heavenly body of hers—woof! But up until recently, he had hoped it was merely a crush he would be able to overcome. Yet here it was, plain as day; he was head over heels in love with her.

But they were in the middle of a freaking war! This was no time for romance! And no gentleman commander should presume to court his lady lieutenant! He would not want people to think she was coerced because he was her boss. He certainly would not want her to feel that way. But if he waited until the end of the war to do anything about his feelings, she might not be there anymore. There was always the chance of losing someone on a mission, a thought that made him tremble with dread. And of course, Agura might love someone else. There were so many things that could go wrong!

The blonde could have pondered this issue forever and a day, but his angst was interrupted by his favorite and only scout, fast approaching on his motorcycle.

"Hey, Zoom!" he cheerfully greeted, welcoming the distraction. "What are you up to? Where ya been?"

"Just giving Spinner a ride someplace," he said. "Crazy what's going on with that Lloyd Carter thing, right? I mean, he wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"Yeah, it's pretty nuts. And really, it could've been anybody that did it. I'm not saying he got what he deserved, but I'm sure a few people think so. I went to school with Lloyd Carter, and he's a major douchebag. There'd be folks lined up around the block to take a swing at him. Spinner was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Zoom hesitated a moment. "Vert…Spinner, um, he seemed pretty rattled when he got back from the station. He just ran past everybody. And then today I asked him about it, and he said they got rough with him when he was being questioned."

"Sheriff Johnson?" Vert asked incredulously. "No way. He can be a jerk, but he's just doing his job. He's way too serious about upholding the law to ever go that far."

"No, not the sheriff. Spinner said it was some guy called Deputy Cash."

Vert grimaced. This was not news he wanted to hear.

When Jack Wheeler had disappeared, and Vert was scared and lonely, Roy Cash had been there for him, an adult he could trust and talk to. He was always there with a smile, the pleasant contrast to the sheriff's grim demeanor. He was active in the community, not just as an officer of the law, but as the coach of their little league team, the Handler Jackalopes. But people talked. A small number of townsfolk whispered that he was not all he seemed. Vert's mother had even shouted as much during her psychotic breakdown. Vert narrowed his eyes, deliberating over his mother's insane ramblings and years of town gossip. Yes, Janet Wheeler had accused Cash of murder and pedophilia, but no charges had ever been filed. And once Janet had been put away, the doubt faded, and Cash was considered an upstanding citizen again.

"Vert?"

"There were…rumors, a few years back," he finally relented, choosing his next words very carefully. "That Deputy Cash had maybe…hurt one of the boys on the baseball team he coached. I don't know all the details, but nothing was ever proven."

Zoom frowned, pondering. "Hurt how?"

Vert rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding Zoom's gaze. His silence was all the answer the scout needed. Zoom's eyes grew wide as a myriad of terrible possibilities filled his mind.

"I fucking knew it!" Zoom exclaimed. "Spin was totally freaked! There was no way he was lying! That bastard crooked cop must've done something to him!"

"We don't know that."

"Vert, you didn't see the look on his face."

"The accusations got hushed up last time," Vert warned. "The woman who implicated him was committed to a mental institution, so no one took her seriously. But, if she was right…"

"Then he could have been doing this for years and used his position to get her locked up! Corruption in Handler's Corners! Shit!"

Zoom and Spinner did not always get along, but the scout felt sympathetic to his plight. The scout could not entirely remember what happened after he was abducted by AJ's evil alternate universe counterpart, and he hoped it stayed that way. The last thing he remembered before waking up in the memory chair was being lugged over Dark AJ's shoulder like a damsel in distress and carried down an ominously dark hallway. But sometimes, he would see a dental pick or a garden weasel, and he would get these little…flashes: a laugh, or a smile, or the whir of a drill. Those images, those sounds, would haunt him. He would relive the same moment over and over again, unable to shake them no matter how he tried, until some outside action distracted him. Sherman had told him it was some post-traumatic stress thing, but Zoom just tried not to think about it. To see Spinner with that same look in his eyes, like he was stuck in his own head reliving the worst moment in eternity, was all it took for Zoom to know something was wrong.

"He looked so scared, Vert. He keeps flipping out whenever anybody touches him."

"We'll talk to him together when he gets back," the blonde confirmed. "And Zoom?"

"Yeah?"

"You did the right thing coming to me. We'll make sure Spin's okay."

Zoom hoped his leader was right.