"Mama! Mama!" my baby came barreling into my office on a rainy Saturday afternoon.
"Jesus, L," I settled him, "What? What is it?"
"I heard a murder!" he sang, "There was a murder on the police scanner! You promised me a crime scene if I was pleasant with Ray. I was a delight. Come on! Let's go!"
"Alright, L," I settled him while he pulled on my sweater sleeve. I had all intentions of getting a few panels of the newest comic done, but I did promise him, "Alright. We can go. But first, you need to get your jacket and put your shoes on, ok?"
"Ok!" I've never seen L run so fast. His excitement was intoxicating. I guess I had to come through on that promise. Damn L's incredible memory. I thought that after a few months, this would've slipped his mind. So much for that idea.
When we got to the crime scene, my mothering instinct told me to cover L's eyes, but I knew he could handle it. This was his bread and butter. He ate this kind of thing up. As we got closer and closer to the police tape, pushing our way through the crowd, a familiar face appeared amongst all the other officers. I walked up behind him and slipped my hands in his pockets, "You think we could call this a date?"
"Hey, honey," Ray wrapped his arms around me, "You really shouldn't be here."
"I come to visit you at work and this is the thanks I get?" I teased, "Love you, too, Ray."
"This is a fresh murder scene," he pointed out, "You don't need to see this."
"I had to," I shrugged, "I made a promise to…"
I looked down at my hip and realized something was missing. Or someone, as the case may be. I turn my back for a few minutes and this is what happens. Fantastic. Now, only one question burned in my mind. Where in the hell did L go?
"Are you ok?" Ray worried, "What's wrong?"
"He was right here," I scanned the crowd, "L!"
"Hey, kid!" one of the officers called out, "This is a crime scene! You can't be here!"
"I know what you're looking for, Officer."
Found him. Ray and I ran to the altercation, "L, what are you doing?"
"I got it, Mama," he had such a fire in his eyes. One he only got when he was onto something.
"Go ahead, L," Ray allowed, "What do you got?"
"You can't be serious, Ray," the officer gave him a look.
"I'm dead serious," he assured, "Now, what are we looking for, L?"
"But he's just a…"
"He's also a genius," Ray stood up for him, "Anymore out of you and you're going in for interfering with an investigation. Go on, kiddo. What's up?"
"Tall, heavy set," L deduced, "Smoker."
"How do you know he was a smoker?" I wondered.
"The smell was on the victim's shirt."
"Wait a minute," Ray thought it over, "When did you get to the body?"
"Ten minutes ago," L brushed him off, "You were busy hitting on my mother."
"L!" I scolded him.
"His footprints gave everything else away," he was too in the zone. Yelling at him was just going to fall on deaf ears, "Did the victim have any enemies? Old flames? Business partners?"
"That's classified information," Ray told, "Sorry, L. But your input was very appreciated."
"I'm so proud of you, baby," I held my son against my hip. My little genius. My own little Sherlock. To think, the little boy on the sidewalk would turn out to be so clever.
"Mama…" L rubbed his eyes, "Can we go get ice cream?"
"Sure," I wasn't going to say no. He just aided a police investigation. I'd say he earned it. And the best part? Ray's understanding he's special. L's brilliant, not a burden. He could very well be the one on that principle alone. We had only been together for a few months, but it was starting to look awfully promising.
Later that night, a loud banging at the door woke me up. Who the hell would be on my door at three o'clock in the morning? I threw my robe on and headed for the door. The red and blue lights bouncing around my living room made my stomach drop. Oh, god…Something happened to Ray. The only think I could think of. It always made me nervous when he was working on a case like this. It put a target on his back.
Once I opened the door, my anxieties were eased, "Ray? What are you doing here? What's going on?"
"Where's your computer?" he asked, skipping all pleasantries.
"My office," I directed him, "Why?"
"Stand down, boys. If I need back up, I'll yell," Ray called the other officers off, "We had a security breach at the station. When we traced the IP address, your computer was the one hacking our systems."
"Someone must have broken in then," I figured, "I have no idea how to hack anything and I put L to bed hours ago."
"You might want to stay back," he advised, "We don't know if whoever broke in is dangerous or not. I don't want you getting hurt."
"We'll be fine," I assured, taking him to my office. Only to find my sweet little boy at my desk, the keyboard clacking away, "L?"
"Hi, Mama," his eyes didn't even break away from the screen.
"L, what are you doing?" Ray asked.
"I couldn't sleep," L said, pressing on.
"You do realize that hacking is illegal, right?" I hoped I had raised him better.
L stayed quiet, completely aware that what he did was wrong. I wasn't surprised he knew how to hack, but the fact that he hacked into the most secure and sensitive files worried me. I'm sure L wouldn't ever do it, but I'm sure someone would pay top dollar to have someone with his skills on their side.
"Come on, L," Ray pulled the chair out, "We have to go."
"Ray, no," I knew what he was doing, "He's just a kid. You can't arrest him."
"No one at the station's going to believe me," he said, "If I go back and tell them a kid hacked our system, I'd get evaluated for that. Not without him with me. But he did, technically, break the law. We'll go easy on him."
"Promise?" my voice broke.
"I promise," Ray kissed my forehead.
"Was I right?" L jumped down from the chair, "My description?"
"We have a list of suspects," Ray told him, "But you already knew that, didn't you?"
"Yes," L nodded, "But I haven't seen it yet. Will you show me?"
"Come on," Ray grabbed the door, "I have to take you to the station anyway."
"Ok."
As I watched my little angel get ushered into the back of a cop car, Ray pulled me tight against his chest, "I want you to go back inside and get some sleep, ok? I promise he's in good hands."
"Ok," I turned around and went back into my apartment to pace the floor. There was no way in hell I was going to go back to sleep after that. Dammit, L. I know you're smart, baby, but sometimes, you're too smart for your own good. I couldn't believe he hacked into police files. Collapsing under pure stress and exhaustion, I crashed on the couch.
The next morning, I felt a warm hand on my shoulder and a warmer voice in my ear, "Hey…Wake up, sweetheart."
"Ray?" I jumped, "Where's L?"
"He's fine," he settled me, joining me on the couch, "He's in bed. L put in a long night last night. I'd let him sleep for a while."
"What happened?" I rubbed my eyes, curling into his lap.
"He barely got a slap on the wrist."
"What?" I sat up in sheer disbelief, "How?"
"He helped us," Ray filled me in, "We got our guy. I don't think we could've done it without L. The kid's got one hell of a future in law enforcement. He's a genius."
"Savant from what I've been told," I corrected.
"But he's home safe and sound," he reassured, "Go back to sleep. You've probably had a rough night, too."
"Thank you, Ray," my voice shook, "Thank you so much."
"No problem," Ray grabbed the quilt off the recliner and covered me up, "Sleep. I'll call to check in later."
"Ok," I made myself comfortable and waited until he left to get back up. There was only one place I was going to be able to sleep right now. I poked my head in L's room and found him sleeping soundly. I'm sure he did put in a hard, long night. As soon as my body hit the mattress, L cuddled into my hip. Yeah. Everything was good again. And I couldn't be prouder of you, baby. But you scared the hell out of me. As long as you came home in one piece. That's all that matters.
A/N: I can definitely get behind the idea the L is too smart for his own good. And you know he'd try something like that. And be all passive about it. Because he's just…He's too much. I can't with him. So, I'll see you next chapter! xx