"Stop making those eyes at me." Lydia Evans says as she sits across from Jack, "I'm not losing my mind."

Jack nods slowly, opening a few folders absentmindedly, "Contaminating a crime scene isn't like you."

"Really? It isn't? I tend to do that in my free time." Lydia rolls her eyes, leaning back in the large black chair, "Go ahead, criticize me. Tell me I'm beginning to act like Will Graham. He doesn't usually contaminate crime scenes either, does he? I told you I wasn't cut out for this."

Jack takes a drink out of his coffee mug, "No one is. No one is ever cut out for staring at dead bodies, but it pays. That's why people do it. They do it for the money, not because they enjoy staring at the bodies. So suck it up."

Lydia blinks hard, remembering the blood soaking through her shirt - how fiercely she scrubbed her skin the minute she got into the shower. "The man, that murderer, he was an ex FBI agent. The kid - the young man, his father knew him."

Jack grabs his phone, mouthing a few words into the phone that she can hardly hear. He hangs it up so aggressively she jumps, "You say you weren't cut out for this. You're not cut out for saving lives? That young man is going to have justice now, thanks to you."

Lydia nods, standing up abruptly, feeling the need to vomit and take another shower. "I have to go."

Jack eyes her, tilting his head to the side, "Are you okay?"

Lydia nods quickly, swallowing hard, "Yes, yes I'm fine. I just, need some air." She just about runs out of the room, grabbing her leather jacket hanging over the chair. She dashes into the hallway, taking a deep breath. She grabs the back of her shirt, feeling that it's wet. She lets her fingers fall back to her face and sees that they are covered in blood. She shrieks, the people in the hallway stare at her.

Lydia dashes off in the other direction, as far from their stares as possible. They can see the blood too.

She rounds a corner and crashes into Will Graham, her eyes are wild and panicked, he looks confused.

"Lydia?"

She stands up abruptly, "I-I have to go." She stutters, trying to shove past him.

"Wait wait - are you okay?" Will grabs her firmly by the arm, "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

Lydia shakes her head wildly, "Please, just let me go Will I have to-"

"You have to go, I gathered that." Will looks at her, concern lining his eyes, "Lydia, tell me, are you actually okay?"

Lydia shakes her head again, "I-I have to go, it's all over me. Please let me go, please." She's begging him now, tears are threatening the edge of her eyes.

"What's all over you?" Will asks, taking her by the arm and leading her into an isolated classroom, "Lydia, tell me what's going on."

Lydia is staring down at her feet, shaking her head wildly. Will has his hands on her shoulders, "I-I feel crazy, Will. Jack is right, I might be losing my mind, oh god." She whimpers and he pulls her into him, her head on his chest. Her eyes clamped shut. "Just tell me his blood isn't on my shirt."

Will freezes up for a second, "You're hallucinating about him."

Lydia lets her hands clutch around him, "I-It feels so real, I need to go home, I need to-"

"Scrub your skin raw? Cry? Don't let him get into your head." Will releases her, letting his palms rest on her cheeks, "You'll get through this, you're strong. There is no blood on your back, your name is Lydia Evans, it is.." Will checks his watch, "6:57 PM, and there is no blood on your back."

Lydia reaches back, feeling her back, only to feel it dry, she lets her hand fall back to her face. She sees no blood. "How do you do that?" She whispers, "Make them go away? Can you do that too?"

"Unfortunately, I can't do that for myself."

"I-I'm sorry." Lydia stutters when she realizes how intimate the two are, taking a quick step back, "You must think I'm crazy now."

"You're a large fan of 'must' aren't you? Did you ever think, I don't find you crazy at all? I find you to be the most intriguing human being I've ever met."

Lydia's face flushes a bright red. "I can't be that interesting. I just hallucinate and have visions about talking to dead people." She adds a dry insincere laugh.

Lydia wakes up to the constant ringing of her phone. She waits for it to stop, but it keeps going. She finally grabs it hastily, waking up her cat, Wilson, in the process, who gives a soft meow of protest.

"What?" She shouts into the phone, her voice groggy and cracked. "It's the middle of the fucking night!"

"L-Lydia, is this you?"

Lydia sits up right in her bed, "Will?" She asks.

"I need you to come over right now - please, I-I need your help. I don't know I just-"

"Will are you okay? Are you in danger or something, where are you?"

"I'm at my house, I just, I need you here." Will sounds frantic and terrified, "I'll text you my address, just.. please." The please is desperate and sounds close to a cry, right when Lydia is ready to retort, Will hangs up the phone.

Lydia bolts out of her bed, putting her hair in a lose bun and putting on a loose fitting sweater that reveals one of her shoulders. She finds a pair of jeans and steps into a pair of black boots. She grabs her keys and pops a piece of gum in her mouth.

She hurriedly types in Will's address into her GPS. After a few seconds, her GPS beeps, signalling it's ready to get driving. She weaves through the dark city, some lights in apartments flicker off. She soon drives out of the city, into the country.

"Great, he sent me to the middle of no where." She grumbles, speeding up a little bit. Uneasy.

Finally, she jerks her car to the right in front of a dark house. She pulls herself out of the car, charging up the steps, she aggressively bangs on the door. Checking her phone to see that he's left her frantic voice messages.

"Lydia, oh my god, please, hurry, they're coming for me - Hobbs, oh god no. Did I kill them? Did I? What is going on, oh god."

Lydia bangs on the door more aggressively. She grabs her phone and dials his number, "Come on, come on." She's growling. When he doesn't pick up, she settles for banging on the door again, causing his dogs to begin howling and barking.

Will finally answers the door, in his boxers and a white sweat soaked t-shirt.

"What are you doing here?" He grumbles, wiping his eyes.

"Are you kidding?" Lydia asks, her eyes wide, "You called me over five times begging me to come over. Not to mention the voice messages..."

Will looks confused, "I didn't call you."

"Yes, yes you did." Lydia pauses for a few moments, "You lost time again. You were.. dream dialing?"

Will leans against the side of the door frame, "It's freezing, I can't believe you even bothered to come out here. Here, come inside, have a cup of hot cocoa. Too cold to be out here this time of night." He steps aside, letting her in.

Lydia steps inside the house, immediately being greeted by his dogs, she pets them, "Aren't you all cuties?" She coos, petting them. "You don't remember calling me?"

"I don't even remember grabbing my phone, definitely not pressing buttons either." Will sighs, putting a kettle on the stove top. "These voice messages, can I listen to them?"

"Yeah, of course." Lydia fishes her phone out of her pocket, getting to her voicemails, she hands the phone to Will. He sits on the couch, and she sits on the love seat across from him. His face falls, sighing as he goes through the voice mails.

"This is just scary." He says as he hands her phone back to her.

"You're telling me. It's 1:19 in the morning and I'm sitting in your living room out in the middle of no where. Lets talk about scary." She dryly laughs, putting her phone in her back pocket. "Do you want me to stay?"

The kettle starts to scream then. Will gets up immediately, turning off the stove and grabbing two cups. He pours burning hot water into each, then he grabs two small packets of cocoa mix. He sets the kettle in the sink, quickly beginning to stir the two cups. He comes back into the living room, handing one to her.

"If you want to, you can." Will says, taking a sip of his hot cocoa, "I probably won't be sleeping again tonight."

"You should try, so I can knock you out if you start sleep dialing me again."

Will gives her a little smile, "Lets hope it doesn't come to that."

Lydia takes a sip of her hot cocoa, it scorches her tongue, but it feels warm travelling down her throat. She cups her hands around the searing cup, "It's one thing to hear about losing time, it's another thing to actually lose it, isn't it?"

Will nods slowly, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Terrifying, absolutely terrifying. I hope I'm not losing time right now, I would hate to forget that you drove out in the middle of the night to.. coddle me."

Lydia gives him a little smile, "Next time we have to do this, try middle of the day. You'll get a much peppier version of me then."

y'all know the drill, review, fave, and follow - makes my day! Enjoy!

xxx