DISCLAIMER: I do not own Heavy Rain or any of its characters.

Five Little Figures
Chapter 14: Rock Bottom

Jayden's Hotel Room

Thursday
4:30pm
3.672 inches

There were no further questions asked from the police department after Blake had called in the death of Brad Silver. After making the incident report, the two law enforcement agents quietly slipped away from the scene and returned to Jayden's hotel room. The agent collapsed on the bed while Blake headed into the bathroom to gather materials to clean up Jayden's face from the dried up blood staining his nose and upper lip.

"So," Blake started to say.

He poured some hydrogen peroxide on a cotton ball and handed it to Jayden. The agent hissed as the cold peroxide fizzed against his skin.

"What was that all about?" the detective continued.

"What was what all about?" Jayden tried to avoid the conversation.

I really don't want to have to deal with this, especially not with Blake. Great, I really do sound like a junkie.

"Don't play dumb with me, Norman," Blake grumbled. "You weren't pretending to have a withdrawal episode at the apartment; you were actively withdrawing. What I don't know is what you're withdrawing from."

Jayden closed his eyes and sighed. Well, here goes nothing. Blake'll probably turn me in for my addiction and then I'll get thrown off this case and likely thrown out of the FBI. Goodbye, future. Hello, misery.

"It's...called Triptocaine. Tripto for short," Jayden's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Say what?" Blake questioned. "Triptocaine?"

"Yeah, Tripto."

The detective motioned for him to continue speaking. Jayden tossed out the bloodied cotton ball in the nearby garbage can before accepting a fresh one from Blake to finish cleaning himself off.

"It was a part of the ARI experiment."

"ARI? You mean those fancy goggles you were wearing?"

"ARI stands for Added Reality Interface. It's an experimental evidence detecting system that only a select few in the FBI have been privileged to use. It's a prototype so there are obvious flaws." "What kind of flaws?" Blake asked.

"There's no definitive list yet," Jayden let out a soft chuckle. "I guess you could say I'm an ARI guinea pig." "What have you experienced?"

"One of the things the development team wanted to know was how much time could be spent in the ARI system without experiencing any effects. I was interested in that too since sometimes, depending on the case, you may need to pour over case files and evidence for hours on end. I spent quite a few hours playing around with ARI during another case and when I started bleeding from my eyes. Not to mention that it comes with a bitch of a headache afterward."

"And that's where the Tripto comes in."

"Yeah. The lab developed the Triptocaine as a way to combat any possible side effects of ARI overuse. It clears up just about any of the side effects I've experienced, including dependence and hallucinations," Jayden put his head in his hands. "I've never taken drugs before, you know, except for the odd painkiller here or there. I didn't know what it was like. At first, I used the Tripto only to relieve the symptoms from ARI. It relieved it and more. The euphoria, the clarity, it became addicting. I found myself using it more and more and, before I knew it…"

He couldn't bring himself to say it out loud. He couldn't admit the truth that was so obviously right in front of him.

"Before you knew it, you were a junkie," Blake finished his thought.

"Junkie...it sounds like curse word; I hate even just hearing the word."

"Yeah, it's not easy."

Jayden lifted his head from his hands to look at Blake. He said nothing, despite desperately wanting to question the detective on his response, not wanting to push the man too hard and have him put up his walls again.

Blake got up from the bed and crossed the room. He stood near the window, his back to Jayden.

"Remember what I said earlier about how the first time you shoot someone it's not the easiest thing to digest?"

"Yes, I remember," Jayden confirmed.

"I had only been on the force for a few months when it happened. I was just like you, Jayden, a dreamy-eyed kid who was straight-laced and poised to fly through the ranks," Blake said. "It was a kill-or-be-killed situation. It all happened like it was in slow motion. I remember pulling him pulling the trigger. I remember the bullet barely missing me as I hurled myself out of the way. I remember pointing my gun at the suspect. I remember pulling the trigger...the rest is a blur."

"It was in the line of duty, Blake. The situation demanded it. You did what you had to do."

"Sure, but as a young rookie, it destroyed my world. I started...drinking...to forget."

"Do you...still drink?"

"Not like I used to. I realized what was happening and stopped before it got too bad. Now I know my limits and am damn sure not to drink too much."

That's why he's like he is. That's where that gruff exterior comes from. He put up his walls to make his work easier on him mentally and emotionally.

"I understand, Blake," Jayden said quietly.

Blake turned from the window.

"Normally, I'd say 'cut the shit, you don't know anything about me,' but I think you do understand. I think this was your rock bottom."

"What part was the rock bottom?" Jayden let out a laugh. "Nearly be shot by a drug dealer we were supposed to kill because of a withdrawal episode or having you save me because of that withdrawal episode?"

"Pretending we were a couple."

The two law enforcement agents maintained eye contact for another moment before bursting out into laughter. It was a few minutes before their laughter subsided and the mood in the room sobered.

"Hey," Blake rubbed the back of his neck. "When this is all over, if you, uh…*ahem* need help with your addiction…"

"I appreciate the offer, Blake," Jayden said with sincerity. "Really. You know? I might take you up on the offer, granted we make it through the last trial without dying."

"Speaking of which," Blake fished around in his pocket.

He produced a memory card, which he held up for Jayden to see.

"Another memory card?" Jayden gasped. "Where did you find that?"

"It was in the handle of the gun. After I stuck you in the car, I went back into the apartment to take care of things before Ash and the others arrived. The shark figure said that, after killing Silver, to send a picture. I did and got another memory card."

"Let's do this!"

Blake grabbed the cell phone from the shoebox and popped the memory card into the phone before joining Jayden on the bed. The video showed the steady rainfall having increased in volume up to Shaun Mars' chin. Both law enforcement agents knew that there wasn't much time left before the boy would be completely submerged in the water and would likely drown like the other victims of the Origami Killer. The hangman appeared afterward, with more letters filled in.

852_H_ O _ _ _ _

ROOSE_ELT _ _ _ _

"R-O-O-S-E-blank-E-L-T," Jayden spelled out. "I'm assuming that missing letter is V, making the word Roosevelt."

"Well, there's Franklin Delano, or Franklin D., Roosevelt, and Theodore Roosevelt, both former presidents who had numerous streets named after them," Blake stated. "But, based on the letters, the first word is more likely to be Theodore than Franklin since there's no 'O' in Franklin."

"852 Theodore Roosevelt!" Jayden hopped up from the bed, a surge of renewed energy shooting through him.

It was followed by some lightheadedness. He wavered where he stood, Blake putting a hand on the agent's back and guiding him down to sit on the bed again.

"We're still missing a few letters," the detective pointed out. "And I know for a fact that, while this narrows down our search tremendously, there's still a couple of streets with Theodore Roosevelt in the name somewhere."

"What do we want to do?" Jayden asked. "We can get the list of properties from Ash and spend time investigating them all and hope that we find the right one in time or we can complete the last trial and try to get the last few letters to know for certain which place we're going to."

"Well, I guess we'll have to divide and conquer," Blake replied, removing the memory card from the phone. "I'll have Ash look into the properties while we go check out the last trial. Between the three of us, we can do twice the work in half the time."

The detective put a hand on the agent's shoulder.

"We're going to save Shaun Mars," he said. "Believe that, Norman. Believe that."

Jayden did not respond, only giving the detective a nod.

For some reason, he actually believed it.