AN- this chapter is set six weeks after the shooting. I decided against making a chapter directly after, since it would really just serve as a filler chapter since it wouldn't tie into the main plot at all, so I decided against it.
OA rarely spoke these days.
Every day consisted of the same thing.
Getting up, going to work, tagging along behind Stuart and Tiffany since Isobel still hadn't found him a new partner.
Tiffany and Stuart did all the talking. They were cheerful today. Too cheerful for OA's liking.
They were laughing and joking as he stayed quiet. They were growing close. OA suspected they'd found comfort in one another after Maggie's death. But, he still couldn't understand how they could be so carefree—well, as carefree as one can get working a job like this—when to him, the world had basically ended.
At least when he was working, he didn't have to think about her. At least when they had a case, his mind wasn't drifting to her. Because, it seemed whenever he didn't have something to do, his mind always found its way back to her.
Sometimes, they were happy memories. But, more often, they were memories of the end. Not just the end of her life, but the end of everything to him. Nothing mattered anymore.
Isobel had taken them off the case, and given it to a different team. A team that could be objective. A team that wouldn't make mistakes. A team who's personal feelings wouldn't get in the way. OA still wished he was working it. He wanted revenge. But, Isobel didn't see it that way. Dana would've understood. Dana always understood. Dana would've given him, or anyone else, a pass if a mistake was made. Isobel wouldn't even listen to reason.
She was gone and he couldn't even bring justice to whoever did this to her. And he wasn't thinking about Harraway. He had just been a pawn. And had probably been under orders from whoever had manipulated and corrupted him to commit suicide if he thought he'd been made.
Harraway had died that day too. Like his partner, he had been too far gone to even try to save. He had broken his neck on landing. Even OA had seen that.
He could only hope that the new team working the case would find the source of this corruption. Not finding the source wasn't an option. If the corruption spread further, more damage would be done. A lot more. It would only get worse from here unless someone stopped it.
He dreaded the very thought of it.
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"Do you think one of us should walk him to the door?" Stuart whispered. It was clearly intended for Tiffany's ears, but OA heard it anyway. He was standing in front of his apartment building. Tiffany and Stuart had driven him home. He had paused as he went to go inside, hearing Stuart's voice. He stayed still, listening.
"I know you care, but we have to let him come to terms with this on his own. We can't take care of him forever." Tiff said, in a more gentle and soft tone than OA had ever heard her use before. "He's never going to move on if everyone keeps treating him like this."
"I just…I've been where he is. I know how hard it can be." After a moment's pause, he sighed. "But, you're right. We can't force him to move on."
OA was feeling a little irritated now. Not because they were talking about him behind his back, but because they were implying that it was even possible to move on. For over the past six weeks, it didn't even cross his mind.
It should've been her. It should've been Maggie being overprotective of him in his grief, driving him home every night, calling him just to check on him.
He only snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his colleague's car drive away.
He didn't want to be in his apartment. It felt cramped, and suffocating. The very silence was suffocating. So, he sat down, outside.
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"What's going on?" The woman said as soon as she took the call, walking into the woods, and away from the lights of her small cabin.
"The case is going cold. The heat's dying down, finally." Carson said.
"The death of a federal agent doesn't go away quickly. I was expecting the wait. They won't find us here, though." She glanced behind her, as if half expecting to see someone eavesdropping, despite being in the middle of nowhere.
She'd been in hiding for the past six weeks. She knew the feds were going all hands on deck when it was one of their own. She hadn't even dared contact one of her people. It was too risky.
She'd started calling them that; her people. The people she had manipulated to the point they were completely under her control. She owned them, and they didn't even realize it.
"Castille handed off the case the second it got personal."
"Typical." Replied the woman with a snort. It was her weakness; handing open cases to teams that were far less qualified than hers the second it was personal for any of them. Of course, the woman knew everyone's weaknesses. It was her power.
"I'm guessing they are coming up with nothing?" She said, prompting more information out of Carson.
"Not a damn thing." He said happily. "I didn't even need to purposely lead them astray."
"Good." She praised. Carson hesitated, instead of welcoming the praise like he usually did. She knew something was up, and stayed silent, waiting.
"He's alive." He finally said.
The woman swore loudly.
"I can take care of him," Carson quickly added. "Besides, it was Harraway's job to deal with him in the first place. It's not my fault he didn't finish the job!"
"The plan went south. That's why he jumped. I want you to figure out what went wrong. We can't make that mistake again."
"I have access to the bureau, remember? I think I've found their weakest person."
"Turn them. You have no room for error." The woman reminded him.
"And," she added after a second thought, "don't take him down. Yet. He's one hell of an agent. I—of all people—know. We need to wait for the perfect moment to strike."
"Understood." He replied.
She hung up.
AN- I am just dropping a few hints in this chapter because that's how my mind works; nothing is ever simple. Big reveal coming in the next chapter!