Austrian: What would I do without your wonderful reviews?

Finally, it is time for the second case! I hope you will all love this chapter!

CHAPTER 7: Dark Night

It was nearly 1:00 a.m when North called Elsa. It was kinda annoying that the Captain called them to investigate a possible homicide in the middle of the damn night. Yes, the ex-soldier had insomnia, but he still liked to rest for a couple of hours.

Jack Frost yawned triedly while they were getting out of his car. He didn't smoke a cigarette even though he really wanted to. He and Elsa headed to the apartment, which was the crime scene. The building wasn't that high and was in a poor neighborhood. It certainly wasn't a dangerous one, but wasn't amiable either.

When they stood in front of the door, Jack snuck a glance at Elsa. She looked completely calm, she always did. Crime scenes never bothered her, she was strong enough to deal with the sight of it.

He pushed the unlocked door, the two detectives entered the apartment with a determined and confident expression on their faces.

The body wasn't in the living room, however, it didn't stop the detectives to frown. A very little boy, who seemed barely 6 years old, was sitting on a couch. He was wrapped in a blanket, his emotionless brown eyes were locked on his upper leg. He was a brunet boy who had a light skin tone. His ruffled hair looked like...

Jamie.

Jack felt himself shivering uncontrollably. The boy resembled Jamie, if you'd ask him. They had the same skin tone, same eye and hair color, even their features and physical appearances were a bit similar.

"Detective Frost and Detective Elsa. The body is in the bathroom." an officer informed them quickly as she gestured them towards the bathroom.

As usual, few other officers and forensics were in the flat. But also, a woman android was standing in front of the bathroom, her body was blocking the view of the corpse.

Her LED was blinking red, then yellow, then red again. She had a troubled, mournful expression on her face. She was black haired, had brown eyes and dark skin.

"Are you the detectives?" the woman questioned them before they could say something.

"Yes-" Elsa responded immediately.

"Please, please I beg you to find the murderer of my best friend! I-I... What will I do without him!?" the woman suddenly yelled and her strong voice shattered.

Elsa finally remembered to scan the android. She was an LS500 android, her name was Harley Mitchell.

"Miss Mitchell, please step aside. After we finish analyzing the crime scene, we will interrogate you." Elsa kindly ordered to the sad woman.

"Harley is fine, Detective Elsa." the android nodded briefly and walked away in a melancholic way.

Elsa stared at the woman sadly. According to the file, Harley was the one who found the corpse, Everett Scott.

"Hey plastic, drop the emotional attitude and help me with the fucking case." Mr. Frost snapped at her harshly.

"I apologize, Detective Frost." the platinum blonde replied diplomatically and gave him a loving glance. A special glance which was only for him.

Elsa smiled happily as Jack's gaze softened, he couldn't even control it. This android would definitely be the death of him. But seeing her smile... Showing his emotions to the world was just a little price. He somehow, grew on that smile much more than he should have.

Finally, the partners rested their gazes on the bathroom. The human body was laying inside of the bathtub, it was completely naked. The room smelled bad, but it wasn't unbearable. Jack silently put his right hand on his nose, he was used to the smell of a dead body. The man obviously, was killed not a long time ago.

"His name is Everett Scott. He is American and 33 years old. He is 190 cm and 90 kg. He currently has no job, but he is an activist. A very famous one indeed. You could easily find information about him on the internet, he is known for supporting the deviants. He has no criminal records. He was killed tonight, around 9:30 p.m." Elsa scanned the body as she informed Jack.

Jack observed the black haired, well-built man. The dead human's skin looked pale and greenish, although he once had tan skin. There were no bruises on the corpse, except the purple marks on the neck. Everett Scott's larynx was crushed very professionally.

"There are no fingerprints, Detective Frost." the platinum blonde gulped while she was looking at him with terrified eyes.

Without saying anything, Jack grabbed a cigarette and lighter from his pocket and lit himself a cigarette. After he let the smoke burn his lungs and make him calmer, he nodded thoughtfully.

"I guess we are dealing with a serial killer, partner." he announced what exactly both of them were thinking.

There was no signs of struggle, no blood. The victim looked perfectly calm and collective, as if someone didn't murder him. It was definitely the same killer from their first case.

Elsa narrowed her eyes while she was observing the water in the bathtub. "Clearly, even though he was in the water, the murderer didn't kill him by drowning. They wrung Mr. Scott's neck and strangled him to death." she told her observation.

Jack deeply took another smoke of his cigarette. "So, what is your opinion on my statement?"

"I am afraid there is a possibility that you may be right, Detective Frost." Elsa confirmed monotonously, however, her eyes showed her tenseness.

Jack bit his lip. "Again, no signs of a struggle and his face looks peaceful as if he was just bathing. Like you said in our first case, I think that the killer made their victim sleep before they kill them." he made an assumption and let his gaze to fall on the beautiful android.

Elsa stared at him back, her eyes looked worried and innocent at the same time. Jack silently gave her hand a light squeeze to make her remember that he was there... for her. After the night that Victoria had kissed him and Elsa had massaged him, of course Jack continued to not to show his emotions, but he made a habit of squeezing Elsa's hand whenever she was nervous. It was stupid, so stupid to be nice to someone, especially to an android, but he really couldn't bring himself to do the otherwise.

He couldn't hate her.

"Let's interrogate Harley Mitchell." the ex-soldier suggested in a rigid, demanding tone.

Red. Yellow. Red. Yellow. Red...

Harley was trembling so bad. She was leaning on the wall, wouldn't be able to stand without it. They were still next to the bathroom door, Harley refused leave there. Her eyes looked horrified, she was hugging herself really strongly.

"Harley-"

"Just give me one more minute, Detective Elsa. Please." the android woman begged while she was looking at her desperately. Elsa nodded in apprehension, Jack, however, rolled his eyes in annoyance.

After one minute and fifteen seconds later, Harley finally opened her mouth to speak: "I am ready."

Jack narrowed his eyes in pure concentration. "According to the file, you found the body around 10 p.m. Am I right?" he started to question her with his rough tone.

Harley nodded immediately. "I live with my girlfriend. I haven't seen Everett for four days. Today he called me at 6 p.m. and told me to come to his apartment immediately. He said he had something important to tell me. I was on a date with my girlfriend at that time, I came to his flat as soon as I can. If I was able to come sooner-" Harley started to hiccup loudly.

Jack never knew androids had an urge to hiccup. But Harley looked like she was really stressed, so it wasn't that much of a bewildering sight.

"Please don't blame yourself, Harley. If you came sooner, there was a high possibility of the killer hurting you." Elsa soothed the woman as she put her hand on Harley's shoulder with hesitation.

"I assume he wanted to talk about the boy who is currently sitting on the couch. He isn't Everett's son, after all." Jack ignored Elsa's kind words and made Harley focus on him.

Harley's eyes became wider in surprise. "How did you understand that the boy isn't Everett's son?" she asked curiously.

Jack grunted with vexation. He supposed to be the one who questions Harley, not the opposite. "Easy. There is only one bedroom, there are no toys anywhere around the house and the boy would be in a much worse situation if his father was killed. Of course, it was still possible that I was wrong, but it seems I guessed right." he explained in pure boredom.

Harley sighed. "Typical Everett. He always puts the others before himself. He is-was so reckless but he was the best person I've ever met. He bought me a few years ago. I was lucky, many android owners were harsh to their android. But Everett was always kind and he treated me like I was a human. Thanks to his efforts, I became a deviant. He always supported me and took care of me, no matter what. The boy... I think Everett wanted to protect him too so he took him in." Harley silently clarified.

Jack took a few steps to see the boy. He was still looking at his thigh with his unfeeling face. The detective bit his bottom lip almost sadly, and returned back to the two women.

"I suppose Everett has tons of haters. Do you think one of them wants to hurt him, kill him?" Jack continued the interrogation.

Harley frowned. "You may be right... many people despise him. Everett sometimes even worked with the leader of deviants, Markus. He did his best to help deviants, never ran away from the android-haters. He always fought, no matter what." she agreed on Jack's assumption.

Jack bit his bottom lip harder and shot a look to Elsa. Elsa looked at him right on the eye, her eyes confirmed what he exactly was thinking.

There was a high possibility of the serial killer, being an android-hater.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Harley. We have collected enough information from you." Elsa acknowledged.

"W-Wait, you have finished? Did you collect enough evidence to find the killer?" Harley's LED became red once while she was stammering.

The platinum blonde couldn't say anything. She couldn't lie but couldn't make the android even sadder either. "I have to admit that this case is quite challenging, it will take time, but I guarantee you that we will do our best-"

"I don't want you to do your best! I want you to put them into the jail! I-I... Everett was more than just a best friend. He was like a brother to me. I... I don't want a life without him." the android screamed and didn't let Elsa finish. But at the end of her speech, her voice was barely perceptible. Tears were silently streaming down her synthetic face. This was the first time Jack had never seen an android crying, so he was completely speechless.

Elsa stared at the crying android, really felt pity for her. The android detective sighed loudly, was almost depressed.

"Look Harley... I have three brothers and I love them more than I love anyone. I can't even bear the thought of them, dying. I would be upset and depressed, just like you. Still, I would move on. I would live my life for the sake of my dear brothers. You should do the same, I am sure Everett wanted you to be happy, no matter what. Please don't make his goal unreachable. You should enjoy your life with your girlfriend." she advised, her voice was full of empathy.

Jack rolled his eyes like a hundred time. Elsa was too kind, caring and loving. It made him wanna puke. He was also astonished, puzzled even. Elsa had three brothers? She was an android, androids biologically couldn't give birth, so what did she mean by that? If she had a 'family', why she was there, staying at his flat?

Harley sniffed and let out a weak chuckle. Her cheeks were red. "I needed that. Thank you. I think I am gonna head to my girlfriend's apartment and just try to get over this." the black haired woman concurred.

When the android woman left the apartment, Jack finally opened his mouth. "I think our work in here is done, Elsa." he confirmed as he rested his hands on his waist.

"I agree, Detective Frost." the platinum blonde replied silently, she seemed preoccupied. Jack didn't bother to ask her about her thoughts, it was none of his business.

The snow-white silvery haired young man let his foot take him to the front door, however, he suddenly stopped and turned around. His gaze dropped on the little brown haired boy. He looked too innocent, too gentle, too good for this world. Just like Elsa.

"Where will this boy spend the night at?" Jack roughly asked a random officer.

"We cannot accommodate this orphan to any orphanage in the middle of the night. Therefore, I really don't know." the male, overweight officer shrugged.

Jack snuck a glance at Elsa. She was watching the boy with an emotionless, icy expression but her eyes looked... disconsolate.

"He will spend the night at my apartment. Tell Captain North that I will bring him to the station tomorrow." Jack ordered the officer in a blasé voice.

The tiny child finally raised his head and started to contemplate both Jack and Elsa.

"What is your name, buddy?" Jack let his voice to be soft as he courteously asked for his name.

"Ivan." the cute little boy answered shortly and frigidly.

"It is so nice to meet you, Ivan. My name is Jack Frost and this is my partner, Elsa. You will be staying with us for the rest of the night. Is that okay for you, kiddo?" Jack whole-heartedly introduced both himself and Elsa. The kid just nodded. Elsa gaped, was taken aback from the detective's uncharacteristic behavior.

Ivan got up from the couch without saying anything, grabbed a middle-sized teddy bear. Jack never saw it because it was hidden under the thick blanket.

Elsa said her goodbye to the officers and forensics, while Jack and Ivan were heading outside of the apartment. When they came to the stairs, Jack grabbed Ivan's left hand, Elsa grabbed his right hand at the same time. They helped the boy to go down. Then they came to Jack's car, the ex-soldier opened the back door of the car.

"I don't want to be alone. Can I sat on the front with you?" Ivan quietly requested, innocently pulled Elsa's police uniform to get her attention.

The platinum blonde smiled tenderly. Jack closed the back door and headed to driver seat whereas Elsa was sitting on her seat with Ivan. The android woman put Ivan to her lap and hesitantly wrapped her arms around his little tiny waist softly.

Ivan rested his head to her chest, finally started to sleep while Jack was silently driving the car to his apartment. He was glad that Elsa made him put lotion to his car, it smelled lavender instead of a cigarette.

Elsa's grip tightened, her left hand was stroking Ivan's silky brown hair. Ivan looked like he was asleep, but he dropped his teddy bear and started to hug Elsa instead.

When the two beautiful innocent blue eyes stared at Jack's, Jack knew he was in deep trouble. Both Elsa and Ivan were too innocent, gracious, naive and good for this cruel, harsh, unfair, dirty world.

And suddenly, he had an urge to protect them, no matter how. He would do his best to keep them safe, because he knew, a sleeping naive child hugging a gorgeous android was the most beautiful sight he had ever cast his eyes on. He felt so lucky that he was the one who had seen this sight. He was so lucky that he shared, experienced this vulnerable moment with them...

Therefore, at that moment, at that little amount of time, the shitty, fucked up the world was okay for Jack Frost.

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