She fooled all of her friends into thinking she's so strong,

But she still sleeps with her light on,

And she acts like it's all right on,

As she smiles again her mother lies there sick with cancer,

And her friends don't understand her,

She's a question without answers,

Who feels like falling apart.

She knows, she's so much more than worthless,

But she needs to find her purpose,

She wonders what she did to deserve this and...

Thousand Foot Krutch - 'This is a Call'

Billie strided into the baseball court where Van & Deaq were facing off in a one-on-one basketball game. Behind her, a young woman followed more slowly as she looked around the Candy Store curiously.

"Van! Deaq!" Billie yelled, causing Van to miss his shot. He grunted in frustration and looked exasperatedly towards Deaq as he crowed.

"Ha ha! I win!" Deaq taunted, pointing at his partner as he gave him a scoffing grin and turned to glare at Billie.

"That was a perfect shot!" He complained to Billie. "I would've made it if you wouldn't shriek at me!"

"You'll live." Billie coolly retorted and gestured to the woman behind her. "Boys, I want you to meet someone. This is Roxie." She said as Roxie came to stand next to her. "She has some information on your next case." She finished. Roxie gave a small timid smile and a quick wave. Deaq pushed past Van, sticking his hand out to Roxie.

"Well, hello, Roxie!" He drawled with a grin. "I'm Deaq." He jabbed a thumb behind him. "And that's Van my man." Her hand felt cold and small in his larger warm one.

"Ooh! Cold hands!" he said surprised and she gave him a half grin as she drew her hand from his.

"I've always had cold hands." She said as she took Van's offered hand, feeling like he just offered to shake out of curiosity. He grasped her hand firmly so that she couldn't take it back and started rubbing it, grinning as she blushed a deep pink.

"Hey!" Billie swatted Van and he dropped Roxie's hand with a grin.

"Hey, I'm just doing my community service!" Van bantered. She gave him her 'Sure' look and handed Deaq the folder she was holding. He opened it to scan over the pictures and papers.

"King of Hearts? Thirteen Queens?" Deaq asked as he looked up. "This looks like a drag show. What is this?"

"Your next case. That guy's M.O. has been to attack exactly thirteen women and carve their hearts out like some kind of sick trophy." Billie explained and shook her head. "He'd always leave the city before the cops can get close to him and then all's left in that city is copycats. This guy is good, more often then not, we can't find all Thirteen Queens."

"Then how do you know it's exactly thirteen victims every time?" Van asked skeptically, crossing his arms.

"He told Roxie." Billie answered, looking to the woman in question as she looked down at the ground. "You wanna tell 'em about it?" Billie asked gently.

She raised her head up and looked at each of them in turn, settling on Billie's gaze. "Alright, I'm the one who talked to him." She hugged herself, thinking for a moment. "I met him for the first time on the next night after he murdered my roomie. Lena, his Ninth Queen. He left me a warning to never get my heart broken or he'll come after me." Her gaze traveled away from Billie and back down at the floor.

"I'm so scared." She sighed so faintly. "He started leaving me little gifts inside my apartment, roses, chocolates, jewelry. Billie has them now. He calls me his 'Jester' and he tells me information. I had the landowner change the locks and install a deadbolt, but he still got in." She took a shuddering breath. "So I moved, didn't tell anybody, didn't pack anything except for what I can put in a large purse. By all rights, he should've never found me. I tried really hard to make sure nobody was following me, but he found me. I walked in my apartment nine days ago and found my cat lying on my bed with roses, her heart cut out."

"So he was telling you his secrets?" Deaq asked disbelieving.

"'Thirteen Queens for Thirteen Kingdoms ruled under the King of Hearts, and the Thirteenth Queen of the Thirteenth Kingdom shall be his Queen of Hearts.'" Roxie recited and then peeped into the folder Deaq was still holding and found a folded letter. She opened it and handed it to Van who read it with Deaq leaning over his shoulder. They could see the first two lines were of which Roxie quoted and then the rest were about a Twelfth Queen named Hannah Hart in the Forth Kingdom, New York.

"Damn, the King's sending you love letters too?" Deaq asked flabbergasted.

"Each of those letters holds clues to his past crimes." Billie explained. "As far as we can figure out, he's been to at least ten cities and killed nine Queens here in L.A. that we know of. That's over a hundred-thirty victims. We're gonna get this guy." She said confidently and not at all arrogantly.

"So whadda we're gonna do?" Deaq asked, handing the folder to Van. Billie smiled smugly, she knew they aren't gonna like what's she gonna tell them.

"I'm going undercover. You two are glorified babysitters."

Van was lounging on the red couch with his arms along the length of the top of it near Billie's office. Perpendicular to him, Roxie was sitting in the matching chair, her arms crossed across her chest staring down at the glass coffee table with one knee over the other. Her toe was bouncing in the air nervously and it was really beginning to get on Van's nerves. He sighed and rubbed the area between his eyes and then leaned forward and grabbed the offending toe.

"I'm sorry, but you're making me tense with that toe." He said apologetically as he met her surprised look. She lowered her eyes and nodded blushing lightly, uncrossing her legs so that both feet rest firmly on the ground.

Billie gave him an annoyed look and he shrugged at her, mouthing 'What?'. She went back to what she was talking about, pacing back and forth.

"Anyway, I'll go undercover, I've studied the girls the King goes after and I think I can pull that off. I'll go to clubs and see if I can find a lover, I have a hunch the King may have dated some of the girls. Deaq will follow me and watch my back." Billie said, laying out her plan. She was about to go on when Van raised a hand. "Yes?"

"How come I don't get to go clubbing with you?" Van asked with a grin.

"'Cause I know you and the girls like you." Billie shot back and Deaq hid his grin behind his fist.

"Ooh, that hurts." Van said with a barely hidden smirk, resting a hand over his heart. "Really."

Billie scoffed at him and continued on. "So I'll go clubbing with Deaq my backup," She said pointedly towards Van. "and you're going to be guarding Roxie here. I know you're scared and you have a right to be." She said to Roxie as she looked up at her. "But we need more information on this guy and you're our only source. Van may be immature, but he knows how to do his job."

"I didn't know you cared!"

"Shut up. Then when the timing's right, I get the boyfriend to break up with me and I'll go out on my own. We might just be able to catch the King." Billie finished without missing a beat. Van grinned and looked over at Roxie. He sighed when he saw that she was now playing with a blue/black curl at the nape of her neck. That girl was way too wound up for him and he was starting to realize what meant to be a long tailed cat in a roomful of rocking chairs.

"But where's Van gonna be?" Roxie asked suddenly. "Is he actually gonna be in my apartment or is he gonna be guarding from the outside?"

"He'll be stalking you from a distance; we don't want to spook the King away." Billie explained, her face crinkling slightly in worry that Roxie was going to freak. "And we'll update your security so Van will know exactly when the King comes in. I know it's a lot asking you to be bait and you'll be losing some of your privacy."

"It is... but over a hundred and thirty girls dead because of him?" She looked up at her and for the first time, she didn't seem as scared, but surer of herself. "I'd go to Hell to put him away."

Billie smiled. "That's my girl."

"Can you hear me?" Roxie asked nervously as she paced back and forth in her apartment. She hand a hand lightly resting on the hearing receiver in her ear and she stopped at the window to look out.

"Yes, I can hear you, Roxie." Van's voice was reassuring to her. "Now don't be so worried. Sheesh, you're so uptight and tense!" She could hear the smile in his voice and didn't take offense.

"Ha, real funny, Van. Nice to know you care." She retorted, but calmed by the familar banter, she used to banter like that with Lena. "And I know, I know. Stop talking to you or he's gonna realize something's up. Just act like everything's normal." She said, rolling her eyes up towards the ceiling. She heard Van chuckle and she allowed herself to grin.

Roxie sighed and shook herself. She moved away from the window after closing the sheers and put a CD in the stereo and soothing Celtic music started playing as she started doing Yoga to calm her nerves and to pass the time more quickly.

Van sighed quietly as he leaned his head back against the headrest of his seat. He was down on the street where he can see Roxie's apartment window. There was a laptop computer in the passenger seat besides him where he could see everything that was happening in the apartment from the carefully located video cams. He winced as he watched Roxie bend herself in ways that made him ache.

Van looked up and scanned around the neighbor, but didn't see anything out of place. He slouch deeper down in the chair and sighed, rolling his eyes heavenward. He wasn't worried about being seen, the windows were tinted so that no one could see in. But just the same this was gonna be long and boring and Deaq and Billie was out there having fun.

Deaq had already arrived at the club Billie picked an hour early than when Billie was going to show. He was careful to not drink too much and stick to mostly non-alcoholic drinks as he hanged out. He laughed and courted with some of the girls that interested him, to blend in with the scene better when out of the corner of eye, he saw Billie come in.

He stared almost shell-shocked at how stunning she looked; she was dressed in a fine red dress that was cut high and low in all the right places with heels that made her legs look stunning and her hair was allowed to cascade around her face with the come-hither eyes and seductive red lips.

"Hey, lover, your mouth's open." A woman besides Deaq said with a smile as she pushed his jaw back up. He laughed sheepishly and shook his head.

"Do you know her?" she asked, nodding towards Billie as she made her way to the bar to get a drink and take in the view.

"Nah, just surprised me." He replied with a charming grin and turned so that he was facing her. "But you're the fine girl on my mind right now."

"I better be."

Billie looked around; she was relieved to see that Deaq had positioned himself so that even as he talked to his girl, he could watch Billie. She turned her focus to the men of the club, measuring them up to find the one that she liked best. No point in pretending to date someone if she didn't like him. She drank the last of her Martini and smiled coyly at a man that caught her attention and he smiled in return.

'Progress' Billie thought to herself as he made his way to her. His body shape did fit Roxie's description, unfortunately, so did every other man in the club. But he had a smile that she can just die for. Although hopefully not literately, she realized as she tipped her head to the side and looked up at him, flirting eyes from under her lashes.

"Hi, gorgeous." He spoke, his voice a deep bass, as he leaned against the counter besides her. "I'm Daniel."

"Hi, Daniel. I'm Billie."

Billie discovered a false lover with Daniel and had been out dating with him during the past evenings and although she was having fun with him, she was worried about the next steps in her plan. In fact, there was a little problem that was beginning to develop.

"Deaq." She called to him and he came up and sat down on her desk.

"What's up?" He asked.

"I think I might have a little problem." Billie said, a frown crinkling her brow. "I think I'm seriously falling in love with Daniel." She confessed, slightly embarrassed. She glared at him as he tried to stifle his snickers.

"I'm sorry, Billie." He said sincerely. "I just thought I'd never see you do anything so human such as falling love with somebody you're using."

"I couldn't help it!" Billie said in defense. "I'm supposed to act like I'm in love with him and that actually caused me to fall in love!"

"I get you." He said, raising his hands. "But you know what you have to do. It matters more that we stop the King's reign."

"Yeah, but just the same, it's gonna be hard to sabotage the relationship." She sighed and regained her brisk manner. "How is Van doing?" She changed the topic to something less touchy.

"Bored out of his mind, but he says that Roxie's getting antsy." He said with a frown. "He's worried that she's gonna do something from the stress."

"It can't be easy for her, knowing there's a serial killer after her and waiting for him to come into her apartment and leave his next clue."

"No lie. I just hope for both Van and Roxie's stake, he acts soon and we can put this all behind us."

"Me too."

"See you tonight?" He asked Billie as he stood up; feeling like it was time for him to start moving on. She nodded at him and he left her office. He made his way into the basketball court area and snapped his cell phone open and speed dialed Van.

"This is Van." Deaq could hear his partner's voice and it sounded a little tired and mostly bored.

"Hey, just checkin' up on you, man." He said as he leaned against the wall near the doorway. "How's it going with you?"

"In some ways, good and bad." Van's voice was ironic. "I'm going out of my mind here and the laptop only has one channel, Roxie 24/7. I never seen a woman who can get so riled up like her and it's making me tense."

Deaq chuckled. "Hang in there, buddy. With luck, this'll be over soon." He laughed out loud. "Besides, you'll never guess what I found out about Billie and Daniel."

"What? Did she fall in love with him for real?" Van asked, instantly interested, Deaq could hear the car seat squeak as he sat up straighter.

"You could say that."

"Oh-ho! She actually fell in love with- shit!" Van's voice was alarmed and Deaq could hear strange sounds of rustling and the slamming of the car door.

"Van? What's happening, man?" he asked worriedly, and then snapped the phone shut. He hurried to Billie's office where she was still on the computer.

"Billie, we got trouble at Roxie's!"

Van ran up the stairs, hold his gun downwards, taking the steps two at a time until he reached the third floor and shoved through the door into the hallway. He ran down the hallway until he reached a door with the number 3 on it and he fumbled for his keys, Roxie gave him a set. Once he got the door open, he dashed in and ran to Roxie's bedroom, where he had seen her last on the cams.

She screamed as he burst through the door, but calmed when she realized it was her protector. She sat on the floor, huddled and crying in the corner as far as she could away from the source of her distress. Van quickly scanned the room and seeing nothing out of place; he jammed the gun in the back of his pants and crouched down besides Roxie.

"What is it? What happened?" He asked, placing one hand on her shoulder and the other to lift her head up so that they were looking eye to eye. She sobbed, and started shaking her head in mute denial.

"What is it? Why did you need me?" He tried again, catching her chin so that she couldn't shake her head anymore.

"He got in and you d-didn't know!" she cried, shaking from her fear. He pulled her closer to him and started rubbing her back. "H-he left me another g-gift."

"Where?"

"On the c-ceiling." She said pulling back and pointing up towards the ceiling above her bed. He stood and went to look. There, he could see that pictures were tapped up there of another Queen lying dead on a blood-soaked bed. He swore softly under his breath and reached up to tear down the pictures, shuffled them together and stuck them in his back pocket.

"I-I hoped that h-he'd leave me alone once he realized that you're watching me." She said brokenly, staring in the distance numbly in a way that alarmed him.

"Hey, hey." He quickly went to her and gently pulled her up so that she was standing. He ducked his head to look her in the face and she looked back from under her hair. "I'll stay here with you until you feel better, ok?" At her nod, he went on. "I just gotta make a call to Billie really quick." He led her into the living room and sat her down on the couch wrapped in a blanket. He moved away from her, but kept her in his range of sight as he pulled out his cell phone, he had remembered to put it in his pocket, but not turn it off. He dialed Billie, knowing that she would want to be the first to know.

"Van, what the hell happened?" Billie's worried voice came over the line.

"The King got into her room and taped pictures of a dead Queen on her ceiling. She's not doing very good right now, so I'm gonna stay with her until she calms." He reported his eyes still on Roxie concernedly.

"Take care of her, she's your priority right now." Billie said, he could hear the worry in her voice as she hung up. He slipped the cell back into his pocket and went back to Roxie. He sat down next to her and was worried at how she didn't respond to him. He gently shook her. "Hey, don't be shutting down. Talk to me."

She didn't say anything for awhile, until she gave a sad little sigh and leaned against Van's shoulder, seeking comfort. He wrapped his arms around her, but stayed quiet, hoping that this method would get through her shields.

"I'm sorry for acting like this." She said softly.

"No, no. I understand, its ok." Van quickly reassured her, giving her a small squeeze. She snuffled and rubbed her cheek against his shoulder.

"It's just that it brought back memories. That's where I found the pictures of Lena." She choked back a sob.

"Hey, shh, shh.. Don't be thinking about that." Van said pushed her gently. "C'on, show me that pretty face?"

"Nice try, mister, I'm all ugly right now and don't say otherwise or I'll make you a girl." She threatened.

"Ah, good. We've moved pass fear to anger." He noted as he shifted slightly.

"Did you get the pictures?" Van asked on the cell phone. He was standing in Roxie's kitchen as he made dinner for the two of them. There was soft soothing music playing, he had discovered that she was calmer when there was music. Music really does tame the savage soul, or in her case, ravaged.

"Yah. Billie's looking them over for clues right now." Deaq said over the phone. "Too bad they didn't come with a love letter. That would've helped."

"Yah," Van was about to say more when Deaq interrupted him.

"By the way, Billie wants you to guard Roxie from inside her apartment. This guy is too smooth. I went over the recordings of the apartment and I can't find nothing."

"Alright. I was thinking of doing that anyway." Van agreed and hung up. He checked on the TV dinner in the microwave as he got the next one ready when he thought of how all of sudden, it seemed very quiet, like something happened, even though he could still hear music playing.

"Roxie?" He called out, listening for her. "Are you Ok?" He grew alarmed when she didn't reply and walked to the bathroom door where she went to wash her face. He realized that she had been in there longer than it should've taken. He rapped on the door, tilting his head towards it to hear better.

"Roxie?"

"Like a bird from these prison walls I'll fly... I'll fly away..." He could hear her singing softly in the bathroom and the way she sounded rang warning bells in his head. He tried the door knob but found it locked.

"Roxie! You open this door or I'll break it down!" He yelled, pounding on the door.

"Just a few more weary days and then... I'll fly away..." she sang from behind the door. He put his shoulder to the door and shoved. It creaked, but didn't give. He grunted in frustration, took a few steps back and slammed his shoulder into the door. It splintered open and he staggered into the room. He saw Roxie lying in the dry bathtub, some pills and their containers scattered all over the bathroom. She stared up at the ceiling with a drugged gaze as she kept on singing.

"I'll fly away, oh glory... I'll fly away, in the morning... When I die, Hallelujah by and by... I'll fly away..."

He rushed to her and gathered her up, her skin was pale and clammy, and her pulse was thready and weak.

"Roxie!"

"I'll fly away... I'll fly away... I'll fly away..."

DKM, thanks for inspiring my muse! If it wasn't for that great review you wrote me, it might've been longer before the next chapter was posted! My muse is very ficky and she likes to run away with the sexy guys from my stories. ;)