The sound of the door buzzer woke her up, the shrill noise ringing through the tiny apartment. Rosa looked at her phone briefly. Two in the morning? Really? Groggily, she dragged herself out of bed, walking to the intercom.

"...Hello?" It wasn't like she was expecting anyone. She couldn't even think of who it even might be.

"It's Durkin. We need to talk."

Oh, no. This couldn't be anything good.

She buzzed him up, trying to make herself look at least somewhat presentable before the detective knocked on her door.

"Blackwell?" His voice called from the other side.

"Yeah." She ran her hands a few more times through her hair before opening the door.

She was hoping he'd look more disheveled. It would at least make her feel a little better about the fact she'd just rolled out of bed. But he looked the same as always, mouth set in a hard line.

"You do know what time it is, right?" she muttered, sighing.

"Cliché or not, Blackwell, crime doesn't sleep," the detective said, walking past her. "Do you know who shot your friend?"

Well, technically she did, but that wasn't information she was just going to offer. "Why do you want to know?"

"It's my job," he stated coolly, looking at her.

"I've got a feeling you already know the answer, and you're only asking to see if I do."

Durkin's stony demeanor didn't change in the slightest. "Wouldn't be able to tell you."

She sighed. Of course not. "I don't know his full name," she offered. "But I know his name's Michael."

"Michael," Durkin repeated.

"Yes." He was just toying with her, wasn't he? Trying to get her to crack. Even so, she didn't like the idea of throwing Michael under the bus. He wasn't responsible, technically speaking. But it wasn't like the NYPD could arrest a ghost.

"And there's nothing else you've got on the guy?"

"If you want information, you'd better ask Joey. I think he knows a little more than I do."

Durkin narrowed his eyes. "The hospital staff weren't too keen on that."

Well, that explained it. She couldn't imagine that Joey would've been very willing to cooperate, anyway. "He wouldn't tell you anything, I'm guessing."

Durkin sighed and rubbed his chin, confirming her suspicions. "Look, this case..." He trailed off, eyes going out of focus before he shook his head. "There's been a casualty."

"...What?" Someone was dead. Likely someone Madeline was hunting down. Whatever Joey thought he'd done, it didn't seem to have worked.

"We think it's the same perp. But the thing is, your friend was at the victim's place a few days before he died."

Rosa really did not like the direction this was heading. "And what, you want me to dig all the secrets out of him?"

"If that's what it takes." He pulled a cigarette out of a pack, wrinkling his nose before putting it back. "I'm not asking you anything. Not directly, at least. This case is a bit too high profile for that. But we might need a couple of extra eyes."

"I'm not spying on him for you."

"Again, I'm not asking you to." He shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his trench coat. "I've got some other things to take care of. Get some sleep, Blackwell. You look like you need it."

"Well, I was before you-" She sighed, shaking her head. Oh, what was the point? "I'll... talk to you later, then."

He nodded, leaving without another word.

"Joey, I talked to Durkin last night," Rosa said as she walked into his room the next morning.

"You too, huh?" He laid back, sighing. "Makes me miss being dead. At least the only one who could bug me then was you."

"Did you tell him anything?"

He shot her a deadpan glare. "You think?"

Fair point. She'd assumed as much, anyway.

"I know you love the cops, but it's not going to do us any good to share anything with them."

"Why do you say that?"

"Think for a second, Red. If they find Michael, he gets locked up. Madeline included. Once that happens, there's nothing we can do anymore. Maybe she's in prison until the end of his life. Until the end of our lives, even. But then right after that, she goes back on her killing spree."

"So we have to find her first."

"That's what I'm thinking." He rubbed his brow, frowning. "Thing is, I've got no clue how we're going to do that."

"Well, maybe we don't have to."

"Huh? Have you been listening to anything I've been saying?"

"No. I mean- ugh. You showing up at the school gave Madeline a new piece of information. That another spirit guide has achieved exactly what she's looking for. I've got a feeling she'll be looking for us."

His expression darkened. "Well, that's just great, isn't it? We'll have to be prepared."

"Yeah. So, how did you stop her?"

"What?"

"You said you've been through this before. That would imply that you've..." Oh. That wasn't good. "You didn't beat her."

"No, we- we did. It's just not something that can be replicated."

"Right." She wasn't touching that one. "I guess I'll do some research, then."

"Uh huh."

She recognized the look on his face. The expression of a man chained to one place, stuck. And Joey absolutely hated being stuck. The fact it was this hospital probably didn't make it any better. "Are you doing alright?"

"Yeah," he said, his tone coming off insincere. "At least I've got a bed here. Can't say the same for your place."

She couldn't afford another bed, let alone have space to put it. And yet the words fell out of her mouth before she could think. "My bed's a queen. We could always share."

He didn't respond immediately, face twisting up into some indescribable expression. Great, Rosa. Way to screw this one up. Just like every other person you've ever-

Joey burst into laughter, nearly choking on his own saliva before he could regain his bearings. "Wow, Red. Look at you. I-" He could hardly get a word out.

"What? I was just..."

It took another moment before he could actually speak, chuckles still punctuating his words. "When I met you, you had to trick a dog into barking because you were too afraid to talk to your neighbor."

Her face fell, cheeks burning. "I get it, okay? Just-"

"Hey." He wasn't smiling anymore, voice taking on a gentler tone than she'd ever heard. "That's not what I meant. I... I'm not really good at talking about these kinds of things, but..." He sighed. "Look, even just a year ago, I was convinced you'd turn out to be a crazy cat lady. That you'd never catch the eye of a single guy because we'd always be running after spooks."

Okay, she hadn't been expecting this .

"Oh, who am I kidding? You've grown . More than your aunt ever did, anyway. Of course, she didn't need to grow much to begin with, but..." He swung his legs over the side of the hospital bed.

"Wait, Joey, don't. The nurse said-"

But her words clearly fell on deaf ears as he got up, walking over.

"You said once that you never got the chance to live because you spent all your time chasing the dead."

Right. When she'd been getting mind-sucked by Gavin. It wasn't something she was too keen on remembering. Especially since everything that had come out of her mouth had had some truth behind it. She'd said some pretty hurtful things, and though she hadn't meant all of it, it wasn't like his influence had her spewing nonsense.

Her train of thought was broken when Joey took her hands gently, looking into her eyes. "And I hate jumping to conclusions here, but maybe this is our chance. After we get done with all this Madeline stuff, anyway. Maybe this is our chance to live."

"To live," she echoed, still not sure what to make of the situation.

"Yeah. If you want, we could even get a cat. But just one. Any more, and I'm moving out."

"My apartment complex charges a fee for keeping pets." Otherwise, she might've gotten one earlier. But that was before Joey came into her life, anyway. She hadn't kept a consistent enough schedule since.

He grinned, undeterred. "Maybe a hamster, then? Something small enough that we could hide."

She sighed, shaking her head. "Would that really be worth it, though?"

"Everything's worth it with you, sweetheart," he mumbled, gaze never leaving her eyes. "Except for that phone of yours. Who pays that much for a hunk of plastic?"

"You'd understand if you knew how to use it. And you don't get to complain when you don't have a job."

"Last time I checked, neither do you."

"I get paid."

"Not consistently."

She couldn't argue with that one. "I'm still the one paying for the hospital bill. So lie down."

He obliged, albeit with the smirk of someone who thinks they've won an argument plastered on his face. Absolutely insufferable.

Paranormal investigation. Rosa wanted to laugh just thinking about it. She'd spent a weekend inside with Joey once, when she'd caught a cold, watching old reruns of Ghost Hunters. 'A bunch of kooks who've got no idea what they're talking about', Joey had dismissed it as. And sure, maybe he hadn't been exactly wrong, but she'd found it entertaining nonetheless. It was interesting to see another perspective on what they did every day. On how people tried to find ghosts without being able to see them. She'd thought it had been hilarious the one time she'd looked back at him and pretended to panic about there being a ghost in her apartment.

Joey hadn't found it nearly as funny.

And now here she was. Regardless of what they'd thought before, they had no special abilities this time around. So, in that way, she could appreciate the innovation of TV ghost hunters. And yet, she had a feeling that what they were doing wasn't going to work for her and Joey. The TV ghosts weren't exactly trying to kill people.

She still remembered one of the episodes they'd been watching, when something yellow had floated across the screen.

' You saw that, right?'

'Clear as day, darling. It's a spook.'

'Do you think it's the ghost they're looking for? Or just another unlucky person?'

'No idea. You wanna go over there and check it out?'

'...Do you want to pay for the plane ticket?'

A ghost tour would've been fun. Though, to be honest, Rosa didn't really want to know how messed up ghosts could get after haunting an area for an extended period of time. Maybe it was better to live in ignorance. She pulled out her phone, typing in a variety of search queries. Seeing ghosts, supernatural rituals... ouija boards. She couldn't help but look over her shoulder briefly on that last one. He didn't even have to be there for her to hear his voice nagging at her. But if she knew that using a ouija board actually had consequences, it was already more of a lead than mere superstition.

She glanced back at the African ghost drum she'd abandoned on an end table. The only reason that thing would keep ghosts away was due to her horrid playing skills.

She looked back down, going through another page of web results.

Huh. There was a post on some supernatural forum here. By a... KevinH.

'I can tell you for a fact that these things work. My parents, they don't like it when I talk about the supernatural, but that's what the Internet is for, right? It's supposed to be my turn to do the ritual soon, but I can't help worrying if there are side effects. There's gotta be, right? Nothing in life is that clean-cut. So if anyone knows anything about the Ba Jiao Gui or banana ghost, I'd really appreciate it.'

The rest of the thread was mostly meaningless conspiracy theories. But maybe it was worth looking into. With a few clicks, she made herself an account on the website, sending Kevin a message.

Only time would tell if that would pay off.

God, he had to get out of here. There was absolutely nothing to do stuck in this damn bed. And he wasn't about to start counting tiles again. Red had shown him how to use the TV remote, which was interesting for all about five seconds until he realized every channel just showed the same pointless drivel.

Never mind the fact that Ostin was dead. Michael had just strolled in and shot him in his apartment. Everything on camera. Madeline had to be getting desperate because that little stunt had gotten the entire police force on her tail. Meaning their time to act was short as it was.

A nurse walked into the room, wheeling one of those carts that carried the same tasteless food they always served at this damned place. An absolute delight.

"Hey, sweetheart, you got any idea how long I'm gonna have to be stuck here?"

The nurse glared at him. "Excuse me?"

It was a simple question. Why on earth was she acting like that? "What, I was-"

"You think your girlfriend would appreciate you talking to other women like that?"

"Huh?" It took a moment for her words to click. "What, you mean Red? Nah, we're not-" Were they? Even so, he couldn't-

"Uh huh. Enjoy your meal. Also," she looked down at her clipboard, "Joseph, you should be getting released tomorrow."

Oh, come on , he thought, watching her leave the room. And she thought what he had called her was bad. He looked back down at the unappetizing tray in front of him. Meatloaf or something? He didn't bother picking up the fork.

Dating Red? Nah, he couldn't. That was just all kinds of wrong. Even if he ignored the fact he was technically old enough to be her great-grandfather.

That didn't stop you with that college girl.

That was different. And plus, we didn't actually do anything.

She was younger than Red.

She was a spook!

And that changes things?

It didn't have consequences!

Consequences. Was that all he was afraid of? No. It wasn't. Hell, he'd been around long enough to know he didn't deserve her. If she knew what he'd done...

To be honest, she'd probably be fine with it, the idiot. Because that was just who she was. But he wasn't. No way in hell. How could he be? Despite whatever he may or may not have felt, he didn't have the right to act on it.

"Hi."

He looked up to see her suddenly standing in the doorway. Awkwardly. As per usual.

"I thought you might be getting lonely. Or maybe it was just me."

Huh. Right. He'd usually get nights to himself when she slept, but for her, every waking moment she had him beside her. Or within close proximity, anyway. "You find anything on your little search?"

"Not much. I sent a message to someone on an occult board. A guy named Kevin."

"You did what ?" he exclaimed. Had the Deacon seriously not been enough? Was she really going to go and try to summon something? "Are you serious? How many times have I told you that messing with that kind of stuff-"

She waved him off. "I know . But do you really see any other options here? Either we do something unconventional, (like what we do isn't already unconventional), or we do nothing. And do you really want to take out chances with nothing?"

"That doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Then don't. But we're doing it anyway. Because we have to."

Before he could get another word out, her phone went off, a high pitched beep filling the room.

"It's him."

He rolled his eyes. "Uh huh. And what does our little occultist have to say?"

"It says..." She squinted at her phone. "'I noticed your location was also flagged as being in New York. Would it be possible to meet in person?'"

"Are we really doing this?"

" You can do whatever you like."

Hm. Snippy. He'd never say it to her face, but he loved it when she got like this. Reminded him of her aunt, that sort of fire in her eyes. The drive to action that his sarcasm could never snuff out. He cleared his throat. "Luckily for you, I've had about enough of this place. Tell him we're free tomorrow."

She smirked, tapping away at that phone of hers. There wasn't much of a delay before it went off again. Red pulled up the message, reading it out loud. "'Cool. Swing by the Dragon Tree Restaurant in Chinatown around 3 and we can discuss this further.'"

A/N: I probably like the scene with Durkin more than I should. Also, if it was not heavily implied, the next two chapters will contain the Unavowed spoilers, specifically for the Chinatown mission! Consider yourselves warned. (The same mechanics will also apply to the ending of the story, so the chapters cannot simply be skipped :( )