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Chapter 11:
A New Way of Life
At the SBPD, everyone knew that Lassiter was not having a good day. He growled and snapped at anyone who dared to enter his lair. His lair being his desk. His foul mood was caused by his rough night's sleep.
The night before, his sleep was plagued with nightmares. And in those nightmares the dead victims were in a zombified state and were cursing him. They kept saying how he was a monster. They kept saying that it was all his fault they were dead. And as Lassiter was trying to flee from them he saw his friends: Juliet, Karen Vick, Henry, Shawn, Gus, and even McNab. As he called out to them for help, they replied by saying the same things the zombie victims said. Then eventually they all surrounded him and as he started to back away from them he stepped in a giant puddle of black goo. The black goo then started to pull him in its inky black depths. Eventually the black goo started to cover his entire body. As the goo covered him, it also started to forcibly and painfully shove itself into his eyes and mouth. And as Lassiter fought a loosing battle against the goo he became angrier and angrier and angrier! Then suddenly his monstrous obsidian form sprouted forth. He then started plowing through victims and friends alike and did not stop until they were all dead. As he looked around in horror, he saw the carnage that he created. Then he saw Juliet lying on he ground missing an arm and half a leg. Still in his monster form, he ran to her and dropped to his knees. He gently cradled her in his huge meaty claws as his human face peeled away from the black goo.
"O'Ha...Juliet...I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean..." But Juliet's soft voice cut him off. With a looked of utter disgust and hatred plastered on her face Juliet said, "You really are a monster."
It didn't help that as he awoke, covered in sweat, he felt that his mouth was full of fangs. And as he dragged himself to his bathroom he saw that his eyes were red and that his mouth was fully fanged.
And now as the morning dragged on, Juliet was getting more worried about her partner. The Head detective's nerves were badly frayed because of this case. And quite frankly Juliet didn't know how to help him.
Unaware of his partner's thoughts, Lassiter was sitting at his desk trying to find Dr. Joseph Emerson, the scientist who was in Eliza's digital schedule. But as he sat there, Lassiter kept trying to block out his heightened senses. He could hear people's heart beat and breathing. He could also hear the officers using the sound proof gun range down stairs and people talking in the parking lot. The smell of coffee was intensified. The smell of formaldehyde was worse. And now the possible potential smell of new victims was almost too much for him to bare. And because of his lack of sleep made everything today far far worse.
Thankfully though, his headache started to recede after a couple of doses of Aleve. Even as the psychic duo came in, his headache stayed away.
However, his momentary relief came shattering down when Detective McKinley hadn't given him the whereabouts for Mia's father.
So yet again, Lassiter was a steaming active volcano threatening to erupt at any moment. An eruption that not even Shawn wanted to risk poking his usual verbal, and sometimes physical, stick at.
But as Shawn starred at the angry Irishman from Juliet's desk, he realized that for over a week now Lassiter was not himself. At first the psychic detective thought it to be the case, since it was weighing everyone down. But Lassiter looked as if something else was wrong. Lassiter looked as if something was wrong internally. If Shawn was honest with himself, the Head Detective looked to be having a constant battle with something on the inside that was trying to take over him. But he couldn't be sure since the detective was extremely private about his life outside of work and trusted almost no one with his inner thoughts and fears.
So for now, Shawn asked Juliet in a whispered tone, "Is it just me or is Lassie more grumps than usual?"
Juliet sighed saying, "It's not just you."
Shawn and Gus could see that Lassiter's mood was affecting her as well because the stubborn man most likely wasn't opening up to her either.
Not long after this did Detective Gilroy have the guts to approach Lassiter's desk. "Uh, here's the location of Mia Brockwell."
Lassiter gawked at the young detective for a moment before saying, "You actually found the kid? Where?"
"Well I found the school she goes to and the principal said that they called child services when her step-father wouldn't pick her up. And CPS placed her in an emergency home," the young detective said as he handed Lassiter the address.
"Good work detective."
"I can't take all the credit, sir. Detective McKinley pointed me in the right direction."
"Of course he did," Lassiter said derisively. "Look, I want you to find me the kid's father. Maybe he didn't pick up the girl from school is because he killed his ex."
"Yes sir." Gilroy said then he promptly left.
In a matter of minutes, both Lassiter and Juliet were out of the door and in a squad car barreling down the road.
Foster home...
The house the two detectives pulled up to was a smallish size home that desperately needed a new coat of paint and the lawn was akin to a small jungle.
The two detectives looked at each other and put on their most polite faces, even though they weren't having the best of days, and knocked on the door. The man who opened the door was Caucasian, about Lassiter's height, and slightly overweight. The man was wearing a dirty t-shirt and a pair of shorts that seen far better days.
"Are you Mr. Mason Roberts?" "That all depends on who's askin'."
"We're detectives with the Santa Barbara Police Department. I'm Detective Lassiter and this is my partner Detective O'Hara. May we come in?" The man nodded and let the detectives in.
As Lassiter and Juliet entered the house they saw that the brown carpet was dirty and some parts was soiled. The sheer curtains were partially tattered for some unknown reason. And most of the furniture was covered in empty takeout food boxes.
"So what can I do for Santa Barbara's finest today?" Mason asked as they all stood in his living room.
"We're looking for your foster daughter Mia."
"Mia? Why?" Mason asked but then with a staccato laugh the man said tersely, "The kid didn't rob any banks, did she?"
"No we just wanted to ask her about her mother."
Mason hesitated then said, "Well she ain't here right now. She's out with my wife shoppin'. Sorry."
Lassiter and Juliet looked at each other and then they came to a mental Plan of action after seeing a single child's shoe behind the man.
"Well ok then. Let me give you my card and phone number on the back..." Lassiter said as he started fishing in his pockets in search for a pen. "Oh crap. I can't seem to find my pen, do you have one I can borrow?"
Not wanting to raise suspicion, Mason nodded and headed for the kitchen with Lassiter right behind making 'polite' conversation.
What Mason didn't know was that Juliet, with her gun drawn, started to search the smallish house. It didn't take her long to find the basement door. As Juliet descended the stairs of the basement, the junior detective took note that the room was a decent size, with boxes stacked on top of one another. It was dark and smelled of rodent droppings. Then Juliet noticed something odd in the far corner of the room: a large dog kennel. But the Roberts didn't have a dog. So as the junior detective came closer to inspect the kennel she let out a gasp of horror as to what was inside.
Inside of the dog kennel was a little girl huddled in the back. The little girl looked by be six or seven years old. She was African American with a golden caramel skin tone. The child had shoulder length wavy brown hair. And what looked to be deep brown colored eyes. Juliet also noticed that the child was very thin and very afraid.
"Hi Sweetheart. Are you Mia? I'm Juliet. I'm a police officer."
At her last statement, the already frightened child started screaming at the top of her little but powerful lungs. Literally seconds later, Lassiter was there with Mason not far behind.
"What're you doing down here?! I want you both off of my property now!" Mason exclaimed but then stopped moving as he was now looking down the muzzle of Lassiter's Colt Government pistol.
With a sneer, Lassiter growled, "You're under arrest dirt bag for child abuse and child neglect. Now put your hands where I can see 'em."
As Mason grudgingly complied, Juliet asked the man firmly, "Where's the lock to this cage?" Mason didn't answer.
"O'Hara, I saw some clippers on the wall. Just clip the lock off."
Juliet immediately found the pair of strong clippers and started clipping the lock off of the kennel.
However in the microseconds that Lassiter looked over at his partner as she broke the lock with those strong clippers is when the angry man delivered a swift punch to Lassiter's face.
Now really pissed off, Lassiter recovered immediately and full body tackled Mason with his gun still in hand.
Unfazed by the commotion behind her, Juliet said, "Sweetheart, you don't have to be afraid anymore. See," Juliet smiled as she motioned behind her to Lassiter cuffing Mason still on the ground.
"You can come out now." Juliet said as she was reaching inside the cage toward the frightened child. But the friendly and comforting motion of her hand was batted away as the little girl huddled further into her corner of the cage.
Slightly out of breath from the tackle, Lassiter made his way over to his partner.
"Is this Mia?" "I dunno but I do know she doesn't like being touched."
As Lassiter crouched down to the floor and started to balance himself on the balls of his feet, he said as gently as he could while trying to keep his usual gruffness out, "Hey there. Are you Mia?"
The little girl for a long moment just starred at the Head Detective before slowly nodding.
Lassiter and Juliet looked at each other.
"It's ok Mia. We're here to help you." Juliet said with Lassiter nodding in agreement. But just as little Mia came cautiously out of the kennel Mason was trying to get to his feet. Lassiter turned and barked, "I will shoot you if you move again!" Then suddenly the head detective felt two tiny arms wrap around his pants leg.
Lassiter looked down in surprise to find Mia clinging to his leg. He looked at Juliet who was just as surprised. But then Juliet snapped out of her surprise and smirked at her partner.
"It's looks like she likes you Carlton."
Lassiter rolled his eyes at the woman and then looked down at the shivering child. Taking pity of the child, Lassiter extracted himself from the tiny clinging hands and put his suit jacket over her thin shoulders. Both to warm her and cover her. She was barefoot and was only wearing a dirty tank shirt and thin underwear. Due to his kind gesture, Juliet gave a soft 'aww', which annoyed Lassiter. He was supposed to be gruff RoboCop. He was practically born with this identity; however, contrary to this common belief he wasn't heartless. With that Lassiter hoisted the child up into his arms.
"Place him in squad car. I'm calling social services."
Juliet nodded as she went over and jacked the pissed off Mason to his feet and out of the basement.
As Lassiter was holding Mia in one arm and the phone to his ear with the other, he noticed a bear on the floor near the kennel. After not getting an answer, Lassiter hung up and grabbed the bear. "Mia. Is this your bear?" Mia looked up from his shoulder and nodded shyly. And Lassiter handed her the bear. Mia took the bear and returned to her comfortable position: her head laying on his shoulder and her thin little arms wrapped around his neck.
Lassiter exited the basement and the house to join Juliet by the car. But then he noticed something crucial: Mia wouldn't let go. Thus he couldn't drive the squad car back.
"O'Hara...here you drive." Lassiter said as he reluctantly gave her the keys.
"Not that I'm complaining but why?"
"Cause this kid's got a vice lock on my neck right now."
Juliet couldn't hold it anymore and started laughing. To which she got a stern 'Shut it O'Hara.' Which only caused her to laugh harder but then she calmed enough to drive them back to the precinct. On the way, there were only a few moments where Lassiter banged on the caged division, that divided them up front from their prisoner, to shut up. This is because Mason kept trying to talk to Mia as she was still in Lassiter's arms.
As the group came into the precinct, they received quite a few looks of confusion. As they should, Juliet was bringing in a man the easily outweighed her by a hundred pounds while Lassiter was holding on to a little girl.
But the crowd quickly dispersed when Lassiter barked at them to get back at work. Oddly enough, Lassiter's loud gruff bark made the girl more comfortable with him as she snuggled deeper into his embrace. Juliet giggled again as she passed Mason off to a wide eyed McNab.
"Detectives. My office." Chief Vick said.
"Mia. This is my desk. Stay here for just a moment. I'll be right back."
As the detectives came into the chief's office, they noticed that Henry, Shawn, and Gus were present as well.
Then the Chief said as she sat behind her desk, "Good job detectives for retrieving the little girl. But I can see that you've made quite an impression on her Carlton"
Lassiter simply shook his head before she continued "Well detective, I've talked with social services and it would appear that there's no room for her right now. And seeing as how the little girl has taken such an attachment to you..."
"Chief you can't be serious!"
"If my memory is correct, you don't hate children."
"You're right, I don't but..." Lassiter trailed off because he couldn't explain what he was going through with his obsidian monster form and temporal mood swings. "I'm just not comfortable around them."
"Well that's very honest of you detective. But unfortunately she's terrified of everyone except you. She only trusts you. So make her feel safe."
"But chief I'm the lead on this case. We can't spare anyone."
"You're right. That's why you won't be alone. While you're working the case she's going to be in school and accompanying her will be an officer. When she's not in school she's going to either be with me, Henry, or with Shawn and Gus. I'm certain Detective O'Hara will also help whenever she can. And at the end of the day, you'll take her home in the evenings. And if, God forbid, another victim is found and you have to come in at night Henry will be on stand by."
Seeing as how Lassiter was still not fond of this idea, Chief Vick says, "Look Carlton, it's not an ideal situation for anyone but we're in this together. This is the end of this conversation. Now I'm ordering you Detective to take the rest of the day off and get her situated with you. Buy her some clothes and toys. Detective O'Hara can manage for the remainder of today."
As the chief finished Henry and the psychic detectives left, but Lassiter and Juliet were both still flabbergasted and didn't move for a few moments. Then the Chief looked at them saying, "You're both dismissed."
How am I supposed to take care of a child? Especially with this freaky Hulk thing I got going on. Lassiter thought as he approached his desk with Mia sitting in his chair. As he got close enough, the little girl dropped down out of the chair and embraced his legs again.
Feeling himself starting to turn an impressive shade of red, Lassiter picked the girl up and said, "You're going to be staying with me for awhile. So let's get you some clothes and whatever else kids need. Sound good?" All he got in response was a hug around the neck.
That night at Carlton's condo...
As day turned into night all across Santa Barbara, Lassiter had pretty much child proofed his home. As Mia watched Pooh Bear: Piglet's BIG Movie, he had taken that time to lock up most of his firearms. He also setup his guest room for her. All the clothes he bought for her were now neatly put away and the toys he bought were now placed in the closet.
Once he finished his last run through of his home, he saw that Mia had fallen asleep with her bear clutched tightly in her little arms. The movie was just finishing up with Carly Simon singing 'With A Few Good Friends'.
Lassiter gently picked the child up and since he had already cleaned her up with a new pair pajamas, he tucked her into bed. But as he moved to leave, she began to stir. Lassiter came back over to her and in his rumbling bass gruff voice he spoke words of reassurance and promises that she'd always be safe with him. In a matter of moments, Mia settled back into the peaceful slumber once again. Despite himself, Lassiter smiled at her tiny form snuggled under the covers as he flicked on a horse shaped nightlight he bought earlier as he went to get some much needed rest.
The Roberts Household...
Unknown to anyone, a figure cloaked in darkness emerged from its shadowy hiding place as it entered Mason Robert's house. It started sniffing the air with its nose-less face as it went throughout the house.
But then a particular scent caught the being's attention. It was faint but there were two scents that the being was starting to become familiar with. One scent was of gun shot residue mixed with old spice. And the other was of peaches. The moon's rays then shone through the window of the living room to reveal the being to be Alistair's red and bubbling monstrous face. "Alright. So the games have begun. Get ready boys in blue. Cause you have a hot date with death!"
TBC
A/N: So here's my cast list for some new characters: Mia is played by Millie Davis, Detective Larry McKinley is played by Tim Matheson, and Detective Tommy Gilroy is played by Maxwell Terlecki.
Here's the picture I have imagined for Mia: entertainment/artist/Millie-Davis/A693539
Well I hope it's all going well. Please leave me a review and let me know what you all think!