Sitting at her desk, Lightning wasn't looking at anything in particular. Lost in her thoughts and overwhelmed by the thousands of questions still needing to be answered, she brought her hands to her face and covered her eyes with her palms, slowly inhaling and exhaling the ambient air.

Two days had passed since Christmas had turned into her own personal nightmare, and still, Lightning was unwilling to give up the case even though it meant defying direct orders from her boss, and the FBI. But truth was, she also didn't really care. If she needed to prove to the world of her capacities as a Lieutenant, she was going to deliver with a thousand of fireworks.

Parting her fingers in front of her eyes, she glanced at the laptop as it finally chimed a bell, her research for facial recognition finally being finalized after ten long minutes of waiting in a complete and deafening silence, and with a large intake of air, Lightning gazed at her screen.

On the many security cameras she had analyzed, merely five had been able to track Jihl's movements. Usually leaving her apartment around six in the morning wearing nothing but a hoody, her trail eventually disappeared upon entering the subway never to be tracked down again. All Lightning could figure out from this was that Jihl was headed towards Pasadena, on the North East of the city but that was it. Without access the underground cameras, there was nothing more she could truly do.

Grunting to herself, she pushed the mouse away and looked up at the ceiling with a defeated look on her face. And now, the need of nicotine was being felt. Grabbing her jacket from the back of her chair, Lightning exited her office and went towards the balcony facing her office.

"Lieutenant there's been another dead body. 420 Stanley Avenue."

Stopping dead in her tracks, Lightning quickly turned around. "Same MO?"

"It would seem. What do we do?"

"We go. The FBI hasn't said anything about any other murders. Let's go."

Savagely grinning, Lightning snatched the keys from her leather jacket and stormed down the stairs of the precinct as fast as humanly possible. She got in her car at the same time Yuj pulled the passenger door open and did not wait for him to close it back to go into reverse and escape the vicinity, sirens on.

"What do we have so far," she asked with both her hands on the wheel.

"Female victim, throat slit from ear to ear. She was found ten minutes ago in a dumpster by the local garbageman."

"Ten minutes? We need to hurry."

Pressing on the pedal increasingly harder, Lightning followed Yuj's instructions to find their way as quickly as possible and during the five-minute drive it took them to arrive, all Lightning was able to do was to pray for the FBI to be far away from them, back in Quantico.

Stopping the car near the brigade of police officers positioned at the intersection, both the Lieutenant and the Detective shoved their badges in front of the security's faces and walked under the security banner, hastily walking in direction of the forensic.

"Emma? You're here?"

"Of course I am, I was only one minute away." Looking over her shoulder, Lightning then urged her for details with a warning look. "Right. This is our second Jane Doe. No papers, nothing. Throat slit, deep enough for her to…"

"Bleed in a matter of seconds."

"Exactly," Emma acknowledged with a bob of the head. "But there's more this time. Look."

Frowning, Lightning grabbed the pair of gloves Emma was handing to her and carefully looked at the wound. Something was inside of it. Though she couldn't quite tell what had been stuck inside the victim's flesh, Lightning wagered that this hadn't been left on purpose and that was an additional clue.

"Yuj, give me a bag. And Tweezers. Now."

"Yes."

"What are you doing, Lightning," Emma asked with round eyes.

"I'm taking this before the FBI comes. It's a matter of seconds now."

Retrieving the piece of metal from the wound and carefully dropping it inside the plastic bag, Lightning was quick to hide it inside of Emma's bag before standing back up with her fists at her hips.

"Any witnesses?"

"No. She died two to three hours ago, around five in the morning."

"Blood trail?"

"Nothing."

"So she was killed somewhere else and dumped here like a useless piece of…well trash," Lightning concluded. "Shit."

Looking around, she walked further away from the street and checked for any tires that could've left a trace from an abrupt departing, but it was without surprise that nothing was to be found. These people, whoever killed these girls were professionals, thorough and careful about every single detail.

"We meet again. Seems like we're drawn to each other eh?"

Clenching her jaw, Lightning tried to ignore Agent Yun's annoying voice and swiftly turned around, a wicked smile on her lips. "It seems we do, Agent Yun."

"Wasn't I clear yesterday?"

"You were very clear when it came to Jihl Nabaat, but as far as I'm concerned this is an entirely different case."

"I'm sure you believe it is," Agent Yun retorted with an amused yet unfriendly look in her eyes. "But once more, I'm going to ask you to leave."

"On what grounds, exactly?"

Chuckling, Agent Yun turned around and pointed at the dark SUV parked in the distance. "Because we're here, and we don't need you anymore."

It took her a few moments to realize the pain her nails had caused her from digging into the palm of her hands, her previous irritation slowly turning towards anger. "What are you going to do then, Agent Yun? Tell on me again like we're children on the school grounds because someone refused to give you candy?"

Laughing, the Agent turned back around to face her and took a step closer to stand only a few inches away from her face. "If that gets you out of my way I just might. I'd finally be able to do my job."

"That's ironic since I'm trying to do the exact same thing," Lightning countered, painfully trying to ignore the scent of Yun's perfume if perfume it even was, "and yet here you are again, stealing another case from under my nose."

"I'm sure you would be much more efficient dealing with something else…" Yun suggested, "This is out of your control."

"Like hell it is,' Lightning argued, "Do you even know who I…"

"No," she coldly interjected, "and to be quite frank, I don't give a toss about who you are. To me, you're nothing but an LAPD Lieutenant. Now go, let the big guys do their job and for the last time, stay out of my way."

"Tsch."

Glaring at her, Lightning walked past her in a fury and grabbed both Emma and Yuj from the crime scene. Glancing over her shoulder, she gingerly observed as Agent Yun bent down to look at the victim, ignoring everything else around her before she left her line of sight at the corner of the alley.

"I'm going to kill her," she bitterly stated.

"Before you do that," Emma said, "let me run some DNA analysis about our young lady."

"You took a sample?"

"Saliva, fingerprints, hair. She was so focused on you I figured I'd have time to grab something."

"Thanks. But you know this goes against direct orders," Lightning asked before stopping in front of her car, giving both Emma and Yuj a worried look.

"Oh, I know. But I'm not a fan of the Feds, and this seems to be pissing them off quite nicely," Emma said through a beaming smile.

"Perfect. Do you need a ride?"

"I wouldn't mind one. I don't feel like carrying this to the precinct," she said pointing at the cooler. "A ride would be fantastic."

"Let's go, then." Turning the ignition on, Lightning drove off from the scene, sirens on and loudly echoing throughout the city. Agent Yun had started a war, and one she wasn't willing to lose.

"Well?"

"You're not familiar with patience, are you?"

Rolling her eyes to the ceiling, Lightning sluggishly sat down on Emma's chair with her arms crossed on her chest, her foot frenetically tapping against the ground. It had now been more than twenty minutes since they had made it back to the morgue, and still, nothing had come out from the samples.

"I just don't want the stupid FBI to be one step ahead of us."

"Bad experience with them?" Pulling a stool closer to her desk, Emma sat down and gave Lightning a confused look.

"Not really," Lightning admitted with a shrug, "I just don't like her. She gets under my skin."

"That much?"

"Yes. She seems to believe she owns the world because of her status and to be honest I find that pathetic."

"Well, she's a Federal Agent Lightning, she has the right to…"

"I know," she harshly interjected, "it doesn't mean I'm supposed to like it."

Silently acknowledging her words, Lightning heavily sighed and glanced back at the computer, impatiently waiting for the analysis to finish its wretched job. Slowly exhaling, she glanced at the morgue with a frown and noticed the Christmas tree Emma had placed in the left corner of the room.

Christmas had never been her scenery, or at least, it hadn't been for a long time. She didn't understand the unnecessary decorating, the trees making more of a mess than anything else, the presents needed to be exchanged all because a child was born years ago. She could see why people enjoyed this holiday, usually giving them a reason to spend time with their loved ones and enjoy a meal as well as a bottle of wine, but to Lightning, Christmas meant nothing more but a commercial Holliday making people spend more money than they already have.

"We have a match."

Looking back at the screen, Lightning was back on her feet with a smile. "Tifa Lockhart," she whispered under her breath. "Disappeared eight months ago and presumed dead. What the hell is going on?"

Taking a step back, Lightning ran her fingers through her hair and instantly felt a headache that had been threatening her ever since her eyes had flickered open. Looking through her bag, she picked out a box of pills and shoved a single white one inside of her mouth, immediately swallowing it under Emma's concerned gaze.

"Two girls. Both went missing…Nothing makes sense."

"What are you going to do?"

She shook her head and came closer to the laptop. "Go see her parents. It's the only thing I can do. If I tell them to come here, I'm dead." She sighed. "Where do they live?"

"San Francisco," Emma said after doing a few researches online.

"Call me if you get anything from the piece you found in the wound."

"Alright. Will you be okay?"

Nodding, Lightning thanked Emma with a smile and started to walk towards the exit door until her voice called out for her name. Looking over her shoulder, she waited for the forensic to speak up but after a few seconds, Emma only shook her head and allowed the Lieutenant to leave the vicinity and by extension, the city.

But first, Lightning needed a day-off and therefore a lie big enough for her to be away for at least the entire day. Walking up the stairs, she suddenly remembered her sister's kind offer to help however she could, and what was best than a sudden case of flue with a boyfriend working miles away?

Confident, she arrived on the first floor and entered the office after knocking twice, her face instantly turning to stone at the sight of Agent Yun sitting before his desk.

"Lightning could you wait a few more minutes? I'm not done with Agent Yun yet."

"Of course, Sir," Lightning uttered through gritted teeth, glaring at the woman's nape of the neck. Going backwards, she opened the door again and leaned against the wall with her arms crossed on her chest, her eyes almost powerful enough to destroy the facing wall.

Her bad-luck streak didn't seem to be coming to and end, and the only person she was able to blame was the woman sitting only a few feet away from her vicinity, at her workplace. Didn't she have a special office filled to the brim with platinum and a golden thrown for her to sit on? Did she had to come here and annoy her with her presence?

With fist clenched to their maximum, she stood back straight as the door suddenly opened and stared at Yun exiting the office with her hands down the pockets of her black jeans, black boots hitting the ground and echoing throughout the entire precinct.

She continued to follow her with her stare as she entered the elevator, and only now did they look at one another from the distance. As usual, and what seemed to be a trademark trait, Yun viciously smirked as their eyes locked and the wink she performed as the doors closed was enough to send Lightning over the edge. Fuming, she began to rush towards the stairs but was abruptly stopped by a forceful hand grabbing her by the wrist.

"Leave it, Lieutenant."

Growling to herself, she waited for the unpleasant hold to stop and turned around to face Captain Amodar but as she gazed at his features, she knew something was slightly different than before. The usual smile he wore every single day was gone and with it, the spark in his eyes.

"Sir?"

"Yes. What did you want to tell me?"

Clearing her throat, she followed the man back to his office and shut the door on her way in. Refusing to sit down, she intertwined her fingers behind her back and prayed for an authorization to leave the precinct right away. "My sister has the flue Sir, and her boyfriend is unable to cater for her. Could I have a day off to take care of her?"

Amodar scrutinized her with intensity, trying to decipher her facial expression to find a possible lie. "I guess I could allow that. You're never taking time off anyway, and I believe you have more than two weeks at your disposal. Take one day or two, we'll manage."

Finally, Lightning could breathe again. "Thank you, Sir," she said with a tight smile.

Understanding that the conversation was now over and done, Lightning made her way out of the office and into her own, picking up the few things she would need for her trip: badge, gun and papers about Jihl that could perhaps relate the two young women together and with her phone to her ear, she rushed down the stairs without a single goodbye.

Waiting for Serah to pick up her cell, the pink-haired Lieutenant was already back inside of her car and manically driving towards her house to pick up a few additional things she might need if she decided to stay longer. Annoyed by the fact Serah didn't respond, Lightning was in and out of her house within a few minutes notice, holding in her palm a bag filled with some of her belongings and already driving out of the city of angels with her sirens on.

Although not being allowed to use them for her personal gain, she also knew time was of the essence and couldn't allow herself to waste time by driving as slowly as the other cars. San Francisco was a five hour drive at a normal speed and thanks to the lights, the trip would be shortened by at least two hours.

Exiting the city and entering the highway, Lightning pressed harder on the pedal as her ringtone finally echoed inside her car.

"Serah, finally!"

"What is it?"

"I need you to pretend to be sick for the next two days, I'm leaving town for a while but no time to explain. While you're at it, try to find out if anyone knew the victim, I'll send you a picture as soon as I can."

"Lightning this is…"

"Madness, I know but this just got more complicated. I'll be back in two days."

"If I don't have any news, I'm warning the authorities you're missing," Serah ground out, her displeased tone of voice impossible to ignore.

"Sure, whatever," Lightning annoyingly replied. "Got to go, I'm driving. See ya."

"Be caref…"

Already hanging up the phone, Lightning orientated her car to the right side for emergencies only and was soon reaching more than 120 miles per hour.

Not once in her life had she drove so fast on the highway, or anywhere really, but consequences being Lightning had no other choice. However, driving at high speed did not mean being reckless and every time she manoeuvred the wheel was done slowly and precisely. The last thing she needed was to cause a deadly accident, and by the chance she would survive, her job would be taken away from her in the blink of an eye.

"Right," she said to herself, "Mister and Misses Lockhart. How am I even supposed to tell them? Emma sent me a picture of the body she managed to take," she continued to whisper, both hands on the wheel, "but what if they don't let me in? I can't use force, I can't even call someone for help. Is this actually a good idea?"

Slowing down, Lightning needed to carefully think about her next moves. The plan she had wanted to be perfect merely existed, and the mistakes she had made at the beginning of her career came back to her mind like an alarm. And if those mistakes had taught her anything was that rushing into something headfirst was the biggest mistake she could possibly make.

At the time, Lightning was only twenty-one years old. She had graduated from the Police Academy with highest honours and was promised to be one of the most successful detectives and for a while, what had they said had been true. But during a case involving a rape and a triple homicide, Lightning slipped up.

The victim they had found in a house had been babysitting two young children aged nine and six, and she was only seventeen. It was the first murder Lightning ever worked on and the toll it had taken on her had been more than noticeable.

Everything had been going according to her plan until the arrest of a possible murderer happened and she was in the lead. With her gun in her hand, she had entered the house as quietly as possible, her Glock47 glued to both of her hands and for a moment, she waited, listening to the sounds coming from the different rooms. With her team behind her back, she knew she was safe, but not safe enough.

After a few moments, she had drawn her breath in and walked towards the living-room, checking everywhere, every possible room and still, the man they had been looking for was nowhere to be seen and worse, he had left a note. Only a few words scribbled and left on the kitchen counter. Next time, maybe? These three words began to haunt her, and soon, Lightning became obsessed with the idea of finding him.

Day and night, all Lightning did was to work, sleep put to the side. And the more she got obsessed, the more difficult it was to logically think. But nothing stopped her, and although ordered to take some time off to get a clearer head, Lightning kept thinking about it, until finally, something in her mind started to blink and without any backup, she went ahead towards an address she had previously missed.

With her gun in her hand, Lightning hadn't thought twice as she kicked down the front-door, her eyes glancing in every direction to find him, and when here eyes had finally settled on his chest, her anger had been lit like a brazier. Slow at first, and destructive at the end.

To this day, Lightning couldn't tell what made her pull the trigger after a short conversation of him only declaring victory, applauding the you detective with a wicked and cruel smile on his lips. But the longer had had applauded, and the angrier she had gotten until finally, her finger snapped. All it took was one single bullet piercing through his lung to send him to his demise and as he fell to the ground lifeless, Lightning had only stared for one, two, and three minutes.

To this day, Lightning hadn't been able to tell Amodar what had happened. Exhaustion mixed with a false sense of pleasure had overwritten her mind, and more than two weeks of suspension with private therapy consultations had been put in place. Some that had luckily been able to help her.

So, what was she doing at this very second? Was she doing the same thing, obsessing over every single detail seeming different to her? Would she make the same mistakes if she continued to drive towards San Francisco or was she willing to turn around, already seeing the city in the distance? Slowly starting to slow down until she came at a stop, Lightning turned the ignition and sirens off, and rested her head against her wheel for a few minutes.

During those minutes, an equation had started to form, and Lightning's goal had been to answer it and eventually, she did. Turning the engine back on, she continued towards the city with a lighter weight pressing on her shoulder and a determined look gazing towards San Francisco.

She arrived in front of the door a little after three in the afternoon. Firstly driving to a nearest hotel, she had checked in, placed her bag in her room and eaten a few fruits she had brought with her on the trip to regain the energy she had lost by overthinking all the decisions she had taken before, and re-considering her plan on last time and at the time, it had seemed like the only thing to do.

But instead, the longer Lightning stared at the door, the harder it became to knock. But as fate would've decided, it wasn't her who made the first move and when the door opened before her eyes, she instantly lowered her hand and managed a smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" the woman answering the door said with a smile. Looking at her from head to toe, that smile disappeared and was replaced by fear. "The Police…Why? Did you find my Tifa? John, come here!"

"Ma'am, I'm Lieutenant Far…" Lightning tried to cut out before being interjected once more.

"Is she…alive? Is my daughter alive? Please, I beg of you!"

The few colours Lightning had on her face were drained within an instant. "Ma'am, can I please come in?"

The woman nodded, fear still showing on her face as she allowed the Lieutenant inside of her home. Cosy and warmer than needed, the house the couple occupied was a synonym of a wealthy family, and the many pictures of Tifa getting numerous rewards hanging at the walls showed a certain sense of pride. She was smart. Just like Jihl.

Following the mother towards the living-room, Lightning flinched at the sight of a tall, large man standing near the couch, his hands clamped at his hips. The size of one was enough to cover her entire face and break her neck in a single second and despite of that, she tried to remain unfazed.

"Please sit down, can I get you anything? A tea, coffee?"

"No thank you ma'am, listen I'm here from Los Angeles and…"

"LA," a gruff, angered voice barked, "why are you from LA?"

"I'm here because the body of your daughter was found in Los Angeles earlier today," Lightning said, "I'm sorry to have to tell you this in those circumstances."

A silence settled between them all, a line separating the Lieutenant from the family. Clearing her throat, she retrieved a picture from her bag and made it slide in their direction and as always, the response was instantaneous. The sobbing sounds escaping the woman's mouth were hushed by the strong arm of the father, his grey-coloured eyes piercing through her skull.

"How? How did this happen," he asked angrily.

"She was found earlier this morning with no identification, no wallets. Her throat had been…slit."

The mother's cry echoed throughout the house as she left the room to enter another, the father keeping on starting at Lightning who anxiously started to fidget on her chair. "Slit? You're saying my little girl was murdered?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, Sir."

The man suddenly stood up and Lightning's flinch was left unseen. Following him with a concerned gaze, she waited for him to reappear from the kitchen a glass of amber liquid in his hand, and a book in another. Wiping the sweat from her hands on her jeans, she grabbed another picture from her bag and slid it next to the other one, Jihl Nabaat's body lying next to Tifa's.

"Sir, have you ever seen this woman? Did you daughter know her?"

Arching a brow, the man bent down to look at the picture and shook his head. "No."

"Are you sure? You barely…"

"I'm telling you I don't know, lady. I don't know who this kid is. Why?"

"Jihl was killed a day before your daughter, same MO. No wallet, nothing. I was hoping you'd recognize her, so I could make a connection between them both," Lightning said, another disappointment added to the list. But what bothered her more was the father's demeanour. Somehow, it didn't seem like he even cared.

The man grunted in response and with a shake of the head, he dug his nose inside the book. However, the one he was holding wasn't filled with words, but with pictures.

"My daughter was the smartest. She was about to be a doctor, you know," he said after a sip of what she now identified as scotch, "look."

Grabbing the book being handed to her, she carefully looked at the pictures and instantly, something was off. Once more, the body she had found on the street was thinner than the being presented to her, and the face had changed but just a bit. "How old are these pictures, Sir," she asked, unsure of what to conclude.

"Maybe a year. Right before she disappeared. Or left." Frowning, Lightning glanced at the picture one more time. "Oh, want something to drink?"

"A water would be fine, thank you." Watching him leave, it was quick for the Lieutenant to retrieve her cell phone and snap multiple pictures of Tifa and slide it back inside of her pocket before the father came back inside, glass in hand. "Thank you," she said once more before swallowing nearly the entire glass.

"What happens now?"

Lightning sighed. "The body will be given the SFPD." If the FBI doesn't keep it in ice.

"And we'll have it? To burry?"

"Yes Sir, the police should retrieve it soon," she lied with a tight smile.

Unsure of what to do and see if she should stay longer in San Francisco to wait for the body, Lightning glanced at her wrist-watch and stopped a sigh from escaping her lips. One day was enough for what she wanted to do, but if necessary, she would stay in town for a few more days, hopping for a body to appear.

"I'm not going to take more of your time, Sir," she said, retrieving the two pictures. "I will call you if I find out anything else before tomorrow."

"Alright. Goodbye, Lieutenant."

Waiting for some sort of movement from him, Lightning quickly gave up as his attention got drawn back to the pictures. With a small move of the head, she turned around with her purse at her shoulder and exited the household without a single word.

For the third time in three days, she felt that something was wrong. The father was off, the weight loss situation was off and the similarities between the two girls was too much to only be coincidental. Shaking her head, she walked with a cigarette at her lips towards the hotel with a new headache buzzing at her temples. It had been three years now that migraines had started to become a nuisance, and according to her therapist, the tension in her body was the only reason why.

But as the migraines continued, she was finally able to receive some strong painkillers as well as something else to help her relax that luckily, she hadn't forgot to bring.

Entering the hotel's hall after just a few minutes, Lightning took the elevator to the fourth floor and was inside of her bedroom, already at the balcony merely seconds later and in her hand, a joint. Better than Xanax and less dangerous from the mind, Marijuana had been prescribed to her to ease her constant anxiety and help her be less tensed and although she had always been against drugs, this solution had seemed to work.

Now, her headaches weren't as strong anymore and being relaxed had helped overthink less and enjoy herself just a little bit more, but ever since Christmas, the usual pain had been back and refusing to swallow another pill, her only solution left had been weed.

Rolling a thin joint, she placed it at her lips and took two consecutive drags to help the flame work faster, she inhaled the smoke and stuck it between her lungs before immediately blowing it all away. The scent she had yet to learn to like was powerful and the white cloud that lingered over her head disappeared with the force of the wind and the taste in her mouth automatically made her wince. Even after six months, she still didn't enjoy joints but as long as they helped, it was all that mattered.

Placing it inside of the ashtray, she stood up from her chair and grabbed her laptop from the bag and her phone and brought them back outside. First sending a message to her sister and therefore reassure her of her safety, she also wrote the few details she had found from speaking to the Lockharts and had then downloaded the pictures on her laptop.

Tifa Lockhart and Jihl Nabaat were somehow connected, and the FBI had retrieved both of their bodies. The fathers seemed aggressive and not carrying at all and abuse was even mentioned. Smart girls, both went through massive physical changes…But what was missing?

Closing her eyes, Lightning leaned against the chair and with closed eyes, brought the joint back to her lips. Maybe a good night of sleep was all that she needed to her mind clear and truth was, she couldn't wait to lie down and finally get some rest.

Hiya :) I wanted to thank Ragnarokxiii after the end of this chapter for the kind offer. It truly made my day, you can't believe how much and I can't thank you enough but please, keep reading for free! Thank you again for you kind words, I hope you have an amazing day :)