Hey guys! First of all, I'd like to wish you all a Merry whatever you want it to be and I hope your night will go nicely and that you will all have the evening you had planned.

I'd like to thank the people sticking with me for the stories I've written (Mom, The Amazon and the others) and I'm sorry it's taking me so long to update. I haven't had the easiest of years, if not the worst really, and I got really depressed during a long period of time, but I'm back on my feet, even if the ground still feels...dangerous for me to stand on.

So thanks for being supportive, it's always highly appreciated even though I never really say so.

Lots of love to you all!

N

Saturday's had never truly been her favourite day of the week. Not having to go to the office, she usually tried to occupy her time with books, crossword puzzles or even TV shows, but today, Lightning had decided to go for a run before her meeting with Agent Yun later during the day.

Running alongside of the ocean, Lightning's posture was the one of a professional runner. Her spine standing straight, her arms close to her body, it had been more than forty-five minutes since she had started jogging and still, Lightning felt like she could run for hours. Plus, the weather was enjoyable, barely reaching 70°F so sweat wasn't an issue she needed to pay attention to.

She didn't really know why she had decided to go out, but she also did not regret her decision. Fresh air somehow helped to gather back her thoughts, trying to process everything that had occurred within a single week of her life. And God knew a lot had happened.

Triple homicide, the Bureau invading the city, Agent Yun being a pain in her ass offering her the possibility to help however she could, her sister being pregnant from that oaf of a man Snow, there had been too many information in a lapse of time she found too short. But seeing a little action wasn't unpleasant either in the end. There wasn't a single second she found herself bored.

Keeping her head straight and her eyes staring at the horizon, Lightning continued to jog along the beach with her headset covering her ears. She had pressed on a random playlist generated by her app and hadn't been displeased with the result. Although most of these songs weren't the ones she would usually listen to during her free time, running on some electronica was rather motivational and guided her every footstep.

That was until someone waved at her from the distance. It was a woman, dressed in sports attire, her hair tied up in a bun on the top of her head. And the closer Lightning got to the woman, the clearer she became.

"Hey there," the woman said as Lightning stopped in front of her, retrieving the headset to place it around her neck, "Fancy seeing you here. Although I'm not surprised, you're running, I can see you have strong legs."

Darting down, Lightning looked at her thin yet muscular thigs. "I suppose it's one of the reasons," she replied.

"Oh, there are more?"

The lusty tone the woman -who she only now remembered her name- used was firstly confusing but as Lightning's brain started to function again, it was clear what she had meant to say. "Oh. No, there aren't."

Faking a pout, Abby dug her hazel-coloured eyes inside of her own and put up a shining smile. "That's a shame."

Certain Abby was now shamelessly flirting with her, Lightning wasn't interested in her in the slightest. Sure, she was cute and perhaps even pretty, but relationships or even sex weren't something she was truly interested in. She wasn't opposed to it, of course, but she simply lived just fine without it. Plus, the concept of intimacy and sex usually seemed ridiculous and off-putting to her, so why even try? Plus, she preferred taller women anyway, and Abby was shorter by a few inches.

"Anyway, I should get back to it," Lightning said, clear on her intention to put an end to this meaningless conversation.

"You don't have time for a cup of coffee? My treat, I promise."

Bothered by the question and the sudden invasion of her privacy as Abby took a step closer, Lightning replied by shaking her head from left to right with much vigour.

"I'm fine, thanks. Running will be just fine for me."

"Can I at least get your number, in case you want to meet up one day?"

Sighing, Lightning brought her fingers to the bridge of her nose and massaged it the entire time she stared deadpan at the very insistent young woman. Realizing she wouldn't give up and would probably offer to run alongside her in case she refused, Lightning brought her cell phone from her pocket and handed it to the woman with a frown, displeased by the outcome of the conversation.

Taking it, Abby entered a few numbers and immediately pressed call to make sure she too, would be in possession of her number. "Great," she said handing it back to her, "I'll make sure to call you whenever I have the time. See you soon…"

"Lightning."

"Pleased to meet you then, Lightning. Bye!"

Cheerfully waving, Lightning faked a tight smile and followed Abby with her eyes as she jogged in the opposite direction, seeming much lighter than before. She observed her for a while, waiting for her to be out of her line of sight so she could breathe a deep, heavy and desperate sigh. This was one way to kill her mood, that was for sure.

Defeated, she placed her headset back over her ears and listened to the song that had kept playing during her not quick enough exchange with Abby but running wasn't on her to-do list anymore. Instead, she sat down on the sand with her knees close to her body, her arms wrapped around them, and she stared at the calm waves hitting the shore under the shining sun.

It was funny how relaxing the sight of the water could be, and how many memories it always seemed to bring back to the surface. It wasn't ground breaking ones of course, but to her they were important. After all, she and her family always used to come here on Sunday's to have a picnic on the beach, her mother and father happy to spend time with their two daughters that were always locked up in their respective rooms.

It was a moment they all shared together, enjoying the scent of the ocean mixed with the one of hot sand, their toes wiggling underneath the millions of pieces of rock and talking about their weeks, work or studies. Although Lightning rarely engaged in the conversations, she listened with her sunglasses pushed to the bridge of her nose and a book by her side, elbowing on the ground and listening to their voices colliding with the sound of the water hitting the shore. It was a moment of pure relaxation.

In retrospect, perhaps she should've participated in their conversations, now that she was unable to do it. A wave of sadness went across her face, her vision getting blurred by the few tears that were menacing to roll down on her cheeks at this thought. How long has it been since she had heard her mother laugh whilst her father would read her the latest news with an annoying voice he once used to amuse her. How she missed those days where the future was just a big question mark standing over at the horizon, surrounded by happy days.

It seemed trivial to think of such things now that they didn't matter anymore. She wouldn't get another chance to save them, to stop them from going out to this lame party that people who didn't even matter had decided to throw to celebrate the warm days of the summer.

Sniffling, Lightning lifted her head to face the sun, stopping the tears that had yet to disappear to be shed. There was no need for crying about something that had happened so long ago, not after everything she had managed to accomplish with her sister's help. She was a proud Lieutenant and Serah was a kindergarten teacher who now carried life inside of her to start a new generation of Farrons'.

Looking back at the ocean, Lightning gave herself a mental push and go back to her feet, the music still playing in her ears, waiting for her to grab that motivation and start running once again. With a shake of the head and breathing out a sharp breath, she grabbed that motivation in both her hands and started trotting towards the end of the beach, towards the cliffs.

Gone were the days she remembered, and back was her eternal thirst for avengement. Back where the faces of all the people she had arrested and put in jail for murders, theft or hit and runs and with them, her pride for a job well done. Letting a smile invade her face, Lightning pressed harder towards the cliff until she started to sprint in their direction, the sand flying in every direction each and every time her foot got buried deeper inside the soil.

Finally, the motivation she had waited for the entire day was enveloping her from head to toe, and back was her desire to learn more about Agent Yun's face. To say she had started to feel defeated towards the entire situation would've been an understatement, really. During the entire morning, all she had done had been to convince herself this wasn't a one-way voyage towards chaos but now, the Lightning was confident of the fact that they would achieve this. Being praised wouldn't matter if it meant putting dangerous people in jail. Wasn't that everything she wanted anyway?

Inwardly nodding to her own thoughts, Lightning continued to press harder in direction of the end of the beach, her legs slowly starting to ache but nevertheless, there was not stopping her anymore. Once more, she knew was she wanted: victory, no matter the cost, no matter the consequences.

Lightning arrived at The Amazon a little before seven, wanting to take the time to think back to her latest conversation with Agent Yun. Reiterating the facts in her mind, she sometimes brought the cigarette burning between her fingers to her lips, slowly inhaling and exhaling the smoke out for it to collide with the air and vanish above her head. It started in Washington with an FBI agent killed. They hired informants, hence the sudden change of weight and gain of muscles and why they vanished from thin air.

Frowning, she looked over at the ocean, looking at the moon that had now replaced the sun who was shining its rays on the other side of the globe. Taken aback by the ringtone suddenly bursting from her pocket, it took everything Lightning got not to let her cigarette fall down the ground. Snatching it, she read the name and unlocked it with a single slide of the finger.

"Where are you?"

"To your right, sitting next to the bar. This will have to be quick."

Hanging up, Lightning threw her cigarette in the nearest street bin and sauntered in direction of the place. Being located at the beach, the entire place was left open and therefore prevented Lightning from suffocating to death. Passing by a few people, she spotted a mass of wavy dark-coloured hair and pressed in its direction.

"Took you long enough didn't it?"

"I've been here for more than five minutes I'll have you know," Lightning countered whilst taking a seat on the opposite bench.

"What's with the disguise," Fang asked, pointed at her t-shirt accentuating her every form.

"Serah suggested I stop dressing work-like. No time like the present to try."

"Well look at that, there's a body under all this stiffness," Fang teased.

The joke, however, if joke it even was, wasn't appreciated. Slamming her eyebrows down, she glared at the Agent for a few seconds, her fists turning to balls under the table. "Aren't you a funny one," she grunted.

"Ah Farron, if we want this to work, we'll need to find common ground. I can't have a partner looking so damn angry all the time."

"I'm not angry, I'm focused."

Heartily laughing, Fang shook her head from side to side and waved at a waitress coming their way. "What are you drinking?"

Gazing from Agent Yun to the waitress, Lightning greeted her with a forced smile. Her eyes, however, did not follow. "I'll have a glass of Chardonnay."

Flicking her eyes in Yun's direction, Lightning was able to perceive the small smirk already forming at her lips. "I'll have the same beer," she said without once darting away from her, the same feeling sinking inside of her stomach as green eyes pierced inside her own. "Wine, uh? Why am I not surprised?"

"I guess I'm that predictable," Lightning said, her tone drooling with annoyance.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that…You're wearing a t-shirt after all."

There was a thin line between anger and love, but the one between anger and hate was infinitesimal. Trying her best to stay seated, Lightning focused her attention on anything but the person causing such a strong reaction. It was unsettling how enormous her hatred for her had turned out to be.

Cracking her neck, she waited in silence for the waitress to bring her that glass of one she now needed more than ever and was blessed by the Gods as it landed in front of her face.

"Can you give me another one? I'm sure this won't be enough," Lightning uttered with a dismissive glance in Fang's direction. "Thanks," she said after the waitress politely nodded, giving both of the women a curious look.

Waiting for her to be gone once more, Lightning picked up her drink and noticed Agent Yun had been waiting for her to do so. "Cheers, Lieutenant Farron."

"Cheers, Agent Yun."

Clicking their glasses together, they both swallowed a first sip from their respective drinks and eyes each other carefully. It felt like a ring had surrounded her, and the two opponents were trying to figure out how to act and how to predict their moves. Truth was, it was as if they had been placed on a chessboard and had been placed instead of the King. And now, it was their turn to move the pieces and be, as Yun had previously stated, three steps ahead.

"So, do you still want in," Fang asked, breaking the silence.

"I do," she instantly replied. "I'm sure of it."

With a smile, Lightning thanked the waitress for the second glass now joining her first still full one and let her gaze wander to the table as a dossier was pushed in her direction. Instantly, she recognized the one Fang had first brought to her place, two night ago and was immediately enthralled by its sight.

Going to grab it, she was slapped by a strong hand and immediately darted in Fang's direction. "Not so fast tiger," Fang said through a smile, "I need to ask you a few more things and I need you to sign this."

Watching as a single sheet of paper was pushed in her direction along with a pen, Lightning stared at it with much confusion. "What's this?"

"This," Fang started, "is a contract. Read it."

"A contract?"

"Yes. So you keep your mouth shut about this or anything related to it." Frowning much more, Lightning focused her attention on the document and began to read.

As Fang had said, this entire document was a warning in case of a possible leak. The repercussions that would be taken and such, as well as the different things Lightning would not be allowed to do: talk about the case, even suggest the case, contact her, contact someone related to the case. In a gist, she needed to pretend as if it had never existed in the first place, forgotten inside her mind.

Thoroughly reading the entire document, she paused at the last line written above the place for a signature. By agreeing to the previous statements, you will also make yourself available to the FBI at any given time and for as long as needed.

Thinking about it, this document was probably the one they had given their informants throughout the year that had led not one, not two, but three young women to their deaths. And perhaps even more. Looking at the pen, she grabbed it and placed the tip against the paper, standing still for a few remaining seconds before finally, her name appeared in black.

"Welcome to the team, Lieutenant Farron," Fang said as she picked up the paper, "this is now yours to go through."

Once more, the dossier was pushed in her direction but this time, her hand wasn't slapped away. Seizing the file, she opened it up and glanced at the first confidential page appearing before her eyes and in an instant Lightning found herself absorbed by the dozens, in not hundreds of detail she was given permission to see.

Flicking the pages, she did not touch her glass of wine once, nor did she dart up in Agent Yun's direction, carefully reading every single word that had been written with black-coloured ink. And it was only when she was finally willing to ask a question that she realized Fang was gone, a twenty-dollar bill sitting next to her empty glass of beer.

Looking in every direction, she was perplexed by the discretion with which she had left the seat and tried to spot her away in the distance. But Agent Yun was gone, and she probably wouldn't see her for the next few days. Without taking the time to finish her second glass of wine but gulping the first one as quickly as possible, Lightning added a five-dollar bill to the tip and left the bar with the folder stuffed inside of her closed bag.

Quickly, paranoia took the better of her and made her seem as if everyone was watching her every move and even following her towards her car, and the faster she walked, the scarier the situation became. Nearly jogging in the end, she entered her car and turned on the ignition in less than a few seconds, forgetting about her seatbelt as she left her parking spot, already driving home towards her house.

Trying not to raise any suspicions even though there was no need to, Lightning carefully drove back to the North of West-Hollywood, checking inside her rear-view mirror every car suddenly driving behind her, making sure she wasn't followed by someone who could've been listening to the entire conversation. Even though they hadn't talked much and had mostly been aggressive towards one another, Lightning couldn't help but shake the feeling she was being followed even though there wasn't a single proof of it happening.

As her house finally came into view, Lightning decided to accelerate and was behind her walls and her closed door merely minutes later.

She dropped her jacket on the couch and was already headed towards her office, kicking her boots in the corner of the room before grabbing the file out of her purse. She pushed a few papers from her desk, but then decided to spread every piece of information on the ground in chronological order, a task taking her no less than half-an-hour. The file was thick to say the least, and the things it counted were enough to confuse Lightning to a whole new level.

More than ten women had been found dead within a one-year span and all of them had been given the same profile: abused as a child, wanting to serve a purpose and take revenge. Girls who had thought that joining the FBI would somehow protect them from the darkest corners of the world. How wrong they had all been, now laying six-feet underground only to be devoured by worms.

But now, Lightning was one of them, too. She was going to help the Bureau, though not in the same way as them ,but still, Lightning was putting herself at risk as well as her entire family. Why was it ringing alarm bells only now? Why hadn't she thought about her sister before and only about her obsession?

Closing her eyes, she sat down at the edge of her desk and tried to ignore the sudden panic that had started to grab her by the gut. Pictures of Serah being found dead on the streets made those alarms ring even louder, and soon, a devastating headache took its position. Fuck.

Without taking another second to breathe, Lightning exited her office and painfully walked towards the living-room to retrieve her tobacco and weed. Perhaps a joint would be able to calm her down, to make her feel less distraught by the situation she had willingly trapped herself in. Quickly, she rolled her medicine into a thin line and did not think twice before lighting it on.

Leaning inside her couch, she closed her eyes and let the marijuana serve its purpose. Slowly relaxing her, she suddenly felt as if sleep was yelling at her to go and lie down before hunger pointed his out from under the doorframe. The idea of a slice of pizza, or anything at all to be fair was being imprinted in her brain and replaced the nagging pain she had suddenly been forced to go through.

With the enticing thought of food still glued inside her mind, Lightning sluggishly got up from the couch and headed in direction of the kitchen for a well-deserved meal consisting of a chocolate yogurt and a big green apple, and automatically went back to the living-room.

Eating her yoghourt, she sat in complete silence, listening to the branches taping against the kitchen windows without truly thinking of anything of importance. She was content or at least, she felt like it.

It wasn't long until Lightning headed towards her bedroom, facing her desk, and laid down on her bed to try and fall asleep but with the first euphoric effects now gone, her mind was back to its usual crowded place and with it, every single detail of the case was re-written before her eyes. Staring at her ceiling wearing nothing but shorts and a tank-top with the letters LAPD written in white, Lightning decided to sit at the edge of the bed and cover her face in the palm of her hands.

"They know it's a ring handling drugs, prostitution, and hitmen," Lightning whispered to herself. 'They track down one guy named Alfredo…something, but it was found hanging in his living room." Pausing, she stood up from her bed and staggered towards her office. Turning the light on, she kneeled on the floor and gazed at the many papers still spread across the room. "The found prints on the body but weren't able to trace them to anyone…" Running her fingers through her hair, Lightning darted to the right and brought one of the papers closer to her eyes. "Johnathan McKiley was arrested three months ago but released due to insufficient charges…Here I thought the FBI could make one up for their convenience."

Grabbing her laptop from her side, she waited for her internet connection to be made and entered the name of Johnathan in the police's database and waited for a while for the search to be over. Suspected robbery, suspected murder, rape, kidnapping, torture…This was had so many things on his list the fact he had never spent more than one night in jail was enough to make her angry.

Gritting her teeth together and nearly turning them into piles of dust in her mouth, Lightning got up from the ground and turned the white-board around in such a way that she could have the necessary space to write what her next plan of action would be.

Although she knew Fang would be less than pleased, she had also made it clear that she was now part of the team and there had been no restrictions when it came about investigating on her own. The only thing she needed to do was to stay quiet.

Picking up a marker from the ground, she firstly placed it between her lips before bringing the tip to the board, writing the name of Johnathan McKiley in red before bending down the retrieve the pictures of every single person that had been placed under arrest and that had managed to get out of it because of insufficient proof. In total, six people, all men had been targeted by the FBI and from the six…Five had died. Except for Johnathan.

After taking a few steps back and after twenty more minutes, Lightning looked at her entire board with knitted brows. Red lines had now been added between pictures of buildings and bodies, reconstructing the file in her entire room, victims on one side and possible killers on the other but for now, no links could be made between them both. For now, anyway.

It was around four in the morning when Lightning finally gave into sleep. Exhausted and defeated by the lack of evidence being able to help her solve anything, she had gone to her bed in the hopes a long night of sleep would finally be able to unlock something more…Something she was missing, but something Fang was missing too.