Chapter Two:
Echoing sobs branched through the lifeless tombstones and through the blinding fog as Kate Beckett stood alone holding herself. Tears ran down her face and quickly slid off her chin down into the grass and her shaking breath sifted through the small gap of her mouth. She closed her eyes as hard as she could in an attempt to bore away the faded image of Mike Royce, the nightmare that preyed on her and vanished. There was an optimistic thought amongst all the turmoil in her mind. She was grateful for the moment she told him how she felt and as soon as she swallowed that thought, the bitter taste of the feelings she had not yet confessed for the man who, unbeknownst to her, was at that moment trying to continue CPR through his angered cry as her blood pressure erratically dropped and flat-lined with the ambulance racing down the street to nearest hospital.
But in the moment, Kate was trapped in her own mind and she held the bullet wound that had now started to bleed through her fingers. She lifted the trembling hand up to her face and saw that the blood was not any shade of red, but the darkest of black. The wound began to throb and suddenly there was a pounding sound that shook the cemetery and knocked her down to her knees. She let out a cry of pain as the blood began to pour through her jacket and into the ground and the shaking was now accompanied by the sound of a distorted echo. Her tied up hair quickly became loose and fell on her shoulders and for a moment she thought she heard the faintest whisper of someone calling her name. After what seemed like forever, the violent trembling of the ground ceased and she felt an unknown strength within her bones, pulling her effortlessly to her feet again. With a deep exhale, Kate clutched the bleeding wound again and began to walk through the fog. She wouldn't have admitted it, but she didn't have the slightest idea of where she was going or who she was looking for, but she wasn't going to allow technicalities stop her. Her skin lightly tingled with the cold mist and parts of her hair had gotten stuck in the blood, but with the determined spark in her eye, she could still feel alive.
Suddenly there was a rustle behind one of the approaching tombstones, and involuntarily she reached for her gun that was normally kept in the holster that was tied to her side. When her hand gripped around free air, she almost smiled at the habit that had formed despite the fact that she hadn't felt the gun there in the first place. And in an instant she recalled the moment where she had looked at the gun and decided that it would be best to leave it behind. She felt some sort of remorse for aiming it at her beloved Captain and couldn't bring herself to bring to his funeral without the uncomfortable thought of how she almost pulled the trigger on him.
Running footsteps awoke her from her thoughts and she quickly caught the blurred sight of a small child hiding behind another tombstone.
"Hello?" Kate said hesitantly, not knowing whether she should use her "cop" voice or her kind voice. "Is someone there?"
A light gasp came through the fog and soon it became silent again.
"I'm not going to hurt you." She said as she slowly knelt down. "It's all right, I'm a cop. I can help you. Please come out."
"You can't help me." said a timid voice.
Kate slowly held out her hand to where the voice was coming from and smiled weakly.
"Please come out." She said again.
A small hand crept around the front of the tombstone and the face of a child emerged from the shadows. Kate smiled again as the child's brown eyes stared curiously at her and she outstretched her arm further to grab his.
"What's your name?" She gently pulled the kid towards her and held both of his hands.
The boy was silent and Kate started to have a strange feeling in her gut about him. There was an odd itch in the back of her mind when she looked at his small face and saw his big, brown eyes. Familiar. Or was it? No, it was. Yet...she couldn't really decide.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Kate carefully brushed the boy's hair out of his face and noticed a small scar across his left cheek.
"You're a liar, ain't cha'?" The boy finally said in a quiet voice. "You said you would save me, but you didn't. You lied."
"What do you-"
Immediately, Kate's eyes widened and she finally recognized the boy's face and why his presence had left an eery feeling in the pit of her stomach. She nervously swallowed and felt the scratches of her dry throat and the throbbing of the wound intensified.
"Jackson Crudup.." She lightly whispered as tears ran to her eyes. "I-"
"You just said you'd save me, but it's your fault I'm here." He spoke in a monotone voice.
The tears fell down her face and slowly she let go of him as his blank expression turned into a subtle, angered stare.
"My mommy killed herself because you didn't to save me from that bad man."
"I'm so sorry, Jackson. I know there's nothing I can say, but I'm so, so sorry." Her voice trembled as she tried to stop herself from crying.
The boy's blank expression quickly returned and she pulled him close and hugged him as tight as she could.
"I'm so sorry."
