*-*-*-*-*-*-*- MagnusBane:PsychicDetective*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Chapter7-
Follow Your Arrow
(Kacey Musgraves)
Song by Kacey Musgraves, it is one of my favorites
Summery
Alec and Simon work the case
Simon Raphael and Magnus do as well
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Alec sighed faintly, glancing through the file for yet another time hoping that something would jump out at him, that he'd be able to come up with something, anything…Simon had got back a little over an hour ago; they had some time yet before they could pick up the footage from the ATM, so he decided to give it one more shot.
Not that it really made any difference…
Alec had called into the bank, explaining what they needed and they had been cooperative, but said it would take some time to get, as it was from a few weeks ago. He really hoped it panned out into something; he wanted to have something to show for their time before Magnus showed up and started working the case,
At least then he'd feel like he was contributing…
It's not that he didn't want to work with Magnus…on the contrary; he enjoyed working with him… in all honesty probably far more than he really should.
See, that was kind of part of the problem.
Magnus was fascinating…
Working a case with him, seeing what he would come up with, truly getting to see his mind working, how he just put everything together, could lay everything out so perfectly, it was absolutely mesmerizing.
It was also distracting as hell.
Alec would try to concentrate, to focus on what he was doing, and he could… at least for a while. But then Magnus would be right next to him, perched on the edge of his desk, leaning over just a bit closer than really seemed necessary to see the file Alec was going over, and his mind would just go blank.
Alec's favorite thing about working with him was when it would all just suddenly click for him. He could never set still then, would get so animated, speaking in such a quick, rapid fire way that it was hard to follow, it was like he was talking it out to himself more so than actually explaining it to someone; as if hearing it out loud made it easier, made the theories more tangible…Alec thought it was like getting a glimpse into how Magnus's mind worked,
It was absolutely thrilling…
At least it had been…
Now though…
He sighed, shaking his head,
Ever since his confrontation with Hodge he felt like he just couldn't get anything right, couldn't stop second guessing himself. It seemed like more and more he was relying on Magnus for help. He was beginning to wonder if Clyde was actually onto something,
Was he using Magnus?
Having him do all the work on the cases?
He could tell how much Magnus loved working with the precinct, and he thought he enjoyed working specifically with Alec as well. He certainly never seemed to mind… but how long would that last? How long would it be until Magnus started to notice that he was lagging, that he just wasn't pulling his own weight anymore?
He scoffed, rolling his eyes slightly at himself,
Who was he kidding?
It was Magnus, he notices everything…
"Hey Alec, got a sec?"
Startling, Alec glanced up; realizing Chief Garroway was standing next to his desk. He hadn't even noticed the man until he spoke.
Man, he really was slipping
Alec gave a quick nod,
"Yeah, of course, what did you need chief?"
Luke shook his head slightly
"Actually let's go in my office if you don't mind… it'll just take a few minutes."
"Oh, umm, sure" he said, awkwardly
God, what did he screw up now?
He followed Luke into the office, shutting the door, immediately he begin to explain
"Chief, we are working this; we will start to have something to show for it. Hopefully the ATM footage will pan out; we're going over to get it in just a bit and we are both still combing through all the files we had as well as the ones from the other precincts, something's bound to turn up.
If anything else, once you call in Magnus I'm sure he'll find something to crack it, he always does."
Luke gave him a bit of a sympathetic look
"Actually he won't be coming in, I called, but he said he had a case out of town and won't be back for about a week."
Alec faltered, freezing for a moment,
That concerned Alec a bit…
Magnus never said anything about going out of town. Simon hadn't mentioned anything. He was over there all the time, sometimes he talked about Magnus almost as much as he did Raphael. He was certain the guy would have mentioned it.
Unless, of course, Magnus was lying about being out of town, was in fact avoiding him…
With the way he had been at work lately, coupled with whatever he happened to say at the bar (which he still had no clue about, and had yet to get up the courage to ask).
He would have plenty of reasons...
Oh…oops…
Luke was staring, he should probably say something
"Oh, he is?"
Luke nodded
"Yeah, so looks like it's just you and Simon."
"Okay, I'm sure it'll be fine, we'll get it."
"I know you will" he said reassuringly, then seemed to hesitate a second
"Was there something else, sir?"
He shook his head slightly
"Alec, how are you doing with everything, really?"
"I-I'm fine? The case is jus -"
Luke sighed, shaking his head faintly,
"I'm not talking about the case, and I'm not asking as your boss, I'm asking as a friend. I'm concerned… you don't seem like yourself, and I know the last few weeks have been really trying. Your partner was involved in a hostage situation; he came very close to losing his life.
You had a run in with your old training officer, had to keep running interference between him and Simon's worried, bizarrely intimidating boyfriend, and ended up having to go against his orders risking your career in order to save Simon. That is a lot for anyone to deal with…More than enough to make anyone hesitate, second guess themselves, their instincts…"
Alec scoffed slightly
"What instincts?" he grumbled, then froze,
He hadn't meant to say that, especially to his boss
Luke leaned forward, giving him an empathetic look
"Alec, you are a good detective; I know that for a fact. I have never doubted that, neither should you. I keep telling you that it's just a bit of a bad streak; we all have them, it'll pass. Any detective worth their salt has a few moments of doubt about their abilities; that shows you care about what you are doing.
You are doing fine; you have one of the highest closure rates in the precinct, even before Magnus came along…
I know at the start you were hesitant to work with him, but I thought you had that sorted?"
Alec nodded quickly
"We do, it is… Magnus is, umm…i-it's good…"
He kind of trailed off awkwardly
Luke nodded,
"I realize I put him on cases with you quite often, but I hope you know it's not, in any way, a reflection of your abilities. It's because you work so well together, because you guys get result. I partnered you with Simon because you were by far the best to show him the ropes, to mentor him.
I stand by both those decisions.
Simon has come so far already, and a great deal of that is because of you. Magnus is a true asset to this department, and you see and accept that more so than anyone else here… well, except perhaps for Simon. You take him seriously, listens to what he says, you don't dismiss it as just some trick, don't dismiss him; I really don't think you realize just how much that means to Magnus…"
He gave a reassuring smile
"Just please, stop being so hard on yourself? If you can do that I'm sure all the rest will work itself out."
Alec didn't really know what to say to that
"Uh…I-t-thank you…I appreciate that, sir, and I'll try. We'll get it."
Luke nodded, turning his attention to his computer,
"I'm sure you will."
Alec turned, leaving the office. He was rather shocked at everything Luke said. He never realized the man would care that much; although he had always seemed pretty considerate.
Though he kind of thought Luke might be exaggerating his importance a bit. Trying to falsely boost his confidence to get him back to his old self…when he could actually solve cases,
He did appreciate the effort though…
The way he made it sound, one of the only reasons Magnus even worked with them was because of Alec, which, while a really nice, incredibly flattering thought, was just a bit too farfetched for him to believe. The man seemed to thrive on the work; he doubted there was too much that could keep him away from it.
And, yeah, they did work well together, they got results. But Magnus was getting results before they even knew who he was, practically solving cases with the tips he called in. He really didn't know how much credit he could take for their success.
He was incredibly proud of the progress Simon had made; the young detective has really come into his own as of late. But, again, he felt that Luke was giving him more credit there than he deserved.
He had been seeing strides forward in the young detective every day, but the hostage situation; that really showed him who his partner was. He was so impressed with his handling of the entire ordeal. Hearing the hostage's accounts, he really had no idea Simon had it in him, realizing that he had greatly underestimated the younger man.
Which, once again, really showed how much he missed…
He got back to his desk. Simon was busily going over the files from the other precinct, trying to find something. Alec kind of figured Simon would have a better shot than him at that anyways, he had so far.
He shook his head slightly before addressing the younger detective.
"Well, looks like it's just you and me on this one, Luke said Magnus is out of town"
Simon seemed to startle a bit
"O-Oh, uh, is that so?"
"Yeah, said he had a case or something and wouldn't be back for about a week. He'd never said anything to me about one though, did he tell you anything?"
Simon flailed slightly, nearly knocking a cup of pens over off his desk, he fumbled, scrambling a bit, catching it, but it was a close thing
"Uh…No, no h-he umm…He never said anything to me. Maybe it was like a spur of the moment thing or like it just came up or maybe he forgot, cause Raphael says all the time that he like, forgets or is really flighty or whatever, like when he was supposed to take me to pick out work clothes and he just forgot,
Only he didn't, cause he was trying to get me and Raphael together and it was kinda sneaky and kind of underhanded and manipulative, but I didn't mind, that was okay cause then we were together, though that maybe should have been a clue that he…uh... umm…but I don't know because I haven't talked to him.
L-Like not at all, haven't seen him since me and Raphael had our argument, not once, not today or yesterday…or…uh…" he trailed off
Alec blinked slightly, not really following everything in that sentence, and slightly worried,
Simon looked really upset,
Then it clicked
"Have you talked to Raphael yet? You guys have made up…haven't you?"
Simon's eyes grew wide, he shook his head slightly
Oh…
"I-I really should though…I really need to. I, umm…I don't really think I can concentrate till I do, d-do you mind if I…?"
Alec nodded
"Yeah, of course, absolutely. I can go get the footage myself. Can you just drop a copy of the files off in records? Then maybe just take the rest of the day and get it sorted. Good luck"
Simon kinda jumped up from his desk, bumping into it slightly, nearly sending the files flying. He grabbed them quickly, trying to gather them all up, nearly dropping a few; he finally kind of halfway got a hold of them,
He nodded quickly, vaguely resembling a bobble head,
"Y-Yeah, I can totally do that! No problem! Thanks Alec, th-that's really nice, thank you so much, you're the best."
Simon moved forward quickly, hugging him, before stumbling back slightly.
"Uh…sorry, think I'm spending too much time with Magnus…I'll see you, thanks again"
He turned, quickly heading towards records…Despite the day, Alec had to chuckle slightly, no matter how much Simon may have progressed; he was still Simon.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*"Oh my god! You guys were SO totally right, I can't do this! I almost blew it!"
Magnus and Raphael both startle as Simon bursts into the room, turning to look at him in confusion.
"What happened?" Raphael asked
Simon shook his head quickly, eyes wide,
"W-Well, okay so, Luke called him in his office and told him that you weren't going to be working the case, cause you were gonna be out of town and he said that you hadn't said anything about going out of town and he asked me if you said anything to me about going out of town and I just totally panicked!
I started rambling and flailing and kind of knocked a few things over and I probably seemed like I was having some kind of attack or something! The only way I got out of it was cause in my rambling I happened to say I hadn't talked to either of you since me and you had our fight and he thought that was why I was acting so weird.
So he told me to just drop off the files in records, and then to take the day to get it all sorted, so I don't have to go back today, so at least there's that, b-but anyways, then I flailed again and babbled something about how great he was and kind of hugged him and then I just ran out before I could say or do anything else stupid or suspicious!" Simon finished breathless and wide eyed, looking between the other two men
Raphael was fighting a smile; but it really wasn't working too well. He shook his head, slightly. Simon glared at him exasperatedly, crossing his arms.
"Hey! It's not funny! If I wasn't so naturally uncoordinated and awkward most of the time anyways he would have totally figured it out!"
Raphael chuckled, smiling even brighter, before moving over to Simon and slipping his arm around Simon's waist, leaning over, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.
"Well, thank goodness for that."
Simon tried to keep up the glare, but it was a bit of a lost cause, he leaned into Raphael, tugging him a bit closer. Magnus smiled warmly at the couple,
"So, darling, how much do you remember about the case? Luke was rather vague about it. I do wish I could see some of the files; it would make it far easier."
Simon nodded eagerly
"Yeah, I kinda thought that, here, I made us copies too when I dropped off the ones for records" he offered, rummaging through his bag before finding them pulling them somewhat haphazardly out, handing them over to Magnus.
Magnus gave a surprised smile, raising his eyebrow,
"Good thinking darling, quite impressive."
Simon blushed faintly, smiling
"Thanks, Magnus" he said, kind of awkwardly,
Things were a bit uncomfortable between him and Magnus right now, but he still really appreciated the compliment. He felt like they needed to talk, but that would have to wait until later.
He genuinely wanted to understand, kind of felt like he did…at least to an extent, but he really felt that once they got the thing with Alec worked out just he and Magnus really needed to sit down and talk this one out. He absolutely didn't want to put Raphael in the middle of it, and he got the feeling that should they try with him there that would be exactly what happens.
Until then though…
Simon took a deep breath, starting to go through the facts of the case,
"Okay so; the case is really kinda tricky, cause we have, like, nothing to go on. It's a string of burglaries at Jewelry stores; five so far…
No real evidence to speak of; the cameras are all disabled when they are hit. They are down for almost exactly 15 minutes. They come back on and at first glance everything appears to be normal…
Nothing is busted or broken, or really seems overly out of place, then you see the holes in the locked cases. They are using some kind of glass cutting tool. They cut through, take what they want, then are gone before anyone ever realizes what has happened.
We don't know how they're getting in; we don't know how many it is. No finger prints, there haven't been any reports of suspicious activity around the store at or around the time.
Basically, we have nothing but missing jewelry and angry store owners…"
He trailed off with a shrug
Magnus nodded slightly, thumbing through one of the files
"Does there seem to be any pattern as to which stores have been hit as of yet?"
Simon shook his head,
"No, they seem pretty random…Two were up town, but then another was hit clear on the other side, which isn't even out precinct. Then the other two are in still another precinct altogether." He shrugged rather at a loss
"Hmm…well, what is being taken? Is there anything usual there?" Raphael asked curiously
Simon sighed, shaking his head again,
"No, not really…I mean, they seem to go for the more expensive stuff, of course, but they don't take ALL of it. Like at Oberon's they took all of the most expensive things, but at Julian's they left a few necklaces that were by far, the most expensive things in the entire store. It just doesn't really make sense."
Magnus tilted his head,
"Do you know all the store's hit? And possibly what order they were hit in?"
Simon nodded decisively,
"Yeah, that I actually do know; Oberon's, Julian's, Lekan's, Zillah's and then Jael's…"
Magnus looked a bit puzzled
"That is rather odd… Jael's is just two blocks away from Julian's, Oberon's is almost cattycorner from Zillah's.
It seems rather odd that they would hit a shop clear across town rather than going for the one nearly across the street… it would stand to reason that they would move in a pattern, as opposed to just bouncing around haphazardly." He paused with a faint shrug,
"I suppose they could be purposefully choosing locations so far apart as a way of throwing the police off, but it doesn't really feel like that either. Lekan's is just a block from Julian's, so that rather throws that theory off as well…"
He thought a moment, closing his eyes… then gasped slightly, setting up straighter, eyes popping open, pointing at Simon,
"The file says the footage was taken down most likely by a device that jams the transmission to the video feed, correct?"
Simon nodded slowly,
"Yeah… why?"
Magnus smirked, eyes bright,
"I am quite certain that there is actually some video footage… the department however does not have it yet."
"Huh?"
Magnus gave a slight chuckle, raising his eyebrow,
"At Lekan's there is a second camera. It is hidden in one of the light fixtures on the wall; nearly undetectable…The owner installed it to keep tabs on his employee's. I do believe it is on a closed circuit, so the interference would not effect it, and I doubt he would bother deleting it, as he has no intention of turning it over to the police…
He, as well as a few of his employee's, have a few side projects that aren't exactly legal. He uses the shop for meetings with less than legal suppliers, as do some of the other employees for various reasons, after hours. The camera is an insurance policy for him…just in case anyone tries to double cross him.
I do believe we just might have some footage after all."
He had been sitting on the couch; he jumped up, invigorated, beginning to pace the floor.
"The shops are back open now, I do believe I will go around to them and see if I can spot anything else that we can use. Perhaps there is something that can link the crime scenes after all."
Simon stared at him in shock, shaking his head faintly,
"Dude, are you sure you're not psychic?"
Magnus chuckled, shaking his head,
"No darling, I simply have been to the store before. Once you know what you are looking for, how to spot these things, it is easy enough to pick up on …"
Simon shook his head, sighing faintly,
"Man, I wish I could do that."
Magnus smiled somewhat hopefully,
"I could teach you? Not everything, of course; the eidetic memory is not really something that can be taught, but a great deal of it can be… If you would like?"
Simon perked up, leaning forward excitedly, almost bouncing,
"R-really? You could do that, would do that?"
Magnus gave him a soft smile
"Yes, darling, of course, I would be happy to."
Simon nodded animatedly,
"Y-yeah, t-that would be amazing, thank you, Magnus."
"Of course, dear. We will start as soon as we get this mess with Alexander sorted out."
Simon nodded again, deflating a bit, giving a slightly awkward shrug, looking over at Magnus,
"Yeah, umm…a-and also, thank you again, for helping with this. I would hate seeing anyone this upset, this down on themselves… but Alec? He's my partner, and he is by far the best detective I know and I just can't have him so upset and I really wouldn't know how to go about this without you two, I really do appreciate this."
Magnus shook his head, waiving him off,
"Sweetheart, there is no need for thanks…You are right about him, he is one of the best people I have ever met, seeing him that unhappy nearly broke my heart, I don't think there would be a way anyone could keep me from working on this."
Raphael gave a faint shrug,
"Well…I may not have the adoration for the man that you two possess, but he is not nearly as annoying as most people, and he truly matters to the most important people in my life, so I, too, am more than willing to help."
Raphael gave a bit of a sharp grin,
"Besides I find scaring him quite amusing…that would not be nearly as enjoyable if he is like this; that, in and of itself is enough reason for me to help."
Simon rolled his eyes, laughing slightly
"Okay Raphael…I'm sure the six foot three, usually armed, detective with over a decade experience dealing with criminals and murderers and the like is terrified of you."
"He is!"
Simon patted his shoulder sympathetically,
"Of course he is."
Raphael tired to glare at him, but it didn't really work with the slight grin he was clearly fighting.
Magnus chuckled, shaking his head faintly, shooting one more affectionate gaze at the happy couple, before heading for the door.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* _End Of Chapter Notes_ *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Name game again:
Oberon's- Elfin Ruler
Zillah- Like A Shadow
Julian's- Wearing A Soft Beard
Jael- Wild as a mountain Goat
Lekan- My Wealth Is Growing
I really don't know if there is any meaning to them as it is now almost 1am and I am half asleep, but they entertained me, so that's what I'm going with…
I like Simon being sassy, and Raphael trying to be annoyed that he won't believe that he is scary, but he really can't because Simon is being cute and kind of sarcastic and he just can't help but smile.
O28O
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