Stacie looked up at Hanna the moment she heard that name and immediately looked at Chloe, but couldn't read her expression. She didn't know what the redhead was thinking or feeling. Four years ago, back when the two were still in college, Stacie could read the redhead like a book. Now? Nope. Nothing. Chloe had to toughen up to be a detective so now she knew how to mask her emotions pretty well.
"Okay, Hanna. We're gonna take you home now, okay?" Chloe said, gently.
The blonde nodded and wrapped the blanket tighter around herself.
"Okay." Hanna said.
Chloe helped her get up.
"You can come with us in our car, I'll see that Jack drives yours." Chloe said.
Hanna nodded again.
"Actually, that was Beca's car." Hanna said.
Chloe nodded as she helped Hanna get to her car with Stacie.
"We're gonna need to ask you a few more questions, but we're gonna leave that to tomorrow morning." Chloe said.
Hanna nodded again as Chloe opened the door for her.
Stacie got in the passenger seat, with Hanna in the backseat and Chloe driving. Stacie eyed the redhead curiously, trying to get anything from her, but she still didn't get anything. Hanna gave them the directions to her and Beca's house and they dropped her off, telling her to go to the station in the morning.
Once Hanna was inside the house, Stacie turned to Chloe with a look.
"What?" the redhead asked.
"Okay, you and I are gonna talk." Stacie said.
Chloe shrugged and drove home, knowing the two probably would feel more comfortable there.
The two went upstairs to the redhead's apartment and Chloe went to the kitchen to get some tea, while Stacie sat down in the living room.
"What do you wanna talk about?" Chloe asked, nonchalantly.
"How do feel about all this, Chloe?" Stacie asked. "And I want the absolute truth."
"About what?" Chloe asked, frowning in confusion.
"About this case."
"It's just another case." Chloe shrugged.
"Don't do this. You know this one is different." Stacie said as Chloe came and sat by her side. "I know you said you were over Beca but I know somewhere you must be feeling this. I know you."
Chloe just stared at her and took a sip of her tea, staring ahead of her as if she was annoyed by this conversation.
"I feel this, too. When I heard Beca was kidnapped by this bastard, I felt my heart break a little, because I know this is our chance to save her." Stacie said.
"Yeah." Chloe said. "Her and other nine women."
"Chloe, don't do this, you're closing yourself, you know this is dangerous." Stacie said as she swallowed a lump in her throat. She thought she might get the truth out of Chloe another way, so she stood up. "Excuse me for a moment."
Chloe nodded as she sipped her tea.
Stacie called Aubrey and told her to come over as soon as possible and to bring her computer. She grabbed a glass of water and waited for the blonde to arrive.
When Aubrey came over, Stacie explained the situation and brought her to the living room to see if the blonde would be able to get something out of Chloe.
"Chloe, I heard about what happened, I'm sorry." Aubrey said, sitting down beside her best friend. "I promise you, Chloe: when we catch this bastard, I'm gonna make sure he gets a death sentence."
Chloe looked at her and chuckled.
"Thanks, Bree. I know you will." Chloe said.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay about all this." Aubrey said.
"I'm okay." Chloe said.
Aubrey sighed and eyed Stacie. She grabbed her computer and opened it, going through her files. She still had pictures and videos from college, when they were Bellas and she hoped these videos would help get the truth out of her redheaded best friend.
"Look, Chloe. This was the day of the Activities Fair, 2012. The year we were seniors." Aubrey said. "We took this picture a few moments before we met Fat Amy, then Beca."
Chloe looked at the picture and smiled. Her and Aubrey were standing side by side, Chloe had a bunch of fliers in her hands and her bright smile showed how optimistic she was about the school year.
"That was an awesome year." Chloe said.
Aubrey went to the next picture. It showed the Bellas at Regionals, all of them smiling brightly, happy about getting second place. Beca had a half smile, it was like she was annoyed.
Chloe smiled at that picture as well.
Aubrey clicked on a video. At first it showed Stacie drinking a sip of her water while sitting down. She smiled at the video and waved.
"What are you doing, Cynthia Rose?" Stacie asked, confused.
"I thought I'd document that." Cynthia Rose said behind the camera as she filmed Beca and Chloe in the distance. They were talking and Chloe wore her megawatt smile as Beca laughed a little.
"They're so into each other." Stacie said.
Chloe then touched Beca's arm and the brunette raised an eyebrow at her.
"Are you coming onto me, Beale?" Beca asked in the distance.
Chloe laughed and slapped her arm playfully.
"Hey, would you mind going over the steps with me one more time?" Beca asked.
Chloe smiled and nodded, eagerly. She stepped behind the brunette and put her arms over her shoulders, grabbing her hands and doing the movements, saying something in her ear.
When Chloe stepped away with a smile, Beca smiled at her and thanked her, going to where Stacie and Cynthia Rose were and grabbing her water bottle.
"Hey Beca, what do you think about Chloe?" Cynthia Rose asked.
Beca swallowed her water and chuckled.
"She's cool, why are you asking?" she answered.
"That girl totally has a crush on you." Stacie said.
Beca shrugged, but they could see she was blushing.
"Come on, Beca, you can't tell me you don't see it." Stacie said.
"Maybe that's just the way Chloe is, you know?" Beca shrugged.
Cynthia Rose sighed behind the camera.
"Smile, then! You're on Bella camera!" Cynthia Rose said. "We're gonna watch these videos someday and reminisce."
Beca waved and smiled at the camera.
"Girls, come on, break time is over! Cynthia Rose, turn the camera off!" Aubrey said in the distance.
Beca rolled her eyes and turned to the camera.
"Why is Aubrey captain? Why can't Chloe be captain?" she said and shook her head.
The video ended and Aubrey smiled.
"You were a better captain than I was." she said. "I wish I had seen earlier all the potential Beca had."
"She led the Bellas to victory three years in a row." Stacie said, nodding.
"I wish you two would've gotten together." Aubrey said. "Now I don't have any pictures of Beca here. Obviously."
Stacie chuckled.
Chloe stared at the computer screen with a small sad smile that was slowly fading. The more she thought about it, the more it hit her: Beca was in the hands of a sociopath, probably. That man was probably gonna kill her or torture her.
Chloe suddenly thought about the brunette smiling at her and she felt her eyes fill with hot tears. Tears she didn't want to fall. She had managed to hide her feelings pretty well, up until now. She thought she'd be able to keep this up for a long time. She hated those feelings, she didn't want to feel them.
Aubrey looked at Chloe and the redhead put her head on her hands and started sobbing loudly. Her shoulders shaking violently, her walls coming tumbling down.
Aubrey sat closer to her as did Stacie and they both put their arms around her shoulders, rubbing either her arm or her back, trying to soothe her.
"Chloe?" Aubrey asked.
The redhead was sobbing loudly and she wouldn't answer. Aubrey and Stacie just comforted her for a while, before her sobs got quieter and she calmed down. She sat up, her eyes were red and swollen and her cheeks wet from the tears.
"S-She… she was kidnapped." Chloe said. "I can't believe it."
"How do you feel about this, Chlo?" Aubrey asked carefully.
Chloe looked down at the ground, feeling emotionally drained.
"I feel horrible. I have to save her." Chloe said.
"Chloe, saving Beca isn't in your hands." Stacie reminded. "If in the end we can't save her, this is gonna destroy you. You know we help people, Chloe, but we can't save the whole world."
Chloe looked down and nodded, but felt more tears filling her eyes.
"I know we can't." Chloe said. "But Beca is different. I have to save her. I can't let her die in the hands of a pervert. All those years, I never had the courage to call her and talk to her. This is my way of making up for her."
"I thought you said you got over her." Aubrey said.
"I lied." Chloe said. "I tried to get over her. I couldn't."
Stacie and Aubrey looked at each other for a moment then back at Chloe.
"I have to do this. I have to save her." Chloe said. "I have to find her."
Aubrey looked at her friend, knowing how determined she looked and was. She knew nothing she said was going to change her mind.
"Just don't keep your feelings bottled up, okay?" Aubrey asked.
"It'd also be a good idea for you to talk to Dr. Helsen while we work on this case." Stacie said.
"Yeah." Aubrey said.
"No, I can do this." Chloe said.
"Chloe, this is my condition. I'll let you work on this case and try to find Beca, but you have to do counseling with Dr. Helsen." Aubrey said. "Otherwise I'll talk to Captain Dunnett and I'll ask him to remove you from this case. This is for your own good, Chloe."
Chloe looked at her and thought about it.
"Okay, I'll do it." Chloe said. "I'm gonna find her."