I'm finally back with a new fanfic! After an almost 3 year hiatus, it is good to be back writing again finally.

I began a new career and am officially a nurse as of this week!

Now about the new fic!

Based on Fred and Daphne living in Washington D.C, working for the Washington Post.

At the moment the fic is a two-parter, I am currently working on the second part so we'll see if it becomes a three-part mini-series.

The fic has a few warnings; the first chapter mentions animal abuse. Other warnings include; mentions of kidnapping, discussion of murder, and discussions about drugs. Discussions of child endangerment, of domestic violence.

I hope that I have covered all the warnings, however, if you feel that I have missed any please let me know so I can correct this.

I hope you enjoy the fic, and as always feedback is much appreciated!

1

April 22

"In other news, a 19-year-old woman from Fairlawn has been missing for two days. Jenny Hopkins left her home in Fairlawn, Washington D.C. following an argument with her parents."

"Yes, police suspected she ran away however she has left behind money, her phone, and other personal belongings and has not been on any security camera, public transport, or any other public places."

"Jenny's sister Ashley says though her sister had a temper, it was unlike her to run away."

"Jennifer Hopkins, preferably known as Jenny, has brown hair and brown eyes. Distinctive features include a mole on her cheek and various tattoos which include a heart on her finger, a red rose on her shoulder, and a Native American woman on her thigh."

"Jenny's parents are asking for any information regarding their daughter's whereabouts."

'Check this out, Daph.' Fred spoke as he turned his phone around for her to see.

They sat in a coffee shop during their lunch hour. Daphne had her laptop open, staring at the screen. Her head rested on her knuckles and she chewed on her lip whilst she tried to concentrate.

Uh-hu.' She mumbled not looking away from the laptop screen.

'Daphne.' Fred said again but just a little bit louder. Daphne looked up at him, 'What did you say?' She asked, finally distracted from her laptop.

Fred passed his phone to her, Daphne took it and watched the news clip he had loaded on the screen.

'A girl has vanished from her hometown, it's not too far from here.' Fred smiled.

Fred and Daphne had known each other since they were eighteen on their first day at NYU together. And as long as Fred had known Daphne, he knew she couldn't resist cases like these.

Daphne is known for her in-depth articles, never missing a detail, and always on point with recorded dates and times. Even at college her tutor said she would make an excellent crime reporter.

Last year, a four-year-old girl went missing from the park in a neighbouring town and thanks to Daphne's article, the police found her. That's what Fred says, Daphne thinks the police realised they had not questioned the girl's esgtranged father who had been stalking her mother before taking the chance to kidnap his daughter.

Daphne watched the news clip and she looked up at Fred with his charming smile, 'Freddy, I don't know.'

'It's not like you to turn down something like this, you know Gilroy will probably give it to you anway.'

Daphne shrugged, 'I'm still working on this one.'

'I thought you finished it already?' Fred asked.

'I was, but I didn't like it so I re-wrote it.' Daphne explained. 'The whole thing?' Fred asked and Daphne nodded, 'But I think it's done now.'

'Can I read it?' Fred asked. 'Sure, why not.' She sighed and turned her laptop to him and he read the article.

On April 3rd, Travis Johnson was walking his two dogs, bully-breeds Milo and Markie at Founder's Park where a woman - who will remain unnamed - was sitting on the bench when Travis and his dogs walked past her.

Travis says "we walked past her, she had her hand on the table when Milo licked her fingers. She even said he was a cheeky fella and she laughed. I don't understand why she called the police and told them my "dangerous" dogs bit her."

Travis was walking along his street when a police car pulled up and four armed officers followed him and the dogs, shouting "surrender the dangerous dogs". Travis asked what was going on and that is when he learned the woman from the park had called the police.

Travis said, "let me put the dogs inside and I'll come and talk to you". The dogs were curious as to who was following them but did not bark or try to approach the armed officers and Travis continued to walk to his home with the dogs.

But before Travis could open the front gate to his garden, the armed officers shot and killed both Milo and Markie and tasered Travis for "not cooperating".

A neighbour filmed the horrific encounter and posted the video on all social media platforms and the hashtag #evilcopskillinnocentdogs went viral, and an online petition to bring the cops to justice has already received over 13,000 signatures.

At the time Travis rescued the pups, Milo was a year old and Markie was just 6 months old.

Travis and his daughter Ava, who was 4 years -old at the time, to the rescue centre, following the death of his wife.

"My wife passed away the year before. I had finally gotten myself and Ava back on our feet and we decided we needed to cheer ourselves up. She wanted to go to the rescue centre, I didn't think she'd want a dog and that she'd only go to have a look, but the shelter showed us the two pups, and myself and Ava were sold, especially when they said the boys needed to be adopted together."

In 2021, Travis met Olivia and they were soon married. Olivia has two children ages 3 and 5 from her previous relationship, and the couple had two more children together, twins Oscar and Raya, "the dogs were amazing with the kids, we taught the kids not to climb on the dogs or disturb them when they're eating and sleeping, but the dogs were so great we didn't need to worry about them. Most people would say that's careless considering the dog's previous owners but Milo and Markie were the best dogs in the world. Milo was playful and pinched the kid's stuffed toys, he didn't destroy them but he put them into his bed and he had the kids in hysterics laughing especially when he rolled on them so they couldn't take the back, he did it all the time. Markie was the one who cuddled with them and did the rounds with me to make sure they were all in bed but he sometimes snuck into their rooms and slept in with the older ones."

Travis showed me photos and videos of Milo and Markie; playing with their children, dancing with Travis and Olivia, wearing party hats on their "gotcha" days and birthdays, and racing around the living room as the kids opened their Christmas presents.

Olivia Johnson says that "walking the kids to school with the dogs was always fun." She and Travis would walk to school together with the children, Olivia would then go off to work and Travis would walk the dogs. "I'd have the kids arguing over which one of them was going to walk with which dog. At the school, all the kids would line up along the gate waiting to pet the dogs, they were so gentle."

"Snow days were the best," Howard adds, "Olivia tried to put coats on the dogs so they wouldn't get too cold but they were too fast for her and chasing each other around the garden in the snow and knocking down the snowmen the children would build."

Milo and Markie have been seen by neighbours playing with the children in the garden. At no time did the neighbours hear the dogs barking or any screaming from the children.

"The hardest thing was to tell the kids. Ava is seven now and she's beginning to take in a lot more, she's becoming more emotional and asking more questions, so having to answer her question "how did my dogs die" was upsetting for us all. She told all her friends at school that the police killed her dogs. I still can't believe it."

One of the neighbours held a vigil outside the family's home to remember the dogs and support the family. Some of the attendees are members of an animal rights group who are arranging a protest for the police officers to be fired and jailed for the killings.

Michelle Anders has been a member of the animal rights group for 7 years, "We kill dogs for hurting people, but what happens to people who kill dogs? We already know that people who starve and beat up their dogs get jailed for a couple of months and then they're let out only to do it again. Someone kills someone or assaults someone, they're put on a register, why isn't it the same for people who abuse animals? That is why we're here today."

Why did the police kill two harmless dogs? Many think it's because of their color or their breed, but one thing everyone can agree on is that police officers must be held responsible for their actions.

Daphne had included photos of the dogs as well as a photo Fred took of the street where the horrifc scene took place.

'Wow, Daph, it's great.' Fred smiled but Daphne sighed, 'I dunno, do you think it's kinda dull?'

'Of course not. You've put in a lot of detail, it'll get a lot of attention.' Fred smiled widely before he sipped cappuccino.

'I'll see what Gilroy thinks.' Daphne sighed and closed her laptop. She finished the last of her cold black coffee, fighting the urge to spit it out.

Fred laughed cordially as he watched her. She looked up at hime and wiped her lips with the napkin.

They smiled at each other across the table. Fred's deep blue eyes staring into her green ones was beginning to give Daphne butterflies in her stomach and she quickly looked away from him and to her watch, 'We'd better get back.'

'Alright.' Fred smiled, 'Let's go.'

They packed up their stuff and left the coffee place.

Daphne parked her car in the spot outside, she unlocked it with her car keys and they climbed in. As she turned the key, the engine made an awful noise which she pretended to ignore.

'Daph, I think it's time you get a new car.' Fred cringed.

'Yeah, I know.' Daphne sighed.

Back at the Washington Post office, there was a lot of talk about the latest missing persons case. Everyone was waiting to see who Gilroy would assign the case.

Daphne emailed her article to Gilroy, hoping it would be good enough to be published.

Then she and Fred went into the meeting room with everyone else. Some tables were set up to make a semi-circle, and Fred and Daphne took their seats and Gilroy entered a few minutes later.

He is a tall plump man with thin greying hair and a matching moustach. He wears thick glasses on his nose and everyone in the room is wondering how much longer the buttons on his shirt can hold before they burst and fly across the room.

'You've all seen the news, I hope.' Gilroy's deep voice filled the room, 'Missing girl, Jessie Hopkins.'

'Jenny.' Someone corrected him. 'Sure.' Gilroy replied, 'Missing for 2 days, thought to be a runaway, but police now think otherwise.'

'I have some other "juicy" stories needing to be reported.' Gilroy spoke. Fred looked at Daphne and she rolled her eyes.

'Toys 4 U has declared bankruptcy. There's a new coffee shop opening on Fern Street. Bus drivers are on strike, and there is an open day at the animal shelter.' Gilroy snapped his fingers together and pointed at Daphne, 'Blake, Jones you've got the Jessie Hopkins case. Harriett, I want you on Toys 4 U. Ryan, I want you on the new coffee shop. Jake you've got the bus driver strikes. And Carol, you and Cameron can have the shelter open day.'

He clapped his hands together, 'Let's go people!' And with that, he flew out of the meeting room and ran back to his office.

'Come on, let's go.' Fred said filed out of the meeting room and found their desks.

Relieved that she was done with the latest article, Daphne was more than excited to begin her research into another story.

'On April 20th, Jenny returns home from work and argues with her parents but it doesn't say what it's about.' Fred reads off the police report found on the missing person's website.

'Jenny leaves the house. Her parents said this wasn't the first time this happened so they expected her to come home. It was late when they went to bed and expected that Jenny would be staying at her boyfriend's house and then going to work the next day. They had no contact with Jenny that day which wasn't unexpected, but she didn't come home on the evening of the 21st. They called her boyfriend and he said he hadn't seen her. Nobody had seen her after the working day of April 20th.'

'So what do the police say?' Daphne asked, Fred scrolled through the report.

'Police initially said she ran away and maybe it had been building up for a while, but after a search of the house they found all of her belongings; phone, money, car keys, and clothes had been left behind.'

'What did her boyfriend say?' Daphne asked. 'He hadn't spoken to her since lunchtime on April 20th.'

'I guess we start with her parents then and see what information they're willing to give to us. And then see what the boyfriend says.' Daphne spoke and Fred nodded.

'To Fairlawn then.'