Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sun was barely up when a loud knocking came at his door. It was far too early for any reasonable person to be coming around; must be solicitors. Or scammers. The man rolled over in his bed and tried to fall back asleep.

Another knock. More insistent. He willed them to go away.

Again, this time so hard it sounded as if they were going to knock the door off its hinges. He groaned and rolled heavily out of bed. Somewhere between his bedroom and the front door they started pounding nonstop. He wondered where the hell they got all this energy from at this ungodly hour of the morning. He opened the door, prepared to unleash holy hell on this monster, when he saw two young women, one blonde and one with striking black hair, dressed exceptionally well and with the makeup to match. His words stopped in his throat.

The blonde stepped forward, all smiles, "Arthur Brown?" He nodded, dumbstruck. "Great!" She pushed past him, the other girl close behind. She grabbed at his coat hanging on the rack beside the door then, unsatisfied, threw it to the side. Next, his hat from the hook beside it. This seemed to capture her interest more, and a strange look passed over her face. This momentary pause in the action brought Arthur's wits back to him.

"Who are you? And what on Earth do you think you're-" They both sent him a crippling look, and the dark-haired girl stepped closer to him, arms crossed and eyes ablaze. It shouldn't have been as frightening as it was, but he backed away and watched in silence.

The blonde was done with Arthur's hat. She passed it to the other girl and strolled across the room to his closet, fingers brushing every surface along the way. She found his gloves tucked on the shelf, and the same strange look appeared once more. A second later she turned on him.

"I know what you did, Arthur," she snarled. He froze. What could she know? They'd been so careful. "Or should I say, I know who you did." She looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze. The other girl flinched but otherwise kept her focus on him without reaction.

He sputtered. "Excuse me?" He looked wildly between the two of them. "Who I- who I 'do' is none of your concern!" She looked mildly disappointed.

"As it happens, it kind of is," she said, "See, your girl, Mabel, hired me to dig up some dirt on you. She suspected something fishy."

"What? But I- I'm not- I didn't-"

"Theta, dear," she turned to the other girl, "Could you please leave us alone for a moment?" Theta started to protest, but something in her expression must have convinced her it was futile, and she left for the next room, dropping the hat unceremoniously as she went.

As soon as she was out of sight, the blonde got right up in his face and hissed, "Listen to me, I saw what you really did. People died, Arthur. I came here expecting to find dirt on you, but this? You're a real piece of work."

"You don't know anything," he said, a quaver in his voice. He hoped she didn't notice.

"I do know that I'm going to tell Mabel that you cheated, for her sake and not yours, and no one has to know about the explosion. But if you go near her again, she's not going to be the only one to find out." His heart started racing. This couldn't happen.

"But... how..."

"Just be glad I decided to be so gracious."

That was enough. He didn't know how he could stop her, but he had to try. He took a swing at her. She tried to duck out of the way but was a bit too slow; he landed a solid hit on her left cheek. She yelped and backed away, and the sound alerted Theta, who came running. Now he had two to fight off, and he turned his attention to the newcomer. He swung at her, and she blocked it with her hand, but he felt a crack. She yelled, more in anger than anything, and returned to a fighting stance. But she didn't try to hit him. She glared at him with such a fierceness that it gave him pause.

Then the unbelievable happened. Trails of smoke started rising from her hands. He stared in awe. She held her hands up close to his neck, breathing heavily. He could feel the red hot heat emanating from them, not quite painful. But it would be, soon enough. The message came across loud and clear. He stepped back, arms up.

After ensuring his surrender, Theta turned her attention to the other girl, "What the hell happened?"

"Don't worry about it. Let's get out of here." Then, to Arthur, "You're not going to see her again, capisce?" He nodded slowly. "Good. Ta-ta!"

They left him standing in his foyer, frozen, arms in the air, wondering if all that could have possibly really happened.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Theta piped up, "Okay, that went too far. What did you say to him?"

"Nothing," Evie replied coolly, "He's just aggressive. Glad he's out of her life."

"Which is why you sent me out of the room?"

"I said don't worry about it. The job is done, isn't it? What's past is past."

"I still don't like it."

"Good thing you're not worrying about it, then."

Evie was glad when they made it back to the car. Theta wouldn't bring it up in front of Mabel. She slipped into the passenger seat, Theta in the rear, and mustered up the brightest smile she could, "It went really well!"

"So he wasn't cheating?" Right. The relief on Mabel's face broke Evie's heart.

"Uhh... well... no, he was." Her face fell. "I'm so sorry Mabesie."

"Well, at least now I know." After a deflated moment, she looked back up at Evie, and she was back. "Evangeline O'Neill what happened to your face?"

Evie put on an offended expression, "What do you mean? My face is perfect." Mabel raised her eyebrows. Evie sighed. "There was a bit of an altercation."

"Arthur hit you? I'll kill him."

"There's no need for that. Everything's worked out; he won't bother us anymore. But we may need to stop at the hospital," she glanced to the back seat, "He laid a pretty good one on Theta, too."

Mabel didn't say anything, just stared straight ahead, a stern look on her face, and put the gar in gear.

Mabel left them at the hospital to get coffee, and Evie left Theta to go flirt her way to a free once over to make sure nothing was broken, and maybe to a phone number. Theta would have enjoyed the company but wasn't too worried. She was still a little ticked off at Evie.

She was waiting about half an hour when a gorgeous young man with a volunteer ID tag approached her. Confused, she stood and greeted him.

He responded shyly, "Hi, umm... my name's Memphis." He paused, taking a deep breath. "This is going to sound insane, but my little brother over there... he said you're going to be important in my life. You know how kids are. But, well, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity." He seemed to hold his breath momentarily. She smiled.

"I think I'd like that very much."

Chapter Text

"Check mate!" Ethel said weakly, but with the same childish delight Memphis had come to love, even this near the end. Although, not too near the end, her stage IV liver cancer was progressing remarkably slowly, so the doctors said.

"I can't believe you got me again! How do you keep doing that?"

"You need to take some lessons, boy."

"Yeah, maybe you're right." He leaned back, smiling. She was one of his favourites. He wished he could do something to help, but this stage of cancer wasn't something someone just bounces back from.

"Why is it I always feel better after you visit?"

"Must have the magic touch." He said, still smiling. After a few moments, he got up and placed his hand on her shoulder, carefully schooling his face as he felt the flow of energy between them. "See you next week, Ethel." He could already see the change, energy returning to her limbs and pain leaving her eyes. "And get the fruit cup this time, the pudding isn't good for you."

"Ah, what's it matter," she quipped, not a trace of sadness in her voice, "I'm dying either way."

Memphis winced. "Yeah, I know. I think your family would appreciate it as much as me if you pushed it off a little longer, though."

She huffed as he headed towards the door, but he figured she would listen this time.

In the hallway he found Isaiah, curled up in a chair holding on to a plastic shopping bag, fast asleep. Isaiah had been having terrible nightmares lately, so it was a relief to see him sleeping so peacefully.

Memphis crept up and tried to pry the bag from his brother's grip, but he awoke with a start. Memphis knelt down to his eye level.

"Hey little man, didn't mean to wake you." He ruffled Isaiah's messy hair, and he swatted his hand away. "What'd you bring me?"

"Aunt Octavia was busy, so I just made you a peanut butter sandwich." He held the bag out to Memphis, and he took it with a grin.

"It'll be better than what she made last week. We gotta tell her to stop experimenting." That got a small laugh out of his little brother. "C'mon buddy, I'm finished my rounds. Let's go get some ice cream, you deserve it." He put his arm around Isaiah and led him towards the front door of the hospital, taking the time to say goodbye to all the nurses along the way.

When they got to the waiting room, Isaiah stopped in his tracks, still only for a few seconds before shaking his head as if clearing his mind and looking up at Memphis. This was an act he had been pulling over the last week or so, Memphis was still at a loss as to what he was trying to gain from it. He pointed across the room at a young woman sitting alone clutching her hand.

"She... I think we're gonna see her a lot. I think she's important to you."

"Oh yeah? What makes you say that?"

"I saw- I mean... I just know it." Memphis studied him, confused. Isaiah huffed. "You know! Like all the other times I knew things before anyone else."

"You mean like the couple of times you guessed what the card I was holding was? C'mon, kiddo. Look at her! What would she be doing with us... with me?"

"They weren't guesses, I knew!" He said impatiently, "But fine, don't go talk to her. It's your loss. Let's go."

Memphis took another look at her, beautiful and poised elegantly, despite her obvious pain. He sighed, "You know what, what have I got to lose? Wait here."

Theta had told Memphis to meet her outside the hospital after she was done, but it took longer than she expected. Her hand was a mess. She didn't need surgery, but they needed to place some wires and get her a splint. He wasn't outside when she got there, and she figured he must have thought she blew him off.

She spotted Mabel's car and started toward it. Halfway there, a hand grabbed her elbow and she jumped away, palms tingling.

"Whoa, whoa! It's just me," came a gentle voice. Just Memphis. She relaxed and pushed her hair back, embarrassed. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I just didn't want you to leave, and you never told me your name."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I just..." She took a deep breath, "It's Theta." Just then a car horn sounded, and they both jumped. She turned to see Evie slapping Mabel from the passenger seat. Theta laughed. "Sorry, I have to go. Pass me your phone?" He looked surprised at the request but dutifully handed it over. She suppressed a smile as she typed in her number. "Alright, pick a time, pick a place, text me. See you tonight!"

As she walked away she heard a quiet, breathy, "Tonight?" When she reached the car she turned back to see Memphis talking excitedly to his little brother. Her heart skipped, and she figured this was a pretty good result for a broken hand.

As soon as she got in the back of the car she was bombarded with questions by Evie.

"Who was that? He was cute! Did you get his number?"

Theta laughed. "He got mine!"

"You got a name?"

"Memphis. That's all I know since we got rudely interrupted." She sent a pointed look to Mabel, but immediately regretted it, seeing the strained look on her face. Confused at the sudden halt in conversation, Evie looked to Mabel as well, and silent realization crossed her face. She reached out an arm and pulled her into a side hug, resting her head on her friend's shoulder. The three of them sat in uncomfortable silence until Mabel pulled away, wiped her eyes and started the car.

Theta's phone buzzed, and she focused on her breathing as she checked the notification. It was just Evie.

"we're talking later!!!"
"i think i'm seeing him tonight. we should invite mabel over tho... needs some girl time"
"done and done!! let me know timelines!!!"

Mabel pulled in to her designated parking spot outside the police station and they all filed inside the bustling building. Instantly, they were greeted by Captain Fitzgerald.

"Rose, you're late."

Evie came to her defense quickly, "C'mon unc, she's had a rough morning."

"I told you not to call me that in my place of work."

"Okay, William, we were just busy busting a cheating loser's ass!" She didn't get the response she was hoping for, so she added, "Also, Theta's hand." Theta held her hand up dutifully, pouting. Will rubbed his temples, but seemed to accept the explanation.

"God, I don't even want to know. Please tell me your face is from tripping in your kitchen or something."

"Nope!" Evie said brightly. "Same thing. I think it adds a sexy, dangerous edge, don't you?" She held her hands up to frame her face. Will just rolled his eyes and motioned for them to follow him.

"We've got a lead on the missing women case," he said as he lead them into the briefing room. On the screen was paused footage from a security camera. All that could be seen was what appeared to be their file room. Will pressed play and a handsome young man walked in to frame.

Evie whistled appreciatively, pulling herself up onto a table. "Why have I never seen him around before?"

Will sighed, ignoring her question, "He somehow broke in late last night and took every file we have on the missing women." He paused dramatically, waiting for their reactions, which Theta over-dramatized, gasping loudly. Will seemed satisfied, if a bit annoyed. "That places him in the suspect number one position."

"So, who is he?" Mabel asked.

"That, detective, is the million dollar question. I want you guys on the ground figuring that out."

Theta piped up, "But how are we supposed to do that? We don't have anything to work with. Not even the files."

"Figure it out! Dismissed." At that, he left them alone to confer.

"So," Evie said, leaning back and swinging her feet, "What're we gonna do?"

"Check out the rest of the surveillance tapes," Mabel answered, "See if there's anything helpful."

"Ugh. I'm going to check out the file room. Later."

Just as she was getting up to leave, Detective Ling Chan walked in, suit perfectly pressed and an annoyed look on her face. Evie brightened.

"On second thought, let's do some busy work, eh Chan?"

Ling rolled her eyes. "Yeah, joy. By the way, how did you not see this coming, little miss psychic?"

"Not psychic! Just really, really smart!"

"Yeah, whatever. You guys find anything out yet?"

"We were just about to check the tapes," Mabel said, "You got anything?"

"Not just yet. Thinking about going to pay another visit to the families of the missing women to see if they recognize him. Want to tag along?"

"Oh, of course!" Mabel was clearly relieved to have an excuse not to watch the tapes.

"Great!" Ling turned her attention to Evie and Theta, but mostly Evie, "Now you guys can do the busy work yourselves! Have fun!"

Evie groaned laid back on the table with a thunk. After the two detectives left the room Theta turned to her.

"You ever think of, I dunno, not antagonizing her?"

"Not in a million years."

"Okay, drama queen, come over here and let's get this over with."