Chapter Text
John pulled the yellow police tape over himself and ducked a little to get through it. Still shrugging he took out a box of cigarettes and shook out one. The flashing police lights of their singular car having John feel the beginnings of a headache. As his head lowly throbbed he sighed. Gravelly footsteps followed with some groaning plastic tape. It was Jack. He bent down to meet John’s lowered and grumbling form giving him a stretched smile.
“This guy keeps getting bloodier, it's like the second coming of Jack the Ripper,” John mumbled frustratingly. Flickering his lighter. Jack’s smile turned into a concerned look and sighed.
“You’re right, leaving us this much of a mess feels like he’s pitying us,”
“Be serious Jack, it’s a show of power, sick fuck is saying that he doesn’t care, probably thinks he won’t get caught,” John gruffed. Pulling out his cigarette to blow a thick white cloud of toxins into the air. Muffling the thumping pain in his head. Yeah… The stress was getting to him. He closed his eyes, exhausted. Trying to get a moment's rest in the blink. When he opens his eyes again he sees the stars staring back at him. Beautiful yet hauntingly empty. He doesn’t remember the last time he looked up and felt full of hope.
“Are you sleeping normally?” Jack asks. His eyebrows furrowing with worry. John sighs but smiles softly at the concern. He blinks as he turns to face his partner. “You need to get better on your work-life balance.”
Not wanting to get too personal John cleared his throat and pulled out his grumpy guy attitude, “Jack what do you recall of the crime scene?”
John didn’t see the disappointment on Jack’s face before giving an overall status. “Puddle of blood about two feet wide and one-point-five feet long, a dismembered arm about six feet away from the rest of the body, of which was gruesomely ripped apart around the chest…”
John shivered as the rest of Jack’s explanation mixed with the background. Dealing with a serial killer wasn’t on his career bucket list but he wasn’t sure why he wasn’t surprised. Maybe it was because it was a small town or at least on the smaller side. Homey, lots of local businesses with prices that were, yes, more expensive than a chain, but with the guarantee of a “family friend” discount. Maybe it was the nice people and the friendly yet still charming guy that joined him on the police force. So much stuff he didn’t want to deal with but if not for himself… then for the town’s peace of mind.
“... I just don’t get why there’s more blood, before it would be the occasional blood path, maybe an eye? Now we get more body parts and it looks like they were attacked by animal, but the limbs are cut off too clean,”
“Clean?”
“Yeah, clean,” Jack scoffed. To him, clean wasn’t something that the killer deserved to be called. Almost everything he did was dirty, the amount of funerals and graves had only increased. The tight-knit community had only grown closer because they both understood the grief they were feeling. Whoever was doing this wasn’t clean. “Our guy must’ve learned how to actually properly cut up a human like it was cattle,”
Cattle. John tried to recall all the times he tried to cut apart meat properly. He would always miss the nerve and it was impossible to see the socket. One time he remembers getting raw chicken juice in his eye. He remembered his daughter laughing at him as he bent over the sink washing his eyes out with water. Funny now, panicked then…
“Jack, look up how long it takes to cut up meat right,” John turned around and bent down to get under the yellow tape again, a rush going through his body, the killer was getting cocky and that meant that a mistake was bound to be made soon, “pass the camera, also I want you to look up how long it take to properly study the human anatomy,”
“John wait, your cigarette!”
John sighed. It wasn’t even done yet, it would be a waste of a good cigarette. Keeping it in would ruin the crime scene if it accidentally fell into the blood. Plus what if he fell trying to catch it? Sure he was coordinated but he couldn’t take the chance. He begrudgingly turned around to see Jack pulling the camera over his neck and held it to him over the yellow tape. He wondered why Jack was still single. If he was this attentive in a professional job he’d certainly be more attentive if it was a romantic one. John shook the thought from his head. He grabbed the camera and leaned forward, pushing the cigarette out with his lips. Jack just rolled his eyes and plucked the cigarette out of John’s mouth. So much for being professional…
“Seriously though, you need to get your work-life balance in check,” Jack said seriously, giving John a stern look. John groaned and lifted his head back up.
“Look up how long it takes for someone to learn how to properly cut meat and how long it takes to for someone to learn the anatomy of the human body… doctor stuff,” John waved his hand in the air and made his way back into the crime scene, “I’m gonna get some closer pictures of the limbs.”
“If that’s how you avoid the question then sure!” Jack called. He huffed and threw the cigarette on to the floor, stomping on it and twisting it out. He took in a deep breath and sighed. They couldn’t work forever. Federal law required breaks and sure maybe Jack was contradicting himself if he, a police officer, enforced that law on themselves. So be it.
“Hey! How ‘bout we get donuts after this?” Jack balanced on his feet for a bit. Teetering from side to side as he waited for a response. Jack watched John at the entrance of the house who, without turning around, lifted a hand to show what looked like a thumbs up. Jack smiled and turned to his car. There weren’t that many butchers in town…