Chapter Text
Dumb birds circled in the sky above. Vultures. A group of five. Dumb birds looking for food that was not anywhere to be found. There was no gentle prey for them to sink their sharp beaks into around here. There was nothing alive worth flying for around here.
Harry didn’t know the time. It could have been weeks. He wouldn’t have noticed. He was only aware that he had been sitting here for an abnormal amount of time because Andy made it abundantly clear that he was very worried, though too afraid to do anything to get him to go home. He, however, does not think anything could have gotten him to leave that very spot. If he kept his eyes fixed on the place where it happened, then he will be safe. This way he can protect him from the outside, the way that he was always supposed to. To warn him of the dangers of the woods and to keep him safe.
If their places were switched Cooper would have done the same.
The thought sat with him. No, he wouldn’t have.
He would have stopped Harry; he would have followed. He would have said, “Harry I respect your opinion, but it would be too much of a risk to let you go alone.”
If only Harry had thought of that. If only he hadn’t listened to him.
“Harry. I got you a sandwich.” Hawk called to him from behind. “And some coffee.”
“Okay.”
Placing both beside Harry, Hawk sat down next to him “I can stay for now. I can keep watch.”
“No. Has to be me.”
Softly, Hawk sighed, “He knows what he’s up against. You know Cooper. He’s strong.”
“He’ll come back. I have to be here for that.”
“I know.”
For two months Dale Cooper had officially been a missing person. Not a shred of evidence had been found. Harry told Albert all he knew and saw that night and around 20 agents were released into the woods to follow the sheriff’s trail but nothing. It was as if he had never even existed in the first place. Not much family, lots of friends but not much history with them. He seemed to only exist in the memories of those who loved him and in the tiny breadcrumbs of life that he left behind.
Shaky hands made their way to the middle of the table. A tape recorder sat there.
“Diane, 6:47 a.m. I am currently on a walk by the black lake here in Twin Peaks as I have allotted myself some time before heading to the station. The sun is rising and all of the beautiful morning colours, so many of us ignore, are dancing their way across the water. I truly think I could spend the rest of my life right here. I think I may ask Sheriff Truman to join me for lunch today at the Double R Diner. I know it would be inappropriate to ask the sheriff along for walks like these as our current case with Windom is demanding and it may be unprofessional. Nevertheless, I do wish he was here to watch this scene with me.”
Harry knew that it was wrong to listen to these tapes, like someone reading your diary. But Cooper’s voice was slowly fading from Harry’s memories of the man, and he could hardly begin to bear it. His face was only remembered through the grainy CCTV footage from that night at One Eyed Jacks and those horrible “Have you seen this man?” posters the FBI issued and scattered all over town. Of course, neither of them included his characteristic smile, but he could only wish for so much. Additionally, this was the only tape that Cooper had left behind, the rest presumably were mailed to Diane before the incident, and so, Harry thought that at least someone should be listening to them. Someone needs to remember him.
“Sheriff Truman, I have Margaret here for you. She wants to speak to you.” Lucy announced in a polite voice over the speaker.
“Right. Send her into my office Lucy.”
“Okay.”
Since his friend’s disappearance, Harry believed that the rest of the sheriff’s department had made some secret pact to leave him alone because no one ever bothered him in his office anymore. Lucy must have thought it was important. Hawk had taken on all of the usual duties Harry would do before, leaving him to pour over the evidence alone for most hours of the day.
Margaret entered his office without knocking, log cradled in her arms.
Clearing his throat, Harry smiled “What can I do for you Margaret?”
“My log has a message for you.”
“All right. What is it?”
“It says that this period is coming to an end soon. Someone will arrive back to where they belong, but it will all be wrong.”
He rose to his feet and leaned over, using his arms as support on the table “Did it say anything else?”
“No. Though I sense you know what it means?”
He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted.
“It knows how you feel. It is sympathetic towards your situation.”
“I wasn’t aware your log could have feelings. But yeah, thanks.”
Margaret nodded and swiftly left.
It’s 1:13 a.m. when they find him.
Harry, unsurprisingly, was wide awake and sat at his kitchen table, staring a hole into just another case file when he got the call.
“We got him, Harry. One of my men found him whilst patrolling the area. I’m on my way to Twin Peaks now. He’s being taken to Calhoun Memorial Hospital.” Albert said in the most professional voice he could muster. Despite his coldness towards Harry in the past, Albert had always been the first to inform him about anything to do with the Cooper case.
“Thank you, Albert. I’m coming now.”
Harry dropped the phone, leaving it hanging off the hook, and almost tripped whilst sprinting out the door, only caring for his car keys and coat.