Chapter Text
Simon stood outside the detention center. His arms crossed and his eyes closed. Tapping his finger against his bicep. He was waiting for a detective to arrive. Not like he needed one anymore, he was out of the clink now and was able to go places on his own. This time he wanted one because of the person he was seeing. It sent shivers down his spine and made the hair on his arms stand up. The Phantom, whether you were a paranoid person or even someone who feared almost nothing, would scare anyone. Even government officials.
He heard panting and opened his eyes to see Ema running towards him. She stopped as soon as she reached Simon and placed her hands on her knees. Breathing in and out very quickly. Maybe she wasn't used to running a lot. Simon wouldn't pry into why. He looked down at her; she lifted her head to look at him.
"So, Mr. Dark and scary, shall we head in?" She breathed heavily, standing back up normally so she could see Simon's face clearly. She'd never really met him, though she'd heard stories from 'Fulbright' about him. Well, she wasn't sure now if those words were even truthful or lies The Phantom made up for the shits and giggles.
"Yes, we shall, I can't afford to let that disgusting bastard go without being questioned." Simon replied, turning around quickly and heading inside. Ema just rolled her eyes, why did this prosecutor have to be so dark and intimidating. She wondered why he spoke like that; she couldn't put into words how he spoke, but she somewhat liked it.
Simon and Ema entered the building, heading towards the questioning room. Simon sat down in front of the class where the man who looked like a copy of Fulbright sat on the other side. According to a document that the police handed him, they had tried to rip off all of The Phantom's Fulbright masks, but it was like he had thousands, millions of the same mask of the same dead man repeatedly. So, he had to question the other 'thing' while wearing the mask, body and clothes of Fulbright. Ema stood in a corner, she herself was scared but she tried to keep her composure.
"Good afternoon, Phantom. I'm sure you already know why you have been called here in front of me. If you somehow don't understand why, then I am here to ask a few questions that, whether or not you like it, you will have to answer." Simon stated. The Phantom smirked, tilting his head to the side, they were eager to answer the questions that Simon had for it, even if it was going to prison, maybe executed, they could still fuck and toy with Simon.
"I'm very aware, Simon! Go on, ask your questions!" The Phantom exclaimed. Simon took a deep breath. He was nervous. Very nervous. They could always break the glass, strangle him and Ema, and be free. They couldn't catch them before, so why would they be able to catch them now?
"Wait, Prosecutor B-Blackquill, I'm g-getting a call to be somewhere, I'll be b-back!" Ema stuttered, running off as quickly as she could to get to this job she was asked to do. Simon sighed; there was nothing he could do about that. So now it was him, The Phantom and some guard who looked terrified of both of them.
"Well, as I was going to say. Phantom, may I ask why you murdered Detective Bobby Fulbright? Or may I ask were you the one who killed him? Was it just luck that Detective Bobby Fulbright had been murdered. Your answer will determine if we also charge you with the murder of an on-duty peace officer in the 1st degree.” Simon crossed his arms. He didn’t want his body anywhere near that sick bastard. It made him feel sick.
"How do you know he was on duty?" The Phantom questioned back, wanting to poke and prod at Simon.
"I checked the records. He was meant to be on duty that day and so he was. This still stands," Simon responded back.
"Well, my reason for murdering him was simple... I didn't. He's alive, while I did serious bodily injury to him, he should be alive. That prosecutor probably lied. But I don't know his condition now," The Phantom snickered, watching Simon's eyes widen and his mouth open, no words coming out even know they knew he wanted to say something.
"Where is he?!" Simon yelled, slamming his hands down onto the table in front of him. The officer on his side of the room jumped, letting out a little squeak. Simon ignores it.
"Figure it out for yourself! Maybe you won't get there in time before he dies from blood loss... awww so unfortunate for poor Bobby Fulbright!" The Phantom laughed, leaning back in their chair, almost falling off it. Simon wasn't happy; he was furious. He slammed a fist down. Before he could punch the glass and become a true murderer, Ema ran into the room.
"Prosecutor Blackquill! We found Detective Fulbright!" She jumped in excitement, even if she knew she shouldn't be happy. Considering the scene she had come from, she knew the news would please Simon; she looked at his rage filled face and figured he already knew and was lashing out at the Phantom.
"I'm coming. Guards, send them back to the clink!" Simon ordered before leaving with Detective Skye towards the place where they'd seen Bobby Fulbright. They arrived at a run-down shack. It smelled. Horribly, like rotten flesh. You didn't have to be a genius to know this is where the Phantom dumbed its bodies; it was far away from the outside world, so no one would notice it. Simon approached the door and opened it. A wave of nausea came over him as the smell of rot, mold, human flesh and blood reached his nose. It was a complete violation. He put a hand over his nose and went inside.
It was dark there, very hard to see. The Phantom probably didn't pay the bills here. Why would they? Simon thought, but that was the least of his troubles. He tried to step carefully but he probably stepped on a rotting corpse, their flesh peeling off their skin, their once clothes ripped and unrecognizable, bones ripping through the skin, maggots wriggling in and out of eye sockets, with this foul smell there was probably people who died in their own feces. But Simon needed to find the only living being here.
Finally, he found him. Simon ran, not caring about the smell of everything around him. He put two fingers up to Fulbright's wrist, checking for a pulse. It was faint, but it existed and that's all Simon needed. He broke the chains off him; he'd done that thousands of times, so this was easy and simple for him. He picked him up, even though the other was heavy due to his muscle mass and ran to the exit, out of that disgusting place. He made it out and handed the body to the paramedics on the scene before he ran over to a bush and started vomiting. The smell of his own sick didn't help either; it made him want to throw up more than he was already doing.
"Prosecutor Blackquill" someone said behind him. He finished his vomiting and faced the person. It was a young girl. What was she doing here? Was she lost? Where were her parents. Wait. How does she know he's a prosecutor and know his last name?
"Yes? What seems to be the matter? Are you lost? Where are your parents?" Simon tilted his head as he crouched to the girl's level, hoping he didn't come off as intimidating towards the young girl. He didn't want to scare her off in such a scary place, especially after she maybe saw Fulbright's injured body.
The girl pointed to the ambulance as her body swayed from side to side, hugging her plush bear she had. Simon raised an eyebrow, wondering what the girl meant by that. He wasn't sure what the question was for her answer. Then something clicked. Young girl at the scene Bobby Fulbright was found, pointing to the ambulance he was in. He looked at her with his eyes wide. Not sure what to say to her, he wasn't even aware Fulbright had a daughter, or another sister he didn't know about. He grabbed her by her waist and put her in his arms. She smiled at him and nodded at him like he was doing something correct; he wasn't sure what. Simon wasn't used to non-verbal communication without assistance such as BSL, writing, or whatever else would help.
He walked the two of them towards the ambulance and got inside. Seeing Fulbright's beaten face made him upset. He wanted to talk to him badly, wanted to know and question him about stuff. Like... If everything that happened between them wasn't fake. He hugged the girl tighter towards himself. If this was Fulbright's daughter, then he knew the other would want him to protect her while he was in this state. He probably would also not want her to see him like this, but she has already done that.
"Daddy. He uhh. Ummm..." The girl wasn't able to get much of her words out. A bunch of umms and stuttering without producing an actual word. Simon sat with her while the ambulance took Fulbright to the hospital. He sat and waited for her; he knew how hard it was sometimes to force yourself to speak. He wouldn't pressure her to speak to him if she didn't feel comfortable.
"Daddy. H-H-H-He care about uhh. Umm... Y-Y-You..." The girl said, she smiled, being able to say something towards Simon. Well at least that confirmed some of Simon's theories that the Phantom and Fulbright were doing a double act, but he wasn't sure how.
"Is that why you tried to find me at the scene?" Simon put his hand on her head, rubbing his thumb across her forehead, which she liked. Probably something Fulbright did to try and get her to sleep.
The girl nodded fast. "H-He uhh... told me i-i-i-if danger... danger l-l-look uhh Simon.. Dark uhh umm.." The girl stutterd. She yawned; it was late, and she was up worrying about her dad. Simon figured the sentence that Fulbright probably said was 'If there's danger and I'm not there, look for Simon, he has a dark aesthetic' would be his best guess. Why he would say that when at the time he was in the clink is beyond him. The girl rested her head on Simon before falling asleep. He let her do that, she needed it after everything that was happening. Simon would sleep too, but he needed to keep an eye on these Fulbrights.