Running Out of Time (for capturescape)
Title: Running Out of Time
Recipient: capturescape
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 5,057
Warning(s): Vaguely descriptive scenes of violence
Summary: Jaebum and his team have been after a serial killer for a few years without a single clue about their identity, but as time starts to run out on them they start finding little clues that they once though insignificant. When Jinyoung gets abducted by the serial killer more clues start to reveal themselves as he starts to make mistakes.
A/N: I truly and sincerely hope this is something akin to what you were asking for, I tried my best.
“Why haven’t we caught them yet!” Jaebum’s voice roared through the office as he looked at each and everyone of his team members, “We’ve been chasing this case for almost four years now, how are we no closer to catching them? Huh?!”
“There’s no reason to get angry,” Jinyoung said calmly and Jaebum’s eyes locked onto his partner in the unit for the past five years. The only one on the team who would talk up with a calm voice when he felt like strangling every single one of his team members for not finding anything useful so they could at least have an inkling on who was committing the serial murders that they had been trying to solve for years. “He never leaves evidence where he leaves the bodies and the only thing that connects all these murders is the fact that they disappear for a week before showing back up in a random location dead and the fact that there is a rather intricate carving of a lotus flower on the inside of each of the victim's left wrist.” Jinyoung stood from his seat and moved towards the large clear screen situated in front of the room where all the information was gathered. He looked at the photos of the lotus flower on each one of the victim's wrists.
“Each one of the carvings are 7.7 centimeters long and wide,” Mark spoke quietly from the back of the room.
“Exactly,” Jinyoung said as he looked away from the screen and towards Jaebum, “So that means this person is some kind of perfectionist and since each victim is taken from a different place and there’s no real pattern that bit of information is useless to us.” He raised his hand and patted Jaebum on the arm with his biggest smile, “So don’t get mad, we’re trying it’s just that this case is no where near as simple as the others. Serial murders are usually harder to track down because they perfect their art of killing.”
Jaebum let out a rather loud puff of air as he crossed his arms over his chest, everyone in the room could tell that he was still angry but not so angry that he was going to start yelling again. “All of you look over everything with a fine tooth comb, with his pattern it points to the fact that he’ll be taking another victim soon. We cannot let that happen, do you understand?” There was a chorus of ‘yes sir’ from his team before he turned his heel and stormed off to his office. The door slamming behind him as Jinyoung let out a sheepish laugh.
“I’ll go see if I can calm him down a bit more, I know you guys have done it millions of times but he’s right. We’re running out of time.” He looked at the team as they all nodded before heading off to Jaebum’s office. He didn't even bother to knock, Jaebum's meltdowns didn't happen too often but they happened enough that Jinyoung was able to figure out his pattern when the other retreated to his office.
"Looks like someone needs a hug." The words leave Jinyoung's lips as soon as the office door closes behind him. Jaebum sat behind his desk with his head in his hands, only looking up after several minutes.
"I know yelling at them doesn't help but I'm so frustrated." Jinyoung blinked at the confession, he had never heard the other admit he was wrong so quickly. "We've never gone this long with a criminal still on the loose and if they continue their pattern of killing every six months that means we have less than a week before he kidnaps another and we find their dead body. I'm just so sick and tired of the fact that the killer has evaded us so long, how meticulous do you have to be to not leave a single grain of evidence." Jinyoung blinked a few times at the words that fell from Jaebum's lips. The other man never really talked about things openly without someone convincing the other that he needed to let our out so he was lost for words.
Just as Jinyoung opened his mouth to say something there was a knock on the door. He formed while Jaebum looked up to see Youngjae open the door with a file on his hands. "We found something." Both Jinyoung and Jaebum where following Youngjae out of the room just seconds after the words left his lips. Both Mark and Jackson were standing in front of the screen and pulling out eight different documents, zooming in on a specific part of each. Once all eight documents were where they needed to be Mark turned towards his team members.
“Each and everyone of these victims seem to have MDMA in their system which is something that we looked over numerous times before without realizing how high the levels of the drug is in each one of their systems.” He paused in his words as Jackson touched one of the documents on the screen to enlarge it even more, “The amount of the drug flowing in their bloodstream is high for someone who had been both starved and given a little amount of water before their deaths.”
“At first we thought they were all addicts but we looked over all the victims files and none of them had evidence of drug use before their deaths.” Jackson spoke as he swiped through the different files showing the same exact levels on each one, “And the fact that each one of them had the same amount of MDMA in their system when they were found just says that they were being admitted the drug at the same rate and the same consisity as all the other victims.”
“So our killer uses the MDMA to get the victims to do what he wants them to do without much complaint,” Kunpimook said from his seat.
“We can already tell from the conditions of the victims that the killer doesn’t torture,” Jinyoung said from his spot next to Jaebum, “But this puts more validity to that statement, he doesn’t want them to feel anything but good before they take their last breath.”
“What kind of psycho is this?” Jinyoung looked at Yugyeom as the youngest in their team frowned at the screen.
“Either way,” Jaebum spoke as he looked at each and everyone of his team members, “This needs to be reported to the police and we need to go through all of our files with a fine tooth comb to check if we missed or looked over any other minor details. You better start now, we’re running out of time.” He looked at Jinyoung as the rest of the team started to gather files to look over, “Your coming with me, were going to take this information to the police.” The other nodded as Jaebum grabbed the file from Mark’s desk and they were both out the door within a matter of minutes.
Jinyoung kept quiet as they made their way out to the car, he know that the other had a lot to think about and he was always the first to leave Jaebum to his own thoughts. The whole ride to the police station was a quiet one but Jinyoung didn’t mind, he just watched the scenery pass with the sounds of other cars as his music.
It took twenty minutes for them to arrive at the police station and Jinyoung was the first to step out of the car. A few minutes passed before Jaebum followed his lead and they walked into the station side by side. "Hwanie!" A police officer with thick glasses looked up at the sound of Jinyoung's voice and his sharp features dulled as a smile settled on his face.
"What brings you here to our domain?"
"Is chief in? We need to talk to him." Hwan looked over to Jaebum as the other spoke, his smelt changing completely as his smile fell. The other seemed to not like him for a reason and something in the back of his mind told him that Jinyoung was the exact reason. He never really understood why everyone always thought their was something more to relationship between him and his partner just because they were close.
"He's on his office." The response was short and to the point like it always was when he talked to the officer about anything. He nodded at the answer and walked off, Jinyoung made sure to thank the other before following after his partner.
They made sure to knock on the door before entering the office and the first thing they did once they walked in was drop the file on the chief's desk. She looked at the file with a cocked brow before looking at them. "Does this mean that you found something new?"
"Our perp had been drugging our victims with MDMA to keep them compliant and to keep them feeling good the whole time that he held them captive." Jaebum opened the folder and pulled out the necessary files for her to see, "This person had some kind of connection with the victims since he didn't take them to make them feel pain." Just as he was explaining everything to the chief Jinyoung's phone started ringing and he quickly excused himself.
Once he was out of the office he quickly answered his phone, "What happened did you guys find something?"
"You guys need to come back immediately," Mark's voice traveled through the line, "We finally found a link between our victims and you need to see this."
"Got it we'll be there as soon as we can." Jinyoung hung up the phone and headed back into the chief’s office, “I’m sorry to interrupt but Mark called, he found something new and he wants us to see it.” Jaebum nodded as he packed up the pile and excused himself. He soon followed the other towards their squad car. The walk was a quiet one, only Jinyoung said goodbye as they left the station.
“What did they find?”
“Mark says that they finally found a connection for all of the victims, that it was something we need to see for ourselves.”
"Fair enough."
-
They found themselves back in the office within fifteen minutes time, "What have we got?"
"We were finally able to get into contact with the family member of our most recent victim. Kim, Hana." Yugyeom pulled the file up on the screen as Mark talked, "Her father just recently returned from being at sea for several months so when we contacted him was the first time he heard of his daughter's passing."
"We gave him a few moments to grieve before we started to ask about any suspicious activity he noticed around his daughter." Jackson paused in his words as he instructed Yugyeom to pull up a completely different file. "We weren't expecting much due to the fact that he was away at sea but he did have something for us. A few days before his departure he remembered speaking to his daughter on the phone when she heard a strange noise. It was a reaction that startled him but just as quick as it startled her she dismissed it. She spoke about going to the police recently about being followed but she told him not to worry, that she had already taken care of it."
"Wait." Jinyoung held up his hand, "All of our victims were a victim of our at least reported a case of stalking?"
"That what we have found," Kunpimook confirmed, "But that's not all, all of the victims made a report at the same exact police station."
"Can you guys guess the police station?" Jinyoung and Jaebum exchanged glances with each other before looking at Jackson.
-
"Why don't you think they told us?" Jinyoung was walking home with the phone held up to his ears. Jaebum's voice traveled through the line and he frowned at the question as he slowed his steps. He felt as though someone was following him ever since he got off the bus but other than slowing his steps he made sure to act as though he hadn't realized it yet. He had a feeling as long as he stayed on the phone whoever was following him wouldn't do anything rash.
"I don't know Jaebum, they probably have something to hide." He had to think quick, the road was empty enough that he could hear the footsteps of his pursuer speed up. "Jaebum, you know something I've never understood. Why so many chickens need to cross the road." There was silence on the other line for a few minutes before it clicked in Jaebum's mind.
"How many chickens is too many?"
"Don't you think one chicken is enough, especially if it runs it won't leave any other chickens behind."
"I think it's best if the chicken walks, make sure that the cars swerve to avoid it." Jinyoung entered the parking garage of his apartment complex.
"What nonsense are you-" Jinyoung was wrong when he thought that he would be safe as long as he stayed on the phone. He wasn't expecting when an arm came up from behind him and wrapped around his throat, quickly cutting off his airways as the phone fell to the floor. Jinyoung was not really a fighter, he was let into the force mostly due to his brain so he was lost at what to do in such a situation. He tried to remember all the times he watched Jaebum, Mark, and Jackson practicing their fighting skills in the gym.
He swung his head back with all the force he could muster and heard a crack as he was released and fell forward on his hands and knees. The back of his head was throbbing from the impact but he did his best to ignore it as he tried to look for his fallen phone. He had managed to see it underneath a car but before he could get to it he was grabbed by his ankle and dragged away. He was flipped over on his back and saw his attacker's face and he could only stare in shock before a nicely placed punch to the jaw made him see nothing but black as he lost consciousness.
-
Jaebum was quick to act when he lost all connection with Jinyoung. He heard the scuffle on the other side of the line before it went completely dead. He was quick to call up the rest of his unit and have them meet inside of his apartment. It took nearly an hour for all of them to gather and he was furious but he held it in, he didn't have time to get angry.
"What happened? You didn't say much on the phone."
"Jinyoung's in trouble. He was being followed by someone and I heard a fight before our call was cut."
"A fight?" Jackson was the first to speak up, "That's not his strongest area."
"Is that the point of this conversation?" Jackson gave a sheepish grin at Jaebum's glare and shrank away at the harshness of the other's tone.
"I will trace Jinyoung's cell phone to see where it was when it was last used." Youngjae was quick to jump off the couch and grab Jaebum’s laptop from his kitchen table. He didn’t even bother to ask for the password as he quickly gained access and started off on his work to track his phone. The minutes seemed to pass by slowly before Youngjae spoke up, “I found it!” Everyone jumped up from the couch and ran over to look at the computer. “The call was cut off in the parking garage of his apartment building.”
“Yugyeom, Jackson, and Mark I need the three of you to quickly head to the scene and see if you can find anything that will be of use to us. Go now.” The three nodded at Jaebum’s orders before they were off and running. “Kunpimook I need you to help Youngjae with anything he needs.”
“Where are you going, chief?”
“I’m going to the office to pick up some files. Call me if you pick up anything new.” Kunpimook nodded at the elder’s words and Jaebum was quick at leaving his home and heading straight to his car while his mind raced. He never mentioned anyone following him and all the times that we’ve been together I never noticed anything strange. He stuck his key in the ignition of his car and sped off towards their office. It can’t be the serial killer, right? This would be the right time for him to pick up on a new victim but he’s always targeted women and the stalking persists for several months according to the reports…
Just as he pulled into the empty parking lot off the station his phone rang and he was quick to pick up his phone when he realized Mark was the one calling him. “Did you find something?” He stepped out of his car and closed the door, making sure to lock it behind him before heading inside.
“We found a single lotus flower.” Jaebum bit back his lip to hold back a curse that was just sitting on the tip of his lips.
“Nothing more than that?” There was a bit of a struggle at the other end of the line and it took all of Jaebum’s willpower to not yell as he entered the building.
“There’s blood!” Jackson spoke this time and Jaebum stopped walking and blinked a few times, “Just a little though, whoever is bleeding it’s a minor injury.”
“You have supplies in your car correct, collect a sample from that blood. There's a small chance that it could belong to the one who took Jinyoung. Then get everyone down to the office well need Kunpimook to test the sample.” Jaebum hung up on the phone and put it in his pocket before sprinting off to the office. Once passed the doors he was quick to run to his desk and pull out every file they’ve collected on their killer. He’s only ever had women as his victims, what made him change his M.O. now? Am I missing something?
It took a half-hour before everyone arrived at the station and Jaebum was in front of the screen pulling up different forms of information. Mark handed over their blood sample to Kunpimook and urged the other to hurry before quickly going up to their chief, “We found his phone under one of the cars in the parking garage and the last call was to you, nothing strange there.”
“Yugyeom, go take the phone and test it for fingerprints.” The youngest nodded and made sure to use gloved hands to grab the phone from the oldest and once he had it in his hands he was off.
“What makes you think you’ll find any fingerprints, he hasn’t left any obvious evidence like that anywhere. Why do you think we’ll find it now?”
“They already made their first mistake,” Jaebum turned from the screen to look at Jackson, “He changed his M.O. so know he’s on unfamiliar ground. He’s been attacking women this whole time but he finally decided to go after a man. All the women that have been his victim have all been slim and well off so they were never ones who would fight back. Even though Jinyoung is more on the slimmer side from what I heard on the other end of the line he definitely put up some sort of fight.”
“So even if we don’t get anything off the phone we’ll probably get a hit off the blood,” Mark said before biting his lips, “He probably assumed Jinyoung would be an easy target.”
“That’s where he made his first mistake.”
-
“I GOT A HIT!” Everyone jumped as Kunpimook’s voice traveled through the station. Jaebum looked down at his watch and noticed that at least four hours had passed. He started to shake his team awake just as one of their youngest team members came running through the door, “I got a hit.” HIs words came out a little breathless but he didn’t wait to catch it as he ran quickly made his way to the monitor and pulled up a file. Everyone blinked at the name that showed up at the screen and Jaebum couldn’t help but to scowl at the familiar face that stared at them.
“Jackson and Mark your with me. The rest of you see if you can dig anything else up and no matter how small it might seem report it to me right away, got it.” They rushed out of the office in a fury of ‘yes sir’.
-
“Is officer Hwan in today?”
“No he called in sick.”
“That's a shame, I'll be back later. You'll call me if he arrives right?" The desk clerk nodded and Jaebum thanked her before turning to leave the station with Jackson and Mark following. They could feel the annoyance seeping off the other, even Jackson knew it wasn't time for one of his stupid jokes. They all pulled back into the car and no one said a word until Jackson couldn't figure out where they were.
"Where are we headed?"
"Were going to pay Officer Hwan's home a little visit. "
“Do you know where he lives?”
“I had to pick Jinyoung up from his place once, it’s still on my phone’s GPS.” They all hopped into the car and Jaebum turned on his GPS and found the location and with that they were speeding off towards their destination. They were halfway there when Mark’s phone rang. “Answer it and put it on speaker.”
“We found something else.” Youngjae’s voice echoed through the car, “Since Jinyoung was the latest victim we went back to look at his previous victims and we realized something. They all seem to share a lot of common facial features with Jinyoung, it was like he was trying to find a woman that looked enough like Jinyoung to substitute for him.” Jaebum stepped on the gas pedal at the new information, he needed to get there fast. Now that Hwan had the object that he’s been trying to get for years he needed to quickly get Jinyoung out of the other man’s grip. There was really no way to tell which way this whole situation was going to go, he wasn’t looking for a substitute anymore now that the killer had the real thing.
They made sure to park in a neighbor's parking space and informed the people of their arrival before approaching Hwan’s home. From what they had found out by pulling up Hwan's profile in the car, he had actually come from a rich family and had inherited everything, including his home, from them once they died. The house was a decent size and all three of them looked at it with a frown. “How are we supposed to find him in there if he’s even here.”
“Just follow my lead.” Jaebum moved in front of the home once he realized no cars were in the lot, Hwan didn’t seem to be home. He reached up and found a spare key sitting over the doorframe and quickly unlocked the door before putting the key back where he found it. All three of them slipped in before Jaebum relocked the door behind him.
“How…?”
“I’ll explain it later Jackson.” He pulled his gun from his holster, “Spread out, I don’t think I need to remind you how time is really important here.” They all followed Jaebum's lead and pulled out their guns before spreading out, moving very carefully through each room. Jaebum moved towards the kitchen noticed a strange smell. It was subtle but he could tell it was there. He scrunched up his nose in distaste but followed the smell anyways, he was determined to follow anything even the slightest bit weird, even if it was just a smell. He arrived in the kitchen and realized that the smell had gotten worse but as he looked around the small space he saw no doorway or anything that could’ve caused such a rancid smell.
He stayed in the kitchen as he looked everywhere, making sure to keep the gun up as he searched. He could tell that the smell was more than rotten food. Just as he moved towards the kitchen island he realized that it moved and as he was about to push it out of the way Jackson came running into the room. “We’ve found Jinyoung.” Jaebum made sure to remember the island before following Jackson upstairs.
When they arrived in, what they could only assume to be, Hwan’s room Jaebum saw Jinyoung being held in Mark’s arms. He was shivering a bit and his wrists were duct taped together but other then some dirt he looked unharmed. “Why are his arms still bound?”
“I don’t want to risk ripping off skin,” Mark told him, “I already had to be careful with the tape that was over his mouth.”
“Are you okay Jinyoung?” The other male nodded his head, “We have to get him out of here.” Mark nodded and carefully scoped the other into his arms and started to make his way out if the room.
"Wait." Mark stopped as Jinyoung turned his head to look at Jaebum, "There's a cellar I saw him take a body out when he thought I was still unconscious. The entrance is in the kitchen."
"I got it, I'll check it out. Mark get him out of here and Jackson call for backup." Both male's nodded and went off to do as they were told, Jaebum made his way back to the kitchen. He didn't hesitate to push the island out of the way and the entrance he discovered was barely enough to fit two people. He pulled out his phone and dialed Jackson's number, but just as he put the phone to his ear the squeaking sound of a shoe on the tile had him quickly turning around.
He managed to fall just before a knife came swinging down at him. His phone fell from his hands at the action and skidded across the floor. Since Jaebum was taken by surprise Hwan took the opportunity to knock the gun out of the other's grip, making Jaebum defenseless. "Oh, I've been found." Hwan wore a giant smile on his face, "Shall we play a game? It's called where's my Jinyoungie."
"He's not yours." He had managed to roll out of the way just before the knife hit the ground. He was quick to roll up on his feet so the playing field evened out a bit. They danced around each other and Jaebum managed to avoid getting anything major, just a few cuts as they fought over control of the knife. He was backing up to avoid an attack when he felt his foot hit something. He looked down to see his gun on the ground. He let out a hiss as he felt himself get cut but he ignored the stinging pain as he dived for his gun. He reacted quickly as he turned and pulled the trigger.
Once the scuffle ended Jaebum could hear Jackson's voice screaming from the phone and he found the device a few feet away. "Stop screaming."
"Jaebum, was that a gunshot?" Jaebum placed his gun on the counter and used his free hand to cover his wound, "You called backup right? Did you call for the EMT as well?"
"What the hell happened?"
"I think the proper question is where the hell did you go?"
"With Mark to take Jinyoung to the hospital."
Jaebum had to take a deep breath to keep himself from screaming, "Only one of you had to go with Jinyoung." There was a long pause on the other side of the line and he let out a sigh, "Just make sure the EMT is sent with backup."
"Yes sir." He pocketed his phone and grabbed his gun once more. He didn't want to be taken by surprise twice in one day.
-
He was alone in the house for at least a half-hour before backup came and he was sitting on the couch when they walked in. He looked up to them and they looked at his bleeding arm. All he did was point in the direction on the kitchen and all of them scattered. "Should we go to the hospital?"
He looked up at the voice and frowned, "Now you're here?"
Jackson gave a sheepish grin and rubbed the back of his neck, "We should take you to get that cut checked out." Jaebum looked down at his injured arm and frowned before standing up and following the other out of the house, "How's Jinyoung?"
"I don't know, I came rushing back after you called me." Jaebum had to take a deep breath as he felt his hand twitch with the urge to smack the other on the back side of his head.
“ You should have at least checked while you were there."
-
Jaebum ended up being suspended right after the incident because internal affairs wanted to investigate the shooting. As though his injuries and the knife found just two feet from officer Hwan with his blood on it was insufficient evidence. He didn't mind it though he ended up just spending time in Jinyoung's hospital room keeping the other company as he recovered from a minor concussion and was being held in order for the doctors to be sure that he wasn't traumatized by the incident.
"I knew I didn't like the guy for a reason." Jinyoung turned to look at Jaebum at the other's words and frown.
"I swear if you say I told you so I'll beat you with my pillow."
He gave the other a smile, "But don't you think this is the perfect opportunity to say-" His words were cut short as Jinyoung grabbed one of his many pillows from his hospital bed and proceeded to beat him with it. Jaebum just laughed at the effort and his laugh only encouraged Jinyoung to hit harder.
Recipient: capturescape
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 5,057
Warning(s): Vaguely descriptive scenes of violence
Summary: Jaebum and his team have been after a serial killer for a few years without a single clue about their identity, but as time starts to run out on them they start finding little clues that they once though insignificant. When Jinyoung gets abducted by the serial killer more clues start to reveal themselves as he starts to make mistakes.
A/N: I truly and sincerely hope this is something akin to what you were asking for, I tried my best.
“Why haven’t we caught them yet!” Jaebum’s voice roared through the office as he looked at each and everyone of his team members, “We’ve been chasing this case for almost four years now, how are we no closer to catching them? Huh?!”
“There’s no reason to get angry,” Jinyoung said calmly and Jaebum’s eyes locked onto his partner in the unit for the past five years. The only one on the team who would talk up with a calm voice when he felt like strangling every single one of his team members for not finding anything useful so they could at least have an inkling on who was committing the serial murders that they had been trying to solve for years. “He never leaves evidence where he leaves the bodies and the only thing that connects all these murders is the fact that they disappear for a week before showing back up in a random location dead and the fact that there is a rather intricate carving of a lotus flower on the inside of each of the victim's left wrist.” Jinyoung stood from his seat and moved towards the large clear screen situated in front of the room where all the information was gathered. He looked at the photos of the lotus flower on each one of the victim's wrists.
“Each one of the carvings are 7.7 centimeters long and wide,” Mark spoke quietly from the back of the room.
“Exactly,” Jinyoung said as he looked away from the screen and towards Jaebum, “So that means this person is some kind of perfectionist and since each victim is taken from a different place and there’s no real pattern that bit of information is useless to us.” He raised his hand and patted Jaebum on the arm with his biggest smile, “So don’t get mad, we’re trying it’s just that this case is no where near as simple as the others. Serial murders are usually harder to track down because they perfect their art of killing.”
Jaebum let out a rather loud puff of air as he crossed his arms over his chest, everyone in the room could tell that he was still angry but not so angry that he was going to start yelling again. “All of you look over everything with a fine tooth comb, with his pattern it points to the fact that he’ll be taking another victim soon. We cannot let that happen, do you understand?” There was a chorus of ‘yes sir’ from his team before he turned his heel and stormed off to his office. The door slamming behind him as Jinyoung let out a sheepish laugh.
“I’ll go see if I can calm him down a bit more, I know you guys have done it millions of times but he’s right. We’re running out of time.” He looked at the team as they all nodded before heading off to Jaebum’s office. He didn't even bother to knock, Jaebum's meltdowns didn't happen too often but they happened enough that Jinyoung was able to figure out his pattern when the other retreated to his office.
"Looks like someone needs a hug." The words leave Jinyoung's lips as soon as the office door closes behind him. Jaebum sat behind his desk with his head in his hands, only looking up after several minutes.
"I know yelling at them doesn't help but I'm so frustrated." Jinyoung blinked at the confession, he had never heard the other admit he was wrong so quickly. "We've never gone this long with a criminal still on the loose and if they continue their pattern of killing every six months that means we have less than a week before he kidnaps another and we find their dead body. I'm just so sick and tired of the fact that the killer has evaded us so long, how meticulous do you have to be to not leave a single grain of evidence." Jinyoung blinked a few times at the words that fell from Jaebum's lips. The other man never really talked about things openly without someone convincing the other that he needed to let our out so he was lost for words.
Just as Jinyoung opened his mouth to say something there was a knock on the door. He formed while Jaebum looked up to see Youngjae open the door with a file on his hands. "We found something." Both Jinyoung and Jaebum where following Youngjae out of the room just seconds after the words left his lips. Both Mark and Jackson were standing in front of the screen and pulling out eight different documents, zooming in on a specific part of each. Once all eight documents were where they needed to be Mark turned towards his team members.
“Each and everyone of these victims seem to have MDMA in their system which is something that we looked over numerous times before without realizing how high the levels of the drug is in each one of their systems.” He paused in his words as Jackson touched one of the documents on the screen to enlarge it even more, “The amount of the drug flowing in their bloodstream is high for someone who had been both starved and given a little amount of water before their deaths.”
“At first we thought they were all addicts but we looked over all the victims files and none of them had evidence of drug use before their deaths.” Jackson spoke as he swiped through the different files showing the same exact levels on each one, “And the fact that each one of them had the same amount of MDMA in their system when they were found just says that they were being admitted the drug at the same rate and the same consisity as all the other victims.”
“So our killer uses the MDMA to get the victims to do what he wants them to do without much complaint,” Kunpimook said from his seat.
“We can already tell from the conditions of the victims that the killer doesn’t torture,” Jinyoung said from his spot next to Jaebum, “But this puts more validity to that statement, he doesn’t want them to feel anything but good before they take their last breath.”
“What kind of psycho is this?” Jinyoung looked at Yugyeom as the youngest in their team frowned at the screen.
“Either way,” Jaebum spoke as he looked at each and everyone of his team members, “This needs to be reported to the police and we need to go through all of our files with a fine tooth comb to check if we missed or looked over any other minor details. You better start now, we’re running out of time.” He looked at Jinyoung as the rest of the team started to gather files to look over, “Your coming with me, were going to take this information to the police.” The other nodded as Jaebum grabbed the file from Mark’s desk and they were both out the door within a matter of minutes.
Jinyoung kept quiet as they made their way out to the car, he know that the other had a lot to think about and he was always the first to leave Jaebum to his own thoughts. The whole ride to the police station was a quiet one but Jinyoung didn’t mind, he just watched the scenery pass with the sounds of other cars as his music.
It took twenty minutes for them to arrive at the police station and Jinyoung was the first to step out of the car. A few minutes passed before Jaebum followed his lead and they walked into the station side by side. "Hwanie!" A police officer with thick glasses looked up at the sound of Jinyoung's voice and his sharp features dulled as a smile settled on his face.
"What brings you here to our domain?"
"Is chief in? We need to talk to him." Hwan looked over to Jaebum as the other spoke, his smelt changing completely as his smile fell. The other seemed to not like him for a reason and something in the back of his mind told him that Jinyoung was the exact reason. He never really understood why everyone always thought their was something more to relationship between him and his partner just because they were close.
"He's on his office." The response was short and to the point like it always was when he talked to the officer about anything. He nodded at the answer and walked off, Jinyoung made sure to thank the other before following after his partner.
They made sure to knock on the door before entering the office and the first thing they did once they walked in was drop the file on the chief's desk. She looked at the file with a cocked brow before looking at them. "Does this mean that you found something new?"
"Our perp had been drugging our victims with MDMA to keep them compliant and to keep them feeling good the whole time that he held them captive." Jaebum opened the folder and pulled out the necessary files for her to see, "This person had some kind of connection with the victims since he didn't take them to make them feel pain." Just as he was explaining everything to the chief Jinyoung's phone started ringing and he quickly excused himself.
Once he was out of the office he quickly answered his phone, "What happened did you guys find something?"
"You guys need to come back immediately," Mark's voice traveled through the line, "We finally found a link between our victims and you need to see this."
"Got it we'll be there as soon as we can." Jinyoung hung up the phone and headed back into the chief’s office, “I’m sorry to interrupt but Mark called, he found something new and he wants us to see it.” Jaebum nodded as he packed up the pile and excused himself. He soon followed the other towards their squad car. The walk was a quiet one, only Jinyoung said goodbye as they left the station.
“What did they find?”
“Mark says that they finally found a connection for all of the victims, that it was something we need to see for ourselves.”
"Fair enough."
-
They found themselves back in the office within fifteen minutes time, "What have we got?"
"We were finally able to get into contact with the family member of our most recent victim. Kim, Hana." Yugyeom pulled the file up on the screen as Mark talked, "Her father just recently returned from being at sea for several months so when we contacted him was the first time he heard of his daughter's passing."
"We gave him a few moments to grieve before we started to ask about any suspicious activity he noticed around his daughter." Jackson paused in his words as he instructed Yugyeom to pull up a completely different file. "We weren't expecting much due to the fact that he was away at sea but he did have something for us. A few days before his departure he remembered speaking to his daughter on the phone when she heard a strange noise. It was a reaction that startled him but just as quick as it startled her she dismissed it. She spoke about going to the police recently about being followed but she told him not to worry, that she had already taken care of it."
"Wait." Jinyoung held up his hand, "All of our victims were a victim of our at least reported a case of stalking?"
"That what we have found," Kunpimook confirmed, "But that's not all, all of the victims made a report at the same exact police station."
"Can you guys guess the police station?" Jinyoung and Jaebum exchanged glances with each other before looking at Jackson.
-
"Why don't you think they told us?" Jinyoung was walking home with the phone held up to his ears. Jaebum's voice traveled through the line and he frowned at the question as he slowed his steps. He felt as though someone was following him ever since he got off the bus but other than slowing his steps he made sure to act as though he hadn't realized it yet. He had a feeling as long as he stayed on the phone whoever was following him wouldn't do anything rash.
"I don't know Jaebum, they probably have something to hide." He had to think quick, the road was empty enough that he could hear the footsteps of his pursuer speed up. "Jaebum, you know something I've never understood. Why so many chickens need to cross the road." There was silence on the other line for a few minutes before it clicked in Jaebum's mind.
"How many chickens is too many?"
"Don't you think one chicken is enough, especially if it runs it won't leave any other chickens behind."
"I think it's best if the chicken walks, make sure that the cars swerve to avoid it." Jinyoung entered the parking garage of his apartment complex.
"What nonsense are you-" Jinyoung was wrong when he thought that he would be safe as long as he stayed on the phone. He wasn't expecting when an arm came up from behind him and wrapped around his throat, quickly cutting off his airways as the phone fell to the floor. Jinyoung was not really a fighter, he was let into the force mostly due to his brain so he was lost at what to do in such a situation. He tried to remember all the times he watched Jaebum, Mark, and Jackson practicing their fighting skills in the gym.
He swung his head back with all the force he could muster and heard a crack as he was released and fell forward on his hands and knees. The back of his head was throbbing from the impact but he did his best to ignore it as he tried to look for his fallen phone. He had managed to see it underneath a car but before he could get to it he was grabbed by his ankle and dragged away. He was flipped over on his back and saw his attacker's face and he could only stare in shock before a nicely placed punch to the jaw made him see nothing but black as he lost consciousness.
-
Jaebum was quick to act when he lost all connection with Jinyoung. He heard the scuffle on the other side of the line before it went completely dead. He was quick to call up the rest of his unit and have them meet inside of his apartment. It took nearly an hour for all of them to gather and he was furious but he held it in, he didn't have time to get angry.
"What happened? You didn't say much on the phone."
"Jinyoung's in trouble. He was being followed by someone and I heard a fight before our call was cut."
"A fight?" Jackson was the first to speak up, "That's not his strongest area."
"Is that the point of this conversation?" Jackson gave a sheepish grin at Jaebum's glare and shrank away at the harshness of the other's tone.
"I will trace Jinyoung's cell phone to see where it was when it was last used." Youngjae was quick to jump off the couch and grab Jaebum’s laptop from his kitchen table. He didn’t even bother to ask for the password as he quickly gained access and started off on his work to track his phone. The minutes seemed to pass by slowly before Youngjae spoke up, “I found it!” Everyone jumped up from the couch and ran over to look at the computer. “The call was cut off in the parking garage of his apartment building.”
“Yugyeom, Jackson, and Mark I need the three of you to quickly head to the scene and see if you can find anything that will be of use to us. Go now.” The three nodded at Jaebum’s orders before they were off and running. “Kunpimook I need you to help Youngjae with anything he needs.”
“Where are you going, chief?”
“I’m going to the office to pick up some files. Call me if you pick up anything new.” Kunpimook nodded at the elder’s words and Jaebum was quick at leaving his home and heading straight to his car while his mind raced. He never mentioned anyone following him and all the times that we’ve been together I never noticed anything strange. He stuck his key in the ignition of his car and sped off towards their office. It can’t be the serial killer, right? This would be the right time for him to pick up on a new victim but he’s always targeted women and the stalking persists for several months according to the reports…
Just as he pulled into the empty parking lot off the station his phone rang and he was quick to pick up his phone when he realized Mark was the one calling him. “Did you find something?” He stepped out of his car and closed the door, making sure to lock it behind him before heading inside.
“We found a single lotus flower.” Jaebum bit back his lip to hold back a curse that was just sitting on the tip of his lips.
“Nothing more than that?” There was a bit of a struggle at the other end of the line and it took all of Jaebum’s willpower to not yell as he entered the building.
“There’s blood!” Jackson spoke this time and Jaebum stopped walking and blinked a few times, “Just a little though, whoever is bleeding it’s a minor injury.”
“You have supplies in your car correct, collect a sample from that blood. There's a small chance that it could belong to the one who took Jinyoung. Then get everyone down to the office well need Kunpimook to test the sample.” Jaebum hung up on the phone and put it in his pocket before sprinting off to the office. Once passed the doors he was quick to run to his desk and pull out every file they’ve collected on their killer. He’s only ever had women as his victims, what made him change his M.O. now? Am I missing something?
It took a half-hour before everyone arrived at the station and Jaebum was in front of the screen pulling up different forms of information. Mark handed over their blood sample to Kunpimook and urged the other to hurry before quickly going up to their chief, “We found his phone under one of the cars in the parking garage and the last call was to you, nothing strange there.”
“Yugyeom, go take the phone and test it for fingerprints.” The youngest nodded and made sure to use gloved hands to grab the phone from the oldest and once he had it in his hands he was off.
“What makes you think you’ll find any fingerprints, he hasn’t left any obvious evidence like that anywhere. Why do you think we’ll find it now?”
“They already made their first mistake,” Jaebum turned from the screen to look at Jackson, “He changed his M.O. so know he’s on unfamiliar ground. He’s been attacking women this whole time but he finally decided to go after a man. All the women that have been his victim have all been slim and well off so they were never ones who would fight back. Even though Jinyoung is more on the slimmer side from what I heard on the other end of the line he definitely put up some sort of fight.”
“So even if we don’t get anything off the phone we’ll probably get a hit off the blood,” Mark said before biting his lips, “He probably assumed Jinyoung would be an easy target.”
“That’s where he made his first mistake.”
-
“I GOT A HIT!” Everyone jumped as Kunpimook’s voice traveled through the station. Jaebum looked down at his watch and noticed that at least four hours had passed. He started to shake his team awake just as one of their youngest team members came running through the door, “I got a hit.” HIs words came out a little breathless but he didn’t wait to catch it as he ran quickly made his way to the monitor and pulled up a file. Everyone blinked at the name that showed up at the screen and Jaebum couldn’t help but to scowl at the familiar face that stared at them.
“Jackson and Mark your with me. The rest of you see if you can dig anything else up and no matter how small it might seem report it to me right away, got it.” They rushed out of the office in a fury of ‘yes sir’.
-
“Is officer Hwan in today?”
“No he called in sick.”
“That's a shame, I'll be back later. You'll call me if he arrives right?" The desk clerk nodded and Jaebum thanked her before turning to leave the station with Jackson and Mark following. They could feel the annoyance seeping off the other, even Jackson knew it wasn't time for one of his stupid jokes. They all pulled back into the car and no one said a word until Jackson couldn't figure out where they were.
"Where are we headed?"
"Were going to pay Officer Hwan's home a little visit. "
“Do you know where he lives?”
“I had to pick Jinyoung up from his place once, it’s still on my phone’s GPS.” They all hopped into the car and Jaebum turned on his GPS and found the location and with that they were speeding off towards their destination. They were halfway there when Mark’s phone rang. “Answer it and put it on speaker.”
“We found something else.” Youngjae’s voice echoed through the car, “Since Jinyoung was the latest victim we went back to look at his previous victims and we realized something. They all seem to share a lot of common facial features with Jinyoung, it was like he was trying to find a woman that looked enough like Jinyoung to substitute for him.” Jaebum stepped on the gas pedal at the new information, he needed to get there fast. Now that Hwan had the object that he’s been trying to get for years he needed to quickly get Jinyoung out of the other man’s grip. There was really no way to tell which way this whole situation was going to go, he wasn’t looking for a substitute anymore now that the killer had the real thing.
They made sure to park in a neighbor's parking space and informed the people of their arrival before approaching Hwan’s home. From what they had found out by pulling up Hwan's profile in the car, he had actually come from a rich family and had inherited everything, including his home, from them once they died. The house was a decent size and all three of them looked at it with a frown. “How are we supposed to find him in there if he’s even here.”
“Just follow my lead.” Jaebum moved in front of the home once he realized no cars were in the lot, Hwan didn’t seem to be home. He reached up and found a spare key sitting over the doorframe and quickly unlocked the door before putting the key back where he found it. All three of them slipped in before Jaebum relocked the door behind him.
“How…?”
“I’ll explain it later Jackson.” He pulled his gun from his holster, “Spread out, I don’t think I need to remind you how time is really important here.” They all followed Jaebum's lead and pulled out their guns before spreading out, moving very carefully through each room. Jaebum moved towards the kitchen noticed a strange smell. It was subtle but he could tell it was there. He scrunched up his nose in distaste but followed the smell anyways, he was determined to follow anything even the slightest bit weird, even if it was just a smell. He arrived in the kitchen and realized that the smell had gotten worse but as he looked around the small space he saw no doorway or anything that could’ve caused such a rancid smell.
He stayed in the kitchen as he looked everywhere, making sure to keep the gun up as he searched. He could tell that the smell was more than rotten food. Just as he moved towards the kitchen island he realized that it moved and as he was about to push it out of the way Jackson came running into the room. “We’ve found Jinyoung.” Jaebum made sure to remember the island before following Jackson upstairs.
When they arrived in, what they could only assume to be, Hwan’s room Jaebum saw Jinyoung being held in Mark’s arms. He was shivering a bit and his wrists were duct taped together but other then some dirt he looked unharmed. “Why are his arms still bound?”
“I don’t want to risk ripping off skin,” Mark told him, “I already had to be careful with the tape that was over his mouth.”
“Are you okay Jinyoung?” The other male nodded his head, “We have to get him out of here.” Mark nodded and carefully scoped the other into his arms and started to make his way out if the room.
"Wait." Mark stopped as Jinyoung turned his head to look at Jaebum, "There's a cellar I saw him take a body out when he thought I was still unconscious. The entrance is in the kitchen."
"I got it, I'll check it out. Mark get him out of here and Jackson call for backup." Both male's nodded and went off to do as they were told, Jaebum made his way back to the kitchen. He didn't hesitate to push the island out of the way and the entrance he discovered was barely enough to fit two people. He pulled out his phone and dialed Jackson's number, but just as he put the phone to his ear the squeaking sound of a shoe on the tile had him quickly turning around.
He managed to fall just before a knife came swinging down at him. His phone fell from his hands at the action and skidded across the floor. Since Jaebum was taken by surprise Hwan took the opportunity to knock the gun out of the other's grip, making Jaebum defenseless. "Oh, I've been found." Hwan wore a giant smile on his face, "Shall we play a game? It's called where's my Jinyoungie."
"He's not yours." He had managed to roll out of the way just before the knife hit the ground. He was quick to roll up on his feet so the playing field evened out a bit. They danced around each other and Jaebum managed to avoid getting anything major, just a few cuts as they fought over control of the knife. He was backing up to avoid an attack when he felt his foot hit something. He looked down to see his gun on the ground. He let out a hiss as he felt himself get cut but he ignored the stinging pain as he dived for his gun. He reacted quickly as he turned and pulled the trigger.
Once the scuffle ended Jaebum could hear Jackson's voice screaming from the phone and he found the device a few feet away. "Stop screaming."
"Jaebum, was that a gunshot?" Jaebum placed his gun on the counter and used his free hand to cover his wound, "You called backup right? Did you call for the EMT as well?"
"What the hell happened?"
"I think the proper question is where the hell did you go?"
"With Mark to take Jinyoung to the hospital."
Jaebum had to take a deep breath to keep himself from screaming, "Only one of you had to go with Jinyoung." There was a long pause on the other side of the line and he let out a sigh, "Just make sure the EMT is sent with backup."
"Yes sir." He pocketed his phone and grabbed his gun once more. He didn't want to be taken by surprise twice in one day.
-
He was alone in the house for at least a half-hour before backup came and he was sitting on the couch when they walked in. He looked up to them and they looked at his bleeding arm. All he did was point in the direction on the kitchen and all of them scattered. "Should we go to the hospital?"
He looked up at the voice and frowned, "Now you're here?"
Jackson gave a sheepish grin and rubbed the back of his neck, "We should take you to get that cut checked out." Jaebum looked down at his injured arm and frowned before standing up and following the other out of the house, "How's Jinyoung?"
"I don't know, I came rushing back after you called me." Jaebum had to take a deep breath as he felt his hand twitch with the urge to smack the other on the back side of his head.
“ You should have at least checked while you were there."
-
Jaebum ended up being suspended right after the incident because internal affairs wanted to investigate the shooting. As though his injuries and the knife found just two feet from officer Hwan with his blood on it was insufficient evidence. He didn't mind it though he ended up just spending time in Jinyoung's hospital room keeping the other company as he recovered from a minor concussion and was being held in order for the doctors to be sure that he wasn't traumatized by the incident.
"I knew I didn't like the guy for a reason." Jinyoung turned to look at Jaebum at the other's words and frown.
"I swear if you say I told you so I'll beat you with my pillow."
He gave the other a smile, "But don't you think this is the perfect opportunity to say-" His words were cut short as Jinyoung grabbed one of his many pillows from his hospital bed and proceeded to beat him with it. Jaebum just laughed at the effort and his laugh only encouraged Jinyoung to hit harder.