Broken

Silent Night

I was in and out of sleep laying on Malcolm's couch before his sister's TV special on their father started. It'd been a rough month since taking over the FBI office and continuing my work with Malcolm and the NYPD. He sat on the edge of the couch in front of me watching intently but I wasn't paying much attention. I knew who his father was. Not a fan.
Suddenly, glass shattered. I opened my eyes to see a black stiletto in the television screen.
"Hello Jessica." I called over the couch.
"Mother. My TV." Malcolm sighed.
"I thought we agreed to avoid watching this garbage." She asked him as he stood up to remove the shoe from the TV.
"No, you agreed. I thought it best not to argue. Is this your plan? To foil Ainsley's ratings by destroying every television in America?" He asked handing her the shoe.
"God knows you have enough shoes."
"I don't know why you torture yourself. I thought you were newly devoted to being "normal." She asked him.
"Yeah, well, that didn't really work out." He sighed looking at me, obviously thinking about Eve's profile and my run in with Bryce afterwards.
"Why didn't you tell me? The girl in the box. The memories. You have proof. They're all real." She exclaimed as I pulled my legs up towards my chest and sitting up.
"How did you..?" He looked back at me and I shook my head.
"Gil." He sighed.
"We told you they weren't real for years. Of course you're not normal. How could you be?"
"It's not your fault. Or Gil's. Martin Whitly did this to me. He manipulated me, he drugged me."
I could feel Malcolm's anxiety rising.
"Drugged you?" She asked looking between us.
"He used chloroform. To confuse me. To help me forget." He explained.
Jessica sat down heavily.
"I thought he loved you. That at least he took care of you, and your sister. I'm sorry." She told him looking back up at him.
"Thank you. But you don't have to say that." He sat down between us facing her.
"I really do. And I have to clear the air before tomorrow night... Christmas, dear." She explained to his obviously confused face.
"It's an annual holiday? Maybe you've noticed the decorations and that handsy Santa outside Gristedes?"
"I'm not feeling very festive." He sighed looking at Martin Whitly's face frozen in a scream on his screen.
"Your father has taken so much from us. Don't let him take this." She appealed to him.
"Okay, mom. Okay." He conceded.
"You'll be there, Lily?" She asked me.
"Of course." I smiled at her.
"Hey. Maybe we should stay at my place tonight?" I suggested after Jessica left.
"Why?" He asked me absently.
"Maybe being near the tree we put up a couple weeks ago will help your Christmas spirit."
"That was before this." He sighed gesturing to the TV.
"So, your mom broke the TV. I have a TV. We can fix this." I smiled playfully at him.
He cracked a small smile.
"Malcolm, baby, you knew this was coming. We were there when she did the interview. It was only a matter of time before it aired."
"Yeah, but on Christmas eve? She couldn't wait two more days?" He sighed.
"It is in poor taste, I'll admit, but you can't let that ruin your holiday, babe." I answered reaching for him.
"Yeah. Let's go to your place." He smiled at me as I wrapped my arms around him
"It's like walking into a winter wonderland." Malcolm mused playfully as we walked into the loft.
"It is, isn't it?" I smiled leaning back into him.
"You were right. It's hard to not feel festive here." He pressed his lips to the skin behind my ear.
I sighed and pushed back against him. His arms wrapped around my waist.
"Have we ever made love to Christmas music?" He whispered in my ear.
I giggled and turned in his arms.
"There's a first time for everything." I whispered before kissing him.
I felt him pick me up and he sat down on the couch. I pulled back and pulled my shirt over my head before taking his face in my hands kissing him again. I moved my hips grinding against him. He moaned into my mouth unclasping my bra. He sat up with me still on top of him so we could take off his shirt.
I sighed as he moved his lips to my neck and his fingertips kneaded into the small of my back. It seemed effortless for him to move and lay me on the carpet in front of our Christmas tree. He dragged his fingertips across my chest and down towards my waist following them with his lips. I moaned tossing my head back as he kissed across my stomach, pulling my sweats down off my hips.
I felt the weight of him press down into me. I pushed against his shoulder so I could climb on top of him. I rocked my hips against him as he kissed on my neck again.
I woke up and we were still on the floor in front of the tree. My head rested against his bare chest. I shivered as I became aware of the air on my bare skin. I got up and grabbed a throw blanket off the couch and snuggled back against him.
"That's better." He muttered pulling me closer.
I heard his phone ringing in his pocket near us.
"Malcolm. It's Christmas." I sighed.
"Murder doesn't take a holiday." He smiled sadly at me.
"Sorry to call you in on Christmas." Gil told us as we walked into the high end hotel.
"It's okay. We were in the neighborhood caroling." He teased causing me to smack at him.
I'd much rather have been having sex at home.
"No sign of ESU or CSU?" He asked dodging another one of my playful hits.
"They're already upstairs. We're keeping this quiet." Gil explained.
"Oh, yeah? Keeping secrets doesn't seem to be your strong suit." He jabbed at him.
Gil looked at me confused.
"My mother dropped by last night." Malcolm explained.
"She was gonna find out soon enough. Better it came from one of us."
"Are there any updates in the Paul Lazar case I need to know about?" Malcolm asked looking between us.
"I don't have any answers. Neither does the FBI. Their task force is moving into the precinct." Gil answered.
"Oh, they'll want to question me."
"They very much do not want to question you. The special agent in charge is Colette..."
"Swanson. I know. We worked together in D. C. She hates me."
"Oh, yeah. Said to keep you out of her way." Gil sighed.
"That all she said?"
"There were other words, but why ruin your holidays? Come on. I got something that'll cheer you up."
"Merry Christmas." Malcolm smiled at JT who glared and nodded at him.
"Happy Hanukkah?" He adjusted earning him another swing from me and I noticed JT fighting a smile.
"Hallway's secure. Hotel's keeping things under wraps. And I should be home eating my wife's kringle right now. It's a pastry." JT explained angrily to Malcolm's questioning expression.
"Hey. Did you watch your sister's interview last night?" Dani asked as we walked towards the room.
"U-Uh, my TV's on the fritz, so..."
"He means his mom threw a shoe into it." I added causing Dani to look at me.
"Why are we keeping this under wraps?" Malcolm asked changing the subject and glaring playfully at me.
"The victim is high-profile. This one's close to home. He's a cop. Ian Turner, chief of detectives. Room's under his name." Gil said solemnly.
"You knew him?" Malcolm asked.
"He was a three-star. Everybody did. Turner worked his way up the ranks. 42 years of service. And he had a rep. Squeaky clean." Dani added.
"So squeaky clean, he fought it out with a few dirtier cops on his way up. Some people got no patience for doing things by the book." JT said pointedly.
"Mm, this is no "by the book" exit. Who's the woman?" Malcolm asked.
"Emily Hayes, 26. She had a misdemeanor for prostitution. We're thinking murder, suicide." Dani said.
"Yeah. I'm not seeing that. No defensive wounds. And why would Chief Squeaky-Clean wear his badge to meet with a sex worker? I take it Turner had no history of abuse or violence. Why now?" Malcolm asked.
I wandered around the room with my hands in my pockets.
"Turner obviously had a secret. He was seeing a sex worker. Maybe Emily threatened to turn him in. He shoots her, takes his own life. Out of guilt." Dani suggested.
"Are you finished with the murder weapon? The suicide you're describing is the result of deep shame. Turner killed a woman in cold blood and violated everything he ever stood for. He would have looked at her, there on the bed. Adrenaline fading, guilt building. Must have felt this growing weight on his chest. Like a burden he couldn't lift. This was his only escape. Suicide. But something's not quite right." Malcolm explained holding the gun in his hand.
"Looks that way." Gil sighed looking at me.
"He wouldn't have been looking at the victim. He would've turned away. Out of shame." He raised the gun to his head.
"Malcolm." I sighed.
"Whoa. Hey. Bright! Put the gun down now." Gil exclaimed.
"It's not oh. Wait, it is. Ooh. Sorry." He cringed looking at the gun before putting it down.
"Do you have any idea how stupid that was?" Gil asked.
It was not the first time nor would it be the last Gil asked Malcolm that question.
"Turner didn't kill himself. There was a third person. Both victims were dressed, so Emily had just arrived. Perhaps Turner used the dead bolt on the door to hold it open so Emily could get in. The killer wouldn't need a key to get in - if he acted fast. He came in, hit Turner, took his gun and shot Emily. This wasn't a murder-suicide. It was a double homicide." He looked at me with a smile.
"Prove it." Gil challenged.
I sighed and shook my head.
"What? This'll be fun." Malcolm told me as we left the room.
"More fun than the sex we could be having right now? We were off today." I complained.
"Help me then. Help me find the guy who killed Chief Turner and Emily Hayes. I'll take tomorrow off." He promised.
"Fine. What do you need from me?" I asked him.
I sat at one of the desks in the NYPD office while Malcolm worked with Gil and the others in the conference room.
"You know, I love working for you, Lily." Ashlyn sighed.
"If you'd come up here every once in awhile we could hang out like we used to. I call you every week like I told you I would. I opened my call with Merry Christmas." I told her.
"I know. I really do love working for you. I'll deep dive Turner's files and call you back when I have something."
"Thank you, Ash." I smiled.
I glanced up and watched Colette walk into the conference room the team was working in.
"Girl, I have to go." I sighed.
"Let me know how it goes with Swanson." She giggled.
"Let's set up in here. Good morning, Lieutenant Arroyo. Thank you for this accommodation." Colette said with a smile walking into the room they were in.
"Anything for the FBI, though I'm not sure I had a choice." Gil sighed glancing at me as I walked in behind them.
"Special Agent. No, wait. That's not right. What the hell do they call you around here?" She said looking at Malcolm.
"Hello, Colette. "Bright" usually works." He offered a strained smile.
"Ah. Not for me. My task force has taken over the Paul Lazar case. The Junkyard Killer..."
"Colette." I said cautioning her.
She glanced at me.
"I know. We've been looking into his past. Paul's motives are based on a deep self-hatred. He was likely raised by a single mother who..." Malcolm started.
"Wow. Less than 30 seconds to get to the bad mom. That must be a new record."
"I was just..."
"Blaming a woman for a man's misdeeds? Yeah, I caught that, too."
"I was simply pointing out that serial killers aren't just born, they're also made."
"And sometimes they're just born. Why don't you leave your mommy issues at home? This case needs a new perspective. I need bodies, so who can you spare?"
"Colette. That's enough." I said again causing her to glare at me.
"I can't really spare anyone. My team's working a homicide." Gil told her.
"It's Powell, right?" She looked at Dani.
"Uh, how do you two know each other?" Dani asked Malcolm.
"Colette's a profiler. We worked together in D. C." He answered her.
"Barely. I read your file. I was really impressed. I need someone to walk me through what you have." Colette ignored my glare.
"Is that something you think you can do? Your commissioner promised me the resources I need." She looked at Gil who looked at me.
Reluctantly I nodded.
"Colette. Paul Lazar called me. I have a personal connection..."
"With a serial killer, yes. That's the best reason yet not to use you." She growled at him.
"Take Dani. For 24 hours." Gil conceded.
"You're with me." He looked at Malcolm.
"Merry Christmas." Colette smiled at him as she shut the door.
"There has to be something we can do." Malcolm complained as he carried more files into the small cubicle.
"I'll deal with her soon enough. I still have to try and get my brother to talk to me. It is Christmas." I sighed.
"He's still angry?" He asked.
"Yeah. I'm ruining his life." I sighed.
"Lily. You know that's not true, baby." He sighed laying his hands on my shoulders.
"Yeah." I shook my head.
"I just... I don't understand. Someone threatened his life and I'm still the bad guy."
"Why don't you go up to the college and talk to him face to face? I can handle things here for a few hours." He assured me kissing my forehead.
"Thank you, baby. Please try to be safe. I'll be back as soon as I can." I smiled at him.
"I love you, Lily." He smiled at me.
"I love you too. I'll see you later."
I kissed him gently and started to walk out, but a horrible anxious feeling washed over me.
"Malcolm." I called his name walking back to him.
"What's wrong?" He asked looking up from the file he'd opened.
"I just need another kiss." I smiled at him.
"I'm always available for that." He smiled back at me.
"I mean it though. Be safe."
"Of course. I love you." He kissed me.
"I love you so much." I kissed him again.
I pulled up outside Evan's dorm room an hour later. I sighed my hand shaking slightly. I took a deep breath and got out of my car and walked up to the door.
"Do you know Evan?" A male voice asked me before I could knock on the door.
"Yes. Do you?" I asked turning around to see a roughly eighteen year old boy black hair and green eyes.
He nodded looking a bit afraid.
"I'm his sister." I told him.
"He missed his classes last week. No one's seen him since last Sunday." He told me.
"Has anyone knocked on the door?" I asked.
He nodded again.
"I'm going to open the door. Can you stand back there over by my car until I come back out?" I asked.
"Okay." He said softly.
I pulled out my keys again and unlocked the door with my hand on my pistol. I pushed into the room. It was messy but I didn't see any obvious signs of a struggle.
I sighed walking back out of the room.
"It doesn't look like anything happened in there. I work in law enforcement so I'll find him. Don't worry, okay? What's your name?" I asked gently.
"Tyler Larson." He told me.
"If you hear from him, can you call me?" I asked handing him my business card.
He nodded.
"Thank you."
I watched him run off toward the college before getting back into my car to return to the city.
"Evan. I get that you're upset with me but it's Christmas and I'm worried about you. Please just call me back. I love you." I left a message on his voicemail before walking back into the precinct.
"Do you trust Malcolm Bright, Detective Powell?" Colette asked Dani as I walked passed the door causing me to pause.
"He has some weird habits, he's unconventional, but yes, I trust him." Dani answered.
"Hmm."
"Why?" She asked.
"Because I don't. I don't think Malcolm has divulged the full extent of his relationship with our Junkyard Killer." Colette told her.
"You don't need my help. You just want eyes on Bright. He would never let his personal interests get in the way of a case." Dani responded.
"And can you say the same?"
"Can you? Because I'm sensing that you came here to bury Bright. We're all on the same side, right?" Dani shot at her.
"This is footage of the incident inside the transit tunnel. An old CCTV camera. Bright wrote in his report that there were no words exchanged between him and Paul Lazar. But they were together for two minutes and 28 seconds. Now, there's no audio, but it sure as hell looks like they're talking to me." Colette continued.
"There's, um there's got to be an explanation." Dani said.
"You're loyal, Detective. But don't let that blind you. Bright wasn't kicked out of the FBI for one incident. It was a pattern of being unconventional. Malcolm Bright is destructive. Don't let a man like that ruin your career." Colette said as I finally opened the door.
"Colette. Give me a minute with Dani." I said firmly.
"She's..."
"That wasn't a request." I shot at her.
She glared at me wordlessly as she left the room.
"I couldn't help but overhear that conversation." I said sitting next to Dani.
"Did you know that? That they talked in the tunnel?" She asked me.
I nodded.
"Gil and I decided that it was best not to include it in the report. It was strategic." I answered.
"He's not involved in this?" She asked me.
"No. Of course not." I assured her.
"Okay. I just needed you to say that. I trust you and I trust him." She told me.
"Good. We trust you too." I smiled at her.
"Have you seen Malcolm?" I asked her.
"A little less than an hour ago. He said he was late for his family's Christmas dinner."
"Dammit. I completely forgot. If he was late an hour ago I'm really late now." I sighed.
I glanced down at my ringing phone.
"His mom." I told her.
"Hello, Jessica." I answered.
"Is Malcolm with you?" She asked me.
"No? I just got back from trying to visit Evan. I was told he left the station to go to dinner."
"He's not here." She told me.
"Okay. I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding. I'll find him." I sighed.
"Tell him I'm very upset he missed dinner."
"I will."
I hung up the phone.
"I haven't found anything in the files yet." Ashlyn answered the phone.
"New favor." I sighed.
"Can you hack into the camera outside the police station from about an hour ago and find when Malcolm left?"
"You're stalking your own boyfriend?" She teased.
"Dani said that he left about an hour ago to go to his mom's Christmas dinner but she just called and said he didn't show up."
"Okay. I'll find when he got off course." She assured me.
"Give me a second."
"He didn't make it to him mom's?" Dani asked.
I shook my head.
"I found it." Ashlyn said finally.
"I'm sending the video to your phone now. There's audio."
I pulled the video up while Dani watched over my shoulder.
On the video Malcolm is walking along the sidewalk holding a box of pastries when a tall man with grey hair walked up behind him.
"Hey. Malcolm Whitly. I always knew that you were a liar. And I didn't recognize you till I saw your hand. You can change your name, but you can't change who you are."
"I'm not my father." Malcolm responded clearly uncomfortable.
"Are you trying to convince me or trying to convince yourself? 'Cause if you're trying to convince me, save your breath! 'Cause I was right. There was someone else."
"I know why you're angry. You dedicated your life to The Surgeon's case. You were right. I did know something. My father took me on a camping trip with The Junkyard Killer. All I have are-are fragments of a memory. Only The Surgeon and Paul Lazar know what happened, but my father is in solitary, and when I tried to find Paul, the FBI kicked me off the case for being too..." Malcolm ranted on the screen
"Obsessed? Unhinged? Making it personal?"
"Yes." He nodded.
"I kind of know the feeling. Where are you in the Turner case?"
"We think the killer has something to do with one of his old cases, but we haven't found anything yet." Malcolm visibly sighed.
"Turner had a-a place where he kept everything that he didn't want to release to the official case files. I can take you there. Come on."
Malcolm looked conflicted but ultimately followed him to a vehicle.
"Dammit, Malcolm." I muttered.
"Colette. Colette? The Junkyard Killer murdered Turner and Emily. Bright has a lead on him." Gil said walking into the common room at the same time Dani and I did.
"What? Your boy's been working my case this entire time even though I explicitly told him not to? Where is he? Where is Bright right now?" She asked looking at me.
"We don't know." Gil sighed.
"Ashlyn. Can you ping, Malcolm's phone." I asked suiting up in an FBI bulletproof vest.
"Malcolm's phone is pinging at an address belonging to a Matilda Watkins." Ashlyn told me almost immediately sensing my anxiety.
"Give me the address. We're leaving now."
"Bright still isn't picking up." Dani said as she rode shotgun in my car.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Gil said over the coms.
I did too but I couldn't say it out loud.
We pulled up outside the small house lights flashing and sirens blaring.
A small woman walked out of the house holding a shotgun. I watched her cautiously standing behind my vehicle with Dani. She didn't speak, just stood there holding the gun.
"She's blind." I whispered to her.
"Cover us." I glanced over at Gil who nodded.
Dani followed me as we silently made our way around the back of the house.
"Don't make a sound." I mouthed at her.
I opened the back door as silently as I could, luckily the sirens were still blaring.
Lying on the floor in the dining room was the body of Owen Shannon. The man I'd seen in the video with Malcolm. His throat had been cut. I checked his pulse and found none but his skin was still warm.
I glanced up at Dani and shook my head indicating he was dead.
Dani followed me to the front door. I placed my gun against the woman's head.
"FBI. Put down the shotgun." I said steadily and firmly.
Instantly she laid the gun down and Dani handcuffed her.
I searched the house before making my way out to the shed behind the house.
"Gil!" I called his name anxiously.
On the cement floor of the shed was a smear of what looked like blood. Malcolm's phone was lying roughly fifteen feet to the left of the possible bloodstain and a gun laid underneath a table across the room.
"Lily." Gil said my name coming into the shed.
"It looks like blood." I looked up at him.
I couldn't breathe. Where was Malcolm?
"If it is blood it's not much. He's alive, Lily." He tried to assure me.
"We don't know that."
"Lily. Look at me. If he took him, he's alive. He hasn't been toying with him this long to just kill him."
"We need to find him, Gil."
"We will. We'll find him." He pulled me against his chest.
It didn't take long before CSU and ESU were swarming around the property.
I sighed as my phone rang.
"Ashlyn?" I answered the phone harshly.
I didn't have time for this.
"Lily. I don't know how to tell you this but I want you to hear it from me. They found the bodies of Evan and Howard Rowland in the woods south of NYU an hour ago."
I felt like someone knocked the breath out of me. Malcolm's missing and now Evan's dead.
"There's something else."
"I'm not sure I can handle anything else."
"The lead agent on your stalker case is Colette Swanson. She's submitted reports expressing a possible link between the two serial murders."
"She thinks the Junkyard Killer is the one who killed my parents, my brother, and now he has Malcolm?" I sighed angrily.
"I'm so sorry, Lily."
"Thank you, Ashlyn."
I walked up to where Gil, Colette and JT were standing and sucker punched her square in the jaw. The corner of the ring Malcolm bought me sliced into her cheek, her blood staining the back of my hand.
"If something happens to him and I find out you withheld information from me out of some jealousy twisted ego trip I will end your fucking career. Don't you dare forget who I am." I said steadily as she held her bleeding face.