Pitch Perfect One-Shots

Chapter CLXXVII - Bechloe: Why Do You Care?

"You were with Beca again, weren't you?"

Chloe looks into green eyes and sighs.

"Chloe, she's trouble."

"She's angry," Chloe corrects. "If she wasn't angry, she wouldn't be trouble at all."

"Yes, but that's not the case. What were you doing with her?"

"You make it sound so skeevy and improper."

"You constantly keep tabs on an eighteen-year-old girl as if you were her mother so, yes, it is improper."

"It's my job to keep crime off the streets and that includes defacing city property."

"Yes, and how is that going by the way? I noticed that little gang of hers is taking the phrase, "painting the town red" too seriously."

"Why do you always pick on them? There IS another gang in this city, you know?"

"Yes, between their tags and Beca's, the city looks like it's always celebrating Christmas. The red and the green don't suit."

"Really? That's what you're worried about? The contrasting colours?"

"They're actually complementary colours."

"They're the same thing."

Aubrey frowns. "Are they?"

"Oh my God, Aubrey, enough! Beca needs help and she needs someone to watch over her! I'm trying my best to manage her but you constantly picking on her isn't helping!"

"Chloe, you're getting too close to her!"

"She has nobody, Aubrey! Yes, she has those other kids and her uncle but she doesn't have a proper role model, or did you forget that her parents died when she was just a kid?"

"Those other kids are not kids anymore. They're eighteen and they're adults. And Luke has done Beca no favours by letting her run loose like she is. You're not supplying her with spray paint anymore."

"Aubrey!"

"No, Chloe! She's only going to keep doing what she wants and nobody is going to convince her otherwise. Not even Luke, or should I say, the next Al Capone."

"He's not perfect, nobody is, but he's been a father figure to Beca ever since her parents died."

"He owns one of the most notorious nightclubs in the city!"

"And he's used his money to put Beca through school and look after her! And he doesn't do that drug stuff anymore!"

"Chloe, enough!" Aubrey snaps. "Beca is trouble and you're getting too close to her! I see how you interact with her and how soft you are on her. Your feelings are clouding your judgment and I wish this is the first time I'm telling you this but it's not and that worries me."

Chloe pauses. She hates it when Aubrey's right.

"Chloe, need I remind you that you are a Detective and she is TROUBLE who will probably end up in prison sooner rather than later. It's only a matter of time before she takes on Luke's shady business and ends up in the Big House, especially with that temper of hers. She's got multiple assault charges. It really is only a matter of time."

"Don't speak that over her," Chloe orders, her eyes hardening. "Everyone has the ability to turn their lives around, even the worst of people. I didn't become a Detective to throw people in prison and hammer down on them until they break. I became one so I can help people. Being in any kind of law enforcement position isn't about locking away the bad people and barking orders. We have a duty to protect those who can't protect themselves and make the city a better place, even if it is helping a young, angry, lost girl to see that she has someone that cares about her and to help her turn her life the right side up and maybe, just maybe, she could pay it forward to those just like her."