fearless/ [L.S]

25

it all crumbles into a shit show when Louis receives a call informing him that human remains had been found a few days later.

he tries not to panic but fails at the thought of greeting another pale, lifeless corpse that will cause him nothing but a lifetime of nightmares. anyone outside of his little bubble would presume he had just gotten used to it after seeing after detecting around two corpses, but his body still heats up with nerves at the mention of a freshly, brutally murdered corpse.

he tried calling harry for a sense of comfort but he never received a response so instead he thumbed a text off to him informing him with the situation he's stuck in right now. in the mean time he pockets his phone and halts his car at a dim corner just as the sound of cameras clicking and detectives talking enters his ear.

he spots Anthony first, crouched down by possibly the human remains with gloves on his hands as he inspects it. he rushes through the thin crowd of detectives and investigators with a few 'sorry's' mumbling out of his mouth thought he barely feels anything apart from a nervous war roaming in his chest.

he places his hand on Anthony's shoulder and Anthony flinches, looking up at him "Jesus Christ, Lou"

"wha-" louis' interrupted by Anthony gently guiding him away from the crime scene with a grim expression coating his face. he takes them somewhere distant from the hectic crowd forming over the unviewed human remains "what are you doing?"

"looks a bit.... disturbing there kid, are you sure you're ready? you haven't seen a crime scene for a while" Anthony says, his eyes soft. he looks more aged than he normally is. his brown hair has been decorated with many white hairs. his face is slightly more dim, cheekbones making a sharp appearance.

this fucking case is messing with everybody.

Louis shrugs "nothing I haven't seen before" he tries to move past him but Anthony grabs him by the wrist.

"it might be a bit too much for you. you no longer have–" he cuts himself off. the silence intensifies and Louis shakes his head in denial.

"no longer what? have harry by my side? I'm not going to go off crying because I saw a bit of human remains, sheriff."

Anthony reluctantly let's go of his wrist "just–. just please talk to me if you need any help"

Louis gives him a timid smile and rushes towards the crowd again, asking for a pair of gloves for further inspection. when he reaches the warned area, he curses under his breath.

it's an arm.

a shiver licks up louis' spine and he wonders if he should have considered Anthony's advice. he no longer has harry and his lasting support that steadies louis' racing mind. he pokes at the arm. looks fresh.

"Jesus fuck" Louis mumbles under his breath. the dismembered arm has telling him lipstick smudges on it. he turns around to the rest of his kind "identify it, then send me the paper work"

they all mumble their agreements but louis' already rushing to the car, wishing a certain person's shoulder was bumping into his own.

                        ***

the first thing Louis notices when he walks to the office is that Joseph has new boots.

it isn't because he's so in sync with what he's wearing on his feet but it's because they're shining under the fluorescent lights of his office. they're black and they look like they have been scrubbed clean at least twice before he has taken off to work.

"oh hey" Joseph utters when he notices louis' presence. he's hunched over his desk with the file splayed out though his eyes never try to take a chance and focus on actually reading the lines. "how was the scene?"

Louis stays silent for a while, eyes still burning into Josephs boots before they steer back to his face "g-good yeah. everything went fine"

"did they identify the arm?"

Louis' entire body tenses with a shiver at the breathy tone of Joseph's voice. he wasn't at the crime scene. Joseph is looking at him through unreadable eyes, but as Louis stares enough, he can see....smugness awoken behind his brown eyes.

he refuses to stutter. he inhales through his nostrils "not yet, no."

"they sent me the files. it was too gruesome for such an early hour so I couldn't really keep up" his voice shifts back to his normal tone, eyes smiley and face soft.

Louis smiles through the nerves blazing In his body. his heart is thumping in his ears, defeating any other sentence that tries to penetrate his mind. he rushes to his desk and takes his phone out, hands roaming over the familiar contact.

he still hadn't gotten a reply.

he knows harry isn't on a vacation, but instead he's actually working. but he can not blame his heart for fluttering with discomfort when it doesn't hear from harry for a long period of time.

he texts him anyways.

LT : H, I think I have a suspect.

A/N : I hate this chapter