Astra's OCS - Criminal Case

Lance Archer

But Lance was smart even when drinking; he never hurt Milan when Maaike was home and never left marks on his son that couldn't be hidden. As the years went by, Lance's drinking got worse, and Milan began avoiding his father every chance he got. By the time Milan graduated high school, Lance rarely saw his son; the teen stayed at friends' houses whenever Maaike was gone for work. Despite the rift that had formed between father and son, Lance still supported his son's decision to go to university. However, it was mostly because he was happy to be rid of the annoyance and have peace and quiet in his home.

Lance never forgot the day he and Maaike received a call from the hospital telling them Milan had been attacked. The two had rushed to see their son, and while Maaike comforted Milan through her own tears, Lance plotted how best to sweep this crime under the rug. He called his closest friend in the LAPD, and they created a fake investigation in order to collect and destroy all evidence of Milan's rape. Lance refused to become known as the father of a victim, rape or otherwise and made sure all traces of the crime were gone.

Or at least, he thought he had. Weeks after he had destroyed all evidence of the rape, Milan announced that he was pregnant. Lance couldn't believe that his son wanted to keep the baby and tried to convince Milan to get an abortion. But the young man wouldn't listen and went through with having the baby and creating a happy family with Giselle. Realizing that the child wasn't going anywhere, Lance pretended to play the role of a doting grandfather while secretly loathing Jack's existence. He knows what people said about him and his family because of the child's conception, and he hated the hit his reputation took because of it.

Years passed, and eventually, Lance and Maaike retired and settled into a quieter life. He enjoyed not having to deal with murder cases anymore, but even though he was retired, his work wasn't over. While still a detective, he was one day approached by a woman offering to pay him a high price if he arrested someone for a crime they didn't commit. Lance's lust for greed was stronger than his desire for justice, so he forged evidence and got the "criminal" sent to jail. Following his success, he kept being paid to falsely arrest more and more people from an organization he came to know as SOMBRA.

Lance didn't know much about the organization beyond their plans to rid the world of the weak, but he didn't mind the secrecy. He was being paid handsomely for his services, and by proving himself valuable, he earned himself a ticket to the new world. But following his retirement, he lost his means of proving himself to SOMBRA as he could no longer arrest those who opposed or betrayed the organization. And his SOMBRA contact made sure he knew the danger he was in now that he was on the verge of being deemed a liability.

Fearing for his life, Lance sought new ways to regain his place in SOMBRA. He eventually learned about Angela being caught as the mole inside of the Bureau and saw the opportunity to redeem himself. All he had to do was get Jack to agree to become SOMBRA's new mole, and Lance would be saved! And without even needing to lift a finger, the perfect blackmail material presented itself to him.

A friend of his had come across pictures of Jack in drag and sent them to Lance. Seizing the opportunity, Lance contacted Jack regarding the photos and threatened to send them to his team, family and friends if the agent didn't do as he asked. Jack agreed to meet with Lance to discuss the terms of their agreement, and Lance notified SOMBRA of his impending present for them.

But Lance would never get the chance to blackmail his grandson into betraying the Bureau. He would be killed while waiting for his family at the 360 Restaurant by an explosion originating from his cell phone. He couldn't believe that Maaike found out about him abusing Milan and killed him because of it. But he had to admit that rigging his cell phone to explode was genius... if only she had used her smarts for SOMBRA. Perhaps they could have stayed together in the new world.

Alas, that new world would never become a reality. SOMBRA would be defeated, and Lance would be buried six feet underground. Neither able to hurt anyone ever again.

Story Information

First appeared: Call Me, Kill Me

Trivia

* His quote is the only line he says before being killed

* The title of the case in which he appears as a victim, Call Me, Kill Me, is a reference to the song Call Me, Beep Me!, which is the Kim Possible theme song

* I considered naming him Fletcher because the name means "maker of arrows," and it seemed funny because his last name is Archer. But ultimately I decided to go with Lance to give him two weapon-themed names

* The bruises Maaike and Milan had during Call Me, Kill Me were caused by Lance

* When I first referenced him in "A Team in Mourning," I didn't have much planned for his character. But as I got closer to writing the original case he appears in, he became more and more of an asshole