Partners In Crime (Ticciwork fanfic) [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 28: What's one more?

"Lulu is a J-walker."

"Jeff stop spouting random facts about Lulu, we don't need to know her dirty secrets." Hoody glanced down the road for cars before they headed across it.

"That isn't a dirty secret, it's actually funny because she does it completely on purpose." Jeff said, glancing behind them like he was looking for followers. It was broad daylight, no one was going to follow a bunch of teenagers walking down the sidewalk, but he did it anyway. "She thinks the laws against J-walking are silly."

"There's a law because it's a safety hazard." Clockwork pointed out.

Jeff looked her dead in the eyes. "Do you honestly think Lulu cares about safety?"

It was hard to meet that bright gaze, especially when it never blinked. Clockwork shrugged. "I guess not."

"That trashcan hasn't always been there." Masky said suddenly.

"Shut up Masky." Hoody said casually.

"It hasn't always been there. Why did they add an extra trashcan, were people littering too much?" Masky continued, ignoring Hoody. "Maybe somebody moved it because there's a body in it." He stopped walking and stared at the inconspicuous green trashcan on the left side of the sidewalk. "What if there's a body in it?"

"This is why I don't go out in public with you." Hoody rolled his eyes. "You never take your mask off, and you're always evaluating everything like it's a crime scene."

"Maybe it is."

Jeff sighed. "Don't stop like that, we're wasting time."

"We have time, Jeff." Clockwork reassured. "We have all day."

"Lulu doesn't." He said coldly.

"Calm down, man," Hoody said, giving Jeff a concerned look. "You're freaking me out."

He looked less intimidating without his mask on, but Clockwork knew of the gun and the butterfly knife he always kept with him, and she knew he always kept the gun off safety.

They stopped an intersection and a greyhound bus zoomed past, startling a few crows that were pecking at a dead squirrel. The bus kind of surprised Clockwork; the city really wasn't big enough for public transportation other than a few yellow school buses. School had started a week ago, right with the first orangey leaves and cool breezes.

School. Clockwork sighed deeply. She would have been a Junior this year.

The walk sign came on and Hoody led the way across. He seemed to know exactly where he was at all times, and she wondered how often he visited the city. Maybe he just had the entire thing memorized; she wouldn't be surprised.

The more she was around the two proxies the more she realized how perfect of a team they were: Hoody always looked at the big picture, only narrowing it down when he needed to. He was exactly the kind of person who would memorize the pattern of the streets and the bus schedules, but he wouldn't care if one of the trashcans weren't where it should be.

Masky, however, payed more attention to detail. He would know how many trees lined each section of sidewalk, of the hole in a wire fence that surrounded a basketball court. He would see a patch of crushed flowers and a new trashcan and somehow come up with an entire murder scene that no one else would have even thought of.

It was because of this that Clockwork was still alive. Otherwise, she would have bled to death in that forest, and everyone would think that Helen had killed her.

Toby would think Helen had killed her, if Meta was right about them disliking each other. But Clockwork wasn't about to trust her.

The third proxy wasn't there, though. Slenderman hadn't wanted him to come. But the fewer people the better, and the only reason Clockwork was coming was because she really wanted to get away from Slenderman.