The Perfect Emma

Chapter Fifty-Six

Grayson Todd

"I didn't do it, man!"

"Says the guy that took off running," Gray retorted, shoving a suspect forward and into the holding cell. "Anybody who runs at the sight of a badge is guilty of something."

The suspect spread his arms as the detective the cell door. "Oh yeah, you right, guilty of bein' black."

Gray rolled his eyes. "Guilty of murder, okay?"

As he and Sabrina walked away, she arched a brow and asked, "You think he's good for it?"

"Don't you?" Gray responded. "Witness ID'ed him, and he ran when all we wanted was to ask a few questions. I'll let the evidence speak for itself, but I'd like to think the DNA'll point at him too."

Sabrina nodded and started to veer off towards the lab. "I'll see what they've got."

Being able to work cases again, cases unrelated to the Ghost Killer murders, was refreshing. Of course, Sabrina had only been a detective for two weeks, so they were relying on Gray's expertise nine times out of ten, but she was learning.

Thankfully, the day had been eventful enough so that he managed to, for the time being, forget about the awkwardness that was last night and this morning. It wasn't on his mind at all as he was driving home either, but he should've expected that to change.

He didn't.

And it did.

"Hey Gray~," came Emma's voice from the kitchen, as Grayson reentered the apartment.

"Hey Em," he responded, simply going about his post-work routine; hanging the blazer, removing the tie, etcetera etcetera. He poked his head into the kitchen to see her starting to make something for Dinner.

She looked at him over her shoulder and smiled softly. "Hey, so, I talked to Simon about a few things...."

"Yeah? Like what?" he asked, assuming she wanted to talk about it if she'd brought it up. Gray stepped in and leaned against the counter to better listen to her.

"Oh y'know." Emma tossed a hand dismissively. "The trial, going back to work, kissing you, those sorts of things."

Grayson nearly choked on his own breath there. And it was at that moment the awkward returned. Because of course she'd talked about that with her therapist. "And how did that go...?"

"Good," she replied with a nod. Then she looked him square in the face and said, "He says that it's a good idea if I'm in control and that you stay on the receiving end until I'm more comfortable with..." Emma gestured at him vaguely. "...all this."

Gray was silent for a moment, mostly getting over his embarrassment of being discussed at length based entirely on what he did with his mouth. "Okay," he finally murmured, nodding. "That makes sense. S'fair." Believe him, the last thing he was going to do was something that might trigger Emma. He'd already fucked that up once.

Never again.

Because it had been scary, not only having been the one to observe it, but the one to have been at fault for it. Grayson had felt like he'd not just betrayed Emma, but himself by betraying Emma.

It hadn't been fun okay.

So he would readily agree to let Emma do all the affection if it meant remaining in her comfort zone and out of her panic zone.

Seeing as he hadn't said anything else, Emma offered, "He did say that you could do things as long as you asked?"

Gray managed to both nod and shake his head at the same time. "I'm not worried about it," he told her with an easy smile. "I should've asked in the first place. I'm perfectly fine with letting you take over if it means keeping you calm and sane. I owe you that much."

Emma gave him a look. "I told you not to beat yourself up over it."

"And I promised you nothing." The two of them laughed, and the awkward was officially dispelled. Huzzah! "So what did he say about the other things?" Gray asked. "The trial, work?"

She shrugged. "He just gave me some advice. Y'know, tell the truth, take all the breaks I need, that sort of thing." The way she said it implied she'd already figured that out for herself. But her expression lightened when she started to talk about teaching instead. "But he did say that I could try subbing once the trial was over."

Gray furrowed his brows slightly. "Substitute teaching?"

"Mm-hm," Emma hummed, nodding. "Y'know. Ease myself back into the classroom environment. See how that goes. Then maybe try having my own class next school year."

He nodded. "Good plan." Gray himself had become familiar with the doctor's "baby steps" method of approaching things, and it had worked for Emma thus far. He had no doubt that it wouldn't still.

....Regarding both work and whatever was between them now.

"So how'd the trial come up?" Gray asked, crossing his arms comfortably. "You nervous?"

Emma shuffled a bit, finishing up what she was doing and putting it in the oven. She looked at Gray then with a definitely worried expression. "Kinda...." she admitted. "I'm just worried that....Y'know, dredging all this up again's gonna...I dunno, set me back. Especially if the lawyers are going to be aggressive about it...."

With a sympathetic expression, Gray opened his arms to her and she walked into them, resting her cheek against his chest. He rubbed her back softly and reassured her, "His lawyer might get aggressive, but ours is on your side. And he's not going to let the defense push you too far. McFee can be an ass both in and out of the courtroom, but he's a damn good attorney, and he always has his witnesses' well-being and rights in the front of his mind. You'll be fine."

She took a deep breath, squeezing his torso. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," he said firmly. "Plus, they have literally nothing. Your physical scars alone are proof of trauma. We have your therapist's confirmation, and video evidence. There's no defending what he did to you."

Emma nodded, but was quiet for a few moments. Then she finally murmured softly, "But what about all the other women? What he did to them?"

That...was a whole different story. Grayson exhaled. "We have video evidence of that too," he said quietly. "But, all but one of them, including you, had their appearances altered. There's a possibility the jury won't take it, because of that, and the fact that it's all we have. You're living proof, but....The other five women aren't with us to testify." It was a hard truth, and one Gray had to face a lot in his career. Dead people can't tell the cops what they saw. Investigating a homicide was never easy when the only witness was the victim. "We'll get him for what he did to you, but I have no idea what kind of jury we'll get, nor what they'll decide about the murders."

"....The tapes...." Emma started. "Will I....Will I have to watch them?"

"No," Gray replied immediately. "McFee's using screen grabs. Only what's important. You'll probably be shown pictures of yourself, and asked if you recall those events. It's possible you'll be asked to identify Aaron in others where the victim isn't you, but I doubt it." He ran his fingers along her spine comfortingly. "I'll probably be looking at it all more than you."

She looked up at him, concern on her face. "Will you be alright? On the stand?"

He chuckled, brushing a lock of hair from her face. "This isn't my first murder trial, Em. I'll be fine."

Emma frowned. "No, but....It's Aaron."

She had a point there. Gray sighed again. "It's not like he's the one questioning me. Worse comes worse, I borrow your dog."

A giggle escaped her. "Okay."

And that was just what everything would be. Okay.