Together,Forever

Chapter Two

Rise and Shine.

"Wakey-Wakey... eggs? And bakey?" Natasha shot you in bed onto hearing her father's voice. She slowly lifted herself out of bed and walked out into the hall. "Are pancakes being made? I think that is the only thing I will leave my cave for." Her father laughed. "Pancakes is one of the many options." Natasha smile while walking downstairs. Upon reaching downstairs, Natasha greeted her father with a 'good morning' and found a seat at the dining table.

"How did you sleep?" Gil asked. Natasha gulped down her coffee and was about to answer, however, a ding from her father's phone paused her in thought. Gil quickly turned to his phone and groaned. "I'm sorry, pumpkin." Natasha was very used to this phrase. Work always kept her father away. They would hardly have time together and she had traveled all this way to see him. "You could come with..." Gil suggested. It wasn't a horrible idea and Natasha would love to. However, after everything that had happened... it would remind her too much or her mother. "I know—" Gil was stopped in thought. "I don't mind. It will be a perfect way for us to hang out. Maybe, just maybe I could get hands-on experience in being a cop." With that, Natasha and Gil finished up their breakfast, got dressed and walked out of the house.

Onto reaching the crime scene, Natasha greeted several officers as she walked down a hill. To not slip, she quickly grabbed a hold of her father. "You always got my back." She commented as she interlocked her arm with her father's. As they walked down a long narrow path, Natasha stopped in her step once seeing the body. "If you can't do this I can have someone bring you back to the car." Gil instantly knew what Natasha was thinking, it was plastered all over her face. "What monster—" Natasha couldn't form words. Her mind was in a haze. All she could see was the poor child whose life was taken so quickly. "Natasha?" She finally turned over to her father. "Are you sure?" She nodded and slowly made her way over to the body. Everyone she met yesterday waved in her direction, Natasha gave them a small smile.

"Jason Smith, age 10." Malcolm informed Gil. "Cause of death?" Gil inquires. Edrisa was quick to answer. "Stabbed in the heart..." Natasha's heart dropped. She couldn't imagine someone could have the courage to do that to a child. "About 100 times." Edrisa was about to move the child's shirt to show something she had found, however, from Natasha's gagging noises, Edrisa stopped. "Oh good lord." Natasha breathed out. She tried to remove the image from her mind and made her way over to the row of police cars. Malcolm watched Natasha make her way to Gil's car safely and returned his attention back to Edrisa.

After a couple of minutes, Malcolm walked over to Gil's car. Natasha looked up from the ground once noticed a presence near. "That was embarrassing." Malcolm chuckled. "It's like that for most. I mean, when one gets into this type of job. Nobody is ever perfectly fine with seeing a body. It's even worse when it's a kid. I just wanted to make sure you're okay." Natasha nodded, with a small smile. "I could take you back to the station." He offered, but that suggestion was shut down once Gil arrived. "I guess not." Natasha swings the door open and had a seat. Soon enough, Gil drove off.

"You trying to get with Natasha?" JT teased. Malcolm instantly blushed. "Aww, that would be cute." Dani teasingly stated. "I'm not trying anything. I was just being nice." Malcolm attempted to defend himself, but it didn't go as plan. "Sure...." JT laughed. Dani motioned for Malcolm to get into the car. "Thanks." He smiled at Dani and glared at JT.

"Who do you think did it?" Natasha inquired. By now, Malcolm and Gil had interviewed several suspects and even visited the family. "I have no clue. The family is split and the mother has a boyfriend. The boyfriend never liked the little boy, but it just feels too obvious." Malcolm explained as he stared at the evidence board. "Who do you think did it?" Malcolm turned to Natasha. It was very silly but he wanted to know where her mind was at. Natasha stared at the evidence board. "It was the brother." She flatly stated.

"How did you know?" Everyone at the station stood outside the family's house. Malcolm wrapped the shock blanket tightly around himself. He was intrigued to know as well. "You all thought it could be the boyfriend. But when Malcolm and my father were informing the family. I went to the backyard and saw the little brother. He wasn't upset or even wanted to be with the family at this devastating time. When his mother called him inside, I roamed around a bit until I tripped over something. There was a very unnatural bump in the ground. I quickly dug it up to see it was a knife. Without either one of you knowing, I took it to Edrisa. She tested it for fingerprints and it matched with Jason's brother." Natasha flatly stated, as if it was obvious. Everyone stared at her with pride, mostly Gil.

"Well, you can make such a good cop/detective, or even profiler." Malcolm complimented Natasha. The ambulance checked over a couple of bruises he received while being with Jason's brother. "I wouldn't call myself the hero. You were the one who talked Jason's brother out of it." Malcolm smiled brightly as he placed his shirt back on. "I think I had a little in common with him." Natasha looked lost. How exactly could he relate to that boy? She wanted to know more and wasn't shy in asking. "What do you mean by that?" Natasha could sense the uncomfortable tension flying off of Malcolm. Luckily, Dani got into the conversation before it got too personal.

"Anyone for drinks?" Dani questioned the two. Without hesitation, Malcolm and Natasha agreed.