MARIAH WAS ALWAYS cool and calm on cases, not one to let her nerves get the best of her, and this time was no exception. Even when there were stress, anger, and anticipation pounding at her chest and head, her steps didn't falter and her breathing didn't quiver. She could partly thank the company — while she usually worked best alone, or with Kai, she was now teamed up with Chloe and Izzy, the three of them traveling down one of the streets in the neighborhood, while Maze and Dan, and Benji and Lucifer were roaming the other parts. With almost the whole team on the search for her nemesis, she could have faith that they'd manage to take him down together.
"That's pretty badass", Mariah noted while gesturing at the knife in Izzy's grasp, confidence in her grip even if she made sure to politely hide the weapon every time they knocked on a new door to inquire if anyone had seen Edwards around. In response to the rare praise received from the woman, Izzy flashed a grin and smugly twirled the knife around her finger.
"It's Maze's. We make a good crime-fighting duo but when we don't work together... I was fortunate enough to get one of her blades", the Holt elaborated, evidently proud of her relationship with Maze — and Mariah couldn't blame her. She was iffy to trust the apparent demon, but she did believe Izzy to be a good person, so how bad could her girlfriend really be?
They approached the next two houses in silence, bouncing back and forth the quaint, cozy street. So far, no one seemed to be aware of a wanted criminal in their midst, but Mariah was trying to take a page out of Kai's book and stay optimistic. With that same thought, she glanced over to Chloe with a reluctantly apologetic look, fully aware of how much she meant to the Nolan, and how harsh Mariah had been on her since the beginning. Maybe justifiably so, but there was no evidence that she was as mean as Mariah had expected, and therefore, the urge to extend an olive branch was far too great for her to resist.
"Hey, about what I said back at the precinct—", Mariah began, but already sensing what was to come, Chloe turned to her with a careful smile.
"I get it. You were just looking out for Kai", the Decker promised, a brief touch on Mariah's arm as she nodded, "I'm glad he has a friend like you."
Chuckling quietly enough for it to nearly drown in the tweeting of birds around them, Mariah glanced at her boots before giving Chloe a weak smile. "You're great for him too, you know. If he's forgiven you... then that's all that matters", the Rose assured, and after exchanging one more smile, they were walking up the driveway to another house.
"Amazing. I'm so lucky to witness this", Izzy piped up from behind them, her grin evident as she peeked over their shoulders with a proud hand on her heart. It made it difficult not to laugh, but as Mariah knocked on the door, they made sure to suppress the amusement.
When the door was gently opened by an elderly gentleman, Mariah made sure to greet him with a soft nod. "Afternoon, sir. We're with the LAPD, we're looking for this man", she cleared her throat before displaying the same photograph she had for the past thirty minutes — an unfairly flattering shot of the man that made her guts churn every time. Just looking at her made her sick, but she still remained stoic with the old man who leaned over to inspect the photo.
"I'm afraid I haven't, but you could ask my wife", he offered with a gesture into the house, and already leaping into action, Chloe weaved past Mariah to step past the threshold with a polite smile at the man.
"I got this", she promised Mariah, "you should move so he doesn't slip from us."
With an appreciative sigh, the Rose nodded at the Decker who disappeared into the house, leaving Mariah alone with Izzy. The latter of the two suddenly grasped her arm with such vigor, the detective nearly yelped out in surprise, only to fall into silence when Izzy was gesturing towards one of the cars on the side of the street.
"It's him!" she cried out, and turning so fast she was on the verge of whiplash, Mariah unholstered her gun just as her eyes locked with Edwards across the polished concrete. The man didn't seem to notice her first, but when he looked up upon exiting his car, he spotted the two women staring right at him, only to slink back into the driver's seat.
"I'll shoot out the tires", Mariah instructed before slapping Izzy on the back, and acting on instinct, the Holt broke into a rushed sprint towards the sleek Mercedes he was trying to start for his exit's sake. Dodging Izzy's long legs perfectly, Mariah fired a round of bullets into the car, deflating one, then two tires successfully.
Before Edwards could hope to back the shot car away from them, Izzy was reaching the front door and roughly yanking it open, only for the man to retaliate by kicking her in the knee. Satisfied with his failed escape, Mariah holstered her gun enough to run over to where Izzy was now fighting the man, her knife tossed onto the ground as she pushed herself back up to both feet only to punch Edwards in the jaw.
Just as Mariah reached them, Edwards swung the door wide open, the shiny paint nearly leaving a mark on Izzy's face as it collided with her and knocked her out on the ground. Before the man could run away though, Mariah was grabbing the collar of his expensive shirt and holding onto him for dear life, no intentions to let him slip from her fingertips for a second time.
"I've been looking for you", she spat, earning a laugh from Edwards who pulled his head back only to slam his face straight into hers.
As the woman staggered backwards with a bleeding nose, Edwards rolled up his sleeves and watched her fight for her balance on the concrete. "I'd say the same but, you know, I did find you", he taunted, raising his fists in preparation for Mariah's attempt to punch back. When she took her sweet time circling around him, though, the man nodded at Izzy's unconscious body and huffed. "Guess I underestimated your social skills, though. You chose an interesting time to surround yourself with vulnerable loved ones", he pointed out, earning a glare from Mariah.
"They're far from vulnerable", she fired back before leaping forward only for Edwards to dodge with very little effort. "Sure, you got Mateo in the hospital, but he survived", she added before shrugging, "not that it'll make me go any easier on you." With that, she managed to dive in with her head ducked in advance, Edwards' attempt to hit her gone to waste as she delivered a blow of her own into his stomach.
As he nearly toppled over, Mariah pulled out her gun, ready to make the arrest she had been craving all this time, only for him to have different intentions. He was quick in grabbing the weapon from her and dismantling it into pieces before she could even consider pulling the trigger, tossing the useless gun at their feet. Mere seconds later, his arm was locked around Mariah's neck, her struggling pushing him against his car while he closed her in a chokehold.
"I gotta say, this is a little anticlimactic", he grunted while holding Mariah back, her attempt to gasp for air cut short when he gripped her tighter.
Nevertheless, it didn't stop her from reaching for her pocket and whipping out Maze's knife, no longer abandoned on the ground, but rather, enclosed against her palm as she drove it into Edwards' thigh as hard as she could. As the man cried out in agony, she elbowed him in the chest with all her might and then snatched his arm away from her, breaking herself free as she turned around. Her throat on fire, she fought back the temptation to pass out and mustered the last of her energy to lift up her boot and stomp on the handle of the blade to force it deeper into the wound.
That was enough for Edwards to collapse onto the ground, and at last, pushing her hair away from her face, Mariah shook her head at him. "Feels pretty satisfactory to me, bitch", she retorted before pulling out handcuffs from the pocket of her leather jacket and pushing the man to his knees. "Roman Edwards, you're under arrest", she declared in relief, the back of her hand wiping past her mouth as she locked the cuffs around his wrists and read him his rights.
With that, she had finally caught the last person in the operation she had infiltrated for 766 days, coming that much closer to completing her mission.
—————
EVEN WITH A bruise forming around her neck, Mariah couldn't help but smile while standing on the other side of the interrogation room's mirror, taking in the glorious sight of a beaten Edwards handcuffed to the table with a tired look in his eyes. He had been stewing in his failure for the better part of an hour after he had refused to answer any of Mariah's questions, but even then, she felt undefeated. Whether or not he would cooperate, she had him tied to enough crimes to put him away for life, and so, nothing could bring her down from this high. Even Kai had updated her that Mateo was in stable condition, meaning that things were truly looking up.
When the door clicked open, Mariah glanced over her shoulder only to come face to face with an equally bruised Izzy, the nasty gash on her jaw making her grimace but the Holt was quick to wave it off. "Looks worse than it feels", she promised before gesturing at Edwards and then beaming down at Mariah, "especially now."
Cutting a laugh, the Rose nodded in agreement. "Damn right", she confirmed, though when she turned back to her catch of the day, she couldn't help but frown. Sure, there were still a bunch of legal processes to go through, but she had to wonder what was next for her — and as if reading her mind, Izzy was speaking up again.
"I guess this means you can go back to New York", she noted, and nodding again, although slower this time, Mariah thought about it. It had been her sole goal for the longest time, but now, it was hard to ignore the memory of Ella's smile so ingrained in her mind. Walking away from her would surely not be easy.
With a cough, Mariah steered the subject elsewhere as she reached to pat Izzy's shoulder encouragingly. "You, on the other hand, should try becoming a detective. From what I've seen, you're unfairly underrated in this department", she announced, flustering Izzy who crossed her arms over her chest and eyed the woman with uncertainty — yet the pink on her cheeks suggested she had thought about it once or twice, too.
With that thought, Mariah left her in the room to get a cup of coffee from the break room. Chloe had shown her Kai's secret spot for taking an emergency nap, but there was no denying that some caffeine was required to keep the woman operating until she'd venture back to the hospital and doze off next to Mateo's bed. Before she could grab her mug from her desk, though, she saw Ella prancing out of her lab, and breaking into a grin, the Rose widened her arms for her to collide against.
Their roles now unexpectedly reversed, Mariah closed Ella in a tight hug, her face buried against the woman's dark hair as she breathed her in and held her as close as she could. Forget coffee — that was the most re-energizing thing Mariah could have hoped for, her heart leaping in her chest as she felt Ella vibrate with a laugh right against her chest.
"I'm proud of you", the Lopez murmured into her jacket, and pulling away only to keep Ella still at an arm's length, Mariah smiled down at her.
"Thank you", she hesitantly accepted the praise, her stomach swinging at the idea of leaving the adorable woman radiating pure joy and affection at her. "Would you, uh—I could, I dunno, take you out some night?" she went on, stumbling over her own words more than she would have hoped for, but it was, nonetheless, freeing to say out loud. They had been lingering for too long now, like their fingertips were constantly brushing but the constant action around them hadn't allowed them to truly hold onto one another. Now, she was hopeful they could.
Breaking into a grin, Ella nodded. "Would be my pleasure", she agreed, and mirroring her expression, Mariah placed a hand on her cheek briefly just to revel in the moment.
"Lucky me", the Rose whispered, though before Ella could return the words, Mariah's gaze trailed from the Lopez to Amenadiel, seated on the stairwell of the bullpen with a gloomy stare in his eyes. Remembering the unfair treatment he had been subjected to earlier, Mariah's smile wavered and she gave Ella one last look as a silent promise to catch up later.
Then, she stepped over to Amenadiel, her hands deep in her pockets as she quietly gestured at the empty space next to him. "Mind if I sit?" she asked, and when the man simply nodded, she took the liberty to descend beside him and sigh in the heavy silence.
"Congratulations, Detective Rose", the man offered, but already shaking her head to insist she wasn't there for the compliments, she interjected before any further praise could be expressed.
"Just Mariah is fine", she insisted before glancing at the burly man and frowning. "I, uh, wanted to check up on you. Going through something like that is never easy", she explained quietly, unsure how to voice her comfort for the man, but concluding from the way he perked up and faced her with a frown of his own, it had been enough to gain his attention.
"You have been in a similar situation?" Amenadiel asked, seeming genuinely surprised, and while it made Mariah feel the same bewilderment, she nodded in response.
"I mean, yeah. I'm not saying I know exactly how you feel or—or trying to make this about me but I've had to deal with a lot of prejudice and racism, sure", she elaborated before sighing and leaning back on the stairs. "It's actually kinda sad how casual I've become about it."
Silent for a while, Amenadiel nodded before placing a hand on Mariah's knee and then retreating back into himself with respect for her personal space. "I can't wrap my head around the fact that a... police officer would do that", he sighed, sincere confusion creasing his forehead as he glanced around the bullpen where some of his trusted friends mixed with people he no longer had full faith in.
Knowing there were no right words to say, Mariah nodded and looked around the room, as well. It was certainly a system she didn't want to support, well-aware that even if the two officers in question were to be fired, more would undoubtedly rear their heads.
She hadn't expected to feel that way today, but as she sat there next to Amenadiel for a moment longer, she couldn't help but wonder if, with Edwards' arrest, some sort of closure waited around the corner for her.
Before she could come to any concrete conclusion, her phone buzzed in her pocket, and the woman was hasty to pick up the call after a brief glance at the dorky photo of Kai staring back at her from the screen. "Hey, everything okay?" the woman questioned, her knee involuntarily beginning to bounce up and down as she took in a deep breath. She didn't regret spending the day working on her case, but as the momentary silence left her uncertain whether Mateo was okay or not, she couldn't help but feel like she should have been at the hospital more.
Kai, however, was quick to dismiss her worries. "More than okay, Ria", he announced, evidently giddy, "he's awake!"
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Author's note
Poor Amenadiel ): That episode was so beautifully done though and writing it in felt really important to me, even if it's not the main plot. It sucks immensely that we live in a world like this. It's not an experience I've had to go through but after 2020 I more than ever try to stay educated on important, although heavy topics. While I cannot say I "know how you feel", I'm always sending all of you lots of love (:
On a more positive note, Mateo!!! You bet he's going to have some thoughts next chapter omg. But at least my girl caught Edwards at last! It was a lot of fun to write and I'll still be wrapping the storyline up in the final chapters.
Thank you for reading! ❤️