It wasn't too hard for Fluke to find the next target. There were plenty of men in society with questionable reputations who practiced absurd acts, even if not punished by the law. However, as the relationship between him and Ohm evolved into something more serious, he felt his mind drifting in the middle of his self imposed mission of getting the world rid of that kind of people.
For a while, Boun's unexpected help was what made him get away with his crimes. Whenever he was too distracted and left clues behind, the blonde was willing to hide tips of cigarettes, bury fabric, make strands of hair disappear in the air. It was also a happy coincidence that the killer had caught the man doing this, so they were both on the opposite ends of the same thread even if Boun couldn't imagine that.
Yet, recognising that his modus operandi was changing this fast made him scared of his own acts. He was slowly becoming someone he didn't know. All that because of Ohm.
********
"What are you thinking about, love?", Ohm came to Fluke, hugging the slender body from behind and resting his chin on the other's shoulder while the smaller male was chopping a few ingredients to use on their dinner.
"Nothing much!", Fluke turned his head to the side and pecked Ohm's cheek.
"I can't believe you! I can tell when you're lying! Did you know that?", Ohm teased his lover who was taken by surprise and turned to face him, the vegetables forgotten for the meantime.
"Oh really?", Fluke asked, half playful and half concerned at the other's statement. Still, he couldn't help but hug Ohm's neck with his hands and play with the soft strands of hair close to his nape.
"U-hum! Like on the other day when you got late to work. Don't you think I didn't know where you were?", Ohm leaned down to steal a sniff kiss in the crook of his neck. Vanilla scent spilling all around the smooth skin. When they moved in together Ohm was thrilled to realise Fluke's smell was something of his own. He swore he didn't use any kind of perfume and that only made Ohm even more enchanted by his personal and unique scent.
"What? Do you know where I was?", Fluke asked, eyes widening in anxiety. If Ohm got closer than he was, he would be able to hear the loud thuds of his heart.
"Of course, I do! Who else could buy us apples? For sure not me and I believe we don't have a ghost living here, so…", he showed his toothy smile making Fluke sigh in relief.
"Well, Mr. the-best-detective-I-have-ever-seen, apples are good for your health, so let's eat one as you mentioned their existence in this very home!", Fluke parted from their hug and went to the fridge only to feel his wrist being tugged. When he looked back, it was Ohm holding him. The taller one interlocked their fingers and brushed his hand with his thumb.
Ohm chuckled after a few seconds.
"What now?", Fluke tilted his head to the side, curious about his lover's reaction.
"You called it home. It's the first time you do this!"
If the previous smile was cute and sweet, this one was as bright as the sun. Fluke could feel Ohm was feeling happy, proud and in love with him. They both were and after the detective devoured his lips in a deep kiss, Fluke decided he was too intoxicated to think further. He could rest his guard for a while and just enjoy the moment.
The kiss got heated up and it led them to postpone dinner in trade to make love. Because that was what Fluke was used to doing now. After living a life without trusting no one and using his body to get what he needed after his father passed away, he was learning for the first time what true love was and he felt it with every part of his heart and soul.
Still, his urge to kill was lingering under all that pink sweet realization and he needed to indulge it. It was bigger than him, even if he felt bad at leaving Ohm by his own meant to let him suffer with nightmares.
Fluke tried to convince himself that he was doing this to kill the bad guys pestering the city, but in his core he knew it was something else that guided him to that. It wasn't like he could say no to that part of him. Maybe he should consider therapy, but killing rich corrupted men was free and delightful.
However, even if he wanted to do things just like he did his whole life, he felt a certain rush, a need to finish everything fast enough just to get back home and to his lover. That made him become clumsy and leave more evidence behind.
Also, he didn't feel likely to sleep with the men he needed to get rid of, which made him struggle and fight to defeat them. It wasn't a big deal because he was strong and knew martial arts, but still drained his energy faster than just fuck those guys like he used to. However, after learning what making love to Ohm was, he couldn't force himself to cheat on him like that.
********
That night after the meeting with the special unit at the Police Station Fluke was almost shaking in his place, just like someone addicted to adrenaline he needed to kill someone and Ethan Nolan was the perfect target.
Ethan was a former Olympic athlete that used every known way to cheat on anti doping tests and never got caught. After retiring, he opened a gym and used that to abuse his employees and clients whenever it was possible. It was hard for his victims to report what he did to them because the man was considered a national hero, but Fluke knew the truth and the feeling of being discredited like that. He needed to eliminate Ethan from this planet.
After a few drinks, Fluke invited Ethan to a motel. The smaller male made the other to believe they would have a fun night, but as soon as the man got out of the bathroom, Fluke attacked him with his knife.
Fluke was fast, but Ethan was bigger than him and had his career as an athlete as an advantage. It was hard to knock the man down, but after a lot of struggle and painting all the walls with blood, Fluke finally saw the body landing on the bed.
At the same time, Fluke heard his phone indicating a new message was delivered to him. He went quickly to check it and saw it was Ohm. He started to type something in response when he felt his sixth sense calling his attention. Fluke threw his phone to the side and jumped to the other, making Ethan miss his jab for only a few inches.
Fluke knew the man had lost a lot of blood and was close to death, it was only a matter of time for him to win another one. After a few punches and kicks, Ethan fell on the floor and didn't move.
Fluke poked the body and tried to check his blood pressure, but it all seemed to confirm he was dead. He retrieved his belongings quickly, cleaned his face and hands and left the room.
Fluke kept an apartment even after moving in with Ohm. The place was on the other side of the town and it took him 30 minutes by taxi to get there. He gave the driver a good tip to avoid questions and went straight to his room to clean himself better. He had just started to wash the blood from his arms when he received another message from Ohm. It was an address of a hospital, according to the instructions, and that made his heart sink, imagining the worst happening to his lover. He didn't think twice, changed his clothes and got to the place indicated on the text.
If Fluke wasn't in a hurry, maybe he would have noticed that his boots were dirty with blood stains. Maybe if he wasn't that eager to have Ohm back inside his arms he would never have to face the look of horror on the detective's eyes when he realized what made his shoes dirty. Everything he'd worked for was crumbling in front of him.
Now, with Ohm kneeling at his feet, Fluke saw their love story fading into thin air.
"Fluke?", Ohm whispered too low in the empty hallway where they were, standing to face him. The visitor badge smashed by his tight grip.
Fluke let out a long breath and then took another one in, determination covering his eyes. "I need to finish what I started, Ohm.", he said – knowing all too well the man was smart enough to have connected the dots by himself now – walking past the detective heading towards the room where his target was.
He usually checked to see if the victim had actually died – which was quite unnecessary, given the types of torture he was used to inflict to them – but distracted by the fact he had left Ohm alone and after receiving his message, he became careless, cleaning up the scene and leaving before making sure the guy was really dead. Judging by the way he attacked the guy with the knife and the amount of blood he had lost, he probably wouldn't last much longer anyway. His mistake.
Fluke entered the room without hesitation, grabbing the knife he had in his pants pocket.
"Fluke, come back here!", Ohm ran after him and was fast enough to grab him from behind, quickly disarming him and holding his arms behind his back.
While Fluke squirmed on his grip, trying to get out of it, Ohm's mind decided to present him with a collection of suspicious moments he had witness Fluke performing without never questioning him: contaminating crime scenes, bandaged fingers after they discover Loom and his sewn mouth, the mysterious sick aunt… it was everything at plain sight, right before his eyes the whole time, yet he couldn't see through the clumsy boy whose worst trait was to sleep with everyone he could lay his eyes on.
Ohm concluded that Shadow had decided that the best way to hide his identity was to become his lover. He felt his heart crashing into a million pieces at the same time his professional side took over him. Why did Shadow change his modus operandi? What was the trigger for all that?
"Why did you change?", he asked close to Fluke's ear, making him squirm even harder to get himself freed.
"Ohm, this is not the time to talk, I need to finish this!"
Ohm felt like he was watching the scene from above. He couldn't feel anything – not even Fluke trying to scratch his arms. He felt betrayed in a way he could never expect: his lover was a criminal with no intention of quitting on his actions.
But while Ohm was consumed by flashbacks and regret, Fluke made good use of his ankles and hit his crotch, making the man curl at the floor in pain.
"I'm sorry, detective!", were the 3 last words Ohm heard before hearing the sound of a shooting gun.
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Notes:
Ok, how was that? Please leave a comment! We're about to see the end of this story! 😊