Robin walked, her face blank of emotion as she moved around the crowd, her eyes searching the stalls that gathered, getting ready for the big baseball game to start.
For a game so busy, it still felt incredibly lonely. She saw the people, she heard the rumble of so many different conversations. Once, she listened to them, once, she tried to find a lead from the conversations that weren't her own. These were all people who were none the wiser to the issues, they didn't see blood pool on the pavement under the glow of a neon light. They didn't see the scratches on the back of doors, pleading to be let out. They saw nothing but the current moments. It must have been nice.
The night was darkening, soon to be pitch black, yet everything was lit by bright lights above them that shone onto the field and the crowd. It was as if they were at a professional baseball game...
So that's where all the schools funds went.
As much as she wanted the game to be the reason she was there, so she could cheer her friend on, it was not, and she refused to trick her mind into thinking that way.
Everybody was dressed casually, ready to spend their night cheering for their team and watching pretty fireworks. Unfortunately, it made it a little harder to distinguish who was who, and the crowd was large, filled with students from two different schools as she scanned everyone, taking in their features and their clothes but never finding the right person in her mission to finally put an end to the case that had made her life all the more miserable.
She was about to move to another section of the crowd when she noticed a flash of blonde, then a yell she couldn't distinguish and then, of course, she was being tackled in a hug, forcing her to let a short gasp escape her in surprise.
"Tweetie!" Joel latched onto her stomach, refusing to let go as she widened her eyes, hoping not to fall back in her still overwhelmed state from so many nights working. "I've been so worried! Are you okay!?"
"Joel," she breathed, taking a moment to realise what was happening. And before she knew it, she was hugging him back, forgetting the main reason she was even there. "Are you okay?" She stole his question, "I tried to get things done as soon as I could."
"I'm okay," he smiled, trying his best to reassure her. But, as he pulled away and looked over her, she couldn't help but acknowledge his exhausted eyes that bore into her.
Immediately, she hooked him in another hug.
"Thank you for calling," he hummed into the hug, taking it with a smile, "it really helped. But are you okay? You look like you haven't slept in months."
"Oh," she stopped, remembering why she was there. And quickly, she stepped back and away from him, turning to the crowd in an anxious state of panic. "I'm looking for-"
She was stopped, her words cut short as the crowd yelled, chanting their school teams names as the players made their way onto the field, getting ready for the game. It felt like thunder, like a roar that could have made the ground shake and the field split in two. There were particular names being called out by friends of the players, but mostly, 'Fox'. Of course, the popular group of boys would always be the centre of attention, no matter how little they wanted it.
"Are you alright, Tweetie?"
"Not yet," she shook Joel away, not meeting his eyes as she searched. Then she saw the familiar face of Oscar, his purple hair anything but bland as he waved to her frantically, hoping to catch her attention. She returned the wave, though, her eyes still searched the crowd, frustrated by the situation. He wasn't there.
"God," she breathed out, stepping away from Joel in her own pool of growing annoyance. "I have to go."
And before he could argue, she was gone, running down the steps and catching Fox's eyes as she escaped the crowd and instead headed towards the school.
Soon, she ended up indoors, roaming the empty halls as instead, everyone gathered outside in the clear weather of the shifting sky, growing later and later as the game went on and she continued her search.
It seemed impossible, finding one particular student amongst hundreds of them, but when else was she going to be able to do it? The holidays began after today and she had no idea what his schedule was like during the holidays, she didn't know where he lived, Hell, she only knew where Oscar and Leo lived, and right now, they were not the ones she was after.
She glanced around, opening the doors to the classrooms she passed in hopes of finding him hidden away. It could take hours to check every room of the school, especially considering its size. But, she refused to give up, wanting nothing more than to put an end to everything even if it meant walking around for so long her knees ached and her feet blistered from heel to toe.
The empty and dark school was eerie, there was no need for anyone to be inside, so the lights had been switched off, saving energy she wished she could have. It was just that little bit harder to see under the dusted windows that allowed the beams of a moon soaked sky to seep in, filtering them and making them nothing but a taint on the hard ground that the heels of her old shoes clicked against while she darted from room to room, desperate to end everything.
She stormed under the moonlight, acting like the bad weather that didn't show up in the sky but took form as a figure instead, rageful and filled with an underlying sorrow as she soon reached the gym department, walking around the different halls that lead to storage cupboards, classrooms dedicated to the p.e courses and the doors to swimming pool she turned away from and the gymnasium.
"You better keep your word or I'm giving you up too."
She stepped into the gym, her footsteps louder there as the hard floor echoed into the emptiness of the wide room and like a moth drawn to a flame, her eyes darted towards the moving figure, turning to see her in the dark as he held a phone to his ear, finishing a conversation she almost missed the end of.
Ricky wasn't a surprise. He wasn't a sight she simply stumbled across and it wasn't a secret that he was a suspect. Sometimes the obvious felt too obvious, but when something felt too much, it was stronger than any other. Her suspicions of him were too strong. Too obvious. Too heavy of a reminder that she was an idiot for not acting sooner.
"Tweetie?" The boy turned, his eyes widened, "what-"
"You don't get to call me that." She spoke, her tone icy as she approached the boy. She felt her mind bubble with growing rage in her state of need. Need to sleep, need to have a break, need to end all of this. She felt the phone in her back pocket, reminding her of what she had to do, and for once, she was going to try her damn best to follow a plan.
She wanted to live through this, she wanted to see it come to an end.
"Ricky, you're making a mistake." She sighed, truthfully, less annoyed and more sorry for the boy. "The things you're involved in are too much, even for you."
"I- what? I don't know what you're talking about..."
"Ricky," she stopped in front of him, frowning like a disappointed mother would. "You're not stupid, I know you're not. No idiot could do all of this. I just need to know who you're working for."
"I didn't-" He shook his head, his eyes latching to her. Then, his face distorted, laughing but with eyes that were far too fearful. "It's you? Seriously?" He laughed again. "How did I not guess that? It was so obvious I didn't even think-"
She shook her head, furrowing her eyebrows as she saw him panic.
"You've been shoving threats into my locker all month. Obviously it was me."
"I didn't know it was your locker. I was just told what to print and where to put it, I didn't even know what it meant! I just- fuck- I didn't do anything, I swear."
"You're panicking. You know what I'm talking about, otherwise, you wouldn't be panicking." She stepped closer. "You're involved in Jason Barber's disappearance and I want to know why and how. Was it for the money? Jealousy? What was it, Ricky?"
"I- you-" he stopped, faltering with wide eyes. He was breaking, he was caught between his rough, violent self and the side of him that needed to see his family survive. But, that instinct to see his family survive was the one that got him into this mess. It was unfortunate and heartbreaking to see, but what else could be done? "I didn't do shit! What do you know?"
"I saw you at the hotel, I heard you at Daniel Thompson's flat, you deleted all traces of knowing Jason from social media and hoped whoever you were working with would get rid of all the evidence that you were involved," she decided to fill him in, giving him the details he needed so he could understand. "You thought you would cover yourself using Ryan, even tossed Leo's shoe at the hotel so if anyone happened to go there, they would question him too. I don't know why you did it, who told you to do it, but it doesn't look good for you."
"That-" he stopped again, shaking his head in disbelief. "That doesn't mean shit."
"I found a note with the address to the hotel, the hideout, in a purse that you had. You thought all the other ID's would hide it, but the note came from you in the first place. It would lead back to you anyway, no matter what. And coincidentally, I found the exact same note in Jason's house. You were both involved in something there, and I know Daniel Thompson ran his drug schemes from there too back in 2018 only to suddenly stop when Jason disappeared."
"Shit."
He stopped, glancing around as he realised exactly what situation he was in. The two of them were alone in the gym, nobody else was in sight. She at least thought to keep things quiet, keep it so not everyone would find out.
"Well," he shook his head, firming his eyes as he made direct eye contact with her. "Well, you can't prove any of this shit. I'll just deny it, I'll- I'll tell people who you are now I know. What are you gonna do?"
"It's too late, Ricky," Robin breathed, surprisingly calm in her situation. She shoved her hand into her pocket, feeling the phone that recorded everything.
He stopped, his face paling in the realisation that there was really nothing he could do to get out of this situation. Well, there was, actually.
"Why?" she shook her head, still not totally understanding. "What happened to Jason? Where is he? Why would you try to frame Ryan and the others? Do you hate them that much?"
"Why not?" He spat back, shoving her back and away from him, and, while she was distracted by her footing, he snatched the phone from her grasp, his eyes widened in panic as he stepped back.
"You don't know what else I can do, bitch! I have contacts, I can get more help, you're just one girl!" He stepped back as she calmly followed after, her gaze set on the phone. She didn't need it, not desperately. But, he admitted to having contacts, he didn't deny having help. There was so much more information she needed from him. "I'm not stupid, I know who you are," he continued, spitting the obvious.
"Seriously, Ricky, I think you're being used by whoever is organising this, if you'd just let me help-"
He began to run, darting out of the gym and down the hall. And within an instant, she began to follow.
They ran, chasing through the emptiness of the school and through the PE department as he skidded around corners and she caught up with heavy breaths and a head that was feeling lighter and lighter the more oxygen she wasted. She watched him pause every few moments in thought of where to run. They continued for only a few minutes, a familiar smell growing stronger until they were surrounded in it and the waving reflections it gave off.
"Fuckin' stop!" Ricky gasped, rounding the pool as he realised there was nowhere else he could go.
She stopped in front of him, watching as the water reflected onto his face from behind her as she breathed heavily, too exhausted from days of no sleep to be able to run for long periods of time. She kept herself turned away from it, knowing that just a glance at the blue of the still water behind her would send her head spinning. Even the reflections it gave off were too much.
"Just," she breathed, lowering her gaze as she tried to prevent him from running again, "talk! All I want is to talk to you!"
"Piss off," he spat, shaking his head as he stepped towards her, dangling the phone in the air, "you think you can get me to do what you want? Because you have shitty evidence?" He snapped, stepping closer again as she took a step back, threatened by the growing anger on his face. Usually, this would be the point when Archie stepped in, he would always have a backup plan for when she didn't. But he wasn't there.
"Hazel fuckin' White, some miracle you are to this city! All you do is ruin everything!"
He spat, his words like venom. But, they went no further as his hand buzzed and instead, he looked at the phone, smiling grimly at the contact before he answered. Her phone, his voice.
"Hey, James, nice of you to call."
There was a voice on the other side, immediately loud but not loud enough for Robin to make out the words. Though, she knew it was Ryan.
"Oh she's fine, don't worry about her. We were just catchin' up, she was telling me all about her life as Hazel White."
She was, despite the gut-wrenching fear it brought her at the time, incredibly grateful for the fact that Ryan already knew who she was. And it was obvious as a hard laugh sounded from the other side of her phone, that he found Ricky's attempt a little bit ridiculous.
"Oh, what's that?" Ricky smirked, "you want to go for a swim-?"
She realised too late that he was talking to her as she stood, silently hoping things would calm down. All she wanted to do was talk.
"Wha-?"
She didn't get the chance to speak, her voice interrupted by her own shriek as his hands shoved her back, pushing her shoulders until she stumbled on the slippery edge of the pool and was no longer in his reach.
"It'll be a fuckin' mess to clean, but what's one other body to the pile?" He said, leaning over the edge, his own face pasty with the stress that followed, "I told you. I got contacts. They'll piss all over the evidence you got, I'll fuckin' bury you with Jason!"
"Ri-Ricky-!"
Watching her panic and her face turn pale, he threw the phone after, letting it sit on top of the water for just a moment before it sank down with her. She was clearly struggling, yet, not enough for him as he dropped onto his knees and leaned over, his hand reaching in and pushing down at her head that bobbed up then down and then down and down and down.
She clutched his arm, trying everything to get him off, digging her nails and pulling him with her, grasping, straining, but nothing helped as he just kept pushing, holding until she was out of air and had run out of energy. He was soaked, slick from the splashing of water that rose up and touched him, pooled at his knees and with bloody marks where her nails dug into his arms.
She stopped.
He took that as a clear indication, the sight of her sinking down enough to tell him that this was his chance to run, passing through squeaking doors and slipping on wet shoes. But he was gone, leaving her to sink.
Then, silence.