no way 2 updates in 3 days
I can finally put my law studies for use in this fic hehe
uhm slight tiktok slang in this HELP big back means fat don't question it
~~~
Your hands were shaking, and you couldn't tell if it was because you were cold, scared, betrayed or because you were still going through withdrawal. Cold, because this department within the station was absolutely freezing, scared because interrogation's were honestly horrifying, betrayed because Pierro put you on the list of suspects and the withdrawal explains itself.
No, you still have not had the chance to get your meds. Today would've been perfect, as almost everyone was out of the apartment for the interrogation, but Cyno and his always-eating boyfriend were in there and they would've seen it.
They had placed you, Childe, Kaveh, Scaramouche, and Tighnari in different rooms in case you would all try to form some alibi together but that would scream "murderers,".
You four had all gone over everything before you left the apartment; Tighnari and his big-back was at a restaurant with his sister, Collei as it all happened and she could vouch for him. Kaveh was sleeping, and the cameras of his apartment show him dead asleep in the living room an hour before and 30 minutes after you found Damslette.
Scaramouche and Childe had arrived in Sumeru literally the day before it all happened, and during the time it happened, Scaramouche was out gift-shopping, which he had the receipt for; it was a gift for Tighnari since his birthday was coming up soon.
Childe and you were the only ones without an alibi. Mostly Childe. You had just left a bar, and within those 15 minutes you were gone it would be hard to prove that you murdered her within those 15 minutes.
Childe claimed he had an alibi, but one he wouldn't share with the group. The fact he was secretive about it meant that he won't tell them much which will make them a bit wary; You just hoped he knew what he was doing and you also kind of wish you knew why he was so secret about it.
What? You were nosy. So is everyone else.
Also, for all of you it would be hard to prove the actus reus; That if one of you did murder Damslette, it would have to be proven it was on purpose and was first-degree. It was also hard to prove mens rea; They would have to find intent and motive on each of you and a good strong one at that.
Obviously, no one within the group murdered Damslette. No one would do that to Pierro- the man who has been there for each and every one of you and has served as a father. Even if one of you were forced to do so with a gun to the head, you'd all rather get shot.
Just then, the door opened and Tighnari came walking out; You gave him a questioning look, and he gave a simple smile; It went well.
Anton and Gli stood at the door, Gli motioning for you to come in with the tilt of her head. You stood up, Tighnari gave you a 'good luck' look and you smiled at him before stepping into the room.
Albedo was sat there too, and you gave him a look of surprise. "Oh, are you here to-"
"Take notes?" He finished your question with a chuckle as he spun his notepad around and showed his pencil in his other hand. "Just writing down stuff I think I'll need to look into later."
You watched as he flipped through, most of the pages had little notes, but one had quite a few; You didn't know who's it was, but your currently the last one being interrogated, so it was someone's recently.
You took a seat in front of Gli, Anton and Albedo. "So, who's serving as my lawyer here?" You asked.
Gli raised her hand, and you wondered how the hell she was a cop but a lawyer at the same exact time. You honestly aspired to be her.
Okay, the first step of the interrogation is always the opening questions; Ones that let you ease in, get comfortable.
"You cold?" Anton asked, noticing you were shaking. "Or just nervous."
"Cold," You breathed out, "It's winter in Sumeru; You never know if it's cold or hot." You just happened to wear light clothes on a cold day.
Anton ignored your joke, wanting to get straight through this. He did however, stand up to turn up the heat. "Would you like some water?" He asked once he sat back down.
You shook your head. "I'm alright. Thank you."
He nodded, now choosing to open his files up and Gli scooched closer to look. You wouldn't need her a lot, since you knew what not to say and what to say, but the thing about lawyers is that they're perceptive and as you go on they can tell what will tick you off and you may lose control out of a fit of anger and say the wrong thing, so Gli being here was still good.
Now was the free-narrative questions, where they let you talk in your own words.
"I want to talk about your history a bit." Anton spoke, "How about we go back 4 years?"
"How is this relevant?" Gli asked, her instincts starting to kick in.
Anton just leaned back. "I'd like to know about the relationship with Pierro, first. 4 years ago, am I correct?
You nodded, letting Gli know it was fine. "4 years ago, yes. When my dad...died."
"Then came back." Anton remembered. "You were quite the star; Tell me how it was."
You nodded, thinking back to what was probably the worst time of your life and honestly your mid-life crisis even if it wasn't mid-life. "It was...difficult. Everyone finding out that my dad, a random Criminology professor, was actual a superhero was intense, for me and for my brother. I think that might've been the worst time of my life, honestly. Pierro's son, though; Pantalone. He was there, and Pierro was friends with my dad so I knew him, but I didn't become close with him until after my dad's funeral when I realized how everything was on me now, and I guess he knew too. He helped pay for everything, despite the fact he barely knew me. I didn't take it all, though. I'm not greedy or selfish, which technically I wouldn't be any, but It felt horrible to take money from him, so we agreed on helping to pay for my brothers tuition, and that I would take a job from my friend Diluc. He served as the father we didn't have anymore, and he brought me into a family I will never forget."
Albedo wrote some notes down, and you wanted to ask what the hell he wrote and how it connects to Damslette, but Anton started to speak again.
"I know there's some sort of understanding that, no one is allowed to speak about this ever since the day Azar was exposed. However, I'd like for you to talk about it,"
"Privilege." Gli finally called something out, "You can't ask if you know it's protected by a form of privilege."
Anton chuckled, which ended in an annoying sigh. "Let me reword it; How was your relationship with Pierro when this all went down?"
"Didn't you already ask her this?" Gli asked
Anton nodded. "I did, when her father was assumed dead, but now I want to know how your relationship with Pierro was before the exposure of Azar." He flipped through different pages in the files, and it took him a few second sbefore his eyes lit up and he took a paper out, one all too familiar.
It was the contract with Pierro's signature to Azar; The one where Pierro vouched he would not speak a word of the hero's disappearance to anyone, and the same exact one where the hero's all agreed to fake their deaths. You had this contract practically memorized.
"You knew Pierro was in on it."
"Not a question." Gli sighed.
Anton rolled his eyes. "Okay, whatever, just how was your relationship with him?"
The sight of the contract made you feel weird, like you were going to throw up. Queasy, maybe, was a better word. How could one paper, with very few words, sum up the worst 2 years of your life?
"It...was bad." You admitted, letting out a sad sigh. "I found out a week before we exposed Azar. I was...upset, angry. I refused to speak to him; He knew how much my dads death affected me and he hid it for an entire 2 years knowing I'd cry on his shoulder constantly about it."
"Did you ever forgive him?"
You nodded. "3 months later, at graduation. He got me a gift; It was simple, just a necklace, but the meaning behind it was perfect. So, when I went up for my speech and I saw him ready to cry, I knew he was proud of me, and I knew I could never stay mad at him."
"That's sweet," Anton grumbled sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Damn, he was a bitch. "How does it make you feel to know Pierro put you as a suspect?"
You bit your lip, nervous. "I feel, In full honesty, betrayed."
Now came the direct questions; The ones about that night.
"Can you, in much detail, explain the events leading up you finding Damslette in that alleyway?"
"Alhaitham, my boyfriend, was at work for the day; I called in sick."
"Why? Were you actually sick? Or just faking it?"
Oh, direct AND cross-questioning.
"Compound questioning." Gli called. "Too many questions and many different answers."
Anton let out an annoyed sighed, reminding himself this was also his coworker so he couldn't say anything. "Were you sick that day? I understand you were at a bar that night."
"I was not sick, no." You shook your head, in full honesty.
"I'll go back to that," Anton sighed, "Continue,"
"I spent the entire day in our apartment; I was mostly asleep, cooked some food for me and Alhaitham for when he came back home and that was all. He came back and asked if I wanted to go to the bar."
"Did you wanna go, or were you forced?"
That surprised you a bit, "Uh- no. I was not forced. He asked me if I wanted to come, I was hesitant, but decided I'd go."
"Why were you hesitant?"
"I don't like my coworkers." You admitted, no hesitance whatsoever and a straight face which made Gli and Albedo laugh.
"If you were hesitant, why'd you decide to go?"
"Alhaitham told me Cyno would be there; He's my best friend."
"Why did you leave early that night?"
The fast pace of the questions started to make you a bit more nervous, but you kept your composure. "I...got into a fight."
"Physical?"
"No, argumentative. My coworkers made a snarky comment about me, and I lashed out a little and Alhaitham told me to go home."
Anton flipped a few pages through his files, "We spoke to you that night; You said you weren't drinking, and instead took a few drinks of Sprite."
Gli spoke again. "Not a question,"
He groaned, "Am I correct in that statement?"
You nodded. "Yes."
He flipped another page and took out a large paper and handed it to you; It was a photo taken from a high quality camera of the note found in Damslette's pocket; The one that threatened you. There was blood on it, so this was taken not too long after you found her.
He let you look at it for a few seconds and took it back. "Do you think Heizou wrote this?"
"I don't know." You admitted, "I'm sorry, but I can't give a straight answer; He's the type of person to do this, I'll admit, but you both told me that night that he had an alibi; Therapy."
Anton inhaled sharply, reorginaizing his files. "I wanna go back to that sick comment. Y/N, would you like to know what i've noticed about you in these last 20 minutes?"
Gli looked at him confused, but it wasn't exactly something she could fight.
You looked at him confused too, "Uh, what?"
"You came in here absolutely shaking; At first I assumed it was becuase you were cold, until I turned up the heat almost all the way. Have you taken a look at your hands?"
You looked down at them, to notice they quite literally were still shaking, and it felt natural. You looked back up, shocked.
"I'm sweating, and if you'd take a look everyone else in here is too. Meaning that you're not shaking from the cold. At first I thought you were nervous about something, until you mentioned that sick comment. You called in sick, but you weren't actually. You went to the bar that night, but didn't drink any alcohol and hid it from everyone."
He paused, a devilish smirking creeping across his face.
"The last 4 years have been absolute hell for you, has it not? You lost your dad, your house, your abusive ex boyfriend came back, threatened you and tried to kill you, you find out your dad is alive and a father figure was hiding it from you, then life goes good for a bit, but then sad again when all of your friends leave and from the other interrogations i've done it seems that no one has reached out to you for at least a hear and a half meaning you probably went into a depressive episode."
"This is irrelevant, what does this have to do with-?!"
He cut Gli off, and you felt like you were being cornered despite the fact you were in the same spot and so was he as when you first came in. "Depressive episodes usually don't stick around for too long, but according to your files you've only been to a doctor once and you haven't gotten any therapy from your trauma, meaning you found comfort in something else; Drugs."
Your eyes widened, feeling your heart drop.
"IRRELEVANT!"
"But not any drug, no, instead antidepressants- hence that doctor you went to. Which explains why you felt sick, because sometimes antidepressants don't give you a good day as it usually does and makes you feel sick, and you probably took it right before Alhaitham came home and you knew you couldn't drink right after you took them because it would cause a problem. The shaking you have right now, is withdrawal, because I assume you haven't taken it in maybe a week or two because your apartment is full of people and no one knows, not even your boyfriend, your dad or Pierro."
Gli stood up, anger all over her face. "This interrogation is over. This has led into accusations that my client will not fall into." She walked to the other side of the desk, grabbing your arm and forcing you out of the chair; You felt like you were in shock, and you took a look at Albedo who was surprised.
You felt nothing as Gli dragged you out of there, instead just an empty feeling sitting inside of you. How could a random stranger read you more than your own friends? Your ears started to ring, and you yanked your hand out of Gli's hand, moving it up to your forehead and the ringing became louder and more painful.
Gli called your name multiple times, but you were out of it, stumbling around as if you were a drunk and closing your eyes tightly from the pain. She watched and realized Anton was right; You were on antidepressants.
She sat you down on a bench, where you stayed for five minutes, regaining your composure.
"Withdrawal episodes,"
You turned your head to Gli, wanting to cry. "I feel like a drug addict." You admitted, your throat becoming sore as you tried to hold the cracks back as your eyes watered, "I need help, but I can't."
"You can,"
"No, no." You shook your head, standing up. You almost fell, but you planted your hands firmly on the bench and stood back up. "I need to go home."
You stumbled as you walked away, ignoring the calls of your name from Gli and pushing the doors open, heading out to the waiting room your friends were sitting in.
"How was it?" Scaramouche asked, but was met with nothing as you walked past him.
"I need to go home," You groaned out, digging for your car keys in your pockets. Were you even in any condition to drive? You had no idea, but you had to get through this if you wanted to make it hope and sleep in your nice bed.
The breeze felt refreshing once you all made it outside, and made your head clear up a bit, but it was still foggy. It was dark out now, so at least you wouldn't have the sun make this worse and blind you. You made it to your car with a few stumbles, hoping no one would notice, or if they did, they just wouldn't say anything.
On the drive home, it was hard to focus, your mind could only fall into the depths of your overthinking, especially thinking about what Anton said. Had the meds really turned you into an addict for it? Was the withdrawal that obvious?
You felt your hands shake again, but tried to ignore it. You needed to go home, and rest, but how the hell were you supposed to when there's so many people staying in your home?
You wanted to groan but you had no strength too. You would never admit it out loud, but you hated everyone being here. You missed them, but did they even miss you? No one reached out for so long, your best friend got engaged and told your boyfriend but not you.
Did you do something? Did they only stay friends with you because of the exciting life you had and just forgot about you once you started to get your life together? Did they even KNOW you were getting your life back together, because how could they leave you like that once everything was going good?
A tear rolled down your cheek as your eyes rolled back, ready to pass out.
"Y/N!"
"OH MY FUCKING GOD"
"MOVE!"
You gasped, feeling like you just woke up and looked straight to see you had completely switched into the wrong lane and there were bright headlights coming straight towards you; You didn't have time to react, until Kaveh, who was in the passenger seat unbuckled and grabbed the wheel, steering it into the complete opposite direction as the car started to drift and everyone screamed as it spun around.
Was this how you'd all die? OH MY GOD YOU WERE GONNA DIE?!
Somehow everyone had forgotten Kaveh was actually and genuinely a good driver and managed to regain control of the car and drove it straight into a random and empty parking lot.
Kaveh sat back down and panted, and you were completely frozen in shock. Everyone else was panting from their own screams and Tighnari was ready to puke. Childe, who usually loved these thrills, could only clutch onto Scaramouche for dear life who clutched back.
Kaveh regained his composure and slowly turned to you. "What. The. Fuck?"
"YEAH WHAT THE FUCK?!" Scaramouche screamed, letting go of Childe. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?"
Your hands were shaking insanely now and you almost thought you were gonna have a seizure; You hoped you would so you could get out of this mess, but you stayed silent, letting out laboured breaths as you struggled to breath.
You heard the door open and in seconds Kaveh was at your door, opening it. "You're in no condition to drive."
He took ahold of your hand and you held onto it tightly, too tightly that he winced. He put a hand around your back and guided you out of the car and all the way to the passenger seat.
"Y/N," Tighnari panted, still in shock. "You need to talk to Kaeya, he has to do his psychology whatever on you and see what's wrong with you because there is so something clearly wrong with you."
"NO!" You yelled, shocking everyone as they stared at you in disbelief.
"Please," You whispered, ready to cry, "I just- I lost it, okay. That interrogation went really bad and they brought up the worst moments of my life and I know it's not an excuse but we CAN'T go to Kaeya and we can't tell anyone about this!"
The car was quiet, only a few pants coming from everyone as the shock was starting to wear off.
"Okay," Childe breathed out, "Okay, but if something else happens we're going straight to Kaeya."
That was something everyone seemed to agree on and you nodded, agreeing to that. Kaveh started the car, and the drive back was quiet.
You just had to stay strong until tomorrow; Some of the others were arriving tomorrow, and these were the ones who made life feel great. You needed them. Badly.
~~
okay so in this chapter I really wanted to go into depth about how bad it's gotten for y/n
the next chapter is a bit small, I know it's a bit boring now but I'm telling you the plot is starting soon and I might reveal in the next chapter or the one after who the mystery one-day villain is. The next chapter is a nice one though, taking place like literally 4 hours after this chapter in the middle of the night