Chapter One ϟ Fresh Start
"So, is this the last box?" Brennan asked as the blonde man in the blue movers van unloaded the last brown box out of the truck.
The man nodded before giving Brennan a smile. "You have a nice day ma'am."
Brennan smiled back. "You too."
She watched as the red moving truck pulled away from the apartment complex and turned the corner of the street out of sight. Circling around to stare at the building Brennan sighed.
This is what you wanted, a fresh start, her brain chanted at her. The slate gray building wasn't anything too special. It wasn't the most luxurious apartment complexes that Brennan could have chosen with all of her money but when she walked into the apartment they were showing Brennan just felt as if this was home.
She needed that. She needed the homey feeling.
Memories of the last month flew around in her head causing a dull ache to pulse at the front of her brain.
Deep breaths Bren, deep breaths. She commanded to herself shaking off the bad thoughts and making her way up the stairs to her new two bedroom apartment.
After she had unpacked a few things, Brennan decided it would be a good idea to not mope around the apartment and to go check on her newest job at the CCPD. First, she took a shower not wanting to go down there all sweaty and smelling like cardboard boxes.
Once she was out of the shower she changed into light wash jean capris that were rolled at her ankle with small rips on the thighs, a white v-neck, a black blazer jacket, and a pair of black vans to complete it. She tied her wet hair into a messy bun on top of her head letting a few of the already dried baby hairs fly out on the sides. Grabbing her purse off the counter and making sure her keys and phone were inside she walked out the door, remembering to lock it.
As she was approaching the elevator a body collided with hers and they both went sailing to the ground. She landed on the bottom with a thump and immediately groaned at the weight on her body.
"Oh my, I am so sorry." A panicked male voice said.
Brennan cracked her eyes open as the weight on her body lifted. She sat up with a grimace. "It's fine. I wasn't watching were I was going either." She stated looking up.
Slowly, her eyes drifted from the floor to see a pair of black converse that lead to dark skinny jeans, a white t-shirt, and a brown blazer. Glancing up from the outfit she saw one of the cutest shy smiles she'd ever thought she'd seen. The boy's face was tinted pink but it made him even more adorable. He had brown hair with bright green eyes that seemed to light up in the dim hallway.
He scratched the back of his neck at the awkward situation before reaching out his hand. Brennan took it, standing up, while relishing in the fact that his hands were so soft.
"So, are you in a hurry or something?"
That seemed to break the awkward tension in the hallway. The boy's eyes widened as he checked his watch on his wrist before tossing his head back with a groan.
"Yes, I'm going to be late, again." With that he took off running towards the door that read stairs in bold red letters.
Brennan gave a small smile before the lift doors opened and she walked into it.
Her foot hit the cement as she stepped out of the cab just after handing the very nice old man the money for her ride. She slammed the yellow door shut and the vehicle drove off. Turning away from the street her eyes scanned the building taking in the sight of where she would be working for however long she decided to stay.
Taking a deep breath she began to stride forward into CCPD. As she lightly marched into the main office she was taken aback by all the tension. It wasn't an awkward tension or one of anger it was just as if everyone was busy focusing on a task and they didn't want to be bothered.
She glanced around the room before spotting a very familiar figure.
"Detective West, it's so good to see you again." She watched as the colored man in the light blue button up turned around at his desk. He smiled at her before stepping forward.
"Brennan Merlyn, how are you doing kid?" He asked wrapping his arms around her in a hug. Detective West knew how hard the last month most have been on the young girl. Once, he had a case that led him to a lead in Starling City and meeting Brennan.
While he was at the police department talking with Detective Lance, this young brunette wearing a navy sundress with a pink floral pattern on it, light brown leather jacket, and tan ankle booties walked up to the desk, a bag of big belly burger and a cup of coffee dangling in her slender fingers.
"Hey Uncle Q, ready for lunch?" She spoke, her hazel eyes alight with happiness. Her pearly whites sparkled as she smiled at him.
Detective Lance gave a small smile back in disappointment. "Sorry sweetie, I'm going to have to take a raincheck. We have a lead on a case that we are partnering with Central City for and it has to be dealt with right now."
A frown fell onto her lips but the happy aura that she presented didn't fade. "Okay, but you can't cancel on me next time. Laurel says if you cancel on us one more time you don't get invited anymore." She joked with a giggle and a smile at the end.
"It's a deal, Pumpkin." Lance gave a real smile this time before Joe interrupted it with a cough. Quentin glanced over remembering that Joe was here. "Oh, right," He started, "Brennan, this is Detective Joe West, Joe this is my daughters' best friend Brennan Merlyn."
Joe stood to shake the girl's hand. "Merlyn? As in Malcolm?"
Brennan nodded. "Yes, that's my adopted father. He's not around much though so, I spend my time bothering Detective Lance when I need a fatherly figure. And put that hand down, I'm a hugger."
She lightly slapped Joe's hand away before wrapping her arms around the man that was almost a head taller than her giving him a good squeeze before letting go. "It was nice to meet you, Detective."
"Likewise," Joe stated and he truly was. This girl was like a bottle of sunshine.
She turned to Quentin the smile never leaving her face as she thrust the Big Belly Burger bag towards him. "I guess you can take this but don't tell Laurel that I brought it to you. She'll kill me if she finds out I've been helping you eat unhealthily."
"I won't let her know." Detective Lance chuckled along with Detective West as Lance grabbed the bag from the girl setting it down on his desk.
"Oh," The young girl snapped her fingers as if she just remembered something, "There are a bowl of veggies in there. Just some broccoli and cauliflower. It's cooked and actually really good so, if you could do me the favor of eating it, I'd appreciate it. Then, I won't feel so guilty when I lie to Laurel that I brought you food from Health Mart."
Again the two men laughed with the girl. "All right sweetie. I will."
"Thank you." She replied. "All right, I'm off. You boys don't get into too much trouble." She stated giving them a smile before walking away.
Detective Lance grabbed out the container of french fries offering one to Joe. "She seems like a nice girl."
Lance nodded swallowing a fry. "One of the best. She really helped out after I lost my daughter. She's like a ray of sunshine. Wherever she goes it's as if the whole room brightens. She's always been that way. Not a big fan of her brother or her father but that girl, she's amazing. Definitely followed after her mother Rebecca, great woman she was."
"Rebecca Merlyn?" Joe questioned knowing the story of the woman.
Lance nodded. "Yeah, I don't know how Brennan is this ray of joy though, everyone figured after watching her mother be mugged and shot she would end up with a slew of therapists, but she's like that." Lance lifted a hand in the direction Brennan left.
Joe's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "She watched her mother die."
Lance stared in the direction of the door. "Yeah," He replied placing the fries. "Poor thing sat with her trying to stop the bleeding until Rebecca died."
"That's awful," Joe concluded.
"Agreed, but we better go."
Joe nodded standing up. "Right."
Joe saw her quite a few times after that and had taken quite a liking to her. He now saw her as one of his family and was, at times, very protective of the young girl.
She stepped back out of his hug with a small smile on her face. "It's Porter now, Brennan Porter."
Joe raised an eyebrow at the girl in front of him. Something was different and he didn't think it was just because of the events that happened this last month. "Are you okay Bren?"
Deep breaths, Brennan. Deep breaths. Once again the mantra ran through her mind as she stayed focused on answering Joe's question.
"As fine as I can be." She sighed chalking up a smile that she knew he wouldn't believe but it was the best thing that he was getting. "I'm actually here to fill the position as the sketch artist."
Joe scanned her one more time in silence before letting it go. Obviously, she needed more time to grieve her losses. She wasn't quite ready to talk it out yet.
"Ah, yes, I just heard the captain talking about that. He's in his office right now. I'll take you to him and then we can get you settled in." Joe explained guiding her to the corner of the building.
Brennan nodded giving a tight-lipped smile. "Sounds like a plan."
Joe watched as the young woman before him stared straight ahead at the door they were approaching. The familiar warmth and shine to her aura and personality seemed to be gone or at least so faded it wasn't making an appearance. Her smile had lost its happiness and she was hurting. Hurting way more than she wanted to let on but Joe knew a few things about her. He knew enough to tell when someone was hiding deep grief. He also knew that she was headed down a rough path that she needed to escape from.
The only problem was, he didn't know if he could help her escape.
ϟ
"So, this will be your office, technically," Joe stated as they walked up the steps into a room that was filled with computers and lab stuff.
Brennan turned to him with her eyebrows raised. "Is this the forensic lab?"
Joe let out a chuckle. "That is it. Since you worked at SCPD as their forensic scientist we figured you wouldn't mind sharing that space with ours..or helping out from time to time." He trailed gesturing in front of him hoping she would say yes.
Knowing that she was actually missing her old job she nodded. "I can do that."
"Your pay will be bumped up to since you're doing both jobs," Joe responded.
Brennan waved her hand dismissively. "Don't bother. Give it as a bonus to someone who deserves it."
"Bren-" She cut Joe off before he could even begin. "Joe, both my father and my brother just recently died and left a company in my name. Though the sales and stock of the company went down Malcolm sneakily transferred almost all of the money from the company into my bank account. It also happens that I received another inheritance and their life insurance policies. Now, I've donated most of it but I'm okay." She stared at the detective before her.
"I don't need the money but someone else here in the office probably does and they do a lot more than sketch pictures. They save lives, you save lives." She stated.
Knowing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with this conversation he just nodded. Yet another, tight-lipped smile pulled at her lips before glancing to her right at a white desk. "This mine?"
Joe nodded again. "This will be your desk. In the filing cabinet behind you are tons of art supplies you may need."
"Thank you." She muttered appreciatively. Joe stepped forward laying a hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad your here Bren and just think, you're the new bee around. It's almost like this is a fresh start."
She didn't answer with words, just a small smile and a nod. Joe took that as his cue to leave. Slowly, she walked behind the desk and sat down in the chair scanning the room.
"Yeah, fresh start."