Pencil, Paper and Passion.

"Elizabeth, are you all right?" Ben's voice was soft in my ear, his hand gentle as he stroked it down my back.

I was hunched over in a chair and hugging my knees as Ben knelt beside me. I tried to open my mouth, to answer him, but nothing happened. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak. I couldn't even think. At least, not about anything other than what the police were currently extracting from my locker. So, I sat in the chair mutely, staring blindly down at the floor. I would've closed my eyes, had I not been sure of what I would see behind my closed lids.

"Sweetheart?" Ben's voice again, still gentle but with a trace of urgency behid it. "I need to know if you're all right. Answer me, please."

I managed to lift my head and shifted from staring blindly at the carpet, to staring blindly at Ben's face. I opened my mouth, to tell him 'yes, I'm fine' but the only sound that emerged was an unintelligible murmur. Even to my ears it sounded broken and I focused on Ben's face long enough to watch panicked concern cloud his features.

He lifted a hand to my cheek and swept his thumb along my cheekbone, before turning and speaking to someone off to the side. "After the police are done, I want you to take her home. She needs to get some rest."

I let my eyes travel over to whoever he was speaking to and was surprised to see Mr. Kalebrow leaniing against the desk, with his arms folded across his chest. When had he gotten there? How long had I sat here, completely unaware of what was happening around me?

I blinked rapidly, finally taking notice of where I was and who was with me. The chair I was in sat in Mr. Avery's office and he was there, along with Ben and Mr. Kalebrow. All three of them wore nearly identical expressions of concern and anger. I assumed the concern was for my dubious mental stability at the moment and the anger was for whoever had desecrated my locker. If the circumstances were different, I'd be able to appreciate three extremely attractive men being angry and concerned for me. As it was, I had trouble appreciating the fact that they were even there.

At a knock on the office door, Ben stood and watched as Mr. Avery answered it. A man, dressed simply in a pair of jeans and a jacket over a black t-shirt, entered. He was ridiculously good looking, with high cheekbones, chestnut hair, and grey eyes that edged towards lavender. Confused, I narrowed my eyes at him. Who was he? He couldn't be a cop; he didn't have a uniform. Had my mother hired another bodyguard? Did she even know about this?

Ben stepped forward and the two of them slapped palms before hugging each other one armed, in the way that all men seemed to do. "Jamie, hey. I wasn't expecting you."

"When someone gets a death threat, homicide gets called in." The man, Jamie, said it cheerfully.

Death threat? Had there been some sort of note in my locker? I must have made some sound of distress, because every pair of eyes in the office shifted to me. I stared at them, wide-eyed. "Was there a note? What did it say?"

"Elizabeth..." Ben started, his tone one of warning. "There's no need for you to-."

"No." I cut him off, trying to inject a firm note into my voice without success. I sounded shaky and scared. Frustrated with myself, I determinedly stood up and, locking my shaking knees, crossed the room to stand in front of Jamie. "I'm Elizabeth Sinclair. Those... things were in my locker. They were directed at me and it's my life that's apparently on the line. I have a right to know."

The man stared at me for several moments, as if he were deciding whether or not I did have the right. Finally, he held out a hand for me to shake. "Well, Elizabeth, my name is Jamie Gallagher. I'm a homicide detective, which is why I've been assigned to your case. Once someone recieves a death threat, we're called in to investigate, to make sure an actual homicide doesn't occur."

Gallagher? My eyes darted to Ben's face, as a sudden realization hit me. How had I not put two and two together, the moment the detective had stepped into the office? It was so obvious. His and Ben's facial structure were nearly identical, and the hint of purple in the detectives eyes should have been the first thing to tip me off.

Ben's own voice sounded in my head. "I have an older brother... my brother is a cop." We had talked about his family the day he took me for ice cream, and I'd learned what his siblings did. This was the cop. This was Ben's older brother. What kind of weird coincidence was this?

"I- Alright." I stood there, unsure of what to say. I had no idea if Ben had told his family about me. Even if he had told his family that he was seeing someone, he wouldn't have told them that I was one of his students. Would he? So, I kept my mouth shut and slid what I hoped was an unobstrusive glare at Ben. I knew it wasn't his fault that this was happening, but it was apparently his brother.

Wrapped up in my own thoughts, I didn't notice when Jamie suddenly gasped and only looked up when his hand, still wrapped around mine, constricted tightly. I let out my own gasp when pain radiated up my arm, as it felt like all the bones were being crushed. "OW!"

Jamie dropped my hand immediately. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to- I was surprised. I mean, you're Elizabeth. I should've put it together sooner, but I- Shit." He turned to face his brother. "Ben, really? You said there were complications, but I didn't think it would be this."

So, Ben had told his family about me, or he'd at least told them he was seeing someone named Elizabeth. I stared between the two brothers as I rubbed my sore hand. "Uhm..."

The detective focused on me again. "Ben told us a few weeks ago that he was seeing a redhead. Named Elizabeth. He didn't mention that you were a student, however."

"I-" Really, what could I say to that? "Sorry?"

Ben, looking quite murderous, stepped forward to lay a hand on my shoulder. "You are really lucky that everyone in this room is aware of our relationship, Jamie."

Jamie's eyes darted over to Mr. Avery and Mr. Kalebrow, both of who looked highly amused at the situation. "Oh. Well, look, it's not like I meant to-"

"If you would, for once in your life, think before you open your big mouth-"

"I am so sorry for being caught by surpr-"

The brothers were nearly shouting at each other now and I lifted my hands to ward them off, shouting myself. "Hey! Stop it, both of you!" I sent them each a scathing glance, speaking in the firmest tone of voice that I could manage. "You're adults; stop squabbling like children and act like it. You," I pointed at Ben. "Need to learn to control your temper where I'm concerend. And you," I shifted my finger to Jamie. "Aren't here to fight with your little brother. You're here to do a job, and I suggest that you get on with it."

Both men let out an automatic 'yes, ma'am' at my tone. They exchanged one more heated glance, before Jamie stepped forward. "You wanted to know about the note?"

I took a deep breath and braced myself. "Yes, please."

"It's really just your basic death threat, with a 'stop digging' in there. Actually, it was pretty creative. I kind of like it. Don't know what exactly you're digging into, you being a student and all. Don't you have homework? How on earth did you find the time to get yourself into this mess?"

I stared at him, unsure of what to say to any of that. "I..." I turned to Ben, for help. It was his brother, surely he could muddle his way through that and tell me exactly what the note had said.

With an exasperated sigh, Ben lifted the hand he still had on my shoulder and pinched the bridge of his nose. "The note read 'stop digging or you'll have dug your own grave'. Whoever shoved that mutilated cat into your locker knows Noah is trying to figure out who they are." Ben's voice rose and I realized just how angry he'd become. He stepped away from me to pace and gestrued wildly with his hands. "Whoever shoved you into that closet is escalating and now your life is on the line. That is what all this boils down to, Elizabeth. Somebody is threatening to kill you and we don't know who the are!"

Silence. No one dared to say a word, in fear of setting him off again. Ben's anger was tangible, but just under that anger was fear. He was afraid for me and he was afraid of losing me. There wasn't even anything I could say to ease his fear because the possibility was there, staring us all in the face. Whoever was doing this could very well kill me, or seriously harm me. They had the advantage of being anonymous, and they were using that advantage mercilessly. It was only a matter of time before they made their final move and there was no telling what the outcome would be.

I reached out and curled my fingers around Ben's wrist. Hoping the contact would be enough, I faced Jamie. "You're probably aware of my altercation with Ryan Laski and the fact that he has an alibi for when I was attacked. In any case, I don't think he has anything to do with it. I thin-."

Mr. Kalebrow cut me off. "Eliza, nobody else has any reason to hurt you. He's the only one-."

"No. No, I don't think this has anything to do with Ryan being kicked off the football team. All that died down weeks ago; even Ryan has stopped glaring at me. Besides, I recognized the voice of whoever attacked me and I'm almost positive it wasn't Ryan's, or any of his friends'." I reached up and rubbed at the center of my forehead, as something crept around the edges of my memory. "I don't- Ryan wouldn't have been able to pull that off alone and the more I think about it... I think it was just one person. I must have misheard..." Put her in the closet. My breath whooshed out as it hit me and I dropped my hand as my eyes snapped open wide. "Or didn't hear all of it! Put her in the closet. That's all I ever remember having heard but... Now, I can- I need to put her in the closet. He was talking to himself. He panicked; he hadn't thought ahead. What was he supposed to do with me, after I was unconcious?

Leave me in the hall? No, somebody would find me before he could get away." I was pacing now, in excitement. I was finally remembering. Soon, I would know who the voice belonged to and this would all be over. I continued to think aloud, processing it. "'What do I do? Where do I put her? That closet. I need to put her in the closet.' It was only one person. One person. Who though?" Irritated with myself, I rubbed at my forehead again. "Why can't I remember who it is? I remember everything else. I should be able to-!"

"Elizabeth!" Ben snapped, grabbing me by the shoulders, effectively putting a halt to my pacing. "Stop. You can't force it."

"But I can-"

"Stop it." He dropped one hand to fumble around in his pocket. Seconds later, he was pressing a snowy white cloth to my nose and tipping my head forward. "Your nose..."

"Again?" I lifted my eyes to his face, seeing that his anger had been replaced by concern. Sighing, I reached up to replace his hand with mine. "I've got it. Sorry."

Glancing around the room, I noticed that the other three men were staring at me in some sort of shock. I grimaced behind Ben's handkercheif. "I'm sorry. I know that must have looked bad, but it just sort of hit me."

Mr. Kalebrow stepped forward. "Do you realize what this means? If it wasn't Ryan, if it was just one person... Everything changes. This isn't some teenager out for revenge anymore, Elizabeth. If you're right, we know even less than we did before. Not only do we not know who it is, we don't know why they're doing it. We have nothing."

"But... The note. You have the note and the- the cat. Surely, fingerprints or some-."

"There weren't any." Jamie interjected, looking decidedly grim. "We've already dusted for prints and gone over your locker with a fine tooth comb. There wasn't anything. They're smart. They knew what we would be looking for and they took precautions."

Mr. Avery spoke up, "After you were attacked, the school board installed cameras in the hall. The police checked them; they've been erased of all footage. So, whoever this is knows how to cover their tracks."

"No... There has to be something. The bat! What about-?" The detective was already shaking his head. I could feel my stomach drop down to my knees, even as it twisted into knots. Nothing. Aside from my shotty memory, we had nothing. Until I remembered who that voice belonged to, it was just a matter of waiting. Waiting for them to make their next move. I pulled Ben's handkercheif from my nose, to check that the bleeding had stopped. Satisfied that it had, I wiped my nose quickly of any traces of blood before folding the cloth and shoving it into my pocket. "Then we wait. Noah, Jamie, you'll keep digging. Try to find out anything that you can."

Ben's anger came back full force. "That's the exact opposite of what should be done. We need to stop. They're threatening to kill you, unless we stop."

"They're going to hurt me anyway. There was no reason for them to attack me in the first place, other than wanting to hurt me. They're not going to stop just because we have. Maybe we'll catch a break; maybe I'll remember whose voice it was."

"There's no guarantee, Elizabeth. If we stop, they'll leave you alone. They won't-."

"You don't really believe that, do you? They might leave me alone. Think about it though. What are the chances of that happening? What are the chances of this just going away because we ignore it?!" I was angry now. At Ben, at my attacker, at the entire situation and my helplessness to do anything about it. "Right now, our only option is to keep digging. Maybe my memory will return, maybe Noah or Jamie will figure it out. Or maybe they will come after me. It doesn't matter what happens, so long as this is resolved. At least it'll be over."

Once again, complete silence descended. This time, it wasn't fear of setting off someones anger that kept everybody silent. It was the complete and utter finality of my last three sentences that shocked eveybody speechless. I was prepared to risk my own death to end this, as long as it did end.

I was suddenly completely aware of how this was going to end. I wasn't going to remember whose voice it had been and neither Noah nor Jamie were going to figure out who it was. No, but they'd keep digging and force my attacker to make a move. It would undoubtedly be against me and the outcome was impossible to figure. There was nothing to do but wait.

I looked at the faces around me. All four of them wore the exact same expression. Determination mixed with fear and resignation. They knew as well as I did how this was going to play out, that we could do nothing but hold back and wait. The only thing is, I thought to myself. Are we waiting for my attacker to be revieled or are we waiting for my death? Could we have one without the other?