Skyfall

Fingers drummed on the interrogation desk and a nervous throat clearing echoed off the walls. Harry’s perfect green eyes scanned the room, his heart feeling like it was going to beat right out of his chest. He looked at the mirror, knowing it was one sided and that he was probably being judged on his reaction to being dragged down here. He brushed his limp curls out of his face just in time for the door to open and Aerabella to walk through, a grim look on her face. She sat down across from him, all business.

“Can I get you anything? A water, soda?”

“Water would be nice.” He choked out, wondering why she was being so civil when they both knew she didn’t have to be. She turned to the mirror and nodded before turning back to him.

“So Harry, where were you the night that Christine Miller was murdered?” He swallowed again, running one of his large hands through his hair. It had gotten damp in the rain and he could feel the cold droplets running down his scalp. He was sure it would drive him mad.

“I told you. I got ready for the show, watched a movie, and woke up Lou at nine. Then we left.” He said, trying to hide how badly his hands were shaking as he looked at the beautiful, yet somehow sad, woman before him.

“What movie?”

“Quantum of Solace.” He said quickly. “The-”

“James Bond film, I’m aware.” She interrupted. “But last night you told me you watched Casino Royale.” His heart stopped as she simply looked at him, her expression unreadable.

“I don’t really remember which one.”

“What did the main girl look like?”

“Huh?”

“In the movie, I know that guys usually tend to focus on the Bond girls, so what did she look like?” His mind was racing.

“Um, black hair, really long. There’s a scene where she’s in this dress-”

“Eva Green.” She said simply “Casino Royale.”

“Like I said, I knew it was a Bond film.” He said hurriedly. Aerabella continued to look at him, watching the handsome boy squirm in his seat.

“Well I have to say Harry, I’m a little disappointed.”

“Why’s that?”

“You see, I have your bill from the hotel right here, would you mind reading everything in the highlighted section?” She slid a piece of paper across the desk and he turned bright red.

“Do I have to?”

“You ordered them, didn’t you?” He took in a shaky breath.

“Backdoor Patrol Three, Beijing Blow J-” He stopped, setting the paper down on the table and glared at her. “What the fuck does this have to do with anything?”

“Is Casino Royale anywhere on that list Harry?”

“No.” He murmured.

“Those are all the movies you’ve ordered on Pay per View, and like you said, no Bond films.” She snatched the paper back. “So why did you lie to me?”

“Because I didn’t want you to know what movie I really watched?” He tried to sound sure about his answers, but his nerves were making his voice do funny things.

“Nice try.” She said. “You see, I also know what time you ordered these movies, none of which were anytime at all between about three and nine yesterday. So, you want to tell me what really happened?” He let out a long sigh, running his fingers through his hair.

“You won’t believe me.”

“You’ll be spending a long time here if you don’t start explaining yourself, because guess what else we found during autopsy?”

“What?” He asked, terrified for the answer.

“Semen. Our victim had sex before she died and since you and Liam are the only ones I can get DNA from-”

“It won’t be a match.” He said quickly.

“And why’s that?” She asked, hoping the boy with the stunning eyes would finally give up the secret she knew he had been keeping.

“Because I’m not the one who slept with her.”

“Who was?” She asked, leaning closer to him. He couldn’t help but let his eyes fall briefly to her plump lips before they shot back to her face.

“Louis.”

“You might want to start explaining yourself Harry.” She said, leaning back against her seat. Finally a small brunette walked in, handing Harry a bottle of water before quickly exiting. He took a few greedy gulps; his throat feeling like it was on fire.

“We met her and Amy, the girl who’s missing, at an autograph signing. And they let us know right away they were interested. I took Amy, I have a thing for brunettes, and Louis took Christine. We obviously went to our own rooms and then the girls left.”

“And Christine was full of holes?” Aerabella asked.

“No.” He snapped. “She was very much alive, I saw her myself.”

“What time was this?”

“Probably three or four.”

“Right before they went missing.” Aerabella whispered, her words not meant for anyone but herself. “How many times did you two have sex?” Harry flushed again.

“That’s kind of a personal-”

“You lied to me about not only your alibi, but knowing the victim. Nothing is too personal now Mr. Styles.” He looked sheepishly down to his feet.

“Twice.”

“And Louis?” He somehow turned even redder and Aerabella was briefly concerned he might pass out.

“I don’t know.” He admitted. “I didn’t ask.”

“Well, I’m still going to need DNA, from all of you.” She pulled out a cotton swap in a small tube and leaned towards him. “Open up.” He obeyed as she swiped the inside of his mouth before sealing the lid and standing.

“I’ll be running DNA for all five of you, and if your story turns out to be true then it’ll be Louis who’ll be doing the explaining.”

“You’re not going to keep him here, are you?” He asked, his green eyes wide.

“He’ll have Liam for company.” She said. She turned back to the mirror. “We’re done here.” With that two police officers walked in, grabbing Harry’s arms and standing him up. He looked at her, begging for sympathy, but she didn’t look at him.

“Miss Haddock, please you have to understand, we didn’t do this!”

“Then all your DNA will back you up.” She said simply. She waited until Harry was out of the room before she stood to leave. But before she even turned around Ross stepped inside. The plump man looked at her, his eyes looking more sunken in than usual. “What now?” She asked.

“We don’t have any further reason to hold Payne. We got his DNA.”

“I get him for seventy-two hours.” She snapped.

“Aerabella.” He said. “Don’t let your emotions fuck this up. You remember what happened with-”

“Yes.” She snapped. “Trust me, I can’t forget that.” He sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“I’ll send some of my boys to get DNA from Tomlinson, Horan, and Malik.”

“I’ll do it myself.” She insisted.

“No, you won’t.” He said. “When was the last time you slept?” When her chocolate brown eyes found his he knew the answer. “You’re seeing her again, aren’t you?” She didn’t answer, which could only mean yes. “Aerabella, you couldn’t help that. It wasn’t your fault.” Her eyes snapped up to his, turning even colder than usual.

“You have no idea what it was like. I was supposed to protect her. I should have been there.”

“You’ve done a lot of good Haddock.” He said, squeezing her slender shoulder. “Don’t let that one case fuck everything else up.” She pulled her arm away and made her way out of the room. Ross sighed, running one of his hands through his wispy hair. “Poor kid.” He muttered, and then he made his way back to the station.

Aerabella decided to go see if Liam was more likely to cooperate after sitting in a cell for a few hours. Her shoes slapped against the cool concrete as she tried to clear her head. But no matter what she did, she couldn’t get those eyes out of her head. She was so focused on trying to forget, in fact, that she almost didn’t notice the two men in suits making their way towards Liam’s cell. Her head snapped up at the movement as she followed. They were being escorted by a police officer and headed straight for that handsome bastard himself.

“What the Hell do you think you’re doing Chase?” She hollered to the rookie cop. He turned, his blue wincing as he saw the small woman making her way towards him.

“They’re here for Liam.”

“Well they can’t have him.” She said to one of them men, an older man with faint crow’s feet and salt and pepper hair. “He’s a suspect in an ongoing investigation.” The man looked at her, smiling weakly.

“Well you see, he’s our responsibility now Miss…”

“Haddock, P.I. Haddock.”

“Well you see Miss Haddock.” The man said. “We’re taking Mr. Payne with us.” He handed a crisp piece of paper to her and she narrowed her eyes. The FBI watermark was pressed lightly into the parchment which was a statement for Liam’s release from the head of the bureau himself, Robert Mueller.

“What does the FBI want with my suspect?” She growled, tossing the paper back at the older man.

“That’s classified.”

“My ass that’s classified!” She seethed. “He’s a murder suspect!”

“Miss, don’t make us put you in custody.” The other suited man, this one much younger with blonde hair, said.

“I am leading this investigation and I demand you tell me what the Hell is going on!”

“Miss, this is your last warning.” The younger man said, getting in her face. “Calm down or we’ll be putting you in custody. Walk away.”

“Haddock.” Ross said, quickly making his way over. “What’s going on here?” He asked Chase. The salt and pepper haired man responded by handing Ross the same piece of paper he’d given Aerabella. The old man looked this over before letting out a short sigh.

“Very well, sorry gentlemen.” He said.

“Ross you can’t let them-” Aerabella started, but the old man simply held up his hands.

“I don’t have a choice, men, do what you must.”

“Ross.” She hissed.

“Aerabella, go home.” The old man snapped, his anger catching the young girl off guard. Finally her shield fell and he saw the pain in the young woman’s eyes

“You can’t let this happen again.” She whispered.

“I don’t have a choice. We can’t all be vigilantes Haddock. Go home.”

“But-”

“Go home.” Finally she shook her head, unable to believe that this man had let her down again. She quickly turned, aiming her way out of the station and to her car. Somehow she made it all the way to her apartment, stone faced. But the moment she closed the door she saw the small girl again and the walls fell. A tear rolled down her face, followed by another and another before she collapsed to her knees.

The small girl walked over and placed her hand on Aerabella’s head. She then knelt down, looking into the eyes that had once been so warm and playful, but now were cold and dead.

“I’m sorry Rickie.” Aerabella whimpered.

“You have to help them Ella.” The small girl said.

“You don’t understand, I can’t.”

“You could have helped me.” She whispered. Then she was gone, leaving the broken woman alone on the floor of her apartment, sobbing uncontrollably.

Liam looked up at the two men standing outside his cell and quickly stood. “It’s about fucking time.” He muttered. The cop unlocked the door and he quickly followed the two men outside. Once they were in the car, the blonde man in the back with Liam, he looked at the older man in the front. “I assume they bought it?”

“We didn’t even have to use the cover story. The second they saw the FBI seal they practically skipped us to your cell.” The blonde one said. Liam turned to the young man beside him.

“Did you get what I asked?”

“Right here. She’s pretty hot by the way, you nail her yet?” The blonde asked, smirking. Liam flushed, remembering throwing himself at Aerabella in an attempt to stay out of prison.

“Rogers.” The older man snapped.

“Sorry sir. But you have to admit, she does seem like the kind of girl who would sleep with a suspect to get information.” Liam and the blonde, Rogers, chuckled, but the older man kept a straight face.

“Have you two even read that yet?” He asked. Liam rolled his eyes before pulling the file out of Rogers’ hand. He looked at the photo for the woman he’d attempted to seduce just this morning as she stood in a police uniform, her face stern. Both young men’s eyes grew huge.

“She was a cop?” Rogers’ whispered. Liam remembered when he'd snapped at her in his hotel room, her voice echoing in his head.

“You’re not even a real cop!”

“I was.”

Liam’s mind replayed the sad look in her eyes as he started to skim, desperate to find out why she’d left the force. He was assuming she was fired for attacking a suspect or something, but the answer surprised him.

“She just left after her little sister died?” He asked.

“M]She was murdered.” The older man corrected. “By the senators son no less.”

“No shit?” He asked, looking back at the file.

“Well, they never proved it because they didn’t have reliable evidence and the case was dropped.” The older man explained.

“So basically, they didn’t want to piss the senator off.” Rogers continued for his partner.

“She resigned the next day and started in the private sector, always taking the cases no one else would touch with a ten foot pole. She won to, she always won.” Liam’s eyes fell back to the police photo of her. That explained everything, why she was so desperate to solve this case. He had known it was going to be dismissed by the police; they were too high profile to try. But she had ignored all that, and was risking her entire career just by investigating at all. He turned back to a newspaper clipping about the murder.

Local officer’s sister slain
Local SPD deputy Aerabella Haddock was unable to fend off a murderer right under her own nose this past saturday. Her late sister, Richelle Haddock, lovingly remembered as Rickie, was strangled to death and found in Green Lake late last night. The SPD are launching a full investigation, led by none other than the older Haddock sister herself. Rickie’s memorial service will take place this Saturday at Green Lake. She was seventeen years old.

He leaned back against the seat, reading the rest of the article, but found nothing. Why would they just drop the case? Was that why she had left the force? His questions were burning inside of him as he was driven back to the hotel.

“Are you sure the other four won’t be suspicious?” The older man in the front asked.

“No, who are they going to believe, me or Haddock?” With that he quickly exited the car, making his way inside. He laced his fingers behind his head as he made his way back up to his room, his lips pressed together. Haddock was hiding something, and he wasn’t going to stop until he found out what.

Aerabella finally got a hold of herself and stood, wiping the tears off her cheeks. She walked over to a photo on her bookshelf of her and the little girl who refused to leave her alone. She ran her thumb over her much younger self. “You’re a damn fool.” She whispered as she set the photo back down. She knew there was no way she could stay in this place, so she quickly cleaned herself up before heading back out to her car and making her way to the hotel.

She decided to not even try and deal with Zayn today and instead made her way to Niall’s new room, a piece of paper in her hand. She knocked lightly before the blonde answered.

“Miss Haddock.” He said. But suddenly his eyes turned sad. “Why did you take Liam and Harry?”

“Because they’re suspects, and so are you.” He sighed.

“I just… I never thought.” He started chewing his lip before his eyes shot back up. “Oh, I’m sorry; do you want to come in?”

“Yes, if you don’t mind.” She said, stepping inside and shutting the door behind her.

“I was going to order room service, have you eaten yet? Do you want anything?” He asked, indicating the phone.

“I’m fine, thank you.” She promised. “And speaking of room service, I don’t suppose you can remember what you ordered the other night, do you?” He stopped, chewing on his bottom lip again.

“Let’s see. I got a hotdog, a cheeseburger, a shake, two waffles, some crisps,” She looked at the list, checking off each item mentally as he rambled off. “And a turkey sandwich.”

“You ate all that?” She asked.

“I’m kind of a bottomless pit when it comes to food.” He admitted sheepishly, looking at his feet. “But I didn’t eat the crisps, I remember that. They were that awful vegetable kind.” He stuck out his tongue at the mere thought. She nodded. He had remembered every last thing on his order. And she’d confirmed that all the food but the chips had been eaten.

“Alright, thanks Niall.” His face fell.

“You don’t want to even stay for some hot chocolate?” He asked.

“I really have to get going.” She said. But when she saw the sad look on his face she just, she couldn’t leave. Rickie had pouted the exact same way, getting huge doe eyes like that. She chuckled. “Fine, but at least let me get your DNA first.” A small smile started to form on his lips as she quickly pulled the swab out of her jacket pocket and repeated the same process that she had with Harry, sealing off the small swab.

Niall quickly called up the two hot chocolates, along with a pizza, a cheeseburger, and another order of two waffles before hanging up and turning back to her.

“Should be about twenty minutes.” He said. She nodded.

“Do you mind if I come back? There’s something I have to take care of.”

“As long as you actually come back.” He said, looking at her. She nodded before stepping out and making her way to the room she was starting to know far too well. She didn’t know if he’d be back yet, but she decided to try anyway. She knocked lightly on Liam’s door and felt her heart stop when she heard him inside. As he saw it was her she was expecting him to slam it back in her face, but instead he just stepped aside.

She nodded and made her way in, listening to the click of the door behind her. She turned to Liam, his brown eyes catching hers.

“Why did the FBI come for you today?” She asked.

“Look I-”

“Liam, I can’t help that girl and save her friend if you don’t trust me. If you’re innocent then nothing’s going to happen to you.” She searched his eyes, desperate to see if he was finally going to cooperate with her. Finally he sighed.

“My name isn’t Liam Payne.”