Skyfall

Aerabella was seething as she looked at Ross. “What do you mean by lockdown?” He asked.

“I mean not one of those boys leaves that hotel without a tail.” She said.

“Haddock, that’s not quite legal.”

“Then we won’t tell anyone. It’s either that or they don’t leave that hotel at all.” He sighed.

“I’ll talk to five of my best-”

“You only need four. I’ve got Sam trailing Tomlinson.” Ross’ eyes grew wide at her risky move.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Aerabella nodded.

“She’s a smart girl, and she’ll blend into the background a lot better than a bunch of cops.” Ross sighed before looking back up to her.

“Is that all then?” She nodded. “So what’s next?” Her eyes narrowed, not looking at anything in particular.

“Malik.” She growled.

Zayn was smoking yet again, his window cracked so Haddock wouldn’t get on him if she came by. Then again, the idea of her on him in any sort of way just made him smirk. He took another long drag as he stood, shirtless, staring into the rain. A loud knock broke him from his thoughts as he slowly walked over, answering the door with the cigarette hanging out of his mouth. His lips pulled into a smirk as he saw Aerabella standing before him.

“Well hello love.” He cooed, taking another long drag and blowing a smoke ring around her face. She crunched her nose up at the smell before stepping inside and shutting the door.

“Listen up Malik; I don’t want to be here, so let’s just hurry this up.” Her eyes fell to the small, white stick hanging from his mouth before she plucked it from between his lips and put it out against the wet windowsill. He smirked as she turned back to him.

“What do you want to know?”

“Why were you in Niall’s room the night of the murder?” His face stayed completely still, as did his hands as he tucked them into his pockets. He was the picture of calm.

“Now who told you that?” He asked.

“Louis.”

“Louis is a bloody liar.” He cooed, leaning over to whisper in her ear. “Maybe he did it.”

“Maybe you did it.” She said quietly. He pulled back, narrowing his eyes at the look she was giving him. His stomach tightened as her brown eyes gazed up from under her long, thick lashes.

“Maybe I did.”

“Maybe you should tell me your alibi.” She murmured. He bit his lip, his eyes falling to her breasts, then up to her lips, and then finally her eyes, which were still giving him that undeniable bedroom look. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll take your offer of a kiss for your alibi.” He clicked his tongue disapprovingly as he stepped closer to her.

“Well you see love, that was a onetime offer. Now it’s a shag for my alibi.” She looked down, eyeing his exposed chest before looking back up at him. He felt the front of his jeans become uncomfortably cramped at the way she was looking at him. She slowly smiled.

“Deal.” Not wanting her to change her mind he quickly pressed his lips to hers. She tasted like coffee, and her lips were even softer than they looked. She kissed him back as he ran his tongue along her bottom lip. She granted him access, deepening their lip lock even more. He felt her hands on his chest as she started backing him up towards his bed. His heart was pounding, not believing getting the sexy older woman to bed was really going to be this easy. As he fell onto his back she quickly straddled him, pinning his hands above his head.

He suddenly heard a loud click and the feeling of metal around his wrists. Her lips left his and his eyes flew open as she pointed her gun in his face. His smirk dropped into a scowl as she grinned smugly at him. “You tricked me.” He growled, pulling against the handcuffs she’d used to fasten both his hands to the headboard.

“You fell for it.” She said simply.

“Fucking bitch!” He screamed, struggling against the cuffs. She simply pressed her gun to the side of his head.

“Why were you in Niall’s room?”

“Like I’m going to-” He was cut off by the click of her pulling the hammer back. “You won’t shoot me.”

“You don’t know that.” She whispered into his ear. He swallowed nervously.

“You’re out of your goddam mind!” He hissed.

“Maybe I am, want to find out?” He let out a long breath before his eyes finally found hers.

“Look, I heard Louis and Haz, you know, shagging those two American birds, and so I went into Niall’s room to decide if maybe we wanted to try our luck at a pub or something.”

“And?”

“And nothing, he said no.”

“So you went by yourself?”

“No I…” He paused, flushing slightly. The zipper of his jeans was biting into the bulge he’d gotten from their make out, and Aerabella sitting on it wasn’t making it go away. He was having a lot of trouble thinking, knowing that they were just a few layers of clothing away from shagging.

“You what?”

“I went to a titty bar.” He spat out.

“Which one?”

“What the fuck do you mean which one? You not know the titty bars in your own city?”

“No, because I’m not a filthy excuse for a human being.” She growled. “Now which one was it?”

“Déjà Vu. It’s on Lake City way.”

“How long were you there?”

“I don’t know, four hours maybe?”

“Maybe?”

“It’s a bit hard to focus on a clock when a bird is shoving her tits in your face.” He growled. “Now get these cuffs off of me and get out.” She smirked, seeing how flustered he was. She purposefully sat back, putting all her wait on her crotch and listened as the young man bit back a primal groan.

“Are you sure that’s everything Mr. Malik?”

“Yes… FUCK!” He moaned, his breath starting to get heavy. His eyelids were half closed; his honey eyes now a dark brown and clouded over with lust. She had him right where she wanted him.

“Is there anything else you’re not telling me?”

“If I tell you will you take care of this for me?” He asked, looking at the soft hand around the gun and imagining it wrapped around his manhood. The thought simply caused the front of his pants to become even tighter.

“Maybe.” She whispered, mimicking him.

“You’re a bloody bitch, do you know that?” He asked, but then a faint smirk came over his face. “But I fucking love it.” She simply rolled her eyes.

“Focus. What else did you see?”

“Well, I went to Harry’s room around nine to make sure he’d be ready for the show. When I walked in I noticed he had two key cards and that he had just gotten out of the shower, but the clothes he’d been in earlier were gone.” She bit her lip. Niall had something about misplacing his keycard; she’d have to go have a chat with Mr. Styles. Without another word she turned on the safety to her pistol before tucking it back into its home in the waistband of her jeans. She quickly dismounted Zayn and walked towards the door. His eyes grew huge. “Where are you going?” She turned back.

“To check your alibi.” She said simply. He fought against his handcuffs.

“But you said you’d take care of… this.” He nodded towards his crotch and she smiled.

“Well you see love, that was a onetime offer. If you would have just told me your alibi in the first place you wouldn’t be in this position, now would you?” He clenched his jaw.

“Well then at least unlock these so I can take care of it myself.” He said sheepishly, refusing to make eye contact with the stunning woman. She simply smirked.

“I think I like you like this. You can’t go anywhere.” With that she turned her back to him, opening the door.

“Haddock? HADDOCK GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!” He hollered. She turned back before shutting the door.

“See you around Malik.”

“HADDOCK!!!” He fought against the handcuffs for a good five minutes before giving up, his now raw wrists falling back to the pillow. But despite her leaving him like this he couldn’t help but grin, remembering the older woman straddling him and only making the front of his pants even tighter. Finally he sighed, dropping his head to the pillow. “Fuck.”

Aerabella couldn’t help but chuckle as she walked away from Zayn’s room, a smirk playing out over her lips. She could hear the handcuffs rattling and felt a wicked sense of accomplishment wash over her. With him finally taken care of she made her way towards Harry’s room only to hear a voice stop her.

“He’s not there.” She turned to see Douglas looking at her, leaning against his door.

“Then where is he?”

“Why don’t you tell me?” He asked, pushing himself off his door and walking over to her. He leaned down, whispering in her ear. “I know you have people tailing us.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She lied. “Besides, that’s illegal.”

“You don’t really seem like the kind of woman who’d obsess too much over about what the law says.” He said simply. He nodded towards his room. “We should talk in private.”

“What, so you can push me out the window or seduce me again?” She growled. “I don’t think so.”

“Look, I trusted you, so you’re going to have to trust me too.”

“What, like believing that B.S. story of yours?” She hissed, keeping her voice down.

“Everything I told you is true.” He whispered back.

“Then why didn’t you answer my question?”

“What question?”

“Why did the FBI bust you out? Wouldn’t that just draw more suspicion?” He sighed.

“We need to discuss this in private.” He pressed. She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Fine, let’s go.” She started walking towards his room, when he grabbed her shoulder.

“Not private enough.” He said quickly.

“What the Hell do you mean?”

“I mean I’ve got the guy who slept with the first victim on my right and the one who shagged the second victim on my left. I can’t take any chances.” She sighed before finally looking back up at him. This was stupid, she knew it was stupid, but she needed answers.

“Fine, follow me.”

She quickly led him out of the hotel; giving a small head nod the man she knew was Douglas’ tail, indicating she’d watch him. He gave a small nod back, returning to his newspaper as she hopped into her car. He slipped in beside her, keeping his head down as she backed away and started towards her apartment building. They were both quiet, a news radio station playing faintly was the only noise until they pulled up. She killed the engine and got out. She made it all the way up the stairs before she stopped, hesitating about slipping the key into the lock.

She was terrified Rickie would be in there and she would fall apart. She knew that Liam would think she was crazy and have her pulled from the case if that happened, and she refused to let one of those boys get away with murder. She took a deep breath before finally speaking. “I hope this covers the trust question.” She said quietly. With that she unlocked the door and stepped into her apartment. She flicked on the lights to see that, to her relief, Rickie was nowhere to be seen.

Douglas noticed her shoulders drop as she shrugged off her jacket, hanging it on a coat hook before walking into the living room. “Do you want coffee?” She asked simply.

“I prefer tea of you have it.” She rolled her eyes and muttered something about him being a ‘stuck up British ass’ before disappearing into another room he assumed was the kitchen. He walked around the living room and guessed by the lack of a mess that she was hardly ever here. His gaze soon fell to a photo on a bookshelf of two young girls. He immediately assumed the older one to be Aerabella, seeing the same nose and cheekbones, even in her youth. But it was her eyes; they were so warm and happy in the photo. Every time he’d looked into her eyes they’d been cold and shut off. He looked at the other girl in the photo, this one much younger, but the spitting image of Aerabella. He assumed that this must have been Rickie, the one who was murdered.

“How much sugar do you want?” Aerabella’s voice broke him from his thoughts

“None.” He answered simply. With that she emmerged from the other room, her eyes darting to the photo in his hands. She handed him his mug before snatching the picture back and placing it face down on the bookshelf.

“I don’t need you snooping anymore than you already have fed.” She growled. He simply shook his head, looking into her cold eyes.

“What happened to you?” He whispered. Ever since he’d read her file the question had been plaguing him. All her reports said that she was a happy woman who worked well with people. They said she was caring and compassionate, always showing respect to those higher up than her. Now not a single word of that seemed to apply. Her eyes fell to the floor before she walked over to the couch and sat, looking at him.

“Well you’re the serial killer profiler, why don’t you tell me?” She asked. He pressed his lips together before walking over. He was going to sit opposite her, but instead sat down by her side. She cocked an eyebrow at the gesture as he looked at her.

“Like I said, I know your sister was killed and I know the Seattle Police Department dropped the case.”

“And like I said, you don’t know shit.” He set his tea down, resting his arms on his knees.

“If you want information from me I need to know everything about you.” He said simply.

“Oh, did your little file not cover everything?” She locked her eyes with his. “Why did the FBI pick you up?” He licked his lips, looking at the wall.

“I’ll tell you what, you answer one of my questions and I’ll answer one of yours. That sound fair?” She sighed before taking a sip of her coffee. Finally she set it down and looked back to him.

“Fine. Why did the FBI pick you up?”

“Because they weren’t really the FBI. They were two SOCA agents who are working with me on the case. They knew that the SPD couldn’t hand me over to them because they don’t have jurisdiction here in America, so they posed as FBI agents.” She nodded, chewing on her lip. “Why did you leave the force?” She looked blankly at the turned down photo.

“Because they care more about keeping the funders happy then they do about justice.” She turned back to him. “Why did you volunteer to take Liam’s place?”

“I didn’t. I had the same build and body type so I was basically informed I would never be able to be myself again.” He sighed. “I have to go into hiding after this because they’re not quite sure they can change me back to myself.”

“Jesus.” She muttered.

“Yeah.” He paused, looking to the ground. “Why did you become a cop in the first place?” She scoffed.

“Because I thought I could actually help people.” She said. “I was a naïve girl.” She looked into her coffee, staying quiet for a long time before looking back to Douglas. “What did you look like? Before they turned you into Liam?” He didn’t answer; he simply reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He pulled out a photo and handed it to Aerabella.

She ran her fingers gently over it. He had been handsome, but a more mature kind of handsome. His eyes were the same dark brown they were now, but his hair was longer, brushed haphazardly out of his face. His nose was a lot straighter, unlike the more buttoned nose he had now. But his lips were exactly the same plump ones that still sat on his face. He looked like he could have been Liam’s distant cousin, which is probably why he’d been picked. She didn’t say anything, she simply handed the photo back to him. “I think I prefer you then.” She said, smiling lightly. He chuckled.

“Me too.” He then paused, wondering how to phrase his next question gently. “Why was your sister’s case thrown out?” He asked. She didn’t say anything; she simply grabbed her mug and took a long sip of coffee, her always steady hands shaking slightly. He locked his eyes on her, knowing this had to be huge. Finally she sighed.

“Because the old Captain destroyed my evidence.”