P. Stormcrow

“You’re enjoying this pretend date a little too much,” Finn teased as they sauntered up to the front doors.

“How can I not, with such a lovely lady on my arm?” 

She rolled her eyes at how thick Jackson was laying it on, but she also could not help the heat that crawled up her cheeks. Not trusting her voice, she opted to say nothing and let him lead on.

She kept her tongue still as he bought the tickets from the most bored kid at the box office. It wasn’t until they stepped away that she broke the silence. “Did the victims go anywhere before the movie? The washroom?”

“Popcorn!”

“They got popcorn?”

“Nah.”

Before Finn could protest, Jackson bounded towards the food counter with more enthusiasm than she had seen him possess in a while. She followed a little more slowly and watched as he bought a huge bag along with drinks for both of them and candy. When he returned to her side, she shook her head.

“Is there even a case?” Not that she had any doubt after that writhing mass of red energies she saw, but she could not help but be swept up by Jackson’s enthusiasm.

Jackson gasped in mock horror. If he had a freed hand, he would have probably pressed it against his chest. “Of course there is! I would never make up a fake case just to go see the latest live action of my favorite anime.”

Finn narrowed her eyes. 

He laughed and jerked his head towards the designated theater. “Come on, it’ll be fun.” 

She kept a straight face as she grabbed a handful of the popcorn, jammed it into her mouth and walked past him. Meanwhile, buttery goodness exploded on her tongue and she tried to recall the last time she had done this. Not just seeing a movie, but relaxing with an outing that didn’t include a bar.

No, Finn. This is a case.

Shit. Now she was doing it.

They entered the room with the oversized darkened screen looming over them. Finn ignored it as she climbed the stairs in the aisle to pick a seat. Jackson followed suit and plopped down beside her.

With it being an early showing, most seats remained empty even as the lights dimmed and the screen flickered to life. She sank deeper into the plush cushion and grabbed her drink to sip it. Cola. She kept expecting rum and felt an itch to pour some from her flask only to remember she didn’t have it on her.

Ads, then trailers came on. As boredom set in, she tried to study the place only to find it as normal as she could recall any theater to be. They sat in the same seats as one of the victims and her boyfriend, 21C and 21D, which afforded them a decent view without having to cramp her neck. Were there more people in the suspected showing? Like at the beginning of every case they had ever worked, there were too many questions and not enough answers.

She turned to Jackson only to find him already engrossed with what was playing on the screen. With a small sigh, she adjusted to face forward and to pay closer attention.

It started out depicting the characters in their daily lives, but soon took on the first twist as they got sucked into a game. Okay, that was still a pretty common trope. The male and female lead met. The romance subplot grew more prominent. The kiss. Then it led to more.

Finn flushed. She wasn’t a prude, but she was all too aware of who she was watching the movie with. No one told her this was going to be explicit! She squirmed and grabbed her drink again, focusing on that as she tried to sneak another glance at her partner.

No, his reaction hadn’t changed at all, eyes still glued to the screen. Wait, was that a slight flush on the back of his neck? It was hard to tell in this light. 

The case. Concentrate!

With as much discretion as she could muster, she snuck her hand into her messenger bag and withdrew her own kaleidoscope. She glanced around, making sure no one else was looking at her before lifting the plastic toy to her eye and aiming it at the large screen.

The amount of energy staggered her, and she dropped the tool in her lap with a loud enough gasp that it drew Jackson’s attention. She clamped her mouth as he tilted his head towards her.

“It’s active,” she whispered when she pulled her hand away from her face.

Jackson held one long finger to his lips and mouthed a silent word. “Bait.”

No! She looked at him again through the lens of the toy. Tendrils of the same energies had wrapped around him. She looked at herself. None. Why? Both of them had active wards on, so it couldn’t be that. Oh God, what would it look like if Jackson didn’t have his ward bracelet on?

She had wanted to watch this movie so badly ever since the trailers came out.

He adored the anime.

It was supposed to be his treat for his birthday.

Damien was a fan. They were all fans. 

Something in this room was killing the diehards that loved this franchise. They had to find the source.

Boom.

Finn jumped from her seat. On screen, an explosion had occurred and the female lead screamed as the male main character got caught in the wreckage. Wait, didn’t he have multiple lives?

The camera switched to all white with animated black lines symbolizing sound or something? Oh God, they were heading into some existential philosophizing. She stopped paying attention once more and clenched her fists instead. It took all of her willpower to not drag Jackson out to chew him out. How could he be so reckless as to use himself as the lure? Was this his plan all along? Forget about whatever was killing people here. She was going to strangle him herself.

Fingertips brushed against her. Jackson didn’t meet her eyes, but he grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. It didn’t make her any less angry at him, but the immediate burning anxiety calmed.

And part of her wondered if it was how he felt when she made that decision to move locations with the three mercenaries.

For that reason alone, she forced herself to remain in her seat, no matter how difficult it was for her. She even tried to refocus back on the movie to see it through, but sneaked peeks in now and then. By the end, she had to admit that she had only a vague idea of what the story was about and that she was hard-pressed to explain what the ending was.

“Well?” Jackson asked as the credits rolled over the screen. 

Others got up to leave and Finn waited until they were alone before answering. “Why?” She kept the question soft.

Jackson shrugged. “It’s the fastest method I could think of.”

Not good enough. I will not yell. I will not yell. “By putting yourself in harm’s way when we don’t have a clue what the fuck this is?” That came out louder than she intended. “Why? You know our safety is the priority. We can’t investigate if we’re dead.” Oh nevermind, she was yelling.

“Your safety is my priority!” he shot back.

Everything in her stilled with shock. “What?”

He pushed his hair away from his eyes with a growl of frustration. “We’ve had too many close calls. You’ve had too many close calls. I’m not losing anyone else again. I will not lose you too!”

Of all the stupidity… “And you’re going to stop that by what? Jumping in front of oncoming traffic yourself?”

“Better me than you!”

“Why? Why is my life so much more important than yours?”

“Because!”

He had no answer and for the first time, Finn recognized it for what it was. Survivor’s guilt. God, how had she not seen it until now? She knew they were both walking around wounded, but he bore more scars, not just from their recent cases but older ones. Ones from losing Maya, and his old partner, too.

Okay, she had to be the mature one here. Be his rock the way he had been for her. Except she had no idea how.

Great.

“Jackson. Damien,” she began, then stopped herself again. Nothing she said at this moment was going to convince him that his life was worth just as much as hers. “I’ll make you a deal.”

Surprise flitted over his face before suspicion took over as he narrowed his eyes. “What deal?”

“If I promise to be more careful, more conservative with taking any risks with my safety, can you do the same?”

He winced at the underlying threat. For a moment, Finn thought he would complain, but he sighed, his shoulders slumping down. “Fine.”

She took out the kaleidoscope again and looked him up and down. Did the victims all have similar red energies wrapped around them? Are only the most fervent of fans getting targeted? 

“Nothing else has this kind of energy,” she commented as she aimed the toy at the screen then at the rest of the theater.

“Then seeing this through is our best bet.” Jackson stood from his seat, leftover popcorn in hand.

“I’ll do you one better.”

He raised a brow in question.

“You promised you wouldn’t be so careless with your safety, right?”

“Yes…”

So much hesitation in that single word. But it was enough for her. “Good. Then let me handle it.”