Mikki De'lucca

You stumble in a stupor up the sidewalk beside the stoically silent and scary Specter Agent, into the unmarked office building and across a spangled white lobby towards the elevators..

The steel doors slide closed, trapping you like a rabbit in a snare at the mercy of an angry Hunter.. "Am-Am I in trouble, Mr Paxton?" You stutter..

He shrugs one shoulder, indifferently.. "I have no idea what you are, Miss De'lucca."

You fall silent as the doors ping open and he leads you through the dimly lit, empty office floor, opening the door to a bare room, with only a table and four steel chairs inside..

Familiar feelings of fear as past memories begin to flood you.. You have been in an interrogation room before.. The frosty bite of the air conditioning, the faint smell of cleaning chemicals..

A flurry of flashbacks hit you in rapid succession.. One after the other..

The FBI had held you indefinitely and interrogated you on multiple occasions.. Sometimes you for days, or weeks at a time.. Threats, taunts, intimidation and plea deals.. Back and forth.. You remember feeling so confused and overwhelmed you had wanted to recede inside yourself.. To shut down entirely..

Some of your worst nightmares are made up of those memories..

The people who had worked so closely with your husband.. The men he had called friends..

They have treated you no better than the criminals they hunt.. It is a perverse game of bad and badder, the ends justifying the means in their narrow minds..
You were just the means to an end in their eyes.. Not a victim.. Not a person..

"What is going on? Who the fuck are you people?" You stand, frozen in the doorway, unwilling to go any further..

"You need to answer my questions, Miss De'lucca.. If you can't do that, I can't help you.." He replies bluntly, barely acknowledging that you had spoken..

You look around, seeing nobody else in sight, it's late and the building is deserted for the most part, a few lights on here and there but otherwise, it is a ghost town..

Where are you?

Why did Colt bring you here?

Who even is he?!

"And if I won't? Am I under arrest?" You fold your arms defensively..

"No, you're not under arrest.." He waves a tattooed hand back towards the elevators.. "Last I heard the bounty on your head was well over a million now.. But by all means, you're free to leave.."

You hate that he thinks you have nowhere to go.. But he is right.. Reluctantly, you shuffle forward.. "What do you want to know about?"

He smiles, not a kind smile, a sharky and shiny grin.. A hint of darkness in his watchful gaze.. "I thought as much.. Come, love.. Sit down.."

You move at the tone of authority he uses, almost as though you are conditioned to it.. Actually, you probably are.. It's that same patronising edge you'd find in your father's voice when he'd scold you in disappointment..

He was always so disappointed in you..

Anxiously you take a seat at the cold steel table, looking down to see it is bolted to the floor.. "Where did Colt go?" You ask, looking up to make eye contact with yourself in the large mirror fixed into the wall.. Two-way, no doubt..

You stare at your pale, frightened reflection.. Wondering who might be on the other side.. Watching..

Hunter opens a blue folder, shuffling through a stack of papers inside as he dismisses you once again.. "Don't worry about Knox right now, Mikki.. Worry about the mess you're in.."

Annoying..

He is irritating and rude, a sharpness to his attitude and a haughtiness to his tone.. Then again, he probably thinks the very same thing about you.. You aren't exactly being nice..

You try taking a softer approach.. "I think there has been a mistake, Mr Paxton--"

But softness changes nothing..

"No mistake.. You were with Oliver Reid the night he disappeared.. Were you not?" He doesn't bother to look up from his papers..

You snap your mouth shut..

The interrogator sighs in exaggerated frustration.. "Let's try this again.."

He slides a picture across the table and you look down to inspect it.. "I know you were with Oliver Reid the night he disappeared.."

Before you is a picture of you and Oliver at Mimi's gallery, his arm is hooked around your waist and you are smiling.. A fake, forced smile, that now that you see it, it's almost painful.. It's like looking at a different version of yourself..

An insane version of yourself..

So much has changed since that moment..

"That was the last time I saw him.." You confirm before sliding the picture back across the table top.. There is no sense denying it..

He tips his head to one side.. "But it wasn't the last time you spoke to him.. Was it?"

You shift in your seat.. "I had nothing to do with this--"

"I have the phone records.. Reid called you at.. 11:49.. So.. Three hours after 'you last saw him', the two of you spoke, for six minutes.." The scrutiny of his hawklike stare and the Arctic temperatures of the AC make you intensely uncomfortable..

Flustered and freaking out inside, you do your best to hold it all together on the outside, nodding once.. "That sounds about right.."

"Six minutes is a short conversation.. What did you talk about in those six minutes, Mikki?" He probes..

"I don't exactly remember.." You evade.. Actually, your final conversation with Oliver is the last thing you do remember with any certainty.. Anything after that..

Who knows if it was all in your head or a great big fucking lie.. Distinguishing fact from fiction, reality from hallucination, it has become so tangled in the web of your thoughts that you couldn't possibly know the truth..

Hunter breathes a low breath of irritation.. "Of course you don't.. So then, you can't tell me you didn't arrange to meet up with him again.."

"No.. I didn't meet up with him anywhere--" You rub your eyes tiredly, unable to keep up with his switching tangents..

He hums doubtfully.. "Hm, but you just said that you can't remember--"

"Why are you asking me about this?! I didn't fucking abduct Ollie.."

He leans forward on his elbows curiosly.. "Who said anything about an abduction?"

"Well, obviously.. People don't just disappear on their own!" You roll your eyes..

He smiles tightly.. "My thoughts exactly Miss De'lucca.."

You snap sick of being framed as some kind of villan, pushing up to your feet.. You have had enough "This is fucking ridiculous.. I had nothing to do with Oliver going missing, and I really hope you find him.. But you still haven't even told me what the fuck is going on here! If you're not going to give me some answers then I'm leaving--"

He leans back in his seat, unbothered by your biting temper and threat to walk.. "Miss De'lucca, are you aware that Agent Oliver Reid is currently under internal investigation for running operations off the books, and as his asset you were his last known contact?.."

Now there is an answer you could never have predicted.. Not in a million years..

Your stomach drops as you sink back down into the chair..

If Oliver wasn't meant to be working an investigation, then just what the hell was he doing?!
Is there anybody who hasn't lied to you?

You twist your fingers together tightly.. "I--I didn't know any of that.. Look, I spoke to him the night before Colt and I left the compound, okay.. He said he'd been compromised, and that I wasn't safe.. He told me that I needed to get out of my father's house.. Which I did.. He asked to meet me the next day at Central, but he never showed up.. That's all I know, I swear.."

"Anything else?" Hunter scribbles a note on his papers..

You think back to how you thought he had said he loves you.. But you lie instead, since you get the feeling these people would happily use that kind of information against you.. "No.. But.. He sounded like he was out of breath.. Running?--Maybe?.. He sounded scared.."

Hunter's brows arch in interest.. "Tell me Mikki, how well did you know Reid?"

You shrug in a non-committal way .. "Not all that well.. I mean.. We'd spoken for a few months.. We talked a bit on the phone.. I guess I'd say he is my friend.. Or I thought he was--"

"Did you engage in a sexual relationship with Agent Reid?" There isn't a trace of shame to his inappropriate query, or the way he asks it..

You scoff, glaring at him across the table.. "No! What does that have to do with anything?"

"It could go to motive.." He shugs before he begins to clicks the end of his pen, looking you over as if trying to decide whether or not he believes you.. "Mikki.. Do you know where Agent Reid is now?"

You shake your head definitively... A question you can without a doubt answer honestly.. "No, I don't.."

He smiles.. "Would you tell me if you did?"

You chew your lip, sensing the trap.. "Well, I-- I don't know you.. So--"

He nods understandingly.. "Yeah, I figured you'd be too loyal for that.. You are loyal.. Aren't you?"

You frown.. "I guess so.."

He nods, almost sympathetically, and eyes you with understanding.. "Angelo De'lucca has loyalty from you.. Doesn't he?"

You choke.. "Excuse me?"

"I find it difficult to believe you have no involvement in Agent Reid's disappearance, Miss De'lucca.. Given your history with these kinds of incidents.. Not to mention, you returned to the compound, shortly after the death of your husband, even though you were reported to have made the claim that Angelo was responsible.. What kind of widow could do something like that?"
His burning accusation stuns you..

Your mouth falls open.. "I-- that-- No, one has nothing to do with the other-- I mean, I said that, but I didn't have much of a choice--"

He interrupts.. "You'd do anything for your father, wouldn't you? Maybe even help him bury a DEA agent who was getting too nosy?"

"I didn't hurt Oliver! I would never!" You object sharply, your voice cracking..

"No?.. And what about the security detail reportedly found with his throat cut outside your bedroom window?... What was his name--" He looks down to scan the page before him with his index finger.. "Ah, Dax Ranger? What happened to him?"

The walls begin to waver as your stress-level spikes, but in your mind one thing remains clear.. Colt had told you not to speak about Dax.. You don't dare open your mouth and thankfully you don't have to, because the door bursts open..

"That's enough, Mr Paxton, my client won't be answering any more of your questions.." In strides a pretty and petite woman in an expensive navy mini-skirt suit and six inch stilettos.. Her long raven black hair is styled sleek and glossy in a high ponytail, her straight bangs trimmed to symmetrical perfection..

Behind her follows a stunning, model-esque brunette, tall and slender, with sharp yet delicate features and striking amber eyes.. She wears a tight black pencil skirt and a loose fitted white button down..

Both display expressions of unimpressed irritation.. Neither of them look like women to be messed with..

"Lemon?.. Kirby? --What the fuck do you think you're doing?! The DA's office has no business here--" The chiseled, Scandinavian-featured interrogator growls, very obviously familiar with your new saviours and displeased to see them..

The stunning brunette named Kirby, steps forward, taking charge of the situation.. There is a no nonsense manner to her as she swans around the table towards you.. "Lemon is doing her job, and I am here to ensure you allow her.. I won't have citizens subjected to torture because you're having a hard time doing yours.. If you want to take down the Godfather for his crimes, you know I support you.. But if you want it to stick, I can't let you do it like this.. That's not who you are, Hunter.. Iris has her privileges, but this is still my city and Specter Agents are not above the law.."

She speaks surely and eloquently, taking the seat beside you with a smile..

"It's nice to finally meet you Mikki, I'm Kirby.. Colt called me, he thought you might need an attorney, and my associate Lemon Lennox here is one of the best.." Kirby motions an introduction to the raven haired beauty named Lemon..

You nod, speechless.. You've seen Kirby Paxton on the TV.. The city's first female DA, who pledged to clean up crime rates and reign in gang violence..

Truthfully, you have no idea why she would help you, but are grateful and completely in awe of her presence..

Lemon pulls up a chair on your other side, even more beautiful up close, she has the kind of eyes that colour shift from green to blue beneath the lights, aquatic and so sparkly.. She smiles at you, not with any warmth, but professional and confident.. "Now, what we're going to do, is get you out of here and get you into medical care for assessment.. I'd like to make sure--"

"You're not taking her anywhere." Hunter barks, rising quickly to his feet.. Lemon places a comforting hand over yours when you jump in your seat, signaling you stay put..

"She knows something, Kirby.. She's not leaving until she tells me what it is.. You should know better than to come in here on your high horse, acting all fucking--"

Kirby rises to her feet too, her shoulders back and her composure perfectly intact.. "All fucking what, Viking? Go on, finish that sentence.. I dare you.."

Hunter grits his teeth, scowling at her for a long minute before he seethes in a low warning growl.. "You really wanna do this, Duchess?.. You know this means war.."

Kirby leans over the table fearlessly, if not a little flirtatious, she taunts the man.. "He who wishes to fight must first count the cost, Ragnar.."

"PAXTON'S ENOUGH!" Through the open door slinks a familiar fountain of red hair and bubblegum pink elegance, the room feeling more crowded by the second, fast becoming claustrophobic..

But you would recognise Ellerie Devereux anywhere.. She had been Charlie's partner at the FBI and the two of you had become close friends after Charles had moved you both to DC..

But after your husband's death, your relationship with her became strained.. She eas just too difficult to face.. Too hard to forgive.. You couldn't help but blame her for the way his life had ended and resent the role that the FBI had to play in the whole mess..

The corruption.. The cover-ups.. The false promises.. The questioning and interrogations.. Oh god.. The interrogations..

You can't bear to think about them now..
No.. It is far too terrible..

After years of mourning, Ellerie had been the one to find Charlie.. Alive..

All that time you'd been left thinking he was dead, you had given up on any hope of seeing his sweet smile or hearing his soothing baritone.. It was Ellerie who had been given the opportunity to see him again.. She would uncover the deep seeded FBI corruption that had led to Charles Everett faking his own death.. To protect himself.. To protect you..

He had survived all that time, hunted by Angelo's right hand man, Mack Fletcher, who had been acting under the orders of the dirty Federal agent, Elijah Pierce..

They had all worked together, Ellerie, Elijah and Charlie.. And Jake Harrision.. They were friends.. Or so you thought..

Even now, the entirety of what had happened back in DC still makes no sense to you, most of the facts were withheld and all details of the resulting internal investigations had been redacted from public record..

You wonder sometimes if the truth even matters anymore.. Even if you knew everything, it wouldn't bring him back..

Within a few weeks of Ellerie unearthing this dark, twisted plot, and before he could talk, Charlie was killed.. This time.. Ellie was there to witness it for herself.. This time, there was no question.. No mystery..

He was really dead.. Gone..

Ellerie takes command of the room, all eyes glued to her.. She is a powerhouse in pink.. A dominant presence in a room full of Alpha's.. "I'm calling a ceasefire!" She scolds the arguing pair, looking between Hunter and Kirby with an expression of pure exasperation..

"E-Ellie? W-What are you doing here?" You stammer dumbly..

Her mere presence sends you over the edge and into a full on panic.. How tangled is the web these people weave?!

Your heart begins to beat out of rhythm as you suck shallow breaths through your teeth..

Liars.. They're all Liars.. Every last one of them.. You can't trust anyone.. Everyone wants something from you and nobody believes a word you say.. You are either a liar or crazy or both..

Oh, but then everything begins to make sense and the broken pieces start falling together when a face that haunts your nightmares appears behind her..

FBI director Jake Harrison himself saunters into the room, dressed confidently in a sharply tailored navy-blue suit and tie, his stubble strong and dark and his greenish-grey eyes, glary and harsh..

He leers at you through the gaze of a cold hearted man, stony and without empathy.. Harrison had so viciously accused you of working for one of his corrupted agents, Elijah Pierce, only hours after you had learned of Charlie's death..

Of course, you had not been working for Pierce at all, you had given him information you believed would be safe to give to a Federal agent, yes.. You had testified under his coercion, yes.. But you had been terrified of him, not working for gim..

It is impossible that Colt could be one if these people.. He doesn't belong here.. You don't belong here either.. This is all impossible..

Without realising you are on your feet, the fear of god striking through your heart.. The nightmares have manifested to become real one again and you feel somewhere trapped in between, suffering once again for all the terrible thibgs your father had done..

"Ti odio, bastardo! Ti odio! You ruined my life! I hate you!" Everything begins to spin out of control, forcing your vision to spot in and out of blackness because you can't breathe.. "Mangia merde e morte! I hate you! Ti odio!"

There is a horrible shrill static howl in your ears, screams of fear and terror.. When you feel the cool hands of your new attorneys wrapping around your arms, you barely register the sensation.. Or the fact that the pained, terrified wails that reverberate throughout the office are coming from you and when you look down, you see that in your hands you hold Charlie's blade at the ready..

Ready to defend yourself..
Ready to fight for your life..