A Bad Case

Summary: An intruder breaks into the morgue
Warning(s): Minor spoilers for the first season of Prodigal Son; AU; references to violence
Pairing: Malcolm Bright/Edrisa Tanaka

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To say the day hadn’t gone well might have been an understatement.

Edrisa risked a glance at the body on the table and then at the man who stood opposite her. At least, she assumed it was a man. The build looked heavy, but she couldn’t see the face beneath the gas mask the person had put over their face. She did see the gun aimed at her head and swallowed, glancing towards the phone that lay in one corner of the room.

“Do the autopsy,” the person growled, towering over her, finger tightening on the trigger.

Edrisa frowned, tearing her eyes away from the phone and looking at the intruder. “You want me to do the autopsy? You’re not breaking in to steal it?”

“I need my suspicions confirmed. Then I’ll leave. Take revenge on the person who truly deserves it.” The masked person stepped forward, pushing the gun against Edrisa’s shoulder. “Do your job.”

“You’re not my boss.” A nervous, hysterical laugh threatened to bubble up from Edrisa’s throat and she forced it down. “But my boss will be here. I pressed the silent alarm.”

“There isn’t one within reach of you.”

Edrisa took a deep breath and tried not to let her sense of panic show. She didn’t ask how he knew that. Instead, she spoke with conviction. “You won’t get away with breaking in and pulling a gun on me. They’re going to come here. They’ll need me.”

“No one’s going to come for you,” the intruder stated. “There was an emergency. All of the officers were called away.”

“Without me?” Edrisa faltered. She glanced past the man, spotting movement at the edge of her peripheral vision. Her eyes widened and she quickly looked away from the glass, focusing instead on the intruder once more.

The gun wavered, but wasn’t pulled away from her. “What did you see?” he demanded.

“Nothing,” Edrisa replied quickly, before then adding, “No, don’t look!”

“It’s okay, Edrisa.” Malcolm stepped into the morgue, raising his hands to show he was unarmed as the intruder whirled on him. “You didn’t really think you could sneak into the precinct and get out again without being noticed, did you?”

The gun wavered, pointing between Edrisa and Malcolm as if its wielder couldn’t decide which one was the bigger threat. “You don’t know anything about me,” he stated.

“Yeah. I do.” Malcolm took a few steps closer. “For instance, I know that gun you’re holding isn’t loaded. You’re not a killer. You just want to find out the truth. Like we do.” He gestured towards himself and Edrisa as he stepped closer, pressing his shoulder against the barrel of the gun.”

“Bright,” Edrisa whispered fretfully.

“It’s okay, Edrisa,” Malcolm repeated, looking at her sideways, his smile reassuring for all it looked manic. “You’ll be okay.” He turned his attention back to the intruder. “Put the gun down. You’re lucky no one’s checked the cameras yet. They do and it won’t matter that the gun isn’t loaded. Your life will be over.”

The gun wavered and was lowered, finally. The intruder holstered it and then raised his hands to his head, pulling the mask free, revealing a young man, maybe just turned twenty. He had blond hair that hung loose around his face and dark green eyes. They looked bloodshot and there were dark circles under them.

“My name’s Malcolm Bright.” He took a step closer, moving towards the man. “I’m a profiler with the FBI. You’re here for a reason. What is it?”

“He wants me to do the autopsy,” Edrisa spoke up.

“I need to know.” The man ran a hand through his hair. “I need to know for sure. I need to know who killed her. The autopsy will confirm my suspicions.”

“And then what?” Malcolm watched the man. Didn’t so much as take his eyes off them. “You’re planning to get revenge? To take the life of whoever killed her?” He paused before continuing, “You’re going to ruin your life along with hers if you do that. Don’t give her murderer the satisfaction of seeing two lives ruined through his actions.”

The man was shaking his head almost before Malcolm finished speaking. “I’ve seen too many criminals, murderers, set free because of the incompetence of the authorities. They get off on a technicality. Left free to kill again. I won’t let that happen.”

“Neither will Bright,” Edrisa stated, drawing the man’s attention to herself. “He’s the best profiler there is. He’ll catch whoever murdered her.”

“Edrisa’s right.” Malcolm moved round the man, stepping to her side, standing close to her. “But you’ve got to let her do her job. You’ve got to let us both do our jobs. And I promise you that we’ll bring her killer to justice.” He paused. “Don’t make the wrong decision here. Don’t throw your life away when you don’t need to.”

The man stared at Malcolm, then looked at Edrisa before turning his gaze back to Malcolm.

“You need to wait outside,” Edrisa said, made bolder by the man’s hesitation. “I’ll do the autopsy and report my findings. But you’re not authorised to be in here, so you need to wait outside.”

“I’d do what she says.” Malcolm smiled at the man. “In here, Edrisa’s the boss.”

“You’re not going to arrest me?” The man’s voice was thin. High-pitched. Sounded uncertain.

“I don’t have any authority to arrest anyone.” Malcolm shrugged.

“And I just work here, in the morgue,” Edrisa added. “I can’t arrest you either.”

The man continued to look between the two of them before he finally gave a sharp, almost jerky nod and walked out of the morgue.

Edrisa breathed in deep and her shoulders slumped as the tension fled from her. “Thanks for that.” She looked at Malcolm.

He grinned at her. “It looks to me like you were doing a pretty good job handling things on your own. But I’m glad I could help.” He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. Leaned in close.

She put a hand on his chest, but while she really should have pushed him away, given that she was about to do an autopsy, she found herself touching his bicep. “I always forget just how strong you are,” she murmured, before realising what she was doing and where she was touching. She quickly dropped her hand. “I should get to work.”

“Yeah. But first….” Malcolm wrapped his arm around Edrisa’s shoulders and kissed her, quick and tender.

“Wow.” She couldn’t help but feel dazed as he pulled back. It wasn’t really appropriate, but she laughed…and then quickly clapped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry.”

“Is that how you’re going to react the next time I kiss you?” He raised his eyebrows.

“You expect there to be a next time?” she whispered.

“What do you think?” Malcolm asked. “Would you like there to be a next time?”

“Absolutely.” Edrisa laughed and touched her lips with her forefinger, before shaking her head and turning towards the body. “But first…I have a job to do.”

The End