"Hello?" Amaris' voice sounded weak when she picked up the phone. She sounded tired, no, exhausted. It worried Taehyung.

"So you know that mugging you told me about yesterday?" Taehyung asked, swallowing all the other questions he wanted to ask her.

For a moment, Amaris didn't answer. There was a silence that hung for several seconds before Taehyung heard her swallow and answer timidly, "yeah?"

"You're certain it was supposed to happen three days later?" Taehyung looked down at the file in front of him, biting his lip as he spoke.

"No," she whispered.

"No?" Taehyung's voice was louder than he wanted it to be, but he couldn't stifle his surprise. "What do you mean you weren't certain?"

"Taehyung, I have a mystical being that lives in my head and whispers the future to me," Amaris replied with more than a little animosity, "I've learned not to be certain in all the things she tells me."

"But then how did you know the day?" Taehyung asked with a more gentle voice.

"At the end of the dream..." Amaris paused. "Just as I was waking up. There was a newspaper with the date on it. That's how I knew."

"I see." Taehyung trailed off, glancing once more at the file on his desk.

"You didn't call me to ask all these questions, Taehyung," Amaris said after a moment.

"Amaris, we found a body this morning matching the description you gave me. He was stabbed to death with his wallet missing in a small alley," Taehyung sighed.

Taehyung heard a sharp intake of breath on the other side of the line followed by deafening silence. He was too afraid to say anything, too afraid of Amaris' reaction. He waited, letting his eyes dart around his cubicle to aid his restless mind, for Amaris to speak. After what felt like an eternity, Taehyung heard a soft click and his ear was filled with a dial tone.

"." He tossed his phone on his desk and leaned back in his seat.   

There was something wrong with Amaris. It was something beyond this murder dream she had had. Over the phone, she sounded sleep deprived. There was a certain strain in her voice that made it sound like she was hurting. But whether it was emotionally, physically, or both, Taehyung couldn't tell.

Taehyung threw the file in his hands onto his desk, quickly standing up and rushing out the door. He didn't care about protocol or his job, he just had this gut instinct that he needed to help Amaris. That thought scared him, though. He didn't know why he felt so strongly that he needed to save Amaris. She was strong, he knew that, but her current state was something he had never seen in her before. For some reason, Taehyung felt like he was losing Amaris again.

"Amaris, open up!" He shouted, banging his fist on her door.

"Taehyung?" Amaris peered at him from behind the door. She looked better than he had feared, but she still seemed weak. Her eyes were just slightly bloodshot with bags under them.

"I got worried when you hung up," he said sheepishly, glancing at his feet. 

"I suppose you're not going to leave even if I don't let you in," she sighed, opening the door wider for Taehyung to come in.

"Amaris, something's wrong." Taehyung stepped in, looking at her with the strongest gaze he could muster. "I know I'm just a cop you're helping that used to be your friend, but I want you to know you can talk to me. If not me, Jin or just someone. It kills me that you're hurting like this all on your own. I know you're used to being alone at this point, but you need to talk to someone...please."

"That's the thing, though, Taehyung." Amaris turned away and shuffled over to her couch. "I'm not used to being alone."

Taehyung followed her and joined her on the couch. They sat for a moment in silence, Amaris staring at her hands in her lap and Taehyung watching her face carefully.

"Ever since I left ten years ago, I've had the Oracle in my head. She talks to me, shows me things. Even when she's not talking to me, I can feel her presence," Amaris whispered.

"Is something happening with the Oracle?" Taehyung asked gently.

"She's gone, Taehyung!" She shouted, snapping her head up to look at him. In her eyes, Taehyung saw panic and fear and something else he had never seen in anyone before. 

"The Oracle?" His brow furrowed.

"I can't hear her, I can't find her, I can't even feel her!" She spoke rapidly, reaching out to grab Taehyung's hand with more strength than he ever imagined she could have.

"Isn't that what you wanted, though?" Taehyung asked softly, placing a hand over Amaris' shaking one.

"I thought it was," she said, shaking her head, "I truly wanted her gone. But I spent a decade of my life with her. Despite the hurt, the anger, the loss, I've grown to know her. I've lost my goddamn mind, Taehyung, but it's even worse when she's gone."

Taehyung watched her as tears spilled from her eyes. She was broken, a small girl. Taehyung had often wondered if Amaris would be the girl she once was if the Oracle disappeared. Now, however, Taehyung realized that the Oracle was part of Amaris. It was foolish to see them as two different people. Spending a decade with a person would bring you close. But having that person in your head would of course affect your dependance to them.

"I understand," Taehyung muttered, more to himself than Amaris. He reached out and wrapped his arms around her small frame, bringing her forward until her head was nestled in his chest. He could feel her tears soaking into his shirt and her rapid breath warmed Taehyung's skin, but he didn't mind. All he wanted to do was help her. His words couldn't do that, but he figured if he could at least show her that he still cared for her as much as he once did all those years ago he could somehow help her.

They sat like that for quite a while until Amaris' sobs faded into sniffles and then into soft breaths. Even after Amaris had calmed down, Taehyung still held onto her. Now, it was less for her and more for him. Taehyung felt silently validated as Amaris agreed to let him hold her. He felt that, for just this moment, he and Amaris were the people they were so long ago. Sure, Amaris was nothing like the girl he had met when he was sixteen, but right here, right now, she was the girl he had loved and he was her ride or die friend. 

"Taehyung?" Amaris whispered, pulling back from their embrace. 

"Yeah?" He looked down at her, whispering too although he wasn't quite sure why.

"Thank you," she mumbled, burying her head back in his chest for just a moment longer.

A/N:

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH OHMYGOD I'VE BEEN GONE FOR SO LONG I APOLOGIZE!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S TAKEN ME SO LONG TO WRITE THIS CHAPTER BETWEEN CLASSES AND JUST TRYING TO PIECE IT TOGETHER. THIS ENDED UP WAY MORE DRAMATIC THAN I PLANNED, BUT HEY WHAT'RE YOU GONNA DO. HOPE YOU ENJOYED! MAYBE I CAN UPDATE AT A REASONABLE RATE NOW~