Taehyung burst into the police station with a purpose in his step and a whirlwind of thoughts buzzing through his mind. He had been woken up by a call from Jin saying he had a lead on the mugging that Amaris had dreamed about. A coworker of theirs had apprehended a suspect after he tried to rob a convenience store at knife point and brought him to the station when they remembered Taehyung telling them about Amaris' dream that came true.

He could remember the pain in Amaris' eyes when she found out she was too late. Taehyung had hated himself for not being able to help her, and he hoped that by catching the culprit he could make something right. He wanted to be able to comfort her in some way. It should have worried him that he wanted not to find justice, but to make Amaris happy. He knew they could at least press charges of attempted armed robbery, but he wanted to put this guy away for the mugging that caused Amaris so much pain.

"What do we know about this guy?" Taehyung asked Jin as he came to stand next to him in front of the one way mirror that showed him their suspect.

He was a skinny guy, scrawny almost. He wasn't at all physically overbearing or threatening; he just looked like a desperate kid. That's what he was, a kid. He couldn't be any older than twenty, and Taehyung would be surprised if he had any education past high school. 

"Nineteen year-old delinquent. Serial pickpocketer, and not very good at it. We've picked him up a few times before, but nothing as serious as trying to rob a convenience store with a pocket knife. Granted, this is a far cry from a mugging turned homicide, but the way he was acting when they brought him in reminded me of how Amaris described him as fidgety and desperate." Jin read off of the file in his hand before passing it over to Taehyung.

Taehyung read over the surprisingly lengthy file. The boy on the other side of the glass had been taken in several times for petty theft when he was younger and mostly got off with a fine and a slap on the wrist. 

"There's no residence listed for him." Taehyung looked up at Jin, raising an eyebrow.

"He came from an orphanage and when he turned eighteen they kicked him out. We haven't picked him up since then, so we don't know where he lives," Jin explained.

Taehyung squinted at the file one last time, willing himself to see something there that could convince him this...this kid was capable of murder. All he could see was a delinquent with a penchant for robbing little old ladies. But Amaris' words rung in his mind.

"Desperate."

She made a point of describing the killer as desperate. He hadn't meant to kill that man, he just panicked.

The young man sitting in that interrogation room exuded desperation. He had never before, or at least according to his record, used a weapon. And he had always stuck to purse snatching, never attempting something like a convenience store.

"What changed?" Taehyung muttered to himself.

"So?" Jin asked, breaking Taehyung's focus.

"What?" Taehyung looked up at his coworker.

"We can't hold him here forever. You're going to have to go in there eventually," Jin said, jerking his chin towards the glass that separated them from a potential murderer.

Taehyung nodded gently, closing the file in his hand and walking towards the door. As he swallowed the lump in his throat, he noted that something felt wrong. He had a good enough reason to suspect this boy, but something in his gut told Taehyung he was going the wrong direction.

With his hand resting on the doorknob, Taehyung wondered if he was doing the right thing. In the midst of everything, with the days quickly dwindling, he was chasing a case that any number of his coworkers could cover. He had bigger fish to fry and, frankly, he shouldn't have been bothered by a petty thief. But he remembered that this was for Amaris. She had come to him, not Jin or anyone else. She asked for his help.

And with that in mind, Taehyung finally turned the handle to face who he hoped was the man from Amaris' nightmare.

"What's your name, boy?" Taehyung asked as he pulled the chair across from the suspect out and sat down.

"M-min Yoongi," he stuttered, shying away from Taehyung and into himself.

"Now tell me, Yoongi, what changed?" Taehyung leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table between them.

"What do you mean, sir?" Yoongi asked timidly.

"I mean," Taehyung began, "how did a petty thief turn into an armed robber and a murderer?"

"Murderer?" Yoongi moved to pull back in shock, but the cuffs holding him to the table stopped him.

Yoongi winced in pain and cast his eyes down to his handcuffs as if just now remembering them. Seeing this, Taehyung's resolve faltered for a moment. Yoongi had seemed genuinely shocked at Taehyung's accusation, but it could have been because he thought he had gotten away with it. After all, the only people who had been there was the victim and the murderer. The only reason Taehyung was pursuing this was because the Oracle had seen it happen. Yoongi could haver well just be shocked because someone found out.

"Where were you last night?" Taehyung asked, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Home." Yoongi averted his eyes, answering tersely.

"Says here that you don't have one." Taehyung tapped the file lightly with his index finger.

"I was in the abandoned car factory," he mumbled.

"And can anyone confirm this?" Taehyung pressed.

"...no."

Taehyung caught a slight hesitation in his voice. He couldn't think of why, but Taehyung felt that Yoongi was lying. It didn't make sense, though. An alibi would set him free, so why would he lie that someone could absolve him of blame? 

"Listen, kid." Taehyung rubbed the space between his eyebrows exhasperatedly. "Lying isn't going to help you. The only way you're getting out of this room is if you tell me the truth."

"I'm not lying!" Yoongi shouted defensively.

"God dammit!" Taehyung stood up and slammed his fists on the table. "You are wasting my time. Did you or did you not kill a business man in a dark alley last night?"

"I haven't killed anyone." Yoongi shook his head. Taehyung could see a sliver of fear in his eyes, but he couldn't bring himself to stop. He was angry that Yoongi didn't seem to be the person he was looking for. He was angry at himself for letting his pride and his feelings for Amaris distract him from the case that he really needed to be working on.

"Taehyung stop!" 

The door to the interrogation room opened and Amaris rushed in. She grabbed Taehyungs arm that he hadn't realized he was holding Yoongi's collar by.

"It's not him, Taehyung," Amaris whispered, "let it go."

Taehyung released Yoongi's collar and stepped back. He had never seen Amaris look at him like that before. She looked scared, scared of what he was capable of.

"He's lying about something, Amaris." Taehyung shook his head. "He's suspicious."

"Let me talk to him," she said calmly.

"You're not a cop I can't let you interrogate him," Taehyung said, looking down at his shoes.

"He's frightened, Tae," Amaris whispered, "I just want to calm him down. He's just a kid. I don't want to interrogate him, he just needs a friend right now."

Taehyung looked at Amaris and saw the pleading in her eyes. There was something beyond wanting to help this kid in those eyes. It was like Amaris was begging to be useful somehow. She couldn't help Taehyung with the case as much as she wanted to, couldn't prevent that man from dying, and couldn't help catch the killer. She just wanted to be able to help with something, somehow.

"Sure, yeah." Taehyung nodded, sighing. "Go ahead and talk to him."

"Thank you." Amaris reached out to place a hand on Taehyung's cheek. 

Taehyung smiled softly and exited the room. He felt exhausted, both physically and mentally. He had no idea what came over him. He felt like this whole plot with demons and Lillith and the fact that he had no idea what to do or where to go was driving him mad. There was nothing Taehyung could do for as long as he couldn't figure out that stupid puzzle and its clue.

"Look at her," Jin said softly. 

Taehyung shook his thoughts away and looked over at Jin. He saw the way Jin was looking at Amaris through the glass. His eyes were soft and he was smiling gently.

"She's so gentle with people, so kind." Jin smiled as Taehyung joined him over by the glass.

"She used to be such a rebel, you know?" Taehyung laughed, remembering Amaris before she had become the Oracle. "If you knew her back then, you wouldn't even think this was the same person."

Jin didn't reply, and Taehyung turned his attention back to Amaris. She was speaking to Yoongi with her hand resting on his. He looked like he was on the verge of tears, but he seemed to be cooperating with Amaris. Watching this exchange, Taehyung began to appreciate the change that had happened in Amaris from the time they had been reunited. She had gone from extremely drawn in to this incredibly empathetic woman. And as he looked on, Taehyung realized he had to do anything he could in order to solve this puzzle. He would have to embrace this world of crazy, go all in to help Amaris. And as Taehyung thought about what next steps he could take, Amaris emerged from the interrogation room.

"Did he say anything?" Jin asked, approaching Amaris before Taehyung could.

"He was just trying to help his siblings." Amaris shook her head softly. "That's why he lied to you, Taehyung. He didn't want you to know about them."

"What do you mean?" Taehyung's brow furrowed.

"They aren't his real siblings, just kids that he used to live with in the foster home," Amaris explained. "He said the woman running the foster house was abusive and when he got out he took some of the kids with him. They've all been living in the abandoned car factory and that's why he's been stealing stuff-- to be able to feed them."

"We have to do something about this," Jin said. "We can't just leave this be."

"Jin, they're just kids." Amaris shook her head violently. "You can't put them back in an abusive home."

"I'll open an investigation into their foster home, but for the time being we need to get those kids to a real house and do something about Yoongi." Jin brushed past Amaris and out of the room.

"Thank you," Taehyung said softly, "for talking to him. You helped a whole lot today. And I'm sorry I lost my cool. I've felt useless in this Lillith case and I just wanted to do this one thing for you, to put your nightmare to rest."

"I know you meant well, Taehyung." Amaris smiled. "And I thank you for that."

"I want you to know that from now on, I'm going to put my all into this case." Taehyung leaned down to touch his forehead to Amaris'. "I won't rest until we figure out what the Oracle is trying to tell us."

"Thank you, Taehyung." Amaris whispered, closing her eyes. "Thank you."