(A:N/ Reaaaalllyyy long chapter guys. At least for me. This took me a while to write. I’m sorry in advance for any grammatical errors, but please enjoy.)

Your eyes widened in horror.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen this before.” You stated, carefully setting each document that had been inside the folder that Mi Do had given you earlier on the table carefully, separating them from each other.

“This is rare… Very rare.” You turned to Tao. He still held a confused look on his face, not coming to the conclusion that you were.

“When we were chasing the unsub, how old did he look to you?” You asked slowly, grabbing the picture that had been taken at a traffic camera the day of your accident. It was of the man as he crashed into you and Tao.

“Well, I’d say around his early twenties, although his long hair and that scar on his face make him seem older.” He said thoughtfully, trying to see what you were getting at.

“I agree. But, in order to be able to kill two men at once, he must have considerable physical strength, right? How many people did the unsub kill before the two men that I saw?”

“Two people, both female. They were also both ually assaulted. The first was 22 and the second was 20. I don’t know this for sure, but part of me believes that they were held against their will for quite some time. I mean, how could he hold them both  down, and assault them as well? Wouldn’t someone hear it happening? Then some questions have to be answered. Like, how did one man take on two women, and somehow hold them for who knows how long? And why didn’t he hold the men somewhere? Why did he just kill the two men on the spot?”

“I’m not sure. But let me guess, the women were together when they were killed?” You asked.

“Yes… they were. How did you know?” Tao pondered.

You rolled your eyes.

“Come on Tao, this is basic stuff! He is obviously following a pattern. Two women killed, then two men? He might kill two women next. But you never know. He could change his patterns at any time.”

You grabbed the photos of the women’s mutilated bodies.

“And this….” You added, pointing to the picture.

“Every victim so far, has been wearing at least one item of clothing that is the color blue.”

“What?! How come no one else noticed that?” Tao exclaimed.

“I’m not sure, but I am sure of one thing. This is going to start getting serious. Why? Because our unsub is a blooming psychopath. His anger is obviously escalating, and with that more deaths will follow.”

“No way… Although it does explain his erratic behavior. By what if he is already a psychopath? Why do you think he is still blooming?”

 “Well, it could be a number of things. But from what I have learned, from the moment we are born and on throughout adulthood, people progress through what’s known as the Six Stages of Moral Development. During each stage, people continue their development of interpersonal skills, emotional regulation, and problem solving abilities. Some children take longer than others to progress through these stages, and some people stay stuck in a particular stage, due to a trauma, biology, or a brain condition. This may explain why he removes certain body parts out of the victims, or only targets people wearing a certain color. During his childhood, he may have gone through a trauma that makes him hate these things for a certain purpose.  As you can imagine, a 20-year-old man being stuck in Stage I of moral development wouldn’t be good.

“However, some of the traits seen in a psychopath – such as lack of empathy, little or no social respect, and disregard for moral boundaries – are the same traits seen during infancy and very early childhood. This is the starting point. Until an adult teaches children otherwise, they don’t know any better than to focus only on their own needs, pounding their fists and crying when they want something.” You explained, setting the papers on to the table.

“This may mean that our unsub didn’t have a parental figure to tell him right from wrong, OR that he is simply stuck in one of the stages of development, and due to a childhood trauma he hasn’t matured. Psychopaths are obviously very dangerous. This is because they do not have remorse. The actions that our unsub has shown has been that of having none. No disposing of the bodies, leaving the victims mangled, this shows signs of no remorse. Someone that doesn’t feel anything or any empathy while killing another human being is defined as a psychopath.”

“Wah Grace~ How do you know so much about this?” Tao asked, surprised at your abundance of knowledge.

“Oh, I majored in psychology in college.” You answered flatly, not wanting to get into too much detail about it. Because of your own lack of money, you hadn’t been able to finish college, therefore not obtaining your degree.

“Anyways, I have a feeling that he will strike soon, even though he has been dormant for a while.”

You thought silently. If the murderer hadn’t been killing during this three month period- what did that mean? Why did he stop killing as soon as he had crashed Tao’s car?

“Let’s go to bed now. My brain hurts.” You said. Tao nodded, standing up suddenly as he swiftly slid his hands under your legs.

“WOAH- What are you doing!?” You yelled, surprised.

“Calm down. I’m just helping you into bed. Gosh.” He laughed, caring you bridal style to the bottom bunk. He set you down carefully as your cheeks flamed red.

“I thought you liked sleeping down here?” You asked quietly.

“Well yeah, but I figured it would be easier for you to stay down here. If you want to climb up to the top bunk- go ahead.”

“No, that’s fine. Thanks…” You said, eyes darting away from his.

“Yeah, no problem. If you need anything, just say so.” His hand pushed through his silky hair in embarrassment, and part of you wanted to tackle him just to touch it. Unfortunately, at the moment, you were paralyzed from the waist down, so that didn’t seem like an option.

You made your signature pouty face and through the sheets over your head, waiting for Tao to climb to the top bunk.

“Hey Tao?” You asked, your words slightly muffled from under the blankets.

“Yeah?” He responded.

“It’s OK if we keep some of the lights on tonight.”

“Actually, it’s all good. I’ve learned how to sleep in the dark.”

I wanted to learn to make you more comfortable.

Tao thought, watching you as you wiggled under the covers.

“Well, do you think we could keep some of them on, at least? After the accident, I kind of became afraid of the dark for some reason…” You stated, humiliated at how weak you had become.

Tao’s eyes widened, he hadn’t realized that you would feel that way.

“Oh, yeah, that’s fine. We can keep the bathroom light on. Is that OK?” He said quickly, not wanting to make you feel awkward.

“Yeah that’s….fine.” You said gratefully. You knew that when you had first slept here it was hard for you to sleep with the lights on because of Tao.

Tao snickered, but quickly covered his mouth. He hoped that you hadn’t heard him. He had laughed because your feet were sticking out from under the covers, and he saw your penguin pajamas. He remembered the first night you had both spent together in this room, and when he had laughed at your penguin pajamas.

Aish, I wish she would remember me already. I miss having her in my arms.

Tao thought desperately, sighing to himself.

Suddenly you pulled the covers down, surprising Tao.

“Ah! You scared me.” Tao exclaimed, jumping a little. You could see that you had caught him in a thought.

“Ah- sorry. I was just remembering something. My first night here- remember you gave me four rules to live by if I wanted to stay in here?” You asked, pulling yourself up and into a sitting position.

“I did? Gosh- that was so long ago. What did I say?” Tao replied, remembering the days when he had been mean to you. He wished that he could take it all back and give you better memories of him.

“Hmm.. Well I don’t really remember the first three rules. Something like ‘don’t talk to me, don’t look at me, blah blah blah,’. But I do know that the last one was not to fall in love with you.” You stated flatly, looking at Tao to see his reaction.

“Really? I said that? Hm. Funny how things turned out though.” He laughed sheepishly.

“Yeah…” You replied, avoiding his gaze.

----

After about 30 minutes of lying in the dark under your blankets, you determined that Tao had fallen asleep after climbing up to the top bunk.

Your eyes drooped heavily, and you realized just how tired you actually were. Thoughts of the killer swarmed this way and that inside your head, but eventually pushing them aside, you decided to simply tell Mr. Kim about what you suspected tomorrow morning. You soon fell into a deep sleep, feeling Pickles cuddle up next to your head.

Soon enough, a dream came upon your sub-consciousness. 

You were lying in a hospital room, one quite similar to the one you had spent three months in while you were in a coma. Your eyes separated slightly as you heard your mother’s voice. She was whispering to you about something, desperately trying to wake you up. It was difficult, but eventually you pulled your eyes open, and turned your full attention to your mom.

“Umma?” You asked, looking deeply into her eyes.

“Umma, Appa, what happened to you? Why can’t they see you?” You asked worriedly, pointing to Tao, Mi Do, and Kai as they stood next to your bedside. A stab of shock quickly came to you as you realized something awful. Your mother was dead, along with your father. They stood before you, just as a spirit would as it was about to tell you how it had passed.

So that was why Tao said he didn’t see your parents in the hospital. They were murdered.

“Umma- tell me! What happened to you?” You demanded angrily, shaking her wrist. “Who did this to you?”

“Grace, you know I can’t tell you that. It’s already been 48 hours. Don’t worry. I know you’re a smart girl. You can figure this out.” She said sweetly.

“Grace, I’m so sorry that we didn’t cherish the time we had with you. All we thought of was trying to make you normal again, and we weren’t happy with the daughter that was already in front of us. Please forgive us.” Your father said sadly, and immediately they both began to fade away, like mist on a lake.

“Umma! Appa! No! Please don’t leave me! I don’t have anyone! Please!” You cried out, reaching for your parents already faded figures.

“That’s not true, Grace. You have me.” Tao said, standing up from the chair he had been sitting in next to you.

Suddenly the hospital room began to fade from your vision, and it was like you and Tao had transported to a different place. Oddly enough, you were shocked to see that you were not in your own body. It was like you were watching yourself talk to Tao.

 The ‘other you’ and Tao were in what looked like a park, with a lake right in the middle. The sun had already set, and you and Tao sat at a bench overlooking the lake. Then Tao began to talk.

 “Grace, I know that we have only been partners for a month, but I feel like I need to stay by your side. I think that I like you… I want to protect you. I just wanted to know if… You wanted to date? You don’t have to say yes of course, I know that you haven’t really warmed up to me yet. But can you at least think about it? I hate to see other guys looking at you. I want them to know that you’re taken, that you aren’t going to give them the time of day. I know that I can be childish sometimes, but I’ll mature soon enough! Please just give me a chance?” Tao looked at the ‘other you’ expectantly, waiting for your reply.

You looked at your face, and you seemed to somehow recall this encounter. It was a distant memory- and you were trying with all your might to reach it. 

The ‘other you’ looked up, and stared deeply into Tao’s panda eyes.

She laughed quietly, grabbing his hands into hers.

“Of course we can date. I know that I can rely on you always, Tao. You have already proven this to me. I also…-“

Don’t say it.

You thought.

Don’t say it!

“-like you too. And I’m very glad that you feel the same way.” She smiled, standing up.

“Kaja. Mi Do and Kai must be looking everywhere for us!” She giggled, dragging Tao away from the bench.

His eyes were wide, obviously surprised at your unsuspected answer.

As ‘the other Grace’ and Tao walked away, you took their place at the bench sheepishly, scratching your chin.

So we were going out? That explains a lot.

You sighed, feeling badly for Tao. He must be feeling horrible right now.

All of a sudden, a slight pinching sensation picked at your forehead. It grew more intense until it was a full-on migraine, pulsating and throbbing. You howled in pain, and your hands flew to your head, pressing down hard.

What the hell? This is supposed to be a dream! I’m not supposed to feel pain…

Your thoughts swarmed wildly, until suddenly your past memories that you had forgotten rushed towards you like a freight-train.

The bench you were sitting on collapsed into a hole, and your entire body fell from under you. You plummeted into nothingness, screaming the entire way down. Suddenly your body stopped in mid air, and you hesitantly opened your eyes. You had been expecting to break every bone in your body from the fall, but thankfully this dream hadn’t turned into a nightmare. Upon opening your eyes, a bright light hit your face, triggering some pain from the quickly receding migraine you had felt before.

Your eyes soon adjusted, and you looked around at your surroundings. You were standing in an alleyway, surrounded by many buildings. You realized that your dream had brought you back to the place where black ops had discovered the crime scene of the two men that the unsub had murdered.

This time, there were no bodies. No blood. Just you, and Tao. Well not really ‘you’. But it was the ‘other you.’ It looked like you were inspecting the crime scene for any evidence that the forensics team had missed.     

You watched the two closely, hoping to learn something, maybe gain back some of your lost memories.

Grace #2 crouched down; inspecting what seemed to be a left-over blood stain on the concrete. Tao had an awful expression plastered on his face. He looked rather pissed, actually. He tousled his hair repeatedly, pacing back and forth. You could tell that there was some sort of tension between them, but you were unable to detect what it was. Maybe you guys had fought? But about what?

“Tao, will you stop sighing so much and just tell me what your problem is?” Grace #2 said angrily, standing up. You could tell that she was frustrated that no work was getting done.

He looked at her calmly, taking a step towards her.

“You know what my problem is.” He stated simply, crossing his arms.

“Look- I’m sorry, ok? I know I messed up. I should have told you about it…”

“Told me about it? You think?! You put your life in danger! No-“He shook his head.

 “You put OUR lives in danger! What do you think partners are for? Telling you how well your outfit goes together? I’m here so that you can confide in me! Our job as partners is to protect each other! How can I do that when you don’t tell me anything that’s going on?” He yelled, frustrated.

Grace #2 seemed defeated, and she obviously felt bad for whatever she had done. Her eyes clouded, and she looked up at Tao, lip quivering.

“I-I know Tao. I’m sorry… I just wasn’t thinking. I didn’t want to tell you anything until I was sure, you know? Following him wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done, and I should have known better, considering I’ve only had a few hours of training in self defense. I won’t ever do it again, I promise. I’m so sorry.” She said, and just as she finished, tears poured from her face. They fell from her cheeks and unto the pavement where the blood stain was.

Tao looked guilty, and felt bad for making her cry. He grabbed the sides of her arms.

“Grace. I’m sorry. Don’t cry, ok?” He said kindly, but the tears didn’t stop from flowing.

Frustrated, he lifted up her chin with his finger, making eye contact.

“Grace, it’s ok. It’s all over with, anyways. I was just… so worried about you. I thought that he had hurt you! I would never have been able to live with myself if he had. Just understand that.” He explained, searching her eyes for an answer.

She nodded solemnly, understanding what he had gone through. He could see that you were still upset.

Suddenly, Tao leaned in, and your lips met his.

You watched in astonishment as Grace #2 and Tao began to kiss passionately, Tao surrounding Grace #2 in his embrace.

Damn him. He took my first kiss. Too bad I don’t remember it. But I guess now I do….?

The kiss was broken after a few seconds, and you looked at them both. They seemed happy. They looked like they really loved each other. And suddenly, you felt happy too. You remembered how you had once felt about Tao, and your memories came rushing back. You remembered everything now. Things like going on walks with Tao after you were off-duty, chasing shop lifters together, and having long talks before bed about different things. You remembered going through training together, him teaching you different things about espionage. Your heart throbbed slightly, and you felt a sudden need to be with Tao. Your heart longed for him, and you wanted him more than ever.

Pushing yourself out of the dream, you woke up suddenly, only comforted by the small light that was coming from the bathroom. You were breathing hard; a cold sweat was plastered on your forehead.

“T-Tao?” You said quietly. You realized he was asleep, but you couldn’t wait any longer.

“Tao!” You yelled calmly, and felt the bed shake slightly as he quickly jumped from the top bunk, switching on the lights. His hair was tousled and messy, and you realized just how attractive he was. He was already awake and alert, searching the room for an attacker.

“What is it Grace?! Are you alright?” He exclaimed, gently pulling you up into a sitting position.

“Tao- I had a dream-“You began, wiping the sticky perspiration from your forehead.

“A dream? Like a nightmare?” He asked worriedly, searching your eyes desperately.

“No- just a dream. I think I remember everything now. I remember you. I remember us.” You stated, watching his face for a reaction.

His eyes lit up happily, and he smiled widely.

“Grace-  that’s so great! I’m so happy for you-“ He began, but was cut off. You grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him into a deep kiss, and both of your hearts leapt wildly.