18"You know it's quite interesting how connected this has all become."
Stein feigned disinterest and spun towards his computer to shut it down and take a long drag of his cigarette. Spirit eyed him warily across the lab.
"How so?"
"Well isn't it quite the coincidence that within a year of a seemingly random attack on your daughter and her partner they're targeted once again? I suppose it could just be coincidence, she seems to have inherited her mother's penchant for trouble."
Stein paused for another drag and Spirit waited impatiently for him to continue.
"What are you getting at Stein?"
Stein turned to face his old partner, fluorescent lights of the lab glinting off his glasses like the edge of a sharp blade.
"I did notice something when reviewing the case files though that would suggest otherwise. All of the people involved in this website seemed relatively unrelated, as if they had stumbled upon each other by chance. So I did some research. There was one person they all have a connection to, even Maka and Soul."
"What you're implying..."
Stein cut him off, eyeing the dark corners of the room calculatingly.
"Hypothesising actually. Regrettably, I don't have enough evidence yet for it to go anywhere, but I don't think that woman's through with them yet."
Spirit followed his erratic gaze around the room and nodded once slowly in understanding.
"You're asking for my help then?"
Stein stood and pushed his chair back under his desk. He took another long drag of his cigarette, exhaling slowly near Spirit's face.
"No. I know you'll help me. After all, if Maka is her new research subject we're going to need to be extra careful."
Across Death City Stein's voice crackled through a set of cheap computer speakers. Black fingernails tapped a glass desk slowly. A deep, but effeminate voice chuckled sardonically.
"Well Dr. Stein. Let's see if you can catch me this time."
On the computer screen was a video feed of a jail cell. A dark, muscled teenager paced anxiously face always turned away from the camera. He barked threats at random intervals and nervously patted his pocket as if searching for the reassurance of a familiar weapon. Black nails fluttered over a patient file.
"Daimon Ragnorak, as your psychiatrist, I'm thrilled to deem you ready and safe for parole."
A/N:
This has been such an experience for me. Since starting university this year I hadn't written anything substantial; original or fic. I'd lost a lot of love for writing or what I had been writing and was seriously doubting any skill or talent I had previously believed myself to possess. Whether it was a slump, or a pre-life crisis doesn't matter because for some reason when I heard about resbang I signed up. I had no idea, no serious experience writing for this fandom and had only really just started making good friendships within the fandom. But in classic uni student fashion, late one night when I should have been studying, I said "fuck it! I'll do it" and signed up. I went a few weeks without any ideas and was beginning to worry that I wouldn't have time to write anything and would have to pull out. Then I got an email from the Dean at my residence.
Female students at my residence hall had reported seeing someone filming them in the showers. We all went into a half nervous, half angry flurry. Everyone hoped that it was an isolated instance and nothing would come of it. We got on with our lives. Then it happened again. It wasn't until the third or maybe fourth report of recordings that I had the idea for this fic. Funnily enough I was standing in the shower when the idea came and I had to rush out in record time to scrawl it down. That's how Law and Order: DCU (or Campus Cop AU as it was known for months) came to be. We never found out who was filming girls at my residence or what they were doing with the footage, or if anyone was even filming at all, but in trying to figure out the real life truth I found a lot of answers for this story.
There are also a lot of answers for this story that I found in my wonderful friends, followers, betas and artists. There are so many people I need to thank and I'm sorry if in all the chaos I leave someone out but I have to mention; fabulousanima, eisschirmchen, awesomeasusual, peregr1ne and my friends who asked questions, offered suggestions and supported me despite having no knowledge of or interest in Soul Eater. I wouldn't have been able to do this without you all and it wouldn't have been nearly as fun without you either. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
And if/when I pursue the sequel you'll be the first to know.
