In 1974 The Zodiac Killer just vanished. No more communication with the press, and no more murders as far as they could see.
They had all been tied to the case for so long that it felt weird to let it rest. Harry and Louis had never stopped trying to solve the ciphers. Liam kept searching for clues and Niall just waited for the next letter but everything ceased.
They had their workload anyway but it was a nail in the eye, not being able to catch the Zodiac Killer.
A new decade meant a big change. They were getting older and the yearning of their home country only became stronger and stronger. Harry and Louis moved back home. Liam and Zayn came home six months after that and then Niall showed up. He didn't want to be in San Fransisco by himself.
Harry and Louis had both resigned. They both started to study. Harry became an English teacher and Louis studied computer coding. It was a new thing in the '80s.
They bought a house, and got married even if they couldn't do it legally. They lived through the horrors of the AIDS epidemic thankful that they only slept with each other for so many years.
In the 90's they found an adoption agency that was willing to let one of them adopt a child as a single parent even if they were a couple, to get around the laws regarding same-sex couples being allowed to adopt. They both adopted a child at the same time, afraid that they wouldn't get another chance and they wanted at least two kids.
Louis adopted a two two-year-old named David. He had big blue eyes, just like Louis and both his parents died in a horrible car crash and he had no other living relatives.
Harry adopted a newborn girl. He and Louis were chosen by the teenage girl who was a student at the school he was working at. They offered her to have contact with the baby but she declined for now. They named the baby Darcy.
They had a wonderful life together. They had left their crime-fighting days behind but Louis never stopped trying to break the Zodiac Killers ciphers.
"He probably died, Lou. Think about it, he would never just stop by himself." Harry argued.
"Perhaps, but I still want to know who the fucker was!" Louis muttered.
Zayn and Liam had adopted a child as well and they lived two sweets from them. Niall got married in the late 80s and they had all been his best man. He had three kids of his own and they lived close by as well.
Harry and Louis watched their kids grow up and they had a happy life together. They were getting older but that was okay because they would never trade all the years they had spent together for their youth back.
Then the world faced a pandemic. Out of nowhere, people got sick and some even died. The whole country was in lockdown. It was scary.
They were both retired and stayed home. Their kids made sure that they had groceries and stuff. Harry spent a lot of the cleaning or solving crossword puzzles.
Louis? Well, he built a computer system to help him decode the Zodiac Killers' ciphers. It took him some time. He had to change his program a couple of times. Harry let him be. He fetched him snacks and kisses.
Then one evening he heard Louis scream his name and he hurried to their home office.
"What?"
"Look! I fucking broke the code! Another one of his ciphers." Louis shouted and pointed at the screen.
Harry hurried up to the monitor to read. He had to fetch his reading glasses and made a new try.
I HOPE YOU ARE HAVING LOTS OF FUN IN TRYING TO CATCH ME
THAT WASNT ME ON THE TV SHOW
WHICH BRINGS UP A POINT ABOUT ME
I AM NOT AFRAID OF THE GAS CHAMBER
BECAUSE IT WILL SEND ME TO PARADICE ALL THE SOONER
BECAUSE I NOW HAVE ENOUGH SLAVES TO WORK FOR ME
WHERE EVERYONE ELSE HAS NOTHING WHEN THEY REACH PARADICE
SO THEY ARE AFRAID OF DEATH
I AM NOT AFRAID BECAUSE I KNOW THAT MY NEW LIFE IS
LIFE WILL BE AN EASY ONE IN PARADICE DEATH
"What the hell? That's just nonsense!" Louis shouted upset. He had put fifty years into solving the ciphers and this was what he finally got? He was so disappointed.
Harry took a seat in his lap.
"Well, you will solve all of them, even the one where he says his name, and then you'll finally know who it was."
"You think so?" Louis asked.
"I know so! You and your brilliant brain will use your computer skills and decipher those in no time. I love you." Harry smiled and kissed him.
"I love you." Louis mumbled against his lips.
The End
YOU ARE READING
Breaking The Code
FanfictionI don't know if you can write a love story based on a real serial killer, but I did. This is a story based on the Zodiac Killer. It's the late 60's. Detective Liam Payne has a new killer in town and he needs help solving the ciphers the killer keep...
