MISSING LINK》t. briggs & v. stirling

Chapter 《00》

Felicity Elizabeth Briggs was never supposed to be a Natural. Despite being the result of mutual attraction, teenage stupidity, and just one too many drinks, she'd never known a life devoid of love. Her parents, Veronica Sterling and Tanner Briggs, though young, had always been fiercely protective of her. Sure, balancing childcare with college classes and training at the FBI academy wasn't easy, but there had never been a pair more equipped than Briggs and Sterling.

He was a strategist, driven and competitive. He'd never met a challenge he could back away from. She was fearless, ambitious. She knew what she wanted and nothing would get in her way. So, if that meant she was going to be the youngest graduate of the FBI academy while simultaneously juggling a two-year-old then dammit she was going to do it. That and their best friend Scarlett Hawkins had a knack for thinking up solutions to impossible situations.

Needless to say, Scarlett's father Judd did a lot of babysitting.

But there had never been a little girl more loved than Felicity Elizabeth Briggs. She lived a normal, happy life. Maybe that's why when everything went so wrong, there was no going back.

The day started out normal enough.

Felicity was spending it with her aunt so her mom and dad could focus all their attention on their current case. Since Scarlett worked as a forensic scientist FBI laboratory, and was typically busy whenever Felicity's parents were, Felicity was used to spending days like this with Scarlett's father, Judd. However, today, Scarlett's father had been out of town, so Scarlett volunteered to work from home and keep an eye on Felicity.

Upon hearing that she was going to spend the day with her aunt Scarlet, eleven-year-old Felicity had been unable to contain her excitement. Not that Felicity didn't like Judd, he just didn't do fun things with her like make pillow forts and eat milkshakes for lunch with her the way Scarlett did. Even though she still had to work and would spend the day tapping away on her keyboard or solving equations with a somewhat dry erase marker on her apartment windows, Scarlett always made spending the day at her house fun.

She may have been working, but she did it inside their fort, a young Felicity reading chapter books curled up right next to her.

It was nearing the end of the day when they'd received the call. Veronica and Tanner had gotten a massive break in the case and were on the verge of nailing Nightshade—meaning Felicity would have to spend the night. Naturally, the answer had been yes, before they'd even finished asking. As the warm afternoon sun dipped below the horizon, Scarlet and Felicity drove over to Felicity's house to grab some things the young girl hadn't packed.

Everything had been fine, until it wasn't.

She didn't know what, but the second they got back to Scarlett's apartment Felicity could tell that something was very wrong. Her aunt—who had been laughing at Felicity's joke when they'd walked in the door—abruptly went silent and turned deadly pale, her eyes falling on the lone white flower that sat posed and perfect on her kitchen table.

Felicity moved towards the flower, unsure of how she'd missed the pretty blossom all day while she was in her aunt's house, "What's this?" she asked, reaching to smell it.

"Don't!" Scarlett snapped, louder and with an intensity Felicity had never heard before.

She pulled back, confused. "But-"

Scarlett shook her head, silencing the girl. Without even thinking about it, her hand immediately went to the phone in her pocket and dialed the number, her eyes never leaving the flower.

Felicity watched, confused, as her aunt held the phone up to her ear, the number ringing and began to pace, her eyes still trained on the flower. She didn't understand. What was wrong with the flower?