The Altercations With Purity

Don't Meet Your Heroes

Hey guys! Before you start reading, I would love to thank everyone who has read this series. Thank you for coming back for more and thank you to everyone who voted and left comments. Without further ado, I present to you The Altercations With Purity...

The first thing Casey thought after she had been shot was, "Thank gosh I wasn't still pregnant." But that was the only thought she remembered. The only thing she felt after that was pain. Pure pain. A pain she considered worse than childbirth. A pain that would haunt her until she took her final breath, which wouldn't be today. Not on her watch.

Casey would like to think that she fought like hell during surgery. That her mother bear instincts kicked in and she fought to see her son again. That her love for the Beast was so strong that part of his strength was with her during this time. She needed to believe that. She needed to believe her family is what she fought for, not just fighting to stay alive.

When she woke up, her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the hospital room. She could feel someone sitting beside her and was surprised to see it was Richards. He had a case file in his hands and was reading it. 

"What, what happened?" Casey croaked to him. Richards looked up and set the case file aside. 

"Hey. Let me hey a nurse." He started to get up, but Casey grabbed his arm.

 "No." She said firmly. "What happened?"

Richards lowered himself into the chair and sighed. "Are you sure you want to know?" Casey nodded. Richards ran his hand over his face before he began with the events. 

"Mr. Benoit, Claire's dad, brought a gun into the station, as you know. He demanded answers from you, answers you couldn't give him." Casey remembered that part, she remembered his face as he begged for some answers. "When he didn't get them, he grabbed his gun and shot you in the abdomen. He was going to shoot you a second time, but Clark intervened."

Richards looked down at his hands as he thought back to that day. "Clark was right next to you, so before Mr. Benoit could shoot you again, Clark jumped in front of you and took a bullet to the chest." Casey was shocked to hear that. Clark took a bullet for her. Why would he do that? 

"Is he okay?" She asked. Richards tapped his thumbs together as he answered. 

"He died during surgery. The bullet did too much damage." Casey let out a shocked breath. 

"Oh my gosh."

Richards moved his hands apart and looked back up at Casey. She could tell he was trying not to cry. "What would have been a head shot for you was a chest shot for him. He saved your life. He knew you were meant for a higher purpose." Casey shook her head. He didn't know that. He was just doing his job. A job that cost him his life. 

"Where is Claire's dad? I want to see him." Richards sighed and looked back down.

"After he shot Clark, he was distraught. Well, more so than he already was. So he apologized to.. I don't know who... And he put the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger." 

Casey let the tears stream down her face. He was dead. This poor man who just wanted answers about his missing daughter was dead. And because of her. She was the reason he died. This was all her fault. "I'm so sorry about your partner." Casey told Richards. He looked away so he could wipe a stray tear that fell down his face.

"We drifted apart so much this past year. We were barely speaking to each other. I started to hate him so much, but that hate doesn't wipe away the ten years we were friends." 

Casey didn't speak. She just let him say whatever he needed to. She was probably the only one he could talk to outside of the station. 

"I can still feel his blood in my hands." He said, almost to himself. He looked down at his clean hands like they were infected. "No matter how hard I scrub, it still feels like the blood is on there, taunting me." Casey didn't need blood on her hands to feel the pain and guilt Richards was feeling. It was always going to be a part of her now.

"I'm so sorry." Was all Casey could say. No other words could express what she felt. Nothing could even come close. So she fell back on the most over said phrase in history. Those words could never fix anything, but she hoped it gave him some sort of comfort. 

"Thanks. By the way, I have something for you." Richards told her as he pulled out an envelope from the case file. "It's from him. The Fear Monger."

Casey reached for the letter and he gave it to her. "How did you get this? Have you met him?" 

Richards shook his head. "No. I met another person who works for him. Her name is Elizabeth. She gave it to me from him to give to you." Casey was confused about who this Elizabeth girl was, but she didn't care right now about her. She tore open the letter and started to read it.

"Dear Casey, I hope you are alright. The news said you survived surgery and were recovering. I want so much to be there with you. And I am so sorry I let this happen to you. I should have taken you when I had the chance. This is my fault and I hope you will forgive me. My love, we'll be together shortly. I promise you this. Come hell or high water, I swear we will be together soon."

Casey folded the letter back up after she was finished reading it and clutched it to her chest. "When can I leave?" She asked Richards. 

"You're free to leave against medical advice tonight. The police doesn't need anything from you, I already filled everything out for you." Casey pulled herself into a sitting position and grimaced at the pain the action cause her. 

"Perhaps you should leave a little bit later. Rest some more and take advantage of the drugs."

Casey gave a little laugh. "I just might. Do you really want to meet the Fear Monger?" Richards nodded. 

"Yes, I do. He's like a hero to me. Cleaning the streets from the filthy impure. He's making this world a better place, one body at a time. I want to join him, kill with him." 

Casey thought it odd that this guy had a huge fascination with the Beast. An almost creepy fascination with him.

"A word of advice? Don't meet your heroes. They are never what you're expecting them to be." Casey turned her head away from Richards after she said that and tried to fall asleep.