COMPLETED | Stay

Chapter 2: Fear

Cass had been sat in her car in the apartment complex's car park for almost ten minutes preparing herself for what was likely to come.

"Hey babe, I'm home!" She called out as she let herself into their apartment, she unclipped her gun and badge and put them on the side table before hanging her jacket up next to them. She was about to turn around and look for Ryan when she felt someone's breath on the back of her neck.

"Why didn't you answer my calls?" Ryan asked, his voice completely still and emotionless.

"I left my phone on silent, sorry." Cassandra said quietly, trying not to flinch away from him.

"What if it had been an emergency?" He asked, using his right hand to pull a piece of hair away from her eyes and tucking it behind her ear.

"I'm sorry." She said, flinching slightly when his hand swept the hair away.

"I swear that's all you ever say." That was when she smelt it, the scent of alcohol that coated his breath. That was when she knew what was to come, the amazing day she had had was about to be turned into another nightmare. "I'm sorry doesn't make everything better." Ryan said as he took her right arm in his right hand with a firm grip that Cass knew she had no chance at escaping even though her gun was still sat, loaded, on the table in front of her.

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The next morning Cassandra awoke to her alarm which was so quiet most people would sleep through it. Silently, she snuck out of the bedroom, manoeuvring her way through the boxes which were waiting to be unpacked, grabbing a long sleeve top, jeans and underwear from one on her way past. Cass removed her pyjamas in the bathroom and taking a quick shower before slipping on the clothes, her eyes catching the dark bruises which were beginning to show on her already marked skin as she pulled the top on. She took a look in the mirror making sure no bruises or marks were visible on her fair skin and once she was satisfied there were none visible on her face or neck she pulled her hair back into a messy ponytail. She left the bathroom and began to unpack another of the boxes. She was barely halfway through the average sized box which was one of many scattered around the small apartment when her phone went off with a text from her boss alerting her of a scene he wanted her at ASAP. 

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"Mason!" Jay called as Cass pulled up to the scene, she headed in his direction and saw the rest of the team arriving and the black tarp covering their body. "ID says her name is Oskana." Jay said, a feminine wallet in his hand.

"Eastern Europian?" Dawson asked.

"Ukraine." Jay said.

"So why is she in Chicago?" Cass asked curiously.

"Human trafficking, drug smuggling..." Upton listed off a few possibilities.

"Maybe it's just a holiday and she was in the wrong place at the right time?" Atwater said optimistically.

"Yeah, I doubt that." Upton said, crouching down and lifting the tarp just a bit so they could see underneath, Oskana's stomach had been brutally cut open.

"I'm gonna go with drug smuggling." Cass said, the team continued to discuss the case when Cass's phone began to ring, she looked at the caller ID, excused herself and answered, not wanting a repeat of last night tonight. "Hey." She said answering the phone once she was out of earshot.

"I thought I told you to unpack some of these boxes?" Ryan shouted down the phone, clearly still angry.

"I did one, then my boss called me into work." Cass explained, subconsciously wrapping her arm around herself.

"I thought it was your morning off?" Ryan asked, clearly thinking she was lying.

"It was my morning on call, meaning I don't have to go in unless my boss calls. Which he did." Cass said, it wasn't like her to argue back to him but something about him calling her at work always made her snap.

"I want you home as soon as you finish to unpack the rest of these boxes." Ryan ordered, shouting the instructions down the phone making Cass glad she had moved far enough away from the team.

"It looks like a long case, so I might end up staying the night." She said, it wasn't completely a lie as the case did look like one that would last a while. She didn't get a reply, Ryan simply put the phone down on her and Cass had to resist the temptation to throw her phone across the small car park she was stood in. Instead, she put her phone back in her pocket and ran her hands across her head, tightening her ponytail before dropping them back to her sides. She stood staring across the car park trying to control the tears that were threatening to roll down her cheeks.

"Hey." A voice said, the person reached a hand out and placed it on Cass's right forearm to get her attention. Although their touch was light it was in the exact place Ryan's had been the previous night

"Hey." Cass replied, desperately trying to control the flashback which was looming at the front of her mind.

"Is everything okay?" Cass turned to see the voice belonged to Dawson and for some reason, it calmed her pounding heart and kept her in the present.

"Yeah, it was just my fiance checking in because I crept out this morning so I didn't wake him." Cass lied with a small smile. Antonio met her eyes and saw the same thing Sargent Benson had seen in her, protective walls keeping everyone out but right now there were hints of fear creeping out, he had known something was wrong as soon as she flinched when he placed his hand on her forearm. He immediately had his suspicions but blamed them on the fact he was a cop and was trained to spot victims.

"We're all heading back to the precinct to find out more about the vic, Ruzek and Atwater are going to the MEs." He said, using the same technique he used with Gabby after Shay died, distraction, give their brain something else to think over then eventually chip away at the walls.

"Someone should pull the manifesto from her flight, see if she travelled with someone else." Cass said.