Open Case File [COMPLETED]

It Happened One Night

That terrible day that defined Carter's life. I'm sorry, I just really felt like writing it.

You don't have to read it if you don't feel like being sad.

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Carter stomped her feet, trying to banish the cold that was diving into her bones. The noise of the school had diminished as kids were picked up and others drove away. The wind wrapped around her, the whisper of winter teasing her exposed nose. The girl beside Carter buried her face in the collar of her coat. A compact car pulled up to the curb and the girl raised her head, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Don't die in the cold, Carter. It would suck to die on a weekend and for me lose my math partner," she said, racing down the steps to the waiting vehicle.

"I'll try not to," Carter said. "Cause who else would do your homework for you?"

The girl gave a dry laugh and slipped into the passenger seat. With a wave, she and the car drove off. Carter shoved her fists deeper into her pockets, urging her father to hurry up. When it felt like her toes were going to snap off, the black SUV appeared. Carter was already racing down the steps by the time it stopped. Yanking the door open, she hopped in.

A cocoon of warmth enveloped her. Dropping her gym bag onto the ground, she thrust her hands close to the heater, trying to regain feeling in the tips of them.

"I was almost a popsicle," she said, as the car melded back into traffic.

"Well, I'm glad you're still alive."

"No thanks to you. What took you so long?"

Feeling having returned, Carter shrugged off her backpack and sank back in the seat. D.C. was washed with a dull gray light, the blanket of clouds wrapping the world in winter. A few snowflakes were shaken free and swirled about in the wind.

"The President's meeting ran over. I'm sorry, Sarge. Did you call your mother?"

Carter nodded, rubbing her arms to get them working again.

"She didn't answer."

Carter didn't say what she was thinking, that even as she had made the call she had known it was pointless. Something had been pulling her mother away the last couple weeks and Carter was left in a void.

Her father nodded, his brow creasing with unsaid thoughts.

"Captain," Carter said.

At the hesitating tone in her voice, her father glanced over.

"If I married a Marine would you still love me?" she asked.

Her father burst out laughing. It was a sound that was as good as the car's warmth.

"What made you think I have any problem with Marines?" he asked.

"Well, I hear you and your Navy SEAL friends complain about them that I figure marrying one would be an act of treason."

Her father raised a curious eyebrow.

"Are you planning to marry a Marine?" he asked.

"I'm fourteen, I haven't even been on a date yet."

"Then why do you ask?"

"Cause I want to know if you would still love me even if I did?"

Her father chuckled and flicked on the windshield wipers, banishing the flecks of white.

"Of course I would still love you, Sarge."

Carter let out a breath. "Okay, then seeing how that could be the worst thing I could do and you would still love me...I have something to tell you."