Ralphie Pearce VI

Sam sat with her arms crossed inside the Chesapeake Police Department's control room, with dark bags under her eyes and a noticeable scowl etched on her face. Her red hair was in a loose messy bun, and she was wearing the shirt she had the night before. She only had enough time to put on her pants that morning when she and Levi rushed out after receiving a call from Agent Tillman informing them of the current situation.

Behind her stood the blond Irishman, looking far more presentable compared to her. It was rare to see him without his signature 3-piece suit and slicked-back hair. But his current attire still gave him that perfect laid back aficionado look; a dark blue blazer over his V-neck shirt and pants, hair combed smoothly to one side.

Sam recalled that morning when she stumbled out of her hotel room pissed, with sleep still in her eyes and her hair in disarray after having only 2 hours of sleep at best. While Levi looked immaculate stepping out of the room opposite hers, cocking her an amused brow at her disgruntled appearance.

A mental image of Levi sleeping in his bed dressed in a 3-piece suit, his hair slicked back, as usual. His arms crossed in front of his chest appeared in her mind, and she stifled a laugh while the blond drove towards their destination half an hour ago.

Was he a fucking vampire? She played with the idea.

Levi's back leaned against the dull-colored wall, arms crossed, and mirroring Sam's bitter expression. Both of them focused on the small screen with the view of the interrogation room. In it was a muscular man with dark brown hair in his late-30's sat waiting, his hands cuffed to the table. He was wearing a brown jacket over his pullover with faded jeans and black boots.

Sam and Levi had both received a call from Tillman 2 hours prior, informing them that after 9hours of searching in the database, their people had found a match on the partial profile of the man holding a gun on Pearce's head.

That man was the very same man Levi and Sam were watching on the screen, Natan Watts.

Natan Watts is a 37-year-old ex-marine and currently working as a freelance bodyguard for some Popstar. Sam and Levi both turned to the door when it creaked open, and Agent Tillman entered the room holding two cups of coffee, a folder pressed between his left arm and side.

Levi clapped his hands once loudly, and he jumped in mock joy, approaching the shorter man.

"Agent Tillman, kind of you to grace us with your presence," he said in mock excitement. Tillman expelled a sigh, turning to close the door behind him gently. Levi blocked the man from moving forward, eyes wide in fake anticipation. "Please, just one question. Just one." he insisted.

Tillman paused eyebrows furrowed together, looked at him, giving him the time to speak.

With his best expression of feigned interest, Levi leaned closer to look at Tillman's face inches apart. His eyes scanned the agent's face as if searching for answers. "Are you an idiot?" he asked, tone serious. Eyes piercing through the other man's. Levi pulled away seconds later and said, "Oh wait, don't answer that. YOU ARE!" he spat. Levi stepped away from the man gritting his teeth in annoyance, he wasn't the violent type but he was seriously resisting the urge to strangle the man with his bare hands.

Tillman glared at the back of Levi's head, but he remained quiet. Then his eyes landed on the redhead quietly sitting on the chair, green eyes focused on him. He could see she was furious too, and oddly enough he felt more intimidated by her than the tall blond who towered over him just seconds ago. There was something in her green eyes, that he could only compare it to what he would imagine being in the eye of a raging storm would be like. Chaos twisting around you, destruction eating away everything in the surroundings while you remained intact, and the air filling your lungs sucked away slowly.

Tillman walked towards the table where she was sitting, "Dr. Gray, Mr. Jackson" Tillman greeted, placing the two paper cups of coffee on the table. He pulled the folder on his side and placed it on the table.

Tillman knew exactly the reason why the two Consultants were furious, it was a fault on their part, they've made a huge mistake. He and his partner Sutton wanted to solve the case as soon as possible, pressure from the higher-ups. Bureaucratic shit, the usual.

After finding the match on the partial image 16 hours ago, they made the mistake of rushing. Also failing to inform the two angry consultants of their plans.

Hours previously, he and his partner Sutton made calls to several police chiefs in Virginia for the man named Natan watts, wanting to have the man under surveillance. And due to miscommunication with the police, Natan Watts had been taken into custody due to a standing warrant.

Huge mistake, because the standing 'warrant', was actually a bench warrant for an unpaid traffic violation ticket. His arrest was all in the jurisdiction of the law, yes. However, they knew arresting him for a mere unpaid traffic violation would not be good for their ongoing case in the long run. Timing and planning were everything. And the arrest had tipped Watts off of what was actually going on.

After his arrest, Natan Watts had called his lawyer to head into court and pay the fine and get the warrant dismissed and released. That was 12hours ago, as of the moment they don't know how much longer Watts would be under their custody and that was the problem.

Sam grabbed the cup of coffee, savored the warm feel of the coffee radiating against her palms.

"How long can you keep him?" she asked Tillman, the man sighed in defeat, lost as to what their next step should be. "Not long, his lawyer is working on having the warrant dismissed," Tillman said, looking at the monitor. They had been keeping Watts there for the past 16 hours, it won't be long till his lawyer comes and picks him up with papers proving the dismissal of his standing warrant.

"How about the Homicide?" Sam asked, and Tillman gritted his teeth.

"That's where our problem lies, we've filed for the case but we don't have the hard evidence the judge wanted--" Tillman started to explain.

"And you're surprised?" Levi scoffed. "A partial enhanced image would not stand as incriminating evidence in any court," he added, and Tillman looked at the blond psychologist. They shouldn't have rushed the case, he knew that. Coming to a gunfight with a knife, of course, they're going to lose.

Tillman continued with, "And so, the judge approved bail for Watts on the homicide case. He can walk out of here when his lawyer arrives with the paper."

Levi approached the table, took a seat across Sam, and grabbed the remaining cup of coffee. The blond removed the lid off the paper cup and took a sip.

"Central Intelligence Agency, funny name considering I don't see any signs of intelligence anywhere," Levi commented dryly, his eyes resting to Tillman.

Tillman took the blow, knowing there was negligence on their part, improper Coordination, and unprepared led them to that situation. The chance to surveillance the person of interest first, in hopes of getting a lead was shattered.

Tillman pushed the folder on the table towards Levi, with a determined look. Levi looked down at the folder and back to Tillman, flipping the cover open to find Natan Watts's file.

"Natan Watts that's his name, he was an ex-marine, dishonorably discharged for attacking his senior officer. 37years old, currently working as freelance security for some pop star named T. Swift." Tillman said, looking at his notes on the name of the pop star. "Other than his standing bench warrant for an unpaid ticket, he's record's clean. He has no known connection with Pearce." Tillman finished.

"Well, it won't be long till he 'Shakes it off', it means Us. Whose fault is that, Agent?" Levi comments, finding humor in their situation as he opened the folder, glancing at the man's basic information. family background, educational, file during service.

"We need help--" Tillman started, earning a scoff from Levi.

"No shit, Sherlock." Levi spat, studying Natan's history with the military. He started to create a mental profile on the man. Tillman leaned closer to Levi, hand on the table for support, jaw clenched. Annoyed at the Irishman's incessant blows.

"We are well aware we didn't approach this in the most--" he started, Levi snaps back and glares at him. He and his people had made their work there far more complicated than it already was. His eyes fell to Sam for a brief moment, as she remained seated across him. The bags under her eyes had been growing darker with each night. Whatever psychological trauma she had in the past, he can only assume had been keeping her up since they came here.

"You dealt with this case in the most idiotic way conceivable!" the Irishman roars. He slams his palm against the open folder on the table, then pointing harshly at Watts' psychological exam from the Marines on the open folder.

"The man has above average intelligence, clearly smarter than both you and Sutton's brain combined. Arresting him for a mere traffic violation, cuffing him and keeping him in the interrogation room for hours? Then filing a murder charge that wouldn't stand in any court. Ridiculous. Leathcheann!" Levi shouted.

Tillman turned to Sam, lost in the last part of the blond's statement.

"He meant you're an Idiot. I agree," Sam explains.

"Since he's already here. I need his DNA, can you at least get that?" Sam inquired, hoping she could find something to connect this guy to a crime just to keep him longer, maybe he'll be willing to talk then.

"We need a court order for that and it may take a few days," Tillman says, and Levi visibly rolls his eyes.

"He might be gone by then." Levi says, Sam thought for a second, and said "Give him a glass of water, and turn the air conditioning up to suck all the moisture in the room," Tillman nods and grabs his phone to inform his partner.

Levi glances at Sam, who leaned back to her chair closing her eyes for a moment. "I doubt that would work on him," he tells her honestly. He reckons he was too smart to make that mistake. Sam opens her eyes to look at the blond psychologist. "I agree, it's a long shot. But might as well try. We need that DNA, it's our only shot to solving this case." she says, looking at the screen as a female police officer enters the interrogation room to give Watts a glass of water.