Authors Note: So it's been like idk what... a couple of years since I last wrote a story. I had this idea and I had to get it out. Idk if anyone still reads on here for SoN, I've been told over and over how this fandom is dying and I really hope that isn't true. This story won't be exceptionally long maybe 15 or 20 chapters at the most. It all depends on how it flows once I start writing it. I know where I want to go with this one but I don't have any pre-written chapters. I wanted to go ahead and post this one to see what you guys thought. If you want me to continue please let me know. I really hope the fandom isn't dead. SON got me through so much when I was younger and I wanna continue to share stories with you guys as they filter into my brain. I'll probably post once a week. I've got quite a few vacations coming up but I wanna get this done before the summer. I will be doing an FoF for this story. Anyways... hope y'all enjoy. :)

Present

Ashley stared down at the case in front of her. She was piecing it all together bit by bit now. But none of it was making sense. It couldn't be true. There was no way any of this way true. It's all right in front of her though. It all made sense if she opened her mind to the possibility of it being a fact. This whole time. Everything she… all the…

"Babe." She calls out to her girlfriend from the living room of her two bedroom loft.

"Yeah?" Her girlfriend calls back, distracted by the television.

"Could you come here for a minute please." Ashley asks, swallowing the lemon in her throat. She shakes her head and slams her eyes shut tightly. This all has to be a mistake she whispers to herself over and over again. Maybe if she says it enough times it'll be true.

"What is it love?" Her girlfriend peaks her head around the corner to look at Ashley. She glances back and forth between the brunette and the file in her hand. The look on the brunette's face speaking volumes.

"I know who the killer is…" Ashley barely whispers.

10 Weeks Prior

Ashley grinded her teeth and shook her head at the file on her desk. It'd been three months since this case was handed to her and she was no closer to finding the killer than when the case was assigned to her.

"Avery." She leaned back in her chair around the glass wall to look outside her office at her colleague.

"What's up Davies?" He leaned back in his chair to look beyond his wall across the hall.

"Do you remember the name of that-"

"Before you even finish that," he cut her off and shook his head. He knew what question was coming. It was the same question she'd been asking for the past two days and the answer had been the same every time. And even though Ashley knew that fact, she thought maybe just maybe, somehow the answer would magically change. "We've already run down that lead and it was a bust. You know this already Davies, why are you-"

"Because it's been three freaking months Avery!" She half shouted, half whispered. She slammed her eyes shut, bringing her index finger and thumb up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Three months and not a single lead has panned out. These are the types of cases that make or break a detective's career." She dropped her hand from her face and opened her eyes to look over at her friend. "I think I'm gonna head home early. Call me if anything develops." She grunted as she said the last part. No developments have happened for two and a half months now.

She pulled back up to her desk and closed up the file in front of her and shuffled the rest of the papers together into a pile and stuffed them into her bag. She stood up from the chair, shutting off her light on her desk. She closed her office door behind her.

"Have a good night Davies. Don't worry yourself to death. Cases stall. It happens. Sometimes there's nothing you can do about it."

Ashley forced a smile and nodded as she passed her friend to head towards the elevator. She pressed the button and waited impatiently for it to arrive.

"Hey Davies, you headed home." Detective Rogers came up next to Ashley and asked.

"Mhm." She nodded. "Long day."

"The Clown Face Killer?"

"Yeah." She sighed. "This case is impossible. No one ever sees anything even though he attacks in broad daylight every time." Ashley pinched the bridge of her nose again, feeling a headache coming on.

"We're gonna get this guy Davies," Rodgers placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "He's gonna make a mistake and we're gonna get the sicko. Don't worry, they always mess up. Sooner or later."

"I wish he'd mess up sooner." Ashley said exasperatedly.

Detective Rodgers chuckled and nodded his head, "We all do. This guy is costing us a whole lot of man hours." He flashed her a smile. "Have a good night, Davies." He patted her on the shoulder as the elevator arrived.

"You too." She returned a smile, this one semi-genuine. Rodgers attempt to make her feel better kind of worked. She was thankful for it. As the elevator closed Rodgers gave her a wave. She gripped her bag tighter as she rode the five floors down to the lobby. When the doors opened she scurried quickly towards the front door of the precinct, she was so caught up in her thoughts she didn't even notice the girl walking towards her, who also happened to be preoccupied in her own thoughts.

"Crap! I'm sorry." The blonde rushed out as she bent down to help Ashley pick the papers that were once safely inside her bag.

"Don't worry about it." Ashley shook her head. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, I've just got a lot on my mind and I'm just a little…" Ashley's sentence died in her throat as she finally looked up to see the person she'd bumped into. "Hi," Ashley breathed out. It was the only word she could think of.

"Hi." The blonde smiled. Ashley melted into a puddle on the laminate floor. "Are you okay?" The blonde asked as they stood. "Oh no, I broke you." The blonde waved her hand in front of the brunettes face. "I'm contemplating going to get some help, so if you're still in there you should probably speak up." The blonde teased. "Okay, I'm going to get someone now." The blonde moved to walk away and was grabbed by the brunette.

"No need." Ashley shook her head. "I'm fine." She added for good measure.

"Phew." The blonde blew out a puff of air and wiped the imaginary bead of sweat from her forehead. "I thought for sure I was going to jail or something from breaking a cop." The blonde flashed a smiled, gesturing towards Ashley's badge and gun.

"Detective actually." Ashley corrected. She hated being called a cop when she'd work her ass off for four years as a beat cop to make detective. There was no way she was taking a demotion, even if it was only a verbal one. "Detective Davies… Ashley." She quickly said.

"Sorry, Detective," The blonde smiled widely. She seemed to do that a lot and every time Ashley's knees threatened to give out. "I'm Spencer, it's nice to meet you Ashley." Spencer held her hand out as an offer to the brunette. Ashley quickly accepted with a nod but no words. "Uh oh, did I break you again."

"No." Ashley chuckled. The blonde's eyes widened a bit. Ashley's laugh had to be the cutest thing she'd ever heard.

"You've gotta stop scaring me then." The blonde mirrored her earlier actions in dramatic fashion, getting a toothy grin from the brunette.

"I"m sorry, Spencer." She stared at the blonde, regaining her composure a bit.

Spencer cleared her throat. "Don't sweat it." She shrugged. "I know this may be a bit forward and presumptuous but can I take you across the street for coffee?" The blonde asked confidently. Not only was she assuming that Ashley was gay but she was also assuming that the brunette felt the same way she did at the present moment in time. Like there was something between them… something that definitely needed to be explored.

Lucky for the blonde… she was.

"At eight in the evening?" The brunette popped a brow. She'd love to go and do anything with the blonde stranger standing in front of her, but coffee at this hour would not be one of them. She already had enough trouble sleeping, she didn't need caffeine making things worse.

"Tea?" The blonde suggested.

"Not much of a tea drinker." The brunette admitted truthfully.

"Hot cocoa?" The blonde asked.

"It's a 80 degree Atlanta summer night."

"You're killing me here." The blonde chuckled. Ashley was shooting down everything she suggested. She only wanted to be alone with the brunette but they couldn't seem to agree on a place to even get out of the precinct lobby.

Ashley cleared her throat, unsure of what came over her as she asked, "You wanna just come back to my place. I was headed home?" The brunette stared eagerly into blue eyes. Was she a little too forward with the taller woman?

"Yes." The blonde nodded quickly. "I'd love to." She smiled as she turned to head towards the door with Ashley.

"Wait," they stopped. "weren't you heading in?" Ashley questioned with a raised brow, thumbing towards the elevator. She's not exactly sure why she's leaving with this perfect stranger, she was a detective she knew better than this. There's no telling who this girl could be. She could be Katy Bates from Misery for all the detective knew but right now that didn't matter. Right now this gorgeous blonde woman staring at her with a smile was the only encouragement she needed to go through with this.

"Yeah." Spencer nodded. "But it can wait 'til tomorrow." She assured the smaller woman.

"Are you sure because I can-"

"Ashley," the blonde stopped the brunette. "Take me home." She stated firmly, letting the other woman know she was perfectly fine with the situation as it was. Ashley nodded as a smirk appeared at her lips. This wasn't something she usually did, but with the blonde it all felt so… necessary.

They barely made it through the door before clothes started to come off. Ashley closed the door with her body as Spencer pushed her back against it. They broke apart briefly for Ashley to remove her gun and badge.

"I've gotta put this in the safe. Two seconds." Ashley pointed towards a small closet to her right. Spencer nodded as her chest heaved, understanding Ashley wanting to be safe.

Ashley emerged from the closet less than 30 seconds later. She wasted no time reconnecting her lips with the blonde's, both of them moaning at the contact.

Ashley loved how perfect Spencer's body felt against hers. She pulled her lips away from the blondes and let her tongue drag up the base of her neck. Spencer moaned and closed her eyes.

"Bed, now." The blonde muttered through a guttural moan. She didn't have to ask Ashley twice. The smaller woman grabbed the blonde's legs, lifting her and wrapping her legs around her waist, carrying her to the bedroom.

"That was…" Spencer attempted to speak while she also attempted to catch her breath. A hard task.

"Yeah." Ashley stated simply, her chest mimicking the blondes.

"I don't think I've ever orgasmed that amazingly hard." The blonde admitted turning over to look at the brunette. Her bottom lip tucked between her teeth as she fought off an ear splitting grin.

"You don't have to say that." The brunette shook her head and smiled bashfully.

"No." Spencer moved to straddle Ashley, grabbing her face to make her look into her blue eyes. Hazel eyes staring up at her. "You are so amazing. The way you touch me and the way you made your tongue do that little swirly curling thing," Spencer paused as they shared a knowing smile. "I have never cum so hard in my 28 years of living." Spencer assured her.

"Wanna know a secret?" Ashley asked as she leaned forward to kiss the blonde's lips quickly.

"Mhm." Spencer answered with a nod, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear. She crossed her arms and laid her head down on Ashley's bare chest, her chin resting on the back of her hands.

"You're the first girl to make me orgasm at all." The brunette admitted.

"What?!" Spencer pulled up from the brunette, not believing what her ears had just processed and sent to her brain.

"Scouts honor." Ashley nodded quickly.

"Can I ask in how many tries?" Spencer questioned, resuming her previous position.

Ashley's forehead scrunched together as she tried to remember the exact number. It hadn't been that many in her short 29 years on earth, but it was enough to need to think about it.

"Seven… wait no eight if you count my very first girlfriend. But we were 14, neither of us knew what we were doing."

"Eight girlfriends have never made you orgasm?!" Spencer asked in utter shock.

"Notaone" Ashley shook her head.

"Poor thing." Spencer said seriously, pouting her lips to lean down and capture the brunettes lips. "How about I make you cum a few more times then, just to make up for lost time." She whispered seductively in Ashley's ear, sending a chill down her spine.

Ashley could only nod as the blonde had rendered her speechless yet again that night. She smiled as the blonde's eyes grew two shades darker and leaned down to reconnect their lips.

"I'm not sure what happens now." Ashley admitted truthfully as she shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.

"Me either." Spencer smiled as they stood in the doorway to Ashley's Midtown Loft. "I've never really done this."

"Same." Ashley smiled. "You know, as a Detective I'm usually more careful about who I bring back to my place. I mean, I don't just.."

"I didn't think that you did…" The blonde stopped, letting her sentence fade as she smiled and shook her head.

"I'm just usually a little more careful you know, I've-"

"I won't tell anyone if you won't." The blonde quipped, taking a step towards the brunette.

"You don't have to leave you know." Ashley stated. In all honestly, she really didn't want the woman to go. Everything with the blonde felt so… natural and easy. Ashley was perfectly okay with just laying in bed for the rest of the night talking.

"I do." The blonde nodded. "If I don't, I won't get any sleep and I've got to be at work in," Spencer paused, grabbing her phone out of her pocket to look at the time. "Four hours." She gasped. They both chuckled.

"I'm sorry I kept you out past your curfew." Ashley quipped.

"Well worth it." Spencer countered. She bit her lip as they stared at each other. Both unsure of how exactly to say goodnight to one another.

"Here, give me this." Ashley spoke up suddenly taking Spencer's phone out of her hands to put her number in. "If you want to call me you can, if you don't then… tonight was amazing." Ashley stated with a shrug. "I'm not expecting for you to just-"

"Goodnight Ashley," Spencer leaned forward and kissed the brunette. Both whimpered a little as they pulled away. "I'll call you tomorrow." She stated matter-of-factly and leaned in for one final kiss before turning and walking away towards the building's elevator.

Ashley watched her as she left, admiring the blonde's will power. She didn't turn around once to glance back at Ashley. She couldn't, she would have lost all desire to leave and they would have gone for another five rounds. Ashley didn't have to be at work tomorrow, she'd just worked a twenty-one hour shift. She didn't have to be back until 9 a.m two mornings from now. As the elevator closed with the blonde inside, Ashley sighed and closed her door. She locked it and leaned against it.

Tonight had probably been the best night she's had in a long time. It's been ages since she's had a serious girlfriend, most can't handle the schedule of a detective so they bail after a few months. The truth of the matter was that even if one could, Ashley had never felt particularly connected to anyone she's dated in the past.

She wasn't sure what it was about the blonde she's just spent the last seven hours getting to know, but she felt this overwhelming want to get to know her better. Ashley smiled as she brushed her index and middle finger against her lips, reminiscing.

The night had been amazing… but she was quickly brought back to reality when she glanced down at her bag near her feet. She sighed and rolled her eyes as she picked it up and placed it on the desk. Taking out the files and papers inside. She groaned as she placed them on the desk.

Tonight would be yet another long night… she hated how much this case was keeping her awake. How much it got under her skin. Her first case as a detective and she let it go cold. Everyone knows that if you don't catch a killer within the first 48 hours chances are you never will. Witnesses disappear, evidence vanishes, the killer has time to just up and leave the country.

This guy though..this psychopath has killed fourteen women. Ashley could remember the name of each and every one of them. Their faces haunted her dreams, that's why she couldn't sleep most nights. She hated seeing her failures. It was almost as if this guy was taunting her. He's killed fourteen women in the Metro Atlanta area and even though he hasn't been caught he continues to hunt and kill here. It was almost like he was daring Ashley to find him. Like it was a game.

She opened the folder and stared at the criminal profile given to her by the precincts criminal psychologist.

Young white male between the ages of 25 and 32, no prior criminal record, no scars or outstanding features but most likely attractive, sociopath with narcissistic tendencies, no attachment or positive emotional bonds formed in childhood, average level of education, multiple unsuccessful relationships in adulthood, most likely a psychotic break due to an event causing him to revisit his childhood traumas, clearly hates women, possible sadist, most likely has a job that isn't very demanding as he seems to stalk his victims for days before striking, usually in broad daylight which means he has no fear of being caught, may even want to be captured.

Victims have all been between the ages of 21 and 30, all working women who, besides being women, have nothing else in common. All from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. None of the women even attended the same school or lived in the same part of town. They were all completely different in almost every way, which is what made this case so dang hard to crack. There was no link… no way to connect the dots.

Ashley rubbed the sleep from her eyes and glanced over at the wall clock. She'd been staring at the file for over two hours and still nothing. She decided she'd call it a night. She brushed the papers on her desk into a pile and stood up, the rolling chair loud in the quiet loft. She leaned over and turned off the living room lights and dragged her feet towards her bedroom.

She was beyond tired. She only hoped that being as tired as she was would help her sleep soundly. She hoped for a lot of things.

Most of all she hoped she could figure out who this guy was before he struck again.

The ringing of her phone pulled her from her sleep. She glanced over at her alarm clock on the night stand. 7:43 a.m. She grunted and grabbed her phone sliding her finger across the bottom of the screen to answer it.

"This better be good Avery." She grunted, still half asleep.

"Another body was just found. 17th street apartments."

"Coming." Was all Ashley said before hanging up the phone. It was her day off but everyone knows Detectives don't really get days off, especially when they're working on a case as big as the one Ashley was working on.

Ashley rolled out of bed and made her way into the bathroom to take a shower in an attempt to wake herself up. She'd only gotten less than two hours of sleep in the past 48 hours, not ideal but she figured a shower and a really strong cup of coffee would help.

"How long has she been here?" Ashley asked Detective Avery as she entered the apartment. It was a fairly nice place. A one bedroom studio with pictures of family and friends plastered all over the walls. Whoever this girl was… she was clearly loved.

"Less than five hours." Avery replied, stepping over the woman to walk up next to Ashley.

"What do we know so far?" Ashley asked her colleague as she put on the safety clothes that were handed to her on the way in the apartment.

"Not much." Avery flipped a couple of pages back into in pad he was holding. "The best friend found her." He used his pen to point to a woman crying hysterically on the couch as she attempted to speak to a Uniform. Ashley turned to her right and noticed a picture of the crying woman and the victim she assumed. Hard to tell what the woman looked like now as she lay on the floor. "They were supposed to meet for coffee this morning but the victim-"

"Name." Ashley interjected quickly.

Avery flipped back another page in his pad. "Sarah." He answered. Ashley nodded and moved towards Sarah. When she reached the woman she bent down to get a better look, putting the gloves on she was given. Avery came up next to her and did the same.

"The best friend had a key, she let herself in and found her like this." Ashley leaned forward a little. She took the pen from Avery's hand and used it to lift a half heart necklace up from the woman's chest. She examined it briefly then sat it back down. She turned and handed the pen back to her colleague. "She said that she-"

"They aren't friends." Ashley said, standing up from the girl.

"Huh?" Avery asked, thoroughly confused. He flipped back to a page in his pad and tapped his pen against it. "They're definitely friends, she said that they-"

"What's her name?" Ashley nodded her head in the direction of the woman on the couch.

Avery flipped a page. "Veronica."

"Veronica, hi. I'm Detective Davies." Ashley said, walking over to the woman, who was now only sniffling, no longer crying hysterically. The Uniform who was interviewing the woman got up and walked away.

"Hi." The woman replied softly.

"Veronica, I'm gonna ask you something and I need you to be completely honest with me okay? I know that this information may not seem important but every detail of every case is and it could very well help us find out what happened to Sarah. Okay?" Ashley spoke methodically.

"Mhm." She nodded.

"Okay, good." Ashley put on her best smile trying to reassure the woman. "You and Sarah weren't just friends, were you?"

Ashley could see Avery's eyes go wide at her line of questioning. But she had a purpose.

"I…" The woman paused, looking down.

"It's okay, Veronica. No judgments here." Ashley said, taking off her gloves and reaching a hand out to lay over the woman's. The woman could only nod. "I couldn't help but notice the half heart necklaces the two of you were both wearing.

Almost instinctively Veronica's hand shot up to her neck to grip her necklace. "She gave me this two months ago. We'd been friends since college. Neither of us knew that we liked girls." Veronica smiled and paused. Almost as if she was remembering an event. "Sarah was so scared to tell me how she felt. I had to make the first move. We've only been a couple for 10 weeks. We'd only just discovered this love and now she's…" Veronica stopped as the tears caused her to choke on her words.

"It's okay. Take your time." Ashley rubbed circles in the woman's back.

"I don't know who could have done this. Everyone loved Sarah she was the sweetest person you could ever meet. She volunteered every weekend at boys and girls clubs, animal shelters, the hospital. Anywhere she could really. She didn't have a bad bone in her body and someone did her like this, someone mutilated…" Veronica choked out as the tears spilled out uncontrollably.

"You should get home Veronica. I'll have one of the Uni's to give you a ride." The woman could only nod as she sobbed into her hands. Ashley lifted her head and waved a hand to call over a cop. "Can we have someone take her home please." The cop simply nodded. Ashley and Avery watched as she was escorted out.

Ashley pinched the bridge of her nose. "I should have caught this guy already. Why can't I get him!" Ashley shouted, causing everyone in the room to turn and look at her. Avery turned to his friend placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You will." He stated simply. "Alright, Alright. Enough staring!" He waved his hand around. Everyone returned to their previous activities.

"This woman is gone because I can't do my damn job, Avery. Her death is on me. Everyone this asshole kills is on me."

"You can't do that to yourself, Davies. How many times do I have to tell you this? I've been on this job for a long time and the one thing I know is that cases can be unpredictable. There's no way for you to control that. But you gotta control your emotions. Outburst and crime scenes are things that will get you thrown off a case. Okay?" Avery tried to comfort his friend. He'd been a detective for five years and Ashley's TO. They'd grown close in the months of him training her and he only wanted what was best for her. He didn't give her this case because he wanted to see her fail. He made her lead on it because he knew she would stop at nothing not to.

Ashley nodded. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you look bad."

"Oh don't sweat that." He waved her off. "Great catch on the relationship by the way. Do you think that's important somehow?"

"I'm not sure yet." Ashley moved in front of Sarah again. "I remember a couple of the other women being in relationships with women. Maybe we should see if there's some kind of connection there."

"Yeah, definitely worth looking into."

Ashley stared down at the woman. Her face sliced from ear to ear. Several small stab wounds in different places on her body. And finally he liked to top it all off by pulling out a patch of the girls hair. Ripping it from the scalp. Ashley closed her eyes. What kind of person could hurt a woman like this?

The vibrating cell in Ashley's pocket pulled her from her thoughts. She pulled the phone out and looked down at the screen. It wasn't a number she recognized.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Ashley, hi. It's Spencer." The blonde stated quickly.

Ashley stood. "Oh, hey Spencer. Um, hi."

"You already said that." Spencer giggled as Ashley stepped away from Avery and the body laying on the floor.

"Yeah sorry. I'm just a little distracted is all."

"Oh is this a bad time?"

"Kinda." Ashley answered honestly. "I mean, I'm just at work and kinda at a crime scene at the moment. I wasn't supposed to be at work today but crime never sleeps you know?"

"Yeah, totally. Well are you free later. I get off around 9 tonight. Maybe we could grab a late dinner or something?" The blond asked hopeful.

"Yeah, I should be finished up here soon and then I've got some paperwork to do but 9 sounds good. Did you wanna meet a the restaurant or should I come pick you up?"

"We can meet there. I'll text you the details."

"Sounds good."

"See you tonight, gorgeous." Spencer finished and hung up the phone causing the brunette to smile.

"I know that smile, Davies! Are you dating again?" Avery asked coming up next to her.

"No." Ashley shook her head quickly. The taller man stared at her. "Okay fine… maybe."

"Davies."

"I don't know what this is yet." Ashley held up her hands in defense. "We only met yesterday and we barely got any talking in so I don't know if she's looking for something serious or just a fling or what... I don't know." Ashley shrugged and side stepped her colleague.

"Well I for one am happy for you. I think you spend way too much time looking at dead bodies."

"It's kinda what I do man. I mean I am a homicide detective after all." Ashley smiled.

"You know what I mean." He pointed a finger at her.

"Can we have everything in this room bagged and tagged into evidence please. I want a full list on my desk in two hours." Ashley turned and told one of the uniform cops who nodded.

"We're gonna get him, Ashley." Avery stated. The conversation turning serious again.

"I'd prefer if we got him before he struck again. He's speeding up his timeline it seems. There's usually at least five days in between each kill. This one was only three." Ashley said as they walked out of the apartment and into the cool Atlanta morning air.

"Maybe he's getting tired of the in between."

"And that's what scares me." Ashley admitted. Nothing more dangerous than a bored serial killer.

"Yeah." Avery nodded. "I'll see you back at the office then?"

"Yeah, I just wanna stop home and get some sleep."

"Gotcha. Rest easy, Davies. We're gonna get this creep." Avery half shouted as they walked in different directions towards their vehicles.

"You flatter me, Rollins." Ashley called back. He only shrugged and smiled as they turned and went their separate ways. The truth was, Ashley wasn't sure if she'd ever catch The Clown Face Killer.

Spencer smiled a sinister smile as she watched the scene unfold across the street from her. The male detectives words ringing in her ear. She grabbed her phone out her pocket and opened up the text screen, texting a number she'd only recently acquired.

'Is it weird if I miss you? It's weird isn't it? You can be honest with me.' She typed and waited. As the message arrived to the phone of the brunette her eyes were trained on from a very safe distance.

She watched as the other woman smiled and seemed to type a reply. She dropped her head to look at her phone when the message came through.

'No it's not weird and that's the honest truth. Cause honestly… I miss you too.'

The smile on the blonde's face grew wider.

Things were going exactly as planned.