Dirk couldn't quite believe his luck and for him, that was saying something. He finally had friends. Friends who barely minded about his 'freaky' predictive power; who put up with his awkwardness and 'quirky' behaviour. He finally had numbers on his phone that weren't simply people on his latest case, people he could call on whenever he wanted. It almost made Dirk want to throw a party.

And of course, Todd was going to live with him permanently since he couldn't stay in his current, damaged, apartment which meant Dirk was getting a roomie and it would be like one of those American sit coms where they stayed up late together chatting, revealing secrets, having movie marathons…the possibilities were endless!

Alright, so they may not have got around to discussing the particular nature of his accommodation but the night after they'd finished the Patrick Spring's case, Todd had slept over at his (in the same bed no less!) and obviously Todd was going to realise what a delightful arrangement it was. In fact, he wanted to prove to Todd was an amazing roommate he would be and what better way with a post case celebratory meal? Perhaps he ought to have waited for dinner but in Dirk's opinion there was no such thing as the wrong time for curry, even if it was American. It would show Todd how welcome he was and give him reason to never want to leave!

As Dirk bounded up the stairs, an odd feeling in his stomach began to form. Choosing to put it down to hunger, Dirk ignored it and cheerfully entered the apartment.

"Todd! I know it's still early but I brought curry and…Todd?"

Dirk checked the time. 12.05 pm. A bit late to still be in bed but they had had a rather exhausting time lately. Dirk set the take-away down on the table and headed to the bedroom, pausing to stroke Delilah their (their!) kitten-shark. And then, because Dirk was a polite, conscientious, roommate, gave the bedroom door a knock before he entered. He entered immediately afterwards, but that was beside the point. However, it didn't seem to have mattered because Todd wasn't there, the bed empty but haphazardly made. Dirk then checked his phone and as he'd thought, no missed calls or texts. Where on Earth was he?

"Delilah, you wouldn't happen to know where Todd's gone off to, would you?" Dirk asked his feline friend as he texted Todd. When there was no instant, Dirk told himself it was fine, but the tendril of fear that had formed on the stairs began to grow. Something had happened to Todd.

He barely had to begin his investigation before he realised Todd's backpack and guitar, the only possessions he'd brought with him, were gone.

"No," Dirk gasped, feeling as though he'd been punched very, very hard. This was wasn't how it was supposed to go. Todd wasn't supposed to leave.

Dirk then set about searching the apartment for some indication that Todd hadn't chosen to leave on his own, that someone had made it seem that way. Because Todd couldn't have chosen to go, he just couldn't have. He picked Dirk up from the hospital. They were friends.

The living room provided nothing out of the ordinary. In the kitchen, however, Dirk found a note. On it, in Todd's tiny handwriting, read; I'm sorry. Dirk ripped the note from the magnet that stuck it to the fridge and studied it intently, trying to decipher whether it had been written under duress. Much to his frustration, he couldn't tell.

Dirk nearly crumpled the post-it note in his anger before he took a deep breath and returned it back on the fridge. It was a clue. Despite anything, it was his piece of evidence for what had happened.

The remainder of the kitchen provided nothing else so Dirk turned his attention to the bathroom. The first thing he noticed was that Todd's blue toothbrush, which had fit nicely against his in the holder, had disappeared. A sudden, overwhelming feeling of sadness engulfed Dirk then and the detective nearly sunk to the floor, needing to hold onto the sink to remain upright. He stared blankly at the silver plug where water still lingered, meaning Todd must have brushed his teeth and gone. Dirk hadn't even been out that long, half an hour at most (it had taken a little longer than anticipated finding a take-out place open) which meant that it had either been an incredibly spontaneous decision or something that Todd had planned.

But why? Had Dirk done something awful? He wracked his brain for something he could have done but came up short. If anything, things had gone remarkably well. When Dirk had asked Todd if he would like to stay at his rather than his awful apartment Todd had agreed eagerly and when Dirk suggested Todd share his bed instead of sleep on the uncomfortable sofa there had been barely any resistance. Todd, dare Dirk say it, had even looked happy.

Perhaps it was something he'd done during the night. Dirk didn't often share beds with people, in fact, he'd only ever done it once before and it had been during a particularly claustrophobic case. If that was an indication of his natural sleeping habits, he could be rather clingy. As a matter of fact, when Dirk had woken up that morning he had found himself wrapped around the smaller man. But then, Todd hadn't been awake then and when Dirk had tried to get up, Todd had resisted, his arms naturally wrapped around Dirk to hold him in place. At the time he'd relished the contact, not wanting to leave so falling back to sleep. When he'd woken later, Todd had still been asleep but had released Dirk. Therefore, as Todd had been asleep through all that, he couldn't have minded? Surely?

Dirk's hands clenched over the white porcelain. Delilah mewled by his feet and as Dirk's gaze moved towards her, something caught his eye. He fell to his knees by the bath. There, by the bottom of it, was a speck of red and a couple more on the floor around it. Treating this like he would any other case and not something to do with his best friend, Dirk pressed a finger on the splodges. It was still wet and when Dirk brought it to his nose to smell it, there was a metallic tang. Fresh blood. Another clue.

It was clear that there had been more, as now he was focusing on it, he could detect the faint hint of lemons – cleaning product. Someone had to have cleaned it up. And that meant that Todd must have been taken – ambushed in the bathroom.

Relief so powerful coursed through Dirk and he rested his head against the edge of the tub. It was okay, Todd hadn't left of his own free will. Of course, it meant that Todd had been kidnapped which was extremely Not Good but the incredibly selfish part of Dirk was glad. He was glad Todd had been taken because it meant he hadn't left Dirk. He hadn't decided to not be his friend again.

But it also meant that Dirk had a new case. The disappearance of Todd Brotzman.

I've had some of this written for about 6 months now and I thought it was finally time to try and finish it! It's not completely done and right now my other multi-chap fic takes priority but I can't imagine it will take too long to finish. There will either be 1 or 2 more chapters after this one :)