(The 'version' of the Heavy Rain canon this is based on would be one in which Ethan is arrested and then broken out by Jayden. My personal fanon for Jayden has him growing up as an orphan since he never mentions family or friends in game Obviously contains heavy spoilers. Will contain future threesomes of the m/m/f variety along with talk of suicide and physical and mental illness)

Blake thought- insisted- that Ethan Mars was the killer.

If anything, his 'partner's' confidence in Mars' guilt only strengthened Jayden's resolve to look elsewhere. As a profiler, Jayden didn't throw around words like psychopath lightly. No, Blake was just your garden-variety moron with a power complex and a background so easy to read he might as well carry a sign. Alcoholic father, loving mother who'd tried her best to protect him. At least one younger brother...probably a lawyer or a stockbroker, whatever he'd thought would piss off daddy and big brother the most.

Still...moron or not, Blake carried more weight around the station than Jayden. He had 'em all cowed, and Jayden wasn't naive enough to think a rational discussion could save the day. It was the orphanage all over again...Jayden in one corner, the big bad bully in another, and everyone else too busy keeping clear of the line of fire to play referee.

So when the first vicious stab of pain shot across his temple, Jayden just clenched his teeth and pulled up the video from the Blue Lagoon. He didn't have time for a break. Shaun Mars' life could be measured in hours, and Jayden wasn't letting a kid drown like a fucking trapped rat on his watch.

There was something he was missing. Something simple. Something obvious.

There.

A flash of gold around a burly wrist. A chunky watch...simultaneously cheap and pretentious. A steady throbbing ache was building behind Jayden's eyes, but he knew that watch.

"The killer is a cop." The echo of his own voice made Jayden cringe. "Blake?"

Ah, if only. Jayden would have loved to slap the cuffs on himself. But moron, not psychopath...and not nearly clever enough to pull it off.

He spun idly through ARI's menu, musing on the things he knew and ignoring the warm, slick slide of blood on his cheeks.

The cop part felt right. Jayden pulled up the gas receipts and cross-referenced the station location against active and retired police officers. Most people were creatures of habit, sticking to a single station located within a ten mile radius of their home or work.

It took ARI longer than it should have to access the requested information. Jayden licked at his lips while he waited, swallowing down bitter copper with a grimace.

There.

A single glowing dot within five blocks of the Quickie Time. It took Jayden a few tries before he managed to stab the marker with a shaking finger.

Scott Shelby.

The Origami Killer.

There was no doubt in Jayden's mind. The man's build was a match for Paco's killer, and a glance at his history suggested motive. And he just so happened to own a warehouse, a nice empty space where a kid could scream and scream without being heard.

'It all adds up, but that's not how you know.'

The dry, thin voice sounded nothing like Jayden's own. He shook his head in denial, in desperation, snarling with the pain it caused.

'You know because you know...because you sense it.'

It wasn't being admonished to trust his instincts that had Jayden bolting up, knocking his chair to the floor with a clatter. It was one thing to be inside ARI...entirely another for ARI to be inside him.

'I'm only trying to help, Norman,' ARI said in its dry, autumn voice, 'It's what I do.'

"Mind your own fucking business!" What was meant to be a shout came out as a whisper, so small and shaky Jayden could barely hear it over the rustle of leaves in the rising wind.

No time. No fucking time.

Was it even worth trying to convince Blake to listen? No, screw it...there was only one person Jayden could count on to get the job done.

He whacked himself a good one upside the head on his first clumsy attempt to pull off the glasses. He got it on the second try, blinking hard in an attempt to clear away the red haze so he could find the phone.

Then the pain hit.

The shock of it brought Jayden to his knees. He brought up everything in his stomach in one great, cramping heave, only just catching himself before he face-planted into the mess. Agony wasn't too small a word for it...a mallet to the skull would have been a welcome distraction in that moment.

'Get it together, get it together...'

At least the only voice he heard in his head was his own.

But fuck, it hurt!

It didn't help that he'd chucked the phone that first day. He wasted a few precious minutes pawing around in an attempt to find the damn thing, whining helplessly with frustration and pain.

"Not gonna work." Stating the obvious. Jayden took a long, deep breath for courage and opened the ARI glasses.

He lost a little time then, lost beneath the surge of red throbbing. When he came back himself it was with a jolt and a shudder.

Around him a storm was raging, the calm little forest of the interface turned nightmarish and angry. Every flash of lightning in the virtual sky felt like a knife plunged into the center of Jayden's screaming brain.

Placing a call normally took seconds. It took Jayden almost three excruciating minutes before he could gather himself enough to call Mars.

"Answer your phone," he mumbled while it rang, "I let you loose, you bastard. Trust me and answer your phone."

"Hello?"

Mars sounded like he'd been crying. "Your son is at 852 Theodore Roosevelt Road," Jayden said, his own voice so slurred and thick he could only hope the other man understood. "The killer is a cop. Was a cop."

The trees were fading and out now, dissolving to static and snippets of code. Jayden gagged hard and spat bile and blood.

"He'll be there and he'll be armed...he'll want to watch. Be careful of other cops. They don't...they won't listen. You have to...you have to save your son. I can't..."

Jayden disconnected with a sharp jerk of his hand before Mars could answer, scrambling at his face with both hands and gouging his cheeks with his nails.

He didn't want to die. Not inside.

Finally he knocked the glasses free. Huddled there on the floor beside his fallen chair, sobbing with relief.

Until he opened his eyes.

"No, no, no..."

Wild wind, whipping leaves, exposed code. 'Don't worry, sir,' ARI whispered, 'I'm still here. How may I assist?'

"Please!"

It was almost a wail. Jayden rocked back on his heels and then forward, slamming his forehead against the edge of the desk. It was reckless and stupid, some last-ditch attempt to shock himself back to reality.

It worked.

"Thank you..." Jayden had never been a religious man, but this was every bit a prayer. He stripped off his glove with his teeth and ran his hand along the floor , relishing the gritty feel of dust. "Oh, fuck, thank you."

'I'm here,' he thought, 'I'm here.'

Then the seizure struck, and Jayden wasn't anywhere anymore.