Chapter Text
We’re back at it again and this time it’s much more wild, intense, and bizarre. And like every case, nothing seems connected, until it is. Got it? Great.
Now… where did we leave off?
It was a normal fall morning in Seattle. Well, truthfully, every morning is normal, everything is normal. Much like the ordinary, it’s what you choose to focus on that makes something odd or normal.
This morning was odd in the sense that it was, arguably, arbitrarily, normal. And normal was something that Dirk, Todd, and Farah were getting more and more used to.
With a lack of cases throughout the summer, things were getting suspicious. And at first, they welcomed it. It was very much needed before Todd recovered because he was worried he was going to have to be running for his life on his crutches or have Dirk carry him, the latter of the two he wouldn’t mind but the problem was it’s hard to run for your life when you are carrying another human. But no, the universe gave them a break. And while it was welcome, it still felt off. But slowly they became more accustomed to the idea of a “normal” life considering that Blackwing was no longer a problem looming over them. They even began to wonder if they were going to live a “normal” life now that Blackwing was gone. Maybe the universe was fixed?
So, this morning was normal. That was a specific choice of words, “this morning”. Notice how I didn’t say “today”? We’ll get back to that later, for now, let’s check in on our favorite couple on this fine, “normal”, fall, morning.
Todd awoke feeling chilly, as usual, all of the blankets were stolen. He looked out the window beside his bed that shown the classic grey Seattle sky. And now came his favorite thing about mornings, he rolled over to see Dirk smiling at him through sleepy eyes.
“Good morning, darling.” Dirk brushed his fingers through Todd’s hair.
“Dude, you’ve gotta stop stealing the blankets.” He pretended to be angry but he couldn’t help smile. “I’m freezing”
“Well come over here then.”
Todd rolled his eyes and shuffled next to Dirk before he wrapped the blankets he stole around them both, pulling him in as tight as he could.
The proper warmth Todd had been missing engulfed him the moment he entered the cave of the pile blankets Dirk insisted all had to be in bed with them. And still, almost every morning, they all ended up on his side of the bed despite them having plenty to share. The cozy, toasty feeling combined with Dirk’s also warm arms around him made it a struggle to keep his eyes open. And eventually, he didn’t fight it. “Ugh,” he grunted, “I don’t want to get up.”
“Me either, but work. It’s already 7:30 and I haven’t had any tea.”
“We can be a little late, not like anything happens anymore anyway. We just sit around doing nothing all day, let’s get a headstart on doing nothing.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
They lied like that for a moment. Silent. Content. Dirk’s head rested on Todd’s shoulder, he buried his nose in his neck, losing all self-control as he tenderly pressed his lips against his skin.
Todd flipped over and smiled at Dirk, stroking his cheek with his thumb lovingly, eyes shingling like the moon. “I love you, you know that?”
“I’m wildly aware… and I love you too.” Todd chuckled at Dirk’s response before pulling him into a sweet kiss.
The heart fluttering tenderness of each other's lips, and the warmth of each other's arms sent them into a state of euphoria that they would never get sick of. That feeling of being safe, being loved, being at home in their embrace. Knowing that they could be free to love, knowing they wouldn’t be hurt by Blackwing anymore, knowing for once... everything would be alright.
They were perfect for each other. The universe brought Todd, Dirk, and brought Dirk, Todd.
The universe?
The universe…
THE UNIVERSE!
Dirk pulled back suddenly. “Todd,” He said in a monotone voice that made it practically impossible to tell what was wrong. If something was wrong. Was something wrong?
“Dirk…” Todd echoed back as Dirk shot out of bed. He waited for any indication that could provide him with more clues as to the situation. Dirk ran to the kitchen and put a pot on the stove, Todd following behind. “Dirk…” raising his voice slightly, beginning to worry. Dirk only began wordlessly -he was never wordless- making tea if something was big. Wrong, right, didn’t matter, he needed tea. Something to neutralize the situation. But he didn’t respond to him. Time for the big guns, “What’s happening, angel?”
There it was.
Dirk snapped out of his tea haze midway through pulling two mugs out of the cabinet. “Something.” Still monotone, almost as if Dirk didn’t know. As if he were waiting for the answer himself.
“What?”
“You asked what’s happening,” He grabbed the already brewed coffee pot and poured Todd off a cup. “I answered. Something is happening.”
He darted for the fridge grabbing the creamer that Todd insisted he didn’t like but after four months living with him, Dirk knew the truth. Todd hated black coffee, he just liked the aesthetic, he would never make creamed coffee for himself though. Dirk had even made it a point to wake up first when he can so Todd can’t argue and give himself what he deserves. And every time he sees Dirk is the one to make his coffee, he smiles.
“What do you mean, ‘something is happening’?”
Dirk handed him the mug with the spoon in, unmixed, no time to waste, Todd can stir his own coffee. “Be a dear and turn on the TV for me? The news. I don’t care, any channel, let the universe choose which one you land on first.”
Todd didn’t question any of this, just followed instructions bewilderedly.
He sat on the couch and flipped through channel after channel while Dirk stumbled through the kitchen trying to decide which tea would be best for this of most important days.
“I’m not seeing anything. All commercials.” He yelled over his shoulder.
“Um… Just start flipping through them. I’ll tell you when to stop.”
“But you aren’t even-”
“Just do it, please?”
Todd rolled his eyes and changed channels rapidly for a minute or two before Dirk said from behind the couch, “Stop.”
Dirk joined him, Todd curling up against him, head on his chest, as he wrapped his tea-less arm around him.
“Ok, you’ve got your tea, the situation is neutralized,” he looked up at him, “What’s happening?”
“I got a hunch. And not the normal mundane, ‘do this, do that’, hunch. A case hunch.”
Todd nearly spat out his coffee at the word “case”. “Did you say ‘case’?”
“Yes, love,” he smiled down at him with pure excitement in his eyes. “Something is going to happen today!”
“Fucking finally!”
“I know!” He bent down for a short, celebratory kiss.
“What do you think it’s going to be?” The look of stupid-flighty-bullshit radiating his entire being. They were back, baby! “What does the news have to do with it? Is there a conspiracy where the reporters are all a bunch of aliens? Do they have a weather-controlling machine? Is there a cult? Is there a cult of weather-controlling alien news reporters?!”
“I’m not sure. I just know something happened this morning and that something will lead to a case and the news has an important detail for us.”
“A case, Dirk,” he muttered under his breath. “A new case.” Repeating himself to make sure it was real, letting it sink in.
“I know!” Dirk reached for the remote from Todd’s hand and began turning up the volume. “Now shush, commercials are over.”
The news sting played as the camera switched to a close up of a woman who you could tell had no personality. “And we’re back.” A woman sitting in an armchair said. “Weren’t those goats adorable?”
“Absolutely.” A man in a suit in the armchair that faced the woman said. “You could say, they were... the GOAT...”
The woman let out an obnoxious laugh, throwing her head back dramatically. “Oh, Micheal, you crack me up!”
“You’re too kind, Linda.” He said before turning back to the camera. “Now with the mood lightened, we, unfortunately, have to turn it down again with some rather depressing story. We turn the camera to you, Jeramy.”
“Thank you, Michael.” The man said. “After a long period of testing for conformation, two new deaths have been added to the total for the Nova epidemic body count.”
Dirk and Todd’s hearts dropped to their stomachs. Not in hearing the of deaths, no, but the cause of death, knowing that whatever they were about to hear would most likely be important to their next case.
“The families of the deceased at first did not wish to go public with the cause of death but decided to use their deaths as an example. Mother of 20-year-old Margaret says, ‘Not many people are public with the cause of death when it comes to this. If more people come forward we can end the situation.’ As always we emphasize the importance of understanding where it comes from. And the gravity of the situation is that we don’t know where it comes from or what’s in it. All we know is that Nova isn’t constant in the way it is produced, the amount it takes to overdose varies greatly. Remember-”
Todd took the remote from Dirk’s hand and turned the TV off. “Hey, I wasn’t done with that.”
“I don’t need to hear any more of that depressing bullshit. If you want to get high, use the safe drugs damn it. How are people so stupid?”
“That’s a bit of a paradox don’t you think? The word dru-”
“You know what I mean… You think our next case is gonna be a Nova bust?”
“Highly doubt it. But we’ll have to get to the office to be sure.” Dirk smirked.
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get ready.”
Dirk and Todd arrived at the agency with a box of premature celebratory donuts and coffee for Farah. As Dirk leaned down to unlock the door he was surprised to discover it was unlocked. He looked over to the parking lot and realized he failed to notice that Farah’s car was there.
With a large grin, he burst through the door in the most dramatic Dirk way possible. “LOOK ALIVE FARAH!”
She whipped her head around from her desk, a very confused look on her face. “What the hell-“
Todd set down the coffee and donuts on the front desk, Farah leaped for the cup with her name on it, misspelled with two ‘r’s. “You gonna tell her, Dirk? Or do you want me-“
“We’ve got an incoming case! I can feel it! Something is going to happen.”
“We aren’t sure exactly what -” Todd added.
“I had a hunch…” Dirk smirked and Todd nodded enthusiastically.
“And not just any hunch…” He leaned in for emphasis.
Farah stood silent, sipping her coffee loudly, eyes darting back and forth between the two of them before she said, “This is going to be stupid, isn’t it? Like the gum,” Dirk frowned. “Or the rabbit-” Todd went to raise a finger before Farah cut him off again, “If you’re going to barge in here dramatically saying ‘We have a case!’ with lattes and donuts the hunch better be a good one.”
“But that’s the thing!’ Dirk laughed and they resumed bouncing off of each other.
“His hunch was- wait for it…”
“Watch the news!” He paused, mouth open like it was the most amazing thing he had ever said, waiting for a reaction from Farah that didn’t come.
“Watch the news?” She gave them a very annoyed look. “This is more stupid than the rabbit.”
“I know, it sounds stupid, BUT-” Todd added with a signature eye-roll.
“When I turned on the news, guess what the story was-” Dirk waited. And waited. And waited. Farah growing more annoyed with them with each millisecond that passed he stared waiting for some sort of guess. “Nova deaths.”
This was the turning point, things were getting interesting. Farah nearly dropped her coffee and her mouth flew open. “Nova?”
“Nova,” Todd said. And while the topic was serious as can be, the mood in the room immediately shifted from mild, morning frustration to complete excitement and enticement and became full of wide-mouthed smiles.
“The news story was really Nova?”
“It really just so was.” Dirk nodded.
“This is going to be awesome!” Todd beamed. “A drug bust, Farah, a drug bust. This is big!”
“We can’t be sure.” She said and was met with disappointed frowns. “Could have just been an intense desire to watch the news, not a hunch.”
“You don’t know hunches. This was a hunch.”
“But what makes this hunch different from your other hunches? Why does this one mean all of a sudden… case? Did the universe say we were getting a case today?”
“Well…” He made an odd, indescribable, Dirk face. Breathing in through closed teeth.
“He hasn’t had a hunch since he solved Oneiroi,” Todd interjected.
“Oh shit.”
“And while the universe didn’t say explicitly that we were getting a case today, it was heavily implied. That’s sort of how this whole thing works.”
“Again, need I remind you of the gum? You get like this during slow patches. You think anything and everything is a case.”
“Are you... doubting my holistic-ness?”
“Yeah, are you doubting his holistic-ness?”
Farah shook her head, “Oh my God you two. All I’m saying is, don’t get your hopes up for a case that hasn’t appeared ye-”
And before Farah could finish someone burst through the door, that all too familiar look of desperation on their face, chest rising and falling very rapidly, tears in their eyes.