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TW: Some mentions on gross behavior of touching without consent (and some gross behaviour in general, honestly, I tried to include some realism in a fictional world where the main character was a lawyer so-) and some depressed thoughts while doing some heavy drinking. Plus some butchered foreign words, I don't actually speak Spanish or German, but hopefully I didn't mince it too much. (Not entirely sure how to do a trigger warning if I'm honest, but hopefully I covered it).

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I pursed my lips, ignoring the transparent figure next to me as I waited for the cashier to finish scanning my items. I had just started my own defense attorney office, and my friends demanded a celebration with me paying for the alcohol, those cheap bastards-

"Cash or card today, sir?" The cashier's voice was as dull as their eyes as they stared at me in question, waiting for my answer.

"Oh, sorry," I gave a sheepish smile to the college student, ignoring the old woman who was worrying about their grandchild's future because they were working so hard in order to eat- I bit my cheek as I finally handed the waiting boy my card, "Been a long day."

"Gosh, what are his parents even doing?" The old lady lamented, "I had a trust-fund set up so he could focus on his studies and not have to worry about working for his food, but no, they decided that he was too young to have access to it. That wasn't in my will, what on earth was that lawyer thinking?"

I bit my tongue as I stopped myself from shouting about the sheer stupidity of the dead woman's lawyer, once the young man became an adult, his parents could no longer interfere in his legal matters. Sure, they could support him, but they could no longer dictate anything he did or received.

"Oh, mijo, I'm so sorry I left you with such cheap parents." The woman made a quick glance at me before she sobbed into her grandson's shoulder, "If only someone could hear my request and help you."

Oh fuck-

She fucking knew... Was it his complete avoidance? The nervous shuffling? Fucking, what was it that let on to these stupid ghosts that I could see them?

"Ohh, if only!" The ghost wailed, "If only there were a kind soul that would help you, mijo."

"Here's your bag, sir." The young man handed me the bag, his hands shaking and eyes sunken from lack of sleep, "Was there anything else I could help you with today?"

The dead grandmother finally stopped crying as I stood there, gritting my teeth and fishing out my wallet once again. I swear to Christ above that if she tells any of her ghost friends about this-

I slammed down my business card and some cash on the counter, slightly seething at being so openly manipulated by the ghost, "Call or visit this address, and eat some damn food so your grandmother will stop worrying!" I huffed angrily, ignoring the surprised and confused face of the college student, and stormed away. It always ended up like this, no matter how much I tried to hide these stupid powers, I always ended up exposed in some way and asked to help with their unresolved issues.

I groaned as I crouched in front of my car, banging my head against the metal, God...

I sighed as my phone chimed, digging it out of my pocket and sitting inside the vehicle. No one else was in the parking lot, the sun setting hours ago, so luckily no one but that poor cashier and ghost had seen his outburst.

Leo-the-dumbass at 11:12 pm: Hey, so, was that vase on your desk important?

Jenny-not-Jennifer at 11:12 pm: Leo decided to snoop. I watched. It was funny.

Connor-the-ladykiller at 11:13 pm: I had nothing to do with this, I'm not even there yet.

I was going to kill Leo. I liked that vase. I bought that vase. It was a nice God damn vase. My fingers traced along the last message before typing out my response.

Al-angry-lord at 11:14 pm: :)

Leo-the-dumbass at 11:14 pm: Shit.

I laughed softly as I started my car, I would deal with him once I got there.

I drove past the buildings, my reflection distracting me slightly. My, usually fluffy, orange hair was in disarray. My blue eyes were worse than the college student from the store, with bags upon bags underneath them, showing just how much sleep I had gotten this week. Not to mention, my skin was about as pale as the ghost sitting in my backseat- SWEET MOTHER OF JESUS!

I slammed on my breaks, glad that the streets were empty for once, and swiftly spun around my seat, "What in God's name do you want?" The ghost had white hair that stuck out at random spots and was missing his eyes, so it was a little hard to tell whether he was staring at me or not, and his face was covered with wrinkles. He looked a little like... "Heave-man?"

He was a low-class hero that usually went around helping neighborhoods with his boosted strength, just by lifting cars that got stuck in the mud and other miscellaneous things he could help with. He wasn't one of the big names, but he was pretty high up there on the popularity polls.

The old man opened his mouth letting out raspy coughs as he finally spoke, "Help... them."

Then he disappeared.

Fuck.

Son of a bitch, someone murdered Heave-man.

A ghost that specifically sought me out instead of going to a family member, yeah, it practically screamed murder. Honestly, I would have loved to help. Heave-man was one of my favorite heroes as a kid, but... "I NEED A GOD DAMN CLUE TO START A CASE YOU FUCKING STUPID GHOST!"

Honestly, maybe I was a little upset that another ghost was bothering me. Could you really blame me, though? Every single day was like this, and it was a little tiring.

I slammed my office door open, ignoring whatever the hell fell I would deal with it in the morning, and threw myself into my chair.

"Welcome back," Jenny didn't even bother glancing up from her phone, her pink eyes searching for any information she could for her article on the new hero Glacier, "how was the trip?"

"I'm going to go into villainy," Was my response as I popped open the vodka I bought and started to drink from the bottle, "Where do I sign up?"

Jenny, lovable, will-stab-you-in-an-alley, Jenny. Her brown hair was dyed purple today, not even heaven knows what color it will be by next week. I loved that about her though, the freedom to change something about yourself without second-guessing if it was the right thing to do. Her pink eyes, which also changed from time to time because of her colored contacts, briefly looked up to see what I was drinking, debating if it was worth her time to stop reading about Glacier, before deciding that, yes, I had good taste when it came to alcohol and yes, it was worth it to stop reading.

That was another thing. Glacier, the new and upcoming hero. A man with ice powers and flight that went around stopping villains with his might, heh. Honestly, I didn't know much about him. He was only recently becoming popular, the first article about him popping up last month, but he seemed like a decent enough hero.

"Now, now," Leo, my so-called secretary snatched my alcohol from me, his green eyes avoiding mine as he poured the liquid into his glass, "I need you to sign my paychecks, well, I need you in order for your father to sign them and he wouldn't do that if you were a shurke." His first language, German, sometimes slipped into his sentences when he was comfortable enough to not care who pointed it out.

Not that any of us would outside of asking what it meant.

My father... well, the only thing I could say about him was that at least I knew he was alive. Leo was hired straight out of high school to keep an eye on me, not that I minded, at least I knew my father cared enough to make sure I wasn't dead. Or cared enough about public opinion to make sure his son didn't show up on the front page due to his 'depressive episodes' finally winning and putting him in a coffin.

"Where the hell is Connor," I grumbled as Leo passed me a glass, his blonde hair shaking with his head as he didn't have an answer, "At least with him here I could deal with your... stupid face."

Uh oh.

Maybe I shouldn't have chugged that so quickly. Thoughts of a dimpled smile and warm eyes caused my heart to stutter for a second before it was quickly ruined by the sound of the green-eyed annoyance.

"Awe," Leo cooed as he realized I was starting to get too drunk to care about his teasing, "Does the prickly kitten miss the puppy?"

I stared at Leo.

Jenny stared at Leo.

I blinked in astonishment.

Jenny snatched the bottle out of Leo's hand.

I lunged across my desk.

----

Turned out, I wasn't drunk enough to not get mad at him. I was, however, glad I had bought two bottles of alcohol as I sent the two of them home by uber. I waved them away and dragged myself, and a sheet that I stored in the building when I bought it for God knows why, up to the roof to drink and look at the stars.

Well, the sky at least, the clouds were blocking the view of the stars, and it was probably going to rain in the morning. I let out small puffs of breaths, enjoying the tiny clouds that came from every exhale, as I glanced at my buzzing phone.

Leo-the-dumbass at 2:22 am: Uber man was nice. Uber man should have a raise. Al, make your father give the uber man a job.

Jenny-not-Jennifer at 2:22 am: Peas.

Leo-the-dumbass at 2:22 am: Oh my god... erbsen.

Connor-the-ladykiller at 2:22 am: Sorry I missed out on today, ended up super busy. How much did you guys' drink?

Al-anger-king at 2:23 am: Someone make sure I haven't died on the roof tomorrow.

Leo-the-dumbass at 2:23 am: You mean today?

I snorted, turning off the device as I unscrewed the bottle, and simply stared up at the sky.

The world hadn't always had heroes or powers, long before I was born the earth was full of people who were ordinary. As if humanity needed another category to stuff people into and judge them for. These days, there were fights against heroes, some thinking that they had too much leeway in their business, that they had too much freedom in saving people. Hell, there had been arguments that without powers, without heroes, there wouldn't be villains. Honestly, it was all so stupid that I just wanted to hit reset on humanity a couple of times and hope that the next batch would be less stupid than the assholes that existed now.

"Enjoying the view?"

I tilted my head toward the voice, it sounded familiar or at least sounded like I had heard it from somewhere. The man floated in the sky, just a few feet away, dressed in light blue spandex, a mask, and a grey cape. His chestnut hair swayed softly with the late-night wind, or would it be considered early morning, and his electric blue eyes were trained on me, waiting for my response.

"That's..." I trailed off slightly as I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Yes?" He came closer, a smile upon his lips.

"An eye-sore of an outfit."

"...Pardon?" The mystery hero changed from a smiling face to a flabbergasted frown.

"I can't even begin to describe the amount of pain I feel when looking at it." I chuckled as I took a drink from my bottle, the slight pout that the muscular man gave was too funny not to bring me some amusement, "I mean, I understand that most designers aren't focused on the aesthetics of the costume, but at least don't make it bright fummph-"

My lips were covered by the hero, his eyes closed as his mouth twitched in amusement, "You're cute, but god are you mouthy."

I raised my eyebrow, as the man slowly took away his hand, "...at least don't make it bright blue." The hero threw his hands up in defeat as he started to fly away, causing me to burst out in laughter, "Hey, mystery hero." I called before he could disappear. He paused, turning around to look at me. I slowly brought my legs up to my chin and wrapped the sheet around me tighter, "What brought you to my humble rooftop?"

The hero snorted and came back to my area, sitting next to me, "You ask that now?"

"Eh... I'm drunk, I'm allowed to be out of order." I tipped my bottle towards him in offering, giggling slightly when he declined, "Besides, I can freak out about this later. I'm a little worn out from reacting today."

The mystery man's blue eyes watched me as I played with the bottle, "Did something happen?"

I snorted ruefully, my eyes closing as I thought back to the events that transpired, "...you never answered, what brings you to little ol' me?"

"I see a drunk man on a rooftop, it'd be weird for me to not be a little worried." The hero frowned as I took a larger drink just to spite him, my smile playful as I played with the bottle, "What brings you up here in the middle of the night?"

"Hm, to tell or not to tell, that is the question that haunts little me," I grinned at my little play of words feeling the soft tingling in my brain as the alcohol warmed my blood, it was always so bloody cold, "Maybe I just like being at dangerously high altitudes."

"No," The stranger denied my words, shaking his head, "You hate heights."

I raised an eyebrow at the slip of the tongue, "Hmm, and how does the mighty hero know that about the stranger on the rooftop?" Chestnut hair, blue eyes, a handsome face, from what I could see of it, and a muscular figure. I know him somehow, but from where... that was the mystery I shall find out tonight, "I wonder, what does the 'A' on your cape stand for? You're definitely not the hero Achilles, he wouldn't be caught dead in your outfit and he's not the type to try and prank the only lawyer willing to take his cases..."

"Don't compare that party animal with me, I'm... Glacier." The hero, Glacier, seemed embarrassed to finally introduce himself. His lips pressed into a thin line as he tugged at his wavy hair, "The 'A' stands for something else, to remind me why I'm a hero. Besides, you said in an interview before that you hated heights."

Glacier, Glacier, Glacier. A new hero that had made outstanding statistics and saved quite a lot of people compared to some of the old heroes. The golden boy, some had claimed, the new shining star of a golden age; has read an interview about me. I knew which one he was talking about, my friends had constantly teased me about it for a year, the absolute dicks. It still struck an odd chord that a hero that I supposedly didn't know had read about it.

"The heroic Glacier read an article about me from seven years ago? My, my," I leaned forward, my hand slowly reaching up to his mask, giving the hero the chance to back away from my touch, "Should I call the reporters now? Give them the scoop of the new golden boy having a scandalous affair with the new and barely sane defense attorney, not to mention the wayward son of the CEO of the hero agency?"

"Don't do that," Glacier muttered, his warm fingers lightly pinching my cold ears, "You... don't write yourself off with insults. Don't just bottle up your problems..."

"You have a lot of demands for someone I just met," I looked away from the achingly familiar eyes that searched mine and sat back into my spot, "You know, it's true. I am barely considered sane by societal standards. Let's not even mention how I'm considered far worse than wayward to my adoring father."

The hero was silent for a moment, but I could feel the intense search of his eyes as he stared at me. I didn't know what was wrong with me, wrong, I knew exactly why I was acting like this. Brown hair brushing past my cheek as he leaned over me, his brown eyes catching my blue ones, as I watched his lips move around the words he spoke- Bad, Alfred, you're supposed to stop thinking about him that way.

I was being reckless, opening my mouth far more than I usually did. Hell, I barely even opened up this much to my therapist. If she saw me letting my problems known to a man, who I barely even knew an hour ago, she would give me the most scathing of looks as she begged him to take over her job. Or maybe she would praise me for finally letting go of some of those trust issues that chain you down and those around you.

"...Did something happen today? If you don't mind me asking." Glacier pressed his thumbs together, pushing his nail into his skin, looking so unlike the image of a confident hero that stood against the villains of modern society.

I snorted into my bottle, "What hasn't happened? Stupid fucking ghosts..." One day, it was all I asked for when I go to bed at night. One day when I didn't have to hear ghosts sobbing about their loved ones. Crying about finding out about their cheating, their new drug addictions, and how he was never like this when they were together! He just needs to hear something from you, please just tell him!

Like I could tell a man that was high on whatever drug he was on that his dead wife still loved him and he should go back to work. Yeah, that usually got me a swing to the face.

"Let me tell you something, mister golden boy," I grumbled while swinging the bottle in front of my face, watching the liquor tilt and splash around, "Ghosts are nightmares, not in a horror way; well, sometimes in a scary way, but mostly they're just so god damned annoying. Hearing them tell you their sob stories as you tried to sleep at two in the fucking morning makes you a bloody mess of a teenager, and it doesn't get better the older you get. No, they decide that since you're an adult now, you can do whatever messed up shit that they can ask you for. 'Hide or destroy my porn stash before my girlfriend finds it; tell my wife that I know she was sleeping with my boss; tell my mom that I'm sorry that I ignored her words and went to that party.' And then, once you finally do what they ask, they don't disappear, no. They decide that they have more to ask of you."

I let out a choked sob, my mind swimming with the remnants of my past, "That's not even the worst of it... the worst thing is when they think they have to repay you in some way. Do they think I want to hear how my dad is sleeping with his mistress instead of coming to my performance, or how my friend was sneaking looks my way? It's practically hell that I had to hear my loved one's secrets from the dead before they even have the chance to tell me themselves."

I sniffled as the hero stared at me in shock, his mouth agape and eyes rounded. His blue eyes looked lost as he struggled to find his words, "You... I never..."

I laughed bitterly as I looked into the sky. You could barely see it, but just a sliver of a cloud had dispersed and revealed some of the stars. "I never told a soul, so mister hero should feel a little honored that I'm drunk enough to trust you at the moment. Or maybe you'll drown in guilt thinking that you somehow took advantage of me. Don't worry, Glacier, I know full well that I'm the one being an idiot that won't shut up." I whispered his name into his ear as I laid my head against his chest. Kevlar would be a better material than fucking spandex, what were those dumbasses thinking when they designed his suit.

I felt exhausted, the alcohol finally coercing my brain to sleep and forgetting about the monsters that would greet me in the morning.

"Ghosts... are assholes." Glacier finally breathed out as I let out a giggle, my head pounding, "Just because you can help them, doesn't mean they can harass you until you do."

Assholes, that they were.

"Alfred?" I heard the hero call, his voice worried.

My hum was barely audible, my eyes closed, and my breathing came to an even rhythm.

"...-ct you."

Ah, shut up. I'll talk with you more tomorrow if you really want to speak with me that much.

---

I shot up from my sofa, that was in my waiting room, not the roof, and hurriedly answered my blaring phone, "Hello?" My voice sounded like a croaking frog.

"How is our favorite attorney this fine morning?" Leo's voice was already grating on my nerves as I looked at the time and fell back into the cushions.

Six in the fucking morning. He better have a damn good reason for waking me up this early, "Contemplating how to get out of a murder charge."

"Oh gut, then you should be ready for today. Angelica Ross, a lovely woman and a bit snarky, you'll like her. She's being charged with murder." Leo muttered something in the background, some noise filtering through the mic of his

I snorted into my pillow, as I heard a liquid being poured into a cup over the phone, "I hope that's coffee from Grandma Lia's if I'm dealing with murder this early in the morning, or I and Angelica can both face the masses. Maybe they'll even put us in the same cell. Who did she supposedly murder anyways?"

"Ah," Leo thanked whoever the hell knows before turning his attention back to his phone, "That's where things get a little dicey. See, Angelica is- was- whatever, she's the retired hero, 'Angel'. Apparently, according to the polizei, she was having disagreements with her husband about his career and decided to end things once and for all. A bit of a hasty assumption on their end, can't wait to see you give them the lecture of their lives."

I snapped my mouth, which had opened to do just that, closed and groaned into my perfect, loving, and soft pillow, "What on earth are they doing over at the precinct? Please tell me they aren't trying to open and shut the case."

Leo laughed as I heard him call for a taxi, "Oh, they're trying to do exactly that. Thanks to my incredible charm and Jenny's no-bullshit attitude, we were able to get some lovely information about Miss Ross chastising some officials up on the social ladder for their misconduct in her golden years. Said officials heard of her being suspect, well, you can guess the rest."

I glared balefully at the wall as I felt the stare of a ghost, intent on ignoring the presence, "So, who was her husband, another hero?"

"Oh," The blonde snickered as I heard him give my building's address to the taxi driver, "He was definitely a hero, a pretty popular one too. Gosh, it was a surprise to hear his name as the deceased."

"You're such an ass, don't laugh at the dead. You'll never know if they can hear you," I warned and finally glanced at Heave-man. His eye-less face was pointed in my direction, his bloody sockets sending slight chills down my spine, "I don't suppose it would be Heave-man, would it?"

Leo tsk'd, "You take the fun out of everything, at this point, it's almost like you have a guessing power or something. You're not secretly a hero and not telling me, are you? Because I can totally get your vater to give me a raise if that were the case, I'm not being paid nearly enough to be the sidekick of a hero."

I sighed, sitting up from the sofa and heading toward the adjacent room. The spare bathroom, with a shower and everything, I had installed in case I passed out while working and couldn't stop by my place for a shower, "Like I would have you be my sidekick. I'm more likely to pick Jenny over you if that were the case."

"Al, I would pick Jenny over me, doesn't mean she would agree. Besides, if you were to choose anyone to be your sidekick, it would be Connor." The damned twit chuckled at the sound of me sucking in a breath at his name, "Speaking of the hündchen, he said he would stop by your office since he missed you last night. Jenny mentioned that we would all catch up this afternoon and said to meet at the diner that we ate at during college for lunch. You're paying, of course."

"Of course, my ass." My hands rubbed at my bloodshot eyes as I put the phone on speaker, I was starting to get used to the look, "I should start using your card." I ignored the 'you wouldn't dare' that Leo laughed out as I started to undress, "What time are we meeting Miss Ross?"

"Ohh," The childish man drew out the syllable, "In about two hours, so hurry up with that shower. Wouldn't want your first day to be printed with scathing remarks about you looking like a hungover deviant, your vater would have my head. Speaking of," The sound of the taxi door being shut traveled from my phone, "How was the sky last night? You should've texted it was going to rain; I would've taken my car instead of walking."

I snorted while turning on the hot water, seeing the condensation immediately fill the cold room, "You have eyes, look for your damn self. Last night, huh, well I'll have you kn-" The memories of my drunken stupor finally resurfaced as I thought about what I did and said, "Oh, oh fuck."

"What?" The jingling of Leo's keys could be heard as he made his way into, presumably, the building, "Don't tell me you finally lost your v-card and called a one-night stand once we left."

"Oh, shut up," I hung up on him and slithered my body into the stinging shower, my head dropping against the wall as the water washed away the smell of last night, "I won't meet him again... most likely. Maybe."

Fuck.

I should've just fucking stayed in my room and cried myself to sleep like normal, but no, I just had to go up and be a brooding, pessimistic, idiot and look at the damn sky for answers to unasked questions. Just my luck.

Bad Alfred, no more alcohol for you.

...Not until next week at least.

---

"No way," Leo was shaking with laughter as he ate a pastry once I told him some of what happened last night, "You meet Glacier and just lay your heart on the table for him to see? Jenny's going to fucking love this."

"I hope you burn in hell when you perish from existence," I gnashed my teeth together and picked at the food that Leo brought from some fast food that was open early enough, my lips pressed against the heaven from Grandma Lia's cafe, "It wasn't like I was sober enough to realize that, hey, maybe don't burden the poor soul that just wanted to make sure the drunk man didn't jump off the roof. Which, might I add, is something I'm choosing to ignore. It's not like I'm going to meet him again, and if I have any say in it, we'll never meet again."

The tall blonde choked on his food as karma finally caught up and punished him for laughing at my plight, "Still, I can't believe that you, Mister won't-trust-even-a-therapist, spilled the beans to some fremde because your drunk ass thought he looked cute. This is absolute gold."

"I'm gonna shove gold so far down your throat until you're able to tell the difference between actual gold and my suffering, not that your pea-sized brain will be able to tell if it's fool's gold or not." I threw a fry at him, "I'm tempted to call Jenny and tell her that you're bullying me."

"Hey! We don't threaten me with Jenny, she will actually murder me if she thinks I'm bullying you for real," Leo and I both shivered as we remember the time I had pretended to cry when he decided to make fun of my drawings, "...Anyways, I thought you had the hots for Connor."

I tensed, my eyes reflexively looking around the room to make sure Connor wasn't around, not that he was. I was being paranoid, "Fuck. I don't know anymore. One minute I'm actively pushing away any thought of Connor, the next I'm being pulled in by blue eyes from a stranger I just barely met."

It wasn't like me to talk to anyone about my problems, let alone a strange hero, even if I thought they were cute. Then again, not many people acted like they normally would after two bottles of vodka.

"Hey," Leo perked up as he stole some of my fries, dodging my swatting hand, "Once you move on from your past liebling, you could always do the secret love affair thing. I heard that doing it with a hero was hot, maybe a little too hot for your virgin ass though."

"I doubt Alfred appreciates the comment on his virginity," A deep voice that sent tingles through my ears to my toes spoke up from my doorway, "What love affair are we talking about, though?"

Connor, adorable brown-haired, Walsh strode into the room and snagged one of my fries. What was it with everyone stealing my food today?

His brown hair was wavy, as usual, but the light seemed to brush against it in the most tempting ways as it swayed with his steps, his brown eyes seemed to swim with the winter air, the dark orbs haunting my dreams that the ghosts didn't intrude on. I swallowed thickly as his rough hand brushed against mine when he grabbed another fry-

I slammed my head against my desk. BAD ALFRED!

No thinking, stop thinking. Thinking bad.

"You'll never guess," Leo spoke up, ignoring my usual display of head-banging, "Our dear, innocent Alfred spilled his heart out to Glacier, that new hero running around. Not only that, but he only opened up because he thought the hero was cu-hmph!"

I shoved more fries into the gossip's mouth, my eyes promising a painful death if he continued to speak nonsense to Connor of all people. I slowly brought my hand back from his mouth as he chewed the salty food.

"He thought he was cute!" Leo yelped as he dodged my lunge, my hands scrambling to strangle him, "DON'T SILENCE THE TRUTH!"

"I'll do more than silence when I get my hands on you!" I snarled as I grabbed one of the sofa's pillows and swung at him.

"Maybe he thought Al was cute too, I mean," Connor smiled wryly as he watched me chase after the childish man, "I doubt he would listen to someone like that if he didn't have some type of favorable impression."

I paused with the pillow raised above my head, Leo laying beneath me with his arms up in defense, "He was probably just being nice. He did say he was just checking on me since I was drunk and on a roof, I doubt he actually wanted to hear my drunken rambling."

Leo pointed at me as Connor moved in and took the pillow from me, "Don't put yourself down like that, I'll have you know that I know plenty of guys lined up to hear your cute ass talk to them. You're a total schatz, and you would know that if you joined us in the clubs. Don't use the excuse that clubbing is dangerous, nothing would happen to you, especially with your vater owning, like, half of them in this damn stadt."

"I'll join your clubbing when you can convince my dad to sit down for a dinner with me," The silence that followed my words was telling, "...Grab your coats and let's go already."

I ignored the call of my name as I slammed the door shut, my anger lashing and twisting in my stomach at the thought of my father. I shouldn't push the others because I was angry. I would apologize for it once I cooled down and knew I could make a proper apology, but I needed air and to be alone before I did.

I grabbed my coat, the long trench coat hugging my body, and my scarf as I stepped out into the cold. The city of Etherwood was always colder than most cities during the winter, with the temperature falling well below thirty degrees, and snow was mixed with the sprinkle of rain. I was surprised it didn't hail; the sky looked as if a storm was about to descend upon the city at any moment.

The cold bit into my skin as I shuffled my way to Connor's car. Instead of continuing the medical studies his family pushed for him to go into, he dropped out once I graduated from Harvard and took up being a private investigator that partnered with my office. 'I like investigating, but I don't want to end up on the opposite side of the court, Al. Besides, my work would bring you clients, and the same's true in the other direction. This way we can become partners in crime!'

Heaven only knows how much that sentence sent my heart pounding, I almost thought I was going to have a heart attack hence my immediate response of bashing my head against the nearest wall as I gave him a fucking thumbs-up. My stupidity knows no bounds, apparently. F in the fucking chat for my head. Not that there was a chat that saw my inner thoughts, but internet slang has thus corrupted my thinking. I was honestly considering that the ability to see ghosts came with regenerative properties of some kind with the number of times I had put my skull to the test.

I waited in the car as the other two finally made their way down from my building, "Sorry," I leaned against the passenger door as Leo sat in the back and Connor started the car once we all buckled, "I shouldn't get so angry and slam the door with you guys, you've been there for me since we met and I shouldn't let my anger be so quick to surface around you."

"Nah," Leo chuckled as he ruffled my hair from behind, "I shouldn't have brought up your vater like that, so I'm sorry that I brought up a topic that makes you upset."

Connor slapped Leo's hands away from my hair as he fixed the strands, his hands warm as they brushed against my hands, "Don't apologize, Leo pushes against all the wrong buttons sometimes. We shouldn't tease so much; your face just looks so cute when it gets flushed like that."

I slammed my head against the dashboard, or at least I would've if Connor's hand hadn't stopped my flustered actions.

"Wow," Leo whistled, "I didn't expect you to pull that type of teasing, Connor. Poor Al is gonna sterben from happiness if you call him cute like that."

"If I die from this, I'm taking you with me and using my ghostly influence to have Jenny date your brother after our funeral," I threatened as my face flushed under the fucking adorable brown eyes that looked at me in concern, "Hell, I'll make sure they get married."

Leo mock gasped, his eyes lighting up in fake offense as Connor started to drive, "You would put Jenny through the horrid tragedy of dating Jim?"

I gagged as I thought of Jim, the perverted eldest son of Leo's family. It was a surprise he hadn't been arrested for his habit of groping people, "No, you fool. I was talking about your younger brother, Percy." I shuddered at the thought of Jenny marrying Jim, "I hate you so much for putting that thought in my head."

Connor snorted as he turned a corner, "Honestly, I think Jenny would cut off his hand before he even got past asking her out."

Leo and I nodded, a smile tugging on my lips at the image, "I would pay to see that. I still remember his hand on mine as he tried to convince me to have a private party at his place for my eighteenth birthday."

"Dear lord, if he tries that again, I'll castrate him. I might just do it anyways after remembering that." Leo frowned as he tapped away at his phone, "That's not good."

"If it's my dad, tell him that I'll discuss whatever he wants from me if he decides to show up in person," I pursed my lips, my arms crossing over my chest as Connor turned the heating up.

"Nope," Leo replied, my phone buzzing as he sent over what he was looking at, "Someone leaked that you're taking this case, reporters are flocking the precinct like ratten to a piece of cheese."

Connor raised a brow and glanced at me as I let out a groan, "It shouldn't be so bad, they probably have someone to block off the horde."

"Connor," Leo quipped as I scrolled through the link that he sent, "I say this with all the love I can muster as a friend, when it involves the Hunter heir over here, assume the worst possible case and then amplify it by a hundred times."

Already news outlets were reporting live about my first case as a defense attorney, claiming that my father had pulled strings to have it handed to me or that I threatened some higher-up or another to overtake the person who originally had it. A bit ridiculous, a bit outlandish, and a bit scandalous, the perfect trio that catches the reader's and viewers' attention.

Fair enough, I supposed, if they posted the truth of me just getting it by chance then they probably would be out of the job by morning. That doesn't mean I couldn't sue for slander, or that I wouldn't.

"Well," I breathed out and looked at the crowd in front of us, "Time to face the masses."

I stepped out of the car, ignoring the flashing of cameras and calling for questions, letting Leo deal with their pursuit.

"Gentlemen, ladies, and non-binary reporters," The blonde called their attention toward himself, "If you have any questions or would like a statement from Mister Hunter, please call my number in order to establish an appointment. He's very busy at the moment, with a client, so please respect his time and follow the procedure."

"Distraction at the ready?" I looked at Connor, who nodded and made his way toward the front desk, "Operation 'Silence' is a go then."

"Excuse me, miss," Connor smiled sweetly at the receptionist, causing my stomach to churn just for a moment before I pushed it down and made a beeline to the room holding my client.

It was easy enough to sneak my way past the detectives and officers, you just had to smile and nod at them, when necessary, give a small wave to the ones who looked like they were ready to talk to you, and then brush past the ones who didn't care. In essence, I just acted like it was normal for me to be there. It was them who were acting weird if they pointed me out. Years of sneaking into the political parties my dad held and then sneaking back out were truly paying off with their experience at the moment.

"...-'am, all you have to do is admit that you were the one that killed him. I know that it must have been so hard to be married to a hero, but all of that is over now. You're a free woman, don't be the shadow of his image any longer." It was obvious how the officer was trying to manipulate a confession out of the old woman, they were probably using her as practice for rookies at this point, hoping to get her to open her mouth before I had a chance to talk with her.

"I do hope you aren't trying to coerce my client right now, miss," I smiled as I walked into the room, they didn't even put her in a soundproof one. I certainly wasn't going to stop them from digging their grave, "What a pleasant surprise, commissioner Halloway."

The older gentleman stood up, his eyes narrowing at my presence as he glanced at his phone. Sucks to suck, old man, your receptionist is currently being dazzled by sunshine personified, she doesn't have the time to message you about my arrival. Not that she noticed.

"Hunter," The commissioner nodded in greeting, "Not more of a surprise to see you here so early, we didn't get a call about your arrival time." Meaning, 'you should've called so we could make it look like we were doing our job correctly.'

"Oh dear, it must've slipped my mind," I smiled warmly at the dour man, sitting next to my client, "It is my first case, after all. I'm sure you understand that some things tend to just... be so forgetful in regard to other important matters." Don't try and play word games with me, old man, I didn't call because I knew you would pull this crap. You're lucky that I'm willing to play nice right now, "My apologies, but I'm sure you know that Miss Ross and I need a little privacy, client confidentiality is pretty important in my work, you know."

The rookie quickly stood up and started gathering her things, "O-of course, sir, we were just leaving. I'm so sorry to interrupt your time like this, and-"

"Jesus, Vulpin, calm down. He didn't mean for us to leave." Halloway stopped the girl from going into a full-on ramble, "Take them to room seven."

I grinned, my teeth showing, and stood up, "Oh my, that would be lovely. Wouldn't you say, Miss Ross?"

The old woman, Angelica, gave the commissioner a shit-eating grin as she stood up as well, "Kids these days, I like their attitude the more I see it."

The commissioner snorted as the young officer led us into a soundproof room, giving my client and me the privacy needed for our talk. Honestly, was that so hard? "Now, straight to business, or should we do introductions first?"

"I know who you are kiddo," The grey-haired woman smirked as she looked me over, "I ran into your daddy during some charity events, asshole of a man, probably asshole of a father as well."

"I wouldn't know, hardly saw him," I shuffled some papers around, looking at the documents that Leo gave me about this case, "Though, I bet he was an asshole of a husband considering my mother ran off as soon as I was born."

"Aw, shucks, kid. If I was still running around as a hero, I would totally kick his ass for you, though, is there any way I could go to the bathroom before we continue this?" The retired hero fidgeted as she motioned toward the door, "They wouldn't let me go since I got here."

I glared at the door, stupid fucking intimidation tactics, "Of course, ma'am. Heavens above, please don't feel embarrassed about mentioning anything else you might need, I would much rather spend more time making sure you're comfortable than rushing through this and causing you any more pain than you're already experiencing."

The woman had just lost her husband for God's sake, I was lucky she wasn't crying her heart out from the way she was being treated.

I tapped away at my phone as the elderly woman was led to a bathroom, a basic fucking need, and called my annoying secretary.

"Hello, my dear paycheck," Was Leo's greeting once he answered my call. I could still hear the reporters in the background, "What can I do for you?"

"How long would it take for you to draw up the paperwork to release Miss Ross into our custody?" I got straight to the point, "I'm afraid our friends at the precinct haven't been very... forthcoming with their hospitality."

"Well, are they actually charging her with anything?"

"Am I fool? Of course, they aren't charging, they have no fucking proof. Damn idiots are holding her solely on the fact that a piece of paper tied her and Heave-man together," I leaned back in my chair, glancing at the clock before looking through the papers once again, "Jesus, their investigation led to absolutely nothing, not a single lead. Oh, hold on."

One of the papers detailed that Heave-man was sighted by an anonymous witness of going into club 'Cerberus', a notorious club that had some pretty heavy dealings with drug deals and... other types of deals. In other words, a place where human trash gathered. It was a surprise that it wasn't shut down, especially with its lunatic owner. That was the other night, a full day before Heave-man's ghost paid a visit to my car's backseat.

"Looks like you'll get your wish for me to go clubbing, make a few calls for me to get a warrant for Cerberus' security footage?"

"Ugh," Leo fake gagged at the club's name, his dislike for anything to do with villains or crime carrying in his voice, "The things I do for you, freund. I should just call your vater to take care of it, he would be more than happy to support your first case."

I made a quick glance to the side as I felt the signs of a ghost appearing beside me, Heave-man looking panicked as his words came out in a language I didn't recognize, but the words made my heart twist for reasons unknown to me.

"My father hasn't known happiness in God knows how long, and I very much doubt that- what is taking so long?" I furrowed my brows as I looked at the time again, it had been well over ten minutes and I was starting to get a little worried, "Hold on, call me back once the warrant comes in."

I didn't bother waiting for his reply as I ended the call and peeked my head out of the door, looking at the officer that was 'standing guard' outside, "Pardon me, you wouldn't happen to know where my client has gone, would you?"

The officer snorted as he turned away from me, clearly dismissing the 'little lawyer' as someone he could ignore. Heave-man became more frantic, his hands waving around as if to warn me about something, but I couldn't understand, damn it.

"Hard way it is," I frowned and brushed past the man, dismissing his startled movements as he chased after me, making my way to where I knew the commissioner would be.

"Hunter, what do you want?" The grizzly man sighed heavily as he saw me approach him.

"Miss Ross, where is she?" I scanned the room, looking for the rookie that was with him earlier, Heave-man's ghost whispering in my ear with the same words that I couldn't make sense of, "She went to the bathroom," I glanced at my watch, "Fifteen minutes ago, now. I may not be a woman, but even I know it shouldn't be taking that long unless something, or someone, is wrong."

The commissioner frowned even deeper than I thought was possible, his grey eyes also narrowing at the time, "...Surely even though she's your client, she deserves some time-"

"Damn it, Claude!" I shouted, my ears ringing with Heave-man's whispers, "Something's wrong, now where the hell is she?"

Claude, the man who gave me the inspiration to become a lawyer, the man who saw me grow from a child to an adult, and the man who knew that I had some type of power even if I never registered, finally looked me in the eye. "Alright, follow me."

Our steps hurried down the hall as he led me to my client, damn it Claude, who the hell is pushing for her to take the blame, my eyes falling on officer Vulpin and an unknown man.

"Ma'am, I assure you that a deal could be made if you plead guilty." The man, his black hair slicked back, and teal eyes, with an eye-catching mole underneath his left one, that curved into a smile as he looked at his watch. He was handsome, I could admit that, but it wasn't the time to admire my competitor, because that's what he was. The prosecution. The fools were trying to work out a deal while she was away from her lawyer, I couldn't even begin to describe how many rights that violated.

"Move it, asshole," I pushed him aside, mentally thinking of several ways to get out of the assault charge that could, maybe not would, be pressed from that action, before knocking frantically on the bathroom door, "Miss Ross, are you in there?"

Silence, not a single whisper or sign of life from within.

"Damn it, are you sure she's in here?" I glanced at the commissioner, who gave me a sharp nod, and started banging on the door, "Miss Ross, is everything alright?"

Heave-man's ghost shook his head frantically as he kept trying to drag me through the door. Sorry pal, being intangible means you can't touch anything either.

The prosecutor, fucking-who-knows, quickly realized the situation as he moved me aside to start slamming his, admittedly more, athletic body against the door once the sound of glass shattering came through the barrier between me and my client.

"Shit, where's the key?" I spun toward the rookie, her hands shakily scrambling to find the right one in her pile of keys, "Son of a bitch!"

Fucking assholes, can't follow simple procedure and make sure that my client was safe. It was supposed to be a simple bathroom trip, I hadn't even gotten her damn alibi yet and this case was already going to shit.

My heart pounded as I looked at Heave-man, his eye-less sockets stared into mine, as ironic as that sounded, before he reached out to me and finally whispered something I could understand, "Channel me." I knew that I nodded on reflex, my panic having me agree to anything at this point if it would open the damn door. Then my vision went black.

Yeah, ghosts are assholes, but sometimes they actually help.

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A/N: Hi there, hopefully you liked the chapter. How was your day?

I'm honestly a little new to this, so I'm not sure what to say. This is probably a little awkward, but oh well. What's life without awkward encounters?

Well, I only really made this little note to leave this picture of Alfred and Glacier. My hand hurt so much after drawing this, but so worth it to see those two together.

You can now see what he meant by bright fucking blue, hehe.

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